Author´s note:
We´re going places now, aren´t we?
It´s one of those chapters where again, nothing important seems to happen. But trust me, there´s no stopping the plot train now.
All aboard!
I just thought I´d let you know, Im going to stick to weekly updates now. I think the story is going to be much longer than I initially thought and it deserves to be told, not rushed.
Also, more feels.
If you´ve enjoyed the story so far, or even if you haven´t, why not leave a review? I´d really like to know what you think so far! On that note, thanks to Joe for his kind words, and also big thank you to GrandMajingaZetto for the faves and follows, really apreciate it!
As always, thanks for reading!
Chapter V
Told and Untold
It had been impossible for him to sleep in, for he was now wrestling his way out of bed. Cottle was latching on to his leg, and Koko had started calling him 'horsey', while pulling on his bangs a little too hard. He had managed to get them out of the room and hastily ran back inside where he locked himself in. Countless knocks on the door and many yells of 'No fair!' from the little demons had awoken Dorian of course. He heard his steps get closer to the door while saying "Leave Link be, you wouldn´t want to miss breakfast, would you now?", they both had shouted "PANCAKES!" at the same time and in the same shrill tone.
For Nayru´s sake, he thought. He had never thought of having children, but if this was something that was to be expected, then forming a family could wait another hundred years.
He put on the sheikah outfit Paya had left for him last night, leaving the straw hat over the mattress. Somehow he didn´t se himself wearing it, and also he supposed a certain someone would pick on him if he did. The Sheikah Slate was resting atop his nightstand, and his trusty Blade was resting against it. Not wanting to leave them at the little barbarians´ reach, he took both with him. Just as he came out of the room, he heard the door downstairs open, a familiar voice seemed to light up the whole house.
"Good morning, Dorian", Link heard her say. Dorian was still not talking much, for he heard no reply. Not that he even needed to talk, because his daughters did that just fine.
"Princess Zelda is it true that you were inside Ganon´s stomach? Koko says it´s true, but I told her you wasn´t!", Cottle had said eagerly. He heard chairs shuffling as he went downstairs.
"Weren´t", interjected Dorian, "you weren´t". He had a holy man´s patience.
"I wasn´t there, daddy!", replied the smallest one with a very matter-of-fact voice and rolled her eyes at her father. "Link, we saved you the best place on the table!" she said immediately after that, as Link came into her field of view. He smiled at them and looked up to Zelda, who for some reason found the whole scene very amusing. "Morning", he said cheerfuly, sitting on the chair between Cottle and Koko.
"Link, is it true that you had to go inside the boar´s mouth to rescue Zelda?", asked Cottle. Zelda let out a small chuckle that only he had heard. "Well...", he began, "not exactly, no". Cottle leaned forward and looked across Link, to where Koko was sitting. The bigger sister had the same confused expression as her sibling. "Then," began Koko, "how come she´s here, if she wasn´t living inside his belly?". Dorian had turned around while holding the spatula, just having turned a pancake.
"Koko", he said in a tone that told her she had stepped out of the line, again. "It´s Princess Zelda, and it´s inappropriate to ask such questions, even more so when people haven´t even had breakfast". He had turned his attention to the task at hand. He was taking his sweet merry time with the pancakes.
"It´s okay, Dorian. I don´t mind!", said Zelda, who was sitting across Koko, on the left end of the table. "You see, this boar was not made of bacon and chop, for it was made of the darkest of magics!", she had said stretching her arms and opening her eyes as wide as she could, instantly getting the complete attention of both girls. "He had tusks the size of a Talus, maybe even as big as a Hinox", she said putting her hands beside each of her cheeks and pointing her fingers outwards, mocking said tusks, "a Lynel would look like a fluffy little kitten compared to this thing .Wicked fire came out of it´s evil eyes, with only one thing on his mind: Eating all the blondes in the world! And guess who was standing in front of him, his sword up in the air and galloping towards him?", she asked them both, eyeing Link as she did.
"LINK!", they both had shouted to the top of their not-quite-small voices. Zelda nodded, closing her eyes for added effect. Both girls cheered and shouted his name again. Koko even took her fork and brandished it like a sword, poking a boar she could only see inside her mind, somewhere over the table. Link wondered if Dorian was going to take until dinner to finish those pancakes, but he had the impression that he was taking as much time out from his little monsters as he could, he suddenly couldn´t blame him.
"Our favorite blonde was riding faster than the wind towards the beast, giving the loudest battle cry I have ever heard" she said while holding an imaginary sword on her left hand. Both girls were suddenly shouting what they thought was a battle cry, of course. Cattle had entirely stood up on her chair and was tugging Link´s sleeve. Needless to say his right ear was useless now. "Thrice he had already shot his mighty arrows at the foul beast´s face, but none had harmed it! He had resorted to his only weapon...", she paused dramatically while looking directly at the Master Sword, a shadow of something that had nothing to do with her story crossed through her eyes, said Sword was hanging peacefully over the chair backrest. Cottle was pulling his sleeve harder still, he could feel the neck of the shirt already cutting the bloodflow to his head, "the Master Sword! The Blade of Evil´s Bane!", exclaimed the blonde Princess.
"Yes!", had shouted Koko. In all honesty, he didn´t know how she was going to finish the story, for he knew all to well, that she had been the one driving the monster into oblivion. He had also been caught up in her story, and didn´t seem to care that Cottle was now sitting on his lap, facing Koko, who in turn had scooted closer to Link and had embraced his arm a little to tightly. This seemed to make her smile, not of happiness, it was something else. He noticed her gaze had suddenly become a little hazy, as if in a trance.
"And then what happens, Princess!", burst out Koko, impatiently.
"It will have to wait after breakfast", interrupted Dorian, putting down a plate with a tower of pancakes, along with a jar of honey, a bowl full of bacon and was just now serving orange juice to them all. Zelda had frowned a bit at the interruption, but almost instantly realized what he was doing and motioned to stand up. Dorian merely said, "Please, Princess. You´re our guests", and bowed his head briefely towards her.
"Okay, but you don´t need to bow every time you talk to me, we are after all, in your house", the reply was a smart one, and Dorian almost bowed again, but stopped himself midway through.
Link served himself two pancakes, and two slices of bacon, looking directly at her while doing so. Bacon, for some reason, still made him think of their brief camp night the very day they had vanquished Ganon. She seemed to get what he was thinking, because she returned a faint, longing smile. Looking down on his plate, he realized why Dorian had taken so much time with these pancakes, the ones on his plate had the shape of the Triforce and the other one was a face he couldn´t quite place, but looked oddly familiar...
"Linkakes!", both girls said in a sing-song voice as they poured honey over his pancake alter-ego. Cottle was eating in a somewhat awkward position, for she was still over his lap. He motioned her so she would face towards the table, and he moved his plate to the side. When they weren´t talking they were actually nice, cute even. The back of his neck and the tips of his ears were slowly turning red, as he noticed out of the corner of his eye, that Zelda was watching him intently. He raised his face, and at the very same moment she was suddenly very interested in removing Linkake´s left ear, though he could tell she was blushing furiously as a slow smile drew across her face.
No one talked, apparently relishing in the incredible sound of silence. Dorian eyed them both while eating, he seemed less uncomfortable. Link hoped he could let his past go, for no one held any grudge against him. He knew that the fact that the Princess didn´t know about his previous affiliations was what made him behave this way. He wished he could tell him, that Zelda wasn´t good at holding grudges. He merely smiled at him, which he responded with a curt nod and returned to his bacon.
They didn´t linger much longer at Dorian´s house, much to the sisters´ dissmay. They didn´t stop protesting until she had told them, that they would finish the story that night, to which they had agreed with a sound 'YES!', as they ran off pretending to be Link and to her surprise, 'The Princess'. "Daddy you can be Ganon if you want!", she heard Cottle tell her father. Dorian merely sighed and shook his head.
"Phew!", said Link while on their way to Impa´s home, "They are a handful, no wonder Dorian was always glad to mount guard". She had found them to be rather sweet, boisterous, yes, but mostly sweet. They reminded her of herself. She suddenly thought of her Father and the questions she had for Impa. "I think they´re pretty sweet, they seem to like you a lot", she said with the hint of a blush appearing on her face.
"Yeah," he said laughing,"you should´ve heard them last night, they didn´t go to bed until I promissed to teach them how to fight". He said glancing sideways to her.
"I´m sure they´re thrilled".
"That would be an understatement", he said resting his hands behind his head. She couldn´t tell if he was relaxed or hiding his neck so she wouldn´t see it becoming furiously red.
As they arrived to the stairs, they noticed Paya was placing some fruit in front of three old and eroded statues. She nearly had a heart attack when she saw Link, dropping some apples and raspberries to the ground. The knight, she noticed, rushed to help her which only made things worse for the young Sheikah, apologising over and over again; which had Link waving his hands in front of him and saying that he was the one that was sorry for startling her. When they finally placed the fruit Paya intended for each statue, she walked them up to the entrance, where she excused herself and flew upstairs. Muffled screams could be heard from below. Impa was smiling fondly as she shook her head. "To be young...", she said smiling fondly at her granddaughter´s outburst.
"Good morning, Impa", she said, Link followed suit. She greeted them and held out her tiny arm in front of her, two cushions had been placed in front of her. As they both sat down she began to talk, in a slow but firm voice. "I take it you´re well fed and rested? Dorian insisted on being your host as soon as you entered the canyon". A knowing look acompained a smile as she looked at Link.
"It´s all perfect, Impa. We can´t thank you enough, I for one, had never slept better in my life", Zelda noticed his voice carried a certain familiarity, as if he´d been talking to a relative of sorts. Impa laughed shortly at his remark.
"I´m glad to hear it", her gaze rested now on her face. "Did you sleep well, Your Highness?", the sudden demureness caught her off guard, but she didn´t show it. "I did, thank you truly, Impa. That bath did wonders, and as Link said, I can´t recall the last time I slept this well". She nodded again. Her hat, Zelda noticed, already lay beside her, so she could see her hair done in a tight bun. A tattooed eye with a tear in the middle adorned her forehead. It was the symbol of the Sheikah.
"Now", she began, "I´m sure you children have many questions", they both nodded, "I am more than happy to try and answer as many as I can". A list of questions popped up inside her head, but the thing she wanted to hear the most was the first that escaped her lips.
"I don´t know how to-", she began, "I mean-", how could she phrase what she could clearly see inside her mind?! "Could you tell us what happened in the century we both were...?", she looked at Link, "away", he finished with a sad smile.
"Ah," she said, "well, after you both... disappeared, what was left of the hylians, scattered all over the many regions throughout Hyrule, we now know this period as the Age of Burning Fields", she looked at Link, and then, but in a different way, at her.
"As you know, the Zora are still under the rule of King Dorephan, though he is expected to abdicate in Prince Sidon´s favor any time now", Link had smiled upon the mention of his old friend. "Certain Rito postman told me that he was already being courted by one of the very few noblewomen of his father´s court, I think you should pay him a visit whenever you can. The King is already pressuring him to have chidren. Any other news from Zora´s domain are a bit irrelevant to you, as the only relationship they have maintained with hylians is that of commerce.
"Speaking of the Rito they, along with the Gorons, kept their close relationship with us, providing with their swift traveling postmail, archery training and ore mining, respectively. Unlike the Zora, the Rito have had almost ten Chieftains, given that Rito have a much shorter lifespan than any other race in Hyrule."
She took a short breath, she cleared her throat and continued, "As you well know, Link. Yunobo is certain to be the Gorons´ next Patriarch, though when will that happen, no one knows, as Bludo still holds that position. I must say, he offered his help to rebuild the city, but the task was impossible at the time", she nodded to Zelda. This was excellent news, if the Goron still had it in themselves, and she thought they did, then rebuilding Hyrule Castle and Town would be less of a struggle. The princess returned the nod and smiled openly at this piece of news.
"As for the Gerudo, well...", she sighed while blinking very slowly. 'That´s odd', she thought. "After Lady Urbosa passed away, Matriarch Riju´s Great-great-grandmother, Lady Chione had to squabble to keep the throne, for all respected and revered Urbosa, but at the time, her daughter was seen merely as a child incappable of ruling. We heard of numerous skirmishes taking place on the Gerudo Dessert region. Many rebels tried to forge an alliance with the Yiga, and even resorted to using their hideout (which was rightfuly Gerudo). Many smaller towns in the region perished and were left to be burried in the sand. I have heard many brave Gerudo warriors gave their lives to defend the rightful Matriarch. After a few years, the rebellion started to disolve, with most of them being driven to the west, into the unknown wastelands."
Zelda thought hard for a moment, the Gerudo were indeed fierce women, most of them well versed in the arts of fighting. They were known for their fiery temperaments, that matched their long manes of beautiful hair. But she had never in a hundred years thought that there would be a fight for power among them, she noticed that Impa hadn´t mentioned who had led the rebelion.
"For thirty years the Gerudo lived under the peaceful, yet stern rule of Lady Chione. The last time I saw her she had come here all the way to secure the trade route from Kakariko and Hateno, to Gerudo town. A journey that took her and her court almost three weeks. She was a vigorous warrior and a fierce lover, for I heard she produced many many children. Only her firstborn was allowed to rule, as is customary among them. Her daughter, Lady Khepri was crowned the very next morning after her mother´s death. Her rule was short lived, when she passed of a strange illness only fifteen years later.
"Lady Riju´s mother, was born in the midst of a civil war, when the descendants of the self-exiled Gerudo returned to take back what, in their hearts, was rightfuly theirs. Their claim is unknown to this day, for the war that ensued was so violent and left such a deep wound on their civilization, that they dared not speak of it. What I know is that Lady Nuru vowed never to resort to violence among her people ever again. In turn she sought to make the Gerudo renowned merchants again. It was at this time that the Thunder Helm was stolen, with many treasure hunters vowing to bring the ancient relic back. None succeded of course." She smiled at Link, who had been listening intently, and was trying very hard not to blush. Her smile grew wider, but he did not look a her.
"I never knew her, but another Rito postman told us that she died of a fever that had lasted five days". She sighed yet again, Zelda suddenly realised that Impa had learnt and watched many of her friends and acquaintances die too. For some reason she had always thought of her as an all-strong and unbreakable woman. She had been a very sweet caretaker when she was a child, but she had never spoken to her in terms of first names. Still, here she was, retelling the last hundred years of her life, and even then, it was nothing but a small bit of it.
"You see, Rito postmen like their gossip", she said with a light chuckle, seemingly reminiscing about something only she knew about.
"I think Link here, can fill you in on the most recent details. I´m sure you´d like to know, Lady Riju will be one of your most valuable allies. She´s taken our blue knight into her liking", she teased.
Again, Link struggled and fought not to blush, but Zelda could see how his neck was now so red that his face clashed tremendously against it. She chuckled at Impa´s remark, which only resulted in a sheepish smile from him. It was only natural, he had been the reason for many heart-breaks in their time. She recalled how many of the castle´s maidens had openly and rather rashly flirted with him. Alas, he had never returned any of those feelings. The memory made her smile, remembering how jealous she had felt though she didn´t know that at the time.
"I guess we should go visit Lady Riju too, then", she said turning to Link. He looked blank for a bit and then slowly smiled at her, nodding curtly.
"That you should", confirmed the eldest of the Sheikah.
"Lastly, "she said while getting up. Link hastily stood up to help her, to which she patted him on his hand as a way of thanking him and muttered a quiet 'Thank you, my dear', "I think you should go see Purah, I´m sure she would love to be of asistance to you, Your Highness".
"I´m sorry, but my bones aren´t what they used to. Please excuse an old lady, I should go lay down for a while". Link escorted her to the door, closing it behind her.
"Well that was...", Link paused for a moment, searching for words, "informative", he chuckled.
She tried to return the smile, but couldn´t. Her mind was now a whirlwind of information, all was blurry and unclear. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes to order her thoughts.
"Where do you want to go first?", he tentatively asked. When she opened her eyes, he had a somewhat worried look about him. "I don´t know yet", she admitted, letting out a long and heavy sigh.
"Well, you needn´t worry too much", he said, resting his hand on her arm. Her eyes jolted at his´, he had never dared touch her. It had been her that sought his embrace when Hyrule fell, and she also remembered to well how bitterly she had cried and embraced his limp body when he was on the brink of death. Now, it seemed, he had decided to show his support to her in a more physical way. He paused looking her straight in the eyes, "time is the only thing we have now". He squeezed her arm gently and with one last smile, he stepped outside. She was rooted on the spot for a good half minute, she shook his head, clearing his mind and not daring to hope.
"We have a story to finish", she said meaningfully as she joined him halfway through the stairs.
They had already missed lunch by the time they had finished their talk with Impa. Link noticed his Princess was suddenly very silent and seemingly paid no atention to what he was saying.
"Hmm?" she had absentmindedly replied. Her thoughts, elsewere.
"I was saying I could use a bit of wind on my face. I think I´m going for a ride, Dorian told me he had saddled the horses, in case we wanted to continue our journey straight away. I´m sure you could use the distraction as well", he said thoughtfuly.
"Did you ever hear it´s voice?", she said out of the blue. It took him a moment to know what she was talking about. "Wha-oh...", he said. "Yes, I mean- I don´t know", she raised a brow. "It´s not like I ever heard a voice, it´s more of a presence in my mind...", he rubbed his chin, trying to remember if he had ever heard a voice.
"Why do you ask?", he inquired. "Did you ever hear it?", she nodded. Her eyes had suddenly become very wet. "Princess, are you okay?", he was concerned now. Confused, but concerned.
"I´m being silly is all", she said wiping away the tears before they fell, laughing sadly while doing it. "I have", she replied. "the Sword´s voice. I have heard it. Only once". He was surprised by this bit of information, his memory was still foggy, but hearing the voice of a Hundreds-of-thousands-years old relic, was something he thought he would remember.
"You did?", he couldn´t hide his surprise and his excitement. She didn´t mirror those feelings.
"On the night you... On the night my powers awakened", she stated, looking away from him, as fresh tears formed in her eyes. He felt the need to apologise, but as if reading his thoughts she said rapidly, trying to beat the tears before they betrayed her. Her voice broke a little as she spoke, "moments after I was able to awaken my powers and you... passed out", she emphasized, "I heard a voice that told me we should take you to the Shrine of Resurrection, for you were not- you were still alive".
"Wow, I didn´t... I didn´t know that", he didn´t know what to say. He remembered that day very well, but try as he might, he couldn´t recall any voice that wasn´t her´s.
"I´m sorry I put you through that...".
She wiped a wave of new tears, but her voice had a steady tone. "Don´t be silly, why are you apologising? Besides, we´re both here now, and that´s what counts". She ended her reply with a cheerful tone. A lone tear ran over her left cheek. He had to stop himself from embracing her, it took all of his will. He was after all, her subject. And one didn´t go around hugging their Queen. No matter what feelings one had for said Queen.
"You´re right", he said trying to emulate the same cheerfulness. "So about going on a ride, you up for it?". He felt the mood lighten drastically.
"Last one to get to Siela bridge, has to unsaddle the horses!", she mock-pushed him and ran uphill towards the entrance of Kakariko. Link had shouted 'HEY!', while chasing after her. "You better run Bubble Knight, or else!", she said laughing loudly. Her long golden hair billowing with the wind as she ran. He was only halfway to where Sonne and Mond were, when she hastily leapt up to her saddle and rode away.
The prospect of unsaddling the horses, didn´t seem so bad, if it brought the sweet music of her almost childish laughter to his ears.
It was almost sunset when they made their way back to Kakariko. They´d spent most of the day talking and walking through Bubinga Forest, which was an odd name for a forest, but what did she know.
As they crossed through the Pilars of Levia Canyon, she recalled something:
On their way out they stopped at Dueling Peaks ranch, to buy some food for them and their mares, Link always thought of those kinds of things. Surely enough, after going through a particularily beautiful clearing, she felt her stmoach begin to protest in hunger.
Link had chuckled at the sound and suggested that they stopped for a moment to have a bite off of the apples, cheese and grilled mushrooms he had prepared just outside the ranch.
They hadn´t planned on having a pic-nic so, and hadn´t brought a tablecloth with them. Instead, she had bought some cotton napkins from a very odd, but very helpful merchant that ran by the name of Beedle. Link seemed to know him, for he had waved his hand from the cooking pot and Beedle waved at him earnestly.
They ate in one of the most comfortable silences they had shared yet. She caught Link glancing at her on quite a number of ocasions, every time he did, she noticed her face grow warmer and her heart lighter. Sonne and Mond were happily eating out of his worn satchel all the apples that he had bought for them. She watched, as they lazily swung their bushy tails, and their ears took in all the sounds that all the bugs and small animals were making. She had learnt to see these animals as more than that because of him. After all he was the one that taught him that horses were, along with dogs, the most loyal of friends. She missed Gustaf, her white stallion, but there was nothing to be done. Horses just didn´t live that long...
When they´d finished their meal, they made their way back to Kakariko. For some reason-and she knew perfectly well what it was- being around him relaxed her. Not just in body, but in mind too. All the heavy thoughts and black clouds that had loomed over her head hours earlier, were gone by now. It was apparent to her, that Link seemed much more relaxed now too. Some of his old ways were still present, of course. He still insisted on calling her 'Princess', or 'Your Highness', but she noticed his words and demeanor were more akin to adressing a friend. "Well I´m not calling you Sir Link, ever", she had replied for the umpteenth time, after he jokingly pleaded, 'Hey I´ve earned that title, you know?'. And she knew that all too well, her Father had told her all about the incident with the Guardian and the pot lid. "Still not calling you Sir", she said in mock-snobbery.
She could see the stars by the time they dismounted at the village´s entrance. It occured to her that she didn´t know any constellations. "Hey Link," she turned herself around, finding him unsaddling Mond, he made a non-commital sound without looking at her, "Do you know the name of any constellations, or stars?", he had honored the one-sided agreement they had made hours earlier.
"Sadly, no", he said chuckling lightly, "Although I do know what some of them look like". She raised an eyebrow, he merely shrugged and said, "the Sheikah and their shrines, I tell you". He pointed out some of the very few he knew, as they made their way to Dorian´s. She could tell he was making some of them up, but she didn´t call him out on it, for his desire to keep talking to her was only outmatched by her desire to hear his voice for as long as she could.
The faint bustle of children yelling and laughing, pots clanking and chairs moving was their indicator that they were close. The moment they knocked on the door, the sounds of two little pairs of feet closed in on the door. Cottle and Koko almost pulled them inside with yells of 'You promised!' and 'We want to know how it ends!'.
She thought, she wanted to know how the story it ended too, but not just yet. Smiling at them, she carried the smallest sister to the table and sharing one last look with Her Appointed Bubble Knight, the story continued right were they had left it.
