Hello folks! Chapter 95 is here, and we're finally moving on to the next major arc! This time the meeting with the Gerudo's alliance is approaching, but a certain training war general has something she needs to say to the young Gerudo King...
"Link! Liiiiink!"
"What do you want Aviel? I'm busy."
"No you're not! You're just sleeping in bed!"
"That's right, I'm busy sleeping. Now let me keep to my business."
It had been a week since the lady Hylian knight Ashe had left back to Hyrule Castle Town, and life continued as normal for Link and his friends. Just another normal day for the king of Gerudo Town, or so he thought...
"Come, on, and get, up!" Aviel said tugging on Link's leg, "Let's go play!"
"Nah uh." Link muttered, burying his face in his pillow, "I'm too relaxed right now, it's going to take something huge to make me get up from-"
"Link, it's finally time!" Nemisa burst into his bedroom, "Ragome's going into labor!"
Link's eyes widened as he immediately jolted out of the bed and ran off as fast as he could, leaving Aviel in the dust.
"That's cheating Nemisa!" Aviel shouted out as she followed after them.
"Since when is waking Link up a competition?!" Nemisa asked.
Going down the halls of Gerudo Palace was Reirousa, the training general of the Gerudo Town army. She had been at the job for about two and a half years now. Before she had spent nearly six years living in the storm-torn land of Gerudo Wastes with a ragtag team of Gerudo bandits who called themselves the Sandstorm Vipers. Reirousa, along with the Vipers, were all former soldiers who survived the war with the Hylians nine years ago. She had been welcomed into Gerudo Town by Link and his friends after meeting and helping her deal with the rebellion known as the Ebony Sisterhood.
Reirousa at that moment was currently hurrying to the royal child-bearer's room of the palace along with some of the troops she was training, as there was a very big emergency they had been called to deal with.
"ERRAAAAHHH!"
"Ragome calm down, you just need to-!"
As Reirousa and her troops ran up to the doorway that led into the child-bearer's living quarters, the door suddenly burst open as Link went flying out and soaring across the hall, crashing into a pot on the other side.
"Woah." Reirousa said sweatdropping. She looked inside to see Link's child-bearer Ragome thrashing around and shouting out in labor-induced pain. Nabooru, Aviel, Nemisa and a few guards were trying to restrain her while Leivuri was holding her hand to comfort her, but the expecting woman was trying to knock them all away aside from Leivuri. Dr. Sarami meanwhile was in front of the woman, preparing her for the delivery.
"Ragome please, I know you're hurting but don't throw King Link like that!" Leivuri pleaded to her friend.
"Just cut them both out of me!" shouted Ragome, "Get a scimitar, cut my stomach open, and pull the babies out! I can take it, I swear!"
"Don't be ridiculous Ragome, we're going to do this as naturally as the Fertility Goddess Limoga intends!" Sarami stated. As she was working with Ragome, the other child-bearers were all huddled together some distance away, cowering in fear of their friend's pain and anger.
"Is that what we're in for?" asked one of the child-bearers in fear.
They looked over at Esolu who was calmly sitting back, holding Leivuri's daughter Esolu in her arm while patting her own pregnant belly with her other hand. Occasionally she'd take a frosted scone from a plate and nibble on it. She would had helped with Ragome but was in far too much of a delicate situation to deal with her.
"And just how is Esolu so calm about this?" one of them asked in confusion.
"Maybe it's something in the scones...?" suggested another.
"General Reirousa, what should we do?" a soldier asked.
"Do what ya can to help the gir-" Reirousa was cut off as Aviel went flying through the air, thrown by Ragome, and she bashed into the muscular woman's abdomen. Reirousa didn't even so much as flinch as Aviel hit the ground at her feet, "-uh, help the girls hold that lady down."
"Ayeyeyeye..." Aviel groaned with her eyes spiraling.
The troops nodded and all ran over, grabbing at Ragome's arms and legs to restrain her and keep her from attacking anyone else, while Reirousa ran over and held Ragome down by her shoulders.
"Come on Ragome, get a hold of yersel-!" Reirousa started, only to look down between Ragome's legs and see just what was going on down there, "WHAT THE HELL? All right, who's the bastard who stabbed her?" she shouted looking around.
"She's having her babies you idiot!" Nemisa shouted bashing Reirousa across the back of her head.
Meanwhile Link came running back into the room with the pot still stuck over his head. He pulled it off before running up to Ragome and taking her hand.
"Link, glad you're back with us! Try to get Ragome to calm herself!" Nabooru said.
"Of course!" Link nodded, "Ragome please, I can't stand seeing you like this! Leivuri got through this, and I know you can too! Try to keep a level hea-" he cringed as he felt his hand being crushed by Ragome's powerful grip. She looked at Link directly with almost demonic eyes.
"I SWEAR IF YOU TRY TO COME NEAR ME WITH THAT THING OF YOURS AGAIN I'M BITING IT OFF AND FEEDING IT TO THE WOLFOS!" Ragome shouted.
Link's face turned a very pale white from that threat, but regardless he squeezed Ragome's hand, desperate to stop her rampage. Reirousa had been trying to close her eyes so she didn't have to see what Ragome was doing, but opened one eye at hearing Link's voice.
"Ragome, calm yourself." Link spoke, trying to be as calm and compassionate as possible, "I know it's difficult, but you need to get through this, so that your children, our children, can be brought into this world. I know you can do this."
Ragome started to gasp out a little less, as she looked over to Link, her body was shaking and she sniffled a little, "Link..."
"You can do it Ragome, I'm here for you no matter how much pain you go through." Link spoke softly.
Reirousa heard those words, and stared down at Link. He was giving Ragome the same compassionate look he'd often do for her when she was feeling down...
"Please Link..." Ragome sobbed, "Don't leave me..."
"Don't worry, I promise I won't." Link spoke, squeezing her hand.
"Yes Ragome, let us be here for you." Leivuri said, squeezing Ragome's other hand with both of her own.
Ragome gulped a bit and sighed out, "O-Okay Doc, just tell me what to do..."
"Very good." Sarami nodded, "Now push!"
"Congratulations Ragome and Link-honey!" Sarami said smiling brightly as she and a nurse handed two babies to Ragome, "You have two healthy baby girls!"
"Way to go Ragome!" Leivuri said happily, "You're a hero for getting through this!"
"Finally..." the new mother said relief. She sported a wide grin with tears streaming down her eyes, cuddling her two new children in her arms, "I'm a mama... Look at me Link, I'm actually a mama!"
"You did great work Ragome." Link grinned. His hand was now bandaged up from Ragome crushing it, but he gave her a sweet kiss on the lips, "I'm so proud of you."
"Thank you..." Ragome said sobbing.
"Nice work Ragome, all of you." Nabooru spoke to everyone with a prideful smile, "You all contributed to bringing these two new members of our people into this world!"
"So what are you gonna name them?" asked Aviel anxiously.
"..." Ragome paused for a few seconds, before sticking out her tongue with a dopey expression on her face, "Oh yeah, that's right. I gotta name them too, huh?"
Everyone else faulted over in response.
"Link, please tell me you came up with something." Nabooru sighed
"Yeah, I gave it some thought. How does Safael and Irala sound?" Link suggested, having been used to Gerudo language enough from his nearly three years of living there to pick something appropriate.
"Aw, splendid!" Sarami said cheerfully, "What do you think Ragome?"
"Sounds great! How do you two like your names... you... uh..." Ragome paused, "Wait, which one is which? I'm confused."
"..." Reirousa meanwhile was staring down at the two children. She backed up so as not to scare them with her unintentional glare she was known for. She looked to see Link playing with his two new daughters, and the bright and happy look on his face as he did. The large woman just sighed out and walked off, feeling as if her work there was done.
Just as Reirousa was leaving someone bumped into her, and she glanced down to see it had been Saria. The Kokiri was now on the ground rubbing her rear after having fallen over.
"Oh, uh... sorry Saria." Reirousa muttered.
"It's okay Reirousa, I just heard the news while I was helping to manage the vegetable garden. I came in a hurry to see Link's new children!" Saria said excitedly.
"Uh huh... well have fun with that." Reirousa said walking off, leaving Saria looking out at her confused for a second, before she put it aside for the time being to go see the two new babies of Ragome and Link.
"Well congratulations again 'Dad'," Nabooru smirked as she, Link, Aviel, Nemisa, Sarami, and Halei were all sitting around in the dining room, having a late brunch, "You're the father of three lovely Gerudo daughters at this point, with many more on the way."
"Yeah, it's such a great feeling.." Link said rubbing the back of his head, sporting a big goofy grin on his face as he thought about his two new daughters, "I'm going to give them all the love I can, and I want to make sure they can all grow up happily in a peaceful society."
"Yes, that's why our meeting with the Hylian Parliament has to go right." Nabooru nodded, "Thankfully in one week from now we'll be meeting with our allies; Chieftain Darunia, Queen Ruto, the Kokiri representatives, and even Lady Impa will all be attending it, and they've pledged their support to help us."
"Sounds great, it'll be Darunia and Impa's first time seeing our town too." Link nodded.
Nabooru spoke, "I've even reserved the entirety of the night club Nemisa works at to hold the meeting. I would have had it here at the palace, but I thought we should have it at a place with a much more livelier atmosphere so they can also enjoy the pleasures of our town!"
"Why do I have a feeling she's just doing this so she can have an excuse to go drinking?" Nemisa asked as she saw the eager look in Nabooru's eyes. She turned to Aviel and spoke, "Either way, are you ready that night, partner?"
"Yep! I've been waiting for this! We got a really cool show to put on for you and everyone!" Aviel said to Link with a big grin, "You coming to see it too Sarami?"
"Oh, uh... sure... wouldn't miss it for the world..." Sarami spoke, clearly lost in thought.
Link glanced curiously over to Sarami who was distracted looking over some notes. He leaned over and saw it to be medical information that he couldn't decipher one bit.
"What's all that for Sarami?" Link asked.
"I was just going over Esolu's pregnancy notes. I was hoping she'd have her baby before the meeting, but everything I've looked at says otherwise, and it's troubling." Sarami spoke, "It would be one thing if she was just overdue, but I've noted she's showing absolutely no signs of being ready to give birth yet."
"Something isn't wrong with her is there...?" Halei asked worriedly.
"I've done numerous examinations of Esolu, and there doesn't seem to be anything physically wrong... She's perfectly healthy and her child is growing well, but something just feels off about her. I've even had Kesuta, Korume and their mother check on her for any sort of magical curse or something and there's nothing." Sarami sighed out.
"Do you think it's somehow connected to her being a mute?" Link suggested.
"What would not being able to talk have anything to do with having a child?" Nemisa asked.
"Heck if I know, I'm not a doctor." Link spoke.
"Actually, that might be more of a sound theory then you think." Sarami said, "Since it's nothing physical or magical, I think perhaps her problem is more mental than anything."
"Huh? How do you mean?" Aviel asked.
"I've researched with Kesuta and Korume via their hypnosis research into potential side effects caused by psychological trauma," Sarami said, "Namely anything that might potentially effect vocal patterns or gestation periods."
"So you're thinking something might have traumatized her into losing her voice, and it's also causing her to be unable to have her child?" Nabooru asked.
"It sounds strange, but at this point it's the only possible explanation I can think of." Sarami said, "Neuropsychiatry isn't exactly my area of expertise though."
"Ragome and Leivuri told me Esolu had gotten lost in a sandstorm, and she was mute by the time she was found." Link spoke scratching his chin, "I wonder what she went through while she was lost..."
"I didn't know too much about her before she volunteered to be a child-bearer." Nabooru said, "But she seemed pretty passionate about the job. I just hope she can have her child soon..."
"Yeah, I know what trauma can do to a person..." Link spoke, as he though about a certain muscular training general in that moment...
"Hey! Quit speedwalking and get back to runnin'!"
"Eep, sorry General!"
"You call that lifting?! I'll show you how to lift weights!"
"General, put that poor steer down!"
"Hey, you're dodging too many of my attacks! You gotta build up yer endurance too!"
"I'm not going to let myself get hit by your stupid exploding warhammer, General!"
Reirousa was swinging around her weapon as a Gerudo guard was dodging and jumping out of the way of each attack. Two other soldiers nearby were watching Reirousa attacking the girls around her.
"General Reirousa has been drilling everyone pretty hard today." spoke one solider, "Think something's wrong?"
"Knowing her, she's either out of hydromelons or it's something involving the king." spoke the other.
Reirousa slammed her warhammer to the ground, causing an explosion that scared off the other troops. She then heard the sound of someone gulping something, turned right and saw a trainee some distance away taking a drink of water. Reirousa's expression turned dark as the trainee's expression turned nervously pale at the sight of her trainer general.
"Take a break on yer own time!" shouted Reirousa, scaring the solider off.
"Scratch that, it's definitely the king." the second soldier corrected herself.
Meanwhile one solider was blocking off attacks from another with her wooden sword, but she flinched a bit and her sword was driven out of her hand, and she fell to the ground on her rear in defeat.
"Oowie..." groaned the soldier.
"Hey! What are you doing losing so easily Kitona?! The Ebony Sisterhood sure ain't gonna let you say 'oowie' when you fall!" Reirousa snapped at her.
"S-Sorry General..." sniffled the trainee Kitona, she had small tears in her eyes that she was trying to wipe away, "I was just notified this morning that my Aunt Oolagu passed away a few days ago, and I guess I'm still a bit upset about it..."
"Yeah, come on General. Lay off of her." said Kitona's training partner, helping her to to her feet.
Reirousa paused looking down at the trainee, her angry scowl was intimidating Kitona as well as the other girl trying to defend her. But then Reirousa sighed out, rubbing the back of her head and walking off to go see the other troops. She spoke up, "Just take a little breather Kitona, and get back to training when yer ready..."
Kitona and her partner were both a little surprised at Reirousa's words, but didn't question it.
A couple hours later, Reirousa plopped down on a bench and wiped the sweat from her brow, feeling somewhat fatigued from working with the troops. She looked to see them still training, keeping her eye on Kitona in particular, thinking about what she had told her about her aunt.
Reirousa looked up into the air, seeing a decently large amount of clouds in the sky. In that moment, she thought about a dear friend of hers from her time in the war, a Gerudo soldier named Hiraemo...
"Reirousa?" spoke up a small voice. The general looked down to see Saria there. She was looking up at Reirousa with concern in her eyes, "Are you doing okay? You left the palace after Ms. Ragome gave birth. Everyone was wondering why you went away so quickly."
"I'm alright..." muttered Reirousa, "Sorry 'bout taking off like that. I had to get back to training the troops."
"...somehow I don't think that's just what it is." Saria said, sitting herself down on the bench beside Reirousa.
"Okay, I had to take a crap too." Reirousa muttered as she looked away.
"Come on Reirousa, I just wanted to talk with you. I could see something was bothering you when you left." Saria said.
"Hey look, whadaya know about me?" Reirousa scowled, "I ain't part of you and Link's family or anything."
"And that's exactly why I wanted to talk to you about it." Saria spoke, "I thought maybe I could help you with your situation with Link."
"What's there to talk about? There's nothin' going on between us." Reirousa spoke, slouching forward and leaning her elbows on her knees, speaking in a small voice, "I don't even feel that way about him..."
"It's okay Reirousa, I understand how you feel." Saria spoke putting her hand against Reirousa's arm, surprising the general, "I used to be that way too."
"You did?" Reirousa spoke, trying to imagine Saria stomping around and slouched over, wearing a black vest over her shoulders, with a toothpick sticking out from her mouth and carrying her Deku Staff on her shoulders, scowling angerly at people and kicking over things to look tough, "How the hell did you become so sweet? Did you become enlightened or something?!"
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Saria asked sweatdropping, "No, what I mean is I had a crush on Link for a while back when he was growing up." she put her hands to her chest and smiled softly, "He always felt like an outsider growing up because he didn't have a forest fairy like the rest of us, and Mido always treated him poorly. But despite all that he was such a kind and outgoing person. I really grew to admire and like him, but I was always holding myself back from telling him my feelings."
"Oh... I see." Reirousa muttered.
"When Link left to stop Ganondorf and avenge the Great Deku Tree, there was a part of me that thought we'd never see each other again..." Saria spoke, "And then I started having these strange dreams that made me think we could never be together..."
Reirousa noticed a somewhat sad look in Saria's eyes as she paused for a moment. She wondered just what she saw in those dreams to make her feel that way. Saria shook her head and continued,
"But no matter what, Link kept coming back to me. Even after he settled into life here at Gerudo Town, he still went out of his way to save me when I was kidnapped by Straw Kid. It gave me the confidence to want to leave the forest and live with him, as well as confess my feelings for him. The two of us have never been closer as we are now, and I love being with Aviel, Nemisa and everyone else as well!"
Saria took Reirousa's hand and gripped it, "And I can tell you feel the same about Link. We all do, and we want you to be honest with him, so that you can join our family too!"
"Family..." muttered Reirousa, staring down at the ground, "Ya know, after I lost my Ma in the war I didn't think I had any family left. I gave up everything and joined the war myself to get revenge for her. That's where I met my friend Hiraemo, back then she told me some things I had a hard time understanding... stuff like that I shouldn't grieve over my Ma's death, that she wouldn't want me to be sad for her. But I could never really understand it, and it was even harder for me to figure out when Hira died in that war too..."
Reirousa paused as she recalled the last words of Hiraemo before she died from her injuries.
"Don't mourn for us Reirousa... just live..."
"I wondered what else there was for me to live for. I lost my Ma, my best friend and everyone I cared about in the army. I didn't have anything left. If I hadn't ran into Sovan and the other Vipers I probably would have just given up and died." Reirousa said.
"Oh Reirousa, I had no idea you went through all that." Saria said, actually feeling kind of happy that the normally stoic warrior woman was opening up so much to her in that moment.
"Link's the only person I've ever told all this to before." Reirousa muttered, "He said he understood me, and told me about what he did to get Ganondorf captured which caused the war, and how he used to beat himself up over it a lot. He told me about how Nabooru helped him cope with it, and that he'd do the same for me."
Reirousa looked up back at the clouds, "We stuck to each other for a while after that. It felt kind of nice to have someone around who was going through a lot of the same crap I was, made me feel like I wasn't alone."
She took a deep breath, "...then Link confessed everything he did to the town. Link was able to move on, but I still felt like I couldn't. Yet he still keeps coming to comfort me whenever I need it... Link's gotten over his problems, but I still can't get over my own. I'm starting to feel like I'm just too weak to deal with it..."
"Oh Reirousa, there's no way you're weak." Saria assured her.
She handed Reirousa a handkerchief, which she took and blew into, causing an absurdly loud foghorn-like noise. Reirousa offered the handkerchief back, but Saria saw the mucous dripping from it and just decided to let her hang onto it, and the Kokiri girl continued,
"I think it took a lot of strength for you to tell me all that. In fact, I think if anything you should be more open with everyone like you did with me just now!"
"But..."
"Listen Reirousa, you love Link, don't you?" Saria asked knowingly.
"Love him..?" Reirousa muttered, rubbing the back of her neck, "Jees... I've never really met a man before besides the bastard Hylians soldiers from the war, but Link was a lot different than any of them. He took to me real quick, even before I poured myself out to him. He's been there for me for so long, I respect him a lot..."
Reirousa paused as she thought of all the times the two hugged out their pain with each other, the compassionate voice he'd use when trying to comfort her or others, the happy look on his face when Ragome gave birth to her twins... as well as the heated desire she felt deep down when she sat beside him in the Goron resort hot spring.
"Yeak, guess yer right Saria, I really do have a thing for Link... I can't help it. I don't care about having kids with him or becoming a queen or anything like that. I just wanna stay by him forever, keep him safe... I don't know what I'd do if something happened to him." Reirousa admitted.
"I'm sure he thinks of you the same way, I think you just need to be honest with him about your feelings." nodded Saria, "With everything going on rigth now he needs all the support he can."
"Guess you gotta a point there..." muttered Reirousa, she took a deep breath and nodded, "Alight, I'll do it!" she shouted, standing up and pumping her fists, "I'll take him on and show him what I'm made of!"
"Uh, just remember you're confessing to him, not fighting him." Saria said sweatdropping.
"Just gotta wait for the right chance, when Link's alone." Reirousa spoke to herself.
Link, Aviel and Nemisa were taking a walk down the streets of Gerudo Town, talking about the upcoming meeting with their allies. Reirousa meanwhile was hiding behind the corner of a nearby building watching them, clad in a trench coat, hat and wearing sunglasses and a face mask in order to hide her identity.
However, due to her hulking size, and the fact that the people of the town usually went around in skimpy silk desert attire, she clearly stood out among the people in her disguise. Though while the citizens passing by looked in confusion of her, no one bothered saying anything.
"So did Saria mention which Kokiri will be coming to the meeting?" Aviel asked Link as they went down the street. Reirousa was attempting to follow them by quickly darting behind trash containers, buildings, palm trees and merchant stands while keeping a good distance.
"Well Mido didn't want to go, so he's sending his assistant Vekai to come. Saria aside, she's the smartest Kokiri in the village, so I'm glad she's coming. She even mentioned Skull Kid, Tatl and Tale want to come as well." Link said.
"Yaaay! I wanna dance with that cute little guy again!" Aviel cheered out.
"So he's a dancer you say?" Nemisa spoke, "I'd like like to see his technique, I have been interested in trying out forms of spiritual forest dancing."
"I somehow don't think it's something you'd be interested in." Link said, "The two of them were just randomly hopping around."
"Hey!" stated Nemisa, turning and snapping her fingers in front of Link, "Don't underestimate the art of the dance! I'll learn their style in seconds and demonstrate it before you! No matter how simplistic you think it is, I will see to it that it will drive your sensations wild!"
"Heh, with you doing it I'm sure it will." Link chuckled, 'She sure gets passionate about that sort of thing.' he thought to himself with a sweatdrop going down his head.
Reirousa stuck her head out from behind a food stand, munching on a fried cinnamon dough stick she had just bought from it as she was watching the trio arrive at the master seamstress Miteito's clothing store.
"Wonder what they're doing there...?" Reirousa muttered to herself.
"Buying clothes perhaps?" the food stand owner suggested in a sarcastic tone, a little annoyed Reirousa was using her stand to hide behind.
"Who asked you?!" Reirousa grumbled.
"Now Link, you stay out here while me and Aviel pick something up from here." Nemisa said to her fiance, "And NO peeking, got it?"
"Yeah, we ordered this a month ago! This is going to be a big surprise that we're gonna wear for the night of the meeting!" Aviel said, only to be bonked upside the head by Nemisa.
"You little blabbermouth!" Nemisa shouted dragging Aviel into the store.
"Alright, alright. I'll be good." snickered Link.
As Link stood waiting outside the store, Reirousa slowly snuck up behind a trash can. A Gerudo citizen walked by dropping a banana peel on her head when she was aiming for the trash, but Reirousa didn't even notice, as she was too busy staring at Link.
'Okay Reirousa...' she thought, 'This is the perfect chance, just gotta go up to Link an-'
"Reirousa you can stop hiding and come on out." Link called out without even looking at her, followed by the sound of a loud audible thud behind him as Reirousa had stumbled over from his statement.
"D-Damnit! How'd you know I was following you? I was being sneaky and everything!" Reirousa shouted with the banana peel still on her head.
Link glanced behind her to see all the things she knocked down and destroyed trying to remain covert due to her bulk and clumsiness.
"Just a hunch." he said sarcastically, "So what did you need?"
"W-Well... the-the thing of it is... I just wanted to say... I..." Reirousa stammered, her face a beet red while Link looked up at her curiously, "I..."
"Liiiiiink! Nemisa's still waiting on the order we put in, so I got you a fruit bar to eat!" Aviel shouted running out of the store, waving the snack in the air. "Oh hi Reirousa, what's u-?"
"...I WANTED TO CHALLENGE YOU!" Reirousa suddenly blurted out in panic from Aviel showing up, she quickly grabbed Link by the arms and headbutted him over his own head.
"Woah, what are you two doing?!" Aviel shouted with her eyes widened.
"Geeeehhh..." Link groaned with a large round bump on his forehead and his eyes spiraling.
"Link... I um... sorry, I... grrrr... DAMNIT!" Reirousa shouted, dropping Link and stomping off, leaving Aviel to help Link recover.
"Hey Link, can we... uh, talk again?"
"Oh hey again Reirousa, what'd you need?" Link asked as he was waiting for his lunch to be prepared at his favorite diner.
Reirousa stared down to see Link had a bandage on his forehead from when she headbutted him. Regardless of the injury, he was smiling at her with an award-winning smile, which made her feel even more guilt about earlier. She gulped and started to speak, deciding since Aviel and Nemisa weren't there at the moment that this could be the right time.
"Yeah.. I wanted to say was... um..."
"Hey lover-boy! Howdy Reirousa! What're you two talkin' about?"
Togau had just came in to pick up her own lunch order, and greeted Link and Reirousa when she saw them...
"ROYAL EMPORER CANNON!"
...only for Reirousa to shout out an attack name, spontaneously grab Link and throw him out the window of the diner at blinding speed, sending him flying through the air and crashing into a wall across the street.
"What in tarnation?!" Togau exclaimed with her jaw dropped, before running off to go see her boyfriend, "Link, you alright there?!"
"Urrgghh..." Link groaned out, falling off the wall and onto the street, twitching sightly.
"Uh... check please." Reirousa called out to the waitress.
"Link, you feeling okay?" Aviel asked as she, Link and Nemisa continued on down the street.
"Yeah, I'll just walk it off." sighed Link, who now had bandages around his head and arm.
"Reirousa's been treating you rather roughly today. Did you do something to irritate her?" Nemisa asked.
"No, I think she's just having a rough time." Link spoke, "I'll have to talk to her later and-"
But before he could say anything else, Reirousa stomped by, grabbed Link by his vest, lifted him up into the air, and carried him off.
"Hey, unhand him!" Nemisa shouted, worried the general was going to injure him again.
"I'm just borrowing Link real quick! I'll give him back in a sec!" Reirousa shouted out to them. Link just shrugged at Aviel and Nemisa as he hung from Reirousa's hand and they disappeared around a corner.
The next thing Link knew, he was alone with Reirousa in an rather isolated street of the town. There wasn't much to the area but some palm trees and a small water fountain. He had his back against a wall in between Reirousa's muscular hands, which were pressed against the wall to keep him from going anywhere. The general was staring down at Link with a angry but nervous look in her eyes.
'This feels like I'm being extorted for rupees or something...' Link thought to himself, before speaking to her, "Reirousa, you doing alright today?"
"I... just need to... wanna talk about... somethin'." Reirousa said, as sweat ran down her head.
Link paused for a second, before smiling and speaking to her, "Listen Reirousa, I-" but he was cut off by the woman.
"I said I got something to say, so shut yer yap!" Reirousa shouted.
"Okay, okay!" Link said, realizing this was going to take a while.
'It's fine...' Reirousa thought to herself as she looked around, 'There's nothing to distract us; we're all alone, just say it to him!'
"Link..." she spoke, "I wanted to... I want to tell you that... that..."
As Reirousa continued to stammer though, the water of the fountain nearby started to shift a little, and the flow of it was spiraling in circles. The spiral flowed faster as water started to drip out from the fountain. Then out from the fountain came a giant burst of water, as a figure shot into the air from it, did a flip and gracefully landed down to their feet. It was a familiar looking zora women in queenly attire.
"Hello Linky-poo!" the zora queen Ruto called out joyfully, "I thought I saw you!"
"Ruto, what are you doing here?" Link said with wide eyes.
"Hee hee, how do you like my new water transporting trick? I've learned a new spell that allows me to move between bodies of water that are close enough together! I just had to show it to you it as a surprise!" she paused as she saw Reirousa and Link both staring at her, "Oh dear, am I interrupting something?"
"Oh no." Link said blankly, he looked to the training general and shook his head frantically, "Wait, Reirousa! Don't do it, don't do it, don't do i-!"
"ERRRAAYYHHH!" Reirousa grabbed Link and with one powerful swing of her arm, threw Link sky-high into the air.
"Yaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!" shouted Link, hurling through the sky out of sight of the two of them.
"Kyyaaa! Link!" cried out Ruto in shock.
"Ah shit..." Reirousa muttered.
In the medical clinic of Gerudo Town, Dr. Sarami was just putting the finishing touches on redressing the bandages of one of her patients. Just as she was in the middle of putting away the gauze and alcohol to take a short break, she heard a familiar voice yelling out, and then a powerful thud on the ground outside. Sarami took a long sigh as she unpacked her tools and walked outside of the the clinic.
She saw sure enough that Link had impacted into the street, his head actually buried in the brick floor with the rest of his body sticking out. His legs were in the air twitching slightly from the impact.
"Hello Link-honey, was it Reirousa again?"
"Reirousa again." he muffled.
Sarami smiled softly, despite how aggressive Reirousa could be with Link, he was always so understanding with her. She hoped someday Reirosua could work up the courage she needed to tell Link her feelings and join their family. For now though, she went ahead and got to work tending to Link's injuries.
"Damnit damnit damnit! I did it again!" Reirousa shouted.
She was leaning her hands against the wall of a building in town and bashing her head against it, leaving a sizable dent. Some citizens saw what she was doing but didn't try to make any effort to stop her when she was being that angry. Standing alongside her was Saria who was just letting her friend work out her anger for a while before speaking up,
"So I take it you've been having trouble confessing your feelings to him? I heard from Ruto about what happened earlier." Saria said.
"Yeah, that fish lady really let me have it." Reirousa muttered, recalling a very upset Ruto with a hand to her hip and waving her finger scoldingly at her for sending Link skyward like that, as well as the words she said.
"How dare you do that to my husband you lummox! Link is supposed to be your friend, not your punching bag to work out your anger and frustrations on!"
Reirousa sighed, reflecting on those last words of Ruto's, "Every time I talk to him someone shows up and I suddenly get cold feet. It's hard for me to be alone with him long enough to say what I want to." Reirousa sighed, "I feel like all I'm doin' be being a pain in the ass to Link..."
"I'm sure you're just overthinking it Reirousa. Link's a very understanding person, he's not the type to hold a grudge for too long." Saria paused as she glanced away, "And besides, I don't think Link is completely over his own problems."
"Huh?" Reirousa asked looking down at her.
"There's something else he hasn't told us about yet. I'm still not sure what, but sometimes he has this strange anger... I saw it the first time when we were fighting Straw Kid in the Forest Temple, and Aviel told me he's done it before. I never saw that from him before he went on his seven year journey, " Saria spoke,
"Hm..." Reirousa muttered, not recalling anytime Link did something like that herself, but after seeing how happy he was when Ragome's children were born, she was having a hard time imaging it, "Wonder why he hasn't tried to talk to me about it? We usually confide in each other over that sorta thing."
"It's probably something a lot worse then just his guilt about the war." Saria spoke, "I'm honestly worried about him, it reminds me too much of some more recent dreams I had..."
Saria thought about a dream she had back when she was living in Kokiri Forest, where she saw Link standing in the middle of some kind of battlefield, with numerous people lying on the ground, and his sword was stained in blood. He slowly turned his head back to show off a pair of piercing angry white eyes.
"...I don't know what he's going through, but all I can do for now is support and love him." Saria said, "Once he's ready to tell us the truth about himself, then I'll accept whatever it is."
"Ready to tell the truth..." Reirousa muttered, staring down at Saria for a brief while, contemplating those words. She looked up into the sky, seeing the clouds from earlier were gone now, and the sky was a clear bright blue. Reirousa closed her eyes and thought deeply to herself,
'If Saria was right, and Link really feels the same way about me, then he's waiting for that day too, for me to be honest with him... it's not any different from what he's going through after all.'
"Oh Link, does it hurt?"
"Ow, I'll be fine if you stop trying to grope me Ruto!"
Reirousa turned to the voices she heard and saw Link walking alongside Ruto, Aviel and Nemisa. Link was now in more bandages then before, and was currently being hugged affectionately by Ruto.
"Link!" Saria spoke out, running over to him, "You feeling okay?"
"Yeah, thanks to Sarami treating me I'm feeling a lot better." Link chuckled, giving Saria a kiss on the forehead, "Just a bit sore."
"Hey Link, hold up a sec!" Reirousa called out, running over to them. She was stopped however by Aviel, Nemisa and Ruto, all stepping out in front of Link in defense of him.
"Keep back you idiot!" Nemisa said clenching her fist, "You're not going to hurt him again!"
"Oh hi Reirousa. Did you want something else?" Link asked.
"Uh, listen Link. I wanted to apologize for what I did earlier..." Reirousa muttered, rubbing the back of her head, "I'm supposed to be supporting you, not beating you up like I have."
"Hmph, I'm glad you acknowledge that." Ruto nodded, "Just go easier on my husband from now on, yes? "
"It's fine Reirousa." Link chuckled, "I know you can have a hard time saying what you really mean to. Nemisa used to be like that for a while herself."
"Hey wait a min-" Nemisa paused before sighing out, "Okay, maybe you got a point..."
"I know this is something important you need to say, and it wouldn't mean the same if me or someone else said it instead. So when you're ready to tell me how you feel, I'll be waiting." Link said with a grin.
Reirousa's eyes widened. In that moment, she realized that Saria was right from before, not only did he understand how she really felt about him, but he also picked up on how she wanted to admit it herself. He was willing to wait and take whatever she dished out until the time was right for her.
'He really is a total bro to me.' Reirousa thought to herself, she looked away smiling ever-so-slightly with small tears in her eyes.
'I hope that day comes for you soon Reirousa,' Saria thought to herself, 'So we can all be a family together.'
"Alright, how about we have a spar match to let off some steam then?" Reirousa said with a big grin, bringing up her fists to challenge Link.
"How about NO!" Nemisa and Ruto both shouted in anger, simultaneously punching Reirousa into the air with powerful uppercuts.
"GAAAAHH!" Reirousa shouted as she went airborne herself.
"Woah, Reirousa became a bird too." Aviel looked into the air with wide eyes.
"She still has a lot to learn though..." sighed Saria.
Meanwhile, high up on a cliff overlooking Gerudo Town, there was four figures just out of sight of the town's lookouts.
"So, this is the place, huh?"
"Yes, Gerudo Town. Home to the thieving women of the desert, and ruled by one they call Link."
"And you truly think this king of theirs is the one you've been seeking?"
"No doubt about it, the power we lost many a millennia ago dwells within him."
"You know you're taking a big risk in going through with your goals, right? That man wouldn't approve of this."
"Hmph, he's a blight on our ambitions. That's why I've been working behind his back, when the time finally comes, he'll regret what he's done to us all."
"Myheheheh, well said old friend."
"What about you then, are you sure you're up to doing this yourself?"
"Of course. Since these are Gerudo it might be a little trickier than what I'm used to doing, but I love a good challenge. I just need to get my hands on the right material to pull the mission off. Besides, I owe my life to you and the organization for what you did for me when I was young."
"Very well then, I'll leave this in your hands." spoke a certain long black-haired man with a clock-shaped monocle over his eye, smirking slightly.
And that ends the chapter. While Reirousa couldn't quite confess her feelings just yet, it seems Link is very understanding of it. However, what is this possible threat looming over the town, and just what do they have planned? Find out next week as the alliance meeting begins!
Thank you all so much for you continued support as I write this story, drop a like, follow, comment or private message anytime!