Chapter 3- Learning to Fly

The sun continued to shine over the Domain, a supposed rarity for the place. Bryne remembered the times before when he was a young man, when it never seemed to stop raining in the damned place. Sure you'd expect water in a place made by literal fish people but it suited the nice weather.

He stood on the Pier sunlight shining off the sword on his back, it felt good to be on his back again, though it pained him to admit it. The King had been sure to put it back in his person immediately after the meeting. His attention turned back to the East Reservoir Lake gasping once again.

"Link!"

It was too late his son had already leaped of the pier into the deep waters squealing with joy. He had already spent the past hour learning to swim in the more shallow areas of the lake. Of course Link had previously gained experience from chasing a frog into a pond, and almost drowning, as well as getting trapped in a well for a day after looking for hidden caves. Thanks to the almost supernatural patience of Mipha he had picked up swimming quickly (for a Hylian). But now ignoring all good sense the boy had dived head first into the deep end…literally.

Bryne rushed forwards Mipha by his side in an instant. Bubbles thrashed at the surface where Link had dived but the boy remained to be seen. He looked to Mipha in a panic.

"What?" She shrugged at him, grasping little about how easy it was for a Hylian to drown.

Bryne began to unclip his sword and started to take his boots off but before he could the child burst from the surface half giggling, half coughing. "I did it Pa!" Link choked up at him.

He folded his arms. "You little fool, I can't believe you just-" He couldn't help it a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. You just couldn't get mad at the boy when he was putting on that goofy smile. Finally he gave in and began to laugh with the boy. Mipha looked from one Hylian to the other, clearly confused by the whole ordeal which only made Bryne laugh harder.

"C'mon Mipha, Pa you jump in too." Mipha didn't hesitate leaping in the air and entering the water in a tiny splash. How could he resist that smile, those wide eyes and desperate voice? Bryne began to take off his last boot prompting a squeal from Link who was now thrashing about in the water trying to swim as elegantly as Mipha.

The boot gave way but his smile froze. Nyssa had come onto the pier hands clasped at her waist as she looked at the scene smiling happily. The Knight sighed. He had not spoken with her properly since his conversation with the King and he knew she already sensed that something was up. She was good at that.

"Mipha keep an eye on Link, if you can, I'll join you both in a bit." Link groaned as the Knight turned his back to the lake walking back towards his wife.

"You can go swimming with Link I don't mind, I was just speaking with the princess she's quite something you know." Her voice was as gentle as ever and yet so full of life.

"We have to talk," he replied in a deadpan tone.

Her voice wavered now. "I know, I was hoping we could do this later but you never were one for standing by were you?"

Bryne got straight to the point. "The calamity is coming I have to go back."

Her eyes shot up at him as fierce as the day they had first met. "No "Sir" Bryne you don't have to go back, you choose to," she replied in an almost biting matter.

"It's my duty," he said gritting his teeth together.

"Oh! It's your duty, how about your duty to your family, how about your duty to your son." Her fists clenched in anger. "Do you know how hard those three years were for us? Every day in the evening Link would wait out on the wall waiting for you to come home. Every night I would dream of you dying, only to wake up terrified, crying." Tears now lined her eyes, he wanted desperately to reach out to wipe them away but he knew she would not let him. "The Shieka uprising was not your responsibility. Do you know how lucky you were to survive that? You and Alfonzo were almost in pieces by the end of it."

The memory of that battle was rough. He was one of two Knights to survive.

He stood firm. "Those years were hard for me too, but they needed me then, they need me now. If I do nothing the calamity will destroy everything we hold dear."

"So you're leaving us again?" Her voice was quiet, head dipped in defeat.

"Come with me." He took her hands in his looking at her desperately. "The King has promised to allow you to reside in the Castle and Link-"

"No." Her eyes filled with rage again. "I will not let them take him, he is just a child he doesn't understand yet. It would be signing away his life you know this."

"Nyssa…it's all the boy talks about. You know he wants it," he said trying to keep his rough voice as calm as possible.

She would not look at him now. "I don't care I'm not going to lose him too. I cannot lose him."

"You won't lose him and you haven't lost me. The boy is destined to be a knight, you can see it in the way he moves, the way he thinks. I won't let them do what they did to me you know that," he answered the question he knew was already in her mind.

It was too much for her and he knew it. This argument always ended in the same place and he hated it. "You can't shelter him forever," he said the storm cutting through him like it always did.

"I have made my decision." She turned away from throwing his hands away in disgust. Bryne watched her leave with a sigh. Watching his son swim in distance he wondered. Was he right about the child…?

Of course he was.

Link trashed about in the water, a small dot in the huge lake. He swam alongside Mipha laughing, and from time to time coughing up the water that he splashed into his mouth. They had almost reached the other side of the lake. Whenever Link tired he would simply hold onto Mipha's arm and they would speed along the water's surface with glee.

"Oi Red." The shriek came from the pier where three small Zora children had gathered. Link swam forward as the children eyed him with pure curiosity.

"I didn't know they could swim," the pale violet Zora girl spoke in amazement.

"Clearly not very well," the bigger Zora snickered.

"Shut it," the smallest Zora spat clearly holding authority over the other two despite his meagre size.

By now Mipha and Link had arrived at the edge of the pier. Mipha climbed up with the same grace present in her every movement. Link struggled to get up, his arms had never been so tired, even from climbing up that Old Man's tower up on the hill back in Hateno. This new swimming thing was more difficult then he could've ever imagined.

"Hi Bazz," Mipha said, looking at the small black finned Zora, some distain in her voice before nodding at the other two. "Rivan, Gaddison."

"What'd you dig up there Mipha?" Rivan the largest Zora kept his eyes fixed on Link.

"This is the Hylian child who came to visit." Link recognised the defensive tone of Mipha's voice, it was the same his mother used against the Argus the farmer after Link was caught playing in his radish patch.

"He doesn't look like a princess to me." The girl Zora Gaddison giggled.

"I'm not a princess." Link spoke fists clenched. He hated the way his cheeks had flushed and heart had sped into that panicked state when he had met the girl for the first time. The only time his heart raced like that was when he had fought off the ChuChu with a stick in the field just outside of Hateno. She was clearly not a monster and yet still his heart seemed to speed up and adrenalin seemed to flow. He was scared of it.

"You speak when spoken to Finless," Rivan jeered, clearly proud of his new insult.

"Rivan!" Mipha hissed at him. From all the time they had spent together already Link had never seen her lose the calm demeanour once, yet now the whole façade seemed to be crashing down

"Don't worry Red the Big Bad Bazz Brigade is curious that's all," the smaller Zora, Bazz spoke with conviction and walked forward directly in front of Link."I tell you what kid let's see just how well a Hylian can get around… Let's see you clearly ain't swimmin' faster." He walked around Link before his eyes lit up with an idea. "I bet you can't get to the other Pier faster by land then I can by water. I bet…this!" Bazz snapped the green gem around Link's neck holding it to the others proudly.

"Hey give that back my Ma gave me that!" Link ran forward only to be pushed back hard onto the ground by Rivan. Link turned to Mipha who would not meet his eyes, defeated.

"Sure kid all you have to do is get to the pier before me." Bazz puffed his chest out proudly. "And don't even think about snitching my Dad's the Demon Sergeant."
With that the child dived into the water, his two cronies following him. "Tell you what I'll give you a head start thirty seconds," Bazz said confidence leaking through his speech.

Link took a second to think and then rushed to Mipha whispering in her ear. She nodded a perplexed look on her face. "You game or what" Bazz called, confused at the secret conversation.

"You're on." Link nodded taking a piece of cloth from Mipha and tying it carefully to one wrist.

"Go!" Gaddison squealed.

With that Link raced to the cliff face to the side of the Pier and began to climb slowly. The Zora children cackled beneath him. "Good luck Kid," Bazz giggled calling out to him. "I better give you a minute or we'll be waiting at the end all day."

Link did not reply his but crunched his face in determination. He put two hands on the outcropping he was aiming for and pulled himself up with great effort. The children bellow were now tiny. He could make out Mipha too who had begun to swim bellow him undoubtedly concerned that he might fall.

"Courage is not forgotten little hero… Take this to remember."

His mother's voice echoed through his head as he tightly tied the other end of the cloth to the other wrist. He remembered looking at the green charm for the first time, watching it's gentle green glow, fascinated by its beauty. "Wherever you may be in the future this will connect us," she smiled down at him. Link had watched the sailing boats down on the beach back in Hateno and wondered how they moved so quickly on the water, sometimes even against the direction of the waves. It wasn't until he had messed around with their washing that he'd realised.

The cloth traps the very air itself and then the boat moves with it.

Link breathed in deeply as he walked to the edge. The screams of Mipha dissipated into the background as he closed his eyes, that charm was his and he was getting it back. He leapt of the outcrop.

Wind whistled in his ears, tugged at his clothes and ripped at his hair. Link opened his eyes ready to see the water rush up to him, doubt had set into his mind the minute he jumped. They were going to laugh at how stupid he was, at how pathetic he was. He wasn't going to get the charm back ever. But, the water beneath him did not rush up at him it stood still below him, the children swimming in it looking at him with gaping mouths. He looked up to see the cloth stretched out above him rippling in the wind. Link whooped as the air whooshed around him. Link had fallen before, he had felt that terror but this…this was something he'd never felt ever.

He felt alive.

He looked down to see Bazz had broken out of his trance of amazement and now sped towards the pier. To the side Mipha cheered Link on. Link had barely been given time to recover from the swimming let alone the climbing and now his arms were burning and screaming for rest. He grit his teeth and directed the makeshift sailcloth towards the pier. The ground slowly came to Link's feet as he landed heavily, falling flat face onto the stones.

Ouch.

It was just a few seconds after recovering and getting up that Mipha hit into him with a crushing hug, tears of relief in her eyes.

"Don't do that again, I thought you were going to die, and then you just…it was amazing, you were like flying, I'm so sorry that I didn't do anything I was just so, but how did you even." Her words gushed in a stream of emotion ranging from sadness, to amazement, to happiness.

Next Bazz's Brigade climbed onto the pier giggling with glee.

"You were just like one of those Rito messengers." Rivan patted Link on the back, pure admiration flowing through his voice.

"A flying Hylian…" Gaddison breathed, looking at Link like some rare gem.

Bazz pushed the green charm into Link's hands. "Sorry we doubted you kid, no hard feelings right?" Link nodded still overwhelmed by the strange sensation he had just experienced, he stared at the charm in his hands which now seemed to shine up at him green.

Bazz spoke again. "Well, what's your name?"

"Link…" he replied.

"Well Link, I personally invite you to Big Bad Bazz Brigade, the best gang in the whole of the Domain, we don't usually recruit land dwellers but I think we can make an exception for you" The other two Zora nodded excitedly.

Link didn't have many friends back at home, there were but two kids back in Hateno and both were scared of him and he didn't know why, maybe it was something to do with the explosive barrel incident... "Yeah you can count me in," he said happily.

The Brigade cheered.

"Alright!" Bazz spoke, his voice had now become deadly serious. "The password is…" He looked to Mipha suspiciously and then shrugged. "Fluffy white clouds! Clear blue… and then you answer Zora."

Link nodded enthusiastically, drilling the answer into his mind. He was not going to forget that. He had actually made friends with the Zora children, he liked that feeling.

"C'mon lets go explore the lake we hardly ever get let near-"

"Bazz!" The name was practically thrown at them and caused all the children to freeze in fear. The Demon Sergeant Seggin had climbed up the stairs and was smiling at the effect he had on the children. "It's almost time for the feast," he said. Link's stomach groaned up at him, he'd hadn't realised how taxing the whole experience had been on him.

"But Father we were just about to play with Link." Bazz groaned.

"Silence! I will not let my son as well as the lady Mipha be late to a feast with the King of Hyrule himself." The hiss escaping the Sergeant made Bazz shrink away and Mipha look down in embarrassment.

"Now...MOVE!" The shriek sent the Brigade and Mipha running down the stairs but as Link tried to leave the Sergeant blocked his path.

"I saw you fly up there." Seggin looked down at him, expression unreadable.

Link's heart sank. "Please don't tell my Pa," he replied. His parents would kill him if they knew he had done something so stupid.

Seggin chuckled. "I've seen a lot of Hylians in my life but none quite like you…and only a child too. I've heard talk that the academy will be taking you in soon."

"What? What's that?" Link asked , he had never heard of the word.

Seggin sighed. "It's a shame really, you have such wild spirit but the academy works well enough, just look at your father, he's one hell of a man." He grinned down at him. "I won't tell him as long as you…BEAT IT!"

Link knew the man was not one to refuse and sprinted down the stairs as fast as his tired legs could carry him.

What was he talking about? The academy?

But there was little time to think. Link had a meal to attend.

"Link where have you been?" His mother rushed forwards pulling him into a close hug. "You're soaking let's get you in your nice shirt, hey?" she said, rolling her eyes clearly expecting as much from him she pulled out a jumper. It was blue with what looked to be a white outline of a nipper on the front which she quickly helped him put on.

"There…" she said smiling proudly. "I thought we might as well try to fit in. Now c'mon tell me what you and Mipha have been up to all day. I heard you made some new friends."

With that she took his hand and they began to walk up to the throne room which now had huge bright blue lights shooting out from it into the darkening sky. Already the sun was hiding behind the steep cliffs that surrounded the domain but its mark was still left on the now orange clouds. Link excitedly told her of the swimming, the bet and the gang.

"Oh you flew to the end like a boat?!" She smiled down at him "I'm sure that was exciting."

Stood at the bottom of the steps to the room was his father, who like normal was tapping his foot uncomfortably.

"Nyssa…" he breathed looking uncomfortably to Link.

She looked down at Link smiling sadly at him. "Go ahead you're sat next to Mipha, I'll be right behind you."

Link nodded. They were going to argue again. What they argued about Link had no clue, but whenever they did his mother would come and hold him straight after more for her comfort than for his. His Ma was always kind and he hated to see that sadness in her eyes.

"Link! Over here," Mipha called out to him, waving him over. Link looked over the room. It was even more amazing than from the outside. The gigantic throne had been removed and now a large ornately decorated table lay horizontally in the room. Zora and Hylian Knights stood around the edges, their armour shining in the blue light, their expressions blank.

Link sat down, his nose barely going over the top of the table. Mipha twittered with a laugh, quietly passing a thick pillow to him to sit on. Across from them were two larger more ornate chairs one golden the other silver in colour.

Mipha noticed him staring. "For the two Kings, their queens are traditionally meant to sit next to them but as the Queen of Hyrule is absent her daughter will take her place and my mother is no longer around with us," she explained.

Link gulped. The chair next to the gold throne was…sat across from him. A shot of panic ran through him. The princess would be opposite from him for the whole meal, he would have to talk to her. He looked desperately for his parents but they were still nowhere to be seen.

"Link…?" Mipha spoke softly.

Oh no she knows…she knows I'm scared of the princess, of a girl.

"I tried to tell you before I'm sorry I didn't stand up for you before." Mipha was looking down at her hands which were clasped together nervously on her lap. "You see I'm starting to get trained by Seggin, Bazz's father and I don't think he likes me." She breathed out heavily. "I thought that if I stuck up for you he would tell Seggin and then…"

Link smiled at her. "It's okay, you're the kindest person I've ever met, other than my Ma. She says kind acts always turn people around."

She looked at him flustered. "You think."

"Yeah he probably does already. I sometimes think my Father hates me but Ma says that's just how some people are," he replied as she began to smile fondly at him.

"Thank you Link." The statement was quiet but unmistakably sincere.

Link's stomach groaned again. There was no food on the table despite the fact most of the guests had now arrived. The Royal advisors sat near to the golden throne murmuring quietly among themselves. Dorephan's advisor Muzu looked stranger then any Zora Link had ever seen and was for some reason glaring at Link with his flat head.

What's his problem.

"Nice to see you made it." Bazz patted him on the back before sitting several seats down sending him a quick wink. Clearly he had forgotten any hostility that he had previously harboured and Link already felt himself like the confident approach the boy took to everything.

Link sighed. Where's the damn food.

"I present King Dorephan of the Zoras and his grace King Rhoam of Hyrule," a regal voice spoke into the chamber. The two large men entered the chamber as all those present at the table stood. Link remained frozen, dumbfounded in what to do.

"Link!" Mipha whispered to him. "Stand!"

He stood quickly. It was coming more and more obvious how little he knew about royal etiquette, there were too many damn rules. That's when Link saw her, the princess. His chest clenched in fear once again. Why? Why was it happening again? His breathing got heavier and every impulse in his body screamed at him to run away.

Looked around for his parents but they were still yet to enter. He was desperate for his Ma, to find comfort in her smile, her gentle eyes. Mipha took his hand and squeezed it gently clearly noticing his discomfort. She smiled at him and Link immediately calmed down a warm sensation flowing through his body.

That was weird.

Mipha let go of his hand as the two Kings and the princess arrived at their seats.

"You may be seated." The King bellowed. It seemed to Link that the man was not capable of talking at normal volume. He realised quickly that he was now the only one stood and sat quickly trying not to notice the rising heat in his pointed ears.

"Almost," Mipha whispered encouragingly.

"Ah Link it's good to see you again," he said looking across kindly, he was already warming up to him. "I hope you haven't been getting into too much trouble?"
The table had already lit up into lively conversation and laughter. Food had finally arrived which he stared at eagerly.

"Erm, no I've been learning to swim with Mipha-" She nudged him. "Sire!"

Rhoam let loose a laugh. "I'm sure you represented Hylians well."

"He did sire." Mipha spoke up.

The King's face turned serious. "Now I will have none of this "sire" nonsense you are all guests."

With that the King turned to talk to Dorephan, voice continuing to echo across the chamber. Mipha had also turned to speak with another Zora around the same size as her.

Link looked to the two seats net to him. Empty.

Where are they?

There was nowhere to run. Link took a deep breath, preparing to look across the table.

Zelda looked across at the boy opposite him. He fidgeted about on his seat clearly wanting to be anywhere else. She tilted her head curiously. All the children she met at court were boring. The girls played with stupid dolls and did little but sit around sewing and learning how to be a lady. The boys were wimps and were scared of playing with her especially after she forced one to dress up to be the princess in the hero of time game.

Well I don't want to be the princess all the time; I want to be the hero.

Her father hated it told her she was embarrassing him and should act "more like a princess," but her mother didn't care she always smiled when she saw her, always looked proud.

This boy on the other hand was fascinating. He was Bryne's son the nice knight, who sneaked her cakes when the other guards weren't looking and always seemed to smile at her when the other Knights would simply pretend she wasn't there. From what she heard from his mother Nyssa, Link did everything. She had spoken fondly of him.

"When he turned four I caught him beating ChuChus with a stick in the field. He comes home every day with something new that he's discovered. Look at this."

She had showed her a fairy trapped in a bottle that Link had caught a few days earlier. "He climbs everything he can: trees, rock faces…the neighbour's balcony. Now he seems intent on learning how to fight with a sword."

Zelda wanted desperately to see Hateno this had been the first time she had been outside the Castle and she was loving every second of it.

Then later this afternoon when she had sat on the roof evading the maid desperately trying to brush her hair she had seen it. Up on the pier above the domain a boy glided down from high up in the air and onto the stones bellow. She zoomed in with the strange device the royal physician Purah had given her for her birthday. As the child was being surrounded by his Zora friends and saw who it was. It was Link.

He looked up at her finally clearly giving into the urge to grab food.

"Hi Link." She said across the table as his hand hovered over the bread. "We met before I'm Zelda."

"Hullo," he mumbled.

She giggled at the sound of his voice, at his clear discomfort in talking to her. "I saw you up on the pier," she said.

He froze mid bite, slowly gulping down the food.

She could hold back the questions no more her mind demanded answers. "I saw you flying. How'd you do it? Did you make wings? How did you manage to get high enough? Did you climb up the cliff? Why did you do it? Did you want to impress the other children? Do you just like the thrill?"

She threw question after question at him as his face twisted in greater and greater confusion. When she stopped he looked across at her with those round blue eyes and then did something she didn't expect. He smiled. A genuine smile, not the fake one the nobles in court plastered onto their face every day or the polite smile the other children or servants wore.

"You know how the boats move in the water, or how the flags move in the wind?" He said. She didn't realise he could speak so much or so well. It was nice.

She nodded.

"Well I trapped the air with the cloth so I could sail through the air."

Her eyes widened. "Of course that makes so much sense, can you show me how it works?" She paused to look at him as he began to retract from her once again. Zelda widened her eyes hopefully.

Come on learn how to make friends.

"Please?" She extended the branch to him and he immediately loosened.

"Sure." He beamed across at her clearly proud to have made such a discovery on his own. "Come out with us tomorrow we're going to the lake."

"You want me to come with you?" She practically gasped it out. No one had ever asked her to come out and play with them and their friends. All the other children in the castle hated her and she wasn't allowed to talk to the ones outside of the Castle gates.

"Hah, yeah," he said, as though the answer was completely obvious.

She looked across half in shock. "Link I-"

"Sorry I'm late sire," the Knight Bryne rushed to his seat next to Link placing a hand on his shoulder. "Please forgive me."

"All is forgiven," the King bellowed. "May I ask where your beautiful wife is?"

"Not feeling well," Bryne muttered. "She sends her sincerest apologies."

"Nonsense, I feel we have all been feeling rather overwhelmed recently."

The King clearly knew the real reason why she hadn't come to the meal. She couldn't stand to sit next to him. The damned argument was getting more and more out of hand and he hated arguing with her more than anything else in the world.

There are more important things at stake

"How are you champ?" He looked down at Link who was now infatuated by the seared meat that sat on his plate.

Link looked up and put on a stupid grin showing his missing tooth again, which he was ridiculously proud of. The boy had hardly made a mess which was what usually happened when this much food was involved. He looked across to see the princess sitting opposite him staring at the boy fascinated.

That explains it.

Hopefully the kid had been okay, he had hated talking to nobles at first. There were so many traps to fall into with the proper etiquette and even now he was a Knight it felt like they talked down, like he was an interesting spot in their carpet rather than an actual person. Still Link seemed fine, the fact he hadn't fled altogether was a miracle based on what had happened with the princess yesterday.

"You never told me" the King stared across the table at him. "How's that horse you found, wild one?"

"Oh Epona?" Bryne replied. "She's been doing fine so far fewer problems then before that's for sure."

That was a lie he had barely managed to get her to the Domain for her debut adventure, he hadn't even ridden her for all that time. That horse had more attitude then most people let alone her own species. She was probably untameable but the speed and strength of the horse was unmatched, she had already become a legend in Hyrule fields by the time he had finally managed to catch it. Now the steed seemed to make a silent comment on his every action with that strange snarky look it would give him.

"Yeah just fine," he realised he had dragged out a long pause. He was in no mood to eat but stuffed the food in anyway just to be polite. The fish seemed to taste of sand to him.

"How have excavations been going?" He eyed the King from across the table carefully.

"Well enough we will have it in the lake any time now," Dorephan spoke for Rhoam. "It has proved quite troublesome but the Shieka do their work well."

"Shieka…" Bryne muttered the word under his breath.

Since the uprising the word sent dread through him. The rebellion had been crushed ruthlessly but at what cost? The best knights of the Kingdom lost and the Yiga clan had only seemed to grown in size and power due to the events. Now it was not just the Shieka he had to watch out for. Yiga had begun to disguise themselves as Hylians also. Bryne had few he could trust back at the castle: the King, Impa, those strange Shieka scholars, of course Alfonzo and a few of the other senior Knights. He wished he could go back to the time, when it was just monsters to fight; now everything seemed so grey.

"In times like these we must stick together." Rhoam looked at Bryne, reading him perfectly.

He knows me too damned well.

"Yeah," Bryne said. He didn't know whether he was convincing the King or himself.

"Come now friend eat up, tell us about that story, the one with the Hinox and the Stone Talus." The King loved that story almost as much as Bryne loved telling it.

He smiled. The Kings, Mipha, Link and the Princess all looking to him with fascination. But when he looked to his right his smile froze. Nyssa was stood there grave faced as a Rito envoy entered the chamber cautiously. The whole table had fallen into a dead silence as the messenger approached the King. As the boy whispered in Rhoam's ear the King stared expressionless at Bryne but the shallow gulp gave the situation away.

Not her no, not yet

"I'm sorry for the interruption...I have received some news," Rhoam's voice was breaking despite his best efforts to conceal. "I must…talk alone." He glanced up at Bryne who nodded firmly at him.

The table erupted into chaos as the Rhoam took Zelda's hand and with Bryne exited the chamber. Most had already guessed the bad news looking at each other thoughtfully, others were more confused. Before exiting the chamber Bryne looked back to Link who was now chatting with one of the Zora friends he had met earlier. He would have to explain why they would be leaving tomorrow later, there were more pressing matters at hand. Placing a hand on the pillar to his right he met Nyssa's gaze which had remained unchanged.

The Queen was dead.