The sun had almost fully set when they finally stopped to make camp, but the group had managed to travel far enough to come to a section that had harder packed earth instead of the desert sand. They all split off into groups to take care of separate tasks. Shad was in charge of food while Shylock, Ashei, Link, and Sheik set up the tents and Auru and Hugh watered the horses and unpacked the bedding.
"Why. Is. This. Stupid. Thing. Not. Working!?" Shylock cried as he got more and more tangled in the tent he was 'helping' set up.
"I take it you haven't had much experience in pitching a tent before." Link said as he attempted to untangle the very annoyed king.
"The girls always finished before I got a chance to help." He replied sullenly. "It's not like I didn't want to help!"
Link finally helped him get free of the confines of the material when they heard Ashei and Zelda giggling behind them.
"What!? Oh come on! That's so unfair when did you learn how to set up a tent!" Shylock complained pointing an accusing finger at the princess and the two completed tents.
"I've had practice since the beginning of this journey." She responded with a teasing smirk. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get better."
"Yeah, after gravity stops working." Ashei added as Shylock made another attempt to hang up a piece of the tent; only to have it pull down the rest, much to the dismay of Link.
"Supper's ready!" Shad called.
"Go ahead I'll finish up here." Link said to which the king sighed but nodded
Dinner was more entertaining than usual as Shylock made sure to regale them with the most outlandish stories he could recall.
"I think I'm going to scout ahead, figure out where we're going tomorrow." Link announced as he finished his plate. "Don't wait up." He added then quickly transformed into a wolf and lopped away.
"Sorry, we probably should have warned you but, Link can turn into a wolf." Ashei said to Shylock
"Ok." Shylock shrugged and took a sip from his mug.
"You don't seem awfully bothered by this." Hugh observed
"Trust me it's not the weirdest thing I've seen." Shylock responded
After they finished cleaning up Shylock, Shad and Auru went to sleep and Zelda took the first watch, going over to stand near the horses leaving Ashei and Hugh next to the fire.
"He seriously didn't know how to put up a tent?" Hugh asked incredulously. "I mean I'd never really gone camping but I knew how to set up a tent."
"Must come from being royalty." Ashei scoffed.
"I guess… So what do you think, and did Zelda offer to do first watch because she wanted to prove herself to Shylock or to wait up for Link?" He asked with a grin
"Link, definitely." Ashei answered immediately
"Yep, oh hey I meant to ask you, what did you and Ciel talk about?" Hugh asked changing the subject.
"Oh I just told him that not to isolate himself and let others help him… Like you. He respects you, he didn't say it in so many words but it's clear he does." She said with a smile, turning so she could look him in the eye.
Hugh laughed slightly. "I was pretty surprised when he hugged me, but I guess I have you to thank for that."
"Well that part was probably because I essentially told him that's life's too short to have regrets, so just do what you think would be best. Although I was as surprised as you were about the hugging thing." Ashei said with a smirk
Hugh was quiet for a while before he responded. "That's pretty good advice actually." He said looking at her. "The not regretting part."
"Well feel free to quote me on that then."
"I'm sure I will." Hugh said quietly, then before Ashei could even register what was happening he kissed her. It was gentle albeit a bit rushed, and over much too quickly for her tastes.
"Wh-what was that?!" Ashei sputtered as her brain tried to catch up
"I was just taking your advice." Hugh replied with a very smug look on his face.
"Wait so, what exactly does this mean?" She asked her face somewhat flushed.
"It means… well I suppose it means I should be asking you if you would you be interested in courting me?" He said nervousness starting to set in.
Ashei looked at him surprised.
"You're not actually surprised are you?" He said, " I mean I haven't exactly been subtle about how I felt about you."
Ashei laughed, taking Hugh completely off guard.
"Of course not, I'm just surprised it took you this long idiot!" She laughed again.
"So it that a yes?" Hugh asked with a wide smile.
"Yes, I'll court you." She answered punching him lightly on the arm. "You'd better make a good boyfriend."
"I'm sensing an or else at the end of that statement." Hugh said raising an eyebrow.
"Yep, and I'll let you fill the rest." She smirked and grabbed hold of his vest pulling him down to her level and stealing a kiss of her own. Letting go she stood up and walked toward her tent pausing only long enough to look back at Hugh's flustered state.
"Goodnight Hugh." She called behind her before slipping into her tent.
It took all of Hugh's self-control to stop himself from shouting in triumph.
Zelda leaning against one of the trees near where the horses were sleeping. She absentmindedly rubbed her eyes in an attempt to wake herself up, the days of poor sleep beginning to catch up to her. Soft pattering of paws behind her caused her to draw her attention away from the plain around her.
"Everything go ok?" She asked as Link transformed back into a human.
Link flexed his jaw and shook himself to get rid of the residual tingling feeling. "Yeah not bad, they're actually not too far from here, just about a day and a half."
"That's good, I'm glad we'll be able to get some answers soon." Zelda said rubbing her arms to warm herself.
Link noticed and tilted his head. "Are you cold? We could move over to the fire." He offered
"Sure, I'm pretty sure Ashei and Hugh forgot to put it out so it shouldn't be too hard to start up again." She said as they walked over and sat opposite each other and poked at the embers to get it going again.
"You look tired." Zelda said noticing dark circles under his eyes that mirrored her own.
Link chuckled almost darkly. "Yeah, it's those goddess awful nightmares." He said shaking his head.
Zelda hummed sadly. "I was hoping it was just me." She sighed
"The dreams just keep getting worse. I find myself trying to come up with reasons not to go to sleep." Link said staring at the ground.
"I find the same thing, that's why I keep offering to take the first watch." Zelda admitted.
Link watched her stare into the fire, her simple shirt and pants creating a simplistic light show from the crackling flames.
"Oh! I know something you could try." She said suddenly.
"What?" Link asked minorly startled by the sudden remark.
"Well, I mean I like it but not everyone does. Here give me your arm." She said holding her hands out to him.
Link curiously reached out his arm. Zelda gently took hold and moved so she was sitting closer. Pushing up the sleeves she looked up at him.
"My grandmother used to do this to me and I always found that it relaxed me." She explained.
Taking Link's arm with one hand she began gently running her fingertips along his skin, starting at the crook of his arm down to the palm of his hand.
Link shivered at the strange sensation.
"It tickles." He admitted quietly
"Yeah it kind of does." Zelda laughed. "But you get used to it."
Moving back up his arm she flipped her hand over and moved her hands down to his wrist this time using her fingernails. Continuing to repeat these patterns and tracing nonexistent shapes over his skin Link felt his eyes sliding closed. Jumping he shook himself awake.
"Oh sorry, did I hurt you?" Zelda asked worry lacing her voice.
"No no! I just was falling asleep." Link smiled embarrassedly.
Zelda laughed. "I guess it was working then."
"Yeah it was certainly interesting." Link agreed.
Zelda blushed and brought her hands back to her lap. "Well I always enjoyed it, so I thought I would try it."
Link smiled then reached over and took hold of her hand, pulling it gently toward him.
"Wha-?"
Link shushed her soothingly and turned her arm so the underside was facing up. Carefully removing his gauntlets he began to attempt to mimic Zelda's actions. Zelda blushed but sat still. The first few minutes were rougher and tenser than Link had hoped but after a bit he began to figure out the technique and could feel Zelda relaxing. He was so wrapped up in keeping his fingers light that when he looked up he saw that Zelda's head was drooping and bobbing as she tried to stay awake. Not wanting her to fall over he let Zelda's arm go back to her lap and moved next to her.
Before Zelda had a chance to say anything he carefully picked her up and began walking towards the tents.
"I'm not that tired." She protested weakly.
"I know, but you should get some sleep now, I'll keep watch." He responded as he set her on her mat. On a moment of impulse he bent down and placed a soft kiss on her forehead before slipping out of the tent into the night.
"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Ashei asked for the third time that morning.
Link just huffed, casting an annoyed glance behind him.
"He got us to the dragon, I'm sure he can get us to the Koni." Shad said tiredly rubbing the sleep from his eyes
"It's just that this place is completely flat! Don't you think we would be able to see a huge group of people?" Ashei protested
"Link said it was a day and a half away, that's plenty of time where we wouldn't see anyone." Sheik added.
"Fine, fine." She relented
"I don't understand what you all are so bothered about, it's not like Arnold is going to be able to get to the relic any faster than we are." Shylock chimed happily
"Ashei just isn't too fond of horseback riding for long periods of time." Hugh called back
"It's not the riding, it's just not having anything interesting to do." Ashei groaned
"Oh! I have an idea! Why don't you play a game?" Shylock said excitedly
"Like what?" She sneered
"There's lots of games! One is where one person chooses an object and everyone else has to guess what is is."
"Oh yeah? Ok I'm thinking of one... Are you going to guess grass? BECAUSE THAT'S LITERALLY THE ONLY THING AROUND HERE!" She snapped
"Yikes! Fine if you're not going to play right then I don't want to play with you." Shylock huffed crossing his arms.
"Hey Ashei." Hugh called
"What!" She snapped again.
"Ta-da~" He sang as he proudly displayed a flower crown that he had clearly just made.
Ashei stared at him dumbfounded for a second before beginning to laugh.
"Where did you learn to do that?" She giggled, her earlier anger completely dissipated
"My sister." He said simply then placed the crown on his head. "What do you think? does it suit me?" He asked with a smirk, turning so she could fully see it placed on his spiky hair.
She covered her mouth to stifle another laugh. "It might not be the most flattering thing I've seen on you but it is very cute."
Hugh laughed along with her.
"Hmm, maybe you're right." He said taking it off and guiding his horse over next to her's. "This would be much better." He grinned as he reached over and placed it on her head.
Ashei rolled her eyes. "It's not really my style." She said carefully touching it.
"I disagree. I think it matches perfectly with your wide variety of swords and daggers." He joked. "But! It ruins the whole effect if you don't smile." He said trying to sound like a fashion advisor.
Ashei smirk instantly fell back into a frown but her cheeks were a bit redder.
"No, no like this!" Hugh said then demonstrated a wide smile.
Ashei snickered. "What like this?" She asked before pulling her mouth into what almost looked like a grimace.
"Mmm, not quite try again but less like you want to kill someone." Hugh instructed
Ashei rolled her eyes again and changed her 'smile' into something that looked more normal.
"Getting there, getting there, but you have to think about something happy, then you'll be smiling with your whole face not just your mouth." He said
"Ugh! This is stupid." She sighed, looking away.
"No, no you're so close try again!" Hugh pressed
"Fine." She relented, smiling a smile that was very close to genuine.
"Beautiful." Hugh beamed before zipping in and kissing her.
"Hey!" She cried as he pulled ahead of her laughing. "Don't think you can just get away with doing that anytime you feel like it!" She called after him.
"Well you're going to have make me stop then." He teased.
"Oh yeah?" She responded and urged her horse to chase after him.
The rest of the group watched as they ended up getting involved in what was almost like a game of tag but with a lot more yelling.
"It's about time." Shad muttered. "I was wondering if he would ever get around to asking her."
"Couldn't have said it better myself." Auru smirked
"I see them." Sheik called out. By this point it was early the next day and the morning light was glinting off the wagons of the Koni.
"What really? Man you have good eyes." Ashei said. "Where's Link's hawkeye mask? I want to take a look." She rode over next to Epona and grabbed said mask from Link's pack.
"Wow there's quite a few of them." She stated as she looked through the mask.
"Yeah? How many?" Hugh inquired
"Couple hundred. Probably about 70 wagons, and a ridiculous amount of horses." She commented
"Told you they love horses." Shylock sighed
"Have they spotted us yet?" Hugh asked
"I can't tell, I'll let you know though." Ashei said
"Hey guys." Link said as he transformed back to his human self. "I figure it might be easier if I don't have to explain the whole wolf thing." He said as he mounted Epona
"Welcome back to being human, I stole your mask." Ashei remarked.
"I noticed, see anything interesting?" He asked
"Well, there's this absolutely adorable toddler, she keeps falling over but other than tha- oh wait... They've spotted us." She said bringing her hand up to shade her eyes. "Yeah they're waving and pointing at us."
"Hmmm, took them longer than I thought it would." Auru said.
"Uh, guys? They look angry." Ashei interjected
"Angry?" Shad asked
"Yeah, like mounting horses with weapons kind of angry." She said her hand creeping toward her bow.
"Why?" Link questioned
"How should I know?" Ashei demanded
"What should we do?" Hugh asked
"Well let's not attack unless it's in defence, we do still need their help." Link said grabbing his sword.
"HEY! They're shooting arrows at us!" Shad cried as he ducked, narrowly dodging said arrow.
"Ok no way, I'm not going to let them just shoot at my friends, I'm going in." Ashei growled charging her horse forward, her own bow drawn.
"Ashei! Don't hurt them!" Auru called after her, spurring his horse to follow.
Link frowned and took off his shield, he rode back and handed it to Shad. "You and Shylock hang back, try not to get injured." He commanded. "Sheik, Hugh we'd better go help, they've already made it clear that they won't hesitate to hurt us." He said before sending Epona after Ashei and Auru.
The first wave of arrows reached Link and he started to regret not having his shield. In that moment though He remembered Shad's gift and activated it just in time to knock the arrows away.
The first Koni that got close enough swung his sword at Link which he quickly parred and cut the belt holding the saddle making the man have to jump free to avoid falling with the saddle. By this point three other riders had circled him, two men and a woman. One of the men had his bow trained on Link so he went after him first. The man shot an arrow at Link's shoulder which he dodged before slicing the bowstring making it snap back. This temporary stunned the man giving Link time to kick him off his horse.
'He aimed at my shoulder so they clearly don't want to kill us, but that still doesn't tell me why they're attacking us.' He thought to himself as he circled the two remaining riders.
The woman who was closest slashed at his legs causing him to back away. He realized too late that she wasn't planning on actually hitting him she was just pushing him toward the second man. Link looked back just in time to see the man pull him off Epona by the neck of his tunic. Though the man didn't look particularly bulky he was clearly exceedingly strong as he was able to hold Link in the air with one hand.
"Why are you attacking us?" Link demanded as he tried to pry the man's fingers away.
"You stole from us!" The woman answered riding over and aiming an arrow at his back.
"What are you talking about?! We've never been here before!" Link protested.
"The red-haired one, the one traveling with you, that is the one she is referring to." The man said
"Oh for goddesses sake." Link muttered shaking his head. "Sorry about this." He said before flipping up and kicking the man solidly in the chest with both his feet. The surprise caused the Koni to drop Link. Link quickly got to his feet and drew his bow, shooting an arrow that shattered the wood part of the woman's bow.
"I need to go have a word with Shylock, I'm sorry if I hurt either of you in some way." Link called behind him before jumping onto Epona and riding away. On his way he noticed Sheik was currently completely surrounded by Koni.
"Hey! A little help?" She called
"Jump on!" Link called back as he rode around the circle.
Hoisting herself up so she was standing on the saddle of her horse she jumped over to the nearest horse before leaping onto the back of Epona.
"Ok so any idea what's going on?" Sheik asked
"Apparently Shylock stole from them, hence the attacking." Link sighed. "What's the status of Hugh, Ashei, and Auru?"
Sheik was quiet for a moment and she twisted around to look. "Ashei and Hugh have teamed up but it looks like Auru has come to the same conclusion as us."
"You mean he's following us?" Link asked
"Yeah, he seems a bit ticked off."
"I almost feel sorry for Shylock. Do you mind calling Hugh and Ashei? We might as well regroup." Link asked.
"Sure." Sheik shrugged then let out an ear-piercing whistle. After Ashei and Hugh turned she motioned for them to follow.
Link pulled Epona to a stop next to Shad and Shylock.
"Ah the fierce warriors return!" Shylock said jovially. "How'd it go?" He grinned
Link and Sheik just looked at him with very unimpressed expressions.
"What?" Shylock asked defensively
"You stole their horses?" Auru demanded as he rode up next to them.
"Excuse me?" Shylock exclaimed sounding very insulted. "I did nothing of the sort!"
"Well that's what they're saying." Link said jerking a thumb behind him to the rapidly approaching Koni.
"Well then they are mistaken." Shylock huffed. "Stealing is bad." He said crossing his arms. "I traded for this horse."
"Really?" Link asked not seeming very convinced.
"What did you trade for it?" Sheik asked also not sounding convinced.
Shylock coughed uncomfortably. "Well actually I more borrowed it." He said looking away.
"Seriously?" Sheik deadpanned.
"Yeah..." Shylock mumbled.
"Did you have any inclination of giving it back at some point?" Link sighed.
"Yeah! Well, eventually." He responded looking at the ground
"Did they know that you had 'borrowed' it?" Auru inquired further
"Umm, yeah, I mean someone probably did." He said his voice getting progressively quieter.
"So you did steal it." Shad said bluntly.
"No! Stealing is wrong! I would never do that!" Shylock insisted and Link got the impression that if he wasn't on a horse he would have stamped his foot, either way he crossed his arms and pointedly looked away to show that he was insulted.
"We've got incoming." Auru announced as Ashei and Hugh arrived closely followed by the Koni.
The Koni spread out and circled them, a few with bows drawn.
"Give us the red-haired one and we'll leave you alone." One of them called out.
"No don't give them the red-haired one!" Shylock called back before quickly positioning himself behind Link to which Link just rolled his eyes.
"Look we don't want any trouble." Auru responded with a gesture at their group.
"You should have thought of that before you stole from and attacked us." The Koni countered
"Didn't steal anything!" Shylock broke in again.
"Shylock would you please be quiet." Auru hissed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
Shylock sullenly shrunk into himself but was still muttering about not actually stealing.
"You attacked us first." Auru retorted. "We were simply defending ourselves, and as for the stealing, there seems to be some disagreements as to what actually happened." The Koni looked like he was going to break in but Auru raised a hand to silence him. "That is why I would like to respectfully request to meet with the one in charge so these matters can be resolved peacefully."
The Koni sighed defeated. "What you say is fine." He said. "But we take the horse." He then indicated for some of the others to take the horse.
"Wha- hey!" Shylock protested.
"You'll ride with me." Auru said leaving little room for argument.
The Koni were all very quiet as they escorted them back to the group of wagons and tents. The people at the camp as seemed quite friendly a strong contrast from the ones who attacked them; many even waved at them as they passed. A few of the children ran after them laughing and weaving In between the horses clearly not afraid of getting hurt.
Link took the time to observe the people as they passed. They didn't seem to have a distinct hair color like the Gerudo, though he did notice that there were a good number of people with dark brown almost black hair. They all seemed quite tanned, though that was to be expected seeing as they were outdoors a great deal. What stood out the most was that there were horses just wandering around amongst the people, they weren't tied up or even saddled but they seemed very content to stay with the Koni.
"Wait here, I'll go get my father." The man who had spoken to them before said as he got down from his horse and went into one of the tents.
A second later the man returned with what Link assumed what his father.
"So... You're the troublemakers. Took longer to bring you in than I thought it would." He said his voice gruff but not unkind. He appeared to be in his mid to late fifties, his long braided hair a dark brown with a tinge of red as well as gray. He stood tall, taller than Link and almost equal to Hugh but he was neither muscular or skinny. His face was solemn and stoic but he had smile wrinkles at the edges of his brown eyes.
"They put up a fight." The son said calmly as an explanation. Now that Link knew they were related he could definitely pick out the similarities, the hair color was almost the same but without the gray. His face was very impassive but held a steady self-assurance.
"Still took longer than I was expecting." The father said, though he didn't seem upset, just was stating a fact. "We don't need them all here, go take the woman and get her injury bandaged." He instructed
Hugh looked over at Ashei with a shocked expression. "Oh my gosh, I didn't even realize! I'm so sorry are you alright!?" he asked worriedly
"Yeah I'm fine, I barely noticed myself." Ashei answered glancing down at her arm where a medium sized gash was visible. "I must've got hit by one of the arrows." She shrugged.
"I'll go with her, if that's ok with you?" Hugh asked the father.
"That's fine, make sure she's well cared for." He answered dismissively.
"Thank you." Hugh nodded and followed Ashei
"Now, why don't we go inside and see if we can't sort out this misunderstanding." He said "Oh, but not him." He said as an afterthought, pointing a finger at Shylock, then he turned and reentered one of the tents.
Link, Shad, sheik, and Auru filed in after him, ignoring the weak protests of Shylock. As they entered they quickly found that the tent was quite spacious on the inside.
"Have a seat and tell me each of your names." The man said gesturing to the blankets around a small fireplace in the middle of the tent.
Auru cleared his throat and went first. "My name is Auru, and I want to assure you tha-" he started
"We'll get to that in a moment." The father said cutting him off. "Right now I simply want to learn your names."
"Shad." Shad said breaking the silence that had followed his statement.
The man nodded and turned his attention to Link.
"My name is Link and this is Sheik." Link said answering for both of them in case Zelda didn't want her identity revealed.
"The boy cannot speak for himself?" He asked calmly
"Sheik doesn't talk very much." Shad answered quietly.
"Fair enough, well it's only cordial for me to introduce myself as well." He said with a small smile. "Chief Aatos at your service."
Link looked around but was surprised to find that the younger man had not followed them into the tent.
"If you're looking for my son, he has other things to do, and I didn't feel that you would be much of a threat to me. After all, you attacked out of self-defence didn't you?" He phrased it as a question but said it such a way that he clearly knew the answer.
"Yes how did-" Auru started.
"And let me guess, you also had no knowledge of Shylock's 'trade' agreement before coming here?" Aatos continued as he pulled a small pot off the fire and poured the contents into a small mug. He glanced up at their confused faces and smiled slightly. "I could hear you talking about it since you entered our camp, it's not very difficult to put the pieces together." He said in explanation.
"So... You're not mad?" Shad asked cautiously
Aatos raised an eyebrow. "I guess it depends on how you react to my proposition."
"And what is your proposition?" Auru asked
He smirked and took a drink from his mug. "I don't know if you're aware, but the horse Shylock... 'borrowed' happens to be our very best breeding horse. It's priceless in value, and I'm sure that someone made the mistake of telling the king that, which is probably why he chose to take it."
"I have a theory that Shylock is a bit of a kleptomaniac, so it may not have even mattered if someone told him of its value or not." Shad said speaking up.
"A kleptomaniac? Sorry young man, I don't believe I've heard that term before." Aatos admitted.
"Oh, it's a person with the inability to refrain from the urge to steal items. It doesn't seem to matter if the person needs it for money or even because they really want it, they just end up taking things." Shad explained
"Hmm, an interesting idea but regardless of his reason, he did take the horse which leads me to my proposition." He said looking up at them seriously. "If you are willing to return the horse to us - and make no other attempts to steal it or anything else from us, I would be willing to let the matter drop." Aatos said
"That seems incredibly reasonable, we would happily accept your offer." Auru answered.
"Shylock may not agree." Link muttered warningly under his breath
"He's caused us enough trouble that he doesn't get a say, I'll watch him myself if I have to." Auru whispered back.
Link shrugged and let the matter drop.
"Glad to hear that we could come to an agreement. Now why have you strangers come to so much trouble to seek us out? There must be something that you wished to speak to us about." The chief inquired.
"Yes actually, Shylock told us you know about some powerful stones called 'relics'." Link said.
"Relics eh?" Aatos responded with a raised eyebrow
"Yes he said that the Koni are the ones who made them in the first place." Shad added
"The king certainly has interesting ideas." Aatos answered levelly. "Say this were true, what do you want with them?" He inquired, resting his head on the tips of his fingers in a quizzical manner.
"We don't want them, per say, we just want to keep them out of the hands of a crazy arcanist." Shad sighed.
"Are you familiar with the name Arnold?" Auru asked
"I've heard rumblings, nothing solid though." Aatos admitted.
"Well, he's been trying to collect the relics to use their power, and he's been destroying anything that gets in his way. This is why we've come to you, we want to get to the final relic before he does." Auru explained.
Aatos was silent for a moment before replying. "Yes the Koni are responsible for creating the relics, it was many generations before my time however so our knowledge is somewhat limited. But, if you are able to identify the relics this arcanist already has, then I should be able to tell you where the last one is." Aatos nodded smiling slightly.
"I guess we shouldn't have let Hugh leave then, seeing as he's the only one who would be able to identify them." Link smirked.
"Hugh, is that the one who left with your lady friend?" Aatos asked.
"Yes, should I go get him?" Link offered.
"No that's not necessary." Aatos said the looked towards the tent opening. "Gunnar!" He barked, when a man entered he continued. "Gunnar would you be willing to go and collect the stranger that accompanied these people? He should be in the medical tent. Also would you bring me the book of relics?"
"Of course chief, is there anything else?" Gunnar asked bowing slightly
"Yes actually would you get Rajneesh to check on Ava and Pippin? I haven't heard for them in a while and I'm slightly worried." Aatos added
"Will do." Gunnar nodded and stepped back out of the tent.
"My two youngest, they have a tendency to get into trouble when they're left alone for long periods of time." Aatos said with an embarrassed smile.
"I'm just saying, it seems like all we've been doing lately is having dinner with important people and sparing, at least this is a bit of a change of pace." Hugh said as he watched Ashei get treated by the Koni healer.
"I guess, but you're forgetting having those super boring meetings." Ashei agreed then winced slightly when the Koni woman pulled the bandage tight.
"So do you think that we're going to have to stay overnight here?" She asked turning back to Hugh
"Don't know, I guess it depends on whether or not Auru can work out an agreement." He shrugged. "Would you rather stay or leave?" He asked.
"I don't know, like you said it's a bit of a change of pace, and the people seem pretty nice here." She said looking around.
"You mean aside from the ones who attacked us." Hugh pointed out.
"Yes aside from them." She snorted. "I still can't believe Shylock got us into this mess." She chuckled and shook her head.
"Yeah, but now we know what Zera was talking about when she said that there was a price on his head." Hugh laughed too.
"True." Ashei smirked.
"Excuse me," Gunnar said as he came into tent. "Are you Hugh?"
"That's me, what can I do for ya?" Hugh answered getting to his feet
"Chief Aatos wants you to come join them." He responded. "If you would accompany me back."
"Sure." Hugh shrugged and started towards the man.
"I might as well come too, I'm all bandaged up so there's no point sticking around." Ashei said also getting to her feet.
"So how many children do you have if you don't mind me asking?" Shad said trying to find a topic to fill the silence.
"I have five children, my eldest you already met, we named him Mahlon in honor of our great ancestor. She was a great warrior who founded the Koni tribe." Aatos said proudly.
Sheik guffawed but then quickly covered it with a cough. Then noticing that Aatos was looking at her strange motioned for him to continue.
"My next oldest is Kira, she's out on a hunting trip but should be back later this afternoon. Ava and Pippin were born next, they just turned six and seven respectively. And we were blessed with our youngest just last month, and we decided on the name Jani." Aatos said fondly thinking about his children.
"That's so nice that you have a large family, I bet you're a great dad." Link responded happily.
"Flattery will get you nowhere but I appreciate the kind words." Aatos smirked.
"Chief?" Gunnar broke in as he stepped into the tent. "I've brought Hugh and the book." He said walking over and handing the book to Aatos.
"I'm here too you know." Ashei huffed as she and Hugh followed him into the tent.
"Of course ma'am I apologize." Gunnar said bowing slightly.
"Thank you Gunnar, that will be all." Aatos dismissed him
"So... What did you need me for?" Hugh asked uneasily
"Have a seat, your friends tell me you would be able to identify what relics a man by the name of Arnold is in possession of." Aatos answered
"I might, I don't really know how to describe them though." Hugh said apologetically
"That's fine." Aatos shrugged and began flipping through the book he had on his lap. After a second or so he turned it over and held it so Hugh could see the five pictures shown on it. "Can you tell based off these depictions?"
The relics were all very diverse in both coloring and shape. The first appeared to be made of a mix of yellow and purple glass with small pockets of energy pulsing through in small contained bubbles. The second was almost a teardrop shape but had hundreds of shards poking out in each direction. The shards seemed to be reflective giving an almost rainbow-like coloring. The third was a pyramid shape with an orange base and intermixed red, dark blue, and teal on the sides. The fourth relic was a simple oval shape with a brown covering that had cracks running across its surface with bright green and yellow showing through. The last one was a remarkably simple flat square with what looked like deep blue ocean waves flowing across it.
Hugh leaned forward to get a closer look. "Yeah actually," he said sounding surprised. "The only one that I didn't see was this one." He said pointing to the brown oval relic.
"Ah, that makes sense, the arcanist would have difficulty going there." Aatos nodded.
"Where?" Ashei asked
"The Kokiri forest." Aatos said leaning back. "The Great Deku Tree would no doubt make it difficult for someone with evil intent into the forest."
Link frowned at the name, feeling an unusual familiarity at the mention.
"Who's the Great Deku Tree?" Ashei asked in a suspicious tone.
"The guardian of the forest and the ones who live in them." Aatos responded.
"Those who live in them? You mean to say that the tales of the Kokiri are true?" Shad asked in surprise.
"Yes, very true." Aatos chuckled. "I'm sure they would be very pleased to have some visitors. Provided of course that you are planning on traveling there next."
Link looked to Zelda for her direction to which she nodded affirmatively.
"It looks like it." Link answered on behalf of the group.
Aatos nodded and got to his feet.
"Well I guess we should go let your red-haired friend know then, provided of course he hasn't escaped his guards." He joked
"Has he done that before?" Hugh asked
"Oh yes, how do you think he got away with our horse?" Aatos chuckled.
Link squinted to shield his eyes from the mid-morning sun as they exited the tent.
"I'm just saying I know you're nomads and stuff, but would it kill you to own something valuable?" Shylock was saying, he sat on a rock surrounded by three Koni but he acted like he owned the place with his legs sprawled out in front of him and noisily eating an apple.
"So you would have something to steal?" One of the guards responded sounding very bored.
"Trade." Shylock emphasized, pointed his apple core at the guard. "There is a difference." He said then threw his core to one of the passing horses, which ate it happily.
"I think I get why you keep these things around now." Shylock said gesturing to the horse. "They make great cleaners, I bet they'd eat almost anything." The guard just rolled his eyes.
"He wasn't too much trouble I hope." Aatos said as they came over.
"A mild irritation at best." The Koni answered with a wry smile
"Well it's about time!" Shylock exclaimed. "Do you have any idea how bored I was? You guys were in there forever!" He whined.
"Relax, we're leaving soon anyway." Ashei said crossed her arms.
"Oh? Where to?" Shylock asked curiously.
"The Kokiri forest." Link smirked.
"Really? Cool! Well if I can just get my horse then we can be on our way!" Shylock said jumping to his feet.
"Uh no." Auru said. "You're not keeping that horse, we're returning it to the Koni and in exchange they agreed to let the matter drop."
"Spoilsport." Shylock muttered. "Fine, but how am I going to get around?"
"Well if you are willing to purchase a horse we have some available." Aatos offered
"How much for the one I had?" Shylock asked
"You couldn't afford it." Aatos said flatly
"Debatable." Shylock smirked
"What he means is he would be happy to buy a horse of your choosing." Auru said gruffly shooting an irritated look at Shylock. Shylock pretended not to notice and whistled innocently to himself.
"Well if you'll follow me then we'll get you set up so you can be on your way. Don't want to keep Arnold waiting do we?" Aatos winked
They ended up following Aatos out to a large fenced area away from the tents.
"Do you have to build these fences every time you move?" Hugh asked
"They're collapsible, we bring them with us then just set them back up when we arrive." Aatos explained.
"Why are these horses fenced off from the rest?" Ashei asked a couple seconds later.
"These horses are bred to be sold, we need to make sure they stay pure." A woman answered before Aatos could speak. The woman was tall in stature with knee-length dark brown hair and she had a small baby wrapped against her chest.
"That and we don't want the children to become too attached." Aatos added with a smile. "Gentlemen, and Miss Ashei, I would like to introduce you to my wife Emryn, she'll be the one selecting your horse."
Everyone nodded and murmured a greeting.
"A pleasure to meet all of you."Emryn said bowing. "Now which one of you is looking to purchase the horse?"
Shylock stepped forward. "That's me!" He smiled happily.
Ren chuckled and glanced at her husband.
"Yes I know it's been sorted out, and these people have been kind enough to return the Arabian to us... Which is why they now need a new horse." Aatos responded to the unasked question.
"Fair enough."Emryn shrugged. "Why don't you follow me into the pen and we'll see which horse takes to you." She smiled and walked over to the fence.
"Uh, shouldn't I be the one choosing the horse... Not the other way around?" Shylock asked uncertainly as he followed her.
"Not if you want one well suited to you." Emryn answered over her shoulder. She reached the fence gate and pulled it open.
"Go ahead in." She commanded.
"What am I supposed to do?" Shylock huffed as Emryn closed the gate behind him. "Just wait for a horse to come over and say it likes me?"
"You'll be able to tell, now go over and say hi. I'm sure the rest will come, they're quite curious."Emryn smiled then walked back over to the group.
"How's Jani been today?" Aatos asked gentle patting the baby's head.
"Pretty good, I think he's getting used to the idea of joining while I'm working." Emryn responded
"Well he'd have to seeing as you refused to take another week off." Aatos raised his eyebrow.
"I told you I'm fine, this is my fifth child after all." She assured him and gave him a small kiss on the cheek.
"I know you are, doesn't stop me from worrying though." Aatos smiled
"Oh! I've been meaning to ask, which one of you owns the Clydesdale?" Emryn said suddenly
"Epona belongs to me." Link said with a proud smile.
"She's lovely, how did you come by her?" Emryn asked excitedly.
"I'm not sure where she came from actually, I just found her in the woods one day then she refused to leave my side." Link said with a shrug.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Their conversation was suddenly cut off by a scream from Shylock. They all turned to see the Gerudo king running for his life from an ebony stallion.
"Oh." Emryn said calmly. "It looks like he's found his horse."
"Wow, nice choice. I'm surprised the stallion took to him so quickly." Aatos added.
"Uh... Shouldn't we help him?" Link asked.
"YES! YOU SHOULD HELP HIM!" Shylock yelled as he rushed past again.
"No, he's fine." Emryn said. "Do you think he'll want a saddle?"
"Well he didn't use one earlier." Shad put in.
"So just the reins then." Emryn nodded. "Here, I'm going to need both my hands." She said taking Jani out of the sling and handing him to Aatos.
Aatos took him without comment and held open the gate for his wife.
"Are you sure this horse is the right one for Shylock?" Auru asked. "I mean we're going to be traveling quite a lot, I'd rather not listen to him complain the whole way."
"Don't worry, they'll end up good friends after they sort out their differences." Aatos responded as he gentle bounced Jani.
Auru looked doubtfully at Shylock who currently appeared to be having a heated argument with the horse. "...If you say so." He shrugged.
Jani who up until now was very quiet suddenly started fussing and wiggling around his big blue eyes focused on Sheik.
"I think he likes you." Aatos commented as Jani reached his tiny hands towards Sheik.
Sheiks eyes widened slightly in surprise and stayed rooted to the spot. Aatos chuckled and moved closer.
"He won't settle until he gets a closer look at you." He said. "Here." Aatos held Jani out to Sheik. Tentatively Sheik took hold of the baby much to the delight of Jani.
Link smirked as he watched the tiny baby grab hold of Sheik's bandaged fingers cooing happily then started laughing as Jani abruptly yanked on Sheik's cowl causing him to get very flustered and quickly move it back into place. This quickly became a game as Jani kept trying to expose Sheik's face while Sheik tried to keep this from happening.
"You're absolutely crazy if you think I'm keeping that horse." Shylock said as he stormed up to the gate.
"What? He likes you." Emryn shrugged as she led the stallion behind her.
"He ate my hair!" Shylock fumed holding up a piece of red hair for her to see.
"He's bonding." Emryn smirked
"Well make him stop!" Shylock demanded crossing his arms angrily.
"You might as well get used to it because it seems like you're stuck with him." Shad said grinning.
Shylock glared at him. "You're enjoying this aren't you?"
Shad made a 'little bit' gesture and grinned wider.
"I hate all of you." He grumbled as he snatched the reigns away from Emryn and mounted the stallion.
"Hey, I don't like this any more than you do so quiet down!" Shylock snapped as the stallion started stomping around trying to get Shylock off his back.
"Have you decided on a name?" Link asked
"Do you have a suggestion?" Shylock asked sourly
"What about Arnost? It means determined or stubborn depending on how you take it." Shad suggested.
Shylock considered it for a moment then shrugged. "Why not, it's probably better than anything I could come up with."
"Well if that's all settled?" Aatos broke in. "Perhaps we should send you on your way; if you make good time you may get to the edge of the grasslands by evening."
"That's a good point." Auru agreed. "Thank you very much for all your assistance."
"Our pleasure, I hope you'll be able to retrieve the relics safely." Aatos responded.
"And when we do you can be sure we'll bring them back to where they belong." Auru promised.