Sheikah - The fate of us: Part II

Chapter 9: About decisions and consequences

POV Impa

Zelda approaches me with her head down, her face twisted in disappointment. A small puddle forms at her feet, having just stepped out of the waters of the Spring of Courage in Faron.

"It didn't work, Impa," she says, her voice filled with despair.

Since turning thirteen a few weeks ago, Zelda has been allowed to begin her pilgrimages to some of the sacred springs of Hyrule. Except for the one in Lanayru, which only allows older, more mature visitors, the Springs of Courage and Power — in Faron and Eldin, respectively — are now accessible to the princess in her quest to awaken her powers.

Zelda spent the last four hours meditating in the small pond, fully concentrating. However, it seems her efforts were in vain.

"It's okay, dear," I say, opening my arms to comfort her. "It was only the first visit. It'll probably take a few tries before you succeed."

Still in my embrace, Zelda shrugs, as if she doesn't quite believe that.

"Yeah," she replies simply.

She pulls away, but I keep my arm around her shoulders as we walk out of the spring, where the other members of our group are waiting. The atmosphere that greets us is one of expectation.

"Well?" Bo asks, eager.

I shake my head slightly, signaling that there's no good news. The air immediately becomes heavy with concern. Link — part of the group at the king's insistence — stands a bit apart, watching Zelda with a furrowed brow, but he says nothing.

Deen approaches us and gently ruffles Zelda's hair. "Don't worry, princess. If it were easy, it wouldn't be any fun. What would the bards sing about later? 'And then she went to the first spring and solved all the problems on the first try'?" he sings playfully. "Not very epic, is it?"

"I guess not," Zelda replies with a faint laughter.

I glance at Deen, grateful. He gives me a small, discreet smile, which I return.

Since the day we opened up about our pasts, Deen has stopped his blatant flirting. Now, when we cross paths in the Castle corridors, he just waves and smiles politely before going on his way. During training sessions, he no longer tries to touch me under false pretenses, and he's stopped making indecent comments. The animosity between us has dissolved into a strange camaraderie and understanding. Additionally, I haven't seen him with other women or tourists since.

And for some reason, I now feel even more shy and flustered in his presence than I did before.

When he was explicit about his intentions, I knew what to expect. I knew how to keep defenseful, how to close off, protect myself. But now he says things like:

"Here, let me carry your bag back to camp. It's too heavy," and smiles kindly.

And what am I supposed to do with that?!

So I just nod, unsure of how to react, hand him my backpack, and we walk in silence to where our tents and mounts are.

"Well, folks, if we leave now, we'll reach Outpost Village by nightfall," Deen announces as he straps my bag onto my horse.

We all nod in agreement and quickly prepare for the journey. In a few minutes, we're on our way. Outpost Village, a small settlement at the foot of a large stone wall, is inhabited mostly by Hylian soldiers. Positioned about a third of the way back to the Castle, it's one of our stops for rest.

I'm not particularly eager to return there. We stayed in this village two nights ago, but I can't say I rested well. We were not met with hostility, but... there was no warmth either.