And This I Swear
Chapter Two: In This Ancient World
Lor:D Yay Link x Zelda!
Link: you know, I really --
Lor: shut up.
Link: yes ma'am.
Zelda: I don't think I can get away with this...
Lor: stop questioning my godliness. Do the disclaimer! (twitch)
Navi: Lor doesn't own Legend of Zelda. She does own the world.
Lor: damn right I do.
Link: glad I'm not part of that world.
Lor: I have fangirls. And I WILL use them.
Link: let's...just move on to chapter two then... (sweatdrop)
(A/N: the italicized stuff near the bottom is a flashback, which will be posted as a one-shot later on.)
It was close to midnight when Link was guided out the castle (by his ear, no less) by Impa. As she always did, she treated him like a child and not the adult he was. As he walked past the magnificent castle, he waved up to Zelda's window. He knew she couldn't see him, but the feeling was still there. He found Navi waiting for him at the inn, floating close to the bright lamp kept all night long.
"You take too long," she pouted, before finding her place beneath his hat. "I was so boooooooooored..."
"I'm sure you'll be fine," he replied with a small smile. "Let's go get some sleep." He paid for his room at the front desk, before heading upstairs. His sword and shield were the first thing to hit the floor; he set them down beside the bed. Boots came second, and those he lazily set aside on the rug. He tossed his hat down, then his belt. He peeled away his tunic, and standing only in his breeches Link lay back on the bed. With one arm behind his head, he closed his eyes as Navi settled next to him on the pillow.
After a moment of silence, she couldn't take it anymore. "So what did she say?" Navi pressed. As Link's best friend, she often demanded (and required) the details of his visits.
His soft, happy smile didn't fade. "The same as last time. Maybe I should give up." Link wasn't wearing the expression of someone ready to let go.
Navi, always having to be right, hmphed. "Why don't you just ask her?"
Opening his cobalt eyes, he stared up at the ceiling. "First I need to chase off whoever wants to marry her. I don't see why she has to marry some dumb prince." With his free hand he slashed at the air. "Maybe, if I wasn't an..."
"Don't even say that!" Navi's glow had turned crimson. "You're wrong and you know it!"
Defeated, Link sighed. "Okay. I'm sorry...good night..."
- - -
The next morning was rather cloudy, snowing off and on. Link slept late, and didn't stay long. As soon as he finished eating, he left. He made a stop by a couple of stores, to purchase more bombs and arrows. Strange creatures occupied Hyrule Field in the winter and he wanted to be prepared. Any number of accidents could happen to travelers, and Link, often the only person who would travel around the entire area in a couple of days, was the one to find such travelers. On his way out, he stopped in front of the Happy Mask Shop. He hadn't been inside there in years...what harm could a small visit now be?
Before the door had closed behind him Link remembered why he hadn't visited the shop in years. The salesman hadn't aged a bit, had that same, crazy, all-knowing smile on his face, and probably another mask trading mission for Link. I should have stayed outside, I do this every time...
With a sigh he stepped toward the counter. There was no backing out now.
The salesman greeted him cheerfully. "Ah, long time no see," he said, grinning like a fool. "Here for the Winter Festival?" He chuckled as Link stared at him confused, then remembered. "You haven't forgotten have you? Are you bringing the princess this year?"
His blue eyes narrowed. "How did you..." Link cut himself off abruptly, shaking his head. "Nevermind. I don't need to know."
Laughing some more, the salesman raised a finger to tell Link to wait as he moved to the back of his shop. Navi took the opportunity to reveal herself.
"Link! We're going to be stuck in this shop for hours with another story! Hurry up and leave as soon as he says what he wants!" she cried. Link's last visit had cost two very valuable hours he was supposed to be using to travel toward Lake Hylia, where he was going to meet several Zora.
She hid quickly behind him as the man returned, a long, rectangular box in his hand. "I found these some time ago, and was waiting for you to come in again," he began, as he lifted the lid. "I thought that it suited you and the young lady."
Laying before him were two masks. They reminded him of Anju and Kafei's wedding masks back in Termina. Both were designed to cover the top half of the face. Link looked at the one on the left. Clearly a men's mask, with was covered with fine black cloth, with gold embroidery. In the center, just above the bridge of the nose, was a clear diamond cut gem of red glass.
On the right was a lady's mask, black also, but with silver embroidery. Styled much the same, however it was more slender and the gem in the center was blue.
"How much did you want for them?" he asked quietly. "And what kind of masks are they?"
The salesman smiled, as if he had been waiting for that question. "Just a couple's set of masks, though not the kind you would wear to a Termina wedding." He paused for a moment. "And they're a gift, if you promise to give it to the right girl."
Staring up flatly, Link pointed to the masks. "...they're cursed, aren't they?"
"What kind of man do you take me for?" That smile didn't fade one bit. Link hated that. "I've gotten out of that sort of trade. What with what happened last time."
Link knew that well.
"But..."
There was always a catch.
"If you give it to the wrong lady..."
Here it came, the part about the curse...
"They say that you will never find true love." He clasped his hands. "Of course, that's all if you believe or not. You are coming to the Festival this year, aren't you?"
There was no escape. "Yeah, I guess I'll stay in town a couple more days."
"Wonderful!" He placed the lid on the box and handed it gently to Link. "I trust your judgement. I hope to see you tonight." He chuckled as Link left the store.
"Bad things are going to happen, aren't they?" he sighed to his fairy companion as he walked beneath a ladder. "That's what always happens. 'I'll return your body to normal, but you have to get me my god-moding mask from a power-hungry imp!'" he mocked, rolling his eyes. Navi hadn't been there, of course, but it was certainly an experience he wouldn't like to repeat.
"Link, wait!" Of all the years of him listening to her commands and directions, she did a terrible job of returning the gesture. She hovered in front of a clothing shop. "Should we get Zelda plain clothes? We can send it to Impa."
"Because I know her measurements," Link added sarcastically, although the fairy had a point.
"Well you should, your hands are on her enough!" retorted Navi hotly. He looked like he was about to defend himself, before dropping his shoulders.
"Yeah...well..." He scuffed snow with his boots. She had him on that one. Making him sound like a pervert...
"If she's dressed as a peasant, the measurements won't be perfect anyway." Quite the mother hen, Navi ushered him inside, to look at some of the dresses on display. The light blue one that she chose wasn't quite the working class standard Link was looking for, but it was quite the step down from the expensive silks she wore on a daily basis.
"This way it's her favourite colour, and matches the mask," Navi pointed out, before moving toward the few men's tunics. "Link, buy the grey one here. Wait." Grey didn't match gold, what was she thinking? "The black one?"
Skeptically, Link put his free hand on his waist. "The only Link that wears black, won't be me."
"Fine. Dark blue."
As if Link didn't find the price expensive enough as was. Along with the hundred rupees for the clothing, he ended up paying an extra twenty five to have her's wrapped with the mask. "Would you like a tag?" the taylor inquired.
Link nodded. "But I'll write the note."
As he left the store, he shot Navi a look. "I have two other tunics buried in my house in the woods. Did I really need another one?"
"You're the city do-gooder. You gotta look a little different too."
He was running out of witty comments. "Whatever you want." He found the post-man some time later, defining just how important it was that this reach the bodyguard, Impa. As the duty-bound man ran off to finish his work, Link turned back toward the inn. Now he'd wait.
When the package arrived for Impa, she regarded it suspiciously. Zelda put down the rapier she had been training with, and walked over to see what it was.
"It's for you," she said cooly, passing the box over as she read the writing. "That boy certainly isn't very sneaky."
"Link, you mean?" Tossing her hair back over her shoulder, she lifted the box cover. She curiously looked over the map, and then pulled out the clothing beneath. A small piece of paper fell out.
If you're not too busy, maybe you'd like to see the Festival with me tonight? I'll be by the second window to the left, after eight.
-Link
Her face lit up considerably, and she folded the dress, and placed everything neatly back in the box. He remembered, he hadn't taken her to the festival since a moblin snuck into the city several years before. She looked up to Impa imploringly. "May I go? Please? I won't get into unecessary trouble this time, I promise!"
The body-guard's face didn't change. "Your father is very ill right now. Should you be leaving the castle, if his fever raises up again?"
Zelda fell silent. Impa had a point, she should be thinking of her father, not herself. "I know. It was foolish of me to act like a little girl."
The heartbreak in her voice could wear down anyone, and this included Impa. "I feel more like a nursemaid than a guard when you get like this..." A soft smile graced her sharp, hard features. "I will keep my ears open about changes. If his health declines in the slightest, you are to return home the moment I come to find you."
She was almost surprised by how quickly Zelda's mood brightened. "Really? Do you mean that?" Impa nodded. She lifted up her sword and blew dust from the blade.
"However, it isn't eight. Let us continue."
It was quite easy to see a notable change in the princess' demeanor as she finished off the afternoon. She spent much of it in the library, humming to herself and pretending to read her texts. She thought back ten years, the winter before her tenth birthday. The daughter of a maid, whom she'd befriended, spoke to her of the many things she intended to do for the next few nights after the beginning of the Winter Festival.
Despite being the very loved, and very esteemed, Princess of Hyrule, she never had heard of the Festival. What kind of princess didn't know the festivals of her country?
She boldly went to her father that night, demanding to be allowed to see this so-called festival. It had been the wrong approach, as he quickly grew angry. According to Impa, his temper had always been a great deal shorter since the death of her mother.
He was the King, though, and he had no end to his arguments. He was simply too busy to take her. She was a target for thieves, he couldn't put her in danger. It was too late to arrange anything for their arrival. It was too cold. Frolicking around with the people was unbecoming of a young princess. He was her father and she would do as she was told.
As Impa escorted her away to her room, it appeared that Link (who had come for a visit and snowball fight) had heard the whole argument. He cleverly came back after sunset, to find her crying by herself in her room.
He kidnapped me, she thought with a smile. And took me to the festival.
It had been one of the best times of her life. Of course, Impa caught them (when did Impa ever not know Zelda's whereabouts?), and took her back home. She didn't quite remember the chastising she had received, however it was the morning after she realized just what she and the young hero really did have in common.
"Because I know how it feels when you can't do things because you're a little different," he protested stubbornly. "It's not fair."
She was the happiest she'd ever been when Impa's stone-faced expression wore away. "Alright young man. Your apology is accepted."
The guardian had kept the secret ever since, probably one of few personal secrets she allowed the girl to keep. That's why this festival is so important to us... Zelda closed her eyes and sighed. It's my only freedom...to live like other girls...
She set down the book on a nearby table as she was called down for dinner --another lonesome dinner with her guardian. As she closed the door of the library behind her, she looked down at the Goddesses' mark on her left hand.
The only time I feel happy with my destiny.
/End
Well, the fanfic is pretty new so I was surprised to have two reviews! So here's a little shout-out!
X Piastol X: haha no, probably not. Maybe. I don't know. Haven't thought that far yet XD. Glad you like, here's the update!
Cho 17: Yeah, the rest of the chapters will be longer. I like to keep my first chapters pretty introductory, but I'm glad you like. I don't have MS Word, but this time I'll proof before I post (heart)