Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Paya’s first memories are of fire.

She knows of things that happened before it, of course. Hazy recollections of her parents, of warmth and safety. Child that she was, little Paya never noticed the danger they were in.

But then the fire came.

Her memories of that day are fresh in her mind even now, all these years later. The way her parents had screamed. The frightened look in her father’s eyes as he told her and her mother to run, to get out of town, to get away as fast as they could.

Little Paya had not understood. She had screamed, had wailed and sobbed and struggled as her mother dragged her away, out of the burning house and into the burning Kakariko.

The whole town was alight. It was a Yiga Clan raid, not that little Paya understood that at the time. She did understand that there were Sheikah warriors fighting strangers- even children understood when people were fighting. Still, little Paya did not care; she was too busy crying out for her father. They had left him inside the burning house. She didn’t understand why. Children do not understand assassins.

She could hear her father yelling. That was clear. She understood that he was in trouble. She understood that she and her mother were fleeing instead of helping him. She did not understand why. Little Paya did not consider the possibility that her and her mother would simply be killed if they stayed. Children do not understand death. 

Her father stopped yelling.

A figure emerged from the house.

They were tall, clad in red, and wearing a mask with an inverted eye on it. Little Paya did not understand. She had not heard of the Yiga Clan before.

Her mother put her down, and told her to run.

Little Paya did not understand. But she had never disobeyed her mother. So she ran, as fast as she could.

But she was only a child.

She did not turn around when she heard her mother scream, but she stumbled. She did not stop when adults reached for her, called for her, told her to stop running, but she was frightened. She slowed, and she tripped, and eventually she fell, under the burning gate just outside of town.

Someone caught up to her there, beneath the wreath of flames.

The tall man, in all red, with the mask. The one her mother had stopped to speak to.

Little Paya did not understand what had happened, so she cried out. She tried to wriggle away. She tried to keep running.

But the stranger told her he was a friend of her parents. He told her, softly, kindly, that they had asked him to take her somewhere safe, and that Kakariko was not safe, not now and not ever. He told her that her parents were not coming, and that it was the fault of the Sheikah. Her parents had been part of this strange clan, with their red uniforms and masks. He told her he would take her somewhere where she could be safe, and train to be a warrior, and make her parents proud.

And little Paya understood.

It had taken her a long time to get here, to track down the Hero. Last they’d heard of him, he was in Kakariko- and it wasn’t safe for Yiga in Kakariko. Dorian had passed the information on out in the woods, where there was less risk of being seen.

Paya still wasn’t sure what to think of Dorian. He was only working with them under duress, so he was not loyal to the Yiga, but surely anyone protecting their family couldn’t be all bad, even a Sheikah. He had worked for them willingly, once- she’s sure he could be a great Yiga, if only he would see that they were right. They would protect his daughters, like the Yiga had protected her.

Whether or not he was truly loyal, he was useful, and so the Yiga knew the Hero had been around Kakariko. Paya had been sent to follow him. After the last Footsoldier came back beaten and bloody, Master Kohga had known they’d have to send someone better. And as Master Kohga’s personal student, she was the best of the best. She had to be.

She had caught up to the Hero near Outskirt Stable, but it wasn’t safe to attack there. Too many foolish civilians who wouldn’t understand. Things would be much easier if the world understood, but things had never been easy for Paya.

Still, she had lucky breaks. The Hero was climbing Satori Mountain. It was usually deserted, due to the rumours about the spirit of the mountain. But spirits were rare sights, and they appeared more often at night. As long as she was off the mountain by sunset, Paya wasn’t concerned.

And she would be off the mountain soon. As soon as she killed the Hero.

She breathed as quietly as possible. She was concealed behind a cherry tree, but the Hero had good spatial awareness. He had to, to have defeated so many Yiga before her. He hadn’t killed any yet- they’d all had enough talismans to escape- but she was sure he was capable of it. It would be easy for him to justify it as self defense. The Sheikah had killed her parents for less.

The Hero hummed as he harvested carrots. He seemed off his guard- that was good. It meant she wouldn’t have to waste talismans teleporting into this fight.

Paya took a deep breath and attacked.

The Hero leapt away.

So, perhaps he wasn’t as off his guard as he seemed. That was fine. She was ready for this.

She lunged after him.

He twisted out of the way, drawing a sword and shield. They were easily recognizable- Sheikah weapons, an Eightfold Blade and a Shield of the Mind’s Eye. Paya grinned under her mask. Perfect.

Every Yiga was well trained in countering exactly those weapons.

She sliced at him. He parried, and she grit her teeth and swung again- Vicious Sickles were sharp enough to slice through that shield, if she got the angle right.

He blocked. Good. Not quite the angle she was going for, but she sheared a chunk off his shield, exposing part of his face. Very good.

She swung at that exposed area.

He backflipped.

…Not what she was expecting him to do. And the speed he retaliated with! It was absurd.

He slammed the pommel of his blade into her stomach. She wheezed as he drew back- that spot was armored, but it would leave quite the bruise.

He could have impaled her, in that moment. Why hadn’t he? Perhaps he thought she’d dodge. It would have taken him a moment longer to strike forwards like that. Lucky her. But she might not be lucky twice. This fight was already getting too risky.

Paya accessed the power of her talismans.

The Hero whirled around as she teleported, but not quite quickly enough. She left a long gash along his side, and he hissed through his teeth.

Good.

She sliced again, aiming for his sword arm this time. If she could disarm him, this would be easy.

Nothing was ever easy for Paya.

He leapt to one side, and once again swiftly attacked, swinging his blade straight at her. If she moved, it would only be a graze. If she blocked, she could hit him back.

She teleported again.

Appearing directly above him, Paya swung down. It worked- she buried her sickle in his unarmored shoulder.

The Hero cried out as he twisted back, making a horrible noise as the sickle tore free. Blood splattered onto her mask. Paya repressed a shudder. Now was not the time to be squeamish.

His sword arm shook as he readied himself again, blood soaking his Hylian Tunic. Good. Very good.

She swung again. He feinted backwards- she stumbled, her momentum leading her into open air.

He lashed out, lightning-quick, and slashed through her uniform and toward her ribs. But he’d barely broken the skin when she teleported again.

Master Kohga had always said she relied too much on teleporting. And Master Kohga was always right. But she’d be dead by now if she wasn’t teleporting so much. This way, she could still win.

She lunged from behind him. He twisted, and she left a long, thin gash along his side. Paya put as much force as possible into her next swing- she was right there. One hit away from a potentially fatal wound. She aimed for his face.

The Hero brought up his shield, and her sickle sliced straight into it. So close, so close.

He yanked his shield to one side. Momentum diverted, her sickle was pulled away, and he wasn’t hit.

She was so close. She teleported again. But Master Kohga had been right. He was always right. She was over reliant on it. He had told her it made her predictable. And he was right.

The Hero whirled around, shield already raised, as she swung. Instead of hitting him in the back of the neck, as she’d intended, her sickle hit his shield again. But he was ready this time.

Quick as a flash, he struck out at her with his shield.

She was not in a good position to deal with that.

There was a crack as her wrist twisted in a way it was not supposed to twist. Pain shot through her arm, and worst of all, her sickle went spinning from her grasp, and flying away. And then down. And down. And down.

It would probably be at the bottom of Tamio River soon.

Paya lurched back, instinctively grabbing her broken wrist with her uninjured hand. This was bad. Without a weapon, her odds of winning this fight were low.

But there was a chance. There was still a chance.

His sword arm was injured. He was holding his blade loosely in that hand. She could steal it. There was a chance.

She would not go back a failure.

Paya teleported again. This time, right into the Hero’s personal space.

She grabbed for his sword.

He tightened his grip on it and swung the pommel into the side of her head.

There was a crack sound, again. This time, it seemed it was only her mask, cracking along the edge. Hopefully, it was only her mask. Her head stung. Her ears rang. She stumbled back, and fumbled for the power of her talismans, again.

Nothing happened.

The Hero swung again- she didn’t dodge in time, and the blade struck her mask. It must have been severely cracked, because it shattered- splinters of it flew across the pond, and most of it fell off her face in pieces.

Bad. Very bad. Very very bad.

She tried her talismans again. And again, nothing happened. She was out- the exact situation every Yiga was cautioned against. Only a fool would run out of talismans during a fight.

Paya was still calculating her next move when the Hero struck her again. Not with much force- he could have killed her, but instead he shoved her with his shield, a push barely strong enough to knock her over.

But it knocked her over.

Before she could get up, there was a sword at her throat. Not good. She was collapsed in a pond, water soaking into her damaged uniform, unquestionably at the mercy of the Hero.

The Hero and his allies didn’t have mercy. If they did, her parents would still be alive.

It seemed she’d be seeing them soon. She hoped they would forgive her for failing to complete their mission. But she would not die a coward.

Paya tilted her chin up and looked the Hero in the eyes, ready to meet her death with dignity.

Chapter Text

The Hero did not kill her.

For a while, he kind of just… stared at her. Paya considered attempting to roll away.

But before she could try anything like that, the Hero sighed, sheathed his sword, and accessed the Sheikah Slate. Why? Why sheathe his sword? Why was he looking for something in the Slate instead? Why take his attention off of her?

It was a mistake to look away from a Yiga. Paya launched herself upwards, and then attempted to steady herself from the sudden dizziness. Right. Head injury.

The Hero looked up at her, seeming surprised. Paya thought of a lot of mocking things she could say to him, but refrained.

After a long moment, he drew his sword again. Paya bared her teeth at him.

The Hero glanced down, tapped something on the Slate, and an item materialized in his hands. Paya wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting- a new weapon, maybe? Something to heal his injuries?

It wasn't anything like that. It was a horse’s bridle.

Paya squinted at it, wondering if her head injury was affecting her eyesight. But no, it was definitely a horse’s bridle. A Stable Bridle, one of the complimentary ones given when registering a horse. Dyed leather, with metal clasps for adjusting the fit. How was this relevant? Perhaps she’d hit him in the head at some point and somehow not noticed.

The Hero looked up at her. Paya considered attempting to steal his sword again. It could work. He was distracted with something else, and didn’t have both hands free. It could work.

“Hi,” the Hero said.

Paya stopped. Stared at him. Stared at him some more. What?

“I’m Link,” he continued, “which you probably know already, since you tried to kill me.”

What is he getting at?

The Hero paused, as if waiting for a response. When none came, he cleared his throat, briefly glanced off to one side, and continued. “You’re the first assassin who hasn’t teleported away, so, I’m assuming you can’t do that, for some reason. Uh, I think it’s safe to assume you still want to kill me?”

Paya lunged towards his sword while he wasn’t paying attention. He jumped to one side, still with those annoyingly quick reflexes, but didn’t strike back. She steadied herself for a moment, blinking black spots out of her eyes. Head injury, Paya. No quick movements.

“...so you are,” the Hero said, sounding entirely too casual for the situation. “Okay. Right. Then I can’t really let you leave?”

So kill me then, Paya thought. It certainly wasn’t what she wanted him to do, but it was obviously the practical choice.

“Since you’ll probably come back and try to kill me and all,” he said. “But I don’t want to kill you. I’m not going to kill you.”

What?

“Which, uh, only really leaves me with one option?”

And he held up the bridle, an awkward and somewhat apologetic look on his face.

Paya squinted at him again.

He sighed.

“I’m taking you prisoner. I guess. Please come over here so I can tie you up.”

…What?

Maybe she had actually passed out, and this was some sort of dream. Or maybe she’d just been hit on the head hard enough to start hallucinating.

…Or maybe the Hero was crazy.

And maybe. Just maybe. She could still do this. If the Hero was enough of an idiot, she could still kill him. It wouldn’t exactly be honourable this way, but as long as the results were the same, she doubted it would matter.

Paya held out her wrists.

“Oh,” the Hero said, “I didn’t actually think that would work.”

Paya tried her best to ignore him. And the embarrassingly bad job he did at tying up her hands- horse bridles were not meant as restraints. Though her hands were bound, the pile of leather and clasps holding them were still an atrocity.

Her broken wrist ached. She hadn’t made a noise while the Hero had tied it up- he probably didn’t even realize it was broken- but it hurt.

The Hero hummed at her. She scowled at him.

“So, I was planning to camp here for the night,” he said. She blinked.

On Satori Mountain? At night? There’ll be spirits everywhere. Does he not know about that, or is he just not scared?

“Now you’ll be camping with me, I guess. If you’re okay with… uh.”

It took considerable willpower for Paya to not say anything. As if I have any say in this.

“...you’re probably not going to help me set up camp,” he muttered. “So you can just… stand there. If you want. Let me know if you need anything.”

With that, the Hero began building a campfire by the side of the pond.

…I don’t have any say in this. He knows that, right?

Paya stood in the pond as water gradually soaked through the socks of her uniform, while the Hero built his campfire, pulled apples and meat out of the Slate, and began roasting them over the flames. After a moment, he retrieved the carrots he had been harvesting when she attacked him, and started roasting those as well. He hummed as he cooked. It seemed like he hummed a lot.

There was still blood soaking his tunic. There was still blood congealing on her. He didn’t seem to mind. Maybe a hundred years being dead desensitised him to blood. And injuries. He could at least put pressure on it, maybe cut up his tunic to wrap it.

She wasn’t going to say anything, though. If he died of blood loss, that would suit her.

The Hero grinned as he finished cooking his meal. It smelled pretty good. It’d be better if it were roasted bananas. He looked… different, when he smiled. Younger.

Not counting the years spent dead, he was the same age as she was.

Paya shook that off. She was old enough to die for her cause, and so was he.

The Hero looked up at her, still standing in that pond, arms wrapped in the contraption he considered adequate restraints.

“I made dinner,” he said.

Paya raised an eyebrow at him. She could see that. Yiga weren’t meant to talk to the Hero, but she was pretty sure they could still silently judge him.

“...Do you want some?”

…What.

Maybe it was poisoned? She had watched him make it, but he could have poisoned the ingredients at some earlier time. Maybe it was… a different kind of trick? Maybe it was bribery. A way to convince her to stop attacking him. It smelled really good. She hadn’t eaten since yesterday, having been staking the area out since waking up. It smelled really good.

It was probably a trick of some kind. Paya shook her head.

“Okay,” the Hero said, “let me know if you change your mind.”

And he started eating it.

So maybe it wasn’t poisoned.

Or maybe it was some kind of poison he was immune to.

…Or maybe it was just regular dinner, and he had been trying to bribe her.

Paya walked out of the pond. The sun was setting, and she’d prefer to be in the light of the campfire when spirits arrived.

The fire was warm, and quickly started drying her soaked clothes. Yiga didn’t bring spares- they had illusions for that. Maybe they should have, though. She’d really like to change out of her torn, wet, and bloodied uniform… at least it was red, so the blood stains wouldn’t show too much.

The Hero smiled at her when she sat down at the fire. She stared down at her hands. Her time was best spent figuring out a plan. She did not want that dinner. No. Paya was a stone-cold assassin, and she was not hungry or even slightly tempted.

Her bruised stomach growled, just to be contrary. The Hero glanced at her, and offered one of the baked apples.

Paya looked away. After a long moment, he put it down, and returned to eating his roasted carrot.

The moon began to rise.

The soft chimes of spirits began to ring out.

The first was a blupee- those were common on Satori Mountain. It poked around a bit, making little chirps, then saw the two of them and poofed away.

It would be nice if Paya could still poof away, too.

Then there were fairies.

They drifted around the pond, glowing a soft pink. The Hero offered one a baked apple. It made little chimes, then seemed to notice his injuries- it whirled around him, leaving a glowing trail of magic, and Paya watched as all the wounds she had worked so hard to cause closed up, leaving no indication they were ever there.

Her injuries ached, but when a fairy flew too close to her, she jerked away. She didn’t need the help of the fairies. She’d be better off if they ignored her.

The fairies did seem to take the hint, focusing on the Hero instead of her. He held out the Slate, and a few fairies flew in- completely willingly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world to disappear into swirling blue light and be contained in ancient Sheikah technology. They were just… okay with that.

Paya was less okay with being contained, but maybe being in the Slate was a more comfortable containment than her own.

The Hero pulled his tunic over his head. Paya squeaked- the most embarrassing possible noise she could have made. He offered it to the fairies. Ah. Of course. Great Fairies were the only ones who could improve clothing, but regular fairies were still capable of things like repair and stain removal.

Paya wondered if she should look. Was there a tactical advantage to seeing the Hero shirtless? Probably not. Maybe? No, best not to.

She dared to glance back over when he put it back on. Just like the injuries, it was back to how it was before the fight- clean, whole, no indication of what had happened.

The fairies chimed at her again, and Paya once again pulled away from them. She was not about to let fairies touch a Yiga uniform.

Her mask was probably too broken to be fixed, anyway.

The fairies dispersed after a while. Perhaps they were bored, having run out of interesting things to do.

Paya listened for more spirits. There was the faint chirping of blupees, but they avoided people, so she likely wouldn’t see another tonight. There was the chiming of fairies, far off, maybe having found something more interesting.

She wasn’t sure what the Lord Of The Mountain would sound like. She wasn’t even sure what it would look like. She didn’t see or hear anything unusual, so maybe it wasn’t here.

“I’m going to go to bed,” the Hero said quietly, and she turned to look at him. Just like that? Is it that easy?

“So I’m, um. I’m going to tie you to that tree. For the night.”

Not that easy. But not so bad.

The Hero was about as bad at tying her to the cherry tree as he was at tying her up generally. By the time she was passably tied to the tree, the moon was high in the sky, and Paya was tired. But she couldn’t sleep. No, only a fool would sleep in the presence of the person they were trying to assassinate.

The Hero, as it turned out, slept out in the open. No bedroll, or pillow, or anything at all. He just laid down on the ground and went to sleep. The campfire was already close to burnt out, she doubted he was even warm.

And yet, he fell asleep quickly. Paya wondered if their fight had exhausted him. It had certainly exhausted her.

And yet. And yet.

Paya waited, tired and hungry and hurt, until she was sure the Hero was asleep. And then she started wriggling out of her restraints.

She bit her tongue. The mobility her broken wrist allowed was necessary for escaping. It hurt. But the mission was most important.

Paya pulled her broken wrist free and bit back a scream.

It burned, like her wrist was on fire. It ached, a quiet agony. It did not encourage her to use it.

But she needed to, so Paya started untying her restraints with her free hand. This was about as torturous as wiggling it free had been, which meant it at least wasn’t worse.

When Paya finally had both hands free, she took a moment to breathe deeply. Inhale. Exhale. It burned, it hurt, and she was nervous. But Paya was no longer a frightened little girl. She had a mission, and she would not let the Yiga down.

Paya glanced over at the sleeping Hero. She was unarmed, and her sickle was long past feasibly retrieving. The Hero’s sword had been stored in the Slate before he went to sleep, so she couldn’t steal that. Unless she stole the whole Slate, which would be an incredible victory- but he was sleeping with it clutched to his chest, so that wasn’t going to work.

But she did have herself- Yiga were weapons, whether or not they were armed. She knew how to kill with her bare hands.

Those lessons had not included the broken wrist, but she could do it.

Paya crept closer. Closer. Just a little closer.

Ideally, she would strangle him, but with her wrist, that did not sound appealing. There were other ways.

Perhaps… perhaps… yes. Yes, she could do this.

Paya lunged forwards and wrestled the Hero into a headlock.

To his credit, he woke up immediately. She tried to kick the Slate out of his hands- he wouldn’t drop it, but at least she obscured the screen- and held on.

The Hero wheezed. She was definitely cutting off his airflow. If she could just hang on.

He let go of the Slate with one hand, sweeping it out of range of her legs. Okay. Maybe she was fucked.

He reached up with his other hand. It was a stupid move- even the Hero wouldn’t be strong enough to pull her arms off from this position. Lots of people made stupid moves while suffocating to death, though.

He grabbed her wrist.

Maybe he was not an idiot.

The Hero tightened his grip and pulled on her broken wrist with all his strength.

Paya did not remember the next few seconds clearly. She definitely screamed, if her sore throat was any indication. She must have loosened her grip, because the Hero got out of it. She might have started crying, because her cheeks were wet.

The next thing she remembered clearly was the blue light as the Hero summoned a weapon from the Slate. A spear, this time. It was too dark to see what kind exactly. It didn’t matter. She had failed to kill the Hero, and her odds weren’t any better now that he was armed and awake.

“I wondered why you didn’t want the fairy healing,” He said, sounding a little out of breath. She had been so close. “I get it now.”

He gestured to the empty leather straps attached to the tree. Paya felt… not shame, exactly, but some sort of embarrassment. Her plan was obvious to him, even if only in hindsight.

The Hero sighed, and pulled some flint from the Slate, relighting the fire. Paya blinked the spots out of her eyes, adjusting to the sudden light. The Hero looked tired. Sort of sad. It almost made her feel bad for trying to kill him. Almost.

“Here,” he said, tapping at the Slate. One of the fairies from earlier flew out. The Hero gestured to her, and it whirled around her, even as Paya pulled away. The sensation of her injuries healing was… strange, but not unpleasant. Hesitantly, she flexed her previously-broken wrist. It felt fine. It only bent as far as a wrist was supposed to, which boded poorly for escaping restraints in the future.

The Hero did not move to restrain her again. He sat down at the edge of the fire’s light, spear in hand, and watched her.

She wondered if he was waiting for her to say something.

If he was, it was going to be a very long night for both of them.

Chapter Text

Despite resolving not to fall asleep, Paya must have succumbed to her exhaustion at some point. She winced at the sunlight- however long she had slept, it had not been long enough, as she was still quite tired.

The Hero was eating breakfast already. He looked tired as well. She doubted he had slept at all, which was good. If he was exhausted, he might let his guard down, and then she could do… something.

Nothing she’d tried had worked so far, but she couldn’t give up.

“Morning,” the Hero said, voice quiet. He sounded tired too. It would be more gratifying if she was more awake.

He offered her something. 

…An omelet?

“Breakfast?”

She squinted at him. She hadn’t even seen him make this one, so it was definitely poisoned.

Then again, he hadn’t killed her in the night, so maybe not.

She shouldn’t eat it either way.

The Hero frowned at her. It made him look very serious- it was strange to think he hadn’t looked serious before, but he certainly hadn’t made that face before.

“Look,” he muttered, putting the omelet down, “I don’t know if you have some plan to kill me that involves starving yourself or what, but you must be hungry. If you don’t like eggs, I have other food, but you should eat something. ”

Paya tried to imagine a way to kill the Hero that involved starving herself. She couldn’t come up with much.

The Hero was still looking at her.

With great reluctance, Paya took the omelet. She probably should have thrown it in his face and ran away, or dumped it in the pond to make her point. But she was really hungry.

The Hero looked satisfied as she bit into it. Maybe it was poisoned after all. It didn't taste like poison, though. It just tasted like eggs, and it was good. Of course, most things tasted good when you were hungry. Even omelets made by the person you were trying to assassinate.

The Hero didn’t speak again after she finished eating. Or as he got up to leave. Or even as he gestured in one direction, the message obvious but unspoken: We’re going that way.

Maybe he’d taken the hint that she didn’t want to talk to him. Which was… not good, but not bad. It would certainly be less annoying if he stopped talking, but the possibility of him slipping and saying something he didn’t mean to tell her was valuable. If she could learn anything important and then get away, this would not have been a total failure.

Which she probably should have thought of before refusing to talk to him for so long that he stopped talking to her.

The Hero picked his way down the mountain in silence. He stopped to collect some durians at one point, which was a little boring. Paya leaned against one of the trees and watched him collect them in silence.

And when he was done, it was back to walking down the mountain, again. Paya’s feet hurt. Yiga uniforms were not built for long walks on uneven surfaces; they were built to be as quiet as possible, which meant the soles were thin.

Paya didn’t complain. Best not to show weakness.

By the time they’d left Satori Mountain, though, Paya was bored. And the Hero was not helping- he seemed to be aimlessly wandering back and forth, sweeping slowly over Nima Plain.

Maybe he was looking for something. Or maybe he was trying to tire her out? Confuse her? Generally irritate her?

Whatever he was trying to do, it was working .

And so, after around another hour of the Hero wandering the plain, Paya broke one of the Yiga’s most important rules: do not speak to the Hero if he knows you are a Yiga.

“What are you doing?”

The Hero looked up at her, and blinked. And then he smiled, bright and pleased. Maybe he had been trying to annoy her into saying something. Damn it.

“I’m looking for a white horse,” he said, sounding very cheery. “I heard it was on Safula Hill, but I’m not actually sure where that is.”

With great effort, Paya suppressed an exasperated sigh. She did not manage to suppress her exasperated expression.

She pointed east. “That’s Safula Hill. It’s a hill, not a plain.” You idiot went unsaid.

The Hero did not seem to mind her tone. “Thanks!”

He turned in the direction she pointed. And then he paused, and turned around to look at her again.

“Hey, what’s your name?”

Paya scowled at him. She might be willing to talk to him- there were some benefits there- but giving him her name was a line she wouldn’t cross.

He didn’t seem to mind the rejection, though. After a moment, he shrugged, and turned back around. Putting his back to a Yiga? What a fool.

Then again, she had thought him off his guard… many times, recently, and he never actually was.

She decided not to attack him from behind. This time.

The Hero seemed to be in a good mood, as they walked to Safula Hill. He chattered endlessly, mostly about that white horse and all the topics tangentially related to it. There was an old man at Outskirt Stable who had first brought it up to him. Supposedly, the royal family had once ridden pure white horses, and this one was believed to be a descendant of those. This horse wandered alone, not in a herd. A lot of information, all of it completely useless to her.

If the Hero did catch this horse, it would at least make him more recognizable. A pure white horse was sure to stick out. But the Yiga weren’t having any trouble recognizing him as it was- the Sheikah Slate was more unusual than any horse could be.

Which meant, essentially, that this was a very long and pointless detour. The Hero already had a horse. She’d seen him board it at Outskirt Stable before he climbed Satori Mountain. Why did he want this one?

“I see it,” the Hero whispered.

Paya turned, and there it was. A pure white horse. It was undeniably beautiful, and she could easily imagine it belonging to the royal family.

The Hero ducked behind a tree, not so much to be out of her line of sight, but enough to be obscured from the horse.

Paya squinted at him. What, was he frightened of it?

He pulled something from the Slate. Sheikah-made armor, designed for stealth. Paya had once heard the Yiga’s uniforms were based off of it- she wasn’t sure if that was true, but she could certainly see the similarities.

So, he meant to sneak up on the horse. Possibly the best idea he’d had since she met him.

But surely he didn’t mean to change into the stealth armor right there, did he? In front of her?

“Um,” the Hero said, as he removed his boots, “can you turn around?”

Master Kohga had often criticised her inability to control her expression. Paya had never seen the point in it; she’d be wearing a mask most of the time anyway. But, as always, Master Kohga had been right. She wasn’t sure what face she was making exactly, but it was definitely embarrassing.

She turned around. For good measure, she buried her face in her hands, too.

Her cheeks felt very warm.

The Hero hummed absently behind her. There was a flicker of blue light as he either stored something or retrieved something from the Slate.

It occurred to Paya that if he was ever off his guard, it would be now. If she timed an attack while he was removing his tunic, there was the possibility of him getting his arms tangled in the sleeves and being unable to fight back.

He would also not be wearing a tunic, if she did that. There were strategic advantages. All his most important organs would be unprotected. That would be good.

She wondered if he was very muscular. He was certainly very strong…

Was her face getting hotter? It felt like it.

The Hero’s humming grew somewhat muffled. He’d probably put the mask on, which meant he was almost certainly fully clothed by now. Probably. Hopefully?

Paya left her face in her hands. It still felt very warm.

Perhaps it was best to leave the attacks to when the Hero was fully dressed.

“Done,” the Hero announced, and then he crept past her. His movements were light and quiet- of course, the stealth armor was designed to muffle sound, but he wasn’t relying on that. He was doing an admirable job of staying out of that horse’s line of sight, too. It seemed the Hero could be very sneaky when he wanted to be.

That was good to know.

Suddenly, he leapt forward, taking the horse by surprise as he scrambled up its back and dug his hands into its mane. She wasn’t sure what his plan was, exactly. Judging by all the flailing and whinnying, the horse didn’t want him up there, and he would surely be thrown off.

Any second now.

The Hero, while being tossed around, somehow managed to pull a green elixir from the Slate and chug it. An energizing or enduring elixir, most likely. Was that his plan? To cling to the back of the horse until it calmed down? That was the best he could come up with?

Infuriatingly, it did seem to be working.

Paya watched as the horse either calmed or tired itself out until it was still, with the Hero clinging to its back. He had a ridiculous grin on his face- his hair was wild, his scarf had unravelled, and the mask had fallen off of his face at some point. He looked terribly undignified, but she could see him giggling.

What a strange person.

After a moment, the Hero got the horse moving, and steered it around to her. Despite its initial reaction, it now seemed quite docile. It sniffed her once, and then apparently decided it had more interesting things to look at.

The Hero glanced off to one side. Paya followed his gaze- there were ruins on the next hill, with a horse statue in the middle. The latter was probably what had drawn his attention.

“There’s ruins over there,” the Hero said. “Looks like a park.”

Paya squinted at it. Yes, she supposed it could have been a park. Hadn’t she heard of park ruins in the area before? What was it called… Sanidin, maybe? The Hero would probably find that interesting.

She kept it to herself.

The Hero looked at the Slate for a while. She wondered why- he didn’t seem to be retrieving anything. Still, he seemed quite focused. This would be an optimal time to attack him, if only he wasn’t on a horse. Unfortunately, she could only reach his legs from here.

“We’re going over there,” the Hero said. For someone who had seemingly just been deliberating the issue, he sounded very confident. Paya wasn’t sure there was anything worthwhile over there, but there was no point in arguing.

It was pretty rude of him to make her walk when he had a horse, though. Of course, if she was on that horse she’d be trying to strangle him, but he didn’t know that. Necessarily. He probably suspected it, but it was still rude.

The Hero looked increasingly tense as they approached the ruins. Odd. They looked empty. It’d  be a great place to assassinate him, but so was Satori Mountain, and he hadn’t been tense there. What was it about Sanidin Park that had him so nervous?

She glanced around. Still an empty ruin. It had a great view of Hyrule Castle, though. Maybe that had him on edge? A reminder that, even if the Yiga somehow failed to destroy him, the Calamity surely would, as it had once before. Having something so fearsome as the Calamity against her would certainly put her on edge.

But he wasn’t even looking at Hyrule Castle, so it wasn’t that. He seemed more focused on the horse statue in the center of the fountain. He’d gone so far as to leap off the white horse and start examining the statue from various angles. And he must have liked one of them, as he broke into a grin, seeming genuinely delighted with whatever he’d found.

Paya looked around again. No, still a crumbling park. She looked back to the Hero. He had the Slate out- he was holding it up, as if to compare whatever he was looking at to the park. He seemed quite focused.

And if he was distracted…

Paya crept forwards. He didn’t seem to notice her, but he was frowning at the Slate, so his focus might be waning. That didn’t matter, as long as she got her hands around his throat soon.

He looked up at her. In a single smooth motion, without taking his eyes off of her, he drew a sword from the Slate.

He didn’t look all that surprised. Or angry, even. More disappointed than anything.

“Really?”

Paya shrugged. Obviously, he’d been expecting it, and she wasn’t about to apologize. But she wasn’t about to strangle him, either.

He sighed, glanced back at the Slate, and withdrew the leather bridle from it again. So it was going to be like that.

Paya supposed she had sort of brought this on herself.

He didn’t put the sword away, which wasn’t unreasonable, but was irritating. He stood so close by while he was tying her to the fence, it would have been so easy to attack him. Not easy to win, though. Clearly that would be difficult under any circumstances. She would just have to be patient.

The Hero stepped back, seemingly satisfied, once she was secured to the fence. The restraints looked less terrible than last time. She tugged on them experimentally. With some time, she could probably get out of them, but it wouldn’t be nearly quick enough for a sneak attack.

The Hero turned his back on her to face the statue. Paya twisted into a better angle so that she could see the Slate- it was displaying an image of the same scenery, though in much better condition. She knew the Slate had once been in the possession of the Princess, so perhaps the Princess had been here once, and had used the Slate to create that image. Was that why he was here? To reminisce? No, the Hero had amnesia, didn’t he?

He gasped, shaking her from her thoughts. Paya looked around again- what had startled him? Nothing had changed. Except, oddly, the Hero himself. He had gone completely still, as if frozen.

The horse wandered over and sniffed him. He did not react.

Damn it, this would have been the perfect time to attack him, if only she hadn’t tipped her hand early. She tugged on the restraints again, but they held firm.

Paya settled for glaring at the back of his head.

The horse wandered over and sniffed her too. With her hands tied, there wasn’t much she could do about that.

The Hero gasped again, and then stumbled and shook himself. Paya didn’t bother looking around. Clearly, whatever was going on with him wasn’t something she could notice.

After a long moment, he put the Slate away, and then reached up with one arm, seemingly to wipe his eyes. Was he… crying? What was going on?

Paya yanked on her restraints again. This was valuable information, and here she was, tied to a fence and unable to even see what was happening.

The horse nickered. Possibly in response, the Hero turned around. He didn’t look nearly as distraught as his body language had led her to believe- he was indeed crying, but he was smiling too. Happy tears, then. She still had no idea why.

Then again, she could ask him.

“What just happened?”

He paused. Surprised by her question? Thinking about how to respond? Making up a convincing lie? Maybe all of those.

“I remembered something,” he said, voice soft and hesitant. Which… made sense. The Hero had been the Princess’ knight once, and if the Princess had been here then it made sense he would have been as well. Possibly even at the same time as the Princess made that image. The nature of his amnesia was unclear, and a matter of debate back at the Hideout- it was entirely possible that he could remember things, and a place like this  would be a logical area for that to happen.

If it was a lie, it was very convincing.

If it was true, it was excellent intel, and very bad news. The Hero recovering his memory would only make him more dangerous and difficult to deal with. This would be an important thing to report, if only she was in a position where she could go and report it.

As it was, she’d just have to try to kill him as fast as possible, before he remembered too much.

Chapter Text

When they left the Sanidin Park Ruins, the Hero got back on the horse, again leaving her to walk. Still quite rude of him, even if he did have the horse walk slowly enough that she could keep up.

Unlike previous wandering, this time it seemed like the Hero was following the road. Back south, that is, the way he’d arrived- not north, onwards to any goal of his, but south. She wondered for a while if he meant to go to Dalite Forest, but he passed it, going on towards Manhala Bridge. And, seeing as he was riding an unregistered horse, she almost understood why he was going this way. Almost.

“You’re not going to the stable, are you?”

He glanced down at her. “...I am. I need to register this horse. Why?”

Rather than responding, Paya gestured at herself. It should be clear why you shouldn’t bring an undisguised Yiga to a stable, but a lot of obvious things seemed to escape the Hero.

“Oh,” he said, nodding, “that’s a good point. Um… let me see.”

He checked something on the Slate, and withdrew the Hylian armor he’d been wearing earlier. And then he held it out to her.

It took a long moment for her to understand what he meant.

“Y-you want me. To wear. Your clothes. Instead of my uniform?”

He shrugged. “You could wear them over your uniform, if you want.”

That was not the issue at hand.

…But it would disguise her effectively. With the hood, she could even cover her dyed black hair, and nobody would bat an eye. This was definitely the most practical solution.

With great reluctance, Paya took the clothes from him.

She put them on over her uniform. She certainly wasn’t about to take it off- even ignoring the vulnerability of changing clothes in the presence of the Hero, there was no telling what would happen to her uniform if she took it off. Was she supposed to expect him to store it for her? That seemed unlikely.

Unfortunately, the leather gloves that came with the armor were fingerless, and so they couldn’t cover the full gloves of her uniform. She tucked the red gloves away in one of her pockets.

And then she had the unenviable task of wrangling her hair.

Miraculously, the hair tie was still in it, still somewhat holding everything back. The bun she usually pinned her hair into had collapsed, leaving it in a longer-than-regulation ponytail. Being Master Kohga’s protégé had given her the privilege of leaving her hair long, but had left her with the inconvenience of having to put it up.

The pins that had kept her bun in place were long gone, but that was fine. She only needed her hair to be obscured by the hood, and a ponytail would do just fine for that. After extracting the hair tie from her tangled ponytail, she combed through her hair with her fingers- just enough to straighten it out- and pulled it back again, into a low ponytail that would hopefully stay out of sight.

“I have a comb, if you want,” the Hero said. His tone was inscrutable. Was it a genuine offer? She couldn’t think of a reason it wouldn’t be, but it was strange.

Paya waved him off. She didn’t need a comb. At least, not while she was out in the field- once this was over and she was back in the Hideout, she was probably going to need help wrangling her hair. But not yet. Out here, it was more important to do her hair as quickly as possible.

She pulled the hood up. As long as it was shading her face, her hair would be hidden. It felt odd to be in disguise without using her talismans for illusion- knowing you were wearing a different face gave a sense of security she was lacking right now.

Whoever saw her face at the stable wouldn’t be seeing an illusion. They would know what she really looked like. They wouldn’t know she was a Yiga, of course, but the thought was still unnerving- aside from the Hero, nobody outside the Yiga Clan had seen her real face since she was a child.

…She wondered if there was anyone who would still recognize her.

If there was, they almost certainly wouldn’t be at Outskirt Stable. Still, Paya pulled the hood lower as they walked. It blocked her peripheral vision. She’d just have to hope nobody attacked her while she was wearing it.

A stablehand waved as they approached, and the Hero waved back. Paya had seen his one and only prior visit to this stable just a few days ago. Did he make friends that fast? Or was the stablehand just that friendly?

Hopefully they weren’t too friendly. She didn’t want to make friends here.

The Hero went straight to the owner, though. At least, she assumed it was the owner at the front of the stable.

“I’d like to register this horse,” the Hero said.

The owner nodded. “That’ll be twenty rupees.”

The Hero passed them over without comment.

“Okay, and what’s its name?”

The Hero paused. His brow furrowed. Evidently, he hadn’t thought that far ahead. Paya resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

And then, inexplicably, he turned to her. “Do you have any ideas?”

She processed this question. Probably too slowly, if the look he was giving her was any indication.

“Maybe,” she said, to buy some time. Did she have ideas? She had never named anything before, but it couldn’t be too hard. And yet she was struggling to think of anything.

“Hm,” the Hero said, staring off into the distance. Maybe he was lost in thought.

“You have another horse, don’t you? What did you name that one?”

“Oh. I named her Acorn.”

Paya hummed. “Do you want to give this one a matching name? Another plant, or something similar?”

He frowned. “Maybe. That doesn’t feel quite right…”

“Then what do you want to name it after?”

“I’m not sure.”

The owner sighed. “You can’t stand here all day, kid. Either think of a name now or go think somewhere else and come back.”

Paya wondered what the Hero thought of being told to hurry up or go away. He was staring into the distance again- he might not have even heard.

“Storm,” he said suddenly. “I’ll name him Storm.”

“...Okay then; your registration is complete. Do you want to take your new horse with you, or board him?”

“I’ll take him,” the Hero said, already steering the horse away. “Thanks!”

Paya trailed after him. He didn’t go far- just around the side of the stable, and then he stopped to talk to an old man. A very happy old man, apparently, as he was not only exclaiming delightedly about the white horse- Storm now, she supposed- but was also giving the Hero a gift. Or rather, giving the Hero a gift for Storm. A purple and gold saddle and bridle, and if the colour scheme didn’t give away its royal origin, then the emblem of the royal family on the saddle certainly did.

Paya had, earlier in the day, thought the white horse was conspicuous as it was. Now, as the old man dressed Storm in the most obvious royal bridle and saddle she’d ever seen, she realized something important about the Hero- he could always be more conspicuous than he already was.

It was almost impressive.

“Thank you, traveller, for bringing this horse here,” the old man told the Hero. “You know, the white horse that Princess Zelda once rode… the grandfather of this horse... The sight of the Princess riding atop that horse was supposed to be a beauty beyond words. Say, maybe you should let your lady friend have a try!”

The Hero flushed bright red. It took Paya a moment to understand that he meant her, and then another moment to remember that she was wearing his clothes, and then another moment after that to flush bright red herself.

She hadn’t considered that interpretation of the two of them. But of course these people, who did not know she was Yiga and seemingly didn’t even know he was the Hero, would see her- a girl about his age- wearing his clothes, and come to that conclusion.

Technically, this would be the perfect cover, but Paya was struck by the urge to dissuade him (and possibly everyone else at the stable) from thinking that. Somehow. Just as soon as she stopped blushing.

The Hero regained composure first. “We’re not- she’s my… travelling companion, is all.”

“Ah, travelling companion,” the old man said, nodding sagely, “is that what they’re calling it these days?”

Paya sputtered.

The old man laughed. “I’m only teasing! I believe you, calm down. Safe travels, and again… thank you for showing me that beautiful horse. It’s just as I dreamed it would be. Say, what did you name it?”

“Oh,” the Hero said, still looking quite red, “I named him Storm.”

The old man froze. And then, slowly, “That’s an… interesting name. Yes, a very good name for this horse. Noble. Befitting a royal steed such as him.”

Proving that he was not a complete idiot, the Hero seemed to find this about as suspicious as Paya did. “You seemed a little surprised by it.”

“Ah, well,” the old man said, looking off to one side, “I merely didn’t expect it. See, in all the stories he told me, my grandfather said the Princess’ horse was named Storm.”

The Hero stilled.

“Just an unusual coincidence, is all,” the old man said, looking back over. “Or perhaps I’m remembering the stories wrong. It’s been a long time, and my memory isn’t what it used to be! Yes, that must be it.”

The Hero nodded and turned, leading Storm away.

“Good luck,” the old man called after him, and the Hero walked faster. Paya hurried after him.

Again, he wasn’t going far- just to the cooking pot, on the other side of the stable. A stablehand, the one who’d waved to him earlier, was sitting by it already, and she slid to the side to make room as the Hero sat down.

Paya leaned against the stable wall to watch.

It seemed the two of them were mostly making small talk. The Hero discussed his travels in the short time he’d been away from the stable, but vaguely and without detail, and he left Paya and her attempt on his life out of the story entirely. At one point the stablehand asked about her, and he told her the same thing he’d told the old man- that she was his travelling companion.

The stablehand gave her a look when he said that. Paya willed herself not to blush, and resolved to acquire clothes that did not belong to the Hero as soon as possible. Or, at the very least, to never wear his clothes in front of people that had seen him wearing them only a few days ago ever again.

Of course, if she managed to kill him soon, this wouldn’t be an issue.

The Hero asked the stablehand about the Coliseum. Paya had looked inside it herself, the last time the Hero stayed at this stable- she hadn’t entered, obviously, but she had looked, and she had seen the Lynel in the center. There were an abundance of powerful monsters inside, but even the Lynel by itself had a good chance of defeating the Hero as he was now. Paya certainly wasn’t as dangerous as a Lynel, and she had almost had him. If the Hero did enter the Coliseum, and she could somehow trap him in there, the monsters would take care of him for her.

The stablehand told him it was extremely dangerous, being full of Malice and monsters, and that only someone incredibly desperate or incredibly stupid would go in. Which was all true, but Paya had been hoping they wouldn’t know that.

The Hero told her he was in a hurry anyway, and hadn’t been planning on going in. ...But if he was in a hurry, then why did he stop to explore Satori Mountain and wander around looking for a white horse? Why was he sitting down for a long conversation with a random stablehand, doing nothing, if he was in such a hurry?

Oblivious to her thoughts, the Hero continued talking about nothing in particular with the stablehand. At some point, the topic shifted to dinner, and the Hero offered to cook it. For the whole stable. A meal for so many people, out of his own supply of ingredients, for no reward and no reason.

He truly was impossible to understand.

Whatever he was making smelled delicious, though.

Most Yiga meals incorporated bananas in some way, or had them as a side snack if they didn’t. Paya could barely remember the last time she ate a meal without bananas in it. Which wasn’t an issue, of course, but it might be nice to eat something mild for once, and to get a little variety.

The Hero tossed some salt into whatever he was making. Soup? It seemed like soup. He hummed as he stirred it. It was already attracting people- various stable workers and travellers, all drawn in by the mouth-watering smell of the soup.

There was a little girl, who asked every two minutes or so if the soup was ready yet. It was clearly annoying some of the travellers, but the Hero didn’t seem bothered. Every time she asked, he told her, not quite yet.

And then he prepared the fish. A seafood soup, then; judging by the smell, it would be excellent. But the fish…

Paya hadn’t seen Sanke Carp in a long time.

To her knowledge, they were only found in Kakariko, and almost exclusively served there as well. It seemed the Slate had kept them fresh, and so they were in perfect condition to be served in soup.

She tried to remember how they tasted, but the memory escaped her.

The Hero sprinkled in herbs, tasted the soup, and added a bit more salt. The little girl asked if it was ready yet, and he told her, just one moment.

He gave the little girl the first bowl. And then a bowl to whoever asked, as seemingly the whole stable wanted to try.

Paya approached after the first few bowls, and he gave her one, too. He smiled at her while he did it. Why was he happy she took a bowl? Probably pride, that even she wanted to try some of his food. Or maybe he poisoned it?

Paya switched her bowl with a stablehand, claiming that the other’s had more herbs. The bowls looked identical, but the excuse worked.

And, just as she’d anticipated, the soup was delicious.

Creamy, fresh, just the right amount of salt- and the Sanke Carp mixed well with the other flavours. Though she didn’t quite remember eating it before, the taste was familiar.

She blinked. Was her vision getting blurry? No. No, it was from leaning over the hot soup. There was steam in her face. That must have been it.

After finishing the first bowl, Paya went back for seconds. This time, she didn’t swap it with someone else.

It was very good soup. It was a shame she was trying to kill the Hero and wasn’t actually his travelling companion; it would be nice to eat meals like this more often.

When there was no more soup, and everyone had dispersed, the Hero came over to her.

“I’m getting two beds for the night,” he told her, and then paused as if waiting for a response. When she didn’t say anything, he continued, “I don’t know if you’ve stayed at a stable before. You don’t get assigned a bed, you just get into one that’s not taken, so the earlier you go in, the more beds you’ll have to choose from. Okay?”

“Okay,” Paya said, and he nodded and went off to talk to the owner of the stable and presumably pay for the two beds.

What a bizarre thing to do. Even letting her sleep near him was a poor choice; she’d just tried to strangle him in his sleep last night. And not only was he allowing it, he was paying for her to have a bed in the same place as him.

Strangling him in the stable would be ill-advised, of course. There were far too many witnesses, most of whom would probably try to stop her. And being caught trying to kill the Hero while wearing her own face was the last thing she needed.

So she wasn’t going to try and strangle him again, this time. Maybe the Hero had reasoned this out himself, and knew he was safe. It was still absurd to be spending rupees on a bed for her, but she wouldn’t complain about that.

Between showing the white horse to that old man, cooking for the whole stable, and paying for an extra bed for her, it seemed the Hero was a generous person. He’d at least been compensated with that saddle and bridle for the horse, but the soup and bed had only cost him. And yet, he didn’t seem to mind.

Generosity wasn’t a foreign concept to her, but it was odd to imagine it on the Hero. He hadn’t matched a single one of her expectations so far, except being a skilled swordsman. She didn’t need to know all that much about him to kill him, but it was surprising just how much she didn’t know. It made sense- even if he was the enemy, he was a person, and people were complex- but it hadn’t occurred to her before.

An embarrassing oversight. Still, it was irrelevant to her, or at least, irrelevant to her mission.

Paya slipped inside the stable to assess the possible tactical advantages and disadvantages of each bed. The beds right by the entrance had the most pros and cons; they were the most dangerous, being exposed to passerby, but also the easiest to flee from, if necessary.

The ones further back were a safer bet. More hidden, and safer in the event of any danger that did not require immediately fleeing the stable.

It occurred to her, as she surveyed the room, that she could easily escape that night. Pick a bed by the exit and slip out when everyone was asleep. The road to Gerudo Desert was nearby. It would be a miserable journey on foot, but she could make it back to the Hideout fairly quickly.

But she would lose her unique opportunity to backstab the Hero. If she left now, her information would be minimal and probably outdated by the time she made it back. If she absolutely had to return without killing the Hero, she’d at least like to steal the Sheikah Slate and take it back with her.

And if she wanted to do that, she’d have to wait until there was a better opportunity, with no witnesses. Which meant she shouldn’t escape in the night.

Sighing, Paya settled on a bed in the back. It was surprisingly soft, and it had a good view of the rest of the stable while being relatively obscured. It was the best she was going to get, and she was quite tired.

It wasn’t very strategically sound to fall asleep before the Hero did, but if he was planning on getting rid of or running away from her, he would have done that already. Probably. She was pretty sure he wasn’t going to disappear before she woke up. If nothing else, he’d at least want his clothes back.

Besides, going to sleep early increased her chances of waking up early, so in a way, it was strategic to be getting in bed now. Certainly, it had nothing to do with how soft the pillow was, or how comfortable the blankets were. That was all irrelevant to her strategy.

Yes. Getting a good night’s sleep and waking up bright and early was important. Being well rested would help her plan, and it would help her execute any ideas she came up with. Really, any sensible Yiga would be getting bundled up in the blankets right now. It was the only logical conclusion.

Chapter Text

Paya woke up in a cold sweat, a scream half-caught in her throat.

It took a few blinks for her to see the stable around her, and not her village burning. A moment for her to hear the quiet, the crickets outside and the snoring of a traveller instead of the screaming and her mother telling her to run. But no matter how many deep breaths she took, she couldn't stop smelling the smoke.

She hadn’t had that dream in a long time.

Paya took slow, measured breaths, and relaxed the death grip she had on the blanket. No matter how much time had passed since she last had that dream, she never forgot how to deal with a nightmare.

Deep breath in. Deep breath out. Remember where you are. Remember that you are not a child anymore. Remember that you do not care if Kakariko Village burns. It isn’t your home.

Paya shivered, despite her thick blankets. That dream always left her feeling small and afraid, as if nothing had changed from the day her parents died. Everything had changed, of course, but it didn’t feel like it at the moment.

When she had trouble sleeping in the Hideout, she would go and practice or spar to remind herself of her skills and remember that she was no longer helpless. When she had trouble sleeping out in Hyrule, she would go find monsters to fight.

She’d never had trouble sleeping in a situation quite like this one before. She was sure there were monsters nearby- there were always monsters nearby- but leaving the stable now seemed inadvisable. She wanted to keep an eye on the Hero, and going outside would stop her from doing that.

Actually, where was he? She’d fallen asleep before seeing which bed he picked.

She looked around. Ah. He was in the one right next to her.

…Maybe he’d gone to sleep very late, and every other bed was already taken.

Paya glanced towards the entrance. The sky was light enough, which meant that dawn must be soon, but the sun hadn’t quite risen yet.

She sighed, settling back into the bed. It seemed her scream hadn’t woken anybody up, and it would do her good to get a little more rest. She closed her eyes, waiting to fall asleep. After a moment, she slung an arm over her eyes to block out the increasing light.

She wasn’t sure she ever really fell back asleep, but she was never quite awake, either. She drifted for a while, getting closer to wakefulness when others got up and started talking, and then sinking back into half-sleep as she adjusted to the noise.

It was only when the Hero woke up that she got out of bed. Though she didn’t necessarily feel well-rested, she was no longer tired, which would have to do. She slipped outside to find him making a small breakfast; just one serving, not something to feed the whole stable. When he noticed her, he pulled out more ingredients, and made a second copy of the meal, without saying a word.

It was pretty simple. Just a fried egg and rice. It didn’t take a lot of ingredients or much time to make- it wasn’t like making one for her was a big inconvenience for him. But he didn’t have to. She hadn’t even asked.

Paya bit into her portion, savouring the soft egg and fresh rice. A simple dish, but it was no less delicious. It seemed everything the Hero made was delicious. She’d heard plenty about his talents as a swordsman, but nothing of his talent as a cook, which seemed unfair- he was at least equally skilled in both areas.

Then again, his cooking was hardly relevant to the mission. No amount of delicious eggs would convince the Yiga to stop trying to assassinate him, and so it wouldn’t convince Paya either. No matter how delicious they were.

The Hero finished his breakfast, put the dishes away, and turned to her.

“Do you know how to ride a horse?”

Paya paused. The answer was no. She had been near horses before, and generally understood how one would ride them, but she’d never done it herself, and hadn’t ever really been expected to. Teleporting was just more efficient.

“Maybe,” she said.

“Well,” he said, “I was thinking I’d loan you my first horse, for… however long that’s necessary. She’s very gentle, I didn’t have any problems with her when I was a beginner, so you should be fine. I’ll take Storm.”

Paya considered this. It was… reasonable. If he planned on dragging her along for his quest to destroy the Calamity, he probably intended to go to a Divine Beast soon, and those were quite far away. Riding a horse would be the most efficient way to get there, and it did make sense that he didn’t want her on the same horse as him. His choice in who got which horse was interesting, though. He’d been riding his first horse for at least long enough to get to Outskirt Stable from Dueling Peaks, and he’d only caught Storm yesterday.

But Storm was a descendant of the royal horses, while his other horse, the one he was offering to loan her, was wild. In all likelihood, Storm would be faster and have better endurance- in other words, if necessary, Storm could easily outpace the Hero’s other horse, and by extension he’d be able to outpace Paya.

It was a well thought out plan. He was already anticipating her attacks. She wasn’t planning on any horseback chases, seeing as she’d probably just fall off, but he didn’t know that, and was planning for any possibility. She was reluctantly impressed.

“Fine,” she told him. He nodded, stood up, and walked off to talk to the owner of the stable.

When he returned, he was leading two horses. Storm, who was still wearing the eye-catching royal gear, and the brown horse with a long black mane, which he’d equipped with a standard stable saddle and bridle. Probably the same one that he’d been using to tie her up.

“This is Acorn,” the Hero told her, offering the brown horse’s reins to her. “She’s friendly.”

Acorn sniffed Paya’s hands, or maybe the reins she was holding in them, nickered at her, and then turned to look at the Hero instead.

“Good girl,” he said, and gave the horse an apple before turning to Paya. “I think she likes you. She likes most people. You should be fine.” He paused, looking at her. “Do you know how to climb on?”

“Yes,” Paya said, with slightly more confidence than she felt. “You go first.”

He laughed.

Inexplicably, she froze. She’d seen him smile before, but had never heard him laugh. And there was something about it- how free he sounded, perhaps, or how bright it made him look. It made her feel… strange.

Abruptly, she realized she was staring.

Paya looked away, hoping he hadn’t noticed, and then immediately looked back over when she remembered that she did need to watch him in order to figure out how to get on a horse.

He hooked one foot into the stirrup and swung himself on in a single, smooth motion. Okay. Paya could do that. She probably wouldn’t look as smooth doing it, but that could only come with practice.

Taking a deep breath, Paya copied the movement as best she could. There was a moment of awkward scrambling, but she managed it on the first try, and got as comfortable as she could.

She suddenly felt rather tall. She’d never been scared of heights, but riding a horse felt different to climbing inanimate objects. Perhaps it was the knowledge that the thing you were elevated on had free will and could throw you off if it so desired.

Acorn turned her head to sniff Paya’s legs. She seemed friendly enough for the time being, so riding her would probably be fine. At least, as long as the Hero wasn’t planning on them galloping anywhere.

Paya glanced up and saw the Hero looking at her. He was smiling faintly- amused, maybe? Or was he analysing her horse-riding skills? If he was, he must have deemed them sufficient, as he spurred Storm into a walk and set off down the southern road.

Interesting. He wasn’t going to Vah Medoh, then. Vah Naboris was the nearest Divine Beast, as long as he turned west- and as the desert was the home of the Yiga, it would be the easiest place to catch him off guard and kill him.

He turned east.

Paya huffed, pulling on the reins to turn after him. As the Hero had promised, Acorn was such a gentle horse that even Paya, a complete beginner, was having no trouble with her. If this was going to be a long journey, they would probably have the horses walk most of the time, to avoid straining them. The Hero didn’t seem like the sort of person who would run his horses into exhaustion.

She had always imagined him being more cruel than he actually was. She supposed that made sense. Most of Hyrule loved him, and it would be quite odd for them to do that if he was as obviously horrible as Paya had imagined him. Of course he would be outwardly noble and kind and easy to like- how else would he get so many people to adore him?

Lord Ganon, meanwhile, seemed terrible to the ignorant. What with the monsters and the Blood Moon and the Calamity one hundred years ago. But what the average person didn’t know was the history of the Yiga, the true evils of the royal family, or the cowardly betrayals of the Sheikah. They didn’t understand why the Calamity had to happen, or why most of the population had to be wiped out. To them, it was an injustice, when in reality it was karma, the long-awaited consequence for the royal family betraying them ten thousand years ago. All the deaths had been deserved.

Paya glanced at the back of the Hero’s head. He seemed focused on the Slate- a piece of the ancient technology that rightfully belonged to the Yiga, now in the hands of an enemy- probably planning out the route to their destination, whatever that was. He didn’t seem occupied with betraying and subjugating her people. He was using their ancient technology right now, not burying it or hiding it away or anything. He hadn’t even been cruel to her.

If only he wasn’t against Lord Ganon. Well, he still wouldn’t be a Yiga, and thus would be wiped out in the Calamity’s inevitable, ultimate victory. But at least if he wasn’t trying to stop that, she wouldn’t have to do it herself. Master Kohga had warned her about getting too close to targets while undercover. As he’d said, it was always harder to kill someone you knew. And, as she looked at the Hero- the reckless, somewhat foolish, generous Hero- she was reminded that Master Kohga was always right.

She supposed this was the consequence of not killing him on her first try. If she’d been a little better, faster, or even just luckier, she would be back at the Hideout by now, feeling the satisfaction of a job well done. And instead, she was riding the Hero’s horse, wearing the Hero’s clothes, going on the Hero’s journey with him.

She would still complete her mission, of course. There was no other option. Paya was determined to see the Hero dead, but she was starting to suspect it wouldn’t be as satisfying as it could have been. But she could live with guilt, as long as she didn’t hesitate when the moment came.

The Hero put the Slate away. He’d decided where they were going, then, or decided how they were going to get there. She considered asking him, but refrained. She’d figure it out soon enough.

They continued in silence.

Shortly after they passed the Coliseum, they encountered a fork in the road, where the Hero turned north. The road that way only led into Central Hyrule, which everyone knew was infested with Guardians and powerful monsters. Maybe he’d taken a wrong turn, or maybe he was exceptionally overconfident.

And then, almost immediately, there was another fork in the road, and he turned west. This path stopped at Lake Kolomo, which the Hero seemed to have already known, as he slowed to a stop at the shore.

Paya wondered why he’d chosen to stop here. There wasn’t anything important at Lake Kolomo, as far as she knew. It was a pretty lake, but she doubted the Hero was just sightseeing. Then again, he was unpredictable.

The Hero hopped off his horse and began wandering the shore. Maybe he’d left something here, at some point? After a moment, Paya left him to it, and walked over to the lake to look at her reflection. The hood was hiding her hair well. At the moment, there was nobody she needed to hide it from, so she pulled it down.

As she’d expected, her roots were growing out. They were only barely visible at the moment, but anyone who saw her with the hood down would know what a Sheikah with dyed black hair meant. Scowling, she pulled the hood back up.

It was bad form for a Yiga to let their roots grow out too far. Once it was visible in their ponytail, they weren’t allowed outside the Hideout until it was dyed again. Most Yiga dyed it again every few weeks, at least.

Paya tended to dye her roots once every two weeks, but it seemed she wouldn’t be doing that for the foreseeable future. She frowned. She hadn’t had white hair in a long time, and she didn’t want to. But sacrifices had to be made for the cause. Unless she killed the Hero soon.

Where was he, anyway?

Paya glanced around, and found him standing on the shore, holding the Slate. As she watched, he shuddered, looked at the Slate, and then put it away, but not before Paya could see a picture of the same place he was standing displayed on it. Had he just remembered something? Had she just missed him remembering something?

That had been the perfect opportunity to kill him- she didn’t even need a weapon, she doubted he’d resist while lost in a memory- and she hadn’t even noticed it!

As if he could sense her watching him, the Hero glanced over his shoulder at her. Paya attempted to clear her face of all emotion, which, given that she previously wore a mask all the time, she wasn’t terribly good at. He narrowed his eyes at her- either she’d succeeded, and he was trying to guess what she was thinking, or, more likely, she had failed, and he’d read the frustration on her face. Damn it.

She’d been preparing to kill the Hero for about as long as she could remember, but when she finally got the chance- several chances, even- she kept messing it up. When the Hero was paying attention, she wasn’t skilled enough to defeat him, and when he wasn’t, she wasn’t attentive enough to notice.

She wondered what her parents would think of her now.  She didn’t remember what they were like, exactly, but Master Kohga had known them personally, and he’d said they were great Yiga- brave, cunning, just the right amount of backstabbing tendencies. He had praised their decision to stay in Kakariko Village and pass along intel, despite the proximity to danger and the likelihood of being discovered and killed. He’d told her she had a lot to live up to, and Paya had strived to meet the standards they’d set.

They’d probably be disappointed in her. Surely Yiga as experienced as they were would have gotten him by now.

Paya had often felt that the rest of the Yiga watched and judged her more than most footsoldiers. She’d assumed they had high expectations, both because of her parents and her position as Master Kohga’s student. Her parents could no longer see her inadequacy, but she could still disappoint the rest of her Clan.

Chapter Text

Paya had promised herself that she’d get him next time- she would laser focus on the Hero and wait until he slipped into another memory, and then she’d kill him. It was a flawless plan.

Unfortunately, a lot of travelling and no memories later, she was starting to suspect that they were a little rarer than the first two had led her to believe.

The horses had just finished picking their way across Lanayru Wetlands, and it was beginning to rain. The longer they travelled, the worse it got. It was obvious by now that they were heading  to Zora’s Domain, one of the few densely populated places in post-Calamity Hyrule, which made it a terrible place to assassinate someone. She might be able to get the drop on him if the rain grew heavy enough to sufficiently obscure visibility, but having the drop on him hadn’t helped her before. His memories were her best chance.

She wondered if anyone in the Hideout had noticed her absence yet.

Surely they’d at least have sent out other assassins by now. Had any of them seen her? She’d like to think that she would notice being stalked, but it was impossible to know for sure. If they had, they’d draw one of three conclusions- she had gained the Hero’s trust and was waiting for an opportunity, she had been captured and was now being held prisoner, or she had betrayed them.

Hopefully, any Yiga who saw her travelling with the Hero would understand that she wouldn’t betray their cause; she was still on their side, just waiting for the right moment. But if she saw this situation from the outside, Paya doubted she’d be so generous in her own interpretation.

When the Hero was dead, she could explain herself. Master Kohga would surely believe her. He’d practically raised her. He knew how loyal she was.

Yes, everything would be fine, once the Hero was dead.

Paya pulled her hood lower. He had never asked for the armor back, and she was starting to get used to wearing it. After the first few times they’d stopped to do laundry, she had allowed the Hero to store her Yiga armor in the Slate, on the condition that he wouldn’t take it out without her express request.

She missed the uniform, but there were benefits to the Hylian set. The hood was especially nice, both for disguising her and for its current usage-  keeping the rain out of her face.

It really was pouring. Her clothes were already soaked through. She shivered. Lanayru might not be that cold, but its weather was deeply unpleasant. She squinted, seeing the orange glow of a Shrine ahead- the Hero had been stopping at every one they’d passed, vanishing inside for minutes or hours. She wondered if it was dry inside, and if he’d stay especially long inside this one if it was. She hoped he wouldn’t. She did not want to huddle in the small entrance and wait out the rain by herself.

Half the Shrine lit up blue as the Hero pressed the Slate to its pedestal. But rather than going in, he turned around to face her, and said, “Let’s keep going.”

Paya paused. “You’re not going to go in?”

“I can come back for it later, when the weather’s better. For now, we should find shelter… somewhere to wait this out.”

He could shelter in the Shrine just fine, but it seemed that he didn’t want to. At least, not by himself. Was it for the horse’s benefit or hers? Both? Oh well. She wasn’t about to complain about not getting left in the rain.

“Let’s go, then,” she said, and he nodded.

“Wait!” said someone, and Paya glanced around wildly. Visibility was poor, yes, but she hadn’t thought anyone was that close!

The person who’d spoken rushed up to the Shrine, waving their hands. A Zora. With their colouration, they did somewhat blend in to the environment, so considering the torrential rain and low visibility, it was almost forgivable that she hadn’t noticed them.

“Hi,” the Hero said. “Who are you? Is everything okay?”

“I’m Torfeau, and no,” the Zora responded. They sounded quite stressed. “You’re Hylians, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” the Hero told them.

No, Paya thought. Technically, she was Sheikah, but no self-respecting Yiga would call themselves that. Letting the Zora assume she was Hylian would be fine.

“Thank Nayru,” Torfeau sighed. “Please, you must help- my home, Zora’s Domain, is in terrible danger! Prince Sidon sent me in search of a strong Hylian warrior. He is waiting at Inogo Bridge.”

Paya squinted at them. That wasn’t a lot of information. What sort of danger? Why did they need a Hylian warrior specifically?

“Where’s Inogo Bridge?” The Hero asked, which was not the question Paya would have led with. Torfeau pointed, and now that Paya was looking, the faint outline of Zora architecture stood visible through the rain. If Torfeau had really been sent out by Prince Sidon to find a Hylian, surely it would be more effective to be slightly further away. It wasn’t as if the rain would be obscuring visibility like this all the time.

But the Hero didn’t question this, and instead walked off in the direction of Inogo Bridge. Which was fine, she supposed- if they were going to Zora’s Domain, they would have crossed it anyway, so maybe he didn't feel the need to inquire further. Or he was being generous again, in a new way- offering his help instead of his supplies. How noble of him. How… heroic.

Paya grimaced as she followed him. She had been trying not to think of him in a positive manner, but it was more of a challenge than she’d expected. Especially when he kept doing things like this; acting selfless and kind. Which she was not going to be thinking about. 

But when they got to the bridge, there was nobody there. At least, no one that she could see. Considering that she hadn’t noticed Torfeau, it was entirely possible there really was someone nearby.

“Say, hey there! You two! Up top! Above you!”

Paya looked up just in time to see the Zora Prince leap down, landing in front of them with a flourish.

“Pardon the entrance, but you’re Hylians, aren’t you? I was hoping perhaps you’d have a moment to talk.”

“Yes, we do,” the Hero said. “Torfeau sent us over here.”

“Ah, wonderful!” said Prince Sidon, giving them a brilliant grin. Paya wondered if he was always this enthusiastic. “Oh, pardon me. I am Sidon, the Zora Prince! And what are your names?”

“I’m Link,” the Hero told him, and paused, possibly waiting on her. She kept silent.

“Link? What a fantastic name! Hmm, though I cannot shake the feeling that I have heard it  somewhere before... Well, in any case, it is a strong name!”

He flashed a toothy smile again. It seemed he did that a lot.

“I can tell by how you carry yourselves that you are not ordinary people. Link! You must be a strong warrior among the Hylians, correct? And you! You hang back more- a spy, perhaps? A tactician?”

She narrowly restrained herself from gawking at him. Despite his obnoxious, almost childlike cheer, it seemed that Prince Sidon was not to be underestimated. It was typical of royalty to be able to read others like that, so perhaps she should have expected it, but his sunny personality had put her off.

“Yes, I’m a warrior,” the Hero said. Unlike earlier, he did not pause for her, which Prince Sidon didn’t seem to mind. He seemed delighted, actually.

“Aha! Just as I suspected! I have an eye for talent that is unparalleled! Yes! I have been searching for someone like you for a long while. A Hylian who carries themself with power!”

“Why?” Paya asked, and Sidon turned his attention to her.

“Right now, Zora’s Domain is in grave danger because of the massive rainfall coming from the Divine Beast Vah Ruta! We have a plan to stop it, but only a Hylian could do what is necessary. Please, promise you will help us! We need your strength! Won’t you please come to Zora’s Domain with me?”

“Sure,” said the Hero, completely nonchalant. Paya almost laughed- the difference in tone between the two of them was ridiculous.

“Wow! Really?” Sidon responded, still exactly as enthusiastic as before. “Thank you! Now Zora’s Domain will be saved for certain! No time to waste! Hurry up and head over!”

“Okay,” the Hero said, “how?”

Sidon pointed across the bridge. “To reach the Domain, you will need to go straight along this path. You will likely need to leave your horses here. The path is not designed with them in mind.”

Paya frowned. As far as she could see, there wasn’t exactly a convenient place to leave them, but the Hero seemed unbothered- maybe he knew something she didn’t?

“As you are Hylians,” Sidon continued, “I know you will not be able to swim up the river as Zora do. As such, the path to the Domain may be a bit treacherous.”

“Treacherous how?” she asked.

“There are monsters up ahead that attack with electricity,” he told her. “You likely have a tough fight in store. But don’t give up! I believe in you!”

He struck a pose, light glinting off his pearly teeth. “And I have something that I would like to give you! Just a small trinket- to show that I have faith in you.”

He held out a bottle of yellow-green liquid- probably an electro elixir, which the Hero took.

“It is a drink that will increase your resistance to electricity,” Sidon said. “I am not sure why, but its effects do not seem to work for Zora. Perhaps because it was made specifically for Hylians. It should work wonders for you, though!”

The Hero glanced down at the elixir, and then up at Sidon. “What about you?”

“I shall go on ahead and make sure there is not anything strange going on where you are heeded. I'm counting on you!”

With this said, he backflipped into the river. Show-off.

“Huh,” Paya said.

“Huh,” the Hero agreed, as he stored the elixir in the Slate. “I guess I should get someone to retrieve the horses, if we’re going on foot now.”

“What do you mean ‘get someone’? We’re nowhere near any stables.” That she knew of, at least. Stables did sometimes pack up and move, but she was fairly certain even the closest one was still far away.

He looked at her, expression inscrutable. “Let’s head back to that Shrine, and I’ll show you.”

Some sort of ancient technology, then? It was plausible that he knew more about it than she did- the Yiga’s knowledge of their ancient tech had faded over time, whereas the Hero had quite a bit of recent personal experience with it. It stung. That knowledge rightfully belonged to her people.

Paya sighed, following him. Whatever he was about to show her, she could inform the Yiga about it later. It was a small consolation, but she’d take what she could get.

“So,” the Hero said, as they approached the Shrine, “I activated it earlier. You saw that, right?”

He looked over at her, and she nodded. So he was “activating” them when he used the Slate on the pedestal that opened the door and turned half the lights blue. She’d considered them activated when they first started glowing orange- presumably around the time he’d woken up- but it seemed like he didn’t see it that way.

“Once it’s activated, it’s registered as a travel point on my map,” he continued, which made less sense. Registering the Shrines to his map was sensible, they made good landmarks, but what was a ‘travel point’?

He turned the Slate to face her. On it was a semi-complete map of Hyrule, with blue geometric icons scattered throughout the mapped areas, matching up with where she remembered there being Shrines. The one right next to them, however, was unique, being an orange icon with a blue border. The Hero pointed at another icon- looking closer, she saw that the indicated symbol was right beside a map marker for a stable. Still, she couldn’t quite understand what he was trying to tell her, and scrutinizing the map wasn’t helping her figure it out. She looked back at him, and he pulled the Slate back to himself, tapping on something.

“I’ll be right back,” he told her, and then tapped the Slate again and dissolved into tendrils of blue light, dissipating into the air.

Paya stared at the spot he’d just been standing.

“What?”

Storm tossed his head and whinnied. Absentmindedly, Paya patted him. Acorn seemed unconcerned. Maybe the Hero had done this before? Enough so that his horse was used to it?

Travel points, he’d said. He’d told her they should ‘get someone to retrieve the horses,’ and then he’d pointed to a glowing icon on his map, right by a stable. She supposed that, if the Yiga could teleport, of course the ancient Sheikah had been able to. Everything the Yiga knew, everything they could do, was built upon what little they remembered of their past. They must have based the teleportation on something.

She supposed she’d just found out what it was.

Blue light began appearing on the Shrine platform. It coalesced into the Hero, who hooked the Slate onto his belt and waved at her. She stared at him.

Watching him dissolve into light had been off-putting. Watching him form out of light was possibly the most bizarre thing she’d ever seen.

“I let the stable workers know there are two horses here that need to be picked up,” he said, completely nonchalant. “They should be here soon.”

There were several questions Paya wanted to ask. And yet, the only one she spoke was, “How soon is soon?”

“I don’t know, actually,” he told her, and turned to the side, where the Zora from earlier still stood. “Torfeau, would you mind watching them until then?”

“Um,” Torfeau said, doubtlessly very confused, “You… want me to watch your horses?”

“If you don’t mind,” the Hero said.

“Well… you’re going to help Prince Sidon, aren’t you? It’s the least I can do… although, I’ve never interacted with a horse before…”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” he told them, and they nodded, looking a bit more reassured.

“I’ll do my best, Hylian Warrior. Please save my home.”

“I will,” he said, and turned to her. “Let’s go.”

He walked off into the rain, and Paya followed.

Chapter Text

The journey was miserable.

There were some interesting moments- Prince Sidon occasionally surfaced to yell words of encouragement, and there were many monsters along the path, but Paya wasn’t particularly involved with any of that.

Sidon spoke mostly to the Hero, and when there were monsters, the Hero didn’t arm her, instead having her hang back while he fought everything. He had likely assumed that, should he give her a weapon, she’d immediately plunge it into his back- which in most circumstances would be true, but she would never risk it with Sidon watching. But he didn’t know that, so she was stuck watching and waiting in the pouring rain, cold and wet and miserable.

The only real notable point in the trip was when a Moblin approached the Hero from behind while he was distracted talking to Sidon. For a moment, she’d almost thought it would get him, but Sidon had warned him in time and he’d defeated it easily.

Their time was mostly spent walking, through rain, mud, and the occasional monster camp. Once again, Paya found herself grateful for the Hero’s Hylian armor. While her uniform’s mask would have kept the rain out of her face, the wrappings on the feet would’ve done nothing to keep out the mud.

By the time they reached the silver bridge that marked the entrance to Zora’s Domain, everything was hopelessly soaked. She’d heard that Zora architecture wasn’t big on enclosed spaces, but hopefully they at least had roofs- and dry clothes, now that she thought of it. Her uniform would be dry in the Slate, but changing into it now would be quite ill advised.

Sidon rushed up, greeted them excitedly, said he’d introduce them to the King, beckoned them to follow, and rushed off.

Paya hadn’t been aware that meeting the King of the Zora was part of the plan, but as long as the Throne Room had a roof, she was willing to go. She and the Hero hurried off after him. The silver was slippery, no doubt because of the rain, and she felt horribly awkward scrambling up the stairs. At least the Hero was stumbling beside her- it was less embarrassing that way.

Despite the minor setback, they quickly reached the Throne Room. Inside stood Sidon, a green Zora who was likely an advisor of some sort, and the King himself, who was sitting on his throne, and still almost reached the ceiling.

Paya went in after the Hero. She’d prefer if he did all the talking, but she was willing to risk drawing attention if it meant  finally being out of the rain. They were both dripping water all over the otherwise dry floors, but the Zora Prince had invited them, so if it was an issue, they could blame him. Then again, the Zora were probably used to wet surfaces.

“Ah. You must be the Hylians that Sidon brought here, correct? You did well to come all the way here! I am King Dorephan, ruler of the Zora.”

King Dorephan leaned forward, frowning. Luckily for her, it seemed that his attention was on the Hero.

“Hm? That object upon your waist... is that not a Sheikah Slate?!”

Paya stilled, even as the Hero seemed unbothered, pulling the Slate off his waist to show to King Dorephan. Zora were a long-lived species, and it was well known that King Dorephan had been King of the Zora even long before the Calamity, and that his daughter, Champion Mipha, had been the Zora Champion. As such, it was easy to imagine that he’d have met the Princess before and seen the Slate, but she hadn’t thought he’d recognize it. It had been a hundred years. The Slate was tiny in comparison to him. She’d have thought it would have faded from his memory by now, but it seemed like that wasn’t the case at all.

“Now that I have gotten a good look at you, it is all too clear who you are... You are the Hylian Champion, Link! And your companion…”

Paya pulled her hood as low as it went, desperately hoping that he wouldn’t ask her to take it off. Though it was possible that the Zora wouldn’t understand the significance of a Sheikah with dyed hair, that wasn’t something she wanted to test.

It was also possible that King Dorephan had known her grandmother, and that wasn’t a resemblance she wanted him noticing.

It seemed like she was lucky today, as Sidon interrupted King Dorephan’s words. “The Hylian Champion? You can’t mean THE Link? THAT Champion?! So that’s where I have heard your name before! What a fateful coincidence that we should cross paths!”

The Hero rubbed the back of his neck. Was he embarrassed? Bashful? Nervous?

“I cannot believe it. The Hylian Champion, Link, has appeared before us… Do not tell me you have forgotten me. We have met numerous times, I’ll have you know. Ah... So many memories! My mind is overflowing with nostalgia, my friend.”

The Hero winced. Paya withheld a wince of her own. She knew he’d lost his memory, but she hadn’t considered him needing to tell people that had once known him that. After a hundred years, she’d assumed most of them were dead.

“I had heard a terrible rumour that you had fallen in combat, but it appears you managed to survive. Extraordinary!”

“I lost my memory,” the Hero said. Very blunt. She could appreciate that. Best to get it over with.

King Dorephan paused. “Come again?”

“I’ve been sleeping,” the Hero said, softer. King Dorephan seemed lost in thought. She wasn’t sure he heard.

“But surely you must remember my precious daughter, Mipha, yes? You do, do you not?”

“Um,” the Hero said, shifting from foot to foot, “doesn’t ring a bell.”

What a horribly awkward situation. Maybe the Hero would let her kill him right now to get him out of this conversation.

“I cannot believe it…” King Dorephan whispered, collapsing back onto his throne. “Have you truly forgotten my dear Mipha as well? You and Mipha were so close... Yet you do not remember her?”

The Hero looked down, studying the floor. The intricate designs were beautiful, but she doubted that the carvings had suddenly drawn his attention. Things had quickly gone past awkward and become deeply somber.

“Young hero... Please look upon the beauty of Zora's Domain.”

Obediently, the Hero turned to look. Paya turned as well, and peered out into the rain. The Domain was still somewhat visible through the fog, and it was beautiful. In sunlight, she imagined it would be breathtaking.

“Did you see the statue in the square? Did gazing upon Mipha's immortalized form not jog your memory?”

Paya vaguely recalled passing by a square on the way here, and there had been something in the middle. That had probably been the statue. She hadn’t looked up at it, more focused on keeping the rain out of her face then on admiring the architecture. Had the Hero looked? She hadn’t been paying much attention to him.

“No,” he said, voice quiet. “I’m sorry.”

King Dorephan sighed, looking suddenly weary. “Well, perhaps your memory will return in time. I dearly hope so.”

“Father,” Sidon interjected, “I do not believe discussing my sister is helping matters at the moment.”

“Oh? Yes, of course. But first, it is worth noting how remarkable it is that Sidon brought a Champion here without realizing it! That is quite a feat, my boy! Wah ha ha! That is a good one!”

The tension in the room eased immediately. Sidon laughed, and the Hero stopped looking so stiff, a small smile pulling on his lips. Interestingly, the green Zora who yet to speak scowled, glaring directly at the Hero.

Hm. Perhaps she had an ally here? Or another problem. That would be just her luck.

“Link,” King Dorephan said, sounding more serious, “I doubt not that you have endured a great many trials. Still, I must ask you to hear my plea.”

“Of course,” the Hero responded, straightening up.

“Hero…” King Dorephan sighed, looking grim. “I must inform you that Zora's Domain is in danger of vanishing because of Divine Beast Vah Ruta.”

Paya paused. Vanishing?

“I shall do you the courtesy of speaking bluntly. We alone cannot stop this beast. Will you lend us your strength?”

The Hero opened his mouth, presumably to respond, only to be interrupted.

“What?!”

The green Zora lurched forwards, turning toward the throne. “King Dorephan! My liege! Please do not speak so! To ask a Hylian for help... Why, the very thought of it curls my fins!” Perhaps to illustrate his point, he shot the Hero another poisonous look.

So, less of an ally and more of a problem, then.

“Muzu,” King Dorephan snapped, “I expected more of you. How can you still protest?”

“It is rude to speak that way to your king and his guests,” Sidon agreed. “Link and his companion are here because I invited them!”

Muzu’s scowl deepened, his frustration evident.

“With such unprecedented rainfall, we have no choice but to rely on the aid of a trustworthy Hylian. Have we not already discussed this and arrived at that very conclusion?” Sidon flung an arm in Paya and the Hero’s direction for emphasis. “Here is the key to saving Zora's Domain. I have no doubt in my mind. And for one of them to be Link! That our paths have crossed is certainly the work of fate.”

“Indeed! Link is a Champion, through and through.” King Dorephan proclaimed, turning back to the Hero- but not before sending a look at Muzu that she assumed was meant to be interpreted as and that’s that, so shut up.

“As things now stand, Zora's Domain... Nay! Perhaps all of Hyrule...is doomed to be swallowed by the sea.”

Paya froze. The Hero went still as well. All of Hyrule? Swallowed by the sea? Sidon had described this as unprecedented rainfall, and King Dorephan had mentioned Vah Ruta was putting Zora’s Domain in danger of ‘vanishing.’ She knew the Divine Beasts had unique and powerful technologies in them, and it made sense that Ruta, belonging to the Zora, would have something related to water, and thus, it followed that Lord Ganon would then use it against their enemies. But all of Hyrule swallowed by the sea? Not even the Yiga would survive that!

“This is bigger than all of us, my friend. Zora and Hylians alike must put aside our differences and band together-”

“Have you forgotten already, my king?!” Muzu interrupted again. “We cannot trust these lowly Hylians! A hundred years ago, they abused the power of an ancient civilization and turned Hyrule into what it is today!”

In a way, that was accurate. They had abused her people’s power. But it was the Calamity that was responsible for Hyrule’s current state, and it was disrespectful to attribute Lord Ganon’s accomplishments to anyone else.

“And that is not the least of it!” Muzu continued, clenching his fists. And then he drooped, a sudden sadness taking him, and turned away before speaking again. “It is their fault that Lady Mipha was lost to us…”

That, Paya supposed, was debatable. Champion Mipha was targeted due to her role as a Champion, which had been given to her by Hylians, but her main cause of death had been the Calamity... Truly, it was her own fault for opposing Lord Ganon, as Zora were typically far removed from Hylian conflicts. It was possible that she hadn’t known any better. Perhaps the blame could be shared.

King Dorephan heaved a deep sigh as he sat forward again, speaking in a low voice. “Link. Divine Beast Vah Ruta has great power. It has the unique ability to create an endless supply of water. Of late it has been mercilessly spouting water into the air. As a result, this area has been plagued by heavy rains.”

Ah. That explained everything. So theoretically, all of Hyrule was in danger of being flooded, but it would take a very long time for even something as massive as Vah Ruta to produce that much water. Surely it would stop before the Yiga were in danger.

“For us Zora, water and air are as one, so you would not think this would be quite so critical of a problem, but sadly, the rains have filled the eastern reservoir nearly to the point of flooding. If the reservoir bursts, as it soon will, I fear immense damage will befall not only Zora's Domain... but also the area downstream from us. There, Hylian lives are in very great danger.”

So there was some urgency. Downstream from Zora’s Domain was the Lanayru Wetlands. The closest settlement to that was… Kakariko Village.

Well, it would be quite helpful if Kakariko was washed away, really. That would be one problem neatly solved. But then, there were some things of value in and around the area. A Great Fairy Fountain was rumoured to be nearby. Dorian had reported a mysterious Sheikah artefact being kept by Chief Impa, which the Yiga had been planning to steal, which they couldn’t do if it was washed away. And Dorian himself… he was a spy only under duress, true, but he was still a Yiga. It would be wrong to allow him to be drowned with the rest of the Village, wouldn’t it?

She was putting too much thought into this. Kakariko Village was on a hill. The water might not even reach it. More likely, it would all flow down into Lake Hylia or the ocean, possibly only destroying a few stables along the way.

A sudden noise interrupted her thoughts. It sounded almost like an animal- one in great pain.

“Hmm…” King Dorephan said, turning his head to the side, “The Divine Beast is crying out once again…”

There was a pause as the sound echoed out, eerie and chilling. As it faded, leaving an unnerving quiet in the room, Paya shivered, goosebumps prickling her skin.

“The Divine Beast Vah Ruta…” King Dorephan continued, “Your princess, Zelda, often studied the Divine Beasts. That is, in the time before the Great Calamity. According to her research, the orbs located on Ruta's shoulders are mechanisms that can control the water it generates. However, they require electricity to work. These orbs are clearly out of control now because there is no electricity coursing through to stop them.”

The Princess had studied the Divine Beasts? She hadn’t known that. Shouldn’t she have been busy with… Princess duties?

Come to think of it, she had no idea what the Princess did with her time before the Calamity. Studying the Divine Beasts made as much sense as anything else.

“Seggin, who is quite shock resistant for a Zora, hit one with a shock arrow. Sure enough, it slowed the water a bit,” Sidon said. “Perhaps because we could not safely strike it with enough electricity at once, the water soon returned to its full force. Unfortunately, as an aquatic race, we Zora are terribly vulnerable to the power of electricity. That is why I went in search of a Hylian who could help us!”

A Rito would have worked better, Paya thought. They weren’t weak to electricity like Zora were, they were expert archers, and they could fly. But then, there weren’t a lot of Rito in this part of Hyrule. Perhaps it would be difficult to search for one.

“I am certain you have already figured this out, but... We need you to use shock arrows to get those orbs working properly again! I will aid you in any way I can, of course. Please... I beg of you. Help me stop Ruta's rampage of destruction!”

“I, um, was kind of already planning on that,” the Hero told them, expression caught somewhere between nervous and resolute. “Zelda asked me to free the Divine Beasts. I’m supposed to use this,” he held up the Sheikah Slate, “on something inside them, I think.”

“What?!” King Dorephan cried, echoing Paya’s own thoughts. The Princess had contacted him? When? How?

“Princess Zelda herself instructed you to board the Divine Beast and appease it from within? So then… Princess Zelda is still alive?”

Not what she wanted him to ask. Of course the Princess was alive- if she wasn’t, the Calamity would be ongoing, and it clearly wasn’t. 

“Yes, in Hyrule Castle.”

So she was still in the Castle, holding the Calamity back. She hadn’t figured out a way to do that remotely. But then, how had she spoken to the Hero? Had he gone to Hyrule Castle? Surely not. He would have been blasted to smithereens by the Guardians. Maybe he was lying?

“I do not believe it... She was alive this whole time, just as you were! The events of one hundred years ago cannot be changed, it is true. But if we can regain control of the Divine Beasts… They may yet prove useful in sealing Calamity Ganon once and for all!”

That… could be true, but she was less happy with the idea then everyone else seemed to be. If the Hero really could take back control of the Divine Beasts, that would be an enormous loss for the Yiga and a threat to Lord Ganon. She’d need to stop him from doing that- if she could get him alone at some point, maybe even on the Divine Beast itself, she could kill him. Or, failing that, simply steal the Slate and flee.

But if she did that, Vah Ruta might keep producing water forever, eventually drowning all of Hyrule… Lord Ganon would stop it before it got that far, wouldn’t he?

It wasn’t as if she could just let the Hero steal a Divine Beast from them. No. She’d have to stop him from taking Vah Ruta, somehow. That would be easier said than done, but she had to try, at least.

“I did not know you had such grand ambitions, Link…” Sidon said.  “Wondrous! Naturally, I shall help too! Once it has stopped rampaging, you can easily climb inside it. Come, Link! Let us appease Ruta together!”

He grinned, striking a pose. After a moment, the Hero smiled back. “Alright. Let’s do this!”

Great. That would make getting him alone, let alone killing him, much more complicated.

King Dorephan chuckled. “Thank you, Link. Truly. We are in your debt. Our goal is the same. That means our meeting was nothing short of destiny. Now then, allow me to offer you this gift as a show of faith.”

He held out a piece of armor. Unmistakably Zora made, it was blue with silver elements, painstakingly detailed, and sized for a Hylian. The Hero cautiously took it , handling it with such care that she wondered if there was some hidden significance to it that she’d missed.

“So long as you wear this, you can ascend waterfalls just like a Zora. Please take good care of it.”

“King Dorephan! Surely you do not really intend to give this outsider the Zora armor!”

Muzu was clearly furious. There was definitely some significance she didn’t know about.

“Countless generations of Zora princesses have gifted that armor to the one they have sworn to marry!” He continued, getting even more worked up as he went. “Princess Mipha made that one there with her own hands! It is far too important to entrust to a shady Hylian! He may be a Champion, but Mipha had no such relationship with him. So why should HE receive such an honour? This is just too much, my liege! I do not understand it one bit!”

With this said, he stormed off into the rain.

Okay. So the Zora Armor the Hero had just been given was part of a marriage tradition, and this one was for Champion Mipha specifically. That was significant. But, as Paya glanced over at the armor the Hero was cradling to his chest, she recalled her earlier observation- it wasn’t exactly made for Zora proportions. Whoever Champion Mipha had been meaning to marry, they had almost certainly been one of those shady Hylians Muzu hated so much.

They were also almost certainly dead now, so while it was a bit disrespectful, using the Zora Armor for the purpose of climbing waterfalls was a reasonable thing to do. Considering the Domain was in danger of being completely destroyed, she thought it was understandable for King Dorephan to be sacrificing sentimentality for practicality at the moment.

King Dorephan frowned in the direction Muzu had gone. “Hmph. That Muzu is not easily swayed once his mind is set. You must understand… He was in charge of educating my dear daughter, Mipha. Naturally, she means a lot to him… just as she means the world to us.”

Paya paused, wondering if she’d misheard him. But no, King Dorephan did seem to be speaking of his daughter in the present tense. Was it a slip of the tongue, or did he think…? Actually, it was possible. By Zora standards, Champion Mipha would still be on the younger side. But surely- there was nothing to eat in there. Even if she’d been trapped, and not outright killed, she couldn’t still be alive. Could she?

“Ever since we lost her to the Calamity, he has grown to despise Hylians. I hope you can forgive his rudeness.” King Dorephan sighed, shaking his head. “Hmm, but what shall we do now? I tasked Muzu with finding the shock arrows we will need to appease Vah Ruta. But now he has rushed off in a huff…”

“Link!” Sidon cried suddenly. “Do not let his words concern you. I will work this out with Muzu. I shall return shortly!”

He marched off into the rain.

“Sidon…” King Dorephan muttered, almost too quiet to hear. “I suppose that means you are going to tell him…”

King Dorephan raised his head. She wondered if he was praying, or just exasperated.

“Link… Muzu is most likely at the square down below. Would you mind going down there? I would like you to try to speak with him.”

The Hero hesitated for a brief moment, and then nodded, storing the Zora Armor in the Slate and turning to go. Paya turned to follow him, and then King Dorephan spoke again.

“Not you, Link’s unnamed companion. I believe the… situation… with Muzu would be best handled by only Link and Sidon. And… if you don’t mind… I would like to speak to you. Privately.”

Chapter Text

Paya paused. King Dorephan wanted to speak with her? Why? She glanced over at the Hero, who seemed to be considering something- probably the current situation. Then he shrugged, waved at her, and walked off, leaving her alone with the Zora King.

There was a brief period of silence as Paya regarded King Dorephan warily while he seemed to wait, perhaps for her to speak. But when she didn’t, he spoke instead.

“Please, there is no need to be so on edge. I only wish to speak with you.”

She squinted at him suspiciously.

“You are travelling with Link, aren’t you? When Sidon rushed in here, he told me he had found two Hylians who were willing to help… and Link does seem to be just that. But you haven’t said a word.”

Paya crossed her arms and waited for him to get to the point.

“Hmph. Not much of a talker… not too dissimilar from Link, in fact. Ah, but that doesn’t matter now. Traveller, if you don’t wish to face the Divine Beast, I will not think less of you.”

Paya blinked. That wasn’t what she’d expected him to say at all.

“It is dangerous. I would not ask you to risk your life for us, especially now that Link has volunteered. You are welcome to wait in the Domain for as long as you need, if you wish to wait here while Link faces Ruta.”

“No,” she said, tilting her head up to face King Dorephan. “I’ll go with him.”

It’d be pretty hard to stop him from here, she added silently.

“Hm…” King Dorephan mused. “You must care for him a great deal, to accept such a mission in spite of your earlier hesitation. My daughter cared for him deeply, as well. And you…”

He leaned forward, examining her. Paya resisted the urge to tug her hood down further- that would be incredibly suspicious.

“You remind me of someone,” he concluded, “and yet I am not sure who. Someone I met long ago, perhaps. Ah, but that is not important now. Your courage and dedication are admirable. You have my deepest gratitude for offering to help protect my home.”

Paya tilted her head down, hiding her expression. Hopefully he’d assume she was merely being bashful.

“You ought to go to the square down below. If Link and Sidon have convinced Muzu to do his duty, he’ll know where to find shock arrows. I didn’t see you or Link carrying bows, although I know that Sheikah Slate can store items… if you are in need, feel free to take some Silver Bows from our armory.”

“Thanks,” Paya muttered, hoping the can I go now? came across through her tone.

“Be careful,” King Dorephan said, voice grave. “And tell Link to be careful as well. Too much has been lost to the Calamity already. I doubt I could bear another loss… I am unsure if anyone can.”

A chill ran down Paya’s spine, and she shivered. There was something about what he’d said- maybe his tone, or his words- that had deeply unsettled her. She turned to leave.

“Oh! One more thing.”

She resisted the urge to groan, and turned back around to find King Dorephan once again regarding her closely, as if looking for something.

“You are a Sheikah, aren’t you?”

“U-um,” she started, and then shuddered once, regaining her composure. “I… I am.”

He nodded sagely. “Yes… I suspected as much. A Sheikah warrior… that is familiar to me indeed. It will not make much difference against Ruta, but… it gladdens me to see someone like you travelling with Link. A fine reminder that not all is lost.”

Unsure how to answer, Paya nodded politely and made a quick exit. Even the heavy rain was preferable to… whatever that had been.

She made her way back to the square, being careful not to slip on the stairs this time. When she arrived, Muzu, Sidon, and the Hero were gathered in front of the statue of Champion Mipha, conversing. As she drew closer, she realized the Hero was wearing the Zora Armor.

…It was a perfect fit.

“You have always disliked Hylians, even before the Great Calamity. That is why Mipha never told you,” Sidon was saying. “Now that you know, you must promise to help him save us all, Muzu. Please... Tell us where we can find the shock arrows we need. Knowing you, I bet you have already figured it out.”

“Hmph. I never would have imagined she would make that special armor for one such as he…” Muzu trailed off.

Oh. So it was like that. She hadn’t known the Hero and Champion Mipha had been so… close. And, considering the Hero’s amnesia, he likely hadn’t known either. That must have been an interesting revelation.

Muzu harrumphed. “I do not approve of asking for help from a Hylian, but I suppose it is our only option at this point. I am a proud Zora. That means I must take responsibility for my unwarranted behaviour toward you. As promised, I shall tell you where you can collect as many shock arrows as you will need. That tall mountain over yonder…”

He pointed northeast, where Paya could see a faint silhouette through the fog. “It is called Ploymus Mountain, and there you will also find Shatterback Point. A terrifying creature has made its home up there. This awful beast shoots volley after volley of shock arrows. Even a single one could be fatal to a Zora.”

Sidon gasped. “You must mean that Lynel! He is a man-beast, that one! That beast does indeed wield shock arrows. That is certainly one way to collect them quickly. He is vicious, to be sure. But I am certain Link will rise to the challenge.”

“Hi,” Paya said.

“Ah! You are here as well! I meant no offense- of course, I am sure that you too are capable.”

“In order to appease the Divine Beast, I estimate that you will need… hmm... at least twenty shock arrows.” Muzu looked her and the Hero over critically. “Do you think you can gather that many? It should be easier with two of you.”

Paya wondered how exactly they were meant to collect these shock arrows. Was Muzu suggesting they defeat the Lynel? That would be no easy task. Then again, if this Lynel was prone to target practice- or to shooting at live targets and missing- there could be shock arrows lying around its territory, which could be scavenged without too much difficulty. So really, the answer to his question was it depends.

“Why do you still doubt, Muzu? I am sure these two will be triumphant!”

Sidon’s faith in them was nice, though.

He turned away from Muzu to face her and the Hero. “Okay, you two, let’s get moving! The fastest way to Ploymus Mountain is to ascend the waterfall east of the domain! That Zora armor should come in handy. Just swim to the waterfall basin, and then go up the waterfall from there!”

“How am I supposed to get up?” She asked. His face fell briefly, before lighting back up again.

“Us Zora are capable of carrying Hylians like yourselves up waterfalls on our backs! It would be too dangerous for me to face a Lynel wielding shock arrows, I’m afraid, and so I cannot bring you there, but perhaps you can cling to Link’s back as he uses the Zora Armor?”

“Uh,” Paya said, which Sidon seemed to take as an acceptance. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Muzu bury his face in his hands.

 “I'll wait at East Reservoir Lake, right by the Divine Beast,” Sidon said. “Gather at least twenty shock arrows, and then come join me!”

“We’re on it!” responded the Hero, somehow matching Sidon’s enthusiasm.

“Wonderful! Together we shall stop that Divine Beast's onslaught!”

“My Prince,” Muzu put in, sounding tired, “it may be difficult to tell in the rain, but it is nearly nightfall. Please do not venture all the way to East Reservoir Lake now.”

“Ah,” Sidon said. “In that case, we shall stop that Divine Beast’s onslaught tomorrow!”

“Better,” Muzu grumbled, before pointing to a nearby building. “That is the Seabed Inn. It hasn’t had many customers lately, so you should have no trouble renting beds.”

“I could go with you, if you’d like,” Sidon suggested. “I can get you the beds for free, should that be necessary.”

Paya frowned at him. “Didn’t you just say that they don’t get a lot of business?”

“Ah. That is true! They could use the rupees. But I am sure, once you succeed, that visitors will return, and their rupees with them!”

“I can pay,” the Hero said. “It’s fine.”

“Oh,” Sidon said. “Well! In that case, I shall see you tomorrow! Or possibly the day after that, depending on how long it takes you to gather those shock arrows. Remember, meet me at East Reservoir Lake!”

“Good luck,” Muzu added.

The two Zora left, presumably off to their own beds. Did Zora have beds? Come to think of it, Paya was pretty sure they slept in pools. The beds in the inn must be solely used for the benefit of visitors, then. No wonder business was slow.

The Hero checked something on the Slate, probably the time. Muzu had said it was nearly nightfall, which wasn’t actually very late, but it had been a long day. She was definitely ready to collapse into a bed.

In fact, she was so ready to rest she walked off to the inn on her own. If the Hero wanted to examine the Slate in the rain, that was his choice, but she wasn’t going to stand there watching him. And yet, when she reached the inn, she found him suddenly beside her, so apparently he hadn’t wanted to let her walk off on her own.

There was a Zora just inside the inn. The innkeeper, maybe? Or an employee? She looked up as they entered.

“Oh, hello! Welcome to the Seabed Inn. Here we-”

She stopped, staring.

“...Could it be? Linny?! It is! It’s Linny!”

She grinned, leaping closer, attention focused solely on the Hero. Linny was… a nickname for him, then? Paya could see how it would be derived from his name, but it was sort of childish, wasn’t it?

“Wait, but… I thought you and Mipha... fell to Calamity Ganon. And if you’ve been alive all this time, where have you been? What have you been doing? Please, tell me!”

“Uh,” the Hero said, cringing backwards. Ah. He wouldn’t remember this Zora, would he, even though she clearly knew him. It seemed that Zora’s Domain was full of awkward situations for him.

The Zora’s face fell, clearly recognizing that he was uncomfortable, and she leaned back, giving him more space. “...Oh, I’m sorry... I’m an adult, and yet here I am, making a ruckus. We’ve both been through a lot, I’m sure. If you don't mind, I’d like to catch up sometime soon.”

After a moment, the Hero smiled at her. “I’d like that, too.”

Paya coughed into her fist.

“Ah! My apologies.” The Zora turned to her. “My name is Kodah. Welcome to the Seabed Inn. Is there anything you need?”

“Two beds,” the Hero told her.

“You should speak to my husband, Kayden, then,” Kodah said. “Oh, Linny, I’m… married to Kayden, now. We have a daughter, Finley, and we’re all very happy, and I’m… sorry that I asked you... to choose between me and Mipha, before. I see you’re wearing her Zora Armor… anyway. Kayden handles renting the beds.”

“...Okay,” the Hero said, looking kind of overwhelmed. Which was fair. It seemed like everyone he talked to here had an intense personal history with him.

“How much are the beds?” Paya asked. The Hero shot her a look that might have been relief, probably for changing the subject and taking Kodah’s attention away from him.

“The regular ones are twenty rupees, and the blissful water beds are eighty rupees.”

Paya briefly wondered what a blissful water bed was, and then decided it didn’t matter.

“Hey,” the Hero said, handing her two red rupees. “Can you rent the beds for me? I need to take a walk.”

Paya took them, but hesitated before letting the Hero leave. It was clear why he’d want to go, but… “I doubt you’ll find anyone out there who doesn’t know you.”

He sighed. “Probably. But I can hope, right?”

“I suppose,” she muttered, and he left.

Kodah cleared her throat, drawing Paya’s attention. “Is Linny alright?”

“He probably just wants to clear his head,” she responded.

“Oh.” Kodah looked relieved. “I was worried… I thought he was dead for so long, and now he’s back, only to leave again so quickly. Say, are you travelling together?”

“...Yes.”

“I know it’s a lot to ask, but… could you take care of Linny for me? He’s very dear to me… he’s very dear to a lot of people. We’ve already lost him once… it would comfort me, if someone was looking out for him.”

“Sure,” Paya said, uneasy. There wasn’t a polite way to turn a request like that down.

“Thank you,” Kodah said, voice soft and heavy with feeling, and Paya nodded once and hurried past her, to where there would hopefully be a less emotionally loaded conversation.

It was interesting that the Inn had its front desk in the second of its two rooms, but she was thankful for the strange choice in the moment, as it got her out of talking to Kodah any further. Behind the desk was a Zora, presumably Kodah’s husband Kayden. He didn’t seem to be paying attention when she walked in, so perhaps he hadn’t overheard the earlier exchange, which was lucky- unlike the Hero, she didn’t have a history here, and could theoretically have a normal conversation. She tapped the desk, and his eyes flicked to her.

“Ah! Welcome to the Seabed Inn! Would you like to rest here?”

“Yes,” she said, offering him the rupees the Hero had given her. “One bed for me, and one for my travelling companion- he’s outside right now, but he’ll be here later.”

“Alright,” Kayden responded, taking the rupees. “This is enough for two normal beds. Pick whichever you like. What’s your companion’s name?”

She blinked. “Why?”

“So I can reserve a bed for him, of course. Though there aren’t many Hylians about, so it’d be difficult to pick the wrong one… still, it’s the principle of it.”

“His name is Link,” Paya told him. The name felt strange in her mouth. Had she ever said the Hero’s name out loud before? She couldn’t remember.

Kadyen paused for a moment, visibly surprised. He definitely hadn’t overheard his wife’s conversation with them. “I… see! I’ll reserve a bed for him. Thank you for your business.”

She didn’t bother responding, instead falling onto the nearest bed. After a moment, she sat up and took her boots off. It would be nice to change into dry clothes, but she couldn’t risk taking off her hood- even if she had dry clothes to change into, which she didn’t. But at least she had a bed, and the promise of several hours of rest. It wasn’t much, but she’d take what she could get.

Now that she wasn’t in it, the sound of the rain was strangely soothing. There wasn’t much rain in Gerudo Desert, but her current circumstances- being curled up on a bed, listening to rain hit the roof- felt familiar, somehow. Kakariko Village was right on the border of Lanayru, where it rained fairly frequently, and so even if she didn’t remember it, it was quite likely the rain had soothed her to sleep before.

It was… nice. The nostalgic feeling reminded her of eating the Hero’s Sanke Carp Soup. Before she’d started travelling with the Hero, she hadn’t remembered enough about Kakariko to miss it, but at that moment, listening to the rain, she found herself craving Sanke Carp, with a horrible feeling in her chest that felt, uncomfortably, like longing.

Chapter Text

Paya woke up in what she assumed to be the morning- but as the rain was still pouring, it was hard to tell. She felt well-rested, at least. And there was a delicious smell in the air.

Given the lack of walls and the cooking pot she’d seen in the previous room, the Hero was probably cooking. He’d gone to bed after her and woken up before her? Had she overslept, or had he underslept?

When she entered the room, he was by the cooking pot, as she’d expected, and was chatting with Kodah and Kayden, who were each holding a bowl of whatever he was making. He was also wearing a new set of greaves that matched his Zora Armor.

Paya checked that her hood was up and walked over, where she was greeted with a nod from Kayden, a smile from Kodah, and a bowl of food from the Hero.

“Morning,” he said, settling down with a bowl for himself. “It’s clam chowder.”

“It’s the best clam chowder I’ve ever had, in fact,” Kayden added. Kodah laughed.

“You were always a wonderful cook, Linny, but this is really something!”

The Hero shrugged, looking bashful. Paya tried the clam chowder, which was every bit as delicious as the Zora had implied. She hummed approvingly, which only caused him to look more flustered.

“Say, Link,” Kayden said. “You arrived very late compared to your companion here- whatever were you doing?”

“Just looking around,” the Hero said, shrugging. “I met some people. Explored the Shrine. I showed a picture of a Lynel to this one Zora and she gave me these greaves, which was nice of her.”

That gave Paya pause. “Why did you have a picture of a Lynel?”

“Oh, you know,” he responded, making a vague gesture. She did not, in fact, know, but she supposed it didn’t really matter.

“Seems like you’ve been busy, Linny,” Kodah commented, half-smiling. “I wish you’d stay a little longer, but I’m sure you’ve found something to do.”

“...Yeah,” the Hero said, staring out the window. “I have.”

The rest of the meal was eaten mostly in silence. It seemed that the Hero hadn’t filled the Zoras in on what he was going to do exactly, but they could tell it was serious… it could even be fatal, if luck was on Paya’s side.

Kayden returned to his desk when he was done, but Kodah stayed, making occasional small talk until breakfast was over and they were ready to go.

“Linny,” she called out as they were leaving, and the Hero paused in the doorway. “Good luck.”

He nodded wordlessly, stepped out into the rain, and off they went.

It seemed the Hero had become more familiar with the Domain during his excursion yesterday, as he confidently led the way through the Square, up the stairs, and around to a bridge that ended only a short ways away from a waterfall. Presumably the one Sidon had told them to find.

“…So,” he said, as they looked up at it, “do you think clinging to my back would actually work?”

“I don’t know,” she said, trying not to blush and failing miserably. “At least go up it yourself first, to see how it works.”

“That’s fair,” he said, and dove into the water. Moments later he was swimming up the waterfall- it was faster than she’d expected, and he was quickly at the top, at which point he jumped back down, using his paraglider to break the fall. She giggled when he landed- his hair had been swept back and thoroughly soaked, leaving him with a decidedly unflattering hairstyle.

“I think I could carry someone,” he told her, glancing over at the waterfall as if to make sure. “Do you think you could hold on?”

Paya processed that. The Hero was asking her to cling to his back so that he could carry her up a waterfall. This was genuinely happening. And most shocking of all, she was pretty sure this actually was the most logical solution to the situation.

“Yes,” she sighed, burying her face in her hands. “Yes, I think I can hold on.”

“Okay,” he said, an odd note in his voice. When she glanced up, he was looking away- and although it was hard to tell in the rain, she thought he might have been blushing as well.

It was nice to feel like they were of the same opinion about the plan, but that didn’t make actually doing it any less mortifying. She ended up with her arms around his neck and her legs wrapped around his torso, which felt secure enough. In the small part of her mind that wasn’t dying of embarrassment, she noted that she could strangle him very easily from her position, but well, that hadn’t worked the last time she tried it.

The Hero asked if she was good to go and she muttered an affirmative- luckily, being behind him, he couldn’t see how red her face was- and then he leapt into the waterfall.

Paya had expected it to be unpleasant, going against such a strong current, but it was instead exhilarating. They were ascending the waterfall with ease, no doubt due to the magic of the Zora Armor, and for a brief moment, she felt unstoppable.

And then they reached the top, and upon looking forward, she saw the second waterfall.

“Oh,” she said. Abruptly, she realized her hood had fallen down while climbing the first waterfall, but she supposed there wasn’t much point in fixing it now.

“You can just hang on,” the Hero said, swimming towards the next waterfall. “My map says there’s another one after this.”

“You knew,” she said, accusatorily.

He shrugged- she could feel it. “Sorry for not mentioning it earlier, but I figured, if you’re okay with one waterfall…”

“Fine,” she muttered, as they reached the base of the second waterfall. “But just so you know, I am not doing this again.”

He laughed, and she could feel that, too. “Got it.”

And he dove into the waterfall.

Now that she knew what to expect, she could properly enjoy the experience. The water was spraying into her face, and the wind was rushing past her, and some part of her wanted to ask the Hero if he could go faster. When they reached the top, he set her down- it seemed there was a slight walk to the next waterfall- and then he stopped, staring at her.

“What?” She asked, resisting the urge to neaten her hair. His was similarly wet and tangled by the wind, so it really wasn’t his place to judge, if that was why he was looking at her like that.

“You’re smiling,” he told her. “I haven’t seen you do that before. Not… like that, anyway.”

Paya blinked, noting absently that she was, indeed, smiling. Climbing that waterfall had been fun. She hadn’t realized that would show on her face. She certainly hadn’t expected him to notice it.

“Well- anyways,” he said, turning away. “It’s this way.”

She followed, staying one step behind him. The day had been… interesting so far, and it wasn’t even halfway done yet. If she ever told this story to anyone, she’d be omitting a lot of it. Especially the part about climbing onto the Hero’s back. Which, as they had reached the base of the third waterfall, it seemed it was time to do so again.

“Tell me this is the last one,” she said.

“This is the last one,” the Hero responded, sounding equally reassuring and amused.

He dove in again. As he swam up the waterfall, Paya unhooked an arm from around his neck, and stretched out to feel the spray of the water more directly. She wondered if Zora felt this sense of wonder every time, or if they’d become numb to it. It was hard to imagine ever getting used to something as incredible as swimming up a waterfall, but she supposed it would be far less novel to a Zora than it would be to her.

They reached the top, and Paya climbed off of the Hero, for hopefully the final time. He checked the Slate and walked off, presumably in the direction they needed to go. But-

“Wait,” she called after him, and surprisingly enough, he stopped. Wordlessly, she pointed to a nearby tree, with a shock arrow stuck in its base. Even as she walked towards it, she noticed more, shot into several nearby trees.

The Hero retrieved all the ones she pointed out, all while nervously looking around- understandable, given that they were in a Lynel’s territory. Paya glanced around nervously a few times herself, but it seemed that the Lynel wasn’t too nearby. It was probably farther up the mountain. Which didn’t exactly soothe her nerves.

When the Hero was done checking over the area for shock arrows, they continued up, collecting more shock arrows on the way. There were quite a few of them. Paya would have liked it if there were enough discarded arrows to leave without risking a direct encounter with the Lynel, but there weren’t, so they continued going up.

Then they reached… well, not the top of the mountain, but pretty close to it. It was a wide, flat area, with the mountain’s peak visible on the side directly across from them. There was a scattering of trees and small rocks, all with shock arrows buried in them, a few shallow pools of water from the rain, and, of course, the Lynel.

It’s back was turned, having not noticed them yet. That was good. She could see the quiver it carried, doubtless full of shock arrows, but there were surely enough scattered around the area that they could gather enough without needing the ones the Lynel had on its body.

The Hero crept forward, every movement tense, and pulled some arrows from the nearest tree. They made a crackling noise as they were dislodged, which had been quiet enough not to care about earlier, but now seemed terrifyingly loud.

The Lynel began turning towards them. She wasn’t sure if it had heard the noise or if it just happened to be turning around at the worst moment- either way, the end result would be the same if they didn’t move.

The Hero leapt towards the nearest large rock, pressing his back against it, and Paya lunged after him, losing sight of the Lynel just moments before it would have had sight of her.

She heard its heavy steps as it drew closer, and the scrape of metal as it drew a weapon. She stayed deathly still, not daring to breathe, and watched as the Hero did the same.

After a long moment, the Lynel snorted- it sounded uncomfortably close- and then there was the scrape of metal again, and finally, the sound of heavy steps fading as it walked away. They’d been lucky- it must have assumed it had imagined them, or that the noise had just been an animal, or something along those lines. She doubted they would get that lucky again.

Carefully, Paya peered around the edge of the rock, and saw the Lynel was near the center of the area, which was still a bit too close for comfort. She drew back behind cover and turned to find the Hero staring directly at her, eyes wide and hands shaking.

He must have been terrified as well.

He took a deep breath, visibly relaxing as he exhaled, and slumped back against the rock before turning a bit to face her again.

“You looked,” he said, simply. She nodded, and he hesitated before speaking again. “Weren’t you scared?”

She considered lying to him, but couldn’t see a point to it. “I was, but I’d rather look and know where it is than stay still and wonder.”

He nodded, though the motion was a little shaky. After a moment, he pulled up the Slate, and showed her its display- she assumed the point he was trying to get across was how many shock arrows they had, and therefore how many more they needed. What had Muzu said? At least twenty? Based on the quick look she’d gotten of the area earlier, there were about twenty scattered around this plateau alone, but getting them would be easier said than done.

The Hero pulled the Slate back, clipping it to his belt. He looked at her strangely, and then said, “You’re an assassin, right?”

“...Yes,” she responded. It was obviously a rhetorical question, but she wasn’t sure where he was going with it.

“So you’re… stealthy. I mean, you snuck up on me…”

“Oh,” she said, suddenly realizing exactly where he was going with this. “You want me to get the shock arrows.”

He looked at her, and he seemed miserable. Was it from the fear that drove him to think of this plan, or from the guilt for asking this of her? Either way, he nodded, no matter how unhappy he looked about it.

She chanced a look around the rock again. The Lynel had moved to the opposite side of the area. It was farther away than it had been when it nearly noticed them a few minutes ago, so it was theoretically safer now to get out from behind the rock and try to gather shock arrows.

And she was experienced with being stealthy. Certainly more than the Hero was.

“Okay,” she muttered, ducking back behind the rock, “I’ll do it.”

Chapter Text

Many things were easier said than done. Like killing the Hero, or fighting a Divine Beast, or gathering shock arrows in a Lynel’s territory without being noticed.

But she’d said she would, and the sooner she did it the sooner they could leave and go somewhere less stressful- somewhere with hopefully less risk of death.

Then again, Paya did want the Hero dead, so perhaps she should have refused, and sent him out instead. But without the stealth training that she had, he was more likely to be noticed, and so she’d surely be noticed too. While she was willing to die for her cause, she’d certainly prefer not to.

Besides, she had told Kodah that she’d take care of him only yesterday. It wasn’t a promise she intended to keep, but she’d prefer not to break it less than a full day after she made it.

So she slipped out from behind the rock, keeping her steps light. Her uniform would have been better for this, or even the Sheikah-made stealth armor the Hero had. But there hadn’t been an opportunity to change, so she’d have to make do with the leather boots and Hylian armor she was wearing instead.

She eased the nearest shock arrow out of a tree as gently as possible, hoping to minimize the crackling noise it made. It seemed successful- it barely buzzed, and she collected more from the same tree and a few from nearby rocks.

She could see more arrows stuck high up in the trunks of the trees, including the one she was right next to, but climbing up to them would be impossible in the rain. As if to punctuate her thoughts, thunder boomed in the distance. So it was storming now. That was… both good and bad. The increased noise would help obscure whatever sounds she made, but if lightning happened to strike near her, that could easily draw the Lynel’s attention, and then she’d be as good as dead.

Luckily, the initial bolt of lightning was in the direction the Lynel was already facing- away from her. She could see it tilt its head in the direction of the flash of light, but it didn’t seem too bothered. As long as lightning didn’t strike a tree while she was pulling shock arrows from it, she’d probably be fine.

She darted behind another large rock, basking in the brief feeling of safety before abandoning her cover to scramble up the stone and collect the shock arrows there. She counted them quickly- she only needed a few more.

Paya glanced back in the direction of the rock she knew the Hero was hiding behind. At this angle, she couldn’t see him. She wondered what he was doing back there. Cowering, possibly. He had certainly seemed terrified enough. He hadn’t even been that scared when she was trying to murder him!

Not that she wasn’t still trying to murder him. She just wasn’t actively working towards that goal at the moment.

She slid down the rock as silently as possible, landing beside another tree with yet more arrows in it. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the Lynel turning, and did the only thing she could think of- leap behind the tree and make herself as small as possible.

When she wasn’t skewered by arrows, she peeked around the trunk and saw that the Lynel had simply wandered away. It either hadn’t seen her or had thought she was a rock, obscured as she was. She didn’t bother relaxing her muscles- there was still reason to be very tense.

She slipped around the edge of the area, collecting more arrows from trees as she went, until she was directly across from where she’d started. The Lynel had wandered back to the middle of the area, and had yet to notice her, although it was glancing around more and more frequently. Clearly it knew that something was off, but it didn’t seem to be sure what.

That was bad. If it was listening closely, there wasn’t much she could do to avoid detection. If she had talismans, that wouldn’t be an issue, but she didn’t, so she’d just have to make do.

Paya moved as quietly as possible towards the nearest shock arrow, holding her breath while pulling it from the tree it was embedded in. It made the same soft crackle as the others had, and she didn’t dare look at the Lynel to see if it had noticed- just kept creeping forward.

Lightning struck somewhere on the peak behind her. Instinctively, Paya turned to look at it, and while this would usually be quite an unprofessional mistake, she found that in this particular instance it was actually very fortunate- as it was this turn that allowed her to see the Lynel drawing its sword, eyes already locked on her.

Shit.

She gave up subtlety entirely, sprinting towards the nearest cover, which happened to be a boulder. The Lynel was similarly unsubtle, roaring loudly before charging at her. It swept its sword in a wide arc as it neared, and she dove under it, rolling back onto her feet in a smooth motion only to keep running.

There was no real point in running from a Lynel, and most people knew that. If, by some miracle, you got far enough away that it couldn’t cleave you in half with its sword, it would simply shoot you instead, and Lynels had famously pinpoint accuracy.

But most people ran anyway. It at least let you live a little longer. Gave you a little more time to hope for that miracle, that somehow you’d be saved, that somehow you’d survive.

Paya lunged to the side as it charged at her, landing in one of the small pools, which would have soaked her if not for the way being in the torrential rain already had. It did remind her of how heavy her clothes were, weighed down with water, as she scrambled to her feet, turning to find that the Lynel had drawn its bow.

Which was bad.

It aimed directly at her feet, which on one hand was better than shooting at her face, and on the other hand was really bad, considering she was currently standing in a pool of water.

Arrows moved faster than Paya did, but she tried her best to hurl herself out of the way of the inevitable shock. She made it farther than she had expected to, and landed on- relatively- dry ground, but she wasn’t far enough.

The rain certainly hadn’t helped.

The shock wasn’t as bad as it could have been- it hurt, and her limbs briefly locked up, leaving her collapsed on the ground with every muscle aching- but it could have been worse.

She heard the fizzling of shock arrows and, as she pushed herself up with shaking arms onto her hands and knees, she saw the Lynel aiming at her. Her odds of hurling herself out of the way of this shot were… not great, but she had to try.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone- the Hero, surely- sprinting forward. She wondered, in some small corner of her mind, if he wanted to get the shock arrows while the Lynel was distracted. Another small part of her wondered if he was trying to save her.

Most of her focused on getting out of the way. She tried to push herself up, and found that maybe the shock had been pretty bad after all- it felt like her limbs weren’t responding right. Too twitchy and too heavy to move.

The next moments felt like they happened in slow motion, despite only taking a few seconds. The Lynel fired the shot it had been aiming. One of her arms gave out from under her, leaving her entirely prone. She turned to face the Lynel- better to face death head on- and saw the approaching light of the shock arrows, which was almost immediately blocked out by a dark shape- the Hero, shield raised.

She doubted she’d ever forget the sound the shield made when the arrows struck it. It was a Traveller’s Shield, a common and fairly weak wooden model that was popular with, well, travellers, as it was easy to make. But it was not nearly powerful enough to withstand being hit with three shock arrows hitting it at once.

It splintered apart, wooden shards flying everywhere, and it sounded almost more like shattering glass than breaking wood. And yet, miraculously, the Hero seemed unharmed.

He held a Silver Sword in his other hand, and as the remains of the Traveller’s Shield fell off his arm, he tapped the Slate and summoned a Silver Shield to replace it. Lightning flashed behind him, illuminating his features, and she found that he looked incredibly intimidating.

Thankfully, he wasn’t looking at her.

The Lynel roared, recognizing a challenger, and the Hero charged forward to meet it in what would doubtlessly be a fierce battle.

Paya didn’t pay much attention to that battle. She was more focused on picking herself up, which involved forcing her shaking limbs to cooperate, followed by gathering the shock arrows she’d dropped. She counted them quickly as she picked them up, and, when combined with the arrows the Hero had in the Slate already, it seemed they had enough. They could, theoretically, leave right now.

She glanced back to where the Hero was facing the Lynel, just in time to see him perform a perfect backflip and rush in under the Lynel’s guard when he landed. He was fast- far faster than she’d realized. By the time the Lynel had reacted, forcing him to leap back, he’d left several nasty-looking gouges in its chest. Lynels were more durable than people. If the Hero had pulled that move on her, she’d have been minced meat.

There wasn’t time to dwell on that, though. The Lynel had jumped back and begun shooting fireballs, and even if she was no longer its main target, she was definitely still in danger. She made for the cover of the nearest boulder, taking a moment to check on how the Hero was faring before she ducked behind it. He had his shield out, presumably to block any fireballs if necessary, but he seemed to be doing pretty well dodging them.

Hidden behind the rock, she recalled her earlier hope that the Lynel would kill the Hero for her. She supposed that was still possible- the fight had only just begun- but the thought sat heavily in her chest. If the Lynel killed the Hero, her mission would be complete, and she was fairly sure she could pick her way down the mountain and into Akkala from where she was. But the idea of the Hero getting killed by the Lynel, especially considering he was only fighting it after saving her- it felt wrong.

A cracking sound interrupted her train of thought, and she looked around the boulder again to see the Hero getting thrown off the Lynel’s back, the hilt of the Silver Sword still clutched in his hand while most of the blade was snapped off, embedded between the Lynel’s shoulderblades.

He hit the ground hard, and she winced in sympathy, but he was up again a moment later, retrieving another sword from the Slate- she recognized the Eightfold Blade he’d used against her- and then the Lynel charged at him again, blocking her view.

She didn’t bother ducking back into cover. The Lynel was clearly occupied with the Hero, and even if it did notice her, he’d surely get its attention back quickly enough.

So she watched.

It was awe-inspiring, watching the Hero fight the Lynel. Like a dance, almost, with his every move perfectly countering whatever the Lynel chose to do; a call and response. The Lynel sliced at him, and he backflipped over it. The Lynel charged at him, and he leapt nimbly to the side. The Lynel breathed fire, and he took the opportunity to shoot it in the head, rush forwards, and climb onto its back, where it could do nothing but try to shake him off while he attacked it.

Clearly, the Hero had done this before. Many times. And yet, she thought of how he had looked behind the rock, shaking and frightened, asking her to go into danger he couldn’t bear to face.

The Hero had done this before, but she didn’t think he remembered that.

He was thrown off the Lynel’s back again- it seemed there wasn’t a perfect counter for that- but he got to his feet much quicker than he had the last time, and was back into the fight immediately. The Lynel was starting to look weary, Malice flaking out of its open wounds. At this rate, it’d probably disintegrate soon, which meant that the next few moments were the most dangerous. Monsters grew reckless when threatened.

Lightning flashed, briefly reflecting off of something on the ground- the broken hilt of the Silver Sword. There was some blade still attached, and the broken edge would be sharp. It could still be a weapon, even if it wouldn’t be as effective as it was before.

Paya considered going to get it. It would be nice to have a weapon again, and it would be helpful to be armed while the Hero was fighting the Lynel. She could help, if necessary. But she shouldn’t. She shouldn’t even have been considering it.

So she stayed still, watching the Hero fight for his life and doing nothing about it.

The Lynel was vicious in its last moments- First, it managed to actually charge into the Hero and send him sprawling, causing Paya to lurch forwards before stopping herself-  but the Hero swiftly got back up again, so it hadn’t really mattered. Then, it swung quickly enough that the Hero couldn’t leap out of the way, but his shield prevented him from being cleaved in two, and he staggered only briefly before attacking again. Really, Paya wasn’t needed at all. There would be no reason for her to help.

The Lynel caught him off guard with a fireball, but the rain put him out quickly enough. The Lynel hurled him to the ground, but he got back up. The Lynel nearly skewered him, but he moved out of the way just in time.

Finally, it collapsed, bursting into smoke as its weapons clattered to the ground. The Hero stood over its remains, cutting an impressive silhouette- and then he dropped his own weapons and leaned forward to brace his hands on his knees, making it suddenly obvious that he was exhausted.

Paya slipped out of hiding, pausing at the broken hilt of the Silver Sword. The Hero was tired; he wouldn’t be expecting her to- but… he was tired because he’d saved her life. Surely she at least owed him this moment of peace.

Approaching the Hero, it seemed that he was breathing heavily, although whether that was from his emotional or physical exhaustion was unclear. He was trembling, just a little, and it reminded her of how he’d been earlier, trembling from fear. Now it seemed that he was shaking from relief at the sudden absence of it.

“Hey,” Paya greeted, as quietly as possible. She didn’t want to startle him. “I got the shock arrows.”

He laughed, but it wasn’t an amused laugh- more of the laugh of someone who was feeling a lot of emotions and wasn’t sure what to do with them- and then sat down, either oblivious to or uncaring of the fact that he’d been standing in a pool of water.

He gestured to the Lynel’s quiver, lying with the rest of its weapons. “I got some, too.”

He laughed again. This time it sounded more disbelieving than anything.

“Well,” she muttered, grabbing the Lynel’s shock arrows and counting them up, “we definitely have enough now.”

“Definitely,” he agreed, taking them from her and storing them in the Slate. “Thank you for getting them.”

“Uh-huh,” Paya muttered.

He took a deep breath, leaning forward and collecting the Lynel’s weapons as he spoke. “I’m sorry.”

Paya paused, replaying the statement in her mind. And then again, to make sure she hadn’t misheard him. “Huh?”

“I put you in danger,” he told her, turning to look her in the eyes. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

She shifted uncomfortably before sitting down beside him. “I did agree to it.”

“Yeah,” he shrugged, turning away, “but you’re kind of… I mean, I’m forcing you into being here. By holding you prisoner, and all.”

“You’re not doing a great job of it,” she mused. “What with risking your life saving me from the Lynel and all.”

“I wasn’t doing a great job even before that,” he said. “The second night after I met you- when we slept in Outskirt Stable. I thought I’d wake up and you’d be gone, but you weren’t.”

“I didn’t think I could get away,” she lied.

“I don’t think that’s true,” he said. “I assume you're still planning to try and kill me later, but… you haven’t yet. You haven’t done anything wrong since that first day, technically. I don’t… it doesn’t feel right, keeping you against your will.”

“Why did you even decide to do it, then?”

He groaned. “I don’t know. It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“Well,” she said, “you haven’t died yet, so in a way, it is working.”

“Maybe,” he muttered. “Maybe. I’m really doing a terrible job of keeping you prisoner, though. If you ran away right now, I wouldn’t chase you.”

She considered that. “Was there ever a time when you would have chased me?”

“...No,” he sighed, hanging his head. “Not really. It just- it seemed like a good idea at the time. And I couldn’t figure out a way to take it back.”

“I don’t mind,” she told him. “It’s not like you’ve been treating me poorly. And I would’ve followed you here either way.”

“To kill me,” he deadpanned.

She shrugged.

“Well,” he said, “now that I’ve told you I won’t stop you from leaving, I’m not sure you count as a prisoner anymore. You can keep travelling with me, if you want… for whatever reasons. But you could leave. You can.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Paya said, and he smiled at her.

“Happy to have you,” he said, standing and offering his hand to pull her up. “Hey, what’s your name?”

“Don’t push your luck,” she told him, and he laughed.

Chapter Text

At the top of Shatterback Point, there was a sign that read Jump at your own risk!

Which was obvious enough to Paya, but from the way the Hero was leaning over the edge, it seemed that putting that sign down had been a necessary precaution.

Despite the rain, the pink light of Vah Ruta was unmistakable- and even from this distance, it was clear that the Divine Beast was enormous. She didn’t find fighting it to be an appealing thought whatsoever, and yet, the Hero was still halfway off the cliff, all caution thrown to the wind. She assumed that the only thing that had stopped him from immediately leaping over the edge was not knowing where to go.

Sidon had said to meet him at East Reservoir Lake, but the lake was huge, and it had several docks. He’d probably meant the dock nearest to Zora’s Domain, but it was impossible to be sure.

Well, mostly impossible. The Hero had the Slate activated, and was using its scope feature to look at the area closer than one could with the naked eye. Given that Sidon was bright red, he was easy enough to pick out with the increased magnification, and the Hero let out a triumphant “Aha!” shortly after he started looking.

Paya’s guess was right- Sidon was waiting at the end of the dock nearest to Zora’s Domain. Or so the Hero said, anyway. When he pointed it out, Paya could barely make out the dock itself, let alone anyone standing on it. She’d have to take the Hero’s word for it.

Despite now knowing his destination, the Hero didn’t seem too enthused. He’d put down the Slate, now holding his paraglider, but he was frowning at it like it had personally offended him.

“What?” Paya asked, after the silence had stretched long enough to get uncomfortable. The Hero looked up at her like he was noticing her for the first time, and then tilted his head like he was examining her, or perhaps asking some silent question.

Wordlessly, he picked the Slate back up and turned back on, though he didn’t use the scope. Instead, he retrieved the shock arrows, placing them in his quiver, and after what looked like some consideration, he switched his Eightfold Blade with a gleaming Silverscale Spear. Considering the Silver Bow and Silver Shield already on his back, as well as the Zora Armor and greaves he was wearing, he seemed rather strongly themed for the task at hand.

As if to combat her thought, he retrieved something else from the Slate- a red bandana, which he used to tie his hair back. He looked over the Slate once more before turning it off, seemingly satisfied.

So, he was adequately prepared for facing Vah Ruta, or at least thought he was. And yet, he still did not move from his spot on the edge of Shatterback Point.

She wondered what would happen if he slipped. He’d probably catch himself with his paraglider, but it would be a truly anticlimactic way for him to go if he didn’t.

After a few moments, he reactivated the Slate, tapped it, and turned to her.

“I only have one paraglider,” he said, “and it can’t carry us both. And the Slate can only teleport one person at a time.”

“Okay,” Paya said questioningly. So they couldn’t leave the mountain together. What was his plan, then?

He held the Slate out to her, and her thoughts ground to a halt. She must have looked terribly foolish just staring at it, but he’d taken her completely off-guard. The Hero picked up one of her hands and pressed it to the Slate, and she unfroze, carefully taking it from him. The screen was lit up, with a Shrine selected- Ne'ez Yohma, the one in the middle of Zora’s Domain. A button had appeared, labelled Travel, and she could guess what that would do easily enough. But-

“Why?” She asked, looking away from the Slate to meet the Hero’s eyes. He’d just… handed her a priceless relic, one of the few pieces of Ancient Sheikah Technology still on his side. Handed to a Yiga. And when she’d failed to take it he’d put her hands on it himself! Why?

“So you can get to Zora’s Domain,” he said simply, as if it was inconsequential. He held up his paraglider, continuing, “I’ll glide down to the lake from here, and you can walk from the Domain. There’s stairs built into the dam.”

Paya distantly wondered how he knew there were stairs built into the dam, but most of her was still frozen in shock, running the last few seconds over in her mind. Was he really just- handing it to her? Really?

The Hero glanced over the lake to where Sidon was waiting for them, before turning back and meeting her eyes. “I’ll meet you there,” he said, then leapt off the edge, catching himself with the paraglider and gliding away.

Paya stared blankly after him, Sheikah Slate in her hands. After a moment, she shook herself, looking it over. The Slate… a precious relic, a piece of her people’s technology. It was surprisingly light, and it seemed smaller in her hands than it had looked in the Hero’s. Hesitantly, she tapped the map, causing the button the Hero had chosen to disappear and the map to expand. It was clearly a map of all of Hyrule, but it was incomplete, with some regions blank.

The nearest Shrine to Gerudo Desert, not counting the ones on the Great Plateau, was the one by Outskirt Stable. From Outskirt Stable… the Hero would never catch up to her in time, not without the Slate. She could take it back to the Yiga- not a successful assassination, maybe, but stealing the Sheikah Slate would be a success regardless.

She tapped the Shrine. Rota Ooh, the Slate told her, and the same Travel prompt appeared.

Below her, Vah Ruta cried out, a haunting sound. It rose somewhat from the lake, and Paya was suddenly sure the Hero and Sidon were already making their move, that they were facing off against the Divine Beast at that very moment.

She looked back down at the Slate. The Hero would need it to stop Vah Ruta, she was sure of that. Even if the shock arrows could temporarily disable it, Ancient Technology was resilient. Without the Slate, Vah Ruta would reactivate, and Zora’s Domain would inevitably be swept away. Zora could breathe underwater, but she doubted that they’d survive if the dam burst. Even as she stood there, the fate of an entire population in her hands, the Hero was fighting, just as he’d fought the Lynel- and what had she done then? Stood by and watched?

What had Kodah said?

I know it’s a lot to ask, but… could you take care of Linny for me?

It was incredibly foolish of her to agree to that, but she had, hadn’t she? Even if she’d been doing a pretty terrible job of keeping that promise so far.

Would it matter if she left now? No, of course it would. Of course. But couldn’t she leave now, anyways?

Shouldn’t she?

Paya looked back down at the Slate, with Rota Ooh Shrine still selected. Vah Ruta cried out again, and as she looked over to the lake, she saw a flash of yellow light strike it. The Hero, no doubt.

He’d said he’d meet her there. She hadn’t agreed.

She looked at the Slate again.

You can keep travelling with me, if you want… for whatever reasons. But you could leave. You can.

She hadn’t taken him up on that, either.

She tapped the map again, zooming it out to show all of Hyrule. She could still leave.

Your courage and dedication are admirable. You have my deepest gratitude for offering to help protect my home.

But maybe she shouldn’t.

She tapped the slate once more, disappearing in a swirl of blue light.

Chapter Text

Paya rematerialized on the platform of Ne’ez Yohma Shrine, in the middle of Zora’s Domain. It was disconcerting: she’d assumed teleporting with the Slate would feel similar to using talismans, but the sensations weren’t the same at all. She staggered, dizzy and off-balance.

The Divine Beast cried out in the distance.

Steadying herself, she stepped out of the alcove the Shrine was in. She glanced down at the Slate to see it had deactivated itself- she tapped the screen, but nothing happened.

Either she was doing something wrong, or it would only activate for the Hero. She supposed it didn’t matter at the moment, as she remembered the way to the dam. It was the same bridge they’d taken earlier to get to Ploymus Mountain.

Rushing through the Domain, she found it eerily quiet- wherever the Zora were, it wasn’t out in the open. The Divine Beast’s constant cries must have frightened them. Perhaps there was a safer area they’d evacuated to? Or maybe they were in the Throne Room, the highest accessible point of the Domain, for the best view of the battle against Vah Ruta.

She certainly felt like she was being watched as she left the Domain, taking a right as she stepped off the bridge and found the stairs built into the dam. They were just as slippery as the ones in the Domain had been, and as much as she would have liked to leap up them two at a time, she was instead forced to carefully climb, clinging to the railing all the while.

The cries of Vah Ruta echoed around her as she went. She couldn’t see anything from the staircase, but she hoped that was a good sign.

Finally, she made it to the top, stepping onto the dam just in time to catch a glimpse of bright yellow light, which must have been the Hero hitting a switch with a shock arrow- the last switch, it seemed, as the Divine Beast shuddered, crying out as its mechanical trunk fell into the lake. The water flow stuttered and then stopped as the entire Divine Beast seemed to shut down.

Squinting, she could just make out Sidon and the Hero in the water beside Vah Ruta. She pulled her hood up and ran to the edge of the pier, where she’d hopefully be more visible, and saw the distant shape of Sidon turning towards her even as the Hero began swimming towards the Divine Beast.

Sidon’s shape became less blurred as he swam towards her, cutting through the water with impressive speed. In only a few moments, he was right in front of her.

“Link says you have the Sheikah Slate,” he said, and she held it up in response. He nodded sharply. “You’ll need to bring that to Ruta, then. Quickly, get on my back- I’ll have us back over there as fast as I can.”

Twice in one day, what are the odds, Paya thought, but she did as asked, climbing onto Sidon’s back. He was off as soon as she was secure, and as he’d promised, they were soon approaching Vah Ruta. The Hero was already sitting on the side, looking perfectly at ease despite the situation.

“Here we are,” Sidon called out, and the Hero looked up, grinning when he saw her.

“You made it,” he said, which might have been a nice way of saying wow, you didn’t betray me!

“Nice job cutting off the water flow from this Divine Beast,” Sidon told the Hero, “but it looks like this is where the real work starts. Best of luck, and show the enemy no fear.”

Paya clambered off his back and onto Vah Ruta, and the Divine Beast rumbled, beginning to rise from the water. Sidon made no attempt to join the Hero and herself.

“I'll see you back at Zora's Domain.” Sidon began paddling backwards. “Farewell.”

He turned and dove underwater, and she immediately lost sight of him. She turned to face the Hero, finding him still smiling at her. He must’ve been happy to see her. Or just the Sheikah Slate.

Wordlessly, she offered it to him.

“Thank you,” he said softly. His fingers brushed hers as he took it from her hands, and she found herself looking away, blushing furiously. How embarrassing. Hopefully the Hero would be too busy looking at the Slate to notice.

She heard him walking away quickly enough, and turned to see him studying a glowing pedestal nearby. It looked quite similar to the ones outside Shrines, and she imagined its purpose was roughly the same. Indeed, when he touched the Slate to the pedestal, a blue sigil lit up on the floor. A Travel Point.

Abruptly, Paya felt very watched. Surreptitiously, she glanced around, but saw nobody- and yet, the feeling remained.

And then she heard the voice.

“You’re here.”

It echoed strangely, sounding like it was spoken from all around her. The tone, however, was easy to understand- soft, quiet, and undeniably happy. Whoever was speaking, they were very pleased.

The Hero made a choked-off noise, face pale. “Mipha?”

Ah, Paya thought. That made a horrible sort of sense.

“Link,” the spirit greeted, voice full of warmth. “And… your companion. I must say… that I am so happy to see that this day has finally arrived. Now Ruta can be freed of Ganon's control.”

“You’ve been waiting for me?” he whispered, face wracked with unidentifiable emotion.

“Not waiting,” the spirit corrected, “but hoping. I have held out faith that someone would come to rescue Ruta… and I am glad one of them was you. I’ve missed you terribly.”

“Mipha…” the Hero trailed off, but his anguish was obvious. Paya couldn’t imagine an easy way to explain his amnesia to the spirit of his fiance- no matter how it went, that would be a miserable conversation. Which she did not want to have at the moment.

“Hey,” she interjected, “maybe we should focus on the Divine Beast first, and the personal conversations later?”

“Maybe,” the Hero muttered.

“Very well,” the spirit acquiesced. “Though I ought to ask- who are you?”

Paya did not respond.

“She’s very private,” the Hero told the spirit.

“I… see,” the spirit said. “Well, then… You'll need a map to prevent you from getting lost. The Guidance Stone inside, to your left, contains the information that you will need.”

He nodded, stepping forward into Vah Ruta, and Paya trailed after him. There was a pile of Malice just ahead, but the Hero drew his spear and skewered the eye, dispelling it. There was a Guardian inside, as well- a small one. She was a bit taken aback by that, but the Hero seemed utterly unsurprised, destroying it with his spear as well.

Looking to her left, Paya could see the Guidance Stone the spirit had mentioned, but there was a gate in the way, coated in Malice. She tapped the Hero on the shoulder and pointed out the eye in the water, and a moment later he’d drawn his bow and dispelled that patch of Malice as well.

It was odd to see someone so cavalier about it. Yiga dispelled Malice all the time- just because they were loyal to Lord Ganon didn’t mean Malice wouldn’t hurt them- but there was usually some hesitation or respect to it, some acknowledgement that they were only dispelling the Malice in service of the larger goal of serving Lord Ganon, not as an act of rebellion against him.

The Hero, obviously, didn’t see it that way. There was no moment of regret after destroying a patch of Lord Ganon’s power- he simply moved on, using the Slate to summon a block of ice and push up the gate, making the Guidance Stone accessible.

He slotted the Slate into the Guidance Stone, and the spirit’s voice rang out again.

“Good! You've obtained the map of the Divine Beast. You will see several glowing points on your map which represent the terminals that control Ruta. Take Ruta back by activating all of the terminals.” And then, after a moment’s pause, “Be careful.”

The Hero removed the Slate from the pedestal, and sure enough, there was a map displayed on it, with five glowing points scattered around the Divine Beast. If she was reading the map correctly, there was one in the first room, but she hadn’t seen it.

She left the Hero studying the map as she checked over the room. There were several pools of water throughout, and on further inspection, there was what must have been a terminal submerged in one of them. There was a crank nearby, which she assumed would lift it out of the water, but it was above the pool- even if one had the strength to turn it, there wouldn’t be any way to get leverage.

The Hero walked over, and used the Slate to turn the crank. She’d seen him use that Rune for small objects before, but it was more impressive with something so large. And perhaps that was the point of having an enormous metal crank- to make the Sheikah Slate necessary.

Well, he probably could have swam down to the terminal if he had to, but this was certainly more convenient.

He held the Slate to it, and there was a chime as the terminal glowed blue. The Slate’s screen lit up, and Paya peered over the Hero’s shoulder to see what it said- Sheikah Slate authenticated. The Hero switched over to the map, and Paya noted that the glowing point representing the terminal he’d just activated was gone.

“There are four terminals remaining,” the spirit said. “The room to your right is the Main Control Unit. It won’t do a thing until the terminals are activated. To reach the rest, you’ll need to go up a floor. Go through the door behind you, on your left- you can reach the upper level of Ruta from there.”

“Thanks, Mipha,” the Hero said, stepping out onto the outdoor walkway.

“My pleasure, Link,” the spirit murmured.

Another small Guardian came out of the upper doorway, and this one drew a weapon- a glowing blue axe- but the Hero disposed of it just as easily as he had the first one. The axe clattered to the ground, and the Hero picked it up and put it into the Slate.

Inside, the first thing Paya noticed was the enormous gear- the second thing was the terminal attached to the inside, rotating with the gear’s movements.

“Huh,” the Hero said, which echoed Paya’s thoughts well enough.

“You could probably just jump on and activate it,” she said, watching as the terminal dipped into the water and rose back out. The window was brief, but there was definitely enough time for the Slate to interface with the terminal before it rose back out of reach.

“Probably,” he said, but his tone was absent, and he wasn’t looking at her. Instead he was looking at the water spout that was turning the gear. It was fairly strange looking, now that she thought about it. She’d seen Ancient Technology produce water before- Vah Ruta itself did it- but the one turning the wheel was oddly rectangular.

She thought of the metal crank downstairs, specifically meant to be turned with the Sheikah Slate. Even as the idea occurred to her, the Hero was already enacting it, using a Rune to summon an ice block that fit perfectly into the dimensions of the fountain. Without the water turning it, the wheel ground to a halt, and the Hero walked over and accessed its terminal.

Paya thought her first idea would have worked just as well and been less complicated too, but it didn’t really matter.

“There are three terminals remaining,” the spirit told them, excitement colouring her voice. This was, in all likelihood, the best thing that had happened to her in one hundred years.

The idea was a bit upsetting. One hundred years, trapped in a Divine Beast taken over by the enemy. What a miserable existence.

Well, one way or another, it would be over soon.

“Take that door, over there,” the spirit told them. “It leads to another ramp, so that you can access the inside of the larger wheel.”

The Hero studied the wheel in question. “If I could get it to spin away from me, couldn’t I just climb on?”

“...Yes,” the spirit said, after a slight pause. “That would work too. It may actually be necessary… The water flow to access the highest floors has been shut off, and the switch to reactivate it is too high up to reach normally. Jumping from the wheel may give you the height you need… but you’ll still have to access the terminal attached to the inside of it.”

Paya frowned. “Why are there two terminals attached to the inside of wheels?”

The spirit laughed, a light sound. “It is a little impractical, but I believe they are supposed to be difficult to access.”

“They haven’t been too difficult so far,” the Hero said, studying the wheel. “How do I get it to turn?”

“Use Ruta’s trunk,” the spirit advised him. “The water will turn it.”

The Hero tapped the Slate, and Vah Ruta groaned, shifting its trunk up until the water flow was hitting the wheel. Indeed, it began turning. The Hero stepped forward, and then- with very little warning- leapt forwards onto the wheel, clinging to it as it turned upwards.

“Uh,” Paya said.

The spirit laughed again. “You can still go around. The door is to your left.”

“No,” Paya sighed, as she prepared to make the same leap the Hero had. “I can’t. You said the access to the highest floors was water, and I don’t have Zora Armor to get up.”

“Ah,” the spirit said. “Yes, I suppose so.”

And so Paya leapt onto the wheel herself.

It wasn’t like it was difficult to cling on- the majority of it was made of a mesh-like material, with plenty of spaces to grab onto- but it was disorienting. Ahead of her, the Hero hopped off, landing on a platform adjacent to the center of the wheel. That was probably where he’d access the terminal from, but she was hardly necessary for that. Instead, she held on until she was about as close to the other side as she was going to get, and jumped off there.

Glancing around, she saw a long hallway in front of her and a button on the ground to her left. “Is that the switch to reactivate the water flow?”

“Yes,” the spirit said, as Paya walked over to activate it. “That should help Link get up, after he activates the third terminal- oh! Look out!”

Without question, Paya dropped to the ground. A spear lanced through the air where she’d just been- another small Guardian. Either she’d somehow missed it earlier, or it had been hiding somewhere.

She rolled back onto her feet, considering her next moves. Unlike larger Guardians, these didn’t seem terribly strong- the Hero had easily dispatched the earlier two. If she was armed, she was confident this would be an easy battle- but she wasn’t.

The Guardian struck out at her with its spear again, and she dodged easily. Again, unlike larger Guardians, it seemed that these fought with weapons instead of lasers, and they weren’t very skilled with them either. Their moves were slow and clearly telegraphed. All she needed was a weapon, really.

Hadn’t one dropped an axe earlier? Even detached from the Guardian, it had looked fully functional.

The Guardian stabbed out at her again, and Paya jumped to one side to dodge it. Before the Guardian could pull the spear back to try again, she grabbed onto it, pressed a leg against the chassis of the Guardian for leverage, and pulled.

The snap as the spear broke off was extremely satisfying. With it in her hands, she stumbled backwards, her hood falling back from her leftover momentum. The spirit gasped.

The Guardian beeped at her, and a semi-familiar noise started up. It sounded like a quieter version of the noise Guardians made before using their laser, so perhaps these smaller Guardians had those as well. She didn’t really want to find out up close.

She struck out at the Guardian with her stolen spear, and it cut through the Ancient Technology like butter, piercing straight through its eye. The Guardian whined as it collapsed, falling into a pile of parts.

There was a splash nearby as the Hero joined her. He must have accessed the third terminal and taken the waterfall up to her while she was distracted.

“Nice,” he said approvingly, looking over the defeated Guardian and then over her, with the spear still in her hands. “Very clever.”

“Thanks,” Paya huffed. She wouldn’t have needed to be clever if he’d armed her, but in fairness, giving the assassin sent after you a weapon was a terrible idea.

“Wait,” the spirit interjected, something like shock in her voice. “Impa?”

Chapter Text

Ah, Paya thought. Fuck.

The Hero’s brow furrowed. “What?”

“Your companion,” the spirit said. “She is- you are Impa, are you not? I know it’s been a hundred years, but you look…”

“Uh,” Paya said. “No?”

“Impa as in the Chief of Kakariko?” The Hero asked.

“Yes, that Impa,” the spirit told him. “And I’m terribly sorry for the misunderstanding if you’re not, but please… you look exactly like her. Surely there is at least some relation?”

Exactly like her? Was that an exaggeration, or was the family resemblance that strong?

“I’ve seen Impa, and she is old,” the Hero said.

“I see,” the spirit responded, “I am glad to hear she still lives. But you… I must assume there is some blood relation.”

Paya considered her options. The ideal response would be to lie, but if they looked that similar, there was no way she’d be believed. And an obvious lie would arguably be worse than telling the truth- especially considering the spirit essentially already knew. If she was convinced there was a blood relation, there weren't a lot of options for Paya’s identity.

Best to get it over with, then.

“Yes,” Paya sighed. “She’s my grandmother.”

The Hero stared at her. “Impa? Chief Impa of Kakariko Village is your grandmother?”

“Link, did you not know?” the spirit asked, sounding genuinely shocked. “She looks like she could be her clone!”

“Uh,” said the Hero. “I don’t remember what Impa used to look like. Before she was old.”

“What?”

“I might have amnesia,” the Hero admitted.

“What?”

“I feel like we haven’t talked about you enough,” the Hero said to her. “How did this even happen? You- Impa is the Chief of Kakariko and you, her granddaughter, are the Yiga Clan assassin who tried to kill me?”

“WHAT?!”

There was a pause, before the spirit spoke again.

“Excuse my outburst. I’m afraid I’m a bit overwhelmed. But if you don’t mind, explain yourself.”

The Hero and Paya regarded one another for a moment.

“You first,” she said, a half-second before he did.

He huffed. “Fine. I was… I don’t remember the details, or much of anything, really, but I woke up in the Shrine of Resurrection recently. Purah told me that memory loss was an expected side effect of it. I have these pictures on my Slate, Zelda took them- I usually remember things when I go to the places they were taken. And there’s other things… like your statue, Mipha. Uh. There’s a statue of you in the square. I remembered some things when I saw it, about you… and about… us.”

“I see,” the spirit said, voice soft and heavy with emotion. “That explains why you haven’t aged… and I am glad you remember me, at least in part. But that does not explain why you have brought a Yiga Clan assassin onto Ruta.”

“She- well,” the Hero said, and then stopped, looking suddenly struck. He whirled to face her. “You look like Impa.”

“...Yes,” Paya said.

“When I- when I fought you, and I knocked your mask off, and- do you remember what I said? That stopping you from leaving felt like a good idea at the time?”

“Yes,” Paya said, more slowly this time.

“I felt like you shouldn’t- not that you shouldn’t go, really, but that you shouldn’t have been there at all. It felt so wrong to let you go back to the Yiga- which didn’t make any sense, I didn’t feel like that about any of the other assassins- but you look like Impa. I don’t remember that, but I guess  on some level- I recognized you.”

“Oh,” Paya said. So the Hero had, at least subconsciously, seen her resemblance to her grandmother, which had influenced his decision? She supposed that made sense, but it was kind of insulting. Was she not worth taking prisoner on her own merits?

Well, she had tried to kill him again almost immediately, so maybe she wasn’t.

“So just to clarify,” the spirit said, “someone tried to kill you, and when you defeated her in battle your first thought was to take her with you?”

“When you say it like that, it sounds bad,” the Hero responded. “But yes.”

“You’re ridiculous,” the spirit told him, but she sounded fond. “And you, Yiga? Why are you here?”

Paya wanted to say none of your business, but she doubted that would go over well. Could she tell the truth?

No. The truth was that, despite everything, she wanted to help, but she wouldn’t be caught dead saying that out loud. She could say a fragment of the truth, though. A fraction of the whole story.

“I don’t want to be washed away in a catastrophic flood, and that means Vah Ruta has to be stopped.”

The spirit hummed. “I see. And there’s nothing else to it?”

Paya scowled. “Don’t we have more important things to talk about?”

“I disagree,” the spirit said. “I find the presence of an assassin in Ruta to be both important and concerning. But if Link trusts you, I suppose we can move on.”

“Trust is a strong word, but I’ll vouch for her,” the Hero said. 

That was more than she’d expected from him.

“Fine,” the spirit sighed. “The next terminal is at the end of Ruta’s trunk. You can access it through the hallway in front of you, but you’ll have to adjust the angle of the trunk to get there. Once to walk to the end of the trunk, and then once more to access the terminal itself.”

“Alright,” the Hero said. “Thanks, Mipha.”

“I’m always happy to help you, Link,” the spirit responded, “but please, be careful.”

“I always am,” he said, setting off down the hallway.

“Well, that is not true,” Paya muttered, following him.

Faintly, the spirit laughed.

She reached the end of the hall just as the trunk began to shift out of the way. It looked like the Hero had set it to the lowest elevation- which meant it was far too low to reach. If you didn’t have a paraglider, that is.

The Hero, of course, already had it in his hands. Paya coughed to get his attention, and he turned to her, expression shifting to apologetic.

“You might want to stay here,” he said. “I see the terminal on the map- I’m going to have to glide down from it, and you… well. Can’t do that.”

“The last terminal will have to be accessed through the roof,” the spirit cut in, “so it is unlikely you will be able to reach that, either. I suppose you can go to the Main Control Unit… you’ll want a good feel for the room.”

“Why?” Paya asked.

“Because I expect there will be a fight in there.”

The Hero frowned. “Against who?”

“Against what,” the spirit corrected. “I’ll tell you more once you’ve activated all of the terminals. You’re nearly there; it wouldn’t do for you to lose focus now.”

“Alright,” the Hero said, a bit begrudgingly. He shifted his gaze to Paya. “Hey- can you get down on your own?”

Paya hummed. “I can dive into the water pools in that first room. I’ll be soaking wet, of course, but…”

She gestured out at the rain, and then at herself, already thoroughly soaked.

“Fair enough,” the Hero said. “I’ll meet you there?”

Paya nodded and he jumped off, gliding towards the trunk of the Divine Beast.

She turned around, walking back down the corridor she’d just crossed. She considered the spear still in her hand, and experimented with the functions briefly- it was easy enough to turn on and off, and she deactivated it and attached it to her belt. Guardians were waterproof, so she assumed the spear would be as well.

The waterfall she’d activated earlier wouldn’t be helpful, but the pool it flowed into would be. She leaned over the ledge to gauge its size- small, but not too small.

She took a deep breath and dove.

Her aim was perfect, and she landed at the base of the waterfall. Climbing out of the pool, she found that she actually was somehow more soaked than before- her clothes must’ve started to dry without her noticing, and now they were wet again.

She sighed, and walked into the room containing the Main Control Unit. It wasn’t anything special- a simple, mostly barren room with a high ceiling. The Main Control Unit itself was the only real point of interest, but it was inert and would remain so until the Hero activated all the terminals.

The spirit had told her to get a feel for the room, and she didn’t have anything else to do, so Paya resigned herself to wandering around the space, familiarising herself with it. If whatever they were meant to fight in here was small, there would be plenty of space, but if it was large, room for maneuvering would be limited. It was possible to hide behind the Main Control Unit, but it seemed to be a tight squeeze.

There wasn’t really much else of note.

Paya sighed. “How’s he doing?”

After a brief pause, the spirit responded.

“Link has activated the fourth terminal. He’s already close to reaching the last one. He should be with you soon.”

“Alright,” Paya said, pacing the room again. “I don’t suppose you could tell me more about whatever we’re going to fight now?”

There was no answer.

A moment later, the Main Control Unit lit up, glowing a bright orange. That was all the terminals activated, then. The spirit must have been busy talking to the Hero.

Paya waited.

Sure enough, the Hero arrived, bringing the spirit’s attention back with him. He waved at her as he walked in, but said nothing- he seemed a bit too busy listening.

“Be careful not to let your guard down,” the spirit was warning him. “The creature you are about to face… It is one of Ganon’s creations. I put up as much of a fight as I could, but it proved to be my demise 100 years ago…”

“Alright,” Paya said. ”What does it do?”

There was a pause.

“It is large,” the spirit said, voice tense. “It wields a long spear made of Ancient Technology, which it can extend at will. It has some power over water, but I believe that comes from its connection to Ruta… it can raise and lower the water level, and summon ice blocks to throw at you. It can shoot a Guardian’s beam from its eye, and it is capable of limited teleportation. However, it is slow… its moves are easy enough to anticipate, and Link… I know your strength has always lied in quick reactions. I believe that you are well prepared for this.”

“I wish I was as confident as you are,” the Hero muttered.

“You’ll be fine,” Paya told him. It’s me I’m worried about. “I don’t suppose you’d arm me with anything other than this?”

She activated the spear. The Hero studied for a moment.

“How good are you with spears?”

“Most of my experience is with sickles,” she told him, “but I’ve been trained with spears.”

“I don’t have any sickles,” he responded flatly, “but if that breaks, I’ll toss you something to replace it. Unless you want a bow?”

Paya considered that. She’d always preferred melee weapons, but she had been thoroughly trained with Duplex Bows and had plenty of experience using them. And since this enemy was apparently large with a long reach, a long range weapon would be ideal.

“A bow would be good, actually,” she said. “Do you have any multi-shots?”

“Yes,” he said, “but not for you.”

He handed her the Silver Bow he’d been using, and retrieved the Lynel Bow from the Slate. After a moment, he handed her a quiver of arrows as well- the regular kind. He kept the remaining shock arrows for himself, as well as about half the regular arrows.

Overall, he was much better armed than she was. But he had protected her earlier, and would hopefully do so again if necessary.

He glanced at her. “Ready?”

Paya considered that. Was she ready to face whatever monster Lord Ganon had sent to slay Champion Mipha one hundred years ago? Probably not. But…

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” she told him, and he grinned.

“Alright,” he said. “Here goes.”

And he pressed the slate to the Main Control Unit.

Chapter Text

The effect was immediate- Malice burst from the pedestal, and the Hero pulled the Slate back as it began to pour from the Main Control Unit like smoke. Paya took an involuntary step back as it swirled around, hands tightening on her spear.

Blue strands of light began to stream from the Malice, twisting through the room and coalescing near the exit. Paya and the Hero spun to face it, watching as a creature formed from the light, not dissimilar to the Slate’s teleportation.

It was large, as they were told. It seemed to be made out of a strange combination of Malice and Ancient Technology, with an eye identical to a Guardian’s and a spear made of the same material as the one in Paya’s hands.

“Please take care,” the spirit said, as the creature finished forming. “I have faith in you!”

The creature- now fully formed- made a terrible screech before falling into a fighting stance. A battle cry, Paya thought grimly, and then it moved- it whipped its spear back, and as she watched, its grip shifted, essentially making the spear much longer.

“Careful!” the spirit cried, and then the creature swung at them.

Paya leapt over it, and the Hero did the same. His eyes were narrowed, every muscle taunt, completely focused on the fight. The creature reared back and swung again, and Paya jumped again, drawing her bow- but the Hero was a step ahead of her, and he backflipped over the second swing.

His next attack was blisteringly fast, as he often was after a dodge- he rushed in quicker than her eyes could track, and rapidly stabbed his spear into the creature.

The creature fell backwards, perhaps taken aback by the assault, and dissolved into blue light again, only to reform a short distance away. It drew back the spear- doubtlessly an attempt to skewer the Hero- and then screeched as Paya’s arrow struck it in the eye.

The Hero twisted briefly to look at her, eyes wide, as the creature reared back, tearing the arrow out with its free hand. Paya took one hand off her bow to make a sharp gesture she hoped would convey her message: hit it now, idiot!

Thankfully, it seemed the Hero got the point, and he turned back to his enemy, pulling back his spear to lash out with a rapid flurry of blows, making the creature screech again. It drew  its spear up, aiming the point at the ground.

“Back up!” the spirit shouted, fear sharp in her voice, and the Hero turned and sprinted away without pause just as the creature stabbed its spear down. A shockwave burst from the impact, briefly illuminating the room in blue. The creature immediately withdrew its spear again, rearing it up to throw at the Hero, who was already across the room from it.

Paya shot it in the side, and it twitched, but its goal and its aim seemed unaffected- it hurled the spear straight at the Hero, who stood facing it with his shield out. And then, in a moment of sheer insanity, he parried, sending the spear flying right back into the creature’s face.

It collapsed on the ground, and the Hero rushed forward, driving his spear into it over and over until the weapon shattered in his hands, the creature taking the brief reprieve to dissolve into light once more.

The Hero drew the Lynel Sword from the Slate as the creature rematerialized in the middle of the room- between the Hero and Paya, with its back to her. A blue light appeared in its hand, and as the creature drew it upwards, water began to rise from the floor, quickly becoming too deep to stand in. Four platforms rose with it, and Paya put her bow on her back and began to swim to the nearest one.

As she got to it, the creature moved again, and the Hero followed to the platform it had appeared on. It used the same power it had used to raise the water level to summon an ice block, and then looked around, seemingly confused, before settling its gaze on Paya- it must have been looking for the Hero, who was now standing under it. He looked over at her, expression concerned, as the creature hurled the ice at her, the only visible target.

Paya drew her bow and shot it, breathing a sigh of relief as it shattered. She could’ve dove out of the way if she had to, but that would’ve left her vulnerable. Better to keep standing where she was.

The Hero, meanwhile, had drawn his Lynel Bow, notching it with a shock arrow that had become three on the string. He shot straight up into the creature, and it made a horrible noise as the arrows hit- and then again with the next three, and the next, and the next. It fell into the water, and the Hero slashed at it with its sword before it once again dissolved into light.

What a coward, Paya thought. It didn’t seem like the creature was particularly durable- instead, it relied on being too far away to hit and having a long enough reach to take enemies out before they got close.

Or, Paya thought as it materialized above her, maybe it just didn’t like being near the Hero.

It twisted around to look down at her before turning back to face the Hero as he shot another volley of electric arrows. It summoned ice blocks- three of them this time- and fired them at him, and Paya took its momentary distraction as an opportunity to dive into the water and swim away.

She heard the ice blocks shattering even while underwater, and surfaced at the same platform the Hero was on, finding him holding the Slate out with a rune activated. The creature had already summoned more ice blocks- firing five of them this time, but as she watched the Slate highlight the blocks in red, and the Hero destroyed them simply by tapping the screen.

The Hero acknowledged her standing next to him with a short nod, then drew his bow, so she drew hers too. He fired- standing this close, she could feel the electricity- and she fired as well a moment later, so that his arrows hit hard enough to knock the creature down and hers struck while it was lying prone. The momentum caused it to slide off the platform and into the water, where it briefly lay still.

They made a surprisingly good team.

The creature teleported again, but it took its time rematerializing, the blue light streaming almost aimlessly across the room. Paya entertained the idea that it was frightened of them, and didn’t want to return, but the more likely answer was that it could tell that its strategy wasn’t working and was coming up with a new one.

It eventually reformed on the platform furthest from theirs- that would make melee combat more difficult, but ranged should be fine- and raised its head, looking almost like it was analysing them.

Paya drew back the string on her bow right as the targeting laser activated.

It was only the red beam, the precursor to the devastating attack Guardians were so well known for. Even seeing it sent chills up her spine, but Paya had escaped Guardians before, and she knew the Hero could summon ice blocks with the same rune he’d used to destroy them- if he could put such a wall between the creature and themselves, they’d be fine.

For a few precious seconds, Paya waited for him to do that. Or anything. But he didn’t.

“Link?” the spirit asked, voice concerned.

She looked over, and he had gone still, the targeting beam focused on his chest. It had gone from red to white- the creature was done aiming, and it was about to fire.

The Hero did not move. His face was pale. He seemed completely frozen.

So Paya did the only thing she could think of and tackled him into the water.

The laser shot past her back, and she felt its heat moments before they were underwater- they resurfaced quickly, though the Hero coughed and sputtered a bit. He must have gasped when they hit the water and inhaled some, but he seemed otherwise fine.

The red targeting beam returned, this time focusing on her. The Hero shuddered, but thankfully did not freeze again, and he followed her as she dove back down, swimming to the other side of the platform where they could shelter behind it.

There was a brief silence, as the creature couldn’t see them and they couldn’t risk raising their heads high enough to see it.

The Hero wheezed again. He still looked pale, and though it was hard to tell while treading water, she thought he was shaking.

“Link?” the spirit asked again, now sounding highly distressed.

“I’m okay,” the Hero rasped. He coughed again. “Just… swallowed a little water.”

“Great,” Paya said. “And what was that?”

His gaze grew distant, briefly. He did not respond, but he shifted to look away, giving her an excellent view of the left side of his face and the extensive scarring all over it, ostensibly caused by severe burns.

Or, more likely, being hit with a laser.

She sighed. “Just don’t do that again, especially not while we’re fighting for our lives.”

He smiled tenuously. “I’ll try not to. And, uh, thanks for saving my life.”

She blinked, taken aback- but that… had been what she did, technically. Well, maybe he would have survived, but maybe not. She hadn’t even thought about it- it had been instinct, mostly.

Before she could think of a response, the creature materizalised above them, having apparently gotten tired of waiting. It aimed its targeting laser at them again, which was, to its credit, its most successful strategy so far.

Paya grabbed the platform, hauled herself up for leverage, and activated her spear, slamming it directly into the creature’s eye, cutting off its laser and wounding it at the same time. The Hero pulled himself up after her, and reused his most successful strategy so far: firing shock arrows into the creature three at a time.

It convulsed, electrocuted, and collapsed, tearing Paya’s spear free as it went. Now that it was lying right next to them, it was an easy target, and she stabbed it as the Hero drew his sword once more before joining her in carving away at their foe.

It writhed, Malice beginning to pour off of it, first in clouds, and then in liquid form as its very body bled off of it, and its movements slowed as it diminished. Light began emitting from it in beams- pink light, so bright it was almost white, coming from the core of the creature and then exploding outwards in a blinding flash.

When Paya blinked the spots out of her eyes, the creature was gone, and the flakes of Malice in the air had dissipated with it. Looking around, she found that the water had receded, and the platform they were standing on was once again on ground level. The Main Control Unit didn’t look any different than it had before fighting the creature, but she was reasonably confident that activating it would work this time.

Beside her, the Hero sheathed his sword, taking in the now empty room. He sighed, sounding equally relieved and exhausted, and walked across the room to the Main Control Unit- only to hesitate once he was at the pedestal.

Paya moved to stand by him. While the Main Control Unit looked the same, now that she was up close it was obvious that the pedestal had changed- where it was previously inert, it now glowed a bright blue.

The change must have been obvious to the Hero as well, but he was still hesitating.

“Everything okay?”

He startled, having either not expected her to speak or having simply been zoned out. He looked over at her, down at the Slate, and finally at the pedestal of the Main Control Unit, before muttering.

 “Fine. Just- just thinking.”

Without further elaboration, he pressed the slate to the Main Control Unit. This time, it activated, turning its orange light blue. Faintly, Paya could hear the rush of water stop.

It seemed the Divine Beast had truly been reclaimed. She wasn’t quite sure how to feel about that. An odd mix of pride and despair sat in her chest.

Before she could dwell on it too much, a voice rang out.

“Hello, Link. And… you.”

It was the voice of the spirit. But rather than echoing around her, the voice sounded as if it was coming from one source- and, as Paya turned around, she saw that it was.

The spirit of Champion Mipha stood at the entrance, surrounded by teal flames. She took a step forwards, and it fell on top of the shallow water, making ripples as she moved without touching the ground.

“Because of your courage,” she said softly, “my spirit is now free. And Ruta, as well. Thank you.”

Now closer to the two of them, she turned to face the Hero alone. She smiled, expression warm with love. “For I am now allowed by this freedom… to be with you once again.”

The Hero sucked in a sharp breath, and began to blink rapidly. Champion Mipha lifted a single hand and brushed it lightly against his cheek, which seemed to make him more upset, if the sob he let out was any indication.

“Link,” she said, so tenderly, and the Hero made another choked noise, lifting his own hand to cover hers. Paya looked away- that wasn’t really her business.

And yet, a moment later, she felt the brush of a ghostly hand on her shoulder.

Turning back, she saw Champion Mipha- with one hand still on the Hero- looking at her. She was looking at Paya with a strange expression, but she didn’t seem hostile.

“I misjudged you,” Champion Mipha said simply.

Paya blinked. Ran the sentence back over in her head. What?

“You may be Yiga,” she continued, “but clearly there’s more to it than that. You played a part in freeing Ruta, a part in freeing me, and you saved Link from that creature, for which you will have my eternal gratitude.”

Paya stared at her. Champion Mipha was looking at her expectantly, clearly waiting for her to respond, but Paya’s mind was still caught on processing what had just been said.

I misjudged you. Sure, people had done that before. You may be Yiga, but clearly there’s more to it than that. What did that mean? It seemed that Champion Mipha had meant it positively, but in what way? You played a part in freeing Ruta, a part in freeing me. Objectively true. And you saved Link from that creature, for which you will have my eternal gratitude. She had saved him, he’d even acknowledged it earlier, but receiving Champion Mipha’s gratitude for it felt… strange.

She didn’t want it, and she hadn’t really earned it, either. Besides…

“He saved me, earlier,” Paya said, and Champion Mipha paused, turning to face the Hero again.

“Huh?” he said.

Paya pinched the bridge of her nose. Sometimes, she forgot the Hero was a bit of an idiot. “With the Lynel. Remember?”

“Oh, right,” he said. “But that wasn’t- you didn’t need to pay me back for that.”

“Maybe you don’t think so, but I do,” she said. “You saved me, I saved you, we’re even now. So just- don’t expect me to do that again. I’m still going to kill you later.”

“Maybe,” he said, but he sounded more amused than anything.

Champion Mipha was looking at her strangely again. It was a different kind of strange than the way she’d looked at Paya earlier, but no less inscrutable.

“So… you and Link faced the Lynel on Ploymus Mountain together? For the shock arrows, I assume?”

Paya nodded.

Champion Mipha tilted her head, expression still unreadable. “Link and I did that once, you know.”

The Hero frowned. “We did?”

Champion Mipha smiled, if a little sadly. “We did. Back then, it was terrorizing us all. But then you came along. You and I fought as one and… well.”

She stared off into the distance for a moment, clearly caught up in the past. It was reminiscent of when the Hero recovered his memories, in a way.

Then she shook her head, turning back to the Hero. “I suppose it isn’t relevant now. Perhaps if things had been different… but no. You’re here now so we can complete our mission, aren’t you? Destroying Ganon and saving the Princess? Ruta and I can assist you in that.”

“Mipha,” the Hero whispered, “I… I’d like it if I could… hear more about us. From you.”

Champion Mipha smiled again, this time bright with joy. “I would be happy to tell you,” she said, before glancing over at Paya. “But perhaps another time. If you come visit Ruta again, once we’re prepared to face Ganon… then we can talk a little more.”

“Alright,” the Hero said, looking a bit happier. “So then… what now? Do we just… leave?”

“Not quite yet,” Champion Mipha told him, although she backed up slightly as she spoke. “Link, do you recall my healing power?”

“Yes,” he said. “You promised you would always heal me.”

“Oh,” she said, soft. “Yes, I remember that conversation. I feel the same as I did then, Link… and I do intend to keep my promise.”

As she spoke, Champion Mipha cupped her hands together, above her heart. Light began to stream from her, almost like Ancient Technology, but- different. It was a pale blue that glowed so bright it was nearly white, and looked more like water than energy. It formed a sphere under her hands.

“Since I am now a spirit, my healing power would be wasted on me. I have no need of it. So therefore… I would like you to have it.” She opened her hands, revealing the glow of her magic. “Please accept... Mipha's Grace.”

She brought her arms forward, and the magic shot out, colliding with the Hero and disappearing into his chest. For a moment, nothing happened- and then the Hero began to float, a blue glow emanating from his chest and water droplets forming around him. Just as suddenly, he dropped back down, landing with a splash in the shallow water.

Briefly, he examined his hands. He didn’t look any different, but then, magic wasn’t often visible when it wasn’t used. She wondered what the power he’d gained even was- from context, she assumed it was the ability to heal people, possibly including himself. Hopefully not himself. That would make her job harder.

Paya wondered absently if, had she stepped between the magic and the Hero, that power would have been hers, or if it would have just gone around her.

Champion Mipha’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “Yesterday, I was awash in a pool of tears. I had nearly given up hope and resigned myself to being trapped here, as a spirit, for the rest of eternity.”

She stepped closer again, almost within touching distance. The Hero made to move closer to her, and then stilled, either deciding to let Champion Mipha control the distance between them or simply hesitating.

“But now you're here.” She tilted her head, smiling faintly and clearly enamoured. “All this time, my hope... was to see you once more.”

Still hesitantly, the Hero reached out with his left arm. Champion Mipha placed her hand in his, squeezing lightly.

“Promise me that you will not hesitate to call upon my power if you ever find yourself in need.”

“I promise, Mipha,” the Hero whispered, eyes wet.

“Good,” she whispered. “Knowing that... will let my spirit rest in peace.”

Paya looked away from the private moment, and noticed a small fleck of golden light appear near her. And then another. And another.

She looked back over to see the Hero similarly surrounded by an ever-growing number of golden motes of light. Champion Mipha didn’t seem too concerned, but the Hero was turning his arms over, as if looking for the source.

“It seems you must go,” Champion Mipha noted, “and I must, as well. Ruta and I have our roles to fulfill. We are both honoured to be able to play the role of support.” Her voice grew cheerier. “We'll annihilate Ganon together.”

Paya was suddenly glad that Champion Mipha and herself were, however temporarily, on the same side.

The golden flecks grew, beginning to appear on Paya as well as around her. The Hero seemed to have given up on being confused, and surely Champion Mipha would be worried if it was something dangerous, so Paya was forced to assume that it was probably fine.

“Farewell,” Champion Mipha said, stepping back. “Do try to work together some more. And Link… please save her. Save the princess... Save Princess Zelda…”

And with that, the golden light encasing Paya flared, and her vision went white.

Chapter Text

The first thing Paya saw was the statue of Champion Mipha.

She was standing on the bridge into Zora’s Domain, facing the square. A few flecks of golden light drifted away from her and disappeared.

She looked around. The Hero was to her left, flecks of magic drifting away from him as well. The Domain was still suspiciously deserted, like it had been earlier, but it was no longer raining.

She looked back over to the Hero. “I don’t suppose you know how we got here?”

He shrugged. “Not really. It looked like Zelda’s power, though.”

Paya started. The Princess? Was he implying that she had… what, teleported them out? Why? How?

The Hero didn’t seem very concerned with the implications of his theory. He looked to the statue of Champion Mipha, then up towards the throne room. “We should go tell Dorephan that Ruta won’t be a problem anymore.”

“I think he can tell,” Paya said. “It’s not raining.”

He hummed. “Yeah. But we should tell him anyway. And Mipha… we should tell him about Mipha.”

She winced. Yes, telling King Dorephan about the spirit of his daughter was probably the right thing to do, but it wouldn’t be an easy conversation. Then again, she could just let the Hero do all the talking.

“Fine,” she said. “Let’s go.”

He nodded in acknowledgment, and they went.

Although the skies had cleared, the leftover rainwater had yet to evaporate- and thus, to both Paya and the Hero’s frustration, the stairs were still extremely slippery.

He was doing better, what with his Zora Greaves, but it still took them both an embarrassingly long time to make it to the top. Paya counted them lucky that all of the Zora were out of sight- there was no one around to judge them for stumbling.

The Hero paused at the steps to the Throne Room. For a moment, Paya thought he’d stopped for the Goddess Statue at the base of the stairs, but she understood the real reason as soon as she caught up to him- there were voices coming from the Throne Room. A lot of voices.

She supposed they’d just found the Zora.

The Hero shivered, hugging himself, as he looked up the stairs. Paya nudged him with her elbow, and he sighed, looking back down.

“I don’t like crowds,” he muttered, tightening his arms around himself. Hesitantly, Paya put her hand on his shoulder.

“It’ll be fine,” she said. “Sidon will draw all the attention.”

He laughed quietly. “You think so?”

“I know so,” she said, a little more firmly. “Have you seen him? He'll smile once and nobody will even be looking at you.”

“I hope so,” he sighed, posture relaxing. “Okay. C’mon.”

The room- which was indeed filled to the brim with Zora- went dead quiet as soon as the Hero stepped in, Paya beside him. Murmurs started, too quiet for her to decipher.

Then again, if the double takes his Zora Armor were getting were any indication, she could guess at the contents of their whispers well enough.

The Hero ignored them all, squaring his shoulders and marching to the back of the room, where King Dorephan, Muzu, and Sidon were waiting. Sidon visibly perked up on seeing them, grinning brightly. King Dorephan’s smile was more reserved, but looked no less genuine. Muzu grumbled something unintelligible and looked at the floor.

“Link!” King Dorephan greeted, sounding genuinely delighted. “And… I don’t believe I ever caught your name, actually.”

He looked at Paya expectantly. She stared back until the silence grew uncomfortable, and he coughed, looking away.

“...Ahem. You did well to survive your trial, and I have been awaiting your return! The violent downpour has disappeared, as has the threat to Zora's Domain! It is all little more than a bad dream now.”

He looked out the windows. Being significantly shorter than him, Paya couldn’t see over the heads of the Zora, but she got the idea- it was sunny out.

“Thanks to your efforts, there is no longer any danger of a great flood laying waste to Hyrule! You appeased Divine Beast Vah Ruta and thusly saved Zora's Domain! We are all truly grateful! What you did for us is more than we could have ever expected of you.”

“King Dorephan…” the Hero started, sounding uncomfortable, but the Zora King held up a hand, palm out, and he fell silent.

“One moment,” King Dorephan said. “Muzu has something to say to you.”

Muzu sighed, sounding unhappy, but he stepped forwards and met the Hero’s eyes.

“Link... I must sincerely apologize for my harsh treatment of you. That whole time, you were thinking of Hyrule's and Lady Mipha's well-being, just like the rest of us. All of the members of our council humbly fold our fins back in gratitude, along with the rest of our people.”

The assembled crowd cheered. The Hero looked around, seeming at a loss for words.

Muzu coughed to get his attention back. “Perhaps the older generation of Zora, myself included, misunderstood Hylians after all. It would seem so. That said, I would be overjoyed if you could find it in your heart to forgive me. If not now, then perhaps one day.”

“I…” the Hero croaked, sounding stricken.

Paya nudged him. “You don’t have to answer,” she muttered.

He nodded silently. Whether it was in response to her or to Muzu, she couldn’t say.

“Now then,” King Dorephan said, “I must reward your efforts. Link! I have a gift for you. It was cherished by Mipha. A memento of sorts. I would like you to have it as a token of our friendship.”

He held out a hand. In it- looking rather small compared to his wide palm- was a beautiful trident, gleaming silver with coral and teal accents. The Hero sucked in a sharp breath upon seeing it, staggering forward before stopping.

The room fell silent.

“Please take good care of it,” King Dorephan said softly, and the Hero took the weapon with shaking hands.

King Dorephan turned to her. “I have something for you as well. I admit it is not as treasured as the Lightscale Trident, but it was made by our finest smith, and I hope it will serve you well.”

He reached to the side, picked something up, and presented another weapon- a Silver Sword of obvious high quality, shining with the polish of a brand new weapon.

Paya took it carefully. It was perfectly balanced and wickedly sharp- truly an impressive weapon.

She wondered if she’d get to keep it.

“All of the Zora thank you from the depths of our hearts for your heroic and selfless work,” King Dorephan said, before turning to face his son. “...And you too, Sidon. As your father, I am proud of you for fighting the Divine Beast alongside these two. You have grown much recently. I know you will be a worthy heir when your time comes.”

Sidon bowed his head, seeming surprised. “Father... I... Thank you!”

With his head down, his face was hidden from most of the Zora, but Paya could still see him blinking rapidly, expression frozen as he tried to control his feelings.

King Dorephan turned to face the room, now smiling broadly. “The heavy rains have stopped, and the Divine Beast is our ally once again! How glorious! Truly splendid! Wah ha ha ha!”

There was another chorus of cheers. Sidon straightened up, apparently having recovered from his overwhelming emotions, and walked to the center of the room to stand in front of them.

“This is wonderful,” he started, grinning brightly. “Thank you both so much! Truly, I could never thank you enough! You helped save our home from vanishing away! This calls for a top-tier expression of gratitude! ZO! ZO! RA RA RA!”

The other Zora in the room quickly picked up the chant. Sidon beamed as they did, kneeling down so as to be eye-to-eye with Paya and the Hero.

“With all my heart,” he said softly, “Thank you!”

There was more cheering- even louder than before. It seemed like the entire crowd had taken the opportunity to make their feelings known, yelling and laughing and whooping in obvious joy.

When the noise began to quiet down, King Dorephan spoke again.

“I hope you both can understand the endless depths of our gratitude. We can never thank you enough.” He faced the crowd. “I am afraid I must ask you, my people, to leave this room and return to your routines now. Our heroes and I must speak in private.”

There were scattered mutterings throughout the Zora, but they seemed to have been expecting the dismissal, and quickly left the room. Kodah glanced at the Hero as she passed by, giving him a brief smile before descending the stairs out of sight.

Paya was hardly paying attention to that, though. Her mind was still caught on King Dorephan’s statement. Our heroes and I must speak in private.

Our heroes.

She hadn’t ever expected to be called a hero. Much less in conjunction with the Hero.

It made her feel… strange. An odd emotion pooled in her gut, and she felt a bit like she was going to be sick.

The Hero nudged her. “You okay?”

She nodded silently.

King Dorephan spoke again. The joy had drained from his voice, leaving him sounding weary. “I am truly and eternally grateful to you for saving Zora's Domain. Everyone is rejoicing. There is no happier place in the world! But…”

He sighed heavily.

“There is something I wish to ask you. You journeyed within Ruta, the Divine Beast of Water... Now you are back, but Mipha has still yet to return... Is it as I feared? Were we too late?”

Paya went still. Beside her, the Hero froze as well.

Too late? Zora lifespans were long enough, yes, but of course she was dead. He hadn’t thought- surely he hadn’t thought-

But of course he had. Champion Mipha was his daughter. It was clear he had loved her deeply- of course he had held out hope. There was a chance, no matter how slim. The Hylian Princess was still alive, even. Champion Mipha had been a princess herself- if things had been a little different, she could very well be alive.

But she wasn’t. And yet, her father had hoped, all this time.

The Hero lifted his hands. “I met her spirit,” he signed.

King Dorephan went still. Muzu cried out, either in shock or in grief- probably both- and Sidon bowed his head silently.

“Her spirit?” King Dorephan repeated, sounding weak. “So that means Mipha really is…”

He took a shuddering breath, and began to cry.

Paya tried to think of something to say, but could not. The Hero, similarly, lowered his hands, evidently deciding to wait until he was addressed again.

After a moment, King Dorephan pulled himself together a little, though his tears did not stop. “Did… did she say anything to you?”

His voice was strained. The grief was clear- a hundred years of hope, crushed in an instant. She couldn’t imagine how he felt.

“Yes,” the Hero responded, still signing. “She helped us get through Ruta. We spoke a little more after it was reclaimed. Mostly about destroying Ganon. She invited me back to Ruta to speak more later. She’s still there.”

“I see,” King Dorephan said quietly. “My dear Mipha... I simply cannot believe it. There was nothing I could do to save her…”

He sobbed again. Silently, Muzu offered him a handkerchief, which he took.

“Still... Mipha fulfilled her heroic duty as a Champion. And she will never be alone... It is my duty as her father to watch over her, even now. Perhaps… if she is still there… I will visit her.”

He looked out of the room, dabbing at his eyes with the handkerchief as he did. Following his gaze, Paya saw a figure in the distance- Vah Ruta, now atop a mountain in the distance. She wondered how it had gotten there so quickly.

“ ...Link,” King Dorephan murmured, turning his attention back to the Hero, “She really loved you, you know. There is no mistaking that even now, she is overjoyed to be able to help you. Promise me… that you will always remember her. Promise me that.”

The Hero smiled. “Mipha asked me to promise her something, too. She asked that I call on her if I ever find myself in need.” He touched a hand to his chest, where Champion Mipha’s power had been absorbed. “I’ll remember her. I promise.”

King Dorephan’s expression lightened. “Thank you for saying so. I truly appreciate it. If you ever run into trouble, know that you are both always welcome here. No matter the time, we shall all greet you with open fins! …Thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

The Hero nodded. He paused for a moment, either at a loss for words or trying to figure out if the conversation was over and they should leave. Paya was puzzling over the same thing when King Dorephan spoke again.

“By the way, Link. I see you are without your trusty blade… The Sword That Seals The Darkness... Did you perhaps lose it when you lost your memory?”

The Hero frowned, hand moving to his back. He paused when his fingers brushed the Lightscale Trident. “...Maybe? I don’t remember.”

“Hm,” King Dorephan hummed. “So you have forgotten that as well… That is a legendary blade that only you, the Hylian Champion, can wield. It undoubtedly found a safe place to wait for you… sleeping soundly, just like its master.”

He nodded decisively. Sidon caught Paya’s eye and gestured outside- it seemed that the conversation was now over.

The Hero didn’t seem to catch the motion- he was still staring at King Dorephan, eyes wide. She wondered what he knew about The Sword That Seals The Darkness. The Yiga had been searching for it ever since the Calamity- they knew the Princess had taken it somewhere, but they didn’t know where.

King Dorephan’s theory that it had found a safe place to sleep and recover was quite probable, but the Hero seemed surprised by it. Maybe he was surprised by the idea of the Sword at all- she had no idea if he even remembered its existence.

Best to leave before he asked any questions, then.

Paya caught the Hero’s arm and tugged. He turned to look at her, confused, and she jerked her head towards the exit. Sidon waved as they went.

Outside, it seemed that the crowd of Zora had mostly dispersed, having gone back to their usual routines. There were a few stragglers, but all but one of them left when they saw the Hero and herself exit the Throne Room.

The remaining Zora- Kodah- waited at the bottom of the stairs. She smiled when she saw them, waving cheerfully.

The Hero waved back, and began walking down the stairs faster until he was next to Kodah. Paya followed more slowly, but caught up to him quickly enough.

“Linny! And your friend! I wanted to congratulate you more personally. I hope you don’t mind?”

The Hero laughed lightly. “Not at all, Kodah. It’s good to see you.”

“Alright,” she said, smiling warmly. “Well. Congratulations! I’m sure you’ve heard this already, but the whole Domain is in your debt. You really saved us all, Linny.”

The Hero shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck. He was cute when he was flustered- no. Wait. No he was not.

“Also,” Kodah continued in a quieter voice, “I wanted to make sure you two were alright. I heard you got the shock arrows from a Lynel? And of course you faced Ruta- that must have been terribly dangerous. I know you can take care of yourself, but…?”

“I’m okay,” the Hero told her, glancing over at Paya as he did so. “There were some close calls, but I think we’re both fine.”

Paya nodded. She was tired and sore and would be surprised if she hadn’t caught a cold from all the escapades in the rain, but she wasn’t injured.

“Good,” Kodah said, and she sounded genuinely happy. “I’m glad you’re both alright. You’ve done a great service for the Zora, and I’m sure you’ll continue to do great things, just please remember to take care of yourself.”

That last bit was directed, rather pointedly, to the Hero. He flushed again. It seemed Kodah flustered him easily. Which was not cute.

“I’ve got to get going, I think,” Kodah said, looking over towards her Inn. “Kayden needs my help to run everything. But before I go-”

She turned to face Paya.

“I want to thank you. Linny has always been a little reckless, and I’m sure he did something foolhardy while you were out saving the Domain. You brought him back unharmed. Thank you for that.”

Paya shifted uncomfortably. She had tackled the Hero out of the way of a laser, which had definitely contributed to him returning to Zora’s Domain unharmed, but it felt odd to be thanked for it. An uncomfortable kind of odd, she thought.

She nodded stiffly. Kodah studied her for a moment, then nodded back, seemingly satisfied.

“I really do have to go,” she said, sounding apologetic. “But- thank you both. For everything. You’ll always be welcome in the Seabed Inn, free of charge. Good luck!”

And with that, she rushed off.

Paya wondered if her promise was considered fulfilled. Kodah had asked that she “take care” of the Hero for her, but she hadn’t specified a time frame. Paya had taken care of him long enough for them to get back to Zora’s Domain safe and sound- was that long enough?

If it wasn’t, that was Kodah’s fault for not specifying. Paya would consider the promise fulfilled, which meant she was no longer under obligation to protect the person she was supposed to kill.

“Hey,” the Hero said, turning to her. “It’s pretty early- I was thinking of leaving the Domain today, and getting a headstart on… well, wherever we’re going next. Maybe Medoh? But we can stay at the Inn, if you want. Rest for a day.”

The idea was tempting, but… no. Impractical. Both their goals- however contradictory they were- would be better served by leaving Zora’s Domain as soon as possible.

“We’ve been here long enough,” Paya responded. “We can rest on the road, if necessary. But I’d like to get going.”

“Alright,” he said, nodding as he did so. He checked the Slate- planning a route, probably- and then started off towards the stairs.

Paya followed him. With her promise fulfilled and the Hero soon to be out in the wild again, far from any witnesses, she should really be taking the opportunity to assassinate  him soon. It would only get harder from here- he was already stronger than he’d been when she met him.

Yes. Soon a moment would present itself, she was sure, and then she’d strike. This had gone on long enough. She should kill the Hero soon.

The thought made her feel strangely sick.

Chapter Text

The path along the Zora River was much nicer on the way back out. There hadn’t been a Blood Moon since the Hero had cleared the monsters on the way in, and the rain had stopped, leaving what was once a miserable trek as a pleasant walk.

It was nice to be walking alone, too. Paya hadn’t had time to herself in a while.

The Hero had teleported away shortly after leaving Zora’s Domain, saying that he was going to retrieve the horses. He’d told her to meet him at Soh Kofi Shrine, by Inogo Bridge, and promptly vanished. Paya was willing to admit- to herself, at least- that she was walking a bit slower than usual, taking the opportunity to savour both the walk and the solitude.

It was a good opportunity to plan as well. She needed a plan. She’d been winging it so far, simply waiting for the right moment, but that had turned out to be fruitless. If the right moment presented itself, she would seize it, of course, but she needed a plan in case that didn’t happen. A more reliable plan.

What she came up with was simple- wait until the Hero fell asleep, preferably out in the wilderness where there wouldn’t be any witnesses, and kill him.

That hadn’t worked last time, but now, she was armed. The Hero had made no move to take the Guardian Spear nor the Silver Sword that King Dorephan had given her. With either of those, she could skewer him in his sleep, and if she hit the right spot he’d be dead in seconds. It would be merciful. He would never even know what happened.

Still, she felt strange. The plan was strategically sound, but for some reason, she just didn’t like it.

Perhaps it was the way it made all her time so far feel like a waste. She wasn’t immune to being sentimental, and while her efforts so far had not been useless, they had been close to it. This new plan reminded her of that uselessness, which must be why it made her so uncomfortable to think about. Yes, that must be it.

Paya resolved to discuss her feelings with Master Kohga once she was back at the Hideout. He’d helped her work through similar issues before. He would know just what to say.

Until then, though, she’d just have to work through things on her own.

When the Shrine came into view, the Hero was already there, as were the horses. He’d changed out of the Zora Armor and Greaves at some point, and was wearing the Stealth Armor again, sans the mask. He spotted her as she crossed the bridge, waving delightedly and failing to notice how Acorn was chewing on his hair.

She stifled a laugh into her hand. He must have wondered what was funny, as he looked around in confusion, noticed the horse eating his hair, and screeched in obvious offense. She laughed again, and didn’t bother hiding it that time. The Hero glanced over at her as he was fending Acorn off, and a smile stole across his face at the sight of her laughing. He looked almost… fond.

A new, strangely warm feeling pooled in her chest. Which was probably a bad sign. Those were not feelings she should be associating with the Hero.

“Hey,” he greeted, a tinge of amusement in his voice. He’d given Acorn an apple, which seemed to have pacified her.

“Hey,” she responded, letting her own amusement leak into her tone. “Your hair’s still messed up.”

He grumbled good-naturedly, taking an old shirt from the Slate and using it to towel off his hair before retrieving a brush to smooth it out. He had nice hair. It was long and well taken care of. She was a bit jealous, in all honesty- her own hair had grown thin at the edges from repeated dyeing, and she often had to hack off the ends because of that. The Hero’s hair wasn’t neat, but it was neater than hers. The messy style really suited him, too.

Paya stopped that train of thought before it could go any further.

“Where are we going?”

The Hero hummed consideringly. “Medoh, I think.”

She frowned. “Really? Vah Rudania is closer.”

“Yeah, but…” he sighed. “This all… Ruta, and Mipha, and everything- it’s been a lot. I don’t want to waste time, so we’re travelling towards a goal, but… I’m not ready to do that again so soon.”

“Oh,” she said. “Well, alright. Are you planning on taking the long way to Rito Village or cutting through Central Hyrule?”

“Central Hyrule,” he answered. “There’s… something I need to see on the way.”

Right, Paya thought. Either that’s a weird way of referring to Hyrule Castle, or there’s a picture on the Slate that was taken in Central Hyrule.

A memory in Central Hyrule would be ideal- the Hero would be defenceless, there would be no witnesses because it was practically deserted, and it wasn’t even that far from Gerudo Desert, so she’d be able to get back to the Hideout and report her success quickly.

That was the perfect moment she’d been waiting for, wasn’t it? And even if he wasn’t talking about a memory, being in Central Hyrule would be beneficial for her earlier plan too. It seemed she’d had a stroke of luck- soon, the Hero would be dead, and this would all be over.

“Hey,” the Hero said, “are you okay?”

Abruptly, Paya realized her face had twisted into a grimace. “Fine,” she lied. “Just a little nauseous.”

“Oh!” he exclaimed, apparently taking her at face value. “Of course you would be- you’ve barely eaten recently, and you’ve been walking for a while. You’re probably hungry- here, I’ve got leftovers-”

A fish and mushroom skewer materialized in his hand, and he passed it to her. She bit into it eagerly- though it wasn’t the reason for her nausea, she was hungry.

The Hero retrieved a skewer of his own, and they sat next to each other, eating in companionable silence. It was nice.

The food. The food was nice. Not the company. Get it together, Paya.

After the meal, Paya got onto Acorn, the Hero onto Storm, and off they went. There was some light chatter, but nothing important. They came across a few monsters, but those were easily dispatched. It was, overall, quite a relaxing time.

Until they crossed Thimbs Bridge.

Granted, nothing of note actually happened at Thimbs Bridge, as they crossed without incident. The issue was where they crossed into.

While the borders between regions weren’t strictly defined, some would say that they were now in Central Hyrule. Most wouldn’t- as far as she knew, Guardians- considered Central Hyrule’s defining trait- were rarely spotted in this area, but they were definitely close, at the very least.

The Hero must have noticed her tensing up, as he stopped to talk to her somewhere between Crenel Hills and Crenel Peak. “Everything okay?”

Paya frowned. “Have you ever been to Central Hyrule before?”

“I must have,” he said, smiling a bit wryly, “but I don’t remember ever getting further in than the outskirts of it. Why? Is it dangerous?”

“Very,” Paya muttered, “very dangerous. And the closer to the Castle you get, the worse it is.” The Crenel Hills were blocking her view, but she knew the Castle was close. Closer than she’d like it to be, anyway. Sure, it housed Lord Ganon, but it was also swarming with Guardians, and Paya would prefer to stay alive if she could help it.

“Hm,” the Hero said. “We can camp here for the night and go in tomorrow?”

“A good night’s sleep won’t make it less dangerous,” she told him, but dismounted Acorn regardless.

“Maybe not,” he responded, leaping to the ground, “but it will make us more prepared. Also, I’m tired.”

“Fair enough,” she said, and so they set up camp.

Setting up was a simple affair- they tied the horses to a nearby tree, made a campfire, and the Hero retrieved two bedrolls from the Slate. He also fetched more food from his seemingly endless supply- this time it was a plate of salt-grilled greens. Simple, but tasty.

Paya settled down for the night fairly easily. She still wasn’t quite used to camping out in the wilderness, but it was comfortable enough. She lied in her bedroll and waited to fall asleep.

And waited.

And waited.

Finally, with some grumbling, she crept out of bed. Her thoughts kept running in circles, and didn’t seem to be slowing down. Maybe a walk would do her some good?

She left the Hero sleeping peacefully and walked off down the path. Not far, just around a bend, until suddenly, the Crenel Hills weren’t blocking her view anymore.

Hyrule Castle loomed to the northwest, glowing eerily in the night. The four pillars surrounding it were the brightest source of the light, but there were smaller specks scattered around the castle and throughout the field in front of it- Guardians.

Tomorrow, she would be out there. Unless she went back and killed the Hero now, that is. He was sleeping, and she still had her Guardian Spear and the Silver Sword King Dorephan had given her- it would be easy enough.

But- no. No, that would be hasty. She ought to wait and see if a Guardian could do it for her. Yes, that made sense. Right?

Paya shivered in the night air. I should get back to camp.

The Hero was still asleep when she returned. She wasn’t sure why that surprised her. Had she been expecting him to be awake? Waiting for her? Questioning where she’d been? Of course not. She was an experienced Yiga. She was certainly stealthy enough to go for a walk without waking someone up.

She slipped back into her bedroll. The walk must have done her some good after all, as she slipped off to sleep.

---

Paya was running.

Mama had told her to run, as fast as she could, so she was running.

Everything looked strange. What was going on? There were people in red suits with odd masks, the village was on fire, and everyone seemed very scared. Paya was trying not to be scared.

Behind her, Mama screamed.

Paya stumbled. But Mama had told her to run, so she had to keep running, right?

And yet a strange thought occurred to her- if I don’t look now, I’ll never know.

So she looked over her shoulder, and-

---

Paya blinked awake, eyes wet.

That dream again. She often dreamed of the night her parents died, and about half those dreams were the version of the event where she turned around.

She hadn’t really turned around, of course. And she always woke up before seeing whatever her mind would conjure up. When she’d told Master Kohga about the dream, he’d suggested it was a manifestation of two conflicting desires- she wished she had turned around instead of running, but she didn’t want to see her mother’s death at the hands of the Sheikah, and so she was left at an impasse.

Master Kohga was always right, of course, so that must be it. Still, the dream always left her uneasy in a way she didn’t quite understand.

She sat up to see the Hero already awake. It seemed like he always woke up before she did- either he was doing it on purpose, or he somehow needed a lot less sleep than most people did.

She didn’t mind, though. Another constant was that he’d use the extra time to make breakfast, and it was always delicious. This time it looked like he’d made crepes, and her mouth was already watering.

“Morning,” the Hero greeted as she moved to sit next to him. He offered her one of the crepes, which was drizzled with honey. She took it gladly, and it was, of course, perfect.

“Morning,” she returned, in between bites. “Are we leaving soon?”

“Mmhm,” he hummed, while eating a crepe of his own. “I’ve been thinking- you’re the expert. How dangerous would it be here?”

He passed her the Slate. A picture was displayed on it, showing a stone courtyard surrounded by trees, with Hyrule Castle directly ahead. It looked very well maintained, but Paya was willing to bet it had long fallen to ruin. Especially given its proximity to Hyrule Castle.

“Very,” she answered. “I haven’t been there, but there’s no way it’s not swarming with Guardians. If you wanted to race past on a very fast horse, you might be alright, but if you want to make a stop there…”

She trailed off, but her meaning was clear.

“Well,” the Hero said consideringly, “what if I was very sneaky?”

“In a different area, that might work,” she said. “But that’s open, flat land. Nowhere to hide.”

“It’s surrounded by trees,” he pointed out, gesturing to the Slate. “There’s probably even more now, since no one’s around to cut them down. Wouldn’t that hide me?”

“...Maybe,” Paya hedged. It wasn’t the worst plan she’d ever heard, but it was far from the greatest.

“How about this,” the Hero said, deactivating the Slate. “We’ll get close enough to see if the trees are good cover. If they are, I’ll go in. If they’re not, we’ll race away.”

“Alright,” she sighed, “but if this goes horribly wrong, I get to say I told you so.”

“Deal,” he said, and that was that.

Despite her nerves, the morning was peaceful enough. They crossed Orsedd Bridge, officially entering Central Hyrule, but turned south when the road forked. If they’d gone north, they would’ve gone to Castle Town, or whatever was left of it- but south was just Romani Plains, much less dangerous.

Less dangerous did not mean safe, of course. They saw Guardians wandering the plains, though so far, the Guardians had been far enough away to not see them.

Just seeing them made her nervous, though. They made the Hero nervous, too- or at least they made him go as still as a hunted thing, frozen in fear. Luckily for him, Storm had no such reservations, and kept walking even as his rider was paralyzed. The Hero relaxed when the Guardian was out of sight, but they were getting deeper into Central Hyrule, and there would only be more Guardians as they drew closer to the location of the picture. And if he did remember something there- well.

There was a high chance the Hero was going to die that day.

And Paya wouldn’t even have to do anything! It was almost too easy. But surely she was owed something easy now, after all the hardship she’d faced so far. Watching the Hero be killed by a Guardian would be a well-earned reward.

She still felt ill. Maybe she was coming down with something?

She hoped not. That would be terribly inconvenient.

“Hey,” the Hero said, “There are trees up ahead.”

Paya looked over. There was, indeed, a cluster of trees. Through the foliage, she saw mossy stone, and it looked to be the right place.

There was also a Guardian between it and them.

It seemed like it was patrolling the area, and luckily for them, it was currently facing away. If they hurried, they might be able to sneak past it- but they’d have to act quickly.

The Hero apparently recognized this- he tensed up, leaning forward in preparation for spurring his horse into a gallop, only to glance over to her. “Do you think the trees are good enough cover?”

“Yes,” she lied.

He nodded, spurring Storm on, and shot off. Paya hurried Acorn after him, and ducked into the trees just as the Guardian turned around to face the spot they’d just been.

It should have been obvious that the trees would absolutely not hide him from Guardians, considering they could guide the horses through with ease, but the Hero didn’t comment on it. He leapt off of Storm before ascending the stairs onto the stone platform, looking around.

Paya looked around too. She could see two Guardians. One to the north, between them and Hyrule Castle, and one to the east, the one they’d just run past. She knew that if you could see a Guardian, they could see you- but again, the Hero didn’t mention it, instead activating the Slate to look at the picture.

Did he really believe her when she said it was safe? Did he trust her that much? …Surely not.

The Hero lifted the Slate, lining its image up with the world around him, and went still.

Paya walked over to him, and then took a moment to study the picture. It was easily recognizable as the same spot, but it was a little jarring to see the pristine area. The castle towered proud in the image, juxtaposing against the mossy, cracked, malice-covered ruins that it had become.

She was stalling.

Paya put a hand on her Guardian Spear. The Hero was defenseless. She was armed. It was the perfect moment she’d been waiting for, right? She could just… draw a weapon and be done with it.

She should draw a weapon and be done with it. That was her job, and completing it was long past due.

Paya activated her Guardian Spear.

Odd. Her hands were shaking. She wasn’t that nervous, was she?

Maybe she was. That wasn’t so strange, though. This was an important job. Nervousness often came with anticipation. That was it.

Something beeped.

Ah. The Guardians. As she’d thought, the trees hadn’t stopped them from spotting the Hero, and now  their targeting lasers were locked onto him.

So really, she didn’t have to do anything. She could just- stand still, maybe, and- watch-

The targeting beams went white, and there was the sound of lasers firing.

Something seized her in that moment- madness, probably- and she grabbed the Hero’s scarf and yanked, sending both of them to the ground.

The Guardian’s beams shot overhead, barely missing the both of them. Still using the scarf as leverage, Paya pulled him backwards, down the stairs, and under one of the pathways going over the shallow water, until they were obscured from view.

And when that was done, with the Hero still unresponsive next to her, her actions caught up with her mind.

She buried her face in her hands. Why did I do that?

Why did I do that???

Her groan was long and drawn out and still not sufficiently indicative of her suffering. What was wrong with her? What had possessed her to- to save him, when she was supposed to be killing him?

She thought of her trembling hands, her recurring nausea, the way she’d tackled the Hero out of the way of danger on Vah Ruta.

The warm way the Hero made her feel. How he laughed. How he smiled. The way he’d leapt in to protect her from the Lynel, even when it frightened him.

A terrible realization dawned on her: she had saved him because she wanted to. She had saved the Hero because she did not want him dead.

“Fuck.”

This was bad. Very bad. She’d gotten attached. She was not supposed to do that.

What would Master Kohga think of her? Or worse, her parents? His protege, their child, failing so miserably at killing the Hero that she grew to like him? What a disappointment. They’d all be ashamed of her.

Beside her, the Hero slumped as his memory ended. Great. Just great. There went her perfect chance, and she had no one to blame but herself.

He looked around, probably confused by how they’d ended up crouched knee-deep in water under a stone path. He leaned over to peer around their hiding spot and then immediately pulled back into cover, face pale. He must have seen one of the Guardians searching for him. Maybe even both of them.

“So,” he said, shaky voice betraying his casual tone, “I guess the trees weren’t good enough cover after all.”

“Guess not,” she murmured. Distantly, it occurred to her that she still had her Guardian Spear activated. The Hero would probably assume it was in case she needed to fight a Guardian. Not because she’d just tried to kill him.

Had she really tried, though? How long had it been since she put her heart into it? Could she have been successful by now, if not for her own hesitance?

She remembered the times she’d pushed or pulled the Hero to a safety he wouldn’t have reached on his own. Yes, she could have been.

What a mess.

There was a flash of blue as the Hero stored his Lynel Bow in the Slate and withdrew a Phrenic Bow in its place. It wasn’t nearly as strong as the Lynel Bow he’d just replaced, but they were famously easy to aim with- he must have been planning on hitting a difficult target.

“I have two ideas,” he said. “You tell me which one is better. One is that we stay here, taking shots and throwing bombs from cover, until the Guardians go down. The other one is that I shoot them both in the eye to stun them, and we run, get the horses, and get out of here. Thoughts?”

“Those are both terrible ideas,” she said.

He huffed. “Do you have a better one?”

“No,” she grumbled. “But they’re connected- a network or something. If we wait here to try and whittle them down, we’ll just get swarmed. How confident are you about hitting them in the eye?”

“I can hit one for sure,” he said. “But both at the same time… maybe not.”

She grimaced. “That’s not ideal, but it’ll have to do.”

“Right,” he agreed. “You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” she muttered, which wasn’t true. She was still grappling with her earlier revelation, and being distracted was never good in a situation like this. But she was ready enough.

“Great,” he said, nocking an arrow. “Try not to die.”

She nodded, but did not return the sentiment. A part of her still wanted to say You too. 

She’d have to do something about that.

The Hero leapt out of their hiding spot, firing an arrow in the same motion. She didn’t look as she sprinted away, but she heard the whir of the Guardian recalibrating, and knew he must have hit dead on.

A beam lanced past her, aiming at where the Hero had been, but there was no cry of pain- he must have dodged. Relief and frustration swirled in her chest.

Paya reached the horses and swung herself onto Acorn’s back, spurring her forward without hesitation. Acorn sprung into a gallop without complaint, and a moment later, the Hero ran past, leaping onto Storm and catching up immediately with his superior speed.

A Guardian had already moved to block their path. The same one the Hero had shot in the eye, now back in fighting form and charging another shot. Paya’s Guardian Spear was still active- without thought, she threw it forward, aiming for its eye.

She missed, but the spear pierced through the side of its head with ease, causing the machine to jerk erratically. As it did, an arrow flew past, this one successfully striking it in the eye. It seemed the Hero was adept at horseback archery.

With their obstacle dealt with, the horses were free to keep galloping, quickly speeding down the road and out of sight of the ruins.

She and the Hero had escaped unscathed. Despite being lost in a memory and surrounded by two Guardians and a Yiga, the Hero was safe. Because of her. His assassin.

That had to change. No matter how little she liked the thought, the Hero needed to die, and if she was to redeem herself for saving his life, she’d have to be the one to kill him.

Tonight, she told herself. I’ll do it tonight.

Chapter Text

Paya would’ve expected the danger to lessen once they’d gotten out of Central Hyrule, but they stumbled across a monster camp almost immediately.

It was only Bokoblins and Keese, but with eight Bokoblins and five Keese against the two of them, it wasn’t the best ratio. Quite a few monsters in one place, actually- probably due to the proximity to Hyrule Castle.

The fight wasn’t very difficult, though, just tedious. The Hero stayed back for most of it, shooting down the Keese followed by the Bokoblins, while she went in to melee some of the stronger monsters. But perhaps she’d been overconfident- she wasn’t used to fighting monsters in large groups.

She was hit a few times- bit by a Keese, shallowly sliced by a Bokoblin, and a few other small injuries. By the time the last monster had faded away, it felt like half her body was bruised. The Hero clearly felt horrible about it. He seemed to blame himself for staying back, even though the support of his archery had been immensely helpful.

According to the sensor on the Slate, there was a Shrine just ahead. The Hero insisted on camping for the night as soon as they reached it so that she could rest, which was kind of him. It was a little frustrating, too- she could take care of herself- but she appreciated the concern.

She tried to squash that appreciation, but failed. Damn her and her feelings. They would only make things harder for her.

“Hey,” the Hero said as they set up camp. “Can you come over here? I want to try something.”

That was awfully suspicious- but it would be unlike him to backstab her. Backstabbing was more of her thing.

“Fine,” she said, and went over. “What is it?”

The Hero rolled up her sleeve in response, revealing the Keese bite. After a moment, he put his hand over it. Nothing happened.

He sighed, sounding frustrated. “Mipha gave me her power, and I remember she could use it to heal people, but I don’t know how. Sorry.”

He removed his hand. Embarrassingly, she missed it- the warmth of his hand had been comforting, even without any kind of healing power.

“I guess I’ll just make something healing, instead,” he murmured. “I have durians, so… I can make something with those.”

“You don’t have to sound so dejected about it,” she told him. “I’m sure it’ll be delicious.”

He half-smiled. “I’ll do my best, but it won’t be as fast as Mipha’s healing. I should’ve asked her how it worked… hopefully I’ll figure it out soon.”

With that, he set about making dinner. Or dessert, as it soon became clear he was making a durian pie.

It was endlessly frustrating how kind he was, and how concerned he was with her well-being. Even if it was only in repayment for saving him from the Guardians- which she doubted was the case- the care made her feel so- so cherished. So liked. The feeling was warm, and pleasant, and absolutely not what she needed to be feeling.

She needed to remember her mission. She needed to focus.

The Hero hummed as he cooked, smiling softly.

Focus, Paya.

Dinner was somewhat stilted. It was delicious, of course, and the durians did their job, mending her wounds with their magic. The stiltedness mostly came from the lack of conversation, with the Hero trying to start up small talk and Paya resolutely not engaging with it. She needed to stop doing that. To stop interacting with him at all, really. She should never have started speaking to him.

He probably just assumed she was tired. It had been quite a long day.

Guilt wormed its way into her heart. Deceiving him like this, even if it was just by not saying anything, felt shameful. But lies and deceit were some of a Yiga’s best tools. …She really needed to get a hold of herself.

The Hero went into the Shrine after dinner. She pretended to go to sleep while he was gone- it might lower his guard, if it wasn’t low enough already.

How many times had he slept in front of her, trusting there wouldn’t be a repeat of the time she tried to strangle him? How much did he trust her?

Too much, she knew. She feigned sleep with a sword in her hand. He trusted her too much.

She heard the Hero leaving the Shrine, and made an extra effort to lay still. Keep her eyes closed. Breathe evenly. Why was that so hard?

Did it have something to do with the way her heart was beating? Rapid and painful, like it was going to burst out of her chest and reveal her treachery for all to see?

It wasn’t going to do that. She was just nervous. Paya kept breathing evenly. In… out…

There was a series of shuffling noises as the Hero went to bed. She didn’t move even after silence fell- he could still be awake. She needed him to be asleep. To stay asleep. If she did her job right, he wouldn’t even wake up, and he’d never know that she’d- that she had-

Even breaths. In. Out. In… Out…

Her palms were sweating. That wasn’t good. That could make her slip at a crucial moment. She needed to calm down. She needed her heart to stop beating so fast.

She needed to breathe.

The Hero was breathing evenly. She focused on that. She heard him inhale- breathe in. She heard him exhale- breathe out.

It was soothing, in a way. It was also agony, listening to him breathing, following his breath, and knowing that she was going to cut it off. Soon. Very soon.

Was he asleep yet? It had been some time, but she couldn’t be sure. Couldn’t risk it. Couldn’t afford to mess this up.

She waited in silence.

It was hard to tell how much time was passing, but when the moon was visible over the canyon walls, she knew it had been hours.

The Hero had to be asleep by now. It was time.

It had to be time.

Paya stood up. Slowly, silently, cautiously above all else. She couldn’t afford to make a mistake. Not now.

Her stomach churned. She took another deep breath, but it did little to soothe her. She doubted anything would. Not until after the deed was done.

Not until after she got this over with.

She clutched her Silver Sword. Funny, that King Dorephan had given it to her for heroic deeds. A reward for helping the Hero. For saving the Zora. King Dorephan had called her a hero.

She didn’t feel like one. There, in the dark, standing over the Hero’s sleeping form, Paya felt like a monster.

Do your duty, she told herself. And yet her hands trembled. She felt more nauseous than ever. There was a pressure behind her eyes- a building headache, or tears?

It was impossible to tell. She turned away from the Hero, looking out into the darkness of the night and breathing. Come on, Paya. This is what you trained for.

In and out. Slowly. Cautiously. Calm down. You can’t afford to make a mistake. You can’t afford to feel right now.

She turned back to the Hero’s sleeping form. He looked so peaceful like this. Relaxed. The scars on his face tended to make him look older- like he had really lived for one hundred and seventeen years- but like this, tranquil in sleep, he looked only seventeen. The same age as Paya, really. If things were different-

But things were not different, and she was stalling again.

She crouched over him. What would be the best way to do it? He was lying on his back, leaving all his most vital organs vulnerable. What would be fastest? What would be easiest?

Decapitation, maybe? That would certainly kill him quickly. She could almost certainly pull it off from this angle. If she did it right, it would just be one motion, and then he’d be- he’d be dead. Gone. It would be done.

She tried to imagine that. Moved her arms into position for it. But they were trembling- she was trembling- could she get it in one motion like this? Could she make it clean?

Or would she leave him half-decapitated, dying slowly and painfully and all too aware-

Maybe not decapitation. That wasn’t reliable enough right now. She couldn’t afford to make a mistake.

Could she slit his throat, instead? That would be more consistent. Not quite as fast, but it would get the job done. The odds of him waking up before the blood loss made that impossible were slim- but they were still there, weren’t they?

He still had at least one fairy in the Slate. She couldn’t afford even a second of consciousness. The Hero was clever. Resourceful. He’d wriggle out of this if given even the slightest opportunity.

Could she stab straight down through his head? Throw her full weight behind the sword and bury it between his eyes? That would surely kill him instantly. Right?

The Hero lay still, blissfully unaware. She felt like she was going to be sick.

Through the head, then. It would make a horrible noise, certainly, but it would be quick. He wouldn’t wake up. Wouldn’t see her. Wouldn’t know what she’d done.

She just needed to do it.

Paya crouched over the Hero, one leg on either side of his torso, and raised her sword above her head. You can do it. Just strike down. It’ll be easy.

Her hands were trembling. She tightened her grip until her hands ached, and the shaking ceased.

One motion. Come on. You can do it.

She thrust the sword down, and- hesitated.

The point hovered over the bridge of his nose. And yet he still slept on. He looked so peaceful. 

So alive.

She didn’t want to harm him. To see his breath cease. Her heart hurt- she didn't want to see him die. She wanted him to live.

But no. No. Paya was Yiga, and that meant she had a duty. A legacy. This went beyond her and her wants.

Still, she couldn’t look. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath, as though that could calm the roiling in her gut. The pain in her chest. The scream trying to tear its way out of her throat.

She took a deep breath, and suppressed them all.

Come on, Paya. Make your parents proud.

She stabbed down.

There was a crunch, and a wet sound, and a gurgle. They were all terrible noises- but they were not the right ones.

Her eyes flew open. The Silver Sword was indeed stabbed into the Hero, going straight through him- through the neck. The neck.

I missed.

The gurgle, of course, had been from his lips- the noise of a man trying to breathe with several important things severed. Blood was already bubbling out of his mouth.

Horrified, Paya lifted her gaze, and met his eyes.

They were wide open, of course. Of course. Wide and pained and betrayed, of course, of course, and as he made another horrible gurgle she saw him begin to cry.

A matching sob tore its way out of her. This was not-

This was a mistake. A terrible mistake. She’d so desperately tried to avoid it, and ended up here anyway. Her fault. If she had only…

That didn’t matter now. She had a duty. Paya was still a Yiga. She’d made a dire mistake, but it was not unsalvageable. She could still complete her mission.

With a guttural scream, Paya tore the sword out of his throat and stabbed down again.

With her eyes open, her aim was improved. In a single motion, she tore through flesh and bone, sinking her sword through the bridge of his nose and out the other side of his head.

The Hero’s body went slack, pinned to the ground. His eyes were still open.

Paya sobbed again, slumping forward. Her energy was gone, snuffed out. But at least it was done. It was done.

The Hero was dead.

There was a flicker of light in the corner of her eye. She lifted her gaze to find the Hero enveloped in a soft blue glow, which grew steadily brighter as the moment went on. The magic was mostly without form, merely enveloping the Hero’s corpse in light, but some flakes broke off, forming ghostly fires.

Was he becoming a ghost? Tears slid down Paya’s face, unbidden. Surely he couldn’t. Surely this would not have been for nothing.

The light flared, and Paya found the Silver Sword pushing against her, going up as it was forced out of the Hero’s face. Numbly, she fumbled with it, dropping the blade in her lap as she stared.

The Hero’s wounds were closing. Even the blood on his face was fading, melting away like it had never been there at all. The blood splattered over her wasn’t getting the same treatment- whatever magic this was, it was focused solely on the Hero.

And then, in a final burst of magic, there was a figure. A spirit. Glowing solidly blue, she was little more than a silhouette, but Champion Mipha was unmistakable.

For a moment, she looked at Paya. Paya made some pathetic noise when their eyes met, caught somewhere between a sob and a whimper, and Champion Mipha looked away. Down at the Hero, whose head she was cradling in her lap. The faintest of smiles crossed Champion Mipha’s face, and she leaned down, kissing him on the forehead.

His eyes flew open.

“It was my pleasure,” Champion Mipha said, soft, and then she was gone.

The Hero sat up. His eyes were still wide. The magic had erased the blood from his face, but the tears remained. He stared at her. She stared at him.

It occurred to her, distantly, that she was still holding the sword, and he was still unarmed and potentially off his guard. But even the vague thought of seeing him dead again made her stomach churn anew, and she shuddered.

Like her movement had broken a spell, the Hero looked at her, eyes focusing properly for the first time since his resurrection. How did she look to him? Kneeling over him, sword in hand, covered in his blood… well, she couldn’t have looked good. Suddenly, he shoved her backwards, sending her sprawling. The Hero leapt to his feet, and pulled two things from the Sheikah Slate.

First was his Eightfold Blade, which he held defensively in front of him, and next was a pile of red cloth. Her uniform. He threw it at her just as she sat up, and it landed in a heap in her lap. The blood already splattered on her began soaking into it immediately.

She looked up at the Hero, at a loss for words. Everything that had happened- what had just happened? The Hero- Champion Mipha- what?

“Get out,” the Hero said.

She blinked. “What?” She croaked, voice frail.

“Leave,” he snapped, cold, though the way his voice cracked and the tears still streaking down his face betrayed his feelings. “Go back to- wherever you came from. Just go away.”

To illustrate his point, he swung his sword into an offensive position. Would he attack her? No, of course he would. She certainly deserved it.

Paya stumbled to her feet, clutching her uniform and her sword to her chest, and ran.

She went east, back the way they’d come. The Hero was unlikely to return that way, and of course he wouldn’t want to see her again. Ever again. Who would, after- after?

She tripped on a loose board on Carok Bridge, and fell to her knees. Everything she was holding fell to the ground as she caught herself with her hands, but she paid them no mind. Her attention was caught by the blood staining her gloves. He hadn’t even asked for his clothes back. Of course he hadn’t. They were soaked in blood. She had just tried to- she had just-

His blood. The way it had splattered- the sound he had made- the way he’d looked at her-

Paya leaned over the river, and threw up.

Chapter Text

As she did every morning, Paya woke up early, did her morning stretches, and slipped off to get some practice in while the Hideout was as close to empty as it got.

It wasn’t that she was unwilling to practice in front of her fellow Yiga, of course. She would do plenty of that later in the day. These early morning sessions were just bonuses- Master Kohga had high expectations for her, after all, and she wasn’t going to let him down.

First, the range. Shoot, shoot, shoot, miss, hit, hit. Remember to adjust the angle for the distance. Remember- ow- to put on the arms guards before you start shooting. Collect the arrows. Again.

Shoot, shoot, shoot. Hit, hit, hit.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Three bullseyes. Good. Try to replicate that again after breakfast. For now, onto teleporting.

Fast. As fast as you can. Faster than that. What was her best time? Beat that. Try again. Again. Again.

Ran out of practice talismans. Didn’t beat her best time. Try again later. Others are waking up. Move on to sparring for now. The earlier risers know the routine. Find a sparring partner. Goji. Blademaster. Always hits hard and slow. Mental note to tell Master Kohga the Blademasters need to diversify. Focus on now. Sickles only. First blood. Go!

Duck. Jump. Slash- barely miss. Lunge! Anticipated; blocked. Jump back. Circle. Wait. Feint. Patience… now!

Hit. She’s won the first match. It’s best out of three today. Next round is Windcleavers. Same rules. Go again.

Dodge. Dodge again. Slice; too slow, miss. Duck. Slice. Blocked. Dodge- fail. Get hit. Lost round two.

No time to dwell on that. Round three. Demon Carvers. She’s always liked the sickles better. That’s not important right now. Focus. Focus. Go!

Slice, miss, dodge, lunge, miss, dodge, jump, slice, blocked, break the grip, slice again, win!

Paya concealed her exhausted breathing as best she could. Two out of three, not terrible, but she really needed to improve with Windcleavers. Tomorrow. Or later today if she has time. Both? Both.

For now: breakfast.

She’s late; most of it is gone now. No bananas left. Whatever. Just have a Hydromelon. Raw. It’s more refreshing that way. The water is good after sweating all morning.

Remember to stretch again, ten minutes. Meditate, five minutes.

Hm. Now what? She wasn’t going to be ready to train again for a few hours. Read? She was about halfway through that old book Master Kohga had loaned her. She didn’t really understand why he liked it- it seemed kind of boring- but she was sure she’d get it once she read it some more. But she wasn’t really in the mood for reading just yet.

Patrol it was, then.

Paya slipped her mask on, double-checked that her hair was secure, and left the Hideout through the main entrance.

There was rarely much to see out in the desert, but there was the occasional Gerudo guard. Best to keep an eye out. Their spies ought to alert them if the Gerudo were planning anything, but there was no harm in being prepared. Just in case.

She found a comfortable enough place to sit, hidden in the shadows, and waited for a while.

Sand drifted by. The bananas by the statues were starting to rot; they’d have to be replaced soon. A beetle scurried past her.

Her legs started to cramp. She needed to practice crouching more often.

Finally, someone approached. Another Yiga. She wasn’t sure who; everyone looked the same with their masks on. That was the point.

They were staggering, though, one hand held to their side. If they were bleeding, she couldn’t tell, but they were definitely injured.

She kept waiting, quiet. If they collapsed, she’d do something, but if they could make it into the Hideout on their own, she might as well keep watching for any potential pursuers.

The other Yiga stumbled, nearly falling, before righting themselves and beginning to walk again, legs wavering with each step. Paya caught the sound of them hissing through their teeth as their hand tightened on their injury. 

Alright. This was serious.

She was at their side in a burst of talismans. They jerked away, startled, and nearly fell, but she caught them by the arm and pulled them upright.

“Were you pursued?” She asked, pulling them towards the entrance to the Hideout.

“No,” they gasped. Ah, she recognized that voice. It was Caro.

Hang on, hadn’t he been sent out to…

“Was the Hero,” Caro choked out. “Startled ‘im pretty bad. Almost got him, but…”

He chucked, then wheezed. “He got me ‘nstead. Spun ‘round with a sledgehammer ‘n his hands… got me, yeah. Got me good.”

“An elixir, then,” Paya said, and Caro nodded, already leaning on her heavily. He’d probably used all his talismans chaining teleports back to the desert. Otherwise he’d have gone straight inside.

“Guess I won’t be on any missions for a while,” Caro grumbled, stumbling inside with her. She caught the venom in his voice- Caro enjoyed his work. Sometimes too much; this wouldn’t be the first time he got too overzealous and wound up badly hurt. Probably why he was still a Footsoldier. He was hardly living up to his potential.

“Injured,” Paya called as they entered the Hideout proper. People reacted instantly- Caro was hauled off her shoulder and carried away to be cared for by the Yiga who happened to be trained in medicine. Paya had once suggested that all Yiga should be trained in that, but Master Kohga had dismissed it as unnecessary, so she didn’t bring it up again. Still, she would have liked to help. It was still a bit too soon to train again, and she wasn’t going to go out for additional patrolling when she’d just come inside, so…

Back to that book it was.

She wandered into the room she and Master Kohga shared. He wasn’t there- she pulled the curtain separating their sections of it to check. Probably experimenting with talismans by the pit outside again.

She took off her mask, put down her bow and sickle, and picked up Master Kohga’s book.

It was called Forsaken Love. From what she’d read so far, it was about two Hylians who had been childhood sweethearts, but when they grew up, one chose to be a farmer and the other chose to be a warrior. The farmer detested war and broke off the relationship, and then the next few hundred pages were just the pair repeatedly meeting in secret and arguing about their respective opinions in exchanges that ended, every time, with the warrior being right on all accounts. Sometimes at the expense of the farmer making incredibly stupid arguments.

The initial conflict had at least seemed vaguely interesting, but the execution was… lacking. The book could probably be boiled down into a few paragraphs and still get the same information across.

She was pretty sure it was going to end with the farmer realizing the warrior was right all along and running off with him to fight in the war, but hoped she was wrong. That would be, in her opinion, a rather boring end to a very boring book.

Still. The pages were old and worn with use, several of them even dogeared. Clearly, Master Kohga loved this book. She just had to figure out why. To see what he saw.

She turned a page. The farmer melodramatically told the warrior that yes, he was right again, but she could not leave, for you see… before the warrior had left for the war, they had slept together, and she’d had a child before he returned, and the big reveal was that she’d never actually been against war at all and was really only mad he’d left her and their daughter, and-

Okay. Great. So the core argument wasn’t even real. And there was a daughter that hadn’t been so much as alluded to, and… oh, this page was dogeared too.

So there was something in these hollow caricatures that Master Kohga found worthwhile. Maybe he was enjoying it… ironically…?

Paya resolved to figure out what Master Kohga saw in this surely very interesting book… later. For now, she was going to train some more. It had been long enough.

First the range. Remember how it went in the morning. What did she do wrong? What did she do right?

Shoot. Shoot. Shoot.

Hit, hit, bullseye.

Alright. Something like that. Again.

Again.

Again- oh, wait. Someone was waving her over.

“Master Kohga’s asking for you,” they said. Paya nodded in answer, putting down her bow and quickly wiping the sweat from her brow. He’d be waiting back in their room, she assumed. That was where he usually met with people. What could he want?

A new assignment, most likely- but then, those didn’t usually come so short notice.

She put it out of her mind as she turned the corner. No need to theorize. He’d tell her soon enough.

Master Kohga was, as expected, sitting in the communal part of their room. He perked up when she entered. Paya hoped that she hadn’t kept him waiting too long.

“Ah, Paya!” He greeted, as enthusiastic as ever. “There you are. Now! I have… a very special assignment for you.”

He practically buzzed with glee at whatever it was. Paya’s mind jumped to Caro, stumbling in unsuccessful, and began to suspect. But no need to make hasty assumptions.

“Alright,” she nodded. “What is it?”

“Why, only the most important mission of all,” Master Kohga announced, grandly raising his arms. “The elimination… of the Hero!”

Ah. So she was right. She’d been wondering when it would be her turn to get this job. All the others had failed, but…

“I’m honoured, Master,” she said. “I won’t let you down.”

“I know you won’t,” Master Kohga said, warmly. “You never do. You and I, we’re the best of the best, after all.”

She flushed lightly. Compliments from Master Kohga weren’t uncommon, but they were rarely so high as to compare her to him.

“Now,” he said, becoming slightly more serious. “We’ve got some information from our friend Dorian. Last known location for the Hero was in Kakariko. No good going there, of course! But he’s heading straight west. If you leave right away… you could catch him by the plateau. All alone.”

“Oh,” he said, “and here you go! Made them fresh, just for you.”

He tossed her a bag of talismans. Good. She’d been running low… and she’d need a lot if she was going to catch up to the Hero before they lost track of him.

“Thanks,” Paya said, taking them. “Is there anything else I should know?”

He shrugged. “Nothing I’m sure you haven’t already figured out! He’s a dangerous guy. Slippery. Put your best into this one, Paya!”

“I always do,” she promised. “I’ll return soon, with news of the Hero’s demise.”

“Attagirl,” he said, and she flushed again at the fondness in his voice, ducking her head. That reminded her- she needed her mask. She’d left it behind at her bedside earlier.

She strapped it on, tilting her chin to make sure it was secure. Her hair was still up and her uniform was still on from practice- she was ready to go. Mostly, anyway. She ought to have a banana for luck before properly setting out.

“Paya,” Master Kohga called, and she paused halfway through the door. “Be careful out there.”

She nodded, and stepped through the door. Careful. She could do that. Usually she could be considered slightly reckless, but if Master Kohga thought it was important, she’d be careful. There was a reason everyone else had failed so far. She’d stake the Hero out before making her move. Be sure to get him alone and off guard- she didn’t always bother with such things, but a target like the Hero definitely called for it.

First…

She clambered up to their Mighty Banana storeroom and pulled one from the pile before dropping back down to ground level. The Hideout’s kitchen was pretty small for the amount of people that lived in it, but it was serviceable; certainly large enough for roasting a single banana.

Some Yiga preferred to prepare their pre-mission bananas differently, but she’d always liked roasting them best. It was the fastest other than eating them raw, and she enjoyed the richness it added.

With the ease of practice, she was finished quickly, and ate the fruit without waiting for it to cool. Hopefully, the luck the ritual was meant to grant would give her an edge.

Now she was ready.

For the biggest, most important mission she’d ever undertake.

She’d told Master Kohga she wouldn’t let him down, and she meant it. This was what she’d been training all her life for. What every Yiga trained for.

The elimination of the Hero.

She took a deep breath. She would need to be calm. Collected. Careful. She had to do this right.

Paya stepped out of the Hideout, into the desert sun, and set off.

Chapter Text

When Paya was little, she didn’t know much about fighting. Or about anything, really. She’d come to the Yiga sheltered and confused, not knowing a thing about what was going on.

She remembered the adults had discussed her, but not exactly what they’d said. There was arguing, she recalled- some were angry at the Blademaster who’d brought her in, though she had never found out precisely why. She assumed he hadn’t been meant to bring back such a young child, even if she was the orphaned daughter of two of their best members.

She didn’t know how to fight, after all. She was useless.

She remembered the way Master Kohga had swept into the room- and though much of her surrounding memories were fuzzy, his words were still crystal clear in her mind.

“I’ll take care of her.”

And he had. Master Kohga had taken her under his wing, practically raised her as his own- he’d taught her how to fight, how to wield a bow, how to silence her footsteps, and more than that, he’d taught her all she knew about the world.

It was Master Kohga who first told her the truth about The Calamity- about Lord Ganon, the Princess, and the Hero. He had told her how, one day, the Hero would awaken from his slumber, and the Yiga would kill him. He told her how her parents had dedicated their lives to that very mission before the Sheikah had murdered them. He told her he would train her for it now. To uphold their legacy. To kill the Hero.

Paya had been very, very proud to be chosen for such an important mission. She had trained so hard to be good. To be the best. As Master Kohga’s personal protege, expectations for her were high, and she knew that- she worked hard to exceed them.

For a time, she had even thought herself successful. In hindsight, that was foolish.

Paya curled into herself, alone on the bridge, and knew she had failed.

---

Once she’d pulled herself together a little, her first order of business was getting cleaned up. The blood might have already stained her clothes, but she could wash it off her sword and her skin at the very least. Luckily, she was already right next to a convenient source of water.

She took her gloves off and rolled her sleeves up before dipping her hands in the river. It was cold- and without soap, it was a slow process, scrubbing the half-dried blood from her hands. They ended up sore, the pads of her fingers wrinkled, but they were clean.

She made a halfhearted attempt to get the blood off the gloves, too. It worked better than she’d expected, but they were definitely still stained.

Then all that was left was her face. She cupped the river water in her hands and tried her best to wash away the blood, but without a mirror, it was hard to tell if she’d gotten it all. It was too dark to even see her reflection in the river.

Still, she tried. The chill of the water and the focus required kept her mind away from- other things.

She didn’t want to think about other things.

---

Even as a child, it hadn’t escaped Paya’s notice that she was the youngest Yiga by far. Sure, some of the adults had children of their own, but they were never brought into the Hideout. So Paya didn’t train with kids. She trained against adults instead.

She thought it made her special. She was more mature than the others, perhaps. More naturally gifted, or more willing to fight for the cause, or just more dedicated to practicing.

After a few years, she could take down the adults consistently. She was a good shot and skilled with a sickle. Paya was often praised as one of the most talented Yiga there was; a prodigy, even. All thanks to Master Kohga’s training, of course.

Sometimes, Master Kohga told her that it wasn’t all because of him. After all, her parents had been great Yiga too. The skill was in her blood. And Master Kohga was always right, so she supposed that must be true.

That didn’t mean she didn’t have to work for it, though. It took her ages to figure out how to use talismans, and she was fully willing to admit that she’d never been great at archery. She’d always overestimated how far an arrow would fly before gravity pulled it down, and as a result, her shots often fell short.

She made up for it, though, by mastering teleportation. Practicing more with her sickle. Who needed range when you could appear and disappear at will, able to strike your enemy faster than an arrow could reach them and vanish before they could counterattack?

Maybe she had needed range after all. If only she’d shot at the Hero from a distance, none of this ever would have happened.

---

Paya only realized how tired she was when the sun came up.

She hadn’t slept all night, and it was catching up to her. Her limbs ached and her mind was growing cloudy. And it’s not like there was anywhere she had to be in a hurry- she had to be back at the Hideout eventually, but… there was no urgency in that. She could sleep under the bridge- it would be uncomfortable, but safe enough.

And yet- a thought kept her awake. The Hero would be breaking camp soon. He’d be on his way again, and on horseback, he’d be too far away to ever hope to catch up to within the day.

But why did that matter? There would be no point in catching up to him. It wasn’t as if she’d be any more successful if she tried to kill him again, and he certainly wouldn’t be happy to see her.

No, better to sleep now, and set off for Gerudo Desert when she woke. She could even use her uniform as a pillow, to make it a little more comfortable. Or maybe she should change into it and put the Hylian clothes over it instead. That would be easier than carrying it around.

She held her Yiga armor in front of her. It looked fine. If it had been stained by the blood, she couldn’t tell- it was red anyway. There was no reason not to wear it, really. It would provide extra protection, and if she ran into any travellers on the way back to the Hideout, it would be better not to be carrying a Yiga uniform.

Yes, it would be better to put her uniform on. As she removed the Hylian hood, a thought occurred to her, and she crept down to the river to check her reflection.

Her hair had grown out more than she’d realized. There was more white than there had been in… a long time.

---

When Paya had first been brought to the Yiga, she’d been wearing the traditional clothing a Sheikah child would wear, which wouldn’t do, of course. But there had been some trouble figuring out what she’d wear instead- there weren’t exactly child-sized Yiga uniforms available.

In the end, she’d been given a collection of oversized shirts that she wore as dresses until they finished making her a uniform. She’d been so proud when she finally changed into it- at last, she fit in, finally part of the group. She’d grown out of it quickly, of course. But Master Kohga always had new ones made, though he kept all of her small uniforms. He’d said it was in case another child needed one, but a blademaster had once told Paya he kept them out of sentiment.

That made her proud, too. Being worthy of the Leader of the Yiga Clan’s affection. The thought often motivated her to work harder, be better- to live up to the potential Master Kohga saw in her.

In most cases, Yiga dyed their own hair, but when it had come time to dye Paya’s for the first time, Master Kohga had done it for her. She still remembered her excitement. The way Master Kohga had laughed, and had to keep telling her to sit still, promising that he’d be done soon and then she could look. She had cried when he finally presented her with a mirror for her to see her reflection.

A little girl in a red uniform with freshly dyed black hair. She had looked, for the first time, like she truly belonged with the Yiga, and that had made her indescribably happy. She had a new family.

Paya loved them, and she had always believed they loved her too. But she doubted that that love was unconditional. They wouldn’t hate her for failing- countless Yiga had tried and failed before her.

More likely, however, they would hate the little part of her that had wanted to fail. The tiny spark within her that had cried out in relief when the Hero had gotten back up.

She wouldn’t blame them for that. Paya hated that part of her, too.

---

She ended up following the Hero.

She’d tried going to sleep, but the thought of losing his trail had nagged at her incessantly, and she’d eventually gotten up and crept towards his camp. He’d been in the process of leaving, already on his horse, and hadn’t noticed as she trailed behind, far enough that even if he did turn around, she’d be little more than a distant blur.

It was odd, watching him like this. It was too quiet- she’d gotten used to his smalltalk, and gotten used to talking back, but of course, he would never speak to her again. He didn’t even know she was there.

Why was she there, anyway? What did she gain from this?

Paya wasn’t sure. But something squeezed in her chest at the thought of leaving, and so she kept following him.

---

The first time Paya killed someone, she wasn’t yet a teenager.

Master Kohga had explained it to her- their target was both paranoid and capable, and he’d fended off all the Yiga sent after him before. But those had all been adults, of course- he was sure that Paya, little and unassuming as she was, would be able to get closer than anyone else.

Master Kohga was always right. The man thought nothing of the little girl who approached him on the road, saying she’d been separated from her family in a monster attack, until her knife was in his throat.

She’d returned to great praise, and given many congratulations on her first successful assassination.

She never learned the man’s name.

---

When the Hero finally got out of the Breach of Demise, he came to a fork in the road- one path led west, and the other south. Paya knew which way he should have gone. The west road was the fastest route to Rito Village, and consequently, the fastest route to Vah Medoh. But when he came to the crossroads, he stopped, and turned south.

She couldn’t fathom why. He’d tilted his head like he was listening to something before turning, but she was far enough behind him that she couldn’t hear it. Could it be her? No, she was too far away- his hearing wasn’t that good. So what was it? She crept forwards, slowly, cautiously.

It reminded her of when she’d first stalked the Hero, but this time felt different. Back then, following him had felt natural. It had been the most reasonable thing to do. The fastest way to accomplish her goal.

Now it felt wrong. Following him when she used to walk beside him. Following him when he’d told her to leave.

Paya didn’t want to leave. She wanted to be walking beside him again.

Stupid, she scolded herself. There are countless reasons why that can’t happen.

She wanted it anyway.

---

Paya didn’t remember when she’d first heard the name Sooga, but his shadow had loomed over her for nearly as long as she could remember.

Sooga had been Master Kohga’s second in command. The Right Hand of the Inverted Eye, was the official title. Well, it was ‘official,’ but Sooga was the only person to have ever held the position, and she was pretty sure it had been invented just for him.

She’d never met Sooga, of course. He died during the Calamity. She’d never been exactly sure how- Master Kohga didn’t like to talk about it. He didn’t like to talk much about Sooga at all, always changing the subject if he was brought up.

Master Kohga must have missed him a lot.

The other Yiga told her about him, though. Apparently he’d been Master Kohga’s best friend. Apparently, ever since his death, Master Kohga had been a bit of a shut-in, but seemed to be coming back out of his shell a little, now that Paya was there.

Some Yiga thought that she was going to be the next Right Hand. Master Kohga had taken a special interest in her, after all. He was mostly in charge of her training. He’d practically raised her. They thought that he might be training her to take the position that was once Sooga’s. To be second in command to the Yiga.

Paya wasn’t sure if that was true or not, but she’d been honoured- and perhaps a bit intimidated- just to hear that some people thought it was.

---

It turned out the Hero had headed south to go talk to a Rito. That made sense- he did have a tendency to go look at anything interesting or unusual- but, surprisingly, she actually knew the Rito in question.

Not personally, of course, but she’d seen him plenty of times before. It was Kass, a travelling bard who often stayed at the stables. She’d never seen him speak to the Hero before, though they’d often nodded at each other in passing, but from the familiarity as to which they greeted each other, they must’ve spoken at some point. Probably before Paya had started travelling with the Hero.

They seemed to be engrossed in conversation. Staying out of sight was more important than eavesdropping, so she was too far away to hear any words or make out any signs, but from what she could see, it was an emotional topic. The Hero had switched to signing, which he usually only did when overwhelmed or tired, and Kass had actually put down his bandoneon- which she’d never seen him do, in order to crouch in front of the Hero. Probably trying to comfort him.

For a brief moment, she wondered what they were talking about. Of course, recent events had been plenty upsetting- it made perfect sense he’d be looking for comfort after his brush with death at- at her hands. He must have been terrified.

She had been terrified, and she wasn’t the one being murdered.

It would be nice to be able to ask someone for comfort, but everyone she knew- they wouldn’t understand. She loved the Yiga, of course she did, but they’d never understand.

---

When Paya was little, she stuttered. A lot. It was always made worse by stress or nervousness- which meant it was always worse when talking to people she didn’t know.

But when Paya was little, the entire Yiga Clan was ‘people she didn’t know’. She had a lot of trouble in the beginning- she could barely communicate, she was so nervous. She just kept stuttering, her words tripping over each other awkwardly each time she opened her mouth.

That wouldn’t do. Yiga were masters of disguise, and that meant they talked smoothly, lied easily, and absolutely did not have speech impediments.

Initially, this meant that most Yiga wouldn’t respond to her if she stuttered, forcing her to repeat sentences over and over until she got them right. That hadn’t been pleasant. It had been rather embarrassing, actually, and stressful, and of course, the more stressed she became the more she stuttered.

She got over it eventually, though. The methods… escalated. 

She didn’t like to think about it. All that mattered was that it worked. The problem was gone, so the methods they’d used had been worth it. That was how the Yiga operated- anything was acceptable as long as you got the job done.

But occasionally, when she was out on a mission and there were no other Yiga around, Paya still stuttered when nervous- if the problem wasn’t gone, had everything that had been done to try and remove it been in vain? If the job wasn’t finished, had any of it really been worth it?

Had it ever been worth it at all?

Don’t be ridiculous, Paya snapped at herself, of course it was. It had to have been.

The Hero lifted his head to say something to Kass, inadvertently revealing his face to Paya. He was crying, face twisted in obvious misery.

Paya’s heart squeezed in her chest. It had to be.

---

Eventually, the Hero calmed down. Either Kass had successfully comforted him, or he’d just worn himself out. Either way, he got back up, listened to Kass for a little longer, and began wandering around shooting arrows through… some stone rings?

She was wondering if it was for a purpose or just target practice when a Shrine rose from the ground. So for a purpose, then.

What an odd requirement for a Shrine. Shrines were odd as a whole, really- she understood that they were helping the Hero, but it seemed they were mostly for building his strength back up after he was weakened by his resurrection, which she doubted had been part of the original plan. There was no way the Ancient Sheikah could have predicted this scenario, so what was the original purpose of the Shrines?

Maybe the Ancient Sheikah had just really liked puzzles. It was as likely an explanation as any other, really. Though the Yiga preserved what they could, much of their history was lost along with their technology. Master Kohga knew more than most, but she doubted even his knowledge extended to things like ancient opinions on puzzles.

She wondered if the Sheikah might know. When the tribes split, knowledge was split between them. The Yiga had been the ones who wanted to preserve the knowledge, of course; the cowardly Sheikah had instead bowed to the will of the King and let everything be taken from them-

But not everything, perhaps. Purah, sister to the Chief of Kakariko herself, openly studied Ancient Technology. The mere fact that she had to study it showed that most of the Sheikah’s knowledge had been lost, but if there were still Sheikah who wanted to connect to their old ways, perhaps they still had something.

A distant memory came to mind- studying some ancient tapestry in her grandmother’s- in Chief Impa’s house. The tapestry had fascinated her, she recalled, though why she’d found it so interesting was lost to her now. Still, the fact that Chief Impa had it at all implied a willingness to remember the past.

It was too late for that now, of course. The Sheikah had made their choice thousands of years ago, and they’d paid the price. The forbidden knowledge of the Ancient Sheikah now rightfully belonged to the Yiga, the ones who had never cast it aside. The ones who had remained loyal to themselves, if not to the Royal Family.

Though… she supposed, in a way, the Hero had a right to the knowledge, too. The Ancient Sheikah had clearly meant a lot of their technology for him specifically. And he’d never forsaken them- he hadn’t even been born yet. So, maybe he had the right to use and understand Ancient Technology.

If only he and the Yiga were not at odds. They could learn so much from each other. Well, so long as both sides were willing to share. Even amongst the Yiga, there were secrets.

---

Talismans were, quite possibly, the most important tools in a Yiga’s arsenal. They allowed for numerous things- most commonly, teleporting, spacial pocketing, and illusion- and they were tools for the Yiga alone, as no one else knew how to make them.

Or, more accurately, no one including the Yiga knew how to make them, save for Master Kohga.

He’d never told her how he learned, and he’d refused any requests to teach her- or to teach anyone, for that matter. Instead, he made them all himself, which meant he never really had time to go out on missions like the rest of them. It was a more than acceptable tradeoff, though- every talisman he made was far more worth his time than missions could ever be.

If he’d just tell the rest of them how to make them, then that wouldn’t be necessary and it’d be quite beneficial to be able to make talismans on the fly- but Master Kohga wouldn’t tell anyone. He’d never said why, but it had to be a good reason. After all, he was always right.

Or was he? Master Kohga had been the one to send Paya after the Hero. He’d said she was the perfect person for the job. But in hindsight, it seemed that not only was she not the best, she was quite possibly the worst.

Master Kohga must have thought of something she hadn’t. The only other option was that he’d been wrong- and he’d never been wrong before.

---

The Hero emerged from the Shrine with a Great Thunderblade on his back and a tense expression on his face. He spoke briefly with Kass, although she was still too far away to hear their words, and set off towards Rito Village.

Paya slipped back so she wouldn’t be seen as he passed by.

As he did, she saw a flash of red in the corner of her eye. 

By the time she’d turned towards it, there was nothing there, but she’d never mistake that shade. It was the same red as the uniform she wore at that very moment- the red of a Yiga’s uniform.

So the Yiga had been watching them after all. And now that Paya had failed, they’d sent someone else to finish the job.

Chapter Text

The presence of another Yiga should have comforted Paya. It should have relieved her, even- the fact that a new assassin had only been sent after the Hero now implied that the Yiga had understood that she hadn’t betrayed them, and had just been waiting for her to make her move. They’d sent someone else now that she’d failed, but they had had faith in her until then.

She was not comforted, though. Nor relieved. Instead she was, for the most part, terrified.

She had not returned to the Hideout after failing, instead chasing the Hero despite her clear inability to kill him. And now, with another Yiga in the area, there were new frightening possibilities- that the new assassin would succeed where she failed and then she’d have to return to the Hideout, or that they would seek her out and she’d have to- explain herself to them.

Perhaps that was the reason she had yet to go home. She was scared.

How could she face her Clan after everything? She’d protected the Hero multiple times, she’d failed to kill him even when she finally brought herself to try, and after all that, she didn’t even go back, instead continuing to trail after the Hero as if that would accomplish anything.

They wouldn’t be happy with her. She wasn’t even happy with herself, and the Clan would surely be more harsh on her than she could be. The conversation with the rest of the Yiga couldn’t be put off forever, but she could at least delay it.

…It would definitely be worse the longer it was delayed, but that was future Paya’s problem. As long as the new assassin sent after the Hero didn’t manage to corner her for a conversation, anyway.

Paya continued tailing the Hero as he went east, past Seres Scablands. Occasionally, she’d catch another glimpse of that unmistakable shade of red, further ahead of her- with their access to talismans, the other Yiga could afford to be closer to their target. That left Paya behind them both, hopefully out of sight and unnoticed.

She was merely an observer now. Too far to do anything even if she wanted to. It occurred to her that, should the other Yiga make a move to kill the Hero, she’d only be able to watch.

What a morbid thought. But it wasn’t an unlikely scenario, now that she thought about it. After all, that was why the assassin was here.

Paya shivered. She wasn’t sure she could watch the Hero die twice. Once had already been- a lot. Perhaps too much.

Technically, if the assassin did make an attempt on the Hero’s life, she could just look away, like she had tried to the… the first time. But something told her she couldn’t- she would need to know if the other assassin had succeeded where she’d failed. She’d need to know if the Hero was dead.

The idea still made her uncomfortable. If the Hero was ever struck down, if the Yiga’s ultimate goal was ever achieved, Paya didn’t think she’d be able to celebrate as she once could have.

Her own personal satisfaction shouldn’t matter, of course- it was the goals of the Yiga that mattered. Their victory was more important than her happiness. Still, the two had never been in such conflict before. It had never occurred to her that they could be.

Paya was a Yiga, so what was important to them was important to her. Their goals were her goals. Their happiness was her happiness. Or at least, that was the way it should’ve been. She was starting to suspect she was a terrible excuse for a Yiga. 

She was definitely a failure, at least.

I want to go home, she thought, and a sudden wave of melancholy swept over her. Home was the Hideout, and it had been for years- but whenever she had that thought, she wasn’t thinking of the Hideout. She was always thinking of home. Kakariko Village, still safe in her parents’ embrace, blissfully unaware of all that was to come.

It hadn’t really been safe. She knew that. Kakariko Village had never truly been her home. But somewhere in the darkest corners of her mind, she still thought of it as such.

Huh. She really was a terrible Yiga.

She really should go home, though. Back to the Hideout. Explain everything to Master Kohga. He’d know what to do. He could tell her how to make up for her failure.

She kept following the Hero anyway.

He had stopped for the night at Tabantha Bridge Stable. The chance for rest was much appreciated- she was exhausted- but where? She briefly considered renting a bed while he completed the nearby Shrine, but that was a stupid idea. Even if she buried herself in blankets before he got back, he’d definitely realize it was her at some point.

She’d have to sleep outside instead. With no bedroll. On the border of Tabantha.

Hooray.

Paya supposed that was the price she paid for not returning to the Hideout. Well, sleeping outside in the cold certainly wasn’t the worst thing she’d ever done. She could bear it. (Honestly, her eventual return to the Hideout would likely be far more uncomfortable.)

She shivered as she curled up on the ground. It was a good thing she was wearing two layers of clothing- at least that would keep her from freezing.

She closed her eyes and fell into an uneasy sleep.

Hours later, though it felt like no time had passed at all, she was roused from her dozing by a distant scream. When she cracked her eyes open, she saw the cause- the Blood Moon, already at its peak in the sky. Flakes of Malice were appearing in the air, and the wind began to roar as Lord Ganon’s power briefly expanded over Hyrule. The cries of innumerable monsters split the air-

And then it was over.

The wind died down. The crimson bled out of the moon, leaving it pale once again. The flakes of Malice faded away. The Princess had once again restrained Lord Ganon’s power, but not quite soon enough to stop the resurrection of his monsters.

Paya shivered. While she knew the Blood Moons served the Yiga’s ultimate goal, nobody could deny that they were… unsettling.

There was a rumour that nightmares were more common on the night of a Blood Moon. Paya didn’t think that was true, but the remainder of the night was restless all the same.

---

In the morning, the Hero retrieved his horse as soon as he finished cooking up a breakfast and came out of the stable- which made sense; he probably wanted to hurry away from her last known location as soon as possible.

But what didn’t make sense was the horse he took- Storm. Though his fastest horse, Storm was still saddled up in royal gear, and the unusual white coat combined with the purple and gold equipment made him quite possibly the most noticeable horse in the world. The assassin sent after him- and any others following this one if they managed to fail- would be able to locate and follow him with ease.

Which was not her problem. It was good, even. It was good. 

…Maybe he wasn’t worried about being followed? He’d evaded all assassination attempts thus far, so perhaps he was confident in his abilities. Or, possibly, it just hadn’t occurred to him that riding a shining white horse with an even shinier royal bridle and saddle would draw attention.

He was hard to predict like that. Sometimes, he really just didn’t know things. Other times, he knew much more than he was letting on.

She would have liked to get to know him better, to be able to read him consistently. But… well.

It was too late for that now. Maybe it always had been.

The Hero left the stable, and Paya trailed behind him.

She saw a flash of red farther up the road. Though this time, it wasn’t a flicker of a Yiga- it was a different and arguably more dangerous shade of red: the searchlight of a Guardian Skywatcher.

The Hero saw it too, stopping shortly after crossing the Tabantha Great Bridge, probably to weigh his options.

Paya wished he’d stopped a little further along. She’d been following him across the bridge, and was horribly exposed.

He turned south, going off the road and towards a steep cliff. Did he mean to climb it? He’d be leaving Storm behind- but maybe he was just going up for a better vantage point, and would climb back down once he’d formed a plan.

Or, he might simply leave Storm there and teleport to a stable at his earliest convenience to ask them to retrieve his horse. That would be unfortunate. If he wasn’t going to come back down, she’d have to climb up after him, which sounded… less than pleasant.

He retrieved the bandana from the Slate, put it on, and began climbing. He was fast- she’d have to hurry if she wanted to catch up.

Another flicker of red caught her attention as she hurried forward. This time, it was the red of a Yiga- they were standing at the end of the bridge, looking right at her. Damn it- she knew she was too exposed.

They looked over their shoulder at the Hero, then back at her. Then they waved, casually, and disappeared in a flash of light and flutter of talismans.

They’d probably gone up to the top of the cliff, to either ambush the Hero there or just keep following him if they weren’t ready to attack yet. If not for how quickly he was scaling the cliffside, Paya was pretty sure the other Yiga would have come over to talk to her.

Good thing the Hero was a fast climber, then. She was not prepared for that conversation.

“Hey,” she said, approaching Storm at the base of the cliff. He nickered at her, but didn’t react much otherwise. She briefly wondered if he would’ve been that friendly with anyone, or if his calmness was specifically because he was used to her.

She discarded the thought as irrelevant and began to climb.

Climbing was slow, but not terribly difficult. She reached the top with plenty of energy to spare, and thus did not immediately haul herself up, instead opting to poke her head up just enough to be able to survey the area.

Ah, they were by the Ancient Columns. There was a Shrine just ahead, and beside it was the Hero, thankfully not looking in her direction.

Instead he seemed to be studying the Slate. He held it up in a familiar manner- he usually did that when he was… comparing an image with the scenery…

You’ve got to be kidding me.

Paya had followed him for so long without a single memory- and within days of the new assassin being sent after him, he had found one? Right when it was most convenient for the other Yiga? And least convenient for him?

Apparently so, as the Hero went still, lost in the past.

She heard a sound nearby- the grunt of a Moblin, quickly followed by a squeal of pain.

That would explain where the other Yiga was, then. They must have tried to teleport somewhere out of sight of the Hero and ended up in sight of a monster instead.

That wouldn’t occupy them for long, though. Any moment now they’d dispatch the Moblins and return to observing the Hero, where they’d definitely notice his vulnerability. In this state, they’d kill him with ease- but would he stay dead? Or would Champion Mipha bring him back again?

She was about to find out. There was a wail of a dying Moblin, and then silence. The assassin would be here soon. Any moment now. Any-

Paya was already pulling herself the rest of the way up. She wasn’t sure exactly what she was going to do, but she had to do something.

I can’t watch him die again.

She reached the Hero. He remained unresponsive.

With no better ideas, she grabbed him by the arm and started dragging.

He sort of stumbled along behind her, acting on instinct rather than conscious thought. She pulled him behind the Shrine- a pitiful hiding spot, but there was nowhere else.

Well, there was inside the Shrine, which would definitely have been better if she knew how to get in, but she didn’t. Hopefully, this would work.

Please let it work. If the other Yiga found her hiding the Hero like this… she wasn’t exactly sure what would happen. Possibly the assassin would kill them both- which wouldn’t be unjustified.

She waited in silence. The Yiga uniform was designed for stealth, so she doubted she’d hear the other coming or going. There would be no way to know if or when it would be safe.

Beside her, the Hero gasped, eyes focusing. He noticed her immediately, so she did the only thing she could think of- slammed her hand over his mouth.

“Quiet,” she hissed, before he could reach for a weapon.

He stared at her, eyes wide and face pale. Which… made sense. Last he’d seen her she’d tried to kill him- this was most certainly an alarming situation to find himself in.

“There’s a new Yiga after you,” she murmured, keeping her voice as quiet as possible. “Since I failed. They’re on the other side of the Shrine, I think.”

The Hero reached up and tugged softly at her hand. She dropped it without protest. Hopefully he wouldn’t do anything stupid.

“...Okay,” he whispered, voice shaking, “and you are telling me this… why?”

She winced, unable to meet his gaze. There was no explanation she could give him- her feelings defied even her own understanding. Why? She’d asked herself the same thing.

He stared at her for a bit, maybe studying her face. It was hard to tell what he was thinking. Finally, without saying anything, he stood, drawing his sword. She flinched back, but he didn’t immediately stab her, so she figured it was meant for dealing with the other Yiga.

Right. He could handle this, now that he was conscious. She’d… saved him? She’d certainly helped him. Gone back on the choice she had struggled so hard to commit to.

What a sentimental fool she was.

The Hero gave her a final glance, eyebrows furrowed, and then walked around the Shrine.

She couldn’t see the fight, but she heard it. The clash of metal on metal. The snap of a bowstring, and the thuds of the arrows hitting a shield. The familiar whoosh of teleportation via talismans.

The cry of someone being struck. It didn’t sound like the Hero.

Then there was a thump of something hitting the ground, then another whoosh, and finally, silence.

The Hero came back around to her spot behind the Shrine. There was a fresh bruise blooming on his face and a cut across his knuckles, but other than that, he seemed unharmed.

She let out the breath she’d been holding, relieved.

“So.” the Hero said. “Hi.”

“Hi,” she sighed, getting up. This was going to be… interesting.

After a moment, the Hero gestured, somewhat awkwardly, to follow him, and went around to the other side of the Shrine. He activated it and then sat down on the stairs at the front. Hesitantly, she sat next to him.

There was a brief, uncomfortable silence.

“You’ve been following me,” the Hero said suddenly. It was not a question.

“Yes.” 

“I told you to leave,” he said, tone neutral and expression blank.

“You did,” she acknowledged.

He sighed, dropping his face into one hand. “So why- why are you here?”

“Uh,” she said, and then hesitated. But there was no harm in telling him the truth, really. It was simple enough. “I didn’t- want to leave.”

He squinted at her suspiciously.

“I didn’t lead that other Yiga to you if that’s what you’re thinking,” she muttered. “They’d probably been following us- uh, you- for a while.”

He hummed. “Do you know them?”

“Probably? It’s hard to tell people apart in the uniform, but… yes, I probably do.”

“Then why,” he said, “were you hiding me?”

“Ah,” she said. “Um.”

He smiled thinly. “It’s funny- I remembered something here. I guess you saw that, the memory- I was Princess Zelda’s… guard?”

“Her appointed knight,” Paya corrected unthinkingly.

“Yeah,” he said. “That. So I had to follow her everywhere, but apparently, she hated it. And me, by extension.”

“Oh,” she said.

“But,” he continued, “that’s an early memory, I think. At least compared to most of the others. Later, according to my other memories, we became close. I remember… I remember that I cared about her a lot.”

His smile grew soft, before he seemingly recalled the point of the conversation and it became slim again. “So it’s just… fitting, I guess, that this is where I find out you’ve been following me. When I told you not to.”

“Maybe,” she said, hesitant.

He sighed, smile disappearing. “Be honest. Why are you here?”

Paya bit her lip. Be honest. The real reason- the real reason she’d been following him. Why she was here now. Why she hadn’t wanted to leave

“I’m sorry,” she blurted.

He blinked. “What?”

“I’m sorry,” she repeated, eyes starting to burn with tears. “That’s- that’s why I’m still here. Because I’m sorry and I didn’t know what to- I- it’s my mission, I’m supposed to kill you, but I didn’t want to, and i-it was terrible and I- I just-”

She curled up, hugging her knees to her chest.

“I don’t know what to do,” she choked out, at last. “I was supposed to kill you and go home and now I- I messed everything up.”

“Oh,” the Hero said, and then a warm hand settled on her shoulder. “Okay. Uh…”

He squeezed reassuringly. That was… nice of him.

She kept crying. The Hero kept his hand on her shoulder the entire time.

When she’d finally run out of tears, he offered her a handkerchief, which she took gratefully. She definitely needed it. How did she even look, now? Couldn’t be good. Her face was probably red and blotchy from crying, and her expression… she’d guess she looked rather pathetic, really, but the Hero regarded her without disdain.

“Feel better?” He asked, soft.

“A little,” she muttered.

“And you’re… not here to finish the job?” he said, caution edging into his tone.

She flinched, shaking her head slightly. No. No, definitely not. Killing the Hero- the blood on her hands, the crunch of his bones, the wide-eyed look of betrayal on his face- no. She wouldn’t do that again. She couldn’t.

“Okay,” he said. “So, uh…”

He sighed, starting off into the distance. “I’ve… missed you, these past few days. The you I knew before… you know.”

He looked back at her, a strange expression on his face. “I would like it,” he said, “if things could be… not like they were before. I would like less murder, possibly?”

She let out a laugh, startled, and he grinned at her. He looked… happy. Carefree. Warm.

She felt warmer, too.

“Yeah. I think- I think less murder is achievable,” she managed, smiling back.

“Alright,” he said. “So… maybe let’s try something new, then. If you want.”

“Something new,” she murmured, amazed. “I… I would like that.”

“Me too,” he said, smiling.

She steeled her nerves.

“My name is Paya,” she said, tense as a drawn bow.

And the Hero- the Hero beamed at her, bright as the sun and just as warm.

“Nice to meet you, Paya,” he said. “I’m Link.”

Chapter Text

Paya sat on the stairs of Tena Ko'sah Shrine, waiting.

The Hero- Link, had gone inside to complete it, and, according to him, “to have some time to think.” Presumably about her.

She should probably be thinking about herself too. She had- well. Done something she was absolutely not supposed to do. Multiple things, really. Hidden Link from another Yiga. Warned him about that Yiga. Told him her name. And if all went well, she was going to be travelling with him again, just not as a ploy for murder this time.

None of those were things she was meant to be doing. And yet, they were the only decisions she’d made recently that had felt right.

The rest of the Yiga- she’d figure something out. There had to be some way to settle their conflict with Link in a nonlethal manner. They didn’t even need him dead, really, for Lord Ganon to be free- and maybe Link could be… convinced? To… allow that?

Paya knew that was unlikely at best, but she had to at least try. There had to be some way she could be a Yiga and Link’s friend at the same time. There had to be. She just had to figure it out.

No ideas were forthcoming, but that was fine. She had time. Until Link was actually facing Lord Ganon, she had time to stop him from doing that.

And time to figure out what she’d do if she couldn’t.

There was a sudden flash of blue light, and Paya turned to see Link walking out of the Shrine. He looked a bit worse for wear- his hair was stuck to his face with sweat, and he was carrying different weapons than the ones he’d had going in. Knowing him, he’d probably broken them fighting something.

He sat down next to her and took a breath.

“So I’ve been thinking.”

Generally a bad start to a conversation, but she’d give him the benefit of the doubt.

“I would like for us to travel together again,” he continued, “but you’ve got to admit that this is extremely suspicious. What with all the… everything.”

“Yeah,” she said. He wasn’t wrong. Even her hiding him from the other Yiga could have theoretically been an elaborate setup.

“I also have a different problem,” he said. “Back when it was just me, I could use the Slate to teleport wherever I wanted, so I promised a bunch of favours to a lot of people in different places. I haven’t gotten around to doing most of them since you arrived, since I didn’t want to leave you alone. But I have a plan now.”

“...Okay,” Paya said, somewhat skeptically. Where was this going?

“You saw where I left Storm, right? I assume you climbed past him.”

“I did, yes.”

“Great. So here’s the plan: you take Storm and go to Rito Village, and I’ll meet you there at… some point.”

She stared at him. “Why?”

He shrugged, looking slightly sheepish. “Multiple reasons. Mostly, uh… I want to know if you can just trust me to show up, and if I can trust you to be there, even if we don’t know exactly how long you’ll be waiting.”

“...I suppose that makes sense,” she admitted. It wasn’t her favourite idea, but it was reasonable. Hopefully. As long as he didn’t get too sidetracked.

Really, she ought to be thankful this was all he was asking for. He’d be fully justified in being far more suspicious of her, but apparently he wasn’t.

“Should I go now, then?”

“I guess,” Link said, though something about it seemed off. “Do you think you can make it past the Guardians?”

She hummed. “They’re only Skywatchers… Storm and I should be able to sneak past them if we’re slow, yes.”

“Alright,” he said. “Good. Um… Goodbye.”

“Bye, Link,” she said, and he tapped the Slate and disappeared.

She sighed. Impressively, she’d managed to get herself in an even worse mess than the one she’d already been in. But she didn’t mind. Mostly.

Climbing back down the cliff was certainly a pain, though.

Storm huffed at her as she approached, but he let her climb on without protest. His fancy saddle and bridle felt every bit as expensive as they looked. Hopefully that wouldn’t draw any unwanted attention.

“Well,” she said, turning back onto the road, “let’s get going, then.”

And so they went.

Once she’d snuck past the Guardian Skywatchers, the trip was mostly uneventful; a little lonely, but at least she had Storm to talk to. And he was an impressive horse- not that there was anything wrong with Acorn, but the mare had undoubtedly been holding Storm back. Now that he didn’t have to keep pace with her, he could gallop at full speed, and wow could he gallop. Even when they passed a Stone Talus on the road, Paya just spurred Storm to his full speed and they shot past the monster, leaving it in the dust.

Really, everything was going as well as it could be. The only problem was her paranoia.

There had been a Yiga after Link, but they’d teleported away to who knows where. And since Link had teleported away as well, they wouldn’t be able to track him easily. Paya, on the other hand, had left the normal way, and the horse she’d taken just so happened to be the most eye-catching horse in Hyrule.

Would they follow her? Seeing as she was still wearing Link’s Hylian armor and was now riding his horse, would they even realize if they were following her and not him?

She hadn’t seen anyone following her, but that wasn’t a guarantee that nobody was. Judging by the way they’d waved at her back on Tabantha Great Bridge, they hadn’t been trying to hide from her. But now they would be.

If they were following her. Which they might not be. Or might be.

Really, it was the not knowing that was the worst part. If she knew there was an assassin tailing her, she could make a plan and do something about it, but as it was, she was stuck wondering.

Paya glanced out towards Rito Village. It was still a ways away, but the spire was tall enough to be already easily visible, not to mention how Vah Medoh- being all the way up in the sky- could be seen from at least half of Hyrule. At the moment, it just seemed to be circling the village.

She wondered if she’d be going with Link to Vah Medoh like she had with Ruta. How would she even get up there? How would he even get up there, for that matter?

There was a flicker of red in the corner of her vision. Paya jerked her head towards it, expecting to see a Yiga.

It was an apple tree. She sighed, slumping over in Storm’s saddle.

The assassin probably wasn’t following her. If they had been, surely they would have done something by now. They were probably trying to track down Link, or…

Or, they might be waiting for him in Rito Village. That’s what Paya would do in their situation. He’d have to go there eventually to deal with Vah Medoh, so it’d made sense to set up camp there and wait.

She hoped they weren’t doing that- she’d be waiting there too, and while the other Yiga could use talismans to disguise their appearance, she had no such luxury. They’d definitely recognize her. And if they did…

She wasn’t sure, actually. Most likely they’d try to bring her back to the Hideout, through persuasion or just force. At the very least they’d question her recent actions. She wasn’t looking forward to explaining herself to the Clan, but…

Maybe that was inevitable. Even if this Yiga wasn’t waiting at Rito Village, she still intended to travel with Link, and that meant someone would recognize her eventually. Still… she’d prefer for that not to happen while waiting alone in Rito Village. It would really be the worst time and place to have a confrontation like that; if she was forced to flee, Link would think she’d run away, and even if she wasn’t, there would be a village and a stable full of people who could witness her being exposed as a Yiga.

It felt like everything had been happening at the worst possible time recently. She was exhausted.

When she arrived at Rito Stable, it was already dark out. She boarded Storm- with a brief explanation about why she was boarding someone else’s horse- and rented one of the beds.

She could head into the village tomorrow. Right now, she just wanted a good night’s sleep.

---

“Wow,” Link said. “So this is where you grew up?”

“Yes,” Paya responded, feeling somehow both proud and embarrassed. She knew the Hideout wasn’t exactly glamorous, but it was home.

“It’s nice,” he said, smiling. Just the sight of him being happy made her blush, and she quickly looked away.

“Hey,” Link said, voice softening. He put a hand on her shoulder. “Thanks for taking me here. And for convincing your family to let me in.”

“Don’t mention it,” she mumbled. “Master Kohga did all the work, really, once I told him what you… mean to me.”

“I’ll have to thank him,” Link said. “Where is he, actually?”

“...I’m not sure,” she answered, looking around slowly. Now that he brought it up, there wasn’t anybody around save for the two of them. The Hideout was even dustier than usual. “Something’s wrong.”

Link opened his mouth to respond, worry apparent on his face, before choking on air. An arrow sprouted from his throat, and he fell backwards, unmoving.

“Link?” she asked, her thoughts oddly slow. “Link!”

She fell to her knees beside him, but it was clear he was dead. A shadow fell over him, and she looked up to find Master Kohga, bow in hand. Despite the long-range nature of the weapon, he was splattered in blood.

“Oh, Paya,” he sighed, sounding deeply disappointed. “I know it hurts, but you surely understand- as Yiga, we cannot allow the Hero to live. You’ll get over it.”

Paya gaped at him soundlessly. She felt oddly numb, her limbs weighted with sudden fatigue.

Master Kohga looked at her for a moment longer before turning away. “Blademaster Suri, take her back to her quarters.”

Suddenly, the Blademaster in question was there. He picked her up easily, as if she weighed nothing, just as he had when he first took her to the Yiga.

But she was taller now than she was as a child. She could see over his shoulder, where Link’s dead body was lying on the ground. Tears welled in her eyes, blurring her vision.

And yet, she was sure that the corpse had turned to look at her.

---

The first thing she heard was music.

Her body was still heavy- with tiredness more than anything- as she slowly woke from the nightmare. Her cheeks were cold and damp.

The music continued. An accordion? She sat up suddenly. No, a bandoneon. It was Kass.

After a moment of hesitation, she decided to get out of bed to go and talk to him. She’d seen Kass speaking to Link the other day, but the depths and details of their relationship were a mystery- hopefully one that she could solve now.

Maybe it would even take her mind off of that dream.

“Hi,” she said.

Kass’ feathers stilled, the music slowing to a stop. She supposed it’d be difficult to talk while playing.

“Hello,” he greeted, voice warm. He gave her a brief once-over. “Pardon my saying so, but that looks extraordinarily similar to a set of clothes belonging to a friend of mine.”

She paused. “Link?”

“Yes, Link! Do you know him?”

“Yeah, I know him,” she said. “These… technically are his clothes. Mine were… stained. So he loaned me his until I get new ones.”

“How kind of him,” Kass remarked. “Say, he told me just recently that he and a dear companion of his had parted on bad terms. Would that happen be you, by chance?”

“Ah,” she said. “I. Um.”

A- a dear companion of his?

“Apologies,” Kass said, and he did sound apologetic. “It was rude of me to ask. Let us talk about something else. Are you here to visit Rito Village?”

“...Yes.”

“It’s a wonderful place,” he enthused, “but I’m afraid you’ve come at a bad time. The Divine Beast has been attacking high-flying Rito, and everyone is on edge.”

“That’s a shame,” she murmured. “Is that why you’re travelling?”

“Oh, no. I promised my late teacher I would share his songs, and I am determined not to return home until I’ve fulfilled that promise.”

His eyes darkened. “Though I must admit… I am feeling rather homesick. Perhaps I should not have come to play so close by…”

“Oh,” she said. “Can you not visit?”

He laughed, though without mirth. “Of course I could! But I love my home and I miss my family very much. If I returned, I doubt I could bring myself to leave again, but I would be breaking my promise if I didn’t. Perhaps it is selfish of me… but I wish to avoid the dilemma.”

“...I see,” she said. “I’ve been… doing something similar. Avoiding my family because I don’t- I don’t want to talk about something with them.”

“What a coincidence,” Kass remarked. “I wish you luck with that.”

“Thanks,” she said. “Good luck with sharing your teacher’s songs.”

He nodded, and went back to playing.

Paya wandered over to the cooking pot. Someone was already there- a traveller, by the looks of them. Maybe a wandering merchant?

He was making some sort of meat stew. It looked pretty good- not as good as Link’s cooking, but that was a high bar to be holding strangers to.

It was kind of strange to see someone cooking without humming along. Most people didn’t, but she was just… used to how Link did things.

She must have been staring, because the traveller looked up at her as if he could sense her gaze. She flushed a bit, embarrassed- the rest of the stable-goers were quietly minding their own business, and here she was openly staring at someone instead.

“Hi,” he said.

“Hi,” she said. And then, “Isn’t that too much stew for one person?”

That came out more blunt than she’d intended, but she was curious. The stew was nearly spilling over the edge of the pot- it was enough to feed a Goron. Possibly several Gorons.

Luckily, he didn’t seem bothered by the question. “It would be, but it’s not just for me. It’s for the whole Stable, actually!”

“Really?” Paya said, the sentiment echoed by the surrounding travellers and stable workers. They all looked a lot more interested in the conversation than they had a moment ago.

“Yep! A while ago, I was down by the Dueling Peaks Stable, and there was this one traveller who made a bunch of food and shared it with everyone. For free! It got me thinking… that was really nice of him. To look out for his fellow Hyruleans like that. And, well, I’ve got plenty of stock, and there’s no way I’ll sell it all before it goes bad, so… ta-da!”

He gestured proudly to the stew.

“Huh,” Paya said. “That’s… very kind. Could I have some, please?”

The traveller gave her some stew. It was quite good; the meat was cooked well and paired rather well with the flavour of the peppers. There was a certain spiciness to it from warming magic, and the chill of the air soon ceased to bother her.

She wondered if Link was the cook the traveller had mentioned. He had to be, didn’t he? She didn’t know anyone else who cooked full meals for stables.

He’d probably be delighted to hear that it was catching on. I should tell him that when he gets here.

Hopefully he’d be there soon.

In the meantime… well. She should probably head into Rito Village before the warmth of the stew wore off.

She pulled her hood a bit lower, casting her face in shadow, and set off for the bridge.

Chapter Text

The first thing she saw in Rito Village was the Goddess Statue.

It was placed directly in front of the staircase that led into the village, almost like it was guarding the entrance. On top of its head was a flower crown that Paya was willing to bet had been made by the village children.

She stepped towards it, hesitantly. Yiga were certainly not the type to pray to Hylia- though much of the world’s knowledge on her had been lost to time, it was still known that she was the ancestor and patron to the Royal Family, and the enemy of Lord Ganon.

Still, Paya found herself before the statue. Even if she didn’t worship the Goddess, she believed that she was real, which… made her wonder, really- she knew that the Princess had prayed to the Goddesses, before she’d sealed herself in Hyrule Castle- but had Link? Did Link, still?

He must. He was the Hero, after all. Did Hylia watch over him, then?

If she had, if she did, then she’d seen Paya too.

What did Hylia think of her?

Probably not anything good. Paya was a Yiga, and the Yiga hated Hylia, and so surely the Goddess hated them right back.

She turned away from the statue. Best not to linger.

The rest of the village wasn’t terribly interesting, really. There was an inn, Swallow’s Roost, which seemed nice enough. Paya wasn’t sure she’d be comfortable sleeping in there, though, since there were no walls.

There was a clothing store, too, though the only Hylian-sized clothes sold there were cold-weather gear. They looked quite nice, and very warm, but also very expensive.

She passed a general store, though she didn’t think much of it until noticing the communal kitchen. There was nothing much of interest in the kitchen itself, but it did remind her of the stew that that traveller had made for everyone. She probably wouldn’t be lucky enough to have someone making a communal meal at the stable every day, so buying food while she was in the village would be sensible.

The maroon Rito inside the store looked up as she entered. “Welcome to The Slippery Falcon, Rito Village’s very own general store! Let me know if you need anything.”

“I’m looking to buy food,” Paya said, glancing around. The store was small and its selection was smaller- but then again, it wasn’t a very big village.

The storekeeper grimaced. “In that case, you’ve come at a bad time. We’re not starving or anything, but with Medoh causing trouble, things have been… rough. What you see here is all I’ve got.”

“Oh.”

She examined the store’s stock. There wasn’t much- it was mostly ingredients; butter, wheat, sugar… the only thing she wouldn’t mind eating raw were the Sunshrooms, but those would be better mixed with the rest of the store’s stock.

How many rupees did she have? She hadn’t bothered checking in ages. Yiga were paid, but unlike most, she’d spent her everyday at the Hideout. There wasn’t usually a need to purchase anything, so she had plenty stored up. She didn’t bring too much of it out on missions, but she had some; hopefully enough to stock up on food for at least the next few days.

As it turned out, she had more than enough.

“I’ll take everything, I guess,” she said. “Except the arrows.”

The storekeeper blinked at her. “Everything? Alright. That’ll be... one-hundred and ninety six rupees.”

Paya handed it over. The storekeeper was still looking at her oddly.

“Say, kid,” she said, “what do you need all this for?”

“I’m meeting a friend here,” Paya said, “but I’m not sure how long he’ll be. So, I’m stocking up just in case he takes a while.”

“Huh,” the storekeeper said. “You staying at the stable? I’ll help you carry it, if you want.”

She considered that. But- “No, that’s okay,” Paya decided. “I can carry it. But, uh, I’ll take it in a bag if you have one.”

The storekeeper did indeed have a large bag, and so Paya left the store with a sack of ingredients in her arms, ready to walk back down to Rito Stable. Technically, she could just eat the ingredients on their own, but she was pretty sure everything she had would be better cooked.

She supposed she could have rented a bed in the Swallow’s Roost instead of heading all the way back, but even if it were the same price, she’d really prefer to be in a stable- stables were used to mysterious travellers coming and going as they pleased. No one would question her no matter how long she waited around. An inn in a village might not be so lenient.

Kass was still outside when she returned, still playing the same song. It was a lovely melody, but anyone who’d been at the stable all day was surely sick of it by now.

There was an old stable worker sitting by the cooking pot. He had a wooden spatula in one hand, suggesting that he was ready to start cooking something, but instead he was scowling at the contents of his bag like they had personally offended him.

Paya sat down next to the cooking pot as well. Mostly so she’d have somewhere to put down her myriad of ingredients.

The stable worker grumbled something unintelligible, looking more stressed by the second. 

Paya sighed. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh!” He looked up, apparently having not noticed her at all. “Well, you see… I’m all out of… everything, really...”

He briefly picked his bag up, demonstrating how light it was, before letting it drop back into his lap. “I was going to make curry rice, but I’m all out of Goron Spice and I’m nearly out of Hylian Rice as well! All I’ve got left is bananas.”

She paused. “Bananas?”

“Yes, some traveller was selling them, and I thought I’d stock up. Not many coming up from Faron nowadays, so I thought I’d buy ‘em while I had the chance. But, eh… I didn’t exactly have a lot of experience with bananas- never really tried them before, you see, and turns out I don’t like the taste. So now I’m just… left with all these. I’ll figure something out.”

Paya checked her own purchases. The Sunshrooms wouldn’t help, but the Tabantha Wheat, the Goat Butter, the Cane Sugar… with Mighty Bananas, there was a dish she knew how to make. It’d be more suitable for dessert than dinner, really, but travellers couldn’t afford to be picky.

“Hey,” she said, “if you give me those bananas, I can make a meal for the whole stable. You’d get a portion for free.”

“Well now,” the stable worker said, looking at her appraisingly, “You want to be like that fellow from this morning, do you? Good on you! We could all use a little more kindness these days.”

He held out his bag. As he’d said, it was practically empty save for a few bunches of Mighty Bananas inside.

She hadn’t had any in a while. At the Hideout, you’d be hard pressed to go a day without eating one, and now here she was, having gone without so long that they made her almost nostalgic.

Luckily it hadn’t been so long that she’d forgotten how to cook them. And if there was one thing in the world that Paya could cook well, it was bananas. She’d had a lot of practice- nearly every Yiga did.

It seemed like most of the people staying at the Stable were drawn in by the sweet, sugary smell, and in a matter of minutes she had a small crowd. The old stable worker who’d given her the bananas had probably told them all that it would be a group meal, so nobody seemed inclined to disperse, either.

She passed the first serving to the stable worker, who eagerly dug in, and then more plates out to whoever asked for one. It seemed they all loved it, and she was surprised by how many warm compliments and sincere thanks she received for it.

It was… nice.

Kass settled down next to her, his own serving of fried bananas in hand, and gave her a curious look. “Are you not going to finish yours?”

Paya paused, glancing down at her half-finished portion. She’d mostly just been too distracted by all the grateful travellers to eat, but now that he mentioned it…

“Not all at once, I think,” she conceded. “It’s a little too spicy for me.”

Counter to what she’d expected, Kass’ expression grew confused. “Spicy? This tastes rather sweet to me.”

Paya frowned, biting into her meal again and half expecting the flavour to have changed while she wasn’t paying attention. No, while it was sweet, the spice of the bananas was still prevalent, and her mouth tingled uncomfortably.

She turned back to Kass. “Maybe you just have a higher spice tolerance than me?”

“I don’t think so,” he said dryly, “as my spice tolerance is rather terrible. May I try yours? Perhaps there is something in your portion that mine lacks.”

She handed hers over without complaint, and Kass took a bite. There was a pause, and then he shook his head. “Still no spice to be found. Traveller, have you considered that you may be allergic to bananas?”

Paya stilled. “Huh?”

One of the stablehands- a young woman, barely older than Paya herself- perked up, clearly having been tuned into the conversation already. “That’d make sense! I’m allergic to Wildberries, so they taste spicy to me, even though they’re meant to be sweet!”

Paya stared at her blankly. Sure, it made sense, but… allergic? To bananas?

Really?

…It would explain why none of the other Yiga ever mentioned any spiciness. But. A Yiga, allergic to bananas. Her own body incompatible with their sacred fruit, the food they and their ancestors had loved for thousands of years. It was practically their lifeblood. She’d cooked and eaten a Mighty Banana before every mission she’d ever undertaken, both for the strength-augmenting effect and for luck, and this whole time it had been poisonous to her?

She couldn’t say any of that out loud, though, so what she settled for was a rather pathetic-sounding, “...But I love bananas.”

“Well, it’s not as if you have to stop eating them,” Kass said sympathetically. “It’s just that you might want to… expand your horizons? Who knows, perhaps you’ll even find something you like more!”

“I doubt it,” she sighed, but she let him keep her portion of fried bananas. She really wasn’t in the mood for... spice.

It seemed like everyone around them had been listening in, though, and they all seemed a bit dismayed that she’d made a dish for the entire stable and then wasn’t able to eat it. One of them offered her a loaf of plain wheat bread, which she was then convinced to take.

It was pretty bland as far as dinners went, but she found she didn’t mind. It had been given to her in sincere thanks, as a way to return a favour she’d done- and while that didn’t make it taste any better, it did improve the overall experience.

By the time everyone dispersed, pot scraped empty and stomachs full, Paya was feeling rather content. She put down enough rupees to stay another night at the stable and wandered inside, not quite ready to sleep yet but certainly ready to wind down.

She noticed a book flipped open on one of the tables, large trademark clovers printed onto its pages. Ah. Rumour Mill.

From what she knew of it, it was mostly full of baseless gossip and silly stories, but there was the occasional truth mixed into the tall tales. The Yiga always made sure to have a copy of the newest editions, though Paya had never bothered reading any of them herself.

Well, there was a first time for everything. Why not?

She sat down at the table, first flipping to the front to see its cover- Volume 2, apparently- and then leafing through the pages. It was, indeed, mostly baseless gossip and silly stories- until she reached a page about two-thirds of the way through.

The Sword that Seals the Darkness

The only one who can wield this sword carries the blood of the hero in their veins.

That's what they say about this special blade! Rumour has it the blade has been hidden away in a forest somewhere...

I have to admit that this rumour really has me interested, but sometimes you have to face reality.

My reality is... There isn't any hero in my bloodline, so this sword would just be a big paperweight to me...

Traysi's Recommendation: ★☆☆☆☆ 

Her first reaction was a quiet laugh. One out of five stars. For The Sword That Seals The Darkness.

Her second reaction was to drop her head onto the table. Without looking, she closed the book.

The Yiga kept up with Rumour Mill for a reason. Traysi, despite her… questionable journalism and opinions (one out of five stars?!), was genuinely talented at uncovering hidden secrets. The Yiga had spent a hundred years wondering where the Princess had taken the Sword, and here was some random Hylian, with more information than they’d ever found. Just publishing it in her book of rumors for the world to see.

Granted, it wasn’t much. ‘A forest somewhere’ narrowed it down from all of Hyrule to about two-thirds of Hyrule. Quite precise. And she was wrong about a few things, too- as far as Paya knew, The Sword That Seals The Darkness could only be wielded by the Hero, not just anyone with their blood.

Then again, Paya didn’t really know much about the Sword. Few did.

She wondered when this edition of Rumour Mill had been released. Was there a copy in the Hideout yet? Had the rest of the Yiga read this weeks ago, or was she the first to see it?

…Did it even matter? It was the Rumour Mill. Just because Traysi had heard it was in some forest didn’t make her source (whoever it was) reliable. It could be just as baseless and silly a statement as all the others in the book.

Should she tell Link about it anyway?

Probably yes. He would want to know. And she was trying her best to be honest with him now.

She recalled her dream from last night. Link, lying still on the ground of the Hideout. An arrow in his throat and Master Kohga holding the bow.

It was… realistic. Not in the details, of course- Link’s reaction time was incredible, and even if he was killed, Champion Mipha would bring him back. But the broad strokes, what Master Kohga had said… those were accurate. The Yiga could not allow the Hero to live. It was an integral part of their goal, one they'd been preparing for far longer than she’d been alive. No matter how much Master Kohga favoured her, she didn’t have the power to change everyone’s minds.

So she’d have to figure something else out. Fine. There would be some other solution. Far more complex and far more difficult, certainly, but she could do it. She had to.

Her mind drifted back to the earlier part of the dream. Leading Link around her home by the hand. The way he’d smiled at her.

Paya groaned into the table. She really didn’t have time for that. Balancing being a Yiga and being Link’s friend would be hard enough, let alone… well…

She cut her thoughts off. That was not happening. So she really ought to stop thinking about it.

She thought about it a little more.

Paya dropped her head onto the table once more, letting out another long sigh before standing up.  It seemed like she wasn’t going to bed just yet, since being left alone with her thoughts was the last thing she needed at the moment.

She went back outside. Kass was still there, though he was packing his things- leaving?

“Are you not going to stay the night at the stable?”

He glanced over at her. “Not tonight, no. I’m afraid my sleep schedule is rather sporadic- I napped while you were visiting the village, so I’m quite well-rested at the moment.”

“Huh,” she said. “Well, good luck.”

“With my travelling or with sharing my teacher’s songs?”

“Both,” she answered, and then paused. “I was referring to your travelling, but now that you’ve brought it up, both.”

He smiled. “Thank you. Perhaps we will meet again on the road?”

“Maybe,” she said. “If I hear you playing, I’ll go say hi.”

“I will look forward to it,” he said, picking up the last of his things. “Until then, I wish you luck in your own endeavours. Farewell!”

And he was off.

Paya watched Kass fly away until he was a speck in the distance. It was a nice night- the skies were clear, so the stars were visible in their full glory. Something about standing out in the cold night air, just gazing at the stars alone… it was different from anything she’d done before, in some way. She wasn’t sure how to describe it. 

The stars really were incredible.

It really was quite cold out, though, with the wind blowing in from Hebra, so she turned around and slipped into the nearest empty bed. For a moment, her thoughts remained caught on the stars, distant and beautiful and free, so unbothered and untouched by the complications of her personal life.

But, lying there in the dark, her mind drifted back to Link. She wondered what he was doing right now. She wondered when she’d see him again. She wondered if he was sleeping right now, too. She wondered if he was thinking of her, as she was thinking of him.

She pulled the pillow out from under her head and pressed it over her face, trying to muffle her thoughts.

But the more tired she became, the harder her thoughts were to control, so Paya gave up on that for the night and closed her eyes.

She drifted off, and she dreamed of him.

Chapter Text

The next few days were very much the same.

Wake up, eat breakfast- the concept of making group meals seemed to have caught on, and they happened more often than not- spend the day just passing time wandering and exploring the area, go back to the stable for lunch and dinner, sleep, repeat.

It was nice, in a way. Finally, she had time to rest and prepare for whatever would happen next.

The stable had toiletries and other such hygiene products to loan out, which was a treat. She had a long bath, washed her hair with some sort of soap that smelt faintly of wildberries, did her laundry. She made sure to do all of those things as far from the stable as possible, obviously, and put the Hylian Hood back on before it had fully dried- her roots had grown out quite a bit, but that only made the black dye more obvious.

She’d asked if the stable had hair dye on hand, but they told her that the only place it was reliably available was Gerudo Town. Which was a little too far away to be of any help.

She’d also questioned if there was anywhere she could buy new clothes- some stables sold travelling gear, but unfortunately Rito Stable was going through a rough patch just as Rito Village was, what with the Divine Beast and all. The reduced number of travellers meant that not only was there less revenue, but fewer goods being sold or traded to the stable that could then be sold to customers.

The Brazen Beak in the village did have clothes, but only those specialized for cold weather, making the gear a more expensive purchase than she could justify. So it seemed like she’d be stuck in the Hylian Set for a while longer.

Would Link even want it back at this point? She’d been wearing it for longer than he had. And, although it was washed clean, it had been… 

She supposed it was irrelevant, at least at the moment. She could ask Link when she saw him again.

Whenever that would be.

She continued her routine at the stable. Aside from circling ominously overhead, the Divine Beast rarely did anything. Though all the travellers glanced at it nervously while they were there, as if it would attack them.

It wouldn’t. Vah Medoh had only attacked flying Rito so far. The inhabitants of the village were rather severely affected by being bound to the earth, and the mood in the area grew worse by the day, but the Hylian travellers were in no danger.

Yet.

She had no doubt that, in the long term, Lord Ganon’s plans for Vah Medoh went far beyond just shooting down stray Rito. It was just that whatever plan he had hadn’t come into effect yet. Maybe the circumstances weren’t right.

The thought made her uncomfortable. She knew that, once the Hero and Princess were dead, Lord Ganon would rule Hyrule and all who were not loyal to him would be wiped out, but it no longer sat as well with her as it once did. The vast majority of Hyrule’s people had done nothing wrong. Sure, they did not worship Lord Ganon, but how could they? They were ignorant. Most only knew him as the Calamity, an event, not a sentient being. Couldn’t they be taught? Couldn’t they be spared?

Wasn’t there any solution to the Yiga’s problems that didn’t involve bloodshed?

Probably not. Otherwise they would have thought of it by now. But the thought kept bothering her, no matter how much she tried to ignore it. Idly waiting at a stable wasn’t very helpful for ignoring one’s thoughts.

And then, finally, Link arrived.

He rode Storm up the path- interesting- the steed must’ve been transferred to another stable at some point. Link himself looked good, clearly having taken the time to rest just like she did, and he wore a set of Soldier’s armor that looked well-preserved. It shone with subtle magic- enhanced by the Great Fairies, perhaps?

She watched from her spot next to the cooking pot as he leapt smoothly to the ground, boarded Storm, and looked around. He spotted her immediately, and paused before smiling at her, almost hesitant. She smiled back without thinking.

It was nice to be able to not have to hold herself back. For better or for worse, Link was her ally now, and that meant she could smile at him, no underlying motivations or chastising herself.

He walked over and sat down beside her.

“Hi, Paya.”

“Hi, Link.”

His mood seemed to improve. She wondered if it was because she’d used his name.

“You seem happy,” she noted. “Things went well?”

“Things went great,” he enthused, smile widening. Then it dropped a bit- a more serious air falling around him. “I’m happy to be here, though,” he said, softer. “Dealing with Medoh is important, and… it’s… good to see you.”

“I missed you too,” she said. She’d meant for it to sound sarcastic, but as the words came out of her mouth, she found them to be entirely genuine. Whether or not he’d missed her was a bit debatable, but she’d certainly missed him.

He leaned over and bumped his shoulder against hers. She leaned back, warmth settling in her stomach.

“So,” he hummed, “what’ve you been up to?”

“Not much,” she said, and then- “Oh! I found out I’m allergic to bananas.”

He paused, and though she couldn’t see his face, she could sense his incredulousness. “You? But you’re…”

“I know,” she groaned, and felt his quiet laugh more than she heard it. “What did you do?”

“Lots of things,” he said. “I bought new armor, as you can see.”

He took off his helm, passing it to her. She examined it briefly. Paya never actually seen anyone wearing full plate armor before, as it had become rather uncommon after the Calamity. She handed it back to Link, and he stored it in his Slate rather than putting it back on.

“That must have been expensive,” she noted. Especially seeing as it was in such fine condition after all this time…

“Only about six hundred rupees,” he said dismissively.

“Only six hundred?”

“...That’s a lot, isn’t it,” he muttered, as if realizing it for the first time.

“For a set of Soldier’s Armor, it’s a pretty good deal,” she said, taking pity on him. “But yes, for most things, six hundred rupees is a lot.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said, though his tone implied he would do no such thing. “Anyway- I should probably do something about Medoh.”

“Yeah,” she agreed, looking up at the Divine Beast. “But how are you going to get there?”

“...I have no idea,” he said. “For now, I should… talk to someone? Whoever’s in charge, I guess?”

“Rito Village has a Chieftain,” she told him. “The Village Elder- Elder Kaneli- who lives at the very top of the village.”

“Alright,” he said, nodding. “I’ll go speak to Elder Kaneli. Do you want to come with me?”

“We just met back up,” she pointed out. “Of course I’m going with you.”

He smiled. “Got it. Lead the way.”

Paya didn’t think a guide was really needed- one thing Rito Village’s architecture had going for it was being extremely straightforward- but she took the lead anyway, setting off for the first bridge. Link talked absentmindedly as they went. He’d apparently gone to visit Lurelin Village and thought it was lovely, and he’d gone back to Satori Mountain and caught Satori itself and then tried to register it at a stable, and he’d saved a traveller on the road who had gifted him a strange vial of purple stuff called monster extract, and-

A screech cut through the air. Vah Medoh was targeting something that had flown too high- a bird, Paya realized, seeing the tiny speck with the targeting beams focused on it. Not even a Rito. Just a regular, tiny bird.

The lasers fired, and the bird… a Rito might be able to survive a hit like that, but a bird? The poor thing must have been vaporized.

Vah Medoh returned to its patrol, casually circling the village.

“Right,” Link said, voice strained. “We definitely need to do something about that.”

She nodded silently.

The rest of the walk was quiet. It seemed like everyone in the village had been put on edge by what had happened, and only a few whispered conversations were being carried out. She watched Link take a brief detour to activate a Shrine, though he didn't enter it, and then they walked silently through the rest of the village until at last reaching the top, where a rather tall, owl-like Rito was looking out the window. Elder Kaneli.

Link knocked on the side of the house as he stepped in, drawing Kaneli’s attention.

“Ah, a visitor. Welcome to... Oh. OH!” He leaned forward. “That object on your hip... Could it be…”

Link put a hand on the Slate, almost protectively. Kaneli leaned back, slumping into his rocking chair.

“Forgive me. Where are my manners? I am Kaneli, elder of Rito Village. Now then… is that not a Sheikah Slate dangling from your hip?”

“That’s right,” Link said, sounding slightly cautious.

“Oh, my! So it is true! That means you must be a Champion like Master Revali- one of the few able to board Divine Beast Vah Medoh!” Kaneli paused, face falling, and began to mutter. “No... What am I thinking? The Champions have all been dead for 100 years. This boy must be a mere descendant… an inheritor of the Sheikah Slate.”

Link and Paya shared a glance- either Kaneli had meant for them to hear that, or he wasn’t as quiet as he thought he was.

“Ah, forgive me... Champion descendant... If you would listen to this old man's request, you would have my eternal gratitude.”

Link shifted awkwardly. Paya wondered if he was going to correct Kaneli.

“I’ll listen.”

Guess not.

“Thank you. Truly. Now that I know you have the blood of a Champion, there is something I must ask of you.” Kaneli sighed, sounding exhausted. “How shall I put this... I would like you to deal with Divine Beast Vah Medoh. The giant beast circling above us. Only a chosen one, a Champion, can stop a Divine Beast.”

Huh. Interesting. She’d never heard the Champions referred to as chosen ones before- was Kaneli referring to how they’d been chosen by the Royal Family, or was he under the impression the Champions had been chosen by the Goddesses? Either way, he was wrong, as she was pretty sure anyone with the Sheikah Slate could stop a Divine Beast, though only Link and the Princess had been able to use it so far.

“You must enter the beast and bend it to your will,” Kaneli continued, oblivious to her thoughts. “I tried explaining this to the more headstrong Rito warriors, but they wouldn't listen to reason. Teba and Harth tried to confront Medoh, but it did not go well, and Harth was injured. Teba escaped unscathed, but I fear he now plans to face Medoh alone. As a descendant of the Champions, perhaps you can help us. Please. Find Teba. If you work together, you may be able to stop Divine Beast Vah Medoh.”

“...Alright,” Link said. “Who’s Teba?”

“Teba is a warrior of Rito Village. He lives right next door to my humble abode.” Kaneli gestured with a wing, indicating the house in question. “He's the one who decided to confront Divine Beast Vah Medoh. He set off alongside another villager named Harth. Unfortunately, Harth was shot down by Medoh and had to retreat.”

Kaneli shook his head despondently. “This only made Teba more determined. I fear he has set out to face Medoh by himself. As you can see, Medoh is still flying about up there. I hope Teba is okay... Teba's wife, Saki, may be able to tell you more about his whereabouts.”

“Okay,” Link said. “Is there anything you can tell me about Medoh?”

“Did you perchance see that giant bird up there?” Kaenli asked sardonically. “Soaring high above our village? That… is Divine Beast Vah Medoh. The Divine Beasts. Our misbegotten inheritance from the ancient Sheikah. Created eons ago to defeat Ganon.”

Ganon? Most people called him the Calamity. Sure, his true name was well-known, but it wasn’t commonly used. What an odd person Kaneli was.

“In an ironic turn of events, the Divine Beasts were taken over by the same evil force they were created to defeat. But that was one hundred years ago. To think the Divine Beasts would suddenly reappear and begin attacking innocent people… Could this foretell the return of Ganon?”

Kaneli’s eyes had gone distant. Clearly, he was lost in his thoughts- which weren’t inaccurate. The Divine Beasts were a sign of Lord Ganon’s increasing strength. Which was good. For the Yiga. For Kaneli, it was very, very bad.

“Um,” Link said, sounding hesitant, “you mentioned a Master Revali earlier?”

“Ah,” Kaneli said, refocusing on Link, “yes. Master Revali was a fierce warrior from Rito Village who died one hundred years ago. According to the stories, he flew like the wind itself and wielded a bow twice his own size with ease. His skill was recognized by King Rhoam, and he was entrusted to control Divine Beast Vah Medoh. Master Revali lost his life while piloting the Divine Beast during the battle with Calamity Ganon… What could have happened inside Divine Beast Vah Medoh one hundred years ago to kill such a celebrated warrior?”

It was clearly a rhetorical question, which was funny, since Paya was pretty sure she knew exactly what had happened. Link winced, probably thinking the same thing.

“We’re going to go talk to Saki,” Paya said, catching Link’s arm and pulling lightly. He got the idea, stepping towards the door with her.

“Good luck,” Kaneli called after them. There was hope in his voice, but also a sense of resignation.

She wondered if he expected them to come back alive.

A Rito woman was standing in the doorway of the neighboring house. Saki, presumably.

“Forgive my intrusion, but I overheard you speaking with the elder.”

“I would be more surprised if you hadn’t,” Paya muttered. “You live next door and there’s no walls.”

Saki laughed lightly, before becoming solemn again. “It sounds like you intend to help my husband, Teba, in the fight against Medoh. But to tell you the truth, there is not much I can do for you right now beyond telling you where my husband went.”

“That will help,” Link said. “Where did he go?”

“Well…” Saki sighed. “My husband headed to a place called the Flight Range. It's in Dronoc's Pass at the base of the Hebra Mountains… I imagine he's gone there to gather weapons for another run at Medoh.”

She turned, pointing. “If you take off from Revali's Landing, it's a straight shot down to the Flight Range. Revali's Landing is a memorial for the Rito Champion, Revali… So named in hope that none might forget the events of that horrible day…”

Her gaze grew distant. Perhaps she was wondering if Champion Revali’s death on Vah Medoh would be the fate of her husband as well.

Link’s gaze also grew distant, but in a distinctly familiar way. He’d gone still, mind once again  lost to the past, probably remembering something to do with Champion Revali.

Saki frowned, taking him in. It occurred to Paya that, though his blank stare was familiar to her, to a stranger it would look rather concerning. Indeed, Saki swept a wing in front of his eyes, and clearly grew distressed when he failed to acknowledge her.

Paya was about to reassure her- though the level of reassurance he just gets like this sometimes would provide was questionable- when Link came back to himself, blinking rapidly.

Saki immediately grabbed his shoulders. “Descendant! Descendant! Are you all right?”

Link gave her a slightly shaky thumbs-up, and she released him.

“My apologies... I fear I have said too much... If there is anything you do not understand, please do not hesitate to ask.”

Said too much? About what?

As if to answer her question, Link spoke. “About Revali,” He started, sounding hesitant.

“Revali is a legendary Rito warrior,” Saki said simply. “All the warriors here idolize him. My husband is no exception- he is always talking about turning our son, Tulin, into a warrior just like Revali. When they go and ‘play’ together, he is really training him at the Flight Range. I have never wanted my sweet Tulin to become a warrior, myself…”

Link did not look satisfied with that answer. He’d probably wanted something more personal than just being told Champion Revali was well-remembered. But unfortunately for him, Saki probably didn’t know anything other than that. It had been a hundred years, after all.

“Before we go,” Paya said, “is there anything we should know about Teba?”

“My husband is very… impulsive. Once he gets an idea in his head, there's no reasoning with him. We tried to stop him from going off to fight Medoh on his own, but he refused to listen.” Saki smiled ruefully. “Though I cannot feign surprise. I did marry a Rito warrior, after all.”

So impulsive, reckless, and difficult to reason with. Sounds fun.

“Thanks for your help,” Link said, though he sounded a bit strained. “We should get going.”

Saki nodded, turning away as they left.

“So,” Paya muttered, “bad memory?”

Link stiffened, then sighed. “It’s… probably just bad out of context. I remembered Revali being rude to me. I thought we were friends- we probably were friends, later. I just…”

He trailed off, looking hurt. She filled in the blanks: Link thought that they’d been close friends, but his only memory of Champion Revali was of him being rude and hurtful in some way. It probably felt like a betrayal, even if he was right and the memory was from before they became friends.

“Well,” she said, “whatever happened, I’m sure you moved past it. I mean, after everything I did, you’re still friends with me.”

She regretted the words as soon as she said them. They were too hasty- even if they were friends, which was debatable, would Link be okay with her saying that-?

“You’re right,” he said, smiling slightly.

Okay. Crisis averted.

And, she thought, a spark of warmth in her chest, he thinks we’re friends.

Funny. The idea of being friends with Link would have once made her scoff. Now, it made her smile.

They stepped onto Revali’s Landing, and Paya remembered Saki’s words. If you take off from Revali's Landing, it's a straight shot down to the Flight Range. 

Seeing as Paya did not have wings, taking off would be… ill-advised.

“Hm,” Link said, probably coming to the same conclusion. He activated the Slate and used its scope to look out into the distance; using the low-tech strategy of squinting, Paya looked too, and saw the faraway orange glow of an unactivated Shrine.

“I have a plan,” Link said, retrieving his paraglider. “I’ll glide over there, activate the Shrine, teleport back, give you the Slate, and then I’ll glide over again while you teleport to the Shrine I activated.”

Paya took a couple of seconds to comprehend his words. She squinted off into the distance again.

“It looks cold out there,” she said. “Do you have anything for that?”

Link retrieved a worn-looking doublet from the Slate. While not of high quality, the fabric did seem to be thick and would probably keep the wearer warm. But still…

“I’m not sure that will be enough for Hebra,” she said, “and even if it is, we can’t both wear it.”

“We passed a shop earlier,” Link mused. “The Brazen Beak? Didn’t it have armor?”

“Snowquill Armor, yes,” Paya recalled. “It’s lined with feathers. Supposedly the warmest armor rupees can buy- but it’s expensive.”

“That’s fine,” Link said, tapping the Slate. Paya watched as a diamond the size of his fist materialised in his hand, and he waved it at her cheerily. “I’ve got stuff I can sell.”

She blinked. 

“...Huh,” she said, after a moment. “That works. How many of those do you have?”

“A lot,” he said, putting the diamond and the doublet back into the Slate. “Should be more than enough. I can probably buy you a set, too.”

“They only have one in stock,” she told him. “They’re difficult to make. Which is partly why they’re so expensive.”

“Oh,” he said, sounding a bit disappointed. “Well, I can loan you the doublet, at least.” And then, quietly- “I wanted to get you something.”

She blinked, taken aback. Why, she wanted to ask, but it got stuck in her throat.

Link shook himself. “Actually, I was thinking of swinging by the general store later. There’s a lot of sugar there, I can make something… what’s your favourite dessert?”

“Mine?” she asked, pausing. “It… it was fried bananas, but…”

A hazy memory floated to the top of her mind. In preparation for her birthday, her mother had asked her the same thing- What’s your favourite dessert, my little Papaya?- and Paya, without hesitation, had answered-

“Pumpkin pie,” she said aloud. “It used to be pumpkin pie. I guess now it is again.”

“Good choice,” Link said. “After we’ve dealt with Medoh, I’ll make you some.”

She smiled. “I’ll look forward to it.”

Chapter Text

Once they were done shopping, Link- in the full Snowquill Set- leapt off Revali’s landing and glided into the distance, leaving Paya with only a warm doublet and a promise that he’d be back soon.

With nothing better to fill her time, she started trying to figure out how to remove the Hylian Tunic and put on the warm doublet without having to take her hood off.

After much wriggling, she determined that this was impossible.

But… well. She was in Rito Village. The Rito weren’t the most solitary of people, but they weren’t the most social either, and she didn’t think any of them dyed their… hair? Whatever those longer, thinner feathers were. The odds of anyone recognizing the significance of her slowly fading black dye were low.

And she really should have that doublet on before Link got back, so…

Taking the hood off was nerve-wracking, and every moment she spent changing her shirt only made her more tense, ready for someone to call her out at any moment.

But no one did.

Still, she put the hood back on as soon as she was done changing- even if she didn’t need to disguise herself, she was still about to be in Hebra, and the protection of the hood would be very welcome there. It wasn’t thick enough to help much with the cold, but it would at least keep most of the snow out of her face and offer some protection from the winds.

Footsteps sounded behind her. She turned to see Link, nose already pink from the cold.

“Hi,” he said, activating the Sheikah Slate. “Ready to go?”

“I think so,” she responded, holding out the folded Hylian Tunic. Link put it in the Slate, then handed it to her with Sha Warvo Shrine selected. “How long will it take for you to glide there?”

“Not long,” he said, opening his paraglider. “I could glide over before you teleport, if you want.”

She shook her head. “I don’t mind waiting; I just wanted to know how long. See you there.”

Paya tapped the Slate and dissolved into light.

A timeless moment later, she was standing on the Shrine platform of Sha Warvo- and damn, it was cold.

She shivered, immediately drawing back into the small alcove of the Shrine entrance, where she was shielded from the snow and wind. She’d been in the Gerudo Highlands before, but never without a Spicy Elixir or some ruby jewelry. The doublet kept her warm enough, but it was through mundane means, not magic- which meant, while it was keeping the cold from harming her, it certainly wasn’t keeping her from feeling it.

Once, when there were no elixir parts or spare jewelry available, Paya had taken an entire uncut ruby with her on a journey into the Highlands. Since it wasn’t refined into something wearable, it had scalded her palms more than spreading its warmth throughout her whole body, but the raw aura of warmth it held still helped.

Paya missed that ruby now. Perhaps she could hold it up to her face and it’d stop feeling like her nose was going to fall off.

The Slate had automatically deactivated on arrival, preventing her from accessing its storage, which was annoying. Link had said he wouldn't be long, though. Maybe he had a spare elixir, or she could ask to borrow the scarf that went with his stealth armor.

Another strong gust of  wind blew past, somehow fiercer and colder than the last. Her mind jumped to Teba, the Rito warrior who wanted to fight Vah Medoh alone. He was nearby at the ‘Flight Range,’ whatever that was. Did it provide protection from the elements, or was he freezing his feathers off?

Based on what she’d been told about him, she wouldn’t be surprised if it was the latter. She suspected that Teba would put up with much worse than just the cold if it meant having a chance to face Vah Medoh. He sounded quite determined, and equally foolish.

Kind of like her, now that she thought about it.

She heard the faint crunch of footsteps in snow. Link, probably.

She poked her head out of the alcove just to make sure. Yes, it was Link. He looked… oddly relieved to see her. She made brief eye contact with him before ducking back inside the shelter of the Shrine.

“Hi,” he said, stepping up to the entrance.

“H-hi,” she responded, teeth chattering.

He grimaced. “Too cold? I knew I should’ve gotten you something… hang on.”

He reached up, removing his Snowquill Headdress, and presented it to her. Paya’s first instinct was to refuse- the Headdress was the most expensive part of the whole set, on account of the ruby set into it, and it was Link’s. He’d just bought it.

Her second instinct was to stop being cold at all costs, so she took it.

She had to pull her hood down to affix it in her hair, but pulled it back up as soon as she was done. The warming magic of the ruby instantly rushed through her body, pushing back the cold, and she sighed in relief.

Link smiled at her. “Better?”

“Better,” she huffed. “What about you?”

“I’m alright,” he said. “I’m feeling the cold a little more, but it’s not so bad. The flight range is just this way- can I have that back?”

Paya handed him the Slate, which he activated.

“Yeah, just this way. Looks like there’s a path to it.”

What? Paya looked at the Slate. “You filled in the map?” How?

“Huh? Oh, right. I activated a lot of the Towers while you were waiting here- they each correspond to a region. I didn’t get the Central Hyrule one, though.”

A shadow crossed his face.

“Guardians?”

“Guardians,” he confirmed, voice quiet. “It’s kind of funny… I’m not scared of the Divine Beasts, but the Guardians terrify me.”

Of course they would, she thought. They killed you.

“The Divine Beasts used to be your allies,” she said instead. “When they were turned against Hyrule, they were too far away to do anything to you directly. The Guardians weren’t.”

“That makes sense,” he said. “But I wish…”

He trailed off. She wondered what he was going to say. I wish I wasn’t scared? I wish they hadn’t been turned against us? I wish I remembered my past enough so that I could know these things instead of needing to make educated guesses?

Probably some combination of those.

Link sighed. “We can talk later. Let’s get going.”

“Got it.”

They began walking in silence, but Paya didn’t mind. Now that she had some level of protection against the cold, the snow was kind of nice. Peaceful, in a way. And when it wasn’t freezing her face off, the icy wind was almost refreshing.

She picked up a chunk of snow, absentmindedly shaping it into a ball. Obviously, now was not the time for a snowball fight, but Hebra was definitely the place for one. She hurled her snowball at a wall, watching as it broke apart, but regretted doing that just a moment later, when they cleared the pass and entered the Flight Range.

The pit beside them was covered in targets. It would’ve been way more satisfying to chuck her snowball at one of those.

Ah, well. They were here for more important things than that. She could have fun later, when the Divine Beast was taken care of.

Link tapped her on the shoulder and pointed to their right. She looked over to see a small house- Rito style, of course, so despite the temperature it had no walls- and a figure on its balcony. A white Rito, holding a bow.

That must be Teba.

He didn’t seem to notice them. Too focused on whatever he was doing with his bow, maybe.

They kept walking. Link went up the ladder first, then Paya. Now that they were right behind Teba, he could probably hear them, but he ignored them in favor of continuing to work on his bow in silence.

Link gathered the Swallow Bow and arrows that were lying around the small house, then stepped out onto the balcony, clearing his throat. Finally, Teba took notice of them.

“Yeah…?” He turned around, giving them a quick once-over. “I don’t know you. And I’m actually pretty busy here. You should probably go.”

With that, he turned back around. Link huffed, walking forwards until he was in Teba’s line of sight again.

“...Did you need something? I’m busy here.”

“I can help you,” Link said, earnestly determined.

“Help me?” Teba said, dryly unimpressed. “With what exactly?”

“Vah Medoh,” Paya called, stepping out onto the balcony as well.

Teba scoffed. “Let me get this straight. Some random Hylians want to help me bring down Divine Beast Vah Medoh? I’m not buying it. What’re your names, strangers?”

“I’m Link,” Link said. “That’s Paya.”

“Link and Paya, huh? Well. I'm Teba. But you already knew that. I’m guessing the elder asked you to come here and talk some sense into me. Am I right?”

“That's right,” Link nodded.

“Well, sort of,” Paya muttered. Technically Elder Kaneli had sent them to help Teba, but based on the Rito’s overall foolishness, it seemed that talking some sense into him would be a required part of that.

“Just like the elder to trust any fool wandering into town,” Teba grumbled. “Look- you two seem alright, but let’s make one thing clear: I’m not going anywhere. As a Rito warrior, I can’t rest until my people are safe. There’s only one way I’m going back to Rito Village.”

“And that is…?” Link prompted.

“Once Divine Beast Vah Medoh falls from the sky. If I have to kill Medoh… so be it. Only then will I return to the village.”

He looked very serious. Paya mentally revised her opinion of him. On one hand, he was clearly quite brave. On the other hand, that was the stupidest thing she’d ever heard. The only thing that even had a chance at ‘killing’ Vah Medoh would be another Divine Beast, and they didn’t exactly have one of those on hand. Purifying Vah Medoh of Lord Ganon’s influence? Possible. Knocking it out of the sky? Teba had absolutely no chance at that. He’d die trying.

“Then let’s get started,” Link said.

Well, Teba would have died trying. Luckily for him, Link (and herself) had arrived in time to redirect him to a slightly less impossible goal.

“Are you serious? Ha! Well, far be it from me to talk you off the ledge.” Teba shook his head. “But it's as the elder said: the only way to stop Divine Beast Vah Medoh is to get inside it. Fat chance of that happening. There’s no way we can set foot in Medoh.”

Huh. Had he just made a reasonable estimation of his own abilities? Maybe she’d misjudged him.

“Actually,” Link started. Teba cut him off.

“So not only are you wingless… you’re brainless too.”

Okay, nevermind.

“Let me fill you in- the only people able to enter the Divine Beasts are the five Champions of old. And unfortunately for us and the rest of Hyrule, they all died a hundred years ago. If it hadn’t been for Ganon… Never mind. Let's focus on bringing down Medoh… one step at a time. If we approach Medoh recklessly, its cannons will blast us out of the sky before we even get close. ...So I’m going to need to test you two before I take you with me.”

“Hang on,” Paya cut in. “What’s your plan?”

Teba paused, caught off-guard. “What?”

“Your plan. You just said the only way to stop Vah Medoh is to get inside it, then said there’s no way that’s happening, then said you’re going up there anyway! What are you planning on doing?”

Teba scowled, then sighed. “Listen, I know my odds aren’t great. Harth and I already tried to face Medoh, and it didn’t go so well. I’m sure the elder told you about it. We couldn’t even get close, and it could shoot at us faster than we could shoot at it. But that thing’s menacing the Village. I have to do something.”

“Great,” she said. “That’s what we’re here to help you with. But you haven’t told me what that is.”

“The cannons,” he said, looking up to Vah Medoh in the distance. “That’s how it defends itself. They’re not as sturdy as they look… a few bomb arrows should destroy them. If we can get all four, the worst it can do is fly away from us. Shouldn’t be hard to land on it then.”

“Alright,” Paya said. “That sounds doable. You mentioned a test earlier?”

“Right,” Teba said, standing. “We Rito warriors use the updraft in this ravine to hone our aerial archery skills. The updrafts are so strong here that a person could just open up a cloth over their head and float up easily. So let's see what you're capable of.” He turned to the Flight Range. “Maneuver through the air and destroy five of the targets set up in this valley in three minutes. If you can't do that, you don't stand a chance against Medoh.”

‘Open up a cloth over their head and float up easily.’

Paya glanced at Link. As expected, he already had his paraglider out, which would make the challenge trivial for him. She could probably hit five targets without moving from the balcony with a long-range bow, but that was a short-term solution- what would she do against Vah Medoh, where there would be no balcony?

Well, that could be a problem for future her. “Hey, Link,” she said, “can I borrow that Swallow Bow you grabbed?”

“Sure,” he said, passing it to her along with a handful of arrows. He retrieved a Phrenic Bow from the Slate to replace it. “Are we doing this at the same time?”

“There’s more than ten targets,” she said, “so I don’t see why not. I’ll make sure not to hit you.”

“Thanks,” he said, then turned to Teba. “We’re ready.”

He nodded, answering, “Go destroy five targets each,” then began muttering under his breath- one, two, three…

Ah. He was keeping time.

Link leapt off the platform, falling into the chasm. She was sure he’d be fine. And in doing so, he’d left all the easier targets for her- she drew back her bow, aiming at the nearest one.

The arrow barely landed, hitting the outermost ring of the target, but it was enough. It shattered. One down.

She hit the next one closer to the center, but missed her shot while aiming at a third target. She scowled- the Swallow Bow was good for range, but the updrafts (and the lack of a second arrow when all her training had been with two-shot bows) were throwing her off. Not that her aim had ever been spectacular even with all the odds in her favour.

She tried again, this time hitting her mark. Three out of five.

Teba, who was leaning over to keep an eye on Link, called out, “Okay! That’s five, come on back!”

He then went back to counting under his breath. They were almost up to two minutes.

Paya gritted her teeth, aiming for her next target. Remember, arrows don’t just travel in a straight line. You have to account for the range of your bow, the wind, and your own strength.

She hit the outermost ring again. Which still worked, but it was frustrating, though there was no time for disappointment. Only one more target to go, and about forty seconds left to hit it.

Paya drew the string back. Her form was perfect, it was just the aim she had trouble with. But this shot- it wasn’t that far. And she was using a Rito bow designed for this kind of archery.

Breath in as you aim, and out as you fire. Come on, you can do it.

She hit the second-centermost ring. Good enough.

“Alright,” Teba said. “That’s five.”

Link gave her a thumbs-up.

“Not bad,” Teba continued. “You cut it close there, but you did it, so that’s what matters. And Link, you’re… a skilled archer. It was as if time stopped with every arrow you let fly. Never seen anything like it.”

Link shrugged.

“I've got to tell you... When you two first showed up, I thought someone was pulling a prank on me. But after seeing you handle that challenge- and no offence meant, Paya, but especially after seeing Link do it- I can tell you're the real deal. You must have seen a battle or two.”

“I've seen a few,” Link said.

Paya remained silent.

“Don't be modest,” Teba said. “I can tell just looking at you. Link... I feel I've heard the name somewhere before…”

He shook his head.

“Well, if you really want to help me bring down Medoh, it's now or never. I can get you into position so you can give its cannons all you've got. Though… Link, I noticed you had a glider. Do you have anything like that, Paya?”

“Unfortunately, no,” she said.

Teba tilted his head. “Well, I’d be a hypocrite if I said it’s too dangerous for you to go, but I ought to warn you. Medoh isn’t going to come down here for our convenience, and I can’t carry someone and shoot at the same time. Unless you’ve got any ideas, you’ll probably fall to your death if you go up there.”

“Hm,” Paya said, “...I do see your point.”

“I’m not even sure I can carry two people at once,” Teba said. “I’m still willing to try- if you’re willing to risk it.”

“Nobody is falling to their death,” Link cut in, evidently unhappy with the turn things had taken.

“In that case, she can’t come,” Teba said dryly. “Or you can give her the glider and you can stay back instead.”

“No, I- I need to go,” Link said. “Isn’t there something else? Another Rito who can carry her…?”

Teba huffed. “Harth would have, but he’s out of commission now. I’m all you’ve got.”

Link hesitated, looking around as if a solution would present itself. His shoulders slumped as he realized there wasn’t one.

Paya thought that it was going to be okay. Link was the best archer she’d ever seen- he’d be able to board Vah Medoh easily. Presumably there’d be another Malice-creature there, but as Champion Mipha was apparently able to… resurrect him, he could definitely handle that. Really, there wasn’t anything to worry about with Vah Medoh.

The problem would be getting back to Rito Village by herself.

“I don’t mind being left out of this,” Paya said, “but is there a faster way to get back to the village or am I going to have to walk all the way around the lake?”

“Smart decision,” Teba said, though Link looked unhappy. “As for getting back… I usually just fly back and forth. There’s a lodge near here with walls and a bed and all that, if you want to wait for us to get back, but if you want to go straight to Rito Village… yeah, you’d have to walk. No way around it.”

“That’s going to take a while,” she grumbled. “You’ll probably get back to the village before I do.”

“Assuming we survive, sure,” Teba said, casually. “That’s not as likely as you might hope, so you’d be better off not waiting up.”

“We’re not going to die,” Link said firmly. Then he paused. “...But I don’t know how long we’ll take, so… you probably shouldn’t wait either way.”

“Great,” she sighed. “Anything I can do to help, or should I just get going?”

“Hm,” Teba said. “Do you have any bomb arrows?”

“No,” Paya said, which was partially untrue. She had stored bomb arrows with talismans, but she didn’t have any way to retrieve them. Until or unless she could get new talismans, the bomb arrows might as well not exist.

“Then there’s not much you can do,” he said. “It'll be cold up there, so any spare warm meals or warm clothes could be nice, but you’ll want those on your way out of here too.” He paused. “I can’t think of anything else. Except advice, if you have any of that.”

“Don’t die,” she said.

“...I’ll take that into account.”

“We’ll be careful,” Link promised. His face fell. “I’m sorry I brought you all the way out here just to make you walk back by yourself.”

“You didn’t bring me out here, Link,” she huffed. “I brought myself here. If I hadn’t wanted to go, I wouldn’t have.”

“Okay,” he said, though he still sounded a bit guilty.

“Yeah, yeah, she’s right,” Teba said. “Anyway, now that we’ve established that, you should probably get going, Paya. You’ll want to be out of the coldest areas before it gets dark, and you’ll be cutting it close even if you leave now. Any more stalling and you won’t make it.”

“Won’t make it as in I won’t make it to warmer areas or as in I’ll die?”

Teba laughed. “I meant that you won’t make it to warmer areas, but there are some nasty monsters out here at night,” he said. “Especially the Ice Keese. They’ll freeze you solid if they get too close, and the damn things are good at getting close. Unless you want to run into them, you need to be pretty far from here by dusk.”

“Here,” Link said, offering her a bundle of fire arrows. “If you do see any ice monsters, these will help.”

“I wouldn’t advise giving away arrows right before fighting a Divine Beast,” Teba sighed, but he made no move to stop her from taking them. “Hopefully we’ll see you back in the village soon.”

“Right,” she said, tucking the arrows away. “Good luck.”

“Thanks, we’ll need it,” Teba said.

Link just nodded.

She turned away, climbing down the ladder and walking back through the pass. Looking back before turning the corner, she saw Link wave at her.

She waved back, and stepped out of the pass, losing sight of Link and Teba.

Paya turned back to the road, sighing. Nothing to do now but walk.

Or, she thought, seeing a flicker of familiar red in the corner of her vision, maybe not.

Chapter Text

For a little while, Paya thought she’d imagined it.

While it wasn’t impossible there was another Yiga out here- pretty likely, actually- it made no sense that they’d be following her. Not when Link was so nearby. If Link was dead, then assassins might start being sent after her as an ally of his, but he wasn’t. Shouldn’t he be their highest priority? Certainly higher than Paya?

And yet, after some time trekking through the snow, she caught a glimpse of red again.

…Could they not tell she was alone? Had they somehow lost track of Link and were following her in the hope she’d meet back up with him?

Or were they really following her instead of him on purpose?

Seeing another flicker of red, she sighed, stopping and drawing her Silver Sword. If they wanted to approach her, they were doing it now, on her terms.

In a flash of light and flutter of talismans, there they were- a Yiga Footsoldier, right in front of her. Yiga were meant to be indistinguishable from one another with their masks on, and this one was doing an excellent job at that- until she removed her mask, that is.

“Jala,” she said. “Hi.”

“Hello, Paya,” Jala said, raising an eyebrow. “You’ve been more difficult to talk to than I expected. Hardly ever a moment alone.”

Paya blinked. That implied Jala had been going out of her way to try to talk to her, which was odd. She was familiar with the older woman- Jala had even taught Paya a few things over the years- but they didn’t know each other well. They didn’t really speak outside of missions.

There were other reasons Jala could have been sent after her, but coming over to talk to her first would be counterproductive. So-

“Why did you want to talk to me?”

“Want is a strong word,” Jala said, smiling wryly. “I was sent to talk to you. I’m not the only one; Master Kohga sent at least a dozen of us out. I’m just the first to catch up with you.”

“Am I going to get a dozen visitors after this?” That would be… less than ideal.

“Nah. We were all sent to deliver the same message. Whether you accept it or not, we’re not offering again.”

That put her guard up. “What are you offering?”

“For starters, this,” Jala said, throwing a small bag at her. Paya caught it instinctively, and quickly glanced inside. Then had to glance again, just to make sure.

It was a pouch of talismans. More than she usually took out on a mission- maybe even double that amount. All handcrafted by Master Kohga, surely. For her? But why?

“Master Kohga figured that you’d run out a while ago,” Jala said, recapturing her attention. “He seemed pretty worried about it. That bag’s got more talismans in it than I’ve ever used on a job.”

“...Alright,” Paya said, slightly hesitant. “And does taking it have… conditions?”

“You’re already holding it,” Jala said. “It’s a little too late for conditions. If you want them, keep them. If you don’t, just give them back.”

Paya pocketed the bag. If there really were no strings attached, she definitely wanted them.

“So,” Jala said. “Now that the easy part’s done with, here’s the real message I’m meant to deliver: come back to the Hideout or else.”

Figures. They wouldn’t just send someone to check up on me. Still, not as bad as it could have been. A threat was much better than an outright attack.

“Or else what?”

Jala shrugged. “That depends on the circumstance. You get caught alone like this again and we’ll drag you back by force. You get caught up in a fight between one of ours and the Hero, you’ll get treated like any other obstacle.”

So: we’ll kill you to get to him if we have to.

How nice.

“If I refuse to go back now, will you do anything about it?”

“Nah,” she said. “I’ll go back and report your answer, and then I’ll probably get sent back out to do something about it. Are you refusing? You can think about it for a while if you want.”

“I don’t need to think about it,” Paya said, firm. “I’m not going back. Not yet.”

“Yeah, I thought you’d say that,” Jala said. “I’m not looking forward to being the one to tell Master Kohga, though. He won’t be happy.”

“I’m sorry to have disappointed him,” Paya answered, “but…”

Jala cut her off. “You haven’t disappointed him. At least, not yet. Obviously he wants you to come back, but he wouldn’t have sent me with all those talismans if he thought you actually would right away.”

“...I’m fraternizing with the Hero, though,” she said hesitantly. “Is that not…?”

“Master Kohga thinks you’re playing the long game. I know you were, for a while. I don’t think you are anymore. He does.”

“Oh.”

“If you actually are setting up to backstab the Hero again, colour me impressed, because you’ve been doing a fantastic job regaining his trust. You hid him from me in the Ancient Columns, didn’t you? That’d be a great way to convince him you’re on his side.”

Paya grasped for the least revealing thing to say. “That was you?”

“Yeah, it was,” Jala said. “That was when I figured you’d betrayed us. I still think that, but feel free to prove me wrong.”

“I haven’t betrayed the Yiga,” Paya snapped. “I’m just… looking at things from a different angle.”

“Uh-huh. And directly preventing us from accomplishing our goals is part of that?”

“Maybe,” she said. “I’m reevaluating what our goals should be.”

Jala tilted her head, giving her a strange look. “We’ve had the same goals for ten thousand years. You think they can be changed now?”

“Of course they can be,” Paya said. “The problem will be convincing people they should be.”

“If they should be, the only person you’ll have to convince is Master Kohga,” Jala said. “But you won’t. You may be his favourite- for some fucking reason, I still don’t get it- but even you couldn’t pull that off. He’s been working towards this for longer than you’ve been alive. A lot longer.”

“That doesn’t mean he can’t change his mind,” she insisted.

Jala sighed. “Yes, it does. You have more sway with him than most do, but changing the core mission of the Yiga Clan is a little too far. It was founded to kill the Hero and the Princess, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

“What if it’s wrong?”

Jala stared at her.

“I mean it,” she pressed. “What if we were wrong, Jala?”

“Huh,” Jala said. “I didn’t think you had it in you.”

Paya blinked. What?

Jala stepped back, bringing her hands together into the gesture used for teleportation.

“For your sake,” she said, as glowing symbols appeared around her, “I won’t tell Master Kohga you said that.”

In a flash of light and flutter of talismans, Jala vanished.

Okay.

That had been an… interesting conversation.

She supposed the most immediately relevant part was the talismans. Now that she had some, she could retrieve her bow from wherever it went when she used talismans to store it, disguise herself in some way, or even teleport.

Paya paused, looking at Rito Village in the distance.

Well, there was one way to get back before Link did.

Would it be a waste of talismans? Possibly. She could just walk there.

…She didn’t really want to do that, though.

Paya took a breath and drew on the power of the talismans, still so familiar even after the time without them. She pictured her destination- the forest near Rito Stable, where nobody would see her appear- and pulled.

The used talismans fluttered around her before fading away. She felt the shift in the wind before she’d even opened her eyes, and looked around just to be sure- yes, this was just behind Rito Stable.

She grinned to herself. Long-range teleports like that, especially when you couldn’t see your destination, were considered exceptionally difficult. She’d practiced a lot to get that good at it.

Unfortunately, there was no one around to be suitably impressed.

She sighed, walking up the path towards the stable. While making it back to the village before nightfall would have its advantages- chief among them being the chance to sleep in a real bed instead of making camp- it wasn’t without disadvantages, either.

Like the amount of downtime she now had.

Paya looked up to Vah Medoh. It had some sort of shield around it, glowing Malice-pink. If Teba and Link were anywhere near it, they were too far away for her to see.

…She wouldn’t know what had happened up there until they returned. And she had no idea how long that would be.

All she had to fill her time until then was her own thoughts, which were now tending towards worries she previously hadn’t thought of. Last time Link had been on a Divine Beast he’d mostly handled himself, but she’d had to save him from being struck point-blank with a laser. Likely, there’d be another creature on Vah Medoh, and equally likely, it would be just as capable of firing lasers as its counterpart. Could Link handle that?

What would she do if he couldn’t?

Paya shook herself. There was no benefit to worrying. Fear would only distract her.

Not like it had much to distract her from. She stopped just before the stable, debating whether or not to head into the village. Was there any reason to?

Far away, Vah Medoh fired a laser. At what, she couldn’t tell. Either Link or Teba, probably.

She paused. Teba.

She’d been so caught on worrying about Link that she hadn’t even considered Teba. Not that she liked him enough to worry about him, but some people did.

So if there was anyone she should be talking to, it would be Saki.

She turned away from the stable, and began heading into the village.

Paya wouldn’t be able to talk to Saki about any of her Yiga-related problems, but being able to commiserate about their respective worries over Vah Medoh would be nice. And it would hopefully give her a way to spend her time until Link returned.

Hm. Maybe she should get a hobby. At the Hideout, she usually spent her free time reading, but she hadn’t brought any books with her.

She resolved to think about that later- she had more important things to be thinking about right now. Like how Link was having an aerial battle against a Divine Beast at this very moment. Had it been this stressful when he was facing Vah Ruta? She couldn’t recall; maybe she’d been too focused on getting to the East Reservoir to think about why she was going there.

Or maybe she just hadn’t cared as much as she did now.

Paya stopped outside Saki’s home. The Rito was inside, but had her head stuck out, turned towards Vah Medoh in the distance. Worry was plain on her face.

Paya knocked on the entryway.

Saki startled, entire body fluffing up before settling as she noticed Paya in the entryway.

“Oh! Hello…” She looked around, probably for Link.

“It’s just me,” Paya said. “Link went to fight Vah Medoh with Teba. I couldn’t go with them, so…”

She shrugged, gesturing vaguely. So here I am.

“You met my husband? Was he well?”

“He seemed fine,” Paya said, glancing out towards Vah Medoh in the distance. “Last I saw him.”

“Ahhh... That is a relief. I'm just happy to hear that my husband is still alive… so far as we know, at least.”

Saki looked out again as well. The shield around Vah Medoh had faded, though whether that was because it had been destroyed or because its attackers had been driven off was unclear.

“Oh,” Saki said, turning around and rummaging through her possessions, “here. It isn't much, but please take these, as thanks for the news of Teba if nothing else.”

She offered Paya a bundle of bomb arrows.

“My husband left them for me to use, but I do not want them in the house where Tulin might try to play with them.”

“Thanks,” Paya said, taking them. “You mentioned Tulin when we first talked… he’s your son, right?”

“Yes,” Saki said, tone warming. “My darling fledgling. Why?”

“I was just wondering where he is,” Paya said, hesitant. She glanced around the home, as if a young Rito might pop out of hiding somewhere. “Shouldn’t he be with you?”

“Oh! He’s with Harth right now- the other warrior who faced Medoh with my husband. Tulin is desperate for stories about the grand battle…” Saki’s expression dropped. “He’s quite confident his father has this handled. I am… worried, I admit. I may have encouraged Tulin to spend more time with Harth, recently… I do not want my child picking up on my sour mood, especially if it turns out to be unfounded.”

“…What if it is? Founded?”

Saki glanced at her. “Do you believe that?”

“No,” Paya admitted, looking out to Vah Medoh. “Link is with him. I’m sure he can do this.”

“Good,” Saki said. “I am sure as well. I may worry, but my husband is the greatest warrior I know. If anyone can defeat a Divine Beast, it will be him. Though… I do hope Tulin doesn’t take after him too strongly. I don’t know if I can bear worrying about all of them this much.”

“‘All’ of them?” That implies more than two.

“Yes, I worry about Harth as well. I know where he is now- safe in his home, healing from injury- but the day he acquired that injury? I was beside myself.” Saki laughed lightly. “What is that Hylian saying? They’ll give me gray feathers. No. Gray hairs.”

“Hylians get gray hairs from stress, yeah,” Paya said. “It must be exhausting worrying about that many people. I’m not used to it.”

“No? Do your loved ones not often do worrying things?”

Loved ones. Paya’s mind first jumped to Master Kohga, but she’d never worried for him; he didn’t often leave the Hideout, and he was quite capable anyway. Her next thought was-

No, Link and her weren’t… that close.

“Link does worrying things regularly, but I haven’t known him that long,” she answered. “My loved ones… usually they’re the ones worrying about me.”

“You don’t seem to be doing anything worrying right now,” Saki noted. “My husband and your friend are off engaged in a battle with a Divine Beast, but you’re here talking to me.”

“I said I couldn’t go with them, not that I didn’t want to,” Paya answered. “If I had a paraglider or a pair of wings, I’d be up there right now. I’ve done equally or more dangerous things before.”

“I see,” Saki said, no judgement in her voice. “And now that you’re experiencing what it’s like to be the one at home, worrying, is that going to dissuade you from putting yourself in such danger in the future?”

“No,” Paya admitted. “I don’t want to worry anyone- but a task like stopping Vah Medoh is more important than how people feel about me doing it.”

“You sound like my husband,” Saki sighed. “When he and Harth returned from their first attempt at facing Medoh, I endeavored to convince him not to try again, but it was hopeless. He had a similar argument to yours- that this fight was bigger than him and bigger than me. More important than our personal thoughts on it.”

She laughed. “I’m not sure he really believed that, though. I do think that first attempt was noble at heart; he wanted to save the village. This one, however… Teba took Harth’s injury very personally. It’s such a ridiculous thing to hold against an unfeeling machine like Medoh… but I believe he’s out there for revenge.”

Paya considered that. “Does it matter?”

“Pardon me?”

“The reason he’s out there,” she clarified. “Whether it’s for a noble cause or revenge, does it matter? The outcome will be the same either way.”

“For most of us, I suppose not,” Saki said, sounding pensive. “There aren’t many who would ever know the difference. But Teba will know. If something happens- if he or your friend are hurt- he could brush that off, as he’d been there to protect the village. It had to be done. But if someone is hurt for his revenge… my husband will blame himself for that.”

Saki closed her eyes. “For his sake, and all of ours, I must hope that nothing goes wrong- or, Goddesses forbid, that it has already.” She shook her head, reopening her eyes. “But enough of that. It won’t do us any good to keep thinking of the worst ways this could go. When I feel like this- too worried to truly focus- I often fill my time cleaning. I find it useful to have something mindless to do, some way to take my mind off of things. Do you have anything like that?”

“Maybe,” Paya said. “Do you have anything to read?”

Chapter Text

Saki’s books were… interesting.

Apparently they mostly belonged to Teba, and a few to Harth, though Paya wasn’t sure why Harth’s books would be in Saki and Teba’s home.

Teba and Harth were apparently mostly interested in Rito history and archery- and thus in the history of Rito archery, which was what most of the books were about.

It was somewhat fascinating: apparently, Rito had actually evolved from the Zora a very long time ago, which was news to her. And there were different styles of archery; “Hylian style” archery where one shot with their hands (or wings, in the case of the Rito,) and “Rito style” archery, where one shot with their feet. While flying at high speeds, if they were skilled enough.

That explained some things. Paya had wondered how Rito were able to fly and shoot at the same time.

She wasn’t all that interested in reading about the subject of archery as a whole, though, so most of the books weren’t really to her taste. The one that best held her attention was a biography of Champion Revali.

It made a lot of assumptions, some of which Paya was fairly sure were completely wrong. It described him as having been an archery prodigy since his youth, naturally talented with the bow. Similarly, it claimed he’d mastered his control of the winds with ease, which didn’t sound right. She could’ve sworn she’d heard something once about Champion Revali working so hard for his power that he began to resent the other Champions, though she couldn’t recall the source.

Most jarringly, it described him as kind, thoughtful, and humble. She didn’t know much about Champion Revali, but apparently he’d been rude to Link, which was not a kind and thoughtful thing to do.

Paya probably would have discarded the book as nonsense if not for the annotations.

Every page- of which there were many- was painstakingly annotated, with notes, citations, and the occasional derisive comment on its contents. The notes were in two different handwritings, presumably belonging to Teba and Harth.

Harth’s notes seemed to focus more on archery techniques. One page claimed Champion Revali had invented some specific technique, but Paya found the actual words difficult to decipher, as they were so surrounded by cramped notes. Harth provided evidence for multiple Rito having used the technique before Champion Revali was even born, and seemed rather passionate about making sure anyone reading the book knew it.

Teba’s notes focused primarily on Champion Revali’s ability to control the winds. He seemed less interested in correcting misinformation and more interested in reverse-engineering the power.

There were a few on other topics, though. Teba seemed somewhat interested in Champion Revali as a person, which was a shame, because the book definitely wasn’t. It had the Rito Champion on a pedestal so high you couldn’t see his face.

She wondered what Champion Revali would think about it. It seemed to have been written quite a few decades after his death, and she doubted anyone who knew him had been consulted. Was this the kind of legacy he’d like? To be loved, but only as an idea, the memory of all his flaws and quirks scrubbed away to make a better figurehead?

Some people would be happy with that, she thought. Just as long as they were loved.

On the last page of the book, Teba had written a note addressed to Harth.

If I die, make sure nobody writes a book like this about me.

I would never let them disrespect your memory like that, Harth had written below it. I’ll write the book myself, so everyone knows what a stupid bastard you were.

You love me, Teba had answered.

Unfortunately.

Huh.

Paya looked over at Saki, who was reorganizing a random shelf. It would probably be rude to ask her if her husband and his friend had ever been in a relationship, no matter how curious she was.

Though… based on the way Saki had talked about Harth… it might not have been just Teba.

She shook her head. It would be rude to ask. It was pretty invasive of her to have even read the book once she saw how personalized it was.

She put it down, picking up a book on traditional Rito braids instead, and tried to immerse herself in its contents. She wasn’t incredibly successful- when her thoughts weren’t being nosy about the personal lives of strangers, they were straying to Link, off facing the Divine Beast Vah Medoh far above. He’d probably boarded it by now. Perhaps he was even fighting the creature that had killed Champion Revali.

She realized she’d been reading the last few pages of the book without actually absorbing any information and sighed, turning back the pages. It was an interesting topic and the book presented the significance and meanings of each hairstyle well, but she wasn’t really in the mood for learning about Rito culture. She was more in the mood to do something.

What that something was, she wasn’t sure. A lot of things would work, probably, as long as they felt productive. But there was nothing productive she could be doing, not when all the action was happening in the sky, so she attempted to refocus on the page she was reading.

Some time later- she honestly wasn’t sure how long it had been, but she wasn’t done with the book yet so it couldn’t have been that long- there was a flurry of activity outside. As well as a considerable amount of screaming.

Paya dropped her book and scrambled to figure out what was going on. Looking around showed all the Rito nearby staring up in horror, so what was-

Ah. Vah Medoh was approaching the village. Rather rapidly.

Unlike everyone around her, Paya sighed in relief, earning her an incredulous look from Saki.

“It’s blue,” she said, but that probably didn’t explain it. “It was pink before. When it was corrupted. It’s blue now, so-”

She was cut off as Vah Medoh landed. It did so rather gracefully, considering it was roughly the size of the village it was landing on top of, but it was still a bit disruptive. Its weight dislodged several rocks from its perch, though none were large enough to be dangerous.

“...You mean to say that it’s been purified,” Saki said, slowly.

“Exactly. I know Teba wanted to destroy it, but Link’s goal was to purify Vah Medoh, and it looks like he did it.”

“I see,” Saki mused. “That is… interesting. There are old stories of it once being the protector of the village… if it has returned to that role, I suppose that is good news, but it will take some getting used to.”

Yeah, she could see that being a difficult adjustment.

“But if Medoh is dealt with,” Saki said slowly, “where are my husband and your friend?”

…Good question.

When Vah Ruta was purified, Link and Paya had been teleported out by… the Princess, supposedly. They’d appeared on the Great Zora Bridge, the very outskirts of Zora’s Domain. So… would Link and Teba have been brought to one of the islands near the village, or perhaps the bridge leading into it?

Saki was still looking to her for an answer.

“I don’t know,” she said. “I doubt they’re still on Vah Medoh, so maybe they jumped off and landed nearby.”

“I would think they would have been seen, doing that,” Saki said, frowning, “but we were a bit distracted while Medoh landed. If you’re right, we ought to go looking for them… they could be injured.”

Paya nodded silently. Hopefully they weren’t, and Link had fairies- as well as Champion Mipha- if it came to that, but she doubted purifying Vah Medoh had gone off without a hitch. Besides, she imagined Saki would like to see her husband as soon as possible regardless of the state he was in.

Finding them turned out not to be very difficult at all. Paya had barely stepped out of Teba and Saki’s house when she saw something in the corner of her vision, and when she turned, it was Link.

Collapsed onto the boards of Revali’s Landing.

She didn’t stop to think- she vaulted over the fence, leapt the small set of stairs, and skidded to a stop beside Link just a few seconds after laying eyes on him.

She dropped to her knees beside him. He looked… not great, but he was definitely alive. A fairy was fluttering around him, and the grimace on his face was fading quickly, as was the bruise marring his jaw.

He’d cracked his eyes open as her shadow fell over him, so he was awake as well. He attempted to raise an arm in what was probably going to be a wave, but winced and let it drop quickly. The fairy chimed at him chidingly and fluttered around some more.

Saki landed beside her. “Champion descendant! Are you alright?”

“I’ve been worse,” Link croaked.

Which, well… he wasn’t wrong.

“I am glad to see you alive, if not entirely hale,” Saki said. “Where is my husband?”

“Teba? He-” Link sat up, despite the protests of the fairy. “He was hit- in the leg, not too bad. He said he was going back to the Flight Range.”

Saki drew in a sharp breath. “Hit? By Medoh’s cannons?”

“Yeah.”

“I need to go,” she said, backing up and flaring her wings. “To send someone to the Flight Range- immediately-”

Saki took off without another word.

Link stared after her for a moment. “It didn’t look that bad.”

“You did just tell her that her husband was hit by a Divine Beast,” Paya pointed out. “Even if it was only glancing, that’s pretty worrying. And you said he retreated?”

Link nodded silently.

Yes, that sounded bad. If she’d heard something like that about- someone she loved, Paya probably would have rushed off in a panic, too.

“I don’t know him well,” she said, “but from what I’ve seen, it’d have to have been pretty bad to make him back off.”

“And,” she added, a little quieter, “I do think your standards for a ‘bad’ injury are a bit higher than most.”

The fairy fluttering around him chimed. For a moment Paya thought it was agreeing with her, but then it spun one more circle around Link and flew off, so it had probably just meant to convey that it was done healing him.

Speaking of…

“What did you need that fairy for?” It had to be something serious- otherwise he’d have settled for an elixir. Fairies were far harder to come by.

“Oh,” Link said, sounding almost sheepish. “I think I broke my ribs.”

“...Okay,” she said. “Are they… better now?”

He stretched, standing up. “Yeah. Doesn’t even hurt.”

“That’s good,” she sighed. “What happened?”

“There was another monster, like the one on Ruta,” Link said. “I took a picture of it! My Slate added a Compendium entry for it and everything.”

…Huh?

“It shot at me a lot,” he continued. “With… well, with lasers, but not just lasers. It knocked me out of the air a few times… and I didn’t always land right. But I’m alright now.”

Paya squinted at him. He did look fine, and the fairy surely wouldn’t have left if he wasn’t, but she was having trouble believing it. The scare of seeing him collapsed hadn’t worn off so easily.

Think about something else.

“Was the spirit of Champion Revali there?”

Link… grimaced. “Yes.”

He looked away, solemn, and did not elaborate further.

“Come on,” he said. “We should tell Kaneli everything is taken care of.”

“I think he might’ve noticed,” she said dryly, pointing up towards Vah Medoh.

“...Yeah, maybe,” he said. “But we should talk to him anyway.” He began to walk, but hesitated at the stairs, looking over his shoulder towards the Flight Range. “Do you think Teba’s okay?”

“I didn’t see him get injured, you did,” she answered. “I don’t know. But… he seemed pretty stubborn. I don’t think he’d let Vah Medoh get the better of him if he had anything to say about it.”

“He took the hit for me,” Link said, still not looking at her. “He drew Medoh’s fire so I could destroy the cannons. If I wasn’t there…”

He trailed off.

“I don’t know what would’ve happened if you weren’t there, because that’s not how it went,” Paya said. “But it probably would have been worse. Much worse.”

Finally, Link turned to face her.

“Teba was going to go face Vah Medoh whether or not you helped him,” she continued. “And if you weren’t there, he would’ve been drawing all its fire anyway, as the only target. Even if he did manage to get aboard without you, he doesn’t have the Sheikah Slate or the ability to use one, so he wouldn’t have been able to stop Vah Medoh and probably would have died trying. Which, I think you’ll agree, would have been a lot worse than what actually happened.”

Link’s face journeyed through a complicated series of emotions.

“You’re right,” he said at last. “I was… thinking of it like a different situation. But they’re not that similar.”

A different situation… the Champions? He did just come from Vah Medoh- did Champion Revali say something to him?

If the spirit of the Rito Champion had implied his own death was somehow Link’s fault, she was going to climb up to Vah Medoh and kill him a second time. For several reasons. But surely he wouldn’t have- even if he’d initially been cold to Link, they had been friends, hadn’t they? An accusation like that…

Link shook his head, sighing, and started to walk again. As she fell into step beside him, she glanced at his expression, wondering what he was thinking about. He still seemed upset.

Elder Kaneli, though, looked elated as they entered his house.

“You have done it! And you survived, at that!”

He sounded genuinely impressed, which might’ve been more flattering if not for the implication that he thought they would’ve died- well, she might’ve died if she had gone to face Vah Medoh, but Elder Kaneli didn’t know that she hadn’t.

“You conquered Divine Beast Vah Medoh,” he continued, stroking his beard. “To think the beast has taken roost at the top of the village! It looks simply… divine.” He laughed to himself before sobering. “If the legends are true, ‘the light from the Divine Beasts will ravage the Calamity.’ For now, Divine Beast Vah Medoh will become protector of this village and live on in legend… alongside you.”

Paya shifted uncomfortably. This was probably the point where she should mention that she had not, in fact, played a part in defeating Vah Medoh.

“Um,” she said. “I didn’t… ‘conquer Divine Beast Vah Medoh.’ Or help with that, really, I- just came back here after going to the Flight Range. Link and Teba were the ones who did all the work.”

“Oh, I am aware you did not face Medoh,” Elder Kaneli said. “I heard you speaking to Saki. We are neighbors, after all!”

…Right. No walls.

“But,” he continued, “I believe you deserve to be immortalized as well! If I heard it right, you wished to fight Medoh with Teba and the Champion Descendant, but believed it would be unsafe… which is quite wise! If Harth had your sense, he would not be so injured now, and yet, when this tale is told to future generations, he will still be remembered- for his bravery, even if it did not lead to success. I see no reason your story should not similarly persist! The wisdom not to start a fight you cannot win is just as important as the courage that led Harth to try.”

Paya blinked, startled by the praise. “...Oh,” she said. “Okay.”

“There was something else,” Elder Kaneli mused. “Hoo hoo hoo… Oh, yes! Of course! I must reward you properly!”

He leaned over, picking up something from the table beside him. It was a large, complex-looking bow, colourful and covered in fine patterns. It had a strip of blue cloth tied around one end, which tipped Paya off to its identity.

That was champion blue- royal blue. There were few people with cloth dyed that colour, and only one Rito who could have owned that bow.

“This is the Great Eagle Bow,” Elder Kaneli said, presenting it to Link. “You will get more use out of it than I. What you did was miraculous. Though I should expect nothing less of one from the bloodline of a Champion.”

Link reached for the bow, hesitated, and then picked it up with exceeding caution. He was looking at it like it was about to either explode into a million pieces or bite him and he wasn’t sure which. Still, he fastened it to his back in place of the Falcon Bow he’d been wearing.

“Why…” Elder Kaneli mused, studying Link, “you are almost the equal of the very Hylian Champion who fought with Master Revali 100 years ago… All you lack is The Sword That Seals The Darkness.”

Paya withheld a wince. Beside her, Link went stone-faced.

“If you had it in your possession,” Elder Kaneli continued, oblivious, “you would be the spitting image…”

Link nodded stiffly, turned around, and left.

…She should probably tell him about what she’d read in Rumour Mill at some point. Would that help, or only rub salt in whatever wound he was nursing?

She couldn’t tell. Best not to risk it.

Paya trailed after him in silence, though he didn’t go far. Only down to the building with the cooking pot, which- given the ingredients scattered throughout the room and the lack of cooking pots elsewhere in the village- was probably a communal kitchen. It was empty at the moment, and out of sight from Elder Kaneli, which was probably what drew Link to it, along with the familiar comfort of cooking.

He sat beside the cooking pot and slumped over. After a moment’s hesitation, she took a seat next to him, and then- very slowly- put a hand on his shoulder.

He didn’t lean into it, but he didn’t throw her off either, so she counted it as a success.

They sat in silence together for a while.

Just when she was starting to wonder if she should say something, a green-feathered Rito woman walked in. She looked rather dishevelled, and startled when she saw them.

“My apologies,” she said. “I didn’t realize anyone else would be here. I must use the cooking pot- do you mind?”

“No,” Link signed. “Go ahead.”

She nodded her thanks and immediately got to work. It quickly became apparent that she wasn’t cooking a meal- the Hearty Lizards could maybe be cooked into food, but the monster parts could only be for an elixir.

“That’s a Hearty Elixir,” Paya noted, and the Rito glanced at her briefly before continuing to stir. “What do you need it for?” Really, she could probably guess. The Rito seemed to be a communal people, caring deeply for their neighbors and friends.

“To heal someone,” the Rito said. “My friend, Teba, has been badly burned. You… wearing that bow… I would assume you’re the Hylian who faced Medoh with him.”

“I am,” Link said, suddenly looking much more alert. “Is he alright?”

The Rito huffed. “As alright as he can be. Saki’s brought him back to their home, where I assume he will be on forced bedrest for the foreseeable future. He should make a full recovery, as long as I get this elixir to him quickly.”

“Good,” Link breathed. “That’s- good.”

“You must have been worried,” the Rito noted. “Seeing him injured and not knowing if he’d made it back to the Flight Range… I can’t imagine.”

Link nodded silently, guilt wracking his features.

“Perhaps this may be strange for you to hear, then,” she said, “but I’m relieved. We all knew he was going to face Medoh again, and after what happened to Harth… I admit… I thought he would not return.”

She sighed, extinguishing the cooking pot and beginning to bottle up the red elixir. “While retreating to the Flight Range was absolutely the correct decision, it was… out of character for Teba, to say the least. He must have deeply trusted you, to be willing to leave Medoh in your hands. To you, who just arrived here, it may seem that his injury is a tragedy, but I would like to thank you for it. If you had not been here, it would have surely been much worse.”

Link hummed in response. He didn’t seem all that comforted.

The Rito glanced at Paya, maybe hoping for an explanation as to what exactly Link was so upset about. She shrugged helplessly in response- she had some ideas about what might be going on, but in terms of this conversation she was just as lost as the Rito was.

The Rito sighed, getting up to leave, but paused in the doorway. “Ah! I forgot to introduce myself. I am Amali. It was a pleasure to meet you, though I wish it was under better circumstances.”

“I’m Paya,” she said, nudging Link.

“I’m Link,” he signed. “It was nice to meet you.”

“I am glad you think so,” Amali said. “Thank you for saving our village, Link.”

With that, she left, Hearty Elixir in hand.

Link stared after her for a little while. His fingers flexed absently, like he was looking for something to do. Maybe some way to help.

Eventually, though, he made a soft noise- a quiet oh! like he’d just realized something- and opened the Slate, flicking through it. He put it down for a second to relight the fire under the cooking pot, and then began pulling ingredients from it. Tabantha Wheat, Cane Sugar, Goat Butter…

“What’re you making?” She asked, leaning forward in interest. Link glanced over at her, and she was startled to see him smiling, looking genuinely happy for the first time since he’d gotten back from Vah Medoh.

“Don’t you remember?” He said, pulling a final ingredient, a Fortified Pumpkin, from the Slate. “It’s your favourite.”

Chapter Text

Paya had expected the pumpkin pie to be good. Link was making it, after all. And she’d expected to like it; it had been many years since she’d had any, but it was her favourite. So, when Link handed her a slice, she’d bitten into it expecting it to be absolutely delicious. And it was.

What she had not expected was to immediately burst into tears.

Honestly, she wasn’t even sure why. Link seemed rather panicked- his hands hovered around her like he didn’t know what to do with them, and his face was twisted in obvious distress. She wanted to say something to comfort him, but was too busy sobbing, leaning forward so none of her tears fell on the plate of pie still held gingerly in her lap.

Link’s hands settled on her shoulders, warm and grounding. She sniffled, reaching up to wipe her eyes, though it did nothing to slow the tears. The heavy tangle of emotion that had just made itself known didn’t seem to be going anywhere, but the bite of its initial appearance was fading.

What was that emotion, anyway? What was it about a bite of pumpkin pie that had hit her like this?

Experimentally, she took another bite. Link made a noise of vague protest, as though it would make her more upset. Silly.

The pie was just as delicious on the second bite. Sweet, yet spiced, creamy and smooth, with a crisp buttery crust. Warm. Familiar.

Oh, she realized. That was it. That crushing emotion she was feeling was homesickness.

…It had been a long time since she’d felt it quite so strongly.

She waved Link off, wiping her face again. It was easier to bear when she understood it.

And it would be such a waste to cry until the pie grew cold. Better to eat it now.

Link sat down again, though he still looked rather worried. She squinted judgmentally at him.

“Aren’t you going to eat any?” She sniffled, taking another bite. “It’s good.”

He blinked. “You… like it?”

“Yes,” she huffed. “It’s my favourite.”

And it was. She hadn’t had any since she was a child, but little Paya had apparently had good taste; pumpkin pie was absolutely retaking its place as her favourite food now that she remembered how it tasted.

She bit into it again, noting that her slice was almost gone. Hesitantly, Link handed her a new one, and then took a slice for himself.

He took a bite. “It is good,” he said quietly, glancing at her. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” she said. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

He raised an eyebrow.

“I am fine,” she sighed. “I just… haven’t had it in a while. It made me, um. Nostalgic.”

“Oh,” he said. “...Okay. I’ve been wondering…”

He trailed off, wincing, before speaking again.

“I don’t want to pry,” he started. “But I was under the impression that pumpkins were only grown and sold in Kakariko Village. Do the Yiga grow them too, or…?”

Paya stopped, her mind briefly freezing.

…Oh. Oops.

“Fuck,” she groaned, pressing a hand to her forehead, “I haven’t told you anything, have I?”

“Uh, I know Impa is your grandmother,” Link offered. “Other than that… not really?”

“By the Gods. And you just put up with that? You didn’t- question or-”

Link shrugged. “I know as much about you as I do about me.”

“That’s… not a good reference for how much you should know about someone,” she sighed. “Okay. I grew up in Kakariko.”

That seemed to pique his interest. He sat up straight, eyes trained on her, and she felt the weight of his attention.

“My parents were Yiga, too,” she said. “But they were… in a unique position. Being the daughter and son-in-law of the chief, they were the ideal candidates to spy on Kakariko, on my grandmother, all of that. So they were never removed from the village, even after they joined the Clan. They never had to dye their hair or anything like that, either.”

She looked down, taking a deep breath. She’d never explained this to anyone before- they all just… knew.

“Eventually, they were… found out. The Yiga came to save them but- well. They saved me. My parents didn’t make it. The Sheikah killed them both.”

She glanced back up. Link’s expression was frozen in what looked like horror; his eyes wide and his face pale.

…Which was the appropriate reaction, really, but she didn’t like seeing it on his face. She looked down again.

“I wasn’t safe in Kakariko anymore, obviously,” she continued, lowering her voice. “So I was taken back to our… our Hideout. I was still pretty young, so I was… raised, mostly, by a friend of my parents. I haven’t been back to Kakariko since.”

“Oh,” Link said faintly. “I see.”

She wondered which part of the story had him sounding so queasy. It was fairly unpleasant overall… maybe the implication the Chief Impa had ordered her own family killed? The Yiga had never figured out precisely who decided to have her parents murdered, but the Chief of the village seemed like a likely option. Link had spoken to her before… Maybe that was it? The idea he could have spoken to a murderer and had no idea?

He didn’t seem to have trouble speaking to Paya, though, so maybe not.

“So,” Link said hesitantly, “were the Yiga… good to you?”

She blinked. “Huh?”

“I mean… after your parents died. They raised you, so… how was that, I guess?”

“It was good,” she said, a little confused. “They’re my family. They taught me everything I know.”

“Okay,” he said slowly, “but you kill people.”

“...Yes?”

He groaned. “When did you start doing that? It doesn’t seem like a very- child friendly activity.”

Oh. “I was sent out on missions within the year,” she answered, “but it was mostly information gathering, stealing things, stuff like that. I had to practice before getting assassination jobs. I had my first one… a little under two years after I joined the Yiga, I think?”

“Okay,” Link said, sounding both stressed and exasperated. “So you were still a kid?”

“I was a kid, and I was part of my Clan,” she snapped, annoyed. “I wanted to do it. And you’re not the best person to judge- how old were you when you became a knight again?”

“...I don’t know,” he said, wilting.

“Ah,” she said. “...Right. It was meant as a rhetorical question, mostly… you were twelve.”

“I… oh.” He stared out the window. “I guess that explains some things. But that’s too young to join the guard, isn’t it?”

“It was,” she said. “They made an exception for you. Like how there was an exception for me.”

“There was?”

“Yiga don’t usually join the Clan until they’re adults, even if both of their parents are Yiga,” she explained. “The Clan isn’t really a place for children. Most children. But I was a special case, since I didn’t have parents to raise me outside the Clan. The Yiga who took me in, he doesn’t have any other family; he lives in the Hideout. So I lived there too. And I wanted to help, to follow in my parents’ footsteps. I was allowed to participate in training, and when I showed promise, the… Leader of the Clan decided to make that expectation for me. I was very grateful, for that. I am grateful.”

“...Okay,” Link said, shifting uncomfortably. “You are… here, though. Talking to me. Non-lethally.”

“I can be part of the Yiga Clan and do something they disapprove of,” she said. “People do that all the time. I’m just being… a bit more outside the box than most.”

“And… what?” Link said, seeming puzzled. “Are they just going to be… okay with that?”

“No,” she answered, pulling out her bag of talismans and dropping it in her lap. “They sent a messenger while you were on Vah Medoh, actually. Gave me this and an ultimatum.”

“Oh,” he said, expression carefully blank. “What was it?”

“The exact phrasing was come back to the Hideout or else,” she said. “Obviously, since I’m still here, I picked or else. So… we’ll see what comes of that,” she continued, looking down.

Link frowned. “They wouldn’t kill you, right?”

“Not if they can avoid it,” she said. “But if they have to, to get to you? They will. Or they’ll try, at least. I’ll do my best not to let them.”

“That doesn’t seem like something your family should be willing to do,” Link hedged.

Paya shrugged. “The mission comes first. I understand that.” She paused. “Or- I thought I did. I’ve been re-evaluating the importance of the mission recently, especially the part about killing you.”

“I appreciate that,” he said. “But… what will you do? I mean, if they’re willing to kill you to get to me. If you don’t want me dead, but you want to be on good terms with them… how are you going to do that?”

“I’ll need to convince the Leader of the Clan,” she said. “If I can get him to agree with me, everyone else will fall in line. I’m… not exactly sure how to do that yet, but I’ll figure it out.”

“...Good luck with that,” Link said. “Let me know if I can help.”

She laughed. “You are helping,” she told him. “Sort of. By… being my friend. Even though I’m a Yiga and you’re the Hero. If we can get along, work together… I’ll need more than that, but it’s a good starting point for an argument.”

“Oh,” he said. “Let me know if I can help more, then.”

Paya smiled. “I will.”

He nodded, and they lapsed into silence again. Link continued taking small bites of the pie, but judging from his distant gaze, there was still something on his mind. Maybe several somethings. She’d given him a lot to think about, and there was still whatever had happened on Vah Medoh earlier…

“I haven’t been back to Kakariko,” he said abruptly. “Since before we met, I mean.”

“...Okay?” she said, slowly. And?

“I told Impa that I’d be back as soon as I’d visited the locations of one of these pictures,” he said, and turned the Slate to face her. It was open to the twelve images taken by the Princess, three of them in locations they’d already been to.

“The first one I visited was Sanidin Park, with you,” he continued, “and I didn’t want to leave you alone back then. But recently- while you were waiting here, I visited Purah, and got a few upgrades to my Runes. She said Impa was worried that I hadn’t come back yet, and she got kind of mad at me when she learned I’d been to some of the pictures and still hadn’t gone back.”

“Why haven’t you?”

“Because I don’t know how to lie,” Link said, visibly frustrated. “I assume you don’t want Impa knowing about-” he gestured to her “-this, but I have no idea how to keep it from her, especially since you’ve been such a big part of- of everything. I don’t exactly have a lot of experience, and I don’t think she’d be easy to mislead even if I did. I do want to go see her but I don’t…”

He sighed. “I don’t want to tell her anything about you, if you don’t want me to. But the longer I wait the more she’ll want to know what kept me, and I don’t know what to do.”

“Oh,” she said. “Well, you’re right that I don’t want you to tell her about me…”

She hummed, thinking.

A long time ago, she had known Chief Impa well, or at least she’d thought she had. Her grandmother had told her stories, snuck her sweet treats whenever her parents weren’t looking, and had always been willing to listen to whatever Paya wanted to babble about.

At least, that was how she remembered it. In hindsight, her view of Chief Impa had been simplistic, seen through the eyes of a child… and she had been wrong. Paya had once believed that her grandmother loved her and her parents more than anything else in the world. But Impa had clearly valued other things more, or her parents would still be alive.

Could her recollection of the Chief of Kakariko be trusted at all? Had it all been a facade?

No, not all of it. Before she’d known Paya’s parents were Yiga, all her interactions with them and with Paya herself were surely genuine. Her love had been conditional, but not false. The way she’d acted, the things she’d said, the crinkles around her eyes when she’d smiled- those had been real.

So…

“I don’t think she’ll pry,” Paya said. “If you just tell her you don’t want to talk about it. Say it’s personal, that it’s not something she has to worry about, something like that. She won’t push you unless she thinks you’re in immediate danger, I think.”

“Oh,” Link said. “That’s… I mean… that’s good. Thanks for telling me. I sort of… assumed whatever you had to say about her would be less nice, given…”

“I have plenty of less nice things to say about her,” Paya responded, “but everything I have to say is true. I’m not going to lie to make her look worse; I do think she’ll be understanding. To you.”

“Lucky me,” he murmured.

She wondered when he was going to go. Soon, probably. With teleportation, it wouldn’t take him very long. Maybe he’d even go tonight.

The thought tugged at her. Hadn’t there been something she’d been meaning to tell him- oh!

“That reminds me,” she said. “Do you read Rumour Mill?”

Link frowned, probably taken aback by the sudden change in topic. “The… gossip books…? If I stumble across them, I guess? Why?”

“Because there’s a rumour in one that I think you’d like to hear about,” she answered. “In Rito Stable. It’s not much, but… well. Apparently Traysi heard that The Sword That Seals The Darkness is hidden ‘in a forest somewhere.’ I know it’s not much to go on, but… better than nothing?”

“Yeah,” Link breathed, eyes wide. “Much better than nothing.”

“You could ask Chief Impa about it,” she said. “She might know where it is. Or at least know more than I do.”

“That’s… probably right,” Link said. “She seems to know a lot. But-”

He hesitated.

“I know it’s stupid,” he said, after a moment. “But… I want to remember where it is. I must have known at some point, and… I mean, it’s just, it’s supposed to be my sword, isn’t it? Forever bound to my soul? I want to be able to find it without being told by someone else.”

“I don’t think that’s stupid,” she said. “It makes sense to me.”

“Thanks, Paya,” he said, giving her a soft smile. “But really… I should be getting it back as soon as possible, shouldn’t I?”

“I don’t know,” she said carefully. “The legends say you’ll need it to defeat Calamity Ganon, but that’s not a soon problem, right?”

“Maybe not Calamity Ganon,” he said grimly. Rather than verbally clarifying that, he activated the Slate and turned it around to show it to her.

It took her a moment to figure out what he was showing her. It was a picture, that much was clear, and the subject was a creature of Malice and Ancient Technology much like the one they’d fought on Vah Ruta. So it must be what he’d faced on Vah Medoh- the brilliance of the sky behind the monster confirmed that.

The confusing part was the text displayed next to it. Having been sitting in the dimness of early evening, it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the brightness of the Slate. But when she read it…

Windblight Ganon.

…Huh. That… made some sense. The description beneath the title called it a “phantom” of Ganon. Whatever that meant.

Had the creature in Vah Ruta been a phantom of Ganon, too? A Blight? Was that how he’d taken control of the Divine Beasts? Directly?

When she had fought against that creature in Vah Ruta with Link, had she been face-to-face with a piece of Lord Ganon, helped defeat it, and not known?

Link pulled back the Slate, probably assuming that she’d finished reading. Which she had, but she had not quite been finished thinking about it.

“If there are going to be more of these Blights on the other two Divine Beasts, The Sword That Seals The Darkness might help me against them,” he said.

Paya nodded silently. That seemed likely. Even if he was killing the Blights and not sealing them, the weapon was very much effective against darkness- hence the name.

Was he even killing them? The one on Vah Ruta had exploded into light. That seemed like something it wouldn’t survive. If they were phantoms of Ganon, did it affect him? Was Link working to seal the Calamity even now, destroying pieces of it as he ran into them? Or were they mere creations of Lord Ganon, like monsters, and their deaths mattered just as little to him as any Bokoblin’s would?

Could he see through them? On Vah Ruta, could he have seen her?

…Would he care if he had? There had been nothing to identify her as one of his followers at that moment, save for her hair, but she wasn’t sure he’d recognize its significance. Would he have seen her as a traitor to him or as just another enemy?

If he had seen her. Which there was no evidence for. More likely, the Blights were just special creations of his, a step above the usual monster but not avatars of Lord Ganon himself. If he was directly connected to them, surely they would be cleverer.

“Hey,” Link said. “Are you okay? You look, uh… worried.”

“I’m fine,” she said reflexively. “Just… thinking.”

“Okay,” he said. “Thinking about bad things?”

“...Maybe.”

“About… Ganon?” He hedged, clearly unsure.

She sighed, nodding. “He’s… the Clan calls him Lord Ganon. We work to kill the Hero and the Princess primarily because they’re the biggest threats to him. If that creature we fought on Vah Ruta was another Blight, I don’t know- if that meant it was connected to him somehow, I don’t know how I… feel about killing it, I suppose.”

“Oh,” Link said. “Well, it… it definitely was another Blight. Waterblight Ganon. I took a picture during the fight, and I saw the name, but uh…”

But I didn’t want to tell you then.

Paya squinted. “Wait. When did you take a picture during all that?”

“When I was using Cryonis to break the blocks,” he said, sheepish. “It was easy to swap between the Runes for a moment. I didn’t even think about it; it’s just a habit to take a picture of anything I haven’t seen before.”

“I… see,” she said. Faintly, she recalled an unexplained instance of him having a picture of a red Lynel. This was probably the explanation for that.

When he said anything, did he just mean monsters and other creatures, or were there really pictures of anything and everything he hadn’t recognized on the Slate? Were there pictures of Yiga? Did they have little descriptions, too? If they did, what did they say?

Probably plain, factual descriptions, if the one about Windblight Ganon was anything to go on. Unlike that entry, she doubted there was anything the Slate could say about the Yiga that she hadn’t heard before.

Other descriptions could be interesting, though. She might like to see what it had to say about a Blupee, or a Guardian. Would whatever method the Slate used to identify and describe things recognize their corruption, or was it working off an old database that would know them as protectors?

If Link took a picture of himself, would there be an entry for him? If she-

“You know,” she said, “I think I have enough to think about for the night. We can talk more tomorrow.”

“Oh,” Link said. “I guess this has been… a lot. Are you going to rent a bed at the inn?”

“That’s what I was thinking,” she responded. “Are you?”

Link hesitated. “Maybe,” he said, activating the Slate. “But… I shouldn’t keep Impa waiting.”

“More than you already have, you mean,” she said, letting out a small laugh.

“Yeah,” Link said. “I hope you’re right, and that she won’t pry. For… both our sakes, I guess.”

“Good luck,” she said, quietly. She wondered what Dorian would think when Link returned. Did he know the real reason it had taken so long? He didn’t meet up with the Yiga often; he might not even know that there was anything out of the ordinary.

…Was that something she should tell Link? The spy wasn’t an active danger to him, only a gatherer of information, and the only important things he had had to tell them had already been told. He was harmless to Link now. Probably.

“See you tomorrow,” Link said, tapping the Slate and vanishing before she could make up her mind.

…She probably shouldn’t tell him. She’d broken far too many of the Clan’s rules recently, but selling out a fellow Yiga was a step too far. Even if Dorian’s status as a Yiga was debatable.

She sighed, standing up, and began making her way to the Swallow’s Roost Inn. Dorian had been a part of the Clan long before she was even born, but he’d attempted to cut ties with them some time after her parents’ deaths. They’d killed his wife and threatened his daughters to… change his mind.

She’d never been sure how to feel about that. His being part of the Clan was certainly advantageous, especially without her parents to serve as informants in Kakariko, but his daughters…

They were Sheikah, so they were enemies. But Paya had thought she was Sheikah at their age, too.

It just felt a little hypocritical, she supposed. The Clan had been furious at the death of her parents and the attempt on her own life, but they were fine with killing Dorian’s wife and potentially his young daughters too. It wasn’t the same situation, since Dorian had tried to betray them, but…

She shook her head as she stepped into the inn. These weren’t the kind of thoughts she wanted to dwell on before bed. Not if she didn’t want nightmares.

Paya wondered if Link was talking to Impa yet. She wondered if he was going to stay the night there or come back to Rito Village. She wondered if the guest room in Impa’s house, the room that had once belonged to her mother, was still there. She wondered if Impa would offer it to Link for the night, if he wanted it.

She wondered if her grandmother ever missed her.

Chapter Text

When she woke up, Link was already there, asleep in the bed to her left. She recalled her thoughts from last night and was briefly exasperated with herself- of course he wouldn’t have slept over in her mother’s old room. Chief Impa had surely gotten rid of it by now.

It was stupid to have ever considered it, but then, she had often had similar thoughts when she was tired. Exhaustion weakened her self control. And her integrity.

The Warm Doublet and Snowquill Headdress she’d left on her bedside table were gone- Link must have put them away before going to sleep. It was a little odd that she’d woken before him, since he was usually an early riser.

Paya rolled out of bed and walked over to the counter, where the innkeeper, Cecili, stood.

“Good morning,” Cecili greeted. “I hope you slept well.”

“Morning,” she responded, resisting a yawn. She had slept well. “When did my friend get back? He doesn’t usually sleep in.”

“Oh, quite late,” she said. “I’m unsure of the exact time, but I would have sooner called it early morning than late night. He asked for the Rito-down bed, though, so he should still be well-rested!”

“Alright,” Paya said. “Thanks.”

“I should be thanking you, traveller, as you’re the one paying,” Cecili pointed out. “But you’re welcome, I suppose.”

Paya glanced over at Link, still resting peacefully. Even if he had the best bed in the inn, it was probably best to let him sleep a little more.

She slipped out of the inn and wandered up the village. Rito were early risers, and there were more of them up and about than she’d expected, but no one bothered her on her way to her destination- Saki and Teba’s home.

She stopped in the entrance. Teba himself was lying in a hammock, out cold. Curled up beside him was a tiny Rito with the same white and gray plumage- that must be Tulin. Sitting nearby was Saki, gaze trained on her sleeping family. She was wrapped loosely in a blanket, but didn’t look like she had slept.

Paya knocked on the doorframe.

“Oh!” Saki said, startling. “It’s you,” she remarked, lowering her voice. “I had not expected to see you up so early.”

Paya shrugged. “Link is still sleeping,” she offered. “I think we’re going to be leaving the village when he wakes up. I just wanted to… see how he’s doing.”

She motioned to Teba. Saki nodded understandingly, letting out a small sigh.

“His recovery will not be as quick as he might like it to be,” she said, “but I believe he will be fine. Amali thinks he may have a limp, but… we’ll have to wait and see, for that. Overall it is not nearly as bad as it could have been.”

“Okay,” she said. “That’s good. Link’s been worried.”

“Poor thing,” Saki remarked. “Don’t let him blame himself. Teba despises it when people blame themselves for his actions. If Link isn’t going to come here and see him, please pass that message along for me, won’t you?”

“I’ll tell him,” she promised, hesitating in the doorway. She’d done what she’d come to do, but… “Tell your husband I wish him well,” she said. “And I’m sure Link does, too.”

“Thank you,” Saki said softly. “I’ll tell him.”

Paya nodded, retreating outside and turning back towards the inn. The early morning air was crisp and cold; refreshing, but she shivered a bit as she made her way to Swallow’s Roost. It almost made her want to crawl back into bed and sleep some more.

She contemplated doing just that, but it seemed it was not meant to be. Link had evidently woken while she was gone, and she didn’t even have to go all the way back to the inn to find out- he’d beelined straight to the communal kitchen, and was already making breakfast.

Paya stepped inside, but Link seemed too preoccupied with cooking to notice her. She briefly wondered if he just hadn’t bothered to greet her, but he started when she sat down across from him, so he must have really just been that distracted.

“Hi,” he said, voice just slightly higher than usual. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

“I have been told I move quietly,” she said, smiling slightly. “But I think you were just too focused on the food. What are you making, anyway?”

“It’s poultry pilaf,” Link answered, enthusiasm bleeding into his voice. “I think I learned how to make it here, actually. A long time ago.”

“Oh,” she said. “Did you have a memory, or…?”

“Most of my memories aren’t as… they’re not like the obvious ones,” he sighed. “The big ones, the ones that make me stop, those are… they’re a lot. I’ll get whole scenes, and usually a lot of little fragments of related memories too. But those are unusual. Most of the time I just get snatches, maybe a fraction of a moment. Or a feeling with no actual memory attached.”

Hm. That made some sense. She wondered how often he actually remembered something. Every day? Less? More? How long would it be until he had most of his life back?

“Which was this one?”

“This one was just a feeling,” he answered, pausing to taste the pilaf. “I know I learned this recipe somewhere around here, but… nothing more than that.” Apparently finding the dish to his liking, he extinguished the fire and fetched two plates.

“Thanks,” she said, accepting one. “How was Kakariko?”

Link hummed. “It was… fine? You were right about Impa. I told her it was personal and she stopped pushing.”

Faint warmth flickered in Paya’s chest. Part of it was pride in knowing she’d correctly predicted someone’s actions, but more than that, it was… nice, to know her grandmother was, in some ways, the same as she had remembered her.

“Oh!” Link said, grabbing the Slate. “And she gave me this.”

A pile of champion-blue fabric materialised in his hand. He held it up, revealing it to be a tunic, embroidered with a stylized depiction of The Sword That Seals The Darkness.

His Champion’s Tunic. It was in surprisingly good shape for its age.

Link put it back in the Slate, picking up his portion of the pilaf in its place. “She gave me the undershirt, too,” he offered. “And the gloves. And my old earrings!”

He retrieved a pair of small, simple blue hoops from the Slate, holding them up to show her before returning them to storage.

“I didn’t know you wore earrings,” she said, and then- “Wait, are your ears even pierced?”

“Not anymore,” he said, grimacing slightly. “I’ll have to get them done again. Impa said the staff at Enchanted could do it.”

“But they were asleep when you got there,” she guessed, “so you’ll have to go back some other time.”

“Exactly,” Link said. “I’d have to go back either way, I think. Impa was… really worried about me. I don’t want to leave her wondering for so long again.”

Oh.

Well. That made sense. Of course Impa would be worried. Link was the Hero, their only way to defeat the Calamity. And he was her friend, too, an old one at that; someone she had known a century ago.

Was it strange for him, to be friends with Chief Impa of Kakariko and her granddaughter, Paya of the Yiga, at the same time? It must be. Did he ever wonder if he’d have to choose? Did he know which side he’d fall on, if it ever came to that?

She wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

“Okay,” she said, realizing she’d fallen silent. “Could you let me know whenever you go to see her?”

“Of course,” he said. “Why wouldn’t I?”

Paya shrugged. There were plenty of potential reasons, but if he hadn’t thought of any of them then she wouldn’t point them out. She dug into her poultry pilaf instead, effectively ending the conversation.

She hadn’t noticed earlier, but it was slightly spicy, and warmth spread throughout her body as she ate it. The effect was more than welcome, and she sighed contentedly as she polished off the last of her serving.

“I was thinking,” Link said, as they left the kitchen, “We could go up around Tanagar Canyon, on our way out? Through Hebra?”

“I guess we could,” she replied, as they walked through Rito Village, “But why? It’s harder in basically every way.”

“It’ll let us avoid the Guardians,” he answered, “The ones on the way to Tabantha Bridge Stable, and the ones in Central Hyrule, by going through Woodland instead.”

“I would like to avoid the Guardians,” she allowed. “So you want to free Vah Rudania next?”

Link shifted. “Yes,” he said, “but I was thinking… I told Purah I’d visit Robbie, and apparently he lives in Akkala, so I was thinking maybe we’d go there first and turn around for Rudania.”

Paya considered that. She’d heard of Robbie when she lived in Kakariko, but as he didn’t live there and she’d never left the village before her parents died, she didn’t think she had ever met him. That family resemblance to Impa could still tip him off, though…

But then- Link wanted to see Robbie. He hadn’t said anything about her seeing Robbie.

“Alright,” she said. “Sounds like a plan.”

Link smiled at her. “Thanks.”

She smiled back, hoping the blush growing on her cheeks wasn’t as obvious as it felt. Honestly, what was wrong with her? What was it about Link that made her feel like- like this?

She could probably figure it out if she thought about it. She’d been trained to read people. To understand feelings in order to manipulate them. It couldn’t be that hard to figure out, if she just put a little effort into it.

Paya decided to think about something else.

“Hey,” she said, “Did you… get anything, on Vah Medoh?”

“Sure,” Link said. “A sapphire. Some Guardian parts. A claymore.”

“Okay,” she said, “Anything like… what Champion Mipha gave you?”

He’d said that Champion Revali was at least there, and the stories say he had a signature ability like all the rest of the Champions, so it stands to reason that he might’ve given his power to Link as well. But then, it also seems that, whatever happened, Link was not on as good terms with Champion Revali as he was with Champion Mipha.

Link frowned, pressing a hand to his chest.

“Something like that,” he said, voice thin.

Alright then.

Some power over wind, most likely. Champion Revali had supposedly been able to bend it to his will, boosting his flight, guiding his arrows, and allowing him to blow over enemies with the flick of a wing.

She wasn’t sure that Link would’ve gotten all of that, though, even if Champion Revali had given him his power. Champion Mipha had been famously able to heal anyone, sealing even the worst of wounds, but Link didn’t seem to have gained that power. Nor even the power to heal himself at will.

The only healing power Mipha’s Grace seemed to have given him was, well, the one thing she’d thought Champion Mipha couldn’t fix: death.

Maybe now that she was a spirit, Champion Mipha’s abilities worked on the dead. Perhaps even exclusively.

What would that mean for Champion Revali, though?

“I haven’t tried it out yet,” Link said, still quiet. “I mean, I accidentally launched myself into the air on Medoh, but I haven’t used it on purpose.”

“Okay,” she said, unsure.

Link paused, eyes distant. “I’m not sure I deserve it.”

Oh.

“...Okay,” she said again, softer this time. “Why not?”

“He died,” Link said, voice flat. “That’s why I have it. Because he’s dead. I was supposed to protect him. Protect everyone. I was supposed to seal the darkness, and instead it took over his Divine Beast and killed him.”

Hmm.

“That’s not… your fault, though,” she said, doing her best to control her tone. “The Calamity was the one that did that to him. And as one of the Champions, your goal wasn’t to protect him. If anything, he was supposed to protect you.”

“He’d hate to hear that,” Link muttered. He did not look comforted.

She hesitated. “Did he… say something?”

“Huh?”

“To… make you think you didn’t deserve his power,” she clarified. “You didn’t say anything like this after Champion Mipha gave you hers, so what changed your mind?”

“He didn’t say anything about me not deserving it,” Link told her, looking away. “He said- he said we were friends.”

Paya waited, expectant.

“I don’t remember being friends,” Link bit out, as if it pained him to say. “I remember one interaction with him, and we didn’t like each other.” His face was drawn, expression thinly balanced between forced calm and misery.

“That doesn’t mean you weren’t friends, though,” she said, cautious.

“I know we were friends,” he stressed, “But I don’t- Revali wanted to give his power to his friend, but I’m not his friend, even if I used to be.”

“He is your friend, though,” she said. “Even if you don’t consider yourself his friend anymore, he still thinks of you one. And he wanted to give you something. It’s not even- if you’d never met each other before, he’d probably still have given it to you, because it would’ve helped accomplish your shared goal. I don’t think… whether or not you deserve it isn’t really a factor.”

Link remained silent.

“And you do deserve it,” she added, quieter. She lowered her head, meeting his gaze as she spoke. “You freed Vah Medoh, saving Rito Village and Champion Revali’s spirit. That’s more than enough.”

“It doesn’t feel like enough,” Link confessed.

“It was enough for Champion Revali,” she said simply. “And I think, seeing as it's his power we’re talking about, he’s the one whose opinion matters here. It was a gift. It would be rude to refuse it, no matter what you think, of the gift or of the gift-giver.”

Link looked at her a little oddly. “Do you get many gifts?”

“Not many,” she said. “But some. Their rarity makes them worth more; I treasure them all.”

She looked at him pointedly.

He seemed almost offended. “Of course I treasure it,” he said, pressing a hand to his chest. “I’m just... not sure it was meant for me.”

“Of course it was meant for you,” she said. “Otherwise he wouldn’t have given it to you.”

“No- I know,” he said, beginning to look frustrated. “I just mean- maybe I’m not... the person he thought I was. The person I was a hundred years ago. I’m not- I don’t- I barely remember anything.”

She turned that over in her mind. To have changed completely, to no longer be the person he once was...

“I feel like that sometimes,” she said. “It’s hard to reconcile- that the little girl who grew up in Kakariko was me. I think of her like a different person, sometimes. Because... she sort of is. I’ve changed. I’d be unrecognizable to her, or to anyone who knew her. But she was still me. I’m not her anymore but I wouldn't be me if I hadn’t been her. And everything meant for her- the legacy, the expectations- they’re still meant for me. I’m not like I was and I won’t be ever again. But I’m still me. You can’t really stop being yourself, no matter how much you change.”

“...Oh,” Link said, staring at her.

She flushed, looking away. “The point- the point is. Maybe you’re not the person Champion Revali knew anymore. But you were once, and that’s the part that matters.”

“I didn’t know you…” Link trailed off, looking away, before turning back to her. “You’re right. Revali chose to give me this, and… I told him about the amnesia. He knows I’m not who I was, and he gave me his power anyway. I’ve just been… thinking about it a lot, I guess.”

Paya nodded. It certainly seemed like a complex situation, and she couldn’t blame him for overthinking it.

“And, uh,” Link said, not quite meeting her eyes, “I appreciate you… sharing that. About feeling like you’re not who you used to be. It’s… I mean…”

He hesitated, gaze straying again. “I just… didn’t realize you felt like that, too,” he said at last. “Even though we’ve been travelling together for so long. I know we haven’t been… the most open with each other, in the past, but… we’re trying again, aren’t we?”

“Yes,” she said, softly.

He nodded shallowly. “Right. I want to- do it right this time. I’d like for our second try to be better than our first.”

There was a hint of a question in his voice. “I would like that, too,” she assured him. “I mean, I’m- I’m trying. Too.”

“I can tell,” he said, and something about the way he said it made her blush. “Thank you, Paya.”

Chapter Text

Shortly after retrieving the horses, Link lent her his Snowquill Headdress again. They weren’t in Hebra quite yet, but the chill in the air was steadily worsening.

Link didn’t seem too bothered by the cold- with the rest of the Snowquill set on, he looked almost cozy, but he kept sending her worried looks. He’d probably offer her an elixir soon, not that she’d need it. The warming magic from the spicy peppers he’d used in breakfast hadn’t quite worn off yet.

There might have been something else on his mind, too, if the constant glances her way were anything to go by. If she had to guess, she’d say he wanted to talk, but wasn’t sure where to start.

Which was understandable. Paya wasn’t sure where to start, either. It was all well and good to say that they wanted to be more open with each other, but how do you begin with something like that?

“Have you been here before?” Link asked suddenly.

Well. That was as good a place to start as any.

“Not to Hebra, no,” she said. “I was sent to Serenne Stable once, on the other side of the canyon, but that’s in Woodland.”

“Oh,” he said. “...I doubt I want to know why you were there.”

“I’m sure you can guess,” she answered flatly. “What about you? Do you remember ever being here before?”

“I’ve definitely been in Hebra before,” he said, “but I don’t remember, no.”

“Just a feeling?” She guessed, and he nodded.

“I’ve been to the Gerudo Highlands,” she said. “They’re similar to Hebra, I think. Snowy. Cold. Not a lot of people there.”

Link glanced at her. “If there’s not a lot of people there, why were you…?”

Because the Hideout is there.

“Because I wasn’t there for a person,” she said. “Not everything in my life was about assassinations.”

“Right,” he said. “Different crime, then?”

“No,” she huffed. “...Not what sent me to the Highlands, that is. Though most of the non-assasination things in my life were different crimes.”

Link paused, indecision clear on his face- probably wondering if he wanted to ask.

“It was mostly theft,” she said, “and stalking, sometimes.”

“Ah,” he said, frowning. “Wait, are we being stalked?”

Paya threw a look over her shoulder, saw nothing out of the ordinary, and shrugged.

“Probably not,” she said, “but it’s possible. I’d assume they’re mostly finding you just by spreading out and having people in a lot of places, so once you run into one of them they can tell everyone where they saw you. But we were definitely being stalked before you fought Vah Medoh, and I didn’t notice, so…”

“Great,” Link said, with an edge of unease. “How do I stop them from following me?”

“You’re doing a pretty good job right now,” she answered. “They probably assumed you’d take the road back down through Tabantha, so I doubt anyone’s prepared for going into Hebra. They’d have to turn back soon, if they hadn’t already… but I don’t think we were being followed.”

He tilted his head. “Why?”

“Well,” she said, “They know, at least loosely, where you’re going to go. You typically follow the roads, too, and travel on a white horse wearing royal regalia. No point wasting resources following you when they could just wait somewhere to ambush you instead.”

Link did not look comforted.

Which was understandable. Having a clan of assassins after you was rather discomforting.

...They were after her now, too. It was difficult to grasp- that her family was now hunting her.

She shuddered. Yes, Link was right to be uncomfortable.

“I guess we’ll deal with that whenever it comes up,” he said, sounding slightly unsure.

She nodded. “That’s probably the best way to handle it.”

“Let’s talk about something else,” Link muttered, casting wary looks around the area.

“Alright,” Paya said, thinking for a moment. “What’s your favourite food?”

He paused.

“I had a different favourite food, before,” he said, “But I don’t remember what it was.”

She shrugged. “That’s okay. What is it now?”

“Apple pie, I think,” he said. “I don’t make it a lot, but I really like it. Yours is pumpkin pie, formerly fried bananas, right?”

“Yes,” she said, smiling slightly. “I’ve always loved pumpkins. But they’re only grown in Kakariko, so… the Yiga don’t usually have any.”

“Right,” Link said. “I heard something about them being Kakariko’s speciality?”

“They are,” she told him, “and carrots, to a lesser extent. They’re equally important to the Sheikah, but you can’t get pumpkins anywhere else, so to Hylians, the pumpkins are more noteworthy.”

“Wait,” he said, sounding puzzled. “Important to the Sheikah in what way?”

“...Religiously, I suppose,” she said. “Why?”

He scowled, looking frustrated in the particular way she was starting to associate with him struggling to remember something. “I knew- I know something about that. Something about- carrots? And… me?”

“Oh,” Paya said. “Yeah- there’s three sacred crops associated with the three parts of the old legends. Carrots are associated with the Hero, so… it makes sense that someone would’ve mentioned it to you.”

“Huh,” Link said. “That does sound familiar… But why am I a carrot?”

She laughed. “Well- the two types of carrots, Swift and Endura, they… they make you faster and give you energy, right? That’s… hold on.”

How did Grandmother tell it?

“Bananas represent the Calamity,” she started, “because of their strength. Calamity Ganon holds the most raw power of any being, with attacks that would decimate anyone save the two meant to oppose it.”

Link made a soft noise of realization.

“Pumpkins represent the Princess,” she continued, “because of their steadfast defense. Her light is the only thing that can heal and resist the darkness, as well as purify it. And carrots represent the Hero, because only he is swift and sure enough to traverse Hyrule and save the land, no matter what it takes.”

Was that quite right? There had been more to it, she thought. The memory escaped her.

“That’s why the Yiga love bananas so much,” Link said, sounding certain. “And- Kakariko doesn’t grow them anymore, because… because they’re associated with the Yiga now. Right?”

“Yes,” she said. “They’re still sacred to the Sheikah, but they’re not grown there anymore. Did you figure that out or remember it?”

“A bit of both,” he answered. “I think… I heard it from Impa, actually.”

“That’s funny,” she said, humourlessly. “I heard it from her, too.”

“Ah,” he said, shifting awkwardly in the saddle. “That… makes sense. Do the Yiga tell it differently?”

“They tell less of it,” she said. “Really only the part about the bananas. That part is told the same, though.”

He nodded. Looked at her, opened his mouth, closed it again. Looked away. Looked back. Bit his lip. Looked away from her again.

“Do-” he started, hesitating. His gaze flickered briefly to her face before skittering away again. “Do you ever… miss it?”

“Clarify,” she said.

“...Kakariko,” he half-mumbled, now staring at the ground. “Being a Sheikah. Living there. With your family. All that.”

Paya had been asked that question before. She had asked herself that question before, many times. And the right answer was no: she was happy with the Yiga, they were her family.

The true answer…

“Sometimes,” she said. “It was… easier, when I was a kid. No responsibilities. I didn’t have to worry about anything. But that’s unrelated to being in Kakariko, really. I would’ve grown up no matter where I was. My family…”

She sighed. “Of course I miss my parents. But even if they’d lived, I still would have joined the Yiga eventually, when I was old enough to know about them. So I don’t regret leaving Kakariko. Or becoming a Yiga.”

“...Right,” Link said, dull. “Right.”

She frowned. Had he wanted her to lie? Or… had he wanted her to agree with something unsaid?

“Do you regret becoming a knight?” She asked. “Or becoming the Hylian Champion?”

Link made a rasping noise that might have been a laugh. “I don’t remember.”

“I meant… now,” she said, “not then. Right now, how do you feel about having became a knight?”

“I know that’s what you meant,” he said, turning away. “I don’t remember. There’s nothing from before I was a knight left in me. I don’t know what I did. Where I lived. If I had a family.”

“...Oh,” she mumbled.

He sighed, turning to face her again. His expression had smoothed out, blank and unreadable. “I can’t say what my life before becoming a knight was like. But if I hadn’t become one, no matter what path I took, the Calamity still would have happened. I probably still would have died in it.”

He paused.

“Without a Hylian Champion to protect Zelda, she might have died in it as well,” he said, gaze hardening. “And Calamity Ganon would have won. I would certainly be dead then. Would you have preferred it that way?”

Yes, she thought, because the victory of Lord Ganon is the goal my Clan strives towards.

No, she thought, because so many would be dead, and I don’t think they would’ve deserved it. I don’t think you deserved it.

Paya stayed silent.

After a moment, Link sighed, mumbling something to himself that she couldn’t quite catch, and didn’t speak again. They trekked on through the increasing chill to the base of a Sheikah Tower in silence.

But at the foot of the Tower- or as close to it as he could be- he pulled Storm’s reins, stopping. There was a truly impressive amount of ice around its base, taller than a Hylian even in its shortest areas. If he wanted to climb it, he’d probably have to melt his way through.

Paya waited, expectant, for him to do just that.

Link retrieved his paraglider.

She frowned. What…

Wait.

Link slid off his horse, calmly walked up to the ice, and held the glider above his head.

Wind roared to life around him, catching the fabric of his glider and sending him straight up, far above the ice and more than halfway up the Tower.

For a moment, the turquoise silhouette of a Rito flew around him, and then the ghost and the wind were gone.

Link, who had landed on one of the Tower’s platforms, leaned over to wave at her before turning around to climb. It was hard to tell at this distance, but she thought he might have been amused by having caught her off guard like that.

Moments later, the Tower’s glow shifted from orange to blue, a swirl of energy spiraling around it before fading. She blinked to clear the spots from her eyes.

Link landed in front of her, putting his paraglider away. She hadn’t even seen him leap off the Tower.

“I got the map,” he said, one hand on the Slate. “And I saw a stable, northeast of here.”

“That would be Snowfield,” she said. “Do you think we’ll make it before nightfall?”

He frowned, checking the Slate- probably for the time. “Not before it gets dark. But we’ll be close. We can keep going after sunset, and sleep there instead of making camp.”

“It’s going to be even colder at night,” she pointed out, shivering. “The stable would be warmer than just making a fire, but we’ll be freezing by the time we get there.”

Link fiddled with the Slate, produced a Spicy Elixir, and offered it to her wordlessly.

She took it gladly, but still-

“This is good for now,” she said, savoring its warmth, “but it’ll definitely be colder after dark.”

“I’ll loan you my doublet again,” Link responded, spurring Storm into more of a trot. “It’ll be fine.”

“If you say so,” she sighed, speeding Acorn up to match.

As she’d predicted, the sky darkened quickly. The air grew bitterly cold, and fresh snow began to fall- first slowly, lightly dusting the ground, then faster and thicker as time went on.

Link’s only acknowledgment of the chill was to speed Storm up even faster. Paya spurred Acorn to match. And then a little faster after that, putting them briefly in the lead before being overtaken again.

She laughed, even as the wind stung her face. Racing with Link was… fun, actually. Even if she could never hope to actually win against a royally bred horse, it was fun.

By the time they reached the stable, her face was flushed from laughing, her nose was red from the cold, and her fingers were numb.

There was a Shrine right beside it which Link leapt off Storm to investigate, leaving her with the horses. She’d like to board them overnight, but there weren’t any stable workers outside- probably due to the cold. Inside, then?

Thick curtains were drawn over the stable’s doors, keeping the interior warm. Paya pushed them aside as she stepped in; her skin tingled, goosebumps prickling in response to the welcomed change of temperature.

The employees were indeed all inside, although it seemed like most of them were already asleep. One stablehand was cleaning the floors, scraping away the snow that had been tracked inside, while the owner himself was dozing off, head resting on the counter. He startled when she approached.

“H-Hi,” she managed, teeth chattering. “I h-have. Horses outside. Need to b-board them.”

“Oh,” he said. “Oh! Of course, right away. Harlow!”

“I’m on it,” the stablehand said, quite literally dropping everything as she rushed outside.

“Don’t worry,” the stablemaster told her, “Your horses will be fine. We’re well equipped for keeping them warm, even in this weather. You said there are horses plural? Are they both yours?”

She shook her head. “M-my friend. He’s outside.”

“Goodness,” the stablemaster exclaimed, “outside now? Is he dressed for the cold, at least?”

She nodded, though he still looked concerned.

“You’ll be wanting beds, I hope,” he said. “Better to sleep until morning in these parts. Shouldn’t be out at night too much. Even if the natural cold won’t kill you, the Ice Keese might. You look freezing- we don’t have many guests right now, not that we ever do… There are plenty of beds free. You can take some blankets from the empty ones.”

“Oh,” she said. “T-thank you.”

The stablehand- what had her name been? Harlow? ducked back inside, shortly followed by Link. They were both lightly dusted with snow.

“And this must be your friend,” the stablemaster said. “Come in, come in- I was just saying that you could use any of the blankets from the beds not in use. Wouldn’t want you freezing.”

“Thank you,” Link said, unknowingly echoing her. He lowered his hand to the Slate at his waist. “How much for two beds?”

“Our standard beds are twenty rupees apiece,” the stablemaster said, “and the soft beds are forty. Though, I can give you a discount if you need-”

Link shook his head, producing two red rupees. “We can pay.”

“Oh, very well then,” the stablemaster said, accepting them. “Two regular beds for the two of you. Choose whichever you like.”

Paya nodded gratefully and immediately went for the bed farthest from the entrances. That would hopefully be the warmest.

She barely did more than kick off her boots before crawling under the blankets. Her skin continued to tingle as it slowly warmed and regained feeling. She hadn’t realized just how cold she’d gotten out there.

There was a whoosh as someone- Link, probably- pulled blankets from a nearby unused bed. A moment later, they were dropped on top of her.

“Thanks,” she murmured, tugging the blankets tighter around herself. After a moment, she heard the thunk of his boots hitting the floor. She cracked her eyes open, curious about which bed he’d chosen.

Huh. One of the ones right next to an entrance. Maybe with the Snowquill Set and the thick blankets, he was worried about being too warm?

She was finding that hard to imagine, shivering in her blankets as she was.

Oh well. If Link wanted to sleep in the coldest part of the stable, that was his business.

Paya closed her eyes again, relaxed into the softness of the stable bed, and drifted off.

Chapter Text

Paya woke slowly and extremely reluctantly.

Her dreams had been blurry and strange, and she couldn’t quite recall them properly. She’d be glad to be awake, but being awake would mean getting out of bed, and getting out of bed would mean removing herself from the comfort of the many blankets piled on top of her, which she very much did not want to do.

Still, she did have to get up. Grumbling to herself, Paya half-tumbled half-crawled out of the stable bed, mourning the loss of its warmth immediately. She checked to make sure the Snowquill Headdress was still in her hair before pulling her hood down as far as it could go. She was quite lucky to be such a quiet sleeper, honestly. If she was the type to toss and turn, she’d have a much harder time keeping her hair concealed overnight.

Not that it would have mattered too much in this case, as the stable was empty save for a few others still deep in slumber. The stablemaster was among them, but Link was not.

Which meant he was outside somewhere. Collecting the horses, maybe.

Paya sighed and began pulling on her boots, silently cursing the cold as she went. Still, she could appreciate Link wanting an early start. The sooner they were out of Hebra, the better.

Rubbing her hands together for warmth, she stepped outside.

It was snowing heavily; she was having trouble even seeing as far as the Shrine, as everything about it save the blue glow was obscured. She could make out Link, though, standing at the front of the Stable with Storm’s reins in hand.

Strange. Where was Acorn? Visibility wasn’t bad enough that she’d miss an entire horse.

“Hey,” Link called, voice raised to compensate for the wind. “Good timing! I was just about to wake you.”

“Okay,” she answered, stepping closer. “Where’s Acorn?”

He shifted slightly. “Well- it’s cold out today. More than it usually is, I mean. With the weather and all. I was thinking, maybe it’d be warmer if we… shared?”

He pulled Storm forward a bit, probably to emphasise what he meant.

That being him wanting himself and Paya to share a horse.

Thankfully, her face was already bright red from the cold. Her expression still might’ve given her away, though.

“Sure,” she squeaked, voice an octave higher than she’d meant it. Hopefully the wind had disguised that?

The faintly amused look Link gave her implied that it had not.

“I know we don’t usually leave without breakfast,” he said, “but my Slate says there’s going to be a blizzard later. I was thinking we could get out of here before then, and eat once we’re in the clear?”

She paused. “The Slate knows the weather?”

“Yeah,” Link said, brows furrowing. “Now that you mention it, I’m not sure how that works. Maybe it gets a signal from the Towers…?”

He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. Are you okay with leaving now?”

She nodded, and Link swung himself up into the saddle. He leaned over, offering her a hand up.

Right. Because she was also going to be in that saddle. With him.

Face burning, Paya took his hand. Once she had a foot in the stirrup, he pulled her up easily, and she found herself behind him, very, very close.

At least, being in front of her, he couldn’t see her blush?

“Is that alright?” Link asked, turning back enough to be heard.

“F-fine,” she muttered, still red. Her instincts told her to hold onto him for stability. The rest of her told her that she was pretty sure she’d combust if she did that.

“Okay,” Link said, turning back to the road. “Let’s go!”

He kicked Storm into a canter, and they were off.

Instinctively, she leaned forward as the wind whipped by, pressing into Link’s back. He didn’t say anything about it, so, well- wouldn’t it be worse to draw attention to it by moving back? It was totally normal to be pressed against the back of the person you were riding a horse with. For stability.

Her hands twitched at her sides. For stability…

Nope! No, actually. Leaning against him was plenty stable enough. She did not need to hold onto him. And therefore, she was not going to.

Her fingers twitched again.

Traitors.

She kept them at her sides, even as the terrain grew gradually rockier, sloping downhill. Were they going faster now? Yes. Were their movements more chaotic as they went from smooth snow to a rock-strewn path? Yes. Was it therefore likely that she would need more stability than she had in the beginning? …Yes.

Was she going to do anything about it?

No.

If Link noticed her (admittedly somewhat odd and rather tense) behavior, he didn’t comment on it. He remained focused, leading Storm onwards until they’d gone around the bend of Tanagar Canyon, facing south and firmly out of the tundra.

He pulled them to a stop, slipping out of the saddle and holding out his hand to help her down.

She took it, grateful for the help. She was more or less used to riding by now, but…

Well, being used to riding was different from being used to going full-speed on horseback all morning.

Link let go of her hand, and Paya promptly sat down where she stood.

He didn’t seem to be struggling with vertigo as she was, casually tying Storm to a tree before wandering over to sit next to her. He activated the Slate, leaning over to show her the screen, and- wow. That was a lot of food.

“So,” he said. “Breakfast?”

“I think it’s lunch by now,” she pointed out automatically. “Why do you have all this?”

He shrugged. “I like to cook.”

“I can tell,” she muttered. “Okay… something simple, I guess?”

“Sure,” he said. “Is this good?”

He pulled a meat skewer from the Slate, offering it to her.

“About as simple as it gets,” he said, as she took it. “I think I made that one before I remembered what spices were.”

She paused, eyeing the skewer with new wariness. “...And how long ago was that?”

“A while,” he said, cheerily. “The Slate keeps it in stasis, don’t worry. It’s still good.”

She bit into it slowly, and… yes, it still felt fresh. Tasted fine.

Strange.

Logically, she knew that the Slate could keep things perfectly frozen in time, but it was still a bit hard to comprehend. Months-old meat, still warm and juicy in her hands.

Link had said that Sheikah Monks awaited him in the Shrines, ten thousand years after they had first gone into them. Was there similar technology there?

Was it something like whatever had allowed Master Kohga to live as long as he had?

She turned the skewer over in her hands. It had been frozen, kept in stasis between its being put in and retrieved. It was exactly as Link had left it.

The Monks, according to Link, were little more than corpses. Dessicated, nothing but paper-thin skin stretched over brittle bones.

Master Kohga…

…Well, he looked like a normal Sheikah under the mask. White hair occasionally poked through the dye. His eyes were a deep crimson red, and lines lightly creased his face.

Sheikah lived longer than Hylians by a few decades.

But they still aged.

When Paya had first met Master Kohga, he had looked exactly as he did the last time she saw him. And according to the oldest members of the Clan, that was exactly how he’d looked decades ago, too.

The Yiga didn’t keep written records, and they didn’t tell many stories, either. But some of their history was passed on anyway. Scattered belongings. Old journals, tucked into corners. The occasional piece of art, woven tapestry, or hanging painting. A funny story whispered to the new recruits, which they passed on to the new recruits years later, who passed it on again.

The Yiga’s history between its being formed and the current day was murky, but Paya knew a few things. She knew that she’d never heard of any Master of the Clan besides the one they had now, and she knew that an old story about their original founding, passed on and on and on, called the founder Master Kohga.

Nobody said anything about it.

Most of the Clan probably thought it was part of the title. That there had been countless Master Kohgas.

But Paya had seen him with his mask off, sometimes as often as multiple times a day. If he hadn’t aged since she’d first met him, she’d be willing to bet he hadn’t aged for quite a while before that.

And he knew how to make talismans…

“Hey,” Link said, nudging her. “You okay?”

She blinked at him. Distantly, she noted that it had begun to rain, if only faintly. The half-eaten meat skewer in her hands would get soggy soon.

“I’m fine,” she said. “Just… thinking.”

“About what?”

She shrugged, biting into most of the remaining meat skewer at once and chewing only slightly exaggeratedly.

Link took the hint, dropping his gaze to his own meal.

They ate in silence for a moment.

“I was thinking about the man who raised me,” she said at last. “There’s a lot I don’t know about him. It’s never bothered me before, but…”

She trailed off, uncertain how to finish.

Did it bother her now? She wasn’t sure.

“Okay,” Link said. “Thanks for telling me. Did you want to… talk about it…?”

She hesitated.

Master Kohga’s secrets were the Yiga Clan’s secrets. In fact, everything about him was the Yiga Clan’s secret. Their inner workings were kept as hidden as possible- if they did their jobs right, nobody outside the Clan would ever know there was a Master at all.

But she did want to talk about it.

Maybe if she stayed vague…

“He’s much older than me,” she settled on. “I know he joined the Yiga when he was already an adult, but I don’t know what he did before that. The Clan is all he cares about and all he talks about, but sometimes it feels like he’s using it to avoid other subjects.”

“Right,” Link said. “And you want to know?”

“He has some… mysteries around him,” she hedged. “That I’m curious about.”

“Makes sense,” Link said, nodding. “But he dodges the questions when you ask?”

“Mhm,” she sighed, finishing off her food.

“That sounds frustrating,” Link offered.

“Not really,” she said. “I mean… we all have secrets. Plenty of people in the Clan don’t like to talk about their life before it. I didn’t mind.”

“It sounds a little like you do mind,” he pointed out.

Paya hesitated.

It had always been easy to accept that Master Kohga had secrets. He was the Master of the Yiga Clan, of course he did- it’d be weirder if he didn’t. So if he thought that some things were best kept hidden, he was right, because he was always right.

But it was starting to seem like that wasn’t true at all.

The Link Master Kohga had described didn’t match up remotely with the Link she’d come to know. The mission he was so passionate about was starting to feel… off, to her. And the secrets he’d always kept were slowly going from not-her-business to concerning.

“Maybe I do mind,” she said at last. “A little. There’ve been… some other things, recently, that have given me… a little insight into what his secrets might entail. And now that I know a little bit, I… I’m not sure how I feel about what I can imagine of the whole secret.”

“Right,” Link said. “Do one of those recent things happen to be the order to kill you if necessary? I mean- do you think he’ll follow it?”

Oh, right. That.

The order that, presumably, he gave.

“No,” she said, honestly. “I hadn’t been thinking about that at all. It’s… I imagine this sounds horrible to you, but it was pretty expected.”

“You’re right,” Link said. “That does sound horrible.”

“It’s just the way the Clan is,” she shrugged. “I don’t… well, no, that wasn’t what I meant by recent things.”

“...Okay,” he said. “Let me know if you want to talk more about it. Or about anything else.”

Such as the aforementioned order to kill her if necessary, she imagined. From an outsider’s perspective, it would seem incredibly concerning, wouldn’t it? Just one of those things people outside the Clan didn’t understand.

The mission came before all else.

Though… she had been putting other things before the mission, recently. A lot of other things. But her questioning it didn’t change anything for the others- the mission came first, and she understood that.

Still, it did sound rather concerning to anyone not operating with that in mind. She understood that, too.

“Thank you for worrying about me,” she said, soft.

Link flushed lightly. “No problem.”

She paused, tipping her head back. “The rain’s getting worse. We should hurry up.”

“Right,” he said. “If we push Storm, we can make it to another stable before nightfall. We’ll be soaked by then, but I don’t think we can avoid that.”

“No,” she agreed, ducking back under the safety of her hood.

“And… you don’t mind sharing Storm again,” he clarified, a hint of amusement in his voice. “Right?”

“Mhm,” she hummed, pulling the hood lower. No need for him to see her face right now.

“Great,” Link said, swinging back into the saddle and helping to pull her up behind him. “Oh- I noticed you were a little wobbly earlier, when we stopped.”

“I’m not used to riding that fast for that long,” she mumbled.

“Sorry,” he said. “If we want to get to the stable by sunset, we’ll have to go about that fast again. I know Storm can handle it, but is that okay with you?”

“I’ll be fine,” she said, raising her voice a little for emphasis. How embarrassing.

“Alright,” he said. “Just making sure. If you want one of the stable’s Soft Beds, I’ll pay for it.”

“It’s fine,” she repeated, now a little exasperated. “And you always pay for our beds, anyway.”

“It’s my journey,” Link pointed out. “You’re the one traveling with me, so it would be rude to make you pay. I just meant… I haven’t gotten you a Soft Bed before. If you want one, not just today, I mean, I’ll pay for that, too.”

“What?” she asked, “Just… whenever?”

“Whenever,” he confirmed.

She frowned. “Why?”

Despite the pace they were riding, Link twisted to look at her over his shoulder.

“You’re my friend,” he said. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“I could make do with a regular bed,” she muttered. “And I haven’t been a very good friend.”

“You have,” he said, turning back to the road. “You’ve... been a pretty bad friend, once or twice, but- most of the time you’ve been a good friend to me.”

I’m not sure that’s how it works, she thought, but the words got stuck in her throat.

“Thanks,” she whispered instead.

Link hummed softly in answer, continuing to urge Storm onwards. They were approaching a gallop again, and already her legs were sore from keeping her in the saddle.

Hesitantly, Paya leaned forward, pressed against Link’s back, and wrapped her arms around his torso.

He didn’t comment on it. She wasn’t sure what reaction she’d expected.

After a moment, she relaxed, leaning on him more. The rain continued to fall, but with her face pressed into the nape of his neck and her hood up, she was mostly staying dry.

…It was nice.