Long time no upload, but I shan't keep you! Read on, and again, I apologize for mistakes (the most grievous of which shall be fixed in the oncoming days).

The princess had returned to her father's bedside with a sullen expression. Her father had reassured her that everything was fine, and that she shouldn't worry; Malon even seconded the notion, stating that she'd be shoving bottles of Lon Lon Milk at her father to help with his ulcers. She worked up a smile, though she was sure the worry in her eyes was still there. They didn't know what she had agreed to just an hour earlier. They had sent her off to her room, saying that she looked pale and tired from worry. She didn't object to the dismissal, remaining silent and heading off to her room as if she was in a funeral march.

When she had arrived at her room, she simply sat at her bed and reflected, yet again, on what had happened. She had made a solemn swear to Vaati – a swear on her soul – that she would never sabotage him. It was a swear of power, more powerful than if she had sworn something like her magic. She had wished she had vowed on her magic. She was willing to sacrifice all of her magic if it meant ridding Hyrule of the mage… but she had sworn her soul, her very life. If she broke this vow, her life was completely forfeit to the sorcerer.

I really am cornered. Zelda had thought miserably.

Exhausted, mentally and physically, she slept dreamlessly.

She awoke with a start the next morning from a banging on her door. Cole was yelling at her from behind the door, something about her needing to be presentable at once. Her mind was still too fogged with an unsatisfying rest to register the words, but she rose and dressed herself. By the time she reached the entrance hall of the castle she was still rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, but the sight of Fluriss and Gale sobered her immediately.

"Sorry to come so early, Princess." Gale said apologetically. "It's terribly important, though."

"I should think so," Zelda began with some concern. "Not that I don't enjoy your visits, but the Wind Tribe rarely comes down unannounced."

Fluriss let out a half-hearted chortle, "True enough…" and then her expression darkened quickly, "But we had to report as quickly as we could – a storm is approaching Hyrule, a large one! The biggest we've seen in years! It just came out of nowhere!"

The princess blinked for a moment as she registered the information. A storm? The biggest one Hyrule has seen in years? She began to panic, remembering the terms of her deal with Vaati. She had wanted him to drive the monsters away, but she didn't think he'd do something like this! A storm so big would endanger the citizens as well! He's said as much that he doesn't care for anyone but himself. She scowled in her mind. But there was no time to dwell on Vaati's serious lack of morality. The princess scurried quickly to a window, seeing the black clouds rolling quickly through the skies. "How much longer until it arrives in Hyrule proper?"

"Not very long," Gale announced grimly.

Zelda bit her lip, "We need to warn the populace-"

"Not to worry, Princess, we realized how pressed for time you were; we sent messages to the town and that new village that sprung up. At the very least everyone should be indoors." The younger of the Wind Tribe pair reassured to which the princess let out a sigh of relief.

"That said," Fluriss added on, "We'll likely have to intrude on your kindness here… we can't fly up with that blackness in the sky."

"Oh it's not trouble at all!" The princess chimed in quickly, "I'm truly grateful you've gone through the trouble of telling everybody, not just us. And you're always welcome at the castle, regardless."

And from there, the princess went about the proper niceties, offering them tea and conversing with them as a proper hostess should. Or at least she tried to be a proper conversationalist. Not long after the two had arrived, the wind and rained slapped the windows violently; and as Gale and Fluriss chattered on about the goings on of their family in the clouds, Zelda would furtively glance towards the windows. It was difficult to keep her composure and appear as if she was sure everything would be fine, simply because she wasn't. Already she was regretting not setting some sort of boundaries for Vaati; her people were in serious danger - the people of the new Kakariko Village, especially. Their homes were new, probably unfortified for a storm as ferocious as this. All she could hope for was that the storm would end soon.

Unfortunately, it didn't. The tempest lasted for three days, although its strength seemed to vary. At some points, the princess thought she could see the sun shining through clouds – but as quickly as she thought she saw it, the sky would blacken again and the storm would resume raging as fiercely as it had been before. It was enough to send the girl into a private fury – she was sure the storm was simply living on melodrama now rather than necessity. She wished she had some access to the sorcerer – the interrogate him, demand him to stop. Even a sentry would do, but if any passed by her balcony at night, it seemed to be in a nature similar to that of ravens and their roosts. The sentries, she had noted, had relatively little interest in her, but regularly congregated around Poe. Yet she doubted even Vaati's sentries could fly through these winds, and the fact of the matter was she had no idea where to even find one since Poe wasn't in the castle thanks to the storm. And her frustrations had not gone unnoticed by her father, who would tell her to go and rest her worry away. And while she appreciated that sentiment, it also made her angry because her father really had no idea why she was so upset, and if she told him he wouldn't believe her.

When the weather cleared at the end of the third day, Zelda did not hold her breath. She had prepared for the rain return with a vengeance, and the thunder to deafen the skies. Instead, the clouds had vanished, leaving a clear view of the night sky.

The next morning, she'd forgotten her propriety about seeing off the Wind Tribe visitors and simply stole away on Epona. She had kept her bow at the ready as she rode, noting that the grass was still wet from the constant rain of the past days, and various parts of the field were flooded. She kept riding, until she found herself back in the Western Woods where she had confronted the Moblins about a week or so before. The redheaded princess was cautious… but found no need to be. There weren't any traces of any sort of monster. There weren't even guays in the trees.

She then rode off to where she had heard the nearest confirmed Moblin camp was. She rode cautiously, again finding no need to do so. All that remained were the skeletons of torn up tents and scattered tools. Zelda even managed to find courage enough to dismount her mare (though still with bow and quiver on her person) and gingerly step through the destroyed camp. Seeing that there were truly no threats, her shoulders slumped in relaxation and she let out a sigh of relief.

Perhaps too soon.

Epona shrieked in terror as a black shadow flew overhead. The princess barely had time to register the horse's fear as a massive claw plucked her from the ground, her bow sliding out of her hands easily from the force in which she was tugged.

In that moment, Zelda relived the nightmarish memory that had plagued her since she was a little girl. The claws of a beat, scooping her up, grasping tightly around her, her screams as the crushing grip of a beast threatened to turn her innards to jelly until she couldn't stand the pain any longer.

"Would you shut up?!"

The demonic voice thrummed within her very skull, and it had accomplished its task. She clamped her mouth shut, not even realizing she'd been screaming. But despite her silence, her eyes were wide and she was panting madly, too paralyzed with fear to move any more than the bobs of six leathery wings of varying sizes allowed her to. Zelda tilted her head upwards, blue eyes moving slowly to view her captor. She felt the fresh scream bubbling from deep within her, but when her mouth opened, it immediately shut against her will. The single, red eye of Vaati's demonic form glared at her with distaste. "Amusing as your fear is, your voice is grating. I would appreciate it greatly if you would calm down."

Calm down? Calm down?! He wanted her to calm down, after he'd forcefully taken her from the ground?! While her fear was still prevalent in her mind, rage had forced its way within her mind as well, but her mouth remained closed no matter how much she tried to voice her anger.

The great eye staring at her seemed to glimmer with some form of humor. "Now, now, Princess; I haven't done anything wrong. I simply thought it would be easier to see that I had carried out my end of our bargain from the air."

Her terror had no taken a backseat to her anger, but she forced herself to steady her breaths. When the wind mage took notice of this, she had felt the vice over her jaws vanish.

"Release me at once!" She hissed.

Vaati's eye blinked slowly. "If you insist, but you really do want to take note of your surroundings."

The princess looked down and shuddered, unconsciously tightening her hold around the claw that encased her. They were not far from the Moblin camp she had investigated, but they were, however, very high up. Her hands balled up into fists and she sent a venomous glare at the great Beholder's eye.

"I will take that as a change of decision." She said nothing in response, but the eye seemed to have some sort of glimmer behind it. Amusement? Anger? Both? She couldn't tell. "You certainly are temperamental." The princess wanted to scream at him; she had every reason to be infuriated! But she did not voice her anger lest she anger him, instead. The last thing she needed was death by that sudden stop at the ground. "Well now, if you're quite done staring angrily at my majesty, allow me to show you how thoroughly I routed those monsters on your behalf."

The princess was sure her face had to have been red with rage, but she kept all of her unpleasant words behind gritted teeth. Rage was quickly replaced with apprehension when the mage gave his wings a mighty flap that sent them hurtling forward rather than bobbing in one place. The princess had yelped, shutting her eyes quickly and gripping the claw that held her tightly. "If you don't open your eyes than my plucking you from the ground would have been pointless."

The wind mage's tone had been annoyed in her mind, and she could feel the beginnings of some sort of anger blossoming beneath it. While Zelda didn't want to open her eyes at all, terrified merely at the sensation of the bobbing of the Beholder's flight, she reluctantly did so.

She gasped.

Zelda could see everything. Or at least it felt as if she could. She could see the woods sprawling out beneath her, Castor Wilds and the Wind Ruins, even Mt. Crenel off in the distance. She could see where mapmakers were mistaken in assuming that Castle Town was the center of Hyrule, and that everything she'd been taught was so much bigger than she could have imagined. At that moment she was just looking at one part of Hyrule from the point of view of a bird, with the air brushing against her face and her ponytail whipping along with the wind. Soon, she was seeing the Minish Woods, Lake Hylia, Lon Lon Ranch, and even her father's childhood home. All of it, laid out before as if it were a map created by a master illuminator.

All too quickly the beautiful sight ended as they had come full circle back to the Western Wood. Vaati had lowered, hovering as he gently placed the princess back on the ground.

The strawberry blond girl's mind was still in the sky for a few moments, before finally taking notice that her boots were planted firmly on the ground and her body free of a massive claw. The shadow of Vaati's beastly form had also disappeared, and a glance to her left revealed that the mage had taken on Hylian form and had a satisfied look on his face. "Well?"

"That was amazing." She said breathlessly. But as soon as the words were out of her mouth, she realized that taking her out on a view of her country wasn't the purpose of that flight at all. Even more embarrassing was that the awe of the scenery had still been plastered on her face as she had spoken. The princess straightened up quickly, brushed off her skirts, and said in a huff, "Amazing that you managed not to wreck the whole country with that wild storm of yours, I mean!"

Zelda had expected some sort of rude comment or reply, but instead she heard him chuckle. The sorcerer had seen right through her. She looked at him harshly, trying to mask her humiliation with her gaze. But his amused expression did not change, "I will take that to mean you didn't see any trash wandering about?"

The mage simply knew how to push all her buttons, she was sure. But she kept her composure. Zelda had managed to figure out that he relished her reactions like her anger and her despair. She had lost her temper earlier, but she would refuse to show him anything more. So she kept her head held high and said, "I did not… though, I can't say I approve of the way you went about it. You very nearly put my people in danger."

"Did I?" Vaati sounded amused, "You were actually there to see it then if you're making such a grand assumption?" The princess frowned. She couldn't understand why he'd be denying his neglect of her people. She knew he was definitely the type to only care about himself. Was he trying to make himself look better by denying it? Perhaps sensing that train of thought, he continued carelessly, "Poe informed me that you would be cross with me if any harm came to the populace."

The serious face she'd worked so hard to maintain during this conversation with the sorcerer fell to one of pure bafflement. She still couldn't understand it. Why did Poe saying that she'd be upset at him make any sort of difference? And with that question blaring in her mind, she simply asked, "Why?"

The mage rolled his eyes, "And here I thought you were somewhat intelligent – I've already told you several times." She frowned, which only seemed to irritate him further. "What do I have to gain out of not harming your precious people?"

Clearly, Vaati wanted her to figure things out for herself. So she thought about it carefully, looking down at her hands scrunching the fabric of skirt. The mage had nothing to gain harming her people, just the same he had nothing to gain keeping them safe either. And she knew he was a shrewd man – the terms of their deal a few days ago being the biggest proof of that. And now that she remembered her condition of swearing on her very soul not to raise a finger against him with the Four Sword, she found herself truly confused. She was absolutely no threat to him; his storms could have plowed the villages through and she could do nothing about it, save more maybe trying to kill him with a different method and failing. He had the upper hand here… so why? The only other possible reason she could think that he'd go out of his way to make sure her people were out of harm's way was… because she would be upset.

And then it dawned on her.

"Have you figured it out?" He asked monotonously.

She glanced back at him, seeing his bored and fed up expression. "… Is it because… you knew I would be angry?"

"There's some hope for you yet." His demeaning tone made her want to smack him, but she also saw something in his expression that seemed… proud? "Yes, Princess, it's because I knew you would throw a temper tantrum at me. Contrary to what you may believe of me, I do actually somewhat like you."

The last statement caught her completely off guard, and it must have showed because Vaati laughed at her. His tone sounded so genuine she'd forgotten she was dealing with the evil sorcerer of thirty years ago. In fact, she even felt flustered because he was laughing at her. Everything about the current situation was just… odd.

However, the situation soon went back to the norm. As soon as Vaati finished his chuckling, he said, "I've shown you that I've upheld my part of our little bargain." The mage certainly seemed to be acting harmless before, but his gaze had changed to one in which Zelda could sense the danger. "I expect you to keep your end."

The girl regained her composure and straightened up. "As Hyrule's Princess it would be disgraceful if I didn't."

The cold stare remained on her for a moment longer… before disappearing as if it had never been there. Vaati smiled approvingly and then gave her a bow. It wasn't a deep bow, like the one he had given her when they'd made their abhorrent little deal... in fact, some part of it almost seemed… playful? But before she could dwell on it, the mage quickly transformed back into his beastly Beholder form, bobbing in the air just above her, "My sentries tell me Poe has wrangled that horse of yours just outside of the woods, so it would be in your best interest to return with him to the castle lest anymore suspicion be cast on you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have business to attend to." And with a mighty beat of his multiple wings, he flew off.

Zelda was glad he'd left, though still incredibly confused. As she made her way out of the Western Wood, she found herself only getting more and more puzzled. She had thought that her conversation with the mage after the flight was the strangest at first, but now the whole experience felt surreal. And the only reason she felt it was so odd was because everything that had just happened seemed contrary to what she'd been taught.

Vaati was not a nice man. She knew this. He expressed delight at the fact that her father was in pain, seemed to not care at all for the wellbeing of others, had a superiority complex, and she knew he relished in her intimidation of him. … Yet despite all that, he had gone out of his way not to harm anyone in his great storm, personally showed Zelda that he had, in fact, proven to be a man of his word, and even laughed. Granted, he had been laughing at her, but she never thought she would hear such a… such a human sound from him. Every time she had encountered him before, he always seemed to be the one in control, always with some snide remark and with a better-than-thou attitude. And even though that was most certainly still present today, those times when he wasn't felt… normal.

Even after Poe happily greeted her and she was making small talk with him as they rode back, in the back of her mind she was still pondering weirdness that had been her experience with Vaati. Enough so that when a pause came in her conversation with Poe, the princess suddenly said, "Vaati doesn't act like a demon."

The soldier seemed caught off guard by the very sudden change in conversation, but smiled, "How many demons do you know?"

Zelda realized that it was valid question. While Cole certainly could act like a demon and sometimes she thought he hid horns under his hat, she knew that he was just a bad tempered old man. So really, Vaati was the only demon she knew. But even so, she was still bothered. "Poe…"

"Yes, Princess?"

"… He said he liked me. It doesn't mean anything, really, but why does he even care at all?" The train of thought was frustrating enough for her to add a spiteful, "Or is that information on a 'need to know basis' so you don't know?"

"I actually really have no idea. He treats me like dirt," Poe pointed out with a strange gleefulness in his tone. Zelda could only look at her friend, trying to understand but failing miserably. Despite that, Poe added cheerfully, "But if I were to guess, I'd say it'd because he feels like he owes you a debt – and the Master hates owing anyone."

Come to think of it, the princess thought to herself, Vaati did tell me he owed me once. It had been the night he'd been projecting himself through his beholders on her balcony. Because he owed her his freedom. Was that why he was being… well, she didn't want to say kind. She wasn't sure kind was ever a word she could use to describe the mage. But Vaati had certainly been considerate of her feelings. Sort of. And that, she realized, was what was making her so uncomfortable with the whole situation. Because now Vaati wasn't some demonic beast out to make her life miserable, he was… well, he was a man, capable of laughter and doing things that weren't entirely selfish.

He still tried to kill my mother and father, she reminded herself. As courteous as he was being now, she had to remind herself he was still an evil man. He's trying to drop my guard. He could claim all he wanted that he was trying befriend her, but there was an ulterior motive. There had to be.

But she didn't have the opportunity to think further on the subject or ask Poe anything. As soon as they neared the castle stables she could already make out the small figure of Cole waiting for her, no doubt ready to scold her for leaving suddenly, how she was supposed to see the Wind Tribe off, and then continue planning for a gala she was beginning to find rather silly. Before she knew it, she'd already told Poe goodbye and was being dragged along behind Cole, already racking her brains to solve the newest dilemma the little man brought forward.

Towards the evening after an early dinner, as she was writing requests in one of the library carrels to second cousins for their cooperation to make the gala a spectacular event (a bothersome and unnecessary formality), she found herself staring out the window that was providing her with the light of the setting sun. This is… trivial. A knot tangled in her stomach as she admitted it to herself.

She supposed she felt like there were greater things to be doing than this, even though she knew this was just as important as anything else. Hyrule needed Holodrum and Labrynna after all. That's what she told herself, anyways. Looking out the window was only reminding her how beautiful her own country was. Seeing it from a bird's point of view, the princess couldn't understand why Hyrule would need anything else. The maps always made it look so small, but Hyrule was larger than she'd thought. She had thought she had ridden Epona over most all of the mapped out areas, but she hadn't even come close she'd realized.

Party planning, galas, grand dances… these were things she was supposed to like doing. And she did like doing them but… It's just Cole. She said to herself firmly. It had to be Cole. He was making her do this and that and drilling it into her head constantly, she never had a thought to herself. The princess had never worked so hand in hand with him before, but since this was a big, official event, she'd been spending more time than usual with the little sourpuss.

That's what she had to tell herself, anyways. The alternative would be to admit that she wanted to explore Hyrule more… from above.

It's getting late. Zelda told herself firmly as the sun nestled itself behind a mountain. She gathered up her unfinished letters, deciding to finish them in her room after visiting her father.

So she left the library, nodding hellos to passing servants or guards who would give her strange looks. Such reactions only reminded the redhead what an outsider in her own home she had become as of late, dampening her spirits even more. By the time she had reached her father's room, she managed to cheer herself up at the thought that at least he would welcome her with a smile. But just as she was about to turn the handle, she paused.

"-I… I just didn't know what to do… I was so scared, you know."

Zelda's hand remained hovering over the handle at the sound of Malon's voice. It was the older woman's voice, no doubt about it, but she had never heard it shaking so much. It was as if she was crying.

"Malon…" And that was her father.

The girl knelt down in front of the handle, trying to squint through the keyhole. She could make out the image of Malon, sitting on the edge of her father's bed, her hands wrapped in her skirt, tightly held in fists. "You're a moron," the woman hiccupped, "You always have been. You need to think about yourself more! Your daughter isn't the only one who thinks of you as precious!"

And with that, she stood up and quietly walked away. Going in during a conversation like that would be… awkward. Nor did she really want to intrude on such a conversation. As far as she was concerned, that was a conversation between the two that was a long time coming. Even so, it did make her a bit heavy hearted. She couldn't say why, and it kept nagging at her up until she reached her room and placed the stack of letters she'd been writing on her desk. The book she'd received on her birthday was on her desk. The story of Eros and Psyche, a love story…

"Sometimes you need someone… different."

Those had been her father's words on her birthday.

Despite reading her book, the various propositions by potential suitors, and maybe some fleeting thoughts to a year before, she hadn't really considered romance in her life seriously. She had wanted to consider it earlier, but then her life went ahead and turned upside down.

Zelda sat at her desk, brushing the cover of the book lightly with her fingertips. She sighed, finding herself jealous of the book's titular heroine, Psyche. Despite all the trials and pain the girl had gone through, Eros was still with her, whether she knew it or not. The princess wished she had someone like that. I feel like… like a Psyche without an Eros. She thought miserably. Her father abandoned her when she needed him most; the person she was supposed to trust in was a traitor; and the other people around her didn't believe her at all, feeling sorry for her and looking at her as if something were wrong.

And that was why she felt so bothered – because she was alone.

She could admit to herself that a part of her loneliness was self-inflicted. She'd cut herself off from most interactions with people after her supposed "nervous breakdown." But now she knew it made no difference. Even if she tried to reach out, people would still look at her as damaged or crazy. Nothing would ever be back to the way it was. The only true sociable interactions she'd had were with Poe, and even that could never be like it once was.

The princess was alone, and she found that all she truly wanted at that moment, was someone to just be there and believe her. Overcome with depression at the thought, she slunk to her bed without changing out of her dress, hiding under the covers and trying to empty her mind. Instead, she could only hear a tiny little voice at the back of her head whisper that there was someone out there who was being truthful to her, did believe her, and in a strange, self-serving way, had been there for her…

Her dreams were filled with aerial views of Hyrule.

SO YEAH, I MEANT TO HAVE THIS CHAPTER UP MUCH EARLIER... LIKE. BEFORE 2015. BUT THINGS GOT IN THE WAY. And when I was finally making some more progress - BAM THE FLU CAME AND SUCKERED PUNCHED ME INTO SICKLAND. But now I am back and one hundred and ten percent better~ About the chapter itself... I have mixed feelings about it. Again, this story and outlines don't seem to mix. As such I'm not entirely happy with it, but I can't claim I could've done better at this point. Whatever this case, we are seeing now that Zelda is kind of, KIND OF, warming up to Vaats. Aside from that, I really have very little commentary to make.

However, I do have some AWESOME news. In addition to being a fanfic writer of Zelda stories, I am now an article writer of Zelda Universe! That's right, fan website Zelda Universe has made possibly one of the best or worst decisions ever by allowing me to be a regular feature article! SO NOW YOU CAN READ MY POINTLESS OPINIONS ABOUT ZELDA ON ZELDA UNIVERSE DOT NET A HYUK HYUK. That being said, ZU is one of my fave Zelda fansite simply because its strictly Zelda alllllll the time. So please visit!

Astrozerk, thank you for reading, and as I tell all people who read my stories, unless otherwise stated, I will always continue to update! Having read awesome stories that are never finished without being told any reason why, I would hate to do that to my own readers! That being said, I don't update often simply because I can't. Real life responsibilities and such, as well as problems of motivation at times. Anyways, again, thank you very much! I pride myself on trying to write things that don't fit pre-established patterns and cliches - trying to sneak up and get you from behind is something that I hope to accomplish with nearly all my fics! My biggest hope is that I succeed! XD

Cattycheeno, thank you!

fleets, probably nooooooot, but Vaati is being good... for the moment. HMMMMM I WANT TO SAY SO MUCH MORE. But I can't. :p As for that deal, it's very important. And that promise is important too. Zelda didn't swear on her magic - she swore on her life! So in a way, it's worse. This incarnation of Zelda, after all, could live without her magic. If you'll notice, she hasn't really shown much affinity for it at all - it'd be rather pointless to make a swear based on that. And since Vaati has Poe to tell him everything about Zelda, he already knows that a silly thing like swearing on magic won't work on this little Zel.

Grapefruit-seven, oh it is a magically enhanced one, all right. What does that mean for the future of the story? Hmm, guess we'll find out, yes?

eureka93, oh it is the wrong way to go about it, but she's seventeen and if she didn't do this then I wouldn't have a story! XD Thank you!

Guest, well, Vaati does think very highly of himself, imo. I don't imagine him as the humble type at all. XD

Hawkmask, again, there's no need to apologize. It really doesn't bother me at all. Well, you don't have to worry about gore for a while, I think. I mean, I haven't planned anything immediately anyways, and you'll have trigger warnings before any sections that do have it, so you can prepare yourself accordingly. XD And by all means, do long reviews. I loooove long reviews. I mean, I like reviews of any length, but long reviews feel like the reader was more invested in what I wrote, so they tickle me in the feels a bit. X3

Dia Newman, we're getting there, we're gettin there... At a snail's pace, but we're getting there! This has to be a natural progression after all. XD