CHAPTER SIX

The sun was setting into the horizon, the orange glow blended in with the dark blue cloudy sky. The stars only seemed to be visible by the tip of the sun's rays and the edges of the clouds. Nave was watching this, sitting on the wooden dock, his feet dangling above the water. A box of food was set beside him; he looked up and saw Zelda. She smiled at him and said; "Thought you might be hungry." she sat down beside him, opening the box and handing him a sandwich.

"Thanks." Nave said and eagerly accepted the food; he unwrapped it and took a small bite, giving it a small taste. His face lights up and he begins to chow down.

Zelda had a sandwich of her own and took a small bite before staring off into the sunset.

Nave notices and asks, "You really like looking at the sunset, don't you?"

Zelda smiled faintly, taking another bite of the sandwich, she swallows and says, "There's an old Hyrulian saying, 'Chase the sunset steadfast.' It means always look on the bright side, and keep moving forward. Keep the dark behind you and always shoot for the light. As long as you keep at it, the future will always be bright, no matter how bad the past might've been, the light will always guide you."

Nave sets his sandwich down on his lap and ponders this, "Hmm…that's real deep, Princess. Not a bad philosophy."

"I try…" Zelda said. She reaches into the box and pulls out a canteen; she pops the top and takes a drink.

Zelda offers Nave a drink of her canteen, he accepts and takes a few big gulps before handing it back to her and finishing the sandwich.

"So, have you found a place to stay yet?" Nave asked.

"Well, yeah…luckily we got there just in time; I managed to book a room a few minutes after it became vacant, talk about good timing, huh? Don't worry. There are two bedrooms in it."

"That good to hear." He said.

Zelda glanced at him and asked, "Not disappointed?"

He looks at her quizzically, "What do you mean?"

She laughs, "Nothing…just being silly."

Nave raises a brow, not getting it, "Uhh…riiight."

Suddenly, he remembers something, "Hey…Zelda, you know your father came through here, right?"

Zelda looks at him, she blinks, "No…why?"

"Well, I went around, and it looks like he did, he's taking the long way around to get to Vanale, instead of just going there and turning back, he decided to go around, get into Ceres, and then cut through Vanale on his way back to Hyrule. People think he's looking for something, or someone. I'll bet he's searching for you."

"I wouldn't doubt that at all…" she said, deep in thought, "So that caravan we saw earlier today, that must've been Father."

"You think he'll be okay?" Nave asked, "It seems like they wanted to keep you in jail…I don't feel right about this."

Zelda turns back to the sunset, "Relax, my father has some of the best Hylian Knights with him. He's safe…no one would be stupid enough to do anything to my father. There'd be war, and Vanale doesn't want that, neither does Hyrule, our kingdoms treasure the peace. Besides, if I show my face, he'd force me to come back home. I'm close to…him…I know it. I don't think they knew I was the princess either…so calm down." She pokes him on the forehead playfully, although it was clear she didn't have the heart to smile.

She then takes another bite of her sandwich.

A shrill scream causes her to choke; Nave quickly takes the canteen and gives it to her, she downs it, after a quick moment, she manages to say between coughs, "What…was that?"

The two stood up and see a growing crowd around something a bit further down the docks. "Come on!" Zelda sprints towards that direction. As Nave begins to follow, he skids to a stop, turns and jogs back to their spot, picks up the box of food and then finally follows Zelda, slinging it over his shoulder.

They arrive and start pushing through the crowd to see what the commotion was about. A few men were in the center looking at something that lay on the docks; an old woman was being hysterical with one of the men trying to calm her down.

Zelda looks over someone's shoulder and gasps. She sees a body laying there, it was half-decayed. The face was pale, it was a bluish white and seemed a bit shriveled, the clothes were torn, the color faded. Nave helps Zelda reach the front and jumps at the sight of the body. He was in shock, "That's…"

Zelda turns to him, "Do you know who it is?" she asked.

"It's…Vincent. I know it is." Nave said breathlessly.

"…The guy from Vanale?" Zelda questioned.

"Yeah…no mistaking it…" He said.

The panic-stricken woman finally managed to calm down and said, "I…I thought I had caught a fish and then it just…..floated up…"

One of the men stood up after examining the body, "…he's been dead for two weeks."

Zelda and Nave made a connection at the same time. Nave thought of what Zelda had told him:

"I'm looking for someone very important to me. He…He's someone I hold very close to my heart. Two weeks ago, he had gone missing…things happened. Lots of things…complicated things."

And now it seems the person named Vincent…the same man who had set Nave up was actually an imposter, with the real Vincent dead at around the same time the person Zelda was looking for went missing…and now the King of Hyrule was probably in the same room as him at this moment.

"We have to go back to Vanale." Zelda said quickly, a serious look on her face. She quickly pushes her way out of the crowd with Nave behind her. They make it through and break into a full run.

"How are we going to get there in time?" Nave asked as they rounded a corner, "It'll take us two days to get there by foot!"

Zelda replies between breaths, "I know a place…I just saw it a few hours ago…horses."

They both skid to a stop in front of a building, to the left of it, there were stalls. Neighing was heard.

"I need two of your fastest horses." Zelda was saying to the owner as they stood in front of the stalls.

"It'll be mighty expensive…think you can afford it, missy?" the owner asked.

"Here!" she shoves a bag full of rupees at him. The man looks inside and his eyes widen, "Holy crap! You can buy the whole damn ranch with this much!"

"I don't care…give me the horses!" Zelda demanded, not caring at all.

"Well, there's a small problem…" the owner said, unaware of the urgency of the situation.

Nave watches as Zelda rides out of the stalls with a white horse. "Where's mine?" Nave asked. "Get on! They only had one, let's go!" Nave didn't want to waste any more time and climbed on, putting his hand around her waist.

Zelda turns the horse towards the fence and gallops full speed, leaping over it before Nave had a chance to register what was going on. She turns and goes full speed out of town and onto the road that lead to Vanale.

The sun had finally set, the last of its rays fading away.