Disclaimer: "The Legend of Zelda" names, characters, places, etc. (C) by Nintendo. Original names, characters, places, etc. (C) by me.
Chapter 5: New World
"We better get some rest," Zelda said. "We still have about a week of traveling ahead of us and I don't want us to arrive at the capital like a couple of vagrants."
"I'm surprised at you, Zelda," Link admitted. "I always thought that living in a palace meant never having to cook you own food."
They were sitting a little way into the forest on the Rhunian side of the canyon. Zelda was working away trying to start a Fire.
"You should be surprised, Link. Cooking isn't really part of a young princess's curriculum. I used to spend several hours of my free time in the kitchens and…"
"Zelda, Stop!" Link interjected. He couldn't explain it away, but he suddenly felt a surge of fear at the idea of sitting near a source of open flame. Zelda looked at him inquiringly, but when he did not answer she continued to work with the flint and steel.
"I said stop!" he grabbed the flint out of her hand.
"Ow!" she cried. "What in the world is wrong with you?"
"No fire, Zelda. We don't like the fire."
"'We'? Who is 'we'?
"I mean… I… What?" He closed his eyes as if trying to hear something that could not be seen.
"The forest… it's… I can't put it any other way… it's alive."
"What?" Zelda asked. She looked around in a panic-like state.
"No fire. The Trees won't protect us if we light one."
"What are you…"
"Just… trust me on this one, Zelda."
"But how are we supposed to eat or keep warm at night?"
Link pondered her question for a while then said "It might just work." He gathered up several stones, all of them roughly the size of his fist and placed them on a pile. Kneeling before them in a pose reminiscent of prayer he quietly spoke incoherently.
After a few seconds, the rocks began to emit a reddish glow from their center, and Zelda could feel on her face a heat emitting from them. She reached out to touch them, but Link caught her hand before she could. "They're hot," he said, without taking his eyes off them. When the red light had completely filled the rocks, a blue glowing mist began to form around them, solidifying into a tightly fitting, yet still mostly transparent hull.
Link picked one of them up and held it in his hand. Zelda gazed at his creation in awe and almost instinctively reached out for it. She drew it back and looked at Link.
"Go ahead," he said with a smile. "It won't burn you now."
Zelda gingerly took one of the glowing stones. It felt comfortingly warm in her hand and pulsated slightly, like a heartbeat.
"How did you… I thought there were only three spells."
"In essence, there are, but those were just the raw magics. I have had several years of time to refine them. Now I can make them take basically any form I want. And with these stones, We can cook out dinner and still keep the trees safe."
Link felt a presence touch his mind which had a grateful air about it and smiled, looking up into the canopies.
"What do you call them?" she asked in awe.
"I haven't given them a name yet," Link admitted. "What would you call them?"
"I… You want me to give them a name?"
"Why not? I couldn't think of anyone better."
"Wow… I'm honored." Zelda turned the stone in her hands, feeling the warm heartbeat-like pulsating in with her fingers.
"Heart-stone," Zelda said simply.
"Alright then, heart-stone it is. Why don't we make ourselves something to eat?"
Zelda agreed and began working around with the varied pots they had in their packs. Link thought that it would be best to leave her alone, since she had volunteered to cook, and decided to take a little stroll in the forest.
He felt the same presence he had twice before, more or less proving to him that the forest as a whole was sentient. It wasn't the same as the Lost Woods back home, where the Deku Tree was the paramount mind of the all things living within his territory. Here it felt like every tree, bush and other plant had its own soul, coming together into one great consciousness. With a smile he felt the welcoming thoughts he experienced as he climbed into the upper branches of a great oak. He leaned back against the trunk and pulled out the fairy-ocarina he had received as a gift many years ago. He put it to his lips to the instrument and began to play a melancholy tune in memory of Nayla. The presence felt his sadness and sent a wave of condolence and sympathy into his soul. Link continued playing his sad tune.
"Link!" came a call from the woods a few minutes later. Link stopped playing and immediately felt a small pang of disappointment as he climbed down and made his way back to the camp.
"Dinner's ready," Zelda said as Link came back into the ring of warmth which came from the heart-stones.
"What did you make?" Link asked curiously. Zelda handed him a small wooden plate with a slab of fried meat and a helping of cooked carrots and peas smothered in butter.
"How did you…" Link asked. He was surprised, as they had not brought any fresh vegetables, let alone meat.
"You're not the only one with a few magic tricks up your sleeve," she said with a mysterious little grin.
"If you say so," Link replied and began eating. The food tasted great, although he would never openly admit that to Zelda. He ate with delight as the sweet taste of the vegetables filled his mouth and the smell of the freshly fried steak rose into his nostrils.
"What do you think?" Zelda asked, her eyes wide in anticipation of Link's reply.
Link swallowed a big mouthful of peas before answering. "If it tasted inedible, I wouldn't be eating it, now would I?" he said nonchalantly and continued eating bending low over his plate so that she couldn't see the grin on his face.
Zelda picked up a pea from her own plate and threw it at him
"Ouch," he said, still chewing, as the legume hit him in the ear. "What was that for?"
"I want a straight answer, Mister Hero," Zelda said firmly, but with a twinkle of mirth in her eyes.
"Not with that tone, Miss Princess," replied Link and threw one of his own peas at her. Zelda ducked it, but then was promptly hit in the nose by a carrot Link had tossed at her. Zelda laughed and threw more vegetables at him. Link couldn't help but join in the fun. After they had finished, Link sighed. "You did well, Zelda. It tasted excellent."
"You know, I still am a little hungry." She admitted. Link scratched his cheek in thought then snapped his fingers.
"I got an idea," he finally said and went to rummage through his packs. He returned about two minutes later carrying a copper saucepan with lid and a small bag filled with what sounded like little pellets.
"What's that?" the Princess asked.
Link merely smiled and placed the pan on the heart-stones and poured the contents of the bag into it.
"I remember those," Zelda said, looking at the small, golden little seeds. "You used to shoot them with your slingshot, right?
"I'm surprised you remember, Zelda. I never really used the slingshot other than to annoy the heck out of Mido and to shoot apples of trees for Saria."
"Aww, apples for your childhood sweetheart. You're so cute sometimes."
"Oh, shut it, Zelda," Link said but smiled nonetheless. A small popping sound made Zelda jump in her seat.
"What was that?" she asked, looking around nervously.
Link laughed as Zelda jumped again following another pop. "It's just the seeds, Zelda. You see, these rock-hard seeds have a small drop of water inside them and when you heat tat up, the water turns into steam. The steam can't be confined within that small seed and has to get out somehow. It does that by breaking the outer shell and turning the whole seed inside out. What you get is a fluffy little thing that is easy to chew."
The popping grew more and more frequent and Link continued. "When there all done, you add a little salt and you've got yourself a tasty snack."
The popping subsided and Link took the pot from the fire. He added some salt and shook the whole pan to mix it up good. Afterward he lifted the lid and let Zelda smell the fragrance wafting in her direction.
"Amazing," she breathed. Link held out the pot towards her and said: "Help yourself."
Zelda took a single fluffed up seed and placed it in her mouth. Her eyes closed with delight as the salty taste of the little grain filled her mouth.
"I call them Popped Deku Seeds. The Kokiri absolutely love them."
They sat in silence for a while, munching on the seeds and gazing into the warm red glow of the heart-stones.
"Link," Zelda said finally. "Do you ever, you know… Think about us? How it could have been?"
Link looked at her. "I've had my fair share of thoughts on that subject, but I prefer the way things are right now."
Zelda looked somewhat shocked and her tone became a tad icy.
"You mean you like this dissociative relationship between the two of us?"
"Well, it's not like the whole thing was my fault," Link replied seemingly calm, but with a definite edge to his voice. "If it hadn't been for the antics of some spoiled little princess, I would never have left the palace."
"Spoiled? Spoiled?!?" her voice raised an octave.
"Yes, spoiled. I don't see any reason to soften my language because you can't handle the truth."
"That was totally uncalled for!"
"Well, you started it!"
What followed could only marginally be named an argument, because it quickly degraded to infantile name-calling. They shouted at each other for a goodly length of time and did not even flinch from using the most profane insults they each could muster.
"Do you have any idea what I have gone through since you left the palace?" Zelda asked on the verge of tears. "Being alone all the time, nobody to talk to, nobody with whom I could just be myself."
"You were the one who was responsible for my expulsion from the palace! You self-centered, self-pitying little brat!" Link yelled.
The ground lurched, leaves rustled and Link fell to a knee. He looked up into the canopies above and then back at Zelda. A dunning presence touched his mind.
"Good night," he said simply and stomped off to his packs, where he grabbed his bedroll and marched a little way into the forest.
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The next morning dawned cold and foggy. Link suspected that the forest had not protected them as much as it could on account of his little squabble with Zelda the night before, but it was nice to wake up from a nights rest without being woken by a nightmare in the middle of it. Obviously the Princess had also not slept well. She had rings under her eyes and spoke as if she had a severe head cold.
"Good morning, Link," she said politely but without making any eye contact.
"Good morning, Zelda," he replied equally polite. "I trust you have had a pleasant night?"
"Not really, but I'm not as spoiled as some think, so I can handle it." She was already busy packing up her things and putting them into the saddlebags on Rythor's back. Link went over to the heart-stones, which were still glowing as warmly and brightly as they had the night before. Link grumbled. He had unwillingly made the spells permanent and would have to use more of his magical energy to end the spells. He concentrated his will and released the magic from each of them, save one.
"Zelda," he said. "Could I have a word with you?"
The princess raised an eyebrow and gave Link an appraising look.
"Very well," she said haughtily. "What is it?"
"I'm sorry about last night. I shouldn't have yelled at you like that."
Zelda sighed and hugged Link. "I'm sorry, too."
"I want to give you something," he said after the princess let him go. He took her and and placed into it the very same heart-stone he had not disenchanted.
"Whenever you're alone in the cold and dark, This will always give you warmth and light."
Zelda gazed transfixed at the item, her large blue eyes reflecting the reddish glow of the magicked stone.
"I... I don't... Thank you, Link," she said simply.
They stood for a while in silence, neither wanting to disrupt this moment of blissful reconciliation. But both of them knew that the journey had to continue so they eventually finished packing up and continued east.
Along the way they had the odd polite conversation and all the while Link could feel the presence of the forest, which was quite pleased that the two of them behaved properly after their little spat from the night before. In the moments of silence Link basked in the warm sun which shone though the leaves of the trees and the soft rustling of twigs and branches whenever a soft gale passed though them. Every so often he glimpsed a woodland creature in his peripheral vision, but every time he turned to look directly at it, the animal had scurried out of sight. Link smiled, knowing that the forest would to it's best to ensure the two, essentially friendly strangers a safe passage across their lands.
Late that afternoon, Zelda was riding a little ways ahead, he heard her shout out in surprise. He caught up to her and found her standing at the edge of the forest looking down into a valley. When he followed her gaze, his jaw dropped.
"How in the world did we..."
Well, that's Chapter 5! I'm going on vacation for a several weeks so I'm sorry to tell you that I won't be updating untill the end of August. Untill then, please read and review.
See ya 'round,
Lord S.