Author's Note: for older readers, this is part 2 of "You Don't Understand"
Soaked in Crimson
His dream, much to his own comfort, was nothing special. He was in the universe he'd came from and had abruptly woke from sleeping in a tent. After pulling on his boots and dragging himself outside, he was supposed to meet the other commanders for a meeting. 'Seems like none of them are up yet. That's okay, I need to tighten my bowstring anyways. It's been feeling a little loose.' While mending his equipment, the next person to arrive was, well, Link.
Before pulling the Master Sword, he was already a bona fide threat to the enemy, but after, he was a straight up menace. He took enemy keeps in a heartbeat and crushed enemy lines in blinks. Hell, from what the young hero could remember, the last time he got hurt was probably three months ago. They didn't fight battles every day, but that was still an incredibly long time.
Sometimes it would leave him to wonder if the hero had become drunk on his obvious power, but then there would be moments, in or out of battle, that would prove to him that he knew the kind of fire he was playing with and was well aware that he could get burned. "Mornin'," He greeted the fellow captain. After getting a short wave in response, it reminded him that his counterpart was very much the silent type. 'Oh yeah, he hardly talks. Even to Zelda despite liking her so much.' Young Link only saw it that way because the Princess immediately imprinted on him the moment they found him. She loved hearing about his adventures, and he greatly enjoyed the history she in turn would tell of other worlds. Link wasn't a fan of the connection that formed.
'Though, I can't help but feel bad for the guy. I'm not sure what I'd do myself if I'm technically the whole reason why there's a war.' He set his bow aside after checking the string, 'Wars over love? Dumb. Wars over love because one half of you really wanted a piece of Link and got tired of seeing him land with someone else? That's beyond saving types of dumb.' Young Link sat back, starting to look around. After spying a familiar butterfly, he felt like he regained a majority of his consciousness, allowing him to be more lucid.
'Huh. Thinking about it now, I don't think we ever became that good of friends by the time this thing was over. We made for a smart pair in battle, but I don't recall sharing anything other than the victory that followed.' He thought back to the Link from the current world he was in, 'Meanwhile, even though it's not technically by a lot, I've been pretty open with this one and he's been surprisingly open with me. It's interesting how that happens. I think I'd say that this guy with the scarf was genuinely putting up with me outside of battle whereas this other one would feign it to be funny before cutting back and joining in.'
As the rest of the commanders began to show up, he didn't feel like dreaming this scenario anymore. He'd lived through enough boring-yet-important meetings to the point where dreaming about it was simply insulting. His eyes began to meekly open before finding that there was no light to blind him, 'It's dark in here? Seriously?' Young Link quietly removed the covers, sat up, and looked out the window. 'Ugh, it's four-thirty-seven? In the morning?' His head flipped back in place of a groan, 'Well anything's better than dreaming about that damn meeting.'
He peered over his shoulder at Link. He was sound asleep as usual. 'What if instead of trading for cooking, I can instead trade for peaceful, dreamless sleep? This guy has way too many good qualities to be fair. No extremely tragic past, amazing swordsman, lots of respect from all parties in the castle,' he glanced at his face, 'good looking…so was the last one…bastards. I've been stuck with 'cute' my entire life.'
He shook his head and stood, 'That's not important though. Besides, there are perks.' His eyes wandered over to his ocarina. He sighed, knowing that he felt fully awake with no intention of going back to sleep. After taking a few steps, he stopped his hand just before his palm could rest on it, 'Is this a good idea? Mmmmm no not really. What are the consequences? Besides being morning, that's really hard to gauge. The only weird thing that could happen is that someone comes in and see me or he decides to wake up before it's over.'
Biting his lip, he took one last look at Link, placed the mask on the side of his head, and then quickly played the Sun's Song. Just as usual, within seconds he watched the sun rise until it was exactly eight in the morning. He sighed in relief when he looked over and saw that his descendant had merely flipped over to face the wall during that. 'Thank the Goddesses! Okay. Now I'm never playing that song again.'
He sat back down on the mattress and leaned toward him, "Hey," his voice was soft, "It's..er…morning." 'Dammit! My stupid guilty conscious is making me awkward!'
No response.
Young Link pinched the tip of his ear between his fingers and wiggled it around, speaking a bit louder, "Link c'mon, we've only got four more hours until we have to head back. Plus I wanna know what we're doing."
The knight drew in a deep breath but remained fast asleep.
He sat back on his shins with his hands on his hips, "Wake up, pretty please."
And without fail, Link sleepily turned over and stretched as he yawned, "Man, how are you always awake before I am? For being a knight, this is embarrassing."
"Hey, you're only sleeping in because you're on break. I almost feel bad waking you up."
He looked past him, squinting his eyes at the light that came through the window, "No it's okay. I would have been annoyed if I woke up any later, so thanks actually."
As they got ready, it became obvious that the father wasn't in the house that morning. 'He's probably seeing to something down at the fort,' Young Link thought as he strapped on his quiver and bow and moved the mask from his head to his hips.
"I want to show you a really easy recipe that I think you'll like," Link said as he walked toward the kitchenette. He pulled out a few apples from the cupboard.
The young hero stuck by his side and intently tried to pay attention. He found himself watching his hands as they now stood in front of the fireplace. The fire looked to have been rekindled by his dad before he left. Without warning, Link simply tossed the apples into the flames and proceeded to prod at them with the poker.
"Huh!?" He exclaimed, restraining himself from asking the first few questions that popped into his head. Meanwhile his descendant openly laughed at his stark reaction. His hand went to his chin, 'I mean, it would be one hell of a sick joke to tell me that we're making something, and then make me watch apples burn in fire.'
Before long, he watched as Link scooted the now soft apples onto a plate, pulled out some butter and graciously put a square on each one. "Do you want a bit of sugar on yours? Sometimes the apples can be a little too tart."
His stomach internally hoot and hollered at the sight of melting butter, "S-sure."
Snickering, Link happily obliged and handed him a fork, "Let me know what you think."
After stabbing the utensil into the soft fruit, the next thing he knew, he was pulling back from sinking his teeth into it. He was enamored by the way the sweetness of the apple and sugar was perfectly complemented by the savoriness of the butter. It practically melted in his mouth as he dramatically hung his head forward, "Dear Goddesses, I—w-why are you so good at this?! How did you become an amazing knight on top of being an amazing cook? You don't even have time to make things, so you go months without practice! Link how!?"
He smiled, "Honestly, I helped my mom so much I simply developed a second mind for this kind of stuff."
"So you're saying I'm hopeless?" 'Curses!'
"Ha! Of course not! You've got plenty of time before you're an adult to learn to cook. Don't sweat about it."
Another gaping bite mark left on the apple made him feel better, "Heh, if only you knew how untrue that is." Again, his descendant's eyes went from bright to a bit somber at hearing the Old Hylian. "What's that look for? I can just talk in this language if you want."
He quickly waved away his suggestion, "No no no, you're fine. You can talk however you like," His gaze slowly fell to the table, "I guess it sorta reminds me of yesterday when you were clearly going through something and only spoke like that for a while."
"Well I'm past it now, s—"
"I know, I know." The knight's shoulders slumped, "I just can't help but feel bad that all I could do was watch. Surely I could have done something, y'know?"
'Heh, there's that typical sense of caring and determination we all have. However, looking back, I'm not sure if him reaching out would have helped or made me feel like I was losing my mind more.' It wasn't hard to imagine how he could have taken it either way. "I completely understand you on that, but sometimes, just being there is enough even when it doesn't feel like it is. It's a hard curve to learn, but it's good to know when a situation is truly in your hands."
Link blinked as he finished the fruit, a perplexed yet impressed expression taking form in the dim kitchen light, "That's…very wise of you to say. Wow."
Before he could get lost in that thought, Young Link made one of his locks of hair tickle his cheek, "Hey, don't think about it too hard, okay?"
"Right." They enjoyed a few more hot-buttered apples before packing their things and waving bye to the people near the entrance of the town. After taking a right and heading down the trail, the knight pointed ahead, "I thought we could hit the archery course before we left. You can shoot well on foot, but how well on horseback?"
The Hero of Time could only laugh at the question, 'Oh you'll see! I hunted down every poe in Hyrule and more while riding my trusty gal, Epona! Not to mention the Horseback Archery Range I visited in my own world.' He knew Grace would appreciate the action too. The course was set up on a path that circled around the facility with wooden targets to complete it. Surprisingly, no one was there. 'Maybe they don't practice here this early.'
Link hopped off Twilight and went to watch him from the ledge at the top of the facility. "If you end up breaking the targets, we can always replace them before we go," he called down.
He trotted onto the path and stopped to take out his bow, briefly looking around, 'This…looks far too easy. I believe the last thing I was trying to shoot was an acorn…' "Um, are there any rules or challenges?"
"I mean, stay on the path and don't change directions, I guess? What are you talking about?"
"You'll see what I mean." He spurred Grace into a swift canter and, one by one, successfully shot each target far before they were within a considerable range. He was more familiar with breaking the targets, so the only challenge was to not send the arrow fast enough to pierce through the wood and paint. After coming to a halt, he couldn't help but snort at his descendant's gaping jaw.
"Dear Hylia, I think that's a new record!" The knight exclaimed as he leaned over. Within a few moments he was back down at the other's side, "I severely underestimated you."
He smiled, "Yeah kinda."
Link jokingly scoffed, "Okay well what sort of challenge are you looking for?"
"Hm," Young Link scanned the area, not finding much they could use to add to the course without outside help, "For me, we'd need to add jumps, have far smaller targets, and place them far away as well as high and low." A finger went to his lip, "Moving targets would be cool too, actually."
"Gosh, how long did you spend practicing with your horse?" He almost looked worried for Grace.
"Oh actually she caught on amazingly quick!" He pet her ears and neck in praise, "I was very impressed she didn't buck me off with some of the crazy things I tried to do." Thinking back to when he spent the day practicing before leaving for the East Post, he only managed to fall on his ass about twice. Once when he tried to flip off, over rotated, and consequently tripped on his heels, and again when he was sitting backwards in the saddle and was caught by surprise when she went over a jump, sending him right off the saddle and into the dirt. His cheeks turned pink at the memory of how he scooted back after finding that he nearly smashed his head on the wooden post. 'Man..that could have been pretty bad.'
Link was mildly concerned, "Knowing you, I'm not sure if I want to know."
He put a hand on his hip, "Pfft, yeah knowing you, yes you would. Same thing goes for sparring with me too." His eyes intentionally trailed off as he said that last part.
"You're really not giving up on that, huh? Besides, we did that yesterday. I think that's good enough."
"I mean, I told you what to do, which changed the way it went. I was showing you what I was talking about, that's not a down to earth sparring session." He sighed at his indifferent expression, "Okay well why not? Is it because I'm a kid?" 'Or rather look like one?'
"Have you considered that I just don't want to fight you?"
He failed to keep himself from facepalming, 'Liiiiiink. Oh my Gods. You're making this so much more complicated than it needs to be. Let me have one selfish desire dammit!' "Ahh, listen, this isn't personal, but it is, okay? Also, I'm not a sore loser. I just want to see more of your skills."
His eyebrows raised; it was clear he wasn't convincing him.
Young Link sat up, changing his manner to be more aloof, "Hmph, well I'm sure we're both aware that you can't do over half the skills you know because all your matches are far too short." 'Finally, that caught your attention.' "Why pass on me when you know it'll be an interesting fight?"
Link squinted at him.
"That's all in good fun," He added with a smile.
A moment of silence passed between them as the knight considered his words.
"Alright fine."
He threw his hands in the air, "Ye—"
"But!" Link interrupted, "Just as you said, this is for fun. I'll find an open spot where we can meet so we don't attract the other knights. I think a crowd would be distasteful."
"I agree." 'If he were more prideful, I'd have a reason to think he just doesn't want the others to see him lose. Then again, the other knights would turn it into something more competitive, which we would both get annoyed at.' He felt his boot get tapped.
His descendant gestured to the track, "So do you want to run the course again? Otherwise, we could go head down to the wall and say goodbye to father. The earlier we go, the sooner we'll be back, especially before sundown."
"I think I'm good. Maybe you could talk to Theo about showing us a harder course they use. I'm sure there's another out there." 'There's no way that the archer in the elite squad uses this course for practice. I refuse to believe it.'
Link nodded and went to get back on his horse, "To the fort, then."
It was a relatively short ride from the archery course, though the same rock formation from before still dazzled the young hero as they passed by it. They were met with plenty of hello's and greetings when they arrived.
"Whatcha need Link?" An older one asked as he sat down a large wooden box.
"Have you seen my father? Me and this one here are heading back today," He smiled, "There's no way I'm going without telling him bye."
The other garrison members scratched their heads, "I don't think we've seen him down here yet."
The two Links looked between each other, sharing the same concerned feeling. He tried again, "Are you sure? He wasn't in the house when we got up. We thought he came down here."
"I say you guys continue on," The older one said, giving the younger members a look, "I know he sometimes checks on the keeps. You're more likely to run into him there, promise."
"Thanks, we'll come back if we somehow miss him."
They trotted along and kept an eye out for the knight's old man. Soon the bridge came into view, and they hadn't seen him yet. Link brought Twilight to a stop, a voice catching their attention right as he opened his mouth. Their heads turned in the direction it came from.
"Ho there!"
To their obvious relief, it was Link's dad. He was lounging by the fire and had a basket full of fish sitting next to him. His pole sat between his legs. They got off the trail and dismounted from their horses.
"My my, what's the worried look for, son?"
He crouched down beside him, "When we couldn't find you at the fort, it gave us quite the scare."
The hearty man pat his shoulder before standing, "Aw, that's my bad. I thought the two of you might have slept in for too long. I was goin' to meet you as you left the house, so I came out here to fish for a bit real early in the mornin'."
'Uhh, how early are we talking?' Young Link's eyes looked for any subtle reference to him but couldn't find one.
"Welp, I won't keep you any longer," He gave his son a big squeeze and proudly grinned as he set him back down, "You keep bein' the best knight out there, okay? Don't forget to tell me why they had to steal you back so soon too."
"For sure, as soon as I find out."
He didn't leave much time for the young hero to wonder if he was next, "C'mere little guy, you too!" Once again, he was easily scooped from the ground into the old man's bear hug. "It was nice seeing you two get along so well. You're young, but I get this sense about ya that you're gonna do some real good for the castle. Keep giving those new knights a reason to get better!"
Young Link was humbled by his praise, "I'll try as long as it doesn't get me in trouble…or land me back in the hospital." This was met with a chuckle as his feet touched the ground.
"Is that so? Well I would have never been able to tell." Link's dad put a hand on his hip, "Alright, you guys have a safe trip back! Give the captains my regard and let them know that everything is goin' fine at the fort."
And with that they continued across the bridge and through the mountain that was split in two. The weather was pleasantly warm as they reached Hyrule Field. It was breathtaking what the two of them could see from the open grasslands. The mountains near Rito Village came into view, there was another mountain that was north of Hateno, and even the castle, which looked to be experiencing a sprinkle of rain from the dark gray clouds that hung overhead.
Young Link pointed straight ahead at the volcano. It stuck out like a sore thumb with its red embers dimly glowing from afar. "Wow Death Mountain looks really cool from this angle! That reminds me, what's it like up there?"
"Really hot." The knight looked his way, he sounded exhausted at recounting the details, "See you're laughing now, but that's the truth. It's ridiculously hot, there are a bunch of rocks and lava pools everywhere, and ash and dust are constantly flying in the air."
"Sounds like it wasn't all that nice up there," Young Link giggled.
"Okay, I wouldn't say that, but for example, you would go to wipe the sweat off your face and end up smudging black all over it. You wouldn't have realized that there was ash on your hands to begin with!" His head leaned to one side, "I'm just glad that the Gorons enjoy it up there."
"Do they still eat rocks?" He'd never forgotten that about them. In fact, there were even rocks that were in the shape of meat. 'Apparently they're delicious.'
"Still eat rocks? As far as I know that's all they've ever eaten. Yeah," the knight had a certain look in his eye, "they're uh…really hard to eat. There's not a lot of flavor in them either."
His tongue could taste the grass from how far his jaw dropped, "LINK YOU ATE ROCKS!?"
His descendant was confused by his reaction, "Well yeah? I thought they must have tasted good if they eat them all the time." He sank in the saddle, "That uh…yeah that hurt going in as much as it hurt coming out. I don't think I have to say more than that."
"Dear Goddesses, please don't." Before he could make another comment, he found himself halting to a stop in the middle of the field. "Huh? What's going on?"
"Are you okay, miss?" Link had gotten off Twilight to help a woman who sat crying on a rock by the road. She had short hair, wore traveler's clothes, and looked to have only a small knife to her name.
She sniffed as she wiped tears from her cheeks, "I-I'm sorry to bother you. I'm just r-really lost."
When Young Link joined him, a peculiar feeling sat at the tips of his ears. 'Now what's this about? She's clearly just lost and scared.'
"Well the two of us are heading to the castle. Do you know if where you're going is around there?" Link looked sympathetic for her situation.
This only made her cry more, "Waahh! I don't know!" She sobbed, "I thought I knew what direction I was supposed to go in and then I got attacked and then I was knocked out a-and—"
He lightly put a hand on her shoulder, "It's okay, just take a second to breathe."
Meanwhile the young hero found himself forcing a caring expression, 'She's looking at my mask.' He felt his heart begin to beat faster. 'It's not like it caught her eye either. Between those tears, she's straight up staring at it!' He took a silent breath through his nose, 'I'll just keep an eye on her. No need to assume the worst in people, sometimes they think it's scary.'
But as the knight continued to ask her questions and receive uncertain answers, it was becoming more and more clear that her eyes were nearly fixated on the mask at any given moment that Link wasn't directly looking at her.
"Here, I'll try to see if I recognize what you're talking about." He turned his back and walked a few paces forward, not hiding the fact that he was bewildered at the conflicting statements she'd given him.
Young Link locked eyes with her, remaining unphased as a disturbing smile spread across her tearstained face. Without a moment's notice, he unsheathed his sword and took a lazy swing at her. She perfectly blocked it with her tiny blade paired with an even nastier smile.
Link whipped around at sound of metal clinking together. He was nothing short of appalled, "What are you doing!?"
Before he could intervene, Young Link jumped away from her and yanked out his bow.
Meanwhile she backflipped into the air and shifted into her true form, a conniving Yiga scytheman. Though, it's not that you could call it scythe in the first place. It was more like a blade in the shape of a circle that had spikes in varying lengths jutting out on the outer edge. A terrifying choice for a weapon. Her evil, high-pitched laugh was cut short into a scream when two arrows sank into either of her arms. She fell to her knees.
He yelled as he ripped out his sword, "I'm pretty sure I made myself crystal clear last time!" The tip of his blade scraped through the dust as he dauntingly strolled up to her slumped figure. "So, for the record, you were already aware of the consequences." His tone lacked any sign of remorse for what was to come next. His descendant's voice forced its way through his intense focus on the enemy.
"Listen, I know she lied about who she was, but her arms are useless now! That's enough!" He managed to sound serious yet understanding at the same time. "Let's just go!"
"Keh keh keh…" came the Yiga's raspy laugh, "We're coming for you."
The grip he had on his sword tightened, "Tell me something I don't know," He spat.
Her head lolled to one side as she repeated herself, taunting him, "We're coming for you, Hero of T—ulk!"
Within the blink of an eye, Young Link mercilessly slit her throat. The force of the swing made her fall on her side as she began to profusely bleed out. Infuriated by her attempt to reveal his identity, his forehead and cheeks burned red as the triforce relentlessly pricked at his hands. His chest and shoulders swelled with each breath he took to calm himself. With a swift flick of his sword, the blood flew off his blade and stained the grass.
He whipped around and predictably saw that Link's eyes were dead on him. A frustrated sigh followed, "Ugh, I'm sorry you had to see that, but she—" His nerves soared, "Ooohh! She nearly—!" His other hand balled into a fist, "That was too close! Way too close." He couldn't help the crazed sounding giggle that slipped out as he shook his head.
His descendant remained expressionless.
Young Link didn't like that, 'You're awfully quiet after I went against your orders. Say something already.' He put up his sword, "Go ahead, scold me."
Link's mouth briefly opened before he walked up to him. His rising hand gave the impression that he might be planning to smack or grab him, but instead the young hero felt his thumb swipe over his lower jaw. His tone was straightforward, "You had a spot of blood there."
He squinted his eyes, 'Don't tell me that my morals are starting to rub off on you. I'm an awful example! Especially by this world's standards!' Young Link internally shrugged, 'Well, I can see a tinge of disappointment back there.' "That's it?"
"Well there's nothing we can do now th—"
At a moment's notice, they both went on alert with their swords drawn and shields out. At staggered intervals, they each blocked a single arrow that was aimed to kill. Young Link rolled his eyes, quickly muttering, "I'm sorry in advance and I entirely recognize that this is my fault."
"No," the knight glanced back at him, "I think this might be more than that."
The next thing they knew, a plethora of Yiga with their bows drawn surrounded them in mid-air, followed by the appearance of three blademasters.
The Hero of Time felt his confidence grow despite the number of enemies they faced. He didn't even have to say it: 'Smaller ones first and save the bigger ones for after.' They easily blocked the rain of arrows and got to work. Link quickly made a pattern of nicking and scratching the stubborn ones into moving toward Young Link, who'd quickly stab through them.
The teleport-happy ones were harder to pin down. Not to mention, after the first few deaths, the blademasters began sending sharp waves of air from their windcleavers. This made things more difficult, but in turn, it also led to more of the Yiga bowmen's deaths due to their teleportation being easier to track now that they too had to avoid areas that the wind was sent in.
Out of the corner of his eye, Young Link could see the way his descendant looked to be holding his breath every time he watched him plunge his sword through another chest or cut through another neck. However, they both lacked the luxury to think about more than their next attack. After leaving a fatal gash down the back of the last bowman, their focus shifted to the blademasters. They appeared to be unphased by their slaughtered brethren.
The young hero zipped to Link's side, his voice being a loud, but hoarse whisper as they stared down their next opponents, "Shatter their defenses and I'll pick up the pieces. Pay attention to the way they move. Don't get surrounded. Got it?" This type of situation felt similar to him, as this was the exact way he'd command the other captains when they were in close proximity to each other in the previous universe.
His descendant nodded and took the lead. They both were at a disadvantage from wearing their tunics and being dependent on their shields, but it couldn't be helped. He caught the attention of one of the blademasters and started dodging his rapid incoming blows as he inched closer.
Seeing as the other two hunkier Yiga members had their sights intensely focused on Young Link's fast movements, his eyes briefly lit up, 'I have an idea! It's still the original plan, but slightly better.' He realized that such tunnel vision could get them killed…especially by each other. Little by little, he darted around and brought their aim closer to the one that the knight was dealing with.
"Ha ha!" One guffawed, "You think bringing us to your friend is going to change anything!? That mask is ours!" He raised his sword in preparation of a huge downward slash.
'Perfect.' He felt the milliseconds pass as he watched the for the notion that he was going to swing. At the last moment, he put himself behind the blademaster that Link continued to dodge right as the overconfident foe slammed his blade to the ground and sent a gust of wind that was so sharp, it twisted the very space it ripped through into a merciless vacuum.
Link picked up on this tactic and had already cleared away from the hit, now watching from behind his shield as it tore through the blademaster's torso and leg. His eyes slightly winced at the guttural scream that commenced and the hefty thuds that quickly followed.
Simultaneously, Young Link honed his focus after flipping away and took this as an opportunity to end the shocked clan member. Faster than time itself, he cut through the Yiga's knees and proceeded to carve multiple gashes into his open chest. When time resumed as normal, the blademaster fell out of his way, leaving the final enemy in his immediate line of sight. Taking care to step over the body, he walked toward him.
The surviving clan member feigned his bravery, only warping once the Hero of Time was within his blade's reach. He was almost proud of himself as he foresaw the blademaster reappearing behind him and proceeded to parry the assault and slice off his dominant sword hand, rendering him defenseless as the blade hit the ground. From there, he used the hilt of his sword to send him sprawling onto his back before jumping and double front flipping into an ending blow that sent a shockwave in every direction.
Shhk.
He stood and pulled his blade from the limp body, once again flicking the blood it amassed to the remaining patches of grass that were left from the fight. Breathing heavily from the adrenaline rush that was quickly crashing down, his eyes met Link's, "Are you o— sorry, I mean—are you okay?"
His descendant put his shield away. His eyes looked cloudy, "Yeah. You?"
Young Link nodded, his hand coming up to wipe the sweat from under his neck, 'What the!?' The color that stared back at him was dark crimson. His eyes widened once he took a proper look at himself, and became even wider when he saw Link, "Uhh…! Link, what do we do about this!?" By the looks of it, it had already seeped far too deep into the fabric.
Now that he mentioned it, the knight quickly took in the scene they created, prompting his urgent response, "First we need to get out of here!" From the butchered bodies to the fresh and old blood that stained the land and turned the dirt into mud, it framed the two of them to be murderers who had just finished unleashing their carnage. "The Hylia River is just this way, quickly!"
As they galloped over the hill toward the bank, they heard a shriek followed by frantic yelling that was further followed by the sound of horses, at least two of them. Before the young hero could verify how close all that was, he felt two hands yank him off the saddle and yelped as the chilly water enveloped his entire body. He popped his head above the surface, sputtering water and seeing Link hurriedly rushing through the stream toward him. "What—cough cough—what the hell!? You're lucky I know how to swim!"
"No you don't understand!"
THOOM!
Their heads yanked up to look at the sky. The rain that fell over the castle had spread toward the field during their skirmish. Dark gray clouds now furled above them.
"What don't I understand?"
He grabbed one side of his face and started to fervently rub his other hand against his forehead and cheeks, "You're entirely covered in blood! Honestly your tunic can't be saved at this point, but it's all over your face and hair!"
"You're one to talk!" Young Link removed his hands and pointed back at him, "You've got your own stains to wash off too! AND I CAN WASH MYSELF DAMMIT!" But in reality, the splatters that tainted the knight's tunic were nothing in comparison to the hell it looked like he just walked from. He started to remove the strap that held his equipment, "Besides, did you really have to throw me into the water?!"
Link sighed, "I think there are bigger things to worry about than that. We were just attacked in our own field!" He used his reflection in the water to smear off the few splatters that got on his lower jaw and neck.
Meanwhile the other was vigorously scrubbing the blood off his arms before moving to his face. "I'm aware of that!" He said between throwing water up at his head and wiping it away, "Where are you going with all this?"
His descendant paused to explain, "Normally when we're attacked like that, first off, we're in a bigger group. Second, we don't kill them, we poke and scratch until they've had enough. Third, things like this are a bit different when we're outside the castle. The locals will see what we left and wonder if they're next!" His gaze harshly fell to the stream with a sense of foreboding, "Plus, there's no way the castle isn't going to hear about it. If the people on those horses don't report it, I'll have to."
The rain started to drip from the sky in a light sprinkle.
'Shit! That means I'll actually get in trouble for killing all of them! Ugh, I guess that means I'll have to explain what I said about getting lost or dying too…yikes..' Young Link faced him, "Did I at least get the blood off my face?"
The corners of the knight's mouth slightly rose at the question, "Not in the slightest."
"You're kidding!"
"Just let me help you."
"…Fine." He grimaced at the feeling of his face getting stretched this way and that, the rain droplets starting to become more frequent didn't help either. He nearly smacked his hand away from his ears.
A few minutes later, Link was not impressed, "No offense, but this an incredibly haphazard job you've done. Are you trying to get in trouble? Also tilt your head into the water so I can get the back of your hair."
"Seriously, the back of my head? Also no I'm not! I'm too short to see my reflection from where we're standing, dammit!" The cold water touching his scalp sent a shiver down his spine. In fact, he was trembling by the time they were back on the bank and climbing into their saddles. He sneezed as a cold breeze flew by.
His descendant handed him the blanket he kept in his saddlebags, "Here. Hopefully this might help keep you a bit warm. I can wash it when we get back."
He gladly accepted the thick fabric, throwing it over his shoulders and wrapping himself in it before heading back over the hill. Link was right, there was absolutely no saving the light green tunic the academy had given him. The blood stains only sullied its once bright color. Even the shirt and pants he wore underneath would need to get replaced.
They rode in silence back toward the castle, keeping an ear out for travelers, knights, and even Yiga. Who knows? They might consider coming back for more, even after the bloodbath the young hero made with their corpses.
Two hours later, they briefly stopped to let the horses rest outside the Ranch. It made sense. Along the way, they pushed them pretty hard to make up for the time that was lost while fighting. Young Link sneezed again as he joined Link on a damp log outside the entrance, keeping the blanket from earlier around his shoulders. The early evening had set in, and the rain had moved further south.
Before long, one of the stablemen noticed the horses out front and greeted them. He had an interesting twang to his voice.
"Well if it ain't Link! Howdy! It's good ta see that yer back."
He shook his hand, "Yep! I figured we could make the stop to let the horses graze. The castle's only an hour or so away from here, and," a short sigh left him, "it's been a pretty long day."
The bearded man's eyes drifted to the young hero as he spoke, "Well is there anythin' I ca—Dear Hylia is he okay!?"
The knight quickly looked him up and down, "Er…yes? What's wrong?"
Even Young Link did a once over of himself at the worry in his voice, 'Yeah what's the big deal?'
He pointed to his legs, "Is that not dried blood!? Son we need ta getcha some help!"
"Wait!" Link stopped him from calling the others, "We…well we ran into some trouble earlier." He shook his head, "That blood…isn't his, per se."
He stood and pulled apart the blanket to show his stained tunic, "Yeah, trust him. It's not mine"
The stableman was horrified, "Be holy may the Goddess ever be, whose is it then!?"
"Just some Yiga scum that crossed my path," Young Link briefly explained. It left a bad taste in his mouth.
His eyes grew wide. It seemed his imagination gears had turned a few times at the thought of a child killing grown clan members, "W-well I'll be! I uh…um…" He rubbed his chin. His tone was between impressed and frightened. By this point he noticed the splatters that remained on the knight himself, "Let me try that again from earlier. I-is there anythin' I can get y'all?"
It was apparent that Link hid how uneasy that interaction made him feel, "Just a torch in case it gets too dark, but if you can't spare one it's okay."
"I'll go check real quick!" He jogged back toward the buildings.
They quietly waited for his return, mainly to listen to their surroundings. A few minutes in, Grace had strolled away from where she and Twilight grazed to come nuzzle her rider's cheek. He gave her some attention in return, "You really chose me over the tasty grass? You're something else, girl."
"Speaking of which, I'm still surprised that Twilight lets you on her," came the knight's comment, "She's actually pretty feisty believe it or not. Won't let another soul do anything that amounts to getting on her back and telling her what to do."
Young Link moved the straggling forelock hair away from her eyes and scratched in the middle of her forehead, "Honestly it's beyond me. Your call doesn't even sound like the song I played." He straightened up, 'Well actually wait, it might…meh, it's not important at the moment,' His shoulders softened, 'I'll bring it up a different time.' In the same instance, his head turned to the entrance to the Ranch, "Is it me or is it taking too long for him to come out and tell us they don't have another torch?"
"I'll go ch—"
He grabbed his hand, "No we need to go together!" He nearly hissed. He even surprised himself at the sudden change of tone.
Link's expression searched for the reason why he did that.
"Sorry, sorry." He let the knight's hand swing back to his side, doing a facepalm. "I meant don't leave me by myself out here. I could get ambushed," he quickly explained.
He shook his head, "No, you've got a point. C'mon." They entered and tried to look for the stableman without going in the buildings. Doing so would have made them seem like they were prying more than trying to find someone. "Hey!" Link tentatively called out after finding no one behind the counters, "You didn't have to look too hard for one! I said it was fine!"
Young Link had taken the liberty of picking up one of the hens. 'Huh, you don't seem distressed,' he thought as he studied the way it looked around, 'Chickens don't care much for their owners anyways, but they're pretty aware of when something's off.' "Maybe he—" In the blink of an eye, he felt his instincts pull the hen away from his body with one hand and pull out his sword to block the attempt that was made on his life with the other.
Another scytheman had appeared before him. He seemed confident before he found himself in a serious deadlock.
His blood instantly boiled, 'The bastard couldn't even get close to my neck!' With his pupils being narrower than a needle, he let go of the chicken and used his free hand to yank an arrow from his quiver and cut the Yiga's fingers with the sharp tip, ending their deadlock. However, he wasn't done. From there he stabbed the arrow into the enemy's knee and cut a deep gash that went from shoulder to shoulder.
The clan member howled in pain as he fell to the ground.
In an instant, the young hero and knight locked eyes for a split moment. "Oh okay," Young Link kicked him onto his back, him horrifically crying out, "No wonder the chickens were calm," he stooped down and yanked off the Yiga's signature mask, revealing the same stableman from before, "You work here."
"P-please!" Tears had begun to soak his cheeks as he shivered in agony, "They'll kill me!"
Link stepped in, "How long have you been working here?"
Like flipping a switch, he dropped the crying and turned with a wicked smile aimed at the knight, "Wouldn't you like ta know? Keh k—AAAHHGH!"
"Answer him." Young Link had pressed the tip of his blade into his sternum.
He started to frantically huff and puff as fear spread across his face, "T-two months! Two months!"
'It's too quiet. More should have shown up by now.' His lip curled into a sneer, "None of your buddies have shown up yet. You're acting alone, aren't you?"
"Y-y-yes!"
"Pathetic!" He bellowed, causing the man to whimper as his voice resonated in the clearing. He looked to his descendant for what to do next. He'd already spilled the man's blood on the grass, and in the process donned fresh splatters on his cheek and chest, 'But killing him and leaving the body? I don't need to be told that the King will want to see me about that in court again, especially since he has two months of looking like an innocent ranch hand going for him.' His brows furled, 'However, I have an oath to uphold!' Without waiting another second, he plunged his sword into his heart, a look of disgust appearing shortly after he went limp.
Link grabbed his shoulder and began fervently ushering him away from the scene, "Dammit." He muttered under his breath, "Just keep that blanket on and keep your head down."
With the sun already beginning to disappear from the sky, they promptly rode the rest of the way to the front gates of Castle Town. Young Link would be lying if getting stopped by the guards didn't get on his nerves.
"Whoa there!" One said, holding his hand up for them to stop, "We're in a bit of rush tonight, huh?" His voice sounded unsure but had conviction.
"A little, sorry about that," his descendant answered.
The other held the torch light up, "Ah, Link it's you!" He smiled, clearly he was the older and more experienced one, "Don't pay him any mind, he's just new. You know how that is." His partner gave him a look.
"Hey, well a little diligence can go a long way. You're doing a good job."
"Say, did ya enjoy getting some time off? How's your pops doing?"
'Uuuuugh.' The young hero sank in his saddle, keeping the blankets firmly over his body. 'Are you kidding me right now?! Small talk at the front gates to a town with sleeping residents that depend on you keeping watch? Dear Goddesses!'
Link must have sensed his annoyance, "Well like I said, I'm in a bit of a hurry. I probably should have been back around two hours ago."
"Hell, I don't blame ya. The rain from earlier would have put me back at least half a day, haha!"
He nodded his head as he spurred Twilight, "I'll catch up with you when your shift is over."
"Sounds like a plan!"
"See ya, Link!"
Luckily, they were able to reach the castle with no further interruptions. When it was time to get off their horses and head inside, the knight wore both saddle bags from their mounts over his shoulders, allowing Young Link to worry more about keeping himself covered.
"Why don't you wear that mask you have?" Link asked as they came closer to the door, and subsequently, the light.
"I—No. I can't do that." 'Don't get me wrong, that would be a perfect idea if this were the Keaton mask instead!' He sneezed yet again, "The heck is all this sneezing? I feel fine!" He felt the blanket get lifted from his shoulders to over his head.
"You're sick."
"Got it." 'That works for me.'
"Oh hey, Link." The guard who was stationed there opened the door, "Glad you're back. As soon as you get settled back in, the Head of Command is expecting you, okay?" His gaze switched the shorter of the two, "Aw, someone not feeling too well?"
He felt his eye twitch, it being shielded from the torchlight by the covers, 'Oh my Gods, these guards are caring way too much about their jobs right now. PLEASE, stop stopping us for every little thing! Aaaahh!' Meanwhile, he meekly nodded in response.
The guard shook his head, indicating that he felt bad, "Yup, rain'll do that to you. Hopefully it's gone by the morning."
It took an unnecessary amount of restraint to not slap away the heavy hand that came down and pat his head. Young Link could just barely see the minutely stunned look on his descendant's face. Once inside, as much as he didn't want to, Link had the idea of carrying him in order to make it more obvious that they couldn't stop for conversation. "I feel like you owe me for this," He murmured as he raised his arms to go over the other's shoulders.
After switching to carrying both sets of saddle bags on one shoulder, his descendant used his free arm to hoist him up. He took a look at his face before pulling the blanket further over his head, speaking plainly, "I'm helping whether you want to admit it or not. Maybe look tired or sad too."
He gloomily rested his chin on him as he began to walk in the direction of his room. 'I hate that I'm good at acting like a kid,' Young Link thought as they started up a staircase. He would mainly stare at the floor behind the knight or wistfully look at him from time to time to really give the impression that he was truly unwell. As they walked down another hall, he felt his eyes start to get heavy. A short jostle caused them to flutter open.
"Hey, don't actually fall asleep on me, I might drop you," Link whispered without turning his head.
He nodded in order to hide how contently tired his voice would have sounded had he spoke instead. Turns out being wrapped in a blanket with a shoulder to lean on was pretty cozy. Still the young hero scowled at himself, 'There's no way I'm ever going to admit that this is comfortable. Never,' he grimly thought, 'I am old , and I am doing this because I kind of have to.' In the next moment he was pulled from his mind by the sound of a familiar voice.
"Oh, hello there."
'HUUUUUHHH!?'
It was Princess Zelda. She just so happened to be coming the same way and greeted the two of them, "O-oh, Link, it's you!" She stuttered when the knight stopped and turned to face her.
"Excuse me, Your Highness, but he's a bit unwell at the moment."
The Princess immediately made her way behind him at the mention of the young hero. Her pupils were wide with worry as she peered at him, "He is? What happened, young one?"
He sniffed, acting like the stop had further woken him up, "Hm? Why did we stop?" Her eyes practically bore into his, making it nearly impossible to keep his own at half-mast, "Oh, hi Zelda. The rain got just us pretty good on the way back, is all," He sleepily recounted, faking a yawn.
"H-hold on, what was that on your face there?"
'Shit!' He bit his inner lip as he felt the blanket around his face get pulled forward by a couple of her fingers. After a few painstakingly long seconds, he felt them yank away.
She stumbled backwards with a hand to her mouth, "Who-whose is that?" Her tone was quiet, but it was a demand.
"W-wait!" Young Link reached out to her, his eyes immediately narrowing at the bloodstains that were left on his sleeves.
"Kyaah!" She screamed, both of her hands covering her face.
He quickly pulled his hand back in as Link turned to face her, "Your Highness I promise there's an explan—"
Zelda silenced him by holding up a finger. She'd shaken off her terror and was back to her noble stature, "I'm sure there is." Her tone was curt, "And I will hear it from you once you help him back to his room."
"Yes, Your Highness." The knight briskly walked down the rest of the hall and, within a few minutes, was turning the doorknob that went to Young Link's room.
"Link, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean t—"
"It's fine," He sat his saddle bags at the edge of the bed. His face was stoic as usual, "In fact, this is probably for the best. Who knows what would have happened if I had to report this to the Head of Command first?"
"True."
"In the meantime, take a warm bath and get some sleep, okay?"
"Yeah okay."
Once he heard the thuds of the knight's footsteps fade down the hallway, he ran the water from the faucet. The bath was so enticingly warm compared to the river that he could have fell asleep as soon as he was submerged in the water. Young Link spied his luggage through the open door. He wanted to be able to see if anyone came in, even if it put him in an awkward spot, 'Dang, that's a lot of laundry to get done. At least I'll have something to busy myself with tomorrow. Though, I'll need a new shirt and pants…maybe I could burn the tunic?' Another sneeze scattered his thoughts, 'I swear. If Link gave me a damn cold by throwing me in that river!' He puffed out a sigh, there was no reason to point fingers. Like that one guard said, it should be gone by morning.
Getting the dried blood out from under his fingernails was tiresome, not to mention finding the spots he'd missed from earlier. Seeing as the water turned more and more orange, he'd likely have to clean the tub as well. 'Sheesh, I must have gotten sloppy if I've managed to not get any blood on me in the past. Well, actually it probably couldn't have been helped this time.' He was frank with himself, 'Still, this is a lot of work! I'll need to polish my equipment too!'
The bath had grown lukewarm by the time he was getting out of the water. There was a brush that happened to be in one of the drawers to the vanity, but that didn't mean it was new nor that it was his to use. He ran his fingers through his bangs instead, it works every time. After pulling on his patchy, oversized shirt, his stomach repeatedly told him he was hungry. 'Well, it was a long ride here, but I don't think that's a good idea right now.'
As his gaze shifted to his bed, he realized that he was largely unable to practice his vaults while he was away, so, following an arial, he sank into his sheets and ignored the protests from his gut. Young Link yawned as pulled the hefty covers over himself.
"Hopefully this doesn't bite me in the ass."