[Sooga POV]
Sooga folded his arms over his chest, frown growing ever deeper as Akari briefed him on the search team's findings. Their worst fears had been realized; although Nobu and Shinhad been found at last, both trainees had been dead for some time. Yet, the manner in which they'd died remained unclear, leaving more questions than answers.
"From what we could see, there didn't look to be any mortal wounds, but we can't say for certain given how much malice they were covered in." Akari delivered her report with clinical detachment, only the slightest tremor in her voice hinting at the turmoil within. The Yiga were no strangers to malice or its corrosive effects, but as followers of Calamity Ganon, it was not an affliction their people endured. Such punishment was reserved for their enemies alone, never them.
His gut gave a twinge of guilt at the thought of Izuna treating such wounds; they were gruesome and promised a painful end. Would she have been forced to choose between watching her patients suffer in agony, or mercifully ending their lives herself? Neither would be easy for one as kind as she. Sooga cleared his throat. "What are the odds they ran afoul of a lynel?" Of all the dark beasts allied with the calamity, they were the most bloodthirsty, their insatiable appetite for the hunt making them dangerous even to the Yiga at the best of times. Two trainees would've been easy pickings for such a monster.
Akari fidgeted and shook her head. "Unlikely. There would've been... less of them to find."
The mask hid Sooga's grimace. Indeed. But if a lynel was not responsible, what manner of beast was responsible for slaying Nobu and Shin and infecting them with malice? Or who. He banished the dark thought; he couldn't allow himself to go down that road, especially without evidence. "Inform the training instructors that trainees are not permitted to leave the hideout without supervision."
"Understood. Master Sooga..." she began, openly wringing her hands, "you don't think... someone murdered them, do you?"
Sooga leaned back with a sigh. "We cannot overlook the possibility; however-"
The door burst open without so much as a knock, cutting him off as a blademaster lurched in. Melting snow dripped onto the floor, leaving the beginnings of small puddles. "M-master Sooga," Toki panted, bending at the waist to catch his breath, "th-there's something wrong with Izuna!"
"What else is new?" Akari muttered, but he paid her no mind.
"What happened?" he demanded, already on his feet. Had she been attacked? Fallen and injured herself?
"One minute she was fine and then... I don't know," Toki shook his head, "she just collapsed."
His stomach dropped. "Where?"
"Gerudo Summit."
His brows rose; that was further than they ought to have been able to travel in so short a time. But he couldn't waste time pondering the speed of their journey. She needed him. Sooga formed a hand sign and disappeared in a puff of smoke and tags, reappearing in the frozen heights of the summit. The thin air was ice in his lungs, and he shivered. Sooga took slow breaths to adjust to the sudden change in temperature and altitude before squinting against the snow glare. Catching sight of two figures in the distance, Sooga transported himself to them, finding Seiji and Ryo supporting a pale, unconscious Izuna between them.
"What's wrong with her?"
"Fatigue," Seiji supplied, taking his sudden appearance in stride. "I'd been feeding her mighty bananas and nutrient-rich foods, but I must have been careless with how frequently we were transporting ourselves."
Ryo shook their head. "No way – you gave her enough to feed an entire squad. She should've been fine!"
Sooga pulled Izuna into his arms, a deep frown marring his face, unseen by his soldiers. Mighty bananas and other like foods were the standard treatment for exhausting one's spiritual energy, and if he made her consume as many as Ryo said, then there had to be another explanation. Seiji was a seasoned squad leader, well-versed in noticing the signs of fatigue and un-wellness in those under his care. He was by no means careless. "Return to the hideout. I'll take it from here."
"Yes Master Sooga."
"Understood!"
Sooga adjusted his grip on her and transported her and himself to his quarters without another word. The sudden return to warmth was a pleasant shock and he let out an involuntary sigh as he placed Izuna on his bed, blinking to adjust to the relative darkness. He pulled her snow-covered pack from her shoulders and set it out of the way. Her red obi and navy jacket soon followed, along with her skirt, shoes, and leggings, leaving her in only her damp tunic and underclothes. Sooga pulled off his gloves, brushing his fingers over her clammy, icy skin with a frown and headed straight to his washroom to get a rag and warm water.
Returning to her, Sooga dabbed at Izuna's exposed skin, slowly warming her up until color returned to her cheeks and extremities. Discarding the damp cloth, he rummaged through his dresser and grabbed the first shirt he could find. She'd be swimming in it, but it would have to do. He pulled it over her head, allowing the shirt to pool around her shoulders. Taking a fortifying breath, he reached for the small buttons at the back of her neck. Like other Sheikah tops, her tunic was secured at the neck and again at middle of the spine, leaving a tantalizing amount of her flesh exposed. Moving to the fasteners at her back, Sooga paid as little attention to the softness of her skin as possible. It was silk under his fingers. He pushed each of her arms through the shirtsleeves, one after the other, then tugged her tunic out from beneath and tossed it with her other clothes. He tucked her shivering form under the covers and made short work of his uniform and mask, changing into his sleeping pants before extinguishing the flames of the few lit lanterns.
Sooga slid in bed next to her, pulling her body against his own and hissing at the chill. She turned, instinctively curling into the warmth he provided. Wrapping his arms around her, he tucked her head under his chin and let out a bone-weary sigh. Of all the ways he might have gotten her out of her clothes and into his bed, this was not what he had envisioned in the slightest. There was no pleasure to be found in these circumstances whatsoever, and the matters needing his immediate attention outnumbered the hours of the day. He had yet to decide the next steps in investigating Nobu and Shin's deaths and a whole host of other more administrative duties, not to mention training. Yet, as Sooga laid there with a rapidly warming Izuna in his arms, exhaustion set in and he tucked his face into her soft hair, eyes slipping shut. If anyone asked, he'd say her condition needed to be monitored closely.
[Izuna POV]
The scent of spice Izuna had come to associate with safety and comfort gently roused her into consciousness, and Izuna nuzzled into her pillow with a sigh, warm for the first time in days. Wait, warm? She cracked an eye open, only to be met with darkness. Gone was the howling wind and wolf song, the flap of oiled cloth. Best of all, gone was the frigid unforgiving ground. She inhaled the enticing scent once more. "Sooga?" she whispered, reaching out and brushing against a bare chest. An extremely muscled bare chest. Her cheeks warmed, though she didn't remove her hand.
"Izuna?" Sooga mumbled, weariness evident in his husky voice. "Are you awake?"
"Yeah," she murmured, sliding her hand up his chest to cup his cheek. The darkness prevented her from seeing his face but that was a pittance to pay for his comforting presence. "How did I get here?" Last she recalled, she had just found that treasure trove in the highlands… "And where are my clothes?" Aside from her undergarments, a shirt much too large for her was all that separated her skin from his. And it was riding up dangerously high.
Sooga tensed. "Forgive me. You collapsed from fatigue. Toki came to find me, and I brought you back. Your clothes were damp from the snow, and you were freezing. I had to get you into something dry."
Objectively, that made sense; wet clothes and freezing temperatures were a recipe for disaster, and, unquestionably, Sooga made the right call in removing them. Her mind, however, could not move past the fact that Sooga had removed her clothes, and had, in all likelihood, seen her almost naked. And she hadn't even been awake for—Izuna halted that train of thought at once, face flaming. She did not need to be considering what might have happened had she been conscious. Especially not while they were in bed together.
She pressed a kiss at the corner of his lips, praying he couldn't hear the frantic beating of her heart. "Thank you."
Relaxing fractionally, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against his chest. She sighed, unabashedly nuzzling into his embrace. "I didn't look," Sooga murmured. "You have my word."
"I trust you."
His thumbs brushed over her waist, and he kissed her forehead. "I'm glad you're alright. Seiji said you exhausted yourself. What happened?"
Exhausted didn't even begin to capture the frozen lead in her bones. The ice in her lungs. "It was too cold, and I couldn't sleep." No amount of food could replace a good night's rest.
"You slept alone?" he asked, incredulous. "Sharing body heat would've alleviated-"
"No way," she insisted. "Seiji and Ryo are married… I didn't want to get in between them. Literally. And I wasn't about to cuddle with Toki."
"You think he would have attempted-?"
"No, not necessarily," she amended. "I wouldn't feel comfortable with him so close. Ryo told me of the rumors he'd been spreading, and I... I didn't want to give him more material," Izuna added quietly, cheeks coloring with shame.
Sooga sighed. "…Be that as it may, it was reckless to put yourself at risk like that. Your well-being is the most important thing, Izuna."
The criticism stung, but he was right and she knew it. She'd endangered herself and worried him and the others for her pride, nothing more. Utter foolishness. "Next time-" goddess forbid, "-I'll just ask you to come with me." Not that she had any complaints against Seiji or Ryo's company, but travelling with Sooga was... comfortable. Her affection for him certainly helped, but it was more than that. Above all, she felt safe with him.
"I did offer," he murmured, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Truthfully, I'd prefer to be the one safeguarding your rest anyway."
"Me too," she whispered. Izuna certainly regretted not taking him up on it. "...I'm sorry I worried you."
Sooga answered her with a kiss that stole her breath away. All too soon, he pulled back and tucked her against his side, draping an arm over her waist. "You still need rest," he murmured.
After a kiss like that? After bringing every one of her nerves to life? Impossible. "...Tease," Izuna muttered under her breath.
"Is that so?" Sooga murmured, trailing tingling kisses under her jaw. He sucked lightly on the sensitive skin, and she sighed, tilting her neck to allow him further access. The large shirt exposed plenty, and his lips travelled down her shoulders, nipping every so often. Izuna trailed her fingers up his stomach and over his chest, every muscle firm and honed from years of training. He returned his lips to hers, hot and insistent – nothing like the way he'd kissed her before she'd departed for the highlands. Grinding her hips against his hardening length, her stomach clenched when he let out a choked groan. Her lips found his neck and she grazed her teeth over the skin, savoring his sighs.
Sooga grabbed her thigh, lifting it around his hips and pressing himself against her. Izuna let out a moan, pulling him down to kiss her once more, tangling her fingers in his hair and tugging lightly. He growled, nipping at her bottom lip. Their closeness was a heady thing, all passion and heat and roaming hands until Izuna was left a panting mess. She was drunk on his scent, his taste, his touch and she craved more. One of his hands slid underneath her shirt, large and warm against the sensitive skin of her abdomen-
Several loud knocks sounded, and he stilled. "Sooga, you in there?" came Master Kohga's voice through the door. Sooga pressed his forehead against hers with a sigh and extricated himself from her grasp. She pulled the shirt down to cover her stomach and thighs, face flaming.
There was shuffling and a low curse when he bumped into something before opening the door. The light from the corridor spilled in, illuminating his bare chest and the loose pants sitting low on his hips, doing little to hide his arousal. Izuna ripped her gaze away. He'd also grabbed his mask, hiding his face. "Master Kohga."
"Oh good, I thought-oh," Kohga stopped. "Did I catch you at a bad time, buddy?" he asked, voice full of implication.
Izuna could have combusted right there. It was obvious what he'd been getting up to; yet, he replied, "Of course not. I am at your service." She had to hand it to him, he sounded entirely unruffled, as if they hadn't just been interrupted from their... heated activities. Izuna knew she wouldn't have been as convincing.
"Uh-huh... Anyway, I was checking in on you since no one's seen you practically all day! To think you were just getting laid-"
"Master Kohga." Her soul vacated her body.
"Yeah-yeah, moving on. Anyway, I wanted to make sure Izuna was doing okay – and to see if she needed any of the extra special bananas to help her recover. Although, I'm sure your banana is-"
"I swear to the gods, don't you dare finish that sentence!" she exclaimed, unable to suppress her righteous indignation. "Thank you for the offer, but I just need rest-"
"Is that what it's called these days-?"
Sooga stepped out the room, shutting the door behind him, muffling their voices, for which Izuna was thankful. The Yiga were so... open. While intimacy was accepted between courting and betrothed couples, it wasn't something the Sheikah often discussed or even joked about, especially in polite conversation. And most definitely not where anyone could overhear. Izuna could only hope Master Kohga would find another couple to harass, but something told her this was an honor exclusive to his best lackey, much to her mortification.
Though she still couldn't make out what was being said, the low, soothing rumble of Sooga's voice was faintly audible through the door, and her eyes slipped shut of their own accord. Perhaps she ought to have heeded his advice to rest earlier, instead of indulging in passion. As her thoughts slowed and her breathing evened, the door opened and closed once more. The bed dipped as Sooga returned to her side, pulling Izuna to his chest and kissing the top of her head. Surrounded by spice and the comfortable weight of his arms, Izuna drifted off into much-needed slumber.