It was early morning when she finally arrived at the stables to fix her horse up for the day's journey to Tabantha where she finally saw Impa there, smiling brightly and also preparing her horse.

It didn't take long before the two ladies fell into easy conversation, catching up with each other regarding personal matters, things going on around the castle, and even a small sprinkling of gossip surrounding the maids.

"Colour me surprised! I didn't think I'd get invited today," Impa smiled as she strapped the saddle on her stallion. "Sir Link hasn't invited me on any of your outings in a while, what changed?"

Zelda sighed quietly, thinking about the night before. "I think something's got him shaken up recently."

"Him? Really?" Impa sounded shocked and quite frankly, Zelda didn't think her friend believed her. "It's got to be pretty bad then, eh? To have the mighty hero on edge." She chuckled quietly as she bent to grab one of the saddle straps.

Zelda stayed quiet. As well as she knew Link, she had never seen him look so tense, not even back in their early days of strained cooperation. She had seen her fair share of his strange behaviours; a hand constantly by the hidden knife on his belt, his extremely attentive hearing and the subtle deep inhales to locate anything strange, the eyes watching the shadows of any mysterious ruins they investigated.

But she couldn't recall if he had ever had the need to lie to her about any of his worries. Sure he was a quiet individual– more so than most– but this thing seemed to have him slowly reverting back to the days of his personal vow of silence.

"I really don't know, Impa." She confessed. "Did something happen that I don't know of?"

Impa shrugged, throwing her pack over the saddle. "I can't think of anything apart from that confrontation."

Zelda turned on her heel and listened aptly. "Confrontation?"

Impa nodded. "Yeah, we had a sort of brawl the other day. That's how I got this," She lifted her head upwards and showed the Princess a small, thin white line that decorated her neck. "I was pretty dumb, made myself a threat when we were trying to get you to safety." She explained simply.

So something did happen… She wondered if that was the thing that had him on edge, but she didn't have to think too long about it to realise it wasn't what she was looking for. No, if that was it, he wouldn't have agreed to take Impa with us… It has to be something else.

Even if it had only really been one or two days since his behaviour had started, she could see that it was clearly piling on fast.

Zelda finished setting the royal ornaments on her mare, fixing them properly in place. "Mhm, I don't know, maybe that's it or maybe I'm overthinking it."

"You're not typically one to overthink about this type of thing, Your Highness," Impa started, turned to look at Zelda, hands on her hips and her tone firm. "If you think it's something else, then it likely is. Sure you overthink other things, but your instinct is usually head on when it comes to this stuff."

Zelda hesitated a moment. "You're not just saying that, are you?"

"No," She shook her head. "You've been right about monster attacks increasing, you've been right about the divine beasts, not to mention you're the one who figured out how to open that strange shrine on the Great Plateau when no one else could figure out how." She paused a moment before petting her horse's coat, smoothing out the shining black fur. "It's your out of the box thinking that's your greatest asset, Princess. Always follow your instinct."

Wasn't expecting a pep talk, but thank you. Zelda turned red and faced away, ready to mount Storm. "We should get going soon, I'm sure Link is waiting for us at the gate."

Impa and Zelda mounted their rides and nodded, following the long path littered with guards and knights alike. Most bowed and waved to the Princess and her shadow, wishing them luck to wherever they were going. Zelda waved to the Royal guards she did know personally, some being the Princess Guard and others being King's Guard.

It took a few minutes before they spotted Link at the gate, talking with a few guards regarding matters she knew nothing about, likely security and rotation details. He held papers in his hand, pointing at numerous different parts before he finally caught sight of them approaching.

"All set, Princess?" He asked, jogging up to them and putting the papers away into his pack.

"Ready when you are," She smiled, ready to finally get out of the stuffy castle.

He was swift in mounting Epona, barely looking at where he placed his footing, and soon they were off, riding away from the large castle.

"I'm surprised Revali wanted to meet at the Tabantha stables, usually he meets us at the castle." Zelda said out loud, looking over the letter she had received from the Rito champion.

"He said there was a situation involving Tanagar Canyon near Rito Village." Link said, eyes ahead of the path they followed.

"Tanagar Canyon? Whatever could be going on there?" Impa asked loudly, questioning Link. "Isn't it just some ruins down there? I didn't realise there was anything interesting."

They rode past a small group of houses and into sight of the bridge leading out to Hyrule Ridge. " Some ruins? There's a ruined temple bigger than the Temple of Time down there," he snorted as if it was obvious.

Zelda caught Impa's silent mocking of his words and bit her lip to stop her laughter. "But if it's just ruins, what's so interesting about it all of a sudden?" She asked him.

"Revali claims there was an earthquake of a sizable magnitude last week emanating from the canyon," Zelda explained, passing the letter over to her friend. "I'm not sure how we didn't feel it here, but they definitely felt it."

Impa snorted. "Oh we felt it alright. You two were just too busy canoodling to have noticed," she scanned the letter before passing it back. "I just assumed Death Mountain was doing its thing."

"I-Impa!" Zelda exclaimed, trying to hide her blush. She couldn't even deny those words, she was right. Her focus last week had been entirely on her activities with Link and she imagined she likely missed quite a few things that had occurred around the castle.

They reached the end of the bridge and came into view of the large jagged rocks rising above the ground, the white hue of the stone contrasting against the vibrant greens of the fields and forest created a long tunnel-like passage where sunlight broke through the occasional cracks above. Barren in the passage, it was a relatively smooth passage of sand, rocks, and the occasional piece of ore hiding in the cracks.

It was an ideal place to take a breather on a hot day or take shelter on a rainy one, the natural ceiling offering optimal shade and cover from the weather. And while it was a beautiful ride on any day where you could stop at any point to relax in the shade away from the sun, today was not quite that day.

Zelda actively ignored Impa's exaggerated laughter and teasing and instead chose to look at Link, who had started slowing down Epona, his gaze intense on the rocks.

"Link?" His head snapped back at her, surprise in his eyes. "Why did we stop?"

There he goes again… She saw the brief panic in his eyes, the furrowing of his brows disappearing in an instant and a cold facade returning. His posture subtly fixed itself, his shoulders untensing themselves upon her first words.

"It's nothing." She sighed when his head turned back ahead of them. It was very brief, but she saw the hesitation before he urged Epona on, leading them through the first columns on stone.

He's lying again… It's not nothing. She looked at the path ahead, wondering what it was about this particular place that had him hesitating.

"Let's go," his voice cut through the thickness in the air, Impa sharing a glance of questioning with her before urging on.

For the next two hours, she caught the subtle shifts of his head to both sides, the focus in his expression never leaving. She could hear the unsubtle attempts at scent detection in the canyon, and it only made Zelda wonder more about what Link was looking for. He even went as far as to continue on the path without looking back when she had taken notice of the shrine hiding within the rocks of the pass.

"We'll look at it later," he told her firmly. She saw Impa wanting to say something, but she remained tightlipped, quiet, her face unmoving save for the narrowing eyes at Link.

She had sighed and acquiesced to his orders, looking sadly at the shrine as it left their range of view.

Why are you being like this? She couldn't help but wonder as he started looking up, studying the jagged peaks above them.

When they finally took the left path at the end of the trail, she eventually caught sight that it was the shadows he'd been watching, studying the corners hidden away from most of their sights before they could pass them. She couldn't imagine what it was he was looking for, in an empty canyon, on a path none took too often due to the monsters who usually roamed it.

He's looking for monsters. She deduced, trying to ignore his tense posture.

A few times, he sped up his pace, other times he allowed himself to slow down, only adding to the confusion in her mind.

Finally leaving the path and coming into view of the large open fields of the Ridgelands, it was only then that she saw her knight relax.

Coincidentally, it was also at that moment that Impa's stomach growled loudly and both she and Link turned to glance curiously at the Sheikah.

"Heh… sorry…"

"We can stop for lunch." With the way Link said it, it didn't seem like a suggestion at all. It was practically an order, really.

Realising that she was feeling a bit hungry and the sun was burning high above them, midday, Zelda realised, the three pulled aside and dismounted their rides, pulling food from their packs.

Link pulled a small blanket from his pack, laying it over the grass for them to sit on while Zelda wondered where in the world he hid that thing.

"Look at you, all prepared for a picnic," Impa snickered as she took a seat after Zelda.

"We're close to marshlands. Ground is wet." It was curt, short and to the point.

Zelda didn't like it.

She munched quietly on her sandwich, watching her knight and friend attempt an interaction. It didn't seem very pleasant from her end, a glacial expression in his eyes, and teasing and joking in her friend's. She could feel the tension thick in the air and she felt helpless at trying to solve whatever the problem was between them.

Do something… anything…. She pleaded for Link to say or do anything, joke about anything, but she knew she was wishing for more than she could bargain for. Deep down, she knew there wasn't much to be done apart from giving him his space, and that wasn't exactly something they could do at the moment nor did she think he would even consider that with the way he behaved the last few hours.

She eventually shrugged off his quiet behaviour, knowing that, at the moment, there wasn't much she could do to knock him out of that state. Maybe I can try something later… she chewed the inside of her cheek, wondering what she could do. Stop thinking about it…. There isn't anything you can do right now. She reminded herself.

"You alright?" Her head snapped up at the sound of Link's voice, barely a whisper beside her.

"Huh? Oh I'm fine." She waved off his concerned glance with a forced laugh —he could probably see right through it— and prayed that he wouldn't ask further.

"If you say so."

He doesn't believe me one bit. Here I am worrying him by being worried about him. She thought that was a bit ridiculous of a thought. Pretty much a cycle at that point.

"Wow! The Silent Knight has graced us with words!" Impa cheered, ignoring the cringe on the Princess' face.

Oh goddess, please don't…

Link responded to the comment in pure silence, opting for a rather obvious eyeroll and a large bite of a rice ball he had packed himself.

"Oh come on!" She whined, hating the silence. It was an obvious attempt at filling the air with words, trying to divert any awkwardness by creating more of it. "You can't just change things up on us like that! Talk to us and then don't talk to us? You're terrible!"

"Well don't you like changing things up," he said snarkily, taking another bite in an angry huff.

Zelda nearly choked on her spit when the words tumbled out of Link's mouth, seeming to have forgotten to go through his usual careful filter. She was sure he hadn't meant for those words to be vocalised, his eyes screwed shut almost immediately and she could see the regret set in instantly.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Impa replied with nearly the same level of snarkiness.

"It means nothing, forget you heard that." It was a poor attempt to salvage the accidentally inflammatory words and she didn't need to be wise to know that much.

"That wasn't nothing and you know it. Spill!" Impa was now standing over both of them, looming over Link specifically.

Zelda watched in horror as her usually calm knight silently clenched his hands at his sides, while Impa, usually so happy, seemed almost furious.

She absolutely hated what she was seeing.

"Spill Link. What the hell was that?"

"Considering you enjoyed messing with my guards and my orders, you seem to enjoy changing things around." His air quotes did nothing to better the situation, but Zelda found herself guiltily watching in both amusement and fear at the back-and-forth between her friends.

"Excuse me?" Impa gawked at him, incredulous at his words and accusations.

Zelda couldn't do anything but watch as her two closest friends got into their verbal altercation. She really didn't know what she could do. On one hand, Impa had given orders and overstepped her boundaries, but on the other hand, Link was being rude and terribly improper and she really couldn't blame him. Impa had overstepped and he had the full right to voice his frustration.

She couldn't decide what side to pick. Both had the right to be angry, especially after Link's accidental fumble with his words.

"I messed with your orders? Are you serious? I can't believe your audacity!"

Zelda wordlessly sipped her tea as the air seemed to thicken with every new word shouted into the air. She could do nothing but simply pray for them to return to being civil with each other.

"You did! Don't try to deny it! You signed off on additional guards outside of my squad and almost cost us our lives!" When Link was finally on his feet as well, Zelda couldn't help but feel a bit out of place being the only one seated at the moment, cup still in hand.

"No, I didn't! Those were your orders!"

Our? Not just my life? Had she heard that properly? Zelda remained quiet, her eyes shifting between the two. The scent of smoke and charcoal began wafting into the air around them and Zelda shifted uncomfortably in her spot.

"My orders?! Reinhartd told me they were yours! I saw your seal and signature on those papers, you can't just lie about that!"

"I'm not lying! I never messed with your associates nor would I ever compromise the princess' safety and you know that!"

"Well, it's your seal of approval on those papers."

"Well, I didn't sign off on anything, I'm not doing your duties for you!"

Just as their voices began rising, more than Zelda had ever heard from either of them before, she clamped her hands over her ears from the volume. "Stop it! Both of you!" The deafening silence was instant. Both her knight and her friend were glaring at each other as if they were about to brawl again and she just couldn't have that. "Impa! Did you give the orders or not?" She stared at her friend straight in the eye, expecting her answer.

"I did not." Impa's words were unwavering. Zelda could feel the certainty behind her words, telling her Impa wasn't lying, not that she would have been able to, Impa couldn't lie to her. She physically couldn't.

If Impa isn't lying… Someone has to be faking it… She looked to Link whose expression had grown cold and stoic once again. She could hear his breathing calming and slowing itself down, the charcoal smell dissipating slowly from the air. Link wouldn't lie about those orders… He's been angry about it all week… All week… As if it hit her in one fell swoop, she could feel her blood running colder by the second.

"Link, Impa cannot lie to me. Whoever signed off on those orders wasn't Impa."

"So… If Lady Impa didn't sign off on those orders, who did?"

Zelda looked to Link who was staring back at her in what seemed to be horror. She looked between her knight and her friend in confusion. She could see him trying to place the pieces together in his eyes.

"What were the orders? Give me specific details, please." She asked cautiously. Did she even want to know what they were talking about? Did she want to know what had apparently taken a hold of Link's usually cool nerves? Her two friends held identical looks, ones that spoke of sudden fear.

All hostility was gone in an instant.

"Link, what orders?" she repeated more firmly.

It seemed to do the trick, for their stares finally broke and her knight recomposed himself.

"During our field survey where the… uh… thing happened," he coughed awkwardly and turned a bit red at the reminder of the situation. "Lady Impa had apparently given orders that same morning for additional guards, Sir Jiran and Sir Thompson. this was spoken with one of the other captains who relayed it back to me."

"The one you've previously mentioned? The order that had you displeased?"

He nodded and continued. "It seems that now, it's as if Lady Impa does not recall ever giving such orders. At all." She could hear the worry in his voice, his thoughts and feelings had shifted entirely, as if he wanted to believe it might have been memory loss that caused Impa to forget, but she could see it in his eyes that he believed Impa couldn't lie to her.

"Then it couldn't have been Impa, Link. She couldn't have given those orders."

"Link, I have respect for you and your duties, I wouldn't do such a thing without consulting you first, and it certainly wouldn't have been on such short notice," Impa's voice came out as a whisper.

"Link?"

Zelda watched as Link's gaze stayed on the ground beneath them, head hung low. To her surprise, not a moment later, Link was on his knees, head still hanging as low as possible without bowing, shame fully on display for them to see.

"Forgive me."

Well that was fast.

"Huh?" Impa looked over at her, confusion evident on her face.

"I've been impertinent and rude and I shouldn't have lashed out like this. Forgive me, Lady Impa." Link's head somehow hung even lower, his voice displaying his regrets.

Zelda quietly thanked all of the Goddess that Link wasn't one to keep his pride from apologising, and she equally thanked them for making sure he wasn't a prick who refused to take the blame. Thank the goddess that you're humble, I swear.

"G-Get up! It's fine, you had your reasons."

Link did not get from the ground, he remained unmoving. "It's not fine. I shouldn't have suspected you in such a way."

Just accept the apology…

"It's your job to be suspicious of people!"

"It is not my job to be suspicious of the Princess' Shadow!"

Accept the apology so we can move on, please! Zelda sighed quietly as she mentally pleaded for Impa to stop. She watched the two go back and forth for a bit, Link unwavering and Impa uselessly trying to get him to stop. Zelda knew he wouldn't but it seemed like her Shadow had missed such crucial information.

"You're supposed to be worried for her safety, get up!"

"But I raised my voice at you and I was unnecessarily rude, that is not my job!"

Oh the irony of this entire situation… The two were raising their voices again, fighting over an apology…? How in the world had she found the two most stubborn people and pitted them against each other in such an odd manner?

As their voices gradually got louder, Zelda found her patience thinning by the second. She did her best to ignore Link's attempt at apologising and Impa's attempts at having Link drop the subject without taking the apology.

When her sandwich and tea had finally been finished, she sighed, knowing there would be no more distractions.

"Just get up! You don't need to apologise for anything!"

"Yes I do-"

"Just take the damn apology!" Zelda snapped at the two, shutting them up immediately. Like mice caught in the open, the two didn't dare make a noise until finally Impa also joined Link on the ground, kneeling in shame.

"Forgive us Princess!" The two mumbled in shame.

Goddesses save me before I take out both of them.

"So why did it take until nightfall to finally reach the stables?" Revali deadpanned as the three finally reached the Tabantha Bridge Stable just as the sun was below the horizon out of sight.

"Something came up this afternoon. A distraction, one could say." Zelda looked at both Link and Impa with a side glance and a glare. Both averted their eyes and looked to the ground in unison.

"No matter, I could have had you here faster if I had been the one escorting you," he stated proudly, puffing out his chest and making himself tall.

And so the prideful ego shenanigans begin once more.

"Come now, let's get our things ready for the night so we can depart in the morning" Zelda walked past the Rito alongside Link and Impa and went to board their horses into the stable for the night.

It was long after nightfall when Zelda tiptoed out of her bed in the stables and out onto the dirt, barefoot.

She couldn't get the conversation from earlier out of her head.

Someone else was pretending to be Impa and they were convincing enough to fool the Guard. That fact alone began to frighten her, the implications alone being enough to have her tossing in her bed.

Stepping further away from the safety of the stables, she could hear the horses in the back, crickets in the forest, and the fire crackling.

Some stable hands were busy talking among themselves near the lumber and supplies, but she heard no voices in the direction of the fire.

Who's tending to the fire? Once she stepped into his warm, welcoming light, she wasn't surprised to see Link sitting there, a large stick in hand, poking the embers of the fire by himself.

"Do you ever sleep?" She asked comically, approaching quietly and wrapping her shawl around her shoulders to covet from the cold breeze.

"You should be sleeping."

"And so should you."

"But-"

"You know we'll be playing this game forever, just stop."

With a final shrug that told her he gave up on his attempts, she walked over carefully and took a seat on the same log as him, squishing next to him.

"So," he started quietly. "Why aren't you sleeping?" He asked curiously.

"Worried."

"About?"

"The most part, you," she could see the guilt set into his eyes once more, the fire reflecting on his downcast eyes. "I've never seen you that… explosive before." She muttered, remembering the frustrations she could see in his face.

"I didn't mean for any of that to come out like that," he whispered, rubbing his face roughly with his free hand. "I don't know what came over me."

"I imagine you've had a lot on your mind then?" She prodded carefully, wondering what she might be able to pull. Link nodded quietly, eyes on the flames. "Can I ask? Will you tell me?" His shrug gave her no solid response, but she sighed and laid her head to rest on his tense shoulder.

"Is it me?"

"Goddesses no," he reassured her immediately.

"Is it… Impa?"

He remained quiet, yet she saw his lips move in an attempt to phrase something. She waited in silence, allowing him time to gather his thoughts.

"It was, if you understand."

"Go on."

"I thought she was overstepping, but she hadn't at all," his voice grew quiet. "I didn't want to think she'd done anything bad, it wasn't like her and you were right about that." She wrapped her arms around his torso as he continued talking, still trying to piece together his words so they made sense. "I just… I don't understand what's going on, it feels like I'm out of the loop on everything and I'm only getting crumbs."

She listened attentively to his words. They made sense, she could see that bundling itself onto his shoulders bit by bit, but she felt that she was still potentially missing a few vital pieces of information.

"Feels that way for me as well. Father doesn't tell me very much of the council meetings. I wish he would, I've begged him even."

"Isn't your coronation in three years?" He turned to look at her, smoothing out a hair that had fallen in her face.

"My 25th birthday marks my coronation year, yes," she snorted. "To think, Hyrule's future queen knows little to nothing about her own people." She looked down at her hands and wrung her fingers together. "I know nothing of their struggles or their needs, and my father still expects me to rule with an iron fist. A powerless princess to rule them all."

"First of all, your powers don't define you and I will repeat this as much as I have to. And besides, I don't think ruling with an iron fist is your kind of style really."

She raised her head from his shoulder to look at him, eye-to-eye. What did he mean by such a thing?

"You're too kind. You care too much." He paused for a moment to poke at the fire again before turning his body to face hers, taking her hands into his. "The King, he feels as if he only helps the people for his own selfish gains. You help because you want what's best for your people. You truly care for them."

"Link…" Her eyes held his gaze as he laid a gentle kiss upon the back of her hands, warm and soft.

"Listen, I know something's bothering you and if there's anything I can do to lighten the load, tell me."

"I can say the same to you." He looked up, questions in his eyes. "I can see something mulling itself over in your head for the last two days." She explained simply. "Just as you're offering your help, I am as well. I will only tell you what's on my mind if you tell me what's on yours first."

He gazed at her eyes for a short moment, thinking about her words before a crack in his façade appeared in the form of a faint smile.

"Fair enough, ask and you shall receive." He shifted himself off the log and onto the ground, using his seat as back support now. As Zelda curled up beside him on the ground, dirtying her nightclothes, he extended his legs out to the side of the fire and looked into the flames. "So where to start…"

"Start anywhere," she readied herself to listen, curling herself into his side as his arm stretched around her shoulders protectively.