Hello everyone, here it is, chapter I don't even know anymore.

I kind of have to admit that this chapter doesnt have much happening, but I hope you enjoy nonetheless.

-\-\-\-\-

Other Perspectives - 2

-\-\-\-\-

Torail visibly improved, and Fi's private estimation of his survival rate rose by fourteen percent. They briefly covered the attack patterns of dodongo, the Hylian imitating their prolonged streams of flame with a twirling spear, and they disbanded, Tharlaigh satisfied with the lesson.

As they were leaving Chatt grabbed her little brother, scowling. "What did you See when she attacked you?"

Torail swallowed. He peered behind them, where the other three were conversing in Common, making sure they were not paying attention before he spoke. "A lizalfos. A real lizalfos. She didn't even look like a person at first. When Tharlaigh told me to get back, I, I really thought I was going to get eaten."

"Then why did you agree to-"

"She was really sorry! You heard her, her Sheikah's terrible! But she practiced that phrase till it was perfect, like she knew, like she knew that, one of us would be scared of her. And she…" his next words were quiet, barely a whisper. "She really didn't want me to die."

His sister wasn't sure she heard right. "What do you mean she didn't want you to die?"

"When she asked to try again. When she promised to go easy, she didn't do it, because, not because she wanted me to like her, or not be scared of her, she just didn't want me to die. I Saw it, Chatt. She wanted me to practice because she didn't want me to die."

The implication that the Hylian had thought so poorly of her brother's abilities to protect himself was galling. "You wouldn't have died even if you fought a lizalfos, little brother. You would've pulled through."

The boy shook his head, warmed by his sister's belief in him but all too aware of what his teachers' thoughts of him were. "She knows the danger, and she wanted me prepared. I didn't have to be good, just prepared. Nobody except family ever wanted me to live so much, Chatt. She asked me to live."

"But then what-"

"Just, try to go easy on her?" he added, a touch pleadingly, "That, Lin lady. She really thought I did a good job."

Chat glowered at the ground. "Fine."

But the insult still smarted.

-\-\-\-\-

"I'm tired," Lin groaned, pressing the heels of her hands into her forehead. "Can I nap?"

"Have you talked to this clan head about the assignment?" Tharlaigh asked in turn, even as they headed towards the gathering of tents.

Lin shook her head. "He was busy."

"Then no. Where's the rest of your gear?"

"In your tent."

"Are you going to get changed?"

The frown on Lin's brow was exacerbated by her exhaustion; Fi understood how taxing speaking an unfamiliar language for over an hour was. "Changed?"

"You don't look like a representative of the Castle the way you're dressed, Lin," was her brother's sigh, eyeing his companion's clothes critically. "You look like a bandit."

She snorted, vigorously scattering her hair. "Might be useful."

"Lin,"

"I'm here for myself, not Zelda." Lin said, gathering her things from the ground, throwing them over her shoulder. "You guys made that up."

Fi blinked at her brother, catching up. "Really?"

"Yeah, well, you think I have the authority to let a strange Hylian woman, crazy as she is, to tag along on an escort?" was his defensive words against Fi's stare, "It was the only way we could let her come. It was hard enough getting permission from Owlan as it was."

"So, she doesn't work for the Princess?"

"She does," was her brother's hasty assurance, "She does. Sort of. Just not quite in the capacity advertised, since freelancer doesn't really exist as a Sheikah word. It was lost in translation."

Fi didn't know what that Common word meant, so it was probably true, but it sounded very much like a rehearsed excuse. She nodded slowly, dubiously. "What do you actually do?"

Lin shrugged, looking dubious herself. At least five steps were taken before she replied with a tentative, "Fix things?"

Tharlaigh groaned. "That's a really lazy way of putting it."

"But I do? It just, involves killing lots of monsters."

"Conquering evil might be a better explanation."

Lin's face twisted. "But that sounds so… grand. I mean, look at me."

Considering her magical power had the proportions of the word 'grand', Fi didn't know who to agree with.

"Then you might want to uphold your reputation and dress accordingly."

"I don't have a reputation to uphold."

"Yes you do. Specifically, Zelda's."

Lin opened her mouth, closed it. Then: "Eh?"

"We've brought you in as Zelda's agent, so you need to act like it. Or else it will hurt Zelda's credibility, and reputation, with us Sheikah." they'd arrived at the tent, and Tharlaigh crossed his arms. "Now, are you really going to hurt her like that?"

They had a staring contest, one which Lin forfeited by thrusting her equipment into his arms before stomping into his tent.

He stood guard, and Fi found herself joining him. "Oh and wash your face."

"You're not my mother, Sheik." Lin snapped, and Fi watched her brother chuckle.

"I love you regardless."

No answer, except for a frustrated growl and Lin leaning out of the tent flap, shaking a fancy red bundle of cloth at him. "Did you pick this for me?"

Fi stared at her bare arm, puckered with a bite scar.

Tharlaigh grinned and teased. "Maybe."

"Ugh!" she tossed it at his face, making him laugh, and ducked back in to change again.

"I will convince you that you're beautiful." he called in playfully, putting down her weapons to fold the low-cut dress.

"Shut up."

Fi scooted close to her brother, whispering in Sheikah. "She, really calls you Sheik?"

Her brother smiled in understanding, and shrugged. "It's not an epithet, or an insult. It's what I call myself when I'm on missions. She's just used to it."

"Does she know it is?"

"Probably not. But as long as it's her, I don't mind it."

There was splashing from the inside, more grumbling, and an aggravated sigh. A beat later Lin stepped out in a green hooded overcoat trimmed in silver over a dignified brown tunic, and trousers of cream tucked into shining kid boots. She shifted her belt, from which the bronze buckle gleamed and a glistening blue sheath hung, decorated in whorls of gold. She'd rinsed her hair as well, apparently, though only enough to make it spike all over the place even more. Her gauntlets remained the same, but Lin was rubbing something oily on them, making them shiny.

She sounded resigned, scuffing the shoes, flexing her limbs. "I'm going to ruin this."

Tharlaigh huffed. "Did you not see the comb?"

She answered by using her hands, flattening and pulling her hair away from her face. "Better?"

Tharlaigh considered her again and grinned, returning her naked sword and shield. "I guess."

Lin sighed and put Fi between the two of them. "He loves messing with me."

That much was obvious. It was also obvious he did it because he just loved her, and Fi couldn't help but feel worried. She was happy that Tharlaigh was besotted, but the fact that it was to Lin, a person Fi found rather terrifying because of everything her Sight made her see…

The bluenette just hoped that this harmless-looking person would not get her brother killed.

-\-\-\-\-

The Hylian had stood at the back, watching the proceedings with arms slack at his sides, making no input. The caravans holding the children and the elderly had already begun on their alternate route, so Owlan had sent their rear guards as soon as the meeting had started. To the remaining fighters Owlan assigned their positions around their remaining people and provisions, their schedules for shifts, and further warnings. As they shuffled off to make their final preparations the Hylian stepped forward, eyes flicking over the map. The points at which Sheikah had gone missing these last few months were marked in red, the numbers concentrated near the borders of Hyrule. He hardly heard Owlan's summons.

"Lin," Tharlaigh whispered, jolting him out of his reveries.

"Ah."

When the two youngsters lined themselves before him, Owlan clasped his hands behind his back and pinned the Hylian with his gaze. Their kind often found the eyes of his own people's unnerving, even frightening. This one, however, was unconcerned.

He spoke in Common, to make himself absolutely clear. "Now, tell me who you are. Really."

Both young men blinked.

"I do not like it when the man in front of me introduces himself with false titles. You are no servant to Princess Zelda, boy." Owlan continued, scowling. His Sight had told him so; he Saw how people identified themselves: as a husband, or as a father, a doctor, a labourer, a king. He'd often found that the servants of this nation's supposed leader enjoyed wearing her title with their professions (royal messenger, as this one had first claimed to be), but this young man did not. Oh, he dressed the part, but it was not in his heart.

But beyond that, it was a blur, which he found suspicious and disconcerting. "What are you really? What is your relationship to Princess Zelda?"

The Hylian scowled back with no small hint of petulance. "I would say friend if she didn't ground me so much."

Beside him Tharlaigh devolved into snickers, eyes alight with mirth.

Owlan gave him a withering glare, and he quieted, barely. This one had always identified himself as The Guy Everybody Dislikes For Not Taking Things Seriously, Especially Himself, and had done so for years. Maturity clearly hadn't done its job yet.

"A friend," Owlan repeated, skeptically.

"Mm." he agreed, "And to Tharlaigh."

"Indeed, and to Tharlaigh."

"Master Owlan, sorry, I need to calm down a bit," the young Sheikah cleared his throat twice to suppress further insipid giggling before donning a more respectable expression. "Right. Uh, how does this matter? Lin may not be her messenger or her servant, but she's still here on Zelda's behalf, and means to help. In fact, she's worth at least ten highly trained servants, easy. Unless the skillset we're measuring is domestic."

Owlan blinked. She? He looked at the Hylian anew, the unsmiling neutral face, the sharp line of his, no her, brow. She stared back, unflinching.

"Such high commendation," he said, not allowing his surprise to show, "For one so young."

The Princess's agent, Lin, shrugged. "I do what I can."

There it was, her identifying title: Person Who Does What They Can. Which revealed nothing of her, except perhaps her vague interest in altruistic acts.

"I see," Owlan sighed, even if he did not. "Well then. I thank you for your aide, and I apologise for mistaking your gender."

She shrugged, and Tharlaigh snorted again, and they bid their goodbyes.

-\-\-\-\-

Fi hesitated at her brother's tent, hearing the moaning from within. She'd often been teased about this, how at every clan visit Tharlaigh managed to invite a woman to his bed, and she'd once or twice caught him herself (at least in recent memory), dozing with a naked woman draped on top of him.

She knocked on the support pole outside, hoping they were just kissing their goodbyes. "Tartem?"

"You can come in," he called in Sheikah, and she did, only to find him sitting on the floor with a foot in his lap, which belonged to Lin, sprawled on the floor with a pained crease between her brows. He was picking at a rather impressive blister on her calf. "Are we headed out soon?"

"Preparations are in order, yes," she replied, even as he dabbed a spot cream on the offending blister, making Lin whimper. "The normal routes, just as planned."

"Thanks, sister. We're done here, and packed to go. Just have to collapse this tent."

Lin grumbled something unintelligible and Tharlaigh assured her in Common that she would not have to wear 'those boots' any more. They separated, she bandaging the leg and he putting away the jar of cream, and having her own affairs to handle Fi left as well.

"So?" Chatt said, as they packed their tent away, "What were they doing?"

"He was fixing a blister on her leg."

"...Seriously?"

Fi sighed. Why did Chatt even care so much? They packed away their tent and hauled the parts into bags, which they strapped onto their pack horse before mounting their ponies. The large carriage filled with their caravan's supplies trundled into motion, and the rest of the clan followed. Fi nervously looked around for her brother, and sighed with some relief when she saw him astride his friendly black mare.

That feeling dissipated quickly when he was joined by his… she didn't even know what to call her, trotting along on her own chestnut.

The realization made her stomach sink. "She's coming with us."

"What?"

"Before you ask, no, I didn't know." Fi grumbled, kicking her pony towards them. The chestnut's ears were flicking irritably at the black's affectionate advances, and Tharlaigh was laughing at the irony which really wasn't helping. Lin was whispering at her horse with more affection than she'd shown Tharlaigh the whole day, and the horse grew docile with a knob of carrot.

Fi Saw the mare and was hesitant at approaching. Just like her rider, the hooves of this beast had trampled more monsters than a war horse. So she circled round to Tharlaigh's side, the black licking her pony's head as they passed. "Brother?"

"Mm?"

"Is Lin joining us till we reach Kakariko?"

"She's here till we reach the Gerudo Reaches," he replied, sounding confused. "Why?"

Because that meant instead of pretending to be polite for a day or two, Fi would have to be polite for weeks, if not months.

"Messenger usually means imparting a message and leaving, so I thought…"

"Ah, right. Well Zelda wants to know a few things about the Three Borders, so she'll be accompanying us through there, and deal with some business with Warlady Aveil. She'll help me keep you all safe till we're back in the Fields, too."

Fi did not feel safe. Tharlaigh grinned. "This'll be fun."

Lin snorted beside him and trotted away.

-\-\-\-\-

Four days into the journey, Tharlaigh asked Fi to sit beside him for dinner. He sighed, watching Lin glare at a board-game the elders had roped her into, said elders gleefully enjoying her company. She'd been losing for most of the afternoon, but now that she got it they were enjoying her fierce competition. It didn't help that she was a sore loser; she kept insisting on rematches, and they were on at least the twelfth game.

How the old men had the energy to deal with that, Tharlaigh had no idea.

Even when the communal pot with thick stew was readied, and they'd carved their bread into bowls and the food was ladled out, she and one particularly tenacious elder just kept playing, determination glinting in their eyes.

Fi joined him, the firelight playing across her features. "So what's the occasion, brother?"

"Well, I've finally talked to every single one of the elders and the leaders and managed to get through the letters pertaining to the disappearances, so I figured it was about time I caught up with you," he shrugged, grinning, ruffling her hair. "How are your numbers, sister?"

She blew a stray lock away from her face, but smiled regardless. "I'm devising ways to make shapes with circles; so far I've managed a perfect hexagon and triangle. A square I may have some trouble with, but I'm working on it. And I want to see if I can make an equation to measure the causality of prophecy."

He snorted, taking a bite of stew. "Well that's a large jump."

"Not necessarily," she said between bites, "I think I can map the stars more accurately with my circles, which should help with predicting disasters. With that data and comparing previous astrological logs that correlate with cataclysms, I should be able to devise an equation that..."

Tharlaigh listened to her rave on about the equations, no matter that he hardly understood any of the mathematicians and the engineers she referred to, or their theorems and their scrolls. Numbers made her happy. That was all that mattered. "Well, I may know a few people that have a few ideas about prophecy and cataclysms, Princess Zelda included."

"I discussed my theories with her already, when you brought me to the Castle last month. She's..." Fi blushed, clearing her throat. "She's looking forward to my studies, or at least that's what she said. She's a very lovely person."

It wasn't often that Fi said that of anybody.

"That's brilliant, Fi," he chuckled, giving her a one-armed hug. "I admit I don't know anything about numbers, but you could show us the circles and shapes at least. Something us crass adventurers can understand."

Her smile twisted a little. "I've already shown mother."

"I meant me and Lin, sister."

"...Ah. Well, of course."

There was a loud "Ha!" from the other side of the campfire, and the two peered over the flames to see Lin with her fists raised high, thin-lipped and eyes wide with grim triumph.

"Rematch!" she added in perfect Sheikah, already gathering the pieces and setting them on the board.

"Oh for the love of," Tharlaigh cupped his mouth and hollered, "Eat first, even scores later!" for mostly the elders' benefit, and eventually Lin was convinced to do the same, in both languages. She was having one of her rare laughs, and he was immeasurably pleased that she'd endeared herself to the older half of the clan, at least. They were talking strategies and play patterns, a melting pot of Common and Sheikah words making comprehension a ridiculous affair.

Then again, the older generation tended to be veterans; of course they would like her.

He eyed his sister, finishing her stew, and felt a fraction of his pleasure dissipate. "You're pretty good at simvar too, aren't you?"

"Well," Fi considered, knowing where this was headed, "I guess…"

"Maybe you two could play together tomorrow? Give the old men a break."

Fi did not reply, chewing her food.

His heart sunk further. "You're still afraid of her, aren't you."

She stopped chewing. Swallowed. "...Yes."

"Can I ask why?"

She hesitated, thinking of his feelings, but Fi was not a very good liar. "The reasons are still the same. She's killed more creatures than I can even imagine."

"She's so much more than that, Fi," he protested, watching her across the fire, Lin happily suspecting the old men of letting her win that round just to be able to eat. They neither confirmed nor denied. "Isn't there a chance that you could look past that?"

"Says the person who couldn't look past a simple disguise," Fi scoffed, eyeing him sidelong, "That person you kept calling Hero for years, what's happened to him anyway? You've stopped talking about him."

Tharlaigh sighed. "He was Lin. Lin was using the disguise magic."

The days he'd spent grumbling about Zelda trusting an orphan from the streets with dangerous missions and her safety passed between them. Those days had stacked up to months. "...And you still trust her?"

"I know her reasons."

"But I don't!"

"Then couldn't you ask her? You're both important to me. You," he sighed, combing his hair, and the ugly scar flashed in the firelight, making Fi wince. He noticed, he always noticed, but the hurt had died away years ago. "Lin's becoming one of the most important people to me, just like you and mother. Is it so wrong to hope that they might get along?"

Fi hunched her shoulders, and remained silent even as Lin joined them, sitting on Tharlaigh's other side. She grumbled exhaustion as she leaned into his shoulder, and he chuckled, teasing her for it. She asked him if he was alright. He told her he was fine, why. You sounded sad, she mumbled, practically asleep, and Fi winced at the accuracy of her observation.

Fi just sat there eating as her brother coaxed the woman he loved to stand and rest in their tent before she collapsed. She was limply uncooperative, so Tharlaigh carried her over his shoulder like a sack of onions, earning wolf-whistles from the elders, which he answered with some choice cheeky words that Fi did not care to hear.

The blue-headed girl hugged her knees, frustrated. What did her brother see in her? Lin was prickly, unemotional, yet somehow childish, stooped in so much violence till it was a part of her. Even Chatt would have been a better partner.

...Couldn't Chatt be a better partner?

Fi mulled on that longer than she usually would have.

-\-\-\-\-

Hope you have a good weekend!

Regards,

S.S.