Hello guys, it's time for Chapter 87! Aviel and Link have taken a fall to escape the enraged Rito mob, but where will they end up? And what will become of them...? Read and find out!
"Aviel, you idiot birdbrain! You're supposed to be a lookout for Gerudo Town, but you let those intruders pass right by you!"
"I-I'm sorry boss! They seemed like nice men and they told me they just wanted to trade with us!"
"And you trusted them? They were aiming to kidnap and defile our sisters! You can't trust men for anything, all they do is hurt you, especially those scummy Hylians!"
"But I don't think they are all-"
"No more excuses, I'm taking you off the work schedule for next week, take that time to reflect on your actions!"
"Huh? But I can't afford to... um... o-okay..."
"Hey! You knocked over my display you idiot!"
"Eep, I'm sorry!"
"You better be prepared to pay for that!"
"P-Pay? Um, I'm kinda low on rupees, can I just work it off please?"
"No way, you'll probably just destroy more stuff!"
"But-"
"Look just forget it and get out of here, you useless birdbrain!"
"Oh, Sister Nemisa, Sister Aviel. Thank you for coming, I'm glad you arrived so promptly."
"Greetings Lady Nabooru, you called us for something?"
"Yeah, is Lonk okay yet? Can we see him?"
"His name is Link, and he's doing fine, though Dr. Sarami doesn't want him having visitors until his wound has healed."
"Ugh, I understand he was your guest Lady Nabooru, and I apologize for putting him into that situation with the assassin."
"Don't blame yourself Nemisa, I was the one who was supposed to be his tour guide! I'm the one who couldn't protect him like Lady Nabooru asked me to..."
"Heh, neither of you two worry yourselves about that. If not for you he might had been caught in a far worse situation. I wanted to personally thank you both for your service to my friend and our new king."
"R-Really...?"
"Yes, in fact... I had a proposal for the two of you. How would you like to take on a new line of work, one that's far more important then a simple lookout or door guard...?"
"Huh? Like what?"
"Simple, I'm going to make you two our new king's bodyguards!"
"Ooooh..."
Aviel's eyes slowly opened, her vision was coming into focus as she started looked around at her surroundings. After the Rito people of Dhaijialoft revolted against her, she was forced to retreat with Link while Nemisa and Saria stayed behind to protect them.
Unfortunately Link was immobilized by the guards' paralyzing darts, leaving Aviel to carry him as far as she could until they were at the edge of a cliff. Seeing no other option to escape, the young Gerudo girl took Link and lunged off the side of the cliff, praying to the Desert Goddess Aifet and her Grandpa Roc for their safety all the way down.
It seemed her prayers were answered, as she looked to see Link laying on the ground beside her. It turned out they had fallen into the water at the bottom of the cliff where the waterfall was flowing into and the two had just washed ashore onto land. For a normal person that might had meant death, but for two warriors as strong as she and Link it wasn't anything they couldn't survive from.
There was one significant problem though; that being she was absolutely freezing from the cold water. She saw the blizzard in the distance that the nobleman wizard Barrank was using to protect the town from outsiders. They were far enough away from it that it didn't affect them too much, but it was still very cold, and she assumed Link was just as bad off.
"Link, are you okay?" Aviel asked coming up to him.
"Grk..." Link groaned, the paralyzing dart serum he had been hit with was dulling his senses in addition to numbing his body, and he had been hit with a significant number of darts, presumably in protecting Aviel since none of them hit her. Aviel frowned sadly at that thought, but knew she had to do something right there and then to help him.
Aviel summoned all her strength and started carrying Link away from the river, across the snowy fields and through the forest. She knew they weren't in any condition to brave the blizzard barrier, so she just had to figure out where to go until they recovered. If she still had her Roc's Wings this would had been a simple task, as she could have flown them to safety. However, the mob from earlier had stolen the gift the Sky Guardian Roc had given to her, so she had to relay purely on her own strength as she carried Link. She could feel Link's warm breath against her, letting her know he was still hanging on.
Just when it seemed like she was about to collapse from carrying Link for so long, she found the entrance of an ice cave. Deciding it was better then being exposed to the elements right then, she carried Link inside. She set him down on the ground and took a look around the cave.
"Wait a minute..." Aviel whispered as she looked around, "I know this place..."
She walked off further down the ice cave, and sure enough she found it; a pile of wreckage from an old caravan wagon. There was even the familiar sight of an old bowl and spoon and the remains of a few rotted limes.
"This is the same cave me and Grandpa Roc stayed at when I was a kid!" Aviel exclaimed, astonished at the coincidence.
Thinking quickly, Aviel gathered up some pieces of wood from the remains of the caravan wagon and carried them over to Link. She piled them up and started working to ignite the wood and make a campfire. It didn't take long before she got a spark, and the fire started going.
Aviel took a breath of belief that they had some warmth going and sat down by the fire, pulling Link closer to it so he could get warm faster. Aviel just sat there, keeping an eye on Link, as she kept the fire maintained.
"I can't believe all this happened..." Aviel sighed out as she dwelled on everything; having failed in awakening the Great Fairy of Balance, leaving behind Nemisa and Saria to the mob, Korume's disappearance, V's strange behavior, having to shoot and kill that one Rito... not to mention the horrified look on Pecoli's face after she had witnessed that last deed.
And then of course there was Link, who had gotten into this situation all because of her. She recalled how violent and angry he got towards the Rito mob to protect her... not to mention that strange power he used to make the area shake that she had never seen before...
Speaking of shaking, Aviel found herself shivering a bit. The fire was burning pretty well, but her priestess outfit was soaked from the river making things more cold for her. She looked down to Link and saw despite his body being numbed by the darts, his body was still shivering as well. She realized then that they needed more then just the fire to keep themselves warm.
After a moment of thinking Aviel nodded to herself, took her priestess outfit and started ripping the wet cloth off of her until she was left in the nude aside from her sandals. She removed the jewelry she had worn for the ceremony and discarded it as well. She noticed that the make up and religious markings that had been painted on her by the Rito servants earlier had been washed off by the river, but didn't care in the slightest.
She looked to Link, and saw the soaked robe he was still wearing. She gulped a bit and undid the sash and robe, leaving him in his pants. After a moment to work up the nerve, she undid his pants and pulled them off, leaving him in the nude as well. Doing her best to avoid looking directly at him, she set up a stick near the campfire and hung his robe and pants on it in some effort to eventually dry them off for later.
To say Aviel was nervous was an understatement, she hadn't been able to look at Link the same way since that one morning she saw what made him a male and feeling it pressed against her. Her mind found itself wandering back to what Nemisa had discussed with her about at the festival; about what it felt like to make love to Link, for him to touch her, to have him inside her... for him to...
"Ack! Nononononono!" Aviel shook her head vigorously, "Now's not the time for that, I gotta focus on keeping Link warm!"
She nervously lifted Link upright and hugged him tightly, hoping to share her body heat to help keep each other warm until he was better. After a while it seemed to be working well in unison with the campfire. She wished she still had her Roc's Wings at that time; she'd always use the warm feathery wings to hug people she cared about, just like when Roc hugged her back when she was a young girl to keep her warm. But ironically she didn't have them at the one time she needed to hug someone the most.
Aviel sighed as she held their nude forms together, her large breasts were pressed against him, and she could feel his broad muscular chest against herself. She had to admit it was a nice feeling, every time they'd hug she always felt a sense of bliss, but this was an entirely different feeling then before... Was this the love Nemisa told her about before? Could she had always been in love with Link, and had been too naive to realize it...?
But as much as she may have loved Link, she knew in her heart that she wasn't in any position to tell him something like that... She definitely couldn't call herself his future queen alongside all the others like Nemisa suggested, not after all the trouble she had brought onto him...
"Link, I know you can't hear me," Aviel whispered softly, "But I'm so sorry, this is all my fault."
Her friend made a light grunting sound as Aviel stroked her hand along his bleach blond hair, and continued to talk, tears starting to form in her eyes again.
"I'm supposed to be your bodyguard, I'm suppose to protect you, but all I seem to do is put you in more danger." Aviel sniffled, "I brought you here to Snowpeak and got you into that fight with the snow monster. I got caught in that blizzard and you had to save me. You got paralyzed trying to protect me from that mob. And even now we're freezing our butts off because I decided to wimp out and escape from them when you needed me the most..."
Tears started to spill down Aviel's eyes as she looked to Link,
"...how can I protect you, when I can't even protect myself...?" Aviel spoke, sniffling again, "Maybe this is really why Momma and Papa left me..."
Flashback - Ten years ago
"Husband, I was wondering about something. When we're done here with the orb, I think we should seriously talk about the idea of settling down somewhere." her mother Amala said.
"Aw, not this again!" said her father Kozun, rolling his eyes, "There's still so much more of the world we haven't seen!
"Come on, I'm talking with Aviel's best interests in mind here." Amala said, "She's still young, so I want her to have a safe and peaceful childhood, I don't want her ending up having to live in a harsh place like Gerudo Valley where I grew up."
"Ugh... I guess that's a good point." sighed her father, "I think I'd miss what we do now though..."
"...your parents aren't here anymore." the Sky Guardian Roc spoke as he was caring for Aviel in the ice cave, "They left a while ago, and they have no intention of coming back."
"Y-You're lying!" Aviel shouted, "There's no way Momma and Papa would leave me behind!"
"I've said the truth, now accept it." Roc said sternly.
End Flashback
Aviel thought about how her parents left her, how much of a pain she had been to her Grandpa Roc back then, about the peaceful town of the Rito who turned against her, the horrified look in Pecoli's eyes after she shot and killed that one Rito, and how useless she was at protecting Link lately...
"Am... I really just a big burden to everyone?"
Aviel continued to sit there, trying to do what she could to keep Link warm. There was no sound other then the crackling of the fire, as well as some faint wind blowing outside. She felt tired and wanted to fall asleep, but knew it could mean the end for both of them if she did, so she forced herself to keep her eyes open.
That was when she heard an odd growling sound. After first making sure it wasn't her or Link's stomach's growling, she realized it was something going on outside. She looked out the mouth of the cavern and her eyes widened in shock.
Lumbering towards the cave were very familiar looking creatures. They were tall, covered in thick white hair, and had fierce looking expressions on their faces. She recalled that they were the Migoui, the giant snow ape creatures like the one they had fought at the foot of Snowpeak. They were known for having thick hair that made them resistant to many attacks, even Link's sword and Nemisa's martial arts had little effect on them.
Aviel gulped nervously. It was one thing to fight that single one off when everyone was there to help support her, but as of right now she had nothing except her crossbow and arrows. Thankfully none of the arrows had been lost or damaged in the fall off the cliff thanks to the design of her quiver, but she was still limited in the amount she held.
The young Gerudo looked to Link; she contemplated carrying him further into the cavern, but worried if they hit a dead end that it would be a literal dead end for them. She decided to try to fight the creatures off as best as she could, and retreat if she had no other options.
She loaded up an arrow in her crossbow and aimed it out at the monsters. She counted about five of the creatures coming towards the cave. She recalled from what Korume said that the Migoui's weaknesses were their faces, so she aimed at one, specifically at it's eyes, hoping that she could get lethal blows that way.
She fired the arrow at the Migoui, but she missed her target due to her shaky aim, and the arrow bounced harmlessly off it's thick hairy shoulder.
"Shoot, only got five wooden arrows and two bomb arrows left..." Aviel gulped, "Can't mess this up..."
She aimed again, trying her hardest to focus, but missed. Needless to say, Aviel was pretty scared of the situation. As the monsters came closer, she wondered how she managed to score a direct hit on the Geelorokhi back when it was fighting Roc ten years ago...
It was then in that moment she recalled a memory from her childhood, the words of her mother when she demonstrated to Aviel her archery skills,
"A steady hand and a steady eye, a proper balance to pierce through the sky."
"Steady hand... steady eye..." Aviel repeated to herself. She carefully aimed her crossbow straight, took a deep breath and fired off an arrow, sending it flying through the air and plunging directly into the eye of one of the Migoui. This caused it to scream out in pain and thrash around, knocking into some of it's comrades. The others got fed up with it and quickly knocked it to the ground, before they all turned and started heading towards the cave opening again.
"Hey, that worked pretty well!" Aviel said, she focused her efforts on attacking the Migoui that was closest to the cave mouth each time. When she had them in her sights, she fired an arrow that hit one of them in the face. After a couple shots, one of them fell to the ground, convulsing and twitching, before they burst into purple mist. However, some of the bigger Migoui still went forward even with their injuries and disregarding their dead comrades. She fired off one more arrow but it only stunned the target briefly. At that point she was out of normal arrows, and there was still three more of the creatures coming towards the cavern.
"Uh oh, what do I do now?" Aviel spoke in a panic. All she had left were her two Bombling arrows, and while they provided a good powerful explosion, she didn't think it would be enough for all three of those creatures, "There's gotta be another way to get rid of them..."
As the Migoui started trying to get into the cave entrance, they showed themselves to be pretty dimwitted, they all were trying to get through at once but were too big. They bashed against the sides of the cave entrance, and some pebbles fell down from the ceiling. Aviel looked up and saw the rocks that made up the top of the cave's entrance. They looked pretty loose, made more so by the Migoui bashing into each other, and an idea occurred to Aviel.
"That's it, instead of trying to hit them directly, maybe I could do something to take em all out at once!" Aviel said.
But she realized what that would bring the risk of, and looked down at Link. He was moving a little more, but his body was still numbed. She then saw the Migoui were finally getting the hint and starting to give each other room to get through.
Aviel paused, dwelling on her screw ups in the past... but took another look to Link and nodded to herself, knowing what she had to do. She couldn't doubt herself anymore in that moment.
"I gotta protect Link..."
With that, Aviel quickly and precisely fired her two Bombling arrows at the top of the cave's opening, creating massive explosions that caused the rocks to shift before they collapsed down. The three Migoui all looked upwards and shouted out as large boulders came down around them, loosened by the explosions. As the loud noises were going off, Link started to stir a little more.
When the smoke and dust cleared away, Aviel saw the boulders had fallen completely over the opening, keeping the Migoui from having any way of getting in. For all she knew they may have even been buried under the rocks.
"Well, at least we're safe for now..." Aviel spoke with a sigh of relief. She was completely out of arrows, but was satisfied she managed to pull it off.
"Ugh... would someone turn off the explosions...?" Link groaned, getting Aviel's attention. She saw his eyes blink and he muttered in a groggy state, "Hey Aviel...?"
"Link! Oh thank the goddess Aifet!" Aviel said hugging him tightly, "How are you feeling?"
"Kinda cold for one thing." Link groaned, looking to see they were both nude and he was being held by Aviel, "...not to mention very naked."
"Oh, I'm so sorry Link!" Aviel exclaimed with a bright red face, "I was just trying to keep you warm until your clothes were dry!"
"Ah heh heh... no biggie, I get it." Link said with a light blush, "That was some quick thinking."
"...t-thanks... how are you feeling besides cold though?"
"Well, my legs are still numb. I think I got the majority of those darts down there..." Link groaned, "For a peaceful tribe, the Rito can sure be brutal about how they handle criminals."
"Ugh, Link... I'm so sorry for everything..." Aviel said, "I knew I wasn't the priestess, I should have just told them the truth from the beginning... I just knew they'd get mad at me for failing, and look at what happened because of it. I got us both in trouble and now we're stuck in this cave.
Aviel sighed and hung her head down, "I suck as both a priestess and a bodyguard..."
Link paused as she saw the pitiful look in Aviel's eyes, before he chuckled lightly, confusing her.
"...you know something Aviel? I think you can really be a birdbrain sometimes."
"WHAT?" Aviel exclaimed, flailing her arms around with small tears in her eyes, "No, not you too Link!"
"You must be one if you forgot all that you've done for me and everyone." Link said poking her on the forehead, "You've been there for me since the beginning of my new life. You trusted me from the moment we met, and supported me every step of the way until now."
"But... I keep screwing up at it..." Aviel pouted, but Link reached up and rubbed her hair affectionately.
"Don't worry about it. We all screw up sometimes, especially me." Link grinned, "Besides, it's not just the things you do that are important to me, but you just being here for me as well."
"Just... being there?" Aviel asked.
"That's right, you're great to have around as company. You bring so much energy to our lives, and I've always admired your enthusiasm and kindness. You helped me and Saria finally get together, and you've supported all the others as well..."
"So just trust me when I say you're anything but a burden to me."
"Ehh...?" Aviel muttered, then exclaimed, "Wait, you heard me when I said that?!"
"Course I did, I may have been paralyzed and couldn't move or speak, but I could still hear and see things around me." Link chuckled, "You did pretty damn good taking down those Migoui too."
"Aah...! ...Kyaaaaaaahhhh!" Aviel screamed, burying her face in his chest out of embarrassment, "I can't believe I said all that to you! I thought you couldn't hear me!"
"Heh, it's okay, I'm glad I heard you be honest with me about it." Link grinned as he held her, "I just want you remember something Aviel; you don't just look out for me, we look out for each other."
Aviel smiled softly at the goofy grin that Link had, it assured her that no matter what pain and sadness they went through, they would always be there for one another. And he was right, she may be Link's bodyguard, but there was no shame in him protecting her as well.
"Thanks Link... you always know just what to say to me." Aviel smiled softly, holding him closely.
Link thought on that note, he stared into the girl's eyes and nodded to himself, deciding to say what he wanted to tell Aviel, as it certainly felt like the right moment for both of them...
"Well I have to know of course, after all... I'd say the same for any woman I love." Link grinned.
"Aw geez, thanks Link..." Aviel said smiling brightly.
There was a moment of pause as neither said anything. Aviel was just holding him closely, sharing their body warmth together. The campfire continued to crackle and warm the two as they remained there motionless and silent for a minute,
'Aaaaanytime now.' Link thought to himself with a bit of amusement at how slow she could be at times.
Aviel then blinked a few times, registering what Link had said just a minute ago.
"Eh...?" Aviel muttered, sitting there for a few more seconds in confusion of what exactly was bothering her in that moment, before her face started to turn a brighter and brighter red, and screamed out in shock, "EEEEHHHH? Wait, what did you just say to me?!"
"I said I love you Aviel. I admire you enthusiasm, your devotion, your heart... and I want you by my side forever. Not just as my bodyguard and friend, but as my wife and queen as well..." he held her close to him as he spoke, "And someday when the time is right, I'd love for you to be the mother of my children as well..." he spoke softly, "I love you Aviel."
"W-Wife... queen... mother of queen mother wife's children..." Aviel stammered with her eyes spiraling and steam rising up from out of her ears, before shaking her head to clear her thoughts, "Wa-Wait, are you just saying that to make me feel better...? That's it, isn't it?! Heeheehee, gee thanks a lot for trying to cheer me up, but I- !"
That was when Link simply took Aviel by the back of her head and pulled her into a passionate mouth-to-mouth kiss. Aviel's eyes bulged out of her head as he made out with her. The intense chill of the cavern felt more like a scorching hot midday in the Gerudo Desert in that moment as they kissed.
Link then broke the kiss and grinned lightly, "That proof enough for you how serious I am?"
"Link..." Aviel gasped out, before her eyes lit up, "Why'd you stop? Gimmie more!"
With that, Aviel lunged at Link and kissed him back, knocking the two over. In that moment, it didn't matter what she felt about herself, about her parents leaving her, or her failing to be the priestess. All she knew was she loved Link, and that's all that mattered anymore. She wanted to stay by his side forever, caring for and protecting him and his other wives the way a bodyguar- no, the way a true friend and a lover should.
Aviel laid on top of Link, she was smiling sweetly as she played with his hair, "Link, I think I've always liked you, since the night I kissed you on the cheek when I took you on that tour... You changed my life for the better, and I want to keep working hard to make your life better too! I really really really really really really really-"
Link blinked and poked her on the forehead.
"-really love you!" Aviel concluded with a big grin.
"That's right." Link grinned, "You're not just my bodyguard anymore, we're a true family now, and we watch out for each other."
"Heeeeee... thank you Link..." Aviel said hugging him, before she realized a familiar sensation. She felt something like a cucumber pressed against her leg, and her face turned beet red.
"EEP!" Aviel exclaimed, looking down between Link's legs.
"Ah ha ha, guess I finally got the feeling in my lower body back." Link chuckled.
"Y-Yeah, you did..." Aviel giggled lightly, realizing she had nothing to be embarrassed about with him anymore.
Link enjoyed the feeling of Aviel against him. Her large, round breasts were squished against him, and due to the position they were in she was almost peeking over them from his point of view. The rest of her body was pretty scrawny by comparison, but he still enjoyed the feeling of her smooth skin against him.
He gazed into her golden eyes and spoke suggestively, "You know... if you want to keep warm, I might have an idea for us to share our body heat closer..."
"Like what...?" Aviel asked curiously.
"I'll give you a hint, we're already halfway there." Link spoke, gesturing to how they were both nude in that moment.
"O-Oh, okay..." Aviel said with a blush, as they kissed once again.
The danger they had felt from being trapped in the ice cavern before wasn't even an afterthought at that moment. Aviel sat on Link's lap as his experienced hands wandered around her virgin body, cupping her breast with one hand and running along her leg with his other hand, while Aviel moaned out in pleasure and wrapped her arms around his muscular chest to hold him close to her...
And the two shared a wonderful time together, their passionate warmth overwhelming the frigid cold.
The campfire was starting to die down, as Link and Aviel continued to hold each other some time later after their moment of passion together.
"How'd you like it?" Link whispered.
"It hurt at first like Nemisa said, but it was really nice after that. I've never felt so good inside before..." Aviel grinned, "And I can't wait to do this more with you!"
"Heh, sounds good. But first we should probably get back to our friends." Link suggested, giving her a kiss on the lips.
"O-Okay!" Aviel nodded, not quite used to his affection for her just yet, "Think you can get up then?"
"Yeah, I'm feeling pretty good to get around now." Link said moving his legs up and down, he turned and observed the boulders that had crumbled over the mouth of the cave, "We're definitely not going out that way though."
"Sorry about that, I ran out of options, and arrows." Aviel sighed.
"Don't worry about it, you did it to save us from those monsters." Link said, "Let's go try to find another way out."
"You sure there's even one?" Aviel asked worriedly.
"Absolutely." Link nodded, "Now that this path is closed off, I can feel a breeze from the other side of the cave. There must be another opening not too far from here."
"Oh, I see!" Aviel exclaimed, now feeling the breeze herself.
Link took the robe from the stick Aviel had set up and saw sure enough it was pretty dry and warm thanks to Aviel's quick thinking. The priestess outfit she wore before was ripped to shreds, but it wouldn't had provided much warmth anyway. Link just went ahead and tore his robe off partially at the bottom so it would be short enough to fit Aviel, before handing it to her to wear.
"But this is your robe." Aviel pointed out.
"Heh, don't worry about it, I still got my pants for now." Link grinned. He then took the bottom part of the robe he had removed, ripped it in half, wrapped both pieces around the end of two sticks, then lit them on fire using the remains of the campfire to use as makeshift torches, giving them light and warmth.
Link took Aviel's free hand and the two went forward into the depths of the ice cave, following the faint breeze in the hopes it would led them outside. After a moment of walking, Aviel leaned affectionately against him, as the two new lovers went further in.
Link and Aviel went along through a tunnel of the ice cavern, they heard a strange sound. At first Aviel was worried it was more Migoui, but as they continued it started to sound more like a slow chanting. They could also feel an unusual amount of warmth for what was supposed to be an ice cavern. When the two approached a corner they heard a powerful roar as the tunnel lit up, and they realized it was intense flames.
"Did that roar sound familiar to you Aviel?" Link asked.
"Y-yeah, it was kinda scary." Aviel spoke, squeezing Link's hand tighter, but then her eyes lit up in realization, "Wait, what if it's..."
"Let's go check it out." Link nodded as they went down the tunnel.
They soon found themselves in a pretty large area of the cavern with a great amount of ice inside. There they saw the very familiar sight of an orange and red dragon breathing fire out at the ice, causing it to slowly melt. The dragon gasped out a bit, before breathing out another blast of flame at the ice wall.
"How the progress going...?" spoke a voice.
"Quite well, it's fortunate the Chaplain found this dragon, since we were unable to track down that medallion." spoke another.
Link looked in the direction of the voices to see there was a group of individuals standing by and chanting something he couldn't make out. They were all clad in strange silver robes and wearing golden framed masks shaped like single eyes with red jeweled centers.
"What the hell...?" Link spoke.
"Hey, it's V!" Aviel spoke, "What's he doing here?"
One of the strange robed people looked to Link and Aviel, "Hey, who are those two?"
V turned his head to see what they meant and his eyes widened in surprise.
"I know them, that's the Sky Guardian priestess and her friend!" said one of the robed people.
"Huh, what do you suppose they're doing here?" asked another of the robed people, "And why is the man shirtless in this frigid place?"
"I dunno, but I'm not complaining." giggled a female voice among them.
"V, what's going on here?!" Link spoke up to the dragon, "What are you trying to do?"
V just stared at the two for a second, before turning away and going back to his task.
"This dragon is assisting us." spoke one of the robed people, "He's melting this ice to help us retrieve what's been buried here for nearly a decade; the great force that will help us reshape this world."
Link narrowed his eyes, brandishing his torch like a weapon, "I don't know who you are or what you're taking about, but just keep away from V."
"Is that the name he told you? Heh..." chuckled one of the robed people, starring at Link, "So you're the one Chaplain Iktiakh mentioned, pleased to finally meet you. We are but humble ones, working tirelessly to bring about the age of a new era. To destroy those who have defiled this world for countless generations, and replace them with superior beings of virtue and grace. We do all this to create a great new future for the world and it's people..."
"We are, the Order of Reyahm."
"Ordering rye and ham?" Aviel muttered to herself curiously, "Does that come with mustard?"
"Reyahm..." Link muttered, narrowing his eyes at the mention of that name.
It was the same organization that Nilonu the teacher's assistant mentioned in class back when he had been transformed into a child. He would later learn from Ruto's mentor Mystic Hemeron that it was also the same group who assassinated Ruto's mother. The latter of which infuriated him to think of.
"You bastards have a lot to answer for. Just what the hell are you after here?"
"We're here for the secret that's remained in this place for nearly a decade." chuckled the hooded man, "One that not even the great Sky Guardian Roc wanted anyone to know of."
V let another another gasp of flames against the ice before panting out in exhaustion, and a strange light started to emit from within the ice wall, illuminating what was inside with a bright purple glow.
And what Aviel saw in that moment shocked her.
Frozen within the ice was a very familiar looking creature, an incredibly large bird with red and yellow feathers and a pointed beak. It's majestic wings were pointed downwards, with a very familiar looking purple orb between them.
"G-Grandpa Roc?!" Aviel exclaimed with small traces of tears in her eyes, "It's really him..."
"So that's the Loftwing Sky Guardian." Link spoke in surprise, "But what's it doing down here?"
"Heh, finally." spoke one of the Reyahm monks, reaching their hand out, as some energy flowed from their hand. The orb Roc was holding within it's wings reacted to it, and burst out from the melting ice. Link and Aviel then saw another shocking sight, the eyes of the Roc opened with a bright glow.
"Wait, he's alive?!" Aviel exclaimed.
"Grrk... no... anything but that... GARGH!" groaned out the large bird as the ice around it shattered to pieces, and Roc fell forward and impacted to the ground. The destruction of the ice caused the cave to shake, and rubble started to come down around the area.
"Now that we have this..." the robed man said holding the purple orb, "It's time to make final preparations, we must leave for Dhaijialoft immediately. Come along dragon."
"O-Okay..." V spoke as he followed the monks out of the room, only stopping to and take one last look at Link and Aviel before leaving himself.
"What's up with V? Why is he working with those guys?" Link asked, but Aviel was too busy looking to Roc to care in that moment.
"Grandpa! Grandpa Roc, are you okay?" Aviel asked, pushing on the giant bird's body to try and snap him out of his daze.
"Ugh... who keeps calling me grandpa...?" muttered Roc, weakly looking to the annoying thing pushing him. He stared at the girl momentary, gathering his thoughts, until for a brief second he saw a small Gerudo girl that he had protected years ago, and his eyes widened, "Wait, Aviel... is... is that you?!"
"Grandpa Roc, I'm so glad to see you again!" Aviel shouted out in relief, hugging the bird tightly.
"Listen, I know this is a nice little reunion, but we gotta get out of here!" Link pointed out as stalagmites were falling down around them.
"Come on Grandpa, let's go!" Aviel said, tugging on his wing, "Those rye and ham guys are heading to Dhaijialoft with that purple orb thing!"
"Rye and ham, what are you talking abou-... wait, you mean Reyahm? They're here?!" Roc exclaimed in realization, forcing himself up, "We need to hurry!"
Link, Aviel and Roc soon exited through another opening to the cave at the end of the tunnel, only to see V and the Reyahm monks were already long gone.
"They must already be on their way to Dhaijialoft, hurry both of you and hop on my back!" Roc said.
"Right!" the two said, climbing onto Roc's back, as he spread his wings and took off into the air towards the Rito's town. As they were flying through the sky, Roc took a slight glance over at the young Gerudo girl.
"Aviel..." Roc spoke, "It's so good to see you once again, I have so much to explain to you about what happened that day."
"No time for that Grandpa Roc, we need to get to town and stop those bad guys!" Aviel said.
"Ha ha, of course." Roc nodded, "I'm happy to see you've grown so much over the years, and I see you've made a good friend too."
"Yep, his name is Link! I can't wait to introduce you to my other friends!" Aviel said grinning.
"Pleasure to finally meet you Sky Guardian." Link said with a nod, "I was hoping I could say thanks for what you did for Aviel all that time ago!"
"Link you say? Why does that name sound familiar...?" muttered Roc under his breath, "Well hang on, we'll be approaching Dhaijialoft soon."
Aviel nodded and looked up at the Rito's town high up in the mountains with determination in her eyes. There was a storm starting to gather more around the mountain, releasing powerful bolts of lightning. Normally this sort of thing would absolutely terrify her, but her mind was on far more important things.
While she knew the Rito people may hate her for what she had done, she couldn't turn her back on them. They were all in trouble, including Pecoli, and she wasn't about to abandon them in their time of crisis.
"I'm going to protect all of them!"
And that ends the chapter, and so many things have come about! Now it's a race to save the Rito people from the Order of Reyahm, but just what do they intend to do with the orb, and what's the secret Roc has been hiding this whole time? Find out next time!
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