The trek from Rito Village to the cliffs of the Gerudo canyon was largely uneventful. Having successfully reset the colossal bird Divine Beast, Zelda and Link had paid the Rito elder a final visit, bid their Rito friends goodbye, and set off towards the south. Vah Medoh now belonged solely to the Rito and they alone could decide how best to proceed with it.

At the start of their journey, Zelda was finally able to meet a Great Fairy in person and was pleased to discover that her stealth armour had the highest level of enchantments made to it already. Kaysa explained what was usually involved with the final level of clothing enhancements, much to Zelda's shock and she sent a concerned glance towards Link but he just smiled and pointed back towards Kaysa. The Tabantha Great Fairy then explained the arrangement that had been made between Link and all of her sisters.

"If there are any items of clothing you would like me to enchant, should you have all the materials, I would be happy to show you."

Zelda indicated the bright blue exploration outfit she currently wore, that matched Link's Champions Tunic. She was then promptly transported to the Ethereal Grove where the Great Fairies resided when they were not making an appearance in Hyrule. It was beautiful and she was shortly joined by Link, who was quick to make himself comfortable on the spongy flower petals around them.

"So, tell me, what's been happening with the two of you lately. Last you were here you told me a story of a Gerudo and a Hylian meeting by the Lover's Pond."

By the end of their chat – Zelda had no other way to describe the casual affair – the Explorer's outfit boasted greater durability against physical damage and her Researcher's coat was made to be considerably more resistant against the effects of Ancient Technology. Something she was itching to test.

Returned to the topside world of Hyrule, the Hylian scholar felt the same kind of self-satisfied thrill she imagined that her companion did when she was able to provide materials all the necessary materials. Materials she had acquired herself.

Running her fingers over the fabric of her explorers jacket she marvelled over the mere concept that she now wore magically enhanced clothing, that she herself had earned. Her own winter gear had been enchanted by Link once they had retrieved a lot of Zelda's old clothing from Impa the year before, as he was upgrading his own, but this time it was by her own means.

The more self sufficient she became, the more satisfied she began to feel with herself.

It took them several days from that point to reach the mouth of the canyon, and a thunderstorm broke the sky above just as they reached it, forcing them to dash into the relative safety of an unoccupied cave.

As Link began to shake his hair clear of water like a dog, Zelda had already set down her gear and started to make herself familiar with their surroundings. The cave was large but shallow, tapering into a narrow channel as it receded further up into the red stone that comprised the mesas surrounding the canyon. Its hollowed ceiling was only about a foot above Zelda's head and the walls had been worn smooth, leaving the banded layers of sedimentary rock clearly visible. At some point in history, by her estimate, these cliffs had encompassed a steady flow of rushing water which must have gathered and swirled into an underground lake until it eventually became the cave they now took refuge in.

"Hey, Link, I think these cliffs used to have a subterranean river running through them. It must have eroded through the outer rock and spilled out to join the Regencia River." Zelda peered out of the cave entrance again to inspect the ground outside but a sudden flash of lightning startled her back inside. "You know, sometimes you find large amounts of quartz in drained caves like this because the conditions were so-"

She was interrupted by the sound of shattering rock and turned to find Link poised to swing his Cobble Crusher. He stood frozen amid clusters of mineral deposits near the back of the cave, watching her hesitantly, clearly waiting for her to continue. She eyed the large pieces of quartz at his feet, the clusters covered in sand next to him, and laughed. Continuing at this point was a tad redundant.

"Never mind, you seem to have found them," she noted, waving a hand in dismissal and Link brought the Crusher down with a smash.

After the cave was deemed an acceptable place to turn into their temporary camp, both Hylians rolled out their bed mats and laid out a blanket for them to sleep under. A campfire was unnecessary this close to the desert just as summer was about to start so they got comfy. For once, Zelda found herself as the little spoon, with Link tucking her head under his chin so that they could both watch the downpour occurring outside of their makeshift den. While she liked being able to hold onto him, grounding her to the present, being framed like this was also comforting.

They both watched the heavy sheets of rain in silence, admiring the occasional flashes of light and feeling the rumble of thunder reverberate around them. It was an oddly soothing melody to fall asleep too and neither one of them attempted to break it with speech.

Waking the next morning the first sounds that Zelda heard were the tell-tale patter of rain droplets hitting the already soaked ground, and opening her eyes she found that the rain outside had not let up. After a minute or two of further listening she discovered that at least the thunder had passed. She had no idea what time it was, only that she no longer felt fatigued so she must have slept enough.

She also noticed that Link was no longer with her.

Probably exercising, Zelda thought to herself as she opened her eyes to squint into the dim light of the cave.

The sound of the rain and the damp air reminded her of all the times herself and Link had often sought shelter in a sudden downpour during their travels a century ago. One such memorable occasion marked the moment that she realised Link had also not been given much of a choice in his life due to the cards destiny had handed him.

"I wonder, then, would you have chosen a different path?"

At first, she hadn't been sure that Link was actually listening, so intent on practice despite the rain, but she could clearly recall the answer he had given her.

"I am only doing what I know...

Her heart had dropped with his words and disappointment settled in as she fretted that she had made herself too vulnerable. Exposed too much of herself as she admitted that, as a Princess, being confined to a castle was suffocating. It was such a privileged complaint to a boy who had just demonstrated how hard he worked throughout his life that Zelda briefly contemplated just letting herself drown in the rain.

But, it had been the next words out of his mouth that had solidified her resolve to keep this Knight in her life for as long as possible.

"...but that is not all that I am capable of."

They had been quite similar in that respect and after more thought, she realised that in the aspects of life where one of them was lacking, the other did quite well.

Link's family was encouraging and supportive, but he didn't get to see them much due to his duties, nor had he had much in the way of social interaction during his post. The relationship she'd had with her father had become strained at best but she had benefited from the social support of the Sheikah, Urbosa, and Mipha. Not the mention the many attendants she had within the Castle. The lack of progress on her sealing powers had caused unrest within the Kingdom, but Link had managed to acquire the Sword that Seals the Darkness when he was just twelve years old and revealed it at fifteen.

Additionally, her emotional and mental capabilities were more fine tuned than Links, but he had greater physical prowess and more practical world knowledge than she did. It hadn't been long before they had discovered that they balanced each other out quite well, which lead to their current desire to share those proficiencies between them.

Shaking herself out of her reverie, Zelda arched her back to stretch her muscles and then sat up. After a brief survey of the cave, she saw that Link wasn't exercising at all, at least not physically. Instead, he was reading one of the more intact books that they had saved from Hyrule Castle. She had completely forgotten that they even had those, with the amount of items they had stored in the Sheikah Slate it was a wonder they found anything.

"What are you reading?" She asked, voice still obviously groggy from sleep, and the sudden sound made his shoulders jump.

"Nothing," he replied.

A reflex answer if ever she'd heard one.

Crawling forward out of the blankets she approached him where he sat cross-legged in his traditional Hero garb, facing slightly away from her. The book open in his lap was illuminated by the weak daylight coming in through the mouth of the cave. As she came to peer over his shoulder he tilted the pages away from her, which only made her even more curious, and she ducked her head down to read the book cover instead.

Flora and Fauna of Hyrule: Uses and Locations

"Oh, this is actually the book I'm hoping to update with my research. It's very informative. Why are you reading it?"

"Just curious," he said, the answer equally as reserved as the last.

Zelda decided it wasn't worth trying to get a better explanation when it didn't really matter and would only stress him out. He seemed oddly secretive about what he was doing for some reason and was quick to store the book back into the Slate. He would tell her if he wanted to.

"Do you want to brave the weather or shall we stay here for a while longer?"

After watching the rain fall for a few minutes, Link decided that they ought to wait it out. After all, climbing was near impossible if you were wet... and he had some other books he wanted to look at in the meantime.


The marked area for the monument of Urbosa's Trials was awkward to get to, and involved a sheer climb straight up the sun warmed cliffs of Gerudo Canyon. Link was careful to climb up behind Zelda, ready to intervene if it looked like she was having problems finding purchase. They had never attempted a climb quite this high before, nor on a surface that was so flat with very few ledges to rest on. She had equipped herself with the full climbers gear but even still, her clothing could not replenish her stamina, only make it stretch further.

One of Zelda's boots skidded down, dislodging a chunk of sandstone in the process and she hissed when she had to grip with her finger tips extra hard. She was still gritting her teeth when she felt Link climb up beside her on her right, placing a foot under hers to prevent her slipping down any more. The lights of his prosthetic burned brightly out of the corner of her eye, but it was evident that most of his weight seemed to be behind his left arm. Clearly the guardium material was not as conducive to climbing as organic skin, which had more give and elasticity.

Blowing away stray strands of hair that had escaped her climbers bandanna and fallen into her eyes she turned her head to face him.

"I don't think I quite have the hand strength for this," she admitted, sheepish at the realisation that such a conclusion was a bit too late when you were over a hundred feet above the ground.

Link contemplated their situation for a moment, briefly taking his eyes off of her to glance up at how far they still had to go. He could see Zelda's arms begin to tremble with the effort of just keeping her stationary against the cliff, and he knew that if she attempted to try and haul herself up to the top she ran the risk of falling. Then he cast his sights round to the side of them and an idea struck him.

Focusing on Zelda again, Link jerked his head over to a small ledge he had found and encouraged her to start moving sideways after him.

The speed and agility he displayed shuffling across the cliff face made it appear as if Link was simply sticking to the rocky surface, rather than actually gripping it with his hands. Alighting on the narrow outcrop, he spun back around to lean as far as he could in Zelda's direction only to see that she had come to a complete stop with her eyes closed.

She was stuck.

With no more stamina left in her hands to keep a hold on small divots in the rock, she dared not risk any more movement and instead tried to think of other options available to her. There were barely any and the most reasonable one was to try and reach behind for her glider and drift back down safely, but she couldn't guarantee that she had enough drop distance to get her glider out and open in time.

She was not about to be beaten by a cliff, a very high cliff to be sure, but still. A clicking noise to her right brought her attention up to see Link with one arm stretched out to her.

"Change into the Hylian Armour."

A mess of different emotions crossed her face almost simultaneously, before settling on an expression that was an odd combination of incredulity and resignation. For just those moments when you really don't want to do something but you know it has to happen anyway. Zelda was very familiar with this expression.

Deciding it was best not to look down, she brought herself in as close to the cliff as possible and blindly reached for the Slate at her waist. Un-clipping it deftly, she brought the screen up to her face and found the metal plated Hylian armour.

"Link, this will be too heavy!"

"You're going to put that on and then toss me the Slate as fast as you can. Trust me!"

Forcing a whistling breath out through her teeth in panic, she hovered a finger above the Hylian armour set before swiping across all of the pieces and then throwing the Slate off to her right. It was only once the device had left her hand that she considered it probably would have been better had she looked where she was throwing it.

Thankfully, she spotted Link dart a hand out to catch the Sheikah Slate before it went sailing past him and off into the depths of the canyon, with such speed his arm seemed to blur. It was at the same time that she felt the full weight of the armour settle over her body and she shrieked when her hand came away from it's rocky handhold.

Falling backwards, she felt her feet leave contact with the wall and then she was left suspended in mid air, about to enter free fall.

Link won't let you fall.

Just as the thought crossed her mind she felt herself come to a stop, almost as if she had landed on something elastic, slowing her momentum down before carefully lifting her back up. Levitated by the power of the magnesis rune emanating from the Sheikah Slate in Link's hands Zelda couldn't help but start to laugh. Relief flooded her and she stuck her arms out to the sides as if she were flying, almost collapsing against Link when her feet met solid rock once again.

She was still laughing, albeit more shakily, as he quickly checked her over, removing the Hylian armour to replace it with the climbing gear again. It took her a while to realise that he was also shaking and she tugged at his forest green tunic to get him to sit on the small ledge with her. Sitting on the sandy ground together they managed to get their erratic heart beats under control again, relishing in the sensation of the solid perch beneath them.

It was a few minutes later when Zelda suddenly tensed with an epiphany and Link became concerned all over again.

"Link, I have the ability to summon up-drafts strong enough for me to sail on."

She shuffled in his hold just in time to see him drive his face into both of his hands, only to then recoil when his prosthetic palm collided with his forehead a bit too hard.

"How are we such a mess?" Zelda lamented as she pulled Link's fingers out of the way to check for a bruise, "we defeated Ganon for heaven's sakes."


The tri-spired monument finally came into view from where it had sprouted out of the ground of the East Gerudo Mesa, and the Hylian pair practically draped themselves over it in their glee.

Kass, who had been fanning his flight feathers in the post-storm sun, watched them amusedly as they wobbled their way around the dark, angular stone structure before spotting him. Appearing extremely pleased to see him, they immediately jogged over so that they could wrap their arms around him. He hardly minded the greeting, returning it as he enveloped both Hylians with his impressive wingspan, but they were usually quite a reserved pair. Link looked almost giddy.

"It's lovely to see you, I take it you had a good trip?" Kass said, intrigued when the Hylians started to sputter and their grins widened into chuckles.

"Oh, you could say that," Zelda wheezed.

They disentangled themselves from Kass and stood back as he retrieved his accordion. He gave the instrument a couple of warm up squeezes and drummed his pinions against the keys before he shuffled his feathers and stood up straight.

"I have completed my Ballad to the Gerudo Champion Urbosa. Now that you are here, would you care to hear it?"

It was a beautifully scenic place to listen to the Rito Bard's music and in the wide open space the notes carried clearly. The layered landscape of the Gerudo highlands were just visible in the distance, shimmering with the heat rising from the the vast desert below. The faint breeze passing through the mesas brought a scent with them of scorched earth to coincide with tales of Urbosa's fierce drive to protect the people of her region.

The challenges presented to them, reminiscent of her own troubles, were simple enough to understand bar the third.

"The rings once is simple; that has to be done by a sand-seal, I remember Urbosa teaching me how to ride them a couple of times." Zelda's voice got quieter as the weight of past memories started to build, "she had to find a seal young enough that wouldn't pull me off of a shield. The seal mothers were not happy about that."

[Brute of sand is a Molduga] Link took over, not wishing to draw attention to her sudden lapse but he stopped signing when Zelda's attention came back to the present as she squinted at his hands.

"What ... what was that sign? Could you repeat it?"

Again, Link made the sign for Molduga – one hand sweeping through the air from his wrist, fingers together as if slapping the air – but she still looked puzzled so he went on to finger spell it instead.

"Oh, I don't think I've ever heard of one of those before..."

[Urbosa never told you?]

"Not that I recall, and I think I would remember hearing about such a creature that lived in the desert."

"A Molduga is giant beast that swims below the surface of the sand, I believe," Kass explained, saving Link the trouble of having to communicate this with his hands. "They have very poor eyesight, naturally, but they can sense even the tiniest of vibrations within a given range upon the sand. I am certainly glad that I have the ability to fly over the desert."

"Oh, well if it's just a big monster, Link will have no problem," Zelda declared, missing the pointed look Kass gave to Link, whose eyebrows were steadily rising.

On the one hand, Link was pleased that she had such a high opinion of him and his skills, however, he did worry that perhaps he gave off an air of complacency which in turn made her underestimate certain threats. It was why he still refused to take her to see a Lynel, despite her insistence, but Moldogas could be just as tricky albeit for other reasons.

Getting launched into a sandstorm was not fun, especially when there was a multi-tonne monster tracking you underground.

Link zoned back into a conversation between Kass and Zelda as they tried to understand the last challenge. Throw an orb underground? What is it with these Monks with orbs, it's always orbs, what's wrong with cubes... Then he remembered all of the electricity themed Shrines he'd found in this region that had nothing but cubes in various sizes.

[Orbs are common in Shrines, but the only ones I've seen in the desert are for the Seven Heroines]

If he had to find another Orb he might just scream. Inwardly.

"I would suggest speaking with the Gerudo chief if you are having problems, it's who I spoke with in order to finish my eulogy to Urbosa. I must admit, even though I have worked on my tutors notes for years, not everything I have compiled together makes complete sense to me," Kass admitted, shaking his head a little, wearily.

"Oh, we're on good terms with the Chief actually and we probably should pay her a visit anyway. We'll do just that and thank you again so much Kass, you've been so much help on our journey!"

"You are most welcome, it is always a pleasure, may the light illuminate your path."

With that, Zelda made an about face to set off towards the cliff edge that overlooked the desert, but she felt Link's hand clamp down on her wrist briefly. She stopped walking.

[How did you see Riju, Kass?]

Link's question was posed innocently enough and unless you knew him very well you wouldn't have noticed. But Zelda did now him very well and she did notice. His eyes were docile and non-threatening, but his lips were pursed in the same manner as they always were whenever he was trying to hold back a sly smile.

"Oh, I, err … well as you know men cannot enter so I had to … leave my comfort zone a little bit," Kass said and the talons on one of his feet lightly scratched the ground. "They were very gracious about it."

"Aww, Kass, I'm sure you looked very pretty!" Zelda encouraged and Link nodded beside her, before pointing to himself in earnest.

"Ah, of course! You would also need to alter your appearance but I imagine you carry it off far better than I. Amali was kind enough to give me some of her woven decorations before I left but they will always look much better on her than they did on me," the Rito sighed.

"You know, you should tell her that," Zelda advised, taking Kass's wing to lead him over the mesa edge with a kind expression, " as soon as you see her. Now go, spend time with your family, we've got it from here."

The bard chirped a laugh, taking his wing back so he could safely stow his accordion away, before eyeing them both. He looked accomplished.

"Very well, I did promise them after all. Good luck to you both."

He turned and gripped the edge of the mesa with his talons before propelling himself away to ride the warm air currents that would carry him towards the highlands. Hearing a shout and a laugh behind him, he tilted his head back and saw that both Link and Zelda had also launched themselves off from the same spot. They followed after him for a while as they were held aloft by their gliders before their weight, and lack of upward propulsion, started to pull them down away from him.

He trilled a small tune in parting before angling away to fly back home.

Skidding along the sand, leaving troughs in their wake, Link and Zelda slowed to a stop and regained their stamina as they watched the bright blue feathers of the Rito bard become lost against the harsh glare of the sun.

It was boiling down here.

"Yeah, no, I'm calling it," Zelda said, swiping through the Slate in search of chilling elixirs. When she found them she produced two and tried to offer one to Link, but he didn't take it, "Link, I've already given in, come on."

Instead he took the Slate from her and selected a set of armour. If it could even be deemed armour by how few of his vital organs it actually covered, and how much skin it left on show.

His new outfit, which somehow protected him from the heat, consisted of a teal sleeve stretched across one shoulder and then down his left arm. A golden edged spaulder and an arm guard had spiral patterns worked into the metal alongside small gemstones, creating an appealing contrast to the mechanical prosthetic of his other arm. He was pulling his hair into a higher ponytail so it didn't get caught in his choker – she recognised it – and snapping a metal plated hairband in place. The purple harem pants looked light and comfy and ended just before golden shin guards adorned with more carved patterns.

Zelda would be damned if she admitted how good he looked in it though. For someone who was quite shy most of the time it was a rather bold outfit and he looked so confident in it too. He's doing it on purpose, the son of a-

[Shall we go?]

He turned on his heel, about to start striding across the desert, which gave Zelda a fantastic view of his back muscles. Where the hell did he even get armour like that? How does it work?!

Before he had time to get too far away from her, she reached out to place her palm at the small of his back and watched as his shoulders jumped at the sudden skin contact. The tips of his ears started to burn and she was unsure whether it was due to the sun bearing down on them or because of her touch. She liked to think it was her.

Averting her eyes from his face as he looked back to her, eyes a little wide and a blush over the bridge of his nose, she let her hand trail up his back slowly. She became entranced by a thin layer beneath her fingers that seemed to glimmer and react under her touch but it didn't give off any heat at all. Another set of magically enhanced clothing then.

"Ah, that's why you don't need an elixir...any chance you can show me where you got it?" Zelda propped her head over Link's shoulder to whisper her question into his ear.

Link flicked his ear back against her own and whispered back, "you want one? Not going to just take mine?"

"You're still using this one."

He snorted and she peeled herself away from his back as they made their way across the sand, Zelda brushing her hair back under the bandanna as she went. She was thankful that the Climber's shirt was a loose fit with no sleeves, allowing a rare gust of wind to pass through it, but the heat was still heavy.

Arming herself with a frost spear helped somewhat but she doubted that neither the spear nor the elixir were going to stop her from getting sunburnt, with her arms and shins on full display. Speaking of which...

"Link, you're going to need to change. That outfit isn't exactly subtle."

"In a bit," he responded, gesturing towards the glittering oasis at the heart of Kara Kara Bazaar ahead of them. "I want to get some more ingredients for heat resistant elixirs, haven't got enough for our time here. Also I could kill for a Hydromelon right now."

As Link busied himself looking for the specific merchant that sold the ingredients he wanted, Zelda sat around the edge of the oasis, dipping her legs into the tepid waters. She was soon offered a slice of hydromelon as he came to join her, settling onto the floor cross-legged next to her as they both enjoyed a refreshing treat.

They ate in peaceful silence, watching the hustle and bustle of merchants of various races discussing trade with travellers. Zelda didn't fail to notice that most of the travellers were men, and she concealed a smirk behind her slice of fruit. One hundred years gone by and some things stay the same...

She was about to tell Link about this one time where Urbosa had picked up a mouthy Hylian man to throw him into the oasis when she noticed that Link was staring out into the desert. His slice of hydromelon was only half eaten and his jaw was slightly slack as his eyes looked vacantly across the sands.

"Link?"

There was no response as he continued to gaze out into the warping air, the rise of the Gerudo highlands in the distance dancing in the heat but he saw none of it. Lost to a memory he had seen once before but never in such clarity and with his own emotions alongside it. Still even now, they caught him by surprise.

Zelda placed a hand against his armour clad shoulder and Link startled, twisting round to face her. His breathing was faster than it had been previously and he looked a little spooked as he took her in.

"You scared me half to death," he breathed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, you just looked miles away."

"No … That day I lost you in the desert. I couldn't find you and then when I did …" He swallowed, "I didn't think I could reach you in time."

Zelda felt something heavy settle in her stomach; that day she had almost been killed by the Yiga. The day she realised how unfair she had been to him. It had been a turning point in their relationship but she hadn't considered until now how he must have felt during it all. He had always looked so calm. Watching him now, she realised that he must have been at his wits ends looking for her, filled with panic at the thought that he might never find her. Then, when he did, she had been in imminent danger.

There was a shift in Link's body language as a small frown appeared on his face which then morphed into an open look of disbelief.

"There hadn't been enough time," he whispered but she heard him clearly given their proximity. "The distance between us was too great and with the sand … yet I crossed it before the Yiga could get to you."

Instantly, Zelda knew what he was getting at and while a part of her was happy that he now had proof of previously being able to bend time while not in active combat, another part of her was resentful. The part of her that used to begrudge the ease with which he wielded his destiny, but it was much smaller now, the voice in her head quiet enough for her to smother with little effort. She silenced it.

"Well, at least one of us had magic," she said, brightly, aiming to distract him from his panicked recollection and was pleased when she managed to make Link huff a small laugh. "Come on, we actually have things to do today, as nice as this is."

After Link had consumed a freshly concocted elixir, and changed into his sun dress and scarf, entering Gerudo Town was simple. They nodded at the two guards stationed at the front archway as they passed, receiving similar silent greetings in response before they looked back out over the desert.

Inside the town walls was the usual cluster of activity, vendors already well into their work day, children playing in the square on break from their classes, and explorers wandering through the mosaic decorated walkways. Up above the town was the sandstone spire with a continuous flow of fresh water cascading down from the top before it filtered off into aqueducts.

Urbosa, this place is thriving, you saved them all, if only you could see this ... I wonder, can you?

"Guys!" A sudden cry sounded from across the town square and children paused their games to watch as Chief Riju came rushing down the steps from the Palace, wide-eyed and ecstatic. "Guys, come you have to see this!"

Upon reaching them, she grabbed onto Zelda's arm and hauled her off in the direction of the sand seal renting pen with absolutely no explanation, followed by a rushed Buliara. It took Link a moment to follow, slightly stunned as his partner was whisked away, but then he was hot on their trail. He caught up to them as they approached the open air pen containing the large reddish forms of adult sand seals and, curiously, some smaller, paler versions resting next to them. The young sand seals had small tufts of fur standing proud on their tiny heads and their little flippers occasionally patted the sand around them.

"Look! Sand seal pups! You came at just the right time of year," Riju exclaimed, open arms gesturing at the new pups snoozing besides their parents.

They were very cute, with some of them waking amid the honking and snorting of the adults at their arrival, but Zelda knew that if she didn't say something soon, Link would start to get ideas. Sure enough, glancing off to one side she spotted him watching the baby sand seals with a look of awe, eyes practically shining as the small blobs of blubber rolled about in the sand.

He caught her gaze.

"No, Link, we already have one daughter we're not getting any more," Zelda warned, reminding him of their puppy currently being watched over by Paya. She felt a small hint of guilt for causing him to become visibly disappointed, but she had to remain practical.

Unfortunately, Riju had been within hearing distance and whipped her head round to stare at them, sending her long red plait swinging in a wide arc.

"Wait, you have a child? Goodness, that was fast. When do I get to see her?"

"What are you? Oh- NO!" Zelda shouted, a maelstrom of emotions fighting for dominance as she cottoned on to what Riju must be thinking. "No, a dog, we have a dog. A puppy. He – Link - just likes to call it our daughter. I- we don't- Riju we haven't even been together long enough for that, good heavens!"

"A puppy is close enough!" Riju declared, just as loud as Zelda's panicked rambling.

"It's really not..." came Buliara's tired voice and Link was inclined to agree.

As he watched the Hylian Scholar and the Gerudo Chief talk about Toast on their way back across the town, he himself started to think about the practical ramifications of actually having a child. He almost wanted to punch himself because he would very much like to have his own little family, but as far as he knew, Zelda had absolutely no desire to have children. Nor did she seem particularly comfortable around them.

With Ganon having used up all of his remaining reincarnations in the last ditch effort to lay waste to Hyrule, the line of the Goddess, strictly speaking, was no longer a requirement to keep the Kingdom safe. So, there was no pressure there, for which he was thankful. Theoretically, it also meant that the role of the Hero was now over too.

The discussion between Riju and Zelda was starting to come to a close as they stepped into the shaded alley on the north side of the town. They agreed on when to bring the small Hylian Retriever to visit and Link made a resolute decision.

Once these Trials were over, and they had awakened the last Divine Beast, he would start settling down into their house in Hateno. He'd be able to satiate his need to explore as he supported Zelda in her research and he could keep active by looking after the house and maintaining the garden. Of course, sometimes his skills would be needed to clear out monsters camps that got too near, but in the main he would be at home.

The mere idea was making him feel so calm and peaceful that he almost forgot why they specifically needed to speak with Riju. Besides just generally being sociable.

"I can't wait to see her, she sounds adorable and cheeky too! I like the sound of her already, but I got carried away. I assume you two are here for a reason?" Riju pried, her eyes darting between the two Hylians.

"We are indeed," Zelda confirmed and she then proceeded to give a brief explanation of their quest before leading into her question. "We received our three clues for Urbosa's Trials and two of them we reckon are rather straightforward-"

Link suppressed a bark of laughter; a molduga was anything but straight forward.

"- but the third one is giving us some trouble; an Orb that needs to be thrown underground. Link doesn't recall ever encountering any sort of orbs in the desert, besides the ones at the feet of the Seven Heroines, but they've already served their purpose."

If either of the two Hylians expected Riju to have to give this one some time to think about they were surprised when she shared a loaded look with her bodyguard. After apparently conversing telepathically, the Gerudo Chief redirected her attention back onto the Hylians but it was Buliara who spoke.

"We have been guarding an ancient artefact for generations, from before even Chief Urbosa's time. But the Yiga were able to get their hands on it in a moment of complacency while a majority of our forces were off dealing with a surge of lizalfo to the west. It seemed odd at the time that they would be so daring even after the threat of the Calamity was over, but we did not expect the Yiga Clan to be involved. If it's an Orb you are after, I would stake my life on it being in the Yiga's possession right now."

Link made a series of hand gestures, half of which were very rude, and threw his hands up in irritation. Of course, it would be the Yiga. Farore, damn it.

"Indeed," Buliara said.

"Ok, well, that explains the Orb we're after, but how do we get it underground? By throwing it, no less?" Zelda wondered and Riju shrugged at her helplessly, but she noticed in the corner of her eye that Buliara had leaned down towards Link as he repeated the rude hand signs for her to see.

"Buliara, have you any idea where they might throw a large, ancient ball underground?" Riju asked, watching her bodyguard with interest as she suddenly stood to attention and shooed Link away from her.

"I'm afraid I do not, but there are many sinkholes around our desert, it could be any one of them the riddle pertains to," the guard said, resting her claymore against the ground with a 'clink'.

Meanwhile, Link had had an epiphany. [I know where to go]

"You do?"

He nodded. It was suspiciously fortuitous that there was a bottomless hole directly behind the base belonging to the people that had stolen the Orb. It seemed that fate was still very much active in their lives, which was all the more reason to get these Trials finished so that Zelda and himself could be left alone.

"Well, first things first, you'll need to get the Orb back and I would suggest trying to get it with as little attention to yourself as possible," Buliara advised. "The longer they take to realise it's gone once you've already disposed of it, the better. To think we've been guarding that artefact for so long without even realising what it was for."

[Fast and quiet. I can do that] He had absolutely no intention of being stealthy.

"Hang on!" Zelda interrupted, "I have your stealth armour now, what are you going to wear?"

[Desert armour will be fine]

"Oh that," Riju snorted, "enjoy those tan lines."

"Can he even get tan lines while wearing that, though?" Zelda asked, suddenly curious despite the situation, and Link could tell there would be another experiment in his near future.

"Great Din, I hope so, it would look so funny," Riju quipped before speaking to Zelda directly. "Well, while Link is busy turfing out the Yiga again, you can stay with me in the Palace. I enjoyed our talks last time you were here," Riju recalled, tossing Link a wave over her shoulder as she held Zelda's hand to lead her away.

"Oh, no," Zelda said, gently tugging her hand back from Riju, "I'll be going with Link."

Link, who had been sifting through the Sheikah Slate for a Blizzard Rod, suddenly straightened up, ears pricked, and looked at the back of her head like a startled deer.

"I wasn't planning on taking you with me," he said, quietly behind his scarf.

Riju was honestly surprised that he didn't immediately turn to ice with how frosty Zelda's stare was as she turned to face him. He did wince slightly though once the full force of her icy countenance was facing him.

"I ... what?"

Link took a deep breath and started to try explaining himself in a hushed voice.

"Look, I know, I know, you're not helpless, you're not, and that you can handle yourself but..." He tried to place his hands on her shoulders to bridge the gap between them, but given how tense her stance was he realised that probably wasn't a wise move right now. "I ... I just ... This place, I can't stop remembering that fear and... I wasn't expecting the damn Yiga. Again."

He flapped his hands about uselessly trying to think of words to get his feelings across and ultimately gave up. The sudden surge of emotions and the jumble of different thought processes that bottlenecked in his throat made explaining himself difficult and he had to resort to using his hands.

[I won't be able to focus. The Yiga are incredibly dangerous and I would worry … I'd rather not go in there either, I wasn't prepared for this. Please, just for this, I need you to stay here]

He watched her, beseechingly, as Zelda inhaled and then let out all the air in her lungs in a rush, looking thoroughly unimpressed but resigned all the same.

"Alright."

Link couldn't believe his luck, perking up immediately. All visions of him fretting the entire time through the thieves hideout as she fought her way to follow him disappeared in an instant. The relief was unbelievable.

"But!" Zelda pointed a stern finger in his face, "if you try and pull this shit with me again, Link, I am going to be very disappointed with you."

Link nodded vigorously and signed [I agree. 100 percent] before tentatively reaching for her raised hand and she allowed him to cradle hers between both of his own. "Just this once, I promise."

"Right, I'm giving you a pass this one time because of memory backlash. That's it."

Link gave her captured fingers a kiss, "thank you."

She hummed before spinning him around by his shoulders and then shoving him towards a side entrance of the town.

"Now, don't you have a ball to fetch? Off you go."

After he was forcefully escorted out into the desert, and direct sunlight, he felt her hands leave him and he turned to look over his shoulder, even as he felt his skin start to burn. He quickly swapped his clothes for his Desert Voe armour but he wanted to gauge whether he was about to leave on truly bad terms or not. The slight up-curve of her mouth gave him hope.

"Do I get a treat if I come back with it?" He asked hopefully.

"How about, if you come back intact I will speak to you," Zelda compromised.

"Am I not supposed to think that that's a treat?"

She rolled her eyes and snorted, but a small smile broke out on her face regardless as she gave him one final push between his shoulder blades and then started walking back into Gerudo Town.

Feeling more assured that he hadn't managed to completely fuck everything up, he spun on his heels and set off across the dunes. Mind focused on his goal.

After walking for about ten minutes, feet slowly sinking into the dunes with each step, his was significantly less focused and he came to a stop. He stood still for a couple of minutes before he groaned audibly up at the sky and then swivelled around to retrace his steps back into the town.

Zelda had remained in the shaded outer walkway and didn't seem to notice as Link sneaked back in through the side entrance, still wearing his Desert armour. At first he thought she was talking to Riju, who had remained next to her, but as he came closer he saw that her lips were not moving and she was just staring at a patch of wall opposite her. Once he was spotted, Riju raised a single eyebrow and fixed him with a look that said 'look what you did'.

He did not respond, however, and instead reached for Zelda's hand, making her jump a little.

"Oh, you're back, how did it go?"

He sighed and shook his head, ruffling his hair at the nape of his neck with one hand, "how could I leave without my best marksman? If you still want to come with me, that is."

She squinted at him, lips quirked to one side, "and what if I don't want to go any more?"

"If that's what you want, I'll go alone."

"Well, it's a good thing that I do still want to join you," she said, promptly, "because you're not the only one who wants to protect the people they care about, you know."

He had the decency to look ashamed of himself, but he couldn't help the nagging fear that this was an unnecessary risk by putting her in direct harm's way. Still, that wasn't his decision to make for her, not any more.

[Sorry, old habits. The Yiga are still deadly, so we must be careful. Strange behaviour and all] he added after recalling the rather startling amount of bananas he found in their hideout. [You did destroy their Master and hold the potential for Hyrule's future]

"Oh for the love of-" Zelda's eyes nearly rolled straight out of the back of her head, "who do you think I intend to have that future with?"

She waited for any sort of response but Link just blinked dazedly, stuck staring out into the distance. He had been referring to her plans to renovate the Castle into a place of research for the whole Kingdom, but he got the impression that wasn't how she had taken it.

After he remained completely stationary for about a minute, unable to articulate any sort of reply, Zelda turned to look at Riju off to one side who appeared extremely entertained by the proceedings.

"I think you broke him," the young Chief announced, leaning into Link's field of vision to see his eyes lock onto her without doing much else. "Honestly, though I'm not sure why he's so surprised. It seemed obvious to me, but maybe you should actually bring it up to him directly. You know how voes are."

She winked at them both before waltzing off back towards the Palace, Buliara joining her from where she had been hidden in a shadowy alcove. Left completely alone, with only her stunned partner for company, Zelda grabbed onto his hand and hauled him out of town. Hoping that none of the guards spotted him in his very revealing attire.


They made quick work of entering the hideout. Zelda's footfalls were soft from the enchantment on her stealth armour and Link's agility made him almost fly across the sandy slope leading up to the hidden base. He knew that at the back of the hideout, there was a deep hole that Link had witnessed Koga, the Yiga Boss, fall into over a year ago. If their mission went successfully, an ancient orb that had been protected by the Gerudo for generations would soon follow.

After striking down the guards by the holding cells in complete silence – stealth was perhaps a good idea after all - Link skipped across the gritty floor to peer around the next doorway and he waved Zelda over. They tiptoed across the hallway that ran past the main room and crouched down in an open doorway to count the number of Blademasters in front of them.

A disturbance in the air behind them alerted them to a Yiga scout that appeared in a flurry of paper talismans. The scout barely had time to raise a hand to whistle an alarm before Zelda reflexively jabbed her frost spear into the assassins gut, freezing them to the spot.

She was getting rather good at that.

Link raised his eyebrows, switching his gaze from the Yiga icicle to his partner who was giving him a 'told you so' look. He inclined his head, Fair enough.

He angled an ear towards the sounds of approaching heavy set footsteps and gripped his Frostblade tightly.

After that, absolutely no attempt at stealth was made, and Link dashed in to sneak strike a passing Blademaster between the shoulder blades. The sudden movement attracted the attention of the remaining guards, and a strong whistle called in the more nimble Yiga archers and scouts. Thank fully, ample use of a Frostblade to freeze the Yiga members in their tracks made whittling down their forces comparatively easier than the last time Link had passed through. As he sent another Yiga Scout flying, he went to check that Zelda was still right behind him when he spotted her climbing up into the supports above.

"You do your thing, and I'll be up here keeping them from swarming you," she said, gesturing to the folded Ancient bow on her back.

Oh, I love her, Link thought, watching as she ascended into the scaffolding above to perch with her bow out and drawn ready. I love her so much, I really could imagine living the rest of my life with her...

With a jolt he realised that such a thing was not entirely out of the realm of possibility, although perhaps he could have recognised that fact when he wasn't in such a hostile environment. I need to send a letter as soon as I'm out of here.

Unfortunately, the split second lapse in concentration allowed a Yiga Scout to get within range of Link and catch him by surprise.

A flash of metal and a grating sound of two hard materials colliding against each other drew Zelda's attention from where she sat crouched at her vantage point. To her horror, she saw that Link had been pinned to a pile of wooden crates with a sickle jammed through the elbow joint of his prosthetic. The Yiga scout was now forcing Link away so that he couldn't reach the weapon to free himself, driving his guardium arm into an unnatural angle. Even from this distance, she could hear the groaning and shrieking of the internal metal components grinding past each other.

There were no drops of glowing blue and no signs of a ruptured vessel, but if she didn't act soon, the Yiga could mangle the arm completely.

Within one breath Zelda had raised her loaded bow and aimed her shot, and with another she let it fly, catching the Yiga scout in the shoulder. The ice magic of the projectile activated on contact, spreading over the Yiga's form and encased them in an icy prison.

She caught two more scouts in the back as they approached Link while he made to free himself. He wrenched the sickle out of his arm cleanly and was relieved to see that none of the inner tubing had been punctured, the weapon having glanced off the hinge joint instead. However, his arm movements now felt clunkier than they had before. He had definitely taken damage, but at least he still had some mobility.

Link was able to demonstrate this fact immediately as he caught the blade of a Windcleaver with his artificial hand, gripping it hard to stop its descent. Keeping his hand on the blade he twisted around, forcing the wrist to complete a half rotation as he slashed his own weapon across the Blademaster's chest. The ice statue he created was promptly shattered open by a regular arrow fired off from the ceiling and the Yiga guard dropped to the ground to join the rest of their clan spread across the floor.

The hideout was silent as they caught their breath.

About to hurry down a nearby step ladder, Zelda was halted as Link called up to her, voice a little shaky.

"The orb will be up there, at the end of the walk way," he pointed with his good arm to a room on her level. "Get it before coming down. The place we need to put it in is at the back of this hideout."

Sure enough, in a cordoned off room containing several bunches of bananas on a raised table there was the Orb. Or, at least, Zelda assumed it was the orb they were looking for given the Ancient Sheikah writing encircling it with a deep orange glow. It was a very large orb.

She thanked her past self for training with Link over the last few months as she heaved the ball over her head. Surprisingly, it didn't weight nearly as much as she expected it to by looking at it. She nearly toppled over backwards with how much extra force she had put into her lift.

Returning into Link's field of vision she held the ball aloft and he gave a thumbs up, gesturing to the space below for her to drop it. He placed one foot against it so that it didn't roll away while she climbed back down and thought to himself, I'm glad I took her with me... Link of one hundred years ago would have had a meltdown though.

Rolling the ball towards Zelda for her to hold again – and stringently scrutinise – they made their way towards the back and out through the hoard room.

As they stepped out into the light of the waning sun, they spotted two Hylians skulking by the exit. Link recognised them as the treasure hunting twins, Mina and Mils, and they both took one look at Zelda with the ball in her hands before groaning in unison.

"Damn it, someone got here first," the woman said, tossing her head back, while the man next to her continued to eye the glowing orb, disappointed.

"You knew about this?" Zelda asked, gesturing with the giant orb in her arms.

"We heard rumours, an artefact that old guarded by the Gerudo? Must fetch a pretty high price," Mina explained, looking sour.

"But we were too slow, should have known with him around," Mils bemoaned, jerking a thumb at Link who waggled his fingers at them cheekily.

"Wait," Zelda halted, "you mean you just wanted to sell it? Not give it back to the Gerudo?"

"Why would we? Finders keepers," Mils said, only to be followed up by his sister who asked, "Why do you have it then."

"We have been given express permission by the Chief of the Gerudo to carry out this Orb's purpose," Zelda said, imperiously, having already decided that she did not like these two.

She marched right past them towards the gaping pit and Link followed after her, saluting to the other two Hylians as he went. He joined her by the edge of the sinkhole as they looked down into the depths, illuminated only by the lantern garlands around the sides.

"Do you want to do the honours?" Link asked, nodding his head towards the void below. Before Zelda could remind him of her deal, yet again, he said, "who's watching? Pretty sure you've helped plenty already and he hasn't done anything about it. Besides, I can't throw it anyway and you saved my hide back there."

Fighting off the urge to grin like a loon as the feeling of accomplishment bubbled up in her chest, Zelda hefted up the orb and lobbed it into the hole.

The quiet sounds of despair from behind them as they watched it fall were very satisfying.


Gone are the days were I could only update with chapters well under 5k but with this we go sailing over 100k words for the whole fic, good grief. Decided to write some more zelink domestic stuff to spare you from the angst that was the last chapter, wonder what Link is up to...

Nightwing2013 just gonna say, your comment on Chp. 11 gave me a good chuckle. Also thank you Fantasysword92375 and NC2001 for your continuous reviews, it's nice to see people following along with the story.