Chapter Text
The hero of Hyrule, dressed in his usual Hylian traveling gear, rode down the path. The white horse’s hooves clopped on the ground as it trotted at a steady pace. The Dueling Peaks loomed just ahead, their shadows to the side underneath the late morning sun.
This is what the lone Yiga, preparing a trap for the hero, saw from his vantage point part of the way up one of the peaks. Luc, the lowly foot soldier, had been chosen for this mission. It was his chance to prove his worth to his fellow Yiga, and maybe even Lord Ganon himself, although he cared more about the former than the latter. All he had to do was trick the hero into thinking he was his beloved princess, and then he would take the opportunity to end the hero’s life.
The plan was simple, capture a few monsters, disguise as Zelda, release the monsters, have Link fight them (and hopefully have him get worn out in the process, go in for an embrace and maybe even a kiss, depending on how he was feeling, slit his throat, and then finally be recognized as useful. It was a solid plan, in his opinion. He had a few more minutes to prepare, so he used a small mirror to check his appearance. Everything seemed right when he first changed into the disguise, but he needed to check again. After all, Link knew the princess better than anyone, and if Luc missed even the most minute of details there was a good chance he’d catch on. But there was more to the disguise than that. He needed to act like the princess as well. Hopefully, making a pitiful attempt to fight back against the bokoblins, and then being acting overjoyed and excited to see Link was the right choice. He only had one chance, after all. The hero was smart enough to not fall for it a second time. Or at least, not as easily.
He skipped over to the cave containing the cage that had the monsters in it, humming as he went. Abruptly, he stopped, as he saw the hole in the cage and the absence of any monsters.
Shit.
Shit.
This was really bad. He couldn’t do it without the monsters, and there was no time to get any more. And if he couldn’t do it, he couldn’t go back to the Yiga. This was the most important mission any of them had been on in a long time, except for maybe the operations in the Depths, but he didn’t know much about them, not enough to know for sure. Plenty of people opposed Luc being the one to attempt this, and if he went back empty handed they would never let him do anything. The hero would be here soon.
Should he retreat, just straight up try and kill him, or wait and try again soon? Retreating would basically end any chances of living any sort of happy life among the Yiga, so that was absolutely a no-go. Turning it into an ambush would end badly too, judging by the state of the others who returned after trying to best the hero. Then there was trying again later but how could he know where the hero would-
“Zelda…?” An icy jolt ran down Luc’s spine. He prayed to every deity he could name that the person behind him who had just spoken the princess’ name was anyone but the hero. Even the entire Gerudo army would be a more welcome sight. He turned around slowly.
A blond haired, blue eyed, Hylian looked at him in disbelief. He slowly walked towards who he thought was the princess of Hyrule. Soon, he was face to face with the Yiga Clan soldier. He frowned.
“You aren’t supposed to be here. How did you turn back into a Hylian?”
“What are you talking about?”
“What do you mean? You were a dragon for the past who knows how many years!” Luc, like the younger brother he was, fought the urge to say “Nuh uh.”
“Oh… I… don’t remember.” Luc went with the good old memory loss trick. Gets them every time. Well, not every time, but enough that it was still a tactic worth employing. Link’s brow furrowed. He reached up a gloved hand towards the fake princess’ face, and then dropped it.
“What do you remember? Why are you here?”
“I- I don’t know.” Luc said. The nerves actually helped the shakiness in the voice sound genuine. He could even feel his eyes sting a bit with emotion.
“Do you know who I am?”
“Link,” it sounded like a question more than a statement. “I’m sorry, I remember a bit, but it’s all fuzzy. What happened?”
Link sighed. “I don’t even know where to begin.” He looked at the cage in front of him. “Were you in there?”
“Uh… yeah. I woke up in there. It had a hole though. No clue what happened.”
“Zelda, are you feeling alright? You don’t seem too well. Are you injured or something?”
“He- Link. I literally don’t even know what’s going on right now. I am not feeling great. But, I am not hurt, so that’s a plus.” Link looked him up and down worriedly, then grabbed his hand.
“Let’s go. I’ll take you to the stable and you can get some rest. Then we can figure this out.” He led him out to where his horse was, hopped on, and offered him a hand. Luc paused, he’d never ridden a horse before, but it couldn’t be that bad. Besides, a bed awaited him. He was a fit and disciplined warrior, but still was lazy at heart. All the training couldn’t make lying around all day seem any less appealing. He sat in front of Link, the hero, his sworn enemy. He could feel his breath lightly rustle his hair. With the hero so close, he could theoretically take the chance to attack, but it’d require him turning around, giving the chosen one a few seconds to react. Besides, it wasn’t like most of the other Yiga would miss him. He could afford a bit more time.
Once they arrived at the stable, Link began talking to the man at the front desk. Luc looked around. The trip here was the first time he’d ever left the general Gerudo area. He couldn’t get over how green everything was here. There was so much wildlife, plants, animals, little scurrying things that would disappear before he could get a good look.
Link lightly touched his shoulder. “Here, I’ll take you to your bed, you need the rest right now.” Luc wasn’t particularly tired, but while he closed his eyes and got some rest he could come up with a plan. He got under the sheets, marveling at the softness. They didn’t have beds like this at their hideout. At least not for members of his rank, anyways. Kohga definitely had to have a bed like this, if not better, and some of the blademasters probably did too. He laid there for a while, then opened his eyes, looking up at the ceiling.
And also at Link’s face.
“Are you watching me sleep?” Link blushed.
“Sorry, I just didn’t want to get a bed and wanted to watch over you.”
“Can you do that facing the other way?”
“Of course.”
And although Luc tried to scheme, he eventually fell into a deep slumber. Meanwhile, the hero, who did not move whatsoever, smiled as he watched Zelda’s face turn peaceful and her breaths even out, matching the rise and fall of her chest. He didn’t know how this had happened, and something didn’t sit right with him. But still, weirder stuff than this had happened to him before. And now, he had his princess by his side on his adventures. He gently brushed a strand of hair out of her face and vowed to keep them together, no matter what it would take.