Okay guys, it's time for chapter 41, and a new arc! Sorry this one took so long for me to write, I was on vacation from work, and was catching up with my gaming backlog. I also admit I had a bit of writer's block planning out the notes for this new arc, but I hope it turns out well!
It was a cold quiet night in Gerudo Town, and everyone in the palace, save for the night shift guards, were nestled into bed.
Aviel was curled up in her blankets almost like a caterpillar in a cocoon, she had a soft smile on her face as she subconsciously shifted herself to the side, the blankets unflured a bit and allowed her to reach her hand out to grab at a near empty bowl on the nightstand beside her. It had been full of shaved ice just before bed, but the ice that remained was now reduced to water. Aviel stirred a little, then muttered something in her sleep that sounded like "-ndpa..." before knocking the bowl over with hand, which fell to the ground and spilled out the water. She seemed to not notice though and continued to sleep.
In Nemisa's room, the bodyguard and martial artist was laying back in bed sleeping as well; one of her arms were laying back above her head while her other arm was holding the Deku plushie Link won for her during the festival so long ago. She held the plushie against her and sighed contently. One of her long strong legs were bent upwards, her body position almost as if she was frozen in the middle of a dance. She giggled a little in her sleep, as her above hand slowly lowered down to her firm stomach and gave it a gentle rub, before she sighed out blissfully.
Saria meanwhile was in her own room. The furniture, including her bed, was mostly child-sized stuff now to accommodate her smaller form. She was laying on her side with her head resting on top of her hands. While she did have a pillow, it was habit for her to sleep that way from the days she spent in Kokiri Forest. Her tunic was laying on a chair nearby, but it was badly shredded and torn from the battling she had been doing lately, the clothes were getting too warm for the extreme desert climate anyway. Her guardian fairy Faete was laying on a small little hammock beside the bed, made from a folded handkerchief.
Link was in his bedroom, laying asleep on his bed of pillows beside Princess Ruto of the Zoras. She was clinging to him with both arms around his waist in her own sleep, but she was squeezing Link a little tighter then comfortable for him. The cold breeze blowing into the room, along with Ruto's moist scaly body, was causing him to shiver a bit and let out a little sneeze in his sleep. Ruto wasn't even fazed by it and just held him closer as she slept, with one hand stroking his hair affectionately.
As for Nabooru however, she wasn't having it so well. She was in her own private room tossing and turning in her bed, her sheets eventually falling over the side, as she moved and trembled. The bed was normally quite comfortable for her, but the actual problem was what she was experiencing in her sleep...
Nabooru found herself in the middle of a vast desert, with seemingly nothing around her for miles and miles. She looked around in confusion, before she saw a certain figure in the distance. She seemed to recognize the person, and started running towards them. However the faster she ran, the further the figure seemed to get. She shouted to the figure as she reached a hand out to them, but they soon faded away and she came to a stop.
She closed her eyes and gasped out for breath, then opened them to see a horrible sight; some kind of city whose buildings were destroyed and on fire, a large temple before her was devastated to the ground, and she looked down to see there were dozens of dead bodies all around her. Nabooru gasped out in horror, seeing all the destruction around her, then looked down to her own body and saw blood splatter on herself. Tears were forming as she closed her eyes tightly in an attempt to block out all the images she saw and screamed out loud.
It was then Nabooru woke up, drenched in a cold sweat. She gasped out and put a hand to her head. She looked around to see it was still dark out.
"Ugh, that nightmare... I haven't had something like that in so long... but why now...?"
Nabooru sighed and got herself up, going over to a fountain sink in her room and splashing water on her face, then leaned against the sink and sighed out, feeling a little better, bit still shaken.
"I need to relax a bit..."
She then walked over to her nightstand, pushing it aside and revealing a small compartment behind it with numerous bottles of fermented wine juice. She took one bottle, poured herself a cup, and drank it all down in one shot. She took a deep breath, stood there motionless for a second, before pouring herself another cup...
"Good morning everyone!" Aviel cheered out, "Who's up and ready to start the day?"
Aviel stood at the end of the dining table of the palace, where everyone was now gathered around as they usually did in the morning. Nemisa was sitting calmly and wordlessly as usual while Ruto was clinging happily to Link, though the Hylian himself was looking somewhat pale. While Nabooru was leaning over the table, burying her face in her arms, clearly with a hungover from last night's drinking.
"I'm up, but I'm not ready..." Link muttered in a groggy voice, with a bit of snot hanging from his nose, he then sneezed into a napkin, "I think I'm coming down with something..."
"I'm sorry husband..." Ruto said sympathetically, hugging him to try and make him feel better, "I didn't realize last night was so cold for you, I'll warm you up with my love for you then!"
"It wasn't the weather, it was your body!" Link exclaimed in annoyance, trying to push her away, but she absolutely refused to let go of him out of affection, and he just sighed in defeat.
"Please not so loud..." groaned Nabooru, now covering her head with her arms to block out everyone talking loudly.
"Too much to drink again last night Lady Nabooru?" smirked Nemisa.
"Shut your mouth Nemisa..." Nabooru said, raising up and pointing her finger at the dancer without even moving her head, "Ugh... where's that chu jelly capsule I ordered from Sarami...?"
"Strange though, I thought Link had the guards padlock the royal wine room from you after what happened last time..." Nemisa pondered to herself.
"Shut up that's an order by your leader!" Nabooru exclaimed.
"So what's this about 'last time'?" Ruto asked in curiously.
"Well you see one night Lady Nabooru was so tipsy she got up on the roof of Togau's barn holding a sheep and started singing loudly while nak-"
Aviel's explanation was cut off by getting hit in the face by a flying breakfast egg.
"H-Hi everyone! Um, s-sorry I'm late!" called out a new voice. Everyone turned to see someone peeking out from the doorway into the dining room. They could tell from the voice it was Saria, but she didn't seem too eager to show herself.
"Oh come on, let them see your transformation into a true Gerudo!" said another voice, who soon pushed Saria out into the room, giving everyone the opportunity to look at the Kokiri girl.
Saria was dressed in a traditional silk Gerudo garb, albeit a much smaller variation like what the children of the town typically wore, but her version was a little more formfitting then the kids. Most of the outfit was colored a light forest green, except for the sleeves which were a more teal color like her old sweater was. She didn't wear a hood, but kept her hairband on like usual.
"Um... the seamstress completed my wardrobe..." Saria said in a small voice as she clutched her arm timidly, her eyes looking away from everyone to avoid their stares at her.
"So what do you guys think?" the Gerudo seamstress asked as she stepped out from the doorway, she had her hair in a bun shape with sewing needles sticking out of it, and a tape ruler hanging off her shoulders, "Doesn't she look adorable?"
"Yay! Saria's just like a Gerudo now!" Aviel cheered out, flying over to the Kokiri and giving her a tight hug.
"This is really embarrassing..." Saria said blushing bright red, trying to avoid seeing Link's face in particular, but despite her protest, Aviel hurried Saria over to a seat beside Link so he could get a better look at her.
"Don't worry about it Saria, you look great." Link nodded. He then realized what he just said and looked away with a light blush, scratching his cheek, "Well, I mean, you look just fine... and... um, you know!"
"Right, right... I get it...!" Saria said blushing a beet red.
"Well, well, well..." Ruto whispered to herself, looking between Link and Saria and gave a knowing smirk. She got up and moved over to a seat to the left of Saria, to put the Kokiri between her and Link. "So you're Link's little friend from the forest, yes? We haven't really gotten a chance to talk together!" she said, "I have to thank you for opening the way to the Lost Woods so I can meet my husband regularly!"
"Frankly I think she meets with him a little TOO regularly." sighed a slightly annoyed Nemisa, reflecting how often Ruto seemed to be coming over now so she could hog up their mutual boyfriend.
"Um... h-hi... Princess Ruto, it's an honor for me to speak with you." Saria said with a polite bow of her head.
"As it should be!" laughed Ruto, "Link's told me a lot about you before, like how you've known him since he was a baby when he grew up in Kokiri Forest!"
"Y-Yeah... something like that." Saria nodded as she was looking at the Zora princess' own light blue Gerudo outfit, she was starting to feel a little less self-conscious about her own clothes, though Ruto definitely wore hers much more beautifully as far as Saria was concerned, "I just did some looking after of him as he grew up is all..."
"Don't be so modest Saria, you did a lot for me, I don't know how I would had ended up if not for your encouragement." Link said with a small grin.
"And from what the girls tell me you've been doing well to look after him more nowadays." added Ruto, "With how much my dear husband gets himself into trouble, I feel a lot better knowing he's in your care, along with Nemisa and Aviel's!"
Nemisa's previous annoyance at the Zora in that moment lightened at those words, and the dancer chuckled lightly, knowing that Ruto had a knack for winning people over like that.
"Hey, I'm ain't a kid anymore." Link said flatly to his zora fiance.
"Oh believe me Link; Nemisa, Lady Nabooru and myself know that all too well!" Ruto giggled suggestively, causing Link to fault over and Saria to lower her head as she blushed a brighter red. Aviel giggled in response to Ruto's comment and even Nemisa couldn't help but snort a little at that.
"S-So what have you got for us today Nabooru?" Link asked, desperate to change the subject.
"Nothing really today..." Nabooru muttered, getting herself up and taking a light blue chu jelly capsule finally handed to her by a servant, putting it in some water, then gulping down the water after it broke down and fizzled, giving her some relief from her headache, "But I will say tomorrow we need to meet with the head bookkeeper of the Gerudo Library. She's currently our on an errand with her assistants to track down a book that Dr. Sarami needs for her research."
"Research on what?" Nemisa spoke up.
"It's in regards to the Hinox that attacked us over at the warp shrine. The power it used really bothered me, so I'm having Dr. Sarami examine it's remains we collected to see what could had made it behave that way." Nabooru said.
"Yeah, in my travels I've never battled a Hinox that acted like that before." Link pondered, "It was abnormally strong too, if it hadn't been for Togau I don't know what would had happened."
"Could it have been some type of dark magic curse?" Saria theorized
"I had Kesuta and Korume look into it, but they didn't sense any influence on it like magic, whatever the Hinox was strengthened by was something else, less mystical..." Nabooru muttered, before clapping her hands together and smiling, feeling a little better now that her headache was cleared up, "Anyway, there's nothing for you all to do until tomorrow, so feel free to enjoy the day for yourselves!"
"Alright! Let's go into town then!" Aviel cheered out. Having finished her breakfast, she quickly got up, grabbed Saria by the hand and said, "Come on Saria, let's show everyone in town your new outfit!"
"Ah, wait Aviel, I don't think I'm rea-!" Saria said frantically, but was cut off and yanked away by the energetic Gerudo girl.
"Hey, be careful with her Aviel, she's too small for that!" Nemsia shouted in annoyance as she followed after them.
"Come along husband, I'm in the mood to shop today and we could use our loyal pack-mule!" Ruto called out with a teasing giggle as she followed after the others as well.
"Ugh, she's not even being subtle about it anymore." Link sighed, getting himself up. He looked to see Nabooru walking off into the hallway, most likely towards her study. He pondered to himself and called out to her.
"Hey Nabooru, did you want to come along with us?" Link asked.
Nabooru stopped and stood motionless, before speaking up to Link, "It's okay, I have work to do. Maybe some other time."
"You seem like you have work to do every time." Link frowned, "Why don't you give yourself a break and hang out with us?"
"... ..." Nabooru just continued to stand motionless, before looking over her shoulder and smiling lightly, "I'll be fine, you all go enjoy yourselves, you've earned it for the hard work you do!" she said in a good-natured tone, as she started to go off on her way again.
"But you've earned it too..." Link said softly.
Nabooru seemed to stop momentarily, before continuing down the hall, either she didn't hear what Link said, or was just ignoring it. Link realized he was fighting a losing battle with Nabooru in that moment and just went off to go catch up with the others.
That morning was spent with Link and the group showing Saria around town more, introducing her to the citizens, and visiting the various shop around town. The girls took to the Kokiri quickly, though some kept thinking Saria was Link's daughter or something. The Gerudo children took to Saria very well, as they were encouraged by their mothers to be nice to kids outside of their tribe like she was. Saria herself truly started to feel like she belonged in Gerudo Town, and despite her initial embarrassment about her revealing outfit compared to her old Kokiri tunic, she found herself becoming more comfortable with it now.
Eventually Link, Aviel, Nemisa, Saria and Ruto were all gathered for lunch at the diner. Saria hadn't had the chance to eat there yet and the group were anxious to have her try it out, Aviel in particular wanting to share some favorite shaved ice treat with her.
"Aaah... it's so sweet and refreshing..." Saria said blissfully after having taken a bite of cherry-syrup covered shaved ice, "I've never eaten something like this before!"
"Hee hee, Link said the same thing when I brought him here for the first time!" Aviel said grinning.
"Just don't eat it too fast." Link warned her, "You'll regret it."
"Regret it how?" Saria asked, taking a large bite of of the ice, and in that moment froze up, clutched her head and squealed out, "Eep! What's happening? My head hurts!"
"It's just brain freeze." sighed Nemisa rolling her eyes.
"Oh you poor dear." Ruto said, taking an equally large bite of her own shaved ice.
"Hey, how come you're not affected?" Aviel asked Ruto.
"Ohhohohoho, I'm cold-blooded, so ice doesn't bother me!" Ruto laughed.
"Lucky." Aviel said annoyed, taking a bite of her own ice, only to suddenly freeze up and clutch her head with a brain freeze of her own, "Kyyyaaa!"
"You'd think after all this time you'd learn to avoid that Aviel." Nemisa said, taking a bite of her own ice, accidentally crunching down on a large piece of uncut ice that was hidden in the bowl, and she herself screamed out with a brain freeze, "Grraaah! Damnit!"
Link just chuckled at the girls, seeing them all get along well and having so much fun together. He paused on that note and took the time to look out the window, focusing on the palace in the distance, thinking about a certain someone who was in there. This didn't go unnoticed by Nemisa, who decided to speak up to him about it after her brain freeze dulled down.
"Something the matter, Link?" Nemsia asked, rubbing her head.
"I think I just... kinda wanted to check up on Nabooru, would you girls mind if I went ahead back to the palace?" Link asked, putting the payment for their meals on the table, "I'll foot the bill in exchange for leaving early."
"If that's what you want. Do you want any of us to go with you?" Ruto asked.
"Nah, you all go ahead and enjoy yourselves, I'll meet up with you at the pool later today." Link said, getting up. Before he left, he placed a quick order at the sales counter, before taking it and leaving.
"...he really cares a lot about Lady Nabooru, doesn't he?" Saria said with a light smile after Link had left.
"Yeah, Link said he's known her since he was little, I can tell he feels really connected to her." Aviel nodded.
"Just like with me and Saria." giggled Ruto, "He had a way with women even as a cute little squirt!"
"He mentioned once that he came to meet Lady Nabooru when he went to the Spirit Temple on some kind of quest." Nemisa said, "She mentioned to me how she admired his bravery at coming out there even as a child."
"Yeah, we've tried asking him why he would go all the way out there, but he was pretty vague about it." Aviel said.
"The Spirit Temple...?" Saria spoke up, "Is that place anything like the Forest Temple in the Lost Woods?"
"That's right," Ruto said, "From what I was taught in my lessons as a child, the temples were created by ancient sages from eons ago to maintain the balance of the world, and are often used for the worship of our gods. For example the Water Temple in Lake Hylia which honors the water goddess Lophela."
"So like how the Spirit Temple honors the desert goddess Aifet then, gotcha." Aviel nodded.
Saria paused on that note and thought to herself, namely about what Aviel mentioned earlier about Link's apparent quest, and the dreams she used to have over seven years ago, 'What connection does Link have to those temples I wonder... did it have something to do with that trip he went on when he left the forest...?'
Her thoughts were cut off by Nemisa going back to the original subject they were speaking of.
"But yes, I can tell Link loves Lady Nabooru dearly..." Nemisa said, leaning forward and gazing out at the palace with a soft smile, "She claimed Link's virginity the night we all met, and was one who taught him how to love and pleasure women. She seems to work endlessly towards making him into a fine king for us all. She certainly made a great impact on his life, and he always works so hard to please her, it's clear she has a special place in his heart."
"Yes, much like he has with us, Nemisa-dear." Ruto said, gently putting a hand on Nemisa's wrist.
"H-Hey, don't get so touchy!" Nemisa turned a little red at the zora's touch, yanking her hand away and turned her head to the side.
"Aw, so shy." Ruto giggled softly.
Saria blushed lightly at the words Nemisa said before about what Nabooru had done for Link, her mind wandered to the idea of her best friend becoming a king and what he said before about selecting who would become his wives and having children with them. She then looked down at herself to see the Gerudo outfit she wore, remembering she herself was a member of Link's people now...
"So do you think he'll ask Lady Nabooru to become his wife too?" Aviel spoke up excitedly, "I'd love to see that, I bet he'd even pick her to be the Grand Queen of the Gerudo!"
"A grand queen...?" Saria asked, "What is that?"
"Well you see," Nemisa went ahead and explained it to Saria, "While the Gerudo King has multiple wives, and they're all considered queens of the people, the king makes it a point to pick out one of them to be his Grand Queen, who stands above the others in rank and she's usually by his side in political matters." she took a second to fold her arms and smirk confidently, "And frankly I couldn't think of any other Gerudo who would be a better fit for the position!"
"Yeah, Lady Nabooru has done so much for everyone!" Aviel said, "And Link really admires her passion, I have no doubt if she married him that he'd appoint her as his Grand Queen!"
"How fascinating, I'd be honored to stand beside her when I become the queen of the zora!" Ruto nodded, then added with a smug grin, "But I can assure you all I won't be outdone in bed by her, or any of my husband's other wives!"
"Is that a challenge I hear Princess Ruto...?" smirked Nemisa to the zora princess, "I'll have you know Link has been unable to keep his hands off me when you're not around."
"Oh really? Very well then..." Ruto said sternly, sticking her nose up, "You're on, my beloved sister."
"Yes, a battle of pleasure for our beloved king!" Nemisa said, doing a graceful spin and bow, before standing upright and clenching her fist and stomping her foot down, "I look forward to it!"
Saria and Aviel just watched as Nemisa and Ruto stared at each other with confident grins, the competitive auras of a mighty water dragon and a savage flaming tiger seemed to cast over the two.
"...looks like Link is going to have it rough later tonight..." Saria said sweatdropping.
"Yup." Aviel agreed.
Back at the palace Nabooru sat at her study, where countless papers were littering her desk. She was working on forms to fill out in regards to the Zora trade routes, as well as some approval forms for possible meetings with the Hylian Parliament to discuss the potential of abolishing the banishment law, or at the very least offering some more leniency on it for now.
She reached over and took a sip of tea, only to see it was empty. She sighed out in frustration, it was clear the stress of the work she was doing was getting to her. She contemplated calling out a servant to get her some more tea, but then recalled something else more enticing at that moment. She had another stash of wine bottles beneath her desk like she had in her bedroom, smuggled in from the royal wine room before they could lock it from her. Nabooru was about to reach down for a bottle when...
"Hey Nabooru, you need a hand?" spoke up a new voice, startling Nabooru. She turned to see Link standing there in the doorway as he walked up to her. She saw he was holding a tray with a tea kettle and a couple cups on it with one hand and a to-go diner bag in the other, he went ahead and poured her a new cup of tea for her without waiting for an answer. "I thought you might also be hungry, so I got you some food from the diner." he added, placing down the bag.
"Oh, t-thank you Link..." Nabooru said with a light smile, looking down at the tea and food he had brought her.
"So can I give you some help with this work or something?" Link asked, taking a piece of paper and reading it over.
"Oh no, I couldn't ask that." Nabooru said shaking her head, "It might be a bit too complicated for you."
"It's no problem, I'll just... um..." Link muttered, looking at the sheet of paper. He narrowed his eyes at the sheet, and turned it at an angle to see if he could get a better look at it. His face turned blank in confusion, and Nabooru could have sworn she saw steam starting to rise up from his head, "Uhhh... I can do this... I just need to... to..." He paused, and pointed to something on the sheet, "...Nabooru, what does this word mean...?"
"Link, that's just my signature." Nabooru said sweatdropping.
"O-oh..." Link muttered, putting the sheet down, looking mortified. It was clear he wasn't very familiar with this sort of thing and it was making his head hurt.
"...Link, why don't you go cool off in the pool or something?" Nabooru asked with concern, she knew Link was a smart person in many aspects, but he was much more street smart then book smart, and in the time he lived here with her and during their lessons, she came to understand this sort of thing was a bit much for him.
"No, no, I can do this!" Link said desperately, grabbing at a large stack of papers, "Just tell me what you need me to write then!" in his haste to grab the papers however, the stack started to tip over.
"Link, wait!" Nabooru exclaimed, lunging at the Hylian to get him to stop, "That stack is already-!"
The papers shifted, Nabooru suddenly collided into Link and the two tumbled over, while the papers fell downwards and scattered all over the two of them. Even the tea kettle got knocked down and broke upon hitting the ground, splashing water everywhere.
Link and Nabooru snapped out of their daze, realizing the two were hugging each other, but also saw papers everywhere, some of which were splashed by the water from the kettle. Nabooru paused, then slowly sat up, glaring down at Link, as the aura of a giant desert serpent staring down at him formed around the Gerudo leader.
"Uh... oops?" Link asked timidly.
"I'm so sorry Nabooru..." Link muttered, using a hand fan in an attempt to dry off the papers that got water on them.
"It's fine," Nabooru sighed, organizing the papers that had fallen onto the ground and making sure they weren't damaged, "You were just trying to help..."
The two of them continued to clean up in awkward silence; Link was unsure of what to say beyond his apologies, and Nabooru was feeling both frustrated at her friend yet guilty for snapping at him. It was very rare that the two ever fought, and they always both always felt bad for it afterwards, desperate to make up with each other.
Eventually the two finished their clean-up, and they stood looking over what they had completed.
"Well, at the very least my desk looks a little more organized then before, I think I actually have a little space now." Nabooru nodded, looking at the empty spot in front of her chair, "So when did you suddenly take an interest in my work like that?"
"Well it's not so much that, I just wanted to help you along, so you could finish and do something else..." Link said scratching his cheek, "You know... something that's not work."
"Something else...?" Nabooru asked in curiosity, then after a second she realized what he might have meant and sported a small flirtatious grin, sweeping a hand through her hair, "So you're in that sort of mood then?" Usually when they did fight and apologize afterwards, it would led to them having make-up sex, and it seemed to Nabooru that's what Link was in the mood for.
"No, I didn't mean that, though that's always enjoyable." Link clarified, "What I mean is... um... what I want to do is... Geez, how do I say this...?" he pondered on that note, seeming to be trying to come up with the right words to say, while Nabooru looked at him in confusion.
"What do you mea-"
"Hey Link! Where are you?!" they suddenly heard Aviel shout from outside, "We're ready to go swimming!"
"I hear you Aviel, I'm coming!" Link called out, then looked to Nabooru, "You wanna join us?"
Nabooru paused on that note but shook her head, "...thank you Link, but I need to get back to my work." she said with a light smile, "You go on, okay? Your fiances are waiting for you."
"...alright." Link said with a nod as he sighed out in defeat, then went out to go meet up with Aviel.
"There you are Link!" Nabooru could hear Aviel shout from outside her study, "Now come on, Ruto picked out a cute swimsuit for Saria that she wants to show it off to you!"
"I didn't say that!" Nabooru could then hear Saria exclaim.
"Okay, I just need to go change into my swimtrun- gack!" Link exclaimed as he was being yanked away by Aviel, but she could then hear him shout out "I'll talk to you later Nabooru!"
"Alright then." Nabooru said with an amused chuckle, before sitting down and going back to her work. As she was signing some more paperwork for the Zora trade route, her stomach growled a bit. Nabooru paused and took a look at the lunch bag that Link had brought her earlier; it was probably already cold after they had spent so long organizing her documents, but she was indeed getting hungry.
She opened the bag and pulled out what was wrapped up in it; a steak sandwich with melted cheese and garlic seasoning, her favorite meal from the diner, and what she always ordered when she went there with Link.
Nabooru just smiled warmly, taking a bite of it. Despite how cold it was, it still tasted quite good, and she savored the taste of each bite. She decided to take a small break after all, but promised to herself that she'd get back to her work afterwards.
And that ends the first part of this new arc. I'm going to try and focus a little more on Link and Nabooru at this point onwards, as I feel I've focused a little too much on the others to the point where I neglected Nabooru herself. I still have plans for the others to get important new arcs and such, but Nabooru will start being more of a focal point now that the story is starting to head towards the main plot itself.
Thanks everyone for reading! Leave a like, follow or comment if you like, it's always a great encouragement for me!