Chapter 19- The bullet is out

The sun was setting, the castle's garden looked pristine white due to the snow that had fallen the night before, there seemed to be no Gerudo around, but they could be heard inside the castle, the bitches were laughing and mocking the bodies of the fallen nobles. Link and Zelda walked slowly along the edges of the garden to avoid being spotted. As soon as the crossed the garden, they followed an arrow sign that pointed the way to the moat. Upon approaching the shore Link notices something and stops, raises his hand and signals for Zelda to stay where she is and be quiet.

ZELDA POV

Ok I will stay but why? is somebody by the shore? Is that why he is walking crouched? I don't see anyone. Damn these breeches keep falling, this belt is not helping at all.

Link walks crouching slowly, then he falls suddenly falls on one knee, stands up quickly and continues to move forward.

What the… he fell? Isn't he supposed to be trained for this or something?

Link notices a scimitar laying on the snow, he deviates to grab it, then continues moving towards a lone oak tree near the shore. There is a Gerudo expertly camouflaged next to the tree, too bad she was sleeping. He continues to sneak on her and once he is close enough, he quickly yanks the Gerudo by her pointy tail, she begins to scream but Link quicky slashes her now exposed neck.

FUCK, how did he notice her there? And I thought it was impossible for them to sneak attack us, the red hair works against them making them easy to spot, I guess I was wrong. Now seeing the blood drain from her I can't help but wonder if what just happened was right, I mean, she didn't attack us, so did he really needed to kill her?... OF COURSE HE DID, she was surely coming after us if given the chance, I realize now how exposed I am, I hope she was the only one on the area.

Link signals for Zelda to approach him, she runs to him hoping to get there quickly, or at least before another Gerudo decides to come out of hiding and attack.

"Are you ok?" Zelda asks with concern

Link just gives her a side glance

"You fell, I would like to think you are just clumsy… but I know you are not" she immediately explains, more to herself than to him.

"I took gun shoot, that loud weapon that made a whole in your door remember? It hit me and left a bullet… a small metal piece that hinders my gait"

"Oh… yeah"

[the rest of the improvised rope fell down next to her, the end Link should be holding was stained with blood]

"I had forgotten about that, seeing you alive and walking I thought they hadn't... can I see it? the wound I mean"

Link looks at her with half a smile "does morbidity bring pleasure to you?" Link ask half smiling

"NO, well… I am curious, not going to lie; but if you let me check it, I could help you clean it, maybe even see if something can be done for the pain it causes." She says looking up at him with pleading eyes

"Why the fuck not" Link exclaims, drooping the scimitar and taking off his Jacket "dressing wounds is a skill that wouldn't hurt you to have" he now takes off the bandages exposing the wound

HOLY FUCK, I thought the tailor did a good job with his jacket, but it was not the jacket, he has a nice build that makes the jacket look good, is he really 13 years old? the suit in general is just a pretty wrapper for the candy… FOCUS ZELDA, get a hold of yourself here girl. I can see the metal piece he was talking about; it is not incrusted that deep.

"The wound looks very inflamed, and it's very close to the spinal cord, maybe that is why it messes your gait, but is not actively bleeding and it doesn't smell putrid, that is good right? I can see the metal piece by the way"

"Think you can reach it?" Link asks with hope

"Maybe… WHY?" Zelda asks with wide fearful eyes

"Take it out… please"

WOW! NO! I CAN'T DO THAT!

"It is close enough for me to look at it, but I am no nurse or medic, and ANY health professional would still need equipment to extract it without damaging the skin around, if I do it with just my fingers it will rip skin around and HURT A LOT"

Link looks around and grabs a tick fallen branch and bites on it

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS GUY? it's like he really does not care about the pain this will cause. Oh well… if he doesn't care why should I? let's do this.

Zelda grabs some snow and rubs her hands a little on it, tying to clean them before touching Link's wound. Then she puts her left hand on his upper back for support, inserting her right-hand fingers on his wound. She fears to end up pushing the object even more, so she attempts to hook the bullet with her nails and draw it out. CRACK!

Did he just bite through the branch? And I thought I was doing it so well, painless even since he never complained or scream, I kind of feel bad now, but I finally got it, this will be over soon.

Zelda pulls the bullet out, and starts inspecting it with curiosity, Link sighs and starts placing the bandages back, Zelda notices and stops him grabbing his arm, she rips a small portion of the bandage and uses it to clean the wound.

"Sorry but you are bleeding again, not much but I should clean it or it will attract wild animals, or so I have read, apparently blood smells, does it?"

"It does, thanks for getting the bullet out, and for this"

Zelda looks down at her hands, and then at the blood stains on the snow "don't thank me for that, I increased the size of the wound and it caused you pain"

Link closes his eyes, breaths in deeply, approaches Zelda and lifts her head with his fingers "I will only say this once, you need to start LOOKING AT THE WHOLE PICTURE, not just the negative part of the situation, I am going to be VERY SORE, but there is nothing impeding movement now, that alone increases our chances of survival, and all it took was a few painful minutes" He grabs for the jacket and puts it on, then picks up the scimitar and starts walking.

"I… guess I am a pessimist, but I am glad I could be of help… I have been meaning to ask, why are you not wearing an undertunic?" Zelda asks suddenly puzzled by Link not wearing protection against the cold

"Your dress was not the only thing that burned… I needed to get rid of it, it was bloodied and you said so yourself, it attracts wild life, can you row?" Link asks lifting an eyebrow and pointing at the small boat at the moat's shore.

We are using THAT to cross the moat? SWEET, I have never rowed a boat, but it can't be THAT hard, I want to do it, this is so exiting.

Zelda just smiles and dashes to inspect the boat

LINK POV

She seems… happy? Maybe even excited about the idea. Wow, seeing her running to the boat like that ripped a genuine smile out of me. I have to admit, I am surprised, she just witnessed me slicing a throat and did not scream, has not even talked about it.

[The Gerudo quickly drew her scimitars and slashed the girl's throat, the Queen's expression remained stoic, she did not scream, she kept running]

She is Claire's daughter all right. When I requested her help extracting the bullet, she just did it, without gagging or complaining about my request, that shocked me… I think she actually wanted to prove that she can be reliable… I CAN DEFENETLY WORK WITH THAT.

Link walks to the boat looking around, then he finds what he was looking for, a long and sturdy branch, he picks it up and quickly sharpens the tip with the scimitar, he throws the stick inside the boat, boards it and extends his hand towards Zelda to help her board it. Then suddenly her breaches drop.

HAHAHAHAHA, I did say I needed to fix her belt, didn't I?

"I SWEAR this was not intentional or an innuendo in any way?" Zelda exclaims picking up the breeches, her face red in anger and shame

"I know Zelda, hand over that belt so I can fix it"

She removes the belt and throws it at Link, he catches it and draws his Swiss knife from a pocket on his Jacket, an old present from General Zalatoris, he effectively punctures a new hole on the belt and gives it back to Zelda. She immediately uses it to finally hold the breeches in place, then looks at Link who once again outstretches his hand to help her board the boat

"Can I row the boat?" Zelda asks hopeful

"You can, but it will tire you, when it does you need to tell me and I take over, fair?"

Zelda just nods at Link grinning and takes his hand to board, Link then properly sets the oars and rows a little to instruct her on how to do it, he then stands leaving Zelda to it while he is looking at the water.

"GOSH, I need to lose weight, YOU need to lose weight too" Zelda says frustrated

"Tired already?"

"No, I can keep this up a little longer, I am just stressed because I am barely making the boat move forward"

Link raises his hand to signal her to stop, she stops rowing with a quizzical look on her face, Link suddenly stabs at the water with the branch he sharpened and raises it smiling, there is an eel wriggling at the end of the makeshift lance

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?" Zelda yells

"That is our dinner"