Link had had enough.
Yes, he'd promised her he'd try to get along. But thank the Goddess that he hadn't promised he would get along.
She'd fallen asleep in the well again, and he'd just lifted her out and put her in bed when he heard it.
His ears whipped up in every direction before he began scurrying on the ground like the feral beast he was. Two familiar voices. One thick with chuffing, one heavy in an opposite way.
"You are blind to oppose me! In just a few years I have completely revamped and revitalized this dusty old town."
"Now listen here. I have nothing about how you choose to go about your business. But to completely ignore thousands of history just so you can go at your whim? I can't allow you to tempt a dark history into repeating itself. Besides, your business can't permanently disrupt the business of others, so you'll either need to tone it down several notches or we're going to have other chats."
They continued on like this, just like usual. The spiteful tone had only returned fairly recently, and although she had originally been born here, she was not one of them.
"Daddy?"
It took all Link's willpower from jumping out of the bush and revealing himself. When he finally processed the source of the noise, a small child bearing his pricked up ears was looking up at him with wide, moon-filled eyes. A rush of relief came flowing through him, as air left him in the same way. "It's just you."
"Whatchu doing, Daddy?" She crawled closer, whispering as she tried to peek at his view.
"I'm just patrolling, pumpkin. It's past time for little pups to be in bed, what are you doing out?"
"Heard you growlin'."
"People are yellin', pumpkin." He nuzzled the small child's forehead. "Gotta keep you and Momma safe if they get out of hand."
"Momma says you're tree tired. You should go to bed."
"No, no, baby. Retired. And it has nothing to do with bedtime." He bent over as much as his hips would let him. "We should get you to bed. Momma's already asleep."
"Daddy's not sleepin'! No sleeping till Daddy go bed."
"Okay, okay. But your momma is not gonna be pleased."
"Climb on your back?"
"Sure, pumpkin." He bent down a little further to allow the small child access to his shoulders. Thankfully, he was able to get low enough to prevent his hair from being used as a ladder. "Let's show 'em who's boss around here. Right, my little princess?"
"Mmhm! Daddy's in charge!" She clung to the collar of his tunic as her father rose to all fours and began to trot towards the bickering pair.
"Ey!" The pair instantly silenced as Link came down the path. "Quit bickering, it's late!"
"Ah, Grandpa. Sorry."
"I thought it was understood that dark hours were quiet hours?"
Cece made a noise of indignance. "If such a matter exists, what's with all the howling when the moon's out?"
"I said 'dark hours,' not 'night.' Full moon doesn't count."
"What about moonless nights? You guys get rowdy then too."
"That's a ritual. Interrupt our funeral rites and I'll show you just how good my patience normally is."
Reede growled softly. "Cece. I wouldn't advise antagonizing him."
She ignored Reede's warning. "So who gives you the authority to decide that one group gets to use the dark hours for events, and the rest of us can't?"
"Excuse me? I am your King, Hylian!"
"Last time I checked, only female descendants of the Goddess had authority over Hylians, of which you are neither. And don't get any bright ideas with the toddler."
"Leave." Link felt Reede nudge him.
"Don't explode on her, Grandpa. It'll just make her a martyr. Your wife's got enough on her plate."
Link rolled his eyes and growled. "I'll deal with you next." He then swung his head low, nipping underneath the hem of Cece's dress until she began to pick up her feet and move. He then barked and snarled until he'd chased the irritant back to her residence.
Sophie had already come outside the boutique to meet them by the time he'd chased Cece to the door. "I'm sorry about her, Link. Thank you for not being harsher than you had to."
Link's daughter popped out from her father's mane. "Good night, Miss Sophie!"
"My, you're out late, Miss Zelda Ivee. Are you helping your dad?"
"Yeah! I help so he go to bed fast!"
"Aww. Are you going home too, Link? You know how your wife gets when you stay out too late."
"Yeah, heading back to put myself and my princess here to bed. Cece was just causing a disturbance."
"Be careful with your leg."
His ears folded over themselves and he smiled a little sheepishly. "Got it, Sophie."
"I'll see you tomorrow, Link."
Link whipped his head around to catch the sneaking-away Reede once Sophie closed her door. "I'm not done with you." The elder Wolfbred cut off his descendant's escape route, pressing his upper body down onto Reede's left shoulder. "Your duty as mayor is to protect the village and its people, not to get shoved around."
"Grandpa, Cece is technically a native here. Whether or not she's legally considered a Wolfbred shouldn't change how the village interacts with her."
"It doesn't. Her hostile attitude does. You know, before the Calamity-"
"Grandpa. Stop equating a monarch with an iron fist to a self-regulating settlement in a decayed kingdom. You're never going to find any peace with your life if you keep expecting us to act like the Hyrule that was."
"...Walk with me, Reede." He released Reede's shoulder and continued his four-legged walk alongside Reede towards the latter's abode. "You say 'it's only one woman, what harm can it do to play along?' but, it was 'only one woman' who created us all millenia ago, 'only one woman' who led genocide against us - who murdered us by the thousands as we were chased onto these lands - and 'only one woman' who saved us all one hundred and twenty years ago from incest-induced extinction. So tell me, Reede, how can this 'one woman' be of no significance?"
"Those women were all magic-"
"They never used their magic to do those things. They used their words. And I didn't ask you about them, I asked you about her."
"Link, if you're so fearful that we'll end up in exile again… that's simply not possible. Most Hylians now are descended from Wolfbreds, because Hateno and Lurelin were the only Hylian villages that didn't burn."
"I never said she would reenact the exile. I said you have a duty to not get shoved around by brats with big words."
"Grandpa, Zelda's trying to figure it out. We're not asking you to provide us a threat-free life. You did your job, you earned your rest. Let us take up the mantle from here."
"Prove to me you can carry it, Reede, and then we'll talk. My sister kept this place going despite the Calamity, despite the Age of Burning Fields, despite everything that happened after me and my father passed away. Prove you're worthy to inherit her honor." Link sat abruptly in front of a stone arch. "Your residence."
Reede sighed, keeping his head bowed. Had a tail been present, it would drag the ground in defeat. "Good night, Grandpa."
"Good night, Reede. Tell Clavia and Karin I say hello." He began to walk away as Reede ascended the stairs to his house.
Zelda Ivee looked back at Reede before snuggling Link. "You seem sad, Daddy."
"I'm okay, pumpkin. Let's go join Momma in bed, okay?"
"Okay, Daddy."