Couple of the Wild (ZeLink)

Chapter 57: The Funeral

"...your eyes... open your eyes... Link..." a voice called out into the darkness, growing louder and clearer with each attempt. Link groaned as he shifted on his back. He wished for the darkness to consume his consciousness, however, the voice continued. "Wake up... open your eyes... Link... Link... Wake up, Link! Wake up, but don't open your eyes!"

Link's eyes snapped open as he bolted up from the bed. As soon as his eyelids had lifted, a searing pain had filled his eye sockets; a horrible sensation that felt as if they were burning away. He shouted, quickly shutting them again as he brought his hand to eyes in an attempt to cleanse them of whatever had caused the pain, however, now it felt as though his skin was going to burn off as well.

"Link! I said don't open your eyes!" the voice said once again. Only just now recognizing the urgency in her voice, Link began to fill around the room with a free hand in a slight panic.

"Zelda? Zelda, what's going on? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine! But you, Link, you've been sleeping for ages!" Zelda said quickly. "Come on! You need to drink the fireproof potion! Now! The effects of your last dose are going away!"

"What? Oh... Oh!" said Link, now realizing immediately why he felt as though he were burning away. Now in even more panic at the ever-growing heat, he began to wave his free hand around as he kept his other on his eyes in a futile attempt to protect them. "Where are the bottles? Zel, hand me one!"

"I'm trying! Stop... moving!" Zelda responded, more irritable than before as Link could hear the clanking of bottles

"Zel, it's burning! I can't see!" Link said, now beginning to shuffle in the bed. "It feels like my whole body is on fire!"

"Well, it might as well be! I'm trying to hand it over, but you... won't... stop... oh in the name of... here!" Zelda shouted. Suddenly, Link felt pressure on the back of his head and another on his legs, forcing him still as he felt the tip of a glass bottle being pressed against his lips. Giving in to the pressure, he tilted his head back as he allowed for the soothing liquid to slide down his throat. Immediately, the burning sensation evaporated from his body, allowing him to sit steady.

"Well, how do you feel?" Zelda asked worriedly, pulling the now empty bottle away from Link's lips. Now without the intense heat, he began to open his eyes, immediately meeting the green ones he had come to love. Unwillingly, he looked away in order to see the room they now laid in. The building had been carved from rock, with dark metal to support its structure. Near the entrance of the rocky building, he could see an empty desk, decorated with the same metal and what seemed to be red gemstones.

"Better," Link soon responded, now meeting Zelda's gaze. "Much better. Though it didn't help my back. I swear these beds never get easier to sleep on."

Link stretched, causing multiple cracking sounds to echo in the corner of the room where their bed sat. Zelda raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Was that your back?" she asked. Link nodded as his arms fell back down.

"Yeah, sleeping on hard surfaces like this sucks," Link said, rubbing his back with a free hand. "Back then we would bring you a fireproof blanket to make your bed acceptable for a princess to sleep on..."

"Last time I slept on these beds that didn't happen," Zelda explained. "When I was here with Kass. It was uncomfortable, but my back didn't do that."

"Well, I've had to do it more than you," Link chuckled. "And sleeping on that shrine floor didn't help either..."

"I had to sleep on that floor too!" Zelda said. "I still don't feel that kind of discomfort..."