This one is the longest by far! I think this is what I actually wanted the average length to be, but oh well. I think most of it is the Author's note at the bottom, anyway.

Chapter 5: Reuniting

"Princess!" Purah gasped the moment Zelda entered her friend's laboratory part of the castle. "Come in, I want you to meet someone!"

Zelda tilted her head. "Who, Purah?"

The woman was practically bouncing. "I'll call her!" Purah turned on her heel and screeched, "Liari! Get in here! It's an emergency!"

A door on the other side of the room slammed open and a girl about Zelda's age darted out. "Purah, what is it?" She panted.

"Oh, nothing." Purah giggled. Zelda rolled her eyes. "I just wanted you to meet Zelda. Princess," Purah gestured to the girl. "This is Liari. My new assistant!"

Liari bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Zelda's eyes skimmed over the girl. Her scarlet eyes indicated that she was a Sheikah, but unlike most Sheikah, she had dirty blonde hair pulled up into a messy bun on her head. She wore Sheikah robes, another indicator that she was a Sheikah, as well as the tattoos on her face.

"It's nice to meet you, Liari." Zelda smiled and held out her hand.

Liari smiled as well and shook it. Then her smile dimmed slightly. "Say, where is Link?"

Zelda blinked. She had not expected that knight to come up in the first conversation with this girl. "Sir Link? I don't know." Zelda shrugged. "Probably in the barracks."

Liari grinned mischievously at that. "At the kitchen, more like."

Zelda tilted her head. "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, never mind." Liari shook her head. "An inside joke, I suppose. Nothing of extraordinary value."

"Really?" Zelda asked. "That's…"

Strange. Zelda mused silently. I wonder how someone like Liari could be friends with that... knight.

"That's interesting." She finally finished, echoing the nicer part of her thoughts.

"Zellie!" Purah butted in like a forgotten plot hole. "Come on, I want to show you something!"

Zelda smiled at Purah. "Of course."

Purah immediately grabbed Zelda's wrist and dragged her out the door and out of the lab.

Before long, Purah had dragged Zelda and Liari into the docks underneath the castle. "We were digging around down here, and look what we found!"

Zelda gasped as she saw the structure. It was cone-shaped, made out of some sort of cool gray stone. She instantly darted towards it and ran her hands along the designs.

"Have you found out what it is?" Zelda asked as she examined the Sheikah symbols.

"Nope!" Purah said with a sigh. "But we do know that it has something to do with the Sheikah Slate! The door over here-" Purah gestured the doorway. "-Is supposed to open. My guess is that it needs some sort of power source."

"Incredible." Zelda said softly. "Are there more?"

"They've been appearing all over the place!" Purah exclaimed. "I've been thinking of going to all of them and charting all of their locations. Perhaps that could help us discover how they could function."

"That sounds like a great idea!" Zelda smiled. She stood up and went to the door. "Can you understand what these symbols mean?"

"It's ancient Sheikah." Liari chimed in. "I studied it when I was younger." She stepped in and ran her hands along the symbols.

"What does it say?" Zelda asked curiously.

"That's strange." Liari frowned. "It's the same two words over and over. 'Off Dungeon.'"

"So it's a dungeon?" Zelda asked in shock.

Liari shrugged. "Looks more like a shrine of some sort to me. Then again, it could just be a fancy broom closet."

Purah snorted. "You have too much of your brother's sense of humor."

Liari gasped and held a hand to her chest. "How could you possibly compare my jokes to the all-powerful pun master?"

"Who is your brother?" Zelda asked curiously.

Liari and Purah exchanged glances. "He's around." Liari finally said with a shrug. "But he's really quiet, and absolutely hates people, so you probably wouldn't know him."

Zelda frowned. Were they hiding something? She decided not to press it. "Okay, then. I believe it is almost time for dinner." Zelda turned to Purah. "Would you like to come with me?"

Purah grinned. "But of course, Zellie."

Link had managed to find a secluded and unkept courtyard. No one ever came here, as was obvious. Long grass and flowers took up the ground, vines crawling up the walls like snakes.

Link smiled. It was beautiful, despite the overgrown nature of it.

That, and even if it was fixed up, no one would ever come here. Everyone was far too worried about the approaching Calamity to ever go explore the hidden courtyards of Hyrule Castle.

"Linky! There you are!"

...Except his sister, of course. It seemed she had some sort of magic ability to always know where he was.

Link turned and attempted to smile as he felt the girl throw her arms around his neck. "You always run off without saying goodbye, you bad excuse for a brother!"

"And you always manage to find me, even when I do my darnedest to hide from people." Link said hoarsely before clearing his throat.

The girl released him and placed her hands on her hips. "Well, what are siblings for?"

"That depends." Link said, rolling his eyes. "Are you trying to be supportive? Or are you actually trying to do what you're succeeding at, which is driving me insane?"

"Well, if you weren't such an introvert, Link-"

"Well, if you weren't such an extrovert, Liari, then I would have a peaceful and tranquil life." Link retorted.

"What would you do without my wonderful personality?" Liari pouted fauxly.

"Hm, let me think." Link tapped a finger to his chin and paced as if in deep thought. "I would probably live in a small house in Hateno, maybe even the outskirts, with no one knowing who I am or anything, and work as a chef."

Liari laughed. "Your dream is to become a chef? And I thought you always wanted to be a knight."

Link sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, people change their minds. But life tends to make its decisions for you anyway."

Liari frowned, and Link thought he caught her eyes flit to the sword on his back.

Link shook his head. "That doesn't matter. How did you find me?"

Liari smiled. "I've been practicing my Sheikah magic. I can use it to sense auras, but it works better with people I know really well."

"So it was easy to find me, then? And what else does reading people's auras tell you?" He asked curiously.

Liari sighed, her happiness seemingly blown away by those words. "Emotions. You were quite stressed while you were out, weren't you?" She looked up at him with her scarlet eyes.

"No." Link lied. "I'm the cool and calm Hylian Champion, aren't I?"

Liari snorted. She then glanced around the small courtyard. "So this is your new retreat?"

"People would recognize me in the kitchens." Link replied with a roll of his eyes, to which Liari laughed.

"Well, now that I'm director Purah's assistant, I will be here at the castle all the time!" Liari said with a smile. Then her face turned serious. "So now you can tell me everything. The princess doesn't seem to like you very much."

Link sighed. "Yeah, well, I think she's simply taking out her anger on me. That, or she thinks I'm just a stupid boy who shouldn't be a champion." But I already know that's true.

Liari frowned again, as if reading his mind. Knowing Liari, she probably did. "Link, you make a better Hylian Champion than anyone else would."

Link shrugged. "If you say so." He turned and drew the Master Sword, thrusting it into the ground. "Though you may be slightly biased in that opinion."

Liari snickered. "Well, anyone would think their big brother is amazing, wouldn't they?"

Link sighed and sat down in the grass. "I wish I had your enthusiasm."

"Oh, come on!" Liari grumbled. "I thought I was the serious one, and that you are the crazily positive one."

"You wish." Link huffed. And I wish. Maybe then the other champions wouldn't hate me.

Liari sighed and plopped down beside him. "Really, Link. Tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing's wrong." Link said a little too quickly. He glanced at Liari. "Really. Would I lie to you?"

Liari sighed. "No, because of that stupid code of honor of yours. However," Liari grinned. "You will lie if you think that it is for a greater cause."

Link shrugged. "Oh well. At least I tried."

"You are feeling quite anxious right now, aren't you?" Liari asked with a frown.

"Stop the aura reading thing." Link said with an identical frown. "It's really creepy."

Liari rolled her eyes. "What's creepier is when you talk to the Master Sword out loud when you think no one is watching." Link winced at that. "Can you even hear its response, or is it just the same shiny light show I see?"

"Master, your anxiety level has spiked. It would be recommended to sit down, take deep breaths, and possibly have a 'spot of tea,' as Labrynians would say.."

Link glared at the sword in the ground.

"See?" Liari huffed. "It was glowing! And now it seems you are glaring at it. What did it say?"

Link turned back to Liari and shook his head. "Not important. Tell me, how has my favorite sibling been doing?"

Liari frowned. "I'm your only sibling."

Link glanced at her with a crooked grin, the closest to a true smile he'd been in a long time. "Exactly."

Liari huffed and folded her arms. "You're a mean big brother. Maybe I should replace you with Princess Mipha. She is actually nice."

"You might as well." Link said quietly. She makes a better champion than I do, anyway. She's always so calm and kind.

Liari noticed Link's expression. "I didn't mean it like that. You know I wouldn't replace you."

Link shook his head. "I know. That's not what it is."

Mipha is a perfect champion. She's also a leader. All of them are. I am not worthy. However hard I try, all I am is a boy who the Master Sword chose. The other champions have their skills, even the princess has her constant dedication, knowledge, and perseverance. She's better off than I am, even without her powers.

And what do I have? A tiny brain and a shiny sword.

I've introduced a new character! Yay!

I actually planned on revealing that Liari is somehow related with Link later on. As in, after the "Blades of Yiga" memory, when Zelda is trying to find out more about Link. But I decided that I would reveal it earlier, because I decided to add Link's POV, and add other details later on.

So yes, it is probably a bit confusing. And yes, you may not understand Link's real relation to Liari. Maybe he's adopted, because his parents were brutally murdered! Maybe they're twins! Maybe he's half-sheikah! Maybe his dad is a half sheikah, half hylian, and his mom is a gerudo! Maybe you can give me ideas, because I have no idea!

So yeah. Tell me what you want to see! Maybe I'll do it, maybe I won't, maybe I'll do something you never expected!

The world may never know...

Replies:

The-Fallen-Spirit: ...You literally just made my day. *Salutes* Yes sir!

SmokeyMirrors: Nah, it's completely fine! I've totally posted like, fifty reviews on someone's fan fiction before! Just look at "State of My Head!" And I'm actually surprised you noticed about Link sleeping. I thought I was being subtle with that! Shh... don't tell anyone, but you're on the right track. And I actually didn't originally have a food disorder in mind, but now that you mention it I might do some research and see if it might be interesting to write about. And yes- Ohhh dear indeed! But maybe he'll just spontaneously combust- Talk about fireworks. Then no one will ever know...

Guest: Thank you! To be honest, I thought that there were too many Pre-Calamity stories! I really like writing about Link's thoughts (As you can see), and it's actually kind of difficult sometimes. You have to write about his insecurities, his doubts... in fact, at first I was just going to scrap Link's POV and only do Zelda's. It is really humbling to hear that someone enjoys and appreciates your work!

So, after part of a review from Smokey there, I decided I would tell y'all why I reply to reviews like this. For one- I actually didn't know how this "Private Messaging" thingy worked. I've been reading as a guest, and reviewing as one as well. I know how it works now, but I think that I'll just keep putting replies right here. Why, may you ask? Because I am ridiculously lazy. For any Wings of Fire fans out there, I am a RainWing at heart.