The Legend of Zelda, its characters and locations are all property of Nintendo. Any and all OCs and original locations belong to me unless specifically stated to belong to someone else.
The Voice
9 - Here, Kitty!
Link had woken at some point in the night (he wasn't sure of the time), and had once more taken to wandering the Domain. This time, however, he was on his own. Sidon had been asleep in the pool-like basin in his chambers, causing Link to spend several minutes pondering why the Zora prince even had a normal (water-filled mattress aside) bed at all, though that train of thought had only led to images in his mind that were...well, not appropriate. Mostly because they featured him and...and...
No matter.
Sheik hadn't been happy about being left behind, but had relented when Link told him he needed a little time to himself to sort out the memories he'd regained (which was true), and promised to be back in no less than an hour.
He'd changed back into his Sheikah armour, which had indeed been cleaned and repaired (and polished?) while he'd been indisposed. With the mask covering the lower half of his face again, he immediately felt a little safer, and much less awkward when meeting the occasional Zora that wandered the halls and walkways. Most were polite, some guarded...and a few outright hostile. Not violent, but more than adamant in trying to make him feel unwelcome. These were, invariably, the older generation, the ones who'd been adults when the Calamity had first struck.
The ones who'd welcomed him when he was a child and came to the Domain to be fostered.
He didn't blame them. He'd failed them utterly. He could only hope that freeing Vah Ruta would improve his image a little. After all, Muzu had...well, Muzu hadn't exactly been friendly or wholly accepting of Link's presence (from what he could remember, at least), but at least Link had proved his importance to Mipha.
Mipha...
He reached a covered balcony overlooking the deep pool of water beneath the Domain, and leaned on the railing. He let his forehead rest on his arms, taking deep breaths.
It was all bits and pieces—nothing coherent. He'd spent a lot of time here as a child—he distinctly remembered the word fostered being part of it. Had he spent his entire childhood here? Or just pieces of it? He'd grown here, played here, learned here. He'd learned to swim with the other Zora children, some of whom had teased him for his lack of grace in the water, Mipha had swooped in and defended him.
They'd been friends. But something more than friends, as well. Like siblings, almost.
He'd loved Mipha, but not in the way she had loved him, for which he felt terrible. Had he ever told her, or had he kept her blissfully ignorant, utterly convinced that he would say yes when she presented him with the tunic? He hoped he'd told her. It was impossible to tell—the most coherent memory was the afternoon they'd spent sitting on Vah Ruta's trunk, when she'd healed the scratches and bruises he'd gotten from...Goddess knew what. Everything else was just a blur of impressions and feelings, sounds and voices.
"Y-You deserved a l-lot b-better," he whispered to himself. "I p-promise, I w-will s-save your h-home."
"You are feeling better now, my friend?"
King Dorephan gazed down at Link with a kind light in his eyes, the corners of his mouth rising when Link nodded.
"That is good to hear—Sidon has been beside himself with worry."
"M-My a-apologies, y-your grace," Link said genuinely. He hadn't wanted to worry the prince as much as he did. Passing out twice was just...unacceptable behaviour, regardless of hero status. A small, traitorous part of him warmed at hearing Sidon being worried about him, but he tried to ignore it as much as possible. "It has b-been...a t-trying t-time."
"There is nothing to apologise for, Link," Dorephan said, shaking his head. He seemed...more relaxed than before. Link wasn't sure if it was because they were the only ones in the throne room right now, or if something else had given the Zora king some peace. "I am simply happy you have returned to us. I mourned you like I would a son, and knowing you ultimately survived the Calamity is..." He slumped a little in his throne. "It has brought some peace to this old cod's heart."
Link looked up in surprise. A son?
Dorephan blinked, and chuckled. "You are surprised? You spent a large part of your childhood here, you know. We taught you our histories, our songs, our culture. My daughter played with you. You asked me to teach you how to lead, how you should act when you became a knight. I will happily admit I came to think of you as my own child...and I do not think it was by chance that you came here first when you were anointed. You didn't return to Castle Town—you came here."
Link listened with rapt attention. He could not for the life of him remember this—it was all buried in noise and distortion, the few images he could see clearly mostly revolving around his time with Mipha. But it...made sense? Why else would he remember being a child in the Domain?
"It's quite all right that you do not remember," Dorephan said, noticing Link's brows furrowing. "It is, as they say, all in the past. Sidon told me you remember Mipha now. Is that true?"
"Y-Yes, b-bits and p-pieces" Link said. He'd never forgive himself for forgetting her in the first place, but he was damn well going to cling to what memories he had of her like a barnacle this time around. "Sh-She t-taught me h-how t-to swim."
Dorephan chuckled. "Indeed, she did. You were a sad sight in the water until she decided to take an interest in you. A rather amusing reversal of the old idiom, I'd say."
Fish out of water, Link thought. I was a disaster.
"But you took to it soon after, and you were inseparable after that." Dorephan smiled and nodded to himself. "When Mipha first came to me and declared her intention to marry you, I did not think much of it. You were children. She will outgrow it, I told myself."
Link swallowed. Did he know about the armour? If he did not approve, then...
"But she did not," Dorephan continued. "If anything, she grew more adamant. I am not sure when her childhood crush became deep-set feelings, but I could see it in her eyes when we had our biggest argument about it."
That was...discouraging. If Dorephan was so against it, then how did he feel about Link taking the armour and using it?
"She gave me the gutting of a lifetime, believe you me." The king chuckled again. "And I had no choice to relent, in the end. Not that I did not believe you to be good enough for her, Link," he added, surely noticing Link's slumped shoulders. "On the contrary, I was having a difficult time finding a suitor that wasn't a considerable step down. Had I not been king, and she not a princess, I likely would not have objected at all. There were times I found myself wishing you were a Zora instead of a Hylian—then all my problems would have been solved!" He laughed loudly, shaking with mirth, and Link found himself smiling under his mask.
"Sh-She m-made armour for m-me..." he said, too curious for his own good.
"I know," Dorephan said. "Sidon came to me and asked for it, so he could give it to you. A magnificent piece of work; truly indicative of my daughter's devotion. It will serve you well, when you take on Vah Ruta...though, as I understand it, you will be heading for the peak of Ploymus Mountain first?"
"Y-Yes," Link said, nodding. "T-To g-gather lightning arrows."
"A wise decision—one can never have too many advantages when taking on such fearsome opponents." He tapped the armrest of his throne. "I likely would have given my blessing for the marriage, you know."
Link paused. "Erm..."
"But we both know that you did not return her feelings," the king said.
Link felt his insides freeze. Had he truly not told Mipha? Had it only been her father who knew that the princess was setting herself up for a disappointment and heartbreak when Link finally (if ever) told her he did not feel the same way? What kind of a callous bastard was he, if he could not even—
"You told her."
The king had taken pity upon him, gazing sadly at him.
"Not long before the Calamity, the pair of you spent some time testing Vah Ruta and its functions, preparing for the day when it would be used against Ganon. I believe she revealed her feelings for you then, and you told her that yours were not the same."
Link waited for him to finish, but the king remained silent for a long time before speaking again, and then only to say,
"I do not know the specifics, I'm afraid. That was the extent of the conversation she revealed to me. You left the Domain the day after to go to Death Mountain and look to the Divine Beast there with the Goron Champion."
"Oh..." Link looked at the floor. Had it been on that same day, on the trunk? Had she confessed her feelings, after swearing she would always protect him? He was a cretin, wasn't he? Throwing her love back in her face like that...
"She was disappointed, which is understandable," Dorephan said. "But her devotion did not falter. She finished the armour and intended to give it to you anyway. Perhaps its meaning had changed, or her intentions remained the same...only she knew for certain." Dorephan frowned. "But speculating in this is folly, Link. Regardless of it all, you remained friends until the Calamity struck, and now you are back to set it all right. I can ask for nothing more. I can only hope you will not beat yourself up over this—Mipha would not approve of it, as I'm sure you can imagine."
Link nodded. He wasn't sure if he believed it himself, but he didn't want to leave the old king feeling even more miserable than before. And he would redeem himself—it was too late to apologise to Mipha, but he was damn well going to save her people!
"I sh-should p-prepare for th-the mountain," he said, standing up and bowing his head to Dorephan. "I w-will b-be b-back s-soon."
"I have no doubt," Dorephan said, nodding. "I wish you the best of luck, my boy."
Link would be a liar if he said it didn't make him feel a little better to be called that by the king.
Link turned and left the throne room, descending the stairs. He paused at the bottom and turned, looking up at Prince Sidon, who'd been hiding behind a pillar. Link wasn't sure how long Sidon had been there, but he'd noticed the prince's presence about halfway into his conversation with Doran. He crossed his arms and tapped his foot.
To his credit, Sidon at least looked sheepish at being caught, rubbing his neck nervously as he came down the stairs to join Link.
"I put him up to it," Sheik said hurriedly from his place on Sidon's belt. The slate looked...remarkably natural there. Like it belonged. Link felt distinctly jealous...but he wasn't sure of whom. "I was worried when you didn't come back."
"H-How m-much d-did you h-hear?" Link asked, looking up at the prince, who was doing his best not to meet Link's eyes. This was, given Sidon's immense height, not particularly difficult, but the prince still looked incredibly awkward in doing so.
"Most of it?" Sidon said, his cheeks colouring. "I intended to ask father if he had seen you, but then you were already there, and you were talking, and...well, I did not wish to intrude, and then I heard Mipha's name and..." he sighed. "I apologise, Link."
Link kept his disapproving mask up for another few seconds, letting the two of them sweat (one literally, one figuratively) a little longer before shaking his head and reaching out to touch the back of Sidon's hand (so big!), and then tapping the slate on the prince's belt.
"I-It's okay," he said. "J-Just d-don't d-do i-it again."
The prince perked up immediately, back to his grinning self in a moment, while Sheik's screen brightened. He didn't have the heart to be angry with them—they'd been worried, after all. And really, the conversation with Dorephan hadn't private as such (anyone could have walked into the throne room at any time, after all). And...well, he it wasn't just his closure, was it? He had no idea how much the king had told Sidon about Link and Mipha.
"I promise I will never eavesdrop on you again, Link," Sidon said. "I swear it!"
Funny, how such an earnest and, above all, enthusiastic declaration could have Link blushing like a fool in seconds. The broad grin and warm eyes certainly didn't help. As if thinking it was helping, his mind then decided to bring up the memory of Sidon carrying him to bed earlier that day, which in retrospect had been simultaneously one of the most mortifying moments of his life...and one of the most exciting.
Oh no, he thought. I really am in trouble, aren't I?
Unluckily, Sheik was there to take gleeful joy in it.
"Link, your internal temperature just spiked—something you want to share?"
"No!"
At least he didn't stutter.
"Good luck up there," Sidon said, grasping Link's bicep with a strong hand, squeezing firmly but gently. "I have the utmost faith in you!"
Link nodded, adjusting the pauldron of the Zora armour. He'd need it to ascend the waterfalls to the mountaintop. He still wasn't entirely sure how it would work, but at this point he was too embarrassed to ask. Sheik had run some sort of analysis, but the only answer he'd been able to come up with was a curt (and very annoyed):
"Magic. Fucking magic."
"In the meantime, I will make preparations for our attack on Vah Ruta," the prince continued. "Between the three of us, I am certain we can tame the beast and bring an end to this rainfall, and save both the Domain and Hyrule!"
Such confidence—Link was jealous. If he felt even as much of a fraction of the confidence Sidon had rolling off him, he'd have the victory against Ganon in the bag already.
Honestly, Link thought as he slowly stepped into the pond below the waterfall, Sidon should be the Champion, not me. He glanced back at the prince, who was practically giddy with excitement at seeing the Zora armour in action, feet tapping impatiently.
Goddess, Link prayed he could nail this whole swimming up a damn waterfall thing in one go, or he'd be so embarrassed...
"Y-You okay?" he asked Sheik, who was back in his rightful place on Link's belt.
"I'm waterproof," Sheik said. "No need to worry. Now stop stalling and get up that waterfall. Trust in the stupid magic."
Link was hesitant to point out that what enabled Sheik to dwell in the slate to begin with was probably also "stupid magic", as he called it. He didn't want to set off another rant...or have Sheik screeching again. It wasn't good for his hearing.
Sighing, Link checked that his equipment was firmly secured to his back one last time before stepping forward and letting his weight tip him forward, sliding into the water. The difference made by the armour was apparent immediately. There was practically no friction at all, the water sliding off the scales and silver like it wasn't even there. Link did a few strokes, amazed at how far each one carried him across the pond, closer to the fall.
"How is it?!" Sidon asked, his voice easily carrying over the roar of the waterfall. "Does it work?!"
"Y-Yes!" Link called back, certain that his voice wasn't audible at all. He settled for waving, which Sidon returned with expected (and possibly inappropriate) energy. "Sh-Sheik, are...o-oh."
He'd forgotten the slate was well below the waterline like this, and Sheik probably couldn't hear him at all.
Turning his attention to the waterfall, Link tried to delay his approach as much as possible...which was quite difficult, given how the armour almost seemed attracted to it. In fact, it almost seemed to...move by itself? The sides felt like they were contracting and releasing, forcing him to move his torso in the same manner, undulating through the water much like a...a Zora, in fact!
He didn't have much more time to contemplate the strangeness of the sensation before he shot forward in the water, dipping beneath the waterline for but a moment before exploding out of it, and directly in to the fall itself. Expecting to crash into the rocky wall behind it, or plunge directly back into the pond, Link braced himself, but then his body kept moving forward...and upward! He opened his eyes, and realised he was, in fact, speeding directly up the waterfall, the armour doing all the work as the top rapidly approached him.
Beneath the roar of wind and water in his ears, he could have sworn he heard Sheik screaming with a mix of both fear and delight.
Then he reached it, and flew several feet into the air above the edge of the falls. He barely managed to realise what was happening before the bank beside it flew up into his vision, and he tucked himself into a ball just in time to roll, eventually landing on his feet in a crouched position, panting from the...exertion? Excitement? Both?
"Th-That...w-was..." he panted.
"Amazing!" Sheik finished, and Link could practically see the grin. "Can we do it again? Can we?!"
Link was actually glad they had another fall to traverse. He couldn't bear to tell Sheik no, after such a display of childish glee, which he hadn't seen in his friend at all until now. Still, it made him wonder...
"I th-thought you d-didn't l-like s-speeds," he said, already trudging his way to the next fall. The next level would bring him within walking distance of the peak...and a Lynel, apparently. He had no idea what that was, other than something incredibly dangerous according to the kind Zora lady who'd met them on their way out. Sheik's files didn't have any entries on the things either.
"I don't like going downhill on little more than a flimsy piece of wood, that is your shield, where a single mistake could result in your face—and mine, for that matter—being smashed against the cliff wall," Sheik corrected him. "Going up a waterfall is already such a violation of the laws of physics that I can't be arsed to worry."
Link shrugged. It was a good as explanation as any, he supposed. "F-Fucking m-magic?" he asked.
"Fucking magic," Sheik confirmed.
"...ever since, the fishers of Hateno Bay have passed down this heroic tale: The Prince Who Slew the Fell Octorok," Sheik finished. He'd chosen to do the reading for this monument, on account of how, as he'd said, it'd take Link a good day to get through it at his oratory pace.
"W-Wow..." Link muttered. The idea of Sidon being swallowed by a giant Oktorok, and then slicing his way out with his spear...Link didn't know what that said about him as a person, but he very much wanted to see that. That is, Sidon triumphing against such an opponent, not him being swallowed by something.
"I suppose that proves ol' Sharky isn't just all talk—stubby legs aside, that body of his isn't just for show."
"Y-Yeah," Link said, nodding in agreement. Then he realised what Sheik had just said. "S-Stubby legs?"
"Haven't you noticed?" Sheik asked. "The guy is like seventy percent torso, and ten percent head. Twenty percent does not leave much legroom." He chuckled. "It took me a while to see it, too, on account of him towering over just about everyone, but most of that is an upper body that goes on for miles...on top of tiny, little legs."
"H-Huh..." Link hadn't noticed that. With his luck, that was all he'd be able to focus on now that Sheik had pointed it out. He'd have to be careful not to stare too much at Sidon when he got back...though, to be honest, he'd had that problem from the moment they'd met, so what else was new?
"Makes sense, though, given how Zora swim—they don't use their legs, but their whole bodies. The bigger upper bodies they have, the more force—and therefore velocity—they can achieve when moving in the water. I imagine Sharky can reach quite impressive speeds given his size."
"I s-see," Link said helplessly, unsure of what to do with the information he'd just been given. Clearly, Sheik had been watching Sidon a lot more closely than he had (Link couldn't help it, his eyes were immediately drawn to Sidon's eyes...his face...and his arms...and abdominal muscles...) Though Sheik had said something a bit strange, hadn't he? "N-Not just f-for show?" he asked when the incongruent phrase suddenly came to him.
"What?" Sheik asked after a moment's hesitation.
"Y-You s-said his b-body wasn't j-just for sh-show," Link clarified. "Wh-What d-do you m-mean?"
"Oh...er..." Sheik paused for a long while, his screen alternatively dimming and lighting up, as if he was desperately searching for a way to answer the question. If Link didn't know any better, he'd think that Sheik was...but that wasn't possible, was it? "Well, he's obviously strong and fit!" Sheik exclaimed eventually, sounding angry. "I was just curious if he actually put it to good use rather than just...just prancing about like some figurehead!"
If anything, Sheik sounded embarrassed and flustered. It was kind of cute.
"Don't just stand there gawping, we've wasted enough time here!" he shouted when Link only stood there and chuckled. "Get moving! We've got arrows to collect and something called a Lynel to fight!"
"So," Sheik said after Link had retreated safely behind one of the large pillar-like rocks that dotted the top of Ploymus, his voice carefully lowered. "That's a Lynel."
"Mhm," Link grunted. He wasn't sure what he'd expected to find. The Zora's description hadn't done the size of the thing justice. It'd be big and strong, she said, but Link hadn't anticipated it being that big. The bow it carried was bigger than him, for Goddess' sake!
"I have a tactical suggestion, if you would care to hear it?"
"P-Please."
"Don't piss it off. In fact, don't let it see you. Period. Hero or not, I don't think you're quite ready to take on such an opponent yet."
Link couldn't agree more. Unfortunately, that would be easier said than done, on account of the Lynel seemingly restlessly pacing its territory, around which lightning arrows were strewn. Some were embedded in the few trees that grew up here, others in the ground. At some point, he'd probably end up in its line of sight...and who knew what catastrophe would ensue then?
"...I suppose a ball of yarn wouldn't work," Sheik muttered a few seconds later.
"What?"
"Well, it's technically some sort of cat, right? I'm honestly a bit curious if distracting it with a ball of yarn would work. Not that you'd have one on you, but still, imagine the applications such a thing would have, especially in labyrinths and mazes..."
Link tuned Sheik out for a moment as his companion began to ramble. The Sheikah wasn't entirely wrong. A distraction could work. But what could he use to create one? Each option he could think of wouldn't work in the long run, and would invariably draw its attention back to him in the end. Unless he could remove the threat altogether, then he could...ah, there it was!
"Sh-Sheik?"
"...and it doesn't really cost you that much—er, yes?"
"I h-have an idea."
"I don't like this," Sheik said doubtfully. "What if it doesn't work? It'll put you right in front of it, and I highly doubt that little sword of yours will do much against it."
"I-It'll w-work," Link said, trying to sound reassuring. He probably didn't. The stutter alone removed any sort of comforting value his voice could possibly have had. "J-Just t-trust me."
See?
"Hmph, it's not that I don't trust you, I just don't like the idea of you—us!—getting so close to something that looks like it could rip you in half with barely any effort. Believe it or not, Link, but I would very much not like to see that."
"T-Touching," Link said. It may have sounded sarcastic to anyone else, but he actually meant it. Sheik had a caustic way with words, but he still managed to convey his meaning rather well. "On m-my s-signal, yeah?"
The slate sighed. "On your signal," Sheik acknowledged. "I'd have the paraglider ready, just in case. Goddess knows you'll need it if this doesn't work."
From the Lynel's perspective, the subsequent events went something like this:
It was patrolling its territory, occasionally giving its archery skills a little test by imagining an intruder (usually one of the little pig men, or a fish man from the city below) traipsing around the little plateau...and then loosing an arrow right into its face. It liked that. It enjoyed that. It was the one thing it enjoyed doing.
The only thing that was better was when a real intruder came along—the way they flailed and flapped about after getting hit by one of the lightning arrows was positively delightful. Especially the fish men. They tasted so delicious afterwards—perfectly grilled from the inside out.
Today was a boring day, though. No real targets, and the imagined ones were...dull. It'd likely have to travel down the mountain and find something to entertain itself with, at some point. The fish men were spawning around this time of year. A little one would be a perfect dish...
"Hey, you!"
It spun around, craning its head, trying to catch sight of the intruder (whose voice felt like glass in its ears, all screechy and high-pitched).
"Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!"
There! From behind one of the large rocks at the end of the plateau, a little thing was peeking out, waving its arms and shouting at the top of its voice. One of the little pink men from the fields, it seemed. They were just as delicious.
"Bet you can't hit me from there, you big stupid ball of fluff!"
Its voice was annoying; its words were annoying. The Lynel wasn't entirely sure what the glowing, blue, annoying little man was saying, but it knew they weren't good things. Growling, the Lynel pulled out its bow and nocked an arrow, relishing the thought of seeing the annoying little man writhing on the ground. The arrowhead sparked as it drew the string back, subconsciously doing the number of calculations necessary for successful archery, before letting go of the arrow.
It sailed through the air at a breakneck speed, heading straight for the annoying thing's chest. Maximum pain. The Lynel grinned, prepared for the sound of crackling electricity and screams of agony. They would never come. Just as the arrow was about to strike, the little man turned its body sideways—faster than anything the Lynel had ever seen before. The arrow sailed harmlessly past, and into the distance.
"Hah!" the man said, dancing and doing hand gestures at the Lynel. "Worst shot I've ever seen! Sit on this and spin!"
The Lynel roared and let loose several more arrows in succession. At least one of them had to hit! But no, the little man danced around each and every one, his voice growing more and more annoying for each miss.
"Are you blind, kitten? Haven't your widdle weyes wopened yet? Aw, poor widdle thing!"
Tired of having such an annoying pest on its territory, the Lynel roared once more and threw its bow aside, drawing its mighty spear instead. If it couldn't hit the intruder, it would damn well skewer him instead! Bellowing, it charged towards the enemy creature, which was still dancing like an idiot, not even aware that his doom was approaching at a galloping pace.
The Lynel roared triumphantly when the spear tip was about to strike, but the triumph soon turned into confusion when the weapon just seemed to...pass through the little man. How was it possible? It was right there, but it wasn't? How? How?!
Link held his breath as he kept the slate aloft, and heard (and felt) the thundering hooves of the Lynel approaching. Sheik continued to make a fool of himself with something that in no way could ever be described as dancing, paying no heed to the spear tip that was about to pierce him.
And then the Lynel went past, and careened off the edge of the plateau. There was a great deal of roaring as the creature disappeared from sight in the fog, and the sound of breaking and snapping trees soon filled his ears. And then there was nothing. And Link breathed out.
"I-It worked," he said. He wasn't sure if he was surprised or not. It had been a simple enough plan, but knowing his luck just about everything with it would have gone wrong. And yet, it hadn't. His chest filled with a fluttery feeling. Was this what success felt like? It was...odd. Disconcerting.
"Damn right it did," Sheik agreed, reaching out to touch Link's shoulder. His hand passed right through him. "Right...still not real," the Sheikah reminded himself, chuckling.
Link joined him, also laughing, trying to dispel the uneasy energy of his triumph. "T-Told you!"
"All right, all right, I was wrong this one time," Sheik admitted, holding up his hands and rolling his eyes. "Don't let it get to your head, mister Hero. Now come on, get as many arrows as you can find!"
He'd scoured the plateau for the wayward arrows the Lynel had been shooting at imagined targets, coming up at least three short. He'd almost started digging into the ground in an attempt to find lost arrowheads or something, when Sheik coughed to get his attention.
"There, at the top of that tree," he said, making Link turn around until he was looking at the lone tree at the very peak of the mountain. Three arrow shafts, sunk deeply into the trunk near the top. The wind looked strong up there.
"J-Just m-my luck," Link muttered as he climbed the little hill and removed his quiver, resting it at the bottom of the trunk. The last thing he wanted was for a wayward gust of wind to scatter his hard-won arrows in all directions. He'd probably be flinging himself off the mountaintop if that happened.
"Just remember," Sheik said from his belt as Link began to climb. "Don't look down."
Link climbed, wondering how on earth he managed to become so good at rock climbing when he could barely look down without feeling sick. Granted, he usually didn't climb the peaks of mountains like these, much less the swaying trees at the top of them!
"Wow," Sheik said just as Link reached the lowest of the three arrows lodged in the wood. "I can see all the way down to the Domain from here! It's amazing!"
"Sh-Shut up!"
Link sighed in relief when his boots finally hit solid ground once more, the three lightning arrows safely in his grip. He quickly deposited them in the quiver, tying the cover on so the arrows wouldn't fall out on the way down.
"Th-That w-went surprisingly w-well," he said, feeling justified in patting himself on the back for that one. After all, Sheik hadn't come up with the idea of using his projection to fool the Lynel, and he'd managed to get all the arrows they needed. An overwhelming success, really.
"It did—well done, Link," Sheik said earnestly. "Are we taking the long way down, or the short one?"
"Sh-Short one," Link said as he pulled out the paraglider, frowning when he saw that a few of the joints had come loose. "Hm...g-got to f-fix th-this," he muttered as he crouched down, trying to fit the pieces back together.
"Er...Link?"
"H-Hang on."
"No, seriously, Link!"
"Sh-Sheik, j-just give me a m-moment!"
"The kitty is back!"
"Wh-What are y-you t-talking ab..." Link trailed off, glancing back down to the plateau...
...where a very wet, very dirty, very angry-looking Lynel was pulling itself back over the edge, its powerful arms straining to hold its weight. Its weapons were gone, and its mane was full of debris and tree branches...but it was alive, and definitely not happy!
"I don't think the projector trick will work again," Sheik said in a very small voice. "Could you hurry it up with the glider, please?"
"R-Right," Link said, desperately trying to do just that, but the damn glider wasn't cooperating, the joints refusing to fit back into the correct slots. He didn't need to look up to know that the Lynel had spotted them—the roar that carried over the wind and thunder and rain was more than enough.
"It's coming," Sheik said, ever the observer. "Quite quickly."
Link felt the hooves of the Lynel.
"It's angry, Link."
"I'm t-trying!"
"Link, I would very much like to go flying now, please!"
The next few seconds was a blur as the final joint finally found its correct groove, and the frame was once more able to take his weight.
"Run! Run!"
Link wrenched it around and held it aloft, taking an extra moment to draw just that on the slate's screen, and ran...and jumped. He felt the hot breath of the Lynel in the nape of his neck just as his feet left the ground, and he let himself fall for an extra second before unfolding the glider. It nearly wrenched his arms out of his sockets, but put him just out of the Lynel's reach. The monster roared with rage as he sailed away, pacing back and forth in front of the tree...where Link had left a little present.
"What the hell were you thinking?!" Sheik screamed. "One more second, and—"
Link pressed his thumb to the slate's screen. The bomb he'd left by the tree exploded, violently tearing the tree (and the edge of the cliff) to pieces! The Lynel was sent plummeting off the mountain, followed by a great deal of rock and tree debris, and into the raging river far below them.
"Oh," Sheik said, his voice barely audible over the wind.
"Oh," Link echoed, unable to keep the smug grin off his face.
As luck would have it, Link managed to find enough updrafts to keep them gliding the entire way back to the domain. His arms were aching from the effort by the time he hit the ground running, his vision having narrowed to a tiny tunnel with a mere pinprick of light at the end...but he hit the ground!
Of course, he lost his balance immediately afterwards, and would have tumbled directly onto his face, for which he braced himself...but then he hit something else instead. Something soft, yet firm, which stopped him immediately in his tracks. Soft...firm...and warm.
"I've got you!" Sidon announced, his arms quickly encircling Link and steadying him...and hugging him close. There was movement on his face as Sidon kneeled down, so their faces were more or less level, after which the embrace forced Link to tuck his face into Sidon's neck. "I've got you," the prince repeated, gentler.
"Th-Thanks," Link muttered, blushing immensely. Sidon was...so careful. He could easily crush Link in those arms of his, but he was holding him so carefully, like something precious...
"Are you all right, both of you?" Sidon asked. His voice reverberated through Link's body and made him shiver. "I heard the explosion, and saw parts of the mountain come tumbling down."
"The Lynel was...a little more stubborn than we thought," Sheik said. "Link had to give it a...spectacular send-off."
Sidon pulled back, looking first Link over, and then touching the slate, as if trying to find any injuries on either of them. "Well, you both appear to have emerged victorious—and more importantly, unharmed—from the ordeal," he said. "I am glad!" He frowned, eyes narrowing as he studied Link's face closely. "Is something the matter?" he asked.
Link shook his head mutely. His face wouldn't stop burning red, and he'd left the mask off because breathing through it in the rain made him feel like he was drowning. Unfortunately, that meant the prince could see his reaction to the embrace, which was far from Hero-like.
He's Mipha's little brother, you cretin! Link thought. Stop it!
"I think you can let go now, Sharky," Sheik said in a quiet voice.
"Oh," Sidon said, quickly releasing Link from the tight embrace, looking worried. "Did I hurt you?"
"Quite the opposite, I think," Sheik said.
"Pardon? I don't understand..."
"N-Never m-mind," Link said, turning his head away and running his fingers through his soaked hair. "W-We're f-fine." He tried (and failed) to banish the desire to be held once more by the prince.
Sidon seemed confused, but he nodded in the corner of Link's eye. "That is a relief," he said earnestly. "And you have the arrows?"
"In the quiver," Sheik said, seizing the word. "Twenty shock arrows, ready for use."
"Fantastic!" the prince exclaimed, flashing Link that familiar grin once more, posing. "I knew you would succeed! I didn't doubt you for a second!"
"M-Makes one of u-us," Link muttered.
"Hm?"
"N-Nothing."
"A-Anyway," Sidon said, "All should be ready for our attack on Vah Ruta. I'd suggest we go right away, but I think you two need a bit of a rest first. I'd like to take a look at those ribs of yours again too, Link, if you will permit me?"
The rest of the conversation was lost on him, as Link could only focus on Sidon giving him a check-up.
"Amazing," Sidon said with wonder in his voice as Sheik's projected image appeared in front of him. "So, this is what you look like, Sheik?"
The image, which usually strutted around with nothing but confidence, looked positively embarrassed as Sheik rubbed his arm in a flustered manner. "Well, it's the image of myself that I have in my mind," he said. "So it's as much me as I can imagine, at least."
"Wonderful," Sidon said, still in that awe-filled manner. "I had no idea such a thing was possible...but I am so happy that you would show me!"
Link adjusted his undershirt and grinned a little to himself. Sidon was sitting cross-legged on the floor of his quarters, head resting in his hands as he watched Sheik's projection walk back and forth...even spinning around once! If he didn't know any better, he'd think Sheik was being bashful, but the sheer mental gymnastics Link would have to do to reconcile that thought with what he knew about his friend in the slate would likely give him an aneurysm.
"It's just an image," Sheik said, clearing his throat.
"But it is still you," Sidon insisted, smiling. "And I bet you don't show this to just anyone, do you?"
"It drains the slate's power a lot," Sheik said. "Takes a while to recharge afterwards. And it's mostly a useless feature—"
"It h-helped w-with the L-Lynel," Link pointed out quickly. It was bad enough that the Hero of the duo was disparaging himself at every opportunity—he wasn't about to let Sheik start doing that as well. "And k-keeps me c-company!"
"That alone is a worthy purpose," Sidon said gravely, giving Sheik no quarter in the matter. "Thank you for sharing this part of you with me, Sheik."
"Er...you're...welcome?" Sheik cocked his head to the side, clearly confused at the strange turn the conversation was taking. "Goddess, you're weird."
"Guilty," Sidon admitted happily. He turned to look at Link. "And you are sure you are still feeling well, Link?"
Link nodded. The prince's examination of his ribs had been quick, but it had still left a warm feeling in the pit of his stomach. If Sidon had taken an extra moment to run a finger gently over some of his scars, Link wasn't going to tell. He told himself it was because Sidon admired battle scars, sporting more than a few of his own.
"Good, then all we have to do is wait for dawn," Sidon said.
It was midnight, and too dark to go for Vah Ruta at the moment. Sidon admitted he'd barely know which way he was swimming, much less how to dodge whatever weaponry the Divine Beast would unleash upon them. So they had retreated to the prince's chambers to go through the equipment, making sure they were completely ready for the fight ahead.
That had taken about ten minutes, and then Sidon had asked about what happened up on the mountain, and then the question of Sheik's projection had come up...and here they were.
"May I see your face, Sheik?" Sidon asked suddenly, causing the projection's head to whip around to face him.
"P-Pardon?"
"May I see your face?" Sidon repeated, leaning forward. "I am curious to see if it matches the loveliness of your voice."
The sheer amount of body language Sheik managed to do in that projection nearly had Link snorting with laughter. It was all outraged and embarrassed and angry and...flattered? Possibly?
"M-M-My voice?!" Sheik screeched.
Link winced. It was a bit of a double-edged sword, that one. He had to admit, he agreed with Sidon on Sheik's voice when the Sheikah in question was calm. Those gentle, rolling Rs, the softness of his speech, the enthusiasm whenever he found interesting data to pour over... Those were all attractive qualities. But then Sheik got angry, or upset, or annoyed, or embarrassed, or impatient, and Link was suddenly wondering if his ears were going to bleed.
"Yes," Sidon said simply, looking more amused than anything else. "I am certain Link will agree with me on this. Right, Link?"
Put on the spot like that, Link could do little but nod and make an affirming noise, somewhere between a choke and a cough. Not very charming.
"I...I am still compiling that data," Sheik said, his eyes flickering to anything but them. "Perhaps once we are done with Vah Ruta, it will be finished."
"I shall look forward to it," Sidon said. "Won't you, Link?"
Link could only nod again as he wondered what the hell was going on.
Standing at the edge of the pier, Link tried to take deep breaths.
The Divine Beast was even bigger than Link could recall from his fragmented memories. Vah Ruta stood tall and proud in the middle of the Eastern Reservoir lake, trunk raised high, spewing out a seemingly endless amount of water into the air. From its back, four waterfalls. High above them, the dark storm clouds roiled and moved in spiral-like patterns before expanding outward, letting the water fall back down as in constant deluge.
Link swallowed heavily. He couldn't remember anything of its interior, which meant he was going in completely blind. With any luck, there would be a pedestal or something inside that would give Sheik some sort of overview, but there was no guarantee of that.
"This is nothing," Sheik said. "You've handled every obstacle in your way perfectly so far, Link. This'll be a breeze."
Link frowned. "Y-You d-don't b-believe that," he said.
"Well, no," Sheik admitted. "Whatever else it is, Ganon is not stupid. It'll have left the Beast carefully guarded. There'll be plenty of nightmare-inducing horrors to face inside. I was just trying to be supportive."
"I p-prefer y-you honest," Link said.
"And pessimistic?"
"Y-Yes."
"All right, then," Sheik said. "We're very likely going to die."
"Th-That's m-more like i-it."
A cynical Sheik, Link could handle. It was familiar. Grounding, almost.
"A pity, since you'll never be able to confess your feelings for Sharky if we do."
Never mind. Grounding was the last thing Sheik was when he decided to throw a wrench like that into the works. He choked on his own spit, giving the slate an outraged look.
"You can't hide it from me, Link," Sheik said innocently. "I saw—and registered—your reactions when he touched you. And spoke to you. And looked at you. You've got it hard for the prince. And don't try to deny it."
The denial died on Link's tongue the moment Sheik said it. He was right, damn him. Link was ninety-nine percent sure that he had, if nothing else, a teeny tiny crush on Sidon. He'd tried to find another reason for the way he felt when he was around the Zora prince, but...there was only so long he could run from it, right?
And he felt bloody awful about it. It wasn't fair to Sidon, and it wasn't fair to Mipha, who'd he cruelly rejected just to fall for her brother instead. It made him want to scream.
"Sheesh, I can hear the gears grinding in your head, you know."
"Y-Your f-fault."
"Er, no? I'm just pointing out the obvious, which you've been trying to bury beneath a ton of...what, guilt? Over what? Mipha? If she was as amazing as everyone else claims, she would give you her blessing in this, don't you think?"
Link shook his head. He would not engage in this discussion.
"Oh, for..." Sheik said, sighing. "Look, like I said, we're very likely going to die doing this, so what's the harm in indulging a little? Even if it's just admitting to yourself that, yes, you too are a living, feeling being?"
Link wasn't sure how much more of Sheik's see-sawing he could take. And why was it Sidon that his friend had decided to be this infuriatingly annoying about? Never mind that Sheik was right about this!
...why was Sheik being like this about Sidon? It'd be one thing if he was only needling Link and acting like his usual arsehole self to the prince, but he wasn't, was he? No, he allowed Sidon to touch him, acted bashful about the prince's comments on his voice, kept talking about him when Sidon wasn't there and...and...
Oh.
"Y-You like him t-too," Link said slowly, eyes widening.
"Wh-What? Don't be ridiculous!"
There was that familiar screech he knew and loved.
Any further argument was interrupted by the soft padding of bare feet on metal as Sidon quickly approached them from behind, looking excited and nervous at the same time.
"You left without me!" the prince exclaimed when he came closer, stopping in front of Link with his hands on his hips. Link tried not to look at Sidon's legs too closely. They were short.
"Link woke up before dawn and couldn't get back to sleep," Sheik said quickly. "I suggested we get an early start and prepare ourselves."
"You could have woken me," Sidon said.
Link hadn't been able to, too entranced by the sight of the prince's head softly bobbing on the surface of the pool in his chambers. He'd looked too peaceful to interrupt.
"S-Sorry," Link said.
"Oh well, no harm done, I suppose," Sidon said, shaking his head.
In the reservoir, Vah Ruta bellowed, shaking the entire basin with the power of its voice. Link and Sidon covered their ears, waiting until the roar subsided, leaving them both staring at the beast. Link felt cold determination fill him at that moment. The Beast had to be freed. Mipha had to be avenged!
"Are you ready for this?" Sidon asked, looking down at him with the same determination in his eyes. "You have the shock arrows?"
Link tapped his quiver, where the yellow-feathered shafts were sticking up. The Zora armour gleaned in the light of the distant lightning strikes. "Ready," he said in the steadiest manner he could muster.
"Wonderful, you never cease to amaze, Link!" Sidon said. "Now, let us go and appease the Divine Beast as one!"
"Heh, as one," Sheik repeated under his breath. Link ignored him.
"Here we go!" Sidon shouted, jumping into the water in an, admittedly, ostentatious manner that involved a lot of mid-air flips. Appearing a few feet away from the pier, Sidon turned towards Vah Ruta. "Gaze now upon the Divine Beast's back!"
"Now hurry up and get on my back!"
"Wh-What?"
"Do as the prince says, Link. He asked so politely."
As a plan, it was, in Link's humble opinion, batshit crazy. The idea of him sitting astride Sidon's back as the prince swam around Vah Ruta at insane speeds, dodging and weaving through the massive blocks of ice the Beast's defence systems hurled after them, was...well, truth be told, he was mostly concerned with the sitting astride bit. He could already hear Sheik's cackling about having royalty between his legs, or something similarly ridiculous.
Never mind the fact that the speeds Sidon could reach were terrifying, cutting through the water like it was nothing, easily changing directions with little to no effort, laughing when one of the ice chunks nearly crushed them. Sheik did his best to neutralise them with their Cryonis rune, but there was only so much he could do about the sheer number of them.
"This is exciting, is it not?!" Sidon exclaimed with a cackle eerily similar to Sheik's when he weaved between two blocks that smashed each other to pieces half a second later.
Link's only response was to grip the prince's shoulders tighter, praying that he wouldn't slip off.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!"
Sheik's voice was stuck somewhere between horror and delight as Link shot up the waterfall and sailed through the air, peaking just above Vah Ruta, giving him a perfect view of the tower-like structure that generated the never-ending waterfall.
In a movement so fluid and fast it almost surprised himself, Link unslung his bow, drew a shock arrow, nocked it, aimed it, and loosed it upon the generator. Blue-green arcs of lightning exploded and covered the generator as it struck, the lights going from bright-purple to green, and something happened to the waterfall—
He struck the surface of the basin, his view temporarily obstructed until he floated back up, bobbing in the water like a cork. The generator stopped, the waterfall drying up slowly. It was working!
"Link!" Sidon called out, speeding towards him. "Grab on!"
Grab on to what? Link had the time to wonder before Sidon was racing past him, and he reached out without thinking.
An awkward moment later, Link was back on a slightly bothered Sidon's back, and they were heading for the next generator.
"Hey Link, what did you grab?!" Sheik snickered.
Link carefully ignored him.
As the last generator sputtered and died, the Divine Beast itself seemed to lose its strength, the mighty trunk falling down into the basin, the spewing water slowing to a trickle. With the loss of power, the beast's legs gave out beneath it, lowering its height considerably. With a loud, metallic groan, a hatch in its side opened up, revealing a platform.
"Looks like this is where the real work starts," Sidon said quietly as he swam alongside it, allowing Link to climb onto the platform. Before he could climb up himself, the beast groaned once more and stood back up on its legs. Link tried to reach for him, but Sidon was already too far below, eyes wide.
"Of course," Sheik sighed.
"Link, Sheik!" Sidon called up to them. "Finish the job! And come back to m...come back to us! Be careful!"
"W-We will!" Link called back down. Truth be told, he was a little relieved Sidon had to stay behind. He didn't want the prince to get hurt in case he made a mistake.
"I'll keep him alive, Sharky, don't worry!" Sheik added. "Looks like we're on our own," he said quietly right afterwards. "You ready for this?"
"N-No," Link said as he drew his sword and shield, watching the door leading to the Beast's darkened interior with trepidation. "But l-let's d-do it anyway."
Between the two of them, I'm sure Link and Sheik could deny the Moon Landing out of existence, much less their shared crush on the fish husband.
Also, I like the idea of Link spending a great deal of his childhood in the Zora's Domain.