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Ch. 63: Cages of a Kind

Zelda stepped from the now lukewarm bath gingerly, mindful of the lingering injuries she had sustained from the battle, but moreso the internal damage that being the fuck-toy of… well, who knew how many Bokoblins for more than twenty-four hours had done.

The revelry that the forces of the Calamity had engaged in after she gave her self up was intense and violent, making the princess glad she remembered little of the details. She had been carried, armored and armed still, into the monster's camp, very near where she had first fought them weeks earlier. She remembered being ordered- not asked, ordered to remove her armor and clothing. She had done so, amid the jeering, catcalling, pointing, and pawing.

She remembered the black Bokoblin, Mundu, one of those who had impregnated her when she had tried to rescue Koyin's sheep. He had been the first, but there had been many, many after him. Often, two or even three at once. Her bum was still sore, even… even days later. Had she ever even had anything in there? She couldn't recall, of course, but once the assault had started, once they had begun to take her, there hadn't been any way to stop them, and her body had accepted it all anyway.

What the previous Zelda had said to her that fateful day, in nearly the same location, seemed to be true: she was made to pleasure others. Her body was made to accept their needs, their desires, and respond to them.

Even now, thinking about it in the relative quiet of Purah's lab with everyone else outside, the thought of a hundred Bokoblins rutting on her one after another made her legs tremble with desire… but that was all it was. Desire. Lust.

Raw, base, real… but that was all it was.

She could not even say she hated them for it. If anything, she pitied the Bokoblins, the Moblins, for what the Calamity had twisted them into. She despised that they had no recourse but violence and pain. It just wasn't fair. The Lizalfos, well… they were a different matter. They seemed to serve the Calamity willingly, but had a strange sense of self about them, too. The most common green-scaled ones were at least as self-aware and intelligent as a blue Bokoblin, she thought… and about as dangerous. Not as strong perhaps, but faster and with greater reach. She wouldn't be fucking one of them, though, that was for sure. She'd seen two mating once, and that was enough to make her stomach churn with their strange, spiked ball-shaped… things.

But there were people here she genuinely cared about. People she now found herself lusting for quite as much as the Bokoblins. Who could have predicted that the child-researcher who had seemed so very different than her younger (much older!) sister could have been so willing to engage her needs, and so well? Who could have thought that Zelda would grow to love her talented tongue? She was so sexy, like a more mature version of Paya. How could the princess not have enjoyed it? Purah certainly had, the younger woman had seen the older working her breasts and genitals every single time Purah had taken care of her since she had woken up two days earlier. That had been… what, twenty-two times? Something like that, though Zelda supposed the exact number didn't matter.

But there hadn't been any men, though at least one of the farmers had argued vociferously about it to Purah, now that her adult body was known publicly… and the child she had been a week earlier. Zelda had almost expected it to come to blows, but she understood why Purah was hesitant, why only women had been allowed to give her orgasms.

Her pussy was just sore. Very. The outside was alright, but the inside was still tender, and that's why she was careful getting out of the tub and now, dressing. She started with a simple linen shift, which was surprisingly soft and smooth against her moist skin, but that did an admirable job of helping to keep a breeze going as she moved that dried her further still. Afterward, the princess pulled on a simple, pale green dress before she donned the apron-like tunic many of Hateno's village women wore. It was tied together with a darker green cornsilk rope as wide as her pinky in lieu o fa belt, but Zelda thought it was a rather striking, if simple, outfit. It fit her well too, though she was certain even Sophie couldn't have made it quite so quickly, with everything else going on.

Zelda even let herself sway the dress back and forth a few times, enjoying the feel of it against her body, and how she looked in the floor-length mirror that Clavia and Reede had brought in for just that purpose two hours earlier.

Apparently there was going to be a bit of a celebration, and Zelda was the guest of honor. The thought made her blush. Had she been the guest of honor at royal events? Even local farm-village parties? She didn't know, and honestly didn't really care. This one felt… more, somehow, than some even that had happened a century back in a past she couldn't remember.

She cared. For these people, for the place… almost despite herself, Zelda had become enamored with Hateno Village's way of life, from its simple practicality to the delicious food and the way its people helped and supported each other. There were a few that stood out, of course. She was fond of both the cute Ivee and the shy but talented Sophie. Seldon, her brother, she'd barely met, but his armor was exquisite. Sayge the dye-master, Bolson and his team (stalwart Hudson first among them lately, having fought beside him directly), and gorgeous Prima… she was perhaps Zelda second-favorite of those who had either used hands or mouths to pleasure her over the last two days, helping her body to remember that she could get pleasure from more than just monsters.

Then there was Purah herself. Koyin, who had sounded heartbroken and forlorn as Zelda had removed her armor to sacrifice herself for the town's survival. Would the woman even forgive her?

She hadn't been to help, though Purah had mentioned her once or twice, so the princess was sure her bodyguards was alive.

"Of course, if you really want to know, there's only one way to find out," Zelda told the empty room, then reached down to smooth out the bottom of the dress once more. She took a glance at the pile of equipment, mostly her damaged armor, in one corner but decided to leave most of it. She strapped on just one hidden dagger beneath her dress to her thigh, and added her nicked but serviceable soldier's broadsword to her belt, then walked for the door.

Zelda wasn't surprised to see the lab's main workshop empty when she reached it. The tumult of people outside, audible now that she was near an open window, was most likely the location of the lab's residents. She was a bit surprised to see just how many people had turned out for 'a little celebration'.

As far as she could tell, it was everyone in Hateno, and a half-dozen men and women from Kakariko Village, too. Koyin of course, smiling nervously at her with a spear within arm's reach as her other hand idly held a half-eaten apple. Bolson, Karson, and Hudson, the older man the first to start clapping as she stood awkwardly in the doorway of the Ancient Tech Lab. Purah and Symin, the second blushing but the first sending her a saucy wink as before she turned away and led her partner toward a long, rough-hewn table that seemed to serve as a buffet in the wide yard. Meghyn and Nat, one looking considerably more wane and tired than the other who seemed more worried, though both were glad to see her, stood at the far end of the same table. Dozens and dozens of familiar faces greeted her one after the other, until Zelda's head started to spin. Even Mina and Mils were there, and the beautiful young woman had the nerve to give Zelda a gentle hug and whisper, "We're behind you all the way, Princess Zelda."

Those faces were a bit of a shock.

More-so were the last two: One in a cage, and one apparently standing guard next to it, though they weren't terribly watchful.

"B- Bubmin? Celessa?"

The sound around the impromptu (to Zelda, at least) celebration fell away in an instant as the blue-skinned Bokoblin's long ears picked up her voice from a dozen feet away even through the crowd. Next to him, the dark-haired adventurer perked up, "Eh? What, blue-boy? What's perked your interest, eh?"

"Bubmin hear," the Bokoblin cackled, pointing, "Bubmin hear her! She coming!"

Zelda watched with a smile as the other woman followed Bubmin's claw, then broke into a grin herself. She quickly made her way through the last bits of the village-people to get to the unlikely pair. Thankfully, most of the crowd were giving them a wide berth, she was sure because of the caged creature more than Celessa herself. "Wh… What are you both doing here? Not that I'm not happy to see you, it's just… well…"

Celessa snorted and grinned once more, displaying a second missing tooth that Zelda was sure not the same as when they had met, "Well, I heard there was some trouble, so I came to lend a hand. Turns out I was a bit late for most of the fun, but then people started talkin' about a rescue mission, and I volunteered. Didn't realize it was you until half-way through planning. Now I'm hearing talk about you being not some traveler from the far west, but Hyrule's own Princess. That Zelda."

"Er-"

The other woman just shrugged and slapped a hand onto the side of one of the cage's thick, sturdy bars. "And this lout, well, he came up and helped us. Might not've gotten out of there without him, to be honest. We were pretty badly outnumbered, and they rallied against us faster than we expected. One of those blue Moblins almost got that Symin fellah. But then this guy here, ol' Blue, comes roaring up. Hands over his head, big ol' axe, bit of armor on him. When's the last time you saw a Boko wearing armor? Never, I say. Shields sure, but armor? Not their style. This guy's got on a couple of crude sabatons and all that, and he doesn't hack at Purah, who's closest. No, he goes for the Moblin after Symin! Chops right down and takes off a few toes, then he's right back there swinging again before the big one can even do more than stare at his bloody foot!"

"Bumin helped," the Bokoblin cackled, then gave the strangest, porcine smile Zelda had ever seen in her direction, "Bubmin had to wait for pretty lady to get help, Bubmin couldn't save pretty lady by hisself!"

Zelda glanced around quickly, confused. Many of the townsfolk were watching her, watching them, nervously. "But then, if he helped, why's he in a cage? He's not attacking anyone."

Several people behind her shifted uncomfortably, and Celessa coughed. Zelda frowned.

Bubmin, on the other hand, reached out a hand through the bars to rest it on Zelda's bare arm. "Bubmin understand. People scared. People killed. Bubmin stay safe. Bubmin safer here. People feel safer with Bubmin here. Bubmin wait in cage."

"But it's not right," Zelda whispered.

"Maybe not," Celessa murmured quietly and put her arm on Zelda's other shoulder alongside the Bokoblin, "but he did say yes. Purah and I asked him. People were right shocked when he came up the hillside with us, I can tell you… but he stayed outside the village. Told us he wouldn't come in without your permission. This was a compromise. He's in the village grounds, but safe, and we're safe from him."

"He wouldn't attack-"

"He would," Purah said from behind him, her voice calm, but firm. "He's still a monster, Princess. I know, you've told me what happened with him. He might even be trustworthy himself, that's not my place to say. But look at it from the people's point of view, please. To them, he's a creature just like the ones that have only days previously tried to invade their home and slaughter them all. You believe he's different. I believe you, more than I believe in him. At least, I believe that you believe that, and maybe you're right. I've seen enough in my years to know that not all Bokoblins are the same. But letting him run wild in the Village would just cause havoc and terror even if he's peaceful. Not everyone would see it that way. He's safer, and we're safer, to have him separated."

"But I-"

"Princess," Purah put up her hands, palm out, and shook her head to interrupt. "Please, just listen. There's more. Do you remember what happened with the black Bokoblin? How the Calamity spoke through him?"

She nodded, amid a shudder shared by any number of the townsfolk who had heard or seen Mundu's strange, too-smooth voice in that moment.

"It can do the same with any of them. At any time. We- Robbie, Impa, and I- think it takes more effort for the lower-order creatures like reds, but it can be done. A blue isn't that much of a stretch, even if we've never recorded an instance of one. What would you do if, behind his eyes, the Calamity was gathering vital intelligence on the layout of the village, or our forces, or even you or I? It's safer to keep him separate for that alone if nothing else."

"He doesn't deserve to be locked up, though," Zelda whispered plaintively.

"Bubmin wants to be safe," the Bokoblin shrugged, and dropped down onto his haunches. "Besides, people feed Bubmin. Bubmin not hungry!"

He patted his belly and let out a belch that definitely stank of cooked meats and corn. Celessa laughed, "Right on that one. An hour ago while you were bathing, people were making a game of it. Mostly the young ones, of course, but they were tossing bits of meat, corn… he was catching most right out of the air if it made it through the bars, and sometimes when it didn't. He's been right well fed, I'd wager."

The princess sighed. She could, in truth, see their point. But still, seeing him there, in a cage… a creature she had shown mercy to twice, and who in turn had literally saved her from a lifetime of pain or death or worse… it hurt. It hurt her deeply, more than she could put to words. Still, she knelt, heedless of the grass and dirt on her new, clean dress. "Bubmin," she asked quietly, and reached out a hand, which he took in his clawed blue one with some hesitation. "If you want to be set free, I'll see it done. We can just leave. You don't have to stay here. You can go yourself if you prefer."

But Bubmin shook his head, and his eyes were quite clear when he answered just as softly, "Bubmin knows blue lady's people here. Bubmin wait. Bubmin wait in cage. If people try to kill Bubmin, Bubmin fight. If people feed Bubmin, Bubmin happy. Bubmin wants to go with blue lady when blue lady goes. Bubmin stay in cage until then."

She let her head fall for a moment, then nodded. Slowly, she pushed herself to her feet and took several moments to gather her thoughts before she turned back to the crowd. "Most of you, now, know who I am. Who I truly am. I am Princess Zelda Amaryll Hyrule, the once-heir of this land. Are there any among you who dispute that?"

Silence reigned for several seconds. Then Purah sank to one knee and lowered her head. A moment later, each of the Sheikah present, then Mina, Mils, and Celessa followed. Soon, nearly the entireity of Hateno Village was on a knee before her in the wide yard below Purah's laboratory. The entire thing made Zelda very uncomfortable, but she forced herself to carry on. She could do it for this, if nothing else. There were, to her, no more worthy causes. "I came here to help. I may have brought pain and strife through my mistakes, but I have done what I could to rectify that. Are there any who dispute that claim?"

"You gave yourself up to save us," someone shouted. It took Zelda a moment to realize it was Koyin, who stood in a smooth motion with her spear held tightly in one hand, "We won't forget it."

There was a murmur of worry through the crowd that knelt before her, but Zelda ignored it for a moment longer. "Then hear me now. Hear, and listen. I will not force you to obey. I am the princess of no land, save by birthright to a land destroyed. But I am of the royal line of Hyrule, and all that entails. I carry in me the literal blood of the Goddess Hylia. I bear her mark, though few can see it, in two different places. If you doubt me, do not doubt Purah, or her sister Impa, who remember me.

"This creature, Bubmin the Bokoblin, is not your enemy. I understand your fears. I will acquiesce- for now- to allow him to be caged. But he is my ally. He is coming to be a friend. I will not see him caged for long. There will come a time- there must come a time- when he is able to walk among you. He, and any like him who do not bring strife or war or death. Bokoblins are not without reason. He was a lowly red member of his kin when we met. He begged for his life, and I showed him mercy. He fled. He tried to warn others of his kind against me… and they beat him near to death for it. I spared him again, and showed him mercy. In return, he has become loyal to me. He has saved my life on thr- no, four occasions now. Three of them, on his own, with no assistance. I am here because of him, as much as I am here because of you. So keep him caged, for now, if it helps you sleep at night. But know that I will sleep more poorly knowing that my people would cage an innocent."

She stopped talking for several seconds and let the crowd digest her words, before she called loudly, "Oh, and congratulations! We're still alive! Hip-hip!" The resounding hurrah echoed off the nearby mountains for several seconds after the last, loudest cry went out.


Zelda was starting to think that Koyin, despite her words during her speech, was avoiding her. Aside from the early greeting, she had barely seen the stout young woman at the party. The bonfires roared high, sending white plumes of smoke from cedar and oak into the night sky, while pine and balsam scented the air in smaller bits. The feasting was mostly done, but now players had come out of the woodwork, two dozen or more. A violet-haired fiddler, an ancient piper who seemed to be teaching a child as he went, two drummers, a tambor-ringer, and more worked together to blend nearly seamlessly into a nigh-endless medley that had people dancing in the fields and orchards for a half-mile around them.

Many, she was sure, were sneaking off in twos or maybe threes to celebrate in other ways as the night wore on into early morning. She wished she could. Even Purah and Symin had gone off to be alone, she thought.

It wasn't that she was horny. She was, of course, Zelda was coming to realize there was a constant low burn of arousal within her these days, which was barely sated by the repeated orgasms Purah, Prima, and the other women of the village had given her. It wasn't the same as that caused by… whatever it was that happened when she offered up the mysterious Spirit Orbs to the statues of Hylia and prayed. It was similar, but this was definitely more primal, and less spiritual. More like she… she simply enjoyed sex, and wanted it all the time. Yes, that was a good way to put it.

But she couldn't. Not right now. Bubmin was there (and wouldn't that be a delight, even if the thought was still strangely abhorrent as much as arousing), but so was the tough, well-spoken fighter Celessa. Too many witnesses by several dozen yet.

Could she simply sneak off somewhere, find a handsome man and offer herself for the evening? The thought was appealing.

Celessa was saying something about her future plans to climb Mount Lanayru, but Zelda was having a hard time focusing. Bubmin was half-asleep, laying on his side and openly playing with himself while he watched some of the townsfolk dance, but no one was paying him much mind, except Zelda herself, who was trying not to look lest it give her ideas.

There was a quiet thwap on the ground. Zelda looked, but could see nothing. A moment later, another one, but this time, she spotted an acorn of all things where there hadn't been one moments before.

A third, and she looked up.

Dark eyes, short, strong… a shy smile, with a strong spear nearby.

Koyin.

Zelda felt herself smile, then turned to the scarred, pretty adventurer, and faked a yawn. "I'm sorry, Celessa, I'm nodding off. I think I'm going to head off. I'm happy to hear about it in the morning? We might even be able to head up together, I have a feeling I need to go that way myself."

"Oh, sure," the woman agreed, then yawned herself a little sleepily, "Didn't even realize it was that late. Of course, Princess. Should I escort…?"

"No, thank you," she replied with a kind smile, "though I appreciate it. If you don't mind staying, Bubmin could probably use some company, but if you need rest perhaps I can help find another guard…?"

"Nah, I'm fine. He doesn't bother me like he does the others. Pretty sure I can handle him if there's a need, to be honest," Celessa laughed. "I'll be dozin' off probably in an hour, but you go ahead. I'll stay here just in case. It's a warm night anyhow."

"Alright. Thank you, and… please, drop the whole 'princess' thing? It's just Zelda."

Celessa's brow furrowed, but she shrugged after a moment. "Well, alright. If you want. Doesn't feel right now that I know who you are, but… it's your choice."

"Thank you. Good night, Celessa."

"G'night, P- Zelda. Sleep well."

She found Koyin waiting more or less just where she had seen her, half-way out of the orchard, just hidden beyond the edge of the firelight. The young woman's face burned ruddy in the scant glow as she looked up at Zelda.

They were, she realized, alone. For the first time since she had woken up. Since the battle, now four- five? More? Days previous. Koyin had been so brave, so strong. She had fought unflinchingly despite incredible odds, and somehow come through without benefit of training or even armor stronger than hides. And as she looked nervously up at Zelda, the princess herself could only think of how beautiful she was.

So she leaned down, cupped her hands around Koyin's strong jaw. As she did, she realized she was in a cage of her own. A prison of desire, but far more. Of loyalty, of kindness, of something approaching family. A cage she, like Bubmin, walked into willingly.

Then Zelda leaned in just a little more and kissed her.