Between Timelines: A Legend of Zelda Fanfic

Chapter 5

"I'm gonna get a restraining order for you, Yunobo," says Sidon the next morning, yawning loudly, "you're gonna have to sleep at least 50 feet away from me."

I giggle, whispering to Riju, who is sitting next to me and eating her breakfast of cheesy bread, that even from 50 feet away, you could probably still hear Yunobo's snoring. She snorts, and then we're both giggling, doubling over in our sleep deprived state, even though it really isn't all that funny. Yona, who's helping Link make breakfast for the kids, looks over at us and shakes her head, smiling.

Finally stopping my hysterical laughter, I take in my surroundings while catching my breath. Our campsite is on a small raised bump of dry, soft grass that provided a relatively comfy place to sleep last night, considering we didn't have beds or sleeping bags. All around us, shallow water spreads in a vast expanse, dotted with lily pads and grass and trees, as well as a few other small, dry hills like ours.

While their breakfast is cooking, the 5 children play on a big boulder off to one side of our campsite, surrounded by a few trees, wildflowers growing at its base. Rita and Addison seem to be acting out some kind of duel in the mud near the bottom of the boulder, already covered and in desperate need of a bath. The Rito fledgling is launching himself off the top of the stone again and again, trying to practice his flying. The little Gorons both stand stoically at the top of the boulder, posing for an imaginary crowd, and then rush at each other, colliding in the center and trying to push each other off.

When their breakfast is ready, they rush over, almost barreling into Yona, who is holding multiple plates of food in her hands. The young Rito plops down next to me and Riju, seemingly perfectly content to sit in silence with himself, eating his bread with a contemplative look on his little face.

"Hi, I'm Zelda, " I say, sticking out my hand towards him, "what's your name?"

He hesitates before responding, wary, but finally takes my hand and shakes it with his small wing, still fluffy with fledgling feathers.

"I'm Tulin," he says softly, "my dad is Teba, the new chief of the Rito. He was- I think he and Mama were taken by those scary guys in the red jumpsuits."

I wince. Of course. Some of these kids probably have family members who didn't escape, I remind myself, they couldn't have been at the coronation by themselves.

"Are the scary guys very mean? Do you think they'll be ok? " he whispers sadly.

"Of course!" I reassure him, trying to look confident and comforting, "the chief of the Rito can definitely hold off some weird little people with ponytails, right?" He giggles.

"Besides, " I say, " do you see that man over there?" I point to Link.

"Yes," says Tulin, "that's Link. I met him a few years ago when he came to stop the big mean bird. Is he gonna help Mama and Dad?"

"I know he is," I tell him, "he's already working out a plan to get them back, I'm sure of it. Don't worry, okay? Everything will be fine."

He nods, a serious expression on his face, as if it's a very important task for him to not worry.

Across the campsite from us, Sidon stands up, noticing everyone wrapping up with breakfast.

"We should get going, everyone," he says, in the commanding voice of someone who will someday be king of the Zora, "the walk to the Domain from here can be a little treacherous, especially if you aren't Zora, and you can't swim up the river. It'll be nice to get there before nightfall, that way we can sleep in some nice beds, and not on this lovely grass."