Neighboring Lands

A Look Through Wild's Mind

The sun that beats down on his body is brutal, even more so now that he is springing as fast as the girl behind him can run. The Princess asked him to aid the Queen in building her stamina and physical abilities, and bound to his duty; he readily agreed. He never expected a queen to be so openly okay with his silent and brash nature, or at least the nature he has forced himself into becoming. The twigs on the trees cut into their skin and tear at their clothing, rocks provide uneven footing that causes the woman to stumble. A large log lays in their path, and with expertise, only a seasoned warrior would possess; Link hurled himself over it, dragging the stumbling woman with him. He hears her foot smack against the wood, a loud gasp and groans pass her lips as she slams into the ground; being dragged for a moment as he comes to a stop himself. Looking over his shoulder at the crumpled mess that was once a dignified Queen, he can't help the wince that shoots through his body.

Her hand is still in his, her nose gushing blood from the impact with a rock, the simple tunic she changed into for this endeavor is coated with grass stains. Her blood drips down her chin and onto her heaving chest, staining the light material a dark crimson. Her eyes are squeezed shut in pain as another groan is released from her bloody lips. "Are you okay?" The knight questions, still holding onto the fallen woman's hand.

Her eyes shoot open, a wide grin stretching across her face and revealing her once pristine teeth stained with blood, her voice sounding nasally due to the injury. "You're so fast and agile! Do you think I'll ever be as cool as you??" Her excited voice calls out, words are broken up by harsh gasps for air.

With strength far exceeding a man of his size, he pulls the girl to her feet, causing her to stumble into him before backing up a few paces. Her hand separates from his as she grabs the end of her tunic, pulling it up to cover her nose and stop the bleeding. This leads to her midriff being exposed, as well as, her bra. Link quickly averts his eyes, cheeks turning rosy as he turns away from the exposed royalty. "Maybe with enough practice, you do need to build up your stamina; we've only been running for a mile."

Her laughter rings out, causing the male to look at the injured woman, shocked at how light-hearted she can be while bleeding. "I guess I have a long way to go. Let me catch my breath and we can head off again. I'll heal my nose, so don't worry about it! Man, if the king could see how I look now he would have a heart attack!" (Y/n) happily laughs out, joy filling her eyes as they crinkle at the corners.

'That explains why she does not seem to care about being hurt,' Link thinks to himself.

"Hey, Link? When this is over, let me buy you dinner. You deserve to unwind a little bit with all that responsibility you have. One of the guards told me about a cafe that opened."

Link's stomach growls loudly, answering her question for him.

"Awesome! It's a date!" The glee in her voice at being able to spend time with him sent a small unnoticed smile across his lips. Her willingness to be around him, even with the walls he put up to protect himself, and those around him, made his heart feel warm. Shocking even himself, he speaks to her warmly, "(y/n), let's make a habit of spending time together, outside of just training."

Her eyes light up as she hops in place, "I'd love that Link! You're going to be great friends! Unfortunately, my role of best friend has already been filled; but there's still hope for you being my number two best friend."

Link laughs at her words as he takes her hand once again," ready to run?" A joyful nod is his answer as he takes off into a sprint once more.

The world around him starts to rush back, his eyes flying open as a gasp passes his lips. Before him, gripping his hand tightly and repeatedly slapping him in the face as she shouts; is the woman from his memory. Far more beautiful without blood rushing from a broken nose and busted lip. Her eyes are full of worry, unlike the unbridled joy he had just seen; her hand stops hitting him once she realizes he is awake.

"Oh Goddesses, you scared the shit out of me! What the hell was that?!" Her voice is harsh with worry as she looks over him, eyes darting around to inspect his full body.

Finding his voice Wild lets go of her hand, "A memory coming back to me."

She relaxes before him, an easy-going smile on her lips; "oh, must have been a good one. You were SO out of it."

Wild snorts as he turns away from her, starting up the path to the fairy fountain. "Not really, you were in it." A gasp of 'tell me everything,' reaches his ears, causing him to snicker quietly. "We were running, something about building your physical abilities up. You fell and broke your nose."

Looking over his shoulder he sees (y/n)'s face pinched in thought, "broke my nose?"

"And asked me out on a date," Wild teasingly adds.

Her face turns scarlet at his words, recognition shining on her face; "Oh! I remember now, I guess I did ask you out on a date, and you accepted. We better not tell Wind, he'll want to fight you for 'his mom's sake.' And that'll be more trouble than the laughs it'll make." (Y/n) laughs loudly as she moves to walk side by side with Wild, her hands clasped behind her back as she flutters her lashes at him. "Was it a good date though?"

Smirking Wild puts his hands behind his head, "Can't remember; so I think that answers that question." She gasps out in offense before slapping his arm softly while uttering 'rude'. "I have been curious...why do you and Wind refer to each other as mother and son?" She shrugs as she looks up at the tree canopies, the sunlight dancing across her features. He might not remember her fully, but he must admit; she does fit the description of a Goddess.

"Well, he was a child when we meet....I guess my motherly instincts kicked in around him. And since he was an orphan with only his grandmother and sister, he sort of saw me as a mother figure. I called him my son first...and it just went from there." A fond smile is on her face as she bumps shoulders with Wild. "No father though, still looking to make our little family whole. If you know anyone, tell me about them."

They share a laugh as they come to the fairies fountain, he doesn't remember the fairy's name, yet (y/n) seems to have a certain familiarity with her. As the large woman springs from the fountain she speaks fondly with (y/n), agreeing to repair the tunic with material she has lying around. The fairy dives back into her water, once the tunic is repaired. (Y/n) comes to a stop next to Wild from his place near the trees.

"Turn around, I wanna put it on now. I'll feel much better once I have it on."

With a silent nod, Wild turns, going as far as to close his eyes; but that proves to be a problem as his ears turn sensitive to noise. He can hear fabric shifting, fastenings being undone, and her tunic falling to the ground. A flash of her exposed skin from his memory burns itself into his eyes. Shaking the image away, the sound of her dressing greets his ears, before she calls out for him to turn around.

She stands before him in the blue tunic, it reaches to just above mid-thigh, the sides slit up towards my waist. The material is snug enough not to impede movement, showing off my figure in the process; yet it is still loose enough to be comfortable. The sleeves are more of a half-sleeve style, loose to provide airflow through the tunic, the neckline is more of a V shape, showing a peek of cleavage and collar bone. With a slow twirl, she shows him the back as well, a red spider lily is sewn into the fabric of her back; the design is so similar to his, yet he does not recognize the flower on the back of it. He has never seen anything like it during his adventures in Hyrule.

"How does it look? It feels just like I remember it!" She giddily twirls around again, looking herself over as much as she can.

"It's nice," Wild finds himself saying; not wanting to comment on how it hugs her figure or the skin that it reveals. The thought that Princess Zelda was the one to create these seems to stick in his mind like a bad splinter. This tunic was definitely created to have the wearer be looked at.

"Thank you," she places her hands on her cheek, not taking notice as Wild lets his eyes take in her appearance once more. Before his mind can wander too far she is grabbing hold of his hand and pulls him along. "Let's get back to the others!"