Linktober 2023

Day 3, Friend/Helper/Companion

Link was endlessly grateful he and Zelda didn't bring their dog on this particular adventure. However he felt terrible for leaving him.

Tags: Link & NPCs, Angst, TotK Spoilers

The first place Link went after leaving Lookout Landing was Hateno. He wanted to go home. There were things he left undone, people he left so unexpectedly for two weeks. And he wanted to sleep in his own bed, and wear his own clothes, well-worn and ratty as they may be.

He walked through town, bags under his eyes and pace sluggish on the back of his horse he last left at Lookout. People waved at him as he walked by, but he could plainly see the look in their eyes; the questions, the concerns. Where is Zelda? He is never without her. What happened to them? He looks like he did when he wandered here five years ago. He ignored them and went to their house.

From across the bridge, he could see someone had been there. Zelda's garden looked nice, and a few lights were on inside. He rode up and pitched his horse in the little stable and walked in. The door was already unlocked. Perhaps there was someone inside.

He was greeted by excited barking, and the next thing he knew he was on his ass, laughing as the dog licked his face relentlessly.

"Hey, Buddy! How've you been?" Link asked, his voice pitched up to match the dog's chipper attitude.

Once the dog – named Navi by Zelda – had stopped his kisses, Link stood.

"Sir Link," a woman said from inside the house, her voice filled with relief, "you've returned."

"Uhhh, yeah..." Link said, rubbing the back of his neck. How was he supposed to explain what happened when he wasn't sure himself?

"They said you'd gone missing.... where is Princess Zelda?" she asked.

Her and Navi seemed to realize this at the same time. The dog anxiously wandered around Link, looking for the Princess. Mrs. Reede, the mayor's wife Zelda hired to keep their house and feed Navi while they were gone, looked around Link, trying to see her.

"We... haven't found her yet, " Link signed. Mrs. Reede stared for a moment, stupefied. It had been a long time since Link felt the need to sign to people. He'd gotten so much better at using his voice.

"That is quite troubling," Mrs. Reede says, then steps away. "Please, come in. This is your home, after all."

That hurt a little bit. It wasn't exactly his house anymore. He let Zelda move in and let her decorate it. They decided to give the weaponry back to their owners and replace the holders with paintings once Zelda picked up the hobby. She kept a garden in the front and the back, and flowers in all the pots. She made a study in the well, though, because she needed time alone. Link could respect that.

He entered, and the lack of her hit him like a ton of bricks. She was everywhere in here, and he was wondering now if he should get a bed at the inn instead.

"I was just finishing," Mrs. Reede was saying. "Navi has been well, but he misses you both."

"Yes..." Link says, shaking out of his trance, shaking off the overwhelming sense of wrong. "I need to pay you," he says, more a half thought than anything.

"Oh, don't worry about it Sir-" Mrs. Reede starts.

"No, no. You've been coming every day for two weeks unexpectedly. I need to give you something," Link says hurriedly, looking for any kind of excuse to not think of Zelda right now. "I'm a little short on Rupees right now, but I know we have a stash in here somewhere," he says, walking under the stairs and sticking his arm into a pot.

He pulls out a handful of Rupees and begins counting. "Would two hundred be enough?"

"Why, that's too much, Sir Link."

"Nonsense. Zelda would want-" and there she is again. Thinking of her is inevitable. Inescapable. As if sensing his distress, Navi came up and rubbed his head against Link's knee. "Um, I'll be gone... I think. In and out of town for a while. More than usual."

"Trying to find Princess Zelda?" Mrs. Reede asks softly, her eyes alight with something akin to fear.

"Yes, I'm going to find Zelda. But also..." he started, debating saying anything else about it. "Something is happening. Again. And I am going to do my best to prevent it from getting bad."

Mrs. Reede's eyes shone with terror then, remembering what they had just begun to rebuild. "Oh, Sir-"

"Don't scare the people. Just tell them to... get ready. Store food, gather weapons, catch up on some fighting drills, that sort of thing. Meanwhile I'll make sure they never have to use it."

She nods, sighing. Almost resigned to such an outcome. Or like she expected him to say nothing less. "I will tell my husband to spread the word."

Link handed her the Rupees and sent her off. There was nothing he wanted more than to sleep.

He cooked himself a meal in his own kitchen, humming songs older than the wind. He turned and asked for salt, only to realize he had to get the salt himself. He threw his laundry and told nobody in particular he would wash it tomorrow. He changed and crawled into bed, leaving enough room for Zelda to crawl up next to him, excited to run his finger through her hair, only to remember her side would stay cold. Navi slept on the floor normally, and Zelda would kill him for letting Navi on the sheets, but Link called the dog up, and he curled up near Link's feet. Just to have that extra weight there. Navi missed Zelda, too.

He woke up in the morning with tears in his eyes, jolting to the waking world from a nightmare about losing her. Again. Another addition to his normal terrors he had while asleep. But having Zelda there helped him... he couldn't imagine how bad they would be now that she was gone. He dressed as soon as possible, rousing Navi and let her outside. They walked through the town together, talking to the people, warning them of what to come. He answered the same questions fifty thousand times. Then he went back to the house, said goodbye to Navi, put a note on the door for Mrs. Reede and left without another word to anybody.

He had to find Zelda. And he couldn't stay in that house without her.  

Okay this is a bit of a stretch, but I thought it was cute. But like, dogs are friends and companions, and Mrs. Reede was helping them, right? Also Navi for a name just made sense. Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Comments and votes give me life <3