Rays of pale morning light filtering in through the window was the first thing to wake Aria. Slow to open her eyes, quick to realize- she bolted upwards only to groan and press a hand to her forehead. It was probably a good idea to take things slowly still. Her sniffles were mostly gone, but that didn't mean much to the stuffy fog clouding her brain.

"Morning sleepyhead, you ready for the day?" Link asked, knocking, before he entered slowly- hands filled with two plates of breakfast.

"I overslept."

"Hardly. It's dawn."

"I'm supposed to wake before the sunrise."

"That's in the desert. You don't have to be awake until the cuccoo crows." He grinned, setting one plate on the bedside table before he sat on the bed and began to chow down on breakfast. Hyrulians were rather odd. They liked to start their days off with meals high in protein- fried cuccoo eggs, milk, and fried strips of pork. A stark contrast to the bowls of fruit and dried meat she ate back in the desert. Link had a very healthy appetite for such a lithe warrior- but then it wasn't all that unusual when she'd seen tons of women scarf down bowls of food with the same ferocity as that of a starved wolf.

"Some habits are good to keep." Aria prodded Link in the side, causing the young warrior to yelp loudly and jerk away from her. Aria tilted her head confused. Was he hurt? Had the octoroks gotten him in the side without her noticing? Curious, she continued lightly poking him in the side trying to feel around for the raised skin of a wound. Link let out another high pitched yelp and laughing tried to get away from her prying fingers that kept tickling his sides. His food completely forgotten as he flailed on the bed at the mercy of Aria's unintentional tickling.

"Stop, whoa heheh hey!" He giggled grabbing at her hands, leaving the to rest on his chest. "I'm alright.I swear. I'm just ticklish."

"Ticklish?"

"Yeah, you know. You poke my side in a particular place and I can't help but laugh."

"Never had that happen."

"Weird. Most people I know are ticklish. It's just an uncontrollable thing."

"Does that tickle?" Aria poked him in the side a little roughly.

"No, that doesn't tickle. It's a little more complicated- like… it needs to be light and gentle- like a feather running across your skin type of thing- if you press too hard it just hurts."

"That's weird."

"Yeah, I guess it kind of is" Link chuckled rubbing the back of his head, the tips of his pointed ears a bright red, like his cheeks.

With breakfast finished, they cleaned up, collecting all their things, before they headed out of town back towards the river. A few weeks in a town and it seem the Hylians were all too eager to keep Link there forever. He was friendly and always willing to help people- a very capable young man. Aria had a vague sense that no matter where the blonde hylian went, he would be well liked.

Their horses were eager to get moving. All those days spent in their respective stalls had Epona and Titan eager to race across the plains towards the river. A few times they nearly bucked their riders off with their playful antics, reaching over to nip at each other as if they didn't have any cares or worries in the world. Allowing the horses a good stretch, they raced along the river-side narrowly avoiding the octoroks and their mean rock-spitting habits.

The ride to the Zora's domain was an uphill ride, the heavy horses carefully picking their way up the narrowed paths that wound around and near waterfalls and whitewater rapids. Aria shivered at the sight of the rapids, vaguely recalling the feeling of not being able to get enough air and inhaling too much water. Titan seemed to shy closer to the rocks and away from the swift moving water as well. A cold sweat broke out on Aria's face as the path seemed to get narrower and narrower. White foam careened across rocks spraying both riders and their steeds. Titan reared backwards, Aria's head almost striking on a hanging rock formation as she tried to hold on. Link yelled, reaching for Aria. Titan stumbled slightly, trembling as he found his footing and firmly pressed his body against the wall- as far away from the water as possible. Aria cursed under her breath as her leg became stuck between the wall and the stallion's quaking mass.

"I'm alright. He'll be alright." She stroked the fearful stallion's neck, wincing from the pain of having her leg nearly crushed against the wall. It took a few moments before she could convince the stallion to move forward, enough that her leg wasn't crushed against the wall, and a bit more before she could dismount and lead the horse by hand. It wasn't ideal- her leg throbbing and her footing unsure thanks to the slippery bits of ground. She used Titan's face as a support when she needed to climb up steep rocks. The stallion's whole focus was on her, and it seemed to work. Despite the roar and rush of the water nearby, the way the walls seemed to make the roar echo and sound reverberate in their ears, once she was in front of Titan, he trusted her enough on ground to not flinch at large splatters of water.

It was a long walk up the path, taking half the day with at least two different breaks to give them some time to eat and catch Aria's breath. She mounted Titan once more when the road got wider and the river much calmer. From there it was easy sailing. It wasn't an hour later that they were greeted by two oddly blue guards. It wasn't that they were weird looking per say but it was just Aria hadn't really noticed the fishy people before. The two greeted Link like an old friend, although the young man had only been there a few times in the past week. Aria always found that intriguing, Link being able to find friends everywhere he went. They hailed them in and Link hopped off Epona's back, Aria following suit.

"They don't have stables around here since most people don't visit or ride here. We can just let them loose and I'll show you where I've been storing the tack." Nervously, Aria followed behind him, dismounting and untacking Titan. She was reluctant to let the stallion loose on his own, but if Link said it was safe she would trust him for now. He had yet to prove her wrong. They led the horses to a small field near the lake that was cornered off by a heavily wooded area- almost impossible to squeeze through without making a large commotion. Right away the horses took to the lush grass.

"So… you know how to swim right?