A/N: Hey there, welcome back to Slice of the Wild! Let me just say (from the bottom of my heart with an embarrassing amount of blush) - your support has meant so much to me. I've been working hard to get you all a double release of Chapter 9, so enjoy the next two chapters. Ideally, I've been wanting to post once a week, but family-time beat me out last week and I exchanged my computer for a coffee mug and enjoyed endless moments with my brother, sisters, and vivacious parents up at my grandpa's cottage. Sadly, as the school year approaches, I'll be posting less frequently, but I'm too excited about the story to let it go. Overall, I hope you all stick with me. Last note - I'm taking the liberty to post more author's notes and talk more about the characters from a writer's perspective (I don't entirely know what I'm doing, but I'd like to tell you all how Leekah reminds me of my mom and how the chemistry between the bar men and thugs oddly carries the feeling of my childhood church community) - so stay tuned.

Hey AngelWolf156, Bobert4242, Jobskiman, RyzenReignCrowley92, TheAnBruh, Wisegal, beanienightingale, mlpfaceline1, and traceurman - thank you all for following this story! Happy to have you all here!

Soledge1, Yes, they made it! I won't spoil too much here, but I had to do a lot of thinking of where I wanted to be when the fight broke out and where Link and Zelda would need to be. I pulled from a memory I had where my friend's dad had to do some "talking" to this volatile man who kept harassing us up at a cabin. Unseen, my friend and I were waiting behind a corner ready to use some folded-up beach chairs as weapons in case things went south. Long story short, the conversation went well! … never had to break out those chairs! We didn't get too see too much action, but I guess that's a good thing.

mlpfanceline1, Hey there! Nice to meet you, mlp! Yes, there will always be mistakes. Happy you made it past those!

Jynxhasadragon, Hey Jynx! Yes, Paya! We shall see her at the end. If you love her as much as I do, then I check out the author's note of the next chapter! I originally wrote those thoughts here but certainly blabbed on and on and on. But, it's down there if you want it!

TheAnBruh, Nice to meet you, TheAnBruh! And thank you for your encouragement! So happy to write for you here! Enjoy these two chapters!

Chapter Nine

Part One

Zelda sank into her seat as the wagon pulled to the top of the Sahasran Slopes. "The Silent Princess," she recited, distracting herself from the eerie silence, "Lilium Regaliam - it's an endangered species."

A body climbed up onto the cart - Zelda jumped! Link lunged. But, it was only Lawdon with the kodachi tied to his waist. Tucked into his belt loop, it glinted the pink haze of sunset as he hoisted his daughter into the bed. Calmed, Link lowered his sword, nodding as the father casually tossed his new toy into the cart and settled himself into the crowded wagon. He nodded hello to his family.

"What'cha you got there, Lawdie?" His wife quirked a brow.

He buried the kodachi in the remnant of Link's scattered clothes before scooping his daughter back up into his arms. "Just my daughter," sang he.

Zelda let out her breath, relieved to see the family together - Lawdon rocking his daughter back and forth, Pris both fussing and laughing, her mother judging from the front of the wagon. She leaned back against the hem of the curtains that shielded Zelda's view - blindfolded, she was rolling into her home away from home, Kakariko in all its quaint splendor.

Kakariko, she repeated the name to herself - the sacred glen of her childhood. Teeming with grasshoppers, waterfalls, flooded rice fields, trickling springs, and bullfrogs. Already could Zelda feel the pools at her shins, smell the wonderful scent of mildew from her most favorite bathroom in the land, and see the beautiful cushions beneath the low tables. After all, the Sheikah people ate on the ground, and if Zelda was sneaky, she could lay down and eat from the banquet. Glorious memories had her smelling a vast feast of garnished pumpkin soup, rice balls, and lemon-seared fish. Oh, the sweet taste of the candy from Impa's favorite shop down the gravel road burrowed into Zelda's dry tongue - and she cussed to herself, so afraid of how much she missed the Kakariko. How much had it changed?

Oh, Impa - the thought of her comforted Zelda. Alive was her attendant, her best friend despite the worlds of rules and policies between them. Zelda melted for the sight of her and her people - so loyal and pleasant adorned in wicker hats, black tattoos, and tracings of sacred mud on their cheeks.

But, anxiety drummed - Impa would be one-hundred years older, wouldn't she. Could she hear? Talk? Think? Would she even remember Zelda? And what about those wonderful waterfalls and ponds? Were they dry? Did the bullfrogs still sing?

Zelda quivered - her soul wanting to turn back.

Link must have noticed - of course, he had. The knight had not looked away since Lawdon had come into the cart.

He cocked his head in question - "are you okay?"

Zelda shook her head, admitting defeat.

A slow moment passed - Lawdon broke the thin silence, "Has anyone seen Linus?"

A head poked in from the front of the wagon, half-obscured by the curtain, "I'm driving, Pa!"

"Oh no, you aren't!" He scurried for the seat. "Leekah, get him back here!"

"But, I don't wanna sit back there!"

Leekah yanked him back. Her husband jumped into his seat.

"No, it smells back there." He plugged his nose.

"Don't be rude, Linus."

"But, the Princess puked!"

Suddenly, the cart froze - everyone gawking at the boy as he slowly withdrew his hand from his nose, looking back and forth at all the faces before returning his mother's gaze for some sort of explanation for the abrupt silence.

Zelda sank.

The secret rule - it had been broken.

"Um," Zelda exhaled, "It's a pleasure to meet you all."

Leekah smacked her thigh. "So it's true?"

"It's - well, it's difficult to explain."

Suddenly, there came an explosion from their side! The wagon shook! Zelda cowered; Link pulled her in, swinging his shield out towards the wagon's opening where the southern entrance hid two dozen wicker hats in its tall grass - the sheikah! And when they rose, brandishing their blades, prisoners yelled! Dust furled in through the holes of the bonnet, arrows whizzed over the wagon, swords clanged, horses squealed! Zelda held her ears, yet she could still hear Gen's hands clapping, thugs laughing, and distant cackling.

Lawdon jumped into the jockey seat and whipped on the horse! Their wagon lunged forward - knocking Zelda towards the back of the wagon - Link breaking her fall.

Leekah climbed onto them, glowing despite the chaos around them. "So it's not a legend? You're her! Not just some rich Hateno lady? The Princess!"

Link glared, grappling for his sword.

"And Link- he is? Goddesses, don't tell me!"

"Leekah!" Shouted her husband, steering the horse through the fray! - he whipped their horse. "This isn't the time!"

"Did you know Lawdie?"

"You're the one who told me! - back at the tent!"

"I say a lot of things! And this! This here is larger than life!" She grabbed Zelda's hand and furiously shook it, "I always ignored my grandma's legends! I'm so sorry, My Queen! I preferred cute boys to studying!" She then interrupted herself, grabbed her daughter, and dumped her into Zelda's lap. "Priscilla, this is a real live Princess! My goddesses! Mama even braided her hair!"

"A princess?" Beamed the little girl.

Zelda tried to get her balance, but the little girl in her lap grabbed and pulled her hair. Swiftly came Link's hand, pulling the girl off her so Zelda could sit up.

Suddenly, Leekah was punching his arm. "No wonder you've been so awkward, Link! This isn't just a pretty girl here!"

"Leekah!" Yelled her husband. "Would you just shut up? You knew!"

"Sorry, sorry! My apologies, Your Highness and - wait! what do I call Link here?" She smiled, "Sir Link? Sir Lincoln? Sir Lincoln of Hyrule?"

"You're a princess?" Fussed Pris, squirreling back into Zelda's arms. Her eyes lit up.

Instinctually, Zelda squeezed the little girl in her arms, wishing her body a shield for the whole caravan. Where was that golden light now? All that was gold was Link's hair - his bangs blowing in the breeze as the wagon sped forward.

Zelda bowed her head, afraid of many things.

"Bluebell," Said Link, pulling up a flower with his free hand.

Zelda searched his eyes.

"And yarrow." He awkwardly pointed to the lacey white flower in the bed.

Link was so kind - Zelda held back tears. Wiping her eyes on her dirty pink sleeve, she then grabbed a spare purple blossom and held it up for him.

"P-Prarie-flax." He nodded.

"Right." She twirled it in her fingers.

"Flowers!" Priscilla lunged for the flower.

"Yes!" Yelled Leekah, scooting towards them as the wagon barreled into the canyon. Dark shade fell over them, but her talking persisted, "Your Highness, please tell me about your flowers. You were saying Link here would accompany you to the meadows? - the royal meadows, oh my! And you'd study? The Quiet Queen?"

"The Silent Princess!" Zelda corrected, coughing on the dust furling into the wagon- she felt sick. Sweat adorned her brow. Would she vomit again? "I'm so sorry - I pulled all of you into this situation. I'll see to the care of the sheikah. Maybe they can take you all in as a reward for your kindness." She gagged, "- for everything!"

"Looks like there's no need to worry!" Called Lawdon from the front, "All women and children are trailing us in the other wagon! We're breaking through the gorge! Almost all safe!"

"What about the others? Quince, Box, and everyone else?"

"They can handle themselves, Lassy - I mean, Your Highness! - especially after those bottles of beer Gen and Lick pulled from their packs."

"You're jesting!"

"They're all just dandy! I'm seeing Sheikah up ahead! We'll get you to them - then I'll join the others the second you are safe!"

"But Lawdon!"

"Join them with what?" His wife teased, "That kodachi? You're a terrible swordsman."

"Don't talk to me, honey. Talk to the Princess if you fancy royalty this much!"

"Don't mind if I do!" Leekah turned, "So, the royal meadows?'

"Yes." Zelda panicked. She shut her eyes while the wagon charged over gravel.

"What were you looking for?"

"Peace!" Yelled she, "Silence!"

"And the Silly Lilly?"

"The Silent Princess!"

"Yeah! That - what about it? Did it give you powers? Did it make potions? Tell me!"

Zelda searched the woman's eyes - what could be said about the Silent Princess right now? The endangered species of Central Hyrule? The flower imbued with healing properties? - properties that could aid Hyrulean clinics after more research? How to grow it domestically was the exhaustive question, yet, the project was canned when the sword was pulled from the stone. All focus shifted towards guardian technology. How scary that day had been for Zelda, the Late King barreling into the labs, shouting at the scientists before spotting his own daughter looking up from their Petri dish.

"I've only seen a few in the wild." Zelda cried, another gust of dust furling in, "Couldn't get them to grow domestically!"

"What do they look like?"

A memory flurried - to be exact, the day the King called off the project. Zelda enveloped herself in the only form of rebellion that a do-good Princess could afford at twelve years old: she snuck into the labs and (while checking over her shoulder) nervously searched the trash for notes from the Head Researcher - Purah, her name. Successful, Zelda buried her coat pockets with pictures and texts about the flower before dashing away through the icy corridors. Guards only found her after the theft, and thankfully, they never checked her pockets - even with Zelda shaking with guilt. Painfully quiet, she let them escort her to her mother's old study. There, they left her to her lonesome. Their backs turned (as they always were), Zelda felt free to pin up those pictures on the frosty windowsill - five precious petals, the blue hues pooling at the pistil, and small fan-like leaves. Feeling safe, Zelda pulled out the Princess seeds that Purah had snuck her earlier that day.

This flower - thought she, burying the seeds in a spare pot- would prove her point. She'd prove single-handedly that the Princess could thrive domestically.

But that fame never came.

The memory fading, Zelda met Leekah's eyes, "They look like lilies!" The wagon knocked them apart, rolling over rocks and gravel among the rushing wind and jittering of wooden parts wearing out from the ride. Zelda scampered up, "Lillies with cerulean centers and lupin-like leaves looking like a fan."

All those years, Zelda had slaved over the Silent Princess bud - twenty minutes every day, a pick-me-up after those disappointing sessions in the frigid waters of Hylia. Drenched and shivering, she'd wrap herself with blankets, unlatch the back door of her room, and cross the bridge of stoic guards for the study at the outlying tower. And when inside, she'd inspect its roots with a spoke, write down any changes, and assess its constant needs. But, of course, the work proved to be useless. The Princess never poked through the dirt. Just like Zelda's powers. And so Zelda gave up too - after all, she had been searching for herself in the soil.

As the wagon rumbled among sounds of distant calling and trickling waterfalls, Link ducked low and pulled his bag closer with his free hand.

Zelda held him for balance, "Link? The sheikah slate! I hadn't thought of it until now! - I took a picture of the flower a long time ago! Maybe it's still in there!"

He bit down a frown, letting Zelda take his bag and scramble through his stuff - out came the slate with a dent in it. Its screen was shattered.

She turned it over in her hands and jammed her fingers against the buttons, but the black screen persisted. "Did it break?"

"It broke during the fight."

"The fight against the Castle Evil?" Cried Leekah. "That bitchin' shadow?"

Link didn't answer - though they read his face.

"Shit!" Shouted the mother. "You guys aren't kidding me, are you?"

What could Zelda say? She shook her head.

"And that gash in his side there! Are you telling me my husband cauterized a wound from the devil himself?!"

Link kept his gaze on the broken slate.

Zelda took his shoulders. "You're frowning - don't frown. I bet I can fix it somehow."

A frightened gaze flashed - looking between her eyes and her hands on his shoulders. He then gestured to the pack, "I wanted to get a book from there."

Zelda pulled a leather-bound journal from the pack; she held it up.

"T-Third page." He said shyly.

She flipped through the pages, a series of sketches flew beneath her thumb. "There are drawings in here, Link - are these yours?"

He didn't answer.

"Link - can you draw?"

No comment, he averted his eyes.

"I never knew this, Link!" She flipped through the book. On the third page was an accurately sketched Silent Princess.

Her heart melted.

"I-Is that it?" He muttered.

She gawked, pressing the book to her chest.

"They're everywhere."

The words took her breath away.

He opened his mouth to say something, but the slowing pace of the wagon caught his attention. People were calling to them. Link fell back to check the hole in the bonnet and returned with a ready expression - indeed, this was Kakariko.

Link tore through the curtain and jumped out the back of the wagon while the hem swayed, obscuring her view. Around him swarmed women in long white skirts and men with wicker hats, all fumbling in attempts to help. Link lifted his head up to the sky- possibly searching for bowmen in the hillsides. All clear - he helped Leekah, Pris, and Linus out of the wagon. Next came Lawdon, who jumped down himself. Last, he held out his hand for Zelda.

But, she sat frozen.

Kakariko was out there, wasn't it? - Zelda panicked, pressing Link's sketch to her chest.

"Can you stand?" He whispered - a flurry of people waiting behind him. People that Zelda didn't know.

She could only stare.

"Princess?"

But, Zelda couldn't answer - her ears busied themselves on deafening lack of croaking bullfrogs. The ponds were gone, weren't they? The waterfalls most likely had dried up. Green grass - had it withered? Somehow, a deep reckoning made her believe that she had always known the state of the world. Body frozen in the stasis, her mind could feel the state of Hyrule as it endured famine after famine. But now, it was time to open her eyes and see for herself.

Anxieties fluttering like twilight moths, Zelda pressed the sketch to her eyes. Never did she see Link jump back into the wagon. Only could she feel his weight as he climbed in and approached. Letting the book slip, Zelda peeked at his face - those concerned brows, those beautiful eyes, that buckling mouth.

"I can't," She let out a shaky breath, "I cannot move."

"I can help." Said he, but he interrupted his own movement, his hand not yet on her back. "Can I - ?"

With a sob, Zelda threw her arms around his neck, pulling him close. How cowardly! She cursed herself as she pressed her face against his chest, dreading the change waiting for her outside. Perhaps she could hide in his cloak? Scrunch her eyes closed? Block out the dust?

"I'm sorry," she murmured - he carrying her out of the wagon.

He said nothing at first, but as they passed the bustling crowd of strangers, he pressed his cheek against hers - a kind, gracious gesture bestowed by someone so tied up inside - always on guard, calculating every step, getting so far by suppressing so much. Old World politics took his voice; pressures from the Kingdom made him into a machine. Somedays, he allowed no sign of feeling to cross his face. But a soul for the wild was he - walled up inside soldiers' armor, three times his size. No less, the best fighter in his rank, though adorned with something extraterrestrial. Something so grand and loving that it could break down his high walls when a soul beside him suffered. The Princess would undergo scoldings from the King - and he'd stay close by. She'd cry in the Hylia's shrines - he'd help her out of the pools. She'd bend low to pick up a flower - he'd squat down and listen to everything Zelda had to say about it. She'd miss Impa - Link would go get her. Surely, this boy was walking the line between the personhood of a typical Hylian and the divine. He carried a legendary sword on his back, but still stopped to tie his own boots as every Hylian did. A warrior he was, yet he never shied away from wildflowers.

Zelda held him tightly as the musk from the Elder's cottage loomed in - the door opened and closed for them and suddenly they were inside. Slowly, while Link set her down on his feet, she opened her eyes to the rushing bodies coming in after them. The room filled itself with a dozen Sheikah, all with celebrating smiles, talking miles a minute. Yet, Zelda couldn't hear any of it. The room swayed into slow motion as Zelda peered around at the cottage's ceiling.

Her breath shortening, Zelda took in the buttresses, the floors, the wicker rugs, and the Elder's seat in the far center of the room. Had time erased itself? Thought she, buckling her knees. Was the last one hundred years just a fitful nightmare? It looked so similar to the past.

Suddenly, something caught her eye. It was a young woman, scurrying up to her - white hair, slender figure, familiar face.

Zelda gawked at her features.

Untouched by time - was this Impa?

"Oh it's such a p-pleasure," the young woman threw herself to the floor, "So glad you made it safely."

Wide-eyed, mouth agape, Zelda took in the face of her best friend and fainted.

Additional A/N:

Here are some additional notes. My husband encouraged me to write them down, so why not?

Thoughts on Leekah:

Leekah is an exaggerated version of my own mother. If I was successful, then hopefully you'd see that she is a wonderful bag of traits. My mom is both vivacious and tired. She is reliable and altruistic, but also very casual. Something I love most about my mom is her range of emotions - fresh from an argument, she'll pitch a joke. For example, she'll scold me for not answering her text message and then realize she never sent it. She'll look up from her phone, push her glasses to her nose, bite down an embarrassed smile, and say something like, "I guess I can let this one slide." The thought of it makes me laugh. In conclusion, she is much cooler than me - a party animal and a whiz with drinks. Yet, growing up, she'd remember everything on my schedule, always provide for our needs, and captain her own career. And here's a fun fact - she dragged my dad to a country that's not entirely stable at the moment and is now sending us pictures of their awesome trip. If you read this, please pray for her. She is entirely cool, but will be the end of herself one day.

Thoughts of the bar men and drunken community:

I mentioned that this community reminds me of my childhood church - yes, in a way. I visited a few weeks ago and the experience was both dreadful and lovely. It's the kind of place where everyone knows everyone - the pastor will make lawyer jokes knowing my lawyer dad is sitting in and he will laugh. People sitting nearby will clasp him on the back. You have people who knew you as a kid asking you about your age and your college and your career, and although you may not want to answer those questions their desire to initiate is delightful. Having people risk looking like a fool to make you feel seen is divine. Just looking at the community knitted together that rambunctious, invasive, and flawfully loving community. Tragically, a man from the church just lost his beloved wife, yet he is swarmed by support - maybe too much support considering he's a shy guy. Regardless, these people have moved mountains to support me and my family.