The next day...
"Link..." Zelda whispered in the young man's ear. Link stirred and woke up.
"Link...yesterday...when you were fighting the lizalfos...did you feel this...cold, chilling feeling while fighting them?" Link had indeed noticed that feeling, a sensation most strange to perceive in the middle of the tropical rainforest.
"Do you think...the Demon King was watching us? That maybe that man we met the other day WAS the Demon King reborn?" Link seemed uncomfortable with the thought, but agreed that he would be on his guard.
"PLEASE be careful, Link...if you are indeed the Hero the Demon King is going to want to slit your throat as much as he wants to cut mine." With that the two got up, ate breakfast, and retrieved "Coal" from the stable before they began traveling west towards the Bridge of Hylia. When they approached the bridge they could overhear the sound of battle...
"Curses!" Zelda called out, "Those wanker infected soldiers are trying to take the bridge, Link!" Link brought "Coal" to a full gallop and rushed onto the bridge to find that the two soldiers from before were now swamped with two dozen infected soldiers. Link leaped off "Coal" and rushed to aid the two soldiers as Zelda prepared to open fire. Zelda's shock arrows proved very effective against the iron armor of the infected soldiers, but after taking out a few soldiers she ran out of arrows...
"Rats!" she muttered under her breath. Meanwhile Link was fighting as hard as he could, backflipping out of the way of one blow after another and countering with his own sword. Slowly the tide was turning for the two soldiers on the bridge...however, one infected soldier slipped out of the brawl, spotted Zelda, and charged.
"DIE, BLINDING LIGHT!" he snarled viciously. Thinking fast, Zelda forced "Coal" into a full gallop and knocked the soldier right off the bridge...however, "Coal" subsequently spooked and came to a sudden halt, flinging Zelda right off. She was not seriously hurt, but the commotion attracted several additional infected soldiers...
"Stop!" one of the normal soldiers cried out as he and his companion rushed to defend the Princess. They got to Zelda just in time to protect her, and Link hurried behind them and finished off the infected soldiers. The Bridge of Hylia was once again safe for travel, but Zelda's pride was in shambles...
"Link, I...I am sorry. This...this whole fight...it just made me feel more like dead weight..."
"You have become a fantastic archer, Lady Zelda," one of the soldiers replied. "You just ran out of arrows...happens to the best of us." That did little to lift Zelda's spirits.
"Hyrule is expecting me to save the whole kingdom from the Plague...and my birthright has not awakened yet. Link has spent the entire journey thus far protecting me from monsters, and I deeply appreciate that...I just wish I could repay him back for his heroics."
"Heroics"? Is protecting a woman you are attracted to considered "heroic"?
"If I may, Lady Zelda?" the second soldier asked.
"Speak...you do not need special permission from me."
"This...I am not quite sure how to say this...legend has it that your ancestress...she too struggled to unleash her birthright. Then one day...during the Great Calamity...when her beloved was in danger...it finally awakened. Maybe...maybe if you find someone you care deeply enough about...it will awaken on its own?"
"I appreciate your thoughts...the problem is that...it seems like people do not really want to be my friend. I am but a master to them...to be feared, not loved...no matter how kind I may be...being Princess has condemned me to be lonely." Link was surprised how much those words upset him.
Does she realize that I want to be her friend? Does she think that just because I am a "Hero" I have to stay detached from everyone? She's such a beautiful and kind young woman...it's hard not to be drawn to her...Regardless, Link was not able to muster the courage to express his feelings to Zelda at that moment. They gave their goodbyes to the two soldiers on the bridge and continued northward across the Bridge of Hylia. Once off the bridge they passed Scout's Hill to its west before turning east in the midst of the small settlements near the Great Plateau. Link hurried "Coal" eastward to Proxim Bridge, where the settlements ended, and before too long the trio were passing under the massive Dueling Peaks, a pair of mountains with a river flowing between them.
"Legend has it," Zelda commented as they passed beneath them, "that these are two halves of one summit that a dragon cleaved in two. I have no way of affirming that, but it's a nice story." Link resisted the urge to tell her not to narrate her surroundings. Shortly after exiting the gap between the Dueling Peaks they crossed the Big Twin Bridge to their north and continued north past the Dueling Peaks Stable and Ash Swamp, eventually crossing the stony Kakariko Bridge before they veered to the east. Link directed "Coal" down the roughly counter clockwise winding road surrounding the Pillars of Levia and finally reached Kakariko Village, a small village where the Sheikah – a tribe of pale skinned, gray haired humans renowned for their wisdom – lived.
Kakariko Village was filled with intriguing oriental architecture quite different from Hyrule at large, but that was not where Link's gaze turned when they arrived. He was quick to notice a young family near the town's entrance - a sheikah man, his hylian wife, and their two young children, one boy and one girl – just enjoying themselves on that beautiful evening. The sight brought Link tremendous pain...
I have been alone so long...I've tried so hard, SO DAMN HARD, to find a family again, and it just hasn't happened. I joined Zelda hoping maybe...just maybe...she'd want to stick around; but what's the odds of that if she thinks I am a servant helping her purely out of duty? Do I dare tell her...
"Link, have you lost the plot?" Link jolted out of his thoughts and whipped his head around before realizing it was just Zelda.
"Coal is going all over the place and almost crashed into a child a moment ago...you seem distracted." Link tried to brush it off as nothing, but Zelda wasn't convinced...later that evening, after Link had sold his excess bows and rented out two beds at the local inn using the resulting rupees, Zelda tried to talk to him about whatever was bothering him.
"Link...do you...feel like telling me what is up?" Link still hesitated to open up to the princess in exile.
"Link, please...I want to help you..." Link refused to open up, so Zelda retreated to the first floor of the inn. When she returned a few minutes later, she was carrying two clay mugs filled with warm tea. The tea smelled divine...
"Would you like a cuppa tea, Link? Father...taught me this recipe." The mention of her late father caused Zelda to begin tearing up again.
"Sure," Link replied. The tea was delicious...
Maybe...she doesn't think I'm just a servant? Link and Zelda spent several minutes drinking the tea, after which Zelda placed the cups on a table by her bedside.
"Link..." Zelda was still a touch teary eyed.
"Yes?" Zelda got off her bed and knelt in front of Link's.
"Thank you...for helping me thus far. You have already put yourself in a lot of peril just to keep me safe...and...and we are still virtually strangers. If...if after this is all over there is anything...anything...I can do to help you, just tell me." Link was at a loss for words...
A family? Do I dare tell her that? No...not so soon...I still barely know her...
"Think about it...please..." With that Zelda returned to her bed and they both fell asleep. They didn't get to sleep very long...
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! STOP! STOP! STOOOOPPPPP!" Zelda was jolted awake by Link hollering at the top of his lungs in the middle of the night. She quickly noticed him flailing in bed, very sweaty, clearly having some kind of wretched nightmare.
"Link! Link!" Still not awake, Link swung at Zelda, which she just barely avoided.
"LINK, WAKE UP!" she yelled out. Link finally woke up, looking dazed and exhausted. Zelda sat down on his bed next to him...
"Are you alright?!" Link was shaking and couldn't say anything for several minutes...this was not at all like the brave Link she had known up until now.
"It's not your business what the hell is bothering me, Your Highness..."
"Link..." Without even thinking Zelda gently took the Hero into her arms and held him against her side, like how she used to comfort her younger brother. Link bristled at first but eventually settled down...
"Zelda...I...I'm sorry. That outburst was uncalled for..."
"It is alright...my brother was a lot like you. Just...please be careful. An outburst like this cost him his life..."
"So...the Plague didn't kill him?" Zelda just embraced Link more tightly and he responded in kind...
I guess that means she doesn't want to tell me...a few minutes later they were both out cold.
The Next Day...
Zelda awoke to find herself in Link's bed, wrapped in his arms. Link woke up a few minutes later...he promptly blushed beet red.
"I...I'm sorry, Your Highness. I..."
Secretly, Link...it felt really good. I've not been held by anyone in a long time... She didn't dare tell him that, though...
"It is hunky dory, Link...do not worry about it." She gently left his embrace before they both began getting ready for the day.
"Mount Lanayru – and the Spring of Wisdom near its peak – are both bitterly cold," Zelda informed Link. "We should prepare some hot food before we go." After leaving the inn Link found a cooking pot and prepared some spicy meals using various ingredients he had picked up on their travels; meanwhile Zelda purchased some arrows from a nearby store. Once cooking was complete Link helped Zelda mount "Coal" before they resumed their travels.
Link guided "Coal" up a hill to the northeast of Kakariko Village, where they soon found the path veered in two directions, one northeast and one southeast. Nearby Link and Zelda saw a pedestrian, so Zelda hopped off the horse to ask for directions...Link didn't like this idea at all.
Don't do it, Zelda...don't do it!
"Excuse me, sir," she called out as she approached, "which way is it to Mount Lanayru?" The "pedestrian" produced a vile smirk...
Crud!
"I'll tell you...in the afterlife! Die, Princess of Hyrule!" Suddenly the "pedestrian" transformed in a cloud of smoke into a skinny warrior with a red outfit, white mask with an upside down red sheikah insignia on it (basically an eye with a teardrop, only inverted in this case), and a vicious sickle in his right hand – a yiga footsoldier. He immediately lunged at Zelda's throat, the Princess falling backwards to avoid the attack, and was preparing a follow up when Link leaped off "Coal" and caught the sickle on his shield, throwing the yiga off balance. Link quickly defeated the yiga with two blows from his own sword, at which point he vanished into smoke. Link then helped Zelda to her feet...she was breathing very heavily.
"That...was terrifying!" A few moments later she calmed down...
"Link...I have a special hatred in my heart for the Yiga. A band of their soldiers murdered my mother while she was traveling in the Gerudo Desert...she was such a kind woman, my mother; she was..." Zelda began tearing up again; clearly this memory was very painful.
"...she was the previous wielder...of my secret stone..."
"What's a secret stone?" Link asked.
"A secret stone, Link, is...is a little tear shaped stone that dramatically enhances the inherent talents of the wielder. Mom's talent...was using its power to heal anyone ill or dying, even from...the most grave of injuries or maladies. Such power, and yet she could not save herself...and now...the Dark Prince is using her secret stone to undo all the good she did in her life! Do you know how gutted that makes me?!" Zelda's face twisted from one of sadness to one of someone who had been horrendously betrayed; then, when she could not sustain that anger any longer, she sobbed again. Link, unsure how to help her, simply let her cry for a while before they resumed trying to find Lanayru. They started by heading north, which led them to Rabia Plain...Zelda could see Zora's Domain in the distance but quickly realized they would not find Mount Lanayru in that direction.
"Argh...let us take the other path, Link." She still sounded moody from before, and rightly so. Link turned "Coal" around and returned to the same intersection the yiga footsoldier had attacked them at, only this time taking the southern fork. Soon they found themselves on the Lanayru Promenade, a partially flooded stone brick pathway leading to Mount Lanayru. Zelda, fearing falling into the water surrounding the promenade, clung tightly to Link as "Coal" traversed it. Eventually they reached the east gate of the Lanayru promenade...
"Link!" Zelda whispered coarsely, "do you feel that cold chilling feeling again?!" Link sure did feel it...when they entered a clearing behind the gate they quickly found someone waiting for them.
"Greetings, Princess of Hyrule..." It was that same massive middle aged man they had met in the Lakeside Stable, only this time armed with two large swords with golden hilts.
"Who are you, and what is your business with us?!" Zelda barked out, still angry from nearly being assassinated hours prior. The man laughed scornfully.
"You'd best be treating me with the utmost respect, fool...I...am the Demon King, Ganondorf! Master of the Yiga Clan, and Hyrule's future overlord!" That just made Zelda angrier.
"YOU...you killed my mother!" He scornfully laughed yet again.
"Precisely...that secret stone was supposed to be MINE, but now that little boy has it and started the Plague using it. He's no match for me even with the stone! I'll take that stone and warp Hyrule into my image! But first..." Ganondorf drew his swords.
"One last chance, Princess...bow to me, or join your mother in the hereafter!" Link leaped off "Coal" and drew his sword.
"Oh? You dare challenge me, fool? Fine. HAVE IT YOUR WAY!" Link told Zelda to run as he engaged Ganondorf. It was initially simple swordplay, with Link scoring some blows on the Demon King, but then Ganondorf started showing off. The Demon King took a massive backflip and rushed at Link; Link dodged the blow and attempted to counter it, but Ganondorf responded in kind, forcing Link to dodge him again and perform a second consecutive counter, which did strike Ganondorf. Ganondorf then leaped away and used his magic to produce two orbs of this terrible red substance called gloom, which he shot off at Link; Link barely dodged the gloom, at which point the swordplay continued. After several bouts of this Ganondorf attempted to strike Link with a charged spin attack, which Link narrowly avoided but then exploited to deal further damage to the Demon King. Ganondorf was getting angrier.
"You DARE defy me, kid?! I'll show you how weak you are!" Nothing seemed to happen for a moment, but suddenly a phantom of Ganondorf seized Link from behind and pinned him to the ground. Ganondorf laughed scornfully, then drew his blades to behead Link...
"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Zelda – who had ignored Link's wishes for her to run – rushed in front of Link...and, suddenly, a blinding light appeared from her left hand, a explosive brilliance that consumed the phantom and brought Ganondorf to his knees. Link quickly rose to his feet to continue fighting, but Ganondorf simply laughed.
"Well played, Princess...you just saved your unworthy Hero. Have fun next time we meet, when I WILL kill you by the cruelest...possible...stroke!" Ganondorf continued laughing as he dissolved into gloom and disappeared. Zelda was left to wrap her head around what had just happened...
"My birthright...my ability to seal away evil...it is finally AWAKE!" She then turned to attend to Link, whom she anxiously looked over.
"Link, are you all right?! Did the Demon King hurt you?!" Link was perfectly fine aside from a few scrapes, but his pride was hurting and he did not want to talk.
"Well...at least we do not need to visit the Spring of Wisdom anymore...let us return to Kakariko Village." Link helped Zelda mount "Coal" (who had fled back down the promenade in response to the fighting), and they rode back to Kakariko Village, arriving at nightfall. When they did arrive, they were met by a very old hylian man...
"Greetings, Princess Zelda and her Hero..." Zelda was shocked he immediately recognized them.
"Who are you?!"
"You needn't worry about my name. Just call me the Seer...I have important matters to discuss with the two of you. Meet me at the top of Sahasra Slope at midnight." Link agreed to meet him there...
"Are we sure we can trust this man?" Zelda whispered to Link after the Seer left. Link had his doubts whether he was trustworthy but thought it was the only option they had.
"Alright...whatever you say, Link. I am just still having bad memories of almost having my throat slit earlier today..." The two hung around a fire for a little while, but then a rainstorm struck Kakariko Village and put the fire out. It was still raining when midnight approached, so Link and Zelda both looked like drowned rats by the time they met with the Seer at the top of Sahasra Slope...he had been kind enough to set up a tent prior to their arrival.
"You two are as committed as I hoped you would be...now, listen carefully to what I have to say; the threat to Hyrule is grave indeed, more than even the two of you combined can hope to solve. The threat is two pronged; Ganondorf, the Demon King reborn, on one side, the Dark Prince and his Plague on the other. That is why I have a gift for the Princess..." The Seer lifted up his sleeve, revealing a secret stone tied to his right wrist. Zelda was in shock.
"But...but that's...!"
"A secret stone? Indeed. My talent is the gift of immortality...I have had this stone since a previous Princess Zelda gave it to me on her deathbed nearly two thousand years ago."
"Two thousand years old?!"
"Let me finish, Princess. She told me; 'Ganondorf will one day return to haunt Hyrule...until that happens, guard this secret stone with your life! Then when he returns, give it to my heir...she will use it to stop Ganondorf.' And now guess what? Ganondorf is back...and it is ALMOST time to relinquish my secret stone."
"BUT! This here secret stone is the only thing keeping me from disintegrating to dust, so I'm not going to give it away for free. You need to prove your resolve to me! Bring me the Sword that Seals the Darkness, hidden in the Lost Woods..."
"But how?!" Zelda blurted out, "The Lost Woods cannot be navigated by mortals!"
"Simple...when the Sword was placed in the Lost Woods over two thousand years ago, your ancestress drew a map of how to navigate the Lost Woods and then tore it in four, giving the pieces to four sages who helped the previous Hero defeat Ganondorf. Those sages then stored the pieces in Gerudo Town, Rito Village, Goron City, and Zora's Domain...you will need the help of all four of those races anyways if you want to get anywhere near the Dark Prince, for the two of you are no match for the horde of plagued soldiers guarding the Castle. Enlist their support, get the Sword, and return to me...I will be waiting in this village. Don't let me down." Link and Zelda left the tent without saying another word and returned to the inn to sleep...
"Link?" The Hero sat up to listen to Zelda.
"This whole task of saving Hyrule seems even more onerous than I thought...do you think I can do it?"
"You can do it for sure...I'm just a failure. I should have been able to make mincemeat of that Ganondorf then and there..."
"Link...the old legends say that whenever the Demon King appears, he is defeated by the combined efforts of a Princess with the blood of the Goddess and a Knight with the spirit of the Hero. You should not expect to be able to stop Ganondorf, or the Dark Prince for that matter, by yourself...we will need to work together. Do not beat yourself up over what happened today...about a week ago you thought you were just a commoner and now you have been plunged into a war for Hyrule's future. You are getting better at fighting that war every day...I have seen it with my own eyes."
"You sure?" She took Link's hand and gave him the gentlest smile...it sent a tingle up Link's spine, to receive this kind of attention from such a beautiful woman.
"Absolutely..." Link was speechless.
"Now get some rest...tomorrow we need to start traveling again. We will discuss precisely where in the morning. Night night, Link..." Zelda returned to her bed to sleep...Link's mind was racing too fast for him to fall asleep easily.
Is...is this the woman I have been looking for for so long? The one who...who will end my days of being alone? No no...it's too soon to jump to that conclusion. She'll probably just...just wander off when she's gotten what she wants from me, like every other woman I have ever taken an interest in. I'll stick around long enough to "Save Hyrule"...maybe...maybe she'll change her mind? Fat chance of that... Link, disturbed by the whirlwind of extremely uncomfortable thoughts in his mind, turned towards the wall and cried himself to sleep...