The Next Day...
Fifteen...fifteen bitter years...alone...
Link's mind early that morning was awash with memories...memories of being caressed by his parents, played with by his older sister Aryll, just having a normal happy family...and then the bitter memory of all of that...being ripped away.
Ha...ha...ha...I'm starting to get used to having Zelda around...but I don't think she - or anyone else - could ever fill those gaping holes in my heart from all those years ago...I just dearly wish I could have my family back...maybe I can halfway understand why Daphnes is so crazy about bringing his mother back...
Link eventually woke up to discover that Zelda was not in her bed that morning. He - already less stable than usual - promptly panicked...
OH NO OH NO OH NO, ha she finally given up on me?! Did someone run off with her overnight?! Is she OK?! Link hurriedly looked around the stable before booking it outside, only to discover that Zelda was simply cooking at the stable's cooking pot, located under one of the bizarre, vaguely mushroom shaped trees characteristic of that part of Tabantha...he breathed a sigh of relief.
"You looked mighty gutted a moment ago, Link...is everything alright?"
"I...I was just worried about you." Link left out his fear that one day Zelda would leave him.
"Alright...anyhow, Link, since you do the cooking most days I thought I would take a turn and give you a break." Link looked surprised.
"But you are a princess that was waited on hand and foot...how could you know how to cook?"
"Link...neither mother nor father wanted me to act like such a spoiled brat. They made sure I knew how to take care of myself...now, please be seated. The soup is almost done." A few minutes later Zelda served Link a bowl of vegetable soup, primarily consisting of hylian herbs. Link was quick to annihilate his bowl of soup, eating it so rapidly that Zelda wondered whether he was even tasting it...
It needs a little salt...do we even have salt? We've not been stopping to mine on this strange quest of ours...do I dare tell her?
"So...how do you like it?" Zelda asked.
"It...was good," Link answered. Zelda immediately knew he wasn't telling her something.
"You do not have to hide your feelings from me, Link...if it is missing something just tell me." Link gulped...
"It...it needed a little salt. Sorry." Zelda smiled again.
"Alright. Next time I'll add more salt...was it that hard to tell me how you felt?"
"...yes. I've been alone so long that I guess I've just gotten used to bottling my feelings up...and I...I don't want to make you unhappy..." Zelda sat next to Link.
"We are friends, Link...you can feel free to tell me whatever is on your mind. I am not going to storm off just because my food needs a little more salt."
"Thank you, Zelda."
"Do not mention it...you have done so much for me, Link, it would be unfair if I was not a good friend in return." With that they began packing up for the day...Link sold the lynel parts to a local merchant, gave Zelda its savage lynel bow (which fires an impressive three arrows for every arrow loaded into it!), equipped its savage lynel sword (a much more powerful blade than even his royal broadsword), and then helped Zelda mount "Coal" before mounting the beast himself and continuing their journey. Link was not driving "Coal" nearly as hard as he usually did...partway through the marshy Seres Scablands Link brought their steed to a complete halt.
"Link?" Link began to suddenly sob...
"Fifteen years, Zelda...fifteen...bitter...damned years..." Zelda immediately knew what he was talking about.
"You...you lost your family today, did you not?" He nodded before getting off "Coal", falling onto his hands and knees, and weeping bitterly. Zelda was quick to join him, tears welling up in her own eyes as she saw how much Link hurt inside. She tried holding Link like she used to her own brother, but it did not seem to have any effect on the Hero.
"I...I am supposed to be the Hero...stalwart...invincible...unshakable...dad...he always said he saw great things in me...and here I am...just a complete and utter mess...I'm sorry, Zelda..."
"Sorry you have feelings? Link...if you did not have feelings you would be dead...your feelings for others...they are what should drive you to be the Hero."
"But...every time I was told about the Hero of the Wild...everyone said he was unshakable, unflinching, superhuman, emotionless...I am supposed to be his successor. And I cannot even dream of being his equal..."
"Link...having feelings does not make you inferior to the Hero of the Wild. Frankly, I have no doubt he felt absolutely miserable from everything he chose to hold in...holding everything in did not make him any stronger. That is something I deeply appreciate about you...you let me know how you feel. It is not easy for many men to do that..."
"You...you really think so?"
"Absolutely. You WILL succeed at saving Hyrule, Link...I am absolutely sure of it." Link turned and reciprocated Zelda's embrace.
"Thank you...for not giving up on me, Zelda. I've not had someone really support me since my family passed away..." Zelda did not know what to say to that...
Should I just go ahead and tell him I love him? No...I still have not known him very long...and...what if...what what if? Do I really have reason not to open my heart to Link?
"LOOK OUT! PLAGUE SOLDIERS!" Several pedestrians ran back to the Tabantha Stable as about two dozen infected soldiers approached.
"Zelda, get on Coal and hurry back to the stable! I'll deal with these cretins!"
"But Link!"
"I've got this...I am the Hero, I will be every bit as great as dad wanted!"
"LINK! THIS IS NO TIME TO LOSE THE PLOT!"
"Trust me!" Zelda reluctantly turned Coal back towards the stable...she did not go far, however; she stopped a short distance away to anxiously watch proceedings. The ensuing spectacle was incredible...Link was fighting with a second wind, moving incredibly rapidly, leaping into the air and rapidly spinning head over heels with his new (and heavy!) savage lynel sword. The twenty four soldiers did not stand a chance...Link bounced from one to the other, striking them down with the fury of a rabid animal and moving so fast he did not even have to bother blocking their attacks. One of the infected soldiers tried to block the onslaught with his shield, only for Link to violently knock it away before striking him down. When the dust had settled the twenty four soldiers were all dead, having disappeared in gray blue smoke as Link stood victorious, laughing. Zelda ran up to him.
"Link, what was that?!"
"Do you know how good it feels to have someone believe in you after so long?! I...I feel like I have been reborn...like a magnificent phoenix out of the ashes of despair..." Zelda gently smiled.
"What did I tell you? You are no failure of a Hero...you will save Hyrule!"
"Now...shall we resume our quest, Zelda?" The two climbed atop "Coal" and resumed their ride towards Gerudo Town. They continued east for a while before veering south around Ludfo's Bog; before too long they approached Jeddo Bridge, the northern side of which was surrounded by strange stone rings.
"You see these rings, Link? No one really knows what they are for...some say these were part of some kind of archery challenge for the Hero of the Wild." Zelda's attention soon veered to the river situated below the bridge, and she slammed her eyes shut and clung tightly to Link as they crossed the poorly maintained bridge...
"As soon as I regain power in Hyrule," Zelda remarked with her eyes still firmly shut, "I am definitely going to have these bridges worked on...there are too many naff bridges in Hyrule and it is terrifying to cross any of them!" They continued south across Nima Plain, past the Sandin Park Ruins (a small stone park with a horse fountain in it), and down Safula Hill before skirting around Dalite Forest. As they descended downhill they eventually crossed the Manhala Bridge before finally reaching the Outskirt Stable. Link paid for two beds at the stable and then began cooking some raw prime meat for dinner...when the meat was done and Link and Zelda had eaten their fill they began settling into their beds.
"Zelda?"
"Yes Link?"
"Whenever I hear about the Hero of the Wild someone always mentions a person known as the Sage of Time...but they never say anything else about them. You're a scholar...do you know anything about this person?" Zelda's eyes lit up...
"Of course! She was my ancestor, another Princess Zelda, a scholar like me...she had a very storied life, Link. She held back the Calamity a full century until the Hero of the Wild recovered enough to destroy it; then she sent herself back in time tens of thousands of years and, to get back to her own era, turned herself into a dragon. No one knows how she turned back into a normal person afterwards...equally mysterious to me is how her life ended. I just cannot seem to find anything in Hyrule's records about whom she married or how she eventually died...I have always assumed she married the Hero, but really I have no way of confirming that barmy idea. Now that I am thinking...maybe the Seer knows? We should ask him next time we see him."
"Will he want to tell us? He hasn't even given us his own name..."
"Fair, Link...but it is at least worth a try. In any case I am exhausted...good night, Link..." They both fell asleep...
The Next Day...
"LINK, HELP ME!"
Link whirled around to see Zelda being violently taken away by a yiga blademaster, a huge, powerful, muscular yiga with a long sword known as a windcleaver. Link, horrified, hurried to rescue her...but suddenly Ganondorf leaped before him.
"Me first, kid!" Link tried to fight him, but Ganondorf threw him to the ground and went to behead him...
"AAAAHHHHHH!" Link screamed in terror a little past midnight, waking everyone else up. It had all been a horrifyingly lucid dream...
"Link?!" Zelda called out. Link was too stunned to do anything useful, so she hurried over to his bed.
"Thank the gods that was a dream...I had this horrible dream, Zelda; of...of one of those yiga freaks...running off with you; and...and when I tried to rescue you...Ganondorf...Ganondorf killed me...so easily..."
He is dreaming about me now...guess he really does love me if the thought of losing me freaks him out that much. Should I...should I tell him I love him?
"Link...everything will be alright. You are the Hero; you are destined to defeat Ganondorf. No such thing will happen to you!"
"But I...I lost to him before..." Zelda put her hand on his shoulder.
"You have gotten better since then, Link...it will not happen again. And I PROMISE you I will be careful not to put myself in needless danger, if that settles your mind at all..."
"...alright." The two tried to fall back asleep...Link struggled to sleep the rest of the night, however, and by morning looked quite fatigued. Zelda was quick to notice.
"You never did fall asleep again, did you, Link?"
"Not really...that damned dream kept me up all night."
"Sorry, Link...I will take care of breakfast. You just rest a little while longer..."
"Alright." Zelda took some raw bird drumsticks and roasted them by the fire, at which point she offered them to Link. As per usual, Link's breakfast did not survive long before he wiped it out.
"Not bad at all. Maybe a little more salt next time? Assuming we can access salt..."
"Alright. Shall we set off, Link?" The two gathered their things, mounted "Coal", and continued on south of the Outskirt Stable. Soon they hit a fork in the road and veered west, leading them to the Digdogg Suspension Bridge, really a series of wooden bridges connecting five large rocky pillars (all of which jut out of a lake) to the Gerudo Canyon Pass. On the largest pillar Link quickly noticed a sleeping black hinox, a huge, bipedal, vaguely pig like monster with one eye...Zelda's eyes, as per usual when they crossed over water, were slammed shut. Link slowed Coal down to walking speed and attempted to sneak past the hinox...however, Link got a tickle up his nose and sneezed LOUDLY, waking the beast from its slumber. Link went to grab his savage lynel sword and his strengthened lizal bow to fight it, but quickly realized he had no arrows...he quickly ascertained that fighting such a large monster would be risky without arrows.
"Zelda, open your eyes! I am going to need your help on this one!" Zelda opened her eyes and her jaw dropped at seeing such a huge monster...
"A hinox?!"
"I need you to shoot the eye while I distract it! Understood?" Zelda nodded and got off "Coal" to help Link fight the hinox. Link started by trying to attack the hinox's feet...however, he quickly discovered that both feet were covered with metal greaves that prevented him from doing any real damage. As he tried to attack the hinox went to slam the ground repeatedly with its hands, forcing Link to run out of the way but leaving it open to arrows; Zelda shot the beast in the eye, sending it crashing to the ground and allowing Link to attack its legs above the greaves.
When the hinox got back up it continued walking towards Link, using one of its hands to protect its eye from arrows and using the other to take swipes at Link, seemingly oblivious to Zelda's presence; eventually the irritated monster tried to crush Link between both of its hands as if it was swatting a massive mosquito, giving Zelda the opening she was looking for. Zelda shot the hinox again and Link dealt massive damage with his sword...however, before the hinox could breathe its last, it pitched an explosive bomb barrel in Zelda's direction! Zelda and Link were both launched in opposite directions and Zelda soon found herself clinging to dear life to the side of the pillar, with only death dealing water beneath her...
"LINK! HELP ME!" Link hurried to help Zelda, but before he could reach her she lost her grip and fell!
"ZELDA! NO!" Link dove off the pillar into the water, disturbing a school of hylian bass as he did so. He soon found Zelda on the bottom of the lake, terrified, unable to move. Acting fast, Link took her in his arm and swam to the surface just before her breath gave out...the two gasped for breath as Link swam to a nearby rocky outcrop. The two simply sat on that outcrop, stunned, for several minutes before either of them could think to do anything else...
"Zelda...Zelda! I'm sorry!" Link embraced her, sobbing, and refused to let go. Zelda embraced him back...
"This is all my damn fault! I should never have made you help me with that damned hinox! This felt like fifteen years ago all over again!" Zelda was still too stunned to say anything...
"Zelda, do you...forgive me?!"
"Link, you...you saved my life again. Of course I forgive you..."
"After all the stupid things I have done since we've met, are you really sure you forgive me?!"
Now or never, Zelda...tell him...
"Link...I...I...III..." Zelda just could not spit out her true feelings towards the Hero.
"...I absolutely forgive you, Link...this was an accident. You never expected this to happen...if you had and you had told me to help you anyway I would be more upset." Link did not seem satisfied by Zelda's answer and failed to notice her unsuccessful attempt at expressing her feelings for him...instead, he promptly turned to the next problem.
"How are we getting out of here?" Zelda's stomach dropped when Link brought that up.
"Curses...we are surrounded by water on all sides, I still cannot swim...and even if I could, it would be an awfully long swim to get out of here...it is too high up to climb back onto the bridge..." Link then noticed a simple raft with a sail held in place by some wooden planks.
"Let's use this raft. Should carry us the distance."
"But how?! The wind is blowing north, Link..."
"I've been stranded a time or two with only a raft like this for company, so I came prepared!" Out came a korok leaf, a large leaf that produces powerful gusts of wind when swung as a weapon...gusts powerful enough to move the raft.
"Alright...do not expect me to do much on this raft, Link. I will just cling to the mast and hope for the best..." Link helped Zelda board the raft and then began using his korok leaf to drive the raft against the wind towards the southern end of the lake. By the time they reached the cliff face surrounding the shore the northernly wind had died down and Link was able to bring the raft to a complete stop.
"Guess we are going to have to climb out...ladies first. If you fall, I'll catch you." Zelda did not say anything in reply and cautiously began climbing the cliff face, Link following a few moments later. Before too long they were atop the cliff in the Gerudo Canyon Pass, a dry, rugged, rocky place surrounded by sheer vertical cliffs on all sides.
"Now just to get Coal..." Link uttered a loud whistle, sending "Coal" running across the Digdogg Suspension Bridge to Link. Link helped Zelda mount the beast and the two resumed their journey to Gerudo Town. The Gerudo Canyon is quite warm and dry, with plants primarily limited to hardy grasses and these obese looking trees that resemble baobabs; it also hosts electrically themed monsters. Eventually, come nightfall, Link and Zelda reached the Gerudo Canyon Stable, near the Gerudo Desert Gateway...
"Link," Zelda told him, "we are going to have to leave Coal here. The Gerudo Desert is inhospitable terrain for horses and gets far too hot during the day for them."
"Drat," Link said in reply. They turned Coal into the stable, prepared soup for dinner, and began to prepare for bed...while Zelda was tucking herself in Link approached.
"Zelda...are you sure you forgive me?"
"Of course! We are best friends, Link...sleep in peace tonight knowing that. On another note...we should not have a hard time getting Gerudo Town's piece of the map. Their chieftain, Matilda, was a good friend of my mother..."
"Who names their daughter Matilda these days?" Link remarked.
"Do not go calling her Tillie, Link...she HATES that nickname."
"Understood. Good night, Zelda..." Link tucked himself into bed...