A.N. Hey everybody! Got another fluffy chapter for you lovely readers^^. I'm trying to work on this as much as I can, but I'm busy as always with class and work. I've got things planed out till the end of the first tournament. I'm planning on finishing the melee tournament in a couple of chapters there will be a short interlude between melee and brawl. Then I'll get to the real fun stuff in brawl, I do plan on covering the subspace emissary, hope you guys will stick around till then;). With that enjoy the chapter.
Chapter 9 Do Hunters Relax
Zelda tore her eyes from the book she was reading taking a glance at the huntress sitting across from her. Across the small wooden table was Samus lounging in her chair, feet propped up on the table. A book held almost lazily in her one hand, by far it was probably the most relaxed Zelda has ever seen the metal warrior.
Today was a rest day of sorts, no matches were held as it was the weekend, and although Zelda was completely healed by now. It seemed like a shame to waste such a day fighting when there were no matches to be had. Somehow Samus had ended up joining the Princess on her trip to the library. Where now the two relaxed, though Zelda kept sneaking glances at the metal warrior.
She wasn't sure if Samus was even reading, the huntress' visor covered her eyes hiding if she was truly interested in what they were doing. Zelda's only true friend up till now being Link made it odd to be doing something non action oriented like reading. Back in Hyrule when she had the time Zelda would usually read alone in her study. There was nothing wrong with being alone, but it was odd to have the company.
It was not unpleasant though, Zelda had to say she was enjoying the time with her silent friend. Plus she was getting a glimpse at what interested the huntress. The few books Zelda saw Samus pick up usually involved engineering, astronomy, and other such scientific topics. Zelda had taken a look at one of books the hunter read, and while Samus did try to help her, the science behind future technology was beyond the Hylian royal. The Princess returned her attention to her own book happily losing herself within its contents.
When Zelda next looked up from her book she laughed seeing Samus was building a tower out of various books pulled from their shelves and left on the table. The huntress' visor glance at Zelda before focusing on balancing a rather thick book on top of two smaller ones making a small building of sorts.
"You know if you're bored you can go do something else." Zelda giggled covering her mouth with her hand in a ladylike manner. Samus shook her head, whether she was denying she was bored or saying she didn't want to do something else Zelda wasn't sure.
The huntress added another book to her construction careful not to make the structure fall. Zelda did note that Samus did seem focused on the task at hand. Perhaps the huntress did find building the tower more engaging than the books themselves.
"Not much of a reader are you then?" Zelda inquired watching as Samus continued to add more to the tower. Samus shook her head before stopping her building to sign to Zelda.
"Never had the time." The Princess was getting better at understanding Samus with each day. Zelda was confidant by the end of this tournament she would be able to understand almost anything the huntress would sign to her.
"When that falls if you damage any of the book you'll get us both kicked out." Though getting kicked out of the library was definitely something Zelda didn't want. She wouldn't tell Samus to stop if it was amusing the huntress. If Zelda was honest she was happy to see the huntress doing something so silly. It meant Samus was letting her guard down, and was comfortable with Zelda's presence.
Samus shook her head again telling the Princess she was confident the tower wouldn't fall. Pausing in her construction since she ran out of books that were sitting on the table, Samus stopped to look at the building. Zelda had to admit for using books it looked fairly intricate almost like the actual workings of a real building.
Samus leant back in her chair to grab a book from the bookshelf behind her. The huntress glanced at what she grabbed, instead of adding it to the building though. She handed the book across the table to Zelda.
Zelda's eyebrow rose, sitting down her own tome, taking the one from the huntress.
"What's this?" She asked aloud knowing Samus couldn't verbally answer. Emblazoned on the cover Zelda read Remnants of the Chozo vol.1. Zelda glanced at Samus looking for an explanation. The hunter simply pointed at the book prompting Zelda to look through it. Opening the introduction Zelda skimmed the tome's contents.
The Chozo a race once the strongest and most highly advance in the galaxy, now only ruins of their might remain. The avian race's civilization use to span all over our galaxy. In this volume the lasting evidence of this great species will be explored….
Zelda paused in her reading, Chozo? The Princess gave a look to the bounty hunter across from her.
"Are the Chozo from your dimension?" Zelda would imagine Samus wouldn't give her a book unless there was a point to it. The only explanation was Samus had some connection to this seemingly extinct race.
Samus nodded holding out her hand silently asking for the book. Zelda handed it over, and quickly Samus flipped to a certain page before giving it back. To Zelda's surprise on the page printed out was a picture of Samus. The huntress was depicted battling some horrid creature several other armored individuals combating the beast from the sidelines. Looking to the words printed next to the picture Zelda read.
Perhaps the most notable thing the Chozo left behind was the mystery of Samus Aran. Despite years of study scientists have still yet to make a single Chozo device work for human hands. Yet, the bounty hunter Aran wields a power suit of clear Chozo design. Though it is known that at one time the Chozo did take pride in their fighting prowess. There have been no Chozo warriors since the race took down the path of peaceful exploration(see vol.2 for more details on Chozo culture).
Once employed by the Galactic Federation Aran has since become a freelance bounty hunter. Federation scientist continue to try and make heads or tails of the hunter's power suit. The details of how Aran came to have the Chozo made suit are ambiguous at best.
Some believe Aran stole it from one of the last Chozo warriors before the race disappeared. Others hypothesis that the hunter was given it by the last of the race, believing the Chozo intended for Aran to be some sort of galactic protector. Although attempts were made to contact the bounty hunter for information for this book. No responses were given….
Zelda was so absorbed in her reading that Samus had to pluck the book from her grasp to get her attention.
"Hey!" Zelda tried to grab the book back, but the huntress held it high above her. The huntress lowered it once she had the Princess' attention though. With the book out of her grasp Zelda was back in the real world, realizing she could ask Samus about what the book spoke of.
"So the Chozo made the suit you wear?" Samus nodded, looking with what Zelda thought was fondness at the cover of the book.
"Why did they give it to you?" Zelda didn't waste time entertaining the thought that Samus might have stolen the suit. Samus definitely did not seem like a thief, so the Princess concluded that they must have given it to her.
"It's a long story." The Princess gave Samus a pleading look wanting to know more. The huntress seemed to sigh before continuing to sign a response.
"They raised me." Though Zelda was happy to know more about Samus. Zelda quickly remember what the book said about the Chozo. The bird like race was missing possibly extinct in Samus' dimension.
"Samus I…" The huntress must have been able to tell where Zelda was going, because she raised a hand to silence the Princess.
"It's fine." Zelda could tell by the curt motions of Samus' hands that it was still a sore subject to the huntress.
"Were they your family?" Though Samus was clearly no member of the bird like race. The people that raised Samus must have treated her as one of their own.
Samus shrugged not committing a solid answer, and for the first time Zelda saw a completely different side of the huntress. Even with the helmet still on Samus didn't appear her normal picture of strength and power. Her body was slumping in her chair, head bowed not looking at Zelda. Her visor staring at the cover of the book that depicted a mural of the Chozo.
How horrible it must be for Samus, Zelda thought. If the Chozo raised her then that must mean Samus' original parents were gone as well. So not only were her birth parents gone, but the race that accepted her as their own had died out. If the book was any evidence it was clear that the people of Samus' world were more interested in the suit than the one wielding it. That must be a dark shadow that hung over the huntress thoughts, to have everyone they thought family gone forever.
Samus' free hand rested on the table the metal warrior still lost in her musings, staring at the picture of the Chozo. Zelda reached across the table gently taking the hand in her's. This brought Samus from her thoughts looking at Zelda. Before Zelda could say anything though a cheery voice called out her name.
"Zelda!" The Princess looked to see the pink clad Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom making her way over to them. Samus pulled her hand away all the walls coming back up. Once again Samus appeared the strong emotionless bounty hunter.
The huntress stared at Peach no doubt wondering what the blonde wanted. Zelda frowned at Samus' quick change to hide her moment of weakness, but she turned to smile at Peach. Not wanting to give the blonde any reason to think something was wrong.
"Peach, it's good to see you again." Mentally Zelda was cursing at the intrusion, since Samus was sharing a rare moment with her. She couldn't hold it against Peach for her poor timing though, despite how much Zelda wished the blonde could have waited a few minutes to interrupt them.
After greeting her fellow princess, Peach turned to the bounty hunter who gazed at her. Peach smiled though one could tell there was a level of uncertainty to it. Despite Peach telling Zelda that Samus likely had a good heart. It was clear that metal warrior still intimidated the Princess of Toadstools. Samus did cut a threatening form, even sitting down she was still taller than Peach only adding to the power Samus radiated. While Zelda was becoming adept at reading Samus through body language, others still only saw the silent emotionless wall.
"Samus right? I don't think we've met before, Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom at your service." Peach did a small curtsy smiling in a friendly manner at the huntress. Samus nodded silently greeting the blonde in her own way.
"I haven't really gotten the chance to see either of you since your first match. That was spectacular by the way you two work so well together! Much better than Mario and Bowser." The last statement was more to herself than the teammates, but Zelda could tell that Peach must be the peacekeeper between the hero and villain. The fact that the two managed to work together at all must have been the handy work of blonde princess.
"Thank you Peach, Samus did most of the hard work. I just helped a little." The Hyrule Princess said modestly, truly not thinking her role played that much in the battle. Getting her attention Samus tapped Zelda's hand still sitting on the table. The huntress quickly signed to her teammate leaving Peach looking confused.
"You helped." The huntress signed, the manner she made the symbols with implying that Zelda was a great help in the fight. Zelda smiled at her teammate's blunt reassurance.
"You could have taken them on your own, you technically didn't need me to win." Samus waved her off signing a short maybe before crossing her arms. Showing that Samus wouldn't accept any form of rebuttal from Zelda, not that the Princess didn't try.
As the two went back and forth Peach watched from the sidelines inwardly giggling to herself. At first she was confused, as she didn't understand that the motions Samus made meant something, but watching them it was clear that at least Zelda could make something from them. The two teammates seemed to forget Peach was even there too caught up in their own discussion.
Even when Samus didn't make any motions Zelda still seemed to understand the huntress. Peach had to admit at first she was nervous about approaching Samus. After hearing all the horrid things the other fighters said about the metal warrior. It was hard not to let the imagination run wild, and let the intimidating figure overshadow what Samus was actually like.
Clearly there was a lot more to the machine looking fighter than the rumors implied. The bounty hunter was a lot different than what Mario had told Peach of. Mario had informed Peach to stay clear of Samus as the fighter was dangerous. Samus' world was one of dangerous monsters and villains, Samus among them. Peach of course had her doubts as Mario would tend to be a little overprotective at times, but watching the Princess of Hyrule interact with the warrior. The blonde princess believed the metal warrior was no danger to be feared. The metal warrior acted so differently than what one would expect considering the rumors that flew around about them, but that was fine in Peach's mind.
Zelda was different too Peach noted. When she last spoke to the ruler of Hyrule, she was restrained clearly keeping up the royal face. No doubt the Hylian was used to speaking with dignitaries and other royals, but not used to relaxing conversations with friends. Now though she was smiling and seemed much more free spirited. Peach smiled if Samus could make Zelda feel comfortable enough to relax as she was now. Then then the huntress must not be all bad.
Deciding it was time to regain the teammates attention Peach spoke up.
"I agree with Samus on this one, but that's not why I'm here. I needed to ask you both something." Peach broke the two up, holding in a giggle at the comical expression Zelda made when Peach sided with Samus. The Hylian Princess quickly regain her composure though, and gave Peach her attention.
"Of course what do you need Peach?" The royal face was back, and while Peach was sad that Zelda wasn't comfortable enough with her yet to relax completely she did find them for a reason.
"Well, since all of the opening fights are done. I figured before the tournament gets too competitive, I'd hold a little get together for all the fighters. After all a battle among friends is better than one full of enemies." There was no response from the metal warrior over the idea, but Zelda did appear interested in what Peach was saying.
"Anyway I'm going around asking everyone to come, so will you two be joining?" Peach had to admit she hit a stroke of luck catching Samus and Zelda together. The pink clad princess would bet that if anyone could get the antisocial bounty hunter to come it would be Zelda. Samus still showed no signs of agreeing while Zelda smiled in a friendly manner.
"I would love to, Samus will you be coming?" The Hyrule ruler prompted the hunter, who sat there as if pondering her options. Peach wanted to giggle but held it in watching the teammates. Once Zelda's gaze fell on the metal warrior their posture relaxed a little, and the hunter nodded. The princess of toadstools wanted to laugh, this was the evil mechanical warrior everyone feared. All Zelda had to do was give them one look, and the hunter agreed. Instead of laughing though, Peach clapped in her hands together in delight.
"Wonderful I'll see you two then." Peach gave them details of where the fighters were meeting and when. After the next round of matches were held the fighters would get together at the warp zone lobby to relax and properly meet everyone.
As Peach practically skipped away, out of the corner of her eye she watched the two get back to whatever they were doing.
"Samus! I was reading that! Some of us actually read the books give it back!" Peach didn't withhold the giggle this time listening to Zelda scold the huntress. It looked like the scary bounty hunter was not as bad as everyone said. At least as far when Zelda was involved.
"I warned you we were going to get kicked out." Despite the I told you so statement tone of her statement, Zelda was grinning. After Peach left the Princess had tried to get back to the book she was originally reading. Only to find while Peach had distracted her Samus had added it to her growing building of books. Of course Zelda tried to get the book back, only for it to end with all the books tumbling to the ground.
The librarian was less than pleased, and kicked the teammates out of the library. While it was technically Zelda who knocked over the books. The Princess stubbornly placed the blame on the huntress for taking her book in the first place.
"You already read it." Samus defended herself talking about the book she took. Zelda blushed surprised Samus noticed such a detail. The Princess had indeed already read the tome, she didn't think Samus was paying attention to what she was reading though.
"Fine you win, but we're never going to the library again." If Samus could, Zelda believed the huntress would be laughing right now.
The two walked together with no real direction in mind, though Zelda enjoyed the company. The Princess hummed to herself thinking of the encounter with Peach. She was surprised Samus agreed to join the other fighters in Peach's little party. Even after seeing the more relaxed sillier side of the huntress. Samus seemed too stoic to enjoy such a thing as a party.
Besides most of the fighters were afraid of her, so it wouldn't really be an enjoyable experience. Zelda mentally shrugged away the thoughts. She was happy Samus would be joining in on the meetup. Things were still tense with Link, so having her silent friend around would be appreciated. Pushing the thoughts away Zelda wondered what she should do for the rest of the day. There was still plenty of daylight left, and Zelda figured she should enjoy the reprieve before the fighting kicked back up.
"Samus is there anything you'd like to do today?" Thus far the only thing Zelda has seen Samus do other than training was repair her ship. Like many things about Samus, Zelda wondered what the huntress did in her free time.
Samus gave Zelda a questioning look, tilting her helmet looking at the royal. The bounty hunter shook her head showing there was nothing she wished to do. Zelda frowned before poking the huntress' arm playfully.
"Come now, there must be something you want to do. It'd be a waste to not take this time to relax before we get back to fighting." Samus shrugged, but Zelda only folded her arms looking expectantly at the huntress. The two stared at each other in silent communication. Samus' expressionless visor has long since lost its intimidating effect to the Princess. For Zelda knew that there was a face under it looking back at her.
Samus relented appearing thoughtful for a moment. Zelda grinned at her victory, who knew the fearless bounty hunter would be so easy to convince. After a moment of thought Samus appeared to think of something, offering her hand to the Princess which she happily took.
The huntress leading them, Zelda saw Samus was bringing them to the garage where the huntress kept her ship. As they entered Zelda couldn't withhold the giggle as the young attendant Joey looked awestruck as Samus passed. The poor boy looked like he was about to faint from joy when Samus acknowledged him with a nod of her head.
It seemed Samus finished whatever repairs she was doing to the vessel before, as now the new orange steel gleamed in the garage lighting. The huntress let go of Zelda' hand, and the Princess found she missed the strong presence. She shook the thought away, as Samus was gesturing towards her ship.
"You want to fly your ship?" Samus nodded almost enthusiastically, normally Zelda would grin at such a display from the huntress. However remembering the battle on top the other flying ship. Zelda was less than thrilled at the thought of going on another one.
"It's different when you're inside." As if sensing what was wrong Samus signed reassuring the Princess that there was no risk of falling out of the sky.
Samus helped Zelda up to reach the only entrance into the ship. The hatch at the center of the ship opened with a hiss of air. Looking down to make sure it was safe, Zelda took a step on the platform that with another hiss of air lowered her into the vessel.
Looking around the inside was a lot different from what Zelda expected. She would have thought strange futuristic technology everywhere, but instead it was almost homey.
About the size of a small apartment maybe, there was a small mini fridge and counter with what looked like a stove built into it. There was a bathroom area with a small shower at the other corner of the ship. Zelda did note there was no bed anywhere, she wondered where the huntress slept. At the front of the ship was the technology Zelda expected. There was a chair seated in full view of the window dozens of controls around it, no doubt used to command the small ship.
When Zelda moved out of the way Samus calmly jumped down like it was second nature to her not bothering to wait for the platform. The huntress motioned for Zelda to follow her to the front of the ship. Samus easily slipped into the chair that was clearly made for her in full armor. Zelda positioned herself next to Samus looking at all the control in wonder. It was amazing that Samus knew what everyone of them did. The technology of other worlds was truly remarkable.
On the armrest of Samus' chair was a smooth metallic sphere built into it. As soon as Samus touched it the whole ship seemed to hum to life. Dozens of controls lite up awaiting Samus' command. Letting go of the sphere Samus pressed several keys on one of the consoles, and Zelda felt the ship jerk as it lifted off the ground. Looking out the windshield confirmed the ship lifted itself off the ground.
Samus took hold of the sphere again and moved it forward, the whole ship followed suit. Zelda taking hold of the chair both to keep herself steady, and due sheer amazement at the vessel's movement. She watched as Samus guided the ship out of the garage through a large opening in the back of the building.
Once the ship was off the ground Zelda was surprised how stable it became. The only way one could tell they were moving was by looking out the window. Zelda had to withhold a gasp watching the ship take them higher and higher into the sky. There was nothing like this in Hyrule, unless you were a bird the sky was unattainable.
Breaking through the clouds the ship climbed high into the air, the streets below becoming mer lines and buildings being dwarfed by the height. Above the clouds Samus stopped their ascent, pressing a few keys to make the ship drift lazily through the air.
Standing up Samus offered her hand to Zelda, the Princess gave her an uncertain look remembering what being on the speeding ship was like before. Samus strong presence calmed her a little though, Samus always gave off a vibe that everything was fine.
The two exited the ship through the top hatch. Samus calmly walked over to the front of the ship and sat down, completely at ease even when they were thousands of feet in the air. Zelda followed suit moving carefully to sit next to the huntress.
Unlike in their battle, Samus' ship glided through the air at a gentle pace, or maybe they were still and just the clouds were moving. Zelda couldn't say, but she had to admit it was far more relaxing.
Beside her Samus helmet hissed as air was released from it. The huntress pulled off the helm revealing her face making Zelda feel even more at ease. Blonde hair fluttering in the breeze the huntress used her hand to comb back her bangs so they weren't in her face. Then Samus looked to Zelda, and the Princess felt her heart skip a beat. The bounty hunter looked completely at ease, even a small smile on her face.
The Princess felt herself relax, as if seeing Samus at ease settled any nerves Zelda had about being up in the air.
"I still prefer reading a book, but I admit this is amazing." If someone before the tournament would have told her she'd be flying through the air with a metal clad bounty hunter Zelda would have laughed at the thought of it. Yet here she was drifting through the clouds with her silent friend enjoying every second of it. All dark thoughts and worries that have been plaguing Zelda were forgotten. Her body relaxing Zelda unconsciously leaned against Samus, resting against the huntress. She didn't see it, but the battle hardened hunter blushed never having such contact in ages.
Despite the danger ahead things would work out, Zelda mused. Maybe it was just having Samus around, but when she had her teammate by her side Zelda felt invincible.
A.N. Samus is completely obviously to the fact she's being hella charming and romantic, and I enjoy writing that way too much. If Samus wasn't mute she'd probably tell Zelda all about her ship and how it works. Samus is a nerd just a super badass nerd that loves to fix up and fly her shipXD.
Also Peach why are you ruining their moment! I was yelling at myself when I decided to make Peach interrupt them, but don't worry Peach will be the captain of the SamusxZelda ship in this story, and Link her unwilling second in commandXD!
Anyway last note big thanks to everyone who reviewed, you guys are great! I do want to reply to a question a friendly guest reviewer asked. They wanted to know how far Samus was in the metroid timeline(ps. your head canons are awesome and nearly made me do a rewriteXD). To answer Samus has already gone through most of the timeline. Currently she has just recently finished through Super Metroid, it will be touched on in a few chapters, but I felt I should answer you^^.
If anyone else has any questions feel free to ask, or if you want to discuss Metroid or Zelda head cannons I'm always game for that. With that monster of a author's note see you guys next chapter!