Author´s note:
Okay, this one was hard. I think I will keep to my usual or 4 to 5k word chapters. Also I struggled with dialogue in this one a lot. I snuck in one or two references to the games, so there´s that!
I wanted to do much darker things to Link here, but the story needs to move forward, and there´s enough darkness ahead.
Chapter XII
The Molduga
"How do can you even get anything done wearing this all day?", Zelda asked for what seemed the umpteenth time that day. Riju chuckled.
"I guess you get used to it pretty early on", she said matter-of-factly. "Imagine having to wear a shirt and pants all day". Zelda had to admit, that a skirt and top were much comfortable at day, but it was just not practical at night.
"And of course, at night we don´t usually wear anything. Every Gerudo matress is as warm as a Sandseal´s fur". She said, almost reading her mind. Zelda made a non-committal sound and shrugged. She never understood the need of showing so much skin. But then again she wasn´t a Gerudo and it was best not to ask, she had learned. The coiled snake came to his mind and she blushed as she pushed the thoughts of two blonde people performing the epic feat.
They were sitting outside one of Naboris´ four domed-terraces. It brought her memories of visiting with Urbosa, and a pretty much mute Link, the thought made her smile, but it also pained her to remember that the last living person that could have told her anything about her mother, was gone. Forever.
"That thing is completely useless now, then?", the voice of the gerudo brought her back to reality.
"It would appear so, I guess it completed it´s purpose. Defeating Ganon", those two words now sounded as hollow as the mechanical beast they had been exploring for the last two hours. "So it woud seem logical that they would turn off after that", she said while absentmindedly looking at the now black screen of the Sheikah Slate. She wondered what pictures had Link taken with it...
"There is one place we haven´t looked at yet", Riju stood up. The warm winds of the desert made her enormous braid look as some kind of small dragon, or maybe even a red serpent. Zelda nodded, standing up too.
"Lead the way", they both returned inside, each deep in their own thoughts. Zelda wondered what place did Riju had in mind.
Makeela Riju led her into the main temple-sized room. A cilinder-like space that once rotated to the will of whoever controlled it. It was full of bridges that criscrossed through it and led to different levels. On both ends of the room, however, were circular shaped doorways, or ´holes´that led to the main entrance and to Naboris´s head. The one place where all the ancient energy had concentrated and surged, where, combining with the other 3, had brought the calamity to it´s feet.
"This would have been impossible back when Naboris was aiming for the castle. But after the four champions disappeared, as you saw, it just kind of 'fell asleep´so to speak'. I find it odd that all that energy just disappeared after that single shot, what if back then it wouldn´t have been enough. Don´t you think it is at least a little suspicious?", Riju was saying all this as they treaded through Naboris´ neck, having to go up and down with every nec articulation. Her breathing was un even and heavy, as was hers´.
"I hadn´t really thought about that", she admitted. "But I guess it is a little odd", she agreed.
They arrived at the surprisingly huge mechanical head, and it was just as underwhelming as Zelda had thought. It hadn´t even been worth the effort. They looked around for a moment, and sand and old metal was all that greeted their eyes. The princess turned around and began her way back to the main room, when Riju called out for her.
"Princess?", she said. "I think you really need to see this". Zelda turned her head to see where Riju was looking at. Her finger was pointing at something up in the sky. Only it wasn´t the sky. stuck between two plates that she was certain had been the 'cannon' of the beast, and now were some sort of horns, was a blue cloth, billowing lazily with the wind. "Isn´t that...", Riju began.
"It is", she replied.
Without another word, Zelda began to climb up to where the blue cloth was. It was proving to be a difficult task, she found out that from afar, the slim space between plates was actually big enough for her to put her hand and pull herself up. Riju helped her hoisting her with her back.
"Got it?", she heard her say. She waited for the cloth to fall down a bit and when it did she stretched her arm as far as she could.
"Got it!", she exclaimed. As she pulled Urbosa´s old skirt, something else fell to the ground. It was something metallic, because there was a soft clank of metal against metal. Riju helped her down and together they walked to where the tiny piece of metal had fallen. It was a round shaped golden buckle with the cobra emblem shining in red.
"How can this be here after so many years?", Riju asked, dumbfounded.
"I think it hasn´t been here that long", she said expectantly. Riju opened and shut her mouth several times, but decided that silence was best and said nothing. Zelda held the buckle up, and it was even stranger that it shone as if it were brand new, she turned it around, and found out a very small roll of parchment had been tucked inside the gap where the belt was supposed to go. She untucked it carefuly and unrolled it.
It was some kind of memento, it seemed like an old drawing made by a kid. She quickly knew what it was. It was a gift she had given her. It was a stick people drawing of her (she had drawn herself with a blue dress, and no hair. She had drawn a big smile across her face. Her stick self was holding hands with a much taller (and very accurate depiction) of Urbosa. It was mostly a bunch of red lines with no apparent face, and just two dots for her eyes and a big smile too. Her other hand was holding a tall woman too, but this one had been painted with a lighter color, probably yellow, she could still make out the outline. Out of the three figures, this one was the only one with added detail to the clothing. A very big triforce was stamped across her mother´s chest. She had drawn some greenish dots surrounding her.
She had not fought the tears. One of them had fallen over her now ancient drawing. Riju had watched her in silence. Zelda looked at her and smiled. She could tell she was curious, but was sensible enough not to ask. She handed her the drawing anyway.
"I think I missed my mother more than I dared to say when I was a girl". She said as she saw what appeared to be a molduga jump in the air far-off in the horizon.
"Well, there´s something written behind", Riju said. "There...".
Zelda took the drawing and turned it over.
He had rented a sandseal for twenty rupees, which had always struck him as underpricing. Though he never voiced his thoughts.
As he made his way to the divine beast, he wondered if he could try and reach the village of Alessa one day. He knew, of course, that their stay at Gerudo City was nearing it´s end, but he couldn´t get it out of his mind. He had explored every nook and cranny of the country and he never stumbled upon any other settlement than Gerudo town and the oasis. For all effects and purposes this was a barren wasteland where living was extremely difficult. Try as he might, he could not imagine another town, or towns. But then again, he was only eighteen and he had been born and raised just outside Hyrule Castle Town.
His seal started to slide erratically and he felt the earth vibrate under his makeshift shield. Seconds later a hughe gaping mouth amerged from underneath their feet and swallowed his seal whole. The molduga had made eye-contact with him for one fleeting instant. He knew he was in trouble. His feet started to move before he even gave it a second thought, his legs protested, because he was running with all his strength. It had been so long since he had been in the desert that he had forgoten the areas where he was supposed to tread carefully. He felt the earth shake again, he dared to turn over his shoulder, and saw the beady greedy eyes of the stupidly oversized lizard. They were focused on his feet, he tried concentrating with all his might on Revali. Asking for his help. But he felt no upward air current, nor could he hear his spirit laughing at him. He was powerless. For the first time since his journey had ended, he wished he had the Sheikah slate around, the bombs had become very useful with fighting these bastards.
He could hear the shrill squeaks the molduga made, every few seconds, it was a mixture of a roar and a groan, it had always made him uneasy how such a colossal creature could make the silliest noises. It took him by surprise to find out he was smiling. Yes, he was running for dear life, but it was also very exciting to actually be face to face with the wild again. Even if it was because of a rookie mistake. Some ten meters ahead of him he saw some stone pilars which belonged to some ancient ruins, nothing made sense at the moment, nothing but gratitude for man made objects. He sprinted and made the jump, the pilar had a square ledge from where he could grab on to.
I must look so stupid right now. He thought.
He hoisted himself up to the small safe space that was the top of the pilar. The molduga had stopped in it´s tracks slowly burying itself in the sand until only it´s stupid beady eyes and it´s rocky chin were visible. Link took the off-time to change his very unpractical female gerudo pants and put on his sandboots (which in retrospect he should have done before running off into the desert). The giant creature looked at him, probably curious. Most likely hungry. Link also didn´t think he would need to protect his identity from a fifty arm-long animal., so he also got rid of the useless veil. Both pieces of clothing he rolled neatly into the thinest roll he could and tucked it inside his pants. The master sword found it´s master moment´s later, as he gripped it´s handle and unsheathed it, watching it´s blue-white light shine even against the desert´s sun. He looked at the beady-eyed molduga and pointed his sword at it.
"Alright you little shit, let´s dance then". He spat at the colossal creature.
The giant sand-swiming lizard blinked twice, and it´s colossal head emerged completely from the scorching sand, slowly opening it´s mouth, it made a quiet squeak followed by an earsplitting screech. The stench that came out of it´s mouth was enough motivation for him to make a jump towards the animal, attempting a downward stab. He hit the mark, as he felt the blade sink deep into the creature´s skull. The animal screeched again and slid erraticaly, crashing with every other pilar and wall in the vicinity. Link started to feel queasy and with all his strength, he pulled the sword out of the monster´s head. It only made things worse, because he had lost his only gripping point. The beast leapt upwards at least it´s own length. As they were falling down, however, Link prepared for the inevitable. When he fell over it´s head he heard an internal crack and his left arm felt as if it was boiling hot, and then as if it were being ripped from inside out.
The molduga kept it´s violent rampage, jumping a second time. This time Link flew to the creatures left side and rolled over what felt to him a thousand times. He felt the ground shake and knew the molduga was coming for him.
"You didn´t like being stabbed in the head", he croaked. "I can respect that". He used the sword as leverage and got up. He prepared as well as his current situation allowed him to. when he felt the vibrations growing stronger he rolled to the side and when an explosion of hot foul air and sand hit him in the back he turned and with all the strength he could muster on his right arm he slashed downwards as the giant lizard flew up and over him. He saw the beast´s insides cascade down and he made a run for it. Leaving a trail of guts, blood and other bodily fluids, the molduga landed seconds later a good fifteen meters from where Link was standing. He saw it was still breathing and made quiet and sad whimpers.
"You should stick to lizalfos and bokos, friend", he said with a heavy heart. He walked slowly to where the monster was agonizing. He stood there, watching it for the briefest of moments, before the creature passed away with one last long breath. It´s eyes fixed on him. He didn´t know why, but he felt guilt, and shame. He thought the creature was trying to tell him something. Or maybe it was just the heat, he didn´t know.
The pain reminded him of his broken arm. He wasn´t new to battle injuries, but he had the feeling that he would remember this one more so than others. The eyes of the molduga hadn´t a trace of 'monstruosity' in them. He was just a big predator, and he had been it´s prey. This one didn´t even have any spears or swords stuck in it´s head (other than the small wound he had inflicted on it earlier). It must´ve been younger, or had avoided any contact with the world of men.
He took a look at his arm and was not surprised when he saw the odd shape it had taken, it looked... dented. He tried to put it in the right place so he could take care of it, but the surge of pain when he touched it was enough to leave it like that for now. All the scratches and cuts, while they were painful, were nothing but that, scratches and cuts.
Link was torn between keep going to where Zelda and Riju were, or turning back to the city and hope someone there knew how to tend to a broken arm. He thought of a third alternative: Waiting for the two rulers there and then get his arm fixed. He looked up at the sky and it had begun it´s slow descent into the horizon. His shadow was as long as he was tall now.
"This wasn´t a total waste of time and energy", he said outloud. Frustrated.
He looked for the tallest pillar and sat under it´s shadow. He then used the Master Sword´s scabbard as an over-qualified splint, he tied it as tight as he could with the gerudo pants he had previously tucked inside his sand-pants. He toyed with the idea of sneaking into a lizalfos camp and steal some food and water from them, but those traitorous lizards were too fast for him to fight more than one. He rested his head against the warm stone and closed his eyes. The sword now rested against the stone pilar, just in case he needed to defend himself again. He felt an odd warmth emanate from it, though it was far from uncomfortable. It was as if it was keeping him company.
It had been a long time since he heard it´s 'voice'.
The sun was turning a deep shade of orange when he started hearing voices coming from somewhere to his right. Both of them sounded very familiar. He got up, using the Blade of Evil´s Bane as leverage. Once he was up, he waved his good arm, signaling them. He heard the voices go quiet for a moment and the two silohuettes stood still for the briefest of moments.
"Who´s there?", he heard Zelda´s voice calling. He saw Riju shuffle her feet on the spot. a third smaller figure shuffled and turned it´s very round head to what he thought was Zelda.
"It´s me", he called, still waving his sword.
"Link?", he heard Riju say. Both figures started walking towards him, he heard a third voice yelp in a very funny way. He started to walk, but as soon as he put his foot forward he felt his strength leave him at once and it all faded to black.
They both ran at him the moment he collapsed. Zelda was faster than her. Patricia yelped and followed them both.
"Link!", she yelled. "Link? Link!", the princess was holding Link´s face in her hands, shaking his head, trying to wake him up. Riju placed her hand over his neck, and after some alarmingly long seconds, she felt his neck pulsate. He was alive.
"I think he´s just passed out", she said. Zelda sighed in relief, only to gasp again.
"He broke his arm. Look!", she said pointing to the makeshift splint. Riju laughed inwardly at the resourcefulness of the hylian knight. Some squeaks and growls alerted the women. About fifty meters from them, three or four lizalfos were feasting on a very big prey. The dead animal looked oddly familiar.
"Princess, we´d better get going", she said while nodding towards the scene she had just watched. Zelda turned around and silently agreed.
Having used a sleigh to get them both there, they placed him there. His golden locks were flying in every direction. Riju thought she heard him say 'Zelda'. The princess insisted on staying by his side. So Riju had to mount Patricia.
"Okay, girl. Get us home!", she said. Almost instantly, her furry friend began its frantic race to the city. They had to take a rather long detour, to avoid the increasing crowd that had formed around the dead molduga. As they passed it, Riju noticed a long slash along it´s belly. Two lizalfos were inside the wound, eating it from the inside. Many more were gnawing and slashing their way to the flesh from the outside. Gladly they paid them no attention.
About half an hour later she saw the outline of her hometown. She turned and passed on the good news to the princess.
"We´re here, princess!", Zelda sighed, and whispered something into Link´s ear. Riju heard some sort of cracking noise to the east, not unlike the sound of thunder, but there were no clouds in the night sky. Seconds later she felt as if the whole world had turned upside down and then she hit the ground. Hard.
Her head was dizzy and her vision was blurry, as sand had gotten inside her eyes. She heard Zelda yell in agony. She tried to get rid of the sand in her eyes. Slowly she made out the source of the screams. A towering figure clad in golden armor and green skirt was holding the princess by the hair a good meter over the ground. Riju fumbled around, looking for Link´s sword. Zeldas continued her screaming. She was holding on to the figure´s arm to alivieate the pain of hanging by her hair. After an eternity of searching, she found the sword. It felt as cold as an ice block, it even began burning her palms because of how cold it got. It was as if the sword was rejecting her. She ran to where the enormous stranger was. She slashed at the armored knight´s arm, but nothing happened to it. She couldn´t say the same, as the impact had shaken her to the ground. The knight turned it´s head to her, she couldn´t see if it was a man or a woman, the knight was wearing a pointed helmet with two feathered horns on each side.
"Sa´atteru voe ni vai. Gerudo sa´atteru ni", said a bone chilling voice that came out of the helmet. It sounded as if two people were talking at the same time. Zelda was still yelling and kicking. She even began punching the armored arm, hoping to get off the enemy´s grip.
"Let her go!", Riju bellowed. The armored knight slowly started walking to where Riju was, holding zelda with one hand and with the other it pulled the biggest scimitar she had ever seen. Her stomach made all kinds of jumps and somersaults, her heart was racing and pounding hard fighting to stay alive. She felt sweat run down her armpits and two small tears had formed on the corner of her eyes. Her throat was desert-dry. She readied herself nonetheless, lifting the stone cold sword.
"I know it hurts, princess. Don´t worry, we´ll get out of this one", she lied. Zelda looked at her, grimacing. Riju saw little dark dots forming along the princess hairline.
"Come on, sekkessai!",she yelled. Without warning a vertical swipe from the knight made her fall on her backside. She had barely had time to block the attack. She had to put her other hand on the blade to be able to stop the scimitar from cutting her in half.
"Riju, run!", Zelda yelled. Her voice cracked. Riju stood up again.
Link still laid motionless just meters away from them. The east gate was a mere hundred meters away. They were so close...
"I won´t abandon you two", she said. readying herself this time for another attack. This time she knew what to expect. She suddenly wished she had listened to Buliara. How did one defeat an enemy thrice one´s size? Zelda had stopped yelling, probably out of exhaustion and sheer agony.
As the knight lifted it´s arm to attack again, Riju readied herself to avoid the blow and attack from below, the only weakspot she thought of was maybe getting behind it and slash the back of the knees. She barely had any proficiency with weapons, but there was no other option.
The moment she saw the scimitar go down she rolled as fast as she could to the side and quickly tried to go around the knight, only to be met with a knee to the face that sent her flying backwards. She had let go of the sword. Her nose was broken and bleeding profusely. She saw the golden armored knight walk towards the limp hylian knight.
"Link!", Zelda wimpered. "Link, wake up!". Riju felt a lump on her throat as she heard the princess. She would rather die fighting than watch them die. She stood up again and grabbed the sword.
"Come on, help us!" she whispered to the cold blue hilt. "Your master is in danger!". Nothing happened, the sword remained as cold as ever and felt as strange to her hand as it had been moments ago. She ran to where the the golden knight was nonetheless. Aiming for it´s legs, she swiped as wide as she could, feeling the blade cut through the flesh. She had managed to bring her foe to it´s knee. It finally let go of Zelda as a loud, low pitched roar filled the air. This couldn´t be a hylian knight, not even a gerudo. This was something else entirely.
The voice of Buliara and some of her warriors made her feel like they might actually make it out alive."Zelda, run!", she said, while still pointing the sword at the monstruous knight. The princess barely nodded, she got up and was about to run when she turned to see Link. She made to return for him.
"Leave him! Save yourself, help is coming! Look". Surely enough, Buliara and five other warriors were running to their position, they´d be with them in a few seconds. "Zelda, RUN!", she shouted again. The princess snapped out of her self doubt and ran for her life, stumbling along the way. One of the warriors held her. Buliara ordered something to her, and at once the princess ran back to the city. The knight was getting up again. It let out a deafening roar that sent shockwaves in every direction. Riju fell on her back, again. She crawled closer to where Link was, just as Buliara shielded her from another fatal blow of the colossal curved blade, parrying it with her shield. She noticed even Buliara was no match for the knight on her own. The others circled the knight and began a flurry of attacks, one of them even jumped on it´s back and tried to stab it in the neck.
"My lady you must return to the palace!", Buliara said as she locked swords with the knight.
"What about Link? He´s badly wounded, and in need of assistance!", her guard dared turn her head and nodded.
"Hytae! Escort the matriarch and her friend back to the city!", she shouted. The furthermost warrior from where Riju was standing, obeyed at once, carrying Link over her shoulder and beckoning Riju to follow her.
"Buliara! I-", she began before escaping.
"Just go, My Lady! I will be fine!", she said. "Yete, we must find it´s weak spot, every armor has one!".
"Behind the knee!", Riju shouted as she ran to where Hytae was waiting for her.
"You heard our Matriarch!", she heard Buliara shout. She heard a loud crack and the sound of metal against metal. She kept running, not wanting to look back. The cold sword in her hands was the only thing anchoring her to the real world.
It had been almost two weeks after their encounter with the golden armor (as Zelda was now calling it), Link had feverishly insisted the very next day after the attack that they leave the city and continue with their journey. He had been sitting in his bed all morning and was in a rather foul mood. Zelda scolded him for never regarding his own health into consideration, and pushed him back into bed, not without warning that she would come and help him have dinner.
That same morning, a Rito postman had come and delivered a letter for her. It was from Prince Sidon and King Dorephan. Now that Zelda and Link were both safe, the Zora intended to have a proper funeral for the Zora Princess. Sidon had also written to Link in the letter, Zelda had not read that part, as she did not want to meddle in Link´s business. The funeral was to be held in a month´s time, since they knew they both were on the other side of the Realm. Reading Kind Dorephan´s words was a reminder of how real their losses had been. She wondered if the goron and the rito would have held similar ceremonies for their champions. Riju had told her that the gerudo had their own way of mourning and honoring their dead, and that funerals were not customary among them.
On the other hand, the small message that Urbosa had written behind the old drawing she had made nagged her every day and night.
"'Faron', Zelda read outloud". She looked at Riju, just as confused as she was.
"I´ve never been to the Faron Region", said Riju. "But my guess is that Urbosa either intended to go there, or left it as a message for you", she said. Zelda was inclined to think it was the latter.
In the two weeks they´d spent there after the attack, she noticed Dehneru visited Link almost every day. The gerudo also seemed to be very amiable towards her, but Zelda always kept her distance, there was soemthing about her that felt off. Then again, Link seemed to trust her openly, so she never voiced her concerns.
It was a secret to everybody that a voe was staying at the inn, so naturally, many of the oldest Gerudo protested against it, as did many of the Gerudo guards. While another portion of the elder women (Furosa among them), had waited in line to visit the voe and talk to him. Every night, Zelda would ask him how he felt, and he always told her the same thing.
"Overwhelmed", and the word always carried more than one meaning. He often smiled as he said that, but would instantly frown and burry himself deep in his thoughts. She noticed Link often looked at her scalp. Riju must´ve told him, then.
Two days before they departed, she told Link the news about Mipha´s funeral. They had just finished eating dinner (she would often go to his room and have dinner there).
"Link, there´s something I need to tell you", she began, nervously. Link was just finishing his creamy heart soup.
"Mhm", he said as he gulped a spoonful of soup.
"Prince Sidon sent me a letter two weeks ago". She said, taking out the roll of parchment from her bag. "They´re having a funeral for Mipha in two weeks". She said looking at him in the eye. He blinked blankly a couple of times.
He sat straight on the bed and cleared his throat. "I can´t believe I almost forgot...", he said. Zelda knew exactly how he felt. They had been able to say their good-bye´s to them, but to the rest of the world they had been dead for a century, and even worse, they had been left with nothing but questions about them. The princess handed him the letter.
"Sidon wrote to you personally. Here", she said, pointing out the two paragraphs adressed to him. She watched as his eyes darted left to right in a fast fashion.
"Well", he said after finishing. "They want me to speak at the ceremony". He looked at her, but she knew he was lost somewhere else. "I guess two weeks is enough time to think about something to say at a funeral", he took the almost empty bowl of soup and downed it´s contents before whispering.
"It´s not like I haven´t done it before". Zelda felt he heart sink to her stomach.
When Link was finally able to stand up and his arm was stronger. They began to pack everything for their journey to the east. Promising Riju that they would return as soon as possible to search for the fabled Temple of the Spirit.
"I´ll try to find out more about it in the meantime", she had said as they finished breakfast that morning at her palace. The gerudo matriarch handed her a small golden sculpture. Zelda looked at her quizzically. "It is a token of our gratitude towards the Zora people, for their part in the Calamity battle, and for helping with our city´s expansion. "Please let the king know we stand beside them, always".
Buliara was exchanging her good-byes with Link, who was finally able to wear ordinary men´s clothing (not without half the city protesting against it). She seemed at ease with him, whereas Link looked porsitively shy and awkward. She noticed he looked once or twice to Buliara´s stump on her left arm. The Gerudo royal guard and another one had barely survived the duel against the golden armor. Yete and another warrior named Alhysa had been killed that night. Buliara had not spoken much since then, but they had put toghether that the enemy had vanished with a loud crack after killing Yete and incapacitating Buliara. The crack had apparently killed Alhysa instantly. The enormous Gerudo had waved their concerns for her arm off. Riju had told her that she had personally bandaged it after Aoane had tender to the wound.
Buliara did something she never thought would happen in a thousand years. She hugged Link. Most likely breaking his ribs in the process. Link could only cough and blush after that. The Gerudo warrior took out something out from a bag Aoane had been holding for her. It was one of her shoulder plates.
"So you never forget you´re one of us", she said. Link looked at her gift for a long time before replying with a very quiet "Thank you".
Dehneru had been present too. She had not hugged Link, but kissed him in the cheek instead, while also whispering something to his ear that made him blush and laugh.
Zelda and Link had agreed that they should leave unannounced and without ceremony, because they didn´t know if the golden armor could appear again.
They had prepared a pair of Sandseals for them. They would have to go to the Oasis and get their horses back before starting their journey to Zora´s Domain. She noticed Link winced whenever he had to steer his seal, but he never made a sound and she never let him know she had seen him do it. It was almost midday when they arrived to Kara Kara Bazar. They left the seals with a very polite gerudo woman, that pointed them to the very small makeshift stable they had built. Sonne and Mond were apparently in good shape, they were drinking water out of a small pool of water. Sonne noticed Link first. Nudging her nuzzle against his chest.
"Hey girl, I missed you too", he said while caressing her head softly. She walked to where Mond was and her mare welcomed her touch just as much. She pressed her forehead against Mond´s. She found out that brought her peace of mind.
Zelda excused herself after packing everything into her satchel and searched among the growing number of tents, the one that sold what she was looking for. After some minutes of browsing, she found one. The single store that laid over the boulder beside the oasis.
"What will it be goldy-locks? A dagger, a spear, or perhaps a trident?", an old gerudo told her in a raspy voice.
"Show me your swords", she said. "I´m looking for something light". The old woman eyed her. Scoffing and mumbling while she rumaged inside a bag, with what looked just like trinkets. She pulled out the thinest sword she had ever seen. It was quite long, too.
"This is a used zora rapier", she said. "You´ll find nothing lighter, if it´s a sword you´re looking at", the old saleswoman handed the thin-bladed sword to her. She measured it, and tried it´s weight, even if this was a light weapon, she could feel one required quite a bit of strength to wield it.
"Does it come with a scabbard, and a belt?", she asked. The gerudo looked at her in outrage.
"Of course it does! What kind of business do you think I run?", she pulled out a blue and silver scabbard and handed it to her. A long string of leather hung from it. "It´ll be five hundred rupees", the gerudo said. Zelda could tell she was paying for an overpriced weapon, but she found haggling to be ill-mannered. She produced the amount from her small pouch and gave it to her. The gerudo woman looked at her in disbelief, but she too, didn´t say anything else, other than 'Thank you, my dear'.
When she turned around she saw Link looking at her. Smiling.
"Well, I figured I can´t depend on you or Riju to save me every other day", she said while strapping the belt to her waist. They both walked back to their horses.
"Say... Link?", she began when they passed Mount Nabooru. Link turned his head and lifted his eyebrows as if asking her 'what´s up?'.
"I know I missed them back in Kakariko, but do you think you could teach me how to use this?", she pointed at her rapier. He smiled as sweetly as ever and nodded again.
"It´ll be my pleasure, princess", he said. "We begin tonight, before dinner, agreed?", he asked.
"Agreed", she replied. Link had been oddly absent, and maybe even distant. Mipha´s funeral had probably just reminded him of how everyone he knew was dead. Nowhere to be found. She knew he was most likely thinking about his father.
"I know it´s not my business, Link", she began cautiously. "But if you ever feel like you need to talk, just remember... I´m here", she said with her heart on her hand. Link turned his head again, he smiled at her, and after what felt like an eternity, he said:
"Thank you, Zelda".
That night, they returned to Lake Kolomo to make camp. They silently set up the tent, and she offered to look for firewood. Link merely nodded and prepared everything for their first lesson. When she came back, he was holding two long branches in one hand.
"Lesson one", he said as he handed her one of the thin branches.
Author´s note II:
Okay. So Riju held her own against this new enemy. Who could it be? *Wink*
I love writing dialogue between Link and Zelda. This iteration of the characters is so good. It may be even better than Skyward Sword Link and Zelda. But that´s just my opinion.
Also also. I didn´t write anything related to the death of the gerudo on purpose, so don´t you fret. We will come back to that. What did you think of Riju´s POV? I wanted to mix things up a little bit.
Also also also, I´m avoiding any angsty thoughts Link might be having because, while we all go through times like those, where nothing we do feels right, I don´t want to take this story there just yet.
Zelda doesn´t trust Dehneru, I wonder why that is?
