Turns out I only sort of got my wish. We emerged from the Farore Fountain at about 3 in the afternoon. All in all, we had spent about six hours scrambling around the underground network of roots. In that time, a wonderfully dreary bank of clouds had rolled in, obscuring the nice blue view I had been hoping to see. Really, just downright inconsiderate.
Naturally, everyone had something to say to us. Hunter was fascinated by the Ice Cannon and my new dimension-breaking pockets, Sheik ran around wearing my hat like a lunatic, and Mozan and Trila had something special to give me. Turns out they had been holding onto one of the smaller heart crystals, which they told me was called a Piece of Heart. It also came with the handy benefit of being one fourth of one of the larger heart crystals, Heart Containers. Not great names in my opinion, but I'm sure someone thought it was a great idea. Just like the other Pieces of Heart, this one shattered and flew into me. But because this was the fourth one I had found, I felt a surge in my strength and endurance like when I absorbed a full Heart Container.
Magic is great.
"What's your next plan then?" Hunter asked, casually tripping a hyperactive Sheik in the process. The two Zora had already bid us their farewells, leaving us to walk back to our hotel, conveniently located not too far away.
"Just move on to the next fountain, I guess," I mused, not really seeing any benefit to waiting. The sooner we got these trials over with the sooner we could…get on with whatever we were supposed to do next. Come to think of it, that whole 'next step' part still wasn't super clear.
"I'd like to stay another night here, have a little time to rest first. Maybe actually eat a full meal too," Zelda remarked as she heard my stomach rumble. I rolled my eyes but couldn't help but agree. We found a restaurant nearby and had a positively massive meal. Well, I did. Zelda seemed to find the colossal amount of food I ate both amusing and slightly horrifying. I personally couldn't care less. If anything, it was the food's fault for being so damn delicious.
A few hours and one solid nap later, we were all sitting around in our hotel room. I had taken off all my hero-ing gear earlier (since swords usually aren't allowed in restaurants), but the cap had found its way back onto my head, largely at Zelda's insistence. Didn't know why, didn't really care. I learned long ago it was better not to argue with women.
Sheik and I were talking, Zelda was reading a book, and Hunter was watching the news when he pulled all of our attention to the story on the TV as he turned up the volume, where a man with burning red hair was bowing to Princess Felia. My breath caught, and I suddenly found myself breathing heavier.
"…discussing the event that took place earlier this afternoon at Hyrule Castle. The footage you're seeing now is Princess Regent Felia greeting ambassadors from the Gerudo Desert, most notably a male Gerudo named Ganondorf Dragmire." Muscles in my back suddenly twitched at the name. "Clara, this is really quite momentous, isn't it?"
Someone else on screen jumped into the conversation. "It is, since this is the first appearance of a male Gerudo since Demitus Hordsen's death over a hundred years ago." The news casters continued talking, or really just speculating, while Hunter lowered the volume again.
"The appearance of a male Gerudo is a rare occasion, and always momentous. This Ganondorf is going to be a big deal, but hopefully should help smooth over relations with the Gerudo, especially if he's meeting with the princess."
"It's surprising that no one has even heard of him." My eyes snapped to Zelda as she spoke, trapped in a state of hypervigilance. Some part of my body was sure disaster was about to strike. "Surely there would be some rumor or hint of his existence before now, especially if he's so important."
"Not necessarily," Hunter said quietly. "Even with the world so interconnected now, the Gerudo keep to themselves. That, coupled with growing social bias and racism against Gerudo, it would be much easier to hide a male Gerudo's existence, even from the Sheikah."
Abruptly, I pushed myself to my feet and moved towards the door, calling that I was going to go for a walk. I couldn't describe what I was feeling other than an overwhelming urge to MOVE. Hunter just said to keep my phone on before going back to his conversation with Zelda.
The night air did wonders to clear my head. Which was good, because it felt like it was going to burst. Filled with thoughts of my quest, Zelda, and now this Gerudo, I could feel myself slowly freaking out. As soon as I had seen this….Ganondorf, I got chills just thinking the name, I had instantly been on edge, fight or flight instincts on max. Something inside me was screaming danger, not only for me, but for Zelda too. It was all I could do not to grab her and drag her out of the room, away from a face on a screen that felt like it was attacking my soul. Once I got away from it, I managed to clear my head, but for a second there, I wanted to cut the TV in half. Of course, new thoughts quickly took…that man's place.
Zelda.
What was I going to do about Zelda?
Obviously I cared for her. Who wouldn't? She was passionate, beautiful, smart, brave, and had ridiculously awesome magical powers to boot. But she was also loyal, stubborn when it suited her, witty, sarcastic, and a million other things that were steadily driving me insane. At this point, I was certain I wasn't just crushing on her as a rebound from Cremia and that I genuinely cared for her, but was that really all me? She was a goddess and I was her eternal protector. And I'm pretty sure not falling in love with your ward was rule number one of guarding someone. How much of what I felt was just an instinctual need to protect her? Could I be sure that what I felt was real? Was it all just a deeply rooted desire to defend her? Did it matter?
The whole thing made my head hurt.
So I decided to do what any self-respecting man in an existential crisis does. Push it down and deal with it later. Breaking out into a run, I ran circles around my problems until my screaming muscles became more of a priority.
By the time I made it back to the hotel, I was sweaty and refreshed. I made a quick trip up to our room to grab my swimsuit (which I can't remember why I brought, but I sure was glad I did) and went down to the hotel's pool for a quick dip. There were a few kids playing in the shallow end and two girls that looked about my age in the hot tub, but other than that, it was mercifully empty. Jumping as hard as I could, I impacted the water's surface hard and let the cool liquid wrap itself around me as I sank into the depths. I surfaced to find the three kids in the shallow end looking at me in awe before scrambling out to try and replicate what I imagine was quite a large splash. The girls were also looking my way, but I ignored them and let myself float in the mostly tranquil waters.
Eventually, the little kids left, and I resorted to doing laps as best I could in the not large pool. My muscles burned, but it was a pleasant burn that I had become well accustomed to over my months of getting into shape.
I was taking a short break sitting on the lip of the pool when I heard some squeaks of surprise as the girls that had been in the hot tub gently lowered their legs into the much colder water. I watched them out of the corner of my eye as they chattered and giggled. One was wearing a modest one-piece, while the other was in a brightly colored bikini. I was pretty sure they looked my way a few times, but I wasn't paying much attention. The one in the bikini stretched her arms above her head in a way that I was pretty sure was supposed to be suggestive, but I ignored her. Her figure was nice, but I found I couldn't care less. I instead opted for throwing myself back into the water and siting at the bottom of the pool for as long as I could.
I burst back to the surface once the strain in my lungs became uncomfortable. I was sucking in sweet, sweet oxygen when I heard my name being called from the door. Turning, I saw Zelda pulling off a t-shirt to reveal a dark purple bikini that did absolute wonders for her curves and total murder on my imagination. She jumped towards where I was in the middle of the pool, long blond hair flowing behind her as she tucked her (probably mile-long from the looks of it) legs beneath her and splashed water right in my face.
She resurfaced quickly, pushing her now wet hair out of her face. I wasn't sure if it was a stroke of luck or otherwise that only her shoulders poked out from above the water as we floated. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" I asked, a bit confused why she was there. Zelda just shrugged with a smile.
"I saw you grab your swimsuit earlier and thought I'd come join you. I could use a bit of a distraction after everything." Funny how much her thoughts mirrored my own.
"My thoughts exactly." I caught a glimpse of the two girls on the other end of the pool with sour looks on their faces. I glanced back to Zelda and caught a trace of a smug grin on her face before it disappeared. I quirked my eyebrow at her, but she just innocently smiled at me before whipping her arm around, throwing a wave of water in my face. I sputtered briefly, wiping the chlorinated water out of my eyes before shooting her the best menacing grin I could.
"Oh, it's on."
And so commenced the great Hotel Splash War, spoken of in legend for generations (or something like that). Let it be known, I was technically the victor, gaining the upper hand after diving underwater and pulling Zelda's legs out from under her. She was dragged underwater, but I quickly found the water fighting me, hauling me away from my target and shoving me out of the pool. Laying on the edge of the pool with my legs still in the water, I turned to see Zelda sitting half inside a raised pillar of liquid, golden light streaming from her hand.
"Don't you just love magic?" she taunted from atop her lofty perch.
"Hey, that's cheating," I threw back at her, only a little put out at my sudden loss.
"Oh, yeah? Too bad," Zelda said jauntily. I could feel the water churning around my ankles and quickly pulled them out of the water. Skipping along the damp floor, I retreated to the safety of the hot tub.
"Hah, can't get me here!" I yelled as I sank into the wonderfully warm water. I sat on the submerged stone step, arms resting on the lip of the small pool and laughed smugly at Zelda, who was still on top of her watery throne. She quirked her eyebrow and the pillar moved towards the pool edge. Once it hit the lip, Zelda stepped daintily out of it and smoothly walked towards me, letting the pillar collapse behind her. Water running down her pale legs, between her breasts, and dripping off her hair and pointed ears, she strode to the hot tub and slowly stepped down the stairs until she was fully immersed in water again, letting out a soft groan as the water wrapped around her body. I, meanwhile, was struggling not to stare as I remembered why the other girl hadn't interested me in the slightest.
"Oh, that is fantastic. I didn't realize how much everything hurt from all the adventuring," Zelda said as she settled in the pool. I couldn't help but agree, closing my eyes and letting the warmth seep into my aching muscles. I felt and heard the water sloshing slightly as Zelda moved, before opening my eyes to see her sitting next to me resting her head on my outstretched arm. None of this was helping my conflicting feelings concerning the undoubtedly attractive girl next to me, but I found myself content to just enjoy her presence. I was shaken out of my daze when Zelda said something.
"What?" I asked, completely missing what she had said. She laughed slightly before asking her question again.
"What do you think we do once we've finished the last trial? If all goes well, that'll be tomorrow." I reluctantly refocused on our mission.
"I don't really know. We don't really have anything to go off of other than finishing these fountains. I guess we go back to the Temple and see if either the priestesses or the Sheikah are more helpful once I've proved myself. Or maybe you can magic them into cooperating."
"No," Zelda said with surprising vehemence and a slightly glazed look in her eyes. "I can't use my powers to compel others. It is forbidden." She seemed to come back to herself. "Besides, I'm sure they'll be much more helpful when they see you decked out in your full hero garb. It's rather impressive."
"I'll let you be the judge of that," I said. "What do you think about the Gerudo guy? You think he's connected to our quest and the coming terror from beyond the abyss? Hunter did say Gerudo males signaled change, and I'd say the end of the world certainly counts." Zelda looked pensive.
"I don't know; it's possible. But I couldn't begin to guess what that might be. We don't even know anything about him. Probably best to withhold judgement for now." I nodded in agreement before letting the ever-present pressure of our quest slip from my mind. I was determined to relax while I could, and what better place to do that than a hot tub?
A few minutes later, I felt Zelda's head shift slightly on my arm as she scooted closer to me and turned her face towards me, eyes still closed. The warm water must be making her sleepy. It gave me a perfect look at her soft features. Her pale skin glittered slightly as the water on it slowly dried, long eyelashes twitching slightly. Strands of her blonde hair, darkened slightly from the water, stuck to her cheeks and forehead slightly. Her pink lips were parted slightly as her body relaxed and she dozed off. In short, she was a vision and a dream mixed into one and made real just for me. And damn if she didn't look ridiculously kissable at that moment.
Like she knew I was watching her, Zelda's eyelids fluttered slightly before slowly sliding open to reveal her bright blue eyes looking back at me. I felt myself swallow, holding eye contact with her for what felt like an hour but was probably just a few seconds. I could see the emotion shifting in those cerulean depths, but I forcibly pulled my own back. I cleared my throat and shifted gently, moving to stand up.
"We should probably get out of the water before we shrivel up like prunes. Can't save the world like that." Zelda blinked once, twice, before nodding and slowly pulling herself out of the warm water. I grabbed a few towels from the nearby cart and we quickly dried off before heading back to the room. Hunter was passed out on the couch and Sheik was in one of the beds. Zelda jumped into the bathroom to take a quick shower before switching out with me.
By the time I finished, Zelda was asleep on the formerly unoccupied bed, leaving me with a truly difficult choice to make. I could either: sleep on the same bed as Sheik, who was currently splayed out like he owned the thing, make a quick nest of blankets on the floor that almost guaranteed a poor night's sleep and an achy back in the morning, or curl up next to Zelda, who had, intentionally or not, left plenty of space next to her. I considered my dilemma for a minute longer before giving up and carefully sliding in next to Zelda, making sure there was a layer of sheets between us and not to get too close to her. I only remained tense for a minute or two before my body responded to the soft bed beneath me and I slipped into sleep.
To make a long story short, we made it to the third fountain. We all woke up to the screaming of Sheik's phone and the helpful alarm he had set for 7 am. Zelda and I ate a quick breakfast before hopping on the Master Cycle and heading for the Din district of Hyrule City. We made good time and met Shade and Midna near the Din Fountain by mid-morning.
Midna and Zelda were leaning on the Master Cycle, the latter showing the impressive piece of machinery to the former. Shade and I were a little way away, keeping our voices low.
"Did you tell her anything?" I asked, trying to drag Shade's gaze away from the two girl's butts. He wasn't even being tactful about it. I snapped my fingers in front of his face and finally gained at least part of his attention.
"No, of course not. What was I going to say, 'we're only here because my literal hero of a brother needs me to scope out a fountain?' Come on, you'd never get anywhere with a girl that way. Not that I've made much headway with that, but the day is young. What do you think, hand holding on the college tour? Buy her lunch? Oh, and how's it going with Zelda?" I immediately felt my face heat up.
"That's not important. Was there anything weird about the fountain?" Shade gave me a look like he knew exactly what I wasn't saying, but, praise the Goddesses, let it drop.
"We're discussing that later; don't think you've gotten out of it. Nothing weird from what I could tell, but we couldn't get too close, like you said." I asked if he met anyone that seemed like the guardian of the fountain, to which he also replied no. "Honestly, it doesn't look like anything. Just a stone fountain from what I could tell. I nodded, and we walked over to rejoin the girls.
We must have walked in on something, because Zelda was busy trying to hold her hands over Midna's mouth and her face was bright red. Midna was just laughing, avoiding the slightly taller girl with ease. Shade stepped in and dropped an arm on Midna's shoulder.
"Cat fight? What about? And can I watch?" Midna rolled her eyes and dropped her shoulder, causing Shade's arm to fall back to his side. I couldn't help but notice he let his hand trail all the way down her arm first.
"See, I'd love to tell you, but I think Zelda would explode, and I don't think I could survive her wrath. So you'll just have to go on not knowing." Towards the end, she looked right at me very deliberately, leaving me a little curious and concerned about what they had been 'discussing.'
Eager to get the show on the road, I smacked the button on my bike that turned it back into a tablet and stuck it in one of my eternal pockets. I had already pulled on my tunic and belts, as well as my hat. I still thought it looked a bit ridiculous, but I couldn't deny that I still liked it. Plus, it felt right wearing the whole getup, even though it still vaguely felt like something was missing. Maybe it was whatever we'd find in the last trial.
Bidding our goodbyes to Shade and Midna (Shade had tried to put his arm around Midna's shoulders and received a quick elbow in the gut), Zelda and I stepped through the fountain barrier. This time though, Zelda managed to force her way through using her own magic. It took a little doing, but she was able to basically pull the barrier open and step right through.
"You've gotten a lot more powerful," I said as we approached the Din fountain and pushed the spot to open it. Zelda nodded in agreement.
"Lots and lots of practice has helped. It gets just a little easier every time. Controlling elements like I did last night with the water is a little trickier if its just me, but I've been able to control stuff much more easily with the Fire Rod or Ice Cannon. Feels like they act as a tether or conduit to the element I'm trying to control and makes it easier." I nodded, getting the idea of what she was saying. Let's just say it was a good thing she was the magic person and I was the guy with the sword. Sure, I could magic a bit, but Zelda had a much better grasp on it, probably due to not only being a goddess, but also being really freaking smart.
The fountain basin finished emptying and the stairs formed leading down once again. A wave of heat washed over us, sending me back a step back in surprise. "I guess we know what's going to be in here," I remarked.
"Maybe our tools will actually be useful in here. I can control fire a bit with the Fire Rod, and ice is cold," Zelda says while looking at me. She shrugged. "Worth a shot." I nodded briefly before steeling myself and took the first step down into the third and final trial.
Well what the shit is this? Another update? No, you're not hallucinating, you didn't time travel, you just got lucky. I know I'm spoiling you guys, but it doesn't feel right to sit on this chapter if it's already done. Especially since this one pretty much wrote itself and I know you're all waiting for the relationship stuff. So here you go, do with it what you will. That is, read it. Just read it. I don't even know what else you would do with it. Wear it as a pair of pants? Very confused.
But anyways, how's that chapter for you. Lot's of stuff happening here. I am of course referring to Shade and Midna, who are the most important part of the chapter. I think they're really the stars of this chapter and probably the story overall. I love the chemistry they have with each other.
...
Okay, put down the pitchforks. No, seriously guys, stop. No, please! No! NOOOOOOO!
Fine fine, Link and Zelda are adorable and I'm an ass for teasing you with an almost kiss, but it's far too soon for that. They need to have a few more life threatening moments before anything like that happens. Good thing they're going into a dungeon, where little disasters, like stubbed toes and really hot water burning your hands when you go to wash them in the sink, grow up to become dramatic, drama-inducing, life threatening moments. Also, Ganondoof shows up for a hot second. We'll see more of him later.
Let's get some reviews done. Not as many this time, since, you know, I haven't given you guys all that much time to review and all that. Anyways! Twilit Lord (at this point you are my certified 'first person to review every chapter.' Don't let me down), I already told you the boss name. I sneak them in while they're fighting them. So far, we have the Slime Behemoth and the Baba Demos. And yes, it was in Wind Waker, but there it was called Kalle Demos. And it also didn't spit acid. Thus, I stand by my promise to not steal bosses completely from the games! And the big bug that was the mini-boss is called a Hive Queen. No bug-dog crossover there. Sorry. Random Reader, I wasn't tracing the Triforce of Wisdom, I was following the whole thing. And technically Link and Zelda both wish on it at the end of Link Between Worlds, but whatever. Besides, what story would you rather follow? The teen who runs headlong into danger in pursuit of his goal or the teen who carefully forms strategies to overcome every obstacle? I'll stick with the Triforce of Courage for our moment to moment protagonist, thanks. Of course chivalry isn't dead, because if it was Zelda would be too. And we can't have that. Not yet at least. Foopuff, gotta love extra-dimensional pockets. Glad you like them arguing, I certainly think it's hilarious. You have the answer to how he deals with his feelings for now. Also, you should congratulate your friend. Truly a bold and noble attempt, even if it was doomed to fail. And yes, 20 chapters! I do appreciate the confetti, but you're cleaning it up. Or have Sand Seal do it, whenever he (I think he's a he) show up. Ai Star, indeed she did. That's what you get Link. Better watch what you say.
Not as many reviews, but I sure did take a while answering them all, didn't I? Always impressive. Remember folks, you too can have a response to a review you post on this story, you just have to post a review on the story! Simple, isn't it? And yet, so many of you don't take the opportunity. And yes, I know. Don't think you escape my gaze, Germans. I see you in my stats page. So review! Or else...yeah. Better do it. Boo. (Better act scared, for my sake at least) Or if you don't want to do that, PM me and I'll respond privately, but also more quickly. I don't care. I guess you could do both, but I'll leave that up to you. Also, while you're reviewing (because I know you are), consider following the story. That way, you can be first to the party, just like Twilit Lord. Just gotta check the little box down there. It's really easy, I promise. So review damn it. 59 people read the last chapter and I've got, effectively, 4 reviews. That's...a pretty small percentage. That I could totally figure out. I just don't feel like it. What's your excuse?! HUH?!
Okay, thanks for reading. Next chapter will probably be the whole third dungeon and boss, so who knows how long that's going to take. I'm sure it'll be easy to write. Optimism! Cheers guys!
-Aro
(Sorry for the reupload, but my continuity was compromised, and such a thing could not stand. Thanks Nightwing!)