Hello everybody. This is Mlp fan Celine. I have a new chapter for you all and I can tell you, that I had quite a hard time on writing it as it has a lot of (at least I tried) detailed writing in it. Though I do admit that I am not so good at writing places like huge castles and their different rooms. Whoopsie xD
I still hope though that you enjoy it. More info at the end of the chapter.
Pages 7 (with two lines on page 8)
Words: 4452
The wind was howling as the snow fell. The dark clouds becoming darker by the second. No birds were chirping, as there were no birds in the area. The sun, hiding behind the darkening clouds, almost never being seen in these parts of the world.
Small villages could be seen here and there. People wearing thick clothes walked by as normal. They were used to these uncontrollable weather conditions. Dogs could be heard barking, as they pulled sleighs around the villages. One of the only ways to travel from town to town. People cheered, watching sleigh dogs' race. Everything seemed normal.
But the most notable place, would be the dark looming castle in the far-right corner of the lands, hiding behind big trees, in front of two big mountains. Far away from any villages or towns. Almost like it didn't want to be seen.
A boy in thick, dark clothes ran out of the castle doors. His breath shaking as he drew nearer to his destination. Sweat was dripping down his forehead as he panted for air. The groans and screams of agony were not helping his feelings of dread. He was not looking forward for this meeting he had to have.
Calming down, the boy took a deep breath as he stood in front of the doors to the barracks. A shaking hand took hold of the doorknob and turned it. His eyes widened at the sight in front of him. Knights and soldiers, wounded in different ways, laid either on the ground, sat on the sides or stood while holding the walls, trying to hold in their agony. Some were not even moving at all.
A gasp escaped the boy when another soldier smashed on the ground to his left, groaning in pain with blood coming out of his sides. The boy hugged himself and started to tremble. Another gasp escaped the boy when he heard a snicker not far off to his right. Trembling even more now, the boy walked slowly forward, unbeknownst to the snickering man.
The man, clad in a dark blue attire, shook his head while snickering turned into a loud laugh. "What? Is this all you can do? And here I thought you were going to fight me like real men. But instead, I fight against some poor idiots trying their best to run away like cowards". Another shake of the man's head, his arms stretching out beside him. "But then again, you all are NOTHING without these", he chuckled as he clutched his hands into fists, a dark, purply cloud of mists formed around them.
The man took a deep breath as he felt euphoric, the power flowing powerfully in his veins. So much power, such a strong aura, ever growing stronger. He wanted more. This feeling of being complete and powerful filled his mind. Looking down at his hands, the man began to chuckle anew, thinking of different ways he could use this power to his advantage. But the chuckle stopped, and a frown was placed on his face, knowing that the power wasn't yet fully completed. It still needed a bit of time. The grin returned on his face seconds after. "But that wait will be worth it" and chuckled anew.
The boy was now a shaking mess. He looked around at the wounded and maybe even dead knights and soldiers. He was shocked that the man in front of him did not even feel any sort of remorse. When his eyes returned to look at the back of the man, his breath hitched as he noticed the man staring at him. His lips began to tremble as he saw the eyes of the man burning deep into his. A grin followed soon after.
"What do we have here? A young fellow watching my accomplishment of today's training. What do you think of this? Did I do good?", the man watched the boy as his grin turned into a frown. "Or are you here to join them?", he nodded his head towards the wounded knights and soldiers. The boy's breath hitched anew. "If so, that can easily be arranged", his blue eyes glowed violet as the purply mist in his hands reappeared.
The boy's hands went op in a protective manner as his trembling went into overdrive. Even his voice trembled in fear, as he began to stutter: "I a-a-am he-here to-to bring a-a mes-message, my lord". The boy whimpered when he felt the man looming above him. The man let out a grunt and a disappointed sigh. "I hope this message is of importance or else…" the man let the words hung, so they could sink in for the boy.
Another whimper escaped the boy as he frantically nodded. "Ye-yes, my lo-lord. Th-the qu-queen of the ki-kingdom of Hy-Hyrule has sent o-out an invi-invitation for yo-you to attend the ba-ball of Nayru's solstice", the boy let out a sigh of relief after finishing his message, not noticing the grin forming on the man's face. "The queen of Hyrule you say?" a chuckle escaped the man, "that is indeed some important news". The man turned his back towards the boy, his hands holding each other behind his back. "I will see to it. You may take you leave".
Without another word, the boy bowed frantically and ran away, glad to be spared for another day. The man's grin turned into a smirk as he made his way out of the barracks, leaving his wounded soldiers and knights behind, and went towards a certain passageway that led to a room full of pictures depicting old events. Stopping in front of a certain picture, he let another chuckle lose, while eyeing the picture up and down.
The picture depicted six people. A couple he knew all too well towards the left, wearing thick royal garbs, created on his homeland to accompany the weather conditions. Another couple stood at the right side, wearing thick royal winter garbs that looked like they wouldn't withstand the weather for months, faces depicted signs of shivering. In the middle of the picture, two children stood in their thick royal garbs. A boy with a hard and stern look and a girl of similar age, wearing a small but timid smile.
The man's focus was on the girl, as his grin turned into a smirk. "What do you know? Seems like I am going to see you much sooner, dear Zelda. Sooner when I had planned, but I don't mind that. In fact, I am more than capable on continuing my plans faster when anticipated, as my powers have grown quite strong and will keep growing stronger as the days go on". A small chuckle escaped the man as he turned around to look at another picture depicting the couple that wore the garbs of his homeland. "Soon you will see, father, mother, that I am capable. I will show you that you were wrong. That I am better than she ever will be".
The grin of before returned on his face as he turned towards the door. His hand reached inside his collar, getting a hold of the object around his neck. Looking down at it, his eyes glowed a vibrant violet. The object copied the action. Putting it back, the man opened the door. "Soon, sweet Zelda. Soon I will show the world what you did to me, what you did to my kingdom". A snicker was heard as the man walked through the door; a loud thud followed afterwards as the doors closed after him.
A small breeze brought the papers on her table to flatter lightly. A bird or two chirped outside of her balcony. Grunts from down below could be heard now and again as the recruits trained on the training area that was position right below her study. However, all these noises didn't bother her as she was occupied with the documents in front of her. Her hand, holding a beautiful blue feather, danced along the lines where she signed her name.
A small sigh escaped her as she laid the freshly signed paper to dry and took a hold of the next one. Letting out a hiss, she touched the space between her eyes, rubbing it as she felt a headache rising. These documents where nothing new to her. She was used on staying in her study for hours on end, signing document after document. This didn't mean that she enjoys it or that she wouldn't develop any form of complains. Quite the opposite, but this was a burden she had to endure being queen.
She took a look at the rest of the documents that still needed to be signed and couldn't help but let out another sigh when she still saw a small stack of papers sitting on her left. Papers that held many sorts of things. About the ball, complains, information about alliances and much more. She saw these papers almost every day and today was one of the unlucky days, where she spent almost the entire day reading and signing these documents.
She didn't look forward for this since she awoke this morning but knew that it had to be done. The things she did for her lovely kingdom. She let out a small giggle and shook her head. Though, she was surprised to see some of her work already being done when she came into her study after breakfast. She couldn't help but think that a certain hero was responsible for it. Afterall, she didn't see him at breakfast, and he normally never skips a lovely meal.
Her hand started to perform it's used dance of signing her name while she thought about her hero. Link. A commoner of Hyrule, chosen by the goddess, bearer of the triforce of courage, her friend. A smile formed on her face. Friend.
She didn't have a lot of friends from when she was younger. She was denied forming any sorts of relationship that the court did not approve of since her parents' death. The few that she had were kept as a secret as they were normally friendships with her servants. While she did have a few close relationships with a few lords and ladies, she kept mostly things to herself as she did not trust the majority of the lords and ladies.
Link, though, was the first real friend she had that wasn't a servant. He was someone who came outside of the court's approval standards. After all, she was the one to give him a position in the castle and fought the court in doing so. It wasn't an easy fight, but for Link, she was willing to do almost anything.
She often surprised herself on how far she went for him. She would have never guessed that she would have connected with him stride away, but from the moment she first met him, she had felt a feeling of compassion and curiosity. She had never expected to see a wolf in her castle and was a bit shocked at first, but looking into those cobalt blue eyes, eyes that where not of an animal but more of a human, she knew that there was more to that wolf than meets the eye.
When the twilight invasion happened, she felt feelings of lost, loneliness and guilt well op inside of her. She wanted to fight for her kingdom, for her people, but in order to protect them, as she knew that her and her army were not prepared for what the creatures of twilight were capable of, she surrendered. Trapped in a tower, she could do nothing but watch. Watch as her home got taking over by the twilight. Until Midna appeared.
Midna, the true twilight princess, who got cursed by Zant, the self-proclaimed king of twilight. She didn't know at the time who Midna really was but found out quickly that Midna had to be of importance if the twilight creatures were searching for her. When Midna brought the wolf to her tower, she had a feeling that the wolf was indeed someone that could help. Seeing it's human like eyes, that feeling got even stronger.
She was and still is glad that she trusted this mysteries wolf stranger, as he was the one to save her kingdom in the end with the help of Minda. She had to hold in a laugh. "He would probably say something along the lines of "do not take yourself to lightly, princess, you played as much a part in saving your kingdom as me. I could not have done it without you and your light arrows" or something like that", she thought with her smile growing. Ever the kind gentleman indeed.
Reaching for her next document, she let out a small face of bewilderment when she noticed the stack of papers gone. Indeed, while she thought of Link and their first meeting, she unconsciously went through all the documents and signed them. She was a bit confused though. She never was this distracted before. Even when she thought of Link, she always had a clear mind. And yet, she didn't feel any kind of remorse for being so. "Guess I am done for today" she mused and put her blue feather on its stand to dry up.
A knock was heard at her door. "You may enter", she said without looking while cleaning her table up for tomorrow's patch of paperwork. The door creaked open, and a maid came in with a steaming cup of tea in her hand, humming a sweet melody. When Zelda looked up, she let out a smile towards her good friend. "Lara. It is nice to see you. You brought me my tea"?
The maid, Lara, stopped her humming and gave a smile in return. "Of course, your majesty. I thought you would enjoy a cup of your favourite tea while working on the amount of paperwork for today. It was a lot from what I saw in the morning". Putting the cup in front of Zelda, Lara took a look at where the papers were stacked, only to be meet with freshly signed documents, all ready for send of. Letting out a whistle, she continued: "But I can see that you just finished them all. What a task that most have been. You did well on managing them all on these long hours".
Zelda let out a small sigh. "Thank you. It did indeed take quite a lot out of me though. A headache just started to form, and I am glad for it to be done for today. I am thankful for your kind gesture of bringing me tea as well", she gave Lara a nod of thanks while saying that. Taking the cup up towards her lips, she let the warm and delicious liquid warm her throat. After placing the cup down again, she gave another thanks to Lara, who brushed it of as not important.
Enjoying the small window of quietness, Zelda couldn't help but think about what Lara said. Quirking one of her eyebrows, she glanced at Lara and asked: "You said it looked like a lot of paperwork would be waiting for me in the morning. Though when I came in her, a small stack was already finished. You would not have happened to know who "helped" me out would you"? Lara's only responds to that was one of her characteristic smirks that hold the "I do know, I just won't tell you", looks. Crossing her hands on her back and swinging from side to side, she complied: "I promised not to say anything. You know how I stand true on keeping them", and gave Zelda a wink, to which the latter shook her head in bemusement.
Of course, she knew. Lara was like a sister to her. They grew up together, which is why they understood each other so well. Zelda could say anything to Lara, knowing that whatever they would say to each other, would stay between those two and no one else. One of her most trustworthy companion and ally in the castle.
Applauding and cheering was heard from the opened balcony doors. Curious of what the cheering was about down below, Zelda stood up and walked swiftly outside, peering down below while trying to not look to obvious in case someone saw. She could feel her heart bursting a bit when she spotted Link. With a sword and shield in hand, he stood ready to face his opponent. His green tunic flattering in the breeze where it stood a bit lose. His opponent: A recruit in fully clad gear, sword, and shield in hand as well.
The captain gave out a loud "FIGHT" and Link's opponent started to move. Attack after attack and Link stood there not moving by a lot, only blocking, or parrying with his sword and shield. Zelda instantly knew what he was doing. Tyring his opponent out and use that for his advantage, as well as looking for any slipups, things she picked up on while training with him. The attacks of his opponent became quicker and quicker as desperation grew in the young recruit. Then, Zelda saw it. The slipup. Tiny and unnoticeable to most eyes, but enough. Wanting to perform a spin attack, the recruit lost his footing, causing him to stumble just a tiny bit backwards. With a swift movement, Link attacked by going forward and clashed his sword against the recruit's one. The sword of the recruit went flying and landed a few feet away from them. With a parry of his shield, Link brought the recruit to stumble, losing his footing even more before his opponent landed on his butt. The sword's tip raised against the recruit's chest, to which the recruit paled a tiny bit, Link claimed his victory. Other recruits and even knights cheered.
Sheeting his sword, Link stretched out his left hand to help the recruit back op. "You did well. But don't get desperate as the fight goes on and start observing your opponent. After a while, everyone makes a small mistake, which might be enough for you to strike back. Use that to your advantage next time okay"? The recruit nodded and gave a small salute before walking off to get a drink. The captain walked up and gave a pat on Link's shoulder. The other recruits started their training back up as the excitement appeared to slow down.
A snicker brought her attention back to the other person on her balcony. Looking back, she saw Lara giving her a smirk. "Man, you really were fixated on what he was doing weren't you, Zelda"? A small giggle followed her statement. Zelda could feel her cheeks heating up out of embarrassment. Trying to hide her face by looking away from Lara, she couldn't help but agree with Lara. She really was fixated on the fight, wasn't she? More than she normally is. She also knew why, though she did not want to admit that to Lara. But knowing her, Zelda was sure that Lara knew. It was confirmed a few seconds later.
"He is a swift one that's for sure. He really used that window of distraction perfectly in order to get his opponent out of balance. And instead of busting with pride, he helps the recruit back up and even gives great feedback for next time. Such a fine gentleman, don't you agree, Zelda"? She did not miss Lara's teasing tone.
Groaning slightly to herself, she looks back at Lara. "It is his job as general to help the recruits get better at battling and protecting". But Lara only shook her head while smiling. "While that may be true Zelda, nothing says of him needing to help the recruits back op and give individual feedback. Positive feedback even. We had generals that where nothing like him. And based on how fixated you are of him, not just here but for the last two and a half years…don't give me that look Zelda. I know you since we were little and notice small little things that others may not notice or pay attention too. You seem to fancy him, don't you"? Lara's statement was again in that teasing, but also caring, tone.
Tensing slightly up, Zelda walked swiftly past Lara and back to her desk. Letting out a sigh as she felt her cheeks burning op even more. Of course, Lara could read her like a book. She cannot fool her, even how much she tried too. Not saying a word, she tried to distract herself by trying to clean her desk. Emphasis on trying, as there was almost nothing else to clean up on. She did just clean it before Lara came inside after all. A small squeak was heard before arms were brought around her in a hug. Zelda let out a gasp, tensing even more up. Even though Lara was like a sister to her, she was not used to hugging anyone. Of course, this was not the first time that Lara hugged her, but that was because Lara knew that she wasn't the biggest fan of showing affection to anyone, even her friends or her sister figure for that matter. "Oh, I am so happy for you. You finally get a taste of what it's like to fall in love. I am so exited", Lara exclaimed while hugging Zelda even tighter, not noticing Zelda's slight distress.
The word "love" caused even more distress towards her. She was not stupid, having read through many romance novels in her life, having heard stories from other court ladies, she connected her feelings together quite fast. A feeling she never felt before. To say that it was thrilling would be an understatement. But truth be told, she was also scared. Again, she never felt like this before, and it was quite frightening how someone could feel this way to someone else. The feeling of protecting them, of not wanting to see them get hurt, of doing anything for them.
Then there was also the council. They would never approve this. A commoner and a royal? Never. This thought frightened her even more. Knowing how she feels for him, she could not bear the thought of seeing him with someone else, or even worse, for her to marry and have a child with someone she doesn't even really know. All her life she got raised with the responsibility of marring and having a hire. She knew that she would end up with a loveless marriage. But even then, she did not enjoy that fact. She tolerated it, yes, but she did not like it. Now though, having developed feelings to someone else, something she never thought would happen to her, this thought of marring someone else, frightened her even more now.
All these thoughts brought Zelda in an even more state of distress and Lara finally seamed to pick up on that. Walking around Zelda, so that she could try to look into her eyes, Lara rubbed her hands against Zelda's arms, trying to get her to calm down. "Shhh Zelda, breath. It's okay". Trembling, Zelda finally holds eye contact with Lara, letting Lara stare into distressed, sapphire blue eyes and gave a smile. "There we go. Breath. In and out".
Zelda let out a breath of air, nodded and gave a small smile. "Okay", she answered. With Lara's help, Zelda sat down on her chair, leaning her head on her right hand, taking deep breaths. While calming down, Lara got her a glass of water, that was abandoned on the desk. Thanking her with a nod, Zelda drank the water and gave the glass back. Letting out a sigh, she looked at Lara again. "Thank you, Lara. "sigh" I did not think that this would distress me the way it did. Even for such a small thing", she let out a miserable chuckle.
Lara looked at her with sympathy and gave her a small smile. "It's not such a small thing for you though, with the way you reacted", Lara let out a small chuckle, "I do have to say, that I have never seen this side of you before. You really do care for him, don't you"? Zelda looked at Lara's eyes for a bit before letting out a sigh and a small nod. "I am afraid of losing him", Zelda admitted with a quiet voice, hoping that Lara did not hear that. But she did and patted her on the shoulder. "It's okay Zelda, we figure something out".
Zelda looked down at her hands that were folded over her lab, being in thought. A clash was heard outside of her balcony before another round of applause was heard. A small smile formed on Zelda's face. Apparently, her hero just claimed another victory by the sounds of it. Lara picked up on it to it seemed with the way she looked outside. "He really is something. If he continues like this, he might bring your knights to shame once they start to challenge him like the recruits do, if they didn't already", Lara chuckled and walked towards the balcony to watch a bird that made itself comfy on the outside furniture.
Zelda brightened up and chuckled herself. "Trust me, he already did". She got slowly out of her chair and walked swiftly over to Lara and watched the same bird with a dreamlike, but kind, expression. Indeed, she already had the privilege of hearing some of her knights' complaints thanks to broken egos and prides. Her dreamlike state broke after hearing her maid's snickering. "I can only imagine. Their prides most have been so broken afterwards". A few giggles escaped from Lara before she let out a gasp. Turning around, she eyed Zelda, a gleeful expression on her face. "Doesn't he train with you sometimes? I know that you have your mother's smoothness and your father's keen sight. You always surprise me with those after all. So how do your duels with him go?". With a hand raised, Zelda stopped Lara before she could ask even more questions.
Closing her eyes, Zelda's expression turned into one of thoughtfulness. After a few seconds, she looked out of the balcony with a raised eyebrow, calculating. Another minute passed before Lara could see a small smirk spreading across Zelda's face. Turning towards Lara, Zelda's smirk grew before she walked past her, going towards the door.
"I need to go to my room and get ready. You can make your way towards the barracks if you want. Instead of me telling you how our duels go, why do I not just show it to you?".
So, what did ya think? As said, I had a hard time with this one.
Warning: I am rambling a lot of my thoughts for this chapter. So you don`t need to read it but if your curious on my thought process and such, read this really long text of information.
This chapter went through a few changes near the end. Originally, Zelda was a blushing, embarrassed, teasing mess. Kind of like these cringe and cliché Teens romance stories. Because of this, it was also way shorter, with a page count of 4 pages.
I scraped that ending because she seemed way too out of character. And while we don`t see a lot of her in the game, from what we do see, she is a very expressionless person (but she does show them, you just need to really look for it as it`s small changes in her expressions like a very small smile). That why I wrote that she has these three personas if you remember from the prelude chapter. So instead, I wrote the ending that you see here. Might still seem a little bit out of character but because we don`t see a lot of her in the game, I can try to create a personality as I think fits best for her.
So yeah. I rewrote the whole ending of this chapter. When I wrote the old one, I could already tell that I wasn`t so happy with it and would rewrite it. I can tell you all that I defiantly am much more pleased with this new ending.
For Zelda personality: I got inspired by two fanfics on here called "Something you stole" by ChronicallyEclectric (My favourite Zelink fanfiction) and "Broken mirrors and their reflections" by sunaries. Please check them out. Awesome stories.
Also, a small head canon of mine: I think that TP Zelda is a Demi-aroace (just like me). If you don`t know what a Demi-aroace is: Someone who is demi-aroace can only get romantic and sexual attraction to someone else if they have formed a strong connection/bond with that someone else. It`s like saying "friends to lovers", as they got to know each other and go on from there.
And before I hear someone saying, "But that is just like a normal relationship", no it is not. We who are demi-aromantic and demi-asexual cannot get romantic and/or sexual attraction to just anybody, like a random stranger that we see walking along the streets. We have to literally know them. We feel uncomfortable if a literal stranger starts flirting with us while others may enjoy it and have fun with it. Of course, others may feel different, but this is how I feel as a demi-aroace. This is also the reason why Zelda tolerated the knowledge of marring into a loveless marriage but not liking the idea of it. Why she is scared but also exited to feel this way for the first time. Why she is now scared of being in a loveless marriage now that she is in love with someone. Someone she doesn`t want to lose.
But yeah. Sorry for me rambling. I needed to say this before I go on so that you, as my fellow readers, get a little bit of info on why Zelda handles the situation of her relationship with Link the way she does. Hope it helps clear a few things op.
Also, I have already made a plan for the next chapter, but won`t write it until after May (I have a big pedagogy examination coming up and need my full focus for it) but that`s what university and real life does to ya. Know that I do plan on finishing this thing, even if it takes a long time on doing so.
I wish you all a good day or night whenever you should read this.