Ruuya awoke to the sudden introduction of gravity and the whinnying of an old friend. Back on the straw floor of the stable, she took a moment to blink and get her bearings. Morning light crept through the window. Birds tweeted in the branches of trees. Sometime in the night her cloak had been tossed aside, and she was sure to have straw in her hair.
All in all, it was perfect, but it seemed her pillow had moved. Figured. All living things needed to eat.
Groaning, she looked up at her mare with a frown. "Good morning, Jamila," she said with a yawn, sleep still clinging to her eyelids as she adjusted to sunlight that filtered through bars in the only window in the horse's stable. "Good to know you always have my back."
The horse blew air out of its nose as though laughing at her predicament, then started to munch on the hay in her hair.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it," she said, her stomach letting off a rumble. "I'm hungry too."
Ruuya chuckled, placing a hand on the half-wall and slowly lifting herself to her feet. Luckily, she didn't trip this time. She never imagined that losing a few toes would make life such a challenge, but she was nothing if not stubborn.
Alysse wouldn't be happy to find her missing again, but whatever reprimand was in store was well worth it. Ever since that woman had gotten pregnant, she had turned into such a mother hen.
Not that Ruuya would dare say that to her face. Some things were just not worth it.
She took a moment to gather up her cloak and wrap it around her shoulders. Straightening it out, she suddenly found her finger poking through one side and out the other. Inspecting the hole, she tsked. Great. It would need patching up soon before it grew too large.
Ruuya made a mental note to sew it up later, then patted Jamila's flank, smiling. "Let's see what the gods have in store for us today, eh?" Hand behind the mare's neck, Ruuya guided her to the half door, opened it with her other hand, and led the way out into the fields and sunlight beyond. "It looks to be a beautiful day."
Outside, the sun had barely risen over the horizon, but the town of Windfall was already bustling with life, from people chatting, to birds singing, to the distant chittering of squirrels in the trees. Ruuya smiled to herself, taking it all in. On the outskirts of town, men and women carried baskets and bundles of wood. Children ran out into the tall grass, giggling and unarmed. A few guards nodded at them as they passed, at ease with the familiar routine.
A gentle breeze brought a chill from the north. Ruuya shivered, despite the cloak. Hylians were so strange, not needing sleeves in such cool weather. She gladly looked forward to summer when the winds weren't so cold, the sun shined bright all day in Din's glory, and the nights were actually pleasant.
But that was then. Barefoot in dewy grass, she walked with Jamila further out from the stables. Other horses of all colors were out as well. Blue, black, white, red, and brown ones grazed and whinnied. They weren't as sturdy as her Jamila, but instead slimmer and bred for speed over endurance.
The stable Cima had established was rather lucrative, allowing her to tend to horses all day long. Unfortunately, it also brought in odd tourists and strangers that Ruuya would have rather not dealt with. So many new eyes set her nerves alight, ready to parry or flee at a moment's notice. She could never know when an outsider came to the town, perhaps even searching for a wayward daughter of the desert to dispatch.
She pulled the drawstrings of her cloak tighter, obscuring her face under its dark hood. Wonderful horses. Too many horses. There was going to be another meeting soon, she could feel it. That meant strangers in the village, and she couldn't trust people she didn't know. They might not like Gerudo.
No need to be anywhere near the town hall if that was the case. The last thing she needed was to be caught up in one and forced to serve as Vaati's representative. The last time that had happened it had been unpleasant. She even had to pretend she was an old hag who found the town hall too cold and needed cloak and gloves to kept off the early spring chill.
It hadn't been too far from the truth. Speaking with that voe, Baza, had made her very uncomfortable as well.
"I'm going to the training yard," she told Jamila, low and in her own tongue. "I'll be back." She patted Jamila's side and left her friend to eat her oats.
Ruuya let the thought tumble around her mind. Her stomach rumbled. Maybe she could grab a jelly pastry on the way there, even if it was a bit late for breakfast.
/-/
A few strains of red hair clung to Ruuya's forehead, her heart raced within her chest, but she wasn't running. Instead, she was slowly shifting through a series of simple stances, wielding a short staff in her hands in the midst of the training yard used and maintained by the village guard. She couldn't move very quickly. If she tried, she would lose her footing and trip, even with the customized shoes she was now forced to wear since her injury three months hence. Each shoe was fitted with inserts to help her maintain balance, to make sure she could walk, almost, without a limp.
She was pretty sure they weren't made so that she could wield a weapon again, especially one she wasn't familiar with. She had quickly learned a short staff wasn't the same as Gerudo long spear, specifically the glaive-like weapons favored by her own clan. It wasn't just the length which caused her issues, the weight of the short staff was different, too. It had no blade on the end and the shaft was thinner, giving the weapon a different feel to it than the naginata she had learned as a child.
Thus, when she shifted from one stance to the next, it wasn't smooth, it wasn't graceful, it wasn't something she knew. It was as unfamiliar as the fitted shoes on her feet. It was like trying to master a new dance for the Festival of the Sun two weeks before the event. Again. She had done that twice. But she wanted to be able to fight again, and the captain had said this should help. Too much thinking wouldn't though. She needed to focus. Spinning the staff once over her head and repositioning her feet, she tried to retain her footing despite the awkward motions.
Then Ruuya slipped. The staff flew out of her grasp as she fell, and she landed in an awkward heap in the middle of the practice yard, face full of dirt. For a moment, she felt like a seal sticking its head in the sand to hide from the desert heat. Ruuya moaned in pain, lifted her head, and spat out a mouthful of dirt. After another cough and another mouthful of sand, she rolled onto her back and stared up at the bright sun above the training yard.
At least she didn't see little cuccos above her head this time. That was an improvement. Still, she didn't know what she had done wrong...despite falling in the same part of the kata a million times already.
And Bazz says this is a kata for children! Bah! She spat out more dirt...somehow. It seems I've swallowed the whole desert.
"That was an awesome fall, Ruu!" Nan bounced into her field of vision. "You even did a flip."
Ruuya glared at the young Hylian, still on her back. She had not flipped. "No, I didn't." She crossed her arms. "What are you doing here?"
It was a ridiculous question. As a new recruit still in training, Nan came to the training yard almost every day for weapons practice and to run drills, as well as do various chores that she was assigned. Nan opened her mouth to reply, but a greater shadow fell over the small Hylian.
"Practicing the bow," said a voe. The girl jumped. Towering, muscular and imposing, the captain of the village guard came to stand behind Nan, his hands behind his back and expression severe though his eyes sparkled with amusement. The Zora's dark scales shimmered in the sunlight. He was a stranger sight even than her red hair and dark skin, and thus had stayed back from the meeting as well. Even still, she often heard strangers speaking of the 'Zora of Windfall' despite his best efforts. "Isn't that correct, young lady?"
Nan grumbled something beneath her breath. It sounded like a Gerudo curse that Ruuya must have accidentally let slip once around the girl. Alysse was going to kill her if she ever heard it from Nan's lips.
"What was that?" Bazz asked. Ruuya was certain he had heard the oath. It wasn't that quiet.
Nan growled and said through clenched teeth, "It's my day off, captain."
"And yet you're at the practice yard nonetheless," he said, handing her a shortbow. Stubbornly, Nan glared at the bow instead of taking it, her lips slightly puckered. "Ah, but you came all this way, child, you might as well work on your bowmanship..."
"My aim's fine."
"Your aim's shit."
"Ruu!"
Bazz gave Ruuya a solemn nod. Nan reeled back on the balls of feet and gasped, clearly taken aback that the captain had sided with Ruuya.
"Exactly why the gods deemed it good that you would feel driven to come here and train despite that it wasn't required," Bazz said, patting the girl on the shoulder. With his free hand, he shoved the bow into her arms. "Off you trot, Nan."
"Fine." Nan started to head towards the archery range on the far side of the practice yard, but Bazz 'tched', causing her to halt. She turned, briefly. "Yes. Sir."
"That's unusual," Ruuya said, having sat up somewhat as the conversation progressed. "I know she doesn't like archery, but…"
The Zora offered her a hand, which she ignored, preferring to regain her footing herself despite that it took longer. She had to prove to herself that she could still do such mundane tasks without help. Bazz hadn't been forced to spend much of the last few months indoors, trapped like an animal in a cage. Sure, Alysse and ancient books weren't bad company, but she'd missed doing things outside. She missed riding her horse, fighting with her blades, even collecting herbs for Vaati... Ruuya could not live on just tomes and knowledge alone.
She needed sunlight, too. She just hadn't known she loved it so much.
"Is it?" asked the Zora, and frowned just a tad. That was an expression he wore often, she had noticed, and it had carved deep lines into his face. "I've trained enough Hylian youth over the course of my life to know, at certain times, some girls around her age...ah, right, we should get to work."
He offered her the short staff which he had retrieved at some point in their conversation. Ruuya nearly let out a sigh, but bit her lip and took the staff. She had agreed to do this training, and she wasn't some thirteen-year-old girl like Nan. No, Ruuya had trained under far worse masters out in the desert. Bazz was much more kind than her mothers had been, but their harsh training had hardened her, made her strong as the mountains that bordered the flowing sands. She would keep standing, just as the mountains did.
Sometimes, she wondered if the old captain was too soft. Could he really train guards well without ever giving them a flogging or commanding their peers to beat them? She kept those thoughts to herself, however. It was best not to question someone with as much experience as Bazz.
"Go through the kata again," he said. "It isn't everyday I see someone flip through the air doing that exercise. Fall, yes, but flip, no."
Ruuya glared back at the old voe as she fell into the first stance. "I didn't flip." Why didn't anyone believe her?
"Of course not," he replied. "Again, if you please."
This did produce a sigh, but she clumsily began the kata once more, trying her best to keep her balance from one form to the next. When she reached the stance which had caused her fall, Ruuya froze, staff above her head, one leg straight and the other bent beneath her.
"Ah, I see," he began, taking the staff from her, and falling into the same stance. "You should keep your feet flat in this stance, do not try to balance on your toes, Miss Ruuya."
Ruuya flinched. Her hands tightened into fists.
"You don't have to put it like that."
"Yes, I do," he replied, gaze hard. "Let's continue."
Dousing her anger with a tense breath, she nodded and copied his stance. It was easier without having to spin a staff at the same time. Yet, she tried to follow his motion as best she could, pretending to spin a staff as he showed her this part of the kata again. After he displayed the form for her a few times, he handed her the staff once more.
"Show me the stance, if you would."
She did so.
"Again."
Ruuya nodded. After repeating the stance five more times, Bazz seemed satisfied with her efforts, but then frowned.
"Do you often fall at that part of the kata?"
Ruuya gave him a quick nod. She didn't fall every time, but it still proved to be the most difficult part to get right each time she tried to perform the whole sequence. It had been two weeks since he had agreed to help her regain her strength and taught her the exercise, and she was still struggling. It was like her body thought it needed to shift her balance to her toes in this part, as though her mind thought the wooden inserts in her shoes could actually support her weight like real toes could just as he had implied. Unfortunately, they didn't work that well.
"Hmmm," he hummed, lifting a hand to his chin. "Did I tell you the story of this kata?"
Ruuya grunted out a 'no'. "Is this important?" She would have rather worked on getting the kata right than listen to one of the voe's tales. Stories didn't fix balance issues, and Bazz could be just as long-winded as a certain ancient mage.
She hoped when she got old she'd still know how to hold her tongue.
He gave her a dry look. "Yes, in fact." there was a hardness to his voice that made her pause, then inwardly grumble. Well, it seemed she wouldn't escape this one. "When a Zora reaches puberty, they often experience a quick growth spurt, growing several feet over the course of a few months. In my day, we added new recruits around the age of sixteen, and only about half had even started their growth spurt by that time, most were yet small, and as you can imagine, that sudden change of height would throw them off balance and mess with their ability to wield weapons."
Ruuya nodded. That made some sense, though it didn't work as well for her since she used spears and swords. "So," she ventured, "you created this kata?"
He shook his head, the shadow of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "No, of course not. The kata is far older than I am," he replied. "In my mother's records, she was a priestess and the King Zora's archivist before she died, if you recall-"
Ruuya raised her hand, trying to get him off that particular tangent. She didn't want to hear the whole history of the voe's parents. She had heard it a hundred times since she started training here. Or well, at least it felt like a hundred.
"-right, they show that it may have been used while the Hero of Time yet lived. Only Lord Vaati might be older, as this is an art passed from generation to generation since the dawn of the Zora race. But forgive me, I shouldn't let myself go off on such tangents."
"You're already on one," she muttered, leaning on the staff as her feet started to ache. Even exercise couldn't rebuild the muscles that quickly, it seemed. Her legs and feet still pained her sometimes, even though her injuries had mostly healed over a month ago.
If he heard it, he did not respond. "Thus, we teach it to our children once they gain their adult height, and make them take a sacred oath not to teach it to the younger ones themselves. It works primarily because they have not learned a kata like it before. Their bodies do not remember something similar and thus, it is easier to teach them to get used to their adult bodies and to regain a sense of rightness in them."
"And none of them flipped," she stated.
"No, Zora land in a confusing tangle of limbs and staff, instead," he said. Ruuya snorted. That made her feel a little better about her own failures. "But, I believe I recognize the problem."
She blinked, tilting her head slightly. "It's that...I'm not a Zora?"
"Ha. I already took that into account, actually," he answered. "No, your balance is off because you're treating the short staff as a spear at that point. I can only assume that there is a similar transition in the spear kata your clan taught you. It's why you instinctively shift your balance when you shouldn't…"
"And fall flat on my face."
"Mhmmm. Yes, that's quite true," he said. Ruuya rolled her eyes. The voe didn't have to agree so eagerly. "I will have to reconstruct it to suit you better. You're dismissed Miss Ruuya."
Or maybe he was just excited about creating a new exercise. Voe of any species could be quite strange in much the same way, Ruuya mused. Even though this one was also a giant black and white fish.
Still, she sighed in relief. At least she wouldn't have to worry about falling on her face again for a few days even though it would take longer for her to get back into fighting shape. "Thank you."
"Please check on Nan on your way out," he said. "If she's asleep, dump the bucket of water hanging on the peg hammered into the maple on her head, would you?"
"How can you waste water like that?" She stared at him in disbelief. "It's too valuable to just throw away!"
"I…ah, I am awfully sorry," Bazz said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head-fin...tail...thing. She wasn't sure what to call it. Still, the gesture made the old Zora appear younger, more boyish. Ruuya smiled a little at his obvious embarrassment. "Pinch her then, and remind her, nicely, that she needs to work on her aim. If she's asleep, also inform her she's to polish the armor after she's finished her archery practice."
Snickering at Bazz's words, Ruuya waved the Zora farewell and went off to speak with her charge. Knowing Nan, she had probably fallen asleep as soon as she reached the archery range. That girl had no respect for the bow.
Even before she reached the archery range, Ruuya heard the chirp of soft snores that reminded her of birdsong. At first glance, the archery range appeared empty of guards and Nan, only targets and racks full of equipment filled the silent field. She frowned, still hearing snoring from somewhere.
Well, at least she's hid herself better this time. Following the snores, she found a pair of feet sticking out from under the furthest rack where only a few old bows and quivers hung. Much as Vaati did at times, Ruuya tangled her fingers in front of her chin, a plan flashing through her mind. Perfect.
Ruuya flicked a flame to life above her finger. In the last few months, Alysse had taught her how to caste Din's Fire, and though her own flames never blazed as brightly as the scholar's did, it would serve her purpose. Reaching down, Ruuya placed the flame under Nan's heel, close enough that it should quickly become unreasonably hot, but far enough that it wouldn't burn her foot, and waited for the inevitable.
At first, however, Nan withdrew her feet, muttering something about weird dreams and strange heat. Unfortunately, she poked out a bare elbow. Ruuya let out a malicious snort, placing the tiny flame near the elbow instead.
This time, Nan let out a yelp and slammed her head and shoulders against the bottom of the rack. A moment later, the rack toppled over and fell with an audible crack, breaking a few targets that had been set up on the other side.
Nan gulped. Ruuya stared. That hadn't gone as expected. All she had really wanted was a little revenge for Nan's insistent teasing earlier, not...this disaster.
"Shit."
"Yup."
"Don't tell maa I said that."
"How in hell did you manage this?" Ruuya tensed for a moment. Bazz was there, mere feet away. He picked up a broken bow in dismay, one half dangling by the string. She wasn't sure when he had arrived, but was certain the noise had caught his attention. She was right at least; he wasn't nearly as hard of hearing as he pretended to be. "Were you sleeping under the rack?"
Mute for once, the young girl nodded, shuffling behind Ruuya for protection, though the worst punishment she would receive was cleaning the pots in the guards' mess hall. Even if those pots were huge, covered in stuck-on grime, and usually stunk, it wasn't that bad. Nan might have to help with repairs as well. Light and reasonable punishments, all said. A little strange, but light. Nothing at all like her old clan's ways of discipline.
If she had done something like this back there, she would've been beaten, perhaps even killed. Breaking this many bows would harm their ability to hunt and defend themselves. Mistakes happened, but the desert was harsh and her sisters even harsher.
Despite that she had nothing to fear, Nan trembled, eyes downcast. Ruuya had never thought she would see the girl so utterly ashamed by her actions.
The Zora sighed. "We will speak of this later," Bazz said, gently, a hint of something else in his voice. "Your father sent a messenger to us just now."
"What...do ya mean?" Nan said, regaining her voice and peeking out from behind Ruuya. As soon as she spoke, Ruuya knew Nan would come to quickly regret her words. "Has da got so fat he-"
Nan stopped mid-sentence, biting back her words at the almost...frightened expression on the Zora's old face. What...what had happened? Ruuya didn't like where this was going.
Something had gone dreadfully wrong. Then it hit her.
"Is it Alysse?"
"Yes. She will soon give birth," he said, confirming her fears. "The midwife fears something is wrong, however…"
Nan and Ruuya exchanged a look, the latter nodding. Alysse would hate her for this, but there was only solution she could think of… Even if she wasn't sure what the former sorcerer could do to aid her, he would be all too happy to have Alysse in his debt. Millennia of experience had to mean something, right?
"I'll get Vaati."
With that, she fled the training yard and fetched Jamila, aches and pains forgotten as urgency guided their steps. She just prayed to Din that they had enough time.