wild_hero | Sobs of the Country or whatever

Sobs of the Country or whatever

The first order of business had been, of course, to get the Princess safely back to Lookout Landing. Purah had freaked out, demanding both Zelda and Link stay behind and see a physician. Absurd really. At least on Link's part. He had definitely had worse. Granted, that 'worse' resulted in a 100 year coma at the Shrine of Resurrection, but still. The battle with Ganondorf was finally over, he and Zelda were both back with all their limbs attached, and with any luck this would mean peace.

For the rest of this lifetime, anyway.

The second order of business, as soon as they had alleviated Purah's frantic doting enough to get a word in edgewise, was to send a party out to find the sages. The rescue was a success, the searchers actually stumbling upon the searchees halfway down to Ganondorf's hell-pit. With the demon king and his army now gone, the sages had been able to just turn around and casually walk back they way they'd came. The hardest part of it all was getting Mineru and Yunobo back to the surface without breaking the hot air balloon.

After a few days' rest Mineru passed on, everyone swore their allegiance anew to Zelda, and just like that they all went their separate ways. Most of the sages had their own lands to govern, and Tulin needed to go to bird school or whatever. Link insisted he and Zelda head back to their house in Hateno ('At least for a few weeks, Princess. Then we can come back and you and Purah can study whatever you want for however long you want. I think the children miss you,' which was definitely not the right thing to sign in front of everyone. He's now fairly certain a good percentage of the residents at Lookout Landing think they have kids together).

Which brings us to now. The pair riding Link's giant white horse Mayonnaise, saddlebags packed full of provisions, across Hyrule field toward Dueling Peaks.

'Are you comfortable, Princess?' he signs with one hand while the other holds the reins. 'We should be able to make it to the stable tonight. Tomorrow we can set out early and get home before sundown.'

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“I’m fine,” she says, laughing a little as she settles an arm more firmly around his waist. “I may be out of practice, but I’m not going to break, you know.”

'I didn't mean it like that,' he signs back, embarrassed. She's right though, he has been maybe a little over protective the past few days. He hasn't been exactly subtle about it either.

He just spent months getting her back, can you blame him?

'If it'll be more comfortable for you I can walk. You can have the saddle.'

"No, I like this." She likes being at his back, arms wrapped around his waist to stay stable, able to inhale the reassuring scent of him. "I swear, I'm fine, Link."

He nods, not going to push the topic any further. Truth be told he likes this as well. You’d think after so many years together — so many years sharing the same bed even — he would be used to this, but it’s still so unreal sometimes. It’s so easy to fall back into the mindset that she only keeps him around because fate forced her to have him near…

It’s been over a hundred years since he was even technically employed by the royal family, so he shouldn’t feel that way. He really shouldn’t. Old habits die hard, he guesses.

They ride together uneventfully for a while, the sun lowering behind them, until they’re almost to what appears to be one mountain split down the middle. Link pulls back on the reins to slow Mayo to a halt, his back suddenly tensing up straight.

“Zelda,” he says quietly. Forcefully. “I think there’s been a blood moon since I last came through here.”

The narrow canyon between either side of Dueling Peaks is often home to all sorts of nasty creatures. Bokoblins, octorocks, even sometimes a few lizalfos. There is a river that runs through the center, making it very difficult to dodge an enemy attack.

He turns around to face her. “If I get off the horse, I want you to ride as fast as you can until the stable.” He then adds in sign, ’Mayo can make whatever jumps you’ll need to take, just hold on tightly please.’

"I still can't believe you named your horse after mayonnaise," she replies, with some amusement, but she does nod. "I will. You needn't worry." She is well aware that she is, for the most part, reasonably useless when it comes to fighting off monsters. She doesn't even have a dagger or anything to help with that, right now, and would only get in the way. Hopefully, though, they will manage to escape unscathed.

He normally might give her a hard time about the name comment. All of his horses have food-related names, why take offense at poor Mayo? She looks like a Mayo. But right now that isn't important. The last thing he needs is to finally get her back only to lose her again because he rode directly into a monster camp.

Link digs around in their pack for a moment looking for a stealth potion, but comes up empty. Not that he's sure it would help much anyway; the pathway is thin enough that they'll be close to anything blocking their way. He sighs, steels himself, and prods the horse to start walking again. Slowly.

Partway through, sure enough, he spies a group of bokoblins dancing around a campfire. Two blue and -- damn, a silver. Still far away enough that they haven't been noticed yet, Link draws the bow he nicked off a defeated Yiga clan member and fires two arrows at the blue bokoblins. One is a headshot and goes down immediately, while the other looks to be merely stunned. Before he can get another shot in the silver bokoblin turns his way and starts to head over.

Link sets Mayo into a full gallop and immediately jumps off. Time seems to almost stop as he aims an arrow, hitting the bokoblin in the abdomen. As soon as his feet hit the ground he draws his sword and yells after Zelda, "Stable. Now!"

She nods and urges Mayo to keep galloping, chancing a glance back at Link. "Please be careful!" She calls back, turning to watch as much as she can while still staying on the horse. She doesn't know what she'd do if Link was badly hurt.

(Alright, yes she does, but she knows he wouldn't like it.) At least the stable isn't too far away, even if she ends up needing reinforcements. Surely Link can handle himself amongst a few bokoblins.

Roughly two hours after Zelda arrives at the stable, Link finally comes wandering in, looking a little battle worn. He's definitely had worse -- he basically died in this same field once before, after all -- but he is still showing signs of a fight. There's a few tears in his blue shirt and overall he's a bit bruised and bleeding.

After a quick glance up and down Zelda to make sure she is okay, he flops down on whichever bed is closest to her. 'Couple of lizalfos came out of the river too. I ripped the shirt you made me again, I'm sorry.'

She's fine enough, if a bit worried over Link. "It's fine, shirts can be fixed. You can, too." She moves to his bedside, gently running a hand over one of the bruises. "Are you badly hurt? Purah will be quite angry, if she hears you went and got wounded again and we're not even home yet." That is, if they even tell her. They probably won't, unless she asks.

’I’m fine.’

He’s not wrong, not entirely anyway. What he doesn’t want to admit though is how weak he has felt ever since fighting Ganondorf. When he first lost his arm it made sense to feel like this. He had to get used to using someone else’s arm after all. This feels… different. Sort of like standing in gloom, but permanent.

’Got some monster parts we can sell. If any merchants stop by tonight.’

"Alright. You don't need any bandages or anything?" She's certain the people who run the stable would help her out, if only because she's the princess. (Not that she would willingly take advantage of this.)

"Do we need money? We might keep them if it's not strictly necessary."

There's a slight pause in which Link considers how upset the stable workers would likely be if he bleeds all over their bed. 'I probably could do with some bandages.'

He doesn't comment on whether or not they should sell the monster parts. Truthfully they don't really need any money, but it's not like he can think of many other use for the monster parts. Now that he has his own arm back he has lost the ability to fuse such things to weapons. They could always use them to create elixirs, he supposes.

'Are you hungry?' he signs. 'I don't think anyone is using the cooking pot outside if you want me to make us a meal.'

"Alright." She nods and stands. "I'll get the bandages --and I'll cook, too," she says, fixing Link with a stubborn look. "You need rest, I can at least manage something edible."

After a few moments, she returns, and sets to bandaging Link's wounds. Luckily, there are none too bad, so it doesn't take all that long. Once that's done, she settles into searching through their packs for something edible. "Oh, here's cheese, and tomatoes --maybe I can do something with that."

He knows better than to argue with Zelda when she's got that look on her face, so he relents. It's not like she's a bad cook or anything -- not anymore at any rate. Link just isn't used to being doted on.

'If you cut up the tomatoes and melt the cheese on top it's really good,' he offers as a suggestion. Quick, easy, and yummy. After a moment's consideration he adds, 'I should probably go wash up in the pond while you're doing that.' He's pretty sure there's still lizard guts in his hair.

Well, he had better get used to it, because Zelda doesn't intend on stopping any time soon.

She nods and gathers the food up, giving him a passing glance as she moves to head for the fire. "Probably, yes," she agrees, with a small teasing smile. "You are a bit ...erm, slimy."

He sighs, 'okay,' and picks himself up off the bed. 'Don't burn the cheese,' he adds playfully.

Before heading over to the small pond, Link digs through his pack to find a clean outfit - a tan set of trousers and a strange, tight fitting tunic. When he first found it years ago he didn't know what to think of it. There's some weird symbols on the front, and it's definitely not his usual style of clothing, but its comfort is such that he finds himself reaching for it often. At least when he doesn't have any sort of "official business" where the champion's tunic would be more appropriate.

Once at the water he carefully disrobes to the level that's appropriate so near the stable and begins washing up, taking care not to disturb the bandages Zelda so carefully just applied. The water is nice and cold -- refreshing after such a long ride.

He swims over to the center. There used to be a shrine here. Life feels so removed from the Calamity now. He can't even remember which test was held within this shrine.

Are Rauru's shrines going to be dismantled one day too? Can Link even enter them anymore, he wonders?

The smell of cooking tomatoes pulls him out of his reminiscing and he dries off, gets dressed, and heads back over to Zelda.

Well, the Champion's Tunic currently needs mending, so it's good he's found another. Zelda gives it a slightly sideways glance when he returns from the bath, but doesn't comment. (She may or may not be admiring the tight fit, but there is a time and a place for that.)

Right now, however, she needs to concentrate on not burning their food. She gives him a bright smile and nods towards the fire. "Almost done!"

After tossing his clothes on to their pile of belongings, Link walks over to Zelda, pulling his still-dripping hair into a ponytail. He takes one glance into the cooking pot and... hmm.

'Are you sure?' because it definitely looks like it's done already. It looks like it would've been done a couple minutes ago, but now it looks definitely cooked pretty well done. 'It looks good to me.'

"Does it?" She frowns down at the tomato and cheese -- which, indeed, looks as though it would be well done if it were a steak. "Alright, you're, um, better than I am at cooking, so." She edges the pan off the fire, gingerly.

"...At least it's not too burnt? Hopefully still edible."

Link smiles and bends down to give Zelda a kiss on the top of her head.

’Not burnt. I just want to eat sooner.’

It’s not entirely a lie. He does want to eat, and maybe the tomatoes are “blackened” instead of “burnt”. It’s a culinary choice, not a mistake.

True to form, Link scoops out his helping into a bowl and practically inhales it, pausing only long enough to blow on each bite a little to cool the temperature.

That's right. Definitely a culinary choice, not a 'princess who barely cooked before and hasn't had to for thousands of years' mistake. She laughs a little and settles into hers, letting it cool a little before she partakes. "Don't burn your mouth."

He doesn't even respond in sign, choosing instead to give her a look that conveys I ate a bunch of lava rocks from Daruk one time, you think tomatoes are going to be my downfall?

The next morning, a stableworker wakes them bright and early (as requested!). Link dresses quickly then begins saddling up Mayo for the day's ride.

Zelda arrives a short time afterward, having made herself a quick cup of tea from the helpful stablehands. (It's amazing the things you can get if you only ask: surely it doesn't have anything to do with her being the princess at all.) "Are you feeling alright?"

Link looks up at the sound of Zelda's voice. "Yeah. Better than normal," he says, before adding with a cheeky grin 'I think he gave us extra comfortable pillows because you're the beautiful princess'.

He signs it mostly as a joke, to pick on Zelda, but that doesn't make it untrue. People all across Hyrule were once generous to Zelda out of loyalty to the crown. A sense of patriotism perhaps. Fear of the alternative, in some cases. That was 100 years ago. Now they are kind to her because she held Calamity Ganon back for a century before sealing him away and ending the post-apocalyptic hell they had all grown up in.

And also, she's a beautiful princess.

'We should get going, it's a pretty hard ride today if we want to be home in time for dinner.'

She rolls her eyes at him and --very nearly sticks her tongue out, but then remembers they are still in public. And so with dignified grace, she gets astride the horse and waits for Link to join her. "Yes, let's. I need to see if anything's changed since I left."

Oh no.

Has anybody mentioned the mushrooms?! Link tries to wrack his brain and remember if it came up in conversation at all. This is either going to be very bad, or very funny.

With one last tug on a strap, Link determines Mayo is all set to go and helps Zelda up on to the horse before hopping up himself. Despite the dangers, the route they take today is one of Link's favorites to ride in all of Hyrule. There's a good variety of scenery all in a relatively short space, and most of the paths are wide enough that if danger arises there are easy exits.

The closer they get to Hateno the worse Link starts to feel for keeping the whole Cece thing from Zelda. Once they're at the bottom of the hill leading in to town, he can't handle it anymore and pulls Mayo to a halt. The sun is starting to set and he can already see the twinkle of the mushroom lights turning on.

"Zelda," he says quietly, turning to face her. "You asked if anything was different. There's -- "

How does he even say this without sounding completely stupid?

'There's mushrooms everywhere. Everyone's obsessed with mushrooms. I should've said something, sorry.'

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Sobs of the Country or whatever

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