Zelink [One Shots]

| Faith

"I don't remember seeing this when last I was here." Link states while pointing to an enormous monument deep into the Faron woods. "I'm pretty sure this didn't exist a month ago."

"Do you think it appeared after we defeated Ganon?" Zelda inquires, both approaching the tall columns with a dark entrance in the middle.

"I don't know... maybe?"

The two walk closer, and once they reach the stone carved blocks, Zelda tugs on Link's champion tunic, catching his attention.

"Link, look!" Zelda points to the odd shapes carved on the stone. "These carvings... they look like they were made by the same people who carved those same patterns on the pillars scattered around Faron."

"You mean the Zonai?" Link questions, slightly confused.

"Yes! It has the exact same animal carvings: an owl, a boar and a dragon, see?" Zelda continues, her voice excited upon being confronted with another discovery.

"But the Zonai went extinct so long ago... and I'm sure this wasn't here before. How could they have possibly do this if they don't exist anymore?"

Zelda tries her best to make a witty remark about how they really live in a world where a monstrous pig with dark magic seems to wake up from time to time and that both of them carry magic in their blood. Instead, she faces him with a smirk and a glint in her eyes that Link hasn't seen in a long while. "Why don't we go find out?"

Link's eyes lock on hers with an intensity Zelda hasn't seen before. They're so blue, so alive and excited and worried that she can't help but think that they are the most beautiful sight she's ever seen.

"Sure but... what if it's dangerous?" Link asks, one hand coming up to rub his neck mindlessly, his face scrunched up into an adorable pout.

Zelda crosses her arms in her chest, giving him a teasing look. "Is the Hero of Legend... afraid?"

Link's eyes pop open so suddenly that Zelda fights to keep a laugh from bubbling up her throat.

"What?! No! Wha- of course I'm not afraid!" Link stutters, avoiding eye contact with the one who always manages to pull him out of his comfort zone, to push for him, to shake him to his bones with just a few words. "I'm just thinking that I don't really want you to get hurt."

And with that, he starts turning around to leave, but Zelda catches him by his elbow before he has the opportunity to flee. "Why would I get hurt? I'm with you, and we both know we're pretty good together."

Link isn't convinced, for he's still reluctant to follow her inside the cave.

"And I trust in you to keep me away from harm's way."

"You shouldn't." He says in a low murmur, his eyes looking down to where her hand rests on his elbow. "I wasn't capable enough last time."

Upon hearing his words, Zelda's heart tightens in her chest with what she can identify as compassion. Her gaze softens on him, a small smile forming slowly but surely on her lips as she stares at this young warrior in front of her.

"Of course you were. I am here, am I not?" When he doesn't answer nor move, Zelda steps in front of him, one finger tucking below his chin to urge him to look at her while the other rubs soft patterns on the skin of his elbow. "Link, you have saved me more times than I can count. Don't doubt yourself now. I trust you. I believe in you, and I know I would continue to have faith in you even if things had gone wrong."

His eyes are shining once the words leave her mouth, and Zelda knows she's reached his heart.

"Thank you."

"Besides, I wasn't helping you that much that time, was I?" She giggles, mentioning how powerless she was when the Calamity struck one hundred years prior.

Link smiles softly, holding the hand that has left his chin. "You did everything you could. I won't ever blame you for that."

It's now her time to be touched by his words. Link doesn't speak too often, but when he does, she knows it comes from the heart. "I know, Link... I know."

"Shall we go, then?"

Her face brights up like the sun, and soon Link is sure he made the right decision. As if he could resist her enthusiasm...

Their skin is slapped with a cold breeze once their feet echo through the hollow cave. There are some keese flying around that Link is quick to get rid off, while Zelda distances herself from him a bit to analyse the oar deposits that seem to fill the cave with a strong bluish green glow.

"Luminous stone..." Zelda murmurs as she crouches next to the deposits, running one finger on the rough surface. "This cave is filled with them. Maybe it was some kind of mine?" She asks aloud for Link to hear.

Soon he's standing next to her. "Looks like it. Wanna take some?"

Zelda lifts her head to him, a big, beautiful smile crossing her lips in seconds. "Of course!"

Several minutes and saving up twelve luminous stones later the two decide it's time to go home.

"I don't think there's anything else for us to see here. It seems this cave is only a big, glowing home for mice and rats!" Zelda shudders in disgust as the image of a big mice they crossed paths with while mining crosses her mind unwanted. "Let's be off."

But once she lays eyes on Link, her green ones grow wide.

He's looking at the distance, to the deepest side of the cave neither had bothered to explore. His eyes are big, the green light of the stones illuminating the blue on his orbits, making them brighter than they ever were. His fists are clutched on his sides, and his eyebrows seem to be scrunched up in a way Zelda only recognizes from one hundred years ago when they were faced with extreme danger.

She walks over to him, standing on his side, her body facing the pitch black place while her eyes look at his face.

"Link? What is it?" She asks, voice low.

In response, Link's right hand reaches for the Master Sword on his back, and once he holds it on his hand, Zelda gasps when the soft light pulses on the metal surface. "Your sword... does that... does that mean..."

"Stay back." Link whispers, his left hand pushing her carefully behind him, his eyes searching for the source of malice that his sword seems to be warning him about.

Zelda focuses on the pitch black sight before them, peeking through Link's back, her right hand finding support on his left shoulder. Being so close to him always brings her some sense of comfort, of security, of being tied to earth instead of floating to the depths of darkness. He keeps her sane in all aspects, and she finds it amusing how her touch seems to relax his muscles whenever they touch.

However, his muscles don't loosen up this time.

And so she takes a step forward, stopping on his left side.

He opens his mouth once he takes a look at her next to him, but Zelda shushes him immediately. "We're in this together. I can fight too."

Link knows it. Oh, does he know! He knows how good of a fighter she is and he has complete faith in her. So he nods his head swiftly before taking her small hand in his bigger one.

Zelda holds onto it tightly before the two walk towards the source of darkness, and they are sure that with their forces combined there's no evil capable of destroying them.

A/N

Hello everyone!
I hope you enjoyed and give me some feedback if you want!
Love you and stay safe ❤