Beginning, Morning of the Fifth Day after Hero's Day

Zelda woke up to find Link still asleep. She had heard him toss and turn a few times during the night when she'd waken from particularly vivid dreams herself… how bad of a night had the Hero had, she wondered?

He was lying flat on his back, hands on either side of his head. The Master Sword was right against his side, in its sheath of course. She found herself staring and made herself turn away. She dug out her supplies and padded over to the washing basin and mirror that stood in the corner of their room.

There was no separate washing room here, unlike in Maritta, but the accommodations were otherwise quite nice, and the evening meal they'd been given – salmon meunière - had been delicious.

She heard Link turn around, but since he didn't say anything, she stayed quiet as well: he might very well have turned in his sleep.

She shaved and freshened up, then brushed her hair and braided it. She hesitated then: she couldn't change here, Link could turn straight towards her and wake up that way. Being up and about in nothing but her night shift was already not quite decent... she hurried back to her bed and pulled the blankets back over herself.

Link was facing away from her, now. She couldn't see the sword, which probably meant it was on the side Link was facing.

She pictured a child cuddled with a soft toy and swallowed: chances were that Link had been sleeping with the Master Sword since he was eleven: she'd still had a collection of stuffed toys on her bed at that age, just like many if not most children.

The Hero suddenly twitched and stretched.

"Good morning, Hero," Zelda said.

He startled. "Princess? Good morning. I'm sorry, did I oversleep?"

"By your standards, yes," she replied with a chuckle, "but it's quite alright. It's barely dawn. Could you avoid looking this way for a bit longer? I need to get dressed."

He lay very still for a second. Then: "Of course, Princess. I could leave the room, if you'd prefer?"

"There is no need, I trust you completely. Would you prefer to leave?"

Link sighed in relief: he'd felt obligated to make the offer, especially since there was absolutely no rational reason at all to suspect any danger would come crashing through the window. Just the same, rational or not, he wasn't keen on leaving the Princess alone and unguarded.

"Thank you for your trust, Princess. If it truly does not cause you any discomfort, I would rather stay close" he said.

Zelda smiled fondly: the Hero was being consistent in being overprotective of those around him. "I suspected as much," she said. "It is no discomfort at all. I will not be long."

She stowed away her night shift and put on her one remaining fresh shift. She had a moment of worry over soon needing fresh clothing, but suddenly remembered something that might save her the trouble. She finished getting dressed.

"You may look and move about freely now," she said, addressing Link. "Thank you for your patience."

Link sat up and stretched again. His bed covers fell to his waist.

Zelda felt heat rush to her cheeks: the Hero did not wear a shirt to sleep. Her eyes took in far more than she'd been prepared for before she hurriedly bent over her bag, pretending to rearrange the content.

She heard him get up, the bed creaking from the shift in weight.

"By the way, Hero...?" she called out.

His voice came from a different direction than she'd expected: he'd already been heading for the corner washstand.

"Yes, Princess?"

"Are you aware of your pouch's purifying qualities?"

Link's head tilted: that particular property of the pouch was almost as useful as its storage capacity. It kept food safe if not fresh (Link had long since decided that travel food was still better than technically safe but stale and tasteless food), water clean, and cleansed anything you put in it. The only way he would have been unaware of this was if he had never used the magical holding bag. The question was nonsensical, which probably meant it was an opening for another one. The polite thing to do was to accept the opening.

"I am, Princess," he said. "It makes the pouch that much more precious. Did you have need of the cleansing magic?"

Zelda straightened up and locked eyes with him, avoiding his still bare chest. She could still see his shoulders and his collar bone.

Not that it was an issue, she was not so easily distracted.

She forced her eyes to stay on his and hoped she wouldn't look like she was having an impromptu staring contest.

"I... I do, actually," she stammered. Was she really about to request he allow her to put her undergarments in his pouch, WHILE she tried her best to ignore the fact that he was not wearing any garment at all on half his body? She felt heat rush to her face again. There was nothing for it, she had to ask. Perhaps it would at least make it look like her embarrassment was only due to the request. "I am loathe to ask, and I beg of you not to feel obligated to allow it, but in the interest of saving time, I was hoping your pouch could save me the trouble of finding a launderer."

The Hero's eyes widened and he held back a chuckle spurred on by the mundanity of it all. "I don't mind at all, Princess. I have found in the past that even items that were wrapped, or inside their own bag within the pouch, would still be purified. Water in a skin will be cleansed, food will keep even wrapped, and my own clothes will be fresh even if I have them in a laundry bag within the pouch."

Zelda took her dirty clothes bag out of her main pack. "Are you sure? I don't wish to impose."

"It's no trouble at all, Princess. Things inside the pouch have no weight, and it is never difficult to get what I need out of it, no matter how many different things are stored within."

"In that case, thank you," she said. Since Link was not wearing his pouch at the moment, she deposited the bag on her bed and sat down next to it, facing the wall. She bent to take a book out of her pack. "Go ahead and get ready, I'll keep my eyes averted."

Link smiled at her back. "Yes, Princess," he said. He started in on his routine.

Zelda gasped when she stepped outside the Inn. They had had breakfast in a room where the only windows gave a view of the Inn's yard, and they'd arrived in the dark the previous night, so this was her first actual chance to really see Beginning.

She'd read about the unofficial Sea Folk capital, of course. A town of about 5,000 people built on a series of islands, either man made altogether or built up from what had been there naturally, sitting in what was basically a mix of shallow ponds and marshes. The town was known not only for its houses on stilts and its flood controlling canals, but for a variety of ingenious gardens including floating ones and suspended ones.

The descriptions failed to convey that Beginning itself was a giant garden. Every rooftop was covered in plants, elevated bridges between the houses held flowers and herb pots, and at ground level, fruit trees or other crops lined the road and every path and canal Zelda could see. Several of the trees were full of fruits at this time of year, and Zelda fought back the primal urge to reach out and grab an apple from the closest branches.

Link bit his lips. He knew Beginning was impressive to visitors, especially since it still was even to him, who had been here several times. Judging by her reaction, the Princess was indeed impressed… awed barely felt like it was too strong a word.

Link was very well aware that they should get going immediately if they had any hope of reaching Frontier Town before night fall. By all accounts, he should try and find a polite way to encourage her to hurry along.

"Princess?" he asked. "Did you want to have a closer look at some of the gardens? We still have a full day's ride to get to Frontier Town from where the Frog's Lullaby will take us, but…" he trailed off. The offer was unreasonable, and he had no idea why he had even made it. He was hoping with all his heart that the Princess would refuse it.

She startled, then sighed. "I would love to, but not today. I would much prefer we arrive in Frontier Town before night time. Let's get Butter and Poe and get going."

Link discreetly let out a breath of relief and nodded. They gathered their horses from the Inn's stable, picked a relatively isolated corner of the yard, and played together, disappearing in a wave of blue and green light, carried by the gentle yet happy tune.

Zelda was lost in thoughts, concerned about Frontier Town and beyond that, about the idea that there seemed to be several places where Sea Folks were not welcomed. She knew there were people in any given race who did not like some of the other races, but she'd been unaware of such 'hot spots' as Midah had been and Frontier Town apparently was.

She realized when the day started growing warmer that they had been riding in silence for a while. She looked at Link, who was riding quietly beside her. He was wearing a red tunic today, paired with burnt orange pants, and the warm palette was quite nice on him. From a fashion point of view.

Not that it mattered. She was concerned, however by the fact that his hands were holding on to the reins rather tightly, and that his jaw was clenched.

She wondered whether he was bothered by thoughts of what awaited them, or of the previous evening. It could be something else altogether too, she supposed.

Whatever the case may be, she thought a distraction might just help.

She started talking about Satori Mountain, which overlooked their destination, going from facts to legends. Link listened attentively, just like he did each time she went off on similar lectures, asking thoughtful questions and answering any query she made back, but his hands did not relax, and his jaw would tighten right back whenever he wasn't talking.

She could only monologue so much, and the thought occurred that a conversation would probably work much better to ease the Hero's stress. She just needed to think of an opener.

"Princess?" Link suddenly asked. "It is near midday and the stream we've followed so far this morning turns away from our path here. If it's agreeable to you, I would suggest we break now."

"It's definitely agreeable," she said with a stretch. "Are we making good times?"

"We are, Princess," Link said. "Whoa, Butter," he added, pulling on his horse's reins.

Butter obediently stopped with a soft nicker.

"Peace, Poe," Zelda said. Poe stopped peacefully, and Zelda dismounted, pretending not to have noticed that Link was already down and stepping towards her to help. She kept imagining herself losing her balance as he helped her down and ending up falling against him, and she could hardly take any chance on THAT happening, it would have been far too inappropriate.

She cast her mind about as she dismounted, trying to think of something non invasive that she could ask the Hero to get a conversation going, and hopefully one about himself – she had been longing to learn more about him, so a distraction that allowed for that as well would be ideal.

In the end, she settled for what was probably a very common line of questioning for the Hero, and that would allow her to leave it open to him to decide the specifics of the topic.

"I've been reciting to you all the way here," she said. "I'm very flattered that you don't seem to mind, but I would like to reverse roles for a short while. Is there any heroic deeds you'd be willing to relate to me?"

Link paused in the middle of setting up their lunch – sandwiches and berries picked up in Beginning, wrapped in Zelda's Sheikah Ice Cloth – and looked at her, eyes slightly wide.

"Are you asking me to tell you a true story about myself, Princess?" he asked.

"I am," she confirmed with a chuckle. "I have read a lot about past heroes, but I must confess a bias for the current one, and it has proven much harder to find any good records about HIS exploits."

Link's cheeks flared. She was reminded of his uncle Riph commenting on it, but decided not to bring it up just then.

Link rubbed the back of his head.

"Er… I'm not sure what could be of interest…" he said.

She raised an eyebrow. "Have you not visited numerous temples, dungeons and labyrinths in various states of ruin to acquire a variety of ancient powerful artefacts?" she asked.

"Yes, Princess, I have. Why?" he said. And then, seemingly catching on, "Oh. Would you like to hear about one of those expeditions?"

"Very much so," she confirmed, smiling.

"Hmm…" he said. He finished laying out the food, then sat with his legs and arms crossed, brow furrowed slightly in thought. "Perhaps my first temple? The Great Deku Tree had suggested I visit it, saying a previous hero had left a useful item there for his eventual successors."

Zelda perked up. "A Forest Temple, then?" she asked.

"Yes," Link replied. "A temple to Farore, built to double as a training ground. It is deep within the Lost Woods, in an area full of gigantic, age old trees."

She picked up a sandwich and started nibbling at it as Link described a temple built in and around particularly large trees, detailing puzzles and obstacles that, just like he had said, felt very much like a training ground by the way they slowly escalated in difficulty and by how they seemed relatively safe, with the potential for serious injury low.

"It took me the better part of a day to navigate my way through," Link said between bites of his own sandwich. "Eventually, I found the promised reward." At that, he reached for his pouch and extracted his hookshot. "The Great Deku Tree was correct in saying it was a useful item," he added, looking at it with a fond smile.

Zelda felt her cheeks flare, for reasons she could not fathom. Clearly it was not merely because Link was smiling like that. She brought her mind back to the story.

"I imagine that since this particular temple was meant as a training ground, you did not find yourself facing a dark beast guarding it?" she asked.

Link's lips quirked up. "Partly correct, Princess," he said. "The Final Guardian was not a dark beast but an automaton designed to encourage me to use the hookshot to defeat it. Doing so merely involved catching the automaton to turn it off, but it would jump from one end of its lair to the other ceaselessly. I had to use the hookshot to propel myself after it by firing the hook at the wooden walls and activating the return mechanism to get dragged after it. The automaton did not attack me: the only injuries I sustained were self inflicted through my crashing into the walls until I learned to hit them feet first. Nothing worse than a few bruises."

"If I may ask... how old were you at the time?"

"Twelve," Link said. "I spent the first year after acquiring the Master Sword in search of the Great Fairies, and only started looking for tools and items used by previous heroes after that."

Zelda cocked her head, wondering what had prompted the young hero to look for magic first, especially considering Link's inability to sense when his soul was getting tired from using it.

Link finished packing up the remains of their meal and got up, stretching. His mind had been occupied by his Great Aunt, Frontier Town, the state of the Master Sword, the monster outbreak and the elusive Enemy all morning, jumping from one worry to another and coming up with nothing of value, instead going around in circles or sinking into stupid puns. A tree with foliage that looked vaguely like a dog's head had been pronounced to have bark worse than its bite; a cloud shaped like a hat had been deemed to only be suitable for a true air head; and a fox spotted in the distance had generated the observation that foxes were only one "ARHHH!" away from the mythical froxes. With his mind in such a useless turmoil, he hadn't thought to practice extending the range of Nayru's Love even once so far today. He had at least managed to keep quiet and not torture the Princess with the idiotic "jokes", but the morning had still been an unacceptable waste: he couldn't allow a repeat performance in the afternoon.

"Princess?" he said. "May I work on Nayru's Love before we resume our ride?"

"Oh! Of course!" Zelda said.

She held back a smile as she watched him, satisfied that he was back to himself.

Outside of Frontier Town, Early Evening of the Fifth Day after Hero's day

In spite of Link's warnings about Frontier Town, Zelda was glad to see its first lights. Day after day of riding were taking their toll on her and she ached all over. The sun was just setting, so they had met their goal of not arriving in full darkness, but she was concerned about finding an Inn that would welcome Link: if they didn't, they would have to camp out and the good time they'd made getting here would be for nothing.

"Do you want to try an Inn?" she asked.

Link nodded. "I think we may find one that welcomes outsiders by the shores of the lake. Lake Illumeni is the only significant body of water in the area, it's likely that it attracts visitors and by extension, Inn keepers who are welcoming to anyone with rupees. I would suggest we head there, Princess."

"That sounds like our best bet," she agreed. "Lead the way."

Link guided Butter down what appeared to be one of the town's main streets, and Zelda followed on Poe. Zelda soon took to avoiding the eyes of the people they passed: nearly all of them were glaring at Link, and although there were relatively few insults thrown his way, she saw some people hurry indoors and a few make a triangle with their hands over their heart, a gesture to ward away evil.

It was a relief to reach the lake's shore, and to find, as Link had hoped, an Inn there. The establishment was a large building painted in tones of blues and greens that were clearly visible even at night due to the Inn being adorned by several lit Sheikah lanterns. A large sign identified the establishment as the Illumeni Inn. Link and Zelda dismounted and knocked at the front door.

"Just come in!" came a voice from inside.

After a glance at each other, Link and the Princess guided Poe and Butter out of the way and tied them to a rail intended for precisely that purpose. They then went back to the door and walked in.

"Hello?" Zelda called out. "We were hoping to find lodging for the night."

A tall, skinny Hylian man with white-blond hair and a heavily wrinkled face walked out from around a wall and stared at them.

"Hylia and the Three…" the man whispered. "Princess Zelda?" he asked.

Zelda nodded.

The man sketched a bow, then turned to Link. "And one lone man your escort… the Hero, I presume?"

Although Link was wearing red and orange today, as opposed to the Hero's garb, Zelda found the question surprising: the Hero had the Master Sword on his hip, after all. It never ceased to surprise Zelda that people just never seemed to notice the Holy Blade. Perhaps replicas were more popular than she realized.

Link nodded. "I am. Might I have the pleasure of your name, Sir?"

"Won't give you any trouble for sure," the man said with a chuckle. "I'm a Link, just like you. I must say, you're a shock, both of you. Haven't seen a Sea Folk in months, and the Princess of Hyrule herself… we're not accustomed to royal visitors."

Link kept his mouth shut. The odds that the man didn't know WHY Sea Folks did not often come here were tiny at best.

"I look forward to seeing more of the town tomorrow," Zelda said. "We were hoping to find lodging for the night. Would you have a room available with two beds?"

"Sure do!" the Innkeeper said. "Two beds, your own washing room, and a fire if you want it. Even Maritta Inns can't compete with me for comfort, and that's a promise! We're about to start dinner, but…" he scratched his head. "The dining room does get pretty crowded, and I'm sure you wouldn't want everyone treating you like a curiosity."

Link schooled his face into neutrality. The offer was welcomed, but he was pretty sure the Inn Keeper was just as keen on sparing his other guests from the sight of them.

"I must admit that this is a temptation I'm unable to resist tonight," the Princess said. "We've had a long journey, and some quiet would be most welcome."

"Aye, not a problem at all. Won't even tell folks you're here. You got horses?"

On a nod from the Princess, he yelled out. "Hinrey! Horses for the stable!"

In short order, Butter and Poe were settled and so were their masters, sitting at a table in a room that was indeed just as nice as the one they'd had in Maritta, with a hot dinner of fish, vegetables and rice in front of them.

Zelda started in, knowing Link wouldn't do so before she did. After a few bites, she turned her eyes to him.

"Do you suspect the Inn Keeper to be less friendly than he appears?" she asked. "You've been very quiet, and I could be wrong, but you seemed... tense?"

Link swallowed before answering. "I'm sorry I caused you concern, Princess," he said. "I'm sure the Inn Keeper sees us as paying customers and little more, and I have no reason to expect him to be hostile. However..." he hesitated. Putting what he felt into words would have been a bit tricky even if he hadn't also been trying to remain properly formal and polite. "It might be that my mood is still tainted by last night and that I am jumping at shadows. I simply felt that he appeared to be very eager to get us settled away from his other patrons."

Zelda took in the words and, to buy herself time to answer, took another bite of her meal.

"You did not mention last night at all today, until now," she said after swallowing. "I didn't realize it still weighed on your mind."

Link's eyes drifted down. "My own family was unacceptably rude to you, Princess. Insulted you. What my Great Aunt said was no more acceptable than what drove me to challenge a Gerudo merchant to a duel. I understand why you would not accept my apology, but..." He sighed heavily. "I've never felt so ashamed and powerless."

Zelda sighed softly. "I can relate to that feeling," she said. "I've seen you endure far worse than I have since I've met you. I dread the conversation I will need to have with Prince Hylrick after this is done… he tries to keep peace between the races, but I don't think he realizes how much enmity there really is hidden just outside of his reach."

"Please believe I would never have visited my Aunt and Uncle had I known my Great Aunt might feel that way towards you. I was hoping she would not be there in the first place, but I thought the worst that could happen would be her letting me know just how inadequate I am."

Zelda huffed. "Link… I've heard it all before and worse. I'll admit that it stings when it happens, and I imagine I don't hide it well, but truly, I am fine. Please banish the incident from your mind. You were elated that your family was doing well, and I could have spared you some of your worries if I had simply made sure you read that newsletter or told you the most important part of it. Do not let one person ruin your joy that your relatives are well."

Link took a deep breath. "Thank you. Might I suggest an early night again? As good a host as my homonym has been so far, and in part because of exactly how he's shown us his hospitality…"

"By hurrying us to a nice private room," Zelda supplied with a smirk. "I must admit that you could be right on his motivations, but in return, please admit that you might not be."

"Gladly," Link said. "Either way, I still expect that the town will for the most part fail to be welcoming to us."

"A feeling I will not make the mistake of taking lightly twice," Zelda said, bending over her pack to extract her stationaries. "I need to write a few letters before I retire for the night. Are you satisfied with how far you were able to extend Nayru's Love today?"

Link considered his answer. He'd cast and pushed the spell four times during the day, and his progress when focusing on expansion alone had been astonishing: he was able to make the protective shield big enough to cover not only himself and Butter, but Zelda and Poe as well if they rode close by.

"For now, yes," he said. "Would the next step be trying to maintain it?"

Zelda nodded. "Do you have any green potion left?"

Link nodded. "I do, Princess, of the road variety. I've been picking up green pods each time we've stopped to rest ourselves and the horses today, enough to duplicate the effects of three doses of potion."

Zelda's eyebrows shot up. He'd been finding magic pods all day? The minish hardly ever distributed them, and much like heart petals, they did not occur naturally. Did the picori just dote on Link?

She looked up. The Hero was looking out of their bedroom window, brow still furrowed and mouth turned slightly downward. Chances were that if she let on she was looking at him, he'd school his face back into a more neutral expression out of politeness.

She started organizing her stationaries on the table, shuffling things about slightly more than necessary for the sole purpose of sounding busy. The fact that Link had not yet started casting Nayru's love was definitely unusual for him, which, coupled with his expression, left little doubt that he was absolutely still out of sorts.

Perhaps some levity could help.

"Your Uncle's words had much more impact on me than those of your Great Aunt," she said.

He startled slightly and turned to her, his face, as predicted, back to smooth calm. "Uncle Riph's words, Princess? I'm not sure which ones you mean. He... he didn't offend you, did he?"

He had not noticed anything shocking in anything Uncle Riph had said. Had he missed an insult, somehow? There was no way he had, was there? And from Uncle Riph? He wouldn't have.

"No!" Zelda exclaimed hurriedly. "Not at all! I meant what he said about you." She smirked.

Link blinked. "I'm sorry, Princess, I'm still at a loss."

"He commented on how you... how did he put it... visibly blush," she said, her smile widening. "Is it unusual for Sea Folks? Enough to earn coos and pinched cheeks?"

Link let out a small chuckle. "It is, yes," he admitted, his lips quirking up slightly. "We can all get heated cheeks, but it doesn't often show the way it does on Hylians, I believe because of our darker skin tone. It shows on a minority of people, myself included. Now that I'm older, most people are more prone to tease me about it than to coo." He cleared his throat. "With your permission, I should train on the spell."

She smiled. "Of course."

Just South of the Bridge to Tabantha at the Bridge Inn in Bridge Town, same evening

Remiss glowered at Shade over the top of his beer. The Sheikah was humming a song about the legendary giant birds of old, the Loftwings, and smirking.

"I TOLD you, it wasn't the right shape for a normal bird!" he snapped.

Shade broke out laughing.

"I can't believe you," Remiss grumbled. "You saw it too! Just as we were about to step on the bridge, flying high over the canyon!"

"I saw a bird," Shade chuckled. "I'll grant you that it could have been large. Or the air was just hazier up higher than nearer ground level."

"It was completely the wrong shape for any bird we know," Remiss argued.

"Colonel," Shade said with an indulgent smile. "Does it matter? We will never find out one way or the other. You cannot convince me that we saw a Rito, and I cannot convince you that it was not. Ah. Here's our meal."

A serving maid was indeed approaching their table with two plates. She put them in front of them and then produced a Royal Newsletter from the waistband of her apron.

"Mutton today," she said. "And here's your newsletter, 'mam."

"Thank you," Shade said.

She put it aside and started in on her meal. Remiss did the same and they ate in silence, neither of them up for more arguments on empty stomachs.

Shade pushed her plate aside once she was done and picked up the newsletter.

She was still on the first page when her eyes widened and, much to Remiss's shock who would not have thought it possible, turned even paler than her usual.

"Shade?" he asked. "What…"

"Sir Pyr is missing," she whispered, interrupting him and locking eyes with him. "We need to go, now, somewhere we can talk privately."

Remiss blinked at her. "That's... the Knight who did most of Link's training, right?" he whispered back. "Not to sound insensitive but... he's a knight. They can look after themselves AND they know the risks of their job. I'm not saying it's ok if something happened, but why are you so..."

Shade put a finger to Remiss' mouth and hissed urgently at him. "Quiet!" she whispered. "I'll explain when it's safe. Come on."

Remiss had no reason to doubt Shade's character, quite the opposite. The Sheikah was 100% loyal to the Crown, to the point of being terminally dependent on them for all her opinions, even. Her current panic could very well be unjustified, but there was no way it was a prank or malicious.

He nodded and got up, grabbing his pack. "I'm not familiar with this area. Any idea where you want to go?" he whispered.

Shade's eyes darted around nervously, as if the inside of the Inn could reveal a good quiet spot somewhere in the general area. She reached into her pack and produced her map, unfolded it, examined it and nodded to herself before looking back at Remiss.

"South," she announced in a soft whisper. "The Scablands." She got up and grabbed her pack.

Remiss's eyebrows shot up. "Aren't those full of malevolent poes?" he breathed. "Or is this not a recognized fact?"

Shade locked eyes with him. "Your attempt at humor through nonsensical questions is ill timed," she admonished, still keeping her voice low. "You know very well that the Scablands being severely haunted by hostile spirits is absolutely a recognized, and widely publicized, fact. We are guaranteed to be the only living souls in there, and poes do not talk so they are of no concern to me. Now come along."