The Legend of Zelda - Snow White Ch. 4

At daybreak, a crowd of children gathered near the mysterious woman who slept on the floor in the center of their small village. The small eyes narrowed with curiosity and everyone approached to try to examine more closely the strange girl who mysteriously appeared last night.

"Stand back! It must be a witch!" Mido, the Kokiri chief, shouted. "If you get too close she'll turn you all into lizards and will use you to make soup!"

"Don't talk nonsense, Mido!" Saria, a little girl with hair the color of green treetops, said. "She doesn't seem to be a witch! See how she looks like an angel when she sleeps."

"Angel? Wait until she wakes up and make a soup of us!"

"Mido, don't yell too loud! You'll wake her up!" Saria whispered, trying not to wake the sleeping girl.

"Oh, let her wake up! She doesn't live in this village!"

"Pssst! Look!" Said another little girl "She's waking up! What shall we do?"

"Quickly! Hide!" Mido said, running to the nearest tree while the others followed him.

Gradually, Zelda was waking up and when she looked around, she found herself in a small village, full of small houses. She was surprised by this new fact because last night she hadn't seen anything like that. Perhaps the darkness and fatigue had prevented her to see the place where she was.

"W-What is this place?" She asked herself as she watched the small village around her.

Saria watched carefully from behind a rock and began to stare at the woman with a curious look.

"You are in Kokiri Forest," Saria replied politely. Zelda was frightened by the presence of the little girl.

"Do not be afraid! It's okay! I'm Saria, the Forest Sage, and that one over there is Mido, the Kokiri chief. We are the guardians of this forest."

Saria said with a smile on her face that made Zelda feel safer. Seeing that there was no sign of danger, Saria gestured to her friends to approach the young woman. However, Mido remained where he was, glowering at her.

"We already know who we are, Saria, but what about her? Who is her, where did she come from, and why is she here?"

"Oh, yes... " Saria said, looking at the princess. "And who are you, my dear?"

"Oh! Pardon me! I'm Zelda." She replied shyly.

"Zelda?? The princess??" Cried all the children at the same time, in amazement.

"That's right!"

"What a surprise! We are very honored by your presence here, Your Highness!" Saria replied, bowing in respect.

All other Kokiri did the same, except for Mido, who was still looking at the princess with anger.

"Now! Whatever! She can't stay here! This forest has no more place for strangers! We already have to deal with Link living here and now we have to deal with another one? Send her away!"

"Oh, please don't send me away! I have nowhere to go!" Zelda begged, with a sad look in her eyes. "If I come back, she'll kill me!"

"Kill you?" Saria asked, startled. "Who would dare?"

"My stepmother, Queen Midna! Since my father went to war, she has treated me very badly and has forced me to work in the castle... She even ordered a huntsman to kill me! But he took pity on me and let me get away! If you let me stay here, I promise to take care of everyone!"

"We can't allow that!" Mido shouted. "The Queen is a witch! I'm warnin' ya! If she finds out, she'll swoop down in here and take revenge on us all!"

"But she doesn't know where I am!"

"She don't, eh? She knows everything! She's full of black magic! She can even make herself invisible! She might be here right now!"  

"She'll never find me here, I know! Please let me stay! If you let me stay I'll take care of everything! I can sweep, wash, sew, cook... I'll take good care of you. Please, I beg you!"

All the other Kokiri looked at Zelda with compassion. They gathered around a circle and after a discussion, Saria turned and said to the princess.

"Of course you can stay! You will always be welcome here. If you want, you can stay at my house, there is enough space. Plus, I think Link would like to have a friend about the same age as him!"

"Oh, thank you so much!" Zelda hugged the little green-haired girl with great joy.

All other Kokiri involved the young princess in a long embrace, except for Mido, who was in a corner with his arms folded, frowning.

However, no one bothered with the unruly behavior of their colleague. Saria led Zelda to her little house and prepared a cozy corner for the princess.

"Well... you can sleep here. I know it's not very comfortable, but it's the best I can offer you."

"No, it's okay, it's perfect!" Zelda said, excited. "It's even better than the little room that my stepmother made me sleep."

Saria looked at the princess with pity and wondered how her life had been difficult in that castle with a stepmother who hated her.

"Hey, you must be hungry, right? After all, you come from so far... I have some fruit in the kitchen. If you want, you can eat some. Make yourself at home!"

"I could make a pie!" Zelda replied enthusiastically. "So you all can eat. What do you think?"

Saria nodded in affirmation. "Yes, I think it's a good idea."

Zelda ran to the kitchen and opened the cabinets, picking up a pot of flour, eggs, butter, and milk, and began to prepare a delicious apple pie. The smell filled the air making the Kokiri get their mouth-watering. Once the pie was ready, they all went to Saria's house to try it. Even the most cantankerous of Kokiri children, Mido, couldn't resist the smell of the delicious pie prepared by the princess. But when he was about to take a piece...

"No, no, no!" Zelda rebuked. "Have you washed your hands?"

"Humph! But of course!" Mido muttered, grimacing.

"When?" She asked again, glaring at him.

"Just now!"

"Just now, is it? Let me see your hands!"

"And what if I don't want to show?" He growled.

"So you won't eat the pie," Zelda replied, taking the pie of his reach.

He turned away angrily. "Humph! Women!" He grunted as he walked towards the tub of water.

He stopped in front of the tub and watched his reflection in the water for a moment. Until he felt something pushing him forcefully into the tub, causing him to be drenched in his entire body. When he took his head out of the water, he saw his Kokiri friends laughing at him.

"Hahahahaha! You must be clean if you want to please the princess, Mido!" Riduki laughed. The group of boys could hardly breathe from laughing so much at the drenched face of their friend.

"Laugh while you can! Soon she will put bows in you all and will shower you with that water called... PERFUME!" He replied in disgust.

But the boys didn't care. They just kept laughing as he got up and came out of the tub soaking wet. He straightened his cap on his head and walked toward the kitchen, hoping to still have some leftover piece of pie for him. However, when he got there, there was no trace that there was a pie before. But before he could even mutter something, Zelda approached him and held out a small piece of apple pie that was in her hands.

"I kept a piece for you when you went to wash your hands," she spoke, kindly looking into his eyes. "Since we're going to live together for some time, we must be friends, right?"

Mido looked at the pie for a while, a little surprised at the generous attitude of the princess. He felt a little regret, which was unusual from him, but to maintain his image and pride, he took the piece of pie from the Princess's hands roughly.

"You made no more than you should! " He growled, staring at the princess with a scowl. Then he walked toward the door and without saying another word, walked away, leaving Saria and Zelda alone in the kitchen.

"Oh ... What do I do for Mido to like me?" Zelda sighed as she watched the boy walk away sullenly.

"Oh, don't worry about it... Mido has always been this way," Saria said, trying to comfort her new friend. "He's just jealous because you are getting more attention than him... It was the same thing when we took Link under our wings."

"Link? Who is Link? You speak so much of him..." Zelda asked curiously.

"Oh yeah... Well... We adopted him when he was a baby. He was found near the forest, abandoned, so we decided to take care of him. He is a handsome young man, a Hylian like you, about your age. He has short, blond hair and beautiful blue eyes, the color of the sky. He is very gentle and polite, I'm sure you two will get along great!"

Saria smiled gently at Zelda, who at the time looked rather intrigued by the description Saria had done. For a moment, she thought about the young man she had met in the palace garden the other day. He also had blond hair and blue eyes and was kind and very polite.

"No. It can't be him... It would be quite a coincidence... Moreover, the castle is so far away from here... " she thought, losing her hopes to meet again the handsome young man she had met the other day.

"What is it, princess? Are you okay?" Saria asked, interrupting the princess's thoughts.

"Huh? Nothing... I was just... thinking," She blushed a little. "But then, why haven't I seen him around here yet?"

"Oh, yes... He went to town to buy some things." Saria looked around as if trying to locate something. "Weird... He should be back by now. Maybe the city is crowded, or he met someone there. He is very successful with girls!"

"Oh..." Zelda's voice sounded a bit disappointed.

Suddenly a great tumult could be heard outside Saria's house. The small Kokiri girl approached the window to try to see what was happening.

"But what is this? What is this noise?" She looked out the window and could see that, surrounded by a group of children, was a handsome young man accompanied by his faithful mare. "Oh! It's Link! He's back!"

Saria was so excited to see her old friend that she jumped out the window and ran in his direction.

"Link! Finally!!" Saria shouted as she ran towards him. "What took you so long?"

When the girl approached, Link took her in his arms and placed her on his lap.

"Good to see you too, Saria!" He replied, patting the green-haired girl in the head. "It took me so long because I had some problems there in the city."

"I'm glad you came! There are so many things I want to tell you! I—"

"I also got a lot to tell!" Link said, interrupting Saria and putting the girl down, placing her back on the ground. "You won't believe what I saw yesterday when I was passing near the castle! I met a—"

"You don't have time for that! Later, you can tell me everything that happened! First, I want to introduce you to someone! Follow me!" She said excitedly, pulling Link's arms, who wasn't understanding anything of what was going on.

Meanwhile, Zelda decided to take a curious peek through the window to see who had just arrived. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw the young man who was talking to Saria. He wore the same clothes as the man she had met the other day, in the castle garden. And had the same face, same hair, same eyes. He was the same young man she had left in the garden, fearing that her stepmother would harm him.

When she saw that they were approaching the house, she hid behind the window.

Her heart was beating furiously and she was sweating uncontrollably. She was happy to see the friend she met in the castle garden, but she was so nervous that she didn't know what to do, or even what to say when she sees him. Her mind revolved around different thoughts, leaving her even more confused and distressed.

She soon heard the sound of the doorknob turning slowly and the sound of voices coming from outside. Saria was entering slowly, pulling Link's arm, who was very confused with the situation.

"Saria, can I know what—" His voice stopped abruptly when his eyes met the young woman who was standing beside the small table. His eyes widened in surprise.

She was the same girl he met in the palace garden. The same girl for whom he was infatuated.

Saria cleared her throat. "Link, this is Zelda, the princess. She'll be here with us from today."

Link remained motionless. He didn't take his eyes from the princess for a second. It was hard to believe it. After a while of silence, Link finally spoke.

"B-but you are... You're the girl I met yesterday at the Castle Garden..." He walked slowly towards her "You mean that all this time you were Princess Zelda? I'm very surprised!"

Zelda lowered her head, embarrassed. Link was now so close to her that she could hear him whispering so no one else could hear.

"So that's why you ran away from me?"

She forced herself to look at him to see his blue eyes. As she did, her heart raced even more with the brightness of his eyes. Zelda couldn't speak for a while. Her mind was spinning and she was confused. Swallowing hard, she said with a trembling voice.

"I-I'm sorry... I didn't want—" Her voice trailed off as she lowered her gaze, staring again at the wooden floor beneath her.

Suddenly, Zelda felt her chin being touched by a gentle hand and being lifted slightly, to look again at Link. They looked at each other for a while until he asked softly:

"You didn't want ...?"

His soft and calm voice seemed to warm Zelda's heart, who took a deep breath before start answering, trying to stay calm.

"I didn't want my stepmother to see us... " She sighed sadly and continued after a pause "It is because of her that I'm here."

Link frowned doubtfully, but before he could make a question, Saria came in the room and spoke in a serious tone.

"Link, the queen is a very evil and jealous witch. Zelda told us that while she lived in the castle, the queen made her do all the tasks. She worked as a maid for her. The queen ordered a huntsman to take her to the woods and kill her. But the man let her flee. She ran through the Lost Woods until she reached our forest. That is why she is hidden here. If the queen discovers that she is still alive, she'll do anything to kill her."

Link looked back at Zelda and began to understand. Everything began to make sense now.

"Ah, so that's why you ran from me that day... So that's why you were dressed as a maid, dressed in rags... Well, I was surprised when I saw you now dressed as a princess." He smiled. "But I have to admit that even those dirty old clothes could not disguise your true beauty." He said softly, his fingers sliding down her cheeks.

Zelda blushed. He was the only person, besides her father, saying how beautiful she was. In the years when she lived in the castle with her stepmother, anyone who dared to praise her beauty was thrown into the dungeon by the terrible woman. She always yelled and said that Zelda's beauty would never compare to hers.

Zelda's eyes were saddened by those terrible memories. She grew up believing that she was ugly, which was just a big lie invented by her jealous stepmother. But Link saw her differently. He could see in her something special that nobody else could see. She could see that from the day they met in the garden.

Link lifted her face once more for her to look into his eyes again. He realized her sad eyes and muttered in an attempt to comfort her:

"Listen, princess, I mean... Zelda. May I call you that?" He asked politely. She just nodded in agreement. "Listen, Zelda. While you're here, I promise I won't let anyone do you any harm. My friends and I will do everything we can to protect you, okay? So there is no reason to worry." He smiled faintly at her.

His warm and comforting smile made Zelda feel safer. She smiled back at him and the two were exchanging glances for a while until Saria interrupted them:

"Link, you could show her the village! She came here so tired and hungry that I didn't have time to show anything to her."

"Oh, yes." He turned again to Zelda and said timidly "Well... What do you think? Want to come with me to know the rest of the village?"

"Of course! I'd love to!" She replied excitedly, taking Link's left hand on her thin and fragile princess's hands, which made him blush slightly. He led her outside the house. Zelda was very excited to know the little village that from now on, would be her new home.