fleets: One day I will update at a reasonable hour. Today is not that day.

Chapter 10: Rogues

He's gone…

Weary footsteps slowed as they approached the door leading to the apartment complex on the East side of the city. Zelda's face was haggard, her breath once shallow from running through the streets now slowed to defeated sighs. Daylight had gone, hours ago, and the sky was long since a dark blue with stars dulled behind the city lights. She steadied herself against the cool frame of the door, the glass smudging from the sweat and grime collected on her fingertips.

He's gone.

When she'd woken, she'd found herself settled behind some old crates in the alley where they'd first encountered Sonya and Veran. Though her body ached, she hadn't been hurt beyond the scuffs and scratches she'd earned during her fight with the sorceress. To this she had been surprised, as she'd assumed that, after seeing what Veran was capable of, she would be disposed of.

Unless they really just, don't see me as a threat. She thought. And it was right for them to think that. I couldn't do anything…

The realization of that had stung more than anything. Finding the replacement SS, even worse. She recalled Veran telling her she would be compensated for her loss, and the woman had kept her word. When Zelda had first found her new SS, a dark navy one of the newest model, she'd felt like she'd completed a terrible transaction. She hadn't agreed to the trade, but she hadn't been able to stop it from happening, either. The weight of the newest SS had been heavy in her hands, and though in a fit of frustration and anguish she'd nearly broken the device right then and there, she hadn't been able to do it. She needed it. She couldn't get around the city without it - couldn't navigate her life without it, entrenched as it was in every aspect of city life.

For the first hour she'd run from street to street, looking every which way for any sign of where the dark skinned woman had gone. She'd refused to even look at the SS, the weight of it in her bag a heavy reminder of her failure, as she'd breathlessly sprinted from one block to the next. It wasn't until she had become lost, far from her initial starting point and increasingly coming to terms that she wasn't going to find Sonya, that she had slowly removed the SS from her bag.

She had been angry. Her hands trembling as she gripped its case, desperately willing the status light to blink like it always did, followed by a soft huff or disdainful yet curious snort from the machine. Instead, however, she had been welcomed by the standard, monotone drone of the general Navis, asking her to synch the device to her account.

Giving in so that she could use it to find Vaati had been one of the hardest things she'd ever had to do. It was almost like she was admitting that she had lost, that even though she was still going to try her hardest to get him back, she had already mentally prepared herself of never seeing him again.

Zelda gritted her teeth, her fingers pressing against the glass panes along the door. I'm just so powerless…

She didn't want to walk through that door, because to walk through it would be to acknowledge that she had given up trying to find where Vaati had gone for the day. She knew all too well that the more time passed, the more impossible it was going to be for her to ever find him again.

And so she stood there, her hands tense against the door, trembling slightly from both fatigue and despair. A part of her was aware that it was getting late, and that standing outside the apartment complex's door would accomplish nothing. But she couldn't… to do so would be to admit she had failed.

"Excuse me."

Zelda jolted at the voice, and then hastily moved aside for another tenant who'd wanted to make their way inside. She apologized quietly, and then watched with a pained expression the woman who'd brushed past with an armful of groceries. Just before the door shut closed once again, Zelda held out her hand, stopping it, and then slowly stepped inside. The thud behind her was heavy, final, and her gaze was cast downward the entire ride up the elevator to the ninth floor where her apartment was.

Hesitantly, she pulled out her new SS. There was no tired sigh or irritable blink as she retrieved the electronic key that would open the door. Instead, all she heard was the standard blip and a confirmation tone that the door had been unlocked.

"Oh hey, you've been out."

Zelda lifted her chin, enough to acknowledge her father who was sitting on the couch, flipping through a list of movies on the television screen. She waited for him to say something more, but he'd gone back to his movie list, hemming and hawing about what he wanted to watch. He was still in the shirt he'd gone to work in as though he couldn't be bothered to change out, but he'd slipped into some lazy sweats to relax for the night. Dirty dishes were left out on the coffee table in front of the sofa. Wings, from the looks of it.

And that was it. No comment asking why she had been out so late. No comment regarding the scuffs along her knees and her elbows, parts of the denim rusted with hints of blood. It helped that he didn't ask her, but at the same time she almost wished he would have noticed. Would have asked. About her, and not about -

"They gave you a replacement, huh?"

He'd turned around, then, though occasionally glancing back at the TV. He was nodding at the brand new navy SS that was hanging limply in her hand. The device was much easier to talk about… easier to talk about than her. "Good thing we were both covered in warranty, huh? And did they even give you an upgraded model?"

Conversation. Conversation to somehow break the awkward pauses that somehow always seemed to settle between them. Zelda froze when she noticed Noha-, her father, smiling at her earnestly from behind his bush of a beard like he was excited that the two of them might have finally had something in common to share. She couldn't dare look at him when he seemed to pull up his own SS that he'd received under warranty too, to further stress the point.

He didn't get it. He couldn't know. A rare attempt at trying to talk about something they could both relate to was shattered by the fact that the topic was something too painful for her to bear. She faltered at his expectant smile, coming close to almost telling him that she wasn't okay, that she'd just lost a friend. That she'd failed to save him. She'd faltered too long, for by the time she'd almost come up with the words to say he'd already turned his attention back to the television, perhaps abashed himself by the clumsy atmosphere between them. She turned away, quietly grabbing herself a plate of leftovers. A forced smile cracked on her face. "Yeah, good thing," she said weakly, and she made her way up to her room.

Back in her room, Zelda sat down at her desk, staring blankly at the SS in her hands. By the time she'd finally moved again, the chicken wings had gone cold and remained untouched. Her hands twitched, hovering over the screen of the SS. Eventually, she tapped it with reluctance, but also with some hope that maybe, maybe the machine would blink on with that familiar tired sigh with barely concealed intrigue.

"Welcome Zelda. It is now ten fifteen P.M."

She clutched the machine tightly, biting her lip when only the dull monotone greeted her. The program was just a Navi, now. Things were back to the way they'd been, before the mysterious sorcerer had been sent to her SS. With the new SS, she could go back to her life. Move on and pretend she had never met Vaati.

But no. No, things weren't back to the way they'd been. They couldn't go back to the way they'd been. She couldn't just forget what had happened and move on, pretending like nothing had changed. Vaati was more than just a rogue program, more than just a person; she'd called him a friend and she'd meant that. And right now, her friend needed help.

Her previously defeated eyes snapped back into focus, and she began to type furiously into her SS, running search after search for anyone named Sonya or Veran. Using the replacement SS with the robotic, soulless Navi only filled her with anger, but she couldn't just give up. Couldn't just -

Over 1000 hits…

Zelda's lip quivered and she paused for a moment. Then, she went back to tapping the screen, a little more slowly now. The sheer number of matches was overwhelming, but -

I can't give up…

She clicked through each Sonya that she found in her search, trying to find any pictures with the name if she could. Not all of the names had photographs. She didn't even know if all of the Sonyas in the city were included in the search database. She didn't even know if the Sonya she was looking for actually lived in Hyrule City.

I can't give up…

The truth was, she knew very little about anything. Not about Sonya, not about Veran. Not about Vaati. Her fingers remained still on the screen when she remembered his mention of Caph, just before he'd been taken away by Veran. Caph - he'd never mentioned the name to her, though he and Veran seemed to know them well. Her expression softened, and she gently lowered the SS onto her lap as she remembered how angry he had been, and had spoken about some kind of offer with… with a god?

It really hit her, then, just how little she knew of Vaati. And while she knew, rationally, that he had no obligation to tell her anything, it still hurt to know that he didn't trust her enough yet to tell her about Caph. If she'd known, could she have done something? Could she have stopped Sonya and Veran from taking him away?

She rubbed her eyes, trying to see clearly the blurred list of matched names glowing softly through the screen of the SS. She glared at it, annoyed at the water that was pooling beneath her eyes. As she looked at the device in her hands, a memory from back when she'd first met Vaati surfaced. She could remember it, the way he'd spoken with the words of a beaten man: The wind was once mine, and now I have nothing.

Her hands shaking, she watched as droplets of water splashed on the screen. Then, she abruptly stood up from her desk and threw her new SS as hard as she could on the bed. She glared at it, watching it bounce on the bedsheets. It remained unresponsive, not even a small blink of blue from the status light in the corner.

Exhausted, Zelda curled up onto her bed, buried her face against the pillows, and cried.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

One day, two? Time was a blurred mess. In the dim lighting of her room, with the blinds closed and the outside world blocked from view, it was difficult to tell if it was even night or day. Devoid of energy, Zelda ran her gaze down the readings she had been assigned for the week, though none of the text seemed to stick in her mind. She went through the motions of completing the assignment, but she was disengaged from everything she was doing. From time to time she found herself glancing at the status light with a pained frown, though she quickly wrenched her gaze away before staring at it too long.

Suddenly, there was a soft buzz, and the SS vibrated in her palms. She rolled over on the bed where she'd been laying with her reading, brushing her hair away from her face. Hilda's name flashed on the top right corner of the screen, and the phone jingled with a cheerful tune. Zelda sighed, a finger hovering over the answer button. She stared at the device for some time, debating on whether or not to answer the call. Eventually, she waited too long and the ringtone faded to silence, and Hilda's name vanished from the screen. Zelda held her breath, and then with a small frown she went back to her readings on cultural psychology.

About three seconds later, the SS rang again. This time, Zelda reluctantly pressed the answer button.

"Zel what happened? I haven't seen you in class at all in the last two days!" Hilda's voice crackled from the speakerphone.

"I just…" Zelda's eyes moved around her room. The desk lamp cast a dull light on the mess around her room; her clothes tossed across the floor where she'd been too tired to put them away, the dirty plates piling atop her desk where she'd scurried food to her room. "I haven't been feeling well," she said quietly. She faked a smile as she looked at the mess she'd been too tired to clean up. "But it's okay. I've been catching up from home." Zelda sat up on her bed. The bedsheets were crumpled up around her, like she'd barely left it in the past few days.

"Oh…" The pause was long enough to suggest that Hilda wasn't entirely convinced. There was silence from the other end, like Hilda didn't want to press her too much but also didn't want to end the conversation there. Eventually, however, there was a small sigh. "Okay Zel. Just… let me know if you need anything okay?"

Zelda almost hung up. She wasn't used to asking for help, or to bring other people into her own problems. However, she'd hesitated too long, and the voice in her head that urged her to hang up the call was interrupted by a more pressing admittance that she did need help. Vaati needed help. "Hilda," she blurted, her words cracking somewhat. She trailed off, the voice in her head telling her to end the call giving one last clamor of protest before it eventually died down. She couldn't do this alone.

"Hilda," she started again, more steady now, "I lost Vaati."

Another pause, though this time more through surprise than skepticism. "Tell me everything," Hilda said gently.

Zelda wasn't the type to open up about her problems. Even when her relationship with her father fell apart after her mother's passing, she'd always been dismissive regarding her own hurt. She was fine. She could handle it. She didn't need other people worrying about what she was going through. She could still function, could still get through it, without burdening anyone else with her own problems.

And so when she began to recount to her best friend what had happened, there was an initial uneasiness. She almost sounded aloof, even, like she didn't want Hilda to know how hard it had been the last two days. How many names she'd gone through out of the thousands of hits, alone, in the hopes that she would find the right one; how she hadn't slept or left her room aside from the brief forays to the kitchen to find something to eat. However, Hilda didn't interrupt once, only occasionally making noise to reassure Zelda that she was still listening on the other line, and after some time Zelda found it easier to tell her everything that had happened. She told her about showing Vaati the city, and about the park. She told her about their discovery regarding the magnesis rune, and chuckled a little when she told her about how Vaati had managed to turn an innocent little app into a railgun. She told her about Veran, and how utterly outmatched they had been when she'd stolen Vaati from her.

She told her about how she'd failed to help Vaati.

When the narrative was done, Hilda didn't hesitate, consoling her on the first thing that Zelda had most feared while telling her story. "I believe you, Zel," she said.

The tenseness in Zelda's hands left as soon as she heard those words. She lowered her head and her shoulders fell in something like relief, and she leaned back against the bedframe tiredly.

"You said her name was Sonya? And Veran?" Hilda continued from the other line.

"Yes. I've tried searching their names but Sonya is too common, and Veran doesn't show up anywhere."

There was a brief silence as Hilda turned Zelda's words over in her head. When she spoke next, she already sounded apprehensive, like she knew what the response would be. "Zel did you talk to the police about this?"

"What would I even tell them?" Zelda asked with a bitter smile. "They wouldn't believe me."

Another lapse into silence, though neither of them made any move to end the call. They were both aware that there was very little either of them could do with what little information they had, but neither of them wanted to be the one to admit that outright. They both knew better than to spout empty phrases of hope, phrases like how everything would be alright, or that things would get better.

A small, doubtful chuckle from Hilda caused Zelda to stir. "Sending a message over Neko Atsume," Hilda laughed softly, "You could have just talked to me, Zel."

Zelda sat up a little straighter, her brows beginning to furrow. "I didn't send you a message over Neko Atsume," she said. There was no answer from Hilda for a while, and then Zelda caught a small gasp. "Hilda?"

"… Sonya Driscoll."

"Huh?"

"Zel," Hilda repeated incredulously, "her name is Sonya Driscoll."

"How did you find that out?" Zelda asked, but she was rapidly reentering her search for the name that Hilda had just given her.

"It has to be your boyfrie - "

"Not my boyfriend, Hilda."

"-nd Zel. He's sent the same name through every app he could send me a message to, including my email. Every single one of them with that name, and every single one is sent through your account." Hilda sounded excited now. "He's the only person who could have sent that. Zel, we can still do something."

Zelda held her breath as she hurried through the searches. She'd checked her email history, and sure enough someone had used her account to send Hilda a message with the name, 'Sonya Driscoll.' She had a name. Full name. With it she could narrow done her search, potentially find out where Sonya lives, and then… and then…

The hopeful smile from Zelda's lips vanished when she saw the unmistakable photograph of the woman who she'd encountered at the alley a few days ago. Below the picture was the name "Sonya Driscoll," lending further proof that this was, indeed, the person she was looking for. However, there was one thing about Sonya that she hadn't expected, and Hilda mirrored her thoughts.

"Oh Farore. Zel, Sonya is - "

"Upcoming president of Nindoten," Zelda finished weakly as she looked at the captions paired with the photographs of Sonya. "That's her." There were a few news reports about the untimely suicide of the prior president, and that Sonya had been chosen to take over in his stead. She shuddered when she remembered what Veran had been able to do, and she couldn't help but wonder if this recent ascent in position had been an orchestration, rather than through a rather timely accident.

Sonya was a visible public figure. While Zelda now knew exactly where she worked, and with a bit of searching could probably figure out where she lived, the fact that she wasn't just some random person in Hyrule City presented some problems. What could a simple anthropology student do to get access to Sonya's home or workspace to find Vaati again? And if Sonya got hurt in the middle of all of this…? There had to be something she could do to get Vaati back, but what…?

Not only that, but even in the event that Zelda somehow did manage to get Vaati back, with Sonya and Veran heading the company that developed Asphodel, the only place where Vaati had been able to manifest as a person, there was a chance that Zelda could never meet Vaati in Asphodel ever again. It would be too dangerous, with Sonya and Veran both having access to the main server of the game.

What could she do? What could she do?

"Zel? Zel, you still there?"

Zelda blinked. She shook her head, trying to regain her focus. "Y-yeah." Then, her expression hardened, and she added, "Hilda, I have to get Vaati back."

"We sure do."

Zelda almost nodded in agreement, until she realized just what Hilda had said. "Wait, we?" Her head jerked back down to the SS, her eyebrows arching.

"Look, Vaati's kind of a jerk but I'm your friend. I'm just as part of this as you are," Hilda said with an audible huff. "Hey Zel?"

Zelda recognized that tone. It was the stubborn tone Hilda used when she was determined to do something, one way or another.

"I have to go somewhere for a bit. I have to hang up real quick, but we'll talk more later, okay?"

From the call, Zelda could hear something crackle in the background, most likely wind rushing through the mic on Hilda's SS. Hilda was outside, now, and from the sudden shortness of her breath, it sounded like she was running somewhere quickly.

"Hilda?"

"I'll call you back. Don't get in trouble until I do - "

I think I should say the same to you, Zelda thought. She had a bad feeling that Hilda was about to do something… impulsive.

"But one thing," Hilda continued, and Zelda could just imagine a small, mischievous smirk on her friend's face. "Make sure you keep your Saturday night open this week."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Saturday night.

Zelda didn't usually go out during the weekend nights, but today she found herself standing outside the door to Hilda's studio apartment. She was already nervous, knowing what they were about to do, and she tried her best to quiet the rising panic in her chest that told her to go home and think of a better way to rescue Vaati. Yes, this was, according to Hilda, a rescue mission. They were apparently going to sneak into the Nindoten company headquarters tonight to see if they could find anything with regards to Vaati in Sonya's office. Zelda didn't think it was the wisest idea, but Hilda had managed to convince her, somehow. That was the thing with Hilda; when Hilda wanted something, she couldn't be stopped, and tonight, Hilda wanted the both of them to break into Nindoten.

Zelda hadn't known about this 'idea' until a day ago, and by then Hilda had done all of the legwork on making note of entrances, possible escape routes, guard schedules, and even the floorplan of the first five floors. According to Hilda, the plan was to sneak in late at night on a weekend when there would be fewer people around, to get to the upper executive floors, and, well, to be honest the plan became vague from there. The goal was to find something that would either tell them about Vaati or Veran, about Caph, about Vaati's location, or even Vaati himself. The plan was too imprecise for Zelda to feel comfortable, but it was better than doing nothing. Vaati had been missing for over four days, and the more time passed without any word from him, the more nervous she felt.

They had to try.

"Zel! Just in time." The door swung open and Hilda ushered Zelda inside enthusiastically. "Did you bring the contact lenses you said you will?"

"Uh." Zelda stared at her friend who had put aside her usual, trendy, chic attire and was smothered by an oversized black hoodie emblazoned with a blue eye symbol of Sheikah Systems. She was also wearing baggy, dark grey sweatpants comfortable to move around in, and there was a black bandana around her neck. Red eyes, rather than the normal dark brown peered at her from beneath the rim of the baseball cap propped on her head. "I uh…"

"Oh good, you did!," Hilda grinned as she led them both towards the living-dining area of the apartment. She waved a hand at the sofa, indicating to Zelda to have a seat, while she hurried off and disappeared over by her closet.

Zelda nodded, slightly puzzled. She was indeed wearing her red contacts that Hilda had requested she wear, earlier. The two of them had gotten red lenses for costumes for Halloween, and for tonight their purpose was to hide their real eye color. It… made sense, but Zelda also suspected Hilda to have another motivation for wanting to revive the red lenses.

"Put this on."

A pile of clothes landed atop Zelda's head, burying her. When she dug herself out, she found that she was holding on to another baggy hoodie, white and blue this time and printed with the same Sheikah symbol in red as the one Hilda was wearing. There was also a white bandana, and a white baseball cap, and some grey sweats.

"They're my brother's," Hilda explained when Zelda looked at her questioningly, "I stole some of his nerdy Sheikah Systems hoodies - they should be baggy enough to hide some of our profile. Wear the cap so that it shades your face."

"I still can't believe we're doing this," Zelda breathed as she changed out of her jacket and pulled over the white sweatshirt. As she grabbed the baseball cap, she felt a tug along her hair, and then she sensed her ponytail loosening around her shoulders. When she tried to turn around, Hilda bobbled it right back.

"Let me braid it. You always have a pony tail, Zel. We have to change it up."

Zelda obliged, though she still sounded confused. "Okay?"

She slipped on the much less movement restricting sweatpants that Hilda had tossed at her earlier, and as Hilda brushed her hair back into a thick braid, she rehearsed what they had planned to do. Outer wall, climb over it and drop in, somehow pass through the access doors, find the maintenance stairs…

"All done!"

A mirror was shoved in front of Zelda's face, and for a moment she was surprised to see a face she recognized elsewhere reflected back at her. She almost looked just like -

"Feeling braver, Sheik?" Hilda giggled. With a playful flick of her finger, she pulled up the bandana resting around Zelda's neck so that it rested just below the bridge of her nose. Then, she tugged at her own bandana, covering her grin as well. "What we're about to do is nothing compared to the things we get up to in Asphodel, yeah?"

"You just wanted to see real life Sheik," Zelda snorted, but she couldn't help laugh a little. It was true… she did feel braver. Like in Asphodel, she didn't have to face her burdens alone. She had friends who could help her. Zelda reached for her pocket and attached the clip on camera to her collar, just in case they actually did manage to find Vaati tonight. Then she, stood up and took a deep breath, fingering the edge of the bandana that covered her face.

"I might have had that motive," Hilda admitted. She flipped aside her own braided hair, and then she sidled up to Zelda with the small handheld mirror. She held it out in front of them so that they could see each other's reflection; they appeared almost exactly alike, one light one dark. "I always kind of wanted to be a rogue," Hilda laughed as she looked at their reflection in the mirror. "You ready, Sheik?"

Despite her uneasiness about the whole thing earlier, Zelda couldn't help but smile back.

"Let's go get Vaati."

fleets: I admit that chapter might not have gotten the best proofing treatment. Whoops.
ALSO. Shoutout to Serpent Tailed Angel because they wrote an awesome awesome crossover snippet of this fic and my old modern Zelda AU (Avilux Series). It's posted on my tumblr under the tag 'art for fleets' if you're curious!

Not much Vaati this time. I wanted to give Zel and Hilds some spotlight this time. Hilda miiight seem a little OOC compared to her character in ALBW, but I based her around the Hilda I wrote for Soulbound. She's not shy, a little impulsive, and is the type to go after what she wants. Mmm, not much else to say. Thank you so much for reading up to this point!

Serpent Tailed Angel: Battery drain might be a liiiittle ridiculous for how Vaati's using it haha. It was never meant to be used as a railgun.
Currently no, they cannot move between phones. It's almost like the phone is their temp body, which… has a rather depressing implication.
Veran is a special case. More on that later. Much later ;)

I SAW THAT FIC AND alksjd;j it was amazing. Thank you so much.

Ai Star: He's got a rescue team coming for him! Maybe they'll succeed…? Studying and working both :)

FandomTrash4Life: Ayyy no problem! Thank you so much I'm so happy to hear from you Fandom! And ohhh haha sorry I went like way overboard with that answer. I still have to get to your other question regarding my other charas! I have to take the test for each one, but man I'm curious to know their results too haha

Midna: I like putting my characters through tough situations haha, that means losing fights to the story villains. Unfortunately… Veran's a special case. You'll have to wait until very close to the story's end for the explanation though ;)
Ohhh hope I can update soon enough to answer those questions too! Happy to keep you engaged, thank you for sticking around Midna!

Meta-Akira: Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to leave a comment ahh. The authors appreciate it, myself include it a;lsjf
Oh! I see, well I'm happy you stumbled here :D I looked at the book on wiki and ahhh it looks really good! Thank you for the rec, I might have to check that out. And Portal! I don't talk about it much but Portal was and is definitely one of my favorite games.
We'll get back to Veran and Vaati hopefully soon. Hopefully that means I'll update sooner aha. Thank you again!

Guest: I tend to see the Triforce of Courage only manifesting in a 'Link' in ages where it's needed (it's really just an excuse for me to leave Link as an option in stories, but not a necessary player). That said, you'll have to find out if this would be a story where I include him or leave him out :P
Hahaha that's probably what happened with the police when a poor dude happened to witness Spider Sonya.

Apocalypse-Mage: Please don't die hahaha
He did make a little wind! Little mage be learning. Zelda's not done yet, she's recruited some good backup this time.
Really want to answer your questions but I know the only way to do that is to keep cranking updates. Thank you so much for your support and your frankly super enjoyable comments? The enthusiasm makes me super happy just. You're a peach.

Zadria Cerulean: Thank you for dropping by again! I'm sorry about the delays, but I'm determined about this story, I will definitely see it through :)

TyrantChimera: Absolutely! Veran is definitely a special case. I love your description about Vaati 'hacking' his way through things hahaha

satrinity: I'm kind of disappointed at myself that Vaati got taken away so fast so we didn't see more railgun Zelda haha. Well! Zelda better get on the rescue mission quickly then. Thank you for dropping by ahhh!