All the things she said (Zelink/Pre-BotW Story)

Chapter 12: Tristesse

Hyrule

In the last few months, Link and Aryll have been studying and working inside the castle. Both have met their fair share of new people and with that new paths and challenges.

Link met many people and warriors from different races, but he is yet to find someone who is equal to him. There is only one warrior, one person whom Link had an actual challenge fighting. Urbosa, the chief of the Gerudo. He has seen her at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth and his father told him to take every opportunity to fight against her because Urbosa was the only other warrior ever capable of beating Patrick in a fighting scenario. Link took his father up on this and he fights her whenever he can, so far, Link has not lost yet. He learned a lot from Urbosa though all of the things she can do, did not yet help her to defeat Link.

Aryll on the other side has made some new friends with the Sheikah, mainly through Impa who discovered Aryll's talent with research and old Sheikah technology. Most of Aryll's days are spent with Sheikah in the castle and often Aryll goes to Kakariko to take a closer look at some things.

Link and Aryll both thought they would study with Zelda, and so did their father but it turns out that for safety reasons and for the Princess to fully focus on her studies regarding her power, Rhoam thought it to be better if she studied without the possible distraction from two other kids running around the castle. Maybe he was right, but neither of the two ever saw the princess, ever.

There is also a lot more guards and personnel in general at the castle, some whom Link has never seen there before, though some he remembers from fighting against them, a couple of years ago when he trained with the army.

Maybe Link's nostalgia made it seem that way, but Castle Town seems oddly empty with less color and cheerfulness. The people don't greet you with a smile and they seem to always be rushing back to their houses.

While walking the streets, Link saw figures disappear behind fences, and inside doors, like they were hiding or scared of Link. Maybe he should ask his father what is happening and if it has always been like this. This weird feeling of suspense and uneasiness fills the city and it makes it seem like behind every corner someone is waiting to stab you with a knife. Maybe there is, maybe this feeling would only continue to grow and maybe it would turn out to be some sort of training in the future.

Link shakes his head, trying to get rid of those weird thoughts. Hopefully, I can rest a little when I get home, he thinks to himself. Once Link turns left towards his home, he sees a weird figure at the Castle Wall, the person was definitely wearing red, he should go and tell his dad, he should already be home.

"I'm home!" yells Link

His dad looks up from his chair in the kitchen. "Welcome home Link"

"Hi dad, I saw some strange person, up on the Wall. He was wearing red." "How much of him did you see?" Link thought for a second, "not much, just the top of his head." "Oh, then it's probably just a guard, you probably saw the top of his helmet." "Hm, it didn't look like the one of a guard." His dad gets up, "How about we go take a look and see if there is anyone there, okay?"

Link nods, Patrick gets his sword and they both head towards the wall and start climbing. They start to look around and walk left and right, but there was no one there. "See, no one here, everything is fine. I'll keep a lookout for it though, maybe sometime I will see something or someone similar." Link just nods his head, he was sure there was someone there. Maybe it was just a squirrel or a bird.

Once they arrive back home, Link goes straight to bed and Patrick waits for his wife to return home. She always comes home late, because with the Queen dead, she had to take more care of the princess.

When Kathrine finally arrives, she is tries to be as quiet as possible. Her husband gets up from his chair and slowly walks over to her.

"Welcome home." He greets and and gives her a small kiss. "Hi", she responds.

"How was your day?" "Oh it was fine, the usual I guess." Patrick looks at his wife and he can see the pain in her eyes. He sits down on the couch and pats the spot next to him. "Come on join me" Kathrine looks at him with teary eyes and just falls next to him, onto the couch and starts crying silently into his shoulder. "What can I do, Patrick? This little girl has so much weight on her shoulders, for years now, she hasn't smiled a real smile. I want her to enjoy herself but I can't disobey the King, can I? I understand that she has to train, b-but does he have to be so hard on her?" Patrick just caresses her head and listens, he knows of the struggles of his wife, and he knows how hard it is for her to force the princess to study. It's not like the princess ever tries to disagree, but whenever she walks past Sheikah talking about discoveries, the princess tries her hardest to suppress her feelings and what she wants to do and it hurts Kathrines Heart.

"Everything will work out fine. I'm sure and I'm also sure that the princess knows how hard you try to make her happy and enjoy herself." Patrick tries to reassure Kathrine. "Do you really think that?" "Yes, I do." he kisses her head and she slowly starts falling asleep in his arms.

"Actually, I'm not sure," Patrick thinks "I have to go to Rhoam, the wall, there are guards supposed to be there. I saw signs of a fight and what Link saw means that there are Yiga here. They never went into the cities, definitely not in Castle Town at least. This isn't good."