Chapter Text
“I’m here!” Link exclaimed as he immediately rushed into the meeting area of Camp Hyrule. He was fifteen minutes late to the meeting for all the CITs and counselors, and had finally arrived.
“Ah, yes. I had a feeling we were missing someone.” A woman with grey hair and a wide brimmed hat said. “I’m the director of Camp Hyrule, Impa. Remind me of your name?” She asked.
“Uh, I'm Link. L-I…you get it.” He said as some of the other people who he assumed were other counselors glanced over at him.
“Okay, excellent. Have a seat on that light blue bench, would you?” The camp director said after scribbling something down on a clipboard, and Link gave her a thumbs up. He noticed a girl about his age, with short, blonde hair that was braided on top and emerald eyes looking over at him curiously. He gave her a small smile before looking back over at Impa.
“Okay, continuing what I was saying…the campers will be here in half an hour, and the cabins could use some final touch ups.” Impa said. “Now, listen carefully for your cabin assignments…”
“...and finally, Link Firly and Zelda Bosphoramus, you'll be in charge of Cabin Wild.” Impa concluded, looking at Link and the girl next to him.
Guess her name is Zelda, Link thought, looking over briefly at her.
“Right then! You can all go off to your cabins now. There's a map right over there.” Impa said, pointed at a large wooden sign.
Let’s get this started! Link thought, getting up from the bench and walking over to the map.
“Okay…so it's near the dining hall. Perfect.” Link said to himself, studying the map.
“Hello.” Zelda said, tapping Link on the shoulder. He turned around to see her deep green eyes studying his face.
“Hey.” Link said with a playful smile. “So, you're Zelda?” He asked.
“Mm-hm.” Zelda said. “It's a pleasure to meet you, Link Firly. Anyway, without further ado, should we get to our cabin?”
“Yup! I'm pretty sure it's this way.” Link said, jogging off into the field of grass and flowers.
“So, are you excited to be a counselor?” Link asked as he and Zelda walked over to Cabin Wild, their footsteps lining up as they walked through the grass.
“Yes, I'm excited.” Zelda said. “I like kids quite a lot. These bracelets I'm wearing are handmade by the children I tutor in Hateno Village, my hometown.” She continued, showing Link her wrists.
“How cute!” Link said. “I never went to camp as a kid, but it sounds fun to be a counselor. You never know what could happen.”
“Yes, absolutely.” Zelda said. “Oh look, here's the cabin.”
“Let's go inside!” Link said as he raced up onto the wooden porch, opening the door.
There were bunk beds arranged neatly against the wooden walls. Link doubted they'd stay that way for the whole three and a half weeks.
“Where did our things get put?” Link asked.
“Well, probably behind this curtain.” Zelda said, pushing aside a magnetic curtain with a swirling spiral pattern.
“Oh, yeah.” Link said, following behind.
“Aw, this is a cute room.” Zelda remarked, looking around. There was a bed on either side of the room, each with a shelf at its foot and Link and Zelda's bags on top of them respectively. There was a window on the wall in between them that had a fly screen with a small hole in it, where bugs could easily fly through.
“Absolutely.” Link said.
“Right! Time to decorate.” Zelda said excitedly, immediately beginning to unpack her many bags.
“Holy shit, how does your side of the room look so good?” Link asked.
“Oh, I don't know.” Zelda said with a chuckle. “Organization, I guess?”
“Yeah.” Link said smiling. He pulled out his phone to check the time. “Okay, we have ten minutes until the bus gets here with all the campers on it.” He said, putting his phone back in the back pocket of his jean shorts.
“Good to know.” Zelda said. “I'm excited to meet them!”
“Yeah, me too.” Link said.
“Oh, hang on. In the beginning of the meeting the director said that counselors should swap phone numbers so we can talk about camp stuff. We should do that before the kids get here.” Zelda explained.
“Oh, right, I missed that part. Here, I'll put in my contact details.” Link said with a small smile.
“Thanks.” Zelda said. “Now, we should probably head to the meeting spot. I think that's where the buses are coming.” She continued.
“Right behind you.” Link called out as he followed Zelda out of their room.
By the time they arrived, they could already see bus headlights coming from the rolling hills in the distance. The kids would be here any minute. Link used his arm to shield his eyes from the golden sunlight as he looked out over the horizon line.
“It's beautiful here.” He remarked, as his long and messy blonde hair blew in his face. “I'm excited for this.”
“Same here.” Zelda said.
It took a couple more minutes, but the first two buses finally pulled into the parking area. Zelda was holding up a sign that said their cabin name on it, just like the other counselors so the kids knew where to go.
“I feel ridiculous.” She whispered to Link.
“Hah! You don't look ridiculous.” Link told her.
“Yeah, yeah.” Zelda said. “Anyway, Cabin Wild over here!” She called out as a couple of kids that just got off the bus walked over to her and Link’s general vicinity.
“I think there are twelve kids in our cabin…?” Link said, as he counted the kids that were currently standing near them, chatting and looking at the scenery. “We have seven.” He continued.
“Alright.” Zelda said, as two more buses pulled into the parking lot.
Once they had all twelve campers accounted for, Link and Zelda began to walk over to where the cabin was. They knew the way now.
When they got to the cabin, Link and Zelda decided to do a little ice breaker with the campers to get to know them.
“Okay, everyone. Let's all make a circle!” Zelda called out to the kids. They immediately started to try and make a circle, but it ended up looking something like a disfigured oval instead because there was a huge rock that no one wanted to sit on. But it was fine.
“Welcome to Camp Hyrule, campers of Cabin Wild.” Link said with a welcoming smile. “Since we have some time before all your guys’ stuff gets here, I thought we should do a little ice breaker.” He continued.
“Let’s go around our little misshapen oval and say our names, pronouns, age, and…favourite animal.” Zelda added on. “I'll start. My name is Zelda, I go by she/they pronouns, I'm going to be seventeen in two weeks, and my favourite animals are…well, I don't know if I can decide!” She continued. Then she nudged Link with her elbow, it was his turn.
“Oh. I’m Link, I go by any pronouns, I'm seventeen, and I like cats and horses…”
After everyone had shared a little about themselves, the campers’ bags were finally there.
“Alright, let's get unpacked, kids. Your things are here.” Link said when he noticed the truck park near the cabin.
Link and Zelda followed behind the kids as they raced each other to the bunk.
“Please tell me you remember all these kids’ names.” Link whispered.
“Don't worry, there's only twelve of them.” Zelda said. “How hard can it be?”
The campers chatted and laughed as they unpacked their stuff and shoved it into their shelves. Link and Zelda helped them get organised (well really Zelda did most of that. Link was just there for emotional support).
“Hey, Link?” One of the campers asked.
“Wassup?” Link said, turning around to face the kid.
“Why is the camp named Hyrule?”
“That's an excellent question!” Link said. “It's named after a game that the founders of the camp played when they were small.”
“Oh. Cool.” The kid said. “Also when's dinner?”
“Uh, innnnnn…fifteen minutes.” Link said. “I think we're having pizza–wait, fifteen minutes!?” He exclaimed. “We have to go right now or we'll be late!”
“Link, please calm down–” Zelda said, but she was cut off.
“Come on, Cabin Wild. Let’s go eat some food!” Link said as he walked outside with the campers. He seemed to be good with kids, a trait Zelda admired.
—
Three days later, Camp Hyrule was in full swing. The campers had settled into the daily routine and the counselors kept everything running smoothly. Well, usually. Link and Zelda let the kids of Cabin Wild goof off on more than one occasion, but the kids seemed to like them. One day during the designated swimming time, Zelda sat on the shore of the lake, making a series of friendship bracelets as she looked out onto the lake. She saw Link in the distance, splashing around in the glimmering water as he laughed and played with the campers, the sunlight reflecting in his bright blue eyes. Eventually, she saw him tie his long blonde hair into a low ponytail with a hair band she had let him borrow. She couldn't help but smile at the sight. She then felt her face flush. It's probably the summer’s heat, she told herself.
“Hi, Zelda.” One of the kids said as he took a seat next to her on the grass.
“Oh, hello, Phoenix.” Zelda said with a warm smile.”
“Whatcha doing?” The kid asked.
“I'm making friendship bracelets.” Zelda said. “What are you doing?”
“Looking for snacks. Do you have any?” Phoenix asked.
“Hah! I don't, but dinner is in an hour.” Zelda said with a chuckle.
“Okay.” The camper said, staring at a bug in the grass.
“Hey, Zelda?” Phoenix asked after a little moment of silence.
“Yes?” Zelda asked, gazing out at the view.
“Why are you staring at Link? Is it because he's not wearing a shirt?” The camper asked innocently.
Zelda’s face immediately flushed bright red. “What!? No I'm not!” She said, embarrassed.
“Are you suuuuure?” Phoenix asked.
“Yes, I'm very sure.” Zelda said, although she knew she was lying. But she couldn't let a kid know that, they'd never leave her alone about it!
“Why don't you get dried off, Phoenix? You can go back to the bunk to change out of your swimsuit if you like.” Zelda said, desperately trying to change the subject.
“Okay!” Phoenix exclaimed, before bounding off.
Damn, Zelda thought. I did not think a nine year old would ask me such a question.
“Hey, Zelda!” Link said to his co-counselor as he sat down next to her with a towel around his shoulders.
“Oh, hey, Link.” Zelda said, putting down her bracelet yarn.
“Uh, where's Phoenix? I can't find them anywhere.” Link said, looking around the waterfront area.
“Oh, I sent them back to the cabin, they wanted to change out of their swimsuit.” Zelda said, telling a very slight white lie.
“Oh okay.” Link said. “We should probably take the rest of our kids back, too, so they can do the same. It's almost dinner anyway.”
Link looked around the area from where he sat trying to find the kids. His wet blonde hair glistened in the sunlight. He stood up, and called out “Cabin Wild! Come over here!” This didn't elicit a response from the campers, though. So, Link had to stand up on the staircase that led up the hill to be visible.
“Yo, I swear I'm too short for this.” Link said to Zelda with a small smile, getting her to laugh unintentionally. “Campers of Cabin Wild, come to this staircase!” Link called. This time the kids actually listened.
After the pair of counselors gathered up their kids, they began to trek back to the bunk. The sun was setting now, which turned the rays of light golden. Truly a beautiful sight to see on the campground.
“Impa told me it's going to storm heavily tomorrow.” Zelda explained. “I'm not sure if we'll be able to go outside much.”
“Oh, that's too bad.” Link said. He was looking forward to exploring. “Well, it's no problem. We'll have time to chill out in the cabin. A lot of time.” He said.
“Yes.” Zelda said. “I brought tons of art supplies. And we have arts and crafts for our nighttime activity tonight. Surely we can borrow some stuff, that way we can have a way to keep the kids entertained.” She continued. “Oh, I cannot wait to go back to the arts and crafts room. The vibes are immaculate there.”
Link couldn't help but smile, Zelda looked so happy.
“Sorry I'm talking so much!” Zelda said, blushing a little and tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.
“Oh, I don't mind.” Link said. “One thing that many people don't bother to learn about me is that I'm a great listener.”
Zelda couldn't help smiling at this. She found Link adorable.
Wait. Stop it. Zelda thought to herself. Be more serious…