Linktober 2023

Day 27, Plants/forest

Link wandered to the forest, one that's said to be the final resting place for a hero of ages past. Some have said they could hear the whispers of the dead here. But Link found the place rather peaceful.

Tags: Link & Zelda, pre-botw, Ghosts

Zelda worked harder than anyone Link knew, he had to give her that. She was determined, always had been, to awaken her power. He admired that in her.

Too bad she hated him, or else he'd tell her these things.

Or he supposes he would. He wasn't in much of a habit of telling anyone anything. But with Zelda, their burdens were so similar, he thought. If she allowed it, he figured he could talk to her.

But she didn't. And she most likely wouldn't.

It kinda went against her father's plan to bring them closer, a united front against the Calamity. Link wasn't stupid. He knew from the beginning that was the King's plan, even if he never said it. Zelda must've know, too, if she was fighting it so much. Perhaps this was just another way to get back at her father. Perhaps it was a mixture of his various theories he thought about to explain her hatred.

Link's mind wandered, his grip firm on the hilt of the legendary blade, his mind aware of their surroundings while Zelda prayed at Temple of Time her father sent her to for a few days. He had done a full sweep of the Plateau yesterday while Zelda was sleeping. He cleared out a nearby monster camp, just to be sure.

Now he stood still, listening to Zelda's hopeless prayers while watching for danger he knew wouldn't come.

Unable to stand still any longer, he cleared his throat. Zelda paused and turned. She looked annoyed.

He excused himself to go to the bathroom. Zelda allowed it, thankfully, with a wordless wave over her shoulder. Link knew she was too stubborn to try and run while she was praying. Despite how much she loved trying to escape him, her duty was held higher than her annoyance with his presence.

Link, with this knowledge in mind, wandered a little further than he usually would. There wasn't really anywhere for her to run here, anyway. He had extra guards posted around the Plateau that he nodded to as he walked by, and they snapped to attention as he walked. Unless she pulled some insane stunt, there was no escaping. Not after last time. But Link would be damned to let that happen again.

He wandered to the forest, one that's said to be the final resting place for a hero of ages past. Some have said they could hear the whispers of the dead here. But Link found the place rather peaceful. Maybe because, as it turns out, he and these heroes share a spirit. Perhaps they welcomed him – treated him differently than they would other intruders. Would he be buried here, too, when his time finally came? He didn't like to think about it.

He did have to go to the bathroom. But after that, he let himself wander a bit more. He relished in the feeling of the wild, despite being only a short walk away from civilization. He wandered through the whispering trees and tried to listen to the whispers of the dead, but heard nothing. So he took to looking at the flowers. He took out his mini sketchbook and started to doodle some of the more interesting specimens. Maybe he could research them later on. He enjoyed learning to cook different things with wild ingredients.

By the time he decided to go back to the temple, he had a few pages full of different mushrooms and flowers he didn't know the benefits of. When he returns to the door of the temple and tapped his sword against the stone to let Zelda know he returned. She didn't turn, didn't skip a beat. Didn't care. He sighed.

That night, in Zelda's little room made just for pilgrimages like this, they sat inside. The stone floor was engraved with the symbol of Nayru, the golden goddess of Wisdom. Zelda glares at it with distaste. The two of them eat dinner there. Link gave his men a little time off, and he could hear them outside, laughing and talking. How could they be so cheerful in a place of such damning weight? Can't they feel the eyes upon them?

"You can go eat with them," Zelda says softly. Link glances up, and her eyes are still on her food.

Link scoffs in response. It was upfront, but he bet it was a trick.

"I'm not going to run," she says, and he thinks there's actually a hint of sincerity in her voice. "I'm far too... tired for that."

He could definitely hear the disappointment, the bitterness. The prayers yielded nothing, once again. He understands, probably more than anyone else, what she's thinking. But damn his cursed tongue, he says nothing to try and soothe that ache for her.

Seeing a little opportunity, Link took out his sketchbook. He cleared his throat and signed when Zelda looked up, "Do you know what these are? I found them in the forest." He handed her the sketchbook.

She silently flipped through the pages, visibly pondering the scrawled drawings.

"Well, I can't be exactly certain, since the drawings aren't very good-" ouch, "but I think they could be of some sort of medicinal value. If I could see them in person, it would certainly help. They do look rather familiar."

Zelda looks at him, a silent question. Link smiles. "We can spare a while tomorrow afternoon before we depart." After all, he serves the Princess directly, not the King. So what if they spend an extra hour?

She looks surprised at this but smiles and nods.

Link feels as if something is changing. Like he can hear the excited whispers of the dead, deep within the forest. Like the spirits are rooting for them.