Link allowed his eyes to trail along the starry sky for a brief moment as he strode back toward the campsite the Company had constructed, still focused on the pain at his shoulder that remained seared upon his muscles there. He had gone out to examine the landscape ahead for any signs of potential trouble, particularly given the Yiga's foothold out here, though had come across nothing, a result that offered little in practicality, but allowed Link a somewhat clearer mind nonetheless.
He skulked down atop a hill to find the campfire greeting him a few more strides along, the site strategically placed to prevent the flames from peeking over the embankment and potentially rousing interest. He gave his shoulder a final soothing massage before stepping into the small ring of orange-lit, flickering fire light, immediately stepping into conversation.
"-but still, a Goron knows their own limits!" Daruk proudly recited, "Despite my status as a Champion of the Gorons, in our eyes, 'might' is not measured in insurmountable deeds. Rather, it's about having the presence of mind to understand your own limitations and acting accordingly."
Roaming along his chin, his finger stopped to tap at his skin, "All Gorons are rather mighty by your standards, you must admit. What sets the greatest of us apart is how able we are to make difficult decisions. How able we are to better provide for our people; how economical we are with the abilities granted us."
Mipha nodded with interest, while Revali had spun away, picking at the tufts of feathers atop his hand absently, leaving Daruk to conclude with a chuckle, pointing to Link, "Now I know he teases, and you might think I've got little more than food on my mind, but I assure you-"
"Where's Zelda?" Link wondered aloud, earning him an abrupt glance from Daruk as the Goron assured in reply.
"She went with Urbosa to gather water, so they said," Daruk grinned.
Link's brow went crooked, "So they said?"
"Who knows!" Daruk shrugged amusedly, "Come now, she is in more capable hands than even myself!"
Sighing, Link dropped his shoulders while trudging toward a broken leg that served as a bench, leaving Daruk to exclaim, "Now! I was just regaling our Zora with a few tales of Goron greatness! or, in my case-"
"Ah," Link nodded with indifference, turning to aim a droll expression toward Mipha, "This is his Boulder Breaker story."
Terrified, Daruk threw his hands out before him, waving them wildly in denial, "W-Well it's not that impressive if you speak it like that! You must pronounce it with all the flames of Death Mountain coursing through your stomach!"
The Goron rose to his feet, raising his arms in a triumphant pose, the ground rattling as he roared, "The Boulder Breaker!"
Mipha giggled at his performance, politely hiding her face as she inquired, "What is this boulder breaker?"
"Well, my sword!" Daruk explained happily, drawing a diagram in the air as he further iterated, "About this long, and this wide. A monster of a weapon, she is! Not much for slicing, as she's constructed from the strongest rock known to us Gorons! with help from a few ancient Sheikah materials, of course."
Link spoke up, amused by Daruk's grandiose tone, "Any guess as to how it got its name?"
Quickly, Daruk reached over in a nervous flash to cover Link's face, though Link grabbed his arm, pushing himself away as the two tussled, the Hylian chuckling as he broke free an explanation, "Daruk-!"
"No!" Daruk pleaded, desperate to bring Link to pause.
"It wasn't any noble thing," Link battled, "He literally thought it was fun to- Ow!- smash random-ass boulders when he was younger."
Mipha grinned as Daruk gave up his fight, covering his face ashamedly while the Zora giggled, "I see. It did sound like the name of a child's design."
As if triumphant in his attempt to make light of the situation, Goron pumped up his chest, "Perhaps so, but it is not the name, but the reputation! I've since carried that sword to many victories. Much like the Gorons themselves, it manages to live beyond its mere image."
Link brushed off his tunic, shaking his head, "Now he just uses it to frighten passersby."
"H-Hey now! Don't give them the wrong idea!" Daruk managed quickly.
Link gave a mischievous grin, "My unit was merely passing by when a gaggle of Gorons hopped out from outta nowhere, encircling us with weapons drawn, sending the entire unit dashing away as if there were no tomorrow."
"It was simply a practical joke!" assured Daruk nervously, "Albeit in slightly poor taste, but-"
His nerves wavered long enough for a proud grin to stretch across his face, "Had it not occurred, however, I might never have met this stone of a man!"
Link nodded, "I was the only one who remained upon the trail, sword drawn, while Daruk and his buddies chased all the others off."
"Indeed!" Daruk praised, patting Link heartily on the back, allowing Mipha a warm smile at the show of comradery, "Little did I know, then, how well known he'd become in my township. The little Hylian who met defeat, yet made himself as large as a boulder!"
Mipha's brow narrowed, "Wait, defeat? I always thought Link had, you know-"
"Out-wrestled a Goron?!" Daruk chortled with amusement, "I severely doubt any Hylian could! Yet, despite his magnanimous foe, Link accepted the challenge, and put the work in, at that."
He nodded, "Like I said. For Gorons, it's not the size or shape of your body; it's how it's used. Link, here, with such a puny frame- he makes it seem like the body of an ox!"
"Puny?" Link inquired with a wiry glance.
Daruk retorted nervously, "Eh, that was simply the consensus of my tribesman! at the time, of course."
Mipha's voice broke the air as she spoke up amidst a giggle, "That's quite a nice story."
"Indeed!" Daruk roared happily, "Not long afterward, I asked for his bond in sworn brotherhood. Without blood ties, we Gorons offer such things, but I knew with this one-"
He sized Link up with a subtly prideful look, "I knew he was to be something special."
"Geez," Link shrugged, hiding a smirk, "You make it sound so weird."
"There's nothing weird about the bonds of brotherhood!" Daruk assured, slamming a fist into Link's back just hard enough to nearly launch him from his seat.
Link slowly recovered with a seething groan, leaving Daruk to sit by the fire as a contented sigh left him, "I'm quite thrilled for you all to see my home! I do hope Zelda's plan is fruitful! You may just be the first Zora to see my township!"
Mipha smiled with a nod, "I would be truly honored of the opportunity. From what I've heard, it's quite the chummy environment, what with all the knuckle-dusting and iron being pumped around."
"Well, I hate to brag," Daruk began right as he thought to brag, though his mind wondered at the last moment, thinking aloud, "I am often astonished by the differences that come about all of your people when it comes to men and women. I mean, I understand you have different appearances, but when it comes down to the mechanics-"
Link's eyes widened before turning toward Daruk in a haste, "Daruk, don't-"
"I mean, we Gorons are never concerned with such trivial matters as- You know when I charge up to my buddy, Notaga, and slam a fist into his chest, it's no thing; but if Hylians or Zora would to do that-"
He quizzically raised his hands up to resemble uneven scales, thinking of such things of these social mechanics, finding Link quickly replying in a quick manner, hoping to avoid much of anything embarrassing, "I- It's probably best not to think about it. I mean, some of it- I don't even understand."
"Hmm, I suppose they are complicated matters," Daruk sighed, "It is quite troublesome understanding such things as mating when you, yourself-"
His gaze wandered toward Link, who began coughing profusely , having accidentally swallowed something unprepared while Mipha averted her eyes in nervous reverie, crossing her arms while her brow fell.
"What?" Daruk wondered with sincerity.
At that, Revali sputtered around finally, spitting vitriol in his voice, "He already requested an end to your incessant questioning about sex! And I, myself, am quite content with hearing nothing further! So if you would please indulge us and knock it off!"
The Rito returned to his anti-social position, leaving a rather complicated series of thoughts lingering in the air, leaving Link embarrassed, Mipha nervous, and Daruk with a curious look on his face. The Goron remained silent for a moment, stroking his beard for a moment before inquiring like a child unable to resist prodding at a dog until bitten.
"Do the Rito not also do such things?" Daruk inquired earnestly.
Revali's body visibly tensed up as his head slid forward. Gradually turning over his shoulder, his face peered toward Daruk with a visibly furious expression, his hands curled into claws as he spattered with venom on his tongue.
"Knock… it… off…"
Daruk burst into laughter, rocking back and forth in his seated position as he turned to Link, "I'm only kidding! You thought it was funny, did you not?!"
"Funny like a heart attack," Link sighed as he began stoking the flames, seeking contentedness that such complicated matters as earlier seemed to have now fallen to the wayside.
An hour passed, and then another. The flames had gradually died down as the Company began to find sleep for the evening, leaving Link as the sole one awake to keep watch, himself content with the fire dying down to better conceal their position. He made sure to allow just enough light, as Urbosa and Zelda had yet to return, a worry beginning to grow within him, even if he knew that Zelda might be in even better hands than if she were solely alongside Link. He pondered over what might have caused their absence, only to stop himself before downright conjecture entered his mind, instead turning to poking at the fire and focusing on the dark forms that sat atop the horizon.
At some point in the deepening dark of night, two shapes came into silhouetted view as Zelda and Urbosa returned, the lamplight of the campfire allowing a cursory glance from Link to notice the reddened face of Zelda, her eyes stricken with tire as she silently worked her sleeping pack free, crawling in and lying down to sleep without a word as Urbosa watched with concern. Her eyes darted toward Link until they met stares, the Gerudo cocking her head backward to signal to Link in silence, forcing the Knight to rise to his feet, careful to avoid Daruk's ravenously strewn body as the Goron slept.
The two stepped away from the camp just outside of earshot before Urbosa stopped her advance, turning to field an immediate question from Link, "What were you two doing?"
Shrugging, Urbosa answered simply, "Training. She requested training with the sword."
"The sw-" Link quickly interjected, "I'm her sword. She's the Princess; have you any idea how the King would react were he to discover this?"
Urbosa's eyes narrowed, "She asked this of me and I decided to accept. I had a problem, however."
"Beyond allowing a Princess to take a weapon?" Link shot with verbal force.
"You know, she's more capable than you might give her credit for," Urbosa shrugged, "I know you two had your difficulties at first, but she's surprised even me during this excursion."
Yanking her lips with a look of deference, Urbosa quipped, "Perhaps it's simply due to her being a woman?"
Link's eyes narrowed, knowing Urbosa was looking to bait him into some amusing response, though instead of retaliating with a heated tone that she might have expected, his voice dimmed as he muttered quietly, lowering his head, "Don't think so little of me."
His eyes raised only to peer up toward her own, "I've been very lucky to serve a King whose aims have been benevolent on the whole. Even beyond my fealty being bought through food and shelter-"
"To Revali's earlier point, no, I wouldn't follow an order than led me to kill an innocent person," Link admitted coolly, "I'm not merely protecting her to follow orders, though I would follow my King to the ends of Hyrule. I'm protecting the woman who will one day be my Queen- one beneath whom it will be easy for me to serve, knowing she's only thinking of what is just and kind."
A scowl crept across his face as he glanced up toward Urbosa, "Now, I ask again. Why are you allowing my Princess the ability to get herself killed?"
Perhaps not expecting such a sincere response, Urbosa's expression weakened with a groan, "Well if you're gonna- She just wants to feel a part of this Company. She's asking us to sacrifice ourselves for the cause. She would like to offer the same as any one of us."
Link's expression was left unchanged, his mind unconvinced, forcing Urbosa to tilt her head to the side, "Surely you understand her guilt at being the only one standing while the rest of us were nearly plucked from this life- being a soldier and all."
"She brought us all out here, some through rather devious means, to accomplish some unfathomable task; a task that, were it to be deemed unsuccessful, would leave the lot of us as laughingstocks for treading across the whole of Hyrule on the whim of some child," Urbosa noted plainly, "Imagine that legacy. one that she would never step from beneath its shadow."
Her eyes narrowed, "Of course, you know how it would have felt, were one of us to die back there. Wondering, endlessly, incessantly- blaming yourself. What could you have done different?"
Urbosa concluded easily, "You pick up a sword. and if my child has the best of intentions, I would rather her know how to handle such a thing than allowing her to wildly act should she feel so compelled to do so."
Link thought of his mother. Whether or not that had been Urbosa's intention, he didn't know.
"What did you call me over here for?" Link asked, avoiding treading deeper into that topic of discussion.
Urbosa's eyes left him, wavering toward the darkening horizon of midnight, "I need you to train her."
An immediate sigh of exasperation left Link's lips, his eyes rolling for but a brief moment before charging, "I don't even want you allowing this, and yet you would like me to not only advocate it, but be responsible for it?!"
Urbosa's lips tugged to the side, "I agreed to teach her, but- there were unforeseen side effects; namely, I think I'm too rough of an opponent to teach her, or anybody at her skill level."
"And I am?" Link wondered pithily.
The Gerudo shrugged, "You pulled your punches- or, rather, your kick. Back when that Watcher tried to stab you."
Link stared at her with a rising upset.
"That's why you fell on your ass, right? You were supposed to press your momentum forward and overtake him at the point of contact between his hands and spear, yet you forced yourself backward under the guise of the inexperience of time," Urbosa muttered, rather surgically.
Uncertain of his place after such a critique, Link challenged, "So? Just pull your punches."
"I can't," Urbosa admitted, a crestfallen look crossing her face while her lips spun upward in a wayward smile that held an insurmountable heartache with it.
A weak chuckle left her, as if realizing how silly she was appearing, though she quietly submitted, "As you know, I cannot have children of my own. Not unless-"
She turned her lips, "Zelda, through my friendship with her mother, became so, so very much like a daughter to me. I cared for her when she was in swaddling clothes, I rushed to her aid with medicine when she was sick. I cried over her when our visits were cut short.:
"Goddess, there was so much I wanted to teach her. Her mother was restricted by her father and her- well, let's face it- lack of worldliness. I was sort of Zelda's 'outlet' to the outside world, but- I was so excited when her eyes glazed over when I spoke up Lanayru winters, when the wind chills your skin so much it rather feels like burning, or when I talked about stories and legends. That must've been when she got into all that stuff, but I can assure you, I never intended her to, you know, get lost in it all."
A sad grin left her, "But I always knew I was a bad role model. For all I could hope to impart to her, I knew- My fate is such that I would never be anything more to her than a cautionary tale; my life nothing but a tale of wretchedness."
Link felt his shoulders tense, uncomfortable with the overall air surrounding the two of them, but unable to find the will to stop her from continuing.
"From the day I was born, purely Gerudo, my body was not mine to wrest alone," Urbosa spoke up coldly, "My skin, my heartbeat- my womb. I'm nothing but a vessel to be carted to that inevitable moment when evil itself takes from me everything I would kill to ensure Zelda remains in possession of."
Link noticed a tremble at her arm.
"My child has freedom I will never know. I've spent her lifetime trying to be strong- trying to convince her to live one life while so evilly living another."
Her breath left her in cold respite, "I've shown enough weakness to that child. Not when I've yet to demonstrate the depths to which I'll descend- what I'll surrender. If only for my people."
Link lowered his head. A hand slowly reached to his neck, scratching at his skin in an attempt to feign indifference.
His eyes suddenly returned to her, "I-"
Paused. Her hair trailing in wind, the same could not be said for the two strands of tears streaking down her cheek atop a stone-still face, her eyes peering out into the distance, and yet, so far into the future. To a point so inevitable, yet, so revolting.
"I'll think about it," Link mustered, rubbing his neck while respectfully turning his gaze back toward the ground.
He heard Urbosa offer a slight chuckle, "My life has been a ravenous attempt to do enough good to offset what will later come of me. If I can facilitate Zelda gaining the ability to deny what I must accept, I can only hope that will lead to a efflorescent stream of good."
Softly, she completed, "Thank you."
Running his hand to rub his nose, Link's eyes jolted to the side, "Well, it's not every night people reveal so much. Not without alcohol, anyway."
"I assure you, I have good stories, too," Urbosa grinned weakly as she wiped the tears from her face.
Without a thought, Link replied simply, hoping to alleviate the dour air with a joke, "Well, we've got enough drink back at camp to possibly reach that point."
He heard a stifled giggle that left his eyes to peer toward Urbosa as she watched him carefully, "Were you making a pass at me?"
"Goddess, no," Link fired back with a brow furrowed in frustration.
Urbosa put on a whimpering frown, "So mean!"
Realizing he'd given her the exact reaction she'd been denied moments earlier, Link groaned before shaking his head, "You know, you only think you're being funny."
"Humor is subjective, boy," she quipped.
Link gave a droll reply as Urbosa strode toward him to make her way back to the camp, "Only if it's good."
A smirk crept across Urbosa's face at his wit, her eyes finding his face as she made her way to his side. As Link turned to follow her, his attention was marred by Urbosa's form having encroached upon him, though before he could jolt back in recoil, she had grabbed his shoulder, not in any forceful manner, but in a gentleness so uncharacteristic of the woman before him. Link's brow spun in confusion, the motion occurring so quickly that he hadn't a moment to process Urbosa's face gently leaning in close.
She reached her head in for a kiss, a moment of intense shock registering in Link's mind before throwing his hands up to push her away, though her body remained firmly in place while his feet slid backward atop the soft ground beneath them.
"W- What was that?!" Link asked in a tizzy.
Urbosa shrugged, "You listened to me. and you were rather cute for a moment there. I thought boys liked that sort of thing."
Instinctively running his wrist along his lips, Link assertively questioned, "What b- Which guys have you been speaking to?!"
"You needn't tread far from Gerudo Town to-" Urbosa began, though quickly came to a pause as her eyes fell in utter critique upon Link's face, an unnerving tremor sputtering down his spine as a smirk appeared there atop her lips.
"What one is it?"
Link jolted upward, "I- I beg your pardon?!"
Urbosa pestered further, "I know you're a loyal enough boy, but loyalty only diminishes with distance. For such a rabid attempt to escape a kiss so benign…"
Unable to reply, Link knew, particularly because his stammering reply had given this woman all she would ever need in the way of evidence, it left the floor firmly in Urbosa's grasp as she goaded, "So which is it? Mipha or Zelda? I must warn you, if it is my child- boy, I assure you, there is much left for you to prove."
"I'm not-!"
Her eyes tightened devilishly, "or does that 'brotherhood' thing reach farther than I know?"
Link gave the only reply he could, really, along with surrendering his post with a quick spin toward the campfire, sputtering out with frustration, "Shut up!"
Watching him off with an amused laugh, Urbosa shook her head, sighing to herself as she trailed along behind him, walking slowly to appreciate the breeze flowing around her, before quietly muttering to herself in no assuring terms.
"Goddess, all these young people…"
