Chapter Text
Master Kohga watched from his napping spot as blademasters Sooga and Kershaw spoke and laughed to each other. He couldn't tell exactly what they were saying- something about a previous mission- but whatever it was, it seemed to be centered on a success of Sooga's.
It made Kohga wonder. Sooga was the most resilient man the clan had ever seen. He would get battered in nearly every mission yet refused to be knocked down, he had caught himself on the wrong end of a halberd and lost his eye only to keep fighting, and he had even pulled a stunt in the past where he ran off in the middle of the night and returned a week later, beaten half to death and holding a lynel’s decapitated head. In each scenario, he had the same reasoning. For Master Kohga.
Kohga had been wanting to see how far Sooga would go for a while now. He didn't want to kill the guy, that would be awful, but he was curious about when he would actually refuse a mission that Kohga gave him.
There was one that he had in mind. Kohga had been procrastinating on it for a while now, and it seemed like just the thing that would challenge Sooga's resilience, but not put him in harm’s way. Two birds with one stone, right?
Reluctantly, he got up from his spot and flagged the blademasters down. “Hey, Sooga. Can I trust you with a super important mission?”
Sooga bowed to him, almost before he had finished his sentence. “Of course, Master! You may count on me for anything.”
“I'm just gonna say… if you don't take this one, I won't hold it against you. This one's different than the others you’ve done.”
“What's the mission?” Kershaw asked. “I'm sure Sooga could handle it, no matter how rigorous.”
“It’s in Kakariko Village.”
Both blademasters went silent. “... Kakariko Village?” Sooga repeated, quieter.
“Again, I won't be mad if you refuse.”
Sooga looked away from him for a second. Sensing his discomfort, Kershaw chimed in again. “I'll take the mission, Master. There's no need for Sooga to go if-”
Sooga cut her off. “No. I'll do it.” He took a big breath and looked back at Kohga, standing a bit taller. “What is the mission?”
Dorian laid his head back against the stairs up to his front door, basking in the night air. Now that Koko and Cottla were in bed, he could finally relax and gaze up at the stars. He would sleep out there if he could, but Kiwa would eventually return from the forest with her food and make him go inside.
Even still, he looked forward to it. Not even sleeping out under the stars gave him a greater sense of peace than cuddling up with his wife and falling asleep with her in his arms.
He closed his eyes and thought about her. The softness of her hands in his, her gentle lips on his cheek, the way she laughed while playing with their daughters and her insistence on hiding her recipe book and keeping it a secret. Dorian had to open his eyes and stretch to make sure that he wouldn't doze off.
As he sat up, something didn't feel right. How long had he been out on the porch? It felt like an hour at least, Kiwa should've been back by now. Even if she hadn't found anything, she’d always be back within an hour. Where was she?
He only sat there for a minute more, but it felt like ages. Paranoid thoughts reared their heads as the chirping of the restless crickets became deafening. She might've slipped and fallen into the creek, or ran into a monster, or-
A scream came from the woods.
Before it even faded, Dorian bolted. He didn't even think to grab a weapon, he just needed to get up the hill. Through the haze of adrenaline, he prayed as much as he physically could that it wouldn't be too bad, maybe she had just slipped in the mud or got stung by bees-
A red flash of light accompanied by a puff of smoke confirmed his worst fear. Yiga Clan.
In desperation, he grabbed a tree branch from the ground and kept running. He’d fight them with his bare hands if he had to, he’d beat them until his fists were bloody if they even laid a finger on Kiwa-
He saw her running across the little bridge over the creek. She looked unhurt, though she wasn't carrying her basket. He could've made it if he was just a little quicker…
A blademaster appeared in a puff of smoke and paper slips behind her. He grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her backwards, turning his back towards Dorian. She screamed as he did.
“KIWA!”
The blademaster’s windcleaver was drawn. But, instead of striking, he paused.
And tore off his mask.
Kiwa’s eyes widened. Not just in fear, but understanding. “S-”
He plunged the sword through her stomach.
She cried out in pain, sobbing as he slipped the blade from her torso. She collapsed, and her blood stained the water red as it poured into the creek.
“KIWA!”
Dorian ran up to her and took her into his arms. The blademaster paid no attention to him as he strapped his mask back to his face. “KIWA! Please, it's alright, I'm here! Stay with me!”
It was too late. As he cupped her face in his hand, her last breath left her lungs and she closed her eyes.
Dorian screamed and held the body to his own. All the while, the Yiga just stood above him. Completely motionless, just watching.
He looked up toward the cold ivory mask. “I TOLD YOU I LEFT! I DIDN'T TELL ANYONE, I JUST WANTED TO LIVE IN PEACE!”
“You knew what you were getting into the second your blood hit that basin, Dorian. You broke your oath, and these are your consequences.”
Dorian stopped crying. He lowered Kiwa’s body back to the ground and glared. “I know that voice… I know you.”
The Yiga went silent. “Do you, now.” Not a question, a statement.
“It's been a long time, hasn't it, Sooga?” Dorian growled.
He removed his mask again. He had aged, lost an eye too. He almost looked like a different person, but his remaining yellow iris was unmistakable. The confused and unsure boy he knew when he was younger was gone. He was cold. Colder than Dorian had been during his time.
“It has.”
Dorian stood up. Even at full posture, he wasn't even close to Sooga's height. “I'm not going back. I never will. You’ve got what you wanted, you’ve taken the only thing I had left. Just go, you're wasting Master Kohga's valuable time.”
Sooga put the tip of his windcleaver to the tip of Dorian's chin. “Don't think I'm done with you yet,” he snarled. “Do you take me for a fool? We both know you have something more. Something else that I am at full freedom to take.”
Dorian swallowed hard. He knew what he could be hinting at, but he took the chance that he had guessed wrong. “And what would that be?”
Sooga lowered his face closer to Dorian's. “Koko and Cottla. Your daughters.” The point of the sword pressed harder against his jaw, drawing a drop of blood. “If you do not accept our offer, they will be next.”
Dorian's eyes widened, tears springing to them. He balled his fists. “YOU- YOU MONSTER! THEY'RE ONLY FIVE YEARS OLD!”
“And I've already taken their mother. You take me for a fool, and now a weakling. Your time outside the clan has only made you worse, Dorian.”
Sooga was serious. He had already covered Dorian's tunic in his wife's blood, he had no reason to deny Master Kohga and spare two children.
Dorian met Sooga's remaining eye. His face was no different from his mask. Expressionless, unfeeling. Evil. That was the word. Evil.
“...What are your demands?” Dorian forfeited.
“You will act as a double agent for us. Bring us information about your people, for the safety of your children.”
Dorian's fingernails dug hard into his palms. A tear fell from his eye and mixed with Kiwa’s blood. “Deal,” he murmured.
Sooga made his first expression. A satisfied smile, laced with evil and malice. “Wonderful. Now, you will bring us any information you can find about the shrines of the Sheikah monks. We will return tomorrow night to see if you have complied.”