Chapter Text
Zelda walked briskly along the cobblestone path of Lookout Landing, her green eyes scanning the people bustling by. As she passed the archery range on the west side of the fort, several rito and hylians looked up and waved.
“Welcome back princess!”
“Nice to see you!”
Smiling, she waved back before turning towards the set of stairs ahead of her. Just then, a young goron came rolling along the path, nearly running over her foot.
“Oh!” he said, jumping up and looking embarrassed. “I-I’m really sorry, princess.”
“That’s quite alright,” she said kindly. “Where are you off to?”
“The south gate,” he replied. “The monster control crew will be returning soon and my dad’s with them!”
“Well, you be sure to see if they need anything,” said Zelda. “They have a tough job.”
“Oh, there’s nothing they can’t handle,” he said unconcernedly. “Not when they’ve got Link with them!”
And rolling into a ball, he disappeared with a cloud of dust. Zelda watched him go, a soft grin on her face. Then turning away, she walked up the wooden steps and across the landing. It had been over a week since the death of the Demon King, and already the kingdom was flourishing in a way she had not seen since before the Calamity.
And yet she thought as she gazed out over Lookout Landing, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of loss. King Rauru, Queen Sonia, all her friends…were gone, their only remnants being a few faded inscriptions on stone tablets.
At this Zelda sighed sadly, but after a pause she shook her head. She couldn’t let herself be dragged into melancholy. Indeed, she could almost hear Lenalia’s gentle, but swift rebuke in her mind.
“Come now, cheer up my lady, it won’t do to get all sad about it. What’s done is done. Now get up and go to work!”
Smiling to herself Zelda turned and stepping inside the small building, made her way around the long rectangular table, stumbling slightly on the jumble of boxes and papers that littered the floor.
“You know, Purah,” she said, taking a seat at the head of the table and looking at the woman in the chair next to her. “You really should have someone clean this place every once and a while.”
“If I did that, I wouldn’t know where anything was!” said the sheikah as she looked at the princess, her wide eyes magnified by her goggles.
“Besides,” she continued, gesturing towards the door. “With all the people that have been hanging around here lately, I would never have the time.”
“Yes,” said Zelda, glancing out a nearby window at the group of zora and gorons walking past. “I’ve never seen this place so lively.”
“Well, you’ve missed a few things these past months,” said the sheikah. “A lot has happened.”
“Another reason to have this meeting,” said Zelda. “I want to be up to date with what’s going on.”
Suddenly, a chorus of cheers erupted through the open window. Glancing outside, the princess saw a crowd of people gathered around the southern gate.
“I bet I can guess who that is,” said Purah, not looking up from her work.
Several minutes later, there was a knock at the door and a tall hylian with dark hair entered, followed closely by a younger man wearing a blue tunic and a long sword sheathed at his back.
“Princess Zelda,” said the man, stepping forward and bowing respectfully. “A pleasure to see you again.”
“You as well, Gralens,” said Zelda. “I trust your mission went well?”
“Very well, ma’am,” he said with a nod. “All the remaining monsters in Hyrule field have been eliminated.”
“And did Linky save some for the rest of you?” asked Purah, eying the young man suspiciously. “Because if I recall, our new recruits need experience, and they can’t do that if our hero here is taking out all the monsters himself.”
There was an awkward silence as Link and Gralens cast furtive glances at each other. Seeing this, Zelda cleared her throat.
“Ahem, I’m sure whatever Link did, it’s because he thought it was for the best.”
“And in any case,” she continued as the sheikah opened her mouth to argue. “Now we will be able to carry on with the restoration projects unhindered.”
“Oh, alright,” said Purah. “But we still have far to go before all the monsters resurrected by the final blood moon are eradicated. What do you suggest our plan should be going forward?”
Pulling a rolled up map from his coat, Gralens spread it on the table.
“My men can handle the enemy outposts spread throughout the kingdom,” he said. “But the real problem are these—”
He pointed at a series of red circles with skulls drawn next to them.
“These are the locations of the remaining large monsters,” he continued. “We can handle the weaker hinox’s and even some of the talus…”
“But?” said Purah.
“Well…frankly your highness,” he said, a bit embarrassed. “My men don’t have the strength or the skill to combat such monsters.”
“I see,” said the princess, leaning back and absent mindedly fingering the zonai dagger at her waist. “In that case we will need to work with the new sages to eliminate the more dangerous monsters in their respective regions.”
“It will take time however,” she continued, glancing down at the map before looking at the knight. “Some of them are in very difficult to reach places.”
To this Link nodded.
“Very well,” said Zelda, sitting up and looking back at Gralens. “If there is nothing else, please go and get some rest, I’m sure you and your men are tired.”
With a bow and a smile, Gralens left the room.
“Now that’s settled,” continued the princess, “The sages filled me in on their individual settlements, but I have heard nothing of the other Hylian villages.”
For the next several minutes she listened as Purah talked. After a while, she caught the knight’s eye and gestured with a smile for him to take the seat next to her. Silently Link obeyed, unlatching the master sword and gently leaning it against the table before sitting down. As he did, Zelda caught the scent of leather and apples.
“I understand,” she said as Purah finally finished.
For a while she sat and thought, gently tapping the golden stone at her neck. At length she spoke.
“Now that Hyrule field is free of monsters, I would like to visit the various settlements. In light of the confusion surrounding my disappearance, I think it would be wise to show my face.”
“I agree,” said Purah. “After all the chaos caused by the Demon King, people need a sense of normalcy. Where will you go first?”
“Hateno,” replied Zelda, leaning forward and checking the map. “By the looks of it there are several monsters we can take care of on the way. And…I want to check on the school.”
“We?” asked Purah. “Do you mean you’re going to handle the monsters yourself?”
“Of course,” said the princess.
Then noticing the look on the sheikah’s face she added:
“I can handle it, and besides, Link will come with me. Won’t you Link?”
She then looked at the knight. As she did, she thought she saw something like worry flash across his face. But a second later he met her gaze and nodded.
Purah looked at both of them, then giving a shrug, she pushed back her chair.
“Alllllrightly,” she said as she got to her feet, scattering papers over the floor as she did. “If that’s the plan, then let’s snap to it!”
As the door closed behind her, Zelda looked at Link.
“I just saved you from a very long lecture,” she said with a soft chuckle.
“I appreciate that,” he grinned back.
“Let me guess,” she continued, turning to face him better, a knowing smile on her face. “You accompanied the monster control crew, intending to observe unless things got bad. But then you saw someone in danger and before you knew it, you’d taken them all out singlehandedly. Am I right?”
To this Link chuckled softly, rubbing the back of his neck.
Smiling at the look on his face, Zelda's eyes fell to his clothing.
“Do you like your new champion’s tunic?” she asked softly.
Giving a small start, the knight looked down.
“Y-yes,” he said. “I like it very much…Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” she smiled.
“Although,” she added with a light laugh, brushing dirt from his sleeve. “You may want to change before dinner, or else you’ll get a lecture from Jerrin as well.”
“I will, as soon as I return,” said Link.
At this Zelda blinked, her brow furrowing in confusion.
“Return?” she asked questioningly. “But…you just got back. Where are you off to now?”
“There’s something I need to take care of,” he said. “It won’t take long.”
“Okay,” said Zelda in a quiet voice.
She didn’t want to get in the way of his duties, but she also couldn’t help feeling a trifle disappointed. After this she had a free afternoon, and there was still so much she hadn’t told him about her sojourn in ancient Hyrule.
Reading the look on her face, Link leaned a bit closer.
“I’ll be back in time for dinner,” he said. “I promise.”
…
After an afternoon of research, a bit of training with the zonai dagger Rauru had given her, and a quick piece of fruitcake, Zelda walked out onto the landing as dusk was falling. Below her, several fires were burning merrily, surrounded by chatting hylians, gorons, zora and rito enjoying their food. Walking down the landing stairs, she strolled through the fort, often stopped by those wishing to congratulate her on her return. After several more minutes, she caught sight of Purah talking to Robbie and headed in their direction.
“I don’t know what we’d have done if Link hadn’t activated those light roots,” said Robbie as she drew closer. “Down there you never know if a drop off is a few inches or a mile—how he managed to navigate that place in the dark I’ll never know.”
“What’s this?” asked Zelda.
“Princess,” said Robbie, turning to her. “We were just discussing my team’s exploration of the depths.”
“Of course,” replied Zelda. “How’s it coming along?”
“Better now we don’t have that dreadful gloom to deal with,” said Robbie, brandishing a half eaten chicken leg. “It was hard enough with the yiga prowling around”
“Ah, yes,” said Zelda. “Link told me about Master Kohga and how he survived down there.”
“Survived? Those traitors were dug in like ticks!” said Robbie with some heat. “I wish I could say they were gone for good. I’m just glad–”
But at that moment, there was a distraction as the tall pile of books Josha was carrying out of her study toppled over, requiring Robbie to go to her aid. As the young sheikah researcher apologized over and over again, Purah looked back at the princess and saw that she was craning her neck, her green eyes scanning the crowd.
“Princess?”
“Yes?” replied Zelda distractedly.
To this Purah rolled her eyes, a grin on her face as she jabbed her thumb over her shoulder.
“He’s over there.”
Looking in the direction she was pointing, Zelda saw Link, now wearing a dark hylian tunic, his head turning from side to side as multiple gorons talked to him at once.
“Uh…” said Zelda, shooting Purah a glance. “I…just wanted to make sure he got back alright.”
“I see,” said the sheikah, turning to look at him too. “I suppose he went to patrol Hyrule Field again, just to make sure all the monsters are really gone.”
“He pushes himself so hard,” said Zelda with a sigh. “If I had known he would be hunting monsters all day I wouldn’t have asked him to come with me tomorrow. He needs to rest.”
“Tell me about it,” huffed Purah. “You should have seen him when he first reappeared after the upheaval. I came out of my study and there he was, arm missing, his hair all tangled, wearing that torn zonai tunic that probably hadn’t been washed in ten thousand years.”
At this, Zelda looked at the sheikah in surprise.
“I tried to get him to stay and rest awhile,” Purah continued. “But all he wanted to talk about was any leads I had on you. Then he just grabbed a fresh horse and headed straight to Hebra!”
She shook her head.
“He’s so reckless.”
“Well, he’s always been like that,” said Zelda with a resigned sigh. “I suppose in a way it’s become his trademark. To be honest, it’s what made me realize a piece of the master sword was powering the knight construct I’ve told you about. As soon as Agraston told me that the construct charged straight at the Moragia without any fear—”
“I see,” said Purah thoughtfully. “So the shard somehow projected Link onto the construct—like an echo of his will—fascinating!”
For a moment they stood in silence, Zelda still gazing at the knight, a soft smile on her face. Then suddenly she felt a hand on the small of her back, pushing her gently forward. Surprised, she looked at Purah who was gazing at Link as well, a grin on her face as she shot the princess a sideways glance.
“Go on,” she said quietly.
Zelda blinked, but then grinning back, she made her way towards the knight.
“Excuse me,” she said, causing the chatting gorons to look around. “May I steal him for a moment, please?”
“Of course!” said the nearest goron. “We were just telling him about our new hard core training regiment!”
Still talking noisely, the group of gorons walked away. Turning to Zelda, Link gave her a grateful look.
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” she chuckled quietly. “I wouldn’t want you to have to stand in lava again.”
Link grinned and nodded. Then after a short pause he looked down at her empty hands.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
“Well…actually,” she whispered a bit guiltily, “I had some fruit cake after my training and I rather spoiled my dinner…”
Link raised an eyebrow.
“Well…what’s your excuse?” she said defensively. “You’ve been gone all day and I haven’t seen you eat anything yet!”
“Speaking of that,” said Link. “There’s someone who wants to see you.”
Puzzled, Zelda followed the knight through the chatting crowd and towards the stable at the southern end of the fort.
“Hello, Link,” said the old stable hand, walking up to the knight and smiling. Then noticing the princess, he bowed low.
“So glad to have you back, your highness.”
“Thank you very much, Lester,” said Zelda with a smile.
“I suppose you’ll be wanting to see your new friend?” said Lester as he straightened up, glancing at the knight who nodded.
“He’s out in the pasture, go ahead.”
Gesturing for Zelda to follow, Link led her outside the fort, nodding at the gate guards before turning right into a large field where several horses were grazing peacefully. Intrigued, the princess watched as the knight brought his fingers to his lips and let off a loud whistle.
Immediately she heard a whinny in the distance, then she saw running towards them, its frame growing larger with every step–
Zelda gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.
“I…I don’t believe it…”
It was a beautiful golden horse, its silky white main expertly braided down the side of its head and neck. Trotting up to them, the animal whinnied with obvious excitement before nuzzling her enthusiastically with its large nose.
“It's you…” she said, stroking its neck before looking at Link.
“But how?”
“We met at Snowfield Stable,” said Link, a soft grin on his face as he too stroked the horse. “They told me Ganondorf’s puppet scared him into a blizzard.”
At this, Zelda closed her eyes. So much damage had been done by the puppet resembling her…in the past and the present.
“I’m so sorry,” said Zelda sadly, stroking the animal’s flank before looking back at the knight.
“You saved him…”
Link just shrugged.
“I remembered you telling me about him…after that we sort of teamed up.”
For a long moment they continued to stroke the horse. Then Zelda looked back at the knight, her eyes shimmering.
“Thank you, Link,” she said softly as the horse nuzzled her face. “For this…for everything…”
The knight smiled, his blue eyes shimmering as the last rays of the setting sun cast a brilliant orange glow across the sky.