LoZ: Bloated in the Wild Chapter 2 (Patreon)

Chapter 2: Bellyful of Ballast

The white stone of the tower held no door. An immense threshold more than forty feet across simply hung open into the murky lighting beyond. The tower itself was hundreds of feet tall. Zelda swallowed, hoping the interior was less foreboding. 

The air-filled princess floated over the threshold of the immense tower, strung along by the strength of her knight. Her fingers rest comfortably in his, holding herself to him as he slowed his pace once they came inside. 

Behind them, the world looked exceptionally odd when it was inverted. The red glow of the setting sun seemed almost alien, uncomfortable for the research tested Zelda. She glanced upwards, seeing Link’s calm blue eyes as he scanned the area. Her neck strained to look upwards, yet she could only just see bits of wood piled upon the floor before her bulbous body wouldn’t let her tilt upward anymore. She felt pockets of pressure push back against the back of her head when she tried, and so was forced to simply shift from side to side, only able to see just past Link.

Shifting, Zelda instead tried to lean forwards to much the same result. Her round chin and chubby cheeks tucked into her own air-filled chest, which resisted her efforts to see past her exceptionally large belly. Still, she was able to spot some wood a few dozen feet up. Although given the state of the ruins, she wasn’t about to trust her own eyes.

Her fingers flexed over his, and he turned up to look at her. “What’s the ceiling look like?” Zelda asked.

Link leaned forwards, pulling his arms behind his back. Zelda drifted just a few inches back, giving him room to gaze around her sloped back. Then, he pulled her forward, looking into her eyes before shaking his head. 

Zelda swallowed. “Yeah, just my luck, today…” she sighed, feeling how much air billowed through to fill her body as replacement. “Maybe we can find another room?”

Wordlessly, Link moved forth inward. Zelda watched him move, trying to place their surroundings based off his reactions.

“There’s no way we can make it home with me in this condition.” Zelda’s mouth began to take over, seeking action in her helpless state. “The journey is too far, and your arms are probably getting very sore.”

Link didn’t react. Instead he peered around a corner of the ruin before entering another hall.

“Come on, you can tell me if they do…” Zelda said softly. “I won’t blame you or anything.”

Nothing. Just that solid concentration of his deep, handsome blue eyes.

Zelda’s cheeks were decorated with a bright pink blush. “Well, regardless. I won’t risk what may come if exhaustion were to strike while on the way… besides, I should return in better condition. I am a princess, after all. Not some…” she paused, trying to classify herself. “Common… balloon.”

The royal balloon kept on talking while Link traipsed into another room. He checked the ceiling again past her backside, before returning to his level pace.

Piteously, she asked him. “What am I going to do?” 

Link had stopped moving. His eyes were focused, and he was leaning to the side, listening.

Assuming it was to her, Zelda went on. “I can’t even feed myself like this,” she whined in tune with her belly, “and I’m starving. I swear, I can almost smell meat roasting over a firepit.”

There was a clatter of falling rocks. Link looked over his shoulder, though Zelda paid the ruins no mind.

“You still have the tome, yes?” Zelda asked. “The one with the fruitcake recipe that caused… this?”

Without looking at her, Link nodded. He began to move more swiftly.

Again, Zelda was filled with lamentations. Another part of her felt like she could hear giggling. People laughing at her bloated form. She tucked her neck inward, looking down at her taut pale skin. “I don’t know if I’ve told you this,” she admitted, “but fruitcake is my favorite food.”

She felt herself swaying in the air for a moment before realizing she’d stopped moving. She glanced upward to see Link’s blue eyes gazing back into her. Her blush redoubled.

“W-what?” she asked.

Then, he let go of her hands.

Zelda screamed in absolute terror for one second before her round rump bumped against something. Her eyelids fluttered in shock as her senses picked up something on either side of her body, holding her in place. Then, she realized Link was standing on top of a set of wooden stairs.

She was wedged between the floor transitions. She was too big to pass through the partition to the second floor. Relief and rage flooded into her.

“You jerk!!!” she spat in anger, cheeks absolutely crimson. “You could have warned me!! I thought I was gonna float away!!”

Link turned around and began walking down the stairs.

“Hey!!” Zelda demanded. “Where the heck do you think you’re-”

Link reached down. Steel rasped outward as he drew his sword. The laughter came closer, spilling past the fringes of Zelda’s self-conscious mind and into reality. The archway from which they came lit up with a deep orange light.

“… Going?” Zelda finished, almost a whisper. Immediately, her eyes took in the entirety of the upside-down room. It was small, with dark bits of wood piled up in a corner. Overturned tables along with broken slabs of rock. Darkness hung in the air unforgivingly, and where it’d been comfortable a moment before, Zelda’s anxiety now ratcheted up at the approaching snorts.

Heavy footsteps smacked against the smooth stone. Shadow danced on the wall, the silhouette of the approaching bokoblin before he trampled into the room. He carried with him a flaming sword, alight nearly down to the wooden hilt of his porky hand. 

The bokoblin hardly had time to see the shocked face of Princess Zelda, before Link’s blade carved through his, shattering the flame and plunging them into darkness. Zelda blinked, the bright fire catching her vision off guard and shook her head as the sounds of the scuffle came from below. “Link?!” she called in a panic.

“Hep, hep! Hyah!!” came his shouts. The bokoblin shrieked in piggy terror as he carved into him. Zelda had a brief impression of her knight’s sword flashing as he twirled it through the air.

Zelda waited as silence returned to the room. Her ears strained for activity, listening to the motion coming from below. “Link?” she asked softly. “Did you get him?”

By way of answer, a fire sprung to life in the center of the room. Her Hero stood over the corpse of the creature, peering up at her. “Oh,” she puffed. “Good. I’m relieved.”

He nodded to her severely before moving toward the corner of the room, looking up through a small gap in the ceiling. He stood on some rubble, looking through the floor above, before coming back down and placing his torch upon one of the slabs of stone.

“What are you doing now?” she asked.

Quickly, Link cleared the rubble from the section and built a small fire pit out of loose stone and boards of wood. He lit it with his torch before lifting one of the larger stones. Zelda watched curiously as he then reached into one of the barrels, withdrawing a length of corded rope. Then, he approached her, taking one of her hands.

“L-Link,” Zelda spoke.

He paused, turning to look into her eyes. 

Her blush glowed in the firelight. “Thanks,” she softly said.

He nodded, just holding her immense round body in his strong eye. A smile ghosted across his lips.

Zelda gulped. She felt her breathing tense as Link tied the chord around her arm, pulling her down from the ceiling. He led her towards the fire, though not too close to the smoke, which had begun to rise through the hole in the stone ceiling. He tied the other end of the rope around a large slab of stone, and Zelda simply floated there only a few feet above. She kept her eyes on him the whole time, watching his confident gestures, feeling even more confused and concerned. Then, he took a seat on the stone slab, and looked briefly into the fire before setting his bag to the side. From it, the Hero pulled a small vial. “What’s that?” she asked instantly.

He looked up to her.

“Oh… sorry,” she whispered. Then she paused when he returned to the bottle. “Hey, wait, why am I apologizing?” she questioned. “It’s not like I have anywhere…”

She trailed off as he held the open bottle up towards her, examining it while upside down. 

“To look…” she finished, inspecting the bottle. A glint of light shown off the glass from the fire before she recognized the dull red color of the liquid inside. “Link, what is this?” she asked. “Is it a potion? A tonic? A remedy?” 

Link tilted his head. He held the bottle up higher, just in front of her face. She sniffed at it. 

It smelled like peppermint. “It’s a health elixir. Link, I’m not wounded. I’m…” She looked up at herself. “Err… fat? No, that’s not right.” She grit her teeth, thinking. Her analytical mind compared her sphere-shaped body to an Octorock, and she winced. “Inflated, yes.” She turned back to Link. “All that’s hurt is my pride,” she smiled ruefully.

Very slowly, Link shook his head. He raised a finger and pointed to Zelda’s belly.

She tilted her chin in confusion, looking at his finger before a very unpleasant rumble emanated from her stomach. “Oho,” she flinched as ripples of pressure pushed against her taunt skin. Her filled breasts wobbled, and even her wrist felt pained against the rope. 

It stopped shortly after, and she opened her eyes to see Link standing on the rock now holding the bottle to her face.

“Ah, right…” Zelda noticed. “I forgot that for a moment. Goddess, I’m famished.”

Link nodded. He lifted the bottle without waiting, giving Zelda only a moment to react.

“Ahh!” She shouted before opening her mouth wide. The bottle was dipped into it, splashing over the roof of her mouth. “Loink!” she sputtered around the sweet tasting drink.

She swallowed it up, an immensely uncomfortable sensation. The liquid was pulled up her throat towards her immense stomach, slopping into it and settling the churning unruliness. She’d wrapped her lips around the top and took it from his hand with a glare before suckling from the bottle. 

The motion caused her to list toward the side, slowly rotating. A sense of dizziness began to overcome her, so she focused her eyes on the bottle before dropping it to the stone with a clink. She shouted indigently at her knight, “Link!”

When she spun round to face him, he had another bottle ready. Her tummy growled, no longer an earthquake but still noticeable to the man. He looked from it to her furious green eyes.

“Fine. J-just get it over with!!” she ordered.

He put the drink to her lips once more, but she was ready this time and took it smoothly from his grasp. Still spinning, dangling from her wrist, Zelda sipped the tonic dry and this time motioned to him with her teeth to take it from her. He did so, placing it on the ground and then dismounting the stone and dipping back into his bag.

Zelda hesitated. Finally, as she turned away from him, she spoke up. “I-I had an idea earlier,” she said. “I was thinking that…” she swallowed. “That maybe, if I ate enough food or something, I might not float anymore. You know, be weighed down by my intake. Does that sound dumb?”

She spun back to see him placing a cooking pot over the fire. It was held by wooden supports, and he emptied a couple of bottles into it before dropping a couple vegetables in as well.

“A stew!!” Zelda called excitedly. “That’s a wonderful idea, Link!” Then, she paused. “Wait… I-I can’t drink a stew like this, can I?” Her sausage shaped fingers flexed. She could feel the rope which held her over her wrist. “And it might not be enough. Do you have anything more?”

Link rose from the fire. He went to Zelda, gripping her round upper body and steadying her. She began to unwind on the rope. So he twisted her round and round rapidly.

“Ahhh!!” she screamed as the walls whipped by, the air inside of her pulling outward in all directions. “Link!!! What are you doing?!?!” 

She suddenly stopped, her eyes rolling wildly as she tried to get her bearing. His hands clutched her on either side of her face, holding her steady while she dizzily wobbled and moaned. When her eyes refocused, the first thing she saw was his grin.

It made her want to try and bite him on his nose.

He tilted his head down to her, making her pause. He was close now, his hands on Zelda’s body, eyes only a few feet from hers. He looked from Zelda and then back to the pot.

Zelda looked along with him, then shook her head. “I don’t follow.”

He hopped off the stone, to Zelda’s slight disappointment, and went over to the corpse of the bokoblin. 

Zelda stuck her tongue out. “Eww! Absolutely not! A creature of evil would taste rancid with hate!”

Undeterred, Link leaned down. That was when Zelda noticed he was rifling through the shadowy body’s clothing. From it, he pulled a handheld horn.

Zelda frowned. “What’s that?” she asked. Then, “Why do I even ask you anything? Why do you never answer?”

Link looked to her. He looked from her to the boiling pot, then blinked his eyes. 

Zelda puffed out her cheeks, making them even chubbier. “I don’t understand, okay?!”

After a moment, he nodded. Then, he lifted the horn to his lips and blew.

Zelda tucked into herself as the sound screamed through the ruins with shocking ferocity. The amplified echoes reverberated through the air, and Zelda was already trying to figure out the magical property before they even left the room. She was about to ask Link why he had done that when she heard the reply.

Then another.

Multiple horns daunted from throughout the fortress. Zelda felt her eyes going wide, trying to count all the answering calls. 

She lost count as a wild shriek came from outside in the hallway, followed by the approaching snuffling of heavy feet. Link drew his blade and made for the exit.

“Link! Wait!” Zelda called. 

He stopped and glanced back to her, seemingly unbothered by the approaching bokoblin or the others of the horde. His hair was dirty, his tunic was unwashed, and yet his expression… the way he stood, the way he gripped his blade, all radiated strength. Her Hero.

She whispered to him, “Good luck.”

He nodded and then exited the room. There was a piggish shriek of fury as soon as he did, which quickly devolved into one of panic and then of pain. Still more answered.

And Zelda hung in the room, bobbing gently in the air, feeling even more helpless as steel met steel. And she waited.

******************************************************************************

Silence had come to the ruins. Zelda hung by her wrist, fretting continuously. All she could do was wait, and it hadn’t even been that long. Maybe fifteen minutes had passed since Link had left the room, and Zelda had felt every second of it. She tried to think about a solution to her condition, but she was frankly clueless what to do besides the idea to stuff herself silly and hope for the best. So her mind returned to her knight, feeling ever more worried even though she knew it was pointless to do so. She didn’t like conflict, though knew it was necessary. 

Finally, she began tensing her fingers around the chord of rope and lightly bobbing herself up and down just to give herself something to do. The odd feeling of air in her belly pushing up on what had become of her legs wasn’t all together unpleasant, simply strange. Like picking at a scratch, Zelda couldn’t help but simply prod at her body in whatever way she could.

She watched the smoke rising out of the soup, letting out a reluctant breath. A sudden drop of dust from the ceiling gave her pause, made her tense. She strained her ears, peering towards the small little gap.

Pebbles fell again from above, though Zelda could no longer see. She flinched when she felt another trail dribble off her own body, bouncing off the area between her legs extremely unpleasantly, and goosebumps began to chill her skin when she realized they were making for the stairs behind.

“Link?” she called timidly. She gripped the rope and tried to twist, to circle her fingers through the chord. Very slowly, her body began to shift. “Link? Is that you?”

She still couldn’t see, but she could hear footsteps as they began to descend the stairs. She twisted her neck, fearing the worst, feeling her heart bouncing in her chest.

Again, she called. “Link?”

Then Zelda saw the huge shifting mass of red. Comprehension was lost, and a slight bubble of shock popped in her belly when she pictured a great slopping beast come for her. It dipped from side to side, advancing toward her, before passing her and revealing a messy blonde mop behind.

Zelda’s worry deflated, though her body remained. “Oh, goodness. You startled me,” she panted. The pile of meat in his arms began to separate from her imagination, and she could pick out individual slabs of thick cuts. She spotted some different types of bird, a few types of fish, but the most abundant form was absolutely the beef. Huge meaty chunks which Link began to drop one by one into the nearby pots he’d set out. “I thought you might be a monster,” she went on. Her mouth kept going, speaking rapidly, glad for the sound of her own voice. “Actually, I don’t know why I’d have thought that. It’s not as if some of the more threatening monsters that associate with bokoblins would even fit in this room,” she laughed, “I’m probably the biggest occupant here.”

She paused.

“I-I didn’t mean it like that…” she pouted down at herself. “I’m just…” she watched him as he finished depositing meat, dropping some of the beef into the stew before stirring it heartily. 

Then, he apparently noticed the silence, and turned to look at Zelda. His face was gentle, with patient blue eyes.

“I’m just relieved you’ve returned,” Zelda finished. 

He smiled softly and nodded to her, turning back to the food.

“I talk a lot when I get nervous, I guess…” Zelda continued. “And I think I’m feeling really, really, nervous right now.”

Link rose from his spot on the ground and came over to sit beneath her on the stone slab. His long blonde hair looked even messier now, marked with bits of exertion. Zelda noticed the sword was gone from his waist, all too likely shattered in the fighting, and had been replaced by a large wooden club. He was exceptionally versatile.

The princess wrapped her fingers around the chord, silently tugging on it. She pulled herself lower, catching her fingers around the rope, and inch by inch she descended until the top of her head rest against the top of his. He looked up, but made no complaint, and the two locked eyes and shared the silence before Zelda closed hers and dipped her forehead against his.

She relaxed like that for a minute before releasing her grip and rising back into the air. The rope dug unpleasantly into her wrist once it pulled taut, and she came back to a floated ease. Link rose from his seat, going to the pot. He stirred a wooden spoon through before sampling it and then, with a nod, returned to his bag and withdrew a bowl. 

Link moved the pot, switching it with another and spooned the contents into the bowl before returning to Zelda. Again, he stood on the slab, and looked to her before holding it up to her nose.

Warm drifts of delectable smell drifted up to Zelda’s nose, and she puffed up further with a hint of delight. “Mhmm,” she hummed, “it smells lovely.”

Link lifted a spoonful to her, and Zelda opened her mouth. It was remarkably awkward, being handfed while upside down. She made do with the circumstance, subtly enjoying how her knight cared for her. She ate patiently but was quickly discovering just how hungry she was as bite after bite traveled up into her stomach. Bits of carrot meshed wonderfully with the juicy red meat, and a hint of what she suspected was goron spice gave the soup a marvelous flavor.

It vanished inside of her much too quickly, but Link swiftly returned with another freshly cooked meal. His fingers wrapped round the bottom of a lightly browned drumstick from some sort of poultry. Zelda bit into it without hesitation, chomping again as he twisted it for her before tilting away to chew. This meat was heavier and felt even more strange as it was squeezed up to her belly. The princess grunted when she felt it finally settle but nodded as Link lifted a questioning eyebrow.

“No, no,” she shook her head. “It’s good. Just… odd. But I think we might be making progress!” she said, waggling her hands. Then grinning, “Plus, I’m still hungry.”

Link exhaled and smirked, causing Zelda to giggle. The most reaction she’d gotten from him so far. He lifted the meat back to her and she took the rest off the drumstick with a hearty tug.

Next up was more beef. A large hunk of prime meat, which Link cut with a knife. He held each piece up to her mouth between his fingers, and Zelda felt little herself swoon ever so slightly as her lips made contact with his hand.

As she ate, she could feel the difference in her belly. The pressure was being offset, her weight was heightening. Zelda’s mind flicked through, her will searching outwards. She hadn’t eaten that much yet, maybe only a pound or so, but already she could feel the difference. She began to eat quicker, uncaring as bits of grease from the meat found their way to her cheeks, feeling excitement. Perhaps the spell she was afflicted by also amplified her intake? Confidence assured her that she was correct, and she pulled through another drumstick and two thighs in no time. Her hunger was grand, and she was still unsatisfied.

Next came the fish. Link cut bit after bit, feeding each personally to Zelda. She lost herself to the food, emitting joyful little giggles each time they locked eyes. She hummed happily too, enjoying the simple pleasuring taste. 

“You’re a better cook then I’d thought!” she told him after finishing the next pot. He returned with another stew, and Zelda nearly drooled over the taste of delectable hearty salmon mixed with a heap of butter and melting in her mouth. “Sho good,” she mumbled, waggling her arm. Then, she turned and looked with exhilaration. “Da rao-” she cut herself off as a dribble of soup splashed out from her mouth and onto Link’s face.

He winced, blinking very slowly at her.

Apprehensively, Zelda giggled before swallowing. A droplet of orange trickled from his face. “S-sorry…” she intoned. “Umm… th-the rope’s going slack. I’m sinking.”

Link looked at her arm, then up at her body. He wiped the spittle from his face.

She grinned fretfully. “Yaaaay…” she slowly kicked her feet and slid down another inch.

Link continued to feed her until he had to step back off the slab. The more she ate, the quicker she sank, until her head came down to bop the stone. She’d lost count of how many pots she’d eaten, but she was intent on filling every space inside of her. Link gently gripped her, leading her forward and she drifted to the floor, where he laid her down upon her back. 

“Oooh,” she muttered as his firm hands led her down. As she rotated, the contents of her stomach dripped downward into a much more comfortable position. “That’s better,” she sighed, “that’s much better.”

Link nodded to her, and for some reason she felt the need to look away. 

She did and swallowed before asking, “C-can you keep feeding me?”

Zelda looked up as he walked off before returning with more. The bowl he held looked like it was entirely filled with melted butter, and bits and pieces of diced up crab. 

Zelda took one sniff and nearly melted herself. “Ooohhh,” she moaned before opening her mouth and receiving. 

Fat was quickly filling out Zelda’s frame. Her skin was growing thicker, causing the pressure to slowly lessen. Her body grew heavier, smoothing to the floor rather than rolling up from it, yet the food inside remained. Zelda couldn’t know, but the calorie count of each bite she would eat was being multiplied, the butter filling her with fat. The more she ate, the quicker she gained, and the princess was indulged until there wasn’t a single bite left.

Link had disappeared around her side once more while she chewed the last mouthful of chicken, feeling like she was laying atop cloud 9. Her tummy was completely content with the feast, bubbling happily with warmth and she smiled widely when he returned. “What’s next?” she asked.

Link looked near to a laugh when he shook his head.

Zelda twisted, smiling cutely, “Awe, is that all? I could still have more.” Then she tilted her head. Feeling a thousand butterflies in her chest, she teasingly purred, “Maybe I’ll order you to go get me more.”

He smirked and placed a hand on her side, leaning against.

An immense rumble suddenly bubbled inside of Zelda’s gut, and the butterflies were suddenly trapped before being drowned when the bubbles streaked up and the girl unleashed a massive belch. “Urrrrrrp, o-oh my,” she muttered, followed by another burp.

The pressure inside returned as it rushed toward her head, and she uncomfortably burped again and again and, slowly, she began to shrink.

Her stomach shrank downward, no longer as high as Link was tall. Her crotch began to rise back up, her calves and forearms returned, and she began to kick gently as her body was rocked by the massive deflation. Her back returned, her thighs reformed, and her belly settled back to her middle as the last bits of gas escaped her.

But something was quite wrong. Zelda stopped deflating, though she had hardly returned to normal. Her body was coated with layers of fat. She had exceptionally fluffy thighs, curving to a backside so round it raised her back off the ground. Yet her gut, her swollen stuffed belly, was still absolutely packed with food, to the point of discomfort. Zelda’s hands instantly went to her stomach, and she moaned in pain while massaging it. It was tight, far too tight, and she began to whine. “N-no, too soon, too soon,” she kept repeating. “Unnnngh, no please, fill me back up.”

She hardly seemed to realize as she writhed on the floor, trying to push her gut back inwards. Her eyes were crossed, and she gasped for breath when suddenly a pair of hands came beneath her top.

Her hands toppled free as Link’s hands rubbed her taunt belly. The solid mass inside began to shift, to spill to either side and break apart. Zelda strained, digging her elbows into the ground to look forward. She was nearly knocked back as a sudden spike of pleasure hit her, seeing his handsome blue eyes and his hands massaging her middle “L-Link,” she gasped. Exhaustion flooded her, and she dropped from her arms and lay back on the ground. “Oh, Link.”

She braced her arms back on either side of her head, panting as the pain sluggishly subsided. Her flabby thighs rolled over one another, slowing before she simply lay on the ground. Her tummy filled outward with each heavy breath, before tightening back in over her feast. She lay there for a while, not knowing how long had past, her eyes fully shut and simply focused on his strong hands. 

She found herself relaxing. Breathing easier, laying splayed out on the ground, Zelda felt the fatigue of the day simply descending over her, and her new layer of fat was akin to a comfortable blanket which covered the princess. 

Something happened, and Zelda blinked her eyes open trying to find what had changed. She realized, after a moment, that Link’s hands had left her tummy. She suddenly started, gasping with an “Oop!” when she felt his strong arms tuck beneath her thighs and beneath the curve of her back. She looked up sleepily as he folded her inward, her large belly pooching over her legs and tightening against her stuffing. “Oof, owch,” she muttered when raising an arm behind his head, catching around his neck while her other pressed on her tummy. “C-careful please.”

Link rose from the ground, only showing the slightest strain at lifting Zelda up into his arms. The girl would be blushing if her face wasn’t already flushed with enervation. He carried her wordlessly over to the stone slab, laying her porky body onto it. She only just fit, her frame taking up nearly the entire width.

Zelda leaned back, blinking slowly up at the ceiling. “I-I don’t think… I’ll order you… to find more food,” she paused for each winded breath. She tried to look up to him, to give him a grin, but her heart throbbed as she saw him removing his shirt. 

She watched as he came up with it in his arms, saw the concern clear in his eyes. He moved forward, lifting Zelda’s head. He took her long, flowing hair, and placed his shirt beneath as a tiny bunched up pillow.

Zelda nodded to herself, eyes turned to the heavens. “Link?” she asked. She didn’t wait for an answer but spoke shortly even as her breath was coming back. “I’m ordering you. Stay with me. For the night.”

A hand on her tummy caused her to glance down into his face. He nodded, and she smiled.

“Good.” Zelda stretched out her legs, felt the fat on her hips, and was simply too tired to care. “It’s been a long day,” she bemoaned.

An exhalation of air caused her to look up. Link was looking at her, grinning. He’d just chuckled.

The butterflies returned to Zelda’s chest. She nodded to herself, satisfied. “Goodnight, Hero,” she whispered, and closed her eyes.

She felt him shift, take up a spot nearby the slab. He sat on the ground, his head just within reach. Zelda stretched out her hand and touched his shoulder, felt a bolt of electricity as he touched her hand. He held her fingers in his, feeling like the tether that held her to the world.