Chapter 17: Blades of Yiga

Zelda was heading to Kara Kara Bazaar when it happened.

After a few days at Gerudo Town, Urbosa said that it was probably time for the princess to return to Hyrule Castle. Zelda had wanted to argue, but she knew that Urbosa was right. So they had the horses brought to Gerudo Canyon by a few gerudo soldiers (Believe it or not, Sir Link's horse was actually quite feisty) ahead of time.

Then Zelda had run off into the desert. She could reach Kara Kara Bazaar just fine on her own, thank you very much.

She was proven wrong when the rustling of cards surrounded her. She gasped as figures materialized around her, bearing the masks and red jumpsuits of Yiga Clan warriors.

So Zelda ran. She ran as quickly as she could when another materialized in front of her and she skidded to a messy halt, falling onto the ground.

One of the warriors raised their sickle, and Zelda closed her eyes, preparing for what could only be certain death.

She heard the sound of a blade cutting flesh, but the pain never came.

She opened her eyes to see the last person she had expected. Defending her.

For there, blue tunic, Master Sword and all, was the Hylian Champion that she had despised.

Link. Her knight.

The yiga member fell into the sand, dead. He faced the others, holding out his defensive stance, a fierce look on his normally blank face.

The yiga charged at him. Zelda heard her knight offer two small words before becoming trapped within battle.

"Run, Princess!"

The last thing the princess wanted to do was run away, but she would only be a hindrance to her knight if she remai-

Another yiga fell, the knight's only wound appearing to be his right forearm. However, there was no rip in the fabric. Yet, at the same time, scarlet red bled through the fabric.

The knight hissed as he touched the arm, and switched his sword to his left.

With his left arm, the knight moved more skillfully than he had previously. The other yiga fell not even seconds later.

Zelda could only stare at her knight as he wiped the blood off of his blade and sheathed the sword.

He turned to Zelda with his face reverted back to a blank stare. "Princess, are you alright?"

Zelda nodded wordlessly as her knight helped her stand.

"I… I saw an injury." Zelda said quietly, gesturing her knight's left arm. "Are you alright?"

Her knight blinked at her, as if surprised. "I am fine, Princess. I suggest we get going as quickly as possible."

Zelda narrowed her eyes. "The blood seeping out of your arm says otherwise." She said as she saw the red patch grow larger on the normally white bandages. "You should get medical attention."

"My well being is not of your concern." Sir Link said emotionlessly. "However, yours is mine. And right now, I am meant to be escorting you to the castle, not tending to meaningless scratches."

Zelda bit her lip. The blood on her knight's arm did not seem like what would come from a 'meaningless scratch.' She didn't want to order him to get medical attention, because that would seem childish of her.

...But at the same time, she did not want her knight to continue with a large gash in his arm.

When did I start caring? Zelda thought. I thought I was supposed to be hating him.

"Princess?" Her knight asked, jerking her back to reality.

"Fine then, let's be off." Zelda sighed.

Earlier…

Link jerked himself out of his stupor as he heard someone cry out. He quickly grabbed for his sword, only to scrape his right arm on the abandoned table he had placed it under. He hissed as burning came over the old wound.

He leapt upward, ignoring hot pain that he could feel seeping through his arm. And when he looked, he nearly gasped at who he saw being attacked.

Oh no… Princess Zelda!

Feeling guilt at not acting sooner, Link charged forward with his sword drawn. He quickly struck the Yiga just as they were about to strike the princess he was sworn to protect.

"Run, Princess!"

He felt warmth on his right arm and touched it lightly, only to hiss as it burned. Apparently he had scraped it up worse than he had thought, so much so that sticky red blood had begun to ooze from it. He had reopened it.

Hah. Fat chance of winning when using my less dominant arm and having it cut open.

He swapped the sword to his left, where he gripped it with comfort. Though he had trained hard to try and gain the same strength in his right so that he could fit in a bit better, he had always been better with his left.

He ducked under the swipe of a sickle, pushing back the memories that attempted to surface. He struck down another.

He ended the other with ease.

After taking a deep breath to regain his blank face and wiping off his sword, he turned to the princess, who was staring up at him as if he'd grown an extra set of ears.

"Princess, are you alright?" Link asked, making his voice somewhat gruff like the other knights. He offered his hand to aid the princess in standing.

The princess nodded wordlessly and accepted. Link pulled her to her feet, before quickly stepping away and folding his hands behind his back. Then he felt the burning pain again, and relaxed his arms so that they fell to his sides. He tried to keep the pain from showing, but it seemed that the princess noticed.

"I… I saw an injury." The princess said slowly. "Are you alright?"

Link blinked at her in surprise, but otherwise kept his face blank. Why would she care? I'm just a little knight, aren't I? A weapon. A tool. "I am fine, Princess. I suggest we get going as quickly as possible."

The princess narrowed her eyes. "The blood seeping out of your arm says otherwise. You should get medical attention."

When I was younger, I wasn't offered any medical attention. It was meant to make me stronger. So why bother now when I can clean it up myself? "My well being is not of your concern, Princess." Link said, keeping his voice emotionless. "However, yours is mine. And right now, I am meant to be escorting you to the castle, not tending to meaningless scratches."

The princess bit her lip and glanced at his arm. Link didn't dare look for himself, for he knew that his blank face would break if he did. He could already feel it burning, the blood sticky on his skin.

He broke himself out of his thoughts and looked at the princess, who was deep in thought. "Princess?"

"Fine, then. Let's be off." She agreed, lacking enthusiasm.

That night, when they stopped to eat and sleep, Zelda wrote in her diary.

"I am unsure how to put today's events into words. Words so often evade me lately, now more than ever." Zelda paused and glanced over at the knight who sat across from the fire, blue eyes gleaming in the darkness as he steadfastly kept watch.

"He saved me. Without a thought for his own life, he protected me from the ruthless blades of the Yiga Clan, even getting mysteriously injured in the process. As much as that injury confuses me, I find it surprising that he still defended me, despite-" Zelda paused in her writing and bit her lip. It was about time she admitted it to herself.

"Despite my being cold all this time… taking my selfish and childish anger out on him at every turn… Still, he was there for me.

"I won't ever forget that."

Done! Hope this was satisfying for y'all! It was quite fun to write, and it would have been released sooner had it not been for stupid homework! In fact, homework should go die in a fire. Who's with me?!

So, if it's a bit confusing, what with Link's POV being a repeat from his view, do tell me what I could do to fix it! Seriously, even the correction capitalization errors would be appreciated.

REPLIES!

The-Fallen-Spirit: I know it's not the most professional response, but here you go: 👍

poplasia: Yup, I like mazes. Uhhh... I'm going to leave that question unanswered XD. I'm glad you enjoy it!

MeaninglessMayhem: Freaking love Link. And Urbosa. And pretty much all of the characters in BoTW. Perhaps the fact that he can talk easier by pretending to be someone else will be revealed in time... HMMMMMMM... I'm glad you enjoy it! Until next time!

SmokeyMirrors: Link is pretty great. I really like the characters in BoTW! A LOT! That's why I wrote this story! And all those other reasons, too... Any-who, here's the Spin! The Rotation! The, uh, whatever word that means spinning! Because of its lack of words, I found it important to show both points of view. I hope that wasn't too confusing! As for the future... well, that will be revealed in time. I'm glad you think I'm a good writer! I'm glad you enjoy this! So thank you!

SmokeyMirrors (2.0):

I'm not going to do stats, because I want to get this up quick so I can go to bed, but today's secret word is "pony." Why? I don't know. I just felt like it.

Thanks, y'all, and good day to you!

-Ari