Lost for Words

Peace is a beautiful thing. To feel the breeze, faintly hear the wind passing through the trees, as the birds sing their song of the sky… while knowing you have the freedom and safety to sit and enjoy it. Bask in it. That was peace, for Princess Zelda, and it was something she cared deeply about protecting. If it ensured peace for all in her kingdom of Hyrule, no price was too great. That’s what she told herself, at least…

But peace is also a very fragile thing. One might think so if they saw the pig-like beast that had begun to rampage through the market, that afternoon, wreaking havoc everywhere it ran. It had all the markings of a creature sent by the evil wizard Ganon, from the unnatural cobalt tint of its flesh to the red glow of its eyes. Every Hyrulean that saw it fled the beast - all but one.

With a cocky smirk, he walked right in the way of the beast’s path as everyone else ran the opposite way. The beast thought nothing of it as he pulled out his sword, so small in comparison to the hulking scale of the monster. Onlookers would see nothing but a fool, if they cared to stay and watch the scene unfold - a fool who was about to discover he was no match for the danger he had invited upon himself…

… They would be half-right.

Pointing the tip of his sword at the hog, he shut his eyes for a moment… then, squeezing the hilt of his sword firmly, his eyes reopened with a light that burned like a lit flame as a ‘beam’ shot out of the tip of his blade and entered the eye of the beast - causing it to let out a shrill whine as it tumbled to the ground, the hero flipping over it and spinning in mid-air to face it as he landed.

A hush fell over the crowd surrounding the swordsman and the beast. Scattered cheers began to erupt, only to be silenced with one motion of the swordsman’s hand as he silently warned that this was not over. The hog picked itself back up, not a moment later, with a rage in its one good eye that made the unthinking rampage it was on just moments ago almost look ‘sweet.’

So now the hog was angry, and it wasn’t defeated. Did the swordsman’s attack do more harm than good? Murmurs spread through the crowd - hope abounding among those who were impressed by the hero, while the skeptics made sure to keep the ones they love far from the danger that lived in the moment.

Carefully, without taking his eyes off the beast for one moment, the swordsman slowly began to step to the right… and watched as the beast turned to face him in his new position, not letting him escape its vision. Just as he hoped, the onlookers had become all but invisible to the beast. The only target left in the beast’s mind was the one that wore that pointy green hat. What he’d do to get that kind of attention from a certain princess he knew, he wouldn’t know where to begin!

Then, the hog began to charge once more. The swordsman dodged to the side, giving the beast a kick as it passed him that managed to knock it away from ramming into the onlookers. Now it was even angrier, and the would-be hero in the green tunic had just put himself between the beast and a dead-end. The ‘audience’ that had formed, with both the hopeful and the skeptics now watching in silence, made running anywhere else inadvisable… but that was no problem for Link.

When the beast gave one last charge, Link turned his back to the beast and began to run up the stone wall. The people of Hyrule gasped as the beast came closer and closer while Link’s ascent up the wall slowed, and parents covered the eyes of their children as they all feared the worst… before Link kicked himself off into the air, the beast letting out a scream of agony as it crashed into the stone wall, as the hero gripped the hilt of his sword tightly and pointed straight down as he descended. The blade glowed as it stabbed into the hog, lighting its flesh like a lantern before causing the beast itself to evaporate into the air as if it had never been there.

After another moment of silence, with the only sound being the hero returning his sword to its sheath, the people erupted into cheers! Even the most cynical among them couldn’t help but grin like fools as the overwhelming relief washed away the terror that had gripped them all. Link bowed, soaking up the applause, before looking up at a tower - where one princess had watched the whole scene. He smiled, she rolled her eyes.

“C’mon, Zelda!” Link whined, in a way that befitted an overgrown brat more than it did a hero, “I saved everyone, didn’t I?”

“And you wasted no time making sure you looked ‘cool’ while you did it, yes,” Zelda agreed in a retort, shaking her head, “honestly, Link, did you spare a single thought for any of the dozens of people that were watching your stunt?”

“Sure I did!” he insisted, though he couldn’t precisely recall everything that ran through his mind in the heat of battle, “I’ve never let any of Ganon’s monsters hurt anyone down there, you know it and I know it!” The way he could seamlessly transition from defending himself to bragging ought to be studied, the princess idly mused to herself.

“I’ll grant that,” she sighed, “but it’s because you’re so experienced that I know you could’ve taken that beast out far sooner! If you keep taking risks like that, people could get hurt! You could--” she stopped herself, but it was too late - she knew she had already said too much.

“Could… what?” Link smirked, knowingly, “You aren’t worried about me, are ya, Princess?” he inquired, with that insufferable tone in his voice.

Oh for the love of…

“I worry for everyone in my kingdom,” the princess insisted, maintaining her composure as best as she could, “that concern extends to you, as it does to every person in Hyrule - no less, no more.”

“A likely story,” he chuckled, “you just couldn’t bear the thought of seeing me hurt, could ya?” he grinned, testing her patience more than he had in a while, before winking, “Worry no more, Princess! Your hero is safe, sound, and ready to fool around!”

“Fool around…?!” she echoed, “You have some nerve, ‘hero!’ Saying such… such indecent things! Things you ought to think twice about saying to an ordinary maiden, let alone a princess!” she scolded, only for it to hit her - the next three words that she knew he was about to say.

Three words that she never would have thought could sound so insufferable before she first heard him utter them, words that had been drilled into her skull through repetition. She had heard them too many times, to the point where she could sense them before they even came.

“Well exc--”

“I will not excuse you!” she snapped, causing Link to do a double-take at her, “You are the single most annoying person I have ever met! You speak when there is no point in speaking, saying nothing but that which there is no point in saying when you do, and it’s driving me crazy!

“Since you arrived at our kingdom, yes, you have kept us safe,” she conceded, “for your courage, the only virtue you seem to possess, I thank you - but everything else? I could never say enough to express the irritation you have put me through, not in a thousand lifetimes, for you have said more than enough!”

For a brief moment, she saw what looked like pain in Link’s eyes… before his face hardened. But instead of saying anything back, he just turned and walked away. The anger that had flared up in her chest seemed to vanish in an instant, leaving an empty feeling in its wake. She thought to say something, anything, but her tongue was stilled by his silence.

Part of her wanted to be glad, to finally have some peace and quiet, but as the sound of the swordsman’s footsteps faded… the silence was almost deafening.

It’s amazing, how much one voice’s absence can make the whole world feel quieter.

Hyrule itself remained as it had always been, the birds still sang just as they did on that day, but even their song of the sky rang hollow to the princess. In the days that had come since her outburst, Link had not made a sound - save for those which came out as he exerted himself, in the training that he had single-mindedly kept to. “Hyah!” was hardly a word, anyway.

When asked a question, he would respond non-verbally when possible or not at all otherwise. He didn’t laugh at jokes, he didn’t say how he was doing, he just… trained. Working on his swordsmanship, dispatching Ganon’s minions when need be, and then back to working on his swordsmanship. Even Spryte couldn’t get a word out of him.

Usually he’d be following Zelda around and making up inane excuses to bother her, but now he could be found most often in the forest - swinging his sword, preparing for the next battle, and doing little else. If he could be heard at all, it was only because he was letting an undue amount of frustration at the air.

This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, she told herself as she walked the halls of the castle. He was finally seeming to take being the hero of Hyrule seriously! He also hadn’t bothered her since they last spoke, hadn’t even looked at her, which freed her up to do all sorts of things… but of all the things she could’ve been doing, why did she have to be worrying about Link even more than usual?

She wasn’t wrong! She told no lies when she said what she said, she assured herself!… But that only went so far. A thousand rationalizations couldn’t fill the silence that had been pounding at the princess’ eardrums. It was in this quiet that she began to wonder why Link had felt the way he did about her before… and how anyone could, after getting close enough for her to… hurt them.

Before she even realized it, she found herself standing just outside the forest where Link had been training that morning. She could just see him, one old tree standing between them and obscuring her from his view. She could’ve turned back, left him to his training and let things stay as they were, but… no, she couldn’t bear another day of it.

Pushing through the last bit of hesitation in her, she approached him. When her boot landed next to that old tree, crushing the blades of grass beneath it, Link sharply whipped his head back to see what had caused the sound. His eyes were wet when they met hers, but she had barely a moment to notice before he turned away upon recognizing her.

“Link…?” she called, her voice failing to make him face her but managing to keep him still. The words “I’m sorry” hovered in her mind, but she couldn’t seem to let the words out. Like if she said them, it would cease to be the bad dream that kept replaying in her mind and become real… but she knew very well they were both wide awake. Instead, she asked,

“Why do you like me?”

He seemed to pause at that. But, after taking one more deep breath, he turned and held her gaze in his once again. He was almost unrecognizable, like he hadn’t cracked a grin in days. When he spoke, however, the voice was very familiar.

“Well, you’re gorgeous, for one,” he started, causing Zelda to let out a scoff despite herself, “that’s what I noticed when I first saw you, but… when I stuck around, I noticed you were always helping people.

“You just… do so much for everyone,” he continued, scratching the back of his head, “it made me wanna do more, made me wanna help people like you do… I never felt prouder when I thought, well, that I’d done so well that you’d be proud of me…”

She came closer, her expression actually softening as she listened to him. She reached a hand out to him, hesitating for a moment before cupping his cheek.

“I… am so proud… to call you our hero, Link,” she said, before her face crumbled as she sobbed, “… and I am so sorry for what I said.” She pulled her hand away and turned her back to him suddenly. Her shoulder tensed briefly tensed up when she felt him lay his hand on it, but it eased back down after a moment.

“I’m sorry for being a knucklehead,” Link apologized, an apology she never would have believed she’d receive in a thousand years, that she most certainly wouldn’t have asked for after what she’d said, “I don’t know the right thing to say… ever, honestly, but… I never wanna be someone you hate.”

At that, she couldn’t stop herself from turning back to face him once more. That much she understood. But something new seemed to take hold of her as she then pulled him into an embrace.

“I could never hate you,” she told him, the closest thing she could say to the three words that were echoing in her heart, “after everything you’ve done for my kingdom, everything you’ve done for me, I could never… truly… hate you… never…” she softly spoke into his ear, feeling warmer as his arms wrapped around her waist and returned her embrace.

She shut her eyes and squeezed him tighter, swaying softly like that for a time. It truly was a horrible thing, to fear that the one you love hates you… but the truth was sweeter than that fear. And what a relief it was.

“… That having been said,” she added, pulling away from him, “you can be a handful, ‘hero.’” She smiled, he rolled his eyes.

“Well excuse me, Princess~”

The End.

Author‘s Notes: I wrote this during a 66-hour internet outage, during which time I was unable to call my partner and hear their voice. I had the idea for this story before that happened, but I can see the influence it had on how I told the story!

My second Zelink story in a row! I swear this happened purely by accident, I have been working on other stories! Hopefully this one was nice enough to read. I love that ol’ Zelda cartoon, and getting to write a story in that world was nice.