Anything but a princess (LoZ - Link x Reader)

Slowly, Link walked through the once so peaceful city called Castle Town. Though he didn't show it, Link was utterly shocked about how much the town had changed over the past few years. Monsters were lurking around every corner and there were no people left, apart from some shady figures who transacted omnious buisness in the remaining buildings. Survivors escaped a long time ago and settled down in the nearby Kakariko Village, trying to continue a normal life as best they could. Burried in thought, the Hero of Time walked aimelessly about the market place, not noticing the pair of glistering eyes that lay in wait for him among the shades of the narrow alleys. Not paying any attention to his way, Link turned around into the next street. However, a dull sound made him stop dead in his tracks.

...tap...tap...tap...

Grabbing the hilt of his sword, Link turned around, ready to attack if necessary. Eyes wide open, he gaped at the sight in front of him. Bright red eyes were peering hard at him through a scretched and dirty wooden mask. Before he could even move, the ReDead's piercing scream rang through his ears, completely stunning him. The zombie-like creature started to lumber toward the blond-haired man, haltering his movement with its intense stare. Using the last of his strength, Link took a step back, at least trying to escape. Unfortunately, he didn't see the heap of depris lying behind him and stumbled over it. Still paralyzed, the hero couldn't hold his balance and hit his head against the nearby wall. Slowly but surely the world around him started to grow hazy as he lost consciousness and fell motionless to the ground, leaving him entirely defenceless.


You were watching this whole incident while kneeling on the roof of a close-by house. Standing up, you took an arrow out of your quiver and nocked it on before stretching your bow. Aiming at the ReDead's back of the head, you send the arrow flying and moments later the bolt drilled through the monster's head. The ReDead let out a shriek of pain before it slumped lifelessly to the ground where  it started to crumble into dust. You hopped down from the roof and landed with a loud thud on the ground. Carefully, you approached the stranger you just had saved and took a closer look at him. His dishwater blond hair hung loosely into his face, for this reason you couldn't see any potential wounds, yet you didn't see any blood either and he was breathing evenly, which is why you assumed that he just would need some rest and maybe an ice pack to get better. You were glad that he wasn't all that seriously injured and let out a sigh of relieve. You crouched down beside the man and tried to wake him up by shaking his shoulder, but with no success. It didn't seem like he would wake up anytime soon, no wonder – he hit his head pretty hard, after all and he was lucky not to bleed; therefore you decided to take him home with you where he could rest safely. You lifted his torso and slung one of his arms around your shoulders, so that you could support him better while walking to your house.

*********

You lived in a small cottage near the market place. Gladly, it didn't get totally wrecked like a lot of other buildings in Castle Town. You entered your house and cautiously laid the blond-haired man down on your bed. Huffing and puffing you wiped with the back of your hand the sweat off of your forehead. It was exhausting to carry the stranger all the way to your house, he was way taller than you and the big shield and sword he had with him didn't make it any easier for you. You rushed into the kitchen and quickly prepared an ice pack that you carefully put on the spot he had hit with his head.

"Let's hope that you will wake up soon..."

You mumbled to yourself as you began to return to the kitchen where you would prepare something little to eat.


Blinking a few times, Link started to open his eyes. A deep groan escaped his throat as he grasped his throbbing head. Sitting up in bed, Link took in his surroundings. He didn't recognize the room he was in, neither did he know how he got there. Just as he was about to stand up, you entered the bedroom with a boul of soup in your hands.

"Oh, you are awake! That's good to see."

You flashed him a small smile and put the steaming hot meal on the nightstand before you sat down on a chair next to the bed.

"How are you feeling? Does your head still hurt?"

Link, however, didn't answer you at first. For a while he just kept staring at you what made you feel rather uncomfortable. Since he didn't seem like a chatty person, you weren't sure whether to try talking to the stranger again or not, that's why you were relieved when he finally started to speak.

"Who are you? Where am I and how did I get here?"

The questions came out harsher than intended. He didn't mean to offend you, but he had to be careful around strangers. Since he didn't knew you, he kept his gaze at you, his cerulean blue eyes never leaving your form.

"Well, I'm the one who saved your butt after you've got attacked by one of of those friggin' ReDeads. Right now, you are in my house in Castle Town and I'm also the one who brought you here while you were being unconscious."

He received a testy reply from you, due to his rude questions. You were glaring at each other with a hard gaze and it wasn't until Link let out a heavy sigh that the tension between the two of you ceased.

"So...you saved me, huh?"

"Yup."

"...thanks. I'm sorry for being rude before. I guess I owe you something."

"It's okay."

You smiled at him.

"Don't mention it. We should help each other, shouldn't we? Especially in times such as these."

You took the bottle that stood beside the bed and poured him some water into the glass on the nightstand.

"I was surprised to see you, though. It's been a while since somebody came across the town. What brings you here? Did you use to live here and wanted to pick up something from your house?"

Link glanced to the side, not saying anything. What was he supposed to answer you? 'I travelled through time, because I was sent to save the kingdom of Hyrule'? You wouldn't believe him anyway. Everything happened so fast, even he himsef couldn't believe what was actually going on. So he decided to stay baldly.

"No. Actually, I was on my way to the Forest Temple. I just passed by the town, but I haven't been here in a long time and I didn't expect to see so many creatures of the darkness."

He looked you straight into your eyes before continuing.

"I would be probably dead by now if it wasn't for you. Thanks again. Let me know if there is anything I can do for you in return."

"Hmm..so are you still heading to the Forest Temple?"

Link nodded.

"Well, then there is really something you could do for me. I want you to take me with you!"

Link furrowed his eyes at your request.

"No."

"Great. I'm just going to ta- Huh? Hey! Why not?"

You asked him in a sulky voice while you crossed your arms over your chest.

"It's going to be very dangerous. There are already a lot of monsters on the fields of Hyrule and there are going to be even more monsters around the area of the Forest Temple. It'll only put you in unnecessary danger if you come with me."

"I don't care!"

Link blinked surprised at the sudden determination in you eyes.

"Listen...I know that I can't rescue the whole kingdom of Hyrule, but I can at least help the people in Kakariko Village! There are a lot of treasures in those kind of temples, aren't they? I just want to take some rupees, so that I can support the others! I am a pretty decent fighter, so you don't have to take care of me! I promise that I won't be a klutz and that I won't get in your way!"

Letting out a defeated sigh, Link gave in. He had to admit that two warriors were better than one anyhow.

"...fine. You can come along. But you have to be extremely careful as soon as we leave the town. Stay close to me. Don't do anything on your own and if I tell you to run, you will run. Understood?"

"YES, SIR!!"

You nodded eagerly at his orders and stood quickly up, already packing the bag in your mind. You were about to run out of the room when you stopped abruptly and turned around, facing the blue eyed man.

"Heh, I've actualy never got your name."

Link smiled softly at your cheeful attitude before answering.

"Link. My name is Link."
"Well, Link. I prepared something little to eat for you."

You motioned to the boul of soup on the bedside table.

"It's just a soup, though, nothing fancy. But it will warm you up a bit. Go ahead and eat as much as you want. I'm just going to pick up a few things before we leave, okay?"

And with that you were already through the door, getting ready for your upcoming journey.

*********

The two of you left Castle Town late in the afternoon, heading towards Kokiri Forest. There was an awkward silence between Link and you, so you decided to break the ice.

"You have a pretty fancy shield and sword, they even have the emblem of Hyrule on them. Are you a knight or something like that?"

"Yeah...something like that."

Link looked for a short moment in your direction before focusing on the way again. Well...that didn't work out like you planned to. You figured that he didn't like to talk about himself and you were about so apologise as he asked you something.

"What about you?"

"Hm?"

You blinked at his sudden question. Yeah, Link wasn't the most talkative person in the world, but that didn't mean that he couldn't or didn't want to make at least some small talk with you.

"Why do you still live in Castle Town? All the other survivors live in Kakariko Village, as far as I know."

"Well..."

You stared down at your feet as you continued to speak.

"Actually...I don't have any family to stay with and Kakariko is already full with people who lost their home. I don't want to be a burden to them...I just want to help the people in the village as much as possible. That's why I stayed in town. Especially at the beginning, after the monsters arrived, a lot of citizens wanted to pick up some things from their old houses. I helped them to get safely to their homes and I also helped them to carry their stuff to Kakariko Village."

"You are a very good-natured person."

Link told you as he, once again, glanced in your direction and you gave him a small smile as a response. The rest of the way went off silent, without any incidents and soon you reached your destination: Kokiri Forest.

*********

Link's expression immediately fell as soon as you entered the small village. Eyes furrowed, he clenched his fist tightly and took in his surroundings. Even Kokiri Forest was filled with monsters and the else so beautifully blooming plants were now withering. You noticed the pained look in his eyes and you were about to say something, you wanted to comfort him somehow, but he spoke up first.

"Let's get going. It won't be easy to get through the Lost Woods and we have to reach the Forest Temple before nightfall."

He turned around and started to walk away, you silently following close behind.
The way through the Lost Woods was rough. You encountered a lot of monsters and you often only narrowly escaped serious injuries. However, you arrived your destination just in time. You could see the sunset behind the temple and its beautiful shine made the temple ablaze with light. Exhausted, you let out a few pants.

"There we are..."

Link nodded, eyes focused on the majestic building in front of him.

"...the Forest Temple."

*********

"Ugh..that temple drove me nearly crazy, I swear!"

You said with an annoyed voice as you squeezed out your dripping wet hair.
It had been some time since you joined Link on his adventure. Actually, you hadn't planned on doing so, but one incident led to another back at the Forest Temple and eventually you ended up supporting the Hero of Time to defeat Ganondorf.

"Yeah, but you did a pretty good job back there."

Link approached you with a smile and ruffled your still wet hair with one of his big hands. A warm sensation flooded through your whole body and you felt the heat rising to your cheeks. You mumbled a quiet 'thanks' and looked down at your own feet, so that Link couldn't see the big blush on your face. You knew it was ridiculous to fall in love with Link, he was the Hero of Time after all. He could have every girl he wanted, even Zelda, the princess of Hyrule. So why should he fall for you? You were no match to a princess like her. Still, you couldn't help it – the feelings you had for the blond-haired man just seemed to grow deeper and deeper with each passing day. You prepared yourself to get your heart broken once Link would have completed his task. In the end, he would marry Zelda and have a happy life with her. Nontheless, you enjoyed every minute the two of you spent together, even though you fought against those nasty monsters most of the time. For you, it was enough just to be next to him and if he would be happy with the princess, you would be happy as well.

"Let's call it a day and take a break. We could camp near the river, that way we could also catch some fish for dinner. What do you think?"

Link suggested and pointed at a place not too far from the Water Temple.

"Sounds like a plan to me!"
Giving him a brigt smile you approved his idea with a thumbs-up.


The rest of the day went off calmly. Some people would say it was scandalous to take breaks in times auch as these since Hyrule was about to descend into total chaos, but they were extremely important. It was necessary to take some time of once in a while, otherwise you wouldn't endure the whole pressure that lay on you. Especially Link had his problems with this. You noticed that he would lack in concentration if you kept 'working' for too long. That's why you let him sleep in at such rare moments, he needed the energy he got from this extra rest. As so often at your breaks, you watched his chest going up and down as he slept peacefully under the shades of a big tree. After a while you decided to take a walk around the area, you wanted to look for a nice place where you could watch the sunset. You didn't walk for a long time, soon, you spotted a small hill – the perfect location for a great view – and sat down on top of it. You gasped at the wonderful play of colours in front of you. Diverse tones of red, orange and yellow merged with each other and formed one of the most beautiful sights you had ever seen. Admiring your georgous view, you started to think about a certain blue-eyed man. You knew it was somehow childish, but now and then you imagined how it would be if you were dating Link. You smiled at the different images that ran through your mind, the mere thought of you two being a couple made you happy. You must had been deep in thought because you didn't seem to notice that it was already nightfall and you also missed to notice that it had begun to drizzle.


Link woke up due to some drops of water that fell on his face. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before he stretched his arms, letting out a big yawn. Noticing the dark colour of the sky, Link gasped in surprise.
"Woha! It's already nightfall! I didn't think I would sleep that long. What time is it?"
He expected you to be around and he thought that you would answer him, but to his astonishment he didn't get any reply. Looking around, Link couldn't see you anywhere, so he stood up and walked up to the tent, checking if you were in there. The Hero of Time furrowed his brow with concern as he saw that your weapons were still there, whereas you were gone. It seemed like you went out without taking them with you.

"Damn it...where could she possibly be?"

Link murmured while he grabbed his shield and sword, preparing himself to begin to search for you.


The drizzle passed off as fast as it had begun. It wasn't until the drops of water stopped falling that you noticed how late it already was.

"Oh, shoot! I totally lost track of time! I have to hurry back to the camp!"

You quickly stood up and began to run down the hill when you heard some weird laughters behind you. Turning around, you wanted to check where these sounds came from and looked with shock at four Poes which giggled manic across each other. The ghost-like spirits came closer and closer and you frozed in fear as you saw that their eye colours turned from green through yellow to red. You knew exactly what this meant – they would attack you any second. Promptly you turned away and started to sprint off as fast as you could. There was no way you could fight four Poes with your bare hands. But your escape plan was soon foiled. You didn't come very far because one of the spirits suddenly arose in front of you what caused you to trip backwards out of shock. Loosing your balance, you felt flat on your butt and the Poes started to spin around you, eyes blazing red and a wicked smile on their faces. You whole face showed utter panic. Not knowing what to do, you did the first thing that came to your mind: screaming for help at the top of your lungs.


"HELP ME! LINK!!"

Link stopped immediately as he heard you scream his name. Clenching his shield and sword tightly, he started to run into the direction wherefrom he heard your cry for help. Shortly after, Link arrived at the scene. At first, you didn't even see him, because you were too focused on dodging all the fireballs the ghost-like creatures were throwing at you. Carefully, Link sneaked up on the Poes, trying not to make any hasty movements or noises, so he would stay undetected. Raising up his blade, he let out a yell as he stabbed the first Poe to death. The other three spirits didn't even have time to react, brandishing his sword Link took them down in quick succession. Not wasting a single second, Link ran up to you and pulled you into a tight embrace after the Poes crackled into smoke.

"Thank the Goddesses, you are okay..."

He whispered into your ear as he pressed your head even tighter against his broad chest.

"L-Link?"

You blushed a deep shade of red at his sudden actions. Carefully, Link pushed you off of him and grabbed your shoulders, looking you straight in the eyes.

"Promise me that you won't do anything like that ever again, okay? Just don't go out on your own, especially not without any weapons."

A heavy sigh escaped his lips.

"Do you even know how worried I was?"

Ashamed, you looked down at the ground. You didn't want to cause him any trouble, yet that was what you had done.

"...I'm sorry."

You mumbled barely audible.

"I promise that I'll be more careful next time."

"Good. What were you doing anyway? Couldn't you just have stayed at the camp?"

"I-I was looking for a nice spot to watch the sunset..."

You said in a rather shaky voice. Only now you realized that you were trembling, apparently the shock of the sudden attack had got you more than expected.

"...watching the sunset? It's already pitch dark. I bet you were daydreaming again. Sometimes you really are a weirdo."

Link said in a teasing matter, a slight smirk on his face.
You knew that he was just teasing you and you knew that he did this to cheer you up, to distract you from the most recent incident, he didn't mean to offend you in any way. Yet you felt your eyes getting wet and you got upset about his comment. Link gasped in surprise as he saw the sad look on your face, he didn't want to hurt your feelings at all.

"H-hey! I-Im sorry, okay? I didn't mean to insult you, I was just teasing you. So you don't have to start crying, alright?"

Overwhelmed with different emotions, you just blurted out your thoughts.

"Well, I'm sorry for not beeing as perfect as princess Zelda!"

...
...
...

"Thahahahaha."

Suddenly, Link started to laugh. Confused, you looked up at him, not understanding what exactly should had been that funny.

"Hey! Don't laught at me! That's not funny!"

"Oh, but I don't laught at you, I laugh about what you've said."

"Huh?"

"Of course, you aren't like Zelda. In fact, you are anything but a princess."

You furrowed your eyes at his response and he gave you a bright smile in return.

"And that's why I fell in love with you, silly."

"You know it's no-...wait...w-what?"

You wanted to scold him but stopped mid sentence as you realized what he just had said. Before you could say or do anything else, Link grabbed your wrist an pulled you toward him. He cupped your cheeks with both hands and pulled you up, sealing your lips with a loving kiss.

"So...what do you say? Would you give me the honour to be my one and only weirdo?"

Despite the deep blush on your face you had to giggle about the way he asked you out.

"With the greatest of pleasure, oh mighty Hero of Time."

Flashing you a smile, Link crashed his lips once again against yours, capturing you in a passionate kiss.


It was worth it to be called a weirdo as long as is meant you could be with your beloved man.~