Chapter 2: Meat Stick Sauce
The fire popped, sending orange sparks swirling into the blackness above. Link tore off another chunk of mammoth meat, still warm and dripping fat from the sharpened stick Zelda had used to roast it. He chewed, the rich, iron taste filling his mouth. Good. Very good. But… good same. Like always meat. He swallowed, the heat warming his belly. He looked at Zelda beside him, her face glowing in the firelight as she carefully blew on her own piece.
"Meat good," he rumbled, wiping grease from his chin with the back of his hand. He glanced down at the massive pile of dark red strips they’d butchered earlier, glistening in the firelight. So much meat. Enough for many suns. His gaze drifted, then settled thoughtfully on his own lap, then back to Zelda, then to the meat.
Zelda watched him, a curious tilt to her head. "Link think?" She knew that look. The look before he did something bold, like charging the mammoth.
Link pointed a thick finger at the pile of meat. "Make better." He gestured vaguely towards the dark trees. "Need… flavor. Like berries. But no berries here."
He shifted, the ache in his bruised ribs a dull throb he ignored. His eyes met Zelda’s, holding them. Then, deliberately, he looked down at himself again, specifically at his groin. He touched himself. "Meat stick… have sauce," he stated, matter-of-fact. "Good sauce. Strong. Make Zelda happy." He looked back at the mammoth meat. "Make meat happy? Make taste… better?"
Zelda blinked. She looked from Link, to the meat, then back to Link. Her dark eyes showed no shock, only considering. She was the one who knew what roots made belly hurt, what moss stopped bleeding. She knew the power of things. Link’s sauce… it was strong. It made her feel warm and shivery deep inside, good shivers. Powerful feeling. Why shouldn’t it make meat better? Strong taste for strong meat. Waste nothing.
A slow smile spread across her face, wider than usual. "Good think, Link! Sauce strong! Good flavor. Yes." She nodded firmly, pushing the pile of sliced mammoth meat closer to him. "Make meat happy."
Link grinned, a flash of white teeth in the firelight. Good! Zelda smart, she know! He stood, stretching, the shadows dancing on his powerful frame. He stepped close to the large, flat stone they’d piled the meat on. Looked at Zelda. She watched, curious, her knees drawn up, chin resting on them.
He gripped himself, thick and hardening quickly at the thought. This was a different kind of hunt. A different kind of providing. He began stroking, rough and firm, his eyes fixed on the glistening red bounty before him. The fire crackled. The jungle pressed in, a wall of unseen eyes and rustling leaves. But the focus here was the meat, Zelda’s approving gaze, and the rising pressure in his grip.
It didn’t take long. His breath hitched, a low grunt escaping him. A thick rope of white fluid, shining in the flickering light, arced onto the dark red meat. Then another. And another. He worked himself until the last pulse shuddered through him, painting streaks and spatters across the piled strips. The sharp, musky scent of it mingled instantly with the raw iron smell of the mammoth and the woodsmoke.
He let go, breathing heavily, a satisfied gleam in his eyes. "Good sauce," he declared, looking proudly at his work. The glistening streaks stood out starkly against the deep red.
Zelda had moved closer without him noticing. She knelt by the stone, careful not to touch the warm sauce. She leaned in, nostrils flaring slightly as she sniffed the altered meat. She looked up at Link, her expression serious, assessing. Then she dipped a finger, very lightly, onto a patch of sauce on the meat’s edge. Licked it. Her tongue darted out thoughtfully.
"Hmm." She considered. Then nodded again. "Different. Strong. Good." She scooped up two large strips – one sauced, one not – and skewered them on green sticks. "Taste now."
She handed Link the plain strip first. He took a big bite. Good mammoth. Rich, bloody, satisfying. Then she handed him the sauced strip. He bit in. His eyes widened slightly. The familiar meat taste was there, but underneath… something else. Sharper. Saltier. A faint tang that made the fat taste richer. He chewed, swallowed. "Huh. Good different." He took another bite. "Like."
Zelda smiled, taking a smaller bite of her own sauced strip. She chewed slowly, savoring. "Yes. Sauce… wakes up tongue." She took another piece of plain meat and deliberately dragged it through a patch of sauce on the stone before roasting it over the flames. The sauce sizzled and browned slightly. "Cooked sauce good too."
They ate in comfortable silence for a while, the new flavor a small, surprising pleasure. Link felt a deep contentment. Good hunt. Good fire. Good meat. Good Zelda. His sauce made meat better. Smart think! He finished his last piece, licking the grease and lingering tang from his fingers. The fire was burning lower, casting deeper shadows beyond their circle of light. The carcass loomed like a dark hill nearby, its scent of raw meat and drying blood stronger than before, a beacon.
Zelda finished too, wiping her hands on a large leaf. She looked out into the pressing blackness, beyond the fire's reach. Her posture shifted, alert. "Smell strong," she murmured, her voice low. "Bad things smell. Come for meat." She glanced at the butchered pile, then at the enormous carcass. "Fire not big enough. Need watch. Keep big fire."
Link grunted, grabbing more branches from the pile Zelda had gathered earlier. He fed them into the flames, sending new sparks flying. The fire flared, pushing the darkness back a few crucial feet. The light danced on Zelda’s serious face as she scanned the tree line. He saw the sharp set of her jaw, the hunter’s focus replacing the contentment of moments before.
He picked up his spear, the fire-hardened point gleaming. The good ache of his bruised ribs was a reminder of the mammoth’s strength. Other beasts would come. Bigger teeth. Sharper claws. Drawn by the feast.
"Sit, Link," Zelda said softly, patting the soft moss beside her. "Sleep little. Zelda watch first." She picked up a heavy rock, hefting it in one hand. She knew how to bang heads. "Wake Link when eyes tired."
Link hesitated. Protect Zelda. But Zelda smart. Zelda strong too. Her rock throw saved him today. He nodded, the exhaustion of the hunt, the fight, the butchering, settling into his bones. He sank down beside her, his back against a thick log they’d dragged near the fire. The heat soaked into his bruised side. He laid his spear across his lap, within instant reach.
He looked at Zelda, her profile sharp against the fire. Brave. Smart. Pretty. "Zelda good watch," he mumbled, his eyelids heavy.
She reached over, her fingers brushing the bruise on his ribs with surprising gentleness. "Link sleep," she whispered. "Zelda guard meat. Guard Link." She picked up another rock, holding one in each hand now, her gaze fixed intently on the shifting darkness beyond the ring of firelight. The jungle sounds seemed louder now – clicks, scrapes, and a low, distant growl that hadn’t been there before. The scent of decay and promise hung thick in the cooling air.
Link’s breathing deepened, his head lolling slightly against the rough bark. Safe with Zelda watching. The fire cracked. Zelda didn’t move, a sentinel carved from shadow and flame, listening to the hungry night draw closer around their bloody prize. Her knuckles were white on the stones. Ready.