The Next Day...
"THERE THEY ARE!" Link and Zelda's sleep was shattered by the outcry of dozens of infected soldiers pouring from the nearby caves. The six zora soldiers quickly braced themselves for an unwinnable battle...
"Link, Princess!" One of them called out, "Hurl yourselves into the river now! Otherwise all is lost for Hyrule!"
"But I cannot swim!" Zelda blurted back. Link had no such hesitation and threw himself and Zelda into the Zora River, which was calmer than it was a few days prior but still was flowing briskly downstream. Zelda promptly sank beneath the surface while flailing in the water, forcing Link to dive to rescue her; as Link struggled to keep both their heads above water, he caught a glimpse of a dark warrior with a black mask resembling an elongated bird's head and wielding a royal halberd (much like a knight's halberd but with a large amount of incorporated gold), overseeing the attack...
The Dark Prince?! His thoughts were soon interrupted when they plunged down a waterfall, submerging the pair for several seconds before Link was able to surface with Zelda (who visibly wanted to scream the whole time they were submerged). Eventually Link was able to pull Zelda and himself ashore near the mouth of the Zora River...the poor Princess was gasping for breath and Link wasn't faring much better, but they had no time to catch their breath.
"We've got to book it now, Zelda! Those soldiers will be heading this way any second!" The exhausted Princess simply nodded in agreement as Link took her hand and rushed away from Zora's Domain. Instead of heading up the path to Eldin (where Goron City is located) they hurried to the Woodland Stable and retrieved "Coal", at which point Zelda spoke up.
"Link, let...let us hurry...hurry west. Far to the west is...is Rito Village. We will throw off the soldiers by heading there next instead of...instead of Goron City."
"Alright," Link replied. After mounting "Coal" Link and Zelda began rapidly moving west...far, far west...they hurried past the Rauru Settlement (now deserted due to the Plague) and the Rauru Hillside, directly north of Hyrule Castle (with a moat separating the castle from the hillside). The hillside is grassland interspersed with the occasional coniferous tree...similar terrain dominated the Elma Knolls and the Rowan Plain as Link guided "Coal" to the north, with only the occasional bokoblin on horseback to provide any interest. Eventually, though, the air chilled to unbearable temperatures and snow came to cover the ground as Link and Zelda entered the South Tabantha Snowfield...the two were shivering intensely by the time they reached the Snowfield Stable, even after eating the spicy food Link had prepared back in Kakariko Village. The fact they were both still sopping wet did not help matters...
This ccccccold is absurd! Link mused to himself. I thought it was ccccccold enough during the winter back in Akkala, but this...I would be rrrrrisking my damn life sleeping in this...the Stable Hand was quick to notice their discomfort...
"Hey, strangers!" he called out, "You did not dress well for this weather at all! You should feel lucky that we have some spare coats lying around, otherwise you would freeze to death tonight!" The Stable Hand was kind enough to give Link and Zelda free coats...they didn't fit great (the larger coat was a touch small for Link, the smaller coat too large for Zelda) but it was better than nothing. Link paid for two beds at the stable and then tried to fall asleep...he had no such luck. The stable was only barely warmer than the surrounding snowfield, and even with only the light of two torches in the stable Link could easily see his own breath. Link languished in bed for a few hours, too cold to fall asleep...suddenly Link felt something being laid over his person. He quickly rolled over...and it was Zelda, covering Link up with her own quilted blanket.
"No no no, ZZZZZelda...please, keep the damn blanket, I'll be fine...I'm used to tttthis..."
"LLLLink...you have done so mmmuch for me...this is the llleast I can do to repay you..."
"Bbbbut how are you gonna get any sssshut eye?!" Even with the coats the duo were both shivering violently in the bitter cold of the stable.
"I wwwwill be fine, Link...please, take the bbbblanket."
"I'll nnnnever forgive myself if something hhhhappens to you..."
"Take it, Link! I will be fine!" Caught off guard by Zelda's assertiveness, Link opted to keep the blanket. He felt slightly warmer...but his mind was racing.
Damn it, Link! YOU are supposed to be the tough one and now you are taking blankets from a woman in a snowfield when she is struggling to stay warm herself...the moment she falls asleep return the damn quilt...Link passed out before he could return the quilt...
The Next Day...
Link awoke to find a violent blizzard had broken out in the snowfield. It was bad enough that when Link tried to go outside the stable he could barely see his own hand when he stretched out his arm in front of himself...
I guess we are going nowhere today...damn it. Link quickly turned his attention to Zelda...she wasn't doing well. She felt quite cold to the touch and was shivering badly...Link gently woke her up.
"Zelda...you really should've kept the damn blanket. You look sick now." Zelda seemed really drowsy.
"Link, I...I am fine...let us...keep...keep going..."
"Not in this damn blizzard. We'd freeze solid for sure...let's spend another night here. At least we'll be protected from that cursed wind. You really need to warm up..." There were no cooking pots or campfires in the stable itself and it was far too cold to light one outside, so Link just held Zelda against himself, trying to warm her up. Link's best efforts warmed Zelda up a little and she became less drowsy, but she was still very cold...Link felt awful.
WHY did you accept the damn quilt, Link?! Link refused to leave Zelda's side the rest of the day, letting go of her only long enough to eat. In spite of his efforts, Zelda was still bitterly cold when nightfall came...
"Zelda...keep the qqqqquilt this time. You desperately need it." Zelda seemed torn...
"...will yyyyou be alright, Link?"
"I'll bbbbe fine. I don't think you'll survive the night without it."
"...alright." Link gently tucked Zelda in...but then refused to go to bed himself. He just sat by Zelda's bedside all night, worried sick about her...
You find a woman you want to be with you forever, and you then let her catch hypothermia. Nice going, Link...
...does she have any interest in being with me forever? Who cares...I like her too much. No matter what it takes, she will stay warm tonight. Link wound up covering her with his own quilt; he then spent the rest of the night just sitting there, worried sick about her well being...
The Next Day...
Link got very little sleep that night. He was just too worried about making sure Zelda woke up the subsequent morning...so when that morning finally arrived he looked like a zombie. Eventually Zelda did wake up, still bitterly cold and not feeling great...by then the blizzard had finally stopped.
"Link...are yyyou ready to keep going? COUGH!" Zelda's voice sounded off...Link felt her forehead and, sure enough, she was now running a fever.
"We have no choice...you cannot afford to stay here feeling like this." Link offered her some spicy food, but Zelda could barely eat...Link paid the Stable Hand for the second night they spent at the Snowfield Stable before Link aided Zelda in mounting "Coal". She was struggling to move that day and Link had to practically throw her on top of "Coal"...when both Hero and Princess were atop their steed Link urged "Coal" westward. A little over an hour later – the entirety of which was accompanied by the horrible sound of Zelda coughing violently - they entered the Tabantha Village...only to discover that all the villagers had succumbed to the Plague.
"KILL THE BLINDING LIGHT!" An older woman screamed. Link tried to bring "Coal" to a gallop, but Zelda was too weak to hold on and fell off "Coal", forcing Link to leap off his steed and hurry to defend the Princess. Link quickly struck down several villagers with his new trident, to Zelda's extreme dismay...
"Link (HACK!), they are civilians! What are you dddddoing?!" In an attempt to make Zelda happy Link pivoted and began bashing the villagers over the head with his shield, knocking them out instead of killing them. When all of the villagers were down Link helped Zelda regain her footing...she was so weak that she could barely walk.
"Ugh...Link...I am really chunder...we...we need to get to Rito Village soon...I think I will be...be stuck there a while...HACK!" Link gently picked up the Princess.
"I promise you, when we get to Rito Village you can take as much time as you need to rest...I am so sorry I took your blanket the other night. If I had refused this all would not have happened..."
"Can you...really say that for sure, Link? Besides, if I had...had not shared my quilt you...might have gotten sick instead, and then we would be in serious trouble."
Fair, fair, Zelda...Link was reluctant to admit that openly. He gently placed Zelda atop "Coal", mounted the beast himself, and continued more slowly down the road to Rito Village. Before too long the snow was replaced by grass and the bitter cold by more temperate conditions, much to Link's relief. Eventually they reached Rito Village...the village consisted of wooden, gazebo like platforms spiraling around a large rocky pillar (with a massive outcrop above the village where a giant bird could perch, if such a thing existed) jutting out of a large lake; the village was connected to the mainland via several additional smaller pillars with wooden bridges connecting them. Link left "Coal" near the entrance of the first bridge and carried Zelda across the four bridges and up multiple flights of stairs before reaching the inn, near the bottom of the village...the innkeeper – a brown rito who resembled a falcon – quickly noticed Zelda was not feeling well...
"I see your lady friend is under the weather, young man...normally I'd charge you twenty rupees a night per bed, but I'll give you the first night free. Take some burden off of you both..."
"Thank...you..." Zelda muttered with what little strength she had left. Link gently tucked her into bed.
"I'll go find a doctor. You stay here..." Link hurried to find a doctor as Zelda drifted off to sleep...
Zelda awoke to find herself in her bedroom at Hyrule Castle, with the fireplace going and with red carpet all over the place; her bed had teal sheets and a teal comforter, her favorite color. Her beloved mother was there with her...she was a beautiful woman in her early forties with long blonde hair, hazel eyes, and a light blue dress extending to her ankles. Mother and daughter looked so much like each other...
"Zelda...you're going through some rough times right now..."
"Yes I am, mum...I'm feeling really chunder, and...and kind of lonely. I wish I still had you around...I wish Daphnes was still there for me...I miss being hugged by father every morning..." Zelda began tearing up, at which point her mother embraced her.
"Zelda...everything will be alright...Link is bent on keeping you safe. He reminds me so much of Daphnes..."
"Daphnes...before you died...that is what scares me. Will Link...will Link turn on me too?"
"Zelda...Link is a diamond in the rough. He has some polishing to do...but I know he will never turn against you like your brother did. You just have to learn to trust him...trust is what makes relationships go round." Suddenly Zelda's mother began to disintegrate into blue flames...
"Mother!"
"Zelda...I am no longer of this world. I am powerless to help you...but I am confident you have what it takes to save Hyrule. When that day comes...please...go easy on Daphnes...there is still goodness left in him...goodbye, Zelda..." Zelda's mother shed a few tears and then disappeared, and so did Hyrule Castle...it was but a dream...
Zelda awoke in the real world to find an anxious Link and an old, wise, owl like rito in green feathers standing over her. The stoic looking rito was inspecting her with a stethoscope, a relict of centuries past when Hyrule was a more advanced civilization.
"Hmmmm...not good news, Link. Pneumonia. At least we caught it early...this could have been far worse. She's going to need to stay in bed several weeks before you dare try to continue your quest."
"Anything I can do to help her feel better?" Link asked.
"Keep her warm and well fed, to the degree she's able to eat. Would recommend a lot of warm soup."
"Thank you, doctor." The doctor turned to leave.
"I'll come back around this time tomorrow to check on Zelda. Take good care of her, Link...she is Hyrule's only hope..." Link quickly set to work taking care of the Princess. Using a spicy pepper, some fish, some other seasonings, and water, he prepared soup for himself and the Princess.
"Eat what you can, Zelda...I need you to get better, and not just because we need to save all of bloody Hyrule..." Zelda was struggling to hold the spoon, so Link wound up feeding her by hand. When Zelda had eaten all she could she began trying to go back to bed...
"Link?"
"Yes?"
"Thank...you..." Link genuinely smiled.
"Anything for you." Zelda smiled right back...but when Link left her mind was racing...
That is so sweet of him...but does he really mean it? Or...or is he only doing this because I am the Princess? Surely Link would never want to spend the rest of his life with me, with all the attention I will get once I take the throne...
The next few weeks fell into a routine. Link would wake up early, prepare soup for Zelda, feed her, then take "Coal" grazing around Rito Village's perimeter; he would return late in the day and feed Zelda more soup, then go to bed. Occasionally Rito Village would be attacked by infected soldiers and/or monsters and Link would help to repel them, earning him the respect of the rito living in the village as well as rupees to cover their extended stay. As the weeks passed Zelda's coughing slowly subsided and she regained her strength...
Three weeks after they arrived in Rito Village, Zelda's health had spectacularly recovered and she was finally in a position to ask the rito elder for their piece of the map. The elder dwelt on a platform near the very top of the village and was a white, falcon-like rito with a black beak and dark gray wing edges, sitting on a simple wooden chair.
"Zelda," the elder began, "I am dearly sorry you were introduced to our fair village under such unpleasant circumstances."
"It is alright, Billow...you did not make me sick."
"In any event I am relieved you have recovered from your pneumonia. I am assuming you are seeking our piece of the map?"
"You assume correctly, Billow..." Billow adjusted her weight in her chair.
"Your Link has proven himself to be a worthy hero, saving us time and time again from monsters and those infected soldiers...I am confident the Sword will accept him as master. Please, take our piece of the map." Billow handed Zelda the second piece of the map of the Lost Woods...Zelda could already tell it was not a conventional map; just a bizarre path of footsteps she and Link would need to follow carefully to traverse the woods.
"Thank you, Billow...will you be helping us when we storm the castle?"
"Indeed. The blood of the Sage of Wind flows through my veins, and his secret stone is with us to this day...I will absolutely come to your aid when that day comes." Before they could converse further they were interrupted by a young pink rito, who looked anxious.
"Lady Billow, Lady Zelda, hurry! Something is wrong with Link!"
"What?!" They both yelled out. They hurried out of Rito village, following the young rito, and found Link collapsed near the first bridge connecting the village to the mainland. His skin had turned yellow and his eyes red...
"Zelda...HACK!...I was patrolling for monsters...when this freak with a long beak looking helmet...COUGH! COUGH!...attacked me. I tried to fight him...but he struck me...with the Plague...and left..."
"The Dark Prince!" Zelda called out in horror. She quickly knelt next to Link, desperately trying to figure out how to help him...
"The Plague is incurable!" Billow blurted out, "We have already lost!" Zelda broke into tears...but eventually she instinctively placed her left hand over Link, at which point a brilliant, warming yellow light began pouring out of her hand into Link. As she did so Link's eyes reverted to their normal blue, his skin to its normal tanned tone...his plague was cured. Link was shocked...
"Zelda...open your eyes..." When she did Zelda burst into joyous laughter, clinging tightly to Link as if he had come back from the dead.
"I thought I had lost you, Link!"
"Zelda, you...you saved my life...again..." Link clung tightly to her in return...
This...this feels like how it should be...between me, and the woman I love...but...will this last? Is she still more concerned with me...saving Hyrule than with being...my friend, lover, whatnot?
"Heh heh...how cute. And yet...dissatisfying..." Link and Zelda broke apart abruptly to find the man with the bird's beak mask, that vile Dark Prince responsible for most of their recent woes...
"YOU!" Link snarled out.
"I, for one, would have preferred you dead, Hero...for every time the Plague kills someone their strength becomes MINE. And you have incredible power..."
"How sick are you?!" Zelda barked out.
"I am not sick! My power has purpose...to revive our dear mother, who was ripped away from us far too soon...I am not strong enough yet; but...my power is growing by the day as more and more idiots succumb to my plague...I thought you'd be willing to work with me, 'sister', but clearly you don't care enough about your mother to join me..." Link's jaw dropped.
"Wait...this damned idiot is Daphnes?!"
"Took you long enough, genius..." the Dark Prince retorted.
"Brother, stop! The Plague has driven you absolutely mad! Mother would never want you to sacrifice all of Hyrule just to bring her back!" The Dark Prince removed his mask...a dark gray-blue secret stone set in a golden headpiece resembling the claws of a predatory bird adorned the forehead of an angry young man with red eyes, sickly yellow skin, blonde hair, and a facial structure much like Zelda's. Seeing the face of this young man she once loved as her own heart...brought a chill down Zelda's spine.
"Wait a minute...you are infected too?!"
"Small price to pay for power, 'Hero'! Now if you'll excuse me, I have more people to infect, more power to gain, and a mother to bring back from the dead. Sod off!" Link lunged at the Dark Prince, but he disappeared in a sickly blue flame. When Link realized he would not be beheading his nemesis that day, his attention turned to Zelda.
"Why didn't you tell me the damn Dark Prince was your own freakin' brother?!"
"It hurt too much, Link! And...and I was scared if I told you too soon, you would abandon me..."
"Hold it, hold it, hold it!" Billow squawked out, putting herself between the two, "Let's talk about this like a civil man and woman, alright?" Link wasn't willing...he just stormed back to the inn in a huff. Zelda was most dismayed.
"I am so sorry, Billow...the Hero has spent most of his life alone and has nowt of a clue how to deal with people. Forgive him, please..." Billow had to think it over a few seconds...
"Alright, Your Majesty...I just hope he grows out of this. If he goes on such a tiff while fighting the Dark Prince..." Zelda sighed.
"I know...he is a work in progress for sure." Zelda and Billow returned to Rito Village, where Zelda and the Hero spent one more night. As midnight approached Zelda tried to make amends with Link.
"Link...I am so sorry I did not tell you about my brother earlier..." Link initially did not respond...
"Link, can we please talk about this? Please?!"
Damn it Link, you know how it feels being ignored...get up and speak to her. Link sat up to listen to Zelda.
"Link...thank you..."
"Zelda...I just...I just feel like this whole Plague thing is your fault."
"What?!"
"The Dark Prince is your own freakin' brother...you could have done something to stop him from running off with your mother's secret stone and causing this mess!"
"I did what I could, Link! I stood before him, tried to protect the stone, tried to warn him what would happen if he took it...but he shoved me against the wall of my own bedroom and stole it from me! Do you think I do not still wish I could have done more to stop him?! He was one of the finest soldiers in Hyrule, I could not have stopped him if I wanted to! I am not a soldier!" Zelda broke into tears...Link felt absolutely awful.
"Zelda, I...I'm sorry..."
"Do you not get it, Link?! I am scared of what you could become...Daphnes was a hothead like you, and when he lost the plot this happened. What will happen to me if you lose the plot?!" Link was stunned...
Is THIS why she is wary of loving me?! She's right...painfully right...I blow up for very little reason...darn you, Link! Are you just going to allow your own damn temper to make the woman of your dreams slip through your fingertips?! The two just sat there in silence for several awkward minutes...by now the whole of Rito Village had woken up from their dispute.
"Zelda..." The Princess looked up at Link, her eyes still awash with tears.
"You're right...I am really hotheaded, and I've given you needless grief because of it. I PROMISE you...I am going to work on this. I don't want to turn out like your brother..." Zelda did not say anything. Link felt worse.
"Do you...believe me?" Now Link was tearing up also.
"Link..." Zelda came up and gently embraced the Hero. Link held her in turn.
"Zelda...I'm sorry I ever suggested you had anything to do with this Plague..."
"I forgive you. I just do not want to lose you like I lost my brother...before this happened he was my best bruv, but after mum died he was never the same."
"I promise you, I swear up and down by the gods, I'll never ever EVER turn on you like your brother did...I'll stick with you no matter what hell comes our way...and I'll save Hyrule while doing so." Finally Zelda saw the spirit of the Hero within Link...a spirit the death of his family and years of solitude could not completely snuff out...
"Link...I need to tell you something..."
"What is it?"
"I...I saw my mother's spirit in a dream a few weeks ago, and...and she...she told me you would never turn on me...like my brother did, that I...could absolutely trust you. You...you have proven her right tonight...thank you, Link..." The two held each other a few more moments before Zelda returned to her bed and they both fell asleep...