Title: Twisting Fate
Fandom: Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (Zelda Game)
Characters: Sooga, Kohga, Link, Impa, Urbosa, Zelda, Yiga
Chapter: 6
Word Count:1602
Warnings: cross dressing, Yiga being Yiga, Zelda being the knowledge whore that she is
Beta: shadowfaerie
AN: I am exhausted. Someone tell the world to stop for a minute?
Yeah, no? Thought so. Enjoy! Here's hoping I remember to post on time from now on.
Sitting on a still standing pillar, his feet kicking, Link stared out over the desert. He could see a molduga far out in the desert. It was most likely heading for its normal hunting grounds and didn't give a shit about them. He could still remember the first time that a Gerudo warrior had spoken about the creatures when he had been training with some. She had told him that as long as they were left alone, they would leave you alone in return.
He turned and looked over his shoulder when Sooga appeared behind him, his mask tilted to the side.
"I had not thought that you would have climbed up here," the man greeted, Link smiling behind his mask. Link shrugged before he looked down at the group that had set up all of the tents to protect themselves from the sand storm that was moving in and out in strength.
He could see where several Yiga Clan members were working around the Gerudo women, knowing that Impa was most likely watching them from a protected window. And probably muttering about having to work with the Yiga.
'It was crowded down in the tent and the sky was clear for the time being,'he stated before he looked over to Sooga again. 'Is your master here?'he asked.
"He is waiting for the tents to be put up fully so that we may all meet without crowding as the sandstorm continues. We will not be able to open the temple until we have enough time to bring the sealing magic and the technology down safely," he said. Link hummed and stood. Sooga took in the chosen outfit of the day, lips quirking up before he blinked when Link jumped down and used a small paraglider to get down to the ground below.
"Now how in the world did he climb all the way up here?" the Blademaster muttered before he followed after the young warrior. He walked into the tent after him, Kohga stepping into place next to him, the Blank mask firmly in place.
'They're here,'Link greeted when the others looked up at his obvious footsteps. He hadn't even reacted to the fact that Kohga had just appeared next to his Blade Master. 'And it looks like the storm is about to really settle in.'
"We have more tents that are being put up for all of us," Kohga stated, nodding to Urbosa in greeting as he took a seat. She stared at him, her face serious while Zelda and Impa stared with wide eyes, wondering what the change in the mask could mean.
"I see that you are wearing the Blank mask. The rumors that you were a proper leader in all ways..." Urbosa said, standing up from her seat. She nodded to Kohga as Link sat down himself. Both of the Yiga members noticed that while Link looked as if he was at ease, he had positioned himself to protect everyone at the table and to be able to cover the Gerudo warriors if he needed to.
The fact that he had adjusted the scimitar on his back in a familiar and easy motion spoke more to them than anything else.
"Yes. When it became obvious that our last Master was not fit, I wore the mask to take my place during the battle. But I have not found any reason to wear it again outside of the year memorial," Kohga stated. He settled back in his seat. "I thought that wearing it now would show the serious nature of what we're about to do. A courier dropped off the Rito Leader's answer, too. Only a few of my people are going to come with you to the village. As far as Astor knows? We're all setting up our next plan in the Goron region so we're using that to our advantage. I have to keep playing the part of an idiot savant, but..."
"But you are not particularly happy with playing this part," Zelda finished, Kohga nodding his head. "I hope that we can finish this quickly then. But I also hope that you will allow me access to the library when it is cleared to see if we can not find something more about the truth of what happened to Ganondorf and why he changed, along with the Guardians. We all know what the legends tell us, but..." She trailed off, frowning.
"But there are always three sides to the story, as we all know. The winners, the losers, and the truth," Kohga said. He shifted. "I will allow you to access it with someone to watch over you once we're sure that anything that would harm you has been removed. There is no reason to have someone end up hurt because we didn't do our job," he stated after a moment. He tilted his head at the beaming smile from Zelda. "I am going to be blunt, I don't like your father. I hate him in fact."
Link reached out and placed a hand on her arm. 'Listen to why he doesn't like your father, Zelda, before you say anything,'he requested. Zelda frowned but nodded.
"The hold that Malice has on Ganondorf should never have had the foothold that it did, Princess," Sooga stated. He moved to stand behind his leader. "But it did because your fathers ancestor, your ancestor, treated the Gerudo like they were lesser. Lesser than even the snakes that travel the lands. When, like all the leaders of the lands, he was equal to Ganondorf," he stated.
'It is known that the king of that time had an ego issue and it was lucky that he already had a child to take his place considering her mother up and left when she could,'Link said. Zelda gave him a surprised look. 'Hylia was...well to put it politely, she was very unhappy with him,'he told her. 'There is a reason why there are girls born every two generations in your family. It is because not all of the Kings are good for the people and they need the touch of a gentle Queen to heal what their last ruler did to them. Sometimes they're raised wrong, or the mother couldn't stop mental issues, but he was the worst to come.'
"Are you telling me that Lord Ganondorf was forced to kneel to another king as if he was nothing more than a lesser being?" Urbosa hissed, her eyes wide. "Is that what allowed Demise to gain a foothold in our land and our King?"
"It was one of many reasons," Sooga stated. He tipped his head to the Queen. "But it's the biggest one. Being treated as anything less than an equal is bound to make a king angry. Unfortunately for all, none who were close to him knew what would happen. We had our vows even then and we have kept to them even to this day. Only a few select Yiga leaders know the full history of our clan and what happened, and the only reason why Master Kohga does is because Lord Ganondorf speaks with him."
"He speaks with you?" Impa asked, frowning. "The last time that a past Queen spoke to a Sheikah was...oh about a thousand years before when she warned that there was something coming. We were able to stop Calamity Ganon from breaking free at that time," she mused.
Urbosa hummed as she relaxed. "The mask that Master Kohga is wearing is one that Ganondorf himself created for his first Yiga Clan leader," she stated. "Ganondorf was quite powerful with his magics, along with being an accomplished warrior. He crafted the mask as a way to make sure that the next Master was a good fit to lead and to allow them to talk while they were in their dreams," she continued. "I remember hearing these tales when I was a young Princess and learning my history."
"You would be correct. Our last Leader, I am rather sure you remember her. She wasn't just killed by a lucky shot by me, Queen Urbosa, but because I made sure I trained hard to take her down. She was leading us down a path that would have destroyed us and one that I knew wasn't right," Kohga said as the wind outside started to pick up. Link tilted his head, ears twitching before he pulled his legs up to get comfortable. Zelda smiled behind her hand at her guard before she turned back to the conversation, one of the guards visibly fighting the urge to coo at the ear wiggle.
They went over what the Yiga knew for a fact, mostly from the oral stories that they told and the journals of those who had read the histories from the books and recorded them down. They also had learned more by exploring their current base, figuring out what had been real and what wasn't when it came to the various histories that were wound together.
Just after lunch had been served and eaten by all there, the storm finally died down enough for the Yiga clan to start to pull down the wards and dismantle the traps around the door.
Zelda and Link watched the work that was going on while Sooga and Kohga watched Link. They were both enjoying seeing him in the basic Gerudo clothing, even if they were the more covering clothing. It still looked good and right on him in their minds.
Impa just eyed them while she pouted and went to write to the rest of her clan.