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The Taste of Creation
“You signed us up for WHAT!?” Princess Zelda cries out.
Link takes a step back before repeating, “A cooking competition.”
She inhales, struggling to calm her nerves. “I heard you the first time.” She sighs, wondering what, exactly, she is to do with him. “What I want to know is why you signed us up for it.”
“I’m hungry.”
She fixes him a flat look in response. He already knows how stressed she is from this particularly strange time they’d gotten wrapped up in, and he’s adding to her stress just because he’s hungry?
“We’ll be able to eat what we make afterwards.”
“That’s how meals usually work, Link,” Princess Zelda scolds him. “So I fail to see why we need to enter a cookoff in order to have a meal.”
“Well…. you know how you need ingredients to cook?”
She slowly nods, wondering where he is going with this.
“And ingredients cost rupees?”
“Yes…”
“We, uh. Don’t have any rupees.”
How unfortunate a point for Link to be right about. But that still didn’t mean—
Princess Zelda’s stomach chooses that moment to let out a pathetic whine.
She breathes out and relaxes her shoulders. “Fine. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to get something to eat.”
Dodging through the crowds, Zelda Ororo spies her Guardsman making his way towards the Kakariko Staging area, hands occupied with a flyer as well as an apron over his other arm.
“Link, what are you up to?” She crosses her arms as he continues moving. “Hey!”
Racing against a tide of people, Zelda Ororo manages to overtake him and blocks his way.
“Now listen, I think I deserve to know where you think you’re going, seeing as we came here together, so spill, you heathen.”
Ser Link puts his index fingers together in a vaguely guilty gesture, deciding to hand over the flyer after roughly a minute of awkward intermission.
“Let’s see here. 38th Annual Cookoff… Team registration… ‘Prepare to taste your creations!’ Ask for Koko to get all the scrumptious details.” She sighs as she folds the flyer intricately so as to fit in her skirt. “Incorrigible sprite. Well, I assume you’ve already registered us, seeing as the competition starts in less than ten minutes.”
Ser Link nods, hungrily she notes. His brow set in determination as he hunched slightly.
“Hmm. Breakfast food does sound like a godsend right about now.” She follows at his side, eyeing up the passing stalls, taking note of attractions to pursue as soon as they’ve finished their impromptu tasks for the day. “So we’re looking for someone named Koko. Easy enough.”
Ser Link nods again, pep in his step as they reach the staging area.
“Dust off your chef’s accoutrement, Guardsman. We’ve got competition to sweep.”
As the contestants gather, Princess Zelda takes keen interest in the rather sparse opposing forces. As far as she can tell, there are only three others. One young woman, a few years older than herself; her escort, a dapper young man in vest and slacks; and a pre-teen girl wearing an apron with a festival logo.
“To be perfectly honest, I thought a cookoff would draw a greater turnout, personally.”
Link nods, caution on his face. “Yeah… far as I can tell, those two are a team, and there’s a little girl with a clipboard and an apron…”
Zelda raises an eyebrow. “Suspicious?”
Link shakes his head. “Never mind.” He approaches the other pair of people on deck. “Hi. You guys here for the cookoff?”
The rival duo is a tanned lady with fiery strawberry blonde hair and a lithe sandy headed man. She has her hair tucked conspicuously into a loftwing styled headscarf, and wears a flowing blue blouse with foam accents on top of a businessy pinstriped skirt. The man composed his own mane of hair into a classy topknot, wearing a vest and business slacks combo with transitional aviator lenses over his eyes. As Link closes in on the pair, the man gives a cursory nod, adjusting his sleeves. This guy came to cook, Link internalizes.
The tanned professional waves, smiling. “Yes, hello. I see we’re in for a tight, personal competition with these numbers.”
Link frowns to himself. Mental arithmetic messing with his conversational outline. “So are you judging or competing?”
“Oh, we’re the competition.”
“Huh.” Link glances over at the young girl, who looks over the contestants with a bright expectant look.
“So, that means you’re Koko?”
The girl smiles, radiating sheer glee. “Got it in one. My name is Koko, and I will be the judge of today’s cookoff.”
Link blinks. She can’t be any older than ten. What on earth?
“Well, we’ve already got you divided into easy teams of two. I see no need to prolong the agony,” the girl pulls out a tablet and presses a button, an airhorn erupting from the backside, startling him. “You have 30 minutes to do your best and satisfy my stum stum.”
Stum stum?
From the corner of his eye, Zelda rushes over, grabbing him by the hem of his sleeve. “Link, what are you standing around for? We’re on a time limit. Move!”
Ser Link approaches the station, finding his utensils, tying his apron, his usual prep activities. Zelda Ororo glances at the offerings, of which there are few, spices, oils, one sizeable cooking pot. She exchanges a look with him, an unspoken understanding. She’ll get what they need and he will compose from there on. His improvisational skills when it came to mealtime were unmatched in her experience. So she makes her way to the ingredients island, doing what she can to not overtly skip on her way there.
Arriving at their station, Princess Zelda quickly lets go of his wrist. Link begins rubbing it—just how tightly did she need to hold it?
“Alright,” she begins. Of course, right to business . “The judge is a kid. I think she looks around the same age as my brother, and he likes outrageously sweet things. So let’s make something sweet.”
Had she already forgotten the real reason he signed them up for this? Link pouted. “Don’t forget that I want to eat it, too.”
“You like sweet things, too.”
“I don’t think I could eat more frosting than cake for breakfast—I saw your brother do that once.”
She wrinkles her nose—at least she had that much reason. “That… is rather excessive. I was thinking something tamer than that. Pancakes would be good. With fruit, perhaps?”
“I suppose.” It isn’t worth arguing with her when there is so little time to cook.
“Then you go get the ingredients for the batter. I’ll stay here and find the bowl and spoon we’ll need to use.”
“But—!” He halts his protest at Zelda’s hostile glare. He sighs. “ Fine .”
Not that he would be happy in the slightest as he makes his way over to where the ingredients were.
There were so many ingredients, but they were haphazardly placed. Carbs were in a basket next to the herb pile, which itself had butter and eggs spread alongside in small helpings, and the fruit is here and there and it is all so overwhelming in its placement. It will take a while to figure out where anything is, so he gets to work.
Alright, first I’ll need some eggs… half a dozen should be more than enough. And the flour…. Aha! There it is!
Link glances up as someone from the other team arrives. It’s immediately clear that she’s very energetic, the way she rambles on.
“Let me see, carp or truffles for the protein, today? Or we could pair fried egg and rice with that wonderful cheesy herb bread of his. Mmm, yes that sounds divine, actually. Egg in the basket with crunchy rice? Goddess, I’m too hungry for this.” She starts to gather ingredients, whole in her arms. “Alright, so eggs, one, two, three, four.”
And then she leaves. Was that really all she needed?
Link shakes his head. He needs to focus on getting his own ingredients, rather than… whatever the other team is up to. What does he need to grab again…? Oh, right. Salt.
“Rice, there we are.”
He startles—he hadn’t realized she’d returned, but she leaves again just as quickly as before.
He turns back to his own task. Milk next. Milk, milk, milk… uh, where’s the milk?
“The stations already have oil. And Hateno cheese, my beloved. Yum! Oh, pardon me.”
While Link was preoccupied trying to find the milk, she snuck her way back to the isle in search for ingredients.
She smiles kindly at him. “Pass me some of that sourdough?”
“Oh, uh…” He looks around for it, taking a moment to spot the assorted basket of carbs for the taking. He grabs a handful of thick slices and passes them to her. “Here you are.”
The fact that it’s a competition is no reason to be rude, is it? Though he felt that Princess Zelda probably wouldn’t agree with that, considering her attitude earlier. But she doesn’t get to be the boss of him just because she’s the princess! Besides, this way, he can ask this woman for a favor in return.
“Uh, do you happen to know where the milk is?”
“Hm, let’s see.” She crouches down, looking beneath the table, and opens a door that produces both light and cool fog from within. (Once again he is reminded of how strange this place is if he lets himself think about it too much.) “Ah, here we are! Hiding the icebox from us, for shame.” She giggles to herself as she returns upright with a tall bottle of milk.
Link smiles as she hands him the milk and quickly tucks it into his arms. He should probably go back, but a little bit of friendliness never hurt anyone, did it? “Oh, uh, I’m Link! Thank you, uh…”
The woman takes a moment to answer, blinking idly in place. Then she seemingly remembers to breathe, saying in response, “Oh, of course. Zelda.”
He blinks. “Zelda?”
He glances back at Princess Zelda. A bit strange, that she happens to share the name, but at least she seems to be far nicer. If only the one he had to travel with had her temperament.
“Named after the hero of legend?”
Link turns back to see Zelda— rival cook Zelda—smiling at him.
Yeah. Definitely nicer.
“Something like that.” If only he was merely named after the Hero. But he doesn’t want to dwell on that particular thought right now. “But… I thought only princesses got named Zelda. Are you…?”
“Oh goddess, no,” she quickly interrupts. “I’m just a civil servant. Family’s came from money, but we haven’t been royalty for centuries, I think.”
…that just gave him more questions than answers.
“What are you making? No sabotage, Goddess’ truth.”
“I mean, I’m just here to eat food afterwards. I’m not really worried about the competition. But… we’re doing pancakes. What about you?”
“Nice. We’re heading in a more savoury direction. Torn between breakfast sandwiches and eggy baskets with rice. Hearty and filling was our feeling. But she is ten years old, so we’re guessing, same as you. But, they might be super complimentary, who knows?”
“Oh?” He smiles. He likes pancakes fine, but sweet things aren’t his favorite, not like when he’d been a kid. “Well, if there’s enough for everyone to share, I certainly would like to have more food.”
“LINK!” an all-too-familiar voice calls out. “DID YOU GET ALL THE INGREDIENTS YET?”
He sighs. “I better get back to Princess Zelda over there, so she doesn’t get too worked up about this.”
Well, Link says that, but he knows it’s probably too late to avoid that. The best he can manage is to mitigate it.
“Ah, yes. Competition. Right. Best of luck!”
He smiles at this particular Zelda one last time before they both head back to their own cooking stations.
Princess Zelda is glaring at him by the time he returns. “What took so long?”
She huffs, looking away before even giving him a chance to answer—well, if she wouldn’t accept any excuses, that’s one less thing for Link to worry about. “Nevermind. That’s not important. Here’s the bowl I found, and a…” She tentatively holds up a whisk. “I think you can stir with this?”
Link snorts. Oh, she sounded so delightfully uncertain. “Yes, Zelda, you can use a whisk to stir.”
She glares at him. “A whisk? I’ve never seen one before.”
“Probably because we didn’t pack one in our supplies and make do with a spoon. Whisks are common, you just don’t know because you’re a princess that never had to cook until just a few weeks ago.”
Princess Zelda groans. “I thought we were past criticizing each other for every little thing.”
He grins, and bumps her shoulder playfully. “Yeah. But because we’re friends now, I still get to tease you over things like this.”
She looks away, and Link leans over so he could see why. Her stoic expression lasts all of a couple of seconds before she bursts with laughter. Which makes him burst into a smile of his own, because, since they’d become friends, he’s found he likes it when she lets herself enjoy herself like the teenager she is instead of stressing about… well, the way everything actually does depend on her. “Fine, fine! I don’t mind. But really, we shouldn’t waste any more time than we already have.”
He gives a facetious salute, making her roll her eyes with a lighthearted huff. Glancing at the time, he himself feels the pressure of their time limit and gets down to work.
“Uh, Link?” Princess Zelda asks. “Where’s the fruit?”
He’d been a little distracted talking with the other contestant. “Oh, uh—”
“Nevermind,” she says. “Focus on the batter first. I’ll go grab some.”
Zelda Ororo returns to the station just as Ser Link wraps part one of the meal, the crunchy rice. The grains were given a touch of char to complement the spices, along with the fresh green scallions he had added last. Zelda fights to keep her stomach from gurgling with approval at the picture. But as she returns with the bread and lays down her bounty, he finishes plating the rice and hovers over her shoulder ominously.
“Oh! Herbs. Can you grab them from the island fast?”
Ser Link pauses, nodding after a moment. She then turns to her toasting, remembering enough to cut a hole in two slices for their main event.
Making his way to the ingredients island, Ser Link manages to finagle the herbs when the girl from the opposing team wanders in, bustling through the offerings, muttering to herself, “fruit, fruit, blasted fruit” as she sought her goods. Shrugging, Ser Link turns his attention back to finding herbs.
The ingredients were spread haphazardly across the surfaces. Clicking his tongue—no organization! But he is still missing Hyrule herb, and so circles around the table once more, looking more closely in hopes of finding it.
Ser Link grins when he spies the mighty Hyrule herb, gathering a pair in his grasp before a cautious voice interjects.
“Oh, sorry am I in your way?”
He sees the girl from the other team standing right next to him. He hadn’t even noticed in his efforts to free two stalks of Hyrule herb, which pop free right as soon as he looks away.
The girl blinks. “I suppose not.”
Cautiously, Ser Link gives her a thumbs up, cocking an eyebrow. He straightens his herbs unconsciously.
“So, do you know if there’s any (sniff) ahem any fruit along here?”
Then without warning, the girl lets loose a catastrophic sneeze, decimating the fragile herbs Ser Link is holding, the savory seasonings floating away on the wind like dandelion seeds.
The girl looks like she had just rear-ended him in traffic. “Oh, dear goddess, I am so sorry. Forgive me, I didn’t mean to–”
Ser Link cuts her off with a humorous acknowledgement, giggling softly at the image of the herbs in the air.
She slowly relaxes and reaches out to accept the handkerchief he extends towards her. “Um, thank you.”
He grins softly, taking a moment to survey the chaotic table area, eventually finding holdouts of fruit dropped here and there. He sets his now empty stalks down and gathers various berries on the vine, handing them over after grabbing a sizeable variety selection.
She looks at all the berries in her hands with wide eyes, but a grin on her face. “Oh, yes, these will do quite nicely! Is there a better way to carry them than just in my hands?”
Ser Link smiles. Reaching under the tablecloth, he produces a paper basket, handing it over in addition.
The girl smiles wider as she dumps the contents of her hands into the basket before taking it from him. “Thank you very much! Pleasure to meet you!”
She steps away from the island, but hesitates, looking back to Ser Link. “Um, good luck!”
Then she quickly turns around and hurries back to her own cooking station.
Ser Link watches her as she makes her way off. Looking back to the offerings, he swiftly gathers another pair of bouncy verdant herbs, makeing his way back to their own station, not risking the clock any longer.
“Alright!” their little-girl judge, Koko, shouts at the top of her lungs. “Time’s up in FIVE… FOUR…”
Princess Zelda nervously watches Link throw some of the last of their toppings on: powdered sugar, a glaze of honey, and even more berries to top it all off. A glance at the other team tells her that they are making similar last-minute touches.
“THREE… TWO… ONE…”
She jumps as a blaring ringing sound echoes through the room.
“Plese bring your meals up to me!”
Princess Zelda takes a deep breath and glances at the towering pile of pancakes, coated in honey and powdered sugar. She isn’t especially clumsy or anything, but with how nervous she feels about everything at the moment…
“You carry it,” she tells Link. “I’m paranoid I’ll trip and fall and ruin the meal along with my clothes if I do.”
He opens his mouth—probably to complain about the fact that he was the one who did most of the cooking—but sighs instead, and picks it up and heads towards where Koko waits.
Across the room, Zelda Ororo glances at her guard. “Well, I think we’re past the point of no refunds. Judgment time?”
Ser Link pulls his hands away from the final adjustments he made for the presentation and gives her a thumbs up.
“Well, then, onward.”
He picks up the heaping plate and follows her to the front of the room.
Once both teams are there, Koko looks between their two dishes, excitedly bouncing on her toes and clapping her hands together. “Mmmm. They look tasty, I’ll give you both that much.”
Princess Zelda takes a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves by clutching at her skirt before she finally asks, “Which will you try first?”
The girl glances back and forth between the dishes, before her eyes finally linger on the tall stack of pancakes. “Pancakes are always a good way to start off the morning!”
Ah. Hers and Link’s. She is unsure whether it’s good to be judged first or not.
Koko grabs a fork and digs it into the stack, pulling off such a huge amount that Zelda is shocked that she’s able to fit it all into her mouth in a single bite.
It feels far longer than the few seconds it must really be while waiting for a response. But finally, Koko says with a smile, “Mmmmm!”
Well, she says more things after that, but her mouth is so full that all of it is utterly unintelligible.
“Is that a good or bad reaction?”
Princess Zelda glances towards Link. “Good… I think.” At least she isn’t spitting it out in spite of taking such a large bite, as her younger brother was prone to do when there was something he disliked about a particular meal.
A couple of minutes later, Koko had managed to chew and swallow the entire bite, licking the honey and sugar off of her fingers. “Mmmm.” (Again—perhaps she really does think it was delicious.) “And then there’s the other one.”
She wastes no time pulling the other plate over, but takes a moment to consider where to start due to the variety of dishes on the plate.
Princess Zelda takes advantage of the moment to observe the other pair. She hadn’t paid them much attention when her own dish was being judged, but… were they nervous like her? Perhaps, or at least she can’t fathom why else the woman is filing her nails now of all times. And the man… well, he looks perfectly calm, but it was quite the contrast to how animated he had seemed when she met him while getting the wildberries earlier.
“Ooooo!” She turns her attention up front again where Koko finally decides on a piece of cheesy toast, and takes a large bite. Cheese stretches between her mouth and the remaining bread, and once it breaks, the string makes itself at home on her chin.
The other team seems much unchanged, except for paying closer attention, the woman slowly nodding, having stored her nail file away for now.
“Alright, that’s….good?” the woman mutters as the judge takes a bite (gigantic once again) of fried rice.
She really seems to be enjoying it. Princess Zelda frowns. Link might have said it didn’t matter, not really, but she does still want to win… but if she is enjoying the other team’s as much as she appears to, do they stand a chance? Or does Koko simply enjoy all kinds of food that much?
Koko starts to reach for the final item on the plate—a slice of bread with an egg in the middle of it—but stops herself short. “Hrmmmmm.”
The silence is palpable as they await any movement from the judge.
After a long pause, she finally grabs it, then scoops some of the fried rice onto it, and finally tops it off with her remaining slice of cheesy toast before taking a bite.
The other team smiles heartily, even before Koko exclaims, “Wow!” at the combination.
As the woman sighs in relief, Princess Zelda tries not to sigh in disappointment. The results haven’t been proclaimed yet, nothing is certain.
Koko stands up and wipes the cheese away from her chin—or, at least she tries to. She straightens her shoulders and clasps her hands in front of her, looking as official as any ten-year-old with good and melty Hateno cheese still on their chin could. “And now, the winner is…”
She isn't the only one holding her breath in anticipation, and now there is only silence to meet her as final judgment looms.
“SER LINK AND ZELDA ORORO! CONGRATULATIONS!”
For a moment, Princess Zelda thinks that they won. And then she realizes that Link was never appointed a knight, and her own surname is Hyrule, so that could hardly be referring to either of them.
Wait. She looked over at the celebrating team, he stoically shaking his fist in victory inwardly and her laughing with a hearty joie de vivre. So… they’re also a Link and Zelda? A Hero and a Princess?
Her mind races with so many questions that she can’t even feel disappointed about losing.
“They were both really tasty,” she hears Koko bemoan. “But I had to choose one, and they had lots of tasty things!”
Ser Link grins at his Zelda as he signs with hangry intent, Does this mean we’re still able to eat the pancakes?
She bursts out into laughter. “Of course, that’s the first thing on your mind as victory settles. Fine. Get your heaping spoonful of fluff, you ridiculous figment.”
He immediately dives for the plate of pancakes as if staving off some long-past predatory instinct.
Surprisingly, Zelda Ororo turns to Princess Zelda and Link, with but a kind smile. “Turnabout is fair play. Fancy a bite of the pile?”
While it is hardly unappealing, curiosity far outweighs any hunger she has at the moment.
Link plainly does not share her thoughts on the matter. He quickly accepts the plate of their rival’s food. Of course, savory meals, especially anything involving eggs, were his favorite.
“Mmm!” He turns to Ser Link. “What did you put in here? If I knew how to cook like this…”
Well, let him enjoy his attempts to talk to a mute man. Princess Zelda turns back to face the satisfied Zelda Ororo. “So, your names are Link and Zelda, too?”
She grins. “Small world, right? Or maybe we’re really short on naming ideas in our households? Or maybe we’re too lovely for our own goods?” She points to Ser Link, mouth full of pancake as his hands move rapidly for a very confused Hero of Hyrule. “Ser Link du Trac II, my Guardsman. Zelda Ororo Nohansen, Mj of Greater Hyrule.”
Princess Zelda’s eyes widen. “I… have no idea what that means.” But she wants to. She asks, “But would you mind explaining?”
Zelda smiles brightly at her. “Well, I’m not against socializing.”
Ser Link gives a crooked smile at that, his cheeks bursting with griddle goodies. That’s a first.
“Oh, hush you.”
Meanwhile, her Link is a mess, dribbling egg yolk down his own chin in a ludicrous replay of what happened with Koko mere minutes ago. “Zelda, er– Princess. You’ve gotta try this. It’s just divine!”
And she does.
Savory goodness bursts on her tongue as the egg, cheese, and perfectly charred toast elevate her to a tasty heaven all her own. She finds herself suddenly nostalgic for her youthful kitchen escapes, fuelled by scotch eggs, omelette rice, and biscuits with gravy.
Zelda Ororo finally tears the plate of pancakes away from the gluttony of her own companion and takes a bite of her own. She hums pleasantly. "Mmph. You should have more faith in your skills at the skillet, my lady." She takes a moment to swallow. "The cakes themselves are sweet enough with the fruit topping, alone. Honey may be gilding the safflina, all things considered."
Princess Zelda blushes at the praise. She had most likely let her panic overtake her in the final moments before presentation. Being unsure of Koko's specific palette preferentials had tossed her into the culinary deep end, so she had optimized for sugar content rather than any sense of balance, now that it had come up.
Link, licking his fingers like an uncouth heathen, opts to chime in. "I like the abundant sweetness, myself."
Princess Zelda wrinkles her nose. But she nonetheless turns and smiles at his praise.
She bows her head respectfully to the other Zelda. "You—you're really too kind, my lady. I'm just an amateur at best."
Zelda Ororo takes her time to finish chewing before shaking a finger as if scolding. "None of that now. I'm but an ordinary citizen, elevated ever so slightly by the will of elected governance. No nobles in my domain."
Princess Zelda lets that wash over her like the swell of a summer typhoon. No nobles? What in the world? She cannot begin to parse through the words that are making her eyes wide as teacup saucers.
"You're....not from around here, are you?"
She shakes her head. "No. Or rather, perhaps from here, just not..." She sighs. "It's... a bit complicated. And an even longer story as to how I got here."
"I have the time, if you're willing to explain," Zelda Ororo offers.
"Well..." A smile creeps onto Princess Zelda's face. "As long as you explain how a government works without nobles or monarchs to rule."
"Gladly." She glances over to where the two Link's are, having finished off the plates and starting to cook more food. "It looks like those two are preoccupied for a while, anyhow."
Princess Zelda laughs as she sits down. "As long as they share some of their bounty with us. Now, it all probably started about four months ago..."
Soon enough, the boys join in to share their next creation, in the middle of Princess Zelda's winding explanations. So many adventures that landed the two of them here and there, and eventually where they are now. Zelda Ororo didn't interrupt, choosing to actively listen. When prompted afterward, she most graciously began to explain how her position as Junior Minister (Mj) served in the bigger government apparatus. The Princess was all ears. They kept talking, even as they opted to further explore the remaining festival activities. The Links eventually found themselves wrapped up in a festival game of popping balloons with water cannons for the fluffiest of prizes, somehow even with the cannons facing the other way coming out soaked to the bone, the both of them. Both Zeldas ended up walking away with new friends that evening, of the Hylian and stuffed animal varieties. A perfect garnish for an eventful day.