Fortune Favors the Courageous

Chapter 24: Lost

lost
adj. denoting something that has been taken away or cannot be recovered
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"Archery is actually pretty easy to get started, but mastering a consistent shot is what'll be the challenge. At least in my experience," Link explained in the shade of a quiet grove of trees. The bright morning sun had woken him with an ocular migraine, and even now he kept pinching around the bridge of his nose. The air without the sunshine was quite cool, and here—somewhere northeast of Hyrule Field—the trees were all beginning to change into their vibrantly hued gowns in preparation for autumnal dalliances. "It takes a while to get a feel for aiming, and you'll have to really strengthen your shoulder muscles to be able to send the arrow exactly where you want it to go."

Zelda nodded eagerly, inhaling every word as if it were vital oxygen.

"Since you're right-handed like me," he continued, "then you'll hold the bow like this." His body became her silhouette, guiding her to wrap the fingers of her left hand around the bow grip and drawing the string with her right. This Link knew nothing of his former fear of her skin, and the heat of his touch was dizzying. It certainly made focusing on his instructions a bit harder. That is until his arms unwound from hers and the press of his chest withdrew from her back. He fisted his hands on his own hips and tossed her an encouraging grin. "Honestly, I'd say just see how it feels to start shooting and we'll adjust accordingly. Aim for that tree, how about?"

So she did, and as they both probably anticipated, the first couple attempts didn't send the arrows anywhere; she fumbled and they simply dropped to her feet. She wasn't discouraged by these expected results in the slightest, but found Link's constant reassurance sweet anyway.

"Those are to be expected," he'd say. "Even if you think you're lined up, try holding at the anchor point for an extra second or two to really take in how the aiming feels."

Finally, she launched one with some semblance of trajectory. It thunked against the bark but ricocheted awkwardly and fell into the grass.

Link's teeth flashed with an approving tilt of his chin. "Not too shabby, Your Highness."

Her tongue pushed into the pouch of her cheek as she adjusted her grip, trying to absorb the feel of her anchor point like he'd said. "Just Zelda, please." She fired again, about the same results as the previous shot.

"I can't call you that," he objected. "I'm a knight."

"A knight who's snogged his princess," she quipped, reloading.

His mouth twisted playfully. "No no, that was only a dream."

"How very peculiar that we"—she loosed another arrow with a grunt—"dreamt the same thing last night."

"Yep. But that would be way too ballsy for a knight like me to try and kiss the princess."

"They say fortune favors the brave, you know—" She fitted the nock of her next arrow into place. "Perhaps you should demonstrate a bit more courage and see how you fare."

It took a second for the cheshire grin to split across Link's face. "Are you suggesting I kiss you again?"

"'Again', you say?" she sent back. The next arrow released with a satisfying twang of the bowstring. Zelda proudly awaited the result when suddenly, before the bark of the tree, a new wooden target manifested.

"There you are!" Makar harrumphed. "I've been looking all ov—Yah!"

He vanished just before her arrow lodged into the trunk behind him. Makar reappeared in the grass, looking more distraught than the princess thought possible for a creature carved of wood.