Moving On Chapter 7
A day passed, Riju was unsure of how to proceed, with Link out of the picture for almost a full 24 hours the Yiga would have the perfect opportunity to attack. She kept the guards posted at their stations and stayed in her throne room, thinking over the situation. There wasn't much else to do, if she sent a scout out, they'd have that much less soldiers to stand against up against Yiga forces, which they were already lacking. Around midday Riju left her throne after what felt like days in there and went to check up on Link. He hadn't been seen since he went to go rest around 3pm the day before. A run across the desert will do that to someone. She walked into the Hotel Oasis, it felt eerily empty without Romah at the front desk, a line of vai anticipating their spa session they'd been waiting about a year for.
She found Link sat on a bed at the back, eating a meal of meat, rice and chillshrooms. She leaned by the doorframe and let him finish his meal. He looked fine now, barely a scratch on him, who knows how he heals so fast. He finished quite quickly and ate a splash fruit to wash it down, only then did he notice Riju at the door.
"Good afternoon." She waved to him sarcastically, to which he responded with a small chuckle. "Sleep well?" She asked, getting a nod in response. By the look of him he certainly did. She walked over and sat on the bed opposite him. She was getting that strange feeling again; she wished it would go away now, it was rather difficult to talk normally with it lingering about in her chest.
"So, what happened?" She asked, getting straight to the point. Link told her how he'd infiltrated the Yiga hideout, how none of them seemed to notice it was him, before their new leader, Master Kaago entered the room and gave his speech. He described the man in detail, though what stood out most to her was his arm, the left arm swirling with Gloom and malice. Even she was well aware of the parallels between Link's own arm and this new Yiga leader. He continued, telling her how he was somehow receiving messages from Ganondorf, and how he already knew Link was gone, ordering a blademaster named Harion to infiltrate Gerudo town and kill Riju, aiming to kill off his support, and how he somehow already knew Link was there. Most harrowing was what Link said about his abilities, how he controlled some Yiga like puppets, though he didn't manage to control Link for some reason. And the master sword repelled the gloom on his hand. It was a lot to take in, Riju had a lot to think about.
Though it still left her wondering, why was Link so overprotective the day before? Sure, it was a nice gesture, but she worried that if they were to go into battle again, he'd be too worried about her to fight at his best. As a warrior she knew that fighting with someone and fighting to protect are two very different things, protecting someone becomes more of a burden then anything, if they were going to fight together again, she had to make sure Link wouldn't be protecting her, doing so would put them at a large disadvantage, something they already had a lot of.
"Link." She started, looking him firmly in the eyes. "What happened yesterday? When you came back." She asked. He asked her in turn what kind of question that was? He had to get back to stop the Yiga from assassinating her. "You know I don't mean that. You looked, horrified, like I'd drop dead at any minute, I was barely even bleeding." She continued. He fell silent.
"What aren't you telling me? What happened to make you so worried?" He simply said he'd told her everything, though she clearly wasn't buying it. Link was a mysterious man to her, he rarely spoke in the first place, let alone about himself. All she really knew about his past came from the legends of the champions, and all she knew about what he did outside Gerudo town came from rumors or Hylian vai gushing about how magnificent their hero was. There was still so much she didn't know. He was clearly uncomfortable.
"We can... talk about it another time, when you're feeling better." She said, standing up and sitting next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder like he'd done for her, hoping it'd help him. He flinched a bit at first but didn't move away. A brief silence passed before he reached into his pouch and took out some weird flat creature with big stupid eyes. He showed it to her, asked if she'd ever seen one before.
"Not up close, but I've seen travelers trading them in the markets. That's a uhm... Feech right?" Link chuckled at her; she gave him a mildly annoyed look for that. He told her it was a fish, f-i-s-h. They lived exclusively in water and suffocated on land, they also tasted quite sweet. Of course, he knew how they tasted.
"So, like a Zora, but always underwater?" She asked. Link said they were somewhat like a Zora, but smaller and like a speck of brain, and they couldn't walk. Though Zora did eat them a lot since they shared a habitat it made catching them easier than other creatures. He offered her a bite.
"Uhm, it's not cooked though?" She said, it was pretty basic knowledge that all meat had to be cooked before being eaten, even for her who wasn't an expert on cooking unlike the glutton she was sitting next to. He said fish was unique because it could be eaten raw.
"Nooo, I'm not going to be tricked that easily." She said giving him a suspicious look. Link laughed and insisted it was true, even so Riju declined, she wasn't feeling hungry. After that he showed her some other strange creatures, some she'd never seen before. She had a good laugh with him, he certainly was good at avoiding personal problems, this was probably how he distracted himself. After a while she found herself leaning against him comfortably, neither could recall exactly when it'd happened but they both felt comfortable as they were. She was surprised he didn't shove her off, never had he been this close before. That strange feeling came back in full force suddenly, now she felt the inexplicable urge to be closer to him. He was putting the frog he'd just shown her back into his pouch when she leaned a bit closer, resting her head on top of his shoulder. At first, he flinched, but then eased up, and let her stay there.
"They are funny little things. So rubbery, and their legs are so stupidly long." She chuckled quietly in his ear, he laughed along with her, agreeing. He took out a ruby circlet from his pouch next, one made right here in Gerudo town. He told her that he'd found a way to use gems as weapons, they secretly had strong elemental effects that could be brought out if you knew how, the ruby is especially destructive, and he's almost killed himself with it many times. He really liked this ruby circlet he'd bought, but now that he knew how fragile the ruby was, and what'd happen when it broke, he always felt uneasy wearing it, so much as a single well-placed arrow could destroy him and so much else in an instant.
Wouldn't a well-placed arrow to the head do that anyway? Riju almost said before he finished, realizing afterward he was more concerned about the 'else' than himself. He focused on it for a bit, maybe the red color reminded him of something. He mumbled something like "So fragile" to himself though it was so quiet Riju couldn't be sure that was what was said.
"I see... But on the other hand. The ruby circlet was made with a purpose, that of being worn. To deny it its purpose due to paranoia of an outcome so improbable would be to do give it no reason to be made in the first place." She said, thinking of Isha who always looked so proud seeing vai wearing the accessories she spent so much time crafting, she certainly was a master of her craft, her very own twin scimitars were a testament to that. Link seemed to process what she'd said.
"I wouldn't be so sure."
He seemed to get lost in thought, memories maybe. Riju put a hand on the circlet, beside Link's.
"Even then, you should enjoy it while you have it. Such things are not simple to come by. It may be here but if you aren't using it, only protecting, then what's it's real worth?" She asked rhetorically. He seemed to have some difficulties hearing that, taking the circlet away and putting it in his pouch again. He didn't say anything after that. He seemed unhappy now. She leaned in a bit more, and carefully wrapped her arms around him, he didn't stop her. His tense muscles eased up a bit as she held him. Her face was close to his now, she could hear his breath, he could probably hear hers too now. She was starting to understand this warm feeling in her chest that propelled her forward to do this. She... wanted him, to be with him, to share her life with him. She thought to herself, she was in love with Link. Thinking about him, how could she not be? He was a spectacular voe, he'd done so much for her. But he never let her do anything for him. She hoped that maybe after this, that'd change. Riju slowly moved closer, her face pressing against Link's slightly. Their lips were so close. She leaned in closer, and closer, heart beating fast in her chest, just a bit closer. Her lips ever so gently pressed up against his, and he didn't stop her.
Until he did.
She felt him tense up again, quickly pulling away from her and pushing her away, her heart sank as he did. That hurt, far more than arrows ever could, because it was all her fault. He looked uncomfortable now, but he didn't leave.
"I'm... sorry." Was all she said, moving away to the other end of the bed. There was a long silence before Riju stood up and walked away, stopping at the doorframe, struggling to face Link.
"We still need to decide what to do about the Yiga and their new master. I'll organize a meeting with the soldiers, when you're feeling well, please come and join, your input would be welcome." She said, trying to be professional and just ignore what'd just happened, she still had her people to worry about. With that Riju walked out, leaving Link alone.
What was he thinking? He shouldn't have let it get that far. He just felt so... happy, just warm and happy. But as her lips touched his, the mental image of him and Mipha kissing under vah Ruta flashed in his mind and a wave of guilt washed over him, he felt as though he'd drown in it. He liked Riju, but he already had someone he loved, and it was his failure to protect her that cost her life. It was his fault. He wouldn't let something like that happen again, even if he couldn't be with Riju, he could protect her, keep her safe.