Chapter 5: Cynophobia
"You don't have to accept if that is not your wish. We can-"
"Ah, count me in, tiny princess!" Daruk interrupted with a wide grin. "I'm the fearless Daruk, after all! And if Hyrule needs my help, I'll gladly lay down my life." After all, he didn't want his dear Hylian friends to die. He didn't want the mountains to be destroyed, either.
"Thank you, Daruk," The tiny princess said with a grateful smile. Daruk nodded sheepishly.
"Not sure if it's Calamity Ganon's fault or what," Daruk began to add with slight concern, glancing momentarily at the knights who followed the princess, "but I hear monsters have been attacking people more than ever lately. At times like these, you shouldn't leave the castle without a horde of mighty Gorons to watch your back." After all, they wouldn't want the princess getting killed!
The princess's smile fell, and she looked down. "You sound like my father. He's going to - or at least, planning to - assign a knight to watch over me wherever I go..."
Daruk was unsure of how to respond. The princess needed to be safe. He didn't see what was wrong with that.
Then a noise jerked Daruk's attention away.
"They really are all over the place, these days," Daruk sighed as he saw the bokoblins. "Huh?" He asked as the bokoblins ran - or, as they seemed to be doing, chasing someone. "Is someone being attacked?"
Daruk huffed. "Cowards!" He turned his gaze to the princess. "Wait here, Princess."
Daruk rushed towards the bokoblins with great haste, pulling the Boulder Breaker from his back. With a mere few swings and pounds, the bokoblins were retreating fearfully.
"Hmph! Spineless little cuccos! No monster stands a chance when fighting me, the almighty Daruk!" Daruk shouted after them. He then laughed heartily.
He heard the clanking knights from behind him and turned. The princess had approached, and was smiling with relief. Then something caught her attention. "Oh!"
She walked off, and kneeled towards something that Daruk couldn't see. "You're safe," She said, arms outstretched.
Then there was a bark, and a terrifying, fury animal leaped at the princess. Daruk trembled as the princess scratched the beast.
"It seems our friend here was the one being attacked." She said as she ruffled the monster's fur. "Precious boy." She turned to look at Daruk, wearing a wide smile. "You saved his life! Huh?"
Daruk's trembling intensified as the beast looked at him with its innocent, lying eyes.
It then let out its ferocious bark.
Daruk collapsed to the ground, hands over his head, and willed his barrier to protect him.
The dog barked, tail wagging, before turning away and making its way home.
"Good riddance!" Daruk shouted after it. "...And stay safe!" He added quickly.
Daruk then turned to Zelda. "I'm sorry you had to see that side of me," He said, scratching his head sheepishly as he looked away, embarrassed. "As a kid, dogs always chased me. I still panic when I see one o' those critters."
I never imagined the great Daruk would have a weakness. Zelda thought, chuckling to herself.
"So… tell me, Princess..." Daruk said slowly.
Zelda tilted her head with a smile. "Yes?"
"Calamity Ganon isn't… uh…" Daruk began with hesitation. He was looking straight ahead, face giving away his awkwardness. "...Some kind of dog monster… " He then made eye contact with Zelda. "...is he?"
Zelda's mouth turned into an 'O,' her eyes wide. Then she began to chuckle.
Daruk joined in, albeit a bit awkwardly.
It was the middle of the night at Hyrule Castle. All was quiet and still, stars shining in the night sky. The kitchen staff had all long since gone to bed.
That was why it was the perfect time for Link to cook something for himself. He knew that the kitchen had a great surplus of ingredients, too, and they wouldn't notice a missing few herbs and spices.
He pulled a small piece of meat from the strange Sheikah tech box - interestingly enough, it used energy to keep the inside cold. This way, meat and some fruits and vegetables could be stored for longer periods of time.
I wish I had one of those, Link thought as he placed the meat in the already sizzling pan atop the stove (Also powered by Sheikah technology. Where have these been all my life?! Link thought enviously.). He also put a few herbs he had found - for extra flavoring - into the pan. When it was done, he would season it, and voila! Delicious dinner - er… midnight snack.
"I wondered if I would find you here," A feminine voice mumbled.
Link jerked his head in the direction of the quiet noise.
There, in the doorway, was a girl. Her scarlet eyes and dirty blonde locks gave away her identity.
"Liari?"
The girl smiled and ran forward, throwing her arms around him. Link grunted slightly at the impact.
The girl pulled back and looked at him disapprovingly. "Where have you been? I haven't talked to you in weeks! Purah's been dumping a lot of work on me, and moved me here to the castle- not that I'm mad, I can see you more often, or at least when you aren't running all over the place and killing stuff - but no one will tell me why, and it's so stressful and infuriating and-"
"You're rambling," Link interjected when he saw this wasn't coming to an end.
Liari sighed. "Whatever. You're an extremely trusted knight and all, right?" Liari asked, before continuing before Link could respond. "Yeah, yeah, you're 'too young to be trusted with such things,' but I know you better than that!"
"That wasn't what I was going to say," Link argued. "I was going to say that my food's done, so give me a second before you keep talking." Liari frowned at him as he moved the food onto a small plate.
"That's all you made?" Liari asked, surprised. "You didn't use all of the meat in the Cryonis Box?"
Oh, that was what the weird Sheikah box was called! Hey, better late than never. "I'm not that gluttonous," Link said, making his voice sound quite offended, though he hadn't felt any offense at all since he was little. "...And I already had dinner a few hours ago."
Liari laughed. "You know, you should be getting your sleep, strong warrior!"
"I slept!" Link protested. "I just woke up about half an hour ago, and felt a bit hungry!"
Liari rolled her eyes. "Can I continue with my rant, now?"
Link nodded as he seasoned the meal.
The room was silent for a moment. "I guess I ran out of things to rant about. But you're acting… weird, Link."
Link looked at her, confused. "How so?"
Liari looked thoughtful. "It just seems like… well, like something's bothering you."
Link winced.
"I'm close, then!" Liari exclaimed triumphantly.
"No, no," Link said, quickly wiping his face clean of emotion. "I accidentally hit my hand on the counter! See?" He raised his hand and waved it in front of Liari's face, too quickly for her to see it.
Liari frowned. "You're a horrible liar."
Link shrugged. "At least I tried." He grabbed the fork and filled plate, before moving to the counter, where there were wooden stools the servants used on breaks. He heard Liari sit beside him as he began to eat.
"So… what's bothering you, then?" Liari asked.
The fork paused an inch from Link's mouth. "Well… have you heard the rumors?"
"Which ones?" Liari asked with a tilt of her head.
"Which ones do you know about?" Link asked, before turning back to his food.
"Hmm… there's one about Purah being insane, but we already knew that," Liari chuckled. "There's another about a Rito who murdered a Gerudo who stole something from her - what that is, I didn't hear. It turned out very messy. There's another about Sheikah being able to read minds-" Link chuckled there, "-And another about the Master Sword being drawn, though I haven't yet confirmed it - Link?"
Link had frozen completely. I'm going to have to tell her.
"Hey, Link?" Liari asked, prodding his shoulder.
Link shook his thoughts away and looked right into Liari's scarlet eyes. "I… I have to show you something."
Liari did not respond, instead regarding him with a curious expression as he walked towards the Cryonis box. He knelt down to the left of it, scooped up the blue and gold scabbard, and returned to Liari after a mere moment.
She blinked once. Twice. Then she looked at him, confused. After another glance at the sword, however, her eyes grew wide in realization.
"You… you were the one chosen?" She asked slowly.
Link nodded, simply and silently.
Liari looked down at her hands, her brow furrowed.
She's probably wondering how desperate the goddess was.
"I am 96 percent positive that your previous statement is false, Master Link."
Sure, Fi. Su- Link was cut off when he saw Liari looking at him, wide eyed.
"It can speak?!" She gasped.
Now Link was the one that was confused. "You can… hear it?"
Liari nodded slowly.
"There is a 72 percent probability that this Sheikah has been blessed with the gift of hearing."
"Well she's not deaf," Link mumbled.
"No, Link," Liari said, shaking her head, her finger trailing down the scabbard with awe. When did she stand up? "I think that the sword means special hearing." She gave Link a meaningful look.
"Wha- oh." Now Link just felt stupid. Well, to be fair, I am.
"That is a foolish line of thinking, Master Link," Fi scolded.
"What?" Liari glanced between Link and the sword, confused.
"The sword can read my mind," Link said. Unfortunately. Now I have too many mind reading friends.
"Is it capable of reading other minds?" Liari asked curiously, prodding the scabbard, head tilted and red eyes shining.
"I am only capable of seeing into the mind of my master. This is due to the eternal bond between the blade of evil's bane and the spirit of the hero."
Link gave Liari a pleading look.
"Hey, don't look at me like that!" Liari laughed, raising her hands defensively. "I don't know anything about spiritual bonds."
Link sighed. "Well then, that's a subject to research. To the library?"
"To bed." Liari corrected. "You need your sleep, child."
"You can't call me a child! I'm older than you!"
Liari rolled her eyes. "Yet you act like a two year old." She had that look in her eyes that said, "What on earth am I going to do with you?"
Link merely sighed.
Warning: Author's Notes spoil for the chapter. That's why it's at the end. Read the chapter FIRST!
Aaaand we have Liari! I'm hoping to give her a better character this time around, and in case you didn't notice, I have not given her any powers (as of now) in this story other than, as you read, the ability to understand the Master Sword. Just to spice things up a little, of course. I'm still working out how it makes sense myself, so for now the reasoning is that she has been blessed by the goddesses or something. If you have a better suggestion, I totally would not mind!
I wonder if Daruk would react the same way to a poof ball of a puppy doggo. You know, like one of those dogs that look like freaking marshmallows? Those ones. Hmm... the world may never know.
By the way, cynophobia is the fear of dogs. It seemed a fitting title for the chapter.
I've noticed that I really haven't been writing Zellie's PoV much. I guess it's just more fun to torture Link (XD). I'm working on putting her in some more. Next chapter (spoiler alert!) doesn't have any of Link's PoV, but somehow I still gave him the spotlight. You'll see what I mean next week. Goodness, I'm so tired right now that I just spelled week as "weak." Weak, amirite? (Sorry, that pun was wea- I mean... lacking in strength.)
I'm replaying Zelda BoTW right now. I just got to Rudania a day or so before publishing. Coincidence? I think NOT!
ANYWAY, moving on. I'm sure you're all very tired of my rambling nonsense. As per usual, review! You catch a mistake? Put it in a review! Spot an obscure grammar error? Put it in a review! See an inconsistency in the plot or a character? Put it in a review! Want to tell me, "Hey, you don't completely suck at this, Ari?" Put it in a review! Hate this story so much that you'd rather stare at the sun for the next three hours? Put it in a- never mind. I'd rather you told me WHY first. THEN you can put it in a review.
REPLIES! (This is going to be a fun one. Your secret review phrase is fire. Pretty lit, right? (Haha why do I torture myself so?))
MeaninglessMayhem: Oh my gosh, YES! I TOTALLY need to do that now!
VengefulCam: I'm glad you enjoyed it! What was the last chapter about again? OH, right, right. Sometimes writing emotions can be difficult, and keeping the characters... well, in character is sometimes more difficult than it seems. But I think I did good... maybe. I think that, when some people write about Mipha, they turn her into someone who is very shy, or someone who is too happy and optimistic. She doesn't seem much like either of those in the cutscenes. Baby Sidon is ADORABLE! ...Well played on the words, there. I applaud you. Thank you for your support! :D
AddyBOTWfan13: I'm glad you're excited! Don't worry, you aren't crazy insert own crazed, twitching eyes. Angst is great. I always feel bad for Linky, because yes, I gave him a very angsty backstory. Poor guy. It's just so much fun to torture him (XD). Mipha is great! *Gasp* Shame on you for having favorites! (*cough* My favorite is probably Purah *cough*) I called it! Sidon fangirls EVERYWHERE! I'm glad you enjoyed last chapter! Hopefully I can make future chapters just as good. Don't worry, I've written far longer reviews (those poor authors XD). Thank you for your support! :D
bladeofthebookworms: Hey, we can't all be brave like Link. The world would get a little too crazy. And yeah, I've got to get you attached to him before I kill him off at the end! ...Woops. Eh, everyone has played Breath of the Wild. They all know where this is going (XD)! Oh my gosh, I am never going to look at that cutscene the same ever again. BABY SHARK, doo dooo, do do do, BABY SHARK, doo dooo, do do do... sorry. I'm glad that the scene withheld SOME seriousness. Thank you for your support! I'm glad you liked it! :D
notaname: It's all good! I've given fake news before, too. None of it comes to mind at the moment, but it's around here... somewhere. I'm pretty sure I have the memory of a goldfish... oh, apparently goldfish have a memory span of up to five months. There we go. I've given false news about goldfish having a five second memory (XD). I don't write the chapter on Monday. I write it throughout the week, polish it on Sunday night and Monday morning, then write the author's note when I'm finished with that stuff. And I actually write one chapter ahead as a just in case precaution. You never know when something's going to stop you from writing! I'm still working on the stringing. I've also realized that I need to work on being more descriptive, and explaining the time between places (if that makes sense). Oh my gosh, I want to put that guy in here now. Maybe I can put his ancestor in. Oh, the ideas! Why, with this power, I can take over the WORLD! Yeah, that is a pretty darn good reference. No reviewer is wasting my time! I'm probably wasting theirs, actually. Give Fi physical form, eh? Hmm... we'll see about that. ;)
Once again, thank you all! It's so interesting to see how there are people all over the world reading this story. Why, there are people from the USA to Sweden! I hope that you enjoy this story!
Once again, leave a review! Any feedback would be WONDERFUL! :D
Sincerely (Might be true, might not - I got tired of coming up with new words to put here),
Ari