notaname: I had a piano recital on Saturday, and for one of the pieces I had to play piano for there were RECORDERS. I need not say more (except they were all playing the notes wrong and it sounded like crap). Why couldn't I have violin like the other group? Or just no recorders? Just one punch in the arm? Lucky. One of my brothers rough houses with everyone, even though the moment he gets hurt the slightest bit he starts crying his eyes out. Then he attacks someone five minutes later. I guess the dance kind of does look like that, doesn't it? I last saw it a while ago, so my suggestion was purely based on "I think that one looked a bit spooky." But I guess it really did work - it brought Ganon's rotten corpse back to life (BoTW sequel HYYYYPE)! I don't think I'll be doing any crossover fics anytime soon, but I do have ideas in mind for plain old WoF.
Guestfrombefore: Clever use of woah. I'm glad you've been enjoying the story! Wait, you've never played a Zelda game?! HOW DARE YOU?! (It's fine, I don't play the games that much myself - I just own all the manga and books and stuff. I may not be great at the games, but I'm an expert on the storylines) Oh, don't worry about rambling! I do it all the time, myself - I can be annoying like that. Besides, I've seen reviews MUCH longer than yours, so it's completely fine!
Someguest: ALL ABOARD THE BOTW 2 HYPE TRAIN! *CHOOOOOOOOOOO* Okay, humor aside, it looks absolutely AMAZING! It looks like the new game is going to be much more like an RPG, and I'm loving the darker vibes. HYYYYPE!
Chapter 23: Fast and Prayer
They say that good things come to those that wait. Yet I've been waiting for ten years, and nothing has come!
Zelda drew in a deep, calming breath and shifted in her kneeling position. The day of the new moon was always a hard one. When a new month came, and the moon was absent from the sky, Zelda was forced to sit herself in the temple, spending the whole day fasting and praying for her powers to awaken within her.
Forgive me for my outburst, she prayed desperately. Praying would unlock her power… right?
It didn't matter if it would. She would continue to be forced to pray, whether beneficial or not. "Prayer will awaken your power," her father always insisted, despite the lack of documentation to support that theory. "Show your dedication, and all will be well."
It will work eventually, she told herself, shoving aside those feelings of doubt. The goddesses will answer my prayers.
"Princess," came a voice from behind her. She opened her eyes, heavy from the long hours spent closed, and turned.
"Sage Rauru," she greeted, for there stood the wizened old sage, Rauru, his owl companion perched on his shoulder, talons gripping into his golden robes.
Sage Rauru was a strange man. He had been the sage for as long as she could remember, and her mother had once told her it had been the same for her. He never seemed to become any different - his mustache was always snowy white and well kept, as it had been when she was a child, and though he was visibly old, he had hardly changed in the last decade.
"The night has fallen," the old sage said. "The chefs have prepared a meal for you in the kitchen if you'd like to fill your stomach before bed."
Zelda rose from her knees, which ached from the day spent kneeling, and smiled gratefully at the sage. "Thank you, Rauru."
The old sage smiled and dipped his head. "It is my pleasure, Princess. Now off you go." He waved her towards the door, Zelda rolling her eyes out of amusement.
Athi was a simple woman. She had been a cook at the castle from a young age (or, at the very least, younger than she was now), and prided herself for being revered as the best cook at the castle.
That, of course, was the reason that she was chosen to prepare the princess's meal. But earlier, she had found herself panicking. With the time limits, and a mere team of one, to prepare a wondrous meal for the princess… it was difficult, to say the least.
But then a certain boy had come to her rescue.
Athi looked up from the meat she was preparing to see the young man dutifully seasoning the soup.
"Thank you very much, Link," she said with a smile.
Link turned his head, meeting her eyes with a blank expression. "Of course, Athi. I owe you more than I can say."
Athi chuckled. "I have kept you out of trouble a fair few times, but that is hardly enough for you to be indebted."
Link shook his head. "No, really," he said quietly. "Thank you for being there for me."
Athi tilted her head at the stoic knight. "Of course, Link. I'm sure there are plenty of other people that are there for you - you just need to look a bit closer."
The boy turned his head back down to the soup, his lips parting in a silent sigh.
Athi turned back to her own work as well. "Well, I do believe that you give my cooking skills a run for the money. If you were a cook, they wouldn't even need me around!"
The comment was met with a quiet hum. It was a better response than the silence of earlier.
Athi smiled. The boy was a force to be reckoned with. He was clever as a fox, yet stubborn as an old donkey. She recalled the times when her comments were met with teasing remarks and sarcastic comebacks.
The old cook found herself frowning. She knew he was the same on the inside. She knew that shutting down was his coping mechanism. After all, he had acted the same way when he first came to the castle. Quiet, blank-faced… she had never found out what had caused it, but she knew it had to have been something horrible.
Athi shook off the thought. She was in no place to pry. That's why she had merely silently stood beside him back then. Sometimes that was the only thing one could do, after all.
"Soup's done," Link's voice called.
Athi tapped the final seasonings onto the meat before making her way to the boy. She was met with a delicious smell that warmed her insides.
"It smells wonderful, Link!" Athi praised, clapping her hands. "This ought to please the princess!"
At that, the boy bowed his head. "I should go now. The sun is probably setting by now."
"Don't you want the princess to praise you for your work?" Athi asked. "You've spent a lot of time on that. You must want some sort of appreciation!"
He gave her a hesitant look. "The princess is not the most… fond of me. I'm sure that's why she's put me on break until further notice."
Athi had heard rumors about the princess's treatment of Link. Rumors that her maids often listened to fierce tirades about Link, and rumors of her disappearance being solely for the sake of avoiding him.
Rumors of the crushing guilt the princess had felt after he rescued her from the clutches of the Yiga.
"You saved her life," Athi pointed out. "She mustn't hate you that badly."
Link bit his lip slightly, a rare show of uncertainty.
"I…" he trailed off with a shake of his head. "See you later."
And with that, the boy made his way to the exit, the kitchen door swinging behind him.
About fifteen minutes passed before the door swung open again. Athi turned her eyes to the door and smiled as a certain young woman entered.
"This smells wonderful, Ma'am!" the princess said with a smile. "I do believe my mouth is watering."
"Sit down and eat," Athi said with a smile, gesturing to a stool. "I hope that everything is to your liking, Princess."
Athi found herself chuckling as the hungry princess devoured the food as quickly as she could while remaining polite, beaming at the taste.
The princess swallowed a mouthful of the soup her smile growing. "This soup is incredible!"
"That's something I can't take credit for," Athi said with a wink. "Believe it or not, one of the knights cooked that up."
The princess looked at her with confusion. "Really?"
"Yes," the cook said, nodding. "I do believe you know him. He is your appointed knight, after all."
The princess's eyes grew wide. "I never thought Sir Link to be one to cook…"
Athi nodded. "When he first became a squire, he often snuck down to the kitchens to experiment with cooking. He's actually quite the glutton, believe it or not," Athi chuckled. "When my fellow servants realized that some materials had started to go missing," the cook continued, "they vowed to find the culprit." Athi grinned. "I was the only one to catch him. He apologized profusely the moment he was caught."
"Oh dear," the princess said with a frown. "I never thought him to be a troublemaker, either."
Athi shook her head quickly. "No, he wasn't necessarily a troublemaker. Merely a young man developing a hobby he wasn't meant to have."
"Wasn't meant to…?" the princess trailed off, but her question was clear.
"Captain Arduum is a very strict man," Athi explained. "He does not like it when the squires and soldiers participate in leisure activities. He believes that they should spend their spare time training."
"That's not spare time," the princess argued. "It's… cruel! To force anyone to spend their time training is harsh, but children…?"
"I would have to agree, Princess," Athi said with a sigh. "He tends to be a bit more lenient on soldiers and knights, but it seems that Link hasn't yet escaped his grip. I saw the boy training just yesterday. Was there from dawn to dusk, from what I've gathered."
The princess frowned. "That doesn't sound healthy. He was injured in Gerudo Desert… that's why I ordered him to rest."
Athi frowned. That was just like him. "He probably feels bored. That boy is of the sort that needs to be doing something, whether it's good for his health or not. He most likely feels the need to be useful… that, and Captain Arduum could be..." Athi shook her head. "Ah, ignore my musings, Princess. Finish your meal and get some well deserved rest, alright?"
The princess nodded slowly, hesitantly. "Yes, Ma'am."
"'Ma'am?'" Athi chuckled. "Call me Athi, Your Highness."
"Athi," the princess echoed. "Well, thank you for your insight, Athi."
Sorry this chapter is shorter than usual - if I recall right, I really struggled with this one. It barely reaches six pages in its original font, when my average is seven... but oh well. Better something than nothing, right?
Next week, I will NOT be updating. Tomorrow I will be leaving for a camping trip that lasts until Saturday, so the only day I'll have to write this week is today. I mean, I could write a whole chapter today, but that would probably damage my mental health. I need to chill before spending the week in a frame tent in the wilderness, constantly hiding my food from the grasp of the evil chipmunks. Yay, camping!
SO... yeah. Moving along, the BoTW sequel! Ho boi. I don't think I'll be able to wait very long for it. All aboard the hype train!
Probably quite a few errors in this chapter, but I'll probably come back and look through later. If you catch any, please do tell me! It would make fixing stuff a lot easier. ._.
Thank you for all of your support! It's MAJOR motivation for me, and I'm very thankful to you all for that.
Sincerely (probably),
Ari~