Chapter Text
Grass and dead brush rustle under Zelda’s light leather walking shoes. But behind her, there’s only the sound of wind, restless crickets, singing birds, and dancing leaves. The only indication of Link trailing several feet away is a begrudging Zelda’s new sense of security; Link is just… always there.
Zelda keeps her eyes fast on the screen of the Sheikah Slate, but feels Link’s presence deep in her bones. As far as knights go, a tacit, dutiful guard who wields the legendary sword and camouflages into the background until he’s needed is the perfect compromise between the overbearing king and his fiercely independent daughter. Link should be everything Zelda needs to efficiently execute her mission of study, travel, understanding her world, and acting on her knowledge without burdening her father with worries for her safety — and without distraction.
But skies above, does Link distract Zelda. No matter the resistance she puts up.
Zelda rattles the ancient device like a maraca, as if it’ll help her find their way, then lets out a resigned sigh, slipping the Sheikah Slate into its holster at her belt. The woodlands near Eldin Canyon were tricky enough – even if they found it that evening, going somewhere called the “Lost Woods” seemed too ominous for a night outing.
“Link,” she calls out behind her, coming to a stop, “Let’s turn around and fetch the horses. We should just head back to the stable for the night. I’m worried there’ll be no sign of life by the time the dark settles in. Well, besides the monsters, of course.” She turns around in time to see Link gesture at her to stay where she is, let out a whistle, and then sprint towards the clearing where they’d let the horses graze about.
It’s been a few weeks since Zelda let this kind of initiative and servitude annoy her. Link’s sheer sense of duty — and indifference for just about anything else — had worn her down her resistance. Not to mention his courage and care when he'd saved her from the Yiga assassins in Gerudo. Link had worn down her ego and, admittedly, her hardness of heart.
It wasn’t Link’s fault that his path was laid out so clearly before him, where Zelda’s was a muddled, open-ended command from her father to unearth the mysterious secrets of Ganon’s weaknesses and her own powers. Nor was it Link’s fault that the petty, childish part of Zelda had perceived their circumstance to be that the king, frustrated with his daughter’s fruitless efforts, had assigned the great Hero of Hyrule to supervise her.
Feeling a little proud of her maturity, Zelda wanders off with an air of levity. She walks uphill toward a little cluster of trees. From the corner of her eye, she catches a brief, swift movement, barely there, and a pang of dread and misery takes hold. Link , she calls out in her mind, unable to form the words, where are you, Link??!
But a moment later, Zelda sees just an innocent yellow flower where she was afraid she would find a Yiga clan person wielding a deadly sickle. Just a yellow daffodil, which she’d sworn had been… next to her a moment ago.
As ever was her nature, Zelda’s curiosity takes hold, and she moves to examine the flower… only for it to disappear and materialize some yards ahead. With a gasp, Zelda runs forward again, and poof!
“Again!” Zelda exclaims, running for the rematerialized flower, at the seam of a small boulder and the ground this time. Once more it happens; and then the final time, a white daffodil appears at the apex of the rock.
As Zelda approaches the flower, she catches Link approaching with the horses. She lets him and the background come into focus and lets the flower right in front of her blur away, like the camera in the Sheikah Slate. She gives him a slow, bright smile and leaps at the flower, only for it to turn into a little green spirit wearing a leaf for a mask. The only thing that shocks her more than that is Link’s surprised laugh. The spirit gives her a golden seed and sways in a jolly little dance, and the next thing Zelda knows, Link is at her back, smiling. There’s a strange, warm fondness in his eyes, and Zelda looks away quickly.
“Do you know what this is?” Zelda says after clearing her throat, and Link just shakes his head. “I think this is a little Korok spirit, and this is a Korok seed! It’s incredible, I’ve only ever read about them!”
Link reaches out a hand, and, for a moment, Zelda hesitates, before dropping the golden seed in his palm.
“There are meant to be so many of these Koroks in the forest! We’ll try again tomorrow. Let’s set out first thing in the morning and hike up Death Mountain. I’m sure we’ll get a better sense of where it is from the top of the canyon.”
Instead of riding the horses back, they walk them for a distance, Zelda recounting her little adventure to Link. It makes her stupidly satisfied to see him so entertained by her story.
They approach the Woodland Stable a few hours later in high spirits. Before taking her horse to board it, Link puts a warm hand on her elbow. It tingles — and then Zelda forces herself to think about unpleasant things to suppress a blush.
“Princess,” Link says, and Zelda feels her eyes widen, “when you let yourself just be, you really do find the most incredible things.”
It’s the most he’s ever said to her. It’s the most she’s ever heard him say to anyone. Zelda has the feeling that these words will stick with her and comfort her through her darkest times.