The Heroes of Hyrule °Wattys 2017°

Baked Apples

"What do you say to setting up camp once we get to a more flat patch of land?" Link yawned as he stretched out his arms.

Zelda glanced upward at the faint silhouette of the moon suspended in the starry lilac sky.

"We could go a bit farther, but I do suppose the horses deserve some rest, we should see an adequate place soon."

Underneath a stream and an apple tree, they found a few branches good enough for kindling. Zelda unsaddled the two horses as Link tried to strike a flint's spark onto the dry bundle of wood. Link mumbled a growl at the unresponsive flint. He absentmindedly glimpsed over his shoulder to assure himself that Zelda was still there before continuing to scrape the flint with his dagger.

Zelda knelt down beside the collection of twigs, "Do you need any help?"

Link's twisted expression softened at the sound of her voice, "Oh no, Zelda. I have almost got it. Thank you, though."

His brow furrowed again as he gave several more futile attempts. Zelda raised her eyebrows with a nurturing smile on her lips, waiting.

Finally, Link handed her the jagged piece of flint along with the dagger. He sat with his knees tucked underneath his chin as she watched Zelda carve into the surface of the flint before striking again.

Her eyebrows knitted as she silently coaxed a little spark from the flint, then a larger one, until the bundle of wood fed the spark into an orange glow. The blaze licked at the wood, popping and hissing.

"Sorry, I couldn't get a spark." He smiled wanly.

"No need to apologize. Flint usually doesn't work for me either, perhaps I just got lucky this time!"

Zelda sat on her legs while she gazed at the flame. Link thought her green eyes shone brighter than the fire in front of him.

"...They called you a princess," He tilted his head in the direction of Zora's Domain, "Everyone still recognizes you as a leader. Why not yourself?"

"A ruler is someone who is supposed to maintain a kingdom. What kingdom have I maintained? I'm working towards restoration, and I don't plan on recognizing myself as royalty until the people of Hyrule at the very least know who I am."

She paused.

"Link, I want to see Impa again. Tell me, does she continue to reside in Kakariko Village?"

"I can't imagine she would have moved since last week when I saw her."

Zelda rolled her eyes playfully at Link's sarcasm.

"Tomorrow we will plan a route to Kakariko Village. I will feel better with the knowledge of her support."

Link glanced over his shoulder to stare into the inky black night.

"Some hunting on our way wouldn't hurt, either. I was hoping we would have had the time earlier today, but I misjudged how long the trip would take."

Link stood up and brushed himself off, "With that being said, we are in fact sitting under an apple tree. How's that for being observant?"

On his tiptoes, he twisted the stems of two plump crimson apples and tossed them to Zelda accordingly.

"Link! You're going to bruise them!"

"-Only if you fail to catch them."

Despite narrowly missing, Zelda managed to catch them both.

Link ambled back into his old place across from Zelda before borderline yelling, "No, you can't eat it yet!"

She looked both panicked and bewildered, "Why not!?"

"Because baked apples are so much better than regular ones, and I know for a fact that you've had them since they were all over the palace when I came back for you."

And so there they both were, the two Hylians that had just saved the world, making a fuss over the correct way to eat an apple of all things. Their horses grazed behind Link, away from the fire, without a care in the world as the flame began to wither.

"It looks like we are going to need more wood," Zelda said go herself as she dropped a log onto the tiny flame.

She looked over at her knight who was laying on his back, one leg crossed over the other. He exhaled a sigh as he focused his sapphire eyes on a bright star up above, several leagues away. Instinctively, his eyes shot back at her.

"Excuse me, did you say something?"

"No...but now that you mention it, do you think the apples are done?"

"I suppose they would be by now. It never takes that long."

Link and Zelda took an apple each and talked in their small circle of light, shutting out the darkness around them. Zelda lost herself in watching the flame's shadow dance upon the master sword's golden scabbard as it rested against the trunk of the apple tree as their conversation carried on.

Link realized that Zelda now only nodded vaguely to whatever he said or smiled faintly. She was finally falling asleep soundly for the first time in one hundred years.

Ever so quietly, he took his bedroll and deftly placed it under her head.

He grinned awkwardly at the sight of her and whispered, "I apologize for the subpar accommodations, Princess."

Link waited for a few moments for a slight change in her facial expression, but there was none.

The Calamity must have taken quite the toll on her health...

He turned into a sentry, as still as the stone above them for the duration of the night, keeping watch over the girl he had sworn to protect so very long ago.