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“Oracle? Something…strange happened during my visit to Gerudo Town.”
“Oh?” Zelda can’t see him clearly beyond the gauzy privacy screen. The low candlelight reveals nothing more than a shadowy figure across from her, but she could hear that she has piqued his interest. “And does this strange occurrence have anything to do with your early return?”
A lock of sunshine hair cascades past her shoulder as she ducks her head. Her gloved hands twist themselves together, a sickening mixture of anxiety and guilt churning her stomach.
“Yes.”
“Did I not warn you of my ill feelings surrounding that trip?” His voice still carries the gentle tone he usually speaks to her with, but there’s no denying that note of disappointment that makes her feel worse than she probably would have felt had he been angry. “Did I not ask you to stay at the castle?”
Ask? The man practically begged her not to go.
“Yes,” Zelda admits quietly, but immediately after she remembers why she had gone in the first place, and she finds her resolve to argue.
“But I needed to check in with Urbosa and her progress with Naboris. The Divine Beasts are crucial to the fight with Calamity Ganon.”
“I know, so you’ve told me.”
His voice drips with warm fondness that prompts her cheeks to burn, an odd malady she’s been suffering from as of late. Stranger still, she noticed that it only seems to happen when she’s speaking with the Oracle. She occasionally converses with the court poet, Robbie a bit more so, but neither of them illicit the same symptom.
How curious.
“So, what exactly happened in Gerudo Town?” he asks, prodding her away from her musings. She hears something shift, a rustle of clothing, and his figure changes shape. She imagines he must be getting comfortable. “Did a sand seal scare you? They may look cute and cuddly, but don’t be fooled. Those tusks can turn you into a Hylian skewer. If you ask me, their plushy line is wholly undeserved.”
“No!” Zelda exclaims, giggling. “Excuse you, but sand seals are such gentle creatures! There’s never been a recorded sand seal attack, much less an incident of what you just so described. People say they’re cute and cuddly because they are.” Her wide smile gains a sly edge. “Don’t tell me you’re scared of them, O Great Oracle? And their plushies are entirely deserved, by the way.”
The Oracle playfully scoffs. “The Great Oracle isn’t scared of anything. Just because there’s never been an attack recorded, doesn’t mean it’s never happened before. And the plushies are still undeserved. I’d rather hug something else at night.”
“Oh?” Zelda goads, resting her chin atop her closed fist, elbow balanced over her crossed knee. “Like what?”
She’d love to hear what other animal he’d suggest.
“Something that isn’t stuffed with cotton and has buttons for eyes.”
Zelda blinks, her teasing grin slipping. That…that didn’t mean anything. His tone certainly wasn’t suggestive in any capacity. It was merely her imagination, her mind playing tricks on her. She’ll summon the court doctor tomorrow to check her hearing, because there is absolutely no way in the Sacred Realm that he really spoke with the flirtatious tone that she thought she heard.
She wishes her racing heart would understand.
“Now,” the Oracle continues, and thankfully it’s with his normal voice. Zelda doesn’t think she’d be able to handle another word spoken like that. “Gerudo Town?”
“Oh, yes.” Zelda sits up straighter, returning her attention to the dark blur in front of her. It doesn’t have much shape, but there’s a distinct line extending outward, rhythmically bobbing up and down.
She clears her throat. “I was in the desert, on my way to Kara Kara Bazaar. I-” she glances down for a second, cursing her foolishness at the time. “I sneaked away from the guards, just wanting to browse the bazaar on my own.”
“Even with my warning in the back of your mind?” he drawls, and she imagines a sardonic grin is curling his lips. “You must have really wanted to tempt fate, hm?”
“It’s so near to the town, I didn’t think anything would happen!” Zelda huffs, admittedly a little embarrassed. She doesn’t mind calling herself out on her own wrongdoings; it’s a different story when someone she’s close to does.
“Anyway,” she continues, hoping to smoothly steer away from that plot point. Unfortunately, with how the Oracle quietly chuckles, she must have had all the subtlety of a boar tearing through a tranquil forest. “I was walking there when suddenly I heard some…truly deranged laughter. I stopped, and then all I could see was this red smoke.”
Zelda shivers; she wasn’t exaggerating when she said the Yiga’s laughter was deranged. It was the twistedly joyous sort of laughter one had after finally obtaining something terrible they’ve sought for a long time. It was the horrible satisfaction that golden blood was soon going to drip from their vicious sickles.
The bouncing line beyond the screen stills.
“Are you alright?” the Oracle asks softly. It’s much like the gentle tone he uses after she’s been scolded by her father, and it comforts her all the same.
Zelda nods, but speaks her assurance as well. She’s probably just a shadowy figure from his perspective, too.
She clears her throat, resigning herself to getting past the frightening parts of the story. Because this one does have a happy ending.
“Well, after the smoke cleared, two yiga soldiers appeared. I looked behind me for a second and saw a third. They raised their weapons and I ran. I ran until I couldn’t see Gerudo Town, and I must’ve been far from the bazaar since I never caught sight of it. I kept going until I couldn’t lift my feet from the sand anymore, and I fell to the ground.”
Zelda remembers that feeling of helplessness all too well. When that Yiga lifted his sickle over his head, poised to cut her down in one stroke, Zelda had turned her face away, unable to muster the courage to look her killer in the eye. She truly thought she was going to die in that moment, and Hyrule would’ve been doomed.
That is, until-
“But then, right as the Yiga was about to bring his weapon down, I saw that same red smoke from before appear before me.” Her eyes are distant to the memory, her voice pitched with awe. “Suddenly, the Yiga was struck down, but by another Yiga!”
“Oh?”
Behind the screen, Link’s leg steadily bounces in the air from his lounged position. He can imagine he’s preening quite like the proverbial cat that got the cream, his smirk stretched wide and curved with a wicked edge. Before he infiltrated the castle and stole the identity of the Oracle, betraying his comrades was never a thought on his mind. But now? For Zelda?
He’d do it over and over again, and thoroughly take pleasure in her unknowingly singing his praises.
“You should’ve seen it, Oracle!” Zelda exclaims. “He raised his fist to the sky and brought it down to the sand, and a mountain of earth rose and dispensed with one of the other Yiga!”
Head tilting back, Link closes his eyes and savors how her voice has turned breathless with admiration.
The Earthwake technique took a lot of time to master, time spent with continuously bandaged knuckles and mind wracked with seemingly endless frustration. Good to know his dedication has paid off, and in quite the most satisfying way.
“Then he rushed at the last one, and before he could disappear, my Yiga swiftly cut him down.”
My Yiga? Is she aware of the possession she took with him? Or was it merely a slip of the tongue, an accidental insight to how she truly felt regarding her rescuer?
Ah, well. Not like he minds. Far from it, actually. Besides, he already thinks of her as his princess. Tis only fair she believes he belongs to her.
“It was…well, to be frank, it was quite violent, but he saved my life. He turned his back on his fellow soldiers to save me.” She turns quiet. “He saved me, with not a thought to his own life, or hesitation in betraying his kin. I will never be able to repay a steep debt like that.”
Link shakes his head, wanting to tell her that there is no debt to repay. That he’d gladly do it again; he’d kill Master Kohga himself if it meant keeping her safe. He’d look in those beautiful green eyes and promise her that he’d protect her with his life, with no expectations of receiving anything in return.
That’s what a man in love does.
“But, Oracle,” she continues, voice teeming with uncertainty. Link glances over and sees her brows pursed with confusion. What an invention the Sheikah developed; beyond powerful machinery they also created fabric that would allow him to clearly see Zelda, but to her he would be nothing more than a dark figure.
He supposes that was a large reason in why he fell for her; seeing her vulnerable, unguarded expressions that she would never dare openly show. In this way he was able to see the real Princess Zelda, not the borderline stilted and proper one she played for the court.
“What I can’t understand is why that Yiga did it. Why would he betray them? I’m certain I’m not acquainted with any Yiga.”
Yeah, about that…
“So, he did that for a stranger, a stranger he’s been made to believe he wants dead. No matter how I turn the problem, I can’t find a solution. Why would he save me?”
Link grins. This is probably the one thing she can’t figure out through science, and it’s begun to bother her. He can’t resist teasing her a little.
“Do your research books not yield the answers?”
She levels him with a flat look. It’s not quite aimed at his eyes, but it comes pretty close.
“No. Do be serious, Oracle. This isn’t a matter I can simply consult the Sheikah articles with.”
“Of course. My utmost and sincerest apologies, Princess.”
She rolls her eyes, and Link knows she would absolutely never do that if she knew he could see her. The thought has him biting his lip to keep his laughter in check.
“I just can’t understand it.” Her brows are furrowed again, this time in deep contemplation. “Why would a Yiga I don’t know save my life? What would he have to gain by throwing so much away?”
“Maybe he didn’t consider himself throwing anything away.” Link murmurs, voice deepening in solemnity. “Maybe he did it for the sole intention of seeing you live.”
“But it doesn’t make sense!”
“Not everything in life makes sense.”
Zelda growls, and he sighs.
“Maybe,” he amends, “it will make sense one day. When that hopeless bastard has the courage to tell you why.”
Zelda looks up at him confused, and Link doesn’t elaborate.
“So,” she concludes, “you don’t know the answer?”
“I can only tell of the future, not explain the whys of the past.”
She frowns, slumping in her seat from disappointment. He feels a little guilty seeing her like that, but he knows that this is not the day to delve into that conversation. She’s not ready to hear it. He may be already there, but she needs more time. If he confessed now, who knows how she’d respond. He’d do it when he could be confident in receiving a positive answer.
Until then…
“I understand,” she replies after a lengthy silence. “I’m sorry for losing my temper.”
That was losing her temper? His pensive expression morphs into a lopsided grin. Oh, she’s too adorable. He hopes that she falls for him soon.
“There’s nothing to apologize for, Princess. Now, why not tell me about the rest of your trip? Were there any desperate men trying to get into town?”
Zelda giggles, and just like that she’s telling him all about how yes there was, and how the guards always foiled their break-in attempts.
Link gets comfortable and listens.