wild_hero | 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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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.'

Sobs of the Country or whatever

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