Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda doesn't belong to me
Link tossed his backpack to the side and jumped onto his bed. Oh, it was good to be home. He spent a few moments reminiscing in his organized mess of a room: a basket filled with monster guts that were doused in perfume, a small pile of weapons and shields, a few jewels and some other things. He missed this place. He heard a knock on the door and sat up as his family entered the room. "Vasaaq."
"Vasaaq," Ender said, sitting on his bed while Kyra stood by the door and Lisha leaned against his desk. "So, how was Hyrule Castle?"
"Busy," he sighed.
"How busy?"
"Busier than Gerudo Town, that's for sure."
Ender leaned toward him with a warm smile. "Did you make any friends?"
"I mean, Champion Daruk likes me, so I guess," Link shrugged. "He wants me to go Goron City so I can become an official Goron Blood Brother."
"'Blood brother'?" Kyra repeated. "That sounds painful."
"Yeah, I know, but I kind of want to do it. Can I?" He looked at his mom.
Ender looked hesitant. "I'll think about."
"Then you'll have the next two weeks to think about it," Lisha spoke up before turning to Ender. "Link's been positioned at the Outpost."
Link wanted to object that he had just gotten home and wasn't ready, but he knew better. His aunt was his commander, so when she told him to do something, he did it.
"Did anything interesting happen?" his mom asked.
There were a lot of things he could list off—too many to recount all at once—so he started out with the biggest news. "I…completed the Test of the Royal Guard."
"Really?" Kyra said, obviously skeptical.
He could hear the disbelief in his sister's voice. Now he wasn't one to boast about his victories, much less talk about them, but he wanted credit where credit was due. "I did," he insisted.
"Prove it."
He grumbled and started digging through his bag; he was tempted to get the Hylian Shield, but decided against it and retrieved his royal shield. "Here," he said as he held it out.
Lisha stared at the shield for a few seconds before managing an astonished whisper, "Oh, wow," and carefully took it from him.
"I thought you were joking," Kyra said, "But while we're on the topic of Hyrule Castle, did you meet the princess?"
"Yeah."
"Was she pretty?" his mom asked.
He blushed. Ugh, why did she have to ask that? After a few seconds, he managed a simple shrug. "I suppose…"
"Ooh!" Both Kyra and Ender squealed.
With a sigh, Lisha said, "You two are so immature." She gave Link his shield back.
"Oh, please, Link needs a nice vai in his life," Ender said.
Whatever his aunt said next was tuned out. Every time he mentioned a vai his age, his mother and sister would always go on asking him about her. Is she pretty? Does he think she's pretty? Is she nice? Is she Gerudo, Hylian, or Sheikah? Does he like her? And so on, and so forth. In all honesty, the questions were stupid because he didn't even know that many vai his age. Well, that was a lie, but that was besides the point.
"Well," Ender started, "we'll leave you to unpack. Then you can tell us all about your new friends."
Link watched his family leave and sighed as he picked up his bag; he started unpacking, either leaving items on his bed or actually putting them away. His hand grazed the Hylian Shield and he decided it would be best to leave it in the bag; there was no way he could hide it in his room. He went downstairs, opened a kitchen drawer, and found a small sack, pulling out a wildberry for a quick snack. He had a bag like this in his room, but he had eaten all the wildberries in it before he had left.
"Link, stop eating. You'll spoil your appetite," his mother said from the living room.
He let out an awkward chuckle before putting the bag away and going into the living room. He told his family about half the things that happened to him at Hyrule Castle; he left out some of the more major details, like being the hero of Hyrule. After that, it was just a small question spree; What was this or that person like? What did you eat there? Was Revali really that much of a prick?
Link sighed heavily as he looked over the East Barrens. One more week of Outpost duty… This sucked. Being the only voe came with disadvantages, among them being put on duty in reclusive areas most of the time. He sighed again and leaned against the Outpost wall. His sand seal nuzzled his side; Link gently pushed him away.
"I can't keep giving you fruit, you know. By the time you're satisfied, we would've gone through a week's rations."
The sand seal seamed to understand and began to fan himself off with his tail. Link sighed and let the shade do its job. It wasn't long after that he heard the barking of another sand seal. He went to the front of the Outpost and saw another soldier coming up with a sand seal of her own.
She skipped the usual greetings and reached inside her bag, taking out several letters and holding them out to him. "Commander Lisha told me to give these to you."
He took them from her with a nod. "Sarqso."
Link watched as she went back to her sand seal and left before deciding to go inside and sit on the bed for a while. He read over the names: Daruk, Aryll, Zelda, and some others. He opened Daruk's letter first and began to read it.
Hey, little guy. I figured it wouldn't hurt to check up on ya, so how are things? Now, we Gorons like keeping things simple, so this won't be long. Just don't forget to visit Goron City so you can become an official Goron Blood Brother. Goron City is hot, and that's just the way we like it! It's usually a more burn-you-to-a-crisp heat, but we've been in a cool period for a few decades now, so it's a dry heat like the desert. I know you'll like that, little guy. Come visit soon!
Link smiled a little before moving on to Aryll's letter. He opened the envelope and saw there were actually two letters inside; one from Aryll, and one from Ryder and Cyrill. He read those two before going on to read Kada's, Lady Elfrida's, Princess Mipha's and finally Princess Zelda's letter. Lady Elfrida wasn't kidding when she said he had friends at the castle. Each letter followed the same pattern; asking him how he was doing, telling him about recent events, among other things.
However, some letters had a different request or demand at the end. Aryll asked him to show her how her name would look like in the style of the 'jeweled' Gerudo alphabet; Cyrill and Ryder asked him to visit so they could duel a (technically but unofficial) royal guard; Kada told him to keep up with his training; Elfrida wished him a happy belated birthday and told him to keep his Spirit Orb polished; Mipha asked him to visit; and last but not least, Zelda asked to be kept up to date with any new feats.
Link put the letters to the side and grabbed a scrap sheet to start sketching. He got half way through Aryll's jeweled name before hearing a strange noise. It wasn't menacing in any way; in fact, it reminded him of music. With the dangers of the desert, however, he knew he couldn't trust it. Link placed the pencil down and grabbed his Gerudo spear before heading outside. He looked around and saw nothing before sighing and going back inside. He looked at the East Barrens through the window before sitting down and resuming his sketching. He heard another sound and grumbled as he reached for his spear again.
Upon heading outside again, he heard yet another noise. He walked to the back of the Outpost and saw nothing, save for his sand seal; he groaned and was about to turn around before seeing some movement in the barrens. Link raised a brow, confused as to what would be there. It couldn't be the Molduking; Lady Urbosa had killed it too recently and the next blood moon wouldn't be for another month or so. He went inside and retrieved a shield before coming back outside. He called his sand seal to him and began to make his way toward the movement.
Now although Divine Beast Vah Naboris could be to blame, it wasn't in the barrens. Instead, it was in some kneeling position on one of the 'spectacles' of Spectacle Rock. He stopped his sand seal beside one of the few sandstone pillars that still stood and slowly looked around. No movement in the sand meant the Molduking wasn't back, and he saw no indication of a person, but shifting winds could be to blame. He sighed and was ready to go back to the Outpost but heard the sound again. It sounded like a chime or bell. He turned around and heard the chime again. He began to head towards the sound and the chime turned into a slight pulsating sound, the pulses growing louder and sounding closer together as he kept going to it. Without realizing it, he made it to the Champion's Gate.
"The Champion's Gate? Then that means…" He turned and saw how far he had gone. He faced the gate again and could hear the pulsating chime far better. He was tempted to follow it but knew that he would be in trouble when his aunt found out he had left his post. But there was something telling him to see this through until the end. He gripped his spear and, using every inch of his willpower, started to go back to the Outpost. He sighed, wishing he had the common sense to bring his sand seal with him to the gate. When he got back the barrens, he got his sand seal and went back to the Outpost.
For the rest of the week, Link still felt the urge to go to the Champion's Gate, so he tried to distract himself by writing responses to the letters, which worked just enough to stop from going. He wondered if the previous heroes had to deal with something similar; there was the Hero of the Sky, who followed a servant of the goddess to the Master Sword. But that Hero followed a physical being, not just some sound.
He sighed and started putting his things back in his bag; it was his last day on duty and he was waiting for the next soldier to come. His finger hit the Hylian Shield at a bad and awkward angle and he hissed in pain as he shook his hand. He usually left it in his bag to hide it from everyone else, but even so it became a constant reminder that he was the Hero. Grumbling, he shoved the rest of his things in the bag and slung it over his shoulder. He went outside and sat down beside his sand seal while he waited; it was a longer wait than he would've liked before he finally saw two sand seals coming towards him. He stood up and started heading back to town, not even waiting for the commander to dismiss him once she arrived. Link knocked on the door to his house and waited for his sister to answer.
Kyra opened the door with a playful grin, "Vasaaq, pipsqueak." Link pushed past her, receiving an annoyed look as he went up the stairs. "Link, wait up!" She ran up the stairs and caught him in front of his bedroom door; after a few moments' pause, she decided to break the ice first. "Mom said I'm cooking tonight, so what do you want for dinner?"
"Is this more practice for your class?"
"Well, yeah, but—hey, don't give me that look! I'm not that bad."
"But you're not good either," he stated bluntly.
Kyra huffed, "Fine. I'll be in the kitchen if you need me."
"I won't," he said and went into his room and tossed his bag to the floor. He went to grab one of his notebooks and flipped through the pages; maybe there were other heroes who had to deal with something similar that he had forgotten about. He groaned when he didn't find anything and put the notebook back. Maybe his case was too specific? He grabbed his bag and started putting his weapons back in the pile before pulling out the letters and placing them on his desk. Before long, he heard the front door open, and quickly went downstairs to greet his mother.
"Vasaaq, Mom."
"Link, you're here!" his mom said with a warm smile. "I'm surprised; you usually run off after being dismissed."
Besides trying to avoid the Champion's gate, he didn't have an excuse for not doing so. "I just needed to know if I could go to Goron City."
"Why do you need to go to Goron City?"
"So I can become an official Goron Blood Brother."
"Oh, right, that. Well, I guess you can go. But on one condition." Ender held up a finger to emphasize her point.
"What is it?"
"That you'll be careful."
"I will," Link nodded.
"Can I come?" Kyra suddenly asked, drying her hands off with a kitchen towel.
Lisha looked at her. "What the—why do you need to go?"
"Ms. Amisa said it's important for a vai of my age to get out there while she still can."
Ender now had a slight smile on her face. "Kyra, sweetheart, you're 20, you have plenty of time. But I guess you can go with your brother. Besides, you can probably teach Link a thing or two about vais."
"Mom!" Link said in slight protest.
"What? It's true. You need to get out there and meet some vai." Ender put her hands on her hips.
"I already know some vai, Mom."
"I mean meet a vai who'd you want to marry."
"Mom, I—"
"Hey, Link, if it bothers you so much, you could always tell us about your lady friend Nakira."
Link quietly groaned at his sister, who couldn't help but chuckle at his blushing response.
"Or Princess Zelda," Lisha said with a smirk.
Link groaned louder as he blushed a bit more; now his aunt was getting involved.
"Oh, poor, Linky," his aunt cooed and ruffled his hair, her smirk now somewhat mocking him.
Link internally winced, remembering that Purah had called him that. He then sighed, hoping his trip would be destiny free, and that he would be able to actually enjoy it.
Link quietly grunted as he climbed another small rocky feature before jumping down. Daruk was at Gorko Tunnel getting breakfast, so Link decided to save Daruk the trouble and was instead going to him. Kyra stayed at Foothill Stable, which he could live with because he was sick of hearing her talk about every other voe they crossed. Okay, she had only talked to three, and only talked to him about those three, but still. He didn't want to hear about them and he couldn't care less. The week long trip to Goron City had been like his trip to Hyrule Castle; strange looks, pointing fingers, and whispers. Kyra asked him why they acted like that and he just shrugged.
"Daruk?" Link called. "Daruk?" He poked his head into a cave and saw no one. He saw a slope heading downward to a small pool of magma with a figure with a blue cloth wrapped around it sitting in front of the pool. Yep, it was Daruk. He used his shield to shield surf down the slope.
Daruk turned around upon hearing the scraping of metal against the ground and gave a toothy grin as he saw his friend. "Little guy!" Daruk raised whatever he had in the magma out as he spread his arms, causing some magma to be flung in the process.
Link swiftly removed his shield from under him and stumbled as he tried to avoid the magma.
"Eh, sorry about that, little guy."
"No, it's fine," Link muttered as he avoided a small pool of magma.
"I was waiting, where were you?"
"I had duty."
"Right when ya got back?"
Link nodded.
"That's rough," Daruk muttered before taking a bite of the object he was holding.
Link looked it over and it reminded him of a nice juicy chunk of gourmet meat. He sighed, wishing he had gone hunting before coming so he could enjoy a few pieces of said meat.
"Want some?"
Link looked at the offer before asking, "What is it?"
"This is prime rock roast. It's the best of the best."
Link subconsciously put a hand to his jaw, remembering the times he had to eat rock-hard food. He was low on supplies and had to cook wood—the fact that that alone worked was surprising. It tasted disgusting and he wanted to throw up. Not to mention his jaw was sore for days. Now although he could be classified as a glutton, just because he was willing to eat something didn't mean he wanted to. He shook his head but thanked Daruk for the offer. They started heading back to Foothill Stable and talked about the test Link would have to take to see if he was Blood Brother material—not that Daruk doubted him. They had to go to Akkala, which, to Link, made part of the trip a waste.
Upon making it back to the stable, Link found Kyra talking to a Hylian voe. Oh joy, I can't wait to hear about this one. Once Kyra joined them, they made their way to Gut Check Rock; the trip took a few days, which Link spent looking at the strange colored leaves and Kyra spent asking Daruk all about Link during his trip at Hyrule Castle. Unfortunately for Link, Daruk was an honest and open guy. That wasn't saying that Link lied, but he had left so much out. All of which Daruk was going to tell Kyra. It also started raining, which made Kyra freak out.
"What is that stuff?" Kyra asked, hugging a tree she was using for cover.
"It's called rain," Link said simply as he and Daruk went beside her. "It's the rest of Hyrule's equivalent to our aquifer."
"But-but why is water falling from the sky?"
Link shrugged before saying, "I don't know, but I think we should get going."
"In this weather?"
"It's drizzling, you'll live." He was tempted to say she was just like Satori, but that would spark a series of questions he didn't want to answer.
Kyra crossed her arms. "Well, then you and Daruk can feel free to go ahead because I'm not moving!"
Link sighed. "Fine. I'll make a fire."
"Good."
"It's not that bad," Link said, warming himself by the fire he had made. He was tempted to leave her behind, but he knew that Kyra was incapable of self defense. His training as a soldier made him feel a bit obligated to help those who couldn't help themselves, a category his sister fell under.
Kyra looked at the dark gray clouds before pouting. "Water should never fall from the sky."
"That's just the way things are out here, little lady," Daruk said with a smile.
Kyra didn't respond aside from rolling her eyes as she removed her shoes and laid down by the fire.
"Huh. Not the talkative type?" Daruk asked Link.
"Not when she's like this."
"Ah."
"Can you two shut up? I'm trying to sleep," Kyra grumbled.
Link shook his head before taking off some of his accessories and laying down himself. "Sav'orr, Daruk."
"Good night, little guy."
When Link woke up, he saw a hightail lizard close to what little remained of the fire. He smiled a little; it reminded him of the ones back home. A few of which he would find on his window sill when the sun was rising. He stretched slowly to avoid scaring the lizard and sighed. He had woken up earlier than the others, and he had nothing to do. At least back home he could sneak off and come back. But if he tried to do that here, he'd get lost. Well, at least he had the lizard.
When Daruk and Kyra finally woke up, they made their way to Gut Check Rock, a large pillar with pieces of metal sticking out. Link and Kyra set their bags by a cooking pot at the base of the pillar. Daruk told Link to wait while he set up the test, so Link and Kyra went to rest by the nearby hot springs.
"So, Link," Kyra started. "what do you think your test's about?"
Link looked at the pillar. It reminded him of a similar area in Gerudo Canyon where he found a Stone Talus. "Fighting…?"
Kyra sighed. "I swear, that's the only thing you care about."
"That's not true. I care about plenty of things."
"Yeah, right. Whenever you come back from leaving so you can 'travel' through the desert, you always smell bad."
"So? It takes a lot of energy to walk and run through ankle deep sand. Not to mention the sun."
"No, Link. If I learned anything, it's that monster's smell bad, and you smell just like them after fighting them."
"I do not!"
"Keep telling yourself that, pipsqueak," Kyra said with a laugh as she leaned back with her hands resting on warm ground.
They stayed quiet for a while, partially enjoying each others company. Link kept himself busy tapping the water, watching the ripple effect in the blue-green water. He then sat up and saw a particularly large area with only trees around the edges. That looked like the perfect area for a large monster to reside. Perhaps a Stone Talus. But there was nothing to indicate a Talus was there, so maybe someone had destroyed it before they got there? Daruk, maybe. He could easily see Daruk beating the ever-living Din out of a Stone Talus.
"Kyra?"
"What?" Kyra grumbled; she had been enjoying the sun not scorching her like it did back home and clearly preferred not to be bothered.
"Do you know when the next blood moon is?"
"Why in the world would you want to know that?"
"I'm just curious."
"No, you're not 'just curious.'" She did air quotes before pointing an accusing finger at him. "You want to fight something, don't you?"
Link hated lying but he didn't want to prove his sister right. "No, I just want to know when the next blood moon is. If it happens while we're here, we should be prepared."
"Sa'oten, Link, you need a life."
"I already have one."
"Then get a better one."
Purely out of spite, Link used his arm to send spring water at Kyra. She shrieked before growling and attempted to push him in the water. He braced his feet against the ground, just enough to stop his sister from pushing him in. He then heard something snap and both of them fell into the spring. Kyra was quick to get out, as she didn't know how to swim—not that it mattered due to the shallowness of the water. Link, on the other hand, decided to enjoy it. He was already soaked, so why not?
"You're so annoying," Kyra grumbled. She then gasped, "My heel!" She picked it up and turned to her brother. "This is all your fault, Link!"
"Relax. You have plenty back home."
Kyra grunted as she threw it at him.
Link yelped a little and moved to avoid the broken heel. He picked it up and offered it to her. "You want this back? You may be able to get your shoe fixed in a town or something."
She growled and snatched it from him. "You're such a pain."
"Hey, I'm not the one who decided it was a good idea to travel wearing heels."
Kyra looked like she wanted to say something but opted for scowling and sat down to evaluate the damage to her shoe. Link relaxed in the water, allowing his thoughts to drift, particularly to Hyrule Castle. He remembered his training with Kada before being dragged off by Lord Cyrill to deal with his bruises. He then remembered Lady Elfrida's bruises. Actually, now that he thought about it, the day that she gave him the Hylian Shield, her injuries were basically nonexistent. Maybe she used hearty elixirs; they were good for dealing with injuries and—wait, why didn't he use hearty elixirs when Kada hurt him? He groaned at his stupidity. He then heard something and looked to see a Goron he'd never seen before.
"Are you Link?" the Goron asked in a gruff voice.
Link nodded and started to get out of the water.
"Hmm, I was expecting someone bigger. But if that's the case, is your puny Hylian body ready?"
"Uh, yes…?"
"Good! 'Cause we're gonna crush your bones into dust, goro."
Link and Kyra looked at each other. Maybe it'd be best if he waited until he was older to become an official Goron Blood Brother. He still had a lot of things he wanted to do. Like, live.
"Come on."
Link hesitantly followed the Goron to the pillar, with a curious Kyra following close behind. Link knew his sister wasn't the type, but if this test involved the possibility of him breaking a bone…at the very least, he knew Revali would've loved to see this. Link listened to the Goron's explanation. At first, the test sounded easy enough; he was just climbing. Then he was told he had to collect a certain amount of rupees before reaching the top within the given time. It was also known as the Gut Check Challenge. Link took a few moments before deciding he was ready.
The test was far easier than the Test of the Royal Guard, but it was also far more tiring. After a few hours of climbing, Link pulled himself over the top of the pillar and was left gasping and panting. He had completed the Gut Check Challenge with ease. But then Daruk convinced him to try the Super Gut Check Challenge, and that…that was the real test. After that was finally over, he rested his hands on his knees and tried to slow his breathing.
"Nice job, little guy!" Daruk exclaimed. "You completed that as if it was nothin'!"
"I…I did?"
"Yeah! You're a Goron among Hylians, brother."
"'Brother'?" Link repeated, his exhaustion subsiding slightly.
"Yeah. As of now, you're an official Goron Blood Brother, little guy."
"Nice. Ohh, I don't want to climb back down…"
Daruk laughed a little, and gave Link a pat on the back, nearly knocking the poor boy into the ground. It took Link about an hour before he was finally ready to climb down. He and Daruk made their way down and Link found his sister nodding off by the cooking pot.
"Oh, there you are," Kyra said with a yawn. "Sorry I wasn't watching, but I'm not interested in seeing you do nothing but climb for three hours. Also, it's rude to keep a vai waiting. Here I am, waiting for you to come down, and you just decide to stay up there!"
"Sorry," Link muttered.
"I would've went back to the stable, but I decided to stay. Despite me not caring about your 'test.' And you thought you were going to fight," she said with a slight sneer.
"I fought when I did the Test of the Royal Guard, I figured I'd do the same here."
"You need a life, Link."
Link grumbled. They had the same argument earlier. "Says you. You came to meet voes and you've only talked to three."
"Four!"
"That doesn't change anything! I accomplished more than you in three hours than you did in a week, and all I did was climb."
Kyra scoffed and started digging through her bag.
Link shook his head before looking at Daruk. "Daruk, can I ask you something?"
"Of course, brother."
"It's about that area with the trees around it, did any monsters live there before?"
"Oh, yeah. This large black Hinox used to be there, why do ya ask?"
"What's a Hinox?" Kyra asked.
"It's just a monster, don't worry about it," Link said before looking back at Daruk. "So, is there any chance that I could fight this Hinox next blood moon?"
Daruk laughed and patted Link's back. "You're ready to fight monsters left and right, aren't ya? I like your style. But the next blood moon won't be comin' for another month."
"Dang."
"But, hey, didn't Mipha want you to visit Zora's Domain or somethin'?"
"Well, yeah, but—"
"Perfect! We can go and visit her while we wait for the next blood moon. And who knows, with a bit of luck you may find a black Hinox there instead!"
"Uhh, sure, why not."
"Because I want to go home," Kyra growled.
"Then you're free to leave."
Kyra scowled and turned her attention back to what she was doing.
"I think we should leave first thing tomorrow mornin'," Daruk said. "It's a long trip to Zora's Domain."
Link nodded slightly and sat down by the cooking pot as Daruk joined him. Kyra seemed annoyed, but otherwise ignored them. Not that her annoyance changed anything, because the next morning, she was still following Daruk and Link to Zora's Domain. As they got closer, more and more water appeared and they soon arrived at the Lanayru Wetlands. The road to the domain was more difficult to traverse through than expected; it had rained before they started, leaving the trail slippery. And being that they all lived in the hottest and driest areas of Hyrule, they were hardly prepared for this. Mainly Kyra, as heels didn't provide a lot of support.
When they finally arrived at the domain, it was nighttime. Link groaned, and dragged his feet against the luminescent floor as he headed towards the inn. Daruk said the trip to Zora's Domain took a while, and he did expect it to take a few days, but that was from Akkala to the wetlands. He didn't think it'd take three days to get to the domain from the wetland alone.
"Hang on, little guy, dontcha wanna see Mipha first?"
Link blinked and sighed. His ankles were sore and he wanted to collapse on a bed. "I guess, but can we make it quick? I want to sleep."
Daruk nodded and started heading up the stairs at the side of the domain.
Link turned to face Kyra. "Hey, Kyra, want to meet the Zora princess?"
She gave him this look that said she would kill him if she had to take a single step that didn't lead towards a bed. "Tomorrow," she grumbled, and headed towards the inn.
"Never mind," Link muttered and started following Daruk. He wasn't going to bring himself to run, he was too sore for that, not to mention that every other step hurt. He saw Daruk head back downstairs, and Mipha waiting for him at the top of the stairs with a patient smile.
"I appreciate your visit, Link," she said quietly, her smile growing a little.
"You can say sarqso to Daruk. It was his idea."
"Well, I still appreciate it. And now that you're here, do you have any plans of what to do?"
Link shook his head. "Not really. We came here to see if we could find any Hinox."
Mipha's smile faded as she asked, "A Hinox? Why would you come here for that?"
"Well, um… Okay, I asked Daruk about this area in Akkala and he said that there used to be a black Hinox there, and I wanted to fight it, but I need to wait for the next blood moon, so…"
"So you came here in hope of finding a black Hinox to fight. I see."
"I'm sorry, I—"
"No, no, no! You're fine, you're fine!" she blurted, and then seemed a bit embarrassed from the outburst. Her voice returned to its normal volume. "I'll help you find the Hinox. We do have a few around here, but I'm not sure whether or not we have any black ones around."
"Well if you do, make sure to tell me."
Mipha nodded. "Of course."
Link turned, ready to go to the inn. "Sav'orr."
"Um, sav'orr to you too, Link."
Link knew that Mipha didn't actually know what that meant and just repeated what he said. He went to the Seabed Inn and, despite wanting to get a promising water bed, paid for a standard bed. He sat on the edge of the bed and dug through his bag; Good, he had remembered to pack his armor. He took off a few accessories and placed them in the bag. He hadn't been wearing any armor on this trip, mainly open vests and pairs of sirwals similar to the ones he wore with the desert voe armor. Maybe he'd wear the armor tomorrow, in case they found a Hinox. He removed any remaining accessories and took off his shoes before laying down. He was now starting to wish he had paid the extra 60 some rupees for the water bed, but fell asleep quickly regardless.
Link groaned and tugged on the collar of his tunic. It was completely inappropriate for desert travel, but it was all he had. Well, canyon travel, technically. He didn't explore Gerudo Canyon often, so he had decided to today. He would've climbed, and maybe get a peak of what the Sheikah scientists were doing, but his clothes were so uncomfortable that he didn't want to bother. He continued walking and soon felt a hit to his back. He fell onto his stomach and rolled onto his back only to have a foot press into his stomach.
"It's great to finally see you again," the Yiga blademaster said, resting his windcleaver on his shoulder.
Link tried to get enough air to ask what he meant and could tell that the blademaster was smiling from his attempt.
"I know you don't remember me, but I remember you," he said, pointing the windcleaver at Link. "You see, no one has ever escaped from me without either perishing or joining the Yiga Clan, but then you did. And with the help of a traitor too. So this is how it's gonna work. First, I kill you, then find the traitor who helped you, and kill him. Sound good?"
What kind of sick question was that? Of course that didn't sound good! Link wanted to kill this voe himself.
The blademaster then raised his windcleaver and stabbed it down.
Link woke with a jolt. He tried to steady his breathing and felt his chest. There was no windcleaver or cuts but he still felt some pain. He brought himself to sit up and saw the other inn residents sleeping. He could also see sunlight starting to reflect off the waterfalls. He leaned against the headboard and recalled the nightmare. The Yiga blademaster clearly hated him, as well as whoever the traitor was, a traitor who had apparently helped him.
Link laid back down and covered his face with his hands. He didn't want to be killed by a Yiga. And the Yiga knew him, so it may have been someone he met. Why him? He took a few moments before removing his face from his hands. He then covered his head with the blanket and turned on his side. He'd get up later. At least, that's what he planned on doing before hearing Daruk's voice. He internally groaned. Never mind. His day was starting now.
SoundMusician60: Thank you!
Link's blushing over all the vais in this chapter! You can thank my beta reader for that. (Except for the last one. That was me. I figured I should've kept it going.) Honestly, I kind of liked it, so that's why it's still in.
Also, the BotW 2 hype is real!
I hope 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~
