Zelda had been summoned to the Sanctum under her Father's wishes. It was a fine afternoon and Zelda was curious as to what exactly her Father wished to discuss. She'd recently returned from the Spring of Courage after a long day of prayer. It was the first time Link had accompanied her to any of the three Springs, though she only had access to two of them currently as Mount Lanayru was off limits to anyone under the age of 17. Link had been silent as ever, he was always so extremely calm and his dedication to protecting her was admirable, if a little overkill at times. He was quite literally the definition of perfection, and she despised how he reminded her that she was far from that.
"Zelda, on top of your training I believe it is time that you make good relations with the citizens of Hyrule. I do not intend to be King for much longer so it is important that Hyrule accepts you as their future leader. So, over the next month I would like you to visit the hometowns of each Champion, the rest of Hyrule can be visited after this whole ordeal is well past us." Zelda couldn't believe her ears, she had permission to freely explore Hyrule to an extent. Her eyes widened as a smile crept onto her features, she was overcome with joy, she'd been confined to the castle for so long, everything in the last 9 years had been dedicated to her training so she rarely got to do anything outside of travelling to the Springs and praying. "Yes Father, I will gladly-" "However.. you must not make a fool of yourself, and Link will be accompanying you." "Of course Father, thank you." Zelda gazed up at her Father gratefully, her vibrant green eyes sparkling with excitement. "Then you are dismissed." The King finished before sitting down on his throne. And with that Zelda spun on her heel and walked out of the Sanctum with a spring in her step.
--
Link was waiting outside the Sanctum as Zelda and her Father spoke. Zelda had seemed reluctant to enter the Sanctum at first, he figured that she wasn't all that fond of discussing her progress with unlocking her sealing powers. Link wondered exactly what expectations Zelda had to meet to have these powers granted to her. As far as he could tell Zelda had been dedicating her life to unlocking these powers for the greater half of her life. It sounded like quite the burden to bare, but surely she was close to her journey's end.
Zelda seemed visibly happy as she left the Sanctum, with a soft smile residing on her face. Link hadn't seen her smile before, and he thought it was quite a pleasant sight, though the smile seemed to fade as she saw Link. He felt a hint of pain inside him, what was it that caused her mood to just die like that? He pushed those thoughts aside as she began walking. "Father has instructed me to visit Rito Village, Goron City, Gerudo Town and finally, Zora's Domain. I assume I should return after each journey and report to the King." Zelda explained as they walked. Link was personally glad that they'd get to see the multiple highly populated areas dotted across the Kingdom. "So in that case pack your things tonight, tomorrow you get to meet your biggest fan." Zelda added dryly. She turned to Link as they reached her room. "See you in the morning, Hero." She had emphasized Hero in a way that Link knew was supposed to hurt him. He merely nodded before Zelda opened her door and walked inside. Link waited until another Knight came along to guard her room for the night. After the Knight showed up he entered his room and began to pack the little possessions he had. Sleep came easily after that.
--
Zelda enjoyed the feeling of pure freedom in the Wild, they'd been travelling for an hour now and were quite close to Rito Village. Her eyes darted around, soaking up the landscape as they passed by. She knew that Link was looking around too, but for a different reason. She knew he was scanning the area for anything that resembled danger, she sighed briefly, feeling her mood drop yet again. It's not that she wanted to see him how she did, she knew it was unfair to see her failure in him but she couldn't help it, she focused on the path ahead.
They stopped at a Rito stable where they boarded their horses, a task which Link had decided to carry out. Why couldn't he just let her do anything? 'Keep your cool Zelda.. Just focus on getting to the village..' She told herself, taking a deep breath in followed by a deep breath out. After he was done she began walking away from the stable, knowing he would follow. Sure enough she heard his footsteps behind her as they approached the first bridge into the village. As they passed by some Rito and some Hylian travellers Zelda heard whispers and murmurs as people pointed towards her. She never particularly enjoyed that, having people talking about her without her knowledge, but it was a curse which came with being royalty. They made their way up the spiralling staircase, Zelda wished to find and speak to the leader of the Rito. As they arrived at the top she turned to Link. "You can wait outside, I'll only be a few moments." She ordered before walking into the small hut.
--
As the Princess dismissed him, Link decided to get a good look at the surroundings. They were so high up now, and the view was seemingly breathtaking. Link made his way down to a large wooden platform and gazed out at the wonderful view which greeted him. However his appreciation was cut off by a sudden gust of wind which seemed to be blowing upwards. All of a sudden a a flash of blue flew up past him, and Link looked up to see the figure of Revali high in the sky. The Rito landed down on the fence in front of Link, a smug look on his face. "Impressive, I know. Very few can achieve a mastery of the sky."
Link noted that Revali was very sure of himself and very expressive, two traits Link could only dream of possessing. "Yet I have made an art of creating an updraft which allows me to soar. It's considered to be quite the masterpiece of aerial techniques, even among the Rito. With proper utilisation of my superior skills, I see no reason why we couldn't easily dispense with Ganon." He hopped down from his perch and approached the Hylian, Link couldn't deny it, Revali certainly knew how to appear intimidating. "Now then, my ability to explore the firmament is certainly of note..." He began to circle Link. "But let's not- pardon me for being so blunt- let's not forget the fact that I am the most skilled archer of all the Rito." He was standing next to Link now, Link felt quite trapped if he was being honest, Revali seemed to be jealous of Link, though the Hylian knew if this Rito knew exactly how Link felt, it would be pity that he would feel for Link, not jealousy.
"Yet despite these truths, it seems that I have been asked to merely assist you, all because you have that little darkness-sealing sword on your back." The Rito was standing in front of Link now looking off into the distance. "I mean, it's just.." Revali looked Link in the eye, his gaze showing visible disgust. "Asinine." He turned his head to face Link a little more, his tone brightening somewhat. "Unless.. you think you can prove me wrong?" He leaned in closer to Link, Link stood his ground, refusing to move or show that Revali's mind games were getting to him. "Maybe we should just settle this one on one? But where..? Oh, I know!" He thrust his left hand skyward, looking up towards the Divine Beast Vah Medoh "How about up there!?" He turned to look at Link again "Oh you must pardon me." he turned around, spreading his wings out. "I forgot you have no way of making it up to that Divine Beast on your own." His final words became venomous, full of the disgust Revali felt towards Link. He leaped up into the air and said something else, but the words didn't reach Link's ears.
Link shook his head, perplexed by what had just occurred. Revali truly despised Link all because his destiny was greater then Revali's. If it was up to Link, he'd happily trade his role for the Rito's, he only ever wanted to be a knight, not.. this. He turned around to see Zelda standing there, her expression was hard to read. "I- how long were you standing there?" Link inquired softly, standing up a little taller. "Long enough, however I'm surprised you managed to get out a full sentence." She giggled, it sounded utterly adorable. Wait, why had she giggled? He felt his lips curve upwards into a smile. Wait.. didn't she hate him? She sighed softly before clasping her hands together. "We'll remain here for a day or two before returning to the castle, I have many people to meet." She exclaimed before smiling weakly at Link. "Ignore Revali, he's got a large ego." Link was skeptical, why was she being so kind? He didn't ask, he had no reason to. She turned and began walking away, and Link followed.
--
Zelda had seen some of Revali's taunting, and she felt bad for Link, knowing how much Revali truly hated Link. So she decided to be somewhat nice to him afterwards. It wasn't all that difficult. He seemed to handle the situation quite well, he'd even spoken a full sentence to her. That was good progress, and he'd smiled at her, that had made her feel tingly inside. He had a very appealing smile. Now, however, she was reading a book, and Link was training with some of the Rito warriors, she expected as much. The book she was reading was the documented history of this unique race, she was very fascinated with Hyrule's history, so she couldn't pass up the opportunity to learn more.
She opened her eyes, she was laying down.. what? She was just reading a book- she sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes. She was in the inn laying in a bed, both the book and her Sheikah Slate were placed neatly on a stand next to her bed. She looked around to see the sleeping figure of Link, snoring peacefully. "Ah, Princess. You're awake." She turned her head to face the Rito who had spoken, she figured he ran the place considering he was behind the front desk. "You must've been exhausted yesterday, Link had found you asleep whilst reading a book so he took you down here. He's certainly good at his job." The Rito laughed softly as he flicked the page of a log book. Zelda smiled softly, Link had brought her down and made her comfortable, and he had been kind enough to neatly place her items in a pile. She looked at Link for a moment, watching his chest rise and fall softly for a minute. 'He really is perfect in every way. And maybe that isn't such a bad thing.' She thought before laying back down, and falling asleep again.