Zanora hummed lightly to herself as she walked, weaving in and out of the sparse, early morning crowd. As she arrived to Links door, she raised her hand to knock to alert him of her presence as normal, but something stays her hand mere inches from the door. Her sharp ears making out Links voice through the door.
Curious, she pressed her ear to the door.
"Oh yeah, totally!" Indeed Link was speaking inside. Confused, she drew back from the door. Who was he speaking to? The door was still locked. Balancing the tray in one hand, she slid the bar and the locks back slowly as not to alert him. She propped the door open with her foot, listening. Perhaps it was a tad on the wrong side to listen in like this, but she was curious. Who would be calling on him at this hour? And who would lock themselves inside? Or perhaps whoever was inside had left the door unlocked and someone else had come along, assumed it a mistake, and slid the lock back into place without knowing there was someone besides the boy inside?
"Well, it's not too bad-huh? No, it's in a canyon, so it's cold water." That was it. She had to see for herself what was going on.
"Who are you talking to?" Link jumped as the door swung open, his feet sliding off the wall, hitting the straw mattress with a muted thump, and he rolled over and off the bed, scrambling to stand up.
"Zanora!" A pair of feathers came loose from his rumpled clothing, fluttering softly to the floor. "Sav'otta!"
He had talked long into the night, and had fallen asleep still wearing his sullied clothes. When he'd awoken, he had rushed to ensure it hadn't all been just a dream. Now he stood awkwardly under her stare, like a child caught stealing a sweet. A worried look passed over her eyes as she regarded him.
"….Are you feeling alright?" She asked.
"Yes! Of course!" He answered, too quickly, voice too high.
She said nothing else on the matter, though her eyes said she had wanted to voice her concerns.
"Why on earth didn't you change your clothes? You must have been freezing in those last night…."
"I fell asleep." He said sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his neck.
"You fell asleep," She said dryly. "Are you quite certain you're feeling alright?"
"Of course! Why wouldn't I be?" He was reluctant to tell her, about the strange connection in the ocarina. Afraid she'd think him more insane, or worse, having his only means of communicating with someone outside these damned city walls taken away from him. As it was, there was no way for anyone to suspect the little ceramic instrument was anything else but a pretty trinket that made pretty noises and nothing more.
"Right then…. Well, breakfast is a little different for you today." She said, moving deeper inside his small room. "Guahar stopped me in the dinning hall and gave me something for you from Nanya. Told me that Nanya said she felt bad that you had to face Ol Howl. "Said she was in a foul mood this morning that she was not well enough to bring this to you herself. It seems the exertion and the storm did take its toll on the poor thing, but she forced herself to get on her feet long enough to prepare this."
He sat down as she did, eyeing the small dish covered with a cloth, nose twitching as the unfamiliar but appealing aroma coming from it.
Zanora grabbed the small bowl from the tray and held it towards him, her other hand sliding a wooden spoon towards him. "Well, go on then, it's handmade."
He slowly pulled the cloth away, inhaling the pleasant scent deeply as he looked into the bowl, looking at the creamy broth within it, with mushrooms and herbs floating within it.
"Ah, cream of mushroom." Zanora commented, picking up a fruit from the tray. "A hearty soup. Perhaps it will help put a little more meat on you."
He chose to ignore the comment, wasting no time in digging into the meal before him. His eyes fell closed as he took in the first spoonful, savoring the rare change in his usual fare. The stray thought that he had not had a truly home cooked meal in his time in the desert. A rather saddening thought, if he were honest. That was one of the more material things he missed from his home. Actual meals eaten around a table after having been carefully made. The feeling of warmth of being gathered at the table with family, despite how small his was. Or the merriment of dining with friends. He had warmed to Zanoras company much since he had been forced into his predicament, and her icy regard had seemed to thaw as time had gone on, but their meals together were a far cry from what he knew he was missing, back across the scorching sands of the desert and the grassy sea of Hyrule field beyond it. The thought made the corners of his smile fall, a pang of homesickness in his chest. Uncaring if she could see the change in his expression.
Though his hope she would deign to keep any comments or inquiries to herself went unanswered.
"Is something the matter with the dish?" She asked, her sharp nails cutting into the peel of her fruit easily, a bit of juice dripping down her thumb as she pulled away a strip of skin. "It looks and smells quite appealing, but I can't say I've ever tasted her cooking, so I cannot vouch for the taste."
"No, its amazing." He replied, shaggy hair shaking with the movement of his head. "Its the best thing I've had since I've been here. Its almost as good as something Grandmother would make."
"Oh." The word is quite, the understanding lacing it surprised him. "Well, I'm sure Nanya will be very pleased to hear that. Next time you work with her you should tell her such." She said, biting into her breakfast. "I could tell her for you, but I believe she will be happier if you say so yourself."
"I will." He nodded. It was touching to know the frail young woman had gone through the trouble of making it despite the sliver of a worry in the back of his mind of how ill she must have been feeling to make it.
"I suppose we could return the favor tonight." Zanora murmured thoughtfully. "If she is having a bad day, as she calls it, because of yesterday evening, I might be able to alleviate a little of her pains, even if its only for a little while. And I'm sure she would be happy to see you while she is stuck in her bed."
"That'd be nice. I would like that." He agreed, the thought of seeing the girl uplifting his mood a little. He had friends, now, he had to remind himself. An old friend in the form of Saria's soft, surprisingly childlike voice, and now a new one in form of the sickly stable hand. It was not home, but in one night things seemed to be a little brighter than they had been.
The women flitting about the kitchen had turned them away. Refused him, anyhow. Link knew well enough that they probably would not have flinched at the idea of Zanora slipping among them and making a meal.
It wasn't a Voe's place, especially not a Hylian Voe that they did not knows place, nor was It Zanoras '
turn to help in the kitchen, the matron of the room had said. Neither of them wanted to risk facing the wrath of the woman by the end of the large wooden spoon woman was wielding by arguing. Beloved as Zanora was by most, both of them knew that even she wasn't immune from a thwack. He was at least grateful Zanora had entertained his idea of making a dish in return.
Instead they'd convinced them to take a third tray from the grand dining hall with them.
"I can cook, y'know. Well enough, anyhow. Used to help Gran a lot in the kitchen back home." He muttered as they walked.
"If you say so." Zanora replied, the sound of her heels clicking on the cold stone floor of the passageway as they went.
"I could prove it, if they let me." "Mmhm."
As they came to a door Zanora gave a few hearty knocks upon the door frame, and after a moment the curtain covering the entrance slide back and their gazes turned upwards. Looking up as Guahar gazed down at them critically from behind her spectacles. "My Lady."
"You mentioned Nanya has taken ill again this morning, and Link wishes to repay her kindness for the soup." Zanora explained, motioning to the tray He carried. "We thought to bring her what they made in the dining hall."
"I don't like this." Link found himself looking away as her sharp eyes stabbed at him. "….But she will be happy. For her sake I'll allow it. But do not think I look kindly on someone who encourages her to make herself sick." She stepped back, allowing them to slip into the room before she pulled the curtain back into place. "I'll wake her."
Link let his gaze wander as they stepped inside. Sweeping around the chamber that seemed to serve as the entire apartment. The kitchen in one corner, with counters he knew at a glance would be too tall for him to work at without standing on his toes or a stool. The whole of the room with its fixtures and furniture made him feel small, but it was all just right for the tall women of the Gerudo.
The figure on one of the beds in the far corner caught his attention. Curled up among the blankets was Nanya, who stirred as her elder sister gently shook her awake.
"….Link?" He heard her sleepy voice mumble, before she sat up sharply. Doubling over for a moment with a quiet groan. After a moment she looked up, giving them a surprised, shy smile. "What are you doing here?"
"We came to see you, of course." Zanora replied softly. "I thought I might be able to ease your pain a little, like last time. And He wanted to thank you."
"You guys didn't have to come for little ol me. I'm sure you've got other more important things you could be doing. Thank you, I wish I could say I could stomach dinner, but I don't think I could right now."
"Helping a friend is important." He spoke up, setting the tray on the table between the two beds. "And this will still be here when you are hungry, then."
"Still, its not the first time I've ended up like this. It ain't gonna be the last. It's just my lot."
"That doesn't mean we shouldn't help." Zanora said warmly, going around the side of the bed, a soft glow emanating from her pal, as she gently placed it on the other girls shoulder. "I can at least ease your aches for a while. Hopefully the break will help you get out of bed sooner, rather than later."
"Thanks." Link found himself smiling back as grinned.
"You're bed bound?" He asked quietly. She always looked so frail, and she did get out of breath easily, but he didn't know her to not be an active girl, even if she was coughing or wheezing.
"A little." Nanya replied. "I could make it a few feet, but when the weakness hits, its not my mind that turns to jelly, its my knees, arms. The muscles." She explained. "I reckon there's crawling, but that's tiresome too. An' you know how easy I bruise, I'd rather not go banging up my knees on the stone, y' know?"
"What do you do, when you're stuck like this?"
"Guahar helps. Gets me around, or fetches me things. I suppose I mostly sleep, or read. Whats on the shelves, if its not a medical text, its probably mine." She said. "That one there on the tables what I've been going through now." Curious, he reached for the little brown tome, frowning at the script on the cover, a word he could only partially make out.
"Put that down, Link. You know you can't read." Zanora said, her hand hovering over the stablehand's knee.
"I can read." He snapped back, setting the book aside anyway. "Just not your stuff. Yet, anyway. I could read the first couple of letters."
"You'll get the hang of it soon." Nanya said, "You always catch onto stuff quick, you're smart like that."
"Well I'll be damned, you're making the Voe blush, Nanya. Look at his ears. They're pink. He's easy to tease, but I don't see that often." Zanora laughed.
Despite the teasing, and the presence of Zanora and Guahar, it was easy to fall into chatter as they often did while they brushed horses or swept out stalls. His face fell when Zanora finally pulled back her hands, announcing she was finished. "I've done what I can. I wish I could do more."
"You've done more than enough, like always. Feels a lot better."
"I'm glad. Now, I should probably get him off to bed, and let you rest while you feel better. C' mon, Link." Zanora said, waving him on.
"Before you go…." He paused, turning back to look at Nanya and whatever she had to say. "Do you have that thing? That little music piece?" She asked.
"Yeah, I do." He pulled the small instrument from his satchel, holding it out for her to see.
"Would you play something for me? Now that we're not working?"
He nodded, and after a moment of thinking sat down on the end of the bed, bringing the ocarina to his lips. He didn't know if he knew the entire song, or if he had every note right, but it was a soft, soothing melody, that song he heard Zanora humming so often. Zanora caught onto the tune quickly, and sat on the other bed across from him, singing the wordless song softly. There was something that felt strange as the notes flowed. A charge in the air that seemed to send a tingle through his very blood. Similar, yet stronger than the sensation he felt as he played Saria's Song.
The sound of a quiet snore slowed him to a stop. He opened his eyes, seeing Nanya's sleeping face. Looking far more peaceful in her slumber now than when they had arrived.
"She should rest well now." Zanora said quietly as she stood up. "There's always been something about that song… But this was magic, no doubt about it." Link followed suit, gently adjusting the blanket over the slumbering stablehand's shoulder.
"Thank you, my lady." Guahar said, giving Zanora a slight bow. "And you, boy…. I suppose I should thank you as well. It has been some time since I have seen her smile so widely, or fall into such an easy sleep. Sav'org, Link. My Lady."
As they slipped out of the apartment and back down the hall, she spoke. "Guahar studies to be a healer as well, you know. Though in a more pharmaceutical sense. Like many, their family lacks the ability for magic. I think its because of her sister, that she seeks such knowledge."
"Like the potion brewers who make medicines for colds and fevers? That's noble, wanting to help."
"Yes. Though she seeks something stronger than a draught of medicine for the sniffles. Magic has not been able to find a cure, so she seeks to find one in other means."
"I always thought magic was stronger than most things." He admitted.
"For many things, but not everything. After all, if magic could cure anything, Otsana's foot would be made of flesh, not wood…. Though I suppose that's a poor comparison. Loosing your leg to a Leaver and being drained of your life force by some seed of darkness are very different things."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, that what afflicts her is some malignant magic. From that Poe as they claimed, or something else. Whatever the cause, its deep, and powerful. I do think that magic could cure it, but it would have to be something mighty powerful. Curses in general, are hard things to cure. But they usually don't take the shape of something like this. Things like this, that drain you, that aren't meant to be long term. They drain the life out of you quickly to sustain something else." She explained. She looked around before leaning in slightly. "I suspect the creature was captured, not killed as it should have been. That could explain why she's been afflicted so long."
"Why would someone capture one of those things? What would they want with it?"
"To sell it, most likely. Believe it or not, there's a market for such things. It could be in the hands of a collector, or a witch."
"I still can't imagine why anyone would want that." he said, nose wrinkled with distaste.
"Who knows what goes on in the minds of collectors or any kind. And a witch, well, think. They use magic, and need ingredients or sources of power. Spirits born from spite and unfinished business, I imagine there 's probably a lot of power to be found. Not good, but power nonetheless. But its just my own theory, anyway. I'll likely never know. Or I could be entirely wrong, for all I know. I'm no scholar of monstrosities."
As they got to his door and she shut him in for the night, he found himself running a hand over the cool, smooth ceramic of the ocarina. The curious thought of if he should ever introduce one friend to another. If it was even possible to.
