Across the Wild | A Zelink Story

Chapter 14: Link

It's Vacation Time!

 A golden ray of sunlight hitting my eye, waking me. I run my eyes and sit up. Zelda stands a few feet away at the table, her brow furrowed. She's examining a recipe book and has flour covering her arms and dusting her clothes. I stand up and look over her shoulder as she peels the paper wrap off a stick of butter.

"You might want to soften that first," I tell her. I've found that softening the butter with heat makes it easier to bake with.

Zelda jumps and yelps, "Link! I didn't hear you wake up. H-how'd you sleep?"

I didn't realize that I was sneaking up on her. I guess that being naturally quiet has grown on me in the months I spent in the Wild avoiding monsters and Yiga Clan. "Sorry I scared you," I apologize. "I slept fine. What are you making?"

Her eyes darken. "Fruit cake. I'm not great at cooking though."

I smirk. "Let me help. It took me a few tries to get the recipe right too." Together, we manage to make the cake and eat it quickly. I swear that it tastes sweeter than usual as I lick the frosting off my fingers.

When we finish, Zelda says, "Today, we'll start making our way to Lurelin Village. I assume you know the way?"

"Yeah," I reply. "Let's go to Purah's Lab first, and from there we should be able to fly most of the way." We quickly pack our few necessities, then set off on foot through town and up the hill to Purah's Lab. When we arrive, Symin is weeding the small garden. He nods at us in greeting.

Zelda runs in to talk with Purah quickly, then comes out. I lead her to the edge of the cliff and aim for the shrine in the long cliff. From there, it's just a mile to Lurelin. I take the Sheikah Slate from Zelda and place a round bomb on the ground, making sure it doesn't roll away. I also summon a cube bomb and give it to Zelda.

"Listen," I tell her. "When I say, you need to throw that bomb exactly between me and the other bomb. And when I say, explode the ball one. Got it?"

"Okay," she says. "But why are we doing this?"

"You'll see," I reply, taking out a bow. "Now hold on tight." She grabs onto my shoulder. I run to the cliff's edge and jump, time slowing to a crawl. Zelda throws the bomb behind me as I take out ready my paraglider with the hand not holding my bow. I nod and Zelda presses the button on the Slate, detonating the round bomb. The cube bomb blasts into my back, and we fly across the Necluda Sea, landing with a painful impact on the ground in front of the shrine.

"What the hell, Link!? We could have died!" Zelda exclaims furiously.

"Well, excuse me, Princess. I just want to get to our vacation place faster. Bomb launching is a tried-and-true method of speedy transport. So chill out. And," I continue, gesturing at the beaches and tropical blue waters near Lurelin, "that's where we're going."

Zelda looks at the tropical view and thinks for a moment. "I see. However, we will be talking about your reckless attitude in the future, Link." She tries to sound stern, but I can hear the excitement in her voice.

"Good. Okay, this time hold onto me better because the flight will be a little bit longer," I explain.

"But no more—what did you call it...bomb launching?" Zelda asks warningly.

I smirk. "Right." She holds onto me and I jump off the cliff extending the paraglider above me.

We soar through the air, nearly hitting an angry seagull. When we finally touch down on a beach, Zelda asks confusedly, "Where's Lurelin Village?"