Chapter 4 – Heroes and Hyrule
Zelda sank into the deep, hot bubble bath with a long sigh. Her hair was dusty and filthy and her bones were aching in protest. She closed her eyes, allowing herself to think about him. That tumble of golden hair, those cobalt eyes that swept her soul. She had never seen a man so handsome, yet the way he moved and blushed with modesty, he was still so much like a boy.
Please no, Zelda pleaded with the powers that be, don't let me do this to myself.
Outside the door Link was pacing. He knew she was inside. Every few seconds he would hear a splash or the sound of her murmuring something to Deku. When he had awoken from his seven years of slumber within the chamber of sages, the rumour was that his Princess was dead. His heart had been torn apart, plagued by haunting thoughts of her death whilst he slept, powerless to save her…
And now she was alive, but without her knowing who he was, surely she was as good as dead to him?
Still, these thoughts didn't stop steady flow of intense feelings. The way his heart pounded when he looked at her, the way her voice woke his soul from what felt like an endless sleep…
As he lost himself in these thoughts, Zelda stepped out of the bathroom in a fluffy bathrobe and pink slippers with her slowly curling, damp hair tumbling over her shoulders. She watched Link with a bemused expression. He was looking down at his boots with an intense expression, muttering to himself.
"You okay?"
Link jumped, startled out of his pondering. As he allowed his eyes to run over her, from her soft wet curls to her pink slippers, she blushed, deeply.
"I, er, yeah, I'm well."
Zelda looked down at her slippers, crossing one leg over the other, awkwardly.
"I wanted to say, well, thankyou. For tonight. With the…"
"Gerudo?" Link suggested.
"Yeah, the… yeah," Zelda babbled, nervously.
Link was longing for the quiet solace that the bathroom offered, yet he knew better than to walk away from a Princess.
"Did you… kill him?" She asked, slowly.
Link shook his head. "I try not to kill."
'He tries not to kill, what the hell does that mean?' Zelda asked herself.
Zelda noticed Link yawn, widely. His eyes were full of sadness and betrayed his façade of bravery.
Yet, she had questions burning upon her tongue.
"Please, tell me how you know me?" She asked, pleadingly.
He turned away from her, sharply. He had changed in a flash, no longer a tired, sad boy, suddenly a strong, formidable warrior.
"Prin- Zelda, please, do not ask this of me. Save your questions for Impa."
Zelda felt the guilt erupt inside of her, or was it fear? She nodded, feebly, and backed away from him.
"Goodnight Link."
He watched her, his heart aching with confusion and longing, as he caught a glimpse of the Zelda he knew. The quiet, gentle Princess.
"Goodnight."
Impa padded into the kitchen to find Zelda sat at the breakfast bar, munching on a pop tart. Her long, curls were escaping a sloppy ponytail and, Impa noted with slight amusement, she was still dressed in her blue, sheep-dotted pyjamas.
"Are you under the illusion that you aren't going to school?" Impa asked, striding into the kitchen and filling the kettle.
Zelda pouted, defiantly. "I'm under no illusion, Impa."
Impa smiled. It was quite a relief that Zelda's wit had returned to her. Indeed, the change in Zelda was quite startling. Her violet eyes had recaptured their impish sparkle and a pink glow had returned to her skin. Impa had no doubt what had caused the change; though she was sure Zelda would deny such an accusation.
"Who is he, Impa?" Zelda asked, seriously, discarding the remainder of the pop tart.
"Intrigued?" Impa countered.
Zelda bit her lip, fighting the flush creeping up her neck.
"I want the truth."
"As do I," spoke a voice from the doorway.
Link's long hair was ruffled from sleep and he was dressed in an overlarge 'Hanson' t-shirt of Zelda's and some black sweats. He looked frighteningly normal, like any other seventeen-year-old boy, with only his pointed ears to betray his secret. He didn't look as Zelda as he stepped forward, his cobalt eyes were glued to Impa. She sighed.
"I knew this day would come. Link, sit down, and bear with me, I must reach back to where this all began."
Link sat down beside Zelda, his eyes still avoiding the young woman.
"Zelda, I beg that you do not interrupt, approach my story with an open mind," Impa requested, calmly.
Zelda swallowed her temper and nodded.
"In times so long ago the mind cannot comprehend, before the earth was populated, there were three goddesses. Nayru, the goddess of wisdom and love, Din the goddess of power and elements and Farore the goddess of courage and truth. The goddesses descended upon the earth, each with their own task. Din's power enticed the plants and trees to grow strong and bear fruit, Nayru used her boundless wisdom to ensure the land had a law with which to be governed and Farore sculpted those who would live in the land, their hearts true and good so that they might live in peace.
The goddesses were pleased with what they had created and so they named the place Hyrule. Before leaving they placed the Triforce within the heart of Hyrule, a force that would ensure peace remained. The Triforce was sealed away so that no-one with a corrupted, greedy soul might ever use it for evil."
Link laughed, bitterly, at this point.
"Didn't do much of a job, did they?" He spoke, angrily.
"Link, do not insult the wisdom of the goddesses. They knew that someone would one day try to take the triforce, why do you think they created you?" Impa demanded, sharply.
Zelda sat, watching them both, silently as she attempted to override her cynical nature and accept Impa's words. Goddesses? A triforce? Hyrule?
"Anyway," Impa continued, eyeing Link, who was now sulking, sharply, "Hyrule did prosper for sometime. Until the reign of a widowed King. The King had been married late and his wife had passed away during childbirth, leaving him a beautiful daughter as the sole heir to the throne. When his daughter was around ten years old, he began to worry for her, fearing that she might not be strong enough to rule, so he began to make provisions for her reign, seeking out alliances so that she might be able to rule without fear. However, he chose the wrong alliance, with the people who were suspiciously willing. The Gerudo people-"
Zelda shivered, feeling her legs suddenly go numb.
"- the leader of which was a man named Ganondorf-"
At the name Zelda fell from her stool, suddenly weakened, as if a needle had drained all the energy from her veins. Link caught her deftly, his lightening reactions alerting Impa who had lost herself in her story.
"Zelda? Zelda!" Link cried out, his eyes searching her pale face, frantically. "What's wrong with her?" He demanded, fearfully.
Impa kneeled beside them, noting Link's arms fixed firmly around Zelda's slender shoulders as her long, cascading curls spilled out across his arm.
"She's having a vision. A vision of the past."
"Father, I don't want to meet him!" Little Zelda whined, stomping her foot, indignantly.
"Now Zelda, he's a very important man and I'm sure he'd like to meet the Princess of Hyrule," The King attempted to gently persuade his daughter.
"But, my dream-"
The King's gentle face became angered. He was growing tired of his daughter's excuses, but he secretly feared the dreams that haunted her sleep. He feared that she was cursed with prophecy that would ravage the rest of her life, ruining any moment of happiness she might have.
"Zelda! I won't hear another word of this nonsense! Now go and ready yourself to be presented!" The King roared, avoiding the violet gaze of his daughter who now had tears streaming down her cheeks.
Zelda ran out from the throne room, out into the courtyard where she fell down to her knees in front of her Mother's fountain, weeping into her arms and cursing her Father, silently.
Zelda felt a gentle touch on her shoulder and looked up, expecting to see Impa but meeting the azure eyes of a young boy instead. She leapt backwards, getting to her feet and quickly fisting her tears away as the boy watched her, curiously.
Her eyes then ran over his Kokiri tunic and the Hylian shield upon his back.
"You're from the forest?" She asked, her hands shaking with shock.
He nodded, his blue eyes unblinking.
Zelda's lips cvrled into a beaming smile. "Oh, I only dreamed you'd come!" She cried, delightedly.
The boy looked unsure of what to say in reply. He reached his hand into his pocket, drew out a large stone and held it out to Zelda.
"Is that… is that the Korkiri emerald?" She whispered, reverently.
He nodded again.
"I was sent here to you… by the Deku Tree," the boy spoke.
Zelda found that his voice was quite pleasing, clear and strong, not infused with an air of superiority like most men she had met. She nodded, sadly.
"He knew of my dreams. And your nightmares too," Zelda said, softly.
A painful expression passed across the boy's handsome features, briefly.
Zelda sat down on the stone steps of the courtyard and Link followed, leaving a significant gap between them.
"Oh, I'm Zelda," Zelda introduced, forcing a smile.
"The Princess," he verified.
Zelda nodded, glumly.
"Yes. But please, just call me Zelda."
"I am Link."
Zelda started slightly as a ball of light appeared from under Link's green cap. A small faerie that hovered near Link's head, smoothing the pieces of golden hair, which escaped his cap, in a motherly fashion. Zelda's heart sank as a wave of loneliness washed over her. Even the orphaned forest boy had someone to look after him and soon she would have no one. Of that she was sure.
"You were sent to me because you are the only one who can help. Are you willing to help me Link?"
Zelda admired how he took a moment before he answered her request rather than simply agreeing to it instantly, it proved that he was neither foolish nor rash.
"I will help you Zelda."
"Then allow me to offer some sort of explanation. Ever since a tender age I have had dreams of warning that foretold the future. The dreams were once simple, warnings of important days and broken toys. And then, around a month ago, I had a dream that I could find no interpretation for.
In the dream I saw Hyrule, the bright sunshine illuminating my peaceful land, yet in the distance I could see a dark cloud, a cloud of the darkest black that would engulf Hyrule upon reaching it. With the oncoming cloud I saw a man riding on a black horse, a man I knew from my younger years, the ruler of the Gerudo people, Ganondorf. He was bringing the cloud and I was helpless to stop him. Then I saw a boy with a faerie clutching that emerald and standing before Hyrule."
Zelda saw Link's eyebrows furrow and assumed her explanation had perturbed him, yet she did not know that Link was beginning to recognise the Princess from his own nightmare, a nightmare with a dark storm and a black horse… and it's rider.
"Link, I believe Ganondorf is trying to take power of Hyrule by gaining the power of the Triforce. Yet, I also believe that the boy standing before Hyrule, the boy destined to protect our land and all the truth and goodness that dwells within it,is you Link. " Zelda voiced her theory, standing in an attempt to convey some sort of wisdom or authority, though her knees were trembling. Her hopes were pinned upon this boy and his reaction.
Link stood, looking deeply into the eyes of the Princess and seeing a startling amount of fear dwelling within their violet depths.
"I believe you Zelda."
In sheer relief, Zelda threw her arms around Link's neck, hugging him tightly and trying to fight back the tears. Link was startled, yet blushed with pleasure and allowed his arms to hug the Princess, tentatively.
Zelda released Link, smiling shyly. "Thank you Link. I truly believed that you would help me."
Suddenly a tall, warrior woman appeared. She had short hair of silver and acutely pointed ears, much like Zelda and Link's.
"This is Impa Link, my nursemaid. She is the only one who believes me besides yourself."
Impa narrowed her eyes upon the boy, noting his good strong eye contact; how one of his hands rested upon the hilt of his sword, waiting to strike should danger arise. He had the potential of a true warrior. A warrior hand picked by the goddesses.
Then she noticed the tears of happiness in the eyes of her young charge. The Princess watched the boy with reverence, wonder… love.
She shook these thoughts from her head and addressed the child.
"The triforce is sealed within the temple of time. The only way to unseal the chamber is using three spiritual stones, one of which you are holding in your hand. The Korkiri emerald. You need to find the Goron's ruby and the Zora's Sapphire," Impa explained, sharply.
Link nodded, looking back to Zelda who was holding out a short scroll.
"Use this letter to gain access to Death Mountain, the dwelling of the Gorons."
Link took the scroll, tucking it away in his pack.
"Don't fear Zelda, together we will end this," Link pledged, gently.
Impa laid a hand upon Zelda's shoulder.
"Link, you must learn the Royal Lullaby, it will allow you entrance when nothing else will," Impa told him.
Zelda closed her eyes blissfully as Link and Impa played her lullaby in synchronisation, indulging in past happy memories of her childhood… and as the three stood in that courtyard, the beautiful ancient music dancing in the cool spring air, evil and corruption seemed a ridiculous notion.