Free to Love - A Zelda x Link Fanfiction

XXXVIII: Death Mountain

Link's Perspective:

It didn't take long for us to reach Death Mountain. It seemed like Epona and Storm were eager to move again, based on how they began galloping along the river's edge. I didn't argue, I could tell Epona was annoyed with how much attention I was paying to Zelda versus her. I patted her mane as she galloped, while Zelda gathered the reins in her hands and stood in the stirrups, leaning forward in order to not fall off.

By the time, we reached Death Mountain, nearly nightfall, the sky darkening to an indigo with streaks of violet and pink streaming across to compliment the setting sun, both horses had thoroughly tired themselves out. We could feel the steam from far off, the dirt and grass turning to ashy and sun-dried rocks, the water steaming and bubbling at the base of the volcano.

Zelda grinned, jumping off of Storm's back to walk along the edges of the rocks, letting the cool breeze push the steam into her face. Storm shook out his mane and huffed in annoyance, the steam irritating him. I climbed off of Epona as well, combing her hair gently and watching the princess as she bent down and dipped her hand in the water. "So relaxing," she sighed, turning to grin at me. "We should come her sometime..." She glanced away as a blush crawled across her face. "... alone."

I laughed a bit bashfully. "We should go find Daruk," I responded, taking Epona's reigns and walking across the stony bridge, into the city. Zelda followed suit, glancing around as we walked. She gently grabbed my shoulder as we walked, grabbing my attention.

"Speaking of Daruk," she murmured, in a barely audible voice, "can we not tell him about—?"

"Link!" The voice caught me by surprise, and I was suddenly being grabbed and forced into a bone-crunching hug. I groaned, Daruk's toughened arms holding me against his chest tightly and his broad hands pounding against my back joyously. "So good to see you!" He laughed heartily as he released me. I stumbled and barely managed to catch myself, grabbing onto my knees and gasping for air. Epona brayed behind me, making it obvious she was laughing at me.

"Zelda!" Daruk turned to Zelda and, before she could protest, picked her up and held her against his chest, seemingly more gentle than her. Unfair. Why did I get the bruised rib cage and Zelda didn't? He put her down softly, grinning down at the both of us.

"Always one to ignore formalities," she laughed, grinning as she brushed the hair from her face. Instead of blanching, Daruk only leaned back and laughed loudly, his deep voice booming.

"Why do we need to be formal?" he asked. "We're all friends here, aren't we?" Zelda smiled and nodded. "So, what have you been doing! I haven't seen you in so long, and I expect there's tons of stuff I've missed out on." He draped his heavy arms around Zelda's shoulders towards the inner parts of the city, laying a hefty palm on my shoulder and dragging me along. I looked back at Epona and Storm worriedly, but a goron was taking their reins and leading them away.

Daruk suddenly shook my shoulder, nearly making me topple over. It was easy to forget how large Daruk was to Zelda and me. He stood at least a foot and a half taller than me, his entire hand swallowing my shoulders. In fact, I bet, I bet he could have crushed my skull with one hand if he really wanted to.

"I forgot, you've always wanted out of that stuffy castle," Daruk said. "How's it been out here? Any trouble, Link?"

I shook my head in response. "Well, not really," I replied hastily, not prepared to suddenly be put on the spot. "Nothing we couldn't handle." He laughed again, shaking my shoulder as his torso moved.

"That's my boy!" he laughed. He grinned at me. "And Zelda?"

She grinned and looked at me excitedly, eager to talk about the adventures. "Well, my power has been beginning to surface," she said excitedly, beaming. "We met your with Mipha and she's good. We went to see Purah, you know, Impa's sister. And she fixed the Sheikah slate! And Link and I-" She suddenly paused, causing Daruk to raise a thick white brow.

I could tell what happened. She got so excited, retelling what had happened, she nearly told him about us. Whatever we were. She looked down, combing her hair with her fingers and trying to hide the sudden blush.

"Link and I ran into some Yigs clan's men," Zelda offered instead. His expression suddenly shifted from joyful interest to grim. He held her shoulder gently, looking at her seriously, all traces of excitement gone from his excitement.

"I'm just glad you're okay." He pulled her close and hugged her tenderly. As he held her securely to his chest, like a promise of protection, he glanced at me. I knew, even though he didn't mention the pause, he had noted it.

~~~

I fucking swear, every few times I close a chapter, it deletes the last few lines I wrote and it's infuriating! Like I worked hard and you're gonna be an asshole about it, huh? Lemme tell ya, it did this with my other chapter, too.

I'm happy news, I wanted to let y'all know: I finally decided on a college to go to. I'm officially a member of UConn's class of 2024. Yay! *clap clap clap*