Once again, I deeply apologize for the slow update! As I mentioned in the last chapter, I had something of a writers block (no fun ideas for this chapter but lots of them for future chapters - ugh) and began to work on drawings of Princess Peach and Skyward Sword Zelink instead in the meantime, hoping that the block would go away. And I had to finish something important I had postponed as well. And I had days/weeks of really low self esteem and somewhat depressive thoughts on top of that. So sorry, but I guess you didn't come here to read my explanations - hope you'll enjoy this chapter, it's a bit short but I hope that's ok. Thank you for reading!
Princess Zelda had just returned to her study with new papers in her hands from the lab, but instead of sitting down by her desk where she had placed the papers, she remained standing. She had insisted on her knight to come with her to the lab because she thought he might also want to know more about the guardians since the machines would, hopefully, if they could get them to work, assist them during the fight against Ganon. She hadn't expected her knight to add much to their discussions, she knew how silent he could be after all, but she hadn't expected him to just… stand there, hands clasped together behind his back, shoulders straight, acting like he was a decoration on the wall or like he was just any other guard in the castle. Especially not after the small conversation they had in the northern plains before they returned to the castle. Especially not after he had been smiling and talking like a normal person. She hadn't seen a smile on his lips after their return, hadn't heard him speak a word and hadn't even seen him raise his brows. He was just like she had first known him… a shell with no emotions showing.
She knew why. He had told her in Goron City why he preferred to stay quiet, and she had been so surprised to hear so many words coming from his mouth. Never had she ever imagined that he was able to deliver so many words at once (which weren't really that much if he just spoke freely, like any other person) and she had sympathized with him – sympathized with him, the same person she couldn't stand being close to earlier this year! – and she soon forgot to be stay stunned by his sudden confession. Whenever she recalled that moment, all she could see what his eyes avoiding hers, all she could hear was his voice trembling slightly from nervousness she assumed, and from everything he had told her, it was his last comment she couldn't forget hearing and had made her eyes tear up: And I guess the goddesses picked the right person for the job. I have no family left so I have nothing to lose really.
Despite everything he had told her of his past, she had never seen this situation they were in from that view. All she had been thinking of him was his incredible swordplay and that it was after all no surprise that it was his fate to carry the legendary sword. But her thoughts of him slowly changed the more she got to know him. Those last words he had said were filled with so much distress, misery even, that they would weigh heavy like large blocks of rocks if she could hold them. She could only imagine how her knight might be feeling inside and she found it hard to understand how seemingly easily he was able to hide such thoughts and feelings from people around him. Did he truly feel like the goddesses had chosen him for that sole reason or was it just a dark place in his mind which had emerged for one small moment and made him slip out the words? The Princess knew very well what types of thoughts a depressed mind could come up with… at least what her own mind was capable of.
And right now, her mind reminded her that she wasn't helping her knight as long as she couldn't find her sealing powers.
She sighed, moved some glass bottles and test tubes to the back of her desk and sat down, feeling her eyes burn with tears threatening to fall down on her regal dress. She took a deep breath to calm herself. The pressure was almost too much to handle and she told herself that nothing would get better if she cried. Her tears hadn't solved anything so far. Not that it would really matter if they would fall now, she knew that her knight wasn't guarding her door and that she was alone, so no one was in earshot if she was about to sniffle.
But she was so tired of crying, she was tired of feeling so much pressure on her year after year, and she stood up again, swiftly turned around on her heels, took a few steps away from the desk and sighed angrily.
She didn't want to focus on her prayers now, and she certainly couldn't focus on ancient shrines or technology while staying upset.
She dried newly formed tears from the corners of her eyes with her sleeve and told herself to think of something else. Anything. But nothing stayed on her mind long enough. Not her horse, not the papers she just had left on the desk which she should probably go through, and she couldn't stand imagining what the members of the court might be saying about her. The only thing her mind seemed to return to was… Link.
She bitterly thought how unfortunate it was that she, the Princess of all people in the kingdom, had no one to discuss her fate with. No one would understand her; her tutors only reminded her how important it was for her to find her sealing powers and gave all the advice they could on how she would find it; her father would perhaps pity her but she doubted that he would be much different from her tutors; the few, somewhat closer friends she had among the nobles might be aware of the situation, but she could never dare discussing something so serious as the doom of Hyrule with them. No, the only person who might understand the pressure she was feeling and the desperation she felt for acquiring those divine powers her mother had once possessed was her knight. However, that was what Link was: her knight. She's not supposed to discuss personal matters with the servants… but could she make an exception for Link?
As silent as he was, she wasn't worried that he would tell the guards he meets in the hallways any of her deepest secrets if she dared to share them with him. However, once their destined paths were no longer one, would he start talking like a normal person? And if he did, would he tell of her secrets, purposely or not? She thought about the possibility and came to the conclusion that it wouldn't matter as long as she would be able to seal Ganon away.
But, she wondered, if Link was feeling the same kind of pressure she did and still managed to hide his emotions so well, was he expecting her to show the same kind of professionalism about this situation too? Perhaps, and probably, not at the same extreme level he was capable of, but shouldn't she, as a person of the royal family of Hyrule, be seen as a model of competence and handle this situation well? So far, she felt like it was she who strived to be more like him than the other way around.
She sighed. She was not used to this at all.
She turned back to her desk and sat down again. She stared down at the wooden desk for a few moments before she reached out for the Sheikah Slate and the papers she had brought with her. If she could just still her thoughts, she might get some work done before she had to leave for Zora's Domain tomorrow morning. Hopefully she would find something which could help her and Purah's understanding of the ancient shrines better.
It didn't take long for Princess Zelda's mood to improve once she and her knight were set out for Zora's Domain again. The same anxious thoughts lingered at the back of her mind but she pushed them away as much as she could and tried to enjoy her freedom in the open green hills of Hyrule instead. The days had been mostly gray, with luckily only short and calm rain showers every now and then, and the passed time had been somewhat silent. She glanced at her knight a few times, no longer feeling so intimidated by and jealous of him as she once used to, but she had still not fully figured him out. He still hadn't tried to start any conversations and she hadn't initiated many of her own and found herself to be lost in her thoughts for most of the time. She figured he had been too.
She noticed that her knight tensed more once they reached Zora River, and with good reason. The amount of monsters might have increased slightly since the last time they had walked the path up to Zora's Domain, but without help from any Zoran soldiers this time, which would meet and escort the Princess and her knight once they had passed halfway, it surely felt like there was more to look out for.
Link had a bit of trouble to take down a small group of blue lizalfos – the agile creatures were quicker on their feet than most opponents he faced – and while he was distracted, he heard his Princess suddenly call out his name. He immediately turned his head to see what had caused her to call for him and saw her eyes steady, and filled with minor panic, on a moblin not far away from them.
Aiming a kick to force the lizalfos away from him – and failed to hit it – he ignored it for the moment, spun around and ran a short distance to stay beside his Princess as he quickly reached for his knight's bow and an arrow, intending to set it flying towards the larger monster. He drew the string as slowly as the situation permitted, focused on the moblin's head and let the arrow go. It hit at the base of the monster's large horn and knocked it out for a few minutes, time which Link hoped would be enough to take down the two remaining lizard resembling creatures.
He reached for another arrow, thinking that he would use it to strike down a lizalfos but changed his mind as soon as his fingertips reached the quiver, realizing that as much as those creatures seemed to tauntingly skip around, there would be a very small chance he would be able to strike one. His decision was quick but not quick enough before said creatures got so close that they could hit him instead. He felt a powerful blow on the left side of his head, causing the world to spin for a second, and heard the Princess gasp somewhere behind him. Groaning, he let go of the bow and grabbed the hilt of the Master Sword again and swung it in a wide half circle around him, more to make the lizalfos back up and give him a moment to stop feeling so disoriented than trying to hit it. Link glared angrily at the jesting lizards before him. Enough playing around. He was going to take them down, now.
He charged at one of them and made sure at the same time that neither of the creatures could get close enough to the Princess. He surprised himself when it didn't take long until one of them stayed still and unmoving on the ground – perhaps it had been his annoyance that made him step his game up a level. Wanting to continue up the path to Zora's Domain, he made sure to defeat the last remaining lizalfos as quickly as possible. He swung the sword sideways, upwards, forwards repeatedly and would finish it off with just one more strike when something he had forgotten caused pain in his arm.
The moblin had awakened and hunched above the knight from behind after giving him long scratches on his lower right arm, just below the elbow, with its clawed hands. Link cried out in surprise at the stinging pain he now felt but it didn't stop him from trying to hit the lizalfos before him one last time. He silently thanked Din in his mind when the blade made contact with the monster one final time, bringing it down to its knees and the ground, and diverted his focus on the tall moblin behind him instead. He saw its hand coming for another blow at him from the corner of his eyes, and Link didn't hesitate this time and followed his gut feeling. He took a quick step closer to the monster and swung the sword powerfully upwards before the monster managed to get a good hit on him. His strike surprised the creature and the hand missed its target. Taking this small opportunity, Link struck the moblin again and again, ignoring the pain in his arm, until it gave a roar in defeat and came to a still.
Link's chest heaved as he caught his breath, and he looked around him for Princess Zelda who wasn't standing that far away from him. She stepped closer to him, worry slightly detectable in her voice as she spoke to him, asking her knight if he hadn't heard her warnings of the moblin waking up. He kept her gaze for a second or two before he turned it to his now ripped sleeve, and then sat down and shook his head. He hadn't. Princess Zelda squatted next to him and he listened to her remarking once again that he had been reckless and he agreed with her in his mind. It could've ended worse than what it did. He sheathed the sword in its scabbard, holding back a groan as he did so, and moved parts of the sleeve away to get a better look at his wound. The scratches weren't particularly deep but enough for them to heavily stain his shirt with blots of red blood. Princess Zelda observed him checking his wound and asked if he wouldn't take an elixir to heal it. He stared at it for a moment longer before he shook his head again and began to remove the arm cuff to unwrap the decorative white ribbons of fabric on his arm to use as gauze to tie around the wound. "I will need to disinfect it first" he commented and carefully put the leather arm cuff back.
Princess Zelda watched him take care of his wound provisionally as she silently wondered if minor injuries like this could be prevented. Reluctantly, she asked him, "Why won't you carry a shield? I'm sure there must be one you could borrow from the armory in the castle." She studied his face, hoping that he would consider her suggestion, but Link didn't answer. His eyes were first on the ground and then moved up, giving the area around them a quick check before he stood up again, only to give a nod that they should continue. Princess Zelda rose to her feet as well and they walked together for several long, mostly undisturbed, minutes until they saw two Zoran soldiers in the distance. It didn't take long until they met, and the Princess of Hyrule and her knight were greeted with bows.
"It's good to see you back so soon, Princess" one of the tall soldiers said, "Allow us to escort you and your knight for the remaining path."
"Thank you, it is nice to be back" Princess Zelda politely replied.
"I hope you didn't encounter any major inconveniences, Princess?" he continued after noticing the sleeve on Link's right arm. She glanced quickly at Link, continued to move forward with the others as she thought for a moment and then answered, "No, nothing too bad. My knight handled the situation with care and made sure I didn't get hurt." Link looked at her but she ignored him. "However, he should probably clean his wound once we're in the Domain" she finished.
The soldier turned his attention to Link this time. "I recommend that you stop by the Seabed Inn once we've arrived, they must surely have something to clean up scars." Link nodded that he understood.
By the time they arrived to Zora's Domain, it was already evening and the sun was hanging low in the sky. "I should greet King Dorephan now that we're here," Princess Zelda said to her knight, "but I think it would be better if you took care of that wound instead of coming with me. I doubt that your presence is needed, and you must surely be tired after today?" Link gave her a shrug, not wanting to reveal how tired he was. "Well… You deserve a break. And it would ease me if you took care of yourself instead of spending your time with me." She pressed her lips together. "I'll see you again afterwards, alright?" And with that, she quickly made her way up the grandiose stairs to the King of the Zoras throne room. Link watched his Princess walk up the stairs for a moment before he turned around to head to the inn, just what the soldier had suggested earlier. He knew the Domain so well that he didn't need to ask around to find it. He stepped into the foyer.
"Welcome to Seabed I- Oh, hello! My, my, it sure wasn't yesterday – it is you, isn't it, Linny?" a young, red Zora greeted happily at the reception desk.
Link smirked a little. He had forgotten about his nickname she had given him when he was still a child. "Hello, Kodah" he greeted back.
"It must have been years since I last saw you, I'm glad to hear you still remember my name" she said and extended an arm across the desk. Smiling, Link took her hand in his and shook it. "Look at you, all big and grown up..!" Kodah paused her sentence when she noticed his arm. "… and injured I see." She let go of his hand and looked into his eyes with a mischievous gleam. "Tell me, Linny, what did you do this time to come back with such a scar?"
Link grinned sheepishly, surprised that her memory was so good that she could recall the times he had been playing here and hurting himself, and avoided answering her question. "You wouldn't happen to have something to disinfect it with?" he asked.
"Yes, yes, we do happen to keep something like a first aid kit for travellers. Just give me a minute and I'll…" She crouched down and started looking for supplies but gave up after a few minutes. "Kayden!" she suddenly called out, causing Link to slightly flinch.
A tall blue Zora, standing next to the beds in the room farther in the inn, turned around. "Please, don't shout while we're having guests, Kodah." he sighed and stepped towards her and Link.
"Sorry! I just wanted to ask where we keep things for disinfection and such, Linny here needs some, he says."
The Zora who apparently went by the name Kayden gave Link a quick, scrutinizing look when he heard the name, and Link suddenly felt that his childhood nickname wasn't so charming anymore. "In the pot to your right, Kodah."
She spun around and found what she was looking for after a minute. "Perfect." She turned to Link and handed over a bottle of alcohol and some cotton balls. "Say, it's getting late, are you thinking of spending the night here?"
"Perhaps some other time" Link replied. Kodah looked disappointed in his answer so he felt like he should say something more to explain. "I came with the Princess."
"Princess Mipha?" Kayden asked, surprised.
"The Princess of Hyrule" he corrected.
Kayden's eyes lit up when he realized that Kodah's friend was no ordinary traveller. "Oh, so you might be staying in the royal quarters then." Link nodded. He couldn't be sure, but he figured that Mipha wouldn't let him stay at the inn when she let him and Princess Zelda stay in the quarters during their last visit.
"Then, please, take a seat. It looks like your arm need some caring to do. If you need anything else, don't hesitate to ask me or Kodah." Kayden returned to his previous task and Link sat down, not too far away from Kodah. He could see that she kept her eyes on him as he began to unwrap the now stained ribbon and could hear her hiss "Oof, that looks bad..!" when the wound came to view. Luckily, it looked worse than it was and he looked up to meet her eyes and simply shook his head in a try to let her know that he would be alright. "It's not?" she asked curiously. He shook his head again, returned his gaze to his arm and grabbed the bottle with alcohol when a familiar voice spoke.
"What's not too bad?" Princess Mipha stepped into the inn, curious to find out what Kodah had spoken of. Kodah looked surprised at her Princess, not prepared to be graced by her presence, and her yellow eyes darted between her and Link before she found her voice. "Princess!" She curtsied quickly and Princess Mipha smiled gently at this before she followed Kodah's gaze. "Nothing in particular, it's just Linny who seems to have gotten in trouble again."
"Linny?" Princess Mipha's and Link's eyes locked and she let out a quiet gasp when she saw his arm. "Link!" He had stopped wiping his arm clean around the wound and watched his childhood friend step closer. "What happened?" she asked and crouched next to him. Link didn't answer – it would be embarrassing to admit that a moblin had caused the wound when he knew how simple it could be to take one down, and knowing Mipha, he knew that she would start to worry if he was really up to defeat Ganon if a moblin could hurt him so easily.
"Don't worry" he mumbled quietly and felt the urge to cover the wound from her with his other hand, in contrast to what he used to do when he was a child and came running to her whenever he got hurt. Things were different now, he realized. Or, perhaps it was just he who was different.
"No, please let me see" she pleaded with her sweet voice and gently pushed his hand away. He let her. She looked at it for just a moment and then said "You're right, it's not too bad." She looked up to Kodah and gave her a reassuring smile. They sat there, next to each other in silence, as Kodah observed them. She wasn't sure what to say, Link seemed to wait for Princess Mipha to say something as he didn't continue to clean the wound and Princess Mipha looked like she was thinking really hard on something. Eventually, after several minutes, she spoke up again. "… I could heal you if you want me to? You wouldn't have to disinfect it then." Link's eyes met Mipha's again and if she wasn't a red skinned Zora, he would almost have guessed that his friend was slightly blushing. "Actually, I've been meaning to talk with you since your last visit… Would you come with me and let me heal your wound?"
Link liked her proposal very much. Letting Princess Mipha heal him sounded much more appealing than letting the alcohol sting his skin before consuming an elixir (they could have a weird aftertaste sometimes). She let go off his arm when he began to take the bottle and cotton balls in his hands and returned them to Kodah – and completely failed to see her disappointed frown – and followed the red Zoran Princess.