Sunlight streamed through the windows, but that didn't rouse Zelda in the early hours as much as the high twittering of birds as they started going about their daily business of gathering bugs and twigs, and scolding one another for whatever the reason. In the days of the glory of the castle, her bedroom tower was high enough that the birds rarely disturbed her. And even now, she felt she could roll over and pull the blanket over her head and ignore the twittering and go back to sleep.

But they had too much to do that day.

She stretched, cocked her head, listened. The only noises she could hear existed outside the house. The house itself was silent. Unless Link was being supremely stealthy, he was still sound asleep. She carefully pushed back her blankets and tip-toed her way out of bed to lean over the railing and look down below. No sign of him, so he was either awake and outside somewhere, or still tucked away behind the makeshift curtain nailed up over the space under the stairs where the small bed he slept on was located. Either way, there was no sound of anyone else in the house awake and moving.

Just in case he was still asleep and be it far from her to wake him before he was ready to move; Zelda made a point of being as quiet as possible as she backed away from Link's possible view to get into the trunk where she'd folded her dress she wore home last night. She could change for Zora's Domain later, but she needed something that wasn't her nightdress for greeting a strange man. She grinned broadly as she opened a small box she'd chosen for her jewelry, looking at the assortment of pretties that Link had graced her with.

Definitely the circlet. And one of the sapphire necklaces. Yes, that would do. Her mother's signet ring. If she had to use any sort of authority this morning, she wanted to have the appearance to back up her words.

A cough and a sneeze from somewhere downstairs broke the silence peace, making her jump. Quiet footsteps that wouldn't have woken her but were audible to her now padded off to the washroom.

So Link was awake now. She doubted he heard her, or that she did anything to disturb him. She was being fairly quiet, and they both knew they had to get up early. She went to the stairs while he was in the washroom after slipping her boots on, and still in the habit of silence, tip-toed her way down the case, trying to minimize the old wood's squeaks and groans as she went to the kitchen table to sit.

Maybe she did need an omelet with an endura carrot, she thought, as a face-splitting yawn suddenly made her eyes water.

((This is both to give me something to do, and also so I know wtf all was said. It's not like I haven't done something like this before. XD;))

Link heard Pruce leave the store behind him only a few seconds after he did, but didn't turn around. What would be the point? The conversation was over.

"It feels like you're having some success," he said softly, looking around for signs of life in the early dawn hours. He was noticing that his thoughts had become narrow, almost hyperfocused on each task as it came. He was barely thinking about anything beyond getting to Uma. The rest was there, but it felt muted.

I'm sorry, Master Link, but this is the best I can do. I am unable to calculate how long I will be able to keep this filter in place, the Sword replied. But I will hold it as long as I can.

"Don't apologize," he said. "Glad for what I can get."

He nodded to Ivee as he passed by Reede's house, where she was waiting at the door. "Just running an errand," he said to her unasked question, passing past view of the door over the steep incline of the plot of land the house sat on and the main road.

First one on the left past Reede's house. Not far to walk.

He knew that Pruce said that Uma was used to being woken up at strange hours, and it was just late enough in the day that he figured most people in town would be awake and at breakfast, but given that he knew Uma was getting on the older side, he still would feel guilty if he was waking her up, or interrupting her breakfast.

Before knocking, he stopped to pull a sheet of paper out of the Slate's inventory- he used the notes function on it for his own stuff, but sometimes there was a need for doing things the old fashioned way, at least for giving people notes -and then the flowers, wrapping the roots of them in the paper to protect them. There was no need to announce the presence of the Slate's technology until Zelda was out and about.

Then, he took a breath, pushing any concerns he still held over the issue those flowers were for back behind that filter that the Sword had in place, and knocked on the door.