Hello readers, chapter 160 is here! It's the day of the meeting with the Parliament, and some familiar guests are arriving, along with a few new surprises!
"Oooohhhh Li-iiinkkk…"
"Umph…"
"Come ooon…. Wakey wakey Liiiink…"
"Uugh… too early Nabooru, lemme sleep."
Link snuggled into his pillow as he pulled his blanket over his shoulders. The pillow was so soft his head sunk deep into it, and the blankets were just as fluffy. He was in absolute bliss from sleeping in his and Nabooru's private bedroom in Hyrule Castle that morning.
By his side was Nabooru in a pink skimpy silk night gown, leaning on one elbow with a smirk on her face as she was playfully tickling at Link's pointy ear. She was always fascinated by Hylian's people ears, but Link's in particular were extra special to her, as she knew just the place to tickle him.
"I suppose I could allow you to sleep," Nabooru whispered suggestively in his ear, "Maybe the two of us could just cuddle all day in bed…?"
"Sounds wonderful…" Link muttered with a smile.
Nabooru smirked and spoke in her mellow tone, "Yes, we could just stay in bed all day doing nothing… …as the meeting with the Hylian Parliament gets canceled without us, and ail of our hard work to do away with the Gerudo Banishment Law goes up in smoke."
"Mm, yeah…" Link whispered, snuggling into his pillow deeper.
Then a split second later Link's eyes shot open as wide as dinner plates.
"HOLY SHITCAKES!"
Link immediately jumped out of bed in his pajama pants and rushed right over to the dresser to find his clothes he prepared for that day, while Nabooru sat up laughing out loud. Link went tossing clothing out from the drawer wildly.
"Nabooru, where's my royal poncho? I thought I left it in there!"
"It's hung up ready to put on with the rest of your outfit for today." Nabooru said, calmly and gracefully slipping out of bed to take off her gown and get her queenly clothing on.
She turned to see Link ran into their private bathroom, only to come running out a second later brushing his teeth with a hair brush while using a toothbrush on his hair.
"Oh no! I just realized, I spent all night trying to study for the meeting and I completely forgot everything I read!"
"Perfect, you won't need it." Nabooru spoke, slipping her sash belt into place, before putting on her wrist sashes, "Just play it by ear, like you usually do."
"But this is more serious than anything we've ever done!" Link exclaimed, hopping on one foot as he was trying to put on his pants, unaware they were on backwards, "One wrong move and the Hylian Parliament will-!"
Link was suddenly cut off as Nabooru grabbed him by the face and pulled him into a long, deep kiss. The young king's body froze up as she held the kiss tightly against him, he was starting to lose his breath, yet the kiss was so good he didn't even care.
Nabooru soon broke the kiss and spoke calmly but sternly, "Calm down. We're not going to get anywhere if you're panicking the whole time. Just relax, and do as you always do. Don't worry, you have me and all your friends to relay on. We're going to win this, no matter what it takes."
"Y-Yeah… you're right." Link spoke, feeling himself quickly calming down as he gazed up into his friend's golden eyes, he leaned forward against her shoulder, "Thanks Nabooru, you're a life saver."
"I know." Nabooru smirked, pulling Link back and giving him a gentle shove forward, "Now hurry up and get ready, tiger."
"Yes Ma'am!"
"And get that toothbrush out of your hair."
Outside in the Hyrule Market Town, a huge crowd had already formed to see the guests that would be arriving at the castle for the gathering. The knights were all positioned in place, with rope banners to block the public off from going onto the street.
There was many Hylian people in the crowd holding signs showing support for the Gerudo to do away with the banishment law, while there were others with signs stating the Gerudo had no place in Hyrule. Already a few fights had broken out between supporters and protesters, but the knights were working to quickly put an end to the fighting before the guests could arrive.
"Let the Gerudo be free!"
"Banish the desert rats forever!"
"We can't allow another war!"
"Attention!" spoke up a voice, quieting the crowd and making them all turn to see a royal announcer arrive, he pulled out a scroll and cleared his throat, "Thank you all for coming! We have some very important guests to arrive here today at Hyrule Castle!"
The crowd watched as a carriage rode down the street, which seated a middle-aged man with a goatee, along with a woman clad heavily in makeup and jewels waving gracefully out at the crowd.
"Introducing, the nobleman Julius Theodore Rhodeman, and his wife Lady Thelenna!"
Some in the crowd cheered while others booed out, though it didn't seem to phase the noblepeople. One person in the crowd threw a rock at them, but a knight quickly detained and arrested the man.
"Hmph, to think we're actually coming here to participate in this meeting." grumbled Julius.
"Now, now, my husband. Remember we're doing this to gain more support for your policies." Thelenna spoke, blowing a kiss to one of their supporters, "Besides, it's just for a few days. The Parliament will be speaking to the Gerudo, we'll attend that lovely dance on the second night, and then after that you can go home back to playing with your little toy trains."
"They're called models, Thelenna!" Julius snapped.
The crowd continued to watch as carriage after carriage of noblepeople rode through the streets, all met with a contrasting exchange of cheers or jeers.
One carriage in particular was met with a torrential amount of booing and objects thrown at it, despite a single woman and a child being the only ones inside. The child was leaning on her armrest, watching glumly as the crowd pelted their carriage with stones.
"Why, what's the matter my daughter?" spoke the sophisticated voice of the adult woman sitting beside the child, "I thought you were anxious to come out here?"
She had very pale skin with dark purple hair. Her eyes were obscured by a black veil over her eyes. She wore a fancy black hat with a large white feather, and was clad in a skintight black corset and matching black dress laced with white frills. She had a black parasol that was resting on her lap,
"Oiy, I didn't say nothin' like that." the child pouted.
The young girl had long blonde hair done into curls, and was wearing a pink frilly dress with a small silver tiara on her head, her face was done up in blue eye shadow and pink blush, with just a hint of red lipstick over her lips. Her blue cat-like eyes narrowed at her mother's words.
"Ah-ah-ah, do you remember what we talked about?" spoke her mother, waving her finger dismissively.
"Ugh…" the child muttered, she took a breath and spoke in a more dignified tone, "My apologies Mother, I promise I shall behave."
"Very good." the woman nodded, slapping her parasol in her palm, "It's so nice to have you back after you disappeared all that time ago."
She cupped her daughter's chin, taking a moment to look over her facial features. She took a handkerchief and rubbed at her face to get rid of a mark, before going back to looking out the window.
"After all, you're all I have left now, Petrafina…"
The ten-year old former street urchin known as Petra, or by her true name Petrafina Rochchild, rubbed at her cheek, annoyed with how rough her mom was with it, before turning and looking out her own window.
"…like you cared that much…" muttered Petra under her breath, seeing the sneers of the public.
Petra honestly couldn't blame the people of the market town for being so hostile towards them, especially after the news of her father Welsom Rochchild's involvement in the horrific 'Widowmaker' killings that claimed the lives of two dozen people. While her father had never actually killed anyone directly, it was due to his blackmailing that the Widowmaker had begun their killing spree, and thus was considered just as responsible.
"Ah, looks like we're almost there." her mother commented.
Despite Petra's grumpy mood though, there was one thought in the back of her mind, as she looked out to the castle, finding herself interested in meeting a certain blonde man who was staying there.
"Hey, she's finally here! Make way!"
Many people in the crowd greeted the next guest with a combination of awe and cheering, as one very exquisite blue and pink carriage with a design like giant seashells rode into Hyrule Market Town.
All around the carriage were the fish people known as the Zora, specifically knight Zoras who were all brandishing spears and looking carefully at the crowds for anything suspicious. They had every reason to be, as they were guarding quite possibly the most important person in their society.
"Ah, a fine greeeeetings to all of you folks!" spoke a flamboyant voice belonging to a male zora sitting at the front of the carriage, an orange and white scaled one in purple robes. He was known as Hemeron, a clownfish zora, and head mystic of the Zora Royal Family,
Hemeron spun in circles before doing majestic poise to present someone atop the carriage, "Please prepare your lungs for cheering, and give a warm welcome to our illustrious majesty herseeeeelf!"
Siting on a platform at the top, covered from the back by a purple curtain, was the recently-crowned Zora herself, Queen Ruto. She laid back on some pink, blue and purple pillows, gazing around at the crowd as they applauded her entrance. She sported a fond smile and waved to the crowd.
"Oh my, to think we'd have another Zora Queen in my lifetime!" an old woman spoke.
"That's the queen of the zora? Woah, she's so beautiful!" spoke a man with his jaw dropped.
His friend nodded, "No kidding, growing up I used to think the idea being attracted to Zoras was weird, but her…"
They looked up at Ruto as she stood herself up from her pillows and walked forward to the front of her carriage platform, spreading out his arms so that the people could get take in a good long look at her appearance. On her forehead was a new tiara made to resemble the Zora's Sapphire. Two zora scale jewels hung from her arms with sashes, and she was wearing earrings on her head dorsal fins. Rather than just a red cape like her father, she was clad in lavish pink and blue silk clothes that hung off her frame.
Speaking of her frame, thanks to the ceremonial rite Ruto had taken on back at Zora Coast, she had gone through a great transformation. She stood a good foot and a half taller than she did back when she was seventeen and became engaged to Link. Her figure had much more pronounced curves, namely in the breasts and hips. The top of her head still retained a bulbous shape, but slightly thinner than before, giving her a more sleeker look. Her fins had grown out longer and wider to look far more grand, as well as improve her swimming.
"Yeah, she's a real looker." spoke the other man.
Ruto gazed around at the people's looks of awe and smirked, before putting her hand to her chin and laughing out haughtily,
"Ooooooooh-hohohoho! It's truly a pleasure to be here before you all, as I'm certain you all are pleasured to bask in my presence here!"
"She's got a bit of an ego it seems." one person muttered as he and some others in the crowd sweatdropped at her boastful laughing.
"My Queen, please take a step back." spoke one of her guards, "We can't have you being targeted by assailants."
"Oh you worry too much Zopem, I can handle myself." Ruto said waving her hand dismissively, "Besides, I also have both of you to look out for me, yes?"
By Ruto's side was two Zora men, to her left was a tall, muscular blue one with a battle staff, known as Zopem. He was her long time bodyguard, and an enemy-turned-friend of Link.
On the right was a younger and slimmer red-scaled male zora holding dual spears. The red zora was looking out anxiously at the crowd around them.
"Oooh, so this is Hyrule Castle Town! How wondrous! I can only wonder if I'll see her in this crowd…?"
"Focus yourself less on sightseeing and more on watching over the queen, rookie." Zopem snapped.
"A-Ah, of course! My apologies sir!" the red zora realized his manners and stood upright.
"Come on, no need to give him a hard time. To pardon the pun, we have bigger fish to fry." Ruto said, "For today is the day we focus and finally follow through on our promise to my dear Link and his family." she looked out at the castle and smirked, "And when this is all over, the Gerudo will finally be treated as a true part of Hyrule!"
"Of course, my queen." Zopem nodded, now with a smile of his own, as he was just as happy to see Link and Nabooru's work finally get to this point.
"And when that happens, we'll finally have our glorious wedding, and me and Link can finally get started having our many, many children together! Oooohohohoho!" Ruto laughed out.
"Aaand there she goes again." Zopem said sweatdroping.
"Speaking of which, I'm fascinated to meet this Gerudo King myself." spoke the red zora with a pointy-toothed grin,
"Especially after all you and the queen have spoken of him!"
"Bwaahahahaha! Good to meet you folks!"
The next group walking in through the gates was the Goron people of Death Mountain, led by Chieftain Darunia, Link's sworn brother. He had a sash tied around his round body, with a large ruby decorating it. He was also equipped with the Goron's weapon, the Megaton Hammer, on his back.
The large Goron waved heartily at the crowd, though some did indeed cheer, there was some awkward silence from most of the people. Darunia didn't pay them any mind though, and kept waving with a wide smile.
By his side was his dear son, 'Link-Goron'. Still wearing a green cap not unlike what his hero Link used to wear. The young Goron had also opted to carry a weapon of his own, a club made from a thick slab of rock that he called the Stone Smasher. Nothing as fancy as the Megaton Hammer, but it was enough for Link-Goron to feel like he could become a great warrior like Link.
"Can't believe the Gorons actually showed up." spoke one member of the crowd.
"Thought they were just giant rolling rocks all this time."
"Dad, these people are looking weird at us…." Link-Goron spoke uneasily.
"Let em look Son," laughed Darunia, "We'll show em when we help the Gerudo win their freedom!"
"Right! Gotta do this for Mr. Link, Ms. Saria and all the Gerudo!" Link-Goron nodded.
As Darunia and his people went marching down the street, two shady men in the back of the crowd were watching with wicked grins.
"Hey, bet you five rupees if I throw this I can bean that boss of theirs right on his head." spoke one of the men, tossing a small rock in his hand, "Bet he'll go berserk in front of everyone!"
"Sounds funny. You're on!" said the other.
The man brought back his hand, aimed carefully, and tossed the rock out, it flying high before falling down straight at Darunia's head.
But the Goron's eyes widened, his instincts kicking in as he turned his head and caught the rock in his mouth, crunching it down into pebbles between his diamond-hard teeth.
"Huh?" the rock-thrower spoke with wide eyes.
"Bwaahahaha! Dunno who threw that, but thanks for the snack!" Darunia laughed and waved out, "Now onward, my brothers!"
A portion of the crowd was shocked, but found themselves applauding Darunia's catch, as the two men stood there blankly at what had just happened.
"Uh, did that count?"
After Darunia and his Gorons came the next representatives, the small child-like plant people known as the Kokiri. Having no carriage to speak of, they opted for just strolling down the road.
Some of the Kokiri were holding up a banner made form leaves with 'Kokiri' written in berry juice. Two other boys were pulling a large statue made form sticks and leaves that was crafted into the likeness of the late Great Deku Tree. There were others playing makeshift flutes from wood while one was banging a drum made from leaves and wood bark, but since they didn't know any actual music, it just sounded like random noise.
At the front of the group was Mido's personal assistant, Vekai. The straight-faced girl looked around at the adults all staring down at them. She showed no signs of intimidation however, and merely adjusted the roots she had worn on her face that were made to look like a pair of reading glasses. Her fairy companion Kede meanwhile floated around her head anxiously.
"Hey, what are these children doing here?" spoke a villager.
"I don't know, never seen them before." said another.
"They're all so cute, I hope they weren't lost in Hyrule Field!"
"Huh, I could have sworn I used to see a child running around dressed like them a while back..."
"Ooooh... there's way too many of these Hylain adults everywhere!" Kede panicked, "Are you sure it's okay to be doing this Vekai?"
"Of course, Mido entrusted us with coming here on his behalf for the meeting with the Parliament." Vekai spoke in a dry tone, "And I vow to make sure Saria and King Link succeed in their goal."
"It'll be just fine!" said a Kokiri, "Ms. Vekai is real smart, so she can get us through this!"
Kede sweatdropped, "It's not really that simple, right Vekai?"
The fairy looked to see Vekai's normally straight-faced mouth had turned upwards into a smug grin.
"We can do this." Vekai spoke, adjusting her root glasses.
'She really takes compliments well these days…' Kede thought sweatdropping.
A fanfare played by trumpets outside Hyrule Castle, as guards opened the gates to open the path for the arriving guests.
Link, Nabooru, Aviel, Nemisa, King Reinald, Princess Zelda, Prince Darius and his Counselor Xebes, as well as Impa and Sir Knave, were all watching and waiting patiently as the noblemen and rulers all arrived at the front of the castle. A number of knights were standing guard, among them included the lady knight Lieutenant Ashe.
"Look alive everyone, our guests have arrived." Ashe spoke, standing tall and straight.
"Yes Ma'am!" the majority of the knights saluted in respect for her, and stood with her in unison.
"Ah Sir Julius, a pleasure to see you here, my friend!" King Reinald spoke with a fond smile as the dumpy nobleman came up with Thalenna, "I trust you and the wife had a safe trip?"
"About as good of a trip across bumpy rocky roads will ever be I suppose." Julius sighed, "Didn't you receive my request about paving Hyrule Field down with concrete?"
"Hoh hoh hoh, you're quite a kidder, my friend!" laughed Reinald, "I hope you look forward to the events we have planned these next few days!"
"Tsk, fine I suppose." grumbled Julius, while Thalenna giggled and patted her husband on his head.
"King Reinald! It's been quite a while, has it noooot?" the zora Mystic Hemeron spun over and bowed gracefully to the king, startling Julius.
"Indeed it has, old friend," Reinald nodded, not even bothered at all by Hemeron's odd behavior, "You have my thanks once again for helping to ensure the seal on Ganondorf's imprisonment all those years ago. The barrier around him is intact to this day, with Minister Odleh watching over it."
"But of coooourse! That dastardly man cannot, and shall not I say, escape from his seal. Especially not after what the Light Sage had to do." Hemeron waved his finger. The zora mystic stood on one tip-toe as he leaned forward, looking carefully around the area, "So, is Mrs. Odleh available to talk? I can't quite see her heeeeere."
"She's currently in a private roundtable with the Parliament in preparation for the meeting." Reinald explained.
"Ah, too bad, so sad. I've been wanting a chat with her for a while now." Hemeron sighed, "Ever since she got caught up in that Parliament she's changed quite a lot. I only wonder what she's been up to?"
"With any luck, we'll learn something at the meeting." the king guessed.
"Aaah, Ruto!" Zelda squealed out, coming up and giving the zora queen an affectionate hug, "It's so good to see you! You look absolutely lovely!"
"Oh I know. And you're looking quite fine yourself, Zelda!" Ruto said happily, "I'm sorry I haven't been by too much lately."
"It's no problem, I know you've been busy, what with your new title." Zelda spoke.
"Wow, Ruto looks so beautiful." Link whispered as he stood alongside Nabooru, Aviel and Nemisa some distance away.
"Indeed, her transformation seems to be fully complete now." Nabooru nodded, "And after seeing what she pulled off against those Zola pirates at the coast, I can only wonder how much stronger she's gotten with her water and light skills."
"Aww, I wanna go hug Sister Ruto so baaaaad!" Aviel chirped anxiously.
"Calm yourself Aviel, try to be professional." Nemisa urged her, though she was rather enamored by the zora queen's regal beauty herself.
"Why a pleasure to see you once more, Queen Ruto some-middle-name-I-can't-remember Zora!" Darius said stepping up to Ruto and doing a polite bow, "I haven't seen you since the day I married my lovely bride here!" he took a moment to look her over, "I see this is the result of the queenly rite transformation, quite a drastic change if I do say so myself!"
"I don't actually have a middle name, I suppose I should get one soon." Ruto joked, glad to see the prince was more at ease since the wedding, "But thank you Prince, you're much too kind."
"Hey, don't gawk too long Darius." Zelda pointed out with a slightly amused, slightly jealous grin.
"Right, of course! For she's already chosen a suitor as her king!" Darius realized.
"Uh, that's not the reason I was talking about…" Zelda said sweatdropping. She turned to the zora girl and winked, "Speaking of which though, where is this fine husband-to-be of yours Ruto? I've been anxious to 'finally' meet him!"
The zora queen paused for a moment, and glanced over at Link and Nabooru, giving them both a confident smile and nod, to which they returned discreetly back. Ruto had yet to officially announce who her fiance was, and they were waiting for the right opportunity.
"Oh I'm sure he's around somewhere." Ruto spoke, she leaned forward, sporting a mischievous smirk, "So on a totally unrelated note, have you been getting along well with the Gerudo King since he came here?"
"Very much so, he and Nabooru have been such good company." Zelda giggled innocently, "In fact, I suppose you could say it feels like I've known the Gerudo King for years!"
"Ohohohoho, indeed." Ruto nodded, knowing full well that Zelda had been at the alliance meeting in Gerudo Town disguised as Sir Lackey, and knew about Link's engagement to her.
She noted some of the nobles speaking in confusion to each other about what they were talking about. As mature as they had grown over the years, Ruto and Zelda were getting a childish kick out of confusing everyone else.
Deciding it was time, Nabooru nudged Link and the two walked up to Ruto, with Nemisa doing all she could to hold Aviel back from spontaneously running up and hugging their zora sister.
"Queen Ruto, it's good to see you again." Nabooru said with a smirk, "From what I've been told you've made great strides since becoming the ruler of the zora. I can only hope things go just as well for all of us in this meeting."
"Quite so Lady Nabooru." Ruto nodded, taking a look at Link with a small grin, "Ah, if it isn't the Gerudo King Link, it's quite a pleasure to see you here, and in such a nice outfit!"
"Th-That's the Gerudo King?" spoke a nobleman who was standing in line to greet King Reinald.
"Oh my, so the rumors were true, he is a Hylian! And such a handsome one too!" spoke a noblewoman with a blush.
"But didn't you hear the other rumors about him…?" one noble asked another with concern.
"I did but… still, he doesn't seem all that dangerous…"
"But he still rules over the desert people… what if he's working to free that vile Ganondorf?"
Link couldn't help but be bothered by some of their comments, but controlled his temperament.
"The pleasure is all mine, Queen of the Zora." Link said with a bow, offering up his hand. Ruto smugly put her hand into his, some of the noblepeople watched with surprise as he boldly gave her hand a gentleman's kiss, "You truly are as lovely of a woman as they say."
"Oh you flatterer!" giggled Ruto, looking around to see many of the nobles talking in shock at how well the zora queen took to him.
"My, he managed to charm the Zora Queen herself?" gasped a noblewoman.
"Interesting. He seems to be able to look past the boundaries of species." noted one nobleman.
'Very good first impression.' Nabooru thought to herself at how Link was able to win over some of the nobles. It would certainly help to raise support for their cause.
"My Brother! Good to see you again!" Darunia spoke up, running over and giving Link a big Goron-style hug, practically breaking his back as he did so.
"Grk! Good to see you again Brother Darunia…!" Link groaned out in pain.
"Unhand him you lummox!" Nemisa shouted.
"Ah, the Princess!" Darunia turned and looked to Zelda, unceremoniously dropping Link down as he and his son walked up to greet her and Ruto. The Goron rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, recalling the story Link told them about her being the leader of the sages in the dark future, and bowed his head to pay respect
"It's an honor to see you on this important day, right Son?"
"Y-Yes, it's an honorable to meet you!" Link-Goron stumbled over his words as he bowed his head.
"Thank you both so much for coming." Zelda spoke with a smile, recalling how much effort Darunia had put into helping Link and his friends deal with the rebellion, "I wanted to apologize in person for our inability to assist you with that matter at the mines previously."
"Ha ha ha, no need to worry Princess. Ms. Impa was a great help to us, along with our new allies, we took down that threat way too easy!" Darunia spoke proudly.
'Yeah, at least until the giant lava monster attacked us.' Impa thought sweatdropping.
Zelda looked to Link-Goron and grinned a little, "If I may add Chieftain, your son has good taste in head wear."
"You think so?" Link-Goron spoke excitedly at being complimented about the green cap he wore, "I had it made so I could be just like my greatest hero! He did so much for our people years ago I had to do my best to emulate him!"
"I see, he sounds like a wonderful person." Zelda nodded knowingly, glancing at Link who looked embarrassed.
"Hey what's going on here?" spoke up a knight, "How did these children come in?"
Everyone looked to see the green-clad forest children known as the Kokiri come walking in. Yekai stepped up to Link and Nabooru.
"Pleasure to see you two again." Vekai spoke, looking up at the two. She adjusted her root glasses, "So have you succeeded in making Nabooru your queen yet Link?"
Nabooru coughed out awkwardly while Link scratched his cheek.
"Ah, no need to discuss that right now. Good to see you again Vekai." Link chuckled. He leaned down and smirked a bit, "So what about you and Mido? How are things going between you two?"
"…I'll refrain from the questioning for now." Vekai muttered with a light blush.
"Ah, so the Kokiri have shown themselves!" King Reinald spoke astonished as he looked down to Vekai who stepped up to him next, "Welcome. After all the legends I've heard, it's still astonishing to find out your people truly exist."
"Pleased to meet you, Your Highness. After the passing of The Great Deku Tree, the sprout that has replaced it wanted us to be able to leave the forest by our choice." Vekai nodded, "And so me and our leader, Boss Mido, decided to reach out to the outside tribes."
"Yes, of course!" King Reinald nodded, "We're honored to have you here."
"And you must be the princess." Vekai looking to Zelda. She adjusted her root glasses and nodded her head, "On behalf of the Kokiri folk, thank you both for inviting us all out here."
"Yes, thank yoooou!" the Kokiri children all spoke in unison. One boy played his flute at a high pitch, but got silenced with an elbow jab by one of the others.
"It's kind of you all to come." Zelda said smiling sincerely, finding them all so cute, "I know the world outside the forest may be big and different, but I hope we can all learn to get along together."
"S-She's really nice." one of the Kokiri boys whispered to another.
"And she's as pretty as Link said!" blurted out another with a blush.
The two were quickly silenced though as two Kokiri girls grabbed them by their pointy ears and dragged them off. Zelda giggled a little, while Link was slightly nanoyed the boys couldn't keep their mouths shut.
"So what do you think of world outside the forest, Ms. Vekai?" Zelda asked, leaning over at the small girl, who silently stared back up at her.
"… …you're that Lackey knight from the alliance meeting, aren't you?" Vekai spoke point blank, confusing some people nearby.
"Eh?" Zelda spoke, rising back up in alarm, she sported a forced smile and laughed innocently, "I-I don't quite understand what you're talking about! Ah ha ha…"
"…?" the Kokiri girl tilted her head up at Zelda in confusion for a moment, "… …ah, I get it." she realized, looking around at everyone's confused stares, she played dumb for Zelda's sake and clarified, "Sorry, you just reminded me of someone I knew."
"No, no. It's quite alright." Zelda smiled with relief, doing a polite curtsy.
"Wow, Vekai figured it out faster than we did." Nabooru whispered to Link.
"She's always been pretty perceptive. I wonder if those root glasses of hers actually work…?" Link whispered back.
"These friends of yours are quite fascinating Link." Prince Darius spoke up scratching his chin, "I can only hope they'll be able to support you over these next few days."
"I know they will." Link nodded with a grin.
After Ruto, Darunia, Vekai and their parties were escorted inside the castle to their resting quarters, King Reinald focused his attention on the last of the noblepeople who had come to visit.
"So what are all these people even coming here for anyway Mr. Xebes?" Link whispered to Darius' personal counselor, "Are they with the Parliament too?"
"They're not going to be involved with the meeting itself. It's mostly just for relations with the Royal Family; rubbing elbows, striking deals with each other, and whatnot." Xebes explained, twirling a finger through his stringy beard,
"One of the big things they're here for is the royal dance being held after day two of the meeting. It's a prime opportunity for nobles to meet and delegate, some even form pacts and relations during it."
"Right, Nabooru warned me about that." Link nodded, gulping a little, "Gotta admit, that might be even more nerve-wracking than the meeting itself in it's own ways."
"Ho ho ho, not as bad as it will be for my prince." Xebes chuckled, "Despite his attempts to teach him, to this day he can barely dance."
"Ah ha ha ha, it's true! I may possess more left feet than an Octorok!" Darius laughed out, "Looks as if I've been made a fool of by my own counselor once again!"
"Ack! S-So I did!" Xebes realized, he started pummeling his own face with his gloved arms, "Bad Xebes, bad! Mind your place before your prince!"
"Don't worry Link, I'm sure a lot of good will come from the dance." Nabooru assured him.
She noted some of the noblewomen some distance away speaking inaudibly to each other. They looked to Link for a moment, and giggled a little before going back to talking.
"Who knows, maybe by the end of it you may find a noble or two that strikes your fancy?" she suggested with a wink.
"I… really doubt that." Link rolled his eyes.
As the king saw to some of the remaining noblepeople, the last two came up to greet him; a woman wearing a black dress with a veil over her eyes, standing alongside a small blonde child in a pink dress. The child seemed to be looking around cautiously.
"Greetings M'Lady." Reinald smiled, holding out his hand to the black-dressed noblewoman,
"It's quite a pleasure, King Reinald." spoke the noblewoman with a pearly white smile and a pleasant tone to her voice. She took a small cord attached to her hat and pulled it, causing the veil to rise up and reveal her reddish brown eyes under it. She gave the king her hand, and he gave it a gentlemanly kiss, "It's ever so lovely to be here."
King Reinald nodded, "I'm glad you could come, Duchess Jezebelle Rochchild."
"W-What? Did she say Rochchild?" exclaimed a nobleman as the crowd started speaking out.
"The same Rochchild who incited that dreadful Widowmaker?" spoke a noblewoman.
"To think the king actually allowed her here!" whispered another.
"…" Jezebelle looked away with a pained stare, not even bothering to address their comments.
"Everyone, she's going through a time of mourning right now." the king spoke up, "It's not the time for critical comments like that."
The noblepeople all realized they had stepped out of line and quickly apologized.
"Thank you Your Highness." Jezebelle said with a curtsy.
"I thought I recognized her." Nabooru whispered to Link, "I met her back when I went investigating the Rochchild estate for evidence in the Widowmaker killings."
"So then that means that girl with her must be…!" Link said as he focused on the child hiding behind the woman. She peeked out at Link for a moment, before hiding back behind the woman's black dress from his sight.
"Yes, your little friend from the streets." smirked Nabooru, "What a makeover she got."
Jezebelle spoke to the king, "Let me start by saying I apologize for all the trouble that my late husband caused." she put a hand to her chest and sighed sadly, "Had I known he had been such a despicable monster this whole time, maybe there was something I could have done… yet I was too blind to his ways…"
"…" Petra said nothing, but hung her head downwards.
"Oh no, it's not your fault." Prince Darius spoke with a polite bow, "He was a vile wolf in such elegant sheep's clothing, that his wool of deceit was pulled over everyone's eyes!"
"Yes, I understand this must be a difficult time for you, given all that you've been through this past week." Zelda bowed as well, "I've been told the knights have already seized your husband's estate and assets."
"Indeed, the knights are currently looking into our past finances for any further ill-gotten funds." Jezebelle nodded sadly, "I also have a bad feeling that even if we have any money left, that we'll be strapped to find a new home. Despite my attempts to distance ourselves from him, we've been facing a magnitude of backlash from the public."
"No kidding." Darius spoke, looking over at the carriage they had arrived there in, with numerous dents, cuts and weapons lodged into it, "Your carriage looks like it came directly from a battlefield."
"That's terrible, I'm sorry for all that's happened to you both." Zelda frowned.
"I appreciate your concern, Princess." Jezebelle spoke with a soft smile. She shook her head and narrowed her eyes, "But I will say as hard as things may get, I will never condone all those horrible crimes Welsom committed."
"That's a fine stance to make Duchess." Zelda nodded. She glanced down at Petra staying by her mother's side, "Hello there, your name is Lady Petrafina correct?"
"…" Petra looked up at Zelda, before she buried her face into her mother's dress.
"Come on now, don't be shy." the noblewoman spoke softly, "It wouldn't do to come all the right out here just to hide yourself, would it?"
"N-No…" Petra took a deep breath, stepping up and doing a polite curtsy and speaking in her more refined voice, "Thank you for inviting Mother and myself, Your Highness. We are most honored for you to have us."
Link watched Petra carefully, it was strange seeing that scruffy tomboyish young thief now dressed up like a dainty little princess, and acting so refined. He honestly thought she looked adorable in that pink frilly dress, but choose to remain quiet about it.
"Aw, you're such a polite young lady!" Zelda spoke cheerfully, "The Gerudo King himself told me about what you went through in town. On behalf of the Royal Family, I'd like to formally apologize for what you went through."
"You… really mean that?" Petra asked looking up curiously at Zelda, she turned her head away, "Feh, like I care about them empty words…"
"Petrafine…" spoke Jezebelle, tapping Petra on the head lightly with her parasol and sporting a small smile down at her daughter.
"Um… s-sorry…" Petra hung her head down.
"Think nothing of it," Zelda said, gesturing to Link, "In fact, King Link mentioned you were such a great help in solving the mystery of the Widowmaker, that he recommended we officially recognize you for your accomplishment."
"I-" Petra glanced to Link, who waved a bit to her. She turned her head away with a heavy blush, "I-I see. Th-Thanks, that sounds real swell I guess…?"
"…oh, so then it is you." Jezebelle spoke, stepping up to Link and gazing at him intently, "You're… really the infamous Gerudo King everyone has been speaking of?"
Link felt a little awkward with the way Jezebelle stared at him with her soft gaze. Her skin was pale, a stark contrast to Petra's tanned skin, leading Link to think she didn't get out too much. Her black dress' corset was worn tightly around her body, showing off her nice chest and hips, but he did his best to not to gawk for very long. She was a noblewoman, and a recent widowed one after all…
"That's right. It's good to finally meet Petra's… I mean, Lady Petrafina's mother!" Link said, standing stiff and straight to maintain a professional attitude, "You and your daughter have my regards for the loss you've experienced."
"How gracious of you." the widowed woman spoke lightly. "You're the one my daughter spoke about after she came back home to me. To think it would be the Gerudo King of all people who would do such a thing for her…" she looked him up and down, "And you seem as handsome as she's said."
"Handsome?" Link was a little embarrassed as he glanced at Petra.
"It-It wasn't like that, ya bloody dodger!" Petra complained, looking up at Link with an embarrassed pout, before turning away and folding her arms.
"Well either way, you have my thanks for finding and watching out for my daughter Gerudo King." Jezebelle spoke, batting her eyes, "It's… quite rare to meet a man these days with such a kind heart."
"It was nothing, really." Link said rubbing the back of his head, "I'm just glad she's back safe and sound with her family!"
"…" Petra remained silent, looking downcast again,
"Well, if you'll excuse us, we should go meet with the other nobles, Petrafina." Jezebelle spoke, she led Petra off, before stopping and turning to Link, "Perhaps, we can speak again, Gerudo King?"
"Uh, sure." Link nodded, "Have a good day."
Link watched as Jezebelle escorted her daughter off to the other nobles. Petra turned for just a moment to see him, before she was led along by her mother and followed after her.
While Link tried to maintain a sense of professionalism, he couldn't ignore the light sway of Duchess Jezebelle's hips as she walked off. She wasn't as curvy as say, Ruto or Countess Roesia, but she certainly had a nice figure with a graceful stride.
"Really now, a widow this time?" Nabooru commented into Link's ear, jolting him out of his stare, "I'm proud of how far you've come in courting women Link, but isn't that going a bit too far?"
"It's not like that." Link said rolling his eyes.
"How many times have you said that, and it ended up with you in bed with the girl?" Nabooru spoke with a smirk, "But besides that, I think there's something more to that woman than she seems… I can't quite put my finger on it though…"
"You're right about that." Link nodded, turning to look back at Jezebelle as she spoke to a noble. Petra tried to slip out of her grip, but her mother pulled her right over to greet the person, smiling pleasantly.
"Wonder what it is she's been through…?"
Meanwhile, in another part of the castle, Togau, Malon and Epona were all in their personal bedroom.
"Ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum!"
Epona spoke as she was giving Malon's daughter Meli a bouncy ride on her knee, she was bumping it up and down to simulate a horse ride,
"Now to jump over the feeenccce…!" she rose up Meli and back down gently on her knee again,
"WEEEEEEEeeee, boom!"
"Ah hee hee hee!" Meli squealed out happily.
"Uh oh, sharp turns are coming!" Epona spoke with wide eyes, she started moving Meli left and right on her knee as if she was weaving along the route, "Neeerm, neeeeeerrrm!"
"Ain't that such a cute little picture!" Togau grinned as she laid back on a royal castle chair, playing around with one of the mini pillows that came with it, "Epona's been gettin' along real swell with Meli since they came here!"
"Yeah, I wish I could have introduced them to each other sooner." Malon commented with a fond smile.
"Well Epona wouldn't have even been able to do a whole lot with her if not for the power of that Chateau Lon Lon." Togau said, "It's real neat to see her get to know what it's like to be a human!"
"Hm." Malon leaned on one hand as she watched Epona get up and run around with Meli on her shoulders, seeing how happy Epona was to play with her.
"Somethin' wrong Mally?" Togau asked.
"Well just between you and me…" Malon spoke discreetly, "A while back I was talking with Epona about finding her a stud to breed with. I told a bit of a joke about Link… and believe it or not, she seriously was having thoughts about being with him."
"Yer kiddin' me, really?" Toagu asked, "He's always been a real charmer with the ladies, but being able to win over his own steed?" she slapped her knee and laughed out, "Na ha ha, my man's a real playboy!"
"You don't think he would actually take her up on that, would you?" Malon asked, "I mean, no matter how she looks now, she's still a horse."
"Shucks, can't say for certain." Togau shrugged, "The two of em have known each other for so long… maybe he would be fine being with her, if he could find a way to keep her as a human."
"You think so?" Malon looked on at the horse woman as she rose Meli up into the air happily, and smiled herself, "Well one thing's for certain, I think Epona would make a wonderful mother someday…"
The horse-turned-woman lowered Meli for a second as she took a moment to look out the window of the bedroom, seeing from the sun that ti was approaching midway.
"Oop, is it already that time?" Epona realized, she handed Meli off to Malon and jogged over to an ice box in the corner, "It's been a couple days, and I need to refill on some Chateau Lon Lon!"
"If she does stay as a human, I hope Epona doesn't take up drinking too much." Malon spoke.
But as Epona went through the ice box, she realized all of the glass bottles were empty.
"Eehh?" Epona spoke frantically, rummaging through through each bottle in the box, "What's going on? I thought I had some still in here!"
"Uh oh, that's not good!" Togau realized, as she looked at the magic sealing bracelets Epona was wearing.
Due to the knights detecting trace amounts of magic on Epona due to having drank the fairy powder enhanced milk that turned her into a human, she had been made to wear magic-sealing bracelets for her time in the castle.
"This ain't good, we can't have you changing back in the middle of the castle!" Togau spoke, "And if that Captain Andreas bastard finds out you're here, he might try to claim you as his warhorse like he tried before!"
"Like hell I'm going to let that guy do something like that! I gotta go hurry to the stables and hide out there with Thunder!" Epona said, referring to Nabooru's personal horse she obtained during their brief layover at Lon Lon Ranch.
"Well you better hurry your butt, cause I think the milk's already wearing off!" Malon spoke with wide eyes, as she pointed at Epona's rear.
"Huh?" Epona looked down to see her horse tail had already grown out, "Kyyaaaahh! What am I going to do with this?"
"It's okay, I can loan you one of my dresses!" Malon said, reaching into a drawer to get a dress big enough to cover her.
"What about those?" Togau pointed out that Epona's hands had already turned into hooves.
"Uh oh! We gotta before befor-eeeiiighh!" screamed out Epona, quickly covering her mouth at the realization her voice was already changing back as well.
After wrapping Epona up in a cloak, she and Togau went walking quickly out of the bedroom, going as fast as they could to the horse barracks area of the castle.
"Epona, you holdin' up alright?" Togau asked.
"Neeeiiighh! Neeeiiigh!" Epona spoke out. Togau used her half-Lynel senses to be able to translate it to, 'Of course I'm not okay! I can't let a knight see me like this!'
"Then hurry it up, so they won't bother us about running like-"
"Excuse me, what are you two doing?"
"Gaaaah!" Togau and Epona both froze to a halt, and turned to see a knight standing before them, "Uh, hey there! Nothin's the matter, we was just trying to… uh, get to the bathroom, is all! Our roommate is using the one in our bedroom right now!"
"Oh I see. If you're looking for one, the closest public bathroom is just down that hall." the knight said, pointing in a direction opposite from here they were trying to head to.
"Uh, we… don't like that bathroom too much. The bath curtains look really tacky." Togau said, looking to Epona, "Right?"
Epona simply said, "Neigh."
"There you see? She don't like em either! We'll just use another one over this way!" Togau said smiling innocently, as she and Epona went running down the hall.
"Huh, weird." the knight rubbed the back of his head, "Did I hear a clomping sound?"
At the same time as when Ruto, Darunia and the others came, a group of seven people were seated at a roundtable in the depths of Hyrule Castle.
They were known as the Hylian Parliament, assembled together by the leader of their group, Governor Balterius. The man sat silently as the other were speaking about the matter with Link and the Gerudo having arrived at the castle. He was a tall, broad-bodied man, with a black pompadour style hairdo, wore black sunglasses, a pure white suit decorated only with a red flower.
"Settle down all of you." spoke Balterius, "If we can't settle our own differences now, we won't have much luck dealing with the Gerudo King and his followers this afternoon."
"Tell that to the fool that's supposed to be keeping the border from Gerudo Valley secure." Captain Andreas spoke, the giant knight glaring down at the man beside him under his galea helmet with bloodshot eyes, "Considering how obsessed you with keeping every solitary thing clean, you have a bad habit of allowing bandits to just let themselves in."
"Hmph, I can't keep control of everything myself." spoke Marquess Haralden of Foreign Affairs and Immigration, clad in a blue robe and glasses, cleaning at one of his writing pens, "Where's that unstoppable Hylian army when they're needed?"
Andreas sneered, "Oh I'd love to do more to please you, but that sorry excuse we have for a judge over there is flooding our prisons with trivial arrests!"
"No one is above justice!" Judge Isambard spoke out, banging his gavel on the table, "They must all understand their place or else there would be no point to laws! If you have an issue with that, take it up with our public relations 'official', at least when she's not drunk!"
"Loohuhuhu… you truly make me laugh Isambard." giggled Countess Roesia of Public Relations, "Asserting such aggressive authoritative measures is not something you can just do lightly. It only causes the people to distrust and rebel against the law."
"Then what do you suggest we do? Give the criminals little gift baskets instead?" shouted the judge, smashing his gavel on the table.
"Would you stop with the racket? I'm trying to concentrate here " spoke Minister Odleh of Supernatural and Religious Affairs, the short old woman examining a glass bottle of white liquid.
"What do you have there? It looks like milk." Haralden observed, "Ugh, I can already foresee the disgusting milk film that will generate."
"This here, you whippersnapper, is a bottle of Lon Lon Ranch's famous Chateau Lon Lon drink." Odleh said, waving a glowing hand over it.
"You wish to get drunk that badly Odleh? That wouldn't do for one of your feeble age." said Countess Roesia with a smirk, sipping at her martini.
"Like you're one to talk." Odleh snapped, "I was detecting intense levels of magic coming from one of the Gerudo's bedrooms, so I had my knights sneak in and confiscate the source." she muttered, "Judging from this, it would seem my theory about Lon Lon Ranch was correct."
"Hm? What's this about?" Roesia asked.
"The resident old bat is certain that there's fairy magic within the ranch grounds." Duke Geronim of Wealth and Finances said, the egg-like man in a gold suit and matching top hat was polishing one of his many gold rupees, "Though I don't get why we need it so badly, especially if we can't use it to balance the kingdom's budget."
"I'm not entirely certain…" Odleh spoke, "But if we can obtain ownership of that ranch, we can find the source of this magic, and from there use it to deal with… our little problem."
"I should warn you Minister…" Balterius spoke narrowing his eyes from behind his sunglasses, "That dabbling in magic that you don't understand can be very costly."
"Hmph, I'm not the head of supernatural affairs for nothing, don't let your position make you think you can tell me how to do my job!" Odleh spoke angerly.
"My main job is keeping you all in line." Balterius spoke narrowing his eyes, "Do you even know how you're going to deal with the situation at Lon Lon Ranch? It would seem Duke Geronim's contract scam didn't assist us with that at all."
"Well after y past reports, I was certain Mr. Lon wouldn't meet his quota, yet somehow out of nowhere he did!" Geronim defended himself.
"Heh," Roesia chuckled under her breath, thinking about a certain blonde haired man, "I can only wonder how…"
"And I was cheated out of obtaining that horse that was promised." Andreas scowled, "That damn Ernoldus couldn't even find her when he inspected the place!"
"Oh boo-hoo, you didn't get your little horsey." Geronim taunted, "What do you want with it anyway?"
"That isn't your concern, Duke of Eggs." Andreas scowled.
"You want your military budget slashed again?" Geronim shouted back.
"ENOUGH!" Balterius shouted out, making the bickering come to a stop.
He took a deep breath, leaning back in his chair. The man took a small porcelain tile and placed it down on a stack he had in front of him.
"In mahjong, there are times when you must learn to fold to avoid ultimate defeat." Balterius spoke, placing down another tile, "But the ends justify the means, and a mere sacrifice is worth it to ensure your victory."
"…anyone mind translating that?" Geronim asked picking his nose.
"Idiot, he means despite the Gerudo King and his people coming here, we will take advantage of this to deal with them." Haralden spoke.
"If this were any other circumstance it would be a betrayal of righteous justice." spoke Isambard with his head lowered, he brought his head up and his eyes narrowed, "However, as far as I'm concerned, for what the charges against the Gerudo are, they are guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt, and must face absolute justice for it!"
"So it's agreed then." spoke Governor Balterius, the leader of the parliament, "We're still going through with Plan B should things not work in our favor during the meeting."
The other six all nodded, though one of them seemed somewhat bothered.
"Were you able to obtain it, Minister?" spoke Balterius.
"I didn't care for meeting with those fiends, but it's the most surefire plan we have." Odleh nodded, holding up a vial of red liquid, "It's just a matter of finding the right timing to use it."
"Naturally, we'd only stoop to this if things go badly for us in the meeting, correct…?" Roesia spoke somewhat worried.
"You seem hesitant Countess, are you having second thoughts?" Andreas spoke.
"Oh, o-of course not!" Roesia spoke, "I know full well we can't allow the Gerudo to succeed in striking down the banishment law…" she glanced off to the side, "But… going that far, can't there possibly be another way?"
"Either this meeting goes in our favor, or we must do what is necessary." Balterius simply spoke, placing down another mahjong tile on his stack, "Suji."
"He's right Countess." Odleh lowered her gaze, gripping at the milk bottle, "We can never allow that horrible power to be free once again..."
"… …y-yes, I understand…" Roesia whispered with a downcast look in her eyes.
The Parliament disbanded shortly after that, with each of them all going their separate ways.
Coutness Roesia strolled down the hallway back to her living quarters to make her final preparations for the meeting.
Her thoughts however, were more reoccupied with what happened last week with the mystery of the Widowmaker being solved. What with her late husband being one of the victims, she was happy the Widowmaker was dealt with. But she never would had guessed it would be thanks to the Gerudo King Link, as well as his grand lady Nabooru.
She found herself thinking about how far Link had gone to clear the name of that Darling woman, as well as saving the parlor girl Jovie from her own accusations. And then there was that young child Petrafina, of whom Link watched out for…
It seemed despite all the rumors circulating with the Gerudo King, even with what Captain Andreeas claimed about him trying to attack the waterfall border bridge knights in a fit of rage, it seemed this King Link was a kind man who truly cared about people.
"He's almost like…" she whispered, as for a brief second she thought of her late husband. The voluptuous woman put a hand up to her chest and sighed. For some reason, she felt a warmth from deep inside her, something she hadn't felt for a long time.
The countess shook off those thoughts, before going off down the hall.
In another part of the castle, Captain Andreas had approached Lieutenant Ashe, who was stranding with her knights.
"I understand things went well with the nobles arrival." Andreas spoke, "You've done fine work Lieutenant."
"I am owed no thanks, I only do what is necessary to protect the people, no matter what rank or class they are under, Captain." Ashe bowed, "Their safety is where my gratitude lays."
The knights were surprised by her words, and started murmuring to each other silently,
"To think she earned praise from the Captain, yet turned it down?"
"Despite that, she's risen through the ranks faster than any of us. I've even heard rumors the king is considering promoting her to Commander!"
"By that you mean second in command of the army?"
"For a while I was smitten with her beauty, but I'm starting to admire her determination moreso!"
"Yeah, she's inspiring me to work harder!"
"QUIET, ALL OF YOU." Andreas spoke in a loud voice, his pupils sinking in as his eyes turned more bloodshot in annoyance.
Ashe narrowed her eyes discreetly at the captain, she noted one of the knights shaking, so she pat him on the shoulder to assure him, which quickly calmed him down.
"Will there be anything else, Sir?" Ashe asked, "If not I'll be taking the knights to the mess hall for lunch before the meeting."
"… …" Andreas looked down to Ashe for a moment, before nodding, "Actually I do. Once you've had your lunch, please report back to me. I have an important mission for you and your team."
"Very well." Ashe nodded, "Let's go men."
"…" Andreas paused and watched as Ashe went off, with the knights following in step behind her. The Captain narrowed his eyes as he exhaled deeply through his clenched teeth.
"Um, Captain?" spoke up a voice.
"WHAT is it…?" the captain of the knights glared down to see one of his subordinates, who cowered a bit at the sight of his intimidating face.
"I-I just wanted to report something." spoke the knight nervously, "I was out at the horse stables, and I thought I saw a Geurdo out there."
"Is there a problem? We already know Lady Nabooru has a personal horse." Andreas muttered.
"W-Well that's the thing, this was a different horse than the black one." spoke the knight, "It was a brown one with a white mane. From the way she was speaking to it, it was a female one too."
Andreas rubbed at his chin in thought, "Strange, I don't recall seeing them with one like-"
But then the captain's eyes widened with realization, and a large toothy grin formed on his face, one that chilled his subordinate to his core.
"Thank you solider, for this information…"
And that ends this chapter. Next time, the meeting finally commences, but what will Link and Nabooru have to go through in dealing with the Hylian Parliament, and is there something darker looming during all of this? Find out next time!
So just thought I'd give a little announcement, the story's about in the last 'third' at this point, and I need to start focusing more and more on wrapping up story points and getting to the big climaxes.
With that in mind, while I greatly appreciate suggestions for new fiances for Link, at this point in my drafts and notes I've already determined who will be joining his extended family and won't be taking most, or any more suggestions.
It's getting a bit too big for me to handle just balancing all the characters that exist, and while there will still be more as the story progresses, trying to properly flesh out and characterize everyone is getting tougher. I think this story just got too ambitious for my own good, and if I could go back, I would have toned things down a bit.
One important thing is I need to focus more on Link and Nabooru as the story starts reaching the end. There will be more characters here and there, but don't expect the massive arcs I do for the Gerudo like Aviel, Sarami or Foluma.
As a side note, with A.I. art trending lately, I gave it a try and have been attempting to make some of my characters. They don't all come out 100% perfect, but they sure look pretty close to how I've imaged them.
If you're interested, you can see them on my DeviartArt account, also named DynoStretch. (if you're having trouble finding it, just google 'DeviartArt DynoStretch' and it should come up as the first result)
As always, thank you for reading! Please leave a like, follow, comment or just send a Private Message if you choose. Your feedback is always encouraged!