Chapter 29: Opinions and Ideals
Liari found herself stumbling to the library, a task far more difficult than it should've been. After all, she was balancing nearly a dozen books in her arms, struggling to see in front of her.
Stupid Purah, Liari thought indignantly. Her mentor was always finding new ways to torture her. Why couldn't that woman return all her stupid books by herself? Some of which had nothing to do with Sheikah technology?
Why on earth would Purah be reading books about anxiety and animal fur?
Liari, who had been ranting extensively internally, hadn't been paying much attention to her balance or the direction she was heading. But despite this, she found herself startled as she ran into something quite firm.
The books tumbled from her arms, the young scientist falling backwards, the breath knocked out of her lungs.
She sat up and shot the stone wall in front of her a fierce glare. Stupid walls, she thought, grumbling. Always in the way when I'm dealing with mountains of useless books.
"Need help there?" a voice asked.
"No," Liari growled, shooting the owner of the voice a glare.
"Well, now," the Sheikah man said, "that isn't very nice. I'm only trying to help, Mistress Liari."
Liari gave him a look that said 'Shut up, or I'll turn your insides into your outsides.' "I am quite fine, Vald, thank you very much," she said, her voice lacking the formal elegance she ought to be using. She just wasn't in the mood today.
Liari began to gather up her mentor's books, and nearly hissed as she noticed Vald pick up some books out of the corner of her eye.
"'The Science of Anxiety and Stress,' eh?" he noted. "That doesn't have anything to do with Sheikah Technology as far as I know."
"Doctor Purah," Liari huffed as she stood up, the mountain of books balanced precariously on one arm, "may focus primarily on ancient technology, but she studies a variety of other subjects in her spare time."
"Ah," Vald said, not commenting as Liari tugged the books out of his hands and placing them on her stack. "You're not in the best of moods today, Miss Liari?" he asked.
She shot him a glare. "I thought it wasn't obvious."
"And why is that?" he prodded.
Liari groaned and made her way down the hall, Vald's footsteps patiently following from behind. "Doctor Purah sent Princess Zelda on a mission I personally asked for. One that is particularly dangerous, nonetheless," she growled. "Meanwhile, she sends me on errands to drop off her ridiculous piles of books at the library."
"Ah," Vald hummed. "So you feel your mentor underestimates your abilities?"
"Somewhat," Liari admitted, albeit a bit angrily. She paused in her march of fury to shift the books in her arms as they began to tip over. "I was excited to finally be apart of such an important discovery… but then Doctor Purah had to go and exclude me."
"Important discovery?" Vald asked, sounding interested.
"We found out what we need to control the guardians," Liari explained nonchalantly, though a layer of irritation still found its way into her voice. "In the core systems, there was damage done to the command processing unit due to the years spent underground. It was a bit difficult to figure it out, but it's a simple enough fix. We have all the parts to repair them besides a mineral found near the base of Death Mountain."
"Command processing unit?" Vald questioned.
"Yeah, yeah," Liari said. "CPU for short. It's a small part of the core that contains some things that we aren't entirely sure we understand, but luckily the part that we don't understand remains intact. Of course, that's only with the one guardian we've been isolating research to, so we aren't sure if that's the case with the others."
"Interesting!" Vald exclaimed with a dramatic flair befitting a certain Rito Champion. "I'd love to hear more! I'll give you some information on that Zonai ruin I told you about before in return, of course - equivalent exchange!"
Liari glanced at the Sheikah man for a moment, curious. "Equivalent exchange?" She was unfamiliar with the term.
"It's a newer phrase that's been gaining popularity in the Gerudo Region," Vald explained as they continued along. "I've spent quite some time there researching their ruins - for example, Arbiter's Grounds. Anyway, the idea of the phrase is that you cannot receive anything without giving something of equal value in return."
"Huh," Liari mused. "I guess it makes sense for something like that to develop in a place like Gerudo Desert, what with the harsh conditions and whatnot."
"Indeed," Vald said, nodding. "Can't even get information down there without some sort of trade, but if you have the right object or information of your own-"
"-you'll get anything you need," Liari finished.
Vald smiled. "Exactly! Certainly a simpler principle, but the one that many of the younger people down in the Gerudo are basing their lives upon."
"It's definitely an... interesting way to look at things," Liari said. She wasn't lying, but she was definitely losing interest in this dumb guy's rant about a single phrase.
"And because I taught you that," Vald said cheekily, "you are entitled to give me some information in exchange."
Liari nearly groaned out loud. This guy was ridiculous and annoying. How did she not notice that at their first meeting? "Well what do you want to know, then?" she asked, barely refraining from grinding her teeth.
"I find that I'm very interested in this 'command processing unit' in the guardians," Vald said, his voice becoming more serious. "Perhaps you could explain it to me a bit more - about how it works?"
"Sure, why not?" Liari grumbled. "It's not like Doctor Purah is having me do much today." She raised the large pile of books in her arms for emphasis.
They managed to leave the castle the next morning, making it past Orsedd Bridge and halfway to Thims Bridge before having to set up camp for the night. Zelda knew that they could've taken a quicker route through the Hyrule Forest Park, but that would require passing through Rauru Settlement. She decided she would much rather take the longer route, and her knight did nothing to stop her.
She watched as her knight started the campfire quickly and efficiently. The sun was a few minutes from beginning to set, yes, but she supposed it was easier to set up camp while everything was still visible.
She noticed that something had changed in her knight now that they were out in the wild. She could just be imagining it, of course… but it seemed as if some tension had left his shoulders.
"Sir Link?" she asked.
After laying out a sleeping mat, he turned towards her, tilting his head silently.
"I…" Zelda didn't know what she should say. She had wanted to break the silence, but if she didn't come up with something, and quickly, the silence would only grow stiffer and more strained.
"...What is it like to kill?"
She immediately regretted the words that came out of her mouth. She had wondered about that question before - after all, she was destined to aid in the destruction of the Calamity - but she had never dared to ask anyone experienced in the area. And now she had voiced it to the one person she was trying to get on better terms with.
Her knight immediately froze in his movements. It looked as if he was holding his breath.
"You don't have to answer!" she said quickly. "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking when I asked the question. It just… came out."
Sir Link plopped down onto the ground a few feet from where she sat, crossing his legs. He released his breath in a near silent sigh.
"It doesn't matter," he stated plainly, the firelight's reflection dancing in his eyes. "I am required to answer you, Your Highness." Zelda winced, but Sir Link did not seem to notice. Her knight looked up towards the sky, staring at the stars that were beginning to fade into the sky.
"Killing is something different for everyone," he said after his moment of silence. "For some, it's a pleasure to spill blood - others see killers as monsters."
After some silence, she realized he would not continue without being prompted. "But what about you?" Zelda asked.
Sir Link jerked his head towards her, the slight tilt of the head returning. She had noticed that it was his way of asking questions, without using his voice unnecessarily.
"How do you feel about it? About killing?" she prodded.
He shook his head. "It is unimportant, Your Highness. My opinion is none of your concern." He spoke the last words with a rehearsed edge. He had said that before in different circumstances. She was certain.
"Well, I'd like to hear it," Zelda insisted. She had gotten herself into this mess, so she might as well come out of it with new information about her knight.
He frowned slightly, surprising Zelda as he looked down at his lap. "Killing is a necessity," he said, Zelda nodding along. That was a reasonable way to look at it.
"But…" Zelda blinked, surprised that he had more to say. "I would avoid it if I could." Her knight looked her in the eye, the fierce blue irises sending shivers down her spine. "Every life has potential and purpose."
She averted her eyes, looked down at her lap. Suddenly, she found herself recalling something he had said what felt like so long ago…
"Leave. More blood needn't be spilled."
"You were merciful to the Yiga that attacked me," she realized, looking up. "Is that why?"
Her knight looked down at his lap. "It is treasonous of me to spare the lives of those who attack you," he said quietly. "My view is that of a coward. They were in no way innocent - releasing them alive only did more harm than good."
Zelda hesitated before she spoke, thinking very carefully of how she would phrase her next question. "If you despise killing so… then why did you become a knight?"
He brought his eyes towards the fire, the reflection of the fiery coils dancing in his dark eyes.
"It is all I am good for," he said simply, as if stating a fact.
A tense quiet hung in the air between them. Zelda didn't know how to respond to that. Hylia, she didn't even know what to think about that.
Her knight stood up, glancing up at the now dark sky. "It's late, Your Highness. You should get some sleep."
The rest of the night was spent in silence, Zelda wondering what the veiled emotion was behind those words. Because whatever that was in his glimmering eyes… she was certain she had seen more than the usual blankness in those fierce irises.
Looks like I'm being spirited off again. I thought summer was over, but of course my family decided to travel on the first three day weekend of the school year! Sometimes it's really tempting to set something on fire. Anyway, that's why this will be updated today rather than on Monday - I will be back Monday night, but it kind of sucks - I had wanted to use that day to catch up (more details on that later) on writing, gosh darn it!
You may have noticed that Liari seems a bit "Out of character" this chapter. That's because I REALLY don't know what I want her to act like. Her entire character is mostly based around her being a rebellious teenager, but (despite being a teenager myself) I am ill experienced in that area. I, unlike Liari, am not/was never very rebellious or temperamental, and that is, essentially, the character I want her to have. But despite that, I also want her to have a soft spot for those close to her. Take Link for example - they're practically siblings, and she is very protective of him, going so far as to curse the goddesses and the Master Sword for binding him to his fate. Soooo... if there are any tips you guys have to keep her character more consistent, that would definitely be appreciated!
I'm kind of stressed about something else, too - I am currently a chapter behind schedule, despite having had two weeks to write the chapter after this one. Weapon has had little to no progress. This is mostly because school just started up again, and despite not having to do much quite yet, it's taken some getting adjusted to and preparing for. It's also because I'm procrastinating more and more with every chapter. I haven't wanted to admit it to myself, but I think that I might be starting to lose inspiration for this story. I've started becoming more and more interested in other fandoms (there's a shameless reference to one in here - if you catch it, you're my new best friend), and I've started getting way more easily distracted by other stuff. There's a whole lot of crap that has been adding up to my lack of progress, and I hate it. I PROMISE I'll get this story done eventually - I hate running into a great stories only to find they have been abandoned for years, so I absolutely will NOT let that happen. So I will keep moving forward, I won't stop now (I've put a heck of a lot of time into this story), but I will be updating every two weeks. This story will be finished, or so help me, I will set my OWN lawn on fire.
Real talk over now. Skip to this point to avoid childish ranting. MOVING ON, I didn't do much editing - I was in a rush to get this chapter out on time (despite the fact that I posted it leaves me with one page after this, I hate my life, why can't I just go yeet the stupid car off a cliff and spend the day writing?), so if you see any errors, I'll do my best to fix them ASAP!
Sincerely (and most apologetically),
Ari~