Nabo, Gerudo Capital, The Morning After Hero's Day
Cefaris, the elderly chieftain of the Gerudo, was already in the Gerudo Palace's Breakfast Room when Zelda was shown in. As Cefaris' main adviser, Minari was there as well, her wheeled chair rolled in position to the right of the Chieftain. Zelda was shown to the chair opposite the two.
She curtsied. "Sav'otta," she said.
"Good morning to you as well, Princess," Cefaris said. "I trust you slept well? Please, sit."
"I slept very well, thank you," Zelda said with a smile, sitting down as invited. She opted to accept Cefaris' cue and to not to insist on speaking Gerudo. Cefaris' Hylian was far better than Zelda's command of the desert language anyway. "Thank you as well, again, for inviting me to your celebrations yesterday."
Minari exchanged a glance with Cefaris, who nodded.
"It was our pleasure, Princess," Minari said, "All the more so that we wanted to talk to you."
Zelda nodded, hoping the Chieftain and Minari wanted to discuss the same topic that concerned her: there had been some ugly incidents lately involving Gerudo and Hylians.
Minari cleared her throat. "You are aware, Princess, that Gerudo merchants have been running into aggressive Hylians in Castle Town and other Hylian settlements lately. We can certainly defend ourselves when necessary, but merchants travel for business, they're not looking for a fight."
"Yes," Zelda said. "I regret these incidents as much as you do. I will be candid, however, and reverse the question."
"We know some Gerudo are making trouble as well, yes," Cefaris said. "Like at The Traveller's Inn last week…" The Chieftain smirked. "I must command your subjects' loyalty."
"The two Gerudo Vais involved are in jail," Minari said. "Insulting Prince Hylrick's devotion to your Goddess and stating he'd hide behind prayers when action would be necessary was unacceptable, and pretending not to know who he was when someone mentioned Prince Naydri was tasteless."
"And calling you a third Prince was absolutely unforgiveable," Cefaris finished. "These two idiots absolutely deserved the beating they got at the hands of the twelve Hylians who took them on."
Zelda clenched her jaw. She could have gone on a lot longer on what the Gerudo had been saying about Hylrick and herself. As cruel as pretending they didn't so much as know that he existed was, Naydri had at least escaped the worst of the insults, and since the 'jokes' were still circulating, she slightly envied him for it. The worst part of her wanted to demand how common such opinions were among the Gerudo, but she stomped down the impulse. Some Gerudo were making trouble, yes, but if she judged by the incidents she heard about, even more problems started with Hylians misbehaving. She clenched her fists.
"On the other hand, Gerudo travellers have been getting harassed far too often," Zelda said, irritated at herself for her pointless resentment over The Traveller's Inn. As much as it pained her to think about it, Hylians were in fact the instigators significantly more often than the Gerudo. Her fists tightened harder, her nails biting into her palms, but her jaw refused to stay shut this time. "By Nayru forsaken hateful wastes of air," she finished with a snarl.
Cefaris chuckled. "It's gratifying to see you just as angry with your idiots than with ours, Princess."
Zelda felt heat rising to her cheeks: the outburst had been completely unnecessary, and by the sounds of it, her anger about The Traveller's Inn incident had also been obvious.
"I do find the situation incredibly frustrating," she admitted, "and I'm glad..."
She was interrupted by one of her accompanying Sheikah guards, who suddenly appeared right next to her with the customary flash, earning a raised eyebrow from Cefaris. The Sheikah handed the Princess a note before bowing and very underwhelmingly letting herself out through the door.
"I trust you instructed your Shadow Vais not to be so rude unless absolutely necessary?" Minari said.
"Indeed," Zelda said, opening the note. "I do apologize."
She read through the note twice, at first refusing to believe her eyes, and got up shakily.
"All ten Sea Folk communities were attacked by large groups of monsters overnight," she summarized, her voice barely getting through a knot in her throat. "There were dozens of casualties…" She swallowed and breathed deeply, forcing her emotions down to stay on task. "I'm sorry, but I must leave right away."
Minari's eyes were wide. "Coordinated large scale attacks…? Princess, are you thinking…?"
"Partly coordinated," Cefaris corrected. "If the monsters had been under intelligent control beyond getting them where they needed to be, the Sea Folks would just be no more, except for wherever the Hero happened to be. The Enemy is powerful, no doubt, but does have limits. Good to know."
Zelda was already walking through the door, but stopped in her tracks, her blood suddenly boiling. The urge to turn around and scream at the Gerudo Chief for the cold tactical analysis of how Sea Folks were not ALL dead was nearly overwhelming. Her Grandmother had faced criticism all the way to her death bed for welcoming the refugees, and there were still some who felt she shouldn't have. Zelda knew Cefaris wasn't among them, but the completely detached tone in the face of the horrors of last night... She clenched her jaw and forced herself to take a slow breath through her nose: she was jumping to conclusions and besides, she needed to go. She needed to come up with a neutral answer. Something else than a lecture on caring for others.
Minari spoke before Zelda could think of something. "CEFARIS!" Her tone was sharp, angry.
Zelda turned. Cefaris had her head cocked at her advisor, clearly confused.
"You know Hylian customs better than this," Minari said, scowling. "People died. You do NOT jump straight to military analysis because Hylians will NOT see that as your being ready and eager to assist and prevent more death, not if you don't first specifically state your sorrow."
Zelda's jaw relaxed and she looked down. Minari was being a diplomat, addressing Cefaris rather than herself, but the lecture clearly applied to Zelda as well: Cefaris knew Hylians expected sorrow and sympathy to actually be expressed, yes, but Zelda knew just as well that the Gerudo preferred shows of actual support. Cefaris going straight to an analysis had not been callous at all, she was involving herself, pledging her support and by extension the Gerudo's help, on the spot with no hesitation at all.
"That's not necessary," she said before Cefaris could awkwardly string a sentence together to express something she was accustomed to keeping to herself. "Thank you for being an invaluable ally."
She left then, walking at a quick pace that had just as much to do with her embarrassment with herself as with the need for speed.
She was on the road less than half an hour later, thankfully in a carriage because she would have likely been unkind to her horse had she been riding. Her anger at both Hylians and Gerudos that couldn't manage to get along with the others was barely registering anymore over her outright fury at the Enemy, whoever or whatever THAT might be, and their cowardly attacks on innocent people.
The Lost Woods, the same morning
As soon as he played the Minuet of the Forest, Link's home dissolved into a green glow that faded to reveal the Lost Woods, next to what would have been the entrance to the Forest Temple back in the days, but which was now just the entrance to scant ruins.
Link took a deep breath, put the ocarina away and walked into the thick of the woods, towards the Great Deku Tree's clearing.
He allowed his instincts to lead him, as usual whenever he came here. In this case there really was no other choice: not a single Kokiri showed up to guide him. It felt ominous, somehow, even though the forest children were probably all just off playing somewhere. Or maybe this was nap time. Assuming of course that kokiris napped.
He arrived in the clearing within minutes. The Great Deku Tree was at the far end of it, just past the small barely raised platform that was the Master Sword's resting place.
He walked to the small platform and stopped, looking up at the tree. It hadn't reacted to his presence yet: even sentient trees did not have the fastest reaction times, and this one was so secure in its domain that it didn't continually monitor its surroundings.
"Great Deku Tree?" Link called.
The tree stirred, evidenced by the leaves rustling high above Link and the trunk of the tree suddenly becoming animated, the knots and bumps of the bark resolving themselves into a kindly, ancient face.
"Link." The voice wasn't loud, but it still somehow filled the space. It would have been intimidating if not for its gentleness. "An unexpected pleasure. What brings you here?"
Link swallowed and slowly, carefully, unsheathed the Master Sword, showing it to the tree.
The Great Deku Tree hummed.
"Do you know if anything like this has ever happened before?" Link asked. "It was fine yesterday morning and nothing happened that should have damaged it."
The Great Deku Tree sighed. "I don't know all of the sword's history, but I have never seen it in such a condition before. I'm afraid the best I can suggest is to allow the Master Sword to repair itself… whatever curse managed to get ahold of it will be defeated once the blade rests."
Link's shoulders sagged slightly.
"So you don't know of it ever getting fixed in any other way before?" he asked.
"I know that the three Springs of the Goddesses were once said to have strengthened it, with Sacred Flames if you are to believe the oldest legends," the Great Deku Tree said, "but even if those legends are true, it would have been done on an incomplete but undamaged blade. I would not recommend risking it: in its current state, attempting to plunge the Master Sword in water or fire would likely do more harm than good, don't you think?"
Link sighed and nodded. He pointed the sword down and lined it up with the slot in its platform.
This was almost certainly the work of the Enemy, and it was a major blow. Link resolved that he'd just have to make sure it remained the Enemy's last victory; he'd just have to find another way to defeat this latest incarnation of Demise's Curse. The Princesses sometimes also had the power to seal evil… perhaps his next move was to talk to her.
He moved the sword downward, slowly. He couldn't risk hitting it on the stone, he needed to slide it in as gently as he could. The tip, or rather the jagged end from which the tip had broken off, was just a few fingers width away from the slot when the sword suddenly burst into flames.
Link's eyes went wide and he yanked the sword away from the platform, jumping back himself as well. The fire went out immediately, leaving the blade singed in addition to the damage it had been showing before.
Link stared at the sword, his mouth opened but no sound coming out.
"This is an impossibility," the Great Deku Tree said.
Link's knees gave out. He found himself kneeling on the forest floor, staring at the sword that was cursed so badly it couldn't even be put to rest like it had after each Cursed Age for thousands of years.
He wouldn't be able to let the Master Sword fix itself and just do without, safe in the knowledge that regardless of what happened to him, his next life would be able to use the Blade of Evil's Bane again. Either he found a way to fix it, or the blade would crumble away and be lost forever.
And the Great Deku Tree was just as stumped as he was. Link's lip twitched nervously at his own thought that the TREE was STUMPED. It wasn't funny and yet he was having a hard time not laughing. The urge passed quickly, his thoughts centering back on how bad the situation was.
"I thought having to give up the sword so that the next Hero could have it was the worst thing that could happen," Link said. He tore his eyes away from the blade to look at the Great Deku Tree.
"It should have been," the Great Deku Tree confirmed.
Link felt a flash of irritation that he promptly beat down. He needed to calm down and think. So. After earning it 8 years ago, he now had to fix the Master Sword. If he didn't, Hyrule would be doomed until a deity or some other powerful being gifted the Kingdom with a new blessed weapon capable of cutting through Demise's evil. IF that ever happened.
He took a deep breath and met the Great Deku Tree's eyes.
"The Springs you mentioned... are they the same ones that are still around now? Courage in Faron, Wisdom on Mount Lanayru and Power in Akkala?"
"Yes. Do you think they are now your best hope?" the tree asked.
"Don't you?" Link asked back.
The Great Deku Tree took a moment to think. "Perhaps," he finally replied. "Be warned, however... the Springs have been in turn abandoned and rededicated back and forth between Hylia and the Golden Goddesses. I don't know whether they retain any of their original power. All I know of them is second hand... told to my ancestors and myself by the Royal Family."
Link nodded. "I'll start with Faron." He sheathed the Master Sword carefully and bowed to the Great Deku Tree. "Thank you for your wisdom."
He took out the fairy ocarina and played the Ode to Courage which would bring him to the approach to the Spring of Courage.
Faron, near the Spring of Courage, a bit later
Link sat near the river's shore, just outside the entrance to the Spring of Courage proper. There were people within the Spring and given the fact this area was known to be anti Sea Folk, chances were whoever was in there would be hostile to him. Therefore, Link had every intention to not cross paths with them. His plan was to wait for them to leave, unless it started to look like they would linger for several hours. He was straight up furious at the waste of time, but between that and ending up having to hurt people or allow himself to be hurt, the choice was obvious.
So far, whoever was in there had been pretty consistently loud, even though Link couldn't make out exact words. Link was hoping that meant that they were doing what they needed to do without pause and would not be there too long. He had the Magic Cape around his shoulders, with the clasp in his hand, and intended on activating the cape and making himself invisible as soon as the people within the Spring started walking out of it.
That plan changed instantly when he heard a scream: a high pitched gravelly scream that sounded like the throat it came from was filled with pebbles, and that Link automatically assumed was coming from a Goron child. There was a splash and the scream stopped.
He clasped the cape on and ran in, invisible, unsheathing the nimble blade on his back as he went.
He held back a string of curses at the spectacle inside the Spring: a group of people, all wearing hooded golden robes and equally gold masks, were gathered at the edge of the pond, chanting as they watched a relatively small Goron trashing under the water.
Link ran for the Goron child, knocking over a cult member in his way as he went. He dove and grabbed the kid with his free arm, sheathing the sword back and taking out his hookshot with the other.
Cult members were pointing at him and even from under the water, Link could hear them yelling. He realized that they could probably see his silhouette from the water's movement, and would be able to see the water on him when he surfaced, but there was nothing for it.
He pointed the hookshot at the biggest of the trees flanking the spring and pulled the trigger. The hook took off at speed, embedded itself in the tree and the return mechanism was triggered, pulling Link and the Goron kid violently out of the water and all the way to the tree.
The Goron sputtered and wheezed, and started bawling. Link had his first good look at him and this time, did not hold back on any curses: he hadn't rescued a kid, he'd rescued a BABY, not even old enough to walk or talk.
He looked back at the cult members. They were staring, apparently unsure of what to do. Given the lack of violent response, Link felt they were most likely unharmed. He glanced at the baby again and unclasped his cape – he wanted answers even more than he wanted to avoid a confrontation. Since he was dealing with people who had been about to murder a baby, diplomacy was out of the question: it was time to look scary.
He jumped down from the tree, still holding the baby, and stared down the cult members.
"WHERE'S HIS FAMILY?" he thundered. "ANSWER!"
One of the cult members bent down and picked up a rock. Others imitated him.
"You want to think VERY carefully on that, murderers," Link growled. "I'm armed to the teeth AND a powerful magician, and I just found you about to murder a baby on Holy Ground. I have four different spells that can end all of you in one second. Just saying." He decided not to mention the fact that three of those spells would not work right now, due to the Master Sword being unusable.
It hardly mattered since he was bluffing anyway: he'd never attack people and would certainly never even consider murdering them.
The cult members did not move. The baby was still bawling. Link held on to him a bit closer: Gorons were remarkably fond of physical contact for people made of rough rocks. The baby didn't stop crying but Link figured the hug was probably still some comfort, so he kept it up.
"AGAIN, WHERE ARE HIS GUARDIANS?" Link repeated. "Did you kill them somewhere else?"
"Those things don't raise their youngs," one of the cult members replied. "This one was wandering alone."
Those Things . Link's eyes narrowed. He supposed the attempted murder was worse than the insult, but hearing people being called things was still revolting.
"He's too young for that," he countered. "Yes or no, are his guardians dead? And where did you find him?"
One of the cult members shushed the others and stepped forward. "You have no right to question us, Sea Boy. This animal was a ritual sacrifice to beg for the Goddess's favor – we will let HER punish you."
Link's fists clenched against the baby and his upper lip curled up in a snarl. First a thing and now an animal to sacrifice. These people made his stomach turn.
"Everyone," the cult member continued, "we're leaving. He's not going to fight us while carrying a large boulder and I am promising him right now that if he lets go of the thing to fight us, most of us will fight back and while he's busy, the rest of us will kill the rock beast."
Link focused on not moving because the urge to attack the vile idiots was rising fast. He elected to be rid of them as soon as he could and made no reply – arguing with them was obviously pointless, they weren't going to answer him. He supposed he'd been naive to think that they might.
The cult left, with only a few of the members glancing back nervously. Link bared his teeth at them but didn't move.
As soon as the golden garbage people were out of sight, he sat down with the baby in his lap, rocking him.
"Do rock babies like being rocked, little guy?" he asked. He winced. Why was it always when he was already on edge that his brains cursed him with terrible puns?
The baby quieted pretty quickly. Link wished it was as easy to quiet his own worries. It was likely this cult had been performing other sacrifices here, and even this one attempt was more than enough to defile the Spring. There was no telling whether Hylia or Farore would ever want to come near this place again.
"We're going to bring you home, but we need to let the King know about those bad guys first," he told the Goron. "Like I have time for any of this. Like the Enemy and actual monsters aren't trouble enough, we got to have people acting like monsters, too..."
The baby expressed his sympathy by falling asleep.
Link put him down and walked to the edge of the water. There was no fire around, or anything that looked like it was meant to light holy flames of any kind, but the water was there. Dunking the Master Sword in there meant risking molded, rusted and rotted bits breaking off in the water, and he would then have to dry it, which meant potentially rubbing off MORE of the blade. Unfortunately, he HAD to try. Doing nothing was definitely not going to make the sword better either.
He slowly eased the Master Sword out of its sheath, noting again that the damage seemed to be getting slowly worse. He put a knee down and positioned the damaged blade just above the water.
He had planned prayers for both Hylia and Farore, but there was no way he was saying them now: it would have just been insulting the Goddesses to dare think there was any chance they'd heed any prayer coming from this defiled place. The only hope he had left was that the Spring had some magic of its own. Ever so gently, he lowered the blade in the water.
Thankfully, no bits broke off.
Unfortunately, nothing else happened either. Link waited several seconds, then gently slid the sword back out of the water. He grabbed a piece of polishing cloth from his pouch and as gently as he could, wiped the blade clean. Miraculously, that didn't cause any chips or bits to break off either.
He sheathed the sword and sighed. He walked back to the baby and picked him up again, carrying him with one arm, the heavy rocky head on his shoulder. The baby snored lightly, making a sound not unlike pebbles rolling under foot.
"Okay, buddy," Link said. "Sorry if this wakes you up and it's scary."
He played the modified version of the Royal Family's song that would bring him to the gates of the Castle, and the Spring dissolved into light around him.
Castle Town, immediately after
The area in front of Hyrule Castle was a wide path lined with gardens. It was opened to the public and it wasn't unusual to see people meandering around. There were only a few people about today, but they still reacted as you'd expect to one of the Sea Folks, in full Hero garb and with several visible weapons, suddenly appearing: there were a few startled yelps and a lot of staring.
Link stowed the ocarina back in his pouch and put his newly free hand up in a gesture of peace. "I'm very sorry for startling you," he said in a measured, gentle tone and a friendly smile. "I'm just passing through, I..."
The baby stirred and started bawling, interrupting him. Everyone stopped staring at Link, but since it was only because they were staring at the baby in his arms instead, it wasn't much of an improvement. Link figured someone would demand to know what he'd done to the baby any second.
He was pleasantly surprised when a chorus of "oohhh!" and "awwhhh!" erupted instead, followed by several people walking right up to Link to make faces at the baby, and proceeding to bombard Link with offers to hold the 'cutey patootey' and with comments on how Link probably had hero stuff to do and had to let them help. The situation quickly went from pleasant to infuriating as the crowd effectively blocked him from advancing towards the Castle.
"Sorry... sorry, I can't, he weighs the same as a rock of that size... sorry, no, thank you though... yeah he IS cute, even more when he's sleeping... no really you won't be able to hold him he's really heavy... me? Oh it's those gauntlets, they're magic... sorry, no, not even on your lap, it would hurt..."
A rumbling behind him interrupted the offers and the apologies: what Link had so far mistaken for one of the decorative rocks at the edge of the garden was unfurling into not a decoration but a Goron who'd obviously been napping in the sun.
Link turned towards the rock man and just barely resisted the temptation to push the baby in his arms and run without so much as a word. That would have been rude.
The Goron spotted him and grinned. "Squishy Brother!"
Link smiled back. He had no idea who this was. It wasn't rare for Gorons he'd never met to know him and the nickname he'd earned from his usual reaction to the frequent Goron attempts at a friendly tackle or group hug: a hasty retreat with a shouted reminder that he was squishy. The fact that he would suddenly get a lot squishier if they squeezed him or tackled him at full speed was implied.
The Goron walked over and smiled at the baby. "Who roped you into babysitting, Brother?"
Link was absolutely not getting into that with anyone else than Big Brother and the King. The Goron Leader should get to decide what to communicate to the rest of them, and besides, Link didn't have time to repeat the whole story to anyone who asked.
"Long story," he said instead. He held the baby out. "I'm sorry to impose, I really am, but I have to see the King and I wouldn't know how to take care of a human baby, much less a Goron one. I need help. Desperately."
Several people immediately shouted offers to help. Link smiled at them but kept his focus on the Goron.
The Goron's eyes widened. He obviously hadn't signed up for this.
"Please? Pretty please? You got lots of helpers roaring to go but they can't hold him. We're ALL squishy."
The Goron sighed. "No worries, Brother. I got it."
He took the baby and offered him his thumb. The baby sucked on it briefly before spitting it out and resuming his crying. "He's hungry, goro!" the Goron said, clearly happy to have figured out the baby's problem. "I got it. Good luck with the King."
He sat down on the edge of the path, produced a spoon from his pack and started spooning dirt in the baby's mouth, who cried through the first two bites before he figured out that he could eat faster if he stopped crying.
"Thank you, Brother!" Link called out as he quickly walked off towards the gate.
The King was in his study, reviewing some reports from the borders, when his door opened on his secretary, Raffel. This was as instructed: the King did not like having to first say 'enter' loud enough to get through the thick wall before being truly interrupted – he preferred to just have it done with immediately.
"Your majesty?" Raffel said. "I'm sorry to interrupt. The Hero is here to see you. I personally confirmed his identity by attempting to put on his pendant. It was indeed Farore's Medal, and it rejected me as expected before flying back to him."
The King frowned slightly: his secretary was pale.
"Did something happen?" The King asked. "You look rattled."
Raffel flushed and looked down. "I'm sorry, Sire, it was just foolishness on my part. I've seen his last pictographs, but they fail to convey…" he swallowed. "He's grown, and he's tall, and his shoulders are fairly wide. I mean, wider than mine, anyway."
The King sighed and pinched his nose. "Raffel, the Sea Folks' reputation for being prone to anger and violence is completely unjustified. I would have expected you to know this. Know it now."
The secretary swallowed. "Yes, your Majesty," he said, bowing.
"Show him in," the King said.
The King was up from his desk, waiting, when Link entered in his study, ushered in by Raffel. The Hero immediately went down on one knee.
"Up," the King ordered.
Link complied and stood, head bowed and fist on his heart, waiting.
"I am deeply saddened by the attacks last night and the losses in most of the settlements," the King said, "even if I'm very grateful your home suffered no such loss. It's also good to see you well."
Link's heart tightened at the mention of the other settlements. He forced his mind away from the subject because he couldn't break down trying to think of how many people he knew, how many relatives and friends living elsewhere than Given, might be dead. He needed to make the living safe again, he couldn't afford the time to dwell on the dead, he needed to be focused. He swallowed and bowed at the waist briefly. "Thank you, your Majesty. We are all well at home, yes."
"Now tell me what brings you here."
"Yes, your Majesty," the Hero said. "I am just back from the Spring of Courage, where I had to rescue a Goron infant from a cult trying to ritually sacrifice him by drowning. They were wearing hooded golden colored robes and masks concealing their faces. If I may offer an opinion, Sire, I think they pose a danger to more than just that one baby."
"You didn't stop them?" the King asked.
The Hero bit his lips. "I'm sorry, your Majesty. I didn't. If I may be allowed to explain…" Link paused a moment, giving the King a chance to stop him. "They didn't leave me the option of detaining them without seriously harming them: they threatened to target the baby if I didn't let them go," Link said, his pace getting gradually quicker the longer he talked. "I would have been able to keep the baby from harm, but not the cult members as well."
"I'm not chastising you," the King clarified, "I agree that you cannot take it upon yourself to be judge and executioner. I was merely confirming." He sighed. "The cult you saw is known to us. They call themselves the Children of Hylia and I would not have mourned if you had been forced to kill a few of them. When were they at the Spring?"
"It was less than an hour ago, your Majesty."
The King nodded. "Then we may be able to track them. Raffel!" he called out.
The secretary poked his head in.
"Bring me General Roam immediately."
"Yes, Sire."
The secretary bowed out and Link could hear him running down the hall.
"What news otherwise, Link?" the King asked. "Is all well? Are you making progress on tracking the Enemy?"
Link sighed. "I haven't been able to even start, your Majesty. Colonel Remiss is on his way to tell you this because I didn't expect, when I last saw him, to end up here. With your permission, may I unsheathe the Master Sword?"
The King frowned in puzzlement but nodded.
Link carefully eased the sword out of its sheath. The King inhaled sharply.
"It was by all appearances free of any damage or curse in the morning of Hero's Day, but when we were attacked that night, it was... like this," Link explained.
"Exactly like this?" the King asked.
Link reluctantly inspected the blade. It was again a bit worse than the last time he'd looked at it.
"I apologize for the inaccuracy, my King. I do believe that it's slowly getting worse," he admitted, "but most of the damage was already there that night. I visited the Great Deku Tree, seeking his advice, but he doesn't know of any way to repair it other than letting it rest, so I tried to do just that. The sword burst into flame when it got close to the slot on its platform – that's why the blade is singed on top of everything else. All the Great Deku Tree could suggest was to try bringing it to the three Springs. The Spring of Courage has been defiled, and I'm not surprised it didn't work. I intend to try the Springs of Power and Wisdom next, as soon as I've brought the baby to Big Brother. Unless of course you object."
The King hummed, eyes locked on the sword. "The Princess is on her way back from the desert, I expect her to arrive early evening. I think it is time for you both to start working together."
Link bowed. "I'm grateful for the offer, your Majesty, but I must tell you that it is not necessary. I wouldn't want her Royal Highness to be at risk."
The King snorted. "You are completely delusional if you think either of us will have a choice in the matter," he said. "She will seek you, and she will find you."
"I'm sorry to say that I don't know at this point where I'll be going after the Springs." Link held back a sigh: he thought very highly of the Princess, as highly as he could given he hadn't seen her in eleven years, but a companion would just make everything slower. He could obviously not go against Princess Zelda's wishes, however. "Shall I return here afterward to meet with her Royal Highness?"
"No," the King said. "She'll find you unless the Goddess doesn't want her to. I won't keep you any longer, Link. Good luck, and safe travels."
Link bowed and left.
Shade came out of her hiding spot as soon as the door was closed and immediately genuflexed, head low and her pictobox held out.
The King smiled at the Sheikah. "Thank you," he said, taking the pictobox. "I'm glad you had this with you, our last set is getting old."
"My pleasure, your Majesty," Shade said. "I hadn't seen the Hero in a long time, not since the incident with the Master Sword. It's good to see him well, especially with the current situation."
The King hummed in approval.
"Shall I resume my post, your Majesty?"
"One moment, I will give this back to you."
Shade waited.
The King opened the pictobox and extracted the pictures of Link the Sheikah had snapped while the Hero was in here. Although portraits of Link were not distributed to the general population to help conceal his identity and protect the rest of the Given villagers, the Royal Family and some others needed to be able to identify him on sight, making the pictobox portraits extremely useful.
He handed the box back to Shade, who bowed a bit deeper and then vanished back behind the closest tapestry. The King knew the Sheikah would not stay exactly in that spot: the observers and last resort bodyguards moved around behind his walls and spent most of their time closer to the ceiling, all the while completely invisible and silent, yet ready for immediate action.