Seashells | BotW

Chapter 19 -

T.w.
Mention of Death
Crying

3rd person POV

Link had returned from evacuating the others in around a week, and made his way quickly to Lurelin Village. When he arrived, everyone seemed to be doing well. The Zora had made their way to the Village, arrived safely and were welcomed by the Villagers. They had made themselves comfortable around land, and had made a small border one mile out from the beach so they couldn't swim too far away from the village.

"Link!" Sidon smiled when he saw him gliding down from the Shrine above the village. He caught him and hugged him tightly.

"Everyone got here safely?" Link asked, looking at the Zora swimming in the water.

"Yep,"Sidon smiled, setting Link on the sand. "Except for my father. He hasn't arrived yet."

"Well, he is rather large, and it is quite a long swim here," Link giggled. Sidon smiled softly, but his expression quickly faded.

"I know," he said. "I'm just worried. He said he would be here in four days. It's been over a week." Link frowned and hugged Sidon again.

"I'm sure he'll be here soon," he reassured Sidon. "Oh, where is Zelda?" Sidon pointed to a small medical hut with a campfire in front of it.

"She's in there," he said. "She cut her leg on a branch when walking around. It's nothing too bad." Link turned around and looked at the other small houses in the village.

"Do you Zora have sleeping quarters?" He asked.

"A few," he said. "Most have volunteered to sleep in the water, but I wanted to sleep in a house, and they already had extra room in their Inn, so.. me and Zelda are going to sleep in separate huts. You can sleep in whichever one you want. My bed is large enough to fit us both, but Zelda's hut had two beds." Link hummed.

"I'll sleep in Zelda's," he decided. "I have nothing against sharing a bed, I just take up a bit of room when I sleep," he laughed at himself. They both turned when they heard footsteps in the sand approaching them rapidly.

"Prince Sidon!" One of the residents of Lurelin Village called, stopping when he reached them. "I bring news," he said. "..dire news." Sidon's small smile faded and he looked at the ground.

"Oh.." he said. "Well, I suppose dire news happens. What is it?"

"It's about your father." Sidon's eyes widened with shock and he squeezed Link's hand. "..I'm so sorry, Prince Sidon. Your father, King Dorphan, has been found dead in the Lanayru Sea. His body was corrupted my malice, and the water caused the malice to panic and it killed him, along with itself."

Sidon's eyes welled with tears and he squeezed Link's hand tighter.

"I see," he said, his voice breaking and uneven. He cleared his throat and wiped his eyes. "Well, thank you for telling me." Link wrapped his arms around Sidon's body in a soft hug.

"I'm so sorry, Sidon-" he was cut off by Sidon wiping his eyes again with both hands.

"I'm sorry," he said to no one specific. "Please excuse me." He walked to his hut, closing the door behind him.

He stayed in his hut for days on end without emerging one time. Link had eventually gotten worried about him.

He stepped up the stairs to Sidon's hut one night, softly knocking on the wooden door.

"Sidon?" He asked. "Sidon, I'm worried about you. You haven't come out of there in days. Are you okay?" There was no response, but he heard fabric rustling from inside. Link paused before knocking again. "..Sidon, I'm coming in if you-" The door opened from the inside.

Sidon met Link's eyes at the door. He had bags under his eyes, he looked incredibly tired, and he was shaking.

"Hi, Link.." he said unenthusiastically. Link's jaw dropped at the sight of his friend looking this way.

"Oh, Goddess, Sidon," he frowned. "Y- you.. I.." he sighed. "You haven't been taking care of yourself, have you?" He asked. Sidon shook his head.

"Not really."

"..do you want something to eat?" He asked.

"No, I don't," Sidon said deadpan. "But I'm assuming you're going to get me some anyway, so, go crazy, Seashell." Link frowned and hugged Sidon.

"Your heartbeat feels nice," he said. "Have I ever told you that?" He felt Sidon shake his head.

"No, you haven't," he said.

"It feels really nice," Link repeated. "It's fast."

"Actually, this is the normal heart rate for a Zora," he corrected. Link hummed.

"Interesting," he said. "Zora have much faster heartbeats than Hylians do, then." Sidon knelt down and felt Link's heartbeat by pressing the side of his head against his chest.

"Oh, wow.." he said, his eyes widening with some kind of awe. "It's slow." Link smiled at him.

"It's normal pace," he said. "For a Hylian." Sidon smiled wider and stood.

"I suppose I should go to sleep now," he reminded himself.

"I have to get you food first," Link said. "Stay awake for another fifteen minutes, and I'll get you food." Sidon smiled at him, and Link walked down to the beach with a fishing harpoon and a lit torch in his hands.

He held the torch near the water, which attracted a few fish to the shore, and he stabbed one with the harpoon. He repeated this process until he had a small pile of large fish on the sand next to him. He grabbed the fish and cooked them at a cooking pot next to Sidon's hut. When he was done, he brought the fish to Sidon. He knocked quietly on his door.

"Sidon," he said. "I got you food." He got no response. He slowly opened the door and saw Sidon half asleep sitting up in his large bed. He smiled weakly at Link, and Link sat next to him on the bed, his arms full of roasted fish.

"Thank you for the food," Sidon said, grabbing one of them from him. He took a small bite and sighed softly.

"Do you like it?" Link asked him. He nodded.

"Yes, it's very good," he said. "Although that is a lot of fish." Link looked down at all the fish he had.

"Oh. Yeah, I didn't know how much you wanted. I assumed you hadn't eaten the whole time you've locked yourself in here."

"Well, you assumed correctly," Sidon sighed sadly. "I haven't eaten anything, I've barely slept, I've been crying.. no one ever sees this side of me, and, honestly, I'd like it to stay that way." Link frowned and leaned against his arm.

"It's okay to have feelings, Sidon," Link reassured him. "You're allowed to cry. Grief is normal. You aren't doing anything wrong." Sidon leaned his head on Link's.

"I know," he said. "It just doesn't feel right to me. Since the death of my sister, I've barely felt any sad emotion. I knew that, as the Prince, the heir to the Zora Throne, I had to keep myself in a mental state I could lead in. Now that mental state is gone." Link hugged him softly.

"You can squeeze me if you need to," he smiled. "I'm squishy. Like a stress ball. You can squeeze me if you need to get your stress out." Sidon smiled and pulled Link into his lap, squeezing his body tightly.

"Thank you, Link."