《The Wilted Flower | Zelink BoTW AU [COMPLETE]》orange
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"Almost there," Link called to Zelda, as she was riding a bit ahead of him. "Kakariko is just over this hill."
Zelda nodded her head to show Link that she had heard him. Her mind was still plagued with the dream she had. It was even scarier knowing that "dream" of hers, wasn't a dream. It was a memory, replaying throughout her head.
Zelda pushed it aside, however. She needed to focus on the task at hand, lying beyond the hill she was about to travel atop.
That morning, Link and Zelda still had not spoken to each other. It was so strange, to have gone from staring at the nighttime sky together, a few days ago, to the refusal of communication. Zelda wanted nothing but to talk to him, to tell him all of her worries like she did on that night of the meteor shower, but couldn't. If she did, it would get in the way of her duties. She couldn't let that happen.
"The princess has arrived!" Someone at the entrance of Kakariko called, as Zelda and Link climbed atop the hill. "The princess has arrived! Our crops are saved!"
Tens of hundreds of villagers came to greet the princess and her trusted knight. Despite their neglect at communication, the two smiled, waving to the villagers of all different ages.
One village girl, with silver hair, was aiding an old woman in walking toward the two on their horses. In comparison to the old woman, the girl was two times her height, standing at what looked to be five foot and eight inches, surprisingly taller than even Link.
"Ah, welcome," the old woman croaked. "It is nice to have you here, princess. Please, come inside to my home." She ushered Zelda and Link to her large house, to the west of the village. Once the two left their horses for the kind villagers to tend to, they followed the old woman inside.
"You do not remember me, Zelda," the old woman said with a slight smile. "My name is Impa. I was an aid to your mother, when she was young."
Zelda snapped her fingers. "That's right, I almost forgot." She smiled gently, taking Impa's frail hands in her own. "It's so nice to see you again, Lady Impa."
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Impa flashed a toothy old grin. "Oh, no need for formalities, my dear. We're like family."
Zelda nodded. "So, my father sent me to help you out with your fortified pumpkins. I hear they're not doing to well, is that correct?"
"Not doing well is an understatement," Impa's smiled faded sadly. "If you do so much as touch one of our pumpkins, they poof into dust."
"Can I see one?" Zelda asked. The tall girl standing beside Impa fumbled outside, quickly bringing a brown pumpkin into Impa's home.
"My name is Paya, by the way," the girl added as she handed the pumpkin to Zelda. She smiled awkwardly, before bowing.
Zelda concentrated all of her magical energy onto the pumpkin. Her mother used to tell her to think of her favorite things while performing magic spells. This helped the magic surge through one's body into the act of performing a spell outward. It hardly made sense to Zelda as a young child, but after she continued to practice her magic more and more, it began to make sense. Now, Zelda couldn't perform her magic without her mother's words gently reminding her what to do.
Her velvety voice echoed in her mind. "Think of something that brings you joy. Concentrate all of your energy, my dear, and you can do anything your heart desires."
Zelda almost dropped the pumpkin she held in her hands when an image of Link came into her head.
Impa's eyes widened. "Zelda? Is everything okay?"
Zelda tried to control her emotions, breathing evenly, preventing any blush from appearing on her cheeks. "Yes, I'm alright. Just a little flustered." She shook her head, gripping the dark pumpkin a little more firmly. If Link was going to be her joyful motivation for performing this spell, so be it. As long as she was able to complete the task, she didn't care what came to mind.
And so, he appeared once again, just like on the night they first formally met. Link's blue eyes were glowing in the moonlit starry sky. His touch was warm as his fingers grazed over Zelda's fair skin. His hearty laugh made Zelda's feelings sing.
And soon, Impa was gasping. Zelda's eyes focused back to reality, to the rotten pumpkin that rested in her hands. Only now, the fortified pumpkin was restored to its original form, plump and orange.
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"You've done it!" Paya squealed. She clasped her hands together in excitement. "Can you cure the rest of the pumpkins?"
Zelda grinned. "Of course. And after that, I can lay over a protection spell on your fields, to prevent the disease from ever coming back again."
"What can we do to repay you?" Impa asked, standing up from the mat she sat on. She took Zelda's hands in hers, as Paya took the delicious-looking pumpkin from Zelda. "Anything at all, dear."
Zelda looked at Link, shrugging her shoulders. "Have any ideas?"
Link's eyes widened. "Wait, don't you Sheikah members specialize in stealthy movements?"
Impa nodded. "Why, yes, we do. What is it you wish?"
Link eyes Zelda, as if asking for permission. Zelda nodded, stifling a giggle. "I heard you make stealth armor. Can I perhaps try it out?"
Impa raised her brow. "Try it out?"
Link's shoulders sank a bit. Impa seemed unwilling.
The old woman cackled with laughter. "Why, you each can have your own stealth armor!"
Zelda took a step back. "Even me?"
Paya smiled. "Oh, yes! I'll go down to Leppa north of the village and grab you both some!"
"Thank you!" Link and Zelda said in unison, looking at each other with excitement in their eyes.
It only took Paya a few minutes to return with the Sheikah garb. A red eye was painted directly in the middle of both armor sets, with a teardrop emerging from the eye. Zelda trekked upstairs into a separate room, changing quickly into her new clothing set. For her, she thought of this as new clothes she could wear to sneak out of the castle at night. After all, the garb was more of a cloth than metal armor, like normal knights wear.
"The cloth allows wind to seemingly flow right through you," Impa had said downstairs once Paya arrived, "which is why you are able to move soundlessly. It prevents you from making any noise."
"Unless you're clumsy like Zelda," Link snorted, "and make the noise yourself."
Zelda elbowed the knight, taking the Sheikah armor and running upstairs, to where she was now.
The cloth felt wonderful against her skin. It was soft, and very flexible, despite how tight it was. A hairpiece was an added touch to the set, which easily stuck in Zelda's bun. When she walked downstairs, she caught Link staring as she moved.
"It looks great on you," he said with a smile.
Zelda smiled back. "Yours too." The Sheikah set fit like a glove to Link. He, too, had a fair amount of hair. Not as much as Zelda, but surely more than a Hylian knight usually does. He had it pulled up in a bun at the top.
"We're matching," Link smirked, and Zelda rolled her eyes.
Retrieving their horses, the two began to say their goodbyes to the village. Zelda made her way to the pumpkin patch, laying down her magic efficiently. She then cast a protection spell on the pumpkins, that of which she had promised earlier. After she finished, Link and Zelda waved goodbye to their newfound friends, exiting the village as the sun began to set.
"Let's stay in the stable again tonight," Zelda suggested. "It was very comfy."
Link agreed. "Yes, it was. Plus, it'll be a little more difficult for our friends here to carry us, considering it's we have a little more of a load than before." On the backs of the horses, were baskets in which the two Hylians kept their clothes they had taken off to wear their Sheikah armor sets.
Zelda pat her snow-white horse's mane. "That's right. We can feed them, then take a rest ourselves."
Link kept his eyes on Zelda as she looked on ahead. He eyed the curves of her hips, the shine on her cheeks, and the overall beauty that graced his princess. Neither of them had spoken a word of the other night, in the castle's garden. Link thought it was better to keep his thoughts to himself.
And as the bright orange sun in the west began to set, the brilliant white moon began to shine in the young starry sky as it rose in the east. Zelda turned to Link, letting her lips curve into a happy grin, closing her eyes as the horses carried their owners to the stable ahead of them.
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