A.N Sorry for the delay on this one party people. I just got Hyrule Warriors and my life has been absorbed. Thankfully though before getting it i have up to chapter 7 of this written. I just need to take the time to edit them. Anyway a quick thank you to all the people who reviewed last chapter. I'm so glad you're all liking the story so far. You're all so wonderful^^ So here's another chapter for you readers out there enjoy:D
Chapter 4 Broken Silence
Though Peach's words had soothed Zelda's mind somewhat. She was still quite worried. The single worrying thought nagged at the Princess' mind. Did Samus accept whatever Ganondorf offered the hunter? Zelda had to shake the thought away. She didn't know what became of Samus' conversation with Ganondorf, and she shouldn't assume the worst of the hunter. If the Princess did she'd be no better than those who chose to believe the rumors about them.
However, Zelda's resolution didn't stop the Princess from jumping when a cool metal hand tapped her shoulder. Today Zelda was at a local library trying to lose herself in the knowledge of other dimensions. Samus had seemed to search for her, and the hunter now stood before the Princess. Zelda closed the book she was holding. She wasn't really reading it anyway, too lost in her worried thoughts.
"Samus good to see you," there was a certain strain to Zelda's voice. The Princess mentally cursed herself for it. She didn't want Samus to know how concerned she was. The hunter did appear to pick up on Zelda's tone, and took a subtle step away from Zelda. It was almost like Samus was trying to give Zelda a comfort zone, to show they'd meant no harm.
It was then Zelda noticed Samus arm cannon was not present, and their armor seemed to have several scorch marks marring the armor. They didn't look too recent maybe scorching the armor a couple hours ago if Zelda had to guess. With their other hand free Samus used both to make a series of gestures that Zelda wasn't familiar with.
After seeing Zelda didn't understand the hunter's fists clenched in what Zelda thought was disappointment. Then it clicked in Zelda's mind, never hearing Samus' voice, and the strange hand gestures.
"You're mute?" Samus' visor gazed at Zelda before the hunter shook their hand in a kind of gesture.
"Can you speak at all?" Zelda frowned some of the rumors about Samus stemmed from them not speaking. If the hunter physically couldn't then it was all the more reason that the metal warrior shouldn't be judged.
Samus paused for a moment the helmet twitched as if they were struggling to do something.
"...N..t...re...ly." It was to Zelda's shock she heard the hunter's broken voice. It sounded painful for them to use it like their ability to speak was damaged. If Samus couldn't speak then the gestures they made must be sign language, Zelda assumed. Sadly the Princess didn't know the language, and Zelda mentally cursed since Samus obviously wanted to tell her something. While Zelda certainly didn't want Samus to cause themself pain by attempting to speak. She did wish she could understand what the hunter wanted to tell her.
"Oh! Come with me." An idea came to the royal she took Samus' hand, and the hunter followed without resistance. Moving quickly through the library Zelda brought them to the non-fiction section of the building. Glancing at the book titles as she moved Zelda eventually found what she was looking for. Grabbing a book with the title Sign Language: The Basics Zelda looked back to the hunter.
Samus upon seeing the book understood Zelda's intentions. Again Samus brought their hands up ready to make the motions again. First they pointed at themself Zelda didn't even need to look at the book.
"I," Zelda confirmed, the hunter nodded. They made another hand movement slowly repeating it as Zelda leafed through the book.
"will" another nod. The hunter made a single fist shaking their head. Zelda flipped through the book until she found the diagram of the movement.
"not" Samus confirmed again. Using both hands Samus made another gesture, waiting for Zelda to find the translation.
"hurt" with a final movement Samus pointed at Zelda completing their thought.
"I will not hurt you." It took a moment for it to process in the Princess' head. Samus stood waiting expressionless visor watching the Princess.
"I really am foolish sometimes. I'm sorry for thinking the worst of you." Zelda apologized, but Samus didn't seem bothered. They shook their head in a sign they didn't mind, Zelda still frowned. She let her fears of Ganondorf cloud her judgment.
"I still apologize. You have done nothing that should make think that of you. Ganondorf is a horrid man, and I let myself believe what others say about you." Again Samus didn't appeared bothered shaking their head. Zelda sighed crossing her arms over her chest giving the hunter a stern look. Samus really didn't appear to be bothered, and that only angered the Princess. No one should be used to people thinking the worst of them. Especially when the only thing they were going on was a scary good fighting skill, and a lack of speech. It was then Zelda really took a look at the damage on Samus' armor.
"Wait, did Ganon do this to you?" Zelda took a closer look at the damage and marks on the armor. They looked like burn marks possibly from magic. The hunter didn't nod or shake their head, not answering Zelda. Instead they shrugged as if the damage wasn't a big deal.
"Don't shrug, Ganondorf attacked you! Samus are you okay?" The helmet nodded, raising their hands up as if showing they were okay.
"I would ask what happened, but I don't think I have the knowledge to translate what you're saying." To Zelda's surprise Samus began signing again. The hunter gestured away outside instead of using a sign first.
"Ganon?" The Princess guessed Samus nodded, then made the sign for hurt again. Knowing Zelda would recognize the sign they previously made. Then Samus pointed at Zelda.
"Ganon hurt me? Ganondorf wanted to hurt me?" Samus shook their head pointed at themself. Before making the sign for hurt again, and pointing at Zelda.
"Ganondorf wanted you to hurt me?" The hunter nodded and Zelda couldn't help but feel touched. Ganondorf must have offered Samus no small amount of money, but the hunter refused clearly getting into a fight with the man instead.
"I can't thank you enough for not accepting Ganon's offer then, but please do not put yourself in danger on my account." Samus shrugged again nonchalantly seemingly not caring about the danger Ganon posed.
"I can handle Ganondorf on my own. I don't want you to get hurt, because of me." Zelda ordered sounding very much like the ruler she was. Though Zelda questioned her ability to take Ganon on a one on one fight. The Princess would sooner fight him alone however, than let someone get hurt on her behalf. Samus seemed to understand this and the warrior nodded.
"If Ganon confronts you again please tell me. Link and I can take care of it." Samus gave a respectful nod.
"Thank you, I'm sorry you got dragged into my world's problems." Samus shook their head. The hunter seemed to begin to sign something, but stopped upon remembering Zelda couldn't understand. This caused the Princess to frown at Samus' failed attempts to communicate.
Samus took a step away from the Princess motioning towards the library's exit.
"You have to go?" The hunter nodded beginning to turn around stopping when Zelda reaching out touching their arm.
"Thank you again Samus. I may be sounding repetitive, but I am grateful to have you as my teammate." The metal clad warrior gave a firm nod as if grateful to be teamed with the Princess as well.
It was strange Samus mused, as she left the Princess heading to the spaceport that her ship was at. The bounty hunter couldn't remember the last time someone thanked her for something. Or the last time she wanted to communicate with someone enough that she would sign to them. The last time if Samus recalled correctly was when she was still in service to the Galactic Federation.
Long ago Samus' home planet of K-2L was attacked by a villainous group known as the space pirates. Compared to every other living soul that ended up dead by the pirates' hands on K2-L. Samus was lucky, the worst that happened to her, at least physically was smoke from the burning planet damaging her vocal cords. The bird like alien race, the Chozo had saved her, but had been unable to rescue her in time to heal her voice completely. Samus was never really bothered by her voice being lost. After losing everything she had known at such a young age. Samus found she never really had much to say, prefering to stay silent. After leaving the Galactic Federation, and becoming a bounty hunter. Samus had little reason to speak to anyone. Most if not all of her missions she went on alone. With no one but the horrid creatures she came across as company.
Zelda was an enigma to Samus. She was friendly, and didn't seem bothered at all by Samus' silence or their intimidating armored figure. The alien race that had rescued Samus, the Chozo had taught her how to sign, but Samus found little reason to ever use the skill. Except to her adopted Chozo family. They were gone though. Just like most who tried to get close to Samus.
Years of working alone by herself left Samus with little understanding of things like friendships. To Samus people were either enemies or non-hostile. When Samus first saw Zelda she thought nothing of the royal. Just another combatant that was gawking at her suit, but Zelda seemed intent on throwing the hunter for a loop. She apologized for staring at her at the cafe. Apologized to Samus? Apologized! Such niceties were nearly unheard of to the bounty hunter.
Then when they were announced as teammates she seemed to be even friendlier. Originally, Samus thought the Princess would be just a pampered politician, but when they sparred Zelda proved there was more to her than just a title. Perhaps with a little more training Zelda could prove to be a stable threat even to the hunter.
Samus would have to pay attention more though. That last fight the hunter blanked out, and nearly hurt the Princess. Spending years on end doing nothing but battling the worst the galaxy had to offer. Over time Samus began to become numb to it all. The bounty hunter often found herself blacking out during battle. Going through the motions of combat, but the bounty hunter would be lost to the world. It didn't hinder Samus' ability to fight if anything it made her more efficient, so Samus didn't concern herself with it.
It happened during her practice match against the Princess. Samus only wanted to see if the Princess could really hold herself in a fight, but as Zelda proved she was no push over. Samus' mind went dark, and the next thing she knew she had Zelda on the ground ready to smash the Princess' skull in.
It was completely unacceptable. Though Samus knew full well she wasn't some role model of good deeds. She just did the jobs that were asked of her, and if they involved shooting a few galactic criminals down, or destroying a dangerous life form. All the more reason to do them. Samus had never hurt someone who didn't deserve though. Sure Samus had killed pirates, murders, and criminals, but never someone who didn't have it coming.
Despite Samus nearly smashing her skull. Zelda seemed perfectly fine with, and didn't treat the hunter any differently. It was confusing. Most upon even seeing Samus were tense, ready to run from the ruthless bounty hunter. Not Zelda though she would smile serenely and greet the hunter. Stare at Samus' visor trying to decipher what the muted hunter was trying to say.
The only time Samus saw any warryingness in the Princess was just now. When she believed Samus had made some deal with Ganondorf. Samus scoffed at the very idea. The dark skinned man reminded Samus too much of Ridley, one of the leaders of the space pirates. It was clear to Samus that even if she killed Zelda and Link for Ganon. Not that she would, but if she did agree to work for Ganon, like he offered her. Then as soon as the two were dead Ganondorf would just kill Samus. Better to kill a potential threat then to leave it be after all. Perhaps that was why he tried to force Samus to obey him by attacking her after she denied him.
In Samus' defense she tried to deny Ganondorf's request, and leave it at that. Samus didn't want to get into any unnecessary fights. They were pointless, and a waste of time and energy that could be used to something useful in Samus' eyes. The man didn't seem use to people refusing him though. Foolish man had tried to threaten Samus, then he had the guts to physically force the hunter to comply. The bounty hunter had fought things ten times more frightening than Ganon. His magic and strength was impression no doubt. Certainly strong enough that the average warrior should paused at, but Samus was far from average. She spent her entire childhood being trained by the Chozo, and then spent years fighting under the military of the Galactic Federation.
Some delusioned power crazed man was not going to be the end of her. It struck the hunter as odd that when Zelda saw that she was slightly damaged from her encounter from Ganon. Instead of hiring Samus to take Ganon down she was more concerned about Samus' safety. Tactically it would make sense since Samus proved she could take on Ganon, but Zelda didn't seem to care. It gave Samus an odd feeling. No one has cared if Samus lived for a long time, but here someone she barely knew was ordering her to keep herself safe. It was baffling, completely confusing to the hunter.
Shaking her head Samus willed the thoughts of the confusing Princess away. It didn't matter after all. Samus was almost positive the Princess was only being kind because they were teammates. If they were on bad terms winning battles together would be nearly impossible. Yes, that was it, Samus calmed her thoughts. As soon as the first few rounds came to an end. Zelda would be like all the other, and would inch away in fear. What other reaction could Samus expect? After all she was a ruthless bounty hunter. Until the time came when Zelda would turn on the hunter, Samus would enjoy the company. It was not often someone would willingly spend time with her.
"What are you reading?" Zelda snapped the book shut upon hearing Link enter their shared home for the tournament. Samus revealing she was mute had left Zelda borrowing several books on sign language. Before returning home to study the language. In Zelda's mind being the ruler of Hyrule she should know as many languages as she could anyway. Adding another language to her knowledge would only improve her ability to govern. Zelda mainly just wanted to understand what the silent hunter was saying though.
"Nothing, just a book from the library." Zelda slipped the book out of sight moving it next to her so Link couldn't see the title. She didn't feel like getting into another debate about Samus with Link. The blonde hero merely lifted an eyebrow before a mischievous smirk came to his face.
"It's not porn is it?" Link asked grinning collapsing onto the couch next to Zelda.
"Link! No it is not! You've been hanging out with the Gorons too much!" Link laughed as Zelda's face flushed scarlet at the accusation.
"Hey, it's okay if you read a steamy novel every now and again. I won't judge." The Hero grinned if Zelda was allowed to laugh at his bruised ego than it was only fair that he got a laugh at Zelda every now again.
Zelda slapped Link's shoulder glaring at him, but her normal razor sharp glare was dulled by her embarrassed flushed face.
"I was not reading some scandalous book! Get your head out of the gutter!" The blonde continued to grin goofily at the Princess' expense. Link tried reach around the Princess to grab the book, but Zelda slapped his hand away.
"Hey if I can't know what you're reading. Then I have to assume you're reading steamy romance novels." Zelda huffed taking Link's hat and pulling it down over the Hero's head covering his face.
"Hush! Before I decide to banish you from Hyrule." The blonde laughed fixing his long green hat.
"Awww and after all I did to save it. I guess I'll just have to live with the Gorons."
"On second thought, I order you to stay at least several miles away from the Gorons instead." Link crossed his arms a mocking imitation of Zelda's stern look she often gave him.
"Now your majesty I believe that is an abuse of your power." Zelda rose from the couch taking the book with her.
"I am completely within the bounds of my authority. You know I don't read such frivolous things. I was merely learning about the different dimensions our opponents are from." Link nodded agreeing at least with some of that statement. He refused to believe Zelda didn't read frivolous things as she called them.
"I refuse to believe that. Let me live in my fantasy where you do something for fun. That doesn't involve improving the kingdom in some way." Zelda shook her in head in exasperation walking out of the room.
"I'm going to start spreading rumors around the castle. That you're eloping with some handsome buff warrior prince or something!" The hero joked trying to get one last rise from the royal.
"They'll never believe you, and you know it." It was true Zelda put her country above all else. Though her advisor would be very pleased if she found Hyrule a king. They respected that Zelda could rule without one. Link was still surprised he managed to drag Zelda away from her kingdom, and to the tournament in the first place.
"I know that's the sad part!" Link exclaimed, Zelda shaking her head finally leaving the hero alone. Her eloping with someone here, a very preposterous idea Zelda thought.
A.N. IMPORTANT NOTE BELOW
I can already sense everyone running to review and say Samus isn't mute! Don't lie I know someone out there was just itching to do itXD I know in canon Samus can speak, but before Other M it was always my headcannon that Samus physically couldn't speak. Which if you think about it at least to me makes sense. I know she speaks in Metroid Fusion as well, but I have explanation for that. Which will come in later in this story. So if you absolutely can't stand the idea of Samus being mute that saddens me, but you don't have to keep reading this story then. I do hope you guys stick around though you are all so lovely for reading^^ With that reviews are loved and I will see you guys next chapter!
Side Note
From reading your reviews I saw a lot of you were hoping to see Samus kick Ganon's butt. Don't you worry that time will come you'll just have to wait and see for an epic fight between themXD