Morning was met with renewed vigor from the caravan. Link took to the front once more, Aria taking to the back. This time Luda sat up front with Barnes. Her father, Renado sat in the back. It was quiet for a while, before the long haired man move aside the curtains and stared at her with curious dark eyes.
"Tell me of yourself." It sounded like a request, but it felt otherwise. Aria shifted uncomfortably on Titan's back. The bay stallion snorted in response, tossing his head once to make his 'point' known.
"What is there to know? Link and I are escorting you to Kakariko, where we will turn around, head towards Castle Town, where Link and I will depart ways."
"So you will stay in Castle Town? With relatives?"
"No. I have no relatives. Link has business in Castle Town, and I have business past Castle Town." She glance around them, but the world seemed at peace for now, bird chirping, a light breeze playing across the grassy knolls. It was a stark contrast to the heat of the desert, one that she was sure was already beating down upon it's inhabitants with a cruel fury.
He seemed to study her for a while afterwards before he next spoke.
"You don't seem very familiar with Hyrule. Where do you hail from."
She had no reason to lie to him, and it wasn't entirely untruthful when she told him that she hailed from another kingdom entirely. One question lead to another, and slowly she began to open up to him, telling him of many things about the kingdom she came from. She spoke of the festivals, of how time seemed to slow during them, and how time seemed to speed up when the kingdom's wars began. How the wars never seemed to stop. He encouraged her to talk more, listening. She only stopped when she realized she'd begun talking about that fateful night in the desert.
"You were left all alone in the desert, how'd you survive?"
"I..I.." Aria stopped, trying to find a decent semi-believable lie. "I was just lucky.. that's all."
"Lucky indeed, but you've stated that was months ago. Where have you been all this time?"
"Traveling." The lie burned in her mouth. He seemed to know it as well.
"Where did you learn to fight? Surely your skills weren't learned on your own."
"Fighting on horseback is taught in a lot of places."
"Not quite as many as you believe. You have a finesse that is lacking in Hyrule outside of the royal guard. Better than Link, most certainly. It remind me of the gerudo."
"The gerudo?"
"The desert warriors." He smiled at her, not unkindly. "Child, I am well traveled of the borders of Hyrule.I would recognize that style of fighting anywhere."
Aria cursed under her breath, heat flooding her cheeks. It wasn't something had realized. Sure, she'd learned a bit from Link during her time spent there, but it hadn't really changed her style, just the skill she put behind her blows. She was slowly becoming more precise with her moves- instead of making multiple wrong ones very quickly, just one or two precise ones that could get the job done.
"You have nothing to fear. I understand why you would want to hide it. Perhaps, if you and Link stayed in Kakariko for a little while, I could show you how to hide it, to learn your own style? I can offer you both lodging in the meantime."
"I..I'm not saying no, but I need to discuss it with Link."
"Of course."
Link had been thrilled. Of course they could stay a little longer. He would send a messenger to Ordin village, explaining his delay in returning when they reached Kakariko. Ever bright and eager, the young man was more than happy to go out of his way to learn new things. The next day they reached Kakariko village and Link sent out the note. A familiar face smiled at Aria from the crowd, the blue eyes and brown hair connecting in her mind. She wasn't here for a repeat visit to the tavern, not that she wouldn't mind spending time with him- it just wasn't her objective.
Renado had things to do, packages to deliver, people to see, so training would have to begin the next day. Luda was more than willing to escort Link and Aria around the town, showing them the large windmill, even leading them to the bathing springs run by the all too friendly gorons. The gorons were something else. Sure, Aria had seen one heading into Castle Town, but she'd never spoken with one.
They didn't open up to them the first day. They were rather stand-offish. It wasn't until Link and Aria started sparring together in one of the training rings- they later found out were used for 'sumo- wrestling'- that the Gorons really began talking to them. It was one of the most awkward things watching Link scramble around a ring getting pushed over by large Gorons. She'd tried a few times- but the gorons were solid rock.
Sometimes, when they were surprised, they'd ball up, their round bodies camouflaging before their very eyes to look like a boulder. Link learned that when they opened back up, if aimed right, it could toss them all the way to the top of the village where the springs were hidden. It was much more interesting to do than take the road. Link had done it several times before Aria was brave enough to try. The goron reassured her several times and Link was already at the top to 'catch her'. She landed in the water with a splash. Worried, the moment she touched the water she called it to her and surrounded herself in a bubble to protect herself from impact. Link was the only one who noticed, and she quickly dispelled it when she felt the fear of impact fade. It was.. rather fun actually.
The second day was when training began with Renado. He was like.. a tree, flexible, but firm. She couldn't swipe his legs out from beneath him, and he blocked her attacks to easily. She was… predictable, trying each of her learned moves on him until she had nothing left in her repertoire. Link was no better, yelling every time he used all his strength in an attack, attacks that Renado had only to step out of the way to avoid.
"Relax. Feel the energy of the earth surrounding yourself. Everyone you meet will have a different way to connect themselves to what is around them. Reach to the earth, tell me what you feel."
Aria watched Link close his eyes, taking his time to figure out what he was feeling. Renado was looking at her expectantly.
"I feel.. determination."
"An emotion is a good start. Aria? What do you feel."
"Everything."
"Everything? That's… try harder."
"Try harder? What is there to try? I feel it all." A sudden streak of impetuous anger flooded through her for a moment and she clenched her fist.
"No, I just want you to single out. Single out one connection to the earth."
"Like what?"
"What you feel strongest. Is there something you connect to easily? An emotion, an element."
Sighing she closed her eyes. She felt stressed, and stated so.
"Deeper. Pull the earth to you."
"Fire. Plants. Life. Longing."
"Longing?"
"Familiarity. I want to return home."
"To the Gerudo."
"Yes."
"Tell me, where did fire come from?"
"Fire is.. it's easy."
"Easy… It's not something you have to reach for?"
"No. Fire is always there."
"What isn't? What's the hardest to reach for?"
"Life, Hope."
"Then hope is what you should work on, to strive for."
"Link doesn't have to strive for determination. He's one of the most courageous and outgoing people I've known so far."
Reluctantly, Link spoke up. "Courage.. doesn't always come easy for me. I just.. I feel connected to determination, because that's what I am. I'm determined to be courageous, to be the person who helps even when I'm scared and all I want to do is go home."
Aria pondered on it for a bit. There was so much doubt surrounding her. Doubt she'd get back safe and sound to the Gerudo, doubt she'd survive days on her own without Link, doubt she could help the Gerudo. It was like a dark blanket that tried to suffocate her, and yet there was hope, that slim glimmer of light at the end of everything.
"Now that you've both found the feeling, focus on it- let it grow. You both depend on your own individual styles. On your own, they're not so bad- predictable, but not bad. Together… you're both rather choppy- always almost getting in each other's way. Sword play is like an art- a dance if you will. You must predict what your partner and your enemy is going to do, and improvise. Grab your staffs. Alright. We'll practice together. "
He did. He spent hours teaching them a form that worked together, how to predict what each other was going to do based upon their stance, the very tension in their muscles. They didn't quite get it the first day of training. At the end of the day, at best they were able to not lob each other's heads off. Sore and bruised they went to bed early. The next day, Renado was out taking care of patients. Link and Aria spent more time with the Gorons. The Gorons were great warriors apparently. Aria couldn't disagree, but their style was rather blunt, with enough strength to break boulders with just their teeth- they could destroy anything with a few punches. Link took it as a challenge to fight one of the Gorons. They chose and older Goron to teach them, one who knew how to hold back on the punches. He easily put a dent in Link's temporary shield, smashing the wood with his dark knuckles. The goron weren't very quick, and Aria took advantage of that, using her staff to tap beneath the Goron's arms - a sort of mock kill. Link hadn't been impressed, but the Goron just laughed and patted her on the head. It hurt.
Renado wasn't as easy on them as the Gorons were. Bruised and tired, the lessons were intense and didn't slow down except for their forms to be corrected. Aria felt the elderly man was especially difficult on her. Perhaps it was because Luda had been watching their fights and had started mimicking her. When she took him aside and asked him, he admitted it was partially that.
The other part was not something she'd expected, not something she'd thought about before. It had made her stomach roil with disgust and fear. She'd never thought of that about her opponents- never imagined they'd try to take advantage of her body in that way if she were ever defeated. Death, she expected, but not.. not what he'd described. It stuck with her, and she didn't question him anymore.
On their 'down time' Aria spent a good portion of her time with Luda or Link. Whenever she spent time with Link, it was often doing small menial things for the people of Kakariko. It earned her enough rupees to have a few outfits made, and a few saddle bags for her horse. She had intentions of having one made in Kakariko, but they didn't have the right materials for her there. When she spent time with Luda, it was mostly relaxing, spending time in the springs or teaching the young girl how to ride. Some days she allowed Luda to play with her long hair. The little Kakariko girl adored braiding and putting flowers in it, appalled when Aria had joked about cutting it off to make it easier to fight with and give her opponents less of a handhold on her. Luda had shown her how to put it up in a quick bun, and then a different- wide bun that involved a few clips to keep the hair as close as possible to her head.
It wasn't too long past the few weeks that they spent in Kakariko, that Aria felt the longing to return to the Gerudo desert. Reluctant to stay, and reluctant to leave, Link and Aria said their goodbyes on horseback as a good portion of the village waved them off. Inside one of her satchels sat a few new seeds.