You can find more of this on by Subscribe/Star (dot adult slash KajaWilder), it's posted past Ch. 130 there. You can find the same on my new (via Discord per their ToS), under /WildErotica. The DISCORD is at h-t_t-p_s-:_/-/_discord-._g-g_/-N9yDASt6Cw (taking out hyphens and underscores, 'cause FFnet). If you prefer direct links, go to my Discord and follow the 'links in general' section to find the ones you want. All of my fics are well ahead of what I post here, often 10-30 chapters ahead.
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Enjoy!
Chap. 101: Darkened Dreaming
Zelda looked down at the squirming Octorok Tentacle that bobbed on the shore with an expression somewhere between disgust, disdain, and curiosity.
The blue, balloon-like creature that it had come from had lobbed two stones at her, both thankfully missing, one high overhead and one too close by half, digging a furrow into the pebbly beach of the south end of Lake Kolomo inches from her feet, before she had put an arrow through its bloated center, causing most of it to burst in a pressure-wave that had breezed through her hair even from dozens of feet away.
That had been just before noon, and Zelda had opted to take a break for lunch, which had consisted of a fried egg and cheese on toast, and a pair of apples.
By the time she had finished, the tentacle had been pushed to the shore, and even partially onto it. It still wriggled slightly, though it was starting to weaken. Once, Zelda would have been simply curious, with maybe a bit of disgust thrown in.
Now she knew why, and how, the creature's tentacles survived long after the main body died. They had a heart of sorts, to move blood through, and a basic digestive tract of their own. But most of the motive force, what pumped blood through them, came from the wiggling, squirming eggs that were inside it.
Eggs that sought a host to be carried in, in the absence of their parent.
I gave birth to a dozen or more of those… things, Zelda recalled with a shudder. Not the ones from that severed tentacle in the cave, I think. I think those were… what, too late? They didn't take? Something happened, anyway. The- the one on Lake Siela, those were the ones I had… offspring… from. Right?
She swallowed.
She didn't want to pick it up, they were disgusting, gross. She didn't want one touching her again, much less inside her.
But it felt good….
The princess shuddered again, then looked around. She was too far from the garrison to see Mils or Mina, now, but they might still be able to see her, and she knew Mina had a spyglass. Was she looking in Zelda's direction, or had they moved on, somewhere south and east?
There was no one else that she could see.
Just her, and the tentacle, and that burning need. Quiet, mostly, for now: she'd been satisfied by Mils, and horrified (and aroused) by what Skull Kid-Majora-Her had done to the Sage of the Forest, and then against satisfied by Mina, but it was still there.
Always there, the lust inside her, the want for pleasure, to give pleasure to others, to mother.
It always grew, too. Satisfying the urge always felt better than the time before, but each time, it came back faster, stronger. Not a huge amount, but a little. When she was blessed by Hylia, it seemed to compound…
Yet I cannot do this task without those blessings, Zelda acknowledged. And… and if I am caught alone the next time the urge comes? Will a simple Screw or Horn do the job? They haven't been as effective.
No… I don't want to, I need to. I need to have something that moves on its own, that will move in me, to… to take the edge off, at the least. I…
Before she could second-guess herself any further, Zelda's hand snatched out and took up the tentacle by the base, and dropped it into her satchel before it could wrap around her wrist. Not for lack of trying, it had already circled half of her hand on reflex.
"Nasty thing," she whispered as she closed the satchel. "Disgusting."
Afterward, the princess tried to put it from her mind as she continued following the shore west, and then north as it turned. Some two hours later, she lost an arrow from her hunting bow as she wounded but failed to drop a stag before it bounded off to the aspen forest northwest of her. Thankfully, fresh dinner was still secured a half-hour later as her next struck a duck square in the neck as it took off from the surface of the lake, the rest of its flock in wing around it.
The princess searched for hours after that, high and low, following the shore and in between the trees both, as she zig-zagged further northward, looking for the exact view present in the picture on the Sheikah Slate.
It wasn't until after the sun had mostly set that she found it.
A ridge of stone jutted from the earth, forming a ramp facing the 'dangerous' spit of rock north of the garrison ruins, with the garrison itself still very much in what would be the frame.
The spot would be idyllic, Zelda thought, if it didn't leave her feeling vaguely uneasy, somehow, as if…
As if I'm being watched. But I can't be, there's no one else around. I don't hear or see anyone, and these aspens are hardly wide enough for even a stealthy child to hide behind. Right?
A light wood canopy of those same, white-barked trees left the last bits of forest dappled when the sun had been higher, and now broke lines of shadow tinged with orange among the soft, lush grass as the sun sank slowly behind the mountains far to the west. As she faced the lake, which seemed quiet and still, Zelda marveled once more at just how beautiful Hyrule could be, even as she still felt that same vague unquiet.
I… maybe it is this place. Maybe… Damn it. I'll have to rest here. If only there was some sign, some great glowing spot on the ground or something telling me where I needed to be. But the light is fading, I won't be able to see the Garrison for long, so I don't think I'd be able to line up that exact shot, anyway.
Even if I did, why would some picture have exactly what I need to trigger a memory? No… it can't be that easy. Impa is right, I'm sure, in that these places are tied to deep memories of mine, but… so much was lost. Maybe it'll never come back. I'm going to try, I'd never forgive myself if I didn't, but…
A fresh mind will help.
I'll look in the morning.
So she set about making a small campsite, a small fire half-sheltered by the ramp of rock and stone, which would be plainly visible from across the lake but also give her plenty of time to see someone coming from that direction to warm her food and tea, then put out her bedroll some distance off, in the shadows of the woods once it had been banked and covered for safety.
Eventually, though it was still only late evening and far from night itself, Zelda felt herself slowly drift off to sleep. Despite the anxiety this place stirred in her, despite the need for pleasure, even to rub herself, her will was sufficient, or maybe she was simply tired enough, that she did not stir for several hours.
Zelda turned, and for the first time since she had woken on the Great Plateau, saw his face for the first time. Clearly, without the blur of incomplete memories, or the haze of time, or anything else but a respectful six feet of open, empty air between them.
She felt her heart flutter, both back then, and in the present, as she saw him. More the present, though Zelda knew she was dreaming of the past, about events that had already happened. Dreaming about a man she didn't remember, or barely did. But she remembered how he made her feel, and how she felt about him.
How her heart fluttered not just in dream, but in reality, as he gave her that special, gentle smile. A man who could slaughter even mighty Lynels in pairs and trios on skill and a knight's armaments, rather than entire legions that might be needed of regular men. Strong as a Goron, swift as a Zora, keen-eyed as a Rito, and as fierce as any Gerudo warrior… and for her, soft, tender, loving, at least when he could be.
Then, he wasn't those things. She was his Princess, he, her Appointed Knight, her chief protector, even over the more experienced Impa of the Sheikah Tribe, the King's Underhand, who was now second in command of her personal safety.
It was strange, knowing that she dreamed, knowing this was the past, but her own mind looked over it, seeing 'then' through the lens of 'now', but also feeling its emotions as keenly as if they were fresh to her, yet still filtered through a century of time she did not remember, did not truly experience in any meaningful way.
She walked ahead of him, mostly, because Link was respectful like that. She did not know he did so for another reason at the time, that he enjoyed watching her walk, the sway of her hips, her bum flexing one side, then the other, or the flow of her hair in the breeze of her passage.
Now, knowing him as a lover, Zelda could see in plainly. From her outside vantage, too, she saw it as she looked at his face, clearly, for the first time. At least, the first time she could remember.
He was handsome, a bit of stubble covered his chin and jaw, he hadn't shaved that morning. Perhaps not the day before. But Link was pure-blooded Hylian, with only a little 'regular human' in him, so he might well grow that scant facial hair very slowly. It could have been weeks, or a month, to get a little stubble. Only the Sheikah, among all Hylians, regularly grew facial hair, but even then it took a long time. Her father, a Sheikah himself, had worked for nearly fifty years, since he'd been married, to grow his impressive beard.
She wasn't sure if the stubble added to Link's charm, or detracted from it. What would it be like to kiss him, here, now? Her past self was curious, it seemed, even if they were not yet lovers.
Comfortable with each other, friendly, but not lovers. Interesting.
That thought had been hers, the present Zelda's, while she dreamed.
They were walking along the smooth-pebbled shore of the very lake she slept next to, heading southward. The time was late afternoon, much as it had been for her, and Zelda, tired from a day's walk, asked Link if they could rest early.
Why they didn't have their horses, she did not know. Perhaps they were nearby, and simply unimportant to this memory. Perhaps they had left the castle without them, or had taken a carriage back from somewhere else, and their horses had not yet been brought home.
Maybe, just maybe, they wanted to make whatever journey they were making on foot simply to have more time to themselves.
The past Zelda turned away from Link with a soft smile then, still walking slowly around the shore. "We'll make our way from here to the Goron's city. It's roundabout, but it'll throw off my father a bit more."
Ah… so she's seeking to escape our father's shadow. Interesting still… I wonder why.
"I'd like to assist our researchers with making a few adjustments to the control system for the Divine Beast, Vah Rudania. Daruk has managed to get the thing to move, somehow, but his hands to not properly fit in the controls. It seems like they were designed for a creature similar to a Goron, but with smaller hands relatively. Then again, Daruk is large even for a Goron.
"Still, we've got some ideas, and a place to start, and Purah and Robbie think we can make good progress. If this works, it should be easier to adjust the others as needed, as well. They're such complicated, amazing machines…
"It's a wonder to think they were made by human hands, just like ours, in the distant past. Of course, that also means we stand a good chance of eventually divining how they work, and use that to our advantage. There's simply so much we don't yet know about the Divine Beasts, or the other relics of the ancient Sheikah. Yet I cannot help but think that, if we truly want to turn back the Calamity Ganon, they are our best hope."
The past Zelda stopped them, with Link pausing a step later, just a little closer, maintaining his distance. The dreaming princess watched, her focus shifting slightly, as the past her fidgeted with the Sheikah Slate for a few moments. Briefly, she lifted it toward the lake, and took a picture with a rocky ramp in the foreground, and Link just outside the shot, of the vibrant garrison as the eastern sky turned purple with oncoming twilight.
She turned back then, took a single more step. Link took one too, and appeared briefly ungainly as he caught himself from taking a second, which might put him too close to her.
It was strange, seeing a man so in tune with his body stumble, but she appreciated it all the same. Past Zelda didn't even seem to notice, too wrapped up in her own anxious thoughts. "There… are other things to hope for, of course," she continued quietly. "Tell me the truth, Link… how proficient are you, really, right now, with that sword on your back?"
Rarely, he spoke, a soothing, calm tone, deeper than she would have expected given his relatively compact frame, "Princess? I- I'm not sure what you mean. I'm the most proficient swordsman in all of the guard, at least?"
She shook her head, "No, I… I know you can fight, Link. You… I've seen you. I know that. What I mean is…"
Equally unusual was seeing herself stumble over words. Hesitate. Ask shyly a single word, stop, and start over again. "Can- There- Hah… it's a simple question, but perhaps you simply don't know. Legends say that there is an ancient voice that sometimes resonates from within that blade you carry. What I'm asking is… how in touch with it are you, really?"
Without seeming to intend to, Zelda watched as Link's hand rose and circled around the blue hilt of the Sword that Seals the Darkness, the Blade of Evil's Bane, the Master Sword.
She looked over her shoulder to see his puzzled expression. "Hmm… Can you… hear it yet… Hero?"
The dream faded… but it did not end.
It shimmered, turned gray, yellow, translucent, then dark. Only to reverse the process again, shimmering into view once more in the same place.
"I'm not sure," Link said softly, his voice almost melodious. He was closer to her now, the current Zelda (and the past one) were pleased to see, nearly shoulder to shoulder, as he leaned forward and prodded one of the logs further into their fire, which was nestled just below that stone ramp, nearly in the same place the current Zelda had put hers.
"Sometimes I… think I hear things from it. Not really… not really words. More… impressions. Musical notes. Moves to weapons forms I… do not recognize, or that I see echoing glimmers in with our modern forms. But not… not words."
"I see," Zelda murmured quietly, "Thank you for clarifying. I know… thank you for even deigning to speak. It's rare for you, I know."
For some reason, that comment made Link smile, if a bit shyly, as he glanced at the princess, then back to the fire. The grin lingered on his face, though the rest of his expression fell into something more serious and somber, "I… talk plenty. To some people."
She nodded, "So it's just me you hate, then." Her voice was quiet, soft, and as she spoke, the princess drew her legs up to her chest and put her arms around them, then leaned down to hide most of her face behind them, leaving only her eyes visible.
"Hate…? No," Link said, sounding aghast, "Why would you think…?"
"You don't talk to me. I admit I treated you horribly for months, but… you saved my life. I apologized. Yet you don't…"
Link still looked quite confused, at a loss, as he stammered, "But I don't… I don't hate you. I never did. I just… I'm just a knight. A soldier. It's not my station to… to question a princess. Especially not the one I'm directly sworn to protect with every moment of my life. Even if she hated me."
"I never hated you, either," Zelda protested, lifting her head, "I only…"
She sighed, and there was quiet for a long time, the only sounds the gentle lapping of the lake in the night breeze, the crackle of the fire, and the drone of crickets. "I… was jealous of you."
"J- Jealous? Of me? But you're- you're the Princess of Hyrule," Link protested, his eyes wide now, reflecting the fire fully.
"I know," Zelda shrugged, "And that can be great, but… you have friends, in the other soldiers, in the Royal Guard, among the Gerudo, Zora, Rito, and Gorons. I have… well… I can't think of one real friend. You have no one telling you what to do except me and my father. I've my father, and sixty-two other people who dictate my day to day schedule whenever I'm at the castle. If it's not minute by minute! Why do you think I decided to leave the horses and come this way, when we're going to see the Gorons? I want a break. I need a break from all of that. I… When I prayed at the Spring of Courage, I heard… nothing. Nothing at all. No murmur, no hint, no glimmer of something that might help. You stood there for hours, I knelt in that mossy water for hours, for nothing, Link. I… I am a failure of a princess. You, at least, are a true hero. The one who pulled the Master Sword free. The one who is destined to fight against Calamity Ganon directly. That's…"
She sighed again, and her head dropped low once more behind her knees, "That's why I… asked if you could hear it. The greatest heroes can, they say. I hear nothing from my… sacred duty. The Spring of Power is next. Maybe we'll save me some bellyaching from my father by combining the trips, telling him we simply stopped at the Goron's City on the way to Akkala Province… though I doubt it'll do any good. But I worry I'll hear nothing still. The Sacred Power I'm supposed to possess… I fear it is gone from me. From our bloodline, for whatever reason. My mother didn't have it, my grandmother did, but my mother knew how to teach me. I… never got to know those lessons. I barely remember her, now, and there were no lessons on that. I… I'm just so lost. You… you at least have direction, know what you need to do. Everyone respects you, even my father. Me…
"I'm just a failure, and the people know it. They know it with every hour I spend researching the Divine Beasts and the Ancient Sheikah, and not fulfilling my sacred duty at the Springs. Not preparing to use that power I'm supposed to possess to Seal away the Calamity. Not that I can even climb the Sacred Mountain Lanayru before I'm seventeen, of course. That's still months away."
He nodded. What else could he do? Link had never known she felt that way.
Even the present Zelda could not have known. Before another word was said, however, the dream faded. Without shimmer this time, only darkness crowding in, black tinged with deep purple, and a deep, thrumming, horrible laughter.
Still, Zelda dreamed.
Dreamed of long ago, or yesterday, or now, or six years hence. It was hard to say.
A child version of herself, just ten, eleven, maybe twelve years old, having a secret, hidden conversation with a young boy clad in Kokiri clothing, in the secret depths of the Royal Gardens. A stolen kiss, a blush, a secret whisper.
Months later, perhaps half a year, that same boy, that same girl, just a little older. Risking much for a chance to spend moments together, unaware that they were already falling in love, but unable to care either way that they were, if they had known or realized. A single guard, perhaps the one most loyal to the princess, turned the other way as hands began to wander to places they shouldn't, adult feelings and souls within both pushing beyond what was normally proper for people of their age. Not too far, of course.
A brief grasp here, a cup there, a moan, a sigh, and another passionate kiss was all.
Then horror. Fire. Death.
Murdered parents, murdered kings, murdered queens. The Deku Tree, great Guardian of the Lost Woods, in flames. The Gerudo wracked by a great storm, a bridge broken, cut off from any aid, and raiding the southwest borders of Hyrule anyway. Gorons trapped by an erupting mountain and a mad, insane chief. Zora frozen beneath a realm locked in ice. Rito fled long ago, nowhere to be seen. Hylians lost, confused, helpless, as their kingdom was torn asunder by a great rider, clad in ornate black armor, on a giant nightmare-steed.
The man who reached for the princess as her most loyal guard and governor, Impa, snatched her away.
Zelda watched, horrified, as two versions of time progressed, each layered over the other simultaneously.
In one, Impa succeeded, the honorary name the only one she knew, now. In that reality, that time-line, she was spirited out of the castle just in time, her favored Ocarina given as a gift to that same Fairy-boy in panic, knowing he was their only hope as the nightmare bearing its even more terrible rider thundered after them into the rainy twilight. In that universe, she became the Sage of Light, already carrying the Hero's child from their brief moments together as adults, and survived only long enough to pass on that heir to each of them.
In the other, ironically perhaps, she survived much longer. The Zelda of that time, the young girl of then twelve or thirteen, was thrown mercilessly to the grounds of the garden, her guardian beheaded in a single swing of the black rider's huge blade.
Her clothes were torn from her, and she was taken brutally, again and again.
Years later, she knew nothing else. Her life was that of a place for the black rider to sate his dark desires, to breed his offspring, and that was it. A Hylian Princess gave birth to sixteen Gerudo warriors, and each one strained her body to its limit. One man, secreted away by a spy within the castle, to carry on the bloodline of the hero when all else was lost.
And that no Gerudo King would be born again, of course, for under Ganondorf, King of all Hyrule, Ruler of the entire world now that each other nation had fallen to his might, would need no heir. He was invincible, after all, now that the Hero and the Princess were gone, either dead or his eternal slave.
That princess survived until she was two hundred and seventy-three years old, still stunningly beautiful for all the scars she bore, when she was finally able to wrench herself free from her own sex-mad existence enough to throw herself from the parapets of the castle without her 'husband' close enough to catch her.
She saw herself fall, fell herself, was glad for it, for as pleasurable as that existence had been in some ways, it was wracked and fraught with even more pain and loss. The last thought she had before her head smashed like a Hydromelon against the cobblestones, staring into the furious red eyes of her rapist, her spouse, was, "My son lives."
The princess of that dark future could only hope that the message was received, and that Ganondorf would learn to fear, too, before the end.
Zelda Amaryll Hyrule woke with a start, her heart pounding, as one hand flew to the back of her head. It… "Intact," she gasped, and let her shoulders slump in relief. "A… A dream. A dream most foul.. but probably more like what truly awaits me if I give in to the Calamity's temptations."
Zelda shuddered, as she pushed herself to her feet, the apprehension and anxiety about the idyllic forest gone. Replaced, less fortunately, by fear of the castle and what was contained within it, a dozen leagues or so to the north-northeast.
I can't let that stop me, though. I have to keep moving. I won't give in, I won't fail. Even if I falter, I must… continue on. I must, for all of Hyrule's future.