A Couple of Trials (ZeLink)

Chapter 61: A Hot Springs Healing

The light of dawn had barely started to illuminate the early morning's dark sky. As the darkness slowly turned blue, life in the warm-colored lands of Akkala began to stir. Those in stables rose from their beds in order to cook breakfast, while others had already risen to tend to the horses being kept in their pens. While the Hylians were starting their days, small animals were also starting their daily tasks, hunting for food through the piles of orange-colored leaves that were scattered across the ground, searching for any nuts they could find. Even the trees that dotted the hills of north Hyrule seemed to liven up the moment even the tiniest bit of sunlight illuminated their leaves. While everyone else had started their days, there was one who had been awake for a few hours now.

He had been walking through Akkala during the night, doing his best to ignore the soreness in his body, though admittedly, it was nowhere near as painful as it was before. Regardless of whether he was healing properly, or just starting to go numb to the pain, it helped him to keep moving, allowing him to reach his destination. Walking through the wilderness, having long abandoned the roads he had been following earlier on his journey, he made his way across the grassy fields and through the rocky areas before finally, he came to a stop and looked at what stood before him.

It was a small cliff, a natural one made of stone, covered with vines that hid away what sat peacefully behind them. While the vines did well to hide the entrance, so well that one wouldn't dare try walking through them, afraid that their nose would be crushed by stone, the traveler simply walked through without worry. Behind the vines was a hallway, one that was old, but still gave off the aura of elegance it once had boasted in its past. The arched roof and walls were made of stone bricks, bricks that were so well crafted that they held up even to this day. Step by step, he walked down this hall until it opened up, revealing a structure behind it all. It was a calming place, one built on tranquility and peace. Its stone, as old as it was, was still beautiful, even if its color had faded, but the true beauty came from the water that flowed around said stone. It was a spring, one he and a special someone to him had visited long before.

He hadn't intended on coming here. In fact, he actually walked off a path on a whim, remembering that this place was nearby. It seemed like the right thing to do; to take a moment and reflect, to think back to when times were—surprisingly to him— simpler. With a quiet breath, he took a step forward and began walking down the stone path, through the stone pillars that lined it. After stepping up the short staircase, he came to a pause at the end of the path and looked out into the shallow sparkling waters the spring had to offer. There, standing tall in the water, was a goddess statue, far bigger and more detailed than the ones that sat in the settlements that dotted the map.

Quietly, the traveler looked around the place, taking in its beauty as the light of dawn began to shine down on the statue, causing the waters to sparkle even more than they were now. The last time he was here, it was at the opposite time of day, when twilight was fading, consumed by the darkness of the night. It was here, during that very darkness, that he learned just how dark his special person's hope had become as she sat in these very waters, freezing to the bone, with her frozen fingers clasped together in prayer.

"I come seeking help... regarding this power that has been handed down over time..." the princess of Hyrule spoke to the tall statue.

With her hands tightly clasped, she slowly lowered to her knees, ignoring the frigid waters that now covered her legs and hips. It was honestly surprising to her knight, from his stoic stance on the stone platform a fair distance behind her, that she could keep her voice so still, even with the cold that surely plagued her body. Though he refused to look back at the princess, knowing her current state was surely indecent now that her dress was drenched, along with the knowledge of her insecurities now harboring his mind, he couldn't help but listen to the sweet tones of her voice. They were a guilty pleasure, one he knew he couldn't resist any longer, though, beyond just his inner forbidden desires, his habit of listening had now started out of concern thanks to those insecurities he now knew about.