I picked up my game again and noticed on the map that the Royal tech lab isn't inside the castle as I first thought so I'll just edit the last chapter a tiny bit. Nothing major, don't worry.
It felt like breathing in fresh air once they passed the old, thick stone walls surrounding Castle Town and even their horses seemed eager to increase the distance between them and the narrow city streets filled with busy Hylians. It didn't take long before the buzz disappeared behind them and bird song took place instead.
They stayed on the path going south and went past the Sacred Ground where Princess Zelda had held the ceremony for Link to be her appointed knight. Both their eyes stayed a bit in that direction and got lost for a minute in their own memories. How much had changed since then.
So much, and Princess Zelda had still not awoken her powers.
She turned her head to face forward again and sped up slightly as if she would forget her moody thoughts if she got further away from the Sacred Ground. She began to think of Impa instead, how she would start her conversation and what the Sheikah could reply, mentally preparing herself to meet someone she knew is important. How she should introduce Link (as her knight? as the legendary hero? Simply Link wouldn't do, right?) and that's when realized that she had momentarily forgotten about him and looked over her shoulder to see if he was keeping up with her. He was, but his focus was not on the road before them but to their right. She followed his gaze and mentally sighed when she saw him looking towards a village they were passing by. She thought to herself that he should know by now that he doesn't have to stay alert whenever they passed one, no villagers in Hyrule wished them any harm.
But the Princess was wrong for Link was not looking at the village but at the ranch he used to work at, which was lying next to the village. It still looked the same on the outside and he could still remember the scent of hay and hear noises from the horses, cuccos and milk cows in his head, cows his own village were famous for. He almost felt a bit nostalgic. He bet that the ranch owners would still remember him if he was ever to stop by and pay a visit, but he couldn't be sure of course. Perhaps they wouldn't recognize him at first – his hair was longer now and he had grown from a small teenager to a… not so small teenager.
He felt the Princess' eyes on him and shifted his focus to her. He caught her expression right before she turned her face away from him and to the vast field before them. She had looked displeased and Link figured he should pay attention to the road before them instead of getting lost in old memories.
At least he was glad to not encounter any bokoblins or other monsters. That meant that the ranch and the village next to it were safe… for now.
The sun had been fairly high up when they left the castle and was hanging lower by now. It dipped below the thick clouds and hinted an orange and salmon pink sky behind them and gave the clouds a golden lining. It was a pretty sight but those clouds would bring rain with them and the Princess and her knight would have to take shelter before the raindrops would begin to fall. Princess Zelda brought her steed to a halt and picked up the Sheikah Slate hanging from her hip. Her brows were furrowed in slight concern, the steel grey rain clouds at the horizon in her mind, as she looked down at the screen and quickly pressed with her fingers to get the device to show her a map of Hyrule.
"Oh, great" she sighed in relief and looked back up at her knight. "There should be a stable in the wetlands we can stay the night at once we cross a river." She placed the Slate back to hang from her hip and added, "I'm fairly sure we have stayed there before, haven't we?" Link nodded and Zelda observed the clouds one more time, adding "We should hurry to get there before the rain comes" and they continued. Link made sure to stay a bit closer to the Princess now when daylight was getting scarce.
The rest of the evening was… not as eventless as Link anticipated. He thought that once they arrived to the stables and paid for the best beds they had to offer, that the Princess would stay up reading her notes which she sometimes did, but this time, a Hylian retriever stole her attention and it didn't take long for her to put the Shiekah Slate away. Link stirred around ingredients for a quick meat stew over a campfire right outside the stable's tent and curiously peeked inside when he heard her light, excited voice and saw his Princess cautiously playing with the dog. The Slate was once again on her hip and she stretched an arm out to pet the dog through its thick fur, murmured compliments to it and flinched when it suddenly distanced itself from her hand. Confused, with hands backdrawn and an uncertain smile on her lips, and being slightly frightened if Link read her eyes right, she stared at the canine as it happily barked at her, twirled around and wagged its tail back and forth. Instinctively and without realizing it, Link had taken a step closer to her, as if preparing himself to run to her side in case she got too uncomfortable – he could tell the dog wasn't aggressive, but still – and their eyes met for a brief second before the stable manager's voice was heard and Princess Zelda's head snapped around.
"Are you not used to dogs, your Majesty?" he asked her and she giggled nervously.
"I can't say that I am, no." She looked back to the dog, still smiling.
"Don't worry, Princess, my dog's the kindest and most loyal one I've ever met, she would never hurt anybody."
Isn't that what they all say? she thought but replied instead, "Tell me, how many have you had?" and dared to reach out her hand again. This time the dog got closer and let her pet its back.
"Oh, more than you can imagine, your Majesty. They're great companions." Princess Zelda only nodded at this, concentrating mostly on the unfamiliar dog before her. There was a pause before he added, "She knows a few tricks, if the Princess would like to see?"
"Please" she said and stood up, now a brighter smile on her face. Link watched the older man leave his place behind the counter to take a few steps over to the retriever and Princess Zelda and showed her how to make the dog shake hands, twirl and roll over, even play dead, and he watched her smile growing and becoming sincere. Only then did he realize he was still holding the soup ladle in his hand and should return to their dinner. He heard her surprised yelps, laughter and praises for being a good dog as he gave the simmering stew a few more stirs and quietly wondered to himself why there was no dog in the castle to lighten up her days. She would surely appreciate one.
The stew finished before the rain came and Link did his best to make it as presentable as he could, certain that the meals she was served in Hyrule Castle must look a hundred times better compared to this, although he surely had become better these past months. With a bowl in each hand, he walked over to a table inside the large tent and placed them down. He thought Princess Zelda hadn't noticed him at all, seeing how much attention she gave the friendly retriever, but she stood up almost immediately once he reached the table. Her eyes were still on the dog as she walked over to the table, amused to see it follow her, and sat down. Only then did she look at her knight and thanked him for cooking the meal, and, for some reason, it felt like it had been days since she had last noticed him. He knew it hadn't been more than two hours, so why did he feel like it had been so long?
She picked up the spoon and began to eat, knowing very well that her knight would wait for her to start before he did, and said, once she had chewed and swallowed a few bites, "I used to beg mother and father for a dog when I was small, but they said I was too young to take care of it. I didn't understand, I always thought a maid could help me taking care of it so I could play with it. I had picked a name for it too, I was so sure I'd have my own one day." She picked up some more on her spoon and blew some air on it to cool the food down before chewing. She looked up at Link and his raised eyebrow, knowing what he was thinking of. She swallowed before replying, "Oh, please don't ask me what the name was. It was silly." He didn't seem to let this slide. She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Alright, alright. It was 'Princess'. I thought we could be princesses together and go on adventures at home like in the fairy tale stories my maid would read for me before bedtime." Link smirked, more at her expression than the name suggestion but Princess Zelda was no mind reader and couldn't help but to feel a bit hurt. "I told you it was silly" she pouted and turned her head down to the bowl on the table, missing to see Link shaking his head to disagree. They ate in silence for a minute or two before she added "I stopped asking after mother passed away. I don't know why."
Getting lost in her memory lane and forgetting about the dog sitting next to them, she jumped when it suddenly barked to get attention, begging for food, and smiled when she saw it obediently got quiet when the stable manager scolded it across the tent. She heard him call it over, but she protested and he let it stay with the two Hylians from the castle. The Princess found the dog to be absolutely adorable and now that she knew what it had barked for, she made it stay and shake paws before giving it a piece of meat from her stew. It happily licked it off her palm and Link heard her praise it once more. And he saw her give it some more. And more. And he began to worry there wouldn't be much left for herself if she kept feeding it.
Link stood up and brought his bowl with him, not trusting to leave it behind on the table with the dog next to it, and ignored Princess Zelda's curious look to search through his saddle bags. He knew there was some scrapped raw meat left from preparing their dinner, meat that wasn't much to cook of, and when he found the paper bag he had left it in, he brought it back. The retriever began sniffing the moment he placed the bag table and he hurried to finish his own meal so he could feed the dog before Princess Zelda had given all of hers to it. Said and done, he placed his bowl aside and reached for the bag, opened it and waited for the dog full of anticipation to sit. Princess Zelda, realizing what her knight was going to do when she the raw meat in his hands, watched as he fed the canine and ate her own meal until she was full. She let her knight spend some time with the retriever and she glanced to see his face and she was almost certain she saw a rare smile on his face. She rested her head in her hand and observed them and smiled too. She was glad he enjoyed the furry animal's company too.
"You're too cute, you know that?" she said and began to pet the animal again but for some reason it was Link who looked at her. It took Link a second to realize who she had intended the comment for and when he did, he understood how stupid he must look and he felt a blush quickly spread across his face which only got worse when he saw his Princess realizing what he must've thought, and he immediately looked away, took their empty bowls and went to wash them. He could feel her burning gaze on his back and he knew it must look like he fled the tent, but he didn't know what else to do. What had even happened in his brain to make that stupid connection – of course she meant the dog! Of course she did. How weird wouldn't it be for her to suddenly blurt something like that out of nowhere? Unimaginable. And he wasn't even imagining it, never had. Never would. Sweet Hylia and Nayru, any of the Goddesses to be honest, that better not happen again. He was just tired and didn't think. That's right. He hadn't been thinking.
Oh Goddesses, if that had happened in the castle he'd be in real trouble, no doubt. He was lucky that it had been only the Princess and him around and none of the other guards.
But what if the Princess would tell someone once they returned?
And the panic started dwelling up inside him and he tried his best to calm himself down and convince himself that it wasn't as bad as he thought it had been. But that tiny voice saying what if? kept coming back and he wished it would go away.
He stayed out scrubbing the bowls clean longer than necessary, using them as an excuse to stay away as long as he could, and didn't even care when raindrops began to fall from the sky. He kept his eyes level to the ground and didn't look up until he caught the retriever running in and out of the large stable tent at the corner of his eyes. Someone was throwing a stick for it to fetch and bring back. He could only guess who it was, and he was right.
He recalled how Princess Zelda used to try to escape from his supervision and he supposed he knew how she had felt now. Sort of. But the Goddesses weren't merciful this evening because she stepped over to him, stick in her hand, and his feet felt like they were chained to the ground. He straightened up, pretending that everything was fine although it really didn't feel like it was on the inside. The grip on the bowls was a bit stronger than necessary and he took a breath in, waiting for his Princess to speak. She said nothing at first, simply stood next to him in the rain and threw the stick again and waited for the dog to return with it. The silence between somehow only made him feel even worse. Luckily was the stick soon back in her hand and she made no try to throw it again. But she glanced up at her knight who looked at her with an expressionless face, the face she didn't like, but she could see the nervousness in his eyes. She tried her best to smile despite her furrowed brows, held up the stick for him to take and said, "Won't you play some with us?"
She couldn't think of anything else to say and she didn't want to bring up that tiny awkward moment because, honestly, she didn't find it as horrible as her knight seemed to have. But it seemed to work because she saw his emotionless mask crack and he smiled back at her, relieved, and he exchanged the bowls for the stick and threw it far away, further than she would ever be able to. The dog immediately ran after it and the Princess and her knight took shelter from the rain inside the tent.
If Princess Zelda could pretend that nothing had happened, he could too, he told himself. They took turns at tossing the stick until they got tired of it and it had gotten late enough for bed. He heard the Princess say "You're so adorable but too wet, no- Stay, no, you can't-" Her laugh sounded like crystal clear water in a fountain. "No, I can't let you stay in my bed tonight, I'll be drenched!"
"Is she giving you trouble, Princess?" the stable manager asked, and she replied "No, I'll be alright. She seems to want to stay with me tonight and I don't mind as long as she stays on the ground… Unless you prefer her to sleep somewhere else?"
"No, no, that's fine by me" he answered before informing them both he'll be at the counter if they would need anything and then wished them a good night.
It didn't take long until Link could hear Princess Zelda's deep breaths a couple of beds away from his, and it took some time before his thoughts had stilled in his mind – the stable manager seemed to be cooler about having a Royal visitor this time, maybe he had overreacted that awkward moment, but what in the Sacred Realm had made him even think her words might have been for him in the first place, would the Shiekah wonder why they smell of wet dog tomorrow when they will arrive to the village? – but eventually even the destined hero got too tired to even think of anything else and fell asleep. But it didn't last long. His subconscious woke him up sometime during the night and he rubbed his tired eyes to look around him in the darkness. The rain wasn't as heavy anymore and he was relieved to see the Princess still in her bed but it took him a long moment to realize that the large bump at the end of it was the dog. He assumed it must've crawled up sometime during the night and decided that the best spot to sleep on was Princess Zelda's feet. Link's first thought was to try to get it down again but… they both looked so peaceful, and he wouldn't want to risk waking up the Princess. If he could, if he knew how that Shiekah Slate worked, he would've taken a picture of them (he still had no idea how it could create a perfect picture just like that without using paint) just to show the Princess in the morning… but then again, she would probably notice once she woke up.
Turning over in his bed, Link tried his best to go back to sleep and get some rest while he could.
Link gets up before she does. He bows his head as a greeting to the stable manager's "good morning" and, glad to see that the rain had stopped, begins to pick together something he could hopefully make a breakfast of. He casts a glance to Princess Zelda's bed and sees the dog curiously look at him, wondering if he has something to offer it today too. He begs in his mind for it to stay where it is, as if his thoughts could pass through telepathy. He really, really wants Princess Zelda to wake up to see it in her bed. Something tells him she'd appreciate it and, somehow, it seems to have worked 'cause the dog lost interest and placed its head on the Princess' feet again.
It was around ten minutes later when Princess Zelda heard the sizzling of fried eggs and smelled the sweet scent of fruits. She guessed it was time to wake up and stretched, ready to get out of bed and make herself presentable but... somehow her legs felt heavier than usual this morning? And warmer?
It didn't take her more than a second to understand why and when she did, she smiled brightly. "Well, good morning to you!" she greeted the dog and reached forward to pet it. "Link, have you seen this? How adorable isn't she, she got into my bed after I fell asleep!" She looked up, searched for her knight and was met with a smile back. She soon returned her attention to the furry animal. "Have you kept me company all night, hmm? You better not get too attached, you know, I have to leave soon. Or perhaps it's me who shouldn't get too attached to you" she added.
Princess Zelda kept showering the happy dog with strokes on the head, scratches on its tummy and adoring words and only looked up when she noticed Link bringing her breakfast to her. "Oh, I'm sorry" she apologized, "you didn't have to bring it to me." She glanced around her for a chair or something for Link to sit on, but honestly, she wouldn't be completely comfortable with having breakfast with him while she was still in bed, just in her nightgown and her hair messy, and a rather large part of her hoped he'd let her consume it alone. Luckily, her knight left her to be without her asking him to. She kept looking at him as he left the now empty tent, with the exception for herself and the dog, and heard the stable manager's voice thank her knight for sharing their breakfast with him. She let out a small sigh of relief – she wouldn't want him to spend the morning all alone after making them breakfast.
He hadn't looked at her when he came over with her breakfast though.
But that wasn't something she wished for, was it? She was glad he hadn't before she had made herself presentable, wasn't she?
Leaving the stable after getting so fond of the dog wasn't as hard as Princess Zelda thought it would be. She felt in a way that she had fulfilled her childhood dream if only for a few hours and that made the stay better than she thought it would be. However, she was now ready to continue with their journey and reach Kakariko Village.
The Princess and her knight followed the road south from the stable and she was as usual taking the lead. Still as curious as ever, she kept her eyes open for anything she could take a closer look at but unfortunately, there hadn't been anything interesting in particular to make her consider taking a break. Perhaps it was a good thing, their goal was the Shiekah after all.
But when they almost reached the end of the road and before Sahasra Slope, she saw the most magnificent and glistening stone sitting on some rocks in the ground. "Link, I'd like to examine the minerals over there" she said and motioned for her horse to change direction and take her closer to the rocks. "We're almost at Kakariko Village, it won't hurt if we stop for a moment to study it." He didn't object, but he never really did, and Princess Zelda slowly got closer. The stone was beautiful; dark like obsidian, with a luster similar to amethyst in color and it sparkled like opals. Entranced, she kept her eyes on it but something suddenly didn't feel right.
The ground began to shake.
The group of rocks with the beautiful stone began to move.
And before she knew it, they had formed a bad imitation of a human body with a massive torso and uneven arms.
I thought I might try something new - a cliffhanger! Or, well, it's supposed to be one lol. Hopefully will the next chapter not take too long to write... thank you all for your patience!