#soty41

[katedoesfics]

Shadows of the Yiga | Chapter 41

When night fell, Dorian’s daughters, Cottla and Koko were the final two to join the team of heroes. Much like Impa and Purah, they seemed to be mid-argument when they appeared suddenly before them, but they cast their chatter aside when their gazes fell upon Link.

“Look who it is,” Cottla said cheerfully. She strode over to Link and pinched his cheek. “Little Linky.” She flicked his ear. “Looks like you didn’t turn out half bad afterall.”

“Cottla,” Koko warned.

Link rubbed his ear and frowned. “I thought I got rid of you.”

Cottla put her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side. “Miss me?”

“No.”

“Aw, yes you did,” she said, rustling his hair with her hand. “But I missed Aryll more. Did you ruin her like we all thought you would?”

“Yes,” Link muttered. “She’s just as weird as you.”

“Hey,” Aryll snapped at him. “Screw you, man.” Her gaze turned to the two Sheikah with a raised brow. “Who are they?”

“It’s been too long,” Cottla said.

“Not long enough,” Link muttered.

Cottla ignored him. “Koko and I used to take care of you all the time when you were a baby.” She glanced at Rusl over her shoulder and grinned. “Because the men in your life were way too incapable to handle a baby.”

“Oh.” Aryll paused as she tried to recall them, but nothing came to mind. She shrugged. “Well, I guess I owe you my thanks for keeping me alive. Why’d you stop coming around? I could have used you for a lot longer, you know.”

Cottla grinned and folded her arms across her chest and straightened. “We’ve been keeping pretty busy, you know. Doing Sheikah things.”

Koko stepped forward and thrust a thumb over her shoulder. “Dad’s had us doing everything else but actually fighting in this damn war,” she said.

“Dads, right?” Aryll said. “Mine faked his death.” She grinned at her father, who gave her an exasperated look. He was never going to live that down.

“Don’t worry,” Koko started, sneering at her own father over her shoulder. “We’ve been kept in the dark, too.” She turned back to Link and offered him a smile. “But we weren’t standing around doing nothing. We’ve been helping Robbie prepare the Divine Beasts for ya’ll. They’re in tip-top shape and ready to demolish a Yiga Clan hideout!”

“And we’re assigning team captains,” Cottla exclaimed. She looked the Champions over carefully for a moment, then one by one, selected the teams.

“The hot one,” she started, pointing at Revali first.

“Here we go,” Urbosa muttered.

Revali narrowed his eyes at her. “How old are you? I can never tell with you Sheikah.”

“Hey,” Cottla barked. “Rude! I’m not like a hundred years old!”

Revali shrugged. “Just deciding if there’s gonna be a thing here.”

“I’ll kill you,” Dorian sneered.

Revali put his hands in the air. “Right, right. Almost forgot your dad’s crazy.”

Cottla grinned. “You get Vah Medoh.”

“Vah-what?”

“Vah Medoh,” Koko said. “The Divine Beast.”

“They have names?” Daruk asked with a raised brow.

Cottla continued. “Vah Medoh with Koko.”

Revali shrugged in response, and Cottla chose her next target.

“The other hot one.” She pointed to Urbosa.

“Urbosa,” she said dryly.

“Vah Naboris with me.”

Revali wiggled his eyebrows at Urbosa, and she rolled her eyes.

“Muscles.” Cottla pointed at Daruk. “You’re on Vah Rudania with Purah.” She turned to Mipha and smiled. “That leaves you, Red, with Impa and Vah Ruta.”

“Red?” Mipha said quietly.

“Because you have red hair,” Revali said in an obvious tone.

“She’s so clever with her nicknames,” Aryll said with a roll of her eyes.

“We good, then?” Cottla said, her hands on her hips.

“What exactly are we supposed to be doing with these Divine Beast things?” Daruk asked.

“We’ll show you,” Koko said. “We all know how to control the Divine Beats. And we’re each getting a team of Sheikah to assist us.”

“That’s that, then,” Cottla said, clapping her hands together. She turned on her heels and saluted her father. “Move ‘em out.”

Dorian sighed, and Rusl grinned.

“Don’t ever change,” Rusl said.

Cottla winked at him. “Finally, some real action!”

Dorian barked his orders, and soon the teams were split. The Champions glanced hesitantly at each other one last time before one by one, the teams disappeared with four loud cracks, leaving Zelda and Link with the rest of their makeshift army.

“This is weird,” Zelda said. “I don’t think we’ve ever been split like this before.”

“They’ll be fine,” Dorian assured her. “They’ve got a lot more going for them than the two of you right now.”

“He’s right,” Aryll said, crossing her arms. “What do you think you’re gonna do against a bunch of Yiga?”

“Kick their asses,” Link said.

Aryll frowned. “You can’t do shit.”

Link pressed a finger against her nose and smiled. “Watch me.”

Aryll’s nose wrinkled and her brows furrowed angrily. “You’re an idiot,” she sneered. She turned her gaze to her father. “You both are!”

“Well, it’s worked out so far,” Rusl said with a shrug.

Aryll sighed and wrapped her arms around her brother. “Whatever. Just come back.”

Link hugged her back. “I always do.”

He pulled away, and Aryll watched as he joined Zelda with the rest of their army. She turned her gaze to her father as he approached.

“Behave,” he said simply.

Aryll rolled her eyes. “You’re stupid,” she said, her voice cracking slightly.

Rusl hugged his daughter. “I love you.”

Aryll let her head rest against him. “I love you too, Dad.”

“Don’t you worry,” Riju said, pulling her shoulders back. “I’ll babysit - again!”

Rusl winked at Riju. “I know she’s safe with you.”

Aryll wiped at her eyes when he pulled away, and when they were gathered together, the air snapped, and they were gone.

*****

When the world snapped back into focus, they were standing in the vast desert. Though it was late in the night, the sky was clear, offering them the light of the large, full mood to guide their way. A cold breeze blew around them, and they pulled their cloaks over their heads. Just as Impa had promised, the cloaks offered protection from the cold night. Within a few hours, they would soon see if it held up against the heat of the desert during the daytime hours.

There were a handful of other Sheikah already there when they appeared, as if waiting for their arrival. Dorian moved to them quickly, their voices low as they spoke to one another. When they were finished, Dorian nodded to them, and they disappeared in a snap. Dorian turned back to Zelda and Link.

“It seems the Yiga are not yet aware of our approach,” he said to them. “However, they are aware of the activation of the Divine Beasts, and many of them have been dispatched to stop the attack.”

“How do they know?” Zelda asked.

“They’re just aware of the Divine Beasts as we are,” Dorian said. “That’s why they’ve had the Sheikah Slate in their possession; to keep you from gaining control of the machines. Naturally, after the slate went missing, they sought out the Divine Beasts. We were able to get them activated before the Yiga could stop us, but now they may be there waiting for the Champions. I have no doubt that they will be able to take care of the Yiga, though. Only a handful have been dispersed to each of the Divine Beasts. You’ve dealt a lot of damage to their forces already. They cannot afford to thin their army here any further. But that being said, they will be searching for any sign of us, and they will be ready for us. My men are doing everything they can to keep an eye out for them and will alert us to any movements they make.”

“This is nice,” Link said. “Having someone else do all the planning for once.”

“Better than any planning you’ve ever done,” Rusl said.

“That’s kinda my thing,” Link said. “I just wing it and hope for the best.”

“Let’s get going, then,” Zelda said. “We might have a very long walk ahead of us.”

The night was uneventful as they moved seemingly undetected across the large desert. While they had a general idea of where the Yiga Clan hideout was and what direction to go in, it was impossible to tell just how far out they were, with no path or landmark to show the way. They walked through the night, stopping only once just before dawn to rest in the protection of the darkness.

When the sun rose over the horizon, it brought along with it a scorching heat that their cloaks easily warded off, thanks to Impa’s magic. They stood atop one of the dunes, pausing for a moment to take in their surroundings. The desert seemed endless. The yellow sands of the desert blurred into the pale blue sky, the horizon line barely discernible in the wave of the heat. The barren landscape offered nothing to them; not even a trace of the Yiga Clan hideout. The heat of the sun seemed to bounce off the desert sands, intensifying immensely, but their cloaks continued to offer unexplainable protection, and they didn't feel nearly as hot as they should have.

As a whole, they were relatively quiet as they walked through the day. The Sheikah occasionally spoke amongst themselves, and Link, Zelda, and Teba partook in their own casual chit chat. Dorian and Rusl, however, had somehow ended up at the front of the group, and from the looks of it, were too deep into their own conversation to seem to even remember that they were about to start a war on Hyrule’s biggest enemy.

Link watched them as they journeyed, noticing how varied their interactions were. In one moment, they seemed to be in a secret, serious discussion. But the next moment, Rusl was laughing, even obnoxiously as he teased Dorian at times, and to Link’s surprise, a small smile split Dorian’s otherwise stone cold face. Dorian turned to Rusl, saying something further, and Rusl grinned widely. He looked over his shoulder briefly at Link, then turned back to Dorian. His grin disappeared as Dorian spoke again, and they were seemingly back to a serious discussion. Though they were a ways ahead, Link strained to listen in. Their voices rose as their argument turned more heated.

“We already discussed this,” Rusl said through his teeth. “There’s no other way.”

“It might not need to come down to that, anyway,” Dorian said. “You’re rushing to conclusions.”

“I’m considering the worst possible scenario.”

“You’re not considering it. You’re acting on it.”

Rusl stopped walking, and Dorian turned to face him.

“What else am I supposed to do?” Rusl hissed.

Dorian hesitated, then glanced in the direction of Link. His brows furrowed, and with a wave of his hand, they disappeared.

Rusl was still glaring at him, unfazed at their sudden transportation. Their surroundings, however, seemed to have gone unchanged; just another area in the vast desert. The only difference was that they were far away from anyone hearing their discussion.

“You’re supposed to survive!” Dorian barked.

“Look,” Rusl started. “You’re supposed to be on my side.”

“I’m on the side where you live.”

“You know that can’t happen.”

“You don’t know what will happen.” Dorian’s voice softened. “We could just as well be able to take care of this without him.”

“Perhaps,” Rusl said. “But if not, you know as well as I that this is what needs to be done. And I will do it.”

“The difference is that you’ve already planned to throw your life away.”

“I’m prepared for the worst.”

“What you need to do is stay alive. They already lost you once. You can’t do that to them again. You can’t do that to me.” His brows furrowed. “Don’t you think we’ve all lost enough?”

Rusl pulled his gaze away. “Nothing would change,” he said. “If not now, I would have done it then. For Carissa. For Kahli. For Koko and Cottla.” He glanced back at Dorian, but his expression was torn. “Come on, D,” Rusl muttered. “Don’t give me that look. I’m not dead yet.”

Dorian’s gaze hardened. “I hate you.”

Rusl grinned. “No, you don’t.” He pushed Dorian’s shoulder. “Come on. Is that what you’re last words are going to be to me?”

“Yes.”

“You’re a stubborn, tight ass son of a bitch, you know that?”

“I’ve hated you since the day I was forced to work with you.”

“I love you too, D.”

“Shut up.”

Rusl spread his arms, gesturing with his fingers. “Bring in it, man.

Dorian shook his head, but he stepped forward regardless and hugged his friend.

“If Kohga doesn’t kill you,” Dorian started. “I will.”

Rusl smiled. “Yeah, I know.”

Dorian pulled away quickly, stiffening. “Yiga.”

The air snapped as Dorian brought them back, and Rusl saw then that the Yiga had them surrounded.

“Rusl!”

Rusl was pushed back suddenly. When he landed on the ground, he hurried for the blade at his side, but when he looked up, Dorian was in front of him, his power knocking the Yiga that had sprung up backward. But just as quickly, two more sprung up, and though Rusl jumped to Dorian’s defense, the blade of the second Yiga still clipped Dorian’s side before he sprung back and disappeared again.

“D!”

“I’m fine,” Dorian muttered as his hand moved to his side, and he quickly began to heal himself.

“Don’t even try to save my life,” Rusl hissed at him.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Dorian said. “Just stay out of the way.” The air snapped, and he disappeared.

“What did you do?”

Rusl’s gaze turned to Link as he stood before him. His hand hovered over the gun at his side.

“Nothing,” Rusl said through his teeth.

“You two disappear and we get ambushed,” Link hissed. “That’s not nothing!”

Rusl held his composure as he regarded his son. “You think I did this?”

Link hesitated, holding his gaze on his father. His hand moved to the blade on his hip, and he lunged at him.

Rusl was quick to block the blow, pushing back against Link and causing him to stumble backwards. Link regained his footing, jumping to the side as his father pressed in to attack with his own dagger. He swung his leg around, momentarily tripping Rusl and catching his arm, pulling him forward and bringing his blade down in the process. Rusl pulled back, narrowly missing Link’s attack, but Link did not hesitate to throw his fist toward him.

Rusl caught his fist and twisted his wrist, throwing him backwards once more and charging at Link with his blade again. Link blocked the attack with his blade, pushing forcefully against Rusl, then swinging the blade around to dislodge him. He ducked as Rusl swung the blade back around, and as he rolled out of the way, he grabbed his gun from his holster, spinning around to point it at his father. He stopped suddenly as Rusl, too, had his own gun pointed at Link.

They breathed heavily, but neither moved any further as they stared each other down. It was Rusl who spoke first, a sly smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

“Do it,” he said. “Kill me.”

Link’s gaze hardened on him. “What’s stopping you?”

Rusl’s expression softened. He hesitated as he regarded his son. His arm lowered, and he let the clip drop from the gun. Link watched as it fell to the ground, then turned his gaze back to his father. His arm lowered slightly, but he did not give up so easily.

“Don’t you think if I wanted to kill you I would have done it by now?” Rusl said. “For the love of Hylia, I know you have trust issues, but make up your fucking mind.”

“What the hell am I supposed to think?” Link said. “I don’t even know who you are.”

“I’m your father,” Rusl snapped. “Alright? Nothing has fucking changed.”

Link held his gaze on him. Rusl’s expression softened and he pulled his gaze away. He looked over the desert where the war had already begun just below them. “I’m sorry,” Rusl said. “For everything. I’ve made mistakes. And I know you have no reason to trust me. But everything I did was for you and Aryll. Everything.” His expression hardened. “Not for the sake of some damned destiny.” He hesitated. “You and Aryll… you weren’t mistakes. For the love of Hylia, you were all that kept me going. And I wouldn’t change any of it. Not if it meant losing you both.” Het met Link’s gaze once more, his brows knit together, hardening his expression. “You have enough damn sense to know what you need to do. And if that means you don’t trust me, then so be it. I haven’t exactly done anything to earn it.” His gaze softened again.

Link pulled his gaze away. “Why are you saying this?”

Rusl smiled. “Just in case a damn Yiga finally kills me,” he said. “I want you to know I’m proud of you. And I’m sorry things ended up this way.”

“I’m going to kill you before a Yiga does,” Link muttered. “You’re really trying my patience.”

Rusl grinned. “Yeah. Dorian might beat you to that, though.”

Link glanced at his father, then at the war raging below them as Sheikah and Yiga soldiers clashed together. The air snapped, and Dorian appeared once more with Zelda and Teba. Teba was shouting into his radio for the other Champions, but there was no response from anyone.

Teba’s face whitened as he stared at the radio. “Do it! Now!”

Link’s heart dropped as he turned his gaze to the sky, waiting for a sign of the Divine Beasts to prove that his friends were still alive.