WARNING

Major spoilers for the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild ahead! Please reconsider reading this story if you are yet to finish the game. You have been warned!


A/N: Happy late New Years everyone! This story has been going on for more than four months now and I truly appreciate everyone's support! Let's hope for a better 2021!

~ミ(o*・ω・)ノ


Sunset bled through the graceful clouds of Hyrule as the petite artist of nature painted the orange tinges of the sun onto the dimming blue sky, the shadows of the hills and rocks around them stretching longer and longer by the passing second. Link felt himself intake a long, relaxing breath of the wild world around him, closing his eyes momentarily as the footsteps of the horses made themselves inside his ears, calming his nerves and unwinding his mind gently.

Epona grunted a few times and Link opened his eyes again, finding Zelda patting her white steed on the back softly. "Be sure to take time to soothe your mount…" Link's heart jerked as he realized where those words have came from: him, just a few hours ago, when he gave the princess a tiny lesson on getting along with horses. He tried to repress a blush at the thought that she remembered what he had said. "That's the only way it will know how you truly feel." As her warm hands ran over the horse's skin, he let out a few comforting outtakes of breath and his eyelids lowered slightly, enjoying the touch of his owner. Link gulped.

"Your advice was quite helpful—thank you." Link turned to look at her, and for the thousandth time that day, their eyes met and his heart did that familiar jump again, aching painfully yet beautifully at the sight of her. "This little one and I are getting along quite well now." There was a simple, happy laughter in her voice.

"At first, I wasn't sure if I should outfit him with all of the royal gear. I thought maybe he'd have to earn it first." Link tried not to smile at the princess's familiar, old arrogance. It applies to everyone: himself, the other guards, and it seems that even her horse couldn't be an exception. "But it works! He wears it like a true natural." And he does - the twinkling, shining purple gears rattled slightly as the horse walked on, glittering like the true, royal steed he is. Link couldn't help but feel like Epona was incredibly underdressed for the occasion.

Zelda looked over again, and Link did as well, the wind tickling his blond hair identical to hers. "I'm trying to be a bit empathetic. Benefit of the doubt, you know?" She smiled at him, an easy, effortless, painless smile, and he couldn't help but smile back, feeling his muscles twitch at the unfamiliar expression. At this her smile only widened, brighter and sunnier like the fresh new grass below their feet.

They continued on in silence, their horses communicating quietly as an invisible, inaudible tune played between the princess and the knight. The high, mighty statue of an ancient horse stands royally in the sunset of the Sanidin Park, glorious yet silent, stoic yet beautiful, nevertheless.

Zelda and Link made their ways to the Park and got off their horses in that similar, comfortable silence, meaningless little smiles exchanging between them from time to time. Link doesn't really know what they were doing in a Park like this - after all, it was getting dark and it was his duty to escort the princess back to the castle before sundown. But as she walked closer to the edge of the Park, her voluminous blonde hair flashing in the wind, he couldn't help but think, maybe my duties can wait.

"See that mountain?" Zelda's back was turned against him, but without effort Link could just imagine her pensive face, staring warily at the mountain in the distance. "That's Mt. Lanayru." Link looked over her shoulder into the Hyrule fields casted down by the illustrious sunset, finding his way to the mountain. Mt. Lanayru - Named after one of the Golden Goddesses, Nayru. He wondered if the previous hero, whoever he was, has ever met one of the Goddesses. He remembered how his grandma had told him that the previous hero was from more than 10,000 years ago, way too long for anyone in particular to remember, to memorize, to live to tell the story of how he saved Hyrule once and for all. Link wondered what he was like. He wondered what he was called. He wondered if he'll ever be as great as him.

"It takes its name from the Goddess of Wisdom." Right - Nayru was the Goddess of Wisdom. If he was being honest, the Golden Goddess has always resembled Zelda in some way, at least to himself…"Lanayru's decree is very specific." Zelda looked down as her head lowered. "It says, 'No one is allowed, under the age of seventeen…For only the wise are permitted a place upon the mountain.'"

Link couldn't help but frown at this peculiar decree. Only the wise…? He wondered how and why the ancients have thought that only people from seventeen and above are considered "wise". It's strange, isn't it?

"I've prayed at the Spring of Courage and at the Spring of Power, yet neither awoke anything inside me." Link sensed a sigh leave his lips at the statement - it's even stranger just why and how the Goddess wouldn't grant her the power she needs, even if it's to save her very own kingdom. "But maybe up there…"

Link's head snapped up at the sound of aspiration in her voice. "Perhaps at the Spring of Wisdom, the final of the three, will be the one." He almost jumped up in victory at the hope tinged in her tone. Positivity…it could certainly help her gain her power, one way or another. Right…?

"To be honest, I have no real reason to think that will be the case." She drew her hands close to her chest, another instinct of hers. "But there's always the chance that the next moment will change everything." At the sound of the sentence, something unbearable and undecipherable surfaced in Link's chest - is it pride? Maybe it was. He was proud, more than anyone he could ever imagine, so proud for what she has managed to accomplish, and at the unfailing spirit she was showing despite how many hardships came in her way. She really, truthfully was a woman of power.

Zelda's hands fell back at her sides again. "Tomorrow…is my seventeenth birthday." Link cracked a soft smile. Of course he knew that - there was almost no point for her to tell him. He remembered everything date when it relates to her - her father's birthday, her late mother's birthday, even, um, the anniversary marking their first encounter…His crack of a smile suddenly turned into a bright flush as the princess turned back at him, a smile so beautiful Link swore it could grow flowers out of his own body etched onto her face, gentle, yet powerful nonetheless. The sunset was almost too perfect of a fit for her perfectly-crafted face, making every detail stand out, glow out, and shine more beautifully than it already did before. Link felt his eyes dart over the place frantically as he tried to cover from his own embarrassment. So much for unapproachable, cold, and emotionless. It was almost funny how ironic it was.

"So then I shall go…and make my way up the mountain." Everything silenced around them as that sentence, more like a vow to the death, left her lips oh-so softly, gracefully, beautifully. A determined expression rose up to her face and she nodded back at him, and at that moment, that cherished, flawless moment, he couldn't be more proud.


NEXT UPDATE: JANUARY/10th


A/N: Hehehehehehehehehe did you catch that Breath of the Wild pun hehehehehehe ok I'm gonna go see myself out

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, have a great day!

~ミ(o*・ω・)ノ