Do you remember me?
It was a simple question, with an answer that required one word in response. He had felt a new emotion, one that snaked around his chest and crawled its way to his stomach. How does a man answer that question? What can a question like that even mean? When he tried to respond, the answer stuck in his throat.
He had known it wasn't the answer she had wanted. After all, how could it have been? It had been a sidestep as best.
His horse strode silently behind the princess as they made their way across the plains. The horses followed the road obediently, which left the princess and the young hero alone with the silence as well as his thoughts.
They hadn't spoken since the stopped for lunch.
He had no desire to stop now. His body ached and weighed into the saddle of his spackled horse, but Link knew he had no choice but to push onward as long as he could. To stop now meant to camp for the night. For the princess, it would mean sleep, and the opportunity to recuperate. For Link, it meant something else entirely. He feared sleep-it rarely provided him any form rest, but rather, left him with kaleidoscopic flashes of his life...or other lives he'd lived...which was difficult to sort through. What was real? It was a challenge to know.
The sun started to bleed reds and purples across the sky, casting long shadows from the trees that sprinkled the grasslands.
"We should stop soon for the night- before the stal hour."
Zelda looked up from her reigns, and nodded in agreement. "Link, if you anchor the horses somewhere, I'll start the fire."
The young hero had recently been reminded of the importance of building a fire. In his travels, Link had dealt with the skeleton monsters. Every night they would emerge as if crawling out of the pits of hell. It hadn't been since he'd been traveling with the princess, that he'd discovered how much they hated fire. Perhaps it was the light they feared, but as long as they were near a simple campfire, they'd be more or less left alone. "It was really your discovery, Link," the princess told him, an excited gleam in her eye, "You told me the first time you showed me how to start a fire."
The thick green blades licked against his trousers like the tongue of a cat as he waded through. He heard the rustle and scamper of the small souls creeping in the grass as he trudged up the grassy knoll. If his hands weren't already occupied with the mountain of scavenged mushrooms, he might have stopped to collect some of the tiny creatures lurking within for a make-shift elixir. He analyzed the area around the campsite. The princess had made quick work of getting the carefully chopped wood to take light. She had already lain out their sleeping rolls, and heated the cookpot over the roaring flames. The blaze wasn't what caught her attention, however.
She sat cushioned on the bedding, her legs pulled up to her chest, resting her chin delicately on her knees. Her arms wrapped tightly around her leather-bound shins. Her emerald eyes were washed in a reflective melancholy, her gaze locked on a skeletal structure-the decrepit remains of some old buildings, the ruins of one of the many abandoned villages that scattered Hyrule field. She sighed into the wind as the breeze caught her hair in a way that seemed almost familiar to him, and she let out a gentle shiver as the sun sank slowly on the horizon.
She was beautiful, even now, staring out at the fields before them, even covered in two days of dust and traveling dirt. He shouldn't have been surprised. Even before the first memory he had recovered of her, he had heard the murmurs of the the breathtaking princess, sealed away in the castle. A vision of beauty, blessed by the goddess Hylia herself. Yet she remained to him a beautiful, familiar stranger.
He trudged his way up the small, grassy hill, placing the small mountain of mushrooms precariously balanced in his hands in a basket woven from Tabanthan Straw resting near their small campsite. Silently, he dug through the a leather pack, sorting through the carefully curated gear he had brought along with him. Without a word, he slowly paced back to the princess, draping his cloak gently over her delicate shoulders. She shook with a startle-
"Link," she gasped, "I didn't hear you coming." She grasped her chest, laughing, "I thought you were a Stalchild."
Link smiled, "You looked cold, princess, and as long as we stay close to the fire, you know the monsters will stay away. Besides," he placed his hand on the ornate blue scabbard of his sword, "I am sworn to protect you until my dying breath. I swore an oath to you, an oath that is one of the few things I can recollect."
Zelda furrowed her brow. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up…" She cut herself off. "I'm sorry."
Link sunk down on the hillside next to her. The two sat in a practiced silence for some time. Zelda returned her attention to the scorched ruins below.
"Do you remember that place?" Link said.
The princess abruptly turned to him. She looked angry, before a spark of realization hit her. "You don't remember it...it's strange how quickly I forget. It's just that, your eyes, your face-they haven't changed in 100 years. When I look at you, so unchanged, my heart wants to believe that at least one part of my life can go back to the way it was before The Calamity. But I know that might never be the case."
The sat for a moment in silence, before Zelda gestured towards the remains of what appeared to have once been a small town.
"That was Mabe Village," she said, "before The Calamity, it was a small village. We spent some time there on a few occasions."
Zelda pulled the cloak tighter around her shoulders. "We should move closer to the fire. It's getting cold now that the sun has gone down."
Link nodded in agreement, and stared at the logs radiating from the fire Zelda had built.
"What is that?" Link said, feeling a dull pain in his head..
"It's Star fire build," Zelda said matter-of-factly, "and it has several key benefits…"
"It's better to our current situation." He could feel the tension rising in his voice, and tried hard to remain calm as he placed a few of the remaining pieces of firewood radiating from a small bunch of kindling. He gripped the flint tightly in his hand and tried to get a spark. The numbness crept through his fingertips. The wind and sand lashed around them.
"But there's nothing to reflect the heat! The temperature is already dropping fast!" The princess yelled over the roaring wind. "Link, this isn't the way your father sho-"
"WELL HE'S NOT HERE RIGHT NOW IS HE?" Link screamed. The Spark took light, and soon there was a glowing ember.
Zelda was quiet. She moved closer to growing flames.
"I suppose it's warm enough." She said quietly, "and the flames should do to keep the monsters away."
Link pulled the hood of his cloak up to keep the sand from blowing into his eyes, and joined the princess by the fire.
"I'm...I'm sorry," Zelda slid closer to him.
"It's alright," Links voice was low, "Yelling at royalty, isn't that punishable by death?" He chuckled. Even though he couldn't see her face, he could tell she was smiling.
"I won't tell if you don't."
They sat by the fire in silence, shivering through the roar of sand. Link slowly pushed the far ends of the logs towards the center. The light of the fire flickered and grew.
"A star fire lasts longer than any of the ones my father taught you to make," Link said in a low voice, "even if it isn't quite as warm. With us as low on wood as we are, we have to conserve what wood we have left if we ever want to make it out of this goddess forsaken desert. It also-"
He stopped talking, he had noticed the princess's head fell limp onto his shoulder. The corners of his mouth curled upward into a grin. Zelda's slow soft breathing let him know she had drifted off to sleep. He brushed piece of hair out of her face. He would allow himself this moment; they were safe from the prying eyes and whispers of the gossip mongers. He hadn't expected to find himself safe lost in the eye of the sandstrom.
"Link? Are you alright?" Golden hair fell around him like a curtain, and Zelda's green eyes were flooded with concern.
"Ye...yes," Link answered, "I think I just remembered something."
Zelda's eyes widened with surprise. "A memory? What was it? Who was in it? Where were you? Does this happen often? I thought you said it was only in dreams?" Zelda could see the frustration on Link's face as he was bombarded with her questions.
"Sorry again," she said dejectedly, "you're obviously overwhelmed at the moment. What did you remember?"
"We were in the desert," Link said, rubbing his temples vigorously, "The Gerudo Desert, I think. I believe I yelled at you…"
Zelda turned a bright shade of crimson. She obviously could recall this moment very well.
"I remember that night. Tensions were high. We had left for the Gerudo Desert to check on Vah Naboris. On our way back from the Divine Beast, a terrible sandstorm hit. We were lost out there in the desert. We were running low on food, water, and were almost out of firewood. I know you're aware of how cold the desert nights get. I wasn't sure we were going to make it out of there alive. Luckily, the sand calmed down after a few days and we stumbled upon an oasis there in the hot sands."
"The fire...my father taught you how to build fires?"
Zelda nodded. "He taught both of us. I don't suppose you remember any of that. Perhaps with more time, you'll remember more."
Link stared into the flames, pondering.
"You knew my father?"
"Yes, very well. He was the captain of the Royal Guard. He was often placed in charge of my own personal safety. He was a kind and brave man. Would you like to know more about him?"
"Maybe tomorrow. We have a long ride ahead of us. It might help us to pass the time."
"It just might." Zelda said with a smile.
Thanks for reading the second chapter of my story. I'm hoping to have some regular updates so it motivates me to write more. Please review! I appreciate any motivation I can get!
