Couple of the Wild (ZeLink)

Chapter 14: Adventures Beginning

Link watched as the golden haired girl slept next to him. She held his arm close to her warmth as her breathing became calmer and calmer. Link sighed, having now calmed his own self down after an hour of excruciating fear and uncomforting thoughts. It's not as if he didn't like her closeness or her affection, if anything he wanted it from the moment they had defeated Calamity Ganon. However he felt unworthy of her affection. It took him a hundred years to save her, failing during the Calamity's arrival and then taking his time preparing when he had awoken.

His mind had traveled to the events that had taken place only about an hour prior. He hadn't actually left Zelda. He had teleported back to the Shrine of Resurrection when he had left Zelda in the forest to give the appearance he had actually left her, and had been watching over her from the cliff side. He had actually believed she had been doing pretty well. He had laughed a bit when she had tried to shoot the boar, though he was a bit weary when it charged at her. However, Link had stayed for a specific reason.

Zelda had camped out before. This wasn't new to her. Being alone was new, but actually camping was at the very least normal for her. They had traveled enough a hundred years ago to be used to nature, though it was a lot less comfortable since they didn't have her royal gear with them. No, Link had another issue on his mind.

The night monster's, the Stalkoblins, Keese swarms, Stalmoblins, so on and so forth. The day monsters had survived after the final Blood Moon, meaning the night monsters must have survived as well. Link hadn't had time to verify this since he had been home with Zelda during the night for the last few weeks. However, there was more reason to believe they would show than not appearing at all.

Link observed Zelda's feats of intellect, using the bolder to break the mineral instead of swinging the ax as he would have done, and watched her cozy up. Link couldn't help but wish he were down there with her. He knew very well of the loneliness that came with adventuring alone. Of course this was just training for her. He couldn't always be there... Link frowned a bit at that thought. Eventually she would have to be on her own. He couldn't always protect her. Maybe he could? Who said he ever had to leave her?

Link, who was lost in thought, hadn't noticed the sun go fully down. He heard the sound of creaking bones behind him. With intense speed and accuracy he grabbed the Royal Bow he had on his back, dodging the Skalmoblin's club with ease as he backflipped back. Time seemed to slow as he drew his bow. He fired at the two skulls, knocking them off their shoulders, defeating the beast with ease. However, as Link landed he immediately noticed something was wrong. Only two Skalmoblins had attacked him. Usually there were three.

Link immediately turned from his vantage point and spotted Zelda, shooting two Skalkoblins off. Link scanned the area for the third Skalmoblin, however it was nowhere to be seen. He checked behind him once again to ensure he hadn't missed it before hearing the distinct rumble from a distance. He looked down to see the gigantic skeleton crawl out of the ground in front of Zelda, who now had both the Skalmoblin and a Skalkoblin at both her front and back. He watched Zelda fall to her knees. He quickly looked at her quiver. She had run out of arrows.

Link's hand quickly went for the Master Sword, preparing to jump off the cliff to Zelda's rescue before hearing the voice he hadn't heard since the final battle with the Calamity.

Master, I advise you to wait.

Link couldn't believe his ears. Was the Master Sword, the blade thought to be created by the goddess herself, telling him not to protect the descendent of the goddess? And more importantly, was it telling him not to protect his Zelda? Link thought for half a second before wrapping his hands completely around the blade before seeing Zelda. He watched as she used a tree branch to dislodge the heads of the skeletons, take one of their weapons, and finish them off.