The Silence Between Them | ✔

13) Friends

⚔ In which Link gets an unexpected offer ⚔

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That fight in the hills of Death Mountain did wonders for my jittery nerves. I really needed something like that to distract me from the disaster this trip is turning out to be.

Two Divine Beasts down, and I've made mistakes that could threaten my position if word got back to the king. First, I let Revali push me around. Revali, of all people! And then the princess had that brilliant idea to get away. I'll hand it to her; it was pretty clever. She shouldn't have gone squealing with excitement so close to the village. No way Revali wasn't a part of that plan to get at me. It's good that I found her quickly because I knew there were monsters near those woods. Then that strange rockslide on Death Mountain. It's damn lucky the princess was inside Vah Rudania and safe. And it's damn lucky I happened to be standing by a Goron with protective powers. And then I left her to deal with those monsters. At that point, I just needed to blow off some serious steam. It worked, at least.

Made me relaxed enough to share some semi-passive-aggressive words with the princess about the cost of this trip that I instantly regretted enough to turn and walk out. I keep fuck messing things up. I'm sure the princess thinks I'm an idiot on top of being rude.

At least now we get to go to Zora's Domain for a while, even if it's only for a few days. We're a day ahead of schedule for the two-week time frame the king gave us, so that's good. I would ask if we could spend even an extra day in the Domain to unwind a little. But I'm not really in the position to ask the princess for anything.

That walk from one stable to the other at the foot of Death Mountain was better than expected. In fact, it was rather beautiful. I've always found the Akkala Region one of the more beautiful parts of Hyrule, with endless rolling hills and lakes. It's always been intriguing, and I hope one day I'll get the chance to truly explore it.

From the stable, it's a short half-day leisurely ride to the Domain. If we didn't have horses to worry about, we could just hike up Upland Zorana surrounding the Domain and make it there in less time. But alas, I don't think the princess would be inclined to make that sort of detour. So, we stick to the roads.

The princess. That's who she is. That's all she should be to me. But on Death Mountain, when the rocks stopped falling and the dust cleared, my heart began pounding and my breath uneven, and all I could think about was her. She filled my thoughts so quickly and so violently that, by instinct, I had screamed her name. It felt oddly natural; it rolled off my tongue like I'd said it a million times before, in many different ways, in a million other lives. I know I wouldn't think like that if I was concerned for her because it was my job. I actually honestly care for her. And I think everything got a little more complicated from that point on.

Like when she washed and bandaged my cut after the fight. That indeed complicated things. I know she was just being practical and doesn't particularly care if I live or die. In fact, she might prefer it because, without the Hero, the prophecy couldn't come to pass. But when she spoke so softly while she helped with the cut and was so gentle, I let myself pretend she didn't hate me, even though I didn't mean to. The moment I noticed, I shut the thought down, but the fact I thought about it to begin with, stuck with me. And now I can't stop thinking about it.

I ride up next to the princess in question as we approach the Great Zora Bridge.

"Your highness, I have a favor to ask you."

I try not to laugh at the shock on her face when she turns to me. Honestly, is she still startled by the sound of my voice?

"What is it?" she asks.