Author's Note: Hello, my fellow people. For the thousandth time, sorry for the delay! However, I do have legitimate reasons! Oh, wait, no I don't… I'm just lazy…
Blah…blah…blah… on to the next chapter.
Disclaimer: Do I even have to say it anymore?
Zelda
I find myself thinking about the kiss long after Link leaves. I'm very confused as to why he apologized. Did I act as though it was unwanted? I don't think so. I welcomed it. And he was the one who leaned in. He wanted to kiss me. Then why did he apologize?
I don't have time to think about it anymore, because Ashei comes into the room and asks me if I'm prepared to leave. I nod my head distantly.
"Something wrong?" she asks, but not very sincerely.
"No, I'm great," I lie.
"Alright. Then let's hurry up and get going, yeah?" she responds and walks out the door. I get up from my position on the bed and follow her out into the street. Four horses including Epona are lined up waiting for their respective owners to climb up on top of them. Link and Shad are making small talk when we walk up.
"Ready to go?" Link asks. He seems completely unfazed, unlike how he was after the kiss.
"As ready as I'll ever be," I say in the same tone he used. I suppose there is no reason to bring up the subject. At least not now. Perhaps later I can get him alone to talk to me about this.
Everyone mounts their horses, leaving me with a large white stallion. He reminds me very much of my old horse, who I assume was killed in the castle explosion. I silently name him Aiden as a tribute to my old horse.
We begin riding toward the exit of town before Link tells us to wait.
"I want to say something to Shad and Ashei," he tells me. I give him a questioning nod of approval and he begins to speak. "I just want to make sure you guys know what you're walking into. This isn't something to take lightly. I know you two have had your fair share of adventures, but so have I. The things that I've seen…" he trails off, appearing to be lost in thought. "Honestly, I'm surprised I haven't died yet. I probably would be dead if it wasn't for a few fairies. But if once of us does die, please continue." He turns to look at me, his eyes boring into mine. "Don't let your emotions get the best of you." I feel my jaw drop, but I quickly close it and it turns into a scowl.
Ashei speaks first. "We know what we signed up for. Let's just head out before nightfall, yeah?"
"I hate to say it, but I agree with Ashei," Shad says. "I'm willing to sacrifice my life if it means saving my country."
Link nods in understanding and we head out for Zora's domain.
I lead my horse close to Epona so I can talk to Link quietly.
"What was that about?" I hiss.
"I'm not sure I know what mean," he says with mock innocence.
"Please don't be like this," I practically beg. "Why did you look at me when you told them not to let their emotions get the best of them?"
He sighs. "Do we have to talk about this now?"
"Yes," I respond firmly.
"Zelda," his voice drops to a whisper. "That kiss… it was a mistake."
My heart sinks. "Then why did it happen?"
"I don't know. I suppose I was just in the moment. You know what I mean?"
"So it meant nothing?" I ask, failing to hide my disappointment.
"Zelda," he seems almost frustrated. It makes me feel like a small child. "I just don't think this is the best time for this. With everything that's happened recently, I don't want to let my emotions get in the way of defeating Shadow. I'd just like it if we could have the same relationship we did before the kiss. No worries, you know?"
"I understand," I say with a half-smile.
We continue riding for a few more minutes, until Shad halts his horse and jumps down to the ground. He pulls out a small notebook and begins to write in it.
Link stares at him in disbelief. "What in the name of Din? Shad, what's going on?"
"Oh, excuse me for a moment," he says holding up a finger. "This is just so interesting..." he starts muttering things that I can't hear.
Link strains his eyes, attempting to see what Shad is so interested in. He gets off his horse as well and kneels next to Shad.
"What exactly are you looking at?" Link asks.
"Look at this!" Shad says excitedly, pointing to an indentation in the ground.
"A hoof print?" Ashei says. "For all we know it could be one of ours, yeah?"
"No, no. Look at this distinct shape. The way its split apart, and look at the size of it! This is a bulbo print!" he exclaims.
"But there shouldn't be any of those around here. They all left when they realized that Link was stronger than Ganondorf," I say.
"This is still fresh, too," Link says, running his hand over the print.
"Perhaps it was just a stray one," I suggest.
Link shakes his head. "No, there were two riders on it. You can tell by how deep it is."
"Well then let's get going, yeah?" Ashei says. "I don't want to run into one of those ugly things."
We all abide to her words and mount our steeds.
Normally, a journey from Castle Town to Zora's Domain would take about half to three quarters of a day. This was what we originally had planned. By the time the day came to a close, we would be safely sleeping in Zora's Domain. However, our journey quickly turned into a whole day with Shad constantly stopping to observe everything that caught his eye. We found ourselves in the middle of Hyrule field at night with no safe place to sleep.
"We'll just have someone keep watch until midnight and then we'll switch shifts," Link says. "Shad and I will take the first shift. Zelda and Ashei, you can take the second shift. Fair enough?"
Link's a very good leader, I muse. He could make a great general one day.
We all silently nod our heads and Ashei and I set up our sleeping arrangement. Shad and Link take seats on the ground next to each other. They set up a small fire and Shad starts reading his journal while Link keeps his eyes alert for any possible threat.
I lie on the ground and shut my eyes, but I don't even feel tired. I tell myself that I need the sleep, but I have too many things on my mind. Have any other people died from the sickness? What about the Gorons and Zoras? Have they been affected by it, or are they immune? Maybe Shadow has something completely different in store for them…
By now a good quarter hour has gone by, and I still don't feel the least bit tired. Apparently Ashei was though, because I can hear her deeply snoring.
"So," I hear Shad start to strike up a conversation with Link.
"Hmm?" Link inquires quietly.
"The princess," Shad says. Now my interest is officially peaked. Shad obviously thinks I'm asleep. "You fancy her, do you not?"
I can almost see Link's cheeks reddening, but I tell myself to keep my eyes closed. I somewhat feel bad about eavesdropping, but there's no way I can shut this conversation out now.
"W-what makes you think that?" Link says, flabbergasted.
"Link, I'm not exactly an expert when it comes to members of the opposite sex, but I notice the way you look at her. It seems it's obvious to everyone but you and her," he says rather bluntly.
"Is it really that noticeable?" Link asks. Dozens of different emotions fly through me. Excitement, happiness, anger, confusion; just to name a few. I knew there was a reason that he kissed me…
Shad chuckles quietly. "I knew it!" he says victoriously.
"Shh! Not so loud!" Link whispers. "You can't let her know!"
"I'm not sure I understand why, though," Shad divulges. "If you really do have feelings for her, why not let her know?"
"It's just not a good time, you know?" Link admits. "If I make it known, it could become a weakness. Shadow could use it against me."
Understanding floods through me like a tidal wave. How could I not think about that? Shadow had already used Link's emotions against him in the Forest Temple. There's a high possibility he could do it again.
"Very well," Shad says. "I understand."
"Thanks," Link says. "I really appre- Holy Farore," His sentence is cut off by a quiet sound of metal against metal and I realize he has drawn his sword. "Wake the girls," he tells Shad.
"For the love of Nayru! What are you doing? It's not our shift yet!" I hear Ashei yell after a few moments.
Shad ignores her and walks over to me. "Zelda, wake up," he gently nudges me softly, as if he thinks he could break me.
I get up slowly as if I had been sleeping the whole time and lay eyes on what everyone is now looking at.
Bublins. At least a dozen on bulbos and twenty on the ground. Behind them I can see the silhouette of their leader. King Bublin. His horns are as tall as he is wide and he holds a sword as big as him in his hand.
They come close enough that they are in Link's sword range, but they do not attack. They stand there silently, awaiting a command.
"What are you doing here?" Link demands. "You said you follow the strongest side, and you said you would leave and never bother Hyrule again."
"We do not follow orders from Hylians." His voice is low and gravelly. "We have found a stronger side. One that cannot lose. You have no chance Hero. Give up now. And put your sword away. This is merely a warning. Next time, we will not be so nice." He yells a command in the bublin language and they all turn around and ride away.
No one says anything for a few minutes, but Ashei finally speaks up.
"Oh come on!" she exclaims. "We're not really going to be afraid of some pesky bublins are we?"
"We have every right to be concerned," Shad tells her.
"Shad's correct," Link agrees. "Bublins are not to be taken lightly. They are very dangerous and will not hesitate for a second to kill you."
"And they said that Shadow is stronger than us," I speak up.
No one speaks after that. We sit there in silence, not even daring to sleep, because we know that if we shut our eyes for even a minute, we may not wake up.
Author's Note: And there you have it. I was going to make this chapter longer, but I figured this was a good place to stop. Especially because it feels like I haven't updated in forever. Now that it's summer, I might be able to update more quickly, but hey, we'll just see what happens.
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