Light in the darkness

[hylianxsheikah]

[Zelda peers out the window of the laboratory on the shores of Lake Hylia, looking to see if the rain has slowed. It's pouring down as hard as ever, and the sparsely furnished laboratory is feeling damper and chillier by the moment. She sighs and turns away from the window, resigning herself to spending the night here. At least there's a stack of

Comments

[hylianxsheikah]

[A search of the loft over the laboratory proved fruitful; even though Zelda came here with nothing, she's found a few things to make the night more comfortable. There were blankets, which she simply tossed down the ladder, an old, smooth pair of wooden cups, which followed suit, and even a dusty old bottle of wine, which she carried down instead of throwing. Back on the ground floor, she pulls her cloak around her and is inspecting one of the wooden cups in her hand--it has a small dent from its fall--when she hears the knock on the door

[hylianxsheikah]

Warrior. [She returns the greeting shyly, calling him by the only name she knows. She shuts the door carefully behind him once he's inside, shutting out the cool, damp air and the loud pattering of rain, looking up at him again as she pulls her cloak around her.]

[She shakes her head emphatically. His appearance may have caught her by surprise, but with him here, she hardly fears what else could be out there in the night.] No, I'm glad...I mean, you're welcome to stay, if you like. I have little to offer... [She looks around the spare little room, then indicates the table and chairs in a corner.] Will you sit? I'll try to build up the fire.

Ffffff

[hylianxsheikah]

No, no, of course not...I'm glad you're here. [She turns away to build up the fire, feeding it more wood; even if he doesn't need it, she does. It seems as though the cold of the night has penetrated her very bones, and her garments are still a little damp from being out in the rain earlier.]

What brings you to Lake Hylia? [She glances back at him as she asks the question.]

<3

[hylianxsheikah]

I meant it, though. [She speaks quietly, but truthfully, facing the fire and not him as she does.] I like your company. And I don't like being alone in a place like this.

Rift? [She watches him clean his armor, thinking.] I felt something...a glimmer of strange power to the south, not long ago. Could that have been what you speak of?

[As she speaks, she moves from before the hearth to the pile of her findings left by the ladder, holding her cloak tightly around herself so as not to shiver so hard. She wraps one of the blankets around her shoulders and comes back, close to the heat of the fire.]

[hylianxsheikah]

[She ducks her head.] I need no repayment. Besides, you've done so much for me...

[She nods, thinking back to when she felt that strange, unfamiliar power.] It was at that time. But I didn't come in time to see it for myself. What was it?

Thank you. [She tugs at the second blanket to keep it slipping from her shoulders and shrugs with a smile.] Everything is damp. The fire will dry me.

[hylianxsheikah]

[She turns her head to smile up at him.] That seems like a fine idea to me.

[Her eyes widen as he speaks. A rift which others have entered, but none of them can leave...] Warrior, do you think--if we have the spiritual stones on hand, when again--if again--such a rift appears...?

[She too turns her gaze to the fire.] I sought some kind of shelter, some place of safety. I have no home in this Hyrule, you know...I wander. Or rather, Sheik wanders for me. But again, he is... [She hesitates.] Incapacitated.

[hylianxsheikah]

[She nods.] I'll tell Link--I've given him the third stone. If he sensed another rift as well, perhaps we could all make it in time...

It doesn't happen often. Over the past seven years, I've never been alone...Sheik has always protected me. Only lately, in this Hyrule... [She trails off worriedly, and shrugs a little uncomfortably, pulling the blankets closer around her.] I have the dagger you gave to me. [Not that that would be much help to her against him, but she doubts that would ever happen.] And I can't imagine that your intentions would ever be less than honorable.

[hylianxsheikah]

[She nods, quietly determined.] I'll let nothing stand in my way