a pirate's cove

[hylianqueen]

Zelda had spent the past several days searching for a suitable door in which she could learn how to swim. Perhaps it would be better to learn in the indoor pool but Erik seemed incredibly confident in his skills to teach her and Zelda wanted to be by the sea more than anything else. She felt that this would make him happier too and that strangely was something she wanted to see; she had never been fascinated by a man quite as much as she was fascinated by Erik.

The door that was carved with a ship opened to a stretch of beach and a little cave with a boat moored outside it, a fine boat with large black sails. Zelda knew very little about boating but she thought this would be something Erik would want to see and she could hardly wait to find him and show him what she'd found.

She asked the desk which room he'd taken and was given the perplexing answer that Erik had refused lodging within the hotel. Strange, very strange. Still...he had seemed to like the gardens that she had shown him on his first day and Zelda took a chance that he might be there. She found him on the edge of them, set up into a camp beneath the shade of several trees.

"I've found something you might find interesting. Both the sea and a boat."

Comments

[highland_hawk]

"The devil ye say?" Erik responded, already on his feet and strapping his broadsword to his back. "How did ye manage that? I've been openin near every door I cross and so far I've seen a dozen or so beds, and one couple in a compromising position, but nothing smelling even remotely of sea air."

[hylianqueen]

"I have been looking for days. I had hoped to surprise you with the discovery," Zelda said, oddly formal about it. She still did not quite know how to react to someone who apparently had interest in her as something other than just a royal and she had never really had the chance to interact with many people of an age with her.

"Would you like to see? I think it will be suitable for swimming lessons."

[highland_hawk]

"And surprise me you have, Princess," Erik was almost jumping in anticipation. "I found what this infernal place calls a loch. I came within a body length and had t'turn away. I've never smelled anything like that in my life and hope to God I never do again. So please, put a man out of his misery and lead on."

[hylianqueen]

"This is most assuredly the ocean," Zelda promised, smiling a bit. "I could smell the salt in the air."

She led him to the door and pulled it open, sighing in relief when the cove and the boat were still in evidence. It looked abandoned, which was good, because Zelda did not want to be discovered while trying to learn how to do something she did not know how to do. "Isn't it beautiful, Erik?"

[highland_hawk]

Erik stood stock still when he stepped through the door. He raised his head to the sky, let the sun beat on his skin and breathed in, filling his lungs with it. "Aye, lass. Tis the most beautiful thing I've found since comin here."

He let a grin tug at the corners of his mouth and turned his face towards hers. "Well. The second most beautiful. However did ye find it?"

[hylianqueen]

"I merely pulled at every door until I found something I thought would be what you were looking for. I was surprised to have luck so quickly," she admitted, "But grateful. I know it is not your Spoon Island but I hope it is something like home for you."

It was nothing like Hyrule, of course, but she was happy to give him something that approached his home. "It seems to be secluded, as well."

[highland_hawk]

"Nothin could compare t'Spoon Island, but this is glorious, Princess," Erik replied and reached down automatically to take her hand. "And it's definitely easin a pang of homesickness the likes of which I've never known. Thank ye fer that. Come on. Let's see how th'water is t'the touch."

He wanted to run, but he moderated his stride to accomodate her smaller legs.

[hylianqueen]

Zelda slid her hand in his and walked to the water. She slipped off one of her slippers and touched her toe to the water, pleased to find it warm.

"Oh, it's quite warm. Hardly a chill at all when I touch it. I think this will be excellent for swimming."

[highland_hawk]

Erik told himself, repeatedly, that he wasn't staring at her bare feet. Not at all. Instead, he focused on his own footwear and stepped out of the high leather and sighed when his toes touched the grass beneath them and then the water lapping at where they stood, waiting for the bitter chill. He frowned when he didn't feel it.

"That's goin t'take some gettin used to, I think," he commented. The water was something closer to bath water than any ocean he'd ever seen.

[hylianqueen]

"It is downright balmy," Zelda agreed. "I hope that isn't a disappointment? I really wanted to find something to please you and remind you of home even if I couldn't find the door back to Scotland for you."

[highland_hawk]

"Hard to be disappointed with the sea in my nose again," Erik said, quick to correct her misconception. "And believe me, I'll be even more pleased not t'have t'submerge m'self into a near on t'freezin loch. When I say I'll have t'get used t'it, tis like getting used t'meat after a month of dry biscuits."

He took her hand, squeezed it softly. "This is brilliant, lass, thank ye."

[hylianqueen]

Zelda smiled, cheeks tingeing pink at the praise. She had hoped to please him even if it was just a simple thing to find a door with a stretch of white sand and ocean behind it. It was the least she could do for him after he got trapped in the Nexus along with her and away from his duty.

"You are quite welcome. I am merely glad to bring a smile to your lips."

[highland_hawk]

"Ah, lass, yer startin t'do that by just showin me that beautiful blush," he commented and then raised a hand to brush his fingers across her cheek. "Now we need t'get ye into the water and see how well ye float. Probably be better if I get in first and test the depth." Also to make sure there wasn't anything of the biting variety in the water, not that he had any intention of telling her that.

The last was said almost to himself as he released the pin fastening his plaid and the lot of it dropped to the ground. The rest followed and then he took a few long strides and dove in. Oh, but it was glorious to be back in the water again. He couldn't resist submerging and swimming a few lengths completely underwater before surfacing and shaking the excess from his head. "Ye've found me a treasure, Princess. It's perfect."

[hylianqueen]

Zelda had never really been bothered by her own nudity because, as princess, few dared to look. The few times she had been naked in front of anyone it had only been to change into a new gown and she had never been naked in front of a man before. Still, she did not want to get her gown wet while she swam and there was nothing to do but come out of it and lay it against the sand before easing herself into the water.

"I am far shorter than you," she warned. "My feet barely touch the bottom here."

[highland_hawk]

Erik had meant to turn his back and give her privacy. But then it had happened so fast he hadn't had a chance to turn. Or that's what he'd say if asked. In reality, he feasted his eyes and was thankful the water was murky enough to hide most of the damage if she stayed far enough away. With half his mind set on reminding the rest of his body that ravishing royalty was likely to lose him a head, or something else he valued, he stepped closer to where she stood and held his hand out to her above the water.

"Then we'll go to where ye feel more secure. For now I just want ye t'stand and get a feel fer the current, the waves, the feel of the water. Move yer arms around a bit, feel the resistance of it."

[hylianqueen]

Zelda took his hand and gripped it tightly when a wave swelled and knocked her off her feet. "Erik! Don't let me drown!"

Perhaps she had very little faith, considering the blood of the goddess flowed through her veins but she did not wish to use magic in front of someone who did not seem familiar with it, even if it was to save her own life.

[highland_hawk]

"Careful now, I've got ye," Erik chuckled as his hands easily spanned her waist and kept her in place. "The waves'll do that to ye if ye don't learn t'move with them."

Still holding her tight, but well away from his own body, he raised and lowered her with each swell, lifting her easily above the whitewater.

[hylianqueen]

Zelda laughed on the third pass, jumping with the swell of the wave this time instead of letting it crash against her. "All right, I think I understand the rhythm of it now, at least a little. I have to work with it and not against it, yes?"

[highland_hawk]

"That's the right of it, lass. There's no more powerful force out there than water on a mission. It's goin t'go where it wants and there's little ye can do t'stop it, but ye can learn how t'make it work for ye, too. That'll come in time."

He'd taught enough of his clansmen t'swim, he knew what came next. It was goin t'be bloody torture, but it was the most important lesson of them all. "When ye feel ready, we'll see if we can get ye floatin."

[hylianqueen]

Zelda waited a few beats before nodding. "We can try it now. You promise you won't let me sink? I have to trust you, Erik, please don't let me drown."

[highland_hawk]

Erik decided to take his life in his hands and turn her to face him on the swell of the next wave. When he managed that without bursting into flame, he leaned over and pressed his lips to her forehead lightly. "Yer safe with me, lass, I promise ye. I won't let ye go below the surface. I swear it on m'clansmen."

[hylianqueen]

Zelda hopped up a bit with the next swell. "All right, help me to float, then? I should try to get on my back, should I not?"

She was not unaffected by the kiss to her forehead but she tried not to call attention to it save for the unconscious desire to blush. This was about learning to swim, not...other things.

[highland_hawk]

Erik swallowed and steeled himself. "Aye, ye should, but it can be a trick when yer not used t'trustin the water yet. I can help ye there."

Deftly, and mind on teaching...and nothing else, he slid one hand to the middle of her back and used his leg to sweep hers from under her. Within a second, she was in the cradle of his arms. "I've got ye, Princess. Now it's up to you to stretch out and let yer body float. It helps if ye try t'not tense up."

Good plan for both of them, but he knew his chances of success were pretty slim.

[hylianqueen]

Zelda tensed a bit but tried to fight that and relax, letting the water hold her up. "You do not think I will sink, do you?"

With his arms beneath her she doubted it but he might eventually move them away and then she would be in a predicament.

[highland_hawk]

"You won't sink," Erik promised her and then followed either his glands or his instincts, but either way it was the perfect solution to taking her mind off the fear of falling beneath the surface. "Relax, Zelda," he said softly, his face close to hers as he said her name for the first time. "I won't let you sink."

Then he touched his lips lightly to hers.