Too Far | Botw Sidlink/Zelink

2.) From the Depths

Link and Zelda has started making their way to Zora's domain on foot. Well, rather Zelda was on horseback and Link was on foot. They left it at a stable in the Necluda region to heal due to a bokoblin ambush. Zelda had escaped unscathed only because she had the horse. Link however had several wounds that could get worse if not atteneded to soon. They were not life threatening, however caused a lot of pain from the strenuous activity of walking and fighting occasional battles. Princess Zelda was so busy with trying to restore Hyrule to its former glory, that she had not allowed Link to speak his mind and situation. In the Hylian Champion's opinion, she was pushing herself too much to fufil this dream of hers.

The hero's right ankle was badly sprained from being knocked off of the platform of a larger bokoblin camp. He had already pulled the arrow out of his left shoulder and bandaged the gash with an extra piece of fabric. Luckily it did not seem to have hit an artery. He was more worried about his ribs. The Hylian Champion had lost his footing when the arrow hit him in the shoulder and had sent him over the edge of the second platform.

Link took the time to lift up his tunic for a moment. A large multicolored bruise was forming on the right side of his torso. He winced when he touched the tender skin, but his physical examination of his injuries ended early when Zelda shouted from ahead.

"Link! There is no time to mess around. We must be on our way to the domain. So please, make haste!" Zelda shouted from ahead, "If we continue at the pace we are currently moving at, we can arrive before sundown."

The princess hadn't bothered to actually look at him, only a slight turn of her head so her words would go farther. After she was done speaking, the horse quickened his pace due to the gentle kick of her heel.

Link sighed audibly and picked up his speed. "What a pain," he muttered under his breath. The hero was starting to get angry about this. "You just keep asking me to do things for you. First it's save Hyrule, next it's make you a meal, then we make our way to Zora's domain. Faster Link! Make haste Link! We want to get to the domain by sundown! Blah blah blah! I haven't even gotten a simple thank you yet."

"Did you say something Link?" The princess called from ahead.

The Champion recomposed himself and spoke, "No."

Zelda seemed to hesitate, as if to say "I don't believe you." But she soon gave another gentle kick and moved onward.

•••

The pair had finally stopped for a meal break. Link was near the breaking point, filled with anger and exhaustion.

Princess Zelda sat by the fire writing in her little notebook of hers before looking up, "Link, I know you make a good Pepper Steak, would you be so kind as to-OH MY GODDESS!"

Link stopped what he was doing as Zelda finally noticed. The apples he was holding fell to the ground and were most likely bruised now. Zelda cupped his cheek lightly.

"You are injured, why did you not say something earlier?! If I had known I would have taken care of your wounds!"

"I've already taken care of them." Link grit his teeth trying not to lash out at her for taking several hours to notice. He looked down at her eyes, which were filled with anger and worry. The champion turned and started walking away. Neither of them had realized that they were dangerously close to the edge of an overhang. At least it was over water.

"Please make us dinner so that we may continue on our journey to Zora's Domain!"

At least she said please this time, but with that last demand Link finally broke. That ancient anger rose surfaced from the depths of his mind.

"I don't think you realize everything I have done for this country and most especially you!"

"I beg your pardon?! Could you kindly repeat that?"

"You already know what I said!"

Heavy rain had started to fall while they were fighting. There was no telling what time it was because of how dark and dense the clouds were. Lightning started hitting the area around them. Link had forgotten to take off his equipment, which was all metal. Lighting was attracted to metal. . .

"I beg to differ! I have always been grateful for your troubles."

"Don't lie! All you ever do is ask things of me. It happens nonstop! I finally defeated Ganon and the first thing you ask me to do is head to Zora's Domain with you! You kept telling me to hurry up without even noticing that I was injured! And now you're asking me to make a meal?!"

"You could have said something about your wounds you know!"

"Well excuse me Princess, but I regret to inform you that I did not have the chance."

Zelda scoffed, "Jump off a cliff!"

Right after the princess said that, disaster struck. Just like the lightning strike that had thrown Link over the edge from its explosive force.

Link didn't realize what had happened until he felt the sizzling pain of lightning and the sensation of falling. The only thing he knew was that everything hurt like hell. The last thing he remembered was cold water engulfing him until all was black.

The realization of what Zelda had just said hit her like an angry flock of cuccos. And the fact that the hero was sent off the edge of a cliff didn't help either. Ditching all of their equipment and her horse, she sprinted down the mountain without a care. There was a small lake that wasn't large in circumference, however was very deep. The Princess did not hesitate to jump in and try to help even though she was not the best at swimming.

Zelda could barely see Link in the dark water. She was starting to run out of air and things were starting to blur.

'This is it. We're going to die here aren't we?' Zelda thought to herself. The last thing she felt was a large arm wrapping around her torso . . .

•••

The Zora Prince, Sidon was swimming through one of the rivers. As a Zora, he had better eyesight and sense of smell in the water. The shark man decided to go look for the Princess and her chosen knight, he trusted them to arrive on schedule of course. But he couldn't help but feel they something was wrong. The feeling had only gotten worse as he entered a river connecting to one of the smaller lakes in the Lanayru region.

The smell of blood wafted through the  usually peaceful waters. It started to make the Zora wondered if a wounded animal had ended up in the waters, so Sidon decided to check the area out. Once he got closer the smell got worse and the waters were now a dark red.

Beside the Zora's left side floated a small blue pieces of cloth. Strangely enough, it looked to be burnt. 'But why would it be burnt? I'm underwater.' thought the prince. He grabbed the fabric and part was still warm. As he examined it, there was a pattern that looked strangely familiar.

Then Sidon realized, that this piece if blue fabric was part of Link's champion tunic. He started looking around him frantically and was about ready to swim to the surface until he spotted him.

His wonderful sweet starfish was floating through the water limply, with horrible burns coating his left side. The male Zora gingerly grabbed his love and started swimming to the surface until he saw somebody else who just closed her eyes. 'Is this the Hyrulean Princess that Link speaks of?' Sidon thought to himself. He grabbed the young woman as well and continued on his way to the surface.

Once on the shore, the woman immediately spit out the water and started coughing. She sat up and started directly into Sidon's eyes, which he had just removed from Link in his lap. From the looks of it, she was unscathed. So why was the Zora's wonderful star in this condition?

The prince summoned all the confidence he could and spoke strongly, despite his wish to cry over the injured state of his lover. His voice came out sounding rather angry than concerned. "What in Hyrule happened here?"