36. Are you going to tell her?
LINK POV
I have always mocked people who claim to fear darkness, there is absolutely nothing wrong with darkness, the only challenge it brings, is that it cloaks your sight, not very different from being asked to close your eyes for a surprise. What people actually fear is the UNKNOWN.
Link was thinking as he was running evasively from the pellets the skull kids where shooting, he was finding it a little hard to do for one simple reason, he could not breathe properly, Zelda was almost chocking him in, holding tight to his neck in fear.
I could ask her to loosen her grip on me… but I won't do that to her. She is completely terrified, and has EVERY right to be under the circumstances forced upon her. She has been blinded, finds herself in a vulnerable position where she CAN'T run away, and is currently hearing the sound of cracking chestnuts and children's evil laughter. It must be UNNERVING… Yet she has not even attempted to scream. I can't help but be amazed at her will power. She is even biting my shoulder at times to avoid screaming, Zelda has decided that she WON'T complicate the situation further by disclosing our location with her screams.
*But the Princess appears to be afraid of heights, be nice and prepare her for the fall
"We have to fall through a ground hole, it's not a long fall, try not to scream" Link informs her.
Zelda just nods and whimpers softly. Link jumps down the hole, Zelda felt she was about to throw up her insides, but managed to avoid screaming like a little girl, as they landed, she could not help but smile at her success, but then she notices a metallic taste on her mouth. Zelda immediately removes the blindfold and notices what she did to Link's shoulder.
"SHIT, I DID NOT MEANT TO I SWEAR" Zelda says with shame
"I know, don't worry about it, you got your rabies shot right?" Link jokes half smiling
"FUCK YOU, I am not an animal" Zelda screams frustrated
"We all are animals anyway… but you are right, you are not an animal, I would actually like you if you were one… it's a work in progress" Link says winking at her.
Link grabs Zelda's hand and directs her towards an exit. Once they got out Zelda looked back, they appear to have come out of a small cave. The first thing Zelda noticed is that the air smelled different, she could not really place it but there was something different about it, also the sky was not as blue as Hyrule's. Someone came rushing to Zelda and covered her with a towel. Then they were both ushered to boarding a Van. Everything was new and different, there where sounds she could not recognize, lots of shiny surfaces blinding her, every person smelling a lot of cologne and yelling something, it was too much stimuli all of a sudden. Zelda starts to panic.
Link realizes and grabs her by the shoulders forcing her to stare at him, and stare she did, she notices his eyes, a gray color that wanted to become blue but never quite got there, she feels his thumbs slowly rubbing her shoulders, she then closes her eyes to breath in slowly, and as she does, she smells him, an odor she knows and enjoys displacing all the other heavy cologne smells. When she opens her eyes she finds Link staring at her, he begins to smile.
"I am right here"
ZELDA POV
I have lost my mind, how can a dangerous and insane person with no moral compass be my safe place? yet… he IS. And in a deranged way, it makes total sense to me. I need professional orientation for this. Actually, that is a no-no, the last thing I want is for a medical professional to box me on a condition, I am a princess, I can't afford to be crazy. I need to read more about this first, there must be some info on this at the castle's library.
"I know, and I am glad you are" Zelda answers
Link lets go of her shoulders, looking at her he states
"Rule of thumb, wherever you are you do what you see, that way you don't let them know you are an outsider, the advantage you have is that you are with me, all you have to do is mimic me, if you don't see me worrying or scared you shouldn't be either…. Tell me, what catches your interest or curiosity? I will explain to the best of my ability"
Zelda starts to smile and points at the Van, then adds "do I have to use this towel? I am sweating, I wish to take it off"
Link extends a hand to take the towel from her, Carla gets out of the Van in shock and angry at Link.
"Zelda is hot ma'am, she may not be wearing appropriate clothes but she is not naked" Link says with a tint of anger, willing to defend his princess choice to rid of the towel.
Sighting "Well then let's head to the facility, I brought some clothes she can use for when you take her shopping today… OH! And I bought a bra and panties too. She needs to try those, check if it's her size or not for when you buy her more… and YES, you have to take her to buy MORE underwear, one is not enough for her stay, not sorry at all" Carla mocks Link
"Let's just end this now, shall we? Just bring the acid barrel, I will happily jump into it" Carla laughs, Link smiles and points at the VAN "that is a motorized carriage, motorized means it's a machine that moves burning fuel inside instead of needing horses"
It burns inside? We are inside a moving boiler then? And what type of fuel does it use? It can't be wood logs, can it?
"I… am not sure I understand how it works"
"You don't need to, not many people do and they still buy and use them" Link opens the back door and signals for her to get in.
They both get inside and the driver takes them to SWORD'S facility. Zelda was amazed at the VAN, it was comfortable to ride on, and the temperature inside was fresh, Link told her it was the air conditioner of the vehicle they were using; it cooled or warmed the air on demand.
The humans here appeared to have discovered how to use electricity for commodities such as this, and it's not difficult to get these commodities for the rest of the people, I have seen a lot of similar vehicles passing us by.
They arrived to a tall structure, Zelda thought she will see SWORD'S name somewhere, but there was nothing, it in fact looked abandoned. That only made her feel suspicious and insecure. She turns to Link who covers his mouth to yawn.
"It can't be here, there is no SWORD logo anywhere"
Link chuckles "If everyone knew where to find us, they can execute a plan to get rid of us, we must remain in the shadows for safety" he says
Link opens his door and exits the Van; Zelda follows behind him. they start walking towards the building, once they entered, she found the place filthy, and it appeared to be an apartment building, Link drew a key he used to open a mailbox, he removed his glove to insert his hand to get it scanned, after that the elevator opened and he walked inside pulling Zelda with him. Link was putting the glove back when they started to descend getting a squeak out of Zelda., Link just chuckled at it.
"This concept of going down without use of stairs is new to me, don't explain how it works, I won't understand and it will stress me" Zelda looks fixated at Link's hands "You know, I always thought your hands were deformed, burned or full of tattoos, and that is why you insisted on using those gloves at all times, but your hands are normal, why the gloves?" Zelda asks with intrigue
"Habit, I am a SWORD agent, can't leave finger prints behind that could connect to me, Hyrule doesn't have the technology to find finger prints, but this world does, anything you touch you leave a finger print on it."
"Wait… that means it's easy to catch thieves and other type of evil doers, how come the population still needs SWORD?" Link just stares at her with a neutral expression waiting, then Zelda opens her eyes wide in realization "you are not the only ones with access to information and resources, criminals are completely able to find ways to bypass surveillance, am I right?" Zelda asks but doesn't need an answer, she is right, she can bet on it.
Link just continues to stare at her, but this time he produces half a smile and gives her a small nod. The elevator door opens again and they walk out into a hall that connects to many rooms.
"Is that you Kid? Get in here you need to see this" yells Wolf from one of the rooms
An elevator that was next to the one Link and Zelda used opens, out comes a man with a goatee beard and hits of grey on his hair. He smiles at them and approaches Link shaking a bottle with pills.
"You were right Stephen; I don't need them anymore" Link tells him refusing the pills
"Its Dr. Strange to you, and I am always right Kid, have you considered…"
"No, SHIELD is full extremely powerful people, you don't need me, the only benefit I bring is access to Hyrule and I am NEVER GOING TO ALLOW SHIELD TO HAVE THAT, I believe you know why, right?"
"I know, I also know the future is not set in stone, it always changes, reason why I find it my obligation to always ask if you changed your mind" Stephen Strange says as the elevator opens again and Carla comes out, she notices the Doctor and quickly exchanges pleasantries with him as he boards the elevator back.
Did… did this doctor just invited my guardian to join SHIELD, and he a refused? I need to remember this to ask about it later, and what's with those pills? Does he have a condition or something? FUCK, it makes sense now, he doesn't just need blood bags, he may need an organ donor. WAIT, he said he doesn't need the pills anymore, didn't he? I am so confused.
Carla approached them running "girl you should come with me to try some clothes" she tells the Princess and drags her away; Zelda turns to Link who just waves her off and walks in a room. They enter a bathroom; Carla closes it from inside and turns to the Princess
"All right, let me show you what a bra is and how to use it"
Zelda doesn't know if she should be excited or scared, so she just breaths in slowly. Then a hard thud is heard, both girls frown a little but dismiss it completely. Outside of the bathroom and two doors down the hall Wolf is trying to calm Link and asking to see the injured hand, Link had punched the wall in anger. Wolf's laptop still displayed the image of Bardick Tudor next to scandalous headlines. All the information SWORD had on Bardick was already printed.
"Are you going to tell her?" Wolf asks handing Link the printed info.