They honestly didn't think the first words they heard the knight speak, would be words to question his younger siblings.
They thought they would hear his voice someday, maybe when he finally snapped at Revali for his constant goading. Maybe when he finally snapped at Zelda for her attitude and her constant attempts to get away from him. Or at last thanking someone who helped it instead of giving them that firm nod of his.
Granted, they thought it would take something for their knight to finally lose his temper and use his voice for once. They just didn't think he would speak when they were walking around Castle Town, trying to get a few errands done.
It had been a long day of meetings between the six of them and the king. And between the arguments between the royals, Revali trying to make Link lose his temper, Daruk trying to make them stop. They were all a little bit peeved off. So they had decided to go and get some lunch, before helping Zelda to a few things done.
Thankfully, it had done its job in helping everyone calm down a little bit. It was supposed to be a quick trip to get the errands done, all of them were slightly drowsy after eating, and they were all ready to go to bed.
They were on their way to do just that, only for their knight to get completely barreled by a pair of dark-colored, curled-haired girls.
Link had been walking at the back of the group, silent as always. They had been in the middle of taking a shortcut through an alleyway, Link trailing behind at the very end. He was going to be the last one to enter the alleyway if the two girls didn't tackle him first.
It was a sharp yelp that made Zelda and the champions turn around. They all had stiffened up at the sight of Link being on the ground, with two bodies on top of him. They were draped over his body, his hair splayed on the dirty cobblestone ground, his face scrunched up in pain.
Their hands immediately went to the hilt of their weapons, but it was the sound of excited giggling that made them stop their counterattack.
"…Why…?" The quiet question was said in a foreign voice that none of them recognized. It was low, and it came out in a groan that sounded exasperated.
One of the girls giggled and climbed off of their knight, her bright blue eyes were scrunched up in joy," It was easier to tackle you than to punch you 16 times," As if to make her point, she playfully slapped his arm," That's what you get for turning 15 without us."
Link groaned loudly again, his eyes staring up at the sky with a look that they could only best describe as defeated. His fellow champions were just staring at the knight.
It was the first time he was being expressive, and it was in the presence of two little girls none of them knew. Now that they heard the groan, they could tell that it was similar to the voice that they had heard earlier," You guys suck."
And when the second girl, the one with green eyes, climbed off him, he accepted their help to help them up. It was somewhat amusing to see their knight, being hauled up and onto his feet by two little girls, who had to use their combined weight to pull him onto his feet.
They looked young like they were a few years younger than Link, who was already the youngest. The others would place them at maybe around 11 to 12 years old.
The girl with green eyes grabbed onto Link's hand hopefully and quietly asked," When are you coming home L.J?" The nickname made Revali snicker, and surprisingly, Link took the time to send the Rito a look that every younger sibling knew as 'Shut. Up.'
Once he finished his look with Revali, Link huffed and gave the little girl a gentle smile. It was such a trip to see the stone-faced knight smiling. But yet, it was somehow a sad smile, he ruffled her hair," I'll come home the next time I have leave," Zelda couldn't help but feel bad. It was well known that knights, especially personal knights, rarely got leave," I promise."
It was such a blatant lie.
Revali cleared his throat awkwardly, as a subtle way to make their presence be known to the children.
The three heads snapped to them, and at that moment, they could see the resemblance between all three of them. The two girls tilted their heads in the exact same way their knight would, the girl with the blue eyes having the same shade of blue as Link. Despite the different colored eyes, the green-eyed girl still shared facial structures with the other girl and Link.
As soon as they saw Revali, the two girls gasped excitedly. The green-eyed girl seemed to forget her shy personality, and squealed excitedly with her sister," Birdy!"
They bounced in place for half a second, before they started to run forward to the 'birdy', "Wait," Link grabbed them firmly by the collar of their shirts, and clotheslined them before they could rush the poor Rito," No. Sorry Revali, they've always wanted to meet a Rito," that had to be the first time Link had ever apologized to the Rito.
Link huffed as he pulled the girls back onto their feet, still holding onto their collars," These two forget how to behave sometimes. Give your greetings to the princess, and introduce yourselves."
The girls blanked out at hearing the word 'princess', exactly like the way Link would when he was embarrassed.
Urbosa and Daruk had to restrain their chuckles when they saw the way the girls slowly turned a bright red.
The girls were definitely related to their knight.
The blue-eyed girl bowed and introduced herself as Itza. Her sister introduced herself as Litza. The both of them greeted Zelda before doing the rest to the others.
While the champions were still trying to get over the fact that their quiet teammate was talking, and that he had little sisters that he had never mentioned.
Itza was staring at Zelda intently, and when the princess returned her look with a curious tilt of her head, the little girl boldly said, "Are you the one who wont let L.J come home…?"
Surprisingly, Link didn't blink at the question and swiftly smacked the back of her head. They were even surprised at how he did it without hesitation.
Itza grimaced and pouted as she held onto her head, Litza snickering quietly off to the side, amused by Itza's treatment. She opened her mouth to start teasing her sister. She got what she deserved as well.
Without missing a beat, Link smacked Litza as well. The two little girls looked like identical twins with the way they were pouting side by side, with the exact same expressions on their faces.
"No. Don't be rude," Grabbing onto each of their shoulders, he started to lead them away, the two girls looking over their shoulders as he pushed them down the street," Now go back home. I'm still on duty and mama is waiting for you guys to get home."
Link would come to regret those words.
Those girls could have given Link a run for their money with how fast they moved, "Noooo!" Itza was quick to latch onto Link's leg, clinging onto his leg for dear life, using the armor he was wearing as handholds. Litza was doing the exact same thing to Links left leg.
"We haven't seen you in months! Come home!"
Now he was getting annoyed. Grabbing on firmly onto their collars, he started to pull them off with a visible frown on his face," No," He tried pulling them off, but they were at an angle that didn't give him any leverage," Get off before I throw you into that pond again." That made them hold on even tighter.
Zelda was starting to understand how Link had the patience to deal with her when she was in one of her moods.
She had nothing on his sisters.
Daruk nudged Zelda with his giant hand, making her look up at him with a small tilt of her head," Why don't you give him the rest of the day off?"
Zelda took that into consideration.
Looking over at the siblings, she couldn't help but laugh at the way her knight was struggling to pull his sister off his legs. His face was a bright red out of embarrassment or anger as he scowled.
Looking at her fellow champions, she could tell that Revali, Mipha, and Urbosa, were also struggling to keep in their laughter.
It was quite a sight, seeing their monotonous knight, who was known for being quiet, scolding his sisters with an annoyed tone. Even more so because it was funny overall to see him trying to pry them off.
Clearing her throat, she spoke up just loud enough for their small group to hear," Link." Link stopped his attempts to yank off his sisters and turned to look at her. Like always, he had a slight tilt to his head, silently questioning her. It was amusing to see that Itza and Litza had the exact same habit." Take the rest of today and tomorrow off." The excited squeal of the children filled the air," Give my regard to your parents."
Zelda wavered unsteadily on her feet. Two small bodies running into you at full speed would do that.
"Thank you thank you thank you!" Itza wrapped her hands firmly around Zelda's waist, squeezing as tight as possible so they knew that she would understand just how grateful they were.
Litza didn't care that she was putting all of her weight on the princess, she was too joyous that her older brother was finally coming home," Thank you miss!"
She stiffened up with the contact, it had certainly been a very long time since someone had hugged her. But once she got over her shock, she smiled and comfortably patted the children's backs. It was nice being hugged.
Link didn't even get the chance to try and get his sisters to let go, because as soon as they sang their praises to the princess, they were dragging the blonde away from the group. Much to everyone's amusement.
The knight looked uncertain as his sisters dragged him off. He looked over his shoulder, trying to see if he really was allowed to go home for the next day and a half.
When he got a nod of approval from the princess herself. He smiled. He didn't give a shy smile or a small one. Not a grin, not a smile that he gave when he was trying to be polite, but a smile. It was a genuine smile that had the crinkling of his eyes, his pearly whites being shown off.
He had a nice smile.
She had to resist blushing.