Out-Voiced (BotW fanfic) (on permanent hiatus)

6 - Link

Exhausted, Link bought a variety of weapons, shields and armor sets from the merchant Zelda had interacted with only minutes ago.

"We'll start tomorrow."

And there was no turning back.

Link waited for Zelda to fall asleep before getting up.

It was always so difficult to fall asleep after waking up...

So he spent his night thinking and went to tame some horses for the following day.

It was a dark night, the clouds covering the moon. The only lights were the stars and the campfire next to the stable.

And so he tamed two wild horses—one with a brown coat and a pale blonde mane for himself, and another one that was pure white for Zelda.

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Zelda woke to the whinnying of horses the next morning, eyes wide as she caught the sight of Link holding the reins of the two horses.

"Oh Hylia! Link, when did you-?"

"A few hours ago," he replied with a shrug. "We need to get a move on. What do you want to name your horse?"

Zelda paused for a moment, thinking. "Nayru," she replied after a few moments. "After the goddess of wisdom."

Link nodded and registered the two horses, naming his own Epona. He wasn't quite sure why, it just felt...

Right.

After the horses were registered, Link gave Zelda some armor to change into, and so she discarded her bloody clothes and changed.

After she adjusted a bit, it seemed to fit her right.

She wasn't wearing massive metal plates, but it would definitely soften certain blows.

Zelda had complained, at first. "It doesn't seem as safe-"

"Learn the movements before you restrict them," Link said as he shook his head, returning his gaze to the grassy fields in front of them. "We've got to make it to the Woodland Stable by the end of tomorrow."

He helped Zelda up onto her horse, thinking about the situation.

Zelda's sister was killed by an enemy with an unknown identity... Now, she was fleeing with Link to gather the Champions to ensure her safety and bring an end to their unidentified foes...

I need to keep her safe...

The two took several breaks for Link to help her out; at one point, Zelda had somehow managed to get herself tangled up in the reins.

After a little bit of panic, Link managed to get her untangled.

Once that debacle was over with, things went pretty smoothly for the rest of the trip—aside from the appearance of a member of the Yiga Clan, who Link took out nearly instantly.

Finally, night was falling and the two needed to sleep, so Link set up a fire.

He held out a sword to Zelda, a question in his eyes.

"I'm ready to learn."

In an instant, Link had knocked her to floor, and the breath had escaped her lungs.

"Again," he stated. "One of the best ways to learn is through trial and error."

Her stance slowly changed as she swung her sword at Link, who ruthlessly kept knocking her over.

"Focus on your center of gravity—balance yourself."

"...right."

After a few more swings, she still hadn't landed any.

"Are we sure trial and error is going to work for me?"

"It's your first time training. You aren't going to land any hits on me tonight, no matter how talented you are."

"...I see."

"Give it a few days before switching to another learning style—you'll have plenty of time to learn."

"But what about you? Didn't win your first sparring session?"

"After lots of training. I couldn't land a single hit on my father the first time I held a sword—it's no surprise that you can't land one on me, either."

"What? But that's-"

"The way it is. No matter how talented you are, you have to start somewhere. The first time an artist picks up a brush will not be the same time they learn how to use it. The first time a writer grabs a pen is not the same time that they write an award-winning novel...

"It takes time, no matter how you look at it. I hope you're willing to put in that time."

"Of course I am! I'll become even better than you with time, just you watch!" Zelda's determined expression caused him to laugh.

"We'll see about that."

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A/N: I'm sorry this took me so long to write... I'd really have rather been writing something else, but I promised that I would finish writing this story, so I will...

I hope you enjoyed this chapter anyways.