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Chap. 70: Scared / Snowfield
"I can't believe I did that," Zelda murmured, red-faced, some two hours later. They had nearly passed the woods to the north end of the valley, and the air was growing increasingly colder with the steep climb up the broken, disused roadway.
Since that first roar, they hadn't heard anything else of the Lynel, so both women had deemed it safe enough to make more speed rather than try and hide from a creature that could stomp them flat. Likely, it had known where they were from the beginning, Celessa had pointed out, it just didn't care. If it had known who they were, that might have been a different story, but most Lynel, as she'd mentioned before, just didn't consider chasing people down a worthy challenge.
Left unsaid was that even though the two women might've just destroyed one of the Calamity's greatest threats together was that they would not be a challenge for a Lynel. Unsaid or not, however, Zelda believed the woman when Celessa had described how dangerous they were. If a Hinox was roughly a fair match for an entire squad of well-trained fighters, then a Lynel might be an even match for a small army. And that, with archer support to help whittle them down.
As she stopped for a moment to pull her own long, fox-fur lined coat from her heavy pack, Celessa blushed, "I can. It was… it was really good."
"But, right after you'd just sworn…"
"Hey," Celessa laughed, shrugging it off as she shrugged on her coat then hiked her pack onto her strong shoulders again, "don't worry about it. We're friends too, right? Friends help each other out sometimes, that's all. Never thought an actual Princess would do that for me, but I don't regret it, just like I don't regret giving you that Oath."
"But was it you though, giving it? Or did you feel… I don't know how to explain it… as if there was something else going on? Something urging you to do it?"
Zelda watched as her companion missed a step, nearly stumbling and falling, no doubt distracted by putting on her pack and adjusting the straps. "Um… N- Now that you mention it… y-yes? But not- not anything I couldn't have stopped! And I swear, I was hoping, dreaming, for there to be something, uh, b- between us for days, long- long before this, I swear!"
The confident warrior's sudden shy, stammering demeanor caught Zelda off-guard, and she laughed, "Oh, Celessa… I don't mean anything by that, at least not… not as far as any, um, attraction we might feel for- for each other." It certainly didn't help that Celessa's embarrassment was getting to her, too. Was the emotion that contagious? "I like you, I genuinely do. But when I was… when we were doing the bathing, the ritual… I felt almost as if something had come over me. I remember it all… and I remembered more of my past, too, both recent and further back. But I don't regret it. I only… I worry that I wasn't quite myself, that something made me do that. I wanted to, I would- I would d-"
Her words were interrupted with an Earth-shattering roar, and from far too close.
Close enough that the force of it send a deluge of pine needles, leaves, and even twigs barreling toward them out of the tree-line to the northwest, pelting both women in mouldering detritus as they instinctively turned and ducked, shielding their faces from the worst of it. Then Zelda turned, her emerald eyes wide, and came face to face with terror.
It was still three dozen feet or more away, hidden by tree and undergrowth alike, but even so she had to look up, and up again, to find the thing's shining, malevolent, fiery eyes that shone like bonfires in the shade of the trees. Each of them, she thought, was as large as her mouth could stretch, and so intense that she felt her very soul tremble as she stared into them, as if she were looking into a hot-burning forge. Its mouth, fanged like some massive wolf though it had a mostly-human face, was large enough Zelda feared her entire head would fit comfortably inside it. All around the swarthy, light-brown furred face, a massive mane of crimson, matted hair like a lion's rose and fell, circling larger than a heavy shield.
As she stared, she heard Celessa's breath catch, then saw the creature reach for a heavy steel-craft bow that looked taller than she was, and probably had a draw that might take a whole squad of knights to pull back.
A draw the creature seemed to have no problem with, as it pulled on the string, and a glowing, coruscating electric-green line began to appear, drawn between the Lynel's closer hand and the other as it grinned down at her, full of malice. Even from here, she could feel its hot breath, and-
She jerked into motion, hauled backward and around by Celessa's not-inconsiderable strength, "Run, Zelda! Run!"
Brought back to reality, her heart pounding as it had been only when she had faced two Guardian Stalkers at once after that delirious star-chase shortly after leaving the Great Plateau, she ran as if her life depended on it, as if the very fires of hell were chasing after her.
Her thighs and calves tingled with electricity, and she stumbled but did not fall as the creature's warning shot impacted the ground behind them, the excess energy alone enough to make her shiver.
Next to her, a little ahead, Celessa sprinted full-tilt up the road, half-dragging Zelda along. Thankfully, somehow, the creature's spell of fear had been broken, and been replaced by actual terror. As it seemed to be doing with Celessa too, that fear led speed to Zelda's legs, and she ran as if her feet were winged, skipping lightly over the broken stones and pavers of the ancient road as if they were water.
The warrior stayed ahead of her at first, her speed greater, but as they ran and ran, the thundering hooves of the massive beast hot on their tail, eventually Celessa began to flag, while Zelda ran on, undeterred. Eventually, she passed the other woman, and became the one to pull instead. Her breathing was rough, but not as badly as the dark-haired woman's, who was huffing and puffing, and turning a little purple as Zelda risked a glance.
That glance nearly cost her her life, but ultimately saved both of them as the Lynel had stopped. Instead of chasing them, it had taken a few seconds to aim, and a trio of electric bolts flashed through the air toward them in a line, spreading out as they came. One for Zelda, one for Celessa, and into the only open air near them.
No… not toward them, toward where they would be. In a split second, Zelda jumped, hurling herself backward, hauling Celessa down with a cry of alarm so that she landed atop the smaller woman, half-crushing her beneath the weight of her armor, pack, and sturdy body. Both shivered again as the energy of the bolts passed far too close, but struck the ground a half-dozen feet ahead of them. "Move!" Zelda cried, "it's still close!"
Celessa rolled, somehow getting all the way over onto her knees, and she stood facing the beast. "Oh, fuck," she whispered, then turned and ran again.
Zelda didn't face it as she stood, but spun on the ground with her feet coming beneath her, and started sprinting once more. She did get one brief glimpse, though, as the beast slung the heavy bow over its thick, tree-like neck and shoulder, and from its flank, pulled a spear. No, a halberd? Something, anyway, with a wicked, curved blade as wide as her thigh, as thick as two fingers, and as long as her torso at the end of a pole the length of the Lynel's great height.
Then it set the weapon beneath one arm, roared again, and began to charge like a knight with a lance.
Feet thundered closer, the rocks all around Zelda trembled with the force of each step- And she was at a wall. An impasse, a dead end.
She was dead.
Only, no. No, there was a familiar hand, "Princess, come on! Up!"
Zelda jumped, hurling herself as high as she could go on her exhausted legs, and somehow caught Celessa's strong hand on the first try. Her feet scrabbled as Celessa hauled, all-but rappelling upward. The Lynel's spear crashed into the rock face between her legs, and she felt three claws scrape against the bottom of her quiver as it swiped for her with its free hand. Even that light contact nearly ripped her from her companion's grip, and for one precarious second Zelda's right foot swung free in the open air. Her boot even clipped the Lynel's face, and it snapped vicious teeth at her.
Then she was clear, as with a great heave, Celessa hauled upward with all her might, and the two women landed on snow-covered, frosty grass. But they couldn't stay. Already, she could hear the beast below them snarling, reaching for its bow. She stood, and saw it once more, clearly. The Lynel's head was nearly at the level of the short cliff, though she suspected even its strength wouldn't allow it to haul its great mass up easily. But the lance was still there, and the bow was moving toward her, hatred still blazing from its eyes.
So she turned and ran once more, fighting past aching legs, burning lungs that only got worse as the air got more crisp, chill, and dry. Ran until both she and Celessa were surrounded by thick, white-covered pines, and the road was barely visible beneath the snow as a mostly-linear depression.
Then, beneath an overhang on the left side of the road that at least provided some cover off the side of the road, Celessa collapsed, falling face-first into the snow.
"Celessa! Shit, are you hurt? Were you hit? Celessa, answer me!"
With a cough and sputter, the woman rolled over, "Only thing hurt's my pride, and my knee. I tripped over a rock, I think."
While she brushed the snow off her face, which was turning red not from fear or exertion but cold now, Zelda examined her tracks, and found the culprit. "That's not a rock," she said quietly, "that's a cooking pan."
"Huh? A pan? I guess that means someone's camped here," the other woman muttered, "Can't believe I tripped over an old cook fire."
"If someone else has, we can," Zelda added, "though I'm not sure about how safe it would be if whoever it was just abandoned their things like that." Of course, that didn't stop her from pulling on her own parka and gloves, and starting to root through the snow. After a few minutes of searching, she found the outlines of a fire near where the now upturned, snow-filled pan lay, she found more. The remains of a slightly-disturbed ring of stones to protect the embers and keep them from spreading, a dented steel tea pot, and a broken log that had probably once been a seat. "Someone probably was here… didn't make it back."
"Hunter, probably," Celessa replied, pushing herself to her feet, "Sometimes they come up here still. Dangerous, but there's plentiful game, especially in the summer when many of the deer and fox come up to graze where it's cooler, and more dangerous for them in the valleys."
"Then there's a possibility this is a more permanent camp, then, and he simply left his things here for the next trip?"
"Maybe," Celessa shrugged, "though I wouldn't be too hopeful about it. These are expensive, yes, and hard to lug up and down, but… that teapot's got a hole in the side from that dent. It's been mauled. Maybe even by the Lynel, though I don't know why it'd come up here if it hasn't chased us past the cliff. Might've been Lizalfos, too."
Zelda frowned, "Alright, well… do you think it's safe enough to camp here? Those clouds are getting pretty thick."
The warrior looked around, peering up through the thick trees for a moment too, "I think we probably should, yeah. There's enough snow I think that any monster that knew about this camp knows it's abandoned, or has been, and isn't likely to check, especially if it starts snow- well. Snowing."
She'd paused because between them, a single white flake drifted down. Zelda could not be sure if it was from the thick dusting on the canopy above them, or from higher in the sky, but either way it lent a sense of urgency. "I don't see any other shelter or caves around. The pines are too high and thin to give shelter, and this is really the only rock even, though it's just an overhang."
"Big one, though," Celessa answered, "and about the most cover we'll get from the wind and snow, I think. Should've brought a tent… even if I'd have dropped it to get clear of the Lynel. Damn. Hope you don't mind huddling together close to the fire."
"With you? I don't think I'll mind," Zelda shot back, grinning, "But come on, let's get to work. It'll take a bit to clear enough ground to sleep on, I don't want to soak my bedroll before we even get up to the mountain itself."
"Right."
Working together, it took the span of maybe ten minutes for the two tired women using their shields as makeshift shovels to clear a decent space beneath the rock above them for a camp. The further digging revealed more signs that the last person to camp here had died violently. A discarded shield, cut in half roughly by some heavy blade here, a broken spear there, a chipped knife, and a few splatters of dark brown amid the old needles. There was even a bent spoon, and one leather glove with the first two fingers cut short: an archer's tool.
But there was no body, at least not one the women found.
Snow was falling in earnest by the time they got a fire going, and the afternoon wind had shifted into a freezing, cold one that made the trees creek and moan as the sky grew dark from both cloud and gathering twilight. It took a little work for them to get a fire blazing, and even more to gather up a few logs to frame heaping snow that would, hopefully, keep prying eyes from spotting their fire.
Even without really intending to, the princess and her companion had made a cozy little bowl to rest in, almost completely out of sight of anyone not passing directly by on the road. Hopefully that would be another layer of protection, because neither felt up for a fight. They were already cold despite the exercise, for the sweat that had built up with first the Lynel and then clearing their campsite was quick to freeze, cooling them off fare more than Zelda would have suspected.
Thankfully, the rock sheltered them from the wind rather well. Though it still curled around from the east, it had lost much of the direct force, and being below the slope helped a bit too, though what snow was blown by the wind covered their shoulders, hair, and faces while they warmed up some of the princess' Spicy Seafood Stir-fry, a variation of the recipe her father had taught her on the Plateau.
It started warming the pair from the inside out almost immediately, but both Zelda and Celessa still huddled into themselves with their backs and packs to the wall, hands and feet extended toward the firepit, which was close enough to do so, but only just. Once the food was consumed, the bedrolls were brought out and wrapped around them in several layers, a process that started with building a rolled-up nest with the softest and warmest in the inside, and the most waterproof, treated leather pads they had brought from Hateno specifically for this placed beneath the dual rolls, and draped over them to hopefully keep the blankets themselves dry.
When they finally got situated and mostly comfortable, with enough room to maneuver inside the roll that neither woman felt trapped or stifled, Zelda closed the last flap of cloth over the head of their makeshift, two-person tent, and giggled. "I feel like a child in a pillow fort."
"Me too, now that you mention it," Celessa replied, "but this is very much a fortress against the elements, so at least that part's right. It's pretty cozy in here, actually."
"Just means we did a good job. Let me know if you feel a draft, okay?"
"Same. Uh… Good night, Princess."
"Good night to you too, Knight."
Even though it was almost entirely dark inside the bedrolls, Zelda could have sworn she saw the woman's face start to glow a little with a blush. She definitely felt the increased heat, as their cheeks were right next to each other. For warmth, of course.
Of course, even after all that, sleep did not come easily.
As she lay warm and comfortable, her belly full, beside a woman she genuinely liked and cared for, whom she trusted, Zelda could not fall asleep. Her mind kept replaying the events of the day over and over in an endless cycle. Waking up on the Nirvata Plateau, climbing over the ridge to be surprised by a Hinox it felt like the two of them had been lucky to defeat. The Ritual of Purification, and then the Ritual of Service she remembered, but had been all-but-helpless to complete or not. At least, the first. She could still feel her Champion's eyes on her as she bathed a century ago, knew he watched her protectively but also with eyes now filled with open lust.
Celessa had watched her in the same way.
"Damn it," she whispered quietly into the darkness, hoping not to wake her companion up. Especially not for this: her underwear was growing wet thinking about it. Even the Lynel had been arousing in a way, its muscular, masculine top half a thing that sent shivers through her. It made Zelda glad she hadn't seen between its legs at any time… how twisted would she have been to imagine it?
"What is it?" Celessa murmured, "Have to piss?"
"No," Zelda replied, "Sorry if I woke you."
"Was still awake. Not for long though. What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Sorry, go back to sleep."
The woman twisted next to her, "If I'm to serve you, you have to trust me, right? What is it?"
Celessa's breath, spicy and sweet from their dinner and the wine they had washed it down with didn't help, nor did her muscular, firm body pressed against hers. "Nothing," Zelda insisted, "I just… I keep thinking about today."
"It was hairy, for sure. A Hinox and a Lynel both… but we're still alive. Try not to dwell on it," Celessa advised.
Zelda swallowed, "I… Yeah. Um… Not that part, though. Not those parts."
She heard Celessa swallow. "The… the pool? The altar?"
Zelda nodded, not thinking about her companion being unable to see her. The other woman seemed to know she had though, because she shied away a little. "I… I was, too."
The princess's eyebrows rose in the dark, "And… what were you thinking about it? If it's not too forward, of course."
"It is, but… but I don't mind answering. I… I've never, um, been with anyone. Not like that. I just… I wondered what it was like, that's all."
"Sex? You mean, with a man?"
Celessa nodded, and Zelda realized how she had known too: the friction made just enough noise she could hear it against the blankets, and her body shifted ever so slightly with the motion. "It's… good," she admitted, "full. Strange. There are differences, of course… everyone is a little different in size, shape, and how- how they move, how they do things."
Her companion's next question was shy too, among the most nerve-filled Zelda had heard her ask, "Have… have you been with… many?"
"Men?"
"Anyone."
Zelda could only sigh, "Enough I could not keep track."
"But you're a Princess. Shouldn't you be…"
"Pure?"
"W- Well, yeah. For your future king, or whatever?"
Zelda snorted, "No doubt a hundred years ago, most of the kingdom would've been scandalized… but no, I wasn't pure then, and I'm less so now. I don't remember much, but I know I was with my Knight, my Champion, as I said on the altar. I don't remember him but then I loved him dearly and fiercely."
"They say he's still alive, somewhere in the Castle, holding back the Calamity with that sword."
"I believe he is," Zelda whispered, and raised a hand between her breasts. "I feel him, sometimes. Hear his voice, reminding me of things he once taught me. How to live, how to survive. How to fight."
"Sounds like a brave man."
"The bravest. But there… were others, too. At least two, women. I've only the briefest glimpses of one, and the other I won't speak of, for she still lives and I don't want to sully her reputation."
Celessa whistled softly in the darkness, "Must be a Sheikah, then. They're the only Hylian tribe that long-lived. Which means it's likely to be one of the elders."
Zelda said nothing more about it, though, and moved on a bit. "As for after I woke… one man, who raped me. He's quite… gone. Killed by Bubmin, actually, before I knew he had changed to Blue. That was the third time he saved me, I think. The man was a Yiga."
"Fuckers," Celessa hissed, "I've only met one or two, and one of those tried to kill me, the other to recruit me. Then, when I said no, he tried to kill me, too."
"Consider yourself lucky, then," she replied, "I've met a few as well, and every single one has tried or worse. There's… a stable-woman at the Dueling Peaks-"
"Sagessa? She's pretty," Celessa chuckled, "and a… what, second or third cousin of mine? Something like that, we've talked about it before- our names are so similar."
"I didn't know that, but now that you mention it, your eyes and noses are a bit similar, too."
"Yep."
"A- Anyway, she, um, was the first after- after I woke up on the Plateau. Then she introduced me to another prostitute there, named Thalla."
"She's cute."
"She's a he, at least physically," Zelda told her softly, "I'm pretty sure they prefer more gender-neutral words, but… that was good, too. And… well, Prima at the Ton Pu, and you, uh, probably already know about Koyin."
"Good kid. Not really a kid anymore, but when I met her she still seemed that way. And I've had a few looks at Prima myself, she's probably the best- or close to the best- looking Hylian in Hateno. Well, except maybe you. That Purah woman's pretty gorgeous too, though, now that she's not an old hag or a child."
"Bit of a shock, that," Zelda laughed, "though I can only imagine what she looked like old. Probably like her sister, I suppose, Lady Impa."
"Yeah. I met her, too. You get around a lot," Celessa chuckled, then blushed, "Uh, I didn't- I didn't mean it like that!"
"Well… I do," Zelda said matter-of-factly, "because that's just the humans. I've… given Bubmin a blowjob, and-"
"What?"
Zelda gulped. Celessa's tone wasn't truly accusatory, but very surprised. "I was… drugged, okay? The Yiga, the man who raped me, he… did something. It made me very, very… amenable. Then when Bubmin freed me and showed me his corpse, I… I wanted to reward him, and it was all I could think about."
"And I thought you were an innocent princess, once," Celessa chuckled lightly, "shows what assumptions do."
"In my defense," Zelda reminded her, "I was also raped by three more Bokoblins, two black and a red, for a day or two in the process of helping Koyin out… and then you know about the horde."
"Yeah. Nasty business that," Celessa muttered darkly. Her voice was a bit more chipper a moment later, though, "Is that why Koyin's so taken with you? Can't say I know the girl well, but I've never seen her so… admiring."
"I suppose. I'm the one that rescued her sheep, anyway, all but one. That was… after I got free."
"Hm. Well… I… you know what? Now I'm a little wet, too. Let's… let's take care of that, okay?"
Zelda's eyes widened, "You- you mean it?"
"Not enough room to do it proper-like, I think, but yeah," Celessa murmured, tracing a finger down Zelda's jaw. "I… I reckon we can at least do what we normally do when we're alone. Maybe do that to each other."
Zelda sighed in relief, "And you don't think that'd be… weird?"
"Not like I can really even watch, right?"
"I suppose not. Then… how do we…?"
"Like this," Celessa murmured, and Zelda felt the woman's hand fall on her breast, then slide down her stomach. "Just touch me like you'd touch yourself. Even over clothes might do it, I'm- I'm a bit excited."
"Me, too," Zelda whispered, and found herself eager to follow suite. Celessa's body was still covered by leathers and warm clothing, even her coat, but that didn't stop the princess from worming both hands inside between the folds until she met bare skin. The woman's nipples were large, swollen, and she sighed as the princess began to play with one.
Meanwhile, Celessa's hand slipped underneath her parka too, but lower, straight for the prize beneath her underthings. "Wow," Celessa whispered, "I can't believe I'm touching your pussy, Princess… it's so warm, and you're right- you're really, really wet."
"Don't say that," she moaned, "It's embarrassing."
"Don't be embarrassed, I think it's sexy," Celessa told her, then leaned over to kiss Zelda, too.
Their lips slid smoothly against each other, reminding Zelda once more of spicy meats and sweet wine, and Celessa moaned too as Zelda pinched the nipple she could reach. The other could not get through the buckles as the woman's groin pressed against her thigh, but with a flash of inspiration her other hand moved around the woman's firm waist and down. She found access at the small of her back, and soon she was holding a handful of firm, muscled, well-shaped bum.
"More," Celessa sighed into her mouth, "I love it when you touch me, my Princess."
"Me too," was the only reply Zelda could deliver, "Hylia, you're so- ah- good! Are you sure you've never…?"
"No," her companion laughed, "not until today, anyway, but that also means I've worked myself to ecstasy more'n a few times, you know? Had some practice."
"It- it- aahhh- it shows! More!"
Unlike Celessa's sigh, Zelda's cry was loud in the confined space, and her pleasure seemed only to spur her knight on to greater efforts. Zelda was having a hard time keeping up, and wasn't sure she'd be able to even come close to matching her less-experienced hands. At least, less-experienced with other people.
Because the way she was going, Celessa was going to make her orgasm in less than three minutes flat. Her fingers danced within and around Zelda's clit and hole, teasing and sliding in a knuckle or two, then jerking back before they went too far. It was teasing, tantalizing, and incredibly arousing. So much different than her own fingers, or Sagessa's, or Prima's, or Koyin's. While the younger girl was fierce and used to work, her callouses were not gained from training or combat, thus the pattern was different, if no less thick.
As they stroked Zelda's most sensitive internal spot, she came undone, her pelvis shaking and grinding upward into Celessa's hand, her mouth crying out a gasp of indescribable sensation into her own mouth.
Celessa wasn't far behind, however, and Zelda had scarcely started to come down from her orgasm when she realized the woman's hips had shifted again, at least one of her belts a little looser, and Zelda could push the hand on her rear further. Lower, between her legs, she followed the cleft past the tight pucker, which flinched…
And to her own prize. From behind, Zelda's teasing fingers worked in quick circles, just pushing one knuckle of her longest finger inside, in and out, quickly, rhythmically, as Celessa started to gasp, too.
Her own orgasm was smaller, but it followed less than a minute after her own, her body shuddering and jerking against Zelda's. She worked her through it slowly, more gently, but kept the digit inside her until Celessa was well and truly done, then leaned up a little to kiss her. "Thank you," she said after they separated.
"Thank you," Celessa chuckled, "Never done it that hard on my own."
"You didn't as hard as I did, I think, but I'm glad I could help."
"You did. Damn… I don't know if I'll be able to go back to just my hand after this."
"Then don't," she whispered, "I'm… I'm not devoted, Celessa. I'm not the devoted type, except maybe to Hyrule. Even though I loved my Champion dearly, I was not with him alone. I could not be. Something inside me, deep inside me, cries out for more. If- when- I free him, he will be old. I will need… more. More lovers, to keep me satisfied, to keep me from going insane. Be one of them."
"I…"
"And, in the meantime," Zelda told her, shifting so that they were beside each other again in the cozy blackness, "find lovers for yourself. Men, women… I don't care. Koyin might enjoy your company, too. Keep each other… entertained, while I travel. Keep my bed warm… with each other."
"You really are a randy woman," Celessa laughed, and kissed her again, "but I'll think about it. Good night, Zelda."
"Good night, Celessa," she replied quietly.
This time, though her heart raced as quickly as her mind with the brazen request she'd just made, Zelda drifted to sleep quickly.
