A massive hand gently shaking his shoulder stirred Link from a deep, dreamless slumber. He turned to see the strong face of Sidon smiling encouragingly at him, his shark-like crown only just fitting inside the triangular canvas stretched overhead.
"Good morning, Link!" the Zora prince greeted him cheerfully. "I took the liberty of setting up this - what was the word again? Ah yes! Tent! I erected this tent just for you! It is an old thing, I am afraid, one acquired from a Hylian trader many years ago. When we went searching for one of your kind, I knew he or she would appreciate shelter from this dreadful deluge en route to my home! I understand Hylians are not as comfortable sleeping when wet."
Link regretfully shrugged himself free from the cloak that had served as his blanket. The dank air was chill even inside the tent, and the steady patter of rainfall told him a fire would not be an option today.
"You are right, Your Highness," Link admitted good-naturedly while getting to his knees. "I thank you for your thoughtfulness. Stiff limbs would be of little use to your people."
Sidon politely backed out of the tent to allow Link to redress in his regular trousers and tunic. The Zora now reared to his full, impressive height. His red and cream skin seemed to absorb the steady rainfall.
"Please, call me Sidon!" the prince exclaimed. "We are not in so formal a setting as to require titles! Besides, we have a good day's journey to Zora's Domain, and I would rather we converse as companions and friends."
"I gladly welcome a friend in such troubled times," Link agreed. He paused in gathering his belongings upon finding themselves alone. "Where is the rest of your party, Sidon? Somewhere at least as safe this, I hope."
"Safer, even," the prince nodded with a nod and a smile. "I have bidden the rest of them return to Zora's Domain. The journey on foot is difficult for those unused to making it, and I would not have them endure more than they must after all they have done for me already."
Link nodded appreciatively in response. He was growing to like this Zora prince more with each passing moment.
"Leave the tent, Sidon," he assured him when his new companion's first enthusiastic attempt to pack the canvas failed miserably. "I have my own already, and perhaps traders and travelers will make use of this one once the road to your home is made safe."
Sidon bounded to his feet and clapped Link heartily on the shoulder. "Well said, Link! Your optimism boosts my spirits! Let us be off!"
Link grinned. He wondered whether Sidon's spirits ever needed boosting. Gathering his things - and digging out a cold apple to munch along the way - Link set out alongside the Zora prince.
They had, Link realized, camped alongside a road that curved sharply through the pine forest that dominated the rocky terrain. It was hard to tell under the cloud-strewn sky, but Link guessed the path was leading them southeast at the moment.
"Where are we, Sidon?" Link asked curiously.
"The Tabahl Woods," the Zora answered readily. "They lie between the slopes of the Zobodon Highlands to the south and the Zora River to the north, which we crossed last night. We will traverse it twice more before we reach my home. The Hylian path is a long one, but quite beautiful. I am to assume, then, that you are not familiar with Zora's Domain?"
"Only with what I have heard from others," Link admitted truthfully. "Though if the Inogo Bridge is any hint as to your home, I will likely be lost for words when we arrive."
Sidon's muscled chest swelled with pleasure at the compliment. "Though I have lived there all my life, the beauty of Zora's Domain still tugs at my heart. It will do it well to see my home freed from Vah Ruta's rage."
"I will do everything I can to see that happen, Sidon," Link responded firmly. "I promise."
"I've no doubt you will, my friend," Sidon said with a look of deep interest. "I must admit, I was impressed by your skill against the lizardscum. You told me last night that you were not Sheikah, though you wore their armor. Now I see your cloak bears the royal symbol of Hyrule. I confess I am curious as to what home you do claim and how you came by your marvelous skills in battle."
Link hid his concern with a bite from his apple while Cado's warning rang in his ears. Link desperately wanted to tell his new friend everything. Dare he risk it without knowing how much Sidon knew, perhaps even remembered, about him?
"I come from the west," Link said finally. His answers, for now, would as truthful as he dared. "My ancestors were knights of Hyrule." My father, at least, Link thought. Would Sidon - or his father, King Dorephan - have known or met my father? "I learned what I could to honor them and defend what I hold dear." Link could not remember the truth of all that, but it felt right when he said it.
"You have a good heart, Link of Hyrule," Sidon said approvingly as the path took yet another twist through the forest. "My sister, may Hylia's waters keep her, used to say that no shield is stronger nor sword sharper than a good heart against the forces of evil and sorrow."
"Used to say?" Link asked curiously.
"Yes," Sidon acknowledged. Link noted with alarm that the Zora's normally merry expression had fallen in sorrow. "My sister was Mipha, late princess of Zora's Domain."
It took all of Link's will to mask the shock that spun his head and throttled his throat. Perhaps it had been the haste of the previous night's flight. The heat of battle. His single-minded intention to wrest control from Vah Ruta. Whatever the case, he had failed to connect the now obvious lines that tied Mipha to Sidon. Once again, he could see her at the foot of Mount Lanayru. Sidon was, Link now saw, every opposite that complemented his sister. Tall and strong where she was small and graceful. Outspoken and garrulous where she was quiet and reserved. Yet the coloring of their skin and their undeniably noble bearing all but shouted their relation, and Link berated himself ten kinds of fool for not realizing it before now.
"I… I am sorry to have recalled that burden to your mind, Sidon," Link managed to say. "I did not mean to renew your grief."
Sidon placed his clawed hand on Link's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "There is no need to apologize, friend Link," the Zora said in a tone that convinced Link he meant it. "It is good to remember those whom we loved and lost. It reminds us of how Hylia has graced our lives. My sister was dearly beloved by all our people, and our grief over her passing will likely live on until all that knew Mipha join her with Hylia."
The two companions emerged briefly from the woods just as Sidon finished speaking. A low bank blanketed with green grass lay before them, its rock-strewn edge containing the fast-flowing river. A cunningly fashioned pole of silver and luminous stone rose up ahead, serving as a marker to assure travelers they were taking the correct road to Zora's Domain. Even with the continuous rainfall, the scene was idyllic.
"Coincidentally," Sidon said with a gesture to the green-carpeted bank, "my sister loved this place. It is known as the Bank of Wishes. She spent many a quiet hour here - when my brethren and I were not disturbing her with our games, of course!"
The prince's commentary washed over Link, whose eyes had locked on the bank and neighboring river. There was something about the grass and the water, the way one fed into the other, and how peaceful the whole scene appeared to be.
"...when my brethren and I were not disturbing her with our games, of course…"
The midday sun drenched the Bank of Wishes in glorious light, its rays glinting off the Zora River in silvery patches that rippled with the water. The grass was the vivid green that only the best days of spring can bring, its vibrancy invigorating to all with the pleasure to behold it on this fine day - and there were many who did.
Roughly a dozen Zora calves cavorted in the water with the unbridled joy most often reserved for the young. Most stayed somewhat close to the bank, for here the river flowed fast and deep between the rocky banks of the Zobodon Highlands.
That did not inhibit their boisterousness, however. Some gleefully jumped from a large boulder half-buried by the current, each of them jumping just a little too soon in their eagerness and partially landing on the one who had leaped before, which only produced more laughter amid the innocent chaos. Others took it upon themselves to sneak up on unaware playmates, swimming underwater before popping up with a splash and a loud yell to the surprised delight of their friends.
One especially boisterous Zora boy seemed to be the center of all the roughhousing. He was a good head taller than his playmates, all of which seemed particularly keen to witness his best feats of mischief.
"Go on, Sidon!" a blue-skinned youngster whispered eagerly. "Go scare her!"
Link, who was seated on the far left side of the bank, smiled in anticipation as he watched the young Zora prince disappear into the water with a truly fiendish grin on his face. The last Link saw of him was the small red dorsal fin on the crown of his head before he slipped into the river's depths. He did not need to see Sidon to know he was making his way upriver toward the right side of the bank, for that was where his victim sat propped up against the light post.
The sunlight seemed to illuminate Mipha, daughter of King Dorephan, Princess of Zora's Domain. It glinted off the silver she wore at her waist, neck, wrists, and crown. Her dark red and cream skin was complemented by waist and arm fins of bright turquoise and yellow. The Zora princess had set down her long trident in favor of a new book gifted to her by Princess Zelda earlier that day. Link knew, however, that Mipha's normally serene expression was about to be rudely interrupted.
As if on cue, a small red something torpedoed out of the river and toward the bank, its exit from the water creating a sizeable splash. Mipha, however, appeared to have anticipated her younger brother's arrival perfectly. Without the slightest sign of surprise, she slid her book safely out of the way before deftly catching Sidon in midair with both hands.
The other Zora youngsters laughed and cheered at the feat of both friend and princess, the latter of whom was very nearly failing at keeping a stern face with her tiny intruder.
"Did I scare you, sissy?" Sidon asked hopefully.
"Silly, how could you scare me when I clearly knew you were coming?" Mipha returned as seriously as she could. Her brother's cheeky smile, however, ultimately convinced the Zora princess to give up her mock-serious reproach. Instead, she set about tickling the little prince. The abrupt change in retribution produced giggling cries of protest from Sidon and high-pitched laughter from his friends. "You think you can scare me, little prince?" she teased him lovingly. "You think you can scare me?"
Link's smile broadened at seeing such play between brother and sister. It felt good to be a part of such a lighthearted scene, even as an observer. Though he had just entered his fourteenth year, Link had seen discipline replace the innocence of his childhood more than ever before. He still did not feel comfortable in the garb of the Royal Guard, though his father would always brush aside his complaints whenever he chose to voice them.
"They will grow on you, Link," he would laugh before turning serious. "Hylia knows your heart, and She will place you where you are needed most. Never doubt Her - or yourself, my son."
Link did not doubt himself, but sometimes he wondered if his father was purposefully testing his resolve. His training was more strenuous than ever despite the fact no swordsman could best him. Knowing that, Link had asked his father just a month before why he was being pushed so hard when his ability was already proven. His father had looked at him for several studious moments before finally answering.
"There is a time in everyone's life when he must meet what can break him," he had said intently. "If you are only braced against that which you know, the unknown will drown you in its coming."
And so Link had continued to train under the watchful eye of his father and the captain of the guard. Both of them were now at Zora's Domain with King Dorephan and the Council. They had bid Link safeguard the youths' outing with Mipha, allowing him a rare window of relative leisure. His sword lay sheathed on the grass beside him, its purple-and-gold scabbard - further proof of his rapid ascension among Hyrule's ranks - brilliantly catching the midday sun.
For once, Link's mind was nowhere near the weapon that never left his side. Instead, he watched Mipha playfully torment her brother until the Zora princess looked up and waved him over.
Curiously, seeing her eyes meet his and her motioning for his company set Link's heart racing. He had always held a soft spot in his heart for Mipha. He was only six years old when they had first met, and he had witnessed her magical healing powers with childlike awe. Mipha in turn had taken him under her fin with a sisterly fondness, always taking time to show him something new in the Domain or fetch him a delicious Zora delicacy from the kitchens.
As he rose and approached Mipha now, however, he realized his feelings were no longer those of an adoring young boy. They were something else entirely, and that fact was harder to ignore as he more clearly beheld the delicate beauty of her cream-skinned face and inviting eyes.
"Please, sit down, Link," Mipha invited him warmly.
How close should I sit to her? Link wondered frantically before angrily replying to himself. Why should that matter? It never has before! He hoped Mipha did not notice his awkward hesitation before finally sitting what he deemed an appropriately close distance from the princess.
Mipha had stopped tickling Sidon, who had settled into his sister's lap. He was, Link realized, clinging to his sister while looking at him with something very close to a pout.
"Do you remember who this is, Sidon?" Mipha asked her brother sweetly while stroking his shark-shaped crown.
The young prince nodded sulkily as children often do when forced to answer an uninteresting question. "He's Link," Sidon answered petulantly. "He's your friend. But you're my sister."
Mipha's laugh was as light and pleasant as silver chimes caught by a gentle breeze.
"Of course, sweet Sidon, I will always be your sister!" she reassured him lovingly with a gentle squeeze. "Just as Link will always be my friend!"
Mipha had lifted her gaze to him, but Link suddenly averted his. He did not want to risk her seeing the suddenly ugly feeling that had writhed to life in his stomach. This is stupid! he thought angrily. Why should Mipha wanting to be my friend upset me? Mentally repeating the idea, however, only increased the sickening sensation of dissatisfaction.
"Link, you see, is much more than just my friend," Mipha explained to Sidon in elementary tones. "He is also a member of the Royal Guard of Hyrule. Only those of the Guard bear swords such as the one he carries. And he is the youngest among them! Even Sergeant Seggin has said Link is the most skilled swordsman in all of Hyrule!"
The octorok in the pit of Link's stomach fled, replaced by a rapidly inflating balloon of pride. He had unconsciously brought the sword with him before once again setting it down in the grass. Under the warmth of Mipha's praise, he dearly wished he had performed his daily exercises in full view of Mipha and the calves.
As it was, Sidon was now alternating his gaze between the sword and Link with undisguised wonder.
"Do you think I can be like Sir Link when I am as old as he is?" Sidon asked excitedly.
"That will take many years, Sidon," Mipha explained kindly. "Hylians, you see, age far faster than we do. Why, already Link looks much older than when I first met him. It will be decades before you look as old as he does now at just fourteen!"
The thorny resentment returned to Link's insides. Just fourteen?
Sidon, meanwhile, was nodding thoughtfully. "Well, all right!" he finally declared. Then the Zora prince clambered out of his sister's lap and raised his fist decisively. "When I look as old as Sir Link does, I will be as good a warrior as he is!"
With that and a broad smile of pearly white teeth, Sidon leaped back into the water with Zora-like grace and childlike enthusiasm.
"I am sorry about my brother, Link!" Mipha laughed brightly. "He is terribly jealous of anyone that takes my time, and I felt he needed to know that you are someone to respect rather than resent."
"It is all right, Your Highness," Link answered good-naturedly while getting to his feet.
"Oh please stay!" Mipha protested cheerfully. "It's been so long since we've seen one another, and we hardly had time to talk when you first arrived at the Domain! I must say, it is wonderful to see how much you've grown. Are you enjoying being part of the Guard?"
"Oh, yes," Link said while trying to mask his sudden pleasure at being invited to remain near her. "It is an honor to be among the best knights of Hyrule. I mean no disrespect, of course. The Zora's renown is widespread and well-earned."
"The Link I knew would never have worried about such things as honor and renown," Mipha observed with a small smile. "You have truly grown much, Link. I will miss the little boy that used to watch my 'magic.'"
Link tried to laugh off the butterflies assaulting his stomach. "You have many years yet with that little one to wonder at your gifts, Princess," he said with a gesture toward the river, where Sidon's red dorsal fin was again visible as he swam toward an unsuspecting friend on the far side of the bank.
"That I do," Mipha agreed with a light laugh. "He is a handful, is Sidon, but he has a good heart. It will do him well when he is older. I have always said that a good heart-"
Link had been absentmindedly watching Sidon while Mipha was talking. The young prince was very near his next victim, who was playing with river stones in the shallows. Suddenly, two of the nearby boulders moved. Like a nightmare, their shape and colors changed to reveal the forms of two lizard-like monsters. Their razor-sharp teeth bared in triumph as they snatched both calves in scaled and bony arms, their stronger and longer hindlegs already scurrying out of the water and toward the dense forest.
"Sidon!" Mipha screamed in panic. "No!"
The Zora princess grabbed her trident even as she cried out, but Link had not wasted time for even that much. He did not remember snatching his sword from the grass and slinging it over his shoulder as he sprinted toward the fleeing lizalfos. A small inlet briefly divided the open bank from the forest. Link leaped from the former, grabbed a low-hanging branch and swung over to the other side.
The lizalfos' exit from the river, hampered by the calves' struggles, had not been nearly as swift. Link reached them just inside the tree line. Four more lizardspawn had joined them to protect their would-be meal. Three of them bore spears tipped with sinuously curved metal ends. The others boasted only razor sharp claws and teeth for weapons. One of them held the Zora fast around the neck, and Link knew it was only keeping them alive in case affairs went badly for its brethren.
Link sized up monsters and captives even as he whipped his sword out of its scabbard. Its steel blade and golden hilt shone in stark contrast to the dull weapons of the lizalfos, whose eyes rolled this way and that in anticipation.
The brief pause was broken by a sudden hiss that cut through the air. The noise ended near the calves, its source the silver trident that now bloomed from their captor's horned face.
The shock of Mipha's attack was all Link needed. He was among the remaining lizalfos as swiftly as the nearby river water, flowing from foe to foe with each deadly stroke of his blade. The young knight uttered no war cry as he dealt out merciless death; his face was a stoic mask of unyielding stone. Only at the last monster did he gasp as the beast's panicked defense saw its spear slash Link in his unarmored side. Blue Hylian eyes hardened. He gave the gold-hilted blade a particularly vicious flourish upon removing it from the lizalfo's narrow chest, his only thought one of irritation as the last of the Ganonspawn fell.
"Sidon, Fronk, are you hurt?"
Mipha's urgent yet gently delivered question cracked the emotionless void in which Link had fought. He turned to find the princess crouched next to the two young Zora, both of whom were shaking their heads. He quickly joined them, his sword still in hand in case more lizardspawn should arrive.
"And you, Princess?" Link asked quietly. "Are you hurt?"
Mipha looked up, her wide, yellow eyes taking in everything from Link's concerned expression to his blood-stained blade to the wound in his side.
"I am fine, Link," she breathed. "So are the little ones. But you are wounded. Quickly, we must return to the bank to make sure the others are safe. Then I can see to your wound."
Link wiped his sword on the grass before returning it to its sheath, but he did not cease to scan the trees as he and the three Zora made their way back to the riverbank. No other enemies revealed themselves, however, and they found the other calves waiting in huddled nervousness in the river shallows.
Mipha briefly ascertained the youths were safe before encouraging them to return to play. They were reluctant to do so… until Sidon began relating an extremely detailed version of what had just taken place.
"Sir Link swung his sword and cut the monster's head clean off!" the young prince exclaimed to the ooh-ing approval of his friends.
Mipha smiled and shook her head as she left the little ones for Link, who was rinsing his hands in the shallows.
"Youth should never glorify death, but I can forgive Sidon his fascination with it at the moment," Mipha said as Link stood to greet her. "Come here, Link. Go on, remove your shirt so I can have a look at that."
Link pulled the dark green Hylian tunic over his head, wincing at the tugging pain it caused to his side. The discomfort quickly gave way to goosebumps as Mipha's soft fingers just grazed the area around his wound.
"It is not serious, but it's not a scratch either, is it?" Mipha observed. "It should be healed before infection sets in."
Her hand remained hovering over the gash. Soft, blue light began to glow between them. Link felt the odd sensation of soothing warmth and cool on his wound all at once.
"Would that I could have healed these. They would not have scarred you so."
Link had been so absorbed with Mipha's healing that her words startled him. Out of necessity, the Zora princess was standing quite close. She was, he realized, referring to the half dozen scars that marred his chest, shoulders and arms. Mipha's free hand was tracing the air just above them. The butterflies returned to Link's stomach and multiplied ten-fold.
"Better that you did not, Princess," Link replied ruefully. "Far better to remember the lessons I have learned. You should not have needed to heal me at all."
Silence greeted his answer, and Link took it as the princess's need to focus on the task at hand. He could feel the wound healing, its sting all but gone as the broken flesh knit itself together.
"Thank you, Link."
He looked up to find the princess' eyes brimming with unshed tears. Link was young and not tall, but Mipha's small stature left her looking up at him. Standing as she was, her face was very near his.
"I could not have done otherwise," Link returned quietly. Hylia, but you are beautiful, he thought in a rush before that other voice nagged back at him. Stop it! She's a princess!
"You saved my brother without thought for yourself," Mipha continued, her voice breaking slightly. "Had you not been there, had I hesitated a moment longer…"
The light between Mipha's hand and Link's side winked out as the Zora princess collapsed in his arms, sobbing softly with the grief of what had only just been avoided. The latter voice in Link's head fled, throttled by the arms that now encircled and held Mipha's soft body close to his scarred and calloused chest...
"Link! Link!"
A splash of cold water jolted Link awake. He was laying on the bank grass, his possessions around him in dissarray; Sidon had clearly dragged him near the water in a frantic attempt to revive him.
"I'm all right, Sidon!" Link spluttered. He was grateful for the water, for it hid the tears that had sprung from his eyes. The memory of love's sting and salve alike constricted his throat, making it hard for him to breathe.
The Zora prince helped Link sit up, a look of extreme concern on his face.
"What happened, my friend?" Sidon asked worriedly. "Are you taken ill in these sodden highlands?"
Link looked at the elder version of the Zora boy he now remembered, a prince - No, a friend. - who was trusting him with his home and people.
Link made his decision.
"Sit down, Sidon," he said slowly. "There is something you must know."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: First off, writing Sidon has been extremely fun thus far. Like Brigo, his character is hardly reserved, which is a great counter to Link's strong-but-silent approach. I'm eager for when the story expands enough to allow Sidon more chapters from his point of view, which will definitely begin taking place in Book 3 (REMINDER: ALL THE BOOKS WILL BE CONTAINED IN THIS ONE DOCUMENT; I'LL JUST BE CHANGING THE TITLE).
I'd had this idea of Link and Mipha brewing for some time before I ventured to put it to "paper." I'm really grateful for how it turned out. In the game, we're allowed a glimpse of their relationship after it is already established. Here, we see it blossom for the first time. I absolutely tried to recall some of my first real-life brushes with affection when describing Link's battling emotions: the nervousness, the self-convincing, the second-guessing, the rush. I hope you enjoyed it.
If you did, feel free to give that Fav/Follow button a click. Like or dislike this particular chapter? Drop a comment/review and let me know why or why not. Either way, grateful for your time.