Chapter VIII: Waltz
Samus Aran doesn't do formal shindigs. She never enjoyed them, nor did she have the patience for them. The only reason these formal events were held was just so some military or political big-shot could show off. Someone like Samus Aran, a bounty hunter, had no place in such events and that was perfectly fine with her.
However, certain acquaintances have insisted that Samus attend this event. If Adam and Anthony hadn't been the ones to encourage her to attend, she would have ignored the invitation altogether and continued on her way.
But now as she stood there in the corner of the ballroom, she began to feel restless and a little rueful for having given in. Despite the formal attire many others around her wore, Samus remained in armor. However, instead of its usual colors, her power suit took on what she referred to as a "Formal Mode".
A little modification made to her armor but one she never bothered to ever use or sometimes she just forgot about it entirely. Old Bird and Grey Voice had implemented the mode into her armor long ago, for situations in case she may need to attend events such as these. But of course, Samus hardly interacted casually with other people. And this night was the first time she was using Formal Mode at all.
Her armor's chest piece was now golden in color, and the lights running along them were glowing red, as well as on other parts of the suit. The rest of her armor were colored black-and-white to mimic the appearance of a tuxedo, and her visor was a shade of teal. And the shoulders of the armor, while still rather bulky, looked sleeker with pointed edges to them. To help add some 'charm' to her dashing appearance, Anthony had given Samus a white bowtie and placed it under the spot between the helmet and chest piece of the armor.
She felt more comfortable in her armor anyhow, and she was thankful that Anthony did not try to push her to wear an actual suit instead, when she insisted she would use her armor's Formal Mode. It was either be allowed to take her Power Suit along or she would simply skip the event. It was not a loss to her whatsoever. However, Adam did request that Samus keep her arm cannon out of sight and so the bounty hunter had to keep her cannon dematerialized during the entirety of the party.
When she questioned Anthony as to why she was even invited in the first place, he told her that the politicians, especially Chairman Keaton, wished for her to attend. After all, she was considered a valuable asset and ally by the Galactic Federation, and a hero to the local populace.
Samus had merely sighed and shook her head, denying the titles, and Anthony did not need to hear her speak to understand what she thought about this 'high honor'.
She refused the drinks offered to her and merely listened, or at least pretended to, and nodded when being conversed with. At times, Anthony, and even Adam would come to her rescue, allowing her to escape and remain at a distance from the rest of the party guests.
The lone bounty hunter spent the majority of the party observing each of the guests, taking in her surroundings as if something might occur. While she knew everyone was certain that the area was secure, one could never know when an attack might occur. It sounded as if she might have grown somewhat paranoid, but she was just too used to frequent to constant attacks. It had become second nature to expect anything.
As the guests walked or waltzed by, some took notice of Samus and some whispers and gossip started. Of course the hunter took no notice and simply ignored the talks going on with some of the attendees. Her visor scanned the entire area until she began to feel as if she was being watched. Samus narrowed her eyes and her eyes looked around the room once again.
Her eyes connected with a woman who stood at the other side of the ballroom. She was tall, but Samus would easily tower over her; the woman's ears were pointed, her hair was pristine without a strand out of place, her eyes were a dark shade of blue, but they seemed to shine brightly as they stared right at Samus. Her dress was immaculate and she clearly fit in among these high-class people. And yet something about the way she looked at the hunter made Samus feel a pang of curiosity. She had been certain the woman was most likely looking at somebody behind her or a few meters in front of her, but the more she observed the woman, Samus realized she was looking right at her.
The bounty hunter was used to people staring at her for many different reasons, and she had learned to ignore them. They were of no consequence after all.
But the way the woman was gazing at her, it made Samus feel as if the entire room had faded out of existence and that the stranger was paying attention to nothing else but her. It was an odd feeling; it was as if she were the only being that existed at that moment, and that only the two of them stood there and nobody else.
Their eyes remained lock until somebody approached, requesting the woman's attention. Her eyes remained on Samus for a bit longer before she turned to the fellow guest, but it did not seem to stop her from glancing over at the hunter.
Samus tilted her head slightly. She could not seem to stop watching her either; it made no sense as she was just another one of these typical politicians, but whenever Samus noticed her eyes boring into very soul, she felt the urge to…approach.
Shaking her head, Samus stopped herself and remained in place.
As the party continued, she began to grow restless and began to wander about. She still kept a distance from the other guests despite some of their attempts to communicate with her. She merely shrugged them off or ignored them outright.
"Hey Princess. Feeling bored already? I don't blame you," Anthony chuckled as he moved over to her.
Samus shrugged and she knew he would understand that. Anthony was one of the only people she could easily interact with without being judged for her silence. He was a good friend to her and continued to be so to this day; trustworthy and dependable.
"You know, you're quite popular with the ladies…" Anthony chuckled behind his glass of wine and nodded over behind Samus' shoulder. "That one's been watching you for a while."
Shoulders tensing slightly, Samus turned around, her sights going past the other formally-dressed women who were gossiping and giggling as they looked in awe at Samus' tuxedo-colored armor, to see the same brunette stranger watching her again. This time she smiled politely.
Despite her helmet, Samus could not help but smile back even though the stranger could not see it. Anthony raised an eyebrow, an amused expression coming upon his features. Without another word, he stepped back and left the hunter. Samus could handle herself after all.
The stranger turned and headed off in another direction before stopping and glanced over her shoulder to look at the hunter again.
Immediately, Samus felt her curiosity kick in once more and the body language of the lovely stranger made it clear; she wanted to be followed. Steeling herself, the bounty hunter stepped forward, once again paying no mind to anybody else in the room as she began to trail after the stranger.
Very soon, the sound of the crowd and music, the sound of chattering and glasses clinking against each other became distant.
Samus remained cautious at all times as she went after the fair stranger who continued wandering onward, not seeming to have a destination in mind. At times she would stop to look at the hunter, and the smiles she gave her were that of someone who was utterly fascinated and curious. Samus for her part, was rather puzzled at her own decision. This scenario could lead into danger for all she knew, and yet she willingly went after this woman who merely watched her from across the room and seemed to have a rather mysterious aura.
While the stranger was still within her sights, Samus' visor scanned her for anything that might seem off, but nothing out of the ordinary came up in her scans. All the more reason for the hunter to grow more curious.
They kept a decent distance from each other but it did not stop them from exchanging looks from across the space between them.
There just seemed to be something ethereal about the fair lady. The way she held herself, the way she stood there, the way she moved… It all seemed surprisingly graceful, natural, unlike those who strut about to make themselves look important. And most of all, her eyes seemed to shine with wisdom beyond her years.
Samus moved closer and the stranger began moving farther away, but it seemed to be almost playful instead of being fearful of the bounty hunter.
The look made the hunter's cheeks feel strangely warm. Nevertheless, she continued to take another step closer and once she was close enough, the fair lady decided to move past her, purposefully making sure to brush up against the hunter.
Samus raised an eyebrow as the stranger's gloved hand seemed to brush against her armored abdomen before putting some distance between herself and the hunter.
It was as if there were a powerful pull, an invisible force, driving them to continue this little game. They wandered a bit farther from the actual party. Samus still maintained her sense of caution as she continued this seemingly playful chase.
What was driving her to do this? Why was she willingly following this stranger when she would and should usually ignore such nonsense and be wary of potential dangers? Was she under some sort of possession? Was she being controlled without realizing it?
The little chase continued on until finally, the stranger stopped again and allowed Samus to come closer once more. She looked up at the hunter as Samus towered over her, and she seemed not at all intimidated by the visor staring back at her. No words were said, even as the fair lady stepped closer.
Samus watched as the stranger reached out and began to curiously run her gloved hands down the Power Suit's golden chest, seeming to take in every single detail she could. The way she watched her own hands move, Samus could see a sense of puzzlement as well, as if the stranger also had no clue why she was doing this; touching a perfect stranger as if they were familiar with each other.
The bounty hunter's fingers twitched as she felt the urge to…touch her in return. She was very certain she was not even intoxicated as she had refused any sort of food or beverages that were offered to her, but perhaps this fair stranger was under some sort of intoxication as the bounty hunter had seen her with a glass of wine at one point. But just looking at her face, and then scanning her, Samus saw no signs of drunkenness; so the fair stranger was just as sober as she was.
Deciding to take a risk, Samus lifted a hand and traced an armored finger along the blue jewel that sat at the center of the stranger's golden tiara. A surprised look made its way onto the maiden's face, before her blue eyes softened and she moved one hand up to caress the side of Samus' helmet.
The hunter tilted her head, silently asking a question and the stranger seemed to understand.
She took a step back and cleared her throat before straightening her posture; her expression was rather apologetic.
Samus raised an eyebrow but shook her head and stepped back as well. Taking a look at her current surroundings, it seemed that nobody else was wandering about the building and were still preoccupied with the party. But this made the area they were in much quieter and empty, meaning they had the space to themselves. Still, the quiet was preferable to the hunter than the chatter and gossip of bigwigs and politicians.
Before she realized what had gotten into her, Samus offered her hand to the stranger who looked at her with surprise. The hunter mentally smacked herself and was about to lower her hand, until the stranger placed her hand in Samus' armored one.
Glancing behind her, Samus guided the stranger to the center of the room, and then seemed to freeze once they got there. Again, she mentally smacked herself; what was she doing? She was clueless and had no idea how to dance, and yet here she was, acting and posing as if she knew how to do so.
To her surprise, the fair maiden smiled in understanding and took Samus' other hand, placing it at her waist and then interlacing her other hand with the hunter's before taking the lead in the waltz.
As she expected, Samus found herself stumbling clumsily, which was a rather amusing and embarrassing sight to see the usually cool, composed and powerful bounty hunter tripping over her feet and nearly falling over the fair stranger.
The maiden only smiled despite almost having her toes stepped on, and guided the hunter until Samus was beginning to understand the steps and her stumbling became less frequent.
Samus' eyes widened when she realized she was actually dancing; it was still quite clumsy, but she was no longer bumbling around or stepping on her dance partner's toes, and she was flowing with her more smoothly than the start.
The stranger smiled at her again, her eyes shining in such a way that it was clear she was silently complimenting the hunter for learning the steps rather quickly for somebody who obviously never waltzed before in her entire life.
Samus stopped dancing then tilted her head again. She usually kept silent and only spoke if she felt there was the urgent need to. However, despite a part of her wanting to speak out loud to this odd stranger, she had noticed that the fair lady did not seem the least bit bothered by her silence and seemed to even understand. Which was fairly new to the hunter as usually people wouldn't understand what she was trying to convey unless it was a yes or no, or a shrug, or if she just spoke.
Time seemed to have stopped for the both of them, and neither had the desire to walk away at that moment. It was a strange feeling to the two women, and although they realize they must return to the party and the eye of the public, they were in no rush to do so.
The fair maiden, for the second time that night, ran her hands along Samus' armor, admiring its majesty and the aura of power the woman inside held. Something told her she should feel even a little bit intimidated by this decorated warrior, but whenever she gazed up at the visor and it stared back at her, she could not bring herself to feel any sort of fear.
They did not know each other, nor did they even speak a single word to the other. And yet something drew them together. Something more than mere curiosity.
Eventually, the stranger looked to where the party was still ongoing and Samus followed her gaze before inwardly sighing. She had somehow allowed herself to get carried away with this strange fantasy and this stranger. She had been dazzled before she even noticed what was happening, only to dance part of the night away. And now, they had to inevitably let this little fantasy end.
Still, Samus offered her arm for the stranger to take and she had to admit, she found the blush on the woman's face rather adorable, and lovely.
The lovely stranger took Samus' arm and they walked side-by-side, back to the ballroom where the rest of the guests were still conversing and mingling.
Once they were partway there, the bounty hunter stopped and looked at her companion. She tensed a bit but the stranger noticed and slowly slipped her hand off the blonde's arm and just nodded at her in thanks. With one last warm smile, she stepped into the ballroom on her own so that Samus would not have to worry about being seen with someone on her arm.
It felt strangely cold when the stranger departed from her side, but she shrugged it off and returned to the party.
The maiden was nowhere sight the moment Samus stepped in and she could not help but feel a little disappointed, but a part of her wondered if she had imagined it all; perhaps it was just a hallucination. One that felt all too real, especially the waltz between them.
Shaking her head from these thoughts, Samus spotted Adam and Anthony and made her way over to them. She stood nearby for the rest of the night, though her eyes and visor still scanned the room for the mysterious woman.
As she had expected, there had been a catch for her attendance the party. One of the guests had approached her while she stood with Adam and Anthony, and had requested her services. Though it was nothing new and she was not about to turn down another mission that would get her paid.
Now she had her ship on a course to meet with the client at a space station. They had insisted that they meet her there and share the details rather than discuss it during the party. Whatever they had in mind, Samus hoped it would not be a waste of time.
As the bounty hunter docked her ship an exited the vessel, she was greeted by a soldier who saluted her before gesturing for her to follow him to the next room. Samus just nodded and did so, keeping her guard up, and her senses on high alert as usual.
The soldier stepped into the next room and announced Samus Aran's arrival before being dismissed. He saluted and gestured to the hunter to go ahead before leaving her.
Once she was left alone with the clients, one of them turned and smiled politely. "Ah, Miss Aran. Welcome." Samus nodded and stepped forward.
"Thank you for coming on such short notice. As we agreed, we shall discuss the details of your mission and then we may also discuss your reward…" The representative said as he led Samus towards the others who were with him.
Samus froze in her tracks upon reaching them, and she had to wonder if she was still dreaming or hallucinating. Before stood a familiar figure. She turned around to look at Samus before stepping closer. Just like the night before, time stopped and everything else around them seemed to fade out as they focused on each other.
The stranger offered her hand and smiled. "I am Zelda of Hyrule. It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Samus Aran."
The bounty hunter took Zelda's hand and shook it before she spoke to her for the first time. "Pleasure to meet you…Zelda."
This scenario had been in my head for a long while. I had a powerful urge and I wanted to let it out. So here you go! Hope you all enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. I feel like I could have done better but it should be, hopefully, passable. Happy reading!
Until then…
