Woo hoo, two in one! Hope you like . . . . . ^_^;
I uploaded this chapter about gazillion times because I kept finding things wrong with it. There probably are some things still wrong with it, but I'm getting sick of uploading. : P
Well anyways here's the fifth chapter, enjoy!
p.s couldn't think of a chapter title so it's really lame..sorry.
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Chapter 5: Bump at the Market
A week had passed since Zelda had run away. Not much had happened and had, overall passed by dully.
King Harkinian had punished Zelda most severely and ordered that she stay inside the castle for an entire month. The servants and maids became her jailors, keeping a close eye on her in case she were to try and get out. She wasn't even allowed to go to the courtyard, which was a real pity because she always loved being outside and climbing the trees and tending to her flowers.
Morning reached Hyrule, the sun peaking over the horizon spreading light through the land. The village was already starting to wake, and people slowly began to fill the market streets and fields. But some people were still in bed, Princess Zelda among them . . . . but not for long.
"Zelda? Zelda, wake up!" Impa's voice triumphed as the first sound of the day. Impa entered Zelda's room and saw Zelda tucked under the covers, sleeping serenely.
Impa clicked her tongue in disapproval. "Princess wake up!" she said nudging her with her hand. Zelda merely turned over and continued to sleep peacefully.
Impa sighed and strode over to the windows, thrusting the curtains open and letting the light shine through. Zelda squeezed her eyes shut tighter and covered her head with the pillows to block out the light. Impa grabbed back the pillows and threw them aside.
Defeated, Zelda sat up. "Why do I have to wake up, Impa? It's not like I'm going to be doing anything important today." She said grudgingly.
"Today you are." Impa said, crossing her arms.
Zelda's head snapped up at Impa. "Really?" she asked her eyes already wide with hope.
"Yep, we have to do some preparing for the village ball, remember?" Impa said.
Zelda's hopeful expression faded rapidly into a grimace. The village ball-how could she forget? Everyone in the village was invited and therefore a perfect opportunity for her father to show off his riches and jewels and he did so by the means of using her. He always made her wear nearly half her weight in jewelry and the most elaborate unnecessary dress. And this year, Zelda was sure she would be told to dance with Prince Selth, which was something that should only be allowed in nightmares.
Impa, noticing Zelda's face smiled slightly. "It's not all that bad, you know. At least you get go to the Market."
Zelda's face brightened again at this. "Really?" she asked.
"Yes, but-" Impa was caught off by a gleeful "yes!" from Zelda. She got out of bed and opened her wardrobe.
"But mind you, just because you get to go out doesn't mean you can do anything you want, Princess. We're there to buy things, not play around. I have strict orders from your father to keep a close eye on you, and don't think I won't Zelda!" Impa said wagging a threatening finger at her.
Zelda grinned. She knew better than to take Impa seriously. This was her one day out and she was going to make it count. And even if Impa was going to try and stop her, she could just slip away and pretend she got "lost" in the crowd.
Impa studied Zelda's face and could tell she wasn't taking her seriously. Impa sighed, and shook her head. "Get ready, we're leaving soon." She said and left, closing the door quietly behind her.
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Meanwhile another person was getting up, miles away from the castle.
Link sat up and yawned tiredly. Getting his eyes to focus, Link dimly remembered that he had promised the day before to meet Roy and Sephiroth. Roy was going on about this new sword that he bought. It had been too late for them to see if it was any good but Roy challenged them to a sparring match first thing today with his new sword.
Link got out of bed and stretched. Some awake part of him told him to get going and find them; his sleepy, lazy part told him to go back to sleep. But not wanting to seem like he backed out of the fight he dressed and left the house, wondering where they could be.
Wondering where they could be, he thought that his best bet would be the Market. And even if he didn't find them, he was likely to find at least one of his friends who might know where they could have Roy or Sephiroth may have gotten to. So he headed to the Market taking his sword with him.
When he reached the Market, it was already teeming with people and little kids running around. He leafed his way through the crowd, keeping his eye open for any of his friends. There were more people here than usual, probably buying things for the village ball. He looked through the swarm of people but found no one he recognized.
Link realized that they must either still be asleep or already out on the field, but in any case they weren't here. He squeezed past again not really paying too much attention, which proved its cost when he bumped into someone, knocking both of them off their feet.
Link blinked, coming out of his trance. "Oh, I'm so sorry." He said apologetically. He stood up and offered a hand to help the person he had knocked back up. The person accepted and got to their feet as well. "That's okay." The person said.
Link was about to leave when he caught a glimpse of the person's face. He turned to face the person and blinked.
"Zelda?"
Zelda who was dusting off her pants looked up. She blinked as well. She knew those adorable golden bangs and the ocean-blue eyes. "Link?" she asked, just as amazed. Then she realized what she had just said (or thought rather) and mentally slapped herself to her senses.
"What are you doing here?" he asked. He was amazed she even remembered his name.
"I get to go out for the day because we need to buy a few things." Zelda explained. "I was supposed to stay with my nursemaid, Impa but well-"
"You didn't." Link finished for her.
Zelda grinned. "Well, she had her back turned and I just sort of slipped away. But I don't think she'll mind much, really."
"You should hope not." Link said, smiling a little bit as well.
She smiled. "What are you doing here?" she asked but in a less- shocked way than Link.
"I was trying to find my friends but-"
"Oh, you have friends? I would have never thought." Zelda teased smiling.
Link felt his own lips curve into a smile. "Yes as a matter a fact, I do." He said huffily and Zelda laughed.
"I've never seen you in the Market before." Link said, wondering if that was a stupid thing to say.
"Well I haven't been here that often. The few times I have, it's for "royal purposes" anyway." Zelda said, mocking the "royal purposes" part. Then, she looked around curiously. "Is it always this busy?" she asked.
Link shrugged. "Well during the day it is. In the night a lot of the, uh, stranger people come out. But there are a lot of fun shops around." Link said gesturing toward some tiny little buildings.
Zelda looked at them and then back at the merry people. They were all so lucky, to get the chance to be here everyday if they wanted to . . . . unlike her. Then she got an idea. She turned back to Link, wondering. Would he-? No, he's probably busy . . . but would it hurt to ask-?
Zelda decided it was worth a try. "Link? Would you mind showing me around?" she asked. She felt stupid asking but it would be lonely just walking around by herself.
Link closed his eyes shut and opened them, to make sure he wasn't dreaming. His mind was racing. Did she just ask what he thought she had asked? Did the most beautiful girl, the Princess of Hyrule actually want to spend time with him?
Zelda, noting Link's silence, added hastily, "If you want to that is. I mean I was just asking-"
Link saw that he heard right and he said quickly "No I don't mind-I mean sure."
Now Zelda made sure her ears weren't wrong. She smiled, relieved. "Thanks" she said.
"No problem." He replied. It was him who should be thanking her for even noticing him. "So where do you want to go?" he asked
Zelda looked around and saw a tiny building.
"That's the Bombchu Bowling Alley." Link said, looking to where Zelda was staring.
"What's that?" she asked, bemused.
"I'll show you." He said and led the way there.
When they entered the shop, Link explained how to play (a/n: I don't need to describe that part-you should know).
"Can we play?" she asked, excited.
"Sure." They had fun firing the Bombchus and Zelda wasn't a bad shot. In fact she managed to get them all, which was something that few people could do on their first try.
They left the shop and walked through the streets. As they walked Zelda found herself, with strange openness, talking about her life in the castle. And Link listened to her, and some lonely part of Zelda knew he was one of the few who did.
Everyone else she had ever met had always been to shy to speak because she was a princess. The servants, for example were all too scared, like she was going to send them to the dungeons at any random moment.
When she told of him of all the tricks she used to pull on Impa when she was younger Link laughed. "I used to do that to my uncle. He used to get so annoyed." Link said, remembering. Then he realized what he had said and became quiet. He hadn't spoken of his uncle in a long time; not that he had forgotten him.
"I didn't know you had an uncle." Zelda said.
"Well, he-he died. When I was 10." Link said. He avoided Zelda's eyes.
"Oh, I'm sorry." she said wishing she hadn't said anything.
Link shook his head. "So was your father happy when you came back?" he asked changing the subject.
"Well if he was, he had a funny way of showing it." she growled. "He made me stay inside the castle for an entire month, and I'm not allowed to go out on the courtyard."
Link smiled sympathetically. "You know, he did it because he loves and worries about you."
Zelda rolled her eyes. "You sound like Impa." She said.
They continued walking when a small building caught Zelda's eye.
"What's that?" she asked pointing to it.
Link looked to where Zelda was pointing to. "Oh, that's a game shop where-"
That was all Zelda needed to hear. Before Link could explain further, Zelda was already heading toward it, pulling him with her.
"Come on then, lets go in." she said.
They entered the little building where another, rather bored looking girl was sitting behind the wooden counter. In front of them was a big target board with a tiny bull's eye (did I spell that right) in the center. A few broken arrows lay scattered on the ground.
"Welcome to the archery game. 15 rupees for two tries." The girl said listlessly, twirling her hair around her finger.
Zelda turned back to Link. "Want to try?" she asked.
Link shrugged. "Alright."
"Bet I could beat you." She said in a challenging voice.
"You're on." He grinned. He exchanged with the girl 15 rupees for two arrows and a bow. He aimed carefully and fired them, both landing perfectly in the center.
Link smirked good-naturedly (if that's possible). "Try beating that" he challenged.
Zelda paid the money and strung the first arrow. Link wondered where she had learnt to string an arrow; was that something that they taught princesses? Zelda fired the arrow which arrived right in the center knocking one of Link's off the board, surprising him. She fired the second which also landed on target, next to her first one.
Link and Zelda's eyes met. "Okay, so that's a draw." Link said slowly.
"Yeah but you got lucky that time. Next time I would beat you." Zelda said confidently.
"No, it wasn't luck, and I can prove it." He paid again and shot the two arrows. Again the landed on the center. Zelda's arrows settled the same way.
So, they played again. And again. For about two more tries until finally the girl was looking gleeful at the money they were paying, and the center was clustered with the arrows.
"Okay, it's a draw." Zelda finally agreed.
Link had to admit he was impressed. No one as far as he could remember was as good at archery as he was-not that he was jealous or something. He was just rather amazed that Zelda, Princess Zelda had tied with him.
"Where did you learn this?" Link asked as they left the shop.
"Learn what?"
"To fire an arrow. I mean is it something that you were supposed to learn?"
Zelda smiled slightly. "No, my father would kill me if he knew. But I've wanted to learn, so I asked my nursemaid, Impa to teach me."
"Well she taught you well." Link said.
Zelda's smile broadened. Coming from someone that had killed a malevolent giant wolf without even getting scratched, it was very high praise. "Thanks." She said truly grateful.
"So where do you want to go to now?" he asked.
She looked around thinking of a place to go to, but before she could say anything a man had suddenly appeared in front of them, stepping in their way.
"Aha! Look at that!" the man cried. Link and Zelda exchanged mystified looks and saw the man pull out strange-looking tarot cards.
"Aha!" he cried again and brandished the cards in front of Link. Link stared bewildered at them until the man said in a dramatic whisper "Pick the card that is you and we shall see . . ." Exactly what they were going to see he never said but instead just waved the cards, motioning Link to pick one.
"And you, my darling" he said turning to Zelda. "Must close your eyes, and dare not peek or the magic shall be ruined!" he said tragically.
Zelda gave Link the most confused look but Link had realized that this was one of the people who used tarot cards to supposedly predict the future and made money from the tips that people gave him.
"Choose a card of your liking. Any card! And you, remember to close your eyes" he added to Zelda. She looked at Link and her lips twitched in a smile, but she obeyed and closed her eyes.
"And now, you." He said showing the cards once more to Link. Link looked at them, not even sure what the man wanted. "Pick the card that is you." The man whispered.
Link sighed. How was he supposed to know which card "was him"? In the end he just chose what looked like a woman, half of her visible, the rest of her in shadows and a twinkling star in the far left corner. Her eyes were closed like she was sleeping and her auburn hair fanned out behind her. It was the only one that actually looked like something; the rest were just angular shapes arranged in some order.
"There." Link said giving the card to the man.
"Aaah." He said in that melodramatic whisper of his. "Interesting choice . . . . Are you sure this is what you want?" he asked.
"Yes." Link replied.
"Alright then, my dear you may open your eyes." He said turning to Zelda. Zelda opened her eyes and the man had pulled out another set of tarot cards and held them up to Zelda. "Now it is your turn." He said. "Pick a card!"
Zelda looked at Link who shrugged. Her lips twitched again and looked down at the display of cards. They all had weird symbols around the edge and strange pictures on them. She chose a card and handed it to the man.
"Aha!!" the man exclaimed louder than both the other times. "Aha! I knew it!" he cried. He pulled out the card that Link had chose and showed them both. Link recognized that the card Zelda had chosen was the same card that he had picked, except now the other half of the woman was visible and the second was in shadows, and the star was in the top right.
"You see?" the man said excitedly. "You picked the other half of the card! These two are of closet bond! This clearly shows that you two are in deep love!" the man proclaimed.
At this, both Zelda and Link went deep red. The man however took no notice. "You two were destined for each other! You two are a match set by the goddesses themselves! You shall love each other for all of eternity and live in happiness!" he declared.
Link's face was burning red now. Obviously the man thought they were couples and this would be good news to them. Link, who was sure that the cards were wrong, did his best at pretending he hadn't heard the man's prediction, but his reddened face gave it away. Hastily, Link handed the man a coin, in hopes he would go away then. The man pronounced himself satisfied and left and abruptly as he had come. There was an awkward silence.
"Um . . . . should we go?" Link asked his face warm.
"Uh, yeah sure." Zelda said her cheeks a flushed crimson. She had thought maybe she had heard the man wrong but seeing as how Link was blushing too, she had obviously heard him right.
Once, when she was younger, another man with a different set of tarot cards had asked if she wanted to see her future. She said yes. He spent a long time casting the tarot cards and studying them critically. Finally he announced that her future looked hard but happy if she made the right decisions. He also said that she may find herself forced into something she very much did not want to do. She realized now that the man might have been predicting her wedding. Impa had told her tarot cards were just a cheap trick, but if it had been right once about her wedding, then was it true about what the man had said about her and Link?
Of course not, she thought immediately berating herself for such stupid thoughts. What was she thinking? Of course the tarot cards were wrong. It was coincidence that she had picked the same card as Link, she told herself. Mere coincidence.
"So, um you never told me what you're buying." Link said, doing his best to open up another conversation.
"Oh we're buying things for the ball this week, except I'm not bothering to help."
"Why not?" Link asked.
"Because well, there's a lot more fun things to do, then to prepare for the ball." Zelda answered honestly.
"Like archery?" Link said with a sly smile.
Zelda grinned. "Exactly."
Suddenly Zelda's eyes lit up. "Hey, you know the ball is open to all who's willing to come." She hinted.
Link didn't get it. "Yeah I know." he said, wondering how he could not. All day the women debated what dress to wear and the younger girls giggled over who was going with who. Malon had told him she was going and had in a roundabout way asked if he was going. He wasn't sure whether to go or to not to.
"Are you going?" she asked.
Link blinked "What?" he asked dumbly.
"Are you going to the ball?" Zelda repeated.
"Uh well-" Link started not even sure what he was going to say. Zelda looked at him the corner of her lips curving hopefully. If he was honest with himself, he had thoroughly enjoyed today, and had for awhile forgotten all about Zelda's social status. She sure didn't act like a princess, but Link decided she was much better this way.
Link smiled. "Alright, I'll go. Only because you asked nicely." He added giving a playful grin.
"I never asked you to go to the ball; I just asked if you were." Zelda said haughtily but her pleased grin gave it away.
"Well in that case, I guess I won't come." Link said, joking.
"Fine then, don't." Zelda said hoping very much that Link saw that she was kidding as well.
Link grinned. "So, what do you want to-?"
"Zelda! There you are!" a voice said. Zelda turned and saw an irritated Impa walking toward her.
"Hi Impa." Zelda said cheerily.
"Zelda, I told you not to go anywhere why don't you ever-" she halted when she saw Link. Her eyebrows ascended ever so slightly in surprise and suspicion.
"Who's this?" she asked Zelda looking stern.
"Impa this is Link." She paused to give Impa a meaningful look. "And Link, this is Impa, my nursemaid."
Link looked at Impa. "Nice to meet you." He said politely, unsure of what else to say.
Impa nodded her head. So, she thought to herself. This is the Link who saved Zelda. She studied Zelda's face and smiled inwardly. Interesting.
"Well come on, Zelda. It's getting late." Impa said. "Nice to meet you, Link." She said over her shoulder.
Zelda felt a pang of disappointment of having to leave. She stayed back to say goodbye to Link. "Bye, Link." She said wishing the day could have been a little longer.
"See you soon." He said with a tiny smile. Zelda smiled back making Link feel warmth creeping to his cheeks.
And she left, hurrying to catch up with an annoyed and waiting Impa.
"So had fun?" Impa asked. But before Zelda could respond she answered for her. "Oh, of course you did, you know, being with Link and all." She said smiling slyly at Zelda.
Zelda stared at Impa, genuinely confused. "What are you talking about?" she asked.
Impa's smug smile widened. "You know."
Zelda thought about what Impa had just said and blinked. "Impa," she said slowly. "You don't think that I actually like-" Impa's annoying know- it-all smile told her that she did.
Zelda rolled her eyes. "Oh Impa, really. I do not like Li-"
"You can say whatever you want Zelda." Impa said. Impa was just teasing Zelda, and she didn't mean it but all the same she thought she could sense a fondness coming from her.
Zelda shook her head exasperatedly. "Oh, forget it Impa." She said and they made their way back to the castle.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ A/n: Gaah. That chapter didn't exactly turn out the way I was hoping u_u. I really hope its not as bad as I think it is, and I'm just being critical. It had some romance at least, though not much action, if any. I'm really sorry but I didn't know what to do with it.
I know the Market doesn't have an archery thing like that, but I put it there for a reason. I also know that random people with tarot cards don't come up to you and ask if you want to see your future (that would be funny if they did ^_^) but hey, at least it added some romance.
Well that chapter was a long one and I hope it was fun to read. And be sure to review, as always. See you all later! (Although hopefully not much later ^_^)
I uploaded this chapter about gazillion times because I kept finding things wrong with it. There probably are some things still wrong with it, but I'm getting sick of uploading. : P
Well anyways here's the fifth chapter, enjoy!
p.s couldn't think of a chapter title so it's really lame..sorry.
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Chapter 5: Bump at the Market
A week had passed since Zelda had run away. Not much had happened and had, overall passed by dully.
King Harkinian had punished Zelda most severely and ordered that she stay inside the castle for an entire month. The servants and maids became her jailors, keeping a close eye on her in case she were to try and get out. She wasn't even allowed to go to the courtyard, which was a real pity because she always loved being outside and climbing the trees and tending to her flowers.
Morning reached Hyrule, the sun peaking over the horizon spreading light through the land. The village was already starting to wake, and people slowly began to fill the market streets and fields. But some people were still in bed, Princess Zelda among them . . . . but not for long.
"Zelda? Zelda, wake up!" Impa's voice triumphed as the first sound of the day. Impa entered Zelda's room and saw Zelda tucked under the covers, sleeping serenely.
Impa clicked her tongue in disapproval. "Princess wake up!" she said nudging her with her hand. Zelda merely turned over and continued to sleep peacefully.
Impa sighed and strode over to the windows, thrusting the curtains open and letting the light shine through. Zelda squeezed her eyes shut tighter and covered her head with the pillows to block out the light. Impa grabbed back the pillows and threw them aside.
Defeated, Zelda sat up. "Why do I have to wake up, Impa? It's not like I'm going to be doing anything important today." She said grudgingly.
"Today you are." Impa said, crossing her arms.
Zelda's head snapped up at Impa. "Really?" she asked her eyes already wide with hope.
"Yep, we have to do some preparing for the village ball, remember?" Impa said.
Zelda's hopeful expression faded rapidly into a grimace. The village ball-how could she forget? Everyone in the village was invited and therefore a perfect opportunity for her father to show off his riches and jewels and he did so by the means of using her. He always made her wear nearly half her weight in jewelry and the most elaborate unnecessary dress. And this year, Zelda was sure she would be told to dance with Prince Selth, which was something that should only be allowed in nightmares.
Impa, noticing Zelda's face smiled slightly. "It's not all that bad, you know. At least you get go to the Market."
Zelda's face brightened again at this. "Really?" she asked.
"Yes, but-" Impa was caught off by a gleeful "yes!" from Zelda. She got out of bed and opened her wardrobe.
"But mind you, just because you get to go out doesn't mean you can do anything you want, Princess. We're there to buy things, not play around. I have strict orders from your father to keep a close eye on you, and don't think I won't Zelda!" Impa said wagging a threatening finger at her.
Zelda grinned. She knew better than to take Impa seriously. This was her one day out and she was going to make it count. And even if Impa was going to try and stop her, she could just slip away and pretend she got "lost" in the crowd.
Impa studied Zelda's face and could tell she wasn't taking her seriously. Impa sighed, and shook her head. "Get ready, we're leaving soon." She said and left, closing the door quietly behind her.
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Meanwhile another person was getting up, miles away from the castle.
Link sat up and yawned tiredly. Getting his eyes to focus, Link dimly remembered that he had promised the day before to meet Roy and Sephiroth. Roy was going on about this new sword that he bought. It had been too late for them to see if it was any good but Roy challenged them to a sparring match first thing today with his new sword.
Link got out of bed and stretched. Some awake part of him told him to get going and find them; his sleepy, lazy part told him to go back to sleep. But not wanting to seem like he backed out of the fight he dressed and left the house, wondering where they could be.
Wondering where they could be, he thought that his best bet would be the Market. And even if he didn't find them, he was likely to find at least one of his friends who might know where they could have Roy or Sephiroth may have gotten to. So he headed to the Market taking his sword with him.
When he reached the Market, it was already teeming with people and little kids running around. He leafed his way through the crowd, keeping his eye open for any of his friends. There were more people here than usual, probably buying things for the village ball. He looked through the swarm of people but found no one he recognized.
Link realized that they must either still be asleep or already out on the field, but in any case they weren't here. He squeezed past again not really paying too much attention, which proved its cost when he bumped into someone, knocking both of them off their feet.
Link blinked, coming out of his trance. "Oh, I'm so sorry." He said apologetically. He stood up and offered a hand to help the person he had knocked back up. The person accepted and got to their feet as well. "That's okay." The person said.
Link was about to leave when he caught a glimpse of the person's face. He turned to face the person and blinked.
"Zelda?"
Zelda who was dusting off her pants looked up. She blinked as well. She knew those adorable golden bangs and the ocean-blue eyes. "Link?" she asked, just as amazed. Then she realized what she had just said (or thought rather) and mentally slapped herself to her senses.
"What are you doing here?" he asked. He was amazed she even remembered his name.
"I get to go out for the day because we need to buy a few things." Zelda explained. "I was supposed to stay with my nursemaid, Impa but well-"
"You didn't." Link finished for her.
Zelda grinned. "Well, she had her back turned and I just sort of slipped away. But I don't think she'll mind much, really."
"You should hope not." Link said, smiling a little bit as well.
She smiled. "What are you doing here?" she asked but in a less- shocked way than Link.
"I was trying to find my friends but-"
"Oh, you have friends? I would have never thought." Zelda teased smiling.
Link felt his own lips curve into a smile. "Yes as a matter a fact, I do." He said huffily and Zelda laughed.
"I've never seen you in the Market before." Link said, wondering if that was a stupid thing to say.
"Well I haven't been here that often. The few times I have, it's for "royal purposes" anyway." Zelda said, mocking the "royal purposes" part. Then, she looked around curiously. "Is it always this busy?" she asked.
Link shrugged. "Well during the day it is. In the night a lot of the, uh, stranger people come out. But there are a lot of fun shops around." Link said gesturing toward some tiny little buildings.
Zelda looked at them and then back at the merry people. They were all so lucky, to get the chance to be here everyday if they wanted to . . . . unlike her. Then she got an idea. She turned back to Link, wondering. Would he-? No, he's probably busy . . . but would it hurt to ask-?
Zelda decided it was worth a try. "Link? Would you mind showing me around?" she asked. She felt stupid asking but it would be lonely just walking around by herself.
Link closed his eyes shut and opened them, to make sure he wasn't dreaming. His mind was racing. Did she just ask what he thought she had asked? Did the most beautiful girl, the Princess of Hyrule actually want to spend time with him?
Zelda, noting Link's silence, added hastily, "If you want to that is. I mean I was just asking-"
Link saw that he heard right and he said quickly "No I don't mind-I mean sure."
Now Zelda made sure her ears weren't wrong. She smiled, relieved. "Thanks" she said.
"No problem." He replied. It was him who should be thanking her for even noticing him. "So where do you want to go?" he asked
Zelda looked around and saw a tiny building.
"That's the Bombchu Bowling Alley." Link said, looking to where Zelda was staring.
"What's that?" she asked, bemused.
"I'll show you." He said and led the way there.
When they entered the shop, Link explained how to play (a/n: I don't need to describe that part-you should know).
"Can we play?" she asked, excited.
"Sure." They had fun firing the Bombchus and Zelda wasn't a bad shot. In fact she managed to get them all, which was something that few people could do on their first try.
They left the shop and walked through the streets. As they walked Zelda found herself, with strange openness, talking about her life in the castle. And Link listened to her, and some lonely part of Zelda knew he was one of the few who did.
Everyone else she had ever met had always been to shy to speak because she was a princess. The servants, for example were all too scared, like she was going to send them to the dungeons at any random moment.
When she told of him of all the tricks she used to pull on Impa when she was younger Link laughed. "I used to do that to my uncle. He used to get so annoyed." Link said, remembering. Then he realized what he had said and became quiet. He hadn't spoken of his uncle in a long time; not that he had forgotten him.
"I didn't know you had an uncle." Zelda said.
"Well, he-he died. When I was 10." Link said. He avoided Zelda's eyes.
"Oh, I'm sorry." she said wishing she hadn't said anything.
Link shook his head. "So was your father happy when you came back?" he asked changing the subject.
"Well if he was, he had a funny way of showing it." she growled. "He made me stay inside the castle for an entire month, and I'm not allowed to go out on the courtyard."
Link smiled sympathetically. "You know, he did it because he loves and worries about you."
Zelda rolled her eyes. "You sound like Impa." She said.
They continued walking when a small building caught Zelda's eye.
"What's that?" she asked pointing to it.
Link looked to where Zelda was pointing to. "Oh, that's a game shop where-"
That was all Zelda needed to hear. Before Link could explain further, Zelda was already heading toward it, pulling him with her.
"Come on then, lets go in." she said.
They entered the little building where another, rather bored looking girl was sitting behind the wooden counter. In front of them was a big target board with a tiny bull's eye (did I spell that right) in the center. A few broken arrows lay scattered on the ground.
"Welcome to the archery game. 15 rupees for two tries." The girl said listlessly, twirling her hair around her finger.
Zelda turned back to Link. "Want to try?" she asked.
Link shrugged. "Alright."
"Bet I could beat you." She said in a challenging voice.
"You're on." He grinned. He exchanged with the girl 15 rupees for two arrows and a bow. He aimed carefully and fired them, both landing perfectly in the center.
Link smirked good-naturedly (if that's possible). "Try beating that" he challenged.
Zelda paid the money and strung the first arrow. Link wondered where she had learnt to string an arrow; was that something that they taught princesses? Zelda fired the arrow which arrived right in the center knocking one of Link's off the board, surprising him. She fired the second which also landed on target, next to her first one.
Link and Zelda's eyes met. "Okay, so that's a draw." Link said slowly.
"Yeah but you got lucky that time. Next time I would beat you." Zelda said confidently.
"No, it wasn't luck, and I can prove it." He paid again and shot the two arrows. Again the landed on the center. Zelda's arrows settled the same way.
So, they played again. And again. For about two more tries until finally the girl was looking gleeful at the money they were paying, and the center was clustered with the arrows.
"Okay, it's a draw." Zelda finally agreed.
Link had to admit he was impressed. No one as far as he could remember was as good at archery as he was-not that he was jealous or something. He was just rather amazed that Zelda, Princess Zelda had tied with him.
"Where did you learn this?" Link asked as they left the shop.
"Learn what?"
"To fire an arrow. I mean is it something that you were supposed to learn?"
Zelda smiled slightly. "No, my father would kill me if he knew. But I've wanted to learn, so I asked my nursemaid, Impa to teach me."
"Well she taught you well." Link said.
Zelda's smile broadened. Coming from someone that had killed a malevolent giant wolf without even getting scratched, it was very high praise. "Thanks." She said truly grateful.
"So where do you want to go to now?" he asked.
She looked around thinking of a place to go to, but before she could say anything a man had suddenly appeared in front of them, stepping in their way.
"Aha! Look at that!" the man cried. Link and Zelda exchanged mystified looks and saw the man pull out strange-looking tarot cards.
"Aha!" he cried again and brandished the cards in front of Link. Link stared bewildered at them until the man said in a dramatic whisper "Pick the card that is you and we shall see . . ." Exactly what they were going to see he never said but instead just waved the cards, motioning Link to pick one.
"And you, my darling" he said turning to Zelda. "Must close your eyes, and dare not peek or the magic shall be ruined!" he said tragically.
Zelda gave Link the most confused look but Link had realized that this was one of the people who used tarot cards to supposedly predict the future and made money from the tips that people gave him.
"Choose a card of your liking. Any card! And you, remember to close your eyes" he added to Zelda. She looked at Link and her lips twitched in a smile, but she obeyed and closed her eyes.
"And now, you." He said showing the cards once more to Link. Link looked at them, not even sure what the man wanted. "Pick the card that is you." The man whispered.
Link sighed. How was he supposed to know which card "was him"? In the end he just chose what looked like a woman, half of her visible, the rest of her in shadows and a twinkling star in the far left corner. Her eyes were closed like she was sleeping and her auburn hair fanned out behind her. It was the only one that actually looked like something; the rest were just angular shapes arranged in some order.
"There." Link said giving the card to the man.
"Aaah." He said in that melodramatic whisper of his. "Interesting choice . . . . Are you sure this is what you want?" he asked.
"Yes." Link replied.
"Alright then, my dear you may open your eyes." He said turning to Zelda. Zelda opened her eyes and the man had pulled out another set of tarot cards and held them up to Zelda. "Now it is your turn." He said. "Pick a card!"
Zelda looked at Link who shrugged. Her lips twitched again and looked down at the display of cards. They all had weird symbols around the edge and strange pictures on them. She chose a card and handed it to the man.
"Aha!!" the man exclaimed louder than both the other times. "Aha! I knew it!" he cried. He pulled out the card that Link had chose and showed them both. Link recognized that the card Zelda had chosen was the same card that he had picked, except now the other half of the woman was visible and the second was in shadows, and the star was in the top right.
"You see?" the man said excitedly. "You picked the other half of the card! These two are of closet bond! This clearly shows that you two are in deep love!" the man proclaimed.
At this, both Zelda and Link went deep red. The man however took no notice. "You two were destined for each other! You two are a match set by the goddesses themselves! You shall love each other for all of eternity and live in happiness!" he declared.
Link's face was burning red now. Obviously the man thought they were couples and this would be good news to them. Link, who was sure that the cards were wrong, did his best at pretending he hadn't heard the man's prediction, but his reddened face gave it away. Hastily, Link handed the man a coin, in hopes he would go away then. The man pronounced himself satisfied and left and abruptly as he had come. There was an awkward silence.
"Um . . . . should we go?" Link asked his face warm.
"Uh, yeah sure." Zelda said her cheeks a flushed crimson. She had thought maybe she had heard the man wrong but seeing as how Link was blushing too, she had obviously heard him right.
Once, when she was younger, another man with a different set of tarot cards had asked if she wanted to see her future. She said yes. He spent a long time casting the tarot cards and studying them critically. Finally he announced that her future looked hard but happy if she made the right decisions. He also said that she may find herself forced into something she very much did not want to do. She realized now that the man might have been predicting her wedding. Impa had told her tarot cards were just a cheap trick, but if it had been right once about her wedding, then was it true about what the man had said about her and Link?
Of course not, she thought immediately berating herself for such stupid thoughts. What was she thinking? Of course the tarot cards were wrong. It was coincidence that she had picked the same card as Link, she told herself. Mere coincidence.
"So, um you never told me what you're buying." Link said, doing his best to open up another conversation.
"Oh we're buying things for the ball this week, except I'm not bothering to help."
"Why not?" Link asked.
"Because well, there's a lot more fun things to do, then to prepare for the ball." Zelda answered honestly.
"Like archery?" Link said with a sly smile.
Zelda grinned. "Exactly."
Suddenly Zelda's eyes lit up. "Hey, you know the ball is open to all who's willing to come." She hinted.
Link didn't get it. "Yeah I know." he said, wondering how he could not. All day the women debated what dress to wear and the younger girls giggled over who was going with who. Malon had told him she was going and had in a roundabout way asked if he was going. He wasn't sure whether to go or to not to.
"Are you going?" she asked.
Link blinked "What?" he asked dumbly.
"Are you going to the ball?" Zelda repeated.
"Uh well-" Link started not even sure what he was going to say. Zelda looked at him the corner of her lips curving hopefully. If he was honest with himself, he had thoroughly enjoyed today, and had for awhile forgotten all about Zelda's social status. She sure didn't act like a princess, but Link decided she was much better this way.
Link smiled. "Alright, I'll go. Only because you asked nicely." He added giving a playful grin.
"I never asked you to go to the ball; I just asked if you were." Zelda said haughtily but her pleased grin gave it away.
"Well in that case, I guess I won't come." Link said, joking.
"Fine then, don't." Zelda said hoping very much that Link saw that she was kidding as well.
Link grinned. "So, what do you want to-?"
"Zelda! There you are!" a voice said. Zelda turned and saw an irritated Impa walking toward her.
"Hi Impa." Zelda said cheerily.
"Zelda, I told you not to go anywhere why don't you ever-" she halted when she saw Link. Her eyebrows ascended ever so slightly in surprise and suspicion.
"Who's this?" she asked Zelda looking stern.
"Impa this is Link." She paused to give Impa a meaningful look. "And Link, this is Impa, my nursemaid."
Link looked at Impa. "Nice to meet you." He said politely, unsure of what else to say.
Impa nodded her head. So, she thought to herself. This is the Link who saved Zelda. She studied Zelda's face and smiled inwardly. Interesting.
"Well come on, Zelda. It's getting late." Impa said. "Nice to meet you, Link." She said over her shoulder.
Zelda felt a pang of disappointment of having to leave. She stayed back to say goodbye to Link. "Bye, Link." She said wishing the day could have been a little longer.
"See you soon." He said with a tiny smile. Zelda smiled back making Link feel warmth creeping to his cheeks.
And she left, hurrying to catch up with an annoyed and waiting Impa.
"So had fun?" Impa asked. But before Zelda could respond she answered for her. "Oh, of course you did, you know, being with Link and all." She said smiling slyly at Zelda.
Zelda stared at Impa, genuinely confused. "What are you talking about?" she asked.
Impa's smug smile widened. "You know."
Zelda thought about what Impa had just said and blinked. "Impa," she said slowly. "You don't think that I actually like-" Impa's annoying know- it-all smile told her that she did.
Zelda rolled her eyes. "Oh Impa, really. I do not like Li-"
"You can say whatever you want Zelda." Impa said. Impa was just teasing Zelda, and she didn't mean it but all the same she thought she could sense a fondness coming from her.
Zelda shook her head exasperatedly. "Oh, forget it Impa." She said and they made their way back to the castle.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ A/n: Gaah. That chapter didn't exactly turn out the way I was hoping u_u. I really hope its not as bad as I think it is, and I'm just being critical. It had some romance at least, though not much action, if any. I'm really sorry but I didn't know what to do with it.
I know the Market doesn't have an archery thing like that, but I put it there for a reason. I also know that random people with tarot cards don't come up to you and ask if you want to see your future (that would be funny if they did ^_^) but hey, at least it added some romance.
Well that chapter was a long one and I hope it was fun to read. And be sure to review, as always. See you all later! (Although hopefully not much later ^_^)