As the soft orange glow of the rising sun crept its way inside your tent, across the floor, and onto your face, birds began calling in the distance. Faintly, the sounds of scurrying rabbits and groups of slowly walking deer moving towards the fields to graze provided a small chorus to the beginning of the symphony that was the sunrise. It was truly a beautiful time: brisk and quiet. The whole world seemed to start all at once as all living creatures softly woke to a new day. For a moment, the world seemed peaceful. You felt a hand gently touch your shoulder and shake you ever so slightly and then move away. You opened your eyes and realized it was Link who woke you, telling you to get ready for the long day ahead. You moved your blanket off from on top of yourself and sat up. Your eyes were droopy and your mind hazy as your body attempted to bring you back to the world of the living after a long night's stay in your dreams. Your eyes were foggy, and you rubbed them gently while letting out a yawn. It wasn't the first time you'd waken up at daybreak, but you still weren't very accustomed to it. As you sat silently, giving yourself a few moments to feel awake, you glanced over at your partner who was already fully clothed, packed, and getting supplies together to make a morning meal. A small smile occupied his face as he dug through his sac, grabbing firewood, flint, a bowl, and his bow.

"Someone got an early start," you said sleepily as you began rolling up your bedroll.

"Someone got a late start, actually," Link signed. "I was going to wake you up earlier, but I thought I'd give you a few more minutes. After all, we did do a lot yesterday. And I know how Sleeping Beauty loves her rest."

"Fuck you, man. We aren't all conditioned to not need any fucking sleep. What's the bow for, by the way? You gonna hunt us some grub?"

"Yes. I saw some nice fox running around outside and I decided it was a good plan for breakfast."

"How lucky am I to be traveling with such a big, strong man who can hunt and provide food for little old me," you said sarcastically.

"Do you want breakfast or not?"

"Yes, please. I'm starving."

"Good!" Link tossed you some flint and steel. "You start the fire while I'm gone, alright? We're a little behind right now so try and have things ready to go before I get back."

"Alright, alright. I got it. I'll start the fire after I sleep juuuuuuuuust a little longer…"

Link turned around and gave you a playful look.

"Just kidding, jackass," you responded, giving his shoulder a small shove as you walked outside the tent.

After you set the wood in place and set the bowl to rest over it, Link emerged from the tent, bow in hand. He waved goodbye before trotting off into the forest to find some food. You waved back and then returned to the task at hand.

Starting fires was one of the few adventuring skills Link didn't have to teach you once you two started working together. You may have only been a novice explorer, but you could make one tasty fire. Personally, you considered it more of an art as opposed to a skill. The way you lined up the dry grass under the wood was truly a talent you were born with. And the way you aligned the chopped wood so that it would evenly heat your bowl, making all your food uniformly cooked? Truly a gift from the Gods. When you finished your beautiful arrangement of flammable materials, you struck the flint across the chunk of steel Link had given you a few times until the sparks they produced caused the grass to quickly combust. As you carefully shielded the small flame from the winds, the wood surrounding it slowly blackened, and eventually caught fire itself. You stood up triumphantly and gave a nice, hardy head nod in the direction of the fire to show your approval.

You decided to take a seat, since it didn't seem like Link was going to be coming back too soon, and began staring deeply into the flames, losing yourself in thought. The adventure you two were on was quite daunting for you. Sure, you had done work more dangerous than this in the past, but none of those missions involved the safety of someone else. You and Link were responsible for safely getting another human being out of a potentially deadly situation, and the weight of the reality that you could be responsible for someone's death took a real toll on you. Link had assured you several times that things would be fine, but you still couldn't help but feel nervous. Link was an extraordinary and incredibly capable warrior, but you were scared that you'd hinder him somehow and get someone else killed.

You held your head in your hands as you tried to think of something a little less depressing. You began to think about Link. Not about his skills or talents, but just… him. You'd never really met someone quite as… charming, as he is. He had a spirit that seemed almost unbreakable, and a determination unlike any other. He was skilled at his craft, but not arrogant or cocky, and he was always happy to teach you, even when it was something you'd asked for help with a hundred times before. He'd just give you a little smile and a nudge on the arm before taking you through things, step by step, until he thought you had it. And whenever you'd fail and fall flat on your ass, he'd make sure you were okay before telling you what a dork you were. He was such a playful guy: Always making jokes and calling you names, but also being sure you knew he didn't mean it. You never took any offense to anything he said, but he was still always so considerate. Something about him was just so… alluring to you, but you couldn't quite put your finger on it. He was just a swell guy, and you guess you enjoyed being around him because he never made you feel bad or stupid for not knowing or not being able to do something. He was just so, nice, and caring, and… cute? Was cute the right word? You thought that maybe cute was a bit of an odd word considering the dynamic between you two, so you just decided to say that Link was a pretty rad dude instead.

You sat there, thinking about Link for a while until you heard snapping very close to your ear. You jumped up and grabbed the closest weapon you could find. As you took a battle stance and tried to assess the situation, you noticed that you had grabbed the metal spoon you use to stir soups, rather than an actual tool for defense. Luckily for you, the snapping was coming from none other than Link, who had apparently been back for a while. He had come back with a medium sized fox and had already begun draining and skinning the animal while you were thinking.

Link put his hands up in the air to signal surrender. "Woah there, tiger. No need to threaten my life," he signed while trying to keep a straight face.

You stood up straight and regained your composure. You then chucked the spoon towards Link, who caught it out of the air with ease.

"Damn it. I can't even be mad at you for catching that cause it was really cool looking," you said.

Link spun the spoon around in his fingers a few times before placing it gently onto the ground.

"Sorry for scaring you. I thought you'd noticed me come back," he signed.

"How long have you been back?"

"For about ten minutes. Long enough for you ignoring me to start hurting my feelings." Link traced his finger down his face to represent a tear before chuckling to himself.

"Yeah, sorry little guy, but I've finally had enough of those hands of yours waving all over the place."

The two of you laughed and began talking some more. You helped Link finish prepping the fox and you guys spent some time exchanging thoughts about today's plan of action. While you talked, the food finished cooking and you divvied up the meal between the two of you. The meat was superb, as usual. Link always managed to pick the tastiest animal out of a herd. It was like some kind of a sixth sense. Of course, that was only half the reason your meals were always so delicious.

You had spent years perfecting a perfect mix of spices and flavorings for every kind of meat you could think of. Cooking wasn't really something you were dedicated to, you just hated terrible tasting food. You wouldn't say the place where you grew up was known for its food, and you hated it. Your interest in creating perfect spice combinations was really born out of spite, but you still took pride in what you'd made.

"How's it taste, dillweed," you asked Link between bites.

Link, who was probably the only person who loved food more than you, didn't even look away from his plate as he gave you a thumbs up, indicating his satisfaction.

You chuckled and blushed a little. Link always made a big deal about how much he enjoyed eating your cooking. You thought he was probably just being polite because, honestly, there isn't much that boy wouldn't eat, but you still felt a little warm inside whenever he paid you a compliment.

Link quickly finished his meal and licked his fingers clean.

"Wow, you really weren't kidding. You must really like my food," you said, slightly shocked by the rate at which Link had devoured his food.

"Of course," Link signed. "I really do mean it when I say your food is amazing. It's some of the best I've ever tasted, honestly."

Now you were really blushing. You could see that Link was sincere from the look on his face as he eagerly signed his praise.

"Oh, sorry. Was that too much," Link asked. "I didn't mean to embarrass you or anything I just. It's REALLY good. Like I'm honestly surprised that you never became an actual chef or something."

Flustered, you punched Link's arm. "Stop it! Gah, you're embarrassing me, asshole. Just say you like the food and shut up."

Link looked at you and chuckled, a small amount of blood flushing his cheeks. "Sorry for liking your food so much Ms. Easily Flustered. I just want you to know how much I enjoy having you around and that I think you've got some really nice talents."

"Oh my god, you're making things worse," you told him as you threw your hood over your head and began packing up your things. You tried to hide the fact that your cheeks were burning as bright as the fire you had just used to make breakfast. After a few moments had passed and you had calmed down, you turned back towards Link.

"Thank you, I really appreciate it," you said in the most earnest of tones.

"No problem, dude," Link responded with a smile.

You walked over to Link and gave him a little hug. "Thanks for being so kind, dork."

Link was a little surprised by your actions, but after a second, he wrapped his arms around you too.

After a moment had passed, you pulled away. "Alright, come on, nerd. We've got some mountains to climb."