Now that we're this far I can finally start talking about Valda! I'm excited to share more about her… I wanted there to be a tribe similar to the Gerudo in Lorule but with the same iconic 'inversion' from Hyrule: The Rigmår. These Powerful women are a Nomadic Northern tribe of hunters and warriors. They raise and ride horses and much of their culture is based around them. They are based a lot in terms of the lifestyle of the nomadic peoples of Central Asia from around the 12th century AD. I'm excited to get into it later.. Anyways, yeah.
Also, I really wanted to put an emphasis on non-sexual intimacy and touch in this and in the preceding chapter (Don't get me wrong, there is a time and a place for that too… who doesn't love some smut?) but I really wanted to drive home the idea of benign touch and cuddling in a family/friend sense. I love to cuddle and 99% of the time its without ulterior intent. Just to be close to someone I care about... to feel them; warm and alive and close. It's a special kind of comfort unlike anything else. We live in such a touch starved world, especially in the west that we assume automatically that anyone we see curled up or holding hands over a certain age is 'together'… I feel like intimacy is something that really ought to be brought back into the world in a meaningful way. Anyways…yeah. Enough from me. Onto the story!
Valda awoke to the first slivers of dawn light coming through the balcony doors. She liked to sleep with them open, the still air of a closed-off room made her feel antsy. She watched the curtains flutter in the pre-morning breeze. She sighed in contentment and looked down at her sleeping companions. All three of the women had clambered into her bed last night after their evening dip in the hot tub and had fallen asleep in short order. Dani was curled into her arm on her left side and Winona was snuggled much the same on her right. The girls clasped hands over her middle like children in their sleep. This caused Valda to have to stifle a chuckle, lest she wake them. The two really were as sisters, in all but blood. She hoped that they always would be…
Valda sighed, suddenly feeling a little too warm, she gently removed herself from the embrace of the smaller duo and made her way to the balcony. She breathed deep the early morning chill and sighed looking out over the courtyard.
She would miss it here. She didn't think that she would, almost as much as she missed the Rigmår of her homeland. The icy windswept plains, the dense, ancient woods, the snow… her home. She missed her people. She supposed that she may get to see them again soon. Until a few days ago, she hadn't thought that was possible. Ever since Her Majesty had tasked Valda with protecting the Triforce of Strength and spiriting it away to this world she assumed that she would probably never again see her home. She should be happy, shouldn't she?
Valda turned around to see the two sleeping girls still in her bed, they had scooted closer in their sleep and were now curled up together like puppies, snuggled deep under the blankets. She frowned and felt the sting of tears trying to fight their way from her eyes. She rubbed at them with the heel of her palm. Everything was changing. There would be time to mourn later… but not yet.
She soundlessly made her way to the armoire and withdrew from it her old cloak and several other items that she had not needed in an age. Today would mark the beginning of a new era for all of them, for better or for worse. She only hoped that she could keep them all safe… and that they could still stand together at the end of it all.
"She looked once more over her shoulder at her sleeping girls, her friends…her Family before she turned and made for the door. She rested a hand upon the knob, hesitating only momentarily, and took a deep breath. "For Lorule…" She whispered, and she was gone.