Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda does not belong to me
Purah quickly scribbled her findings onto a piece of scrap paper she found lying around. She was a bit too busy to be worrying about formalities, even with the king. She speed walked throughout Hyrule Castle, planning on delivering the note to King Rhoam herself, but bumped into Lady Elfrida on the way there.
"Hello, Dr. Purah," Elfrida greeted.
"Hi, um…" Purah eyed the area around Elfrida.
"Is something wrong?"
She spoke quickly, "Yeah. We have something important going on at the lab. King Rhoam's in his study, right?"
"No, he's not actually. Are you looking for him?"
"Yes!" She said boldly, then sighed, "Sorry, I just really need to get back to the lab. Can you give this to King Rhoam for me?" She took the note out her pocket and gave it to Elfrida, giving a quick wave before running in the same direction she came from.
Elfrida unfolded the paper and read it; she saw that most of the ingredients were from the Gerudo region and sighed as she folded the paper. Entering the library and choosing a random book off the shelves, she scanned the pages for a few moments. Suddenly, she heard the sound of a nearby door opening, then the light shifting of metal; she turned her head and saw Rhoam removing the 'bookshelf' that was the door to his study. She was grateful it was light; it prevented noise. She rose from her seat, not bothering to put the book back, and walked up to Rhoam.
"Hello, Your Majesty," she did a curtsy, "It's a good morning, isn't it?"
"Yes," he muttered, "it is."
She followed him inside the study and pulled the bookcase back to its original position. "Is something wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong. I was just thinking about Lord Cyrill; I visited him recently."
"Is he okay?"
"Yes, he's fine. Better than fine, great. He woke up yesterday."
"Really?"
"Yes. You didn't know that?"
"No, Sire."
"Well, he's been doing much better over these past few days. You should visit him yourself if you don't believe me," he said as he sat down at his desk.
"No, no. I believe you... I'll visit him later."
The king nodded and took a document on his desk to read over; he got halfway through before realizing Elfrida was still in the room. "Is something bothering you, Lady Elfrida?"
"No, it's just the results on the poison."
He placed the paper down and turned to her. "Dr. Purah got the results?"
"Yes, she wrote it down and gave it to me," she unfolded the paper and handed it to Rhoam. While he read it, she said, "…I noticed most of the ingredients are quite common in the desert."
"Your point?"
"I found it a bit strange…because, if the suspect was someone in Hyrule Castle, wouldn't all the ingredients be native to Hylian settled lands?"
He stayed quiet as he thought about this. "I suppose you're right. But don't forget that Hyrule Castle Town is one of the most flourishing trade spots in all of Hyrule. That being said, it could be a mere coincidence."
"It could be, but it being made in Gerudo lands could explain the ingredients."
"It would. And if it was, what Gerudo here has means to poison me?"
"There are some Gerudo workers around the castle, but our suspect could also be Yiga. They live in the desert too."
"Well, what are we going to do if it is a Gerudo?"
"We'll have to figure out who she is and she will be prosecuted." Elfrida sighed before continuing, "Do you have an idea who it could be?"
"No, and I don't wish to speculate. I also advise you to do the same."
"Yes, Sire," she said before glancing at the door and turning to leave. "I have to go. Good-bye, sir."
King Rhoam said good-bye as Elfrida left and reentered the library, making her way to the infirmary. She entered and went over to Cyrill's bed; his skin had much more color than the last time she saw him, but his ears were tilted a bit downward, an indicator that he still wasn't feeling well. He was leaning against the bedrest and reading a book, his sleeves rolled up to reveal an injury on his right arm. He closed the book when he noticed Elfrida and sat up.
"Hello, Cyrill." She pulled up a chair and sat down. "How are you?"
"I'm better. Thank you for your concern, Lady Elfrida."
"Your arm?" she pointed at the black mark that started at his forearm and extended like cracks to his wrist.
He smiled and rotated his arm in response. "It's fine. Why do you ask?"
"Just curious. You rarely have your arm showing, so I thought maybe something was wrong."
"Well, it doesn't hurt as much as it did the other day, so that's probably a good sign."
"'Hurt as much'?" she echoed.
"My arm started hurting after I ate some of the food. Possibly a reaction to the poison."
"How do you figure?"
"I don't. It's a guess, really, because my injury is magic induced. I'm not sure how it reacts to foreign substances, especially to poison."
"Interesting. Well, I've got to go. Have to talk to some people, but before I leave, when will you be released?"
"If everything works out, this afternoon."
"Really? That's great!"
"Didn't miss that these past few days," he muttered as he picked up the book.
"I guess I'll see you at lunch, Cyrill," she said, putting the chair back where she found it.
"You too, Lady Elfrida."
Urbosa was walking beside Zelda alongside the other Champions through Castle Town. A strange trip, yes. Better than the castle? For the time being, also yes.
"I know you haven't spent much time around him," Urbosa started, "but what's your opinion on the boy?" Link had told her about his small encounters with each of them, and with the rumors about the Gerudo spreading, she wanted to know what they thought.
"I, for one, believe he's fascinating," Mipha said.
"Thank you, Mipha," Urbosa muttered.
A part of her believed Mipha was too kind for her own good, so she found it a bit hard to take her compliment seriously. Now, she didn't see Mipha as an overly kind, naive, pushover, but by the Goddess of the Sands, she managed to make Revali, of all people, seem better than he really was. Of course, Urbosa believed she was partly responsible for Revali's attitude. With all the snarky remarks they said to each other, it would only make sense. She looked at the blue Rito, who seemed even more annoyed than usual. She took it back. She was in no way responsible for…that.
"How is he fascinating?" she turned her head to Mipha.
"Well, we didn't talk much, but he seemed interested in the Zora. He was extremely formal, too."
"Makes sense. He's never heard of the Zora until the other day. What about you, Revali?"
"He's an asinine little twerp," he spat.
"Thank you, Revali," she said sarcastically, "As always, your opinion doesn't matter in this situation."
"You asked for my opinion so don't start with me, Urbosa. He insulted me, and my people, in the most cruel, foolish, and may I add childish, way possible."
"Really? How?"
"You were there! He called my people overgrown vures."
"Actually, he said 'oversized' not 'overgrown.' But, knowing you, what did he do to make you hate him even more?"
"Not important."
"Okay, then. Daruk?"
"Little guy and I, we're practically brothers! And he's pretty tough for someone so small!" Daruk said, pumping his fists in the air excitedly.
Urbosa smiled, "Thank you for your worthwhile opinion. Unlike the oversized vure in the room…" Nope. No. Never mind. She was 100% responsible.
Revali scoffed, "Princess, since your opinion is actually important, what do you think about him?" He followed the question with a silent glare at Urbosa.
"I can't really think of another way to describe him, but he's…interesting."
"'Interesting'?"
Urbosa returned Revali's glare with a mocking smile, then stopped at a fruit stand.
Revali huffed, "How is he interesting?"
Zelda breathed out, "Well, we both like researching. And he listened to me explain ancient Sheikah technology."
"That must've been one long conversation."
"It was. We almost didn't finish due to the poisoning incident."
"I almost forgot about that," Urbosa muttered as she got three voltfruits from the stand.
Revali squawked as he felt something make contact with the back of his head. Now, Revali wasn't one to overreact. No, no, no, that would be so…immature. Everything would be all right, it was probably just some rambunctious kids playing around who accidentally hit him. These sort of things happen. He rubbed the back of his head, then made a face of disgust as he realized whatever hit him had liquid. It was drying and becoming sticky, and the noon sun was only making it worse.
Fortunately, not many had heard his yelp. However, those who did, were the same people he'd bother taking this trip with. Mipha and Zelda's concern for his well being was heart touching. But that feeling was quickly thrown out the window as he heard Urbosa and Daruk failing at attempting not to laugh. He scowled at them and the two pushed off the Rito's clear annoyance and started laughing aloud. It was the first dinner night all over again. Then, the bell tower rang.
"We should go back to the castle," Zelda said.
As they made their way back, Urbosa noticed Revali refused to let her lag behind him.
"What's wrong, Revali?" she nudged him slightly, "Afraid you're going to be hit again?"
"Afraid? No," he dismissed her ridiculous accusation. "Annoyed? You bet to the gods I am."
"Huh. I didn't realize you would take it so personally."
"I didn't take it personally," he insisted, "but if you do that again, you'll be waking up with egg yolk in your hair. Or worse."
"That'll be interesting. Actually, some Gerudo say egg yolk can do wonders for your hair," she said as she dramatically flipped hers.
Revali made a sound of exasperation before storming ahead of the group.
"Look at the bright side. It was either voltfruit or lightning!"
Kada leaned over Link and the desk in his room as she pointed out important locations in Hyrule on a map.
"Okay," she pulled away, "show me how to get from Gerudo Town to Gatepost Town."
"I've been meaning to ask: why is it named Gatepost Town?" Link turned his head toward her.
"It's near the Outpost and East Post."
"So it was named after them?"
"Yes. Now show me how to get there."
Link traced the road and muttered the names of stables, settlements, and landmarks that were along the path.
"Good. Well, that ends your geography lesson for today. Any questions?"
"Yes. When will I ever need this? I don't exactly plan on leaving Gerudo Town again after this."
"You'll need it one day. I don't know when, but you will."
"Will I need it the same way I 'needed' those scrolls?"
She looked at the scrolls also lying on the desk. "Yes. By the way, have you been reading over the scrolls about the sword techniques?"
Link nodded.
"Have you been practicing?"
He nodded again.
Her lips moved but he didn't hear her say anything. She sighed before patting his shoulder, "Come on. I want you to meet someone."
Link sighed and followed her out the door. He followed her to the training grounds and sat down on a bench along the wall.
"Wait here. I need to find him."
Link nodded and let his back rest against the wall. After a moment, a knight came over and sat down next to him; Link ignored the knight and sighed. A few more moments of waiting and Link was losing his patience. Where is she?
"Uh, excuse me," a voice said.
Link turned his head and saw a girl about his age standing in front of him.
"Sorry to bother you, but you're the boy from the desert, right?"
Link slowly nodded; at this point, he was almost certain everyone in the castle knew who he was.
"Oh, good. They were right."
"Who was right?"
"My friends. They want to talk to you but they're cowards so they sent me."
"Well, as much as I want to go to them, I can't. I'm waiting for someone. Can they come here?"
"Sure," she took a step before turning to face him again. "Oh, yeah. The name's Satori."
"Link," he said. He watched her walk away and leaned against the bench. A few more minutes and Kada finally came back.
"I can't find him," Kada said. "Perhaps he's still on that trip," she muttered. "Well, since we're here, now would be a great time to go over those sword techniques in the scrolls."
"What?"
"I told you you would need them."
"I didn't think you meant now," he said as he followed her to an area not being used by the training knights.
"Link, you've been here for about a week. You're quick to read people. I thought you would know me enough by now. Oh, well." She walked over to the weapons rack and picked up a knight's sword, shield, and halberd. She handed the sword and shield to Link and kept the halberd for herself. "Do you remember the second technique?"
"The seco-er, yes."
She got in a fighting stance, "Come at me."
He ran towards her and dodged an attack. She attacked again, and when it made contact with the shield, he parried. Immediately after, he felt a blow to the stomach and landed on his back; he shifted his weight and rested on his elbow, looking back at her in surprise. He didn't know she was capable of using so much force, and with a spear, too. He got to his feet and saw her shaking her head.
"No, Link. I wanted you to use the shield attack, not to parry."
"What's the point?" Link sighed in exasperation. "A parry can be done in the same amount of time it takes to do a shield attack. There's no point using a weaker technique if a more efficient one can be done in the same amount of time."
"I know parrying is more efficient, but for the time being, it doesn't matter. I asked you to do the second technique, therefore, I want you to do the second technique," Kada said as she got back in her fighting stance. "Ready?"
Link gripped the hilt and nodded.
"Come at me."
He did so. Unfortunately, he parried, and was once again given a blow to the stomach and knocked onto his back.
"Come on, Link. Don't make this more complicated than it already isn't."
He got to his feet again and grabbed the sword and shield.
"The more you fail to shield attack, the more painful this is going to get. Ready?"
"I'm just saying, there were much more efficient ways the Yiga could've poisoned you," Elfrida said with a dismissive wave of her hand.
"I suppose…" Cyrill muttered.
They stepped onto the training grounds.
"What did you need me here for again?" Cyrill crossed his arms.
"Oh, no. I just wanted someone to talk to."
"Of course. Well, I'm going to—"
"No, stay. I want someone to talk to on the way back."
He shook his head, "Well, go and find that person you wanted to talk to so badly, so we can…um… Probably a long shot, but is that the person you wanted to talk to?" he pointed to where Link and Kada were. "Because whoever they are is on the verge of killing that desert kid."
She turned around and saw the two fighting. "Guess I found her."
Cyrill shook his head again and walked over to Link and Kada with Elfrida close behind him. He noticed most of the knights stopped training and were watching them. This must be pretty entertaining for them to stop their training, he thought. "Woah!" he exclaimed as he barely moved out of the way in time to dodge Link.
"Ooh, that must've hurt," Elfrida had one arm wrapped around her stomach and a hand by her mouth.
Cyrill nodded before walking over to Link and extending his hand to help him up. Even with help, Link struggled to his feet. He nearly fell over and was grateful Cyrill was there.
"What are you two doing?" he asked as he helped Link get a firm footing.
"Training," Kada replied with the halberd's tip resting on the ground.
Elfrida started giggling, "You hear that, Cyrill?"
Cyrill looked at her.
"They're training!" she started snickering.
Cyrill had no idea how Lady Elfrida's sense of humor worked but pushed it off and looked back at the Sheikah woman, "What type of training involves sending a kid flat onto his back?"
"I told him that the more he fails to shield attack, the more painful this is going to get," she got in her fighting stance once again. "Ready?"
Link had managed to get his sword and shield and nodded. Cyrill took a few steps back.
"Come at me," she said.
Link went at her, and Cyrill and Elfrida watched as Link was knocked down.
"Come on, Link. You're almost there. A few more tries and you got it."
Link got to his feet slower than last time.
"No, he's done," Cyrill said before walking to Link.
"Oh, come on, Cyrill," Elfrida said, "Let them do it just a few more times."
"No."
"One more time. That's it. Then you can drag him to the infirmary or whatever."
Cyrill released his grip on Link's arm and walked back to Elfrida's side. Pinching the bridge of his nose he said, "You two are going to be the death of him."
"Ready, Link?" Kada raised the halberd.
Shakily, Link nodded. He went at her, and finally did it correctly.
Elfrida cheered.
"See?" Kada put a hand on her hip. "I knew you could do it. If your ancestor could, so could you. Ready for technique number three?"
"No, no. He's done. You two can talk about whatever you wanted to, but this kid is not being involved," Cyrill stated firmly, gripping Link's arm and dragging him back inside the castle. Cyrill eventually let go, but Link still followed him. Upon arriving in the kitchen, Cyrill ordered Link to sit on one of the stools; Link did as he was told and watched Cyrill gather some ice and wrap it in a cloth. "Here," Cyrill said, handing the ice pack to him.
Link put the cloth against his stomach and sighed; he had to admit, it made the growing pain feel a little better. "Sarqso, Lord Cyrill."
"Come on," he started leaving and Link followed. They walked in silence for a while; finally, Cyrill sighed, breaking the silence. "How long were you training?"
"An hour or two."
"Hmm… I suggest you keep that ice pack on your stomach. It hurts now, but it will get worse before it gets better. And be prepared for some looks when the bruise starts showing."
Link groaned slightly. He couldn't, and wouldn't, explain to every person who gave him a second glance that a Sheikah kept gutting him with the shaft of a knight's halberd. Either that, or she somehow managed to punch him every time. A quick wave of pain washed over him and he sucked air through his teeth; this was going to be painful. Cyrill suddenly stopped and Link almost bumped into him.
"You should be able to get back to the training grounds from here. I would go with you, but I have things to do. Good-bye."
"Sav'orq," Link waved, then started walking down the hallway in the opposite direction. He started heading towards the training grounds; if he was lucky, Kada would just review the techniques or do some other thing rather than try to make him train again.
"Oh, hello," Honbria said in a sweet voice, "Link, right?"
"What do you want?" Link grumbled; today was just not his day. First I'm a living training dummy, then I have to deal with this one again…
She looked at the ice pack pressed against his stomach. "What's with the ice pack?"
"Doesn't involve you."
She frowned and crossed her arms. "Fine. Then, listen to me and listen good. You're stolen. And I'll make sure Rhoam hears the rumor so much he's forced to do something before that Gerudo decides she wants to answer."
"Are you serious? You had days to think of something and that's the best you got? I was stolen? The sad part is, you're actually trying. Look, I don't care what you want Hyrule to think. I know the truth and so do my fellow Gerudos. So no amount of your childish pettiness will change that."
Honbria retaliated with a smug grin. "Around 16 or 17 years ago, a baby Hylian boy only a few months old was stolen from his home. It lines up when you think about it. You Gerudo used to be nothing but a pack of thieves, and apparently, even after all these years, you can't resist stealing children."
"Yes, we used to be thieves, but that was over 10,000 years ago," Link growled; not wanting to let her get a rise out of him, he adopted a more neutral tone as he continued. "Besides, we didn't steal from women, children, or those incapable of self defense. We had restraint. Also, we have a good relationship with you Hylians—well, you're technically not part of that, but still. So explain something to me, why do you want to damage this peace so badly? Or is it that you're so busy blindly attacking me that you don't realize what you could do to our agreement?"
She opened her mouth to retaliate but was interrupted by someone else.
"Link, there you are!"
He turned around, "Lady Urbosa?"
"Sweet Hylia, I've been looking all over for you," she noticed the vai standing near him. "I'm sorry. Am I interrupting something?"
"No, you're fine, and I was actually just leaving."
Urbosa nodded and waved at the vai before leading him into another hallway.
"Link, I need you to write a letter to your mother. Ask her about how you fell under the care of the Gerudo."
Link gave her a worried look, "I don't understand. Didn't you talk to the king? Why…why would I need to ask my mother about how she found me? King Rhoam doesn't think I was stolen, does he?"
"He doesn't think that yet, but he might believe that soon. Which is why I need you to write that letter because your mother hasn't answered me for some reason. King Rhoam was willing to give me more time to get an answer, but that doesn't mean he's willing to wait forever. So I need you to write that letter, and have it done by tomorrow. Understand?"
"Yes, Chief."
"Oh, sarqso, Link….I really don't know why your mother's ignoring me, but I hope you can get through to her."
"…Yeah, I hope so, too."
My friends—are childish—wanted me to ask: just how old do you guys think I am?
Earthly Entity: Virtual hugs for everyone!
Guest: Thank you. I don't know what that means, though. The unfolding the story part, but thank you. Glad to know you're so excited to see this.
I hoped you enjoyed this chapter of The Hylian Child. And now's the part where I semi-promote myself. Feel free to leave a review, ask a question, or something. I don't know. You do you. Until next time. Bye~
