Chapter 3: Colorless Mask

Link nearly choked when he realized his mask had fallen. What if someone had seen him? To know that, on the inside, the great Hylian Champion was weak enough to let a few small insults get to him?

It's not like I wanted this stupid sword! He wanted to scream at Revali and the skies. Why me?!

If Impa had heard him, then she would've scolded him… again. Link would rather face a legendary Gold Lynel. Or the Calamity. All of them were absolutely terrifying. Maybe if they had them all get together, Impa could stop the Calamity before it killed everyone. That way, Link wouldn't have to-

No. Impossible. Besides, he couldn't allow his loved ones to perish because he was too much of a coward.

"Sir Link?" Link blinked and realized that he had found the princess. He bowed slightly before resuming his stance.

The princess looked a bit uncomfortable. Had he done something wrong? "It is time for my meeting with Elder Komali. We should depart soon." Link nodded and followed her.

Huh. Actually acknowledging his existence. That was new. Then again, she would probably go back to ignoring him again. Link almost forgot he was supposed to be a blank-faced Calamity killer and barely stopped himself from shrugging.

Well, being completely ignored was better than what he was used to. He suppressed a shiver. Blank. No emotions.

"Master Link, this approach could cause negative results in the future." Link internally sighed.

It is better for one to suffer than a kingdom to lose its hope. He replied silently. Isn't that right, Fi?

There came no reply within his mind for a moment. He glanced ahead and saw the princess making her way up some more stairs and followed.

"I suppose so, Master Link." Fi finally responded. "However, what will the kingdom do when its hero becomes broken from the inside?"

This time it was even harder not to sigh. That's why I won't break.

Blank. Emotionless. Strong.

Oh no. He smelled food. This was going to be harder than he thought. Come on, Link! Stay strong! You can eat as much as you want when the princess is in bed, and no one can see you 'inhaling' your food, as Impa says.

"Ah, Princess! Come, sit down!"

They entered the room of the Elder, where the brown-feathered rito sat in wait beside his beautiful white feathered wife. In front of him was… a table with food. More specifically a meat and seafood fry, and by the smell, with spicy Gerudo spices.

Link refused to give in. No, don't lick your lips! You can probably have some. Just eat slower… Oh, wait, I'm guarding the princess… I'll just stand… Link walked to a corner of the room and turned back to the table, attempting to stand strong and firm. ...Right here.

...I'm not taking any chances.

The Elder's wife cleared her throat. "Hello, Princess Zelda! I'm Medli, and I expect you have met Elder Komali!" She smiled cheekily.

The elder groaned. He put a wing over the side of his beak and whispered, albeit not so quietly, "She makes fun of me for being old even though she's older."

Princess Zelda laughed lightly. "Well, I must say, both of you look quite youthful for your age."

Both of the rito laughed. "You flatter me, Princess." The elder smiled.

Link tried not to look at the food. Really, he did. But his eyes were betraying him. They kept on flicking their way back!

Link finally managed to find a place to focus in the room- The wall. Those sure were pretty feathers. And that picture! That rito child with them looked a lot like Medli. Perhaps their daughter?

"...Right, Sir Link?" The princess said sweetly.

Link looked at them to see them all looking at him expectantly. Uh… what had they been talking about again?

Oh, the princess had said 'This food truly smells delicious. Isn't that right, Sir Link?'

Ugh, why did the topic have to be food?

Link nodded, carefully keeping his face blank. Blank. Calm. Emotionless…. Mmm, that food really does smell good…

They all turned back to each other, and Link- internally!- sighed in relief.

"Dig in, Princess!" Medli said with a smile as she loaded some of the fish onto her plate. Link felt his mouth begin to water. No! You know how you get with food! No eating in front of people! No, no, no, no, n-!

"I hope you don't mind if it's a bit spicy." Komali warned. "We used only the best Gerudo spices."

Hah! I knew it! Wait, no, stop thinking about food. No! Stop it! Stop thinking about food! I'm warning you- er, me! No. Food.

"Oh, that's completely fine!" The princess laughed. Wait, what were they talking about again? "Chief Urbosa always has the cooks use those spices on her food when she's at the castle, and I have often sampled it."

Komali nodded approvingly. "Well then, you ought to be fine! Have as much as you'd like." He turned his eyes to Link. Uh oh. Please don't ask me, please, please don't ask me. I might say yes! "Would you like some as well, Sir Link?"

Link mulled it over for a moment. Well, it couldn't hurt-

No. Food. Your cover will fall. They'll think the fate of Hyrule is in the hands of a child!

I am never… never!... going to show it. Don't let them see.

He continued to hesitate, and somehow it must've showed in his face. "Don't worry, Sir Link. You can't refuse to eat just because you are on duty! Please, do join us."

Link sighed- internally! - and sat down at the empty chair beside the rito elder. He looked at the princess, who instead of looking annoyed, looked puzzled. Oh well.

...BAD LINK!

"Well, don't be shy, Sir Link!" The rito elder laughed. "Go on and have some! We have plenty more." He said, gesturing to the food with a brown feathered wing.

Link hesitated before grabbing one of the smallest pieces. The less on his plate, the easier not to blow his cover.

Komali looked slightly disappointed, but then turned back to the princess with his previous, cheerful demeanor. "So, how is the king?"

"Oh, well, he is doing fine, I suppose." The princess said. Link couldn't see her face, too busy trying to eat his food as slowly as he could- which still wasn't very slow in comparison to the others in the room. However, he could tell that she must've felt a bit saddened to have the topic of her father brought up.

"Ah…" The elder said slightly uncomfortably. "Oh, there's Revali!" He said quickly.

Link looked up from his food to see the blue-feathered champion stride in, tall and proud. He could've sworn that the rito was sneering at him.

"Sit down, Revali! We were just starting to eat!" Medli said with a smile.

Or trying not to eat. Link thought as he ate another small bite. How do people eat like this all the time? You have to take big bites, so you can taste the rich flavor better!

Well, it still tasted good. Good enough that Link had to concentrate on not breaking down his mask with a sledgehammer, which would cause him to drool all over it and shove as much as he could down his throat.

...I'm going insane, aren't I?

"No, you are not, Master Link." Fi replied within his mind. "You are simply fighting back what is your true personality."

We already talked about this, Fi. Link nearly sighed out loud. Instead, he shoved a piece of fish- at least two times larger than any of the other bites he had taken- into his mouth.

Oops. At least it wasn't too big. Everyone else was focused on their own conversations, so Link had no reason to worry about being discovered ...Right?

Link pulled another piece of meat onto his plate as discreetly as possible.

If anyone noticed the food on the knight's plate disappearing with great speed, they did not comment.

Sudden Link POV! Yay!

I wasn't sure if I wanted to put in his point of view, but then this became a thing and I just couldn't pass up this wonderful chapter opportunity! It really was a lot of fun to write about.

No replies, because there were no new reviews. Please do review! I need ideas as to what to include later on, because I only have a vague picture of what I want. I know what I want to happen, but I still need events to lead up to those things.

So review! Like I have said before, reviews are also really good sources of motivation!

Thank you for reading this nonsense, and farewell until next time!