As a reminder, you can find MORE of this on my SubStar (dot adult slash KajaWilder), it's posted up past chapter 75 there... And if you guys haven't seen an update in at least a week, please let me know! I have a busy life, and I get distracted and forget things. This story (and PTaL) are supposed to be updated WEEKLY from now until they're both caught up with each other (like I was doing with FwB until this weekend).
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A Note: Damn, I need a beta for this fic. Some 18 typos in this chapter alone. lol
If you wanna read ahead, PM me... I'd want you to get up to 84 (which I just posted on SubStar) ASAP, and then keep up with the weekly posts... let me know. :)
Chap. 45: Retsam Rendezvous
"Excuse me, Mister Symin?"
The Sheikah gentleman was tall, as most Sheikah were, head and shoulders above Zelda herself. He was a little portly, with a bit too much body fat compared to most of the Sheikah, who tended to be fairly lean, with a rounded face and slightly hanging jowls. A pair of spectacles similar to the ones she had seen other members of his Tribe wearing in Kakariko, far more practical and simpler than Purah's, perched low on his long nose as he looked up. The man held a book in one hand, reading while he stirred a pot on the wood cooking stove the pair kept in the Lab's lower floor. "What was that, Your Highness? Did you say something?"
"Yes," she replied, shutting the door behind her, face pinking just a little as she thought once more about the chances the man had caught her pleasuring herself. He had seemed thoroughly engrossed in cooking breakfast and the book, however, and displayed no embarrassment when he looked her way. Perhaps she was safe. "I was told by Purah that you were interested in seeing the results of the Camera function on the Sheikah Slate...?"
"Indeed," the man answered, nodding quickly and almost dropping the book in his sudden excitement, "I've been curious since I first heard about it. How exact a replica image does it make? How long does it take? How long do the images last? Does it truly connect with the Hyrule Compendium, as Director Purah said?"
"Very, very fast, at least a century, and yes, it seems to," Zelda answered in order.
Symin proved his intellect by tracking and responding to each in kind without hesitation despite the early hour and the bags under his own eyes. "Fascinating," he exhaled, "May I see...?"
"Of course. Here you are. I've gotten a few images already. Purah, of course... the Sunshrooms she mentioned you wanted to try it on. See, there's the Compendium link. If you press that button it goes right there, see? And this one takes us back to the album. The pitchfork, a cricket..."
She continued through the other pictures she had taken that morning while waiting for the sun to rise and Symin to rouse, then turned back to show him the pictures of memorable locations from her past.
"That's all very interesting," Symin nodded thoughtfully, "may I check something, though?"
Zelda nodded, then held out the tablet-like device to the researcher. She could not see what he did, but he was fiddling around, pushing buttons just outside her sight for several minutes, while Symin's expression grew simultaneously more thoughtful, and more excited. Finally, he handed it back with a flourish, "I believe I've just succeeded in unlocking a new ability with the Sheikah Sensor device installed on the Slate."
"The... Sensor? That's the one that shows where there are Shrines, and the direction if they are nearby, isn't it?"
Symin smiled as he nodded, his taller height easily able to point at the screen Zelda held before her, "Yes, indeed. But see, now there's a new button on that page. It links to the Compendium, you see? That's why I was so interested in it. Now, you can use the same Sensor to track... well, just about anything. Anything you can take a picture of with the Camera, anything in the Compendium, will be trackable that way. At least, it should be. I have no idea how the Ancient Sheikah crafted such a complex device, and made it so small, but it is truly a wonder."
"A- Anything?" Zelda asked, her mind racing at the possibilities.
"Anything," Symin added, then clarified, "If it's in the Compendium. I've got it selected to Sunshrooms right now. See, it's pointing just to where the patch outside is. If you go to the Compendium and pick Crickets, it picks out several nearby ones, then focuses on the closest. See how it's moving slowly as the insect hops around? You could find... oh, who knows what. Ore. Treasure. Weapons, armor, shields... Flora and fauna of all types. Even monsters, if you dare take the time to snap a picture of one."
"That does seem quite useful," Zelda said, smiling as she leafed through the few items already in the Compendium, watching as each one made the direction indicator on the screen adjust slightly to point to where she remembered they were. "What about individual people?"
"That, the Compendium doesn't seem to be set up for," Symin told her, then touched the screen with his own chubby finger, sliding to where that part of the Slate's function was. "See? It has places for creatures, plants, food, objects of all sorts, and monster, weapons... but it doesn't have a place for individual people. Not even 'Sheikah.'"
"Still, I'm sure I can use this," she replied, "If nothing else, I seem to go through weaponry quite quickly when I'm forced to fight off monsters. But just being able to find things to forage is extremely useful. ... Not that I haven't got plenty of food, most of the time."
"I'm glad I could help, then," Symin replied with a smile, and went back to his cooking. "I wouldn't want to keep you, though, unless you would like to stay for breakfast? I'm sure the Director won't be awake any time soon, so there's plenty."
"That sounds lovely," Zelda agreed, just as her stomach rumbled, "the porridge smells delicious."
"It's nothing much," the older man murmured, though he seemed glad for the chance to speak with a clever person who wasn't his overly-demanding, extremely disorganized boss.
A few hours later, Zelda was speaking to Dantz, Koyin's father, as he complained about the glut of deer in the Retsam Forest that stretched up into the foothills between Hateno and the southern Lanayru Range. It took her less than two hours to walk into the forest, hunt and tag ten with her Spiked Boko Bow, and return to the farmer for her reward of... a mere twenty Rupees. While it wasn't 'nothing', Zelda felt her blood pressure rise as she considered what she had sacrificed for the family already. At least, she consoled herself with, the man had 'gifted' her half the venison to add to her already-plentiful stocks of meat.
There was far more in Retsam Forest than just deer, however. Silent Shrooms, IronShrooms, more Sunshrooms, handfuls of acorns, more common Hylian Shrooms, Razorshrooms- a lot of mushrooms in general, given the cool, moist valley where the trees provided ample shades- and even a few Hearty wild Radishes, the afternoon was starting to wear on in what would be her seventh day in the Hateno area, if she was right about how much time had passed while she was a Bokoblin's pleasure-captive. Zelda had already decided to investigate a small islet at the center of Lake Sumac and swam the majority of the way out there as a means of soothing muscles sore from running, and either crouching to maintain cover when hunting, or bending and pulling up flowers, mushrooms, and radishes for hours.
She was drying off, a new Korok seed from a rock hidden high atop the large tree at the center of the islet already in her satchel, when a spot of movement a short ways off caught her eye.
Well attuned to danger, or possible voyeurs, Zelda immediately dropped into a crouch once more, and scanned the area for danger.
It wasn't hard for the princess to find the source of her surprise, though she did not think it was dangerous necessarily.
Koyin, Dantz' daughter, the young woman who cared for the sheep Zelda had sacrificed so much to save, was taking off her clothes about forty feet away. A bundle of fresh clothing and what two soft towels sat near the girl, while on the other side a small wooden bucket had a long handle protruding from it.
Koyin whistled softly to herself as she removed most of her clothing, then sent a careful eye back toward the house some way off. With a frown, she picked up everything in her arms and moved ten feet to her left, which happened to bring her a little closer to Zelda. It was easy to see why. The new location would put a large rose bush and two more trees between Koyin and any windows. In theory, she would be safe from prying eyes, though Zelda didn't know why her younger brother, father, or grandfather would want to peep.
Unlike me, Zelda thought to herself with an almost surprised realization.
Koyin was hardly what most would call a 'beautiful' girl, though she was definitely in the 'cute' range, if a little stocky and broad. But Zelda found herself fascinated as the other girl, about Zelda's physical age, set down her bathing supplies and removed the rest of her clothing. She was quite fit, even a little muscular, with wide hips and a relatively slender waist beneath curvy, full breasts that seemed strangely incongruous, or at least a very early and significant development for a woman her age. From a distance Zelda couldn't make out a lot of detail, but she thought the nipples were large too, with soft brown areolae surrounding them. A light thatch of dense fur the same color as her hair grew from between her legs, and the princess licked her lips as she imagined what it would look like up close.
I seem to have developed a bit of a fetish for watching women bathe, Zelda thought, first Paya, and now Koyin. Even if both were accidents, I could have stopped... and I didn't. I don't think I'm going to, either. Now that Sagessa had shown me, or reminded me rather, that I enjoy the company of women as much as I imagine I do... well, some men, I don't really want to. How often does a chance like this come upon one, anyway?
... At least twice, but it seems like it shouldn't happen that often, at any rate. Maybe I'm just lucky.
She certainly considered herself lucky as the sheep wrangler moved into the water and bathed herself quickly and efficiently. In under five minutes, she was done, hair and all. But that just meant there was more time for what came next.
Koyin waded back to the shore, pushing her now floating bucket and the brush within it back with her. But she did not use the towels to dry. Instead, Zelda saw her glance up at the house once more, then turn and sit on the grass. The last bits of the afternoon sun flooded the valley right where she was, and at first Zelda had thought the young woman wanted to use that to dry herself. Doubtless, it felt delightful after bathing in the chilly lake water. Zelda wished, for a moment, that she was in the sun herself rather than hiding in the shade of the tree and bushes on the isle.
But Koyin was not simply sunning herself dry. Almost the opposite, in fact, for her actions quickly proved the girl getting wet. It started with the ranch-girl lifting one of her full breasts in her hand, then dropping it and pulling at a nipple. Zelda's breath hitched quietly as she watched, a voyeuristic thrill running through her even though she had masturbated the three distinct orgasms just that morning. Her fingers slipped under the hem of her tunic to rub at the doeskin leather between her legs. Was it worth doing more...? Could she risk it, openly masturbating while watching someone else do so? It would be hard for Koyin to see even if she looked straight at Zelda with the light as it was, but it was not impossible for her to be seen. And the moment the sun actually started setting, she would be much more visible.
No... she would wait. Prima was available and only a couple of miles away if it was really needed.
Instead, Zelda kept her fingers outside her clothes, though she made no move to even convince herself she was doing anything but working her pussy while she watched another girl do the same. It was just too arousing, watching the young woman lift a breast to her own mouth and suckle on it, then switch to the other while she pulled roughly on the first, then switch again. After a few minutes of that, one hand dropped lower to the dark bush between her legs and flattened against her young pussy. Zelda sighed as she imagined it... how warm and wet it must be! How tasty!
She shuddered too, wishing it was her touching the young woman. Would she refuse...? Koyin had already intimated that she would be, if not happy, at least amenable to rewarding Zelda for saving her sheep the same way she would have if a strapping young village lad had done it: paying with her body.
But no... no, she couldn't do that. Could she? She didn't want to take advantage of the girl, no matter how appealing the idea of simply swimming over there and starting to kiss and lick Koyin was.
The rancher accelerated her movements, and Zelda watched, transfixed, as two fingers slipped inside the tight hole. She'd also said she had never been with a man. She was a virgin, that hole must be so tight! She wanted to know for sure, to see it, to thrust her tongue and a couple of her own thinner, longer fingers in. To make Koyin moan and sigh with pleasure, to make her call Zelda's name in the height of passion.
She swallowed.
What was she thinking?
I'm thinking that earlier Zelda was right, the princess answered herself, I really am... addicted, I suppose is a good word, to passion. To love, to life, to sex, and everything that goes with it. Even though I've barely even... well, I can barely recall, any experience. Was I like this, before? I...
I wish I knew.
I only have the vaguest memories of my... my Champion. Link. I don't know if it was him, who held me, who taught me so much, and who made me feel so safe. But I feel as if it was. And Impa... before she refused me. I don't know if there were more, or others... but now, I am sure she was right. Whether it is a curse or a blessing to have the soul of a Goddess within me remains to be seen. Right now... it's a bit of both. I want so much to simply go over to her and bring her pleasure such as she has never known... and myself too, of course. But propriety, decency, demands I turn away, hide my eyes, leave the girl to her private moment.
She was about to do just that, her own arousal be damned, when another flash of movement caught her eye. At first, Zelda thought it was one of Koyin's family come down to spy on her, as she had worried.
But the color was wrong.
Blue, orange, and blue. Moving, crouched low.
Bokoblins. Bokoblins, again!
She had to do something. Anything. Zelda's hands left her groin as she stood, moving as quickly as she could. There was no thought for safety, for stealth. The time for that had passed. Now, she would have to trust in the supple but thick layers of leather over her warm Hylian clothing, and the strength at arms that had returned since waking up on the Great Plateau.
"Koyin! Look out, Bokoblins!" Zelda cried, as she dashed into the water at a dead run.
She had just enough time to notice the girl shriek in surprise at the sudden noise and movement, covering herself instinctively, before the water covered her. Zelda swam as hard as she could, furiously moving forward, uncaring of the energy spent. Fatigue would matter little if one of her friends, a person she already considered precious despite barely exchanging a few dozen words, was harmed.
Zelda's hands touched the weeds and rocks of the lake first, and she hauled up and forward, her feet struggling for a moment to find purchase. It was almost too late. Koyin, still naked, was backing into the water, but they were already surrounded. Four red Bokoblins, two with bows and two crude but bladed spears, were arrayed around the center of a semi-circle, the archers in the middle, with both ends anchored by a pair of shield- and weapon-carrying blue Bokoblins. One blue monster's weapon and shield were of clear Lizalfos make, spiked, angular and curving steel, while the other held a shield and club reinforced with the same thick, cream-yellow bones her old Dragonbone Boko Spear had been made with. They were the heaviest weapons she had seen in any Bokoblins' hands, and Zelda just had time to register a bit of rueful joy that, at least, the other Bokoblins were unarmed aside from the bows.
"Into the water," Zelda cried, dashing and splashing past the terrified girl, "Bokoblins swim like shite, get to the island!"
"Y- Yes, right!" Koyin cried, "All the times to leave my pitchfork!"
"Hyli-humans fools," the metal-carrying Bokoblin snarled, "think can fight with farm stuff! You kill one little Red, girl, and you think you better? I enjoy making a baby in you! Then we show who better! You no stop us from taking sheep when you breeding sheep!"
"Fuck you, Glabdob!" Koyin shouted back, "You got lucky last time!"
"Luck feeds many sheep to us, then," the Bokoblin Zelda could only assume was the leader snarled, "And now we have Blue Fire Lady, too? She kill many Bokos. Not today! Today Glabdob, Murkak, Slep, Drep, Clump and Bumpo eat her flesh before we take to Chief Big Death! Attack!"
Koyin shrieked in fear as the two red Bokoblins led the charge despite being unarmed and defenseless. Two arrows came in at the same time, one flying through the space between she and Koyin, the other barely deflected with a swing of her battered short sword. Zelda spun and whirled, terrified herself, but unwilling to let either of them become victims. Not after the last bunch, which had apparently been in cahoots with this group. Come to think... those red Bokoblins were familiar!
Two of them were the very creatures she had seen pissing on the beach! "I knew I should've killed you when I had the chance," she cried as one of the unarmed beast's arm was separated at the elbow. Her next thrust was off-center and nearly missed, but the blade twisted in her grip to fit between two ribs. As the Bokoblin stumbled and fell, stabbed through its foul heart, the blade snapped.
Zelda kicked out toward the other, who had gone for Koyin first, but succeeded only in slowing it briefly while it jumped away from her. The more cautious blue Bokoblins hung back, and both archers fired again in near-unison. Koyin screamed again as she threw herself down into the water with a splash, narrowly avoiding one bolt. The other, somehow, came straight at Zelda's face, but it stopped, caught dead in her grasp inches from her nose.
She dropped the arrow with a hiss, and her spare hand conjured two bombs a moment later. She threw the square first, aiming for the archers, while the round one bounced and rolled up the slope away from the lake toward the blue Bokoblin with wooden equipment. He turned and ran, dashing just far enough away that while the explosion knocked him to the ground, he seemed barely hurt. One of the archers was thrown against a tree, and did not get up before it turned to smoke, but the other did, howling in pain as it climbed back to its feet, bow still in hand.
And Glabdob, the steel-equipped Bokoblin, was completely unhurt. He sneered, "You no can make bombs fast, lady... we know. We watch. We see. Big Chief Death sees all!"
He was right, but Zelda did not have time to wonder how he knew. In the moments her Bombs had bought, Zelda's hands sought out one of the Lizal spears she had gained from the Bokoblin camp at Hateno Beach. It lashed out twice toward Glabdob, but Zelda tossed it backward toward Koyin as the blue Bokoblin lifted his shield and took both blows with a laugh. "Fend him off, Koyin, but get into the water!"
Her next weapon was another Bomb, but with amazing speed and accuracy, the steel shield deflected the round orb into the water. Too close to Koyin, Zelda dared not activate it. It wouldn't do any good so far away from the Bokoblins anyway. Her last club, a bone-reinforced Spiked Boko Bat, fell into her grip as Zelda shifted her stance. She was still not great with heavy weapons, and this was a bit much, but it was lighter than a claymore while retaining about as much reach. Slower to maneuver... but still dangerous. "If you want her, you'll have to go through me," Zelda growled, "and that isn't happening, foul wretch. Your kind has had too much in the way of Hateno women lately."
"Like you?" Glabdob snickered again, "I hear from others you scream while they take you. Shoot them, Drep! Murkak, you go right, I go left! No, stupid, other left!"
The other blue Bokoblin snarled as he charged, reversing direction twice under his leader's instructions to come straight at Zelda's left flank. She wondered if it was luck alone that had him charging the right side, but supposed in the end it didn't matter. Even with the Goddess' blessings, a single blue Bokoblin was far more than a match for her on strength alone, and she was barely their equal in speed. Two on one was not good odds, and the archer, Drep, made things worse.
She backed into the water too, from her knees to her waist, as the blue monsters closed in at a fast shuffle.
One arrow hit a glancing blow against her right calf in the inside, slicing a little into the muscle. It stung, but she would survive.
Another landed against the thicker part of her Boko bat, pushing it out of the way. She raised it back up just in time to deflect Glabdob's first strike, his L-shaped, wicked blade carved a huge chunk out of the wood, including two of the bone teeth. She swung as part of the same motion, but Glabdob ducked. Murkak caught the strike on his own thick shield with a loud crack, and he staggered back, but kept the shield up.
She spun, trying to hold Glabdob off for a moment longer while she continued moving for deeper water. If she could make it just ten more feet, it would be too deep for them to wade, and she did not think they could swim. If Drep was as bad a shot as he had been so far, she could simply shoot him before he would be able to hit them with an accurate shot. After that, she would be able to take pot-shots at the others until they gave up or died.
She just had to-
Spikes from a club shredded the flesh at the back and side of her left upper arm, and Zelda screamed.
"Back, you!" she heard Koyin shout, and her spear thrust twice toward Murkak's head. The first missed wildly, flashing between he and the princess, but the second struck his arm just below the shoulder, inches higher than he had damaged the warrior-princess.
"Damn it," Zelda growled, "I'm fine, get back in the water!"
"I can help!"
"You're distracting me!"
"I can- Look out!"
Zelda didn't have time to look out. Instead she thrust the bat, almost sword-like, in the direction of Glabdob's wild charge. The strike was awkward, off-balance, and he caught it easily on his shield with a dull clang, but it stopped the advance. Without pausing, Zelda spun, putting her back to the beast for a moment as her club smashed into the wooden shield Murkak carried. The hit, this time, was strong enough to throw the Bokoblin from its feet. It burbled and splashed in the waist-deep water, panicking. If it had stood, it would have been able to fight in moments. Instead, its last seconds were terrified as it both drowned and suffered from at least three stab wounds caused by Koyin's furious assault.
Two left.
Another square Bomb was tossed toward the archer, who turned and ran, this time without stopping.
Zelda didn't even have to detonate it, for the creature had even dropped its bow in fright. "Just you now," Zelda taunted, voice harsh and raspy from adrenaline and fury.
Glabdob blinked in surprise as he realized she was right. "Glabdob still win," he snarled, and raised his angled blade high. He swung, from eight feet away.
Zelda... blinked, as he seemed to throw the sword, spinning, through the air, off to her left and up the hill. The Bokoblin raised his steel shield in both hands now, warding off any attack she might make.
"Zelda!"
She heard it a moment after Koyin's startled cry. Sharp steel cutting through the air. Zelda threw herself sideways into the water, throwing droplets in every direction, as the blade spun like a boomerang through the space she had just stood in. Glabdob lunged to catch it...
And missed.
She watched as his feet scrabbled to find purchase in water just six inches or more too deep. Watched him jump, as he bounced off the bottom, trying to get just a bit more oxygen.
Watched dispassionately as he sank, and did not resurface.
When his remains, a single tooth, a horn, and purple, churning guts surfaced to bob on the almost still surface of Lake Sumac, Zelda sighed. "Are you alright?"
"My hero," Koyin exhaled, red-faced and blushing from excitement, "I've never- I killed a blue Bokoblin! Thank you, Zelda! Because I had this spear, I- I can fight! Hah! I knew I could!"
"You did great, aside from not following orders," Zelda admitted quietly, then charged through the water to pull the still-naked, dripping, and terrified young woman into a hug. "You could've been killed... or worse."
"But I wasn't," Koyin reminded Zelda, awkwardly patting her back.
"This time."
"This time," the rancher agreed, "Uh... How long, um... were you on the island...?"
"Not long at all," Zelda lied, her own face heating at the hesitant question, "I had, um, just swam up from the other side. You- you should maybe get dressed, though. I'm surprised your family isn't aleady here, with the explosions and yelling."
"Heh, yeah," Koyin murmured, though she seemed reluctant to leave Zelda's embrace. She awkwardly shifted a lock of wet hair out of her face as she did. "I... I probably should. I really only need one towel, if you want to use one of mine?"
"I'd appreciate that," Zelda told her with a smile.
By the time Koyin was safely back home, night had fallen in earnest. But it was still easy work, with the Sheikah Slate, for Zelda to gather up the weapons and armor the Bokoblin attack had left behind. The Lizal spear was now entrusted to Koyin's care, a decent replacement for her old pitchfork for now. The Dragonbone Boko Shield was a sturdy, heavy addition to Zelda's defenses, though the steel shield Glabdob had carried was dented beyond repair from their fight. But she had been able to use Magnesis to gather up the strange, bent, boomerang- like Lizal blade, and the Dragonbone Boko Club that Murkak had been using.
The fight had been terrifying, but at least Zelda had regained a decent weapon supply, and both she and Koyin were safe.
What was next? As she drifted off to sleep next to Koyin in the large ranch-house, both women too exhausted to even chat much once the lights had been turned down, the princess had to wonder.
But it was strangely, oddly, delightfully comfortable with the pretty young woman beside her in the bed. Zelda at least knew that much.
