Chapter 5 time, this is a short simple one, but I really enjoyed writing it.
Between getting arrested, escaping jail, and everything else going on, Link hadn't really gotten a chance to actually see the town as a whole, so he had to say he was pretty impressed. Having only ever been used to seeing the Gerudo at their stone fortress in the dark future, it was a huge contrast to instead seeing a lively place where the citizens went about doing chores, shopping and making casual chat.
The buildings were made with strong chiseled sandstone, there were lush green palm trees and desert bushes decorating the streets, giving the town lots of color, and even some little canals arranged along the streets with water from the nearby river flowing in. It certainly made what was once a home of thieves feel more like a resort. Nabooru seemed to have put her all into reforming the Gerudo's lifestyle and their ways.
Link couldn't help but notice some of the villagers were looking at him, whispering things behind his back. He tried to pay them no mind, but occasionally he'd catch one giving him an angry glare or a flirtatious wink, he honestly wasn't too sure which to be more unnerved by.
"...and there's the livestock farm, and there's the medical clinic, and there's the war barracks, and there's the mystics' tent, and there's th- hey you listening Link?" Aviel asked, knocking him out his trance.
"Oh, yeah, sure." Link grinned, "Thanks for showing me around."
"No prob, not like I have much better to do right now. Boss says I'm not going to be doing lookout duty for a while after everything that happened the other day."
"I'm sorry for that..." Link said, feeling guilty for it.
"Nah , don't worry about it." Aviel said, waving her hand dismissively, "I've been in hot water with her lately anyway, it was probably just inevitable." she then stopped and spun around, giving Link a big smile, "It just gives me time to spend with you, Link!"
Link's face flushed at that, she really was quite a nice girl and was genuinely happy to have her as a friend.
"Hold up a sec, I need to check the time." Aviel said, she ran over a Gossip Stone that was set in between two buildings nearby and kicked it with her leg.
The stone vibrantly around until it said, "Boing boing! The time is now 10:45 am!"
"Hey, it;s almost time for archery practice sessions over at the training camp." Aviel remarked, "Wanna go with me?"
"Oh, sure." Link said, thinking it would be a good idea to keep up his own training.
A woman took a bow and arrow, gazing at the target so far ahead of her, she pulled back the sting, her eyes not even flinching. She let go of the string and the arrow shot through the air, almost making a whizzing sound from the air around it, before it impacted right in the dead center of the target, scoring a perfect bullseye.
Aviel lowered the bow and turned to the students in the crowd watching and clapping, sporting her bright beaming smile.
"And that folks is how you do it." said the archery instructor to the crowd, "Thank you for demonstrating today Aviel."
"Of course Master Folura!" said Aviel doing a bow.
Link himself was in the crowd watching Aviel's demonstrations, "When she said she was going to archery practice, I thought she was just a student, not an instructor aide." he said.
"Oh yes!" said one of the students, "Sister Aviel is one of the best archers in town, some of us call her Aviel the Hawkeye!"
"Huh, I thought the town didn't like her very much."
"Maybe to some of the residents and her employers." said Master Folura, "But as far as the archery grounds go she's my most prized pupil!"
Aviel meanwhile was going over to the target to pull out her arrow, but had trouble budging it. She eventually pulled so hard she lost her balance and slipped, falling on her face.
"...she's just a little klutzy and weird." continued Folura with a sweatdrop going down her head.
"I see..." Link muttered.
Sometime after that, Link decided to take his own place in the archery range, pulling back his bow and arrow and firing off several arrows. He managed to hit a few perfect bullseyes, which got the onlookers clapping.
"Oh wow, I didn't know the king was so proficient with arrows!" said one of the girls.
"And he's cute too!" said another.
"Do you think he and Sister Aviel have something going on?" asked one.
"You like she'll become his wife?!" exclaimed a girl, "I'd ship it!"
'Um, I can hear you girls.' Link thought to himself as he heard the girls chattering, his face red at their words.
He looked over to see Aviel watching two girls firing off arrows, and having some difficulty at it. Aviel watched them carefully, before adjusting one of the girl's positioning with the arrow. She then went over to the other girl, she seemed to be taking a moment to point over to Link, while telling her something, before having the girl swap the hands she was using to hold the bow and arrow, indicating she was left handed like Link was. Sure enough, the two of them were firing with much better accuracy.
'Huh, she really knows her stuff.' Link thought with admiration.
"Link, I worked really hard today!" Aviel said cheerfully after archery practice, "Could I get praise from my king?"
"Um..." Link was at a loss for the right words, "Uh, your... 'king', praises you... I guess?"
"I don't mean like that!" said Aviel, puffing out her cheeks, "I want another one of your hugs from yesterday!"
"Oh, uh, sure." Link said, with a bit of nervousness. He walked forward, wrapped his arms around her waist and held her.
"Heeeeee..." Aviel said blissfully, "This feels so nice..." She turned her arms into wings and gave Link a hug back, covering him with her feathers.
'This does feel kind of nice...' Link thought, 'She is a really nice girl, and I'm having a great time with her., but... I wonder if Nabooru would mind if I did this? We're not really a couple but...'
"Hey, it's getting to be about lunchtime." Aviel said, breaking the hug, "Come on, I want to take you to a restaurant nearby!"
"So what is this exactly?" Link asked, sitting at a restaurant table, looking at a bowl of what appeared to be shredded ice cubes with yellow syrup covering it. They had just finished a modest meal and Aviel was anxious to order this particular item afterwards.
"It's shaved ice," Aviel said, "My favorite treat!"
Link went ahead and rook a bite of it, it had a distinct lemony taste, but it was very cool and refreshing.
"It's good!" Link said impressed, "Perfect for a hot place like this!"
"Right?" agreed Aviel, "I come here all the time!" she took a particularly large spoonful of hers and ate it in one gulp.
After a few seconds however, Aviel suddenly gripped her head and screamed out, trashing around wildly.
"KYAAAHHH!"
"A-Aciel?! What's the matter?!" exclaimed Link, quickly getting out of his seat and gripping onto her arms so she wouldn't fall.
"B-Brain freeze..." she muttered, rubbing her head with her eyes turned to dizzy spirals.
"O-oh..." Link said, seeing he was holding her closely, he quickly let go and got back down in his seat, He was relieved she was all right, but he was surprised how overly concerned he was for her.
It took some time for Aviel to get over her headache, but then she went right back to the shaved ice. Link's efforts to get her to slow down were futile.
"Okay, time to go clothes shopping!" Aviel said.
"Oh no." Link deadpanned, Aviel seemed to ignore his protest, grabbing his arm and pulling him into the clothing store of her choice.
While Link sat back watching Aviel picking out various clothing, he thought more about his situation with her.
"Hey Link, do you like these colors?" she asked, holding up a pink top, hood and veil with light blue pants.
"Oh sure." Link said spontaneously. Aviel grinned in response and added it to her pile.
'In a weird way, this kind of feels less like a guided tour and more like I'm on a date with her.' he thought.
"Hey Link, how about this?" she asked, holding up a plaid kilt. Somewhere, Link could swear he heard the very faint sound of bagpipes playing somewhere.
"Where the heck did you even find that?!" Link exclaimed.
It was already past nighttime when Link found himself sitting at a bench in a quiet, deserted area, with bags and bags of merchandise by him that Aviel bought. He took a deep breath, exhausted from Aviel dragging him around everywhere, the girl was a bundle of nonstop energy. The half-bird half archer herself soon ran up to him with a cup of water.
"There you go." she said, plopping herself down right beside him and sipping her own water. "So, what do you think of this place Link?"
"It's nice, a lot better then I expected." Link sipped his own water.
"Yeah, I don't know where our people would be without Lady Nabooru." Aviel said, "After what happened with the war, everyone seemed afraid of what would become of them. That's when Nabooru stepped up and helped them all change their lives." she then turned to Link and made a bigger smile, "And now with you around, I think things will get even better!"
"I... don't know about that. I'm... kind of unsure about becoming your king." he admitted.
"What?!" she asked sadly, "Do you not like being here?"
"No, I do and all." Link said defensively, "It's just... I'm not a very influential person, I'd always been more a hands-on type, a do-er, not a heavy thinker. I don't know anything about diplomacy or public relations or anything like that. Nabooru said she would help me, but I still don't think I'd be cut out for the job..."
"Well I dunno about that, but I think you're just a really nice guy." Aviel said, "The only thing I'm any good at is being an archer, but it's not exactly a very important thing around here these days, Usually the other Gerudo disregard me since I can be really annoying to them, but when I'm out on the archery range, I really feel important, with everyone depending on me there and cheering me on! I feel like... maybe I just need to do what I can with the skills I have to make people happy, even if it's not everyone."
Link's eyes widened, hearing those words of wisdom coming from someone like Aviel.
"What I can do with what skills I have..." he whispered. He closed his eyes and chuckled at how much he was learning from an weirdo like her. He leaned back and looked up into the night sky, "Well, I still haven't decided on becoming king either way, but I think you helped me think more positively about it. Thanks for that Aviel."
Aviel found herself flushed a little red at Link's compliment. She felt the urge to use her wings to hide her face, but resisted, and instead took an initiative, and gave Link a gentle kiss on the cheek.
"W-What was that about?" Link asked.
"Just something to help encourage you." smiled Aviel.
It seemed at that point that the weird klutzy girl who could turn into a bird and get brain freezes from shaved ice looked more mature then he ever could had thought.
"Aviel..." Link muttered.
But before he could say anything else, he felt a strange sensation, and out of instinct, grabbed Aviel and brought her to the ground, just as something shot through the air, slicing through a small nearby palm tree like it was nothing.
"Who's there?!" shouted Link.
"Huh, you're quicker then I thought." said a shady voice. Walking out from the shadows was an individual in a gray cloak, with numerous symbols and marking decorating the edges of it. The cloak was positioned just enough that Link couldn't make out who it was wearing it, but could tell from the voice it was a woman.
"And you are?" Link asked, getting himself up along with Aviel.
"You can just call me...The Slicer." she said coldly, pointing to Link, "And I'm here to cut down you, false king."
The plot thickens. It's weird, this whole tour thing wasn't even originally going to exist, then started off as a simple little one-shot but somehow became an entire story arc. Stay tuned for chapter 6!