Chapter four: The calm before the storm

Dusk now began to descend upon the land of Hyrule. The dying rays of sunlight danced off the blades of grass, making the meadow glisten like a sea of gold. On one of the many roads that interconnected the dotted settlements, a large caravan trundled along; pulled by the newest fauna to be introduced to the land: the 'Great Hylian Oxenbeast'. These proud looking creatures were a new breed of species from a far away land previously unknown to Hyrule.

As normality returned and travellers from far and wide began to journey to and through the recovering kingdom, they brought with them many weird and wonderful items and creatures of all shapes and sizes. The first two of the beasts were gifted to Zelda who instantly fell in love with them and decided to set them free in Hyrule Field, where they soon established themselves and thrived. Now numerous across Hyrule they became recognised for their formidable strength, yet gentle temperament. This made them vital (albeit slow) for the transport of goods and materials and even more vital, for hauling large heavy materials into place during construction.

One such person who benefitted from these gentle giants, was a jolly merchant by the name of Beedle. Often, he would have had to travel vast distances by foot, hauling a giant backpack in order to sell his wares. However, he had recently been handed an official permit recognising his vital role in helping Hyrule's trade recover, thereby granting him access to one of these highly regarded beasts. As the caravan rumbled on along the sleepy road, Beedle took his permit out once more to have another look. Grinning excitedly, he hurried it back in his pocket and gave a contented sigh. "Boy this is great!" he exclaimed. "No more sore feet, no guardians, no Yiga bandits, no moblins, or bokoblins, or any oblins for that matter. Just you me and the open road buddy!". He leaned forwards and patted his giant companion. "We just need a name to call you now, hmmm…how about Moonga?" he pondered. The large beast let out a low loud "Moooo!". "Then it's settled! It is just you me and the open road Moonga. No danger and not a care in the world!".

Letting out a sleepy yawn he weighed up his options. There would not be a stable for a while yet and Beedle's stomach let out a long low rumble. Luckily, there was a cave nearby that appeared to have a fire going. "I'm sure they would be kind enough to share their cave and fire with us Moonga" he said happily. Hopping down from his caravan, he led the Oxenbeast to a nearby stream where it began to drink. "Be good, I won't be long!" he said to his new friend, before making his way slowly to the entrance of the cave. He never did see who was inside before a sharp crack made everything go dark.

Elsewhere, in the newly designated 'banquet hall' of Hyrule Castle, guests were busy delighting over quite literally a feast for the senses. A medley of delicious smells was wafting from a nearby room, where many gifted chefs from all corners of Hyrule were busy toiling passionately away over their beloved creations. Meanwhile, the guests were salivating in anticipation at the menus before them. Such appetisers included: Cream of mushroom soup, seafood soup, meat soup, salt-grilled greens and curry rice, among many others. These were then followed by hearty entrees: salt-grilled crab, gourmet meat stew, meat-stuffed pumpkins, gourmet meat and seafood fry, pumpkin stew and vegetable curry, also among others. The Gorons had their beloved rock roast, obviously. The third and final course was sure to delight Hyrulians with a sweet tooth and included: Honeyed fruits, honey candy, hot buttered apple, hot apple pie, carrot cake and wildberry crepes, yet again among many other choices. Of course, no meal would have been complete without beverages.

These consisted of countless pitchers of the Gerudo's 'noble pursuit', Hebra's signature wild-berry punch, Mabe Village ale, cloudy Hylian apple cider and Goron spice rum. There were also their mocktail counterparts and warm milk or pressed fruit juice for both the more controlled and younger guests. Everyone was wide eyed as their succulent meals were gradually laid out before them, one by one. "Wow!" one guest exclaimed, "they have really pulled out all the stops for this!". "Gracious!" Another replied, "this looks simply divine!". The room gradually filled with contented sighs and happy chit-chat, as Queen Zelda's guests filled their bellies with delicious food and drink.

Zelda was now half-way through finishing her vegetable curry which tasted just as, if not more amazing than it looked. She poured herself another glass of the ruby red 'Hebra wild-berry punch'. It was the perfect balance of sweetness and tartness and was chilled to perfection. She simply could not get enough of it. She did not quite understand the cause of the floaty feeling that came over her, but she enjoyed how relaxed and happy she began to feel. Throughout the meal, she observed the scene before her. Sidon sat nearby chatting away to a group of Hylian women about some local issues affecting Zora's domain. It was quite clear they did not hear a single word he was saying, they merely sat silent watching him with a giddy longing expression on their faces.

Elsewhere a young Sheikah girl was happily barking orders to pose at uncomfortable looking guests. She trained the Sheikah Slate on them and yelled "Click. Snap!" taking their picture mid pose before hurrying away towards her next poor target.

Zelda saw an opportunity and snuck a sly glance in the direction of Link, who was still trying to finish his second course while Yunobo tried to hard sell him a chunk of rock roast. "Mmmfph Lnk, you gtta try ths" he said between munching. "Iss smply delisshss" he said flinging crumbs of rock across Teba's plate. Teba let out an exasperated cry. "Didn't your parents ever teach you to not speak with your mouth full!?". Yunobo gulped down the chunk he had in his mouth. "Aww man Teba I am sorry, not just for this but for earlier too, please don't be mad!" Yunobo grovelled. Teba huffed. "Ahh don't worry about it, kid", he grumbled taking a sip of Mabe Ale. "Just enjoy your rock roast but please keep your mouth closed while you eat!". "You got it!" Yunobo grinned widely. "Oh, and make sure you finish it soon because your part in the royal dance is coming up", Teba said glancing Yunbo's way with a smug smile. Yunobo's grin faded, and a look of horror filled his eyes. Zelda had never seen the colour drain from a Gorons face before. She chuckled loudly and Link turned her way with an amused grin. Zelda's heart began to flutter as they locked eyes, she smiled bashfully as warmth filled her cheeks.

"Ahem!". Zelda turned to see both Sidon and Impa staring at her, with teasing expressions on their faces. "Oh!..Umm", she flicked her hair nervously". She gestured further down the table to Yunobo. "Poor Yunobo, Teba wants him to dance later". "Oh, he is going to!" Teba leaned in looking at Zelda with a mean, joyful look in his eyes. "Hey, man…heh heh, I reeeally don't think that is a good idea" Yunobo said nervously, trying to wriggle his way out of trouble. Zelda giggled coyly at Impa and Sidon. They did not buy it, however. "Yeah yeah!" Impa said playfully. "What!?" Zelda said flustered. "And the other hundreds of times you have looked that way tonight?" Sidon beamed. Zelda said nothing, instead she reached awkwardly for another glass of punch and took a big gulp. "Hey, you might want to go easy on that! Impa grinned. Which reminds me, Zelda its time. "Time for what?" Zelda said, puzzled. "You know…" Impa said holding a fork to a glass. "Oh!" I had completely forgotten to write something out!

Impa rang an empty glass with a fork loudly and the room fell silent as anticipating eyes fell upon Zelda. She rose slowly. Strangely she was not frightened at all. She felt growingly floaty and happy for some inexplicable reason. Maybe the berries had some mystical calming properties she was not aware of? She began her speech. "My loyal Hyrulians…no…my loyal friends. All of you have gathered before me today in a show of support that has left me overcome with emotion. I am honoured to serve you all as your Queen and your support has made me realise, that despite our heavy losses in the many years that have passed, despite the destruction of our homes and loss of many wonderful people from this world". Her breath grew shaky, and her eyes prickled yet she held her resolve. "And we have lost many. Fearsome warriors, friends, brothers…sisters". She glanced over at Sidon who for the first time showed a real flicker of pain. His eyes closed and he quietly dabbed a tear, as he no doubt clutched onto his few precious memories of Mipha. Zelda continued. "Mothers…and Fathers".

Her eyes shifted upwards to the heavens, she prayed that both her mother and father were up there somewhere watching over her. Some of her guests mourned quietly in the brief pause, while others immediately recognised the reason for Zelda's own anguish, clutching their chest and let out an empathic "aww". Zelda returned her gaze, her face etched with a determined strength, which she now projected onto the room before her. "Despite this loss, we will continue to rebuild and return bigger and stronger than ever before! We will all stand united in the face of darkness and in the name of Hylia, our dearly departed and all that is righteous, we will prevail!".

One person clapped…then another…and another. Eventually the whole room was on its feet, erupting in applause and cheering. Zelda raised a hand gently and the room respectfully quietened down. "I would like to raise my glass to every one of you brave, wonderful, strong people! All of you here today. Kapson, my light keepers, attendants, my brave knight…s", Impa and Sidon laughed quietly to themselves. "and guests including the wonderful servants and chefs, who volunteered their time to make this perfect day worth it!" She took her glass and the room followed. "Tonight, my first Royal Decree as your ruler, is that you all have fun. Eat, drink, dance and rest contentedly in your beds later, for we shall go forth tomorrow, tirelessly and boldly into a new age!". "Here here!" her audience declared cheerfully as they all raised their glasses. Prince Sidon stood up suddenly, raising a glass with a beaming smile once more. "To Her Majesty Queen Zelda, a ruler we will follow to the very end!". Zelda smiled slightly embarrassed. "To Queen Zelda!" her audience cheered, applauding once more.

"Click. Snap!" declared the young Sheikah girl popping up in front of Zelda and making her jump. She analysed the picture. "Ooo Your Majesty, that is one for a portrait!" she said showing Zelda her slightly awkward looking pose in the picture. Zelda still felt mildly unsettled that she was technically much older than the centenarian Impa and yet, still had the build and mannerisms of a young teenager…all thanks to her eccentric levels of curiosity. However, no amount of ageing would ever allow Zelda to match the 'young girl's' levels of knowledge on technology, which were phenomenal.

~Purah~

Eccentric ancient technology extraordinaire

"Oh Linky, come pose with me and Robbie! We need more of us in the album!". She locked onto Link dragging him away from the head table. Many people now sitting at cleared tables, decided to take this as a cue to get up and mingle around. Zelda slowly took her seat again.

"That speech was…phenomenal!" Impa noted with a smile "I don't remember us even practicing it!". "We completely forgot!" Zelda laughed taking another gulp of the delicious wildberry punch. "Spoken like a true leader, you see? Your father would be proud!". "It's *hic* funny, you know. This drink, it is simply delicious *hic* and I think there is something in the berries *hic* that have calmed me down. We must *hic* get more. Impa try some!". Impa and Sidon roared with laughter. "That would be the alcohol my dear!" Sidon beamed. "Oh…what is alcohol *hic*, is it an elixir?" Zelda said looking puzzled. Sidon and Impa looked incredulously at each other. "Wow King Rhoam really kept you sheltered didn't he!?" Impa said with a look of pure endearment on her face. Zelda looked slightly mortified. "Like any responsible father should!" Sidon beamed at her reassuringly. "Enjoy the feeling but trust me Your Majesty, anymore and you will be royally sick the next morning!".

Far from the festivities in the cold dark cave, Beedle came to but immediately stilled his body and scrunched his eyes as his captors passed by. Both were unnaturally tall and thin looking. The male had long flowing dark hair and spindly fingers, which were adorned with two dark rings. One contained a blasphemous symbol of the Triforce upside down. The other contained an eerie crimson, monstrous eye. Beedle could just make out strange tribal markings starting or ending at his hand and trailing up his arm. The female was very much the same: thin, gaunt and pale. Both looked like they were on the brink of death. They carried a dark, icy aura about them. The woman was busy scrunching up Silent Princesses, crushing the poor blue flowers in a merciless grip. "I detest these weeds!" she hissed. "I know" her male companion replied, "at least they have some use tonight" he smiled coldly. The female turned tossing the pulverised petals into a large pot, along with a sunset firefly and some rather grotesque looking molduga guts. A sneaky elixir Beedle mused.

"I miss the blood moon" the female sighed. "Me too, but don't worry" the male responded. "When His Excellency, Lord Ganondorf returns, the blood moon will never fade on this wretched land!". Beedle gasped without thinking and his captors wheeled round to face him. "Ahhh you are awake!" the male exclaimed. "Sorry about knocking you unconscious". "W-what do you want with me?" Beedle stammered. "The nerve of this Hylian!" the male captor said with a cruel laugh. "As I recall, it was you who wandered into our little hideaway, such a shame for you. You should have stayed away". He rounded on Beedle. "Please! Have mercy!" Beedle yelped. "I only wanted shelter and food! Please don't kill me!" he wailed. The man leaned down. "What is your name?" he said quietly. "B-b-beedle sir, I am but a simple humble merchant" Beedle pleaded. "I can see that", the man replied with a cunning look towards the caravan outside. "Well then Beedle. I am not going to kill you…but what I am going to do will make you wish I had!". From outside the cave a bright purple light shot out, followed by an agonised yelp.

~Note:

I hope those of you who have made it to here are enjoying my story so far. It has been a bit of a slow burn thus far just to establish the characters and add some tender moments before things get really dark. Starting as of next chapter, I hope you are ready! Please feel free to engage with me like a kind mystery reviewer has been so far! Which leads me onto my next point:

Slight name tweak of the Oxenbeast from Mungo to Moonga. All credit goes to my very kind and very engaged guest reviewer so far who has effortlessly outdone me on a cute name :D~