Zelda slides into one of the chairs at the kitchen table, rubbing the back of her neck with one hand as she listens to Link. She has a crick in her neck. Must have been from sleeping-- ]
T-two weeks?!
[ She whips around in the chair to face him, all thought to her sore neck vanishing. Now it's Zelda's turn to gape in disbelief. ]
B-but that's---!
[ Impossible? Not really. Such happenings are fairly common in Songerein. Well, perhaps not common, but not unusual. ]
[But that's--! He tilts his head a bit, watching her with eyebrows raised. Impossible? Really? After she spent the last month fretting over her friend in the same condition? Surely she can't believe that. He doesn't say as much, but his expression does.
A few moments later, a bowl of poached eggs and tomato sauce appears before her on the table, accompanied by a few slices of bread. It was clearly toasted earlier, probably when he had his breakfast, but it's still fairly fresh. Link sits opposite her at the table, watching the kettle as it continues to warm.]
You must have been tired.
[The levity in his voice is quite subtle. In truth, he's relieved to see her up, finally, but...he doesn't want her to feel bad about something over which she had no control.]
[ Yeah, yeah, don't give her that look. She knew how silly she sounded the moment the words left her mouth. She's not even going to try to justify herself.
Instead, she turns back around in her chair as Link sets an incredible breakfast in front of her. ]
So it seems. [ She replies sarcastically. ] Although two weeks is just excessive. A few extra hours would have been ample.
[ Zelda starts in on the eggs. The smell is so heavenly it manages to push away her frustrations. ] How were things in my absence?
[As he rests his chin on his palm he does, in fact, stop giving her that look. In part, he has to hold his tongue, biting back some kind of remark about how she doesn't do things by half-measures, even if it's just sleep. In her current mood, he has a feeling she might not fully appreciate it.
The kettle begins to boil just after she asks the question, and Link's expression changes a bit as he goes to take it from the hearth. How were things, indeed? How to explain it?]
Interesting. [As if that explains anything. He returns to the table a few moments later with two cups of tea.] The town turned into some kind of storybook.
[... He says this fairly casually, like he's just talking about a normal everyday outing.]
[ Link's instincts are correct, even without the memories to back them up; Zelda is definitely in a Mood this morning.
Zelda listens as she eats. (Was Link always this good of a cook?) When he brings up what happened to the town, she coughs mid-bite. ]
The entire town? [ She covers her mouth with her hand. ] Well that's unusual. Or maybe not unusual, but unprecedented. There have been the odd occasion of dreamwalkers being pulled into books, but not a transformation of the entire town into a book.
[For a moment, he glances at her curiously, and then nods.] It may have been more like that. [This is what I get for reading the event wrong orz] It happened quite fast.
[Overall, it doesn't seem like the event took a terrible toll on him. One might expect that means he wasn't affected very much, but that's just sort of how Link is. He goes with the flow, even if "the flow" means "turning into a scarecrow and also somehow porcelain, among other things." Thoughtfully, he cups his hands around his teacup. If this isn't entirely unfamiliar for her, he'd better be prepared for it to happen again, he supposes.]
[ Link's and Kri's confusion is understandable—dreamshifts tend to happen very quickly and each is never quite the same as the last. At least they are (more or less) expected now. The first time a dreamshift took hold of the entire town, the tapirs were worked up in a panicked tizzy trying to figure out what had happened.
Link seems as unfazed by the dreamshift as any veteran dreamwalker, despite the fact that this was most likely his first. Just what Zelda would expect from Link, though it does make her wonder if there might be more to it. ]
I wouldn't say "often," but it has happened. Not to me, unfortunately. [ She continues eating. Of course a dreamshift into a book would happen the first time Zelda falls into a sleeping coma! ] That phenomenon is called a "dreamshift," an instance when all of Reverein 'shifts' into a different dream world. They are semiregular occurrences.
["Unfortunately." He doesn't miss that wording. It makes sense, all said, for a person who loves reading as much as she does.
Link tries to commit the word to memory. Dreamshift.]
So there's a good chance that there will be a next time.
[Not that it was exactly a fun experience, but in the end, it wasn't harmful. A strange little adventure, you might say. It does sound like the kind of thing she would enjoy, mostly.]
[Ah-- that's right, another regular occurrence. He can't help but wonder at the pattern; it's almost as if something about the world is alive, actively making these choices...]
I see.
[It's something to remain aware of. At the question, he shrugs, thinking back. It certainly wasn't the safest adventure he'd ever had, but would he go so far as to call it dangerous?
[... Oh. Oh, she wants details. Now that she basically asks, he supposes it makes sense, especially when she missed out. He pauses, thinking about where to start.]
I turned into a scarecrow. There were poppies that put people to sleep.
[... Okay, when he puts it that way, it just sounds...weird. But what else can he say that doesn't make it sound weird? Getting pelted by apples, his hand turning into porcelain...none of that is exactly not-strange.
Ah, maybe she wants to know more about how it ended.]
They used some kind of device to project positive dreams and defeat an evil wizard.
[ If she could, Zelda would wring every last minute detail out of Link. Not only is she disappointed that she missed out in an adventure inside a book, but the princess has always had a deep-seated need to know everything about everything. Unfortunately, getting a detailed explanation of the recent dreamshift out of Link will be like squeezing blood from a stone.
Not that the details he does provide make a lot of sense anyways. Individually, she understands what each of these statements mean, but put together, they make don't make the whole picture any clearer. ]
That sounds like a very strange dream. Which I suppose is appropriate of a dream world.
Well, in the event that another dreamshift occurs which I am unable to experience, please take the Sheikah Slate with you and document the event thoroughly.
[It's unfortunate for the Princess that Link is a bit less science-minded and more...in-the-moment-minded; it's only in hindsight that he thinks about the fact that she might like to know more about how things happened in the dream-book-world.
His nod in agreement --yes, "strange" is the main word he would use to describe the experience-- comes with an internal pang of regret about that. Perhaps he should work more on observation. Even if she's somewhat...conscious, or aware, in the present in Hyrule, he's certain there are some things about his journey that she won't pick up on.
(He...hopes.)]
I will. [A pause.] Or I'll try harder to wake you.
[A faint flicker of smile; he's clearly joking, not only because it might have no effect but also because he doesn't exactly want a repeat of her mysterious slumber.]
[ Little does Link realize that the Zelda in the present in Hyrule has seen everything.
Zelda catches Link's little flicker of a smile. She sits up a little straighter in her chair and says with airs, while suppressing a grin: ] See that you do.
[ Despite how much she missed, Zelda is glad, at least, that Link didn't spend the entire two weeks keeping watch over her comatose form. If this had happened in Hyrule, he probably would have stayed glued to her bedside the whole time, possibly even forgoing eating and sleeping. Though she's happy that they've so easily settled into their familiar relationship, Link deserves freedom from his old responsibilities as much as Zelda does.
The princess stands up from the kitchen table and collects her empty bowl. Speaking of changes, she's accustomed to cleaning up after herself now instead of waiting on someone to do it for her. She goes to clean it in the basin. ]
I believe I shall head to the garden first this morning. I'm sure they're fine, but I'd like to see that my plants haven't wilted too much without my care.
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Zelda slides into one of the chairs at the kitchen table, rubbing the back of her neck with one hand as she listens to Link. She has a crick in her neck. Must have been from sleeping-- ]
T-two weeks?!
[ She whips around in the chair to face him, all thought to her sore neck vanishing. Now it's Zelda's turn to gape in disbelief. ]
B-but that's---!
[ Impossible? Not really. Such happenings are fairly common in Songerein. Well, perhaps not common, but not unusual. ]
no subject
A few moments later, a bowl of poached eggs and tomato sauce appears before her on the table, accompanied by a few slices of bread. It was clearly toasted earlier, probably when he had his breakfast, but it's still fairly fresh. Link sits opposite her at the table, watching the kettle as it continues to warm.]
You must have been tired.
[The levity in his voice is quite subtle. In truth, he's relieved to see her up, finally, but...he doesn't want her to feel bad about something over which she had no control.]
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Instead, she turns back around in her chair as Link sets an incredible breakfast in front of her. ]
So it seems. [ She replies sarcastically. ] Although two weeks is just excessive. A few extra hours would have been ample.
[ Zelda starts in on the eggs. The smell is so heavenly it manages to push away her frustrations. ] How were things in my absence?
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The kettle begins to boil just after she asks the question, and Link's expression changes a bit as he goes to take it from the hearth. How were things, indeed? How to explain it?]
Interesting. [As if that explains anything. He returns to the table a few moments later with two cups of tea.] The town turned into some kind of storybook.
[... He says this fairly casually, like he's just talking about a normal everyday outing.]
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Zelda listens as she eats. (Was Link always this good of a cook?) When he brings up what happened to the town, she coughs mid-bite. ]
The entire town? [ She covers her mouth with her hand. ] Well that's unusual. Or maybe not unusual, but unprecedented. There have been the odd occasion of dreamwalkers being pulled into books, but not a transformation of the entire town into a book.
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[Overall, it doesn't seem like the event took a terrible toll on him. One might expect that means he wasn't affected very much, but that's just sort of how Link is. He goes with the flow, even if "the flow" means "turning into a scarecrow and also somehow porcelain, among other things." Thoughtfully, he cups his hands around his teacup. If this isn't entirely unfamiliar for her, he'd better be prepared for it to happen again, he supposes.]
Does it happen often? Being pulled into books.
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and Kri'sconfusion is understandable—dreamshifts tend to happen very quickly and each is never quite the same as the last. At least they are (more or less) expected now. The first time a dreamshift took hold of the entire town, the tapirs were worked up in a panicked tizzy trying to figure out what had happened.Link seems as unfazed by the dreamshift as any veteran dreamwalker, despite the fact that this was most likely his first. Just what Zelda would expect from Link, though it does make her wonder if there might be more to it. ]
I wouldn't say "often," but it has happened. Not to me, unfortunately. [ She continues eating. Of course a dreamshift into a book would happen the first time Zelda falls into a sleeping coma! ] That phenomenon is called a "dreamshift," an instance when all of Reverein 'shifts' into a different dream world. They are semiregular occurrences.
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Link tries to commit the word to memory. Dreamshift.]
So there's a good chance that there will be a next time.
[Not that it was exactly a fun experience, but in the end, it wasn't harmful. A strange little adventure, you might say. It does sound like the kind of thing she would enjoy, mostly.]
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Zelda nods. ] It is less a matter of "if" and more of "when." As with the awakening if new dreamwalkers, dreamshifts are a semi regular occurrence.
[ She looks at him. ] How did you fare? Was it dangerous?
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I see.
[It's something to remain aware of. At the question, he shrugs, thinking back. It certainly wasn't the safest adventure he'd ever had, but would he go so far as to call it dangerous?
...hm. Maybe the apples.]
A little. Nothing left lasting damage, though.
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When he doesn't, she frowns. ]
And?
[ Come on, Link. You can't go on adventures in a book and skimp on the details like that. ]
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I turned into a scarecrow. There were poppies that put people to sleep.
[... Okay, when he puts it that way, it just sounds...weird. But what else can he say that doesn't make it sound weird? Getting pelted by apples, his hand turning into porcelain...none of that is exactly not-strange.
Ah, maybe she wants to know more about how it ended.]
They used some kind of device to project positive dreams and defeat an evil wizard.
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Not that the details he does provide make a lot of sense anyways. Individually, she understands what each of these statements mean, but put together, they make don't make the whole picture any clearer. ]
That sounds like a very strange dream. Which I suppose is appropriate of a dream world.
Well, in the event that another dreamshift occurs which I am unable to experience, please take the Sheikah Slate with you and document the event thoroughly.
no subject
His nod in agreement --yes, "strange" is the main word he would use to describe the experience-- comes with an internal pang of regret about that. Perhaps he should work more on observation. Even if she's somewhat...conscious, or aware, in the present in Hyrule, he's certain there are some things about his journey that she won't pick up on.
(He...hopes.)]
I will. [A pause.] Or I'll try harder to wake you.
[A faint flicker of smile; he's clearly joking, not only because it might have no effect but also because he doesn't exactly want a repeat of her mysterious slumber.]
🎀
Little does Link realize that the Zelda in the present in Hyrule has seen everything.Zelda catches Link's little flicker of a smile. She sits up a little straighter in her chair and says with airs, while suppressing a grin: ] See that you do.
[ Despite how much she missed, Zelda is glad, at least, that Link didn't spend the entire two weeks keeping watch over her comatose form. If this had happened in Hyrule, he probably would have stayed glued to her bedside the whole time, possibly even forgoing eating and sleeping. Though she's happy that they've so easily settled into their familiar relationship, Link deserves freedom from his old responsibilities as much as Zelda does.
The princess stands up from the kitchen table and collects her empty bowl. Speaking of changes, she's accustomed to cleaning up after herself now instead of waiting on someone to do it for her. She goes to clean it in the basin. ]
I believe I shall head to the garden first this morning. I'm sure they're fine, but I'd like to see that my plants haven't wilted too much without my care.