"I don't like rain."

Really? A Zora, who was literally a fish, who lived in one of the rainiest regions in Hyrule, who's Divine Beast created its own precipitation—disliked rain.

Patisse, in all honesty, was fairly fond. It had its own sense of beauty; while sunlight was majestic and strong, rain was mysterious and calming. For instance, right now, as the duo sat under the relative safety of a tree looking out over the muddy fields. The plants no doubt loved this.

Topado was presently in a meeting with a few other Goron representatives, who had relocated to a nearby tent having not predicted the weather. It was far from inclement outside, but it seemed to be enough. Geiha was meant to be there and wait too, but she had slyly followed after a passing Hylian guard regiment for who knows what questionable antics she was always getting into.

That left two friends, resting under a tree. If he were to be honest, Pat would admit that he was fully in love at this point. He'd never felt this attached to someone who wasn't family...but they still weren't together yet. Be it of his own fear to ask, or perhaps the danger a relationship could pose to their work life. In all fairness, he felt it would be appropriate to let Stelli be the one to ask, or just bring it up. Coming off as overbearing was one thing he never wished to achieve.

Still, their platonic friendship was great too, as it led to moments like these.

The Zora leaned ever subtly into Pat's shoulder, resting. He'd finally gotten around to asking why she was so physical, nerve wracking as such a question was, and she admitted that his touch made her feel very reminiscent of good times long gone. While it probably wasn't healthy, he wasn't one to deny her such a pleasant thing, and was even a little proud of this trait. Questioning the social openness and insecurity had been another ordeal, but with enough prodding of the other ambassadors, they offered some background.

According to Geiha, who was herself rather...worldly, Stelli was a very wholesome individual, who had grown up in a kind neighborhood with 'coddling parents'. That likely made her first experience with death worse too... Her only other jobs involved teaching young children, which made it a wonder how she had gotten into politics. As such, she was never really taught how to guard how she felt around other people, and often lacked tact. Pat didn't mind this, but it was dangerous too.

The Rito exhaled strongly, talons stretched out so far from the tree that the tips of the claws got a touch wet.

"Wait, so you hate rain? Surely you're pulling my leg." Stelli merely shifted and gave a little grunt, eyes closed. She must have grown restful in the long time he'd taken to respond. So cute. Perhaps today just wasn't a talking kind of day.

Amidst the stagnant atmosphere however, appeared an unusual sight.

Pat had never seen Link away from the princess or the others. He was always quiet and just kind of stoic, perhaps shy. It didn't seem right for someone just recently chosen by the legendary Master Sword. Even more curious was that the fairly short Hylian was more or less wandering about aimlessly in the tempest. Did he have a goal in mind? By chance, their eyes met, and Patisse offered a light wave. He stared at him from under the protective hood for an intense moment, long brassy blonde hair flailing a bit in the stormy winds.

Surprisingly, Link started walking over.

Curious, the Rito watched and waited, and allowed him to squat next to them. Briefly, it was just the three of them, one asleep, just observing nature. "...Hey. So you're feeling good?" A hesitant nod. Never talks, this guy. I guess I could understand, but surely it gets boring? "Lots of monsters as of late. Tough for ya? The royal family seems pretty pushy about this whole thing." No conceivable response. "Well, I'm here for support if you need it. You don't need to handle such an insurmountable task alone." It was a baseless offer, more so a throwaway line, but Link flinched, giving him a look. Was he that unused to kindness?

In the following lull, Pat noticed the unusual thrum of the Master Sword. Even when not in use, it had a soft glow, always imbued by holy magic. The Rito was one for the societal and natural side of things, and had never really taken a look into technology or the supernatural; too confusing. Still, the weapon was mesmerizing so nearby. Tales said it was incapable of breaking, and could strike down evil or dark forces much easier. What qualified? Ganon, sure. What of other monsters? Perhaps even he would be affected, of the times when his thoughts wandered a bit too deep towards Stelli.

A water drop slipped from the leaves above and landed square atop his beak, startling Pat from his reverie and making him lurch back a little.

Fwish.

Link was on his feet, sword drawn in an instant. Patisse was still frozen, not fully contemplating what just happened. Th—that—wait. He had brushed death once, with the Hinox a week or two ago, but that... If not for the two inches provided by the water drop, he would be easily dead. By purely stupid and ridiculous luck, he was alive. Still in disbelief, Pat stared at the arrow, stuck into the ground a short distance away. Stelli was obliviously snoring, at least for now.

The sounds of a battle snapped Pat back to reality. Link had confronted the assassin before they could escape or try again—a Yiga. Of course. Who else? I hate these guys. But it was...a Rito? They wore the traditional Yiga Clan getup, but they clearly had talons, wings, and a bulge beneath the mask where a beak would be. They even used a feathered edge along with the falcon bow. What a disgrace. They were of a broader build, which didn't make them anyone familiar, but the implications of this were stunning. The Rito were the ones murdering their own kind. Well not today.

Pat jumped to a stand, startling Stelli. She was drowsy, murmuring something indecipherable, so he decided to carry her like last time. If only such a thing didn't inhibit flight. The situation was scarily similar to that of the monster attack. The clanging of weapons was loud, and the small team of Gorons emerged from their tent. Caught off guard by being outnumbered, the Yiga took to the air, flubbed a weak bow shot that was way off target, and finally did the annoying teleport thing.

Knowing it was far from over, Pat was about to start running, but suddenly realized his wings were empty.

"Get to Top," Stelli commanded, looking more serious than he'd ever seen her. "You have better defense there."

"It's not like I can't fight. But you—"

"Who says I can't either?" In a maneuver that could only be described as hardcore badassery, she shut him up by producing a spear that folded out from a small rod that she had hidden. I stand corrected. Embarrassing.

"Pardon my offense."

"It doesn't matter. Move."

Now by himself, Pat made much quicker time, skirting lightly above the wet grasses by flipping between flying and running.

As he had been suspecting, the Yiga popped back into existence to try a sword swing, and his senses entered bullet time again. With a swift dodge, Pat delivered the enemy a claw to the face, which tore their mask to reveal a bloodshot green eye. They growled, a first noise, and were about to attack again had not Stelli arrived to block the low-aimed strike. Link jumped back into the fray a second later.

Leaving the two-on-one to pursue his own safety as requested, Pat dive-rolled into the group of Gorons, who were a mixture of panic and gritty preparedness. Taking a second to breathe, he instinctually noticed how the rain was ruining his feathers, but remembered that wasn't important. Topado then arrived, trying to awkwardly maneuver through the bulk of his cohorts.

"What in the name of Din is going on?" Pat gestured to the fight, assuming it was inference enough. "So after you? Oh great. But lemme guess: 'We can't flee without Stelli'."

"What? Is that selfish? I'm not excluding people out of danger of all things."

"Yeah, yeah I get it, you're noble and all that. Fine. But watch yourself. There's no way they sent just one. —I've got your three o' clock." He smiled, before going on to nervously watch the battling while occasionally glancing at the flanks.

Perhaps he just never had the opportunity to notice, but on the battlefield, Stelli had a form of grace and delicate deadliness that made her more majestic. He felt really bad for sounding like such a chauvinist and assuming she had no ability. He'd need to have a self evaluation.

Meanwhile, it seemed the fight was coming to a turning point. The Yiga assassin was exhausted at this point trying to fend off two able opponents, and it seemed some of the braver Gorons were about to take up their own weapons. Finally, the killer called out for a retreat (even though...there was no one else there?..) and vanished once more. Within the following lull, Stelli turned towards the tent, likely trying to find if the target for this attack was okay. Pat waved, relaxing just a bit, until her eyes widened. Oh dear. Left, no. Right, no. That means—

His reaction speed was not nearly as fast this time. Stelli, who was relatively close, attempted to hurl her spear like a javelin at whatever the threat was.

She aimed a bit too low.

At the very least, like the arrow, it didn't hit the Rito's head. The same could not be said for the shoulder.

Profound ripples of pain followed the gouging of the trident's bottom prong through his feathers and skin. It struck whatever she had been properly aiming for, as evidenced by another cry of agony, but it was impossible to focus on this. He had to grip it and suck in a breath, because—Mother of mercy, OWW! It felt like coursing burning, and...yeah, most certainly bleeding. Something was missing, as though some internal connection had torn. The ripples of Pat's nervous system became waves, attacking him all on their own. It became much too hard to stand, and the jostle of the fall made it worse. It hurt so bad. Lots of blood. The grass was black, his entire left wing already so coated it looked as though he was swimming in it. He felt like choking.

Keep it together, panic doesn't help. Wait, didn't help what? He couldn't focus, memories fuzzy...something had hit him, right? Blood everywhere, but who's...

Why was everything so much darker? Muffled sounds, something on his arm until it went numb... Kind of like...things were slipping away...

All that was there was gentle wet ground.

--

"Yep. It was the subclavian artery. It will need immediate surgery, and they're starting on bleeding control already. I'll be honest, I don't know how he got a cut that deep. This sort of thing rarely happens unless it's extremely deliberate."

"Okay. Thank you, Jarell." The medic left, and Top rubbed his temple with an anxious sigh. They were lucky, blessed even, that they had such an advanced med team at Hyrule Castle, and that it wasn't a lethally vital area that had been hit, but... If he knew anything about doctoring, it was that the deeper the wound, the harder it was to overcome. A tough Goron hide could have withstood that.

Topado was struggling with this ugly aching feeling inside, one that he'd never really had. Almost as though...it was his fault. He hadn't noticed the Yiga sniper. Hadn't gotten involved. Hadn't tried to do much of anything.

But poor Stelli.

He exhaled again, wondering how long the wait might be. A few weeks? A month or two? ...Would Pat never wake up?

"Hey." He moved over, allowing Geiha to sit beside him in the small, dinky wooden chairs. "Any news?"

"Some sort of artery. So long as they stop the bleeding, it's fixable. Coma's gonna last a while though." She sighed as well. It was just such a despondent time, that there wasn't really a proper reaction to it. "You, uh, seen her?"

"Not since she ran off. Overheard that she was going to visit home and see her mom." They were silent for a while. The storm outside had escalated, and the occasional boom of thunder was startling.

Geiha had something on her mind. "I've never...regretted something. Before. I think I had some kind of entitlement issue—thought I might be better if I just didn't look back. But those actions impact other people." The Goron figured it was wise to not interrupt her moment of clarity, shocking as it was to hear. "I've always tried to get in with guys, thought I could build a reputation, make myself feel pride, but a lot of them had families. Wives. More important things to focus on. I was ruining a lot of things for personal benefit. And now... Pat's been nothing but good to us, and I failed to see that. What I mean is, I think I regret trying to court him. It got in the way of what could have been much more constructive. I mean, where was I when someone I knew and was friends with nearly died?"

Top swallowed, growing overwhelmed by her revelation. There was a lot to focus on at the moment.

"Wow. That's a lot of truth."

"I couldn't just stew on it in my head. ...I already miss that big dork." More quiet outside of the hammering rain.

Top nearly jumped when sudden noises came around the corner, still on edge, but he relaxed finding them to be recognizable beeps and whistles. It was that tiny Guardian that he'd seen only once or twice. Was something wrong with it? It was practically spazzing out. Princess Zelda appeared in pursuit.

"Terrako! Calm down! What's gotten into you?" She held the (apparently named) machine as the ambassadors watched in bewilderment. It was squealing, wriggling about as it tried to reach—the med room. "Oh! Hello," Zelda tried to say, attempting to be formal while comedically tussling with a little robot. Terrako, eventually finding its escapade fruitless, gave up and flopped sadly with a long, pitiful whistle. She glanced at the solemn expressions of the onlookers. "My, what's the matter? This is the medical wing. Did someone...?" Where was everybody during that?

"What's with the machine?" Geiha requested, flatly. No respect or properness for royalty. Honestly, Top was too tired to be such a way either.

"I don't really know. I suppose it does get a little excited when there's trouble, or whenever it sees—oh dear. I'm sorry, I do hope he's okay. I'll move the little one then. Wouldn't want to cause trouble." She was off just as she had arrived.

Things went right back to awkward and quiet. Top wanted a bit of time to think, but that had to be alone. Or did he want to distract himself? It was hard to decide.

"When do you wanna go?"

"Leave whenever you want. I'm still debating." Without another word, Geiha stood and wandered off down the hall without her usual saunter. Probably thinking the same thing.

How did this go so wrong?

Wow. Spooky! We'll see how things turn out...and maybe finally figure out what exactly is going on.