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Sooga’s body ached with tension, muscles still tingling from the ghost of pain caused by Urbosa’s lightning. Still, he stood vigilantly at Master Kohga’s side as the shorter man sat in the sand in the fighting arena.
He was uncharacteristically quiet, something that would typically unnerve Sooga if he were not watching him draw out battle plans in the sand, muttering to himself under his breath just quiet enough that Sooga couldn’t hear. Sooga wasn’t sure if they were words or if his master was just making noises because he wasn’t used to silence.
Finally, Master Kohga shifted in his seat, starting to get up, and Sooga instinctively offered his arm to assist. Kohga took it, murmuring a quiet “Upsie daisy” as he did so. Even after Master Kohga stood up, his hand lingered on Sooga's arm, and Sooga did not move to pull it away.
Master Kohga looked up at Sooga for a long moment. Saying nothing. Just staring. For once, Sooga could not read Master Kohga’s mood. The only discerning thing he could see was the bun on Master Kohga’s head glowing a dark red, reflecting his stress.
At last, Master Kohga spoke, breaking the silent tension. “Well then…”
“I apologize that the encounter with the Gerudo did not go well, master…” Sooga said, the words almost exploding out of his mouth. Despite his aching muscles’ complaints, he bowed.
The battle had been a disaster, to say the least, especially since Master Kohga had actually been there, unlike Akkala Citadel. How could Sooga have let such a thing happen? How could he have put Master Kohga in harm's way?
He vividly remembered the terror that coursed through him when he saw Link racing towards Master Kohga, sword drawn. The battle itself was a blur, voices indistinct except for Master Kohga's--shouting orders, chanting in ancient Sheikah, and, at the end of it all, asking Sooga if he was alright.
To his surprise, Master Kohga merely pshawed and waved him off. “We’ll get ‘em next time.” Instead of continuing, as Sooga expected, he instead gave a short, weary sigh and shook his head.
A pang went through Sooga's chest at the sight of his usually overconfident master disheartened. Keeping his eyes to the floor, Sooga said, “With all due respect, master, we have not won a single battle against the Champions. The captains can be dealt with on their own, but it seems as soon as one of the Champions shows up, our fate is to be defeated.”
Kohga paused from walking across the arena. He rested his hands on his hips as his shoulders heaved up and down with a deep sigh. “Sooga…” he paused for a long moment. “...Spar with me.”
Sooga nearly choked on his own spit in surprise. “Wh—Huh?” he spluttered, for once losing his famous composure.
Master Kohga turned around, looked Sooga up and down, and repeated, “Spar with me. You’re always asking me to do it, so why not now? You’re not banged up too badly, are you?”
“No, but I— Are you not tired after the battle? You usually retire after confrontations.”
Master Kohga just laughed, but it didn’t sound right to Sooga. It sounded hollow. Lifeless.
“Don’t underestimate me, Sooga,” he said. His high, nasally voice was as low as his energy, but it still had its recognizable scratch. “Do you wanna spar or not?”
Sooga sighed. In truth, he did want to. He’d asked Master Kohga at least once a week for what felt like years to have a one-on-one sparring match with him, but he was always shot down with excuses. Either Kohga was too tired or too busy, or he had a task for Sooga to complete. Especially recently, they were both scrambling to keep up with the wild plans of Calamity’s seer, so they had no free time to spar.
But he also wanted to continue their conversation. While uncomfortable since he was merely Master Kohga’s subordinate, Sooga had to be sure that his master realized that Astor was sending them on suicide missions. The cost of following Astor was becoming far too great. Even if fleeing made them an enemy of Calamity Ganon, Sooga could see no other way to save the clan.
Sooga’s thoughts were cut off by Master Kohga’s voice.
“Tick, tick, tick, Sooga,” he said, impatiently tapping his foot. “I do want to get to my nap sometime today.”
“Master, I…” Sooga stiffened, watching Master Kohga pass him to head back toward the hideout’s caves.
“Going once.”
“I believe that Astor—”
“Going twice.”
Master Kohga had one hand on the carved-out doorway of the cave, the other parting the curtain with the symbol of the inverted eye embroidered at the top.
Sooga muttered a bit angrily to himself. No matter what, this conversation would come back up. “Alright. Let’s spar.”
Kohga paused before slowly turning back around with a chuckle. Sooga couldn’t help but feel slight relief when he heard it—this one, at least, sounded more like him.
“Third time’s always the charm, ey? Come on, big guy, you’re not the only one who needs to let off some steam.” Master Kohga reached up and pulled back on his bun, letting it spring back into place. It was pulsing red. If Sooga wasn’t careful, Master Kohga would either flip his lid or aim a big glowy blast in Sooga’s direction.
Sooga slowly drew his swords, still slightly unsure if this was actually happening, until Master Kohga got a running start and slid into the fighting ring, kicking up a wave of sand as he did.
“You know the rules,” he waved his hand nonchalantly. “No serious injuries. First one outta the ring loses.” He cocked his head as he stretched his arms over his head, fingers interlaced with palms towards the sky. “No time limit?”
“Whatever you desire, master,” Sooga said.
“Alright!” Kohga shimmied where he stood, burying his feet in the sand. He glanced around, making sure no sneaky foot soldiers were watching from the canyons. “Go!”
When he actually heard the word go, Sooga finally let himself get excited. This was actually happening. No last-minute backing out or floundering for an excuse from Kohga this time.
Sooga rushed forward confidently, swinging his blade toward his master in an upward arch. Master Kohga kept his feet planted, not jumping out of the way of the attack but rather leaning to the side, letting the blade cut the air just over his back.
When Sooga swung his second blade, Kohga took a step out of the way, keeping his stance wide and his body low to the ground. He leaned backward, and the sword missed again, though it just barely grazed his bun, cutting some of the wrap that held it tight as he tilted his head to look.
Sooga froze. “I…apologize,” he said, slightly unsurely.
Master Kohga watched a few of his black, curly hairs float in the afternoon wind. He said nothing at first but reached up, and in one swift motion, he pulled out the white wrap that held his topknot. He tossed it aside without a care as his graying black hair fell around his mask in thick curls that reached just under his chin.
Kohga looked back at Sooga and chuckled as the blademaster stared. “Ballsy. I like it. Keep it comin’.”
Sooga nodded, continuing on the offensive as his master commanded. They circled the fighting ring, Master Kohga keeping just out of Sooga’s range, spinning and dodging like he was performing a dance rather than avoiding blades that could easily cleave off a limb.
Finally, Master Kohga seemed to find the moment he was looking for, and instead of dodging backward, he darted forward, planting a foot in Sooga’s stomach.
Sooga stumbled back, arms swinging to find his balance. He quickly caught his breath in a gasp and looked up in time to see Master Kohga forming a circle of symbols around his hands as he made familiar arcane gestures.
“Did you think this would be easy, Sooga?” he asked.
Sooga found himself laughing. “Not in the slightest, Master.”
He ran forward, scraping his blades along the ground as he ran and kicking up a wall of sand. Master Kohga kept his eyes trained on him as he circled him. Finding himself surrounded by clouds of sand, he threw up four force fields around him.
“Come on out, Sooga,” he called in a singsong voice.
Sure enough, a shadow came racing out of the sand, and Sooga’s swords pierced the barrier, shattering it. Master Kohga quickly kicked off one of his remaining force fields and levitated above Sooga’s sand cloud.
From the ground, Sooga watched Master Kohga swing his arms over his head and chant under his breath in an ancient form of Sheikah. First one, then two, then three massive metal spike balls appeared in a flash, circling around him as he spun in an almost mesmerizing lilt.
And yet, despite the straining level of magic Master Kohga was using, Sooga couldn’t help but notice that Master Kohga’s bun had faded from bright red to nearly black. He fought a smile even beneath his mask as he crossed his swords over one another, the singing metal echoing off the sides of the canyon. While Sooga said nothing, the gesture told Master Kohga everything he needed to know: I’m ready.
Master Kohga let out a laugh and hurled one of the spike balls down at Sooga. Instead of running, Sooga struck the ball with his swords, knocking it back the other way. This seemed to annoy Kohga, and he threw the other one behind Sooga. The blademaster dodged out of the way but was startled when the ball didn’t shatter against the wall but rather turned and rolled after him.
From where he was still hovering over the pit, Sooga could see Master Kohga keeping an arm outstretched, keeping the ball rolling after Sooga as he zigzagged around the arena. His other hand suddenly darted out, sending another spike ball crashing down into the sand, rolling towards Sooga from the front.
Sooga glanced at Master Kohga, and the inverted eyes of their masks met. Getting crushed between two metal spike balls could be lethal—Master Kohga knew that. But he also knew Sooga.
Sooga dropped to the ground, letting the spikeball that was chasing after him roll over him. While the spikes digging into his back stung, he looked up to see Master Kohga’s weapons crash into one another and shatter, only leaving behind the glowing symbol that Master Kohga had summoned them with.
“Not too shabby,” Sooga heard Kohga muse from up in the air.
He was a bit closer than before, now hovering over the pit in the middle of the arena. Despite himself, Sooga tensed. He knew that Master Kohga often hovered above it as he trained. He was well familiar with the nature of the fighting ring and his own abilities. But the stories of the endless pit still whispered in the back of Sooga’s mind whenever he saw his master sitting above what could easily be his grave.
Sooga looked up when he heard Master Kohga start chanting again. Quickly, his master disappeared from view before reappearing behind Sooga, feet hovering just above the sand as his whole upper body swayed with the motion of the spell he was casting. Sooga took a slight step back in surprise as he watched his final spike ball grow in size until it almost dwarfed Master Kohga, though it still floated as light as a feather thanks to the arcane symbols summoned around it.
Kohga stood with his arms raised above his head, though his shoulders and chest were heaving from the effort. “Think you can handle this one, Sooga?” he laughed. “This technique is ancient—”
Sooga’s eyes widened as he saw some symbols around the spike ball above Master Kohga’s head crack and then fade. “Master.”
“Taught to me by my father, who learned it from his mother, who learned it from her father—”
“Master!” Sooga exclaimed, dropping his swords as more symbols gave out from strain, but Master Kohga was too busy monologuing to notice.
“All the way back to the very first Master Kohga—”
Sooga dashed forward, tackling Master Kohga before he could finish his sentence. They landed hard against the ground, knocking the wind out of both of them, especially Master Kohga, who found himself sandwiched between the sandstone of the arena and Sooga.
Sooga glanced over his shoulder as the spike ball crashed to the ground and rolled into the pit. There was a long moment where the only sound was the two gasping for breath, waiting to hear the loud crash of the spike ball hitting the bottom of the pit. But they heard nothing.
Sooga looked down, still trying to catch his breath. “Are you alright, master?”
Kohga didn’t respond. He couldn’t have, even if he wanted to. He barely had his breath back himself. Finally, he managed to wheeze out, “Well… I think that settles it... You win. You’re a clever one, Sooga.”
“What?”
Master Kohga raised a hand and pointed. Only a few inches behind where they’d landed was the white border of the fighting arena.
“Oh…” Sooga murmured. “I wasn’t paying attention…”
“Of course you weren’t, ya big lug. And you’re still not paying attention.”
Sooga paused, trying to understand what his master meant. However, before he could register the thought that he was still on top of Master Kohga, the smaller man wrapped his legs around Sooga’s waist and flipped them with surprising force.
Sooga shook his head, disoriented, before looking up to see Master Kohga was now leaning over him. Sooga could barely breathe—partially because Master Kohga was now sitting on his solar plexus, and he was just as heavy as he looked—but also his master was now looking at him so intently, almost like he could see Sooga’s wide eyes behind the mask.
Kohga cocked his head as he looked, leaning on one hand resting on the ground next to Sooga’s head.
“You’d make a much better leader than me, Sooga,” Master Kohga said at last, his voice oddly quiet once again.
If Sooga could breathe, he would have argued. Though, Master Kohga probably already knew that, and that’s why he was putting his full weight on Sooga’s lungs.
“You’re brave, and you’re smart, and you’re the best fighter in this whole clan, even without using arcane bullshit,” Master Kohga continued. “But besides all that, you actually care—you care about this clan, Sooga.” He sighed, almost sounding annoyed. “And you give, and you give, and you give, and you never get tired of it.” He shook his head. “I don’t get how you do it.”
Sooga was calmer now. Even though he struggled to breathe, he was no longer trying to worm his way out from his master’s hold.
There was a long moment of silence where the two men just looked at each other. However, the silence was soon broken when Master Kohga let out a curse and began to tie his hair back up into a much less neat bun on top of his head. “Damn it, this is why I don’t keep my hair down anymore, Sooga. It just gets full of sand, and the wind blows it everywhere, and it’s a nightmare.”
Sooga couldn’t help but chuckle, even though his ribs ached against Master Kohga’s weight.
Noticing this, Master Kohga leaned forward, resting his elbow on the ground just above Sooga’s shoulder. He propped up his head in his hand, taking much of his weight off of Sooga’s chest. The blademaster tried not to gasp for air when he was finally relieved. Still, he didn’t move to escape. His face flushed slightly as he realized Master Kohga's mask was only inches from his own; their chests pressed together as he leaned forward, and his black curls hung loosely near Sooga's face.
“Whaddyou think, Soog?” Kohga asked. “Do you think anyone would notice if we swapped roles for a day? You could be the stupendous top banana of the Yiga Clan calling all the shots, and I could be your stoic bodyguard that everyone’s terrified of carrying out your orders.”
They gave a mutual chuckle, and Master Kohga shook his head playfully.
“Nobody would ever fall for it,” he laughed.
“No, they wouldn’t,” Sooga agreed, his voice warm. “...they need you, master. Even if I guide the clan along their path directly, you are the reason why we are here. Why I am here.”
Kohga’s voice went quiet again, the quietest Sooga had ever heard. “You mean that?”
“With my very life.”
Kohga looked at him for a long time before chuckling and patting Sooga’s chest. “Never change, Sooga. Never change.”
He rolled back onto his knees and stood up, dusting sand off his legs as Sooga rose with some difficulty. After making sure they’d truly gone unseen by any foot soldiers, Master Kohga gave a loud yawn, finally returning to his usual bombastic tone.
“Well, then! I am going to go take a very well-deserved nap if I do say so myself!” He sauntered towards the hideout opening as Sooga retrieved his swords but paused before fully going in. Glancing over his shoulder, he called, “Hey, Sooga.”
“Yes, master?”
“Let’s keep this little sparring match between us, alright?”
“Of course.”
“Same time next week?”
Sooga paused and looked up from inspecting one of his blades. Quickly sheathing it, he bowed to Master Kohga. “As you wish.”