Before leaving to visit Robbie in the Akkala Tech Lab, Link and Zelda departed from Kakariko momentarily to collect their puppy. They found the tri-coloured pup fast asleep in her bed, which was a crate that had been modified by Bolson. The lid and one side was missing, and the three remaining sides had been made half as short and sanded down to avoid splinters. It fit snugly into the gap under the stairs where Link had once constructed his own bed so that Zelda could sleep in the loft space. Such arrangements had been unnecessary for many months now and the alcove was the perfect place to house their new dog. The crate had also been lined with more spare bedding and old tunics, which now bore frayed edges and several holes. All in all, it was a very well constructed dog bed.
Even though they tried to be as stealthy as possible, which was a considerable amount given Zelda's clothing, one of Toast's ears flicked back at the sound of footsteps and her tail started thumping against the bed clothes.
"Well, at least we know she'll make a good guard dog," Zelda said, falling for the very cute but obvious lure and going over to Toast so she could scratch her tummy.
Link decided to withhold his comment about him being the guard dog and instead joined her in making a fuss of their 'daughter'. However, he couldn't help but think to himself that this puppy was in danger of becoming spoiled. Very spoiled, Link noted as he watched Toast suddenly have the structural integrity of a wet towel as she lolled onto her back when Zelda tried to pick her up.
It was with this in mind that he warned Paya not to give in to her ploys too often or they'd end up with a dog that was in charge of them and not the other way around.
"Oh, don't you worry," Paya reassured, staring down at the puppy curiously sniffing her knees, "the Sheikah pride themselves on discipline and respect. She'll be no problem."
Now it was a test of which was stronger; Toast's appeal or Paya's resolve. With the amount of faith he had in her, Link still wasn't sure which he would bet on as he himself was having trouble leaving the pup behind. It didn't help that Toast started to bark after them as they teleported away.
The Akkala region seemed to be in a perpetual state of autumn, the trees were always in various shades of rust and orange, and the area hosted frequent thunderstorms. Upon arriving in the north, the sky was overcast and there was already the faraway sounds of thunder, out across the ocean. A cluster of clouds in the distance lit up every few seconds or so.
As they stood in front of the Akkala Tech Lab, Zelda extended an arm forward and gave the laboratory door a sharp rap with her knuckles, before swiftly withdrawing and shaking her hand out. While they waited for Robbie to answer the door, she rubbed her knuckles in the palm of her other hand and Link automatically leaned over for a closer look.
"For some reason, I didn't expect the door to be that hard," Zelda bemoaned, flexing her fingers before letting her hand fall to her side.
Link raised a sardonic eyebrow and made an 'ah' face just as the heavy wooden door opened and Jerrin stood in the doorway. She was holding a bizarre looking instrument that looked like a metal rod bent into a zig-zag shape.
"Oh, it's you Lady Zelda! I wasn't sure who it would be as Link usually just throws the door open. Nice outfit by the way."
Jerrin retreated back into the lab in order to inform her husband of their guests, while Zelda fixed Link with a disapproving look out of the corner of her eye. Suddenly, the surrounding wild flowers swaying in the strong coastal breeze were utterly fascinating to him.
"Come in, come in," Jerrin encouraged, as she came back to bring them inside, "we were just preparing for the incoming storm. Rob's been waiting for one for the past week! Wants to try his hand at some energy conversion, at least, I think that's what this is for." She waved the bent metal around.
Once they were ushered inside the researchers abode, they spotted the short Sheikah man up to his elbows in the inner mechanisms of the Ancient Oven. His nose scrunched up in an aborted sneeze and he used one arm to rub at his nose automatically, leaving a streak of dark grease and energy depleted blue liquid across his face. Jerrin gave a fond sigh and went to fetch a clean towel as Zelda walked up to Robbie's side, tapping him gently on the shoulder.
"Hmm?" Looking up he beamed once he realised who it was, and then pointed with a gloved finger as he spotted Link just behind her. "I was hoping you would both come here! I've increased the efficiency of Che- … the Oven. She now creates more durable weapons and stronger armour. Also the bow is more powerful."
"There's an Ancient bow?" Zelda asked, voice calm but the light in her eyes danced excitedly.
"You didn't tell her?" Robbie stage whispered, watching as Link scratched his temple looking sheepish.
"Forgot."
"No matter," Robbie sniffed, attention back on Zelda specifically, "I had one crafted for the Princess. Purah says you're a natural at the bow and I thought you'd enjoy one with some Ancient Technology flair."
"Oh Robbie! Thank you!"
He produced said bow from under a workbench with a dramatic gesture. It was still in it's compact form, but with a flex of his hand the arms sprang out and the bow string ignited between them. Link had always liked the look of the ancient items, less so when they were firing at him, but he had no earthly clue as to how they worked. They had to also been a pain in the ass to acquire. He huffed.
[You have a special one for Zelda. When I asked, I had to gather tonnes of gears, cores, and bolts from defeated Guardians and single handedly fund your research.]
If the elderly Sheikah hadn't been sweating behind his goggles before, he certainly was now as a scandalised cry of 'Robbie!' echoed around his lab space. Zelda was not happy, body tense with her arms crossed over her chest and frosty eyes glaring at him over her neck scarf.
"You forced him to chase after those things and then charged him so he could get the weapons he would need to save your ass and the Kingdom? Are you kidding me!?"
Link immediately regretted opening his mouth. He had just wanted to take a dig at Robbie for once, he didn't begrudge her getting a specially made bow at all, but in hindsight this probably hadn't been wise given the topic of conversation. This is why I have the Courage aspect, or rather just plain stupidity. He rushed forward to try and placate her, mindful of the fact that she could well turn her irritation on him instead.
[I'm not actually angry. I didn't need Ancient Weapons] Link paused, hands tucked into his chest as he thought of what to say next, avidly aware of Zelda watching his movements like a hawk. [I thought the designs looked nice]
Her shoulders slumped but he could tell there was still a fire burning beneath her ribcage as the embers glowed behind the emerald of her eyes. She would need to let that out later, but for now she was containing her indignation.
Robbie looked like he had just dodged a bomb arrow, sagging a little himself as the tension left him and in an attempt to move the conversation into safer waters, he extended the proffered bow to Zelda for her to take.
While she eagerly began to inspect the bow, and started to test the weight and draw, Link explained his need for some alterations to be made to his prosthetic. Directed to sit onto Robbie's workbench, he once again had his shirt off, noting that it was colder here in Akkala than it was in Hateno. He shivered a little bit but the Sheikah researcher gave no notice as he turned some dials on the sides of his goggles to magnify his view of Link's upturned hand. Repeating the specifications that Zelda had written in her research journal, Link informed Robbie that, ideally, he would need some pressure sensors under the plates of his fingers. Or some form of physical restriction would need to be installed in his hand to limit his grip. The only problem with the sensors was that they would need to devise a way for the pressure to register visually to Link.
"It's a shame, because for you it would be better to leave your grip uninhibited and instead give you some indicator that you're holding something too hard." Robbie made a noise of consideration as he hefted up Link's guardium limb and removed the protective outer plates, leaving the internals open to the air as he ran a hand over his jaw. "But due to you're complete lack of sensation in this arm, I'm not sure how to translate the stimulus into a signal you can respond to."
The lab space lapsed into silence, aside from the clicking of metal as Robbie did some configuration work on the mechanisms in Links arm and the occasional hum emanating from the Ancient bow. The hum died down when Zelda had finished her analysis and collapsed the bow down to place it on a table.
"Why don't you try connecting it to the lights on the surface?" She suggested, "the harder he holds something the greater his arm will glow. It's already linked to the amount of energy he's using so the two signals shouldn't conflict."
Link gaze went from Zelda to Robbie as if to say, that's a good idea, we should go with that, and the older man looked a little stunned. His expression didn't break even as Jerrin returned with a towel so that Robbie could clean his face but she ended up just leaving it on his bench when she caught sight of him still wearing his dirty gloves. Suddenly, he threw his hands up into the air.
"Of course! Why didn't I think of that?" He made quick work of putting the protective shell back onto Link's prosthetic and then turned around to drag his personal notes closer to himself across his work bench. He started scribbling diagrams feverishly, waving a hand in their direction without looking. "I'll work on these for you while you're gallivanting about. Come back here in a couple of weeks or so."
"Much obliged, Robbie, we'll take our leave. We're actually going to visit the Castle again. Now that we have the Slate I can collect all the books that are still in good enough condition to move and Link is going to teach me how to fight with bladed weapons. I'll be able to use that beautiful sword you gave me, Robbie," Zelda explained, placing a hand on the dormant hilt of the Ancient Sword.
At this, the Sheikah looked up from his bench to scrutinise them, though the full power of his stare was lost behind his chameleon goggles. "You two be careful, I'll always advocate for learning self defence. I just wish your teacher was someone a little less … erratic."
Said teacher gave Robbie a withering look as he held the door open for Zelda to exit the lab, but as she was about to pass the threshold she turned back to the researcher.
"I'm pretty confident in saying that Link would rather remove his other arm than cause me any damage. I think I'll do just fine."
With that, she left the premises and Link gestured at her back to Robbie as if to say you see?! before walking out after her, holding his head high as if he were offended.
They made their last teleport to the east of Castle Town so that Link would be given the opportunity to spend some time in the place where his father's bakery once stood. Locating the remains of the buildings foundations, and the scattered planks of wood that hadn't yet rotted away, Link found himself immersed in some conflicting feelings.
On the one hand, he had experienced over a years worth of amnesia where the castle, the town, and this specific patch of ruins held no significance to him what so ever. He still remembered how he had previously felt in the face of all this destruction; while the knowledge that people had once lived here and then one day had met with an abrupt end was disturbing, his consideration did not go much further than that. Now, however, he had context for these places, memories that placed him in these exact locations. If he walked three steps to the left he would be standing at the foot of the stairs that would lead up to his room, and his sister's, and his parent's.
'Oh, Link, you're back! If you've got a sec I could use a hand in the kitchen-'
'No! This is my domain!'
'-but if you're tired don't worry about it. Sweetheart, please...'
'I am the Queen of this Kitchen. The pies are my subjects!'
'I worry about your sister sometimes, son.'
Looking towards that patch of ground, all he could see now was bare cobblestone with tufts of grass and opportunistic wild flowers growing out of the cracks. A restless cricket was singing from one of the sun warmed bricks. He had both never lived here, and only just left this place to go to Mt. Lanayru a few weeks ago. The dual nature of his appreciation for his home, the last place he saw his family, was doing his head in.
He walked in a circle for something to do, trying to fight off the invading anxiety.
As he wandered about in silence, Zelda was investigating the stonework. She wondered where it was quarried from. Hearing Link begin to scuff his shoes, she guessed he was starting to get a bit overwhelmed with the situation but she would leave the decision to move on with him. She had never been here before, and she had to wonder if she'd been more open to his presence from the start, forming a better friendship earlier, would he have brought her here? Her answer was an immediate 'no' and she scoffed internally.
They were both required to present a calm and collected persona to the general populace, someone who was confident in their actions and themselves. Link's persona was far more believable than her own and there was no way he would have tried to bring the Princess of Hyrule to his family's house even if it doubled as a bakery.
Zelda's thoughts derailed as she felt a tap on her shoulder. He was averting his eyes but there was a slight tremor in the way he held himself; Link was done here.
They walked up to the Castle entrance, passing through the double doors that had been left open since Link stormed through here over a year ago, and were presented with two options. They could either climb up the ivy covered wall to the balcony of the Observation Room or they could take the much longer but more straight forward route up the road. As Link stood next to the wall, Zelda decided that this would be a good warm-up for them both.
Blue light encapsulated her, as the stealth armour transformed into climbing gear, and she could tell when Link realised her intentions as a small smile appeared on his face - that made the strain and adrenaline fuelled ascent totally worth it in her opinion.
After a completely trouble-free and non-competitive climb, the pair took their time strolling along the carpeted hallways, checking the contents of various halls and scanning areas with magnesis. Once or twice they actually managed to find left over chests with arrows and rupees still inside, which were swiftly inhaled by the Sheikah Slate.
Seeing as the library was the furthest away, Zelda suggested that Link start her training now while they were still near the Guard's Chambers. So, Link took her by the hand and re-traced a well worn route to his old training grounds.
The place hadn't changed much in one hundred years; a large room with two training levels and an observation platform. The first training level still had targets set up along the one wall and a couple of moveable targets were standing with faded rings, much to Link's surprise - the damn things had been rickety as all hell. While some bricks had crumbled, and the wooden staircase leading to the observation deck had rotted slightly, he could still easily recognise the woven reed sparring square on the lower training level and the now defunct weapon racks. This was the place where he had spent the majority of his early-teen years and seeing it now while still intact but in such disarray caused a painful twinge in his chest.
The drill sergeant would have been furious.
"Link?"
He turned to see Zelda, watching him hesitantly. He must have been standing there silently for a while.
[This place is such a mess] He signed, stance similar to that of a parent trying to contain the carnage of their unruly offspring. [I have to clean this first]
As he began pushing upturned crates to the sides of the room he felt Zelda join him at his side, helping him push the heavy boxes.
"Need a hand?"
Smiling gratefully, he nodded and together they started to clear away the archery range. Dislodging broken wooden beams from where they had fallen and hefting rock debris into respectable piles in a corner, they made good time tidying the place up. There was even a broom in the Slate to sweep up the left over grit and sand still carpeting the floor.
"Why is there a broom in here?"
[I find using household tools as weapons funny... It is!] Link insisted as Zelda gave him one of her patented expressions of exasperation.
When they progressed onto the lower level, Link noticed that the door in the far corner, which led down to the barracks, was blocked by a cave in. A shame, for he would've liked to have seen if his bunk was still there. Not that he slept in the barracks much after he came forward with the Master Sword. Then he'd had his own room in the Castle.
He must have been staring off into the past for too long again because a tattered banner was swiftly, but carefully, placed over his head and the sudden sensory change startled him. He could hear Zelda's tittering laughter as he flailed about under the blanketing fabric, finally locating an edge to peer under and finding her holding herself up with the broom. A fond sigh escaped him, completely unbidden, as he watched her encumbered by joy in such a deteriorated environment.
He couldn't help himself by throwing the banner at her in retaliation, and she batted it away, still laughing. However, on his second attempt he managed to loop it over her head, still holding onto the ends, and tugged her towards him on the spur of the moment. She came to him obligingly, dragging the broom behind her along the ground as she did so. They nudged noses for a second before Zelda closed the remaining gap to kiss him, the broom falling to the floor with a clatter as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. It was short and sweet and Link draped the banner around her shoulders as they drew apart, but Zelda did not let Link step away just yet.
"I'm sorry, I know this must be hard for you. I can't imagine how much time you spent here."
"...It's hard for you too," Link said, drawing two corners of the banner into a knot at her front. "But what we had is gone now, and we can only go forward. This place isn't our home any more."
"That it isn't," Zelda agreed, a contrite smile in place, "but our new home has a vegetable patch, so I'd call that an upgrade."
He had to physically restrain the explosion of mirth that threatened to escape him in that moment and instead he distanced himself from her so that he could continue with his previous task. Unfortunately, Link's face had been a dead giveaway and Zelda sniggered as she gathered the banner around herself like a cape and picked the broom up from the floor.
Once the place was to a standard of tidiness that Link could abide by, he directed Zelda to stand on the sparring square – without the banner cloak – and get into a ready position. While she was doing this, Link retrieved a Royal Guard's halberd from the wall racks; the blade was rusted and chipped in places. He snapped the metal part clean off before bringing the wooden staff down over his knee to split it into two pieces.
"We'll practice with these first, slowly," Link said, tossing one half of the staff to Zelda. She thought it best not to look too proud of herself that she actually managed to catch it.
Getting into position, he dragged one foot gently over the floor, distinctly remembering all the times his face had ploughed into the unforgiving texture of the sparring square when he first began training here. Short of stature and quite slender, the heavy training weapons had taken him a while to adjust to as he kept over-balancing on his swings. The friction burns he had acquired were so much worse than the carpet variety.
They began with the basics; balance, foot work, and some common strikes with Link demonstrating the correct movement for Zelda to copy. She was a fast learner and Link didn't need to repeat himself too many times before she started to repeat various motions on her own with little input from himself. He was glad to see that her previous hesitation about her movements with spear training had disappeared and she demonstrated the same drive and determination she normally directed towards her experiments. But, if she thought that they would be moving on to an actual blade today she didn't realise just how stringent Link's training was.
Regardless, he watched carefully as Zelda went through a series of drills, ready to intervene to correct her balance or stance. When it became apparent towards the end of the second hour that he did not need to advise her on anything, he found himself bouncing his half of the broken staff from one hand to the other. It was something he had used to do with the hilt of the Master Sword when he was asked to watch over trainee soldiers. It was a sign that he had energy to burn.
"Alright, stop. Let's see if you can use what you've learned against an opponent," Link wiggled the wooden weapon at her threateningly and Zelda had the grace to not laugh.
He forced himself to go slowly, even as his muscles screamed at him to dash into a parry, or to take advantage of obvious openings. Zelda was the one to attack him and in doing so he was able to demonstrate motions of defence as he blocked her strikes. Then they would swap.
"Thank you, again, for this," she said, raising her improvised 'sword' to catch Link's downward strike in a sharp smack of colliding wood. "I like being independent, being able to take care of myself. So, it means a lot that you would teach me how to be so."
Link lowered his half-staff and Zelda did the same, calling an end to their training for today but she felt good. He hadn't been overly critical and she appreciated the restraint he was showing. Given recent discoveries, being this slow must be agony for him.
"You're welcome," Link replied, taking both of their weapons and storing them in the Sheikah Slate. He could sand them down at some point and give them proper leather grips. Turning back to her, as she stretched out her arms and legs, he continued, "you were never given the space to be independent, despite being the next Queen of Hyrule. That's why I'm happy to help you."
"Even if that means that one day I might not need you to defend me any more?" She asked, trying to sound casual but she refused to actually look at him as she said it.
He reached out for her hand to get her attention, "I've come to trust that you don't keep me around because you need to, but because you want to."
Zelda drew in a soft gasp, as she placed her other hand against his face, smiling and eyes shining before kissing his cheek. They stayed that way for about a minute or two before she spoke.
"I never knew you could be so sappy..."
Spluttering, Link wasn't fast enough to grab her as she darted away from him, prancing up the stairs from the archery level, leaving him flustered and indignant.
"H-hey! That was a moment, we were having a moment!" He called after her, only for her to giggle as she leaned over the railing at the top of the stairs. Accepting the challenge for what it was, he dashed after her but she did not flee.
"But you are right," she said, causing him to pause on the stairs so he could hear her, "I'll always want you around."
Link exhibited an air of mock offence all the way to the Library, and all the while Zelda tried to weedle a response out of him to no effect. First Robbie and now Zelda, but their jabs were not intended to harm and if Link were being honest with himself their comments were well justified.
Due to their thorough search of the bookshelves the last time they had swept through the Castle, locating the books in Zelda's list was quite a simple task. Although, Link was more mindful of potential spider nests this time.
"And that's the last one!" Zelda announced, crossing off the remaining title on her list as she let the tome in her hands disassemble into the Slate. "Right, now let's see what secrets this place has for us, shall we?"
With a confident flourish, she swiped across the screen of the Sheikah Slate to access the Rune abilities and selected Magnesis. Through the Slate she could see which objects were metallic and was surprised to find that two of the bookcases on their level of the library were highlighted a deep pink colour.
Aligning the Slate's sights onto the bookcase along one of the side walls, she waited for it to light up yellow before grabbing it and pulling it out from between the other bookcases. Behind it was a secret passageway, leading away and down from the Library.
A shout from behind her nearly made her drop the Slate and she fumbled it a bit to keep it in her grasp. Turning around with an incensed expression upon face she saw Link pointing at the revealed corridor, mouth open and barely concealed irritation causing his hand to shake.
"Bet you down there is the docks, I bet you."
Given how animated he was about this turn of events, Zelda felt it unwise to take that bet and ventured down the passageway hewn from the rock foundations of the Castle. Sure enough, there was the docks and ironically enough there was a Shrine here too, surrounded by lit torch posts. She still remembered how smug she had felt when Link told her that there had been a Shrine within the Castle itself, all this time, but actually seeing it now she could only squint at it in disapproval.
"You." Why couldn't you have been above ground like most of the others? Then I could have studied you away from my father's prying eyes.
Retreating back up the corridor she found Link leaning against one of the bookcases framing the entrance, looking grim.
"It is, isn't it?"
Still nonplussed about the situation, Zelda nodded and watched as he threw his arms up in the air and then began to walk in frustrated circles with his face in his hands.
"Why is it always magnesis...?"
After she enquired about the source of his displeasure, he explained that when he first tried to get into the Castle the map had shown a passage leading from the docks to inside the Castle, but he had reached a dead end. Apparently, he had a tendency to forget to use magnesis when in puzzling situations and since blowing it up hadn't worked he had left after activating the Shrine so he could come back one day.
Removing his hair tie, Zelda ran her hand through the hair on the back of his head until he began to hum complacently. He leaned into her for a bit, grateful that he was now calm again, before he collected himself and they both directed their attention onto the second metal bookcase.
Capturing it in the magnetic field, it's mass held no consequence as Zelda neatly pried it away from it's housing and set it down to one side, out of their way.
Zelda walked inside first, but as soon as she did she was surprised at how small the room was. Why is this here? It wasn't until she took in the royal regalia around the room and the open book on the writing desk, penned in very recognisable handwriting, that she realised what this place was. As a small child, her mother had spoken of her father's private study, his 'little place to get away for a bit' as she had called it. Her mother had her gardens and her father had a study hidden away in the library. Of course, she had tried to find it but it had alluded her all these years, until now.
She approached the desk, running her fingers over the dry pages, turning them one by one delicately until she reached the beginning. A shuffling noise by the doorway reminded her that Link was here with her too, looking around curiously but not actually stepping inside the room.
"This is my father's study," Zelda explained and Link's eyebrows shot up as his sights trained on the book in front of her. "Yes, this appears to be his diary. Come here and we can-"
She was forestalled as Link raised both hands, palms out to stop her. "Should I really be here for this? I mean, to me he was the King..." he drifted off when he saw her looking at him beseechingly.
"Please?"
It was unnecessary to say anything more and then he was standing beside her, a comforting presence as Zelda began to read the first entry; the day of her birth. The entries following all contained a similar theme; The Calamity. Despite now seeing and understanding how her father had intended to handle the situation regarding her upbringing, it did not change the fact that, at least in her opinion, he had made the wrong call. He should have been a father rather than a King in times of duress, especially when it came to his daughter. To think, he had once complimented her knack for research, but that had been before he decided it was better to only show a confident and unwavering King. Rather than a loving and compassionate one, willing to hear out his daughter when she was obviously struggling. At least he had the good sense to realise that his actions were wrong in the end, but the sentiment was hollow when it came from dried ink in a book withered by time.
"He knew it was pointless, but because he could not fathom of any other way to awaken my powers he forced me through it anyway. How could he?"
Zelda was trembling, from rage, sadness, or a variety of different emotions she could not tell. Her father had come to the right conclusion far too late and while she now had context for his stubbornness, to her mind, it was still not enough for her to excuse the way he had behaved. He was still her father and she deigned to remember him in the better years of her youth, when her mother had still been alive.
Losing her changed him, Zelda thought as she closed the journal, it was as if her presence had given him an air of security. Everything would work out fine against The Calamity if mother was still around to teach me. I wonder now, if that would have been true. It's seems fated for things to have gone the way they did.
Her eyes flicked to the side, a little surprised to instantly meet Link's bright blue gaze watching her with open concern, his eyebrows pinched slightly.
"I'm fine," she assured, placing a hand against his arm. "I suppose knowing his side of things answers questions I hadn't even thought to ask but, for all his good intentions, he played them out horrendously."
He still looked pained, reaching up to cover her hand with his, so she gave him a bit of encouragement.
"What is it? I think you're allowed to vent about the King these days."
"... It's not that," he said, before hesitating again. [I have a question. You said that you cannot get sick due to the Goddess' protection. Right?]
"Yes?" Zelda replied, her answer slightly drawn out in confusion, eyes flicking from his hands and then back up to his face.
[Then … how did your mother die?] He wished he didn't have to ask this of her but after reading Rhoam's journal an insidious thought had occurred to him. One he hoped was not the case, but one he knew was likely to be true.
"It was..." She paused as she worked out what words to use, "it was an incurable disease, they tried everything but … how could a disease take a daughter of Hylia?"
[A disease, an illness, nobody had seen and took the Queen quickly] He swallowed around a lump in his throat, pushing himself to speak. "The Queen, she would have guided you as your mentor."
The grip she had on his arm was almost painful but he said nothing about it as he stroked the back of her hand and braced for the inevitable conclusion. Her eyes were still darting about but were now centred on his face.
"What are you saying?"
"Zelda, I think The Calamity took your mother."
In that moment, in that horrible, seeping cold moment, Zelda realised that it all made complete and total sense. The monster uprising, the taciturn behaviour of Death Mountain, crops failing, severe weather in the north. But most of all, how unfortunate had it been that the Princess, the one that would meet The Calamity in her time, had lost her teacher before her training had even begun? How … convenient.
The dam broke.
She folded against him, with her head pressed against his collar bone and her hands now grasping both arms as she howled with pain into his chest. Link propped his chin on top of her head as she cursed The Calamity, the Kingdom, everything in Hyrule, and even the Goddesses themselves. She was heaving in huge gulps of air but the tears didn't stop, streaming down her face and dripping off her chin.
Link wondered just how long had she been holding this in, if this outburst had been held back since she was six years old. He wrapped his arms around her loosely, unsure if she wanted to be contained or free to express her rage, but her arms tucked in and she did not shake him off. So, he held her more tightly, keeping her snug against him as she seethed and cried.
Eventually, her breathing evened out, the massive inhales diminishing to match her inhales, and the tension of her high strung body loosened in his hold. The last of her shaking ended with a drawn out sigh that tickled against his neck and Link tried his best not to flinch. A loud swallow was heard before Zelda made a noise of disgust.
"Ugh."
Link patted her on the back before rubbing circles into her shoulders, making a questioning sound deep in his throat. He felt her nod against his neck but she didn't do much else.
"Hey, shall we look at the Shrine by the docks?" Link suggested, giving her a quick squeeze. Bleary eyed, and sniffling Zelda looked up from his chest and gave a small nod letting herself be guided out of her father's study.
Link was glad that the weight she must have been carrying for over a century had finally been cut away, even if it had to happen under such circumstances. But he did not wish for her to dwell on her negative thoughts, as she was prone to do. Sometimes all you needed was a distraction, and by the goddesses Ancient Sheikah Technology was a never ending fountain of distractions for Zelda.
If you're wondering why Zelda griped at Robbie for charging Link for things and not Claree there's a couple of reasons; 1) Link has to find the materials to make all the weapons too not just fork over rupees, which in early game is not that easy 2) Zelda knew she had left Link armour in the form of his Champion's Tunic, so buying armour was not a necessity but weapons were needed (no matter what Link says) until he could get his sword back which would have taken him a while 3) The Ancient weapons and armour set are incredibly effective against Guardians which were all over the Castle, Robbie! He wouldn't have known that until he got them.
Also, yes, Link's dad is heavily inspired by Alibert from Wakfu (which I highly recommend watching btw)
