Edited: 3/20/20
Elfrida, seated at her desk, reread the letter she received from Koume and Kotake; they had sent her requested items disguised as bottles of monster extract. One smelling strongly of mighty bananas, much to her annoyance. It was too early for this.
"Is that the poison?" a voice said.
Her immediate reaction was to thrust her elbow backwards and into the face of the speaker; she turned in her chair and saw a Yiga who removed his mask and had a hand over his nose.
"Oh. See, I knew you weren't Kelsie, but I wasn't expecting to see a footsoldier," she turned back to her desk.
The Yiga removed his hand, "Bl-blademaster Kelsie sent me," he said quietly, "She wanted to know if-if you have the poison."
She turned around in her chair again, "Oh, yes. The Gerudo with the Hylian name," she said mockingly. "Well, I do have the poison, and if you don't mind, please tell her that I am not a child and I do not need her checking on me everyday!" she hissed in a low voice.
"Y-yes, ma'am. I'll tell her."
With all his stuttering, she guessed he must've been new to how the Yiga Clan worked.
The footsoldier started talking again, "Um, Master had a message for you, too."
"What does he want, mighty bananas?"
"N-no. He wanted to know why you haven't poisoned the royal family yet."
"Tell him that I am not, and never was, responsible for actually poisoning the food. In fact, lowly footsoldiers, like yourself, do it. Koume and Kotake send me the poison and then one of you idiots take care of it. I'm just a middleman in all of this."
"Oh," he rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I guess I should get going."
"Good idea. Because you're wasting my time," Elfrida growled.
"My apologies—"
"Just get out," she ordered. He disappeared and she was alone again. Elfrida sighed before opening her wardrobe and taking out and dressing herself in one of her many pastel dresses. She did her hair, slipped on a pair of heels, and left for the barracks.
As she entered the barracks she immediately saw a familiar face, "Captain Ryder, you're back."
"Good morning, Lady Elfrida," Ryder yawned as he finished his greeting.
"Sweet goddesses, you sound horrible," Elfrida commented.
Ryder chuckled lightly, "Trust me. You're not the first one to tell me that."
"Really?"
He nodded before yawning again, "I'm running on a few hours of sleep. We came back very late last night."
"Cyrill figured. But what happened? You're usually back before dinner."
"Lizalfos."
"Oh, wow," Elfrida said, wincing slightly. "Everyone made it back safely, I assume."
Ryder nodded, "An injury here or there but nothing major."
"That's good, and—oh, I just remembered!" Elfrida clapped her hands together excitedly. "While you were gone, the Champions came, and you should've seen Lady Urbosa's escort! His name's Link. He's a Gerudo-raised Hylian and he's adorable."
"The fact that you called him adorable, makes Link sound five, not 15."
"He's 16."
"How would you know? You didn't know he existed until a week ago."
Elfrida gave a slight shrug, "I guess I'm just good at the guessing game."
"Right," Ryder muttered, "Well, I should be going now. His Majesty is usually in his study at this time, so now would probably be the best time to give him the report about our mission."
"I suggest you grab something to eat before going to the king; you still sound horrible."
"Thanks," he said flatly.
They both started leaving the barracks and Ryder waved good-bye to Lady Elfrida as she went down a different hallway. He made it to the kitchen and saw Cyrill digging through the ice box with Link seated on a stool, facing him.
"Hey, Link. Long time no see," he placed a hand on Link's shoulder. "How are you doing?"
"'Long time no see'?" Cyrill, who had turned around to face Ryder, repeated, "Care to explain what that means?"
"I met him at Kara Kara Bazaar when you were, what, 10?" Ryder looked at Link.
Link slowly nodded, not sure himself.
Cyrill started glaring at Ryder, "So you're telling me that you knew he lived in Gerudo Town this whole time?"
"Not until today," Ryder answered, "Lady Elfrida told me he was Gerudo-raised. At the time, I assumed he was a friend of one of the Gerudos there."
Cyrill looked like he wanted to pursue the topic more but held his tongue. "Here," he handed an ice pack to Link.
"Sarqso," Link said and pressed it to his stomach.
"Hang on, hang on, hang on. You're giving someone something besides trauma?" Ryder pointed at the older man, a mocking expression on his face. "Who are you, and what have you done with Cyrill?"
Cyrill grumbled.
"What happened to you, kid?" Ryder put a hand on the belt of his royal guard uniform.
"Training," Link answered.
Cyrill decided to fill in the rest of the story, "He was training with some Sheikah. Every time he failed to do the maneuver correctly, she would use a spear shaft to knock him flat on his back."
"Hey, don't worry about it," Ryder lightly nudged Link's arm, "Happens to the soldiers here all the time."
"By that he means himself," Cyrill muttered.
Ryder pointed at Cyrill, this time in a threatening manner, "You know what—"
"Don't you have a report to give?" Cyrill snapped.
Ryder growled, "You better declare yourself lucky," he swiped an apple from a fruit basket on the counter and left.
Judging from what he saw, Link guessed Cyrill and Ryder knew each other on a more personal level than most coworkers. He wanted to say they were friends but the way they acted was a bit too violent. It had to be something else. Maybe they were related somehow. Cousins, perhaps.
"I apologize for that display," Cyrill said, "Ryder has the ability to get on my nerves like no one else."
"No, it's fine. I'm like that with my sister."
"Sister, huh? Is she older than you or younger than you?"
"Older."
A breath of a laugh left Cyrill's throat, "I want to say good for you, but siblings are a pain on both sides of the spectrum."
"Do you have any siblings?"
Cyrill sighed, he seemed a bit annoyed, "Remember Captain Ryder?"
He was just there a second ago, how could he not? Link nodded.
"Well, I'm his older brother."
Link wasn't expecting that. Sure, he had guessed they were related, but the amount of physical differences made it hard to believe they were brothers. Ryder's skin was a light tan, similar to Link's before he started spending more time in the sun, and Ryder had blue eyes and blond hair. "But you two look so different."
"They are plenty of siblings who don't look exactly alike. Of course, when you consider the fact that everyone in your tribe has very similar characteristics, seeing something different can be strange."
Cyrill had a point, so Link didn't say anything.
"Well, you have a letter to finish, so I'll leave you be."
"Oh, I finished it already."
"Being proactive. That's nice. But did you give it to a Rito messenger?"
Link nodded again. No he didn't, Kada did.
"Good. Lady Elfrida made a mistake when handling Lady Urbosa's letter and gave it to a Hylian messenger instead." Cyrill shook his head, "A bit foolish if you ask me," he muttered and started leaving the kitchen.
Link hopped off the stool and followed him. Cyrill didn't seem to mind him tagging along, but Link knew he couldn't do this all day. And he didn't want to stumble across a gossip monger who was even bolder than the first two he met. Of course, if Lord Cyrill was nearby, they would probably back off. But the thought of being dragged to train again or being taught something else wasn't fun either. However, what Honbria said yesterday was bugging and annoying him. His mom told him about a string of kidnappings, but she also told him that his birthday didn't line up, meaning he wasn't stolen. But some more context about the kidnappings would be nice, but he wanted to know about the Hylian vehvi first. Cyrill's been here long enough, he had to know something.
"Lord Cyrill, can I ask you something?"
"Of course," Cyrill said.
"It's about what this vai said to me. She said that about 20 years ago, a baby Hylian boy was stolen from his home. Did that really happen?"
Cyrill stopped walking and sighed, "Is the vai that told you this a gossip monger?"
Link nodded.
"Ignore her, then. People like her are notorious for leaving out major details. Since she failed to give you a specific location, I'm guessing she was talking about the Yiga Clan incident. In about a weeks time, children from all over Hyrule were stolen by the Yiga Clan. The first area hit was Necluda. That attack was probably personal, but everything else wasn't."
"Kakariko Village is there, right?"
Cyrill nodded before crossing his arms, "But why ask? You and Lady Urbosa are certain you weren't stolen by the Gerudo. You don't think you were stolen by the Yiga Clan, do you?"
"No, of course not," Link shook his head, "I just wanted to clear things up."
"Well, where do you think you're from?"
"My mom guessed I was abandoned by someone who lived at Gerudo Canyon Stable. If not, Outskirt Stable."
"Outskirt Stable's a bit far from Gerudo Desert. But if you're desperate enough, you'll make the journey," Cyrill stayed quiet for a moment before saying, "Kid, you're pleasant company, but I do have work to do. And a pain to deal with," he added quietly. "So unless you plan on helping me, I suggest you don't linger. But since you know Ryder, I assume you know Aryll."
"Aryll's here?"
"Now she is. She would've been here when you first came but Ryder brought her on the platoon. If you want to find her, she's probably playing with the other children in either the courtyard, the guards' chamber or the barracks." Cyrill noticed the questioning look on Link's face. "What?"
"You let vehvi play in the barracks?"
"It's safer than the training grounds."
"How? That's where all the weapons are."
Cyrill looked a bit confused, "I'm not sure how the Gerudo barracks work, but for us Hylian soldiers, that's the sleeping quarters. There are weapons there, but not nearly as many as there are in the guards' chamber."
"So what about the guards' chamber?"
"The weapons in the guards' chamber are in a crate under the stairs that's too heavy for young children and trainees to move or open."
"Oh."
"Start with the courtyard. You can always find children there."
"Sav'orq."
Cyrill nodded before continuing down the hallway. Link turned around and made his way to the courtyard. He passed through it many times, and every time he had to dodge to avoid hitting, or getting hit, by any vehvi. The noise level was moderate compared to how loud it got around noon. Just like home. Link felt something hit the back of his leg. He looked down and saw a ball rolling along the stone and saw a pair of small hands pick it up, the boy couldn't have been more than seven.
"Sorry," the young boy said.
Link shook his head, "You're fine. But, uh, can you help me real quick?" Link got on one knee to be eye level with the boy. "You see, I'm looking for someone. She's just a few years older than you. Her name is Aryll. Do you know where I can find her?"
The boy nodded before pointing past Link. Link turned his head and saw a small figure in pink sitting on the floor and hunched over something. Link looked back at the boy. What was the Hylian way of saying sarqso again? "Tank you." He said it quietly, so that if he screwed it up, less people would hear it.
"You're welcome," the boy said before walking back to his friends.
If the kid heard him mess up, he didn't say anything. Link walked towards Aryll and leaned over her for a moment. She was messing with some book. "Mind if I sit here?"
"Huh?" Aryll looked above her and her eyes lit up. "Link!" she placed the book down and stood up to hug him. The nine-year-old was now standing on his feet, her sandals pressing into the exposed part of his feet. Link could only return half the hug because of the ice pack. She looked up at him, "I've been practicing my Gerudo, Link."
"You have?"
She nodded and got off his feet before picking up the book again. She quickly flipped through the pages before showing him the book. It was the page he wrote in a few years ago. He wrote in some Gerudo words and how to pronounce them. They both put in the definitions, because, at the time, he knew next to nothing about traditional Hylian—which was, unfortunately for Link, what most Hylian books were written in. And now it was coming back to him that sarqso in Hylian was 'thank you,' not 'tank you.' He gave the book back and sat down and Aryll sat across from him.
"You go first, Link," Aryll said, "Sarqso."
"Thank you." He said it right this time.
"Sav'otta."
"Good 'mauning.'" Link knew he messed that up.
"Morning, Link. It's good morning."
"Sorry. Good morning."
"Sav'aaq."
"Good day. Hello. Your choice, really," he said with a slight shrug.
"Sav'ork."
"You said it wrong. It's—"
"Sav'ork," Aryll repeated herself.
Link sighed, "Good-bye, Aryll. It means good-bye."
"Sav'saaba."
"Good 'ehvning'?"
"Evening."
"Evening, right."
"Sav'orr."
"Good night."
"Now, if someone says sarqso, you say…?"
Another one he was going to mess up on. "Uh, you're 'velcome'?"
"It's welcome, Link."
Link nodded. The Gerudo didn't have a phrase for you're welcome. For the most part, once sarqso was said, the conversation was over. At least, that's how his conversations worked. "Okay, your turn. Are you ready?"
Aryll nodded.
"All right. If you were greeting someone, either just neutrally or around noon, you would say…?"
"Vasaaq."
For the next ten minutes or so, they went over Gerudo greetings and farewell, six in total. Aryll was doing well until she got to sav'orq, which she messed up earlier.
Link shook his head, "You're still putting too much 'k' at the end. The 'k' is there, but it's not heavy. Repeat after me, sav'orq."
"Sav'ork."
"No. It's not sav'ork, it's sav'orq."
"Sav'ork," Aryll said again.
"No. Okay, say 'sav.'"
"Sav."
"Now say 'orq."
"Orq."
"Okay. Now say 'sav'orq.'"
"Sav'ork."
"No," Link chuckled, "Stop being wrong. Sav'orq!"
"Sav'ork," Aryll crossed her arms and looked proud of herself.
"Stop," Link said, now starting to laugh. "Sav'orq!"
"Sav'ork!"
"No!" Link covered his face with his hands and was officially laughing. It wasn't even that funny. It was because Aryll kept insisting she was right that he was laughing. Aryll was giggling at his reaction.
"Sav'orq," Aryll said.
"There you go. Sa'oten," he muttered as his laughter died down. He placed his hands back in his lap and saw the ice pack was starting to look and feel damp. The ice was melting. He looked at Aryll and saw she had the book again. He wondered if she didn't mind being messed with. He squeezed the pack to let some water get on his hands. "Hey, Aryll."
When Aryll looked up at him, she felt something cold hit her face. "Link!" She saw him snickering. She used her dress to wipe her face. "Be careful, Link," she playfully warned, "I'm far more deadly than I look."
Link nodded, "Uh-huh. I am so scared."
"Link!" a voice suddenly screamed.
Link involuntarily flinched upon hearing his name being called out like that. The voice belonged to a vai, so he knew it wasn't Aryll. Link turned around and saw a Sheikah vai frantically waving and running up to him. It was Purah, being followed by Kada.
"Hi, Aryll!" Purah waved at the little girl.
"Hi, Dr. Purah," Aryll waved back and hugged her book.
Purah tugged at Link's arm, "Come on, Linky, I want to show you something."
"'Linky'?" When did she give him that nickname?
"Yeah!"
"It's been her nickname for you ever since I told her about you," Kada said.
"Come on, Linky. You have to see this." Purah kept pulling at his arm.
Link freed his arm and looked at her with a slight scowl.
"Can I come?" Aryll asked, still hugging her book.
"Of course! Now come on." She started pulling at Link's arm again.
Link broke free from her grasp again before getting to his feet, dusting himself off and following the Sheikahs. On the way there, Link threw away the ice pack; his stomach hurt far less today than yesterday, enough so that he didn't need it as much. They soon arrived at an area with two mechanical Octorok-looking things, both of which were being messed with by a group of mostly Sheikahs; he did, however, manage to recognize Robbie as one of the Sheikahs in question.
Robbie turned around when he heard footsteps and said, "You're back."
"Yup!" Purah exclaimed, "How's everything going?"
"We're getting there. Another hour or so and it should be standing," he added. He noticed the way Link was looking at the Guardian. "Like it? Purah and I have been working on these Guardians for years."
"Oh. So that's a Guardian?" The princess had told him about the Guardians, he'd just never seen one before.
"Uh-huh," Purah nodded. She walked over to where Robbie was and started helping him out.
"Come," Kada said. She led Link and Aryll to a cooking pot not too far from the Guardians. They sat down and Kada pulled out an old-looking scroll. "Since you'll be here all day, I figured it wouldn't hurt if you learned more about ancient Sheikah technology."
Be here all day? That was her plan? Well, luckily for him, it was a lesson he could avoid. "I already know about it."
"You do?"
Link nodded, "Yeah, the princess told me everything I needed to know."
"Well, did you know that we still use some aspects of Sheikah tech in our everyday lives?"
He did not know that.
"We do?" Aryll asked.
"Yes," Kada answered, "Have you ever noticed that when the sun goes down, the lanterns along the road start to light up?"
Link and Aryll nodded.
"Well, that's because of Sheikah tech. When most people think of Sheikah technology, they think of Guardians or Divine Beasts. But we also focused on tiny things, like lighting. Link, when was the last time you lighted the lantern in your room?"
"Never," Link answered.
"See? Sheikah technology in work."
"That's cool," Aryll marveled.
"Isn't it?" Kada smiled, then sighed. "Well, since you talked to Her Highness, you already know everything you need to. However, we are making progress with the Guardians. Perhaps you would like to stay and watch."
"I guess," Link muttered.
"Can I stay?" Aryll asked.
"Of course," Kada answered, "But both of you, don't get in the way. We're still testing these things," Kada said, then started to leave.
"Yes, ma'am," Aryll said before turning to Link. She and Link spent the next few hours talking about miscellaneous things and whatever came to mind. Aryll had to leave, saying she had a job of sorts in Castle Town. She was a Cucco tamer. A job to be respected; she was one of the few people who could successfully tame a Cucco. Not to mention, she kind of had her own pet Cucco, so she had to know how to calm one down.
Link was left with no one he knew, on a personal level anyway, to talk to. But Purah and Robbie would come over every now and then and chat with him.
"Cool, aren't they? I've dedicated my life to this, and it'll pay off real soon!" Purah said with a smile.
"I guess."
"You guess? What do you mean you guess?"
Link shrugged slightly. It wasn't that the Guardians weren't nice or anything, the orange they glowed was pretty, but it wasn't something he could focus on all the time.
"Well, get ready to change your attitude soon, mister. These things are going to become your best friends."
Link raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"
"Well, you'll need these when you're fighting the Calamity."
"When I'm…when I'm…" he realized what she said. "When I'm fighting the Calamity?"
Purah nodded, "Uh-huh. These things will distract Ganon, while you and Princess Zelda come to kick its butt."
"Me-me and the princess? I'm-I'm sorry, what?"
"Yup. You're the Hero. Well, you're supposed to be anyway. Didn't Kada tell you that?"
Link felt dread on the inside and was sure his face showed it. "No."
"Are you serious? You're telling me this whole time you just went along with whatever a random Sheikah chic was telling you to do?"
Link slowly nodded.
"You never once—"
"I did it!" Robbie screamed.
Purah completely forgot about Link and went over to Robbie. Link watched the Guardian moving a bit unsteadily. Robbie and Purah said they would have to readjust something to help the Guardian move better. Link watched in silence. He was never once told that he would be the one fighting Calamity Ganon. He only listened to Kada because his vaba told him that the Sheikah was a wise race. Link didn't really know what to do with the new information. He wanted to go back home, but for the time being, his room at the castle would have to settle. He stood up, dusted himself, and was about to start leaving but heard a beep followed by a slight boom.
"What the Farore was that?" Link said aloud.
"Sorry, Link," Robbie said, "We're testing something with the Guardians."
Link looked at the machine and watched as it fired a glowing blue laser into something. It then fired another and then another. Something was wrong. The Guardian fired near Purah, who shrieked as she barely dodged it.
"Robbie, stop it!" she ordered.
Robbie nodded. His attempt to get close to the Guardian failed. It fired a laser at him and he was forced to back off. The Guardian started to fire lasers everywhere, and soon enough, everyone in the area was running and shouting. Link ran behind a tree, quite close to the cooking pot. He stayed there for what felt like hours but was probably only a few minutes. People weren't running around anymore, but screaming was still heard.
Link peeked out from behind the tree and saw that the scientists were too far to stop the Guardian, and the Guardian was firing so many lasers that the guards couldn't do anything. Everyone else was hiding and/or whimpering behind something. He saw the pot lid beside the cooking pot and wondered if he could do something with it. He used a pot lid as a shield before, and they were quite sturdy. Now he just needed something to get the Guardian's attention. He saw a soldier's spear lying on the ground not too far from him. He concluded that a guard dropped it while running away. Lucky him.
Link bent down and carefully grabbed the spear before leaning against the tree again with it beside him. He saw the pot lid again and took a deep breath. He only had one shot at this and he refused to mess this up. He dashed toward the pot lid and then threw the spear at the Guardian. It broke upon impact. He picked up the pot lid and the Guardian locked on him. Link focused on it himself. The Guardian fired and Link parried.
He then heard mechanical creaking and something crashing. He let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding and looked at the pot lid. It was badly singed in the middle. He barely touched the lid's center before it broke away. An inch wide hole now in the center.
If this thing was any thinner, I could've been killed, Link thought. He shuddered at the notion.
He heard people making quiet remarks that soon grew louder. Purah and Robbie came out from their hiding places and went over to the Guardian. They started talking about plans to repair it and ensure something like this didn't happen again. No one seemed to realize that he was the one who stopped the Guardian. Not that he wanted the recognition. He didn't want to give the Sheikah another reason to believe he was the Hero. He placed the lid on the ground and started walking away.
"Link!"
It was Princess Zelda's voice. Link turned around and saw her running towards him.
"Link, I saw everything!"
Of course, you did, Link thought, Out of everyone to see me, it was you.
She stopped in front of him and took a moment to catch her breath. "I was in my study and I heard screaming. I come outside and next thing I know, you're there. Stopping the Guardian. Those lasers are ridiculously fast. How did you do it?"
"A pot lid," Link answered.
"A…a pot lid?!"
"I parried."
"You parried? How did you time it so well?"
"I was lucky."
"Oh, please," the princess scoffed, "Something like that, isn't just luck. What's your secret?" She took a step towards Link, who took a step back.
"It really is just luck," he mumbled.
Zelda sighed with a slight huff, "If you insist."
"Sorry."
"No, you're fine, it's just…I don't understand why you would blame it on luck. Things like that don't just happen because of luck. And with a pot lid, too."
He saw Purah and Robbie heading towards them. He didn't want to be involved in the upcoming conversation. He pointed in the direction he was heading. "May I?"
"Huh? Oh, my apologies. I didn't mean to hold you up."
They started going their separate ways. However, he was still close enough to hear the princess say.
"A pot lid. Incredible. Truly incredible."
Why was she still marveling about it? He heard Purah, Robbie, and Zelda's voices overlapping. This was going to spread just as fast as him being a Gerudo did. He felt like this was going to be used as an excuse for Kada to drag him off for more training. Or even worse, one of those two will tell the princess about his destiny. It wasn't that he didn't love Hyrule, particularly his home and family, but he didn't want to fight the Calamity because he knew he wouldn't survive fighting the Calamity. But what he just did proved he had…something in him that would survive fighting it.
Goddess of the Sands, please, Link thought, help me. I can't do this. I just want to go home. Link then remembered his promise. "Stay strong for Vaba, Link," he said to himself. He took a deep breath. Hylia didn't let him be found for nothing. He was found for a reason. And if fighting Calamity Ganon was that reason, then so be it. Of course, being told more than 'you were destined for greatness' would've been nice. Link continued walking for a bit longer before deciding that it would be best if he just stayed in his room. After everything that happened a few minutes ago, he just wasn't in the mood for dealing with people.
He made it to his room, locked the door, and crawled onto the bed. He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. He was the Hero. What did that even mean? He read about the Hero who helped Nabooru. The Hero of Time or something. Regardless of which Hero, it didn't change the fact that Hero died over 10,000 years ago. Then there was the Hero from 10,000 years ago. There was debate over that Hero's race. Some believed he was Hylian, some believed he was Gerudo. Link thought he was Gerudo. And that wasn't because he was raised by the race himself, it was because Kada showed him a tapestry that had a rough image of the Hero. Judging from that alone, that Hero was a Gerudo voe.
Link thought about what he would have to do. Fighting Calamity Ganon felt impossible. But he had to be able to do it, right? He was the Hero after all. Well, maybe he wasn't. Maybe Purah's tongue just slipped and she meant someone else. But she started talking about Kada. Maybe he was. Link went over this again and again to the point where he was starting to feel mentally drained. An endless cycle of whether or not he was the Hero, fighting the Calamity, and surviving fighting the Calamity.
The blue and gold sheets he was on started feeling more comfortable. Link managed to get off the bed and went to the desk. He took off his shoes and placed them by the desk leg. He then lazily took off his headband, the jewel scrunchie thing, and choker-like thing—he had no clue what you would call those—his earrings, vambraces, greaves, and pauldron, and was soon left wearing the actual clothing part of his desert voe armor—save for a gold band on his arm. Link crawled back into bed, curled up under the sheets, and sighed. Strange, when he felt tired mentally, all he had to do was stand up and move around, but he still felt tired. Maybe it'd be best if he just forgot about Ganon for a moment and rest.
When Link woke up, there was a persistent knocking at the door. It wasn't loud and annoying, but it certainly wasn't going away anytime soon. Link groaned quietly before turning to look out the window to see what time it was. Holy Hylia, it's nighttime? Link thought, I couldn't have been asleep for that long, could I? He looked back at the window. He fell asleep a few hours after noon and he guessed it was now eight. He put his face in his hands, "I can't believe it. I slept for half a day," he groaned. How in Hyrule did thinking about Calamity Ganon exhaust him so much? Link believed it may have been from feeling anxious. He sighed. Whatever the reason, he refused to focus on Calamity Ganon anymore. It clearly took a toll on him.
He got off the bed and went to open the door. He saw it was Lady Urbosa and felt a mix of shock and disappointment. Not in Lady Urbosa, but in himself. He was basically caught sleeping on the job. He thought yesterday was bad, well this day was going wonderfully.
Lady Urbosa seemed to ignore the fact that he was slacking off and said, "Link, get dressed. His Majesty wants to speak to you."
Of course, he does. Why wouldn't he? Link thought, but nodded to show he understood. He got dressed and followed Lady Urbosa to a room that looked like it was a royal version of a living room; King Rhoam was there, along with Princess Zelda, the Champions, and Lord Cyrill. Weird, if Lord Cyrill was here, why wasn't Lady Elfrida? And why did King Rhoam need so many people around just to talk to him?
"Link," Rhoam started, "it's nice knowing you could make it, seeing how long it took for Lady Urbosa to retrieve you."
That was my bad, Link thought.
"I would like to personally thank you for your bravery today. Doing what you did was no easy task."
Revali scoffed.
"If it wasn't for your skill, courage, and impressive speed, my daughter, along with countless others, could've been killed. If there's something you want in return, I can do my best to make it happen."
Link thought for a moment. His request felt selfish, but he should say something about the issue. "Can you stop talking about whether or not I'm stolen? I know you're pursuing it because of political reasons and I respect that. But the Gerudo didn't steal me. My mom showed me where she found me before; it's an hour or so walk from Kara Kara Bazaar. What would be the point of a Gerudo stealing me if she wanted to leave me in walking distance of the bazaar?"
"He's right," Cyrill said and Rhoam turned to face him. "The point of stealing is to keep. If the Gerudo just wanted to abandon him, what would be the point of going through the trouble of stealing him in the first place?"
Rhoam stayed quiet for a moment before turning back to Link, "Although both you and Lord Cyrill have a point, I still need something more than your word."
"Photographic evidence," Lady Elfrida suddenly said.
Everyone panicked, completely unaware of when the councilor entered the room.
"Lady Elfrida," Rhoam started, "when did you come in?"
"Oh, not too long ago actually."
"How did you get in without anyone hearing you?"
"Years of training, Your Majesty. At this point, I might as well be walking through walls. Poof," she made a gesture to emphasize her point. "But as I was saying, photographic evidence should work just fine. Grab a pictobox, take a few photographs, send them to Hyrule Castle in a letter, and that should solve everything."
"With all due respect, councilor," Revali said, "taking photos won't solve anything," Revali turned his head to glare at Link. "Besides, who's to say he won't just take the photos in different locations? Unlike the rest of Hyrule, weather doesn't change there. We won't be able to tell."
"I'm quite familiar with Gerudo Desert. I'll know if it doesn't line up."
"How could you possibly be familiar with Gerudo Desert?" Rhoam said, "The vacations you take are too short for you to get there."
"I have my ways, Your Majesty. But regardless," Elfrida looked at Link, "take the photos with parts of the landscape overlapping. That way, we'll know you didn't change locations. Actually, better yet: get Kada to do it. Tell her I sent you. She'll know what to do."
Link started to feel a bit trapped. She knew Kada. Who knows what else she knew.
Rhoam turned back to face him, "Well, since you and Lady Elfrida both know this person, perhaps it would be best if you consulted her."
Link wanted to zone out; he didn't want to hear anything else. He particularly hoped he wouldn't hear anything about a Hero, or him being the Hero. The conversation went on—excluding him, thankfully. The others spoke of how what he did required the skills of a Champion and yada, yada, yada. Revali then said if Link had even an ounce of a Champion in him, to prove it by doing the royal guard's test, and Link agreed; not because he knew what that was, but because wanted to get out of this conversation as fast as possible. Daruk then joked about Link doing the test, and Link agreed again.
The room fell silent. Lord Cyrill asked if he was serious, and Link said he was. He just wanted to leave. There was quiet talking before King Rhoam said he could do the test tomorrow. Why tomorrow? He would be here a few more days. Link still agreed, though. He just wanted to leave. Cyrill left, saying he would have to make arrangements with a Captain Garren about the test. Link asked if he could leave too. He was given permission, but before he could leave, a large hand blocked his path.
"Little guy, are ya sure about this?" Daruk asked.
Link nodded.
"Well, all right then. If ya need any help, I got your back."
Clearly not, if you're still blocking my path, Link thought; he felt a bit agitated, but nodded again. Why couldn't they just leave him alone? Mipha opened her mouth to say something, but he ducked under Daruk's hand, swung the doors open, and left, passing Purah on the way to his room; she was heading towards the room he was just in. He hoped she kept her mouth shut; the last thing he needed was her saying he was the Hero. Link entered his room and went back onto the bed, groaning and pressing his face into the pillow; he just wanted to leave. He just wanted to go home.
Guest: You're not the first person to guess that, but I'm actually closer to turning 18.
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~
