Between the Lines || Link x Mipha

Chapter 18: Bait

Klay and another soldier paced across Oren Bridge. They were assigned there to keep an eye out for any possible intruders. Lately there have been a lot of Yiga attacks reported all across Hyrule, so it is of upmost importance that any suspicious individuals were turned away.

"So..." the soldier tapped his chin and glanced over at Klay. "You and Liana? How's all that going?"

"It's fine," Klay shrugged. "We haven't really gotten a chance to hang out since Valik and Tayli's wedding."

"The wedding? That was, like, a month ago! You haven't seen her since?"

"No, I mean, we haven't had, like, time to ourselves and all that. We'll talk to each other, but nothing too long. I've just been busy with all of this Guard stuff, and she's been busy helping Tayli acclimate to princess duty stuff."

The solider nodded and Klay looked all around at the surroundings. As he did, he noticed a silhouette walking up the mountain path around Ruto Mountian. He patted the soldier's shoulder and gestured to the personage, "See that?"

"Yeah, I sure do. Should we investigate?" The soldier took a step forward, but Klay stopped him.

"I'll go. You stay here."

The soldier saluted and nodded. Klay then began to jog up the path that led to Luto's Crossing. When he made it, the person was at the other side of the bridge; they hadn't continued up the path. Klay studied the person closely from afar. The person was a red female Zora and she seemed lost and confused. He did not recognize her, and he could not figure out why anyone was out at night when every civilian was ordered to not leave the premises of the Domain.

"Excuse me miss, you must return back to the Domain," Klay began to cautiously walk toward her. "By orders from King Dorephan, every Zora citizen, apart from the royalty and guard, may exit the Domain at night. I can return you back and let you off with a warning, but if I see you again, I will have to inform my superiors."

"Oh, I understand, sir," her voice was airy and light. "It's just... I have an important message to give to a friend."

Klay finally reached her and set his hands on his hips, "Is this a written message? If so, the mailers in the Domain will be more than happy to send it out."

"No, it's not," she shook her head. Her breath shook as she looked him up and down. "Please, I must go."

"Hey, now that I think about it, I saw you heading towards the Domain. Wouldn't you be heading away from it?"

Her eyes widened and she cleared her throat, "I live in Hateno. I moved there a couple years ago."

"By yourself?"

"Yes, well, I used to be with someone... You remind me a lot of him," she looked up at Klay in wonder.

"...Okay?" He took a slight step back. "Well, here's the thing—"

"I mean, you both are kind and courageous!" She stepped closer to him. "And you both are strong and handsome..." she went to touch Klay's arm, but he pulled away and took a couple more steps back.

"Look, I appreciate the compliments, but please back off," he glared at her, but she didn't seem to get the message.

"He was a guard, just like you. He even had the same light blue eyes and light grey scales."

Klay began to grow concerned, mostly for his own safety, "Listen lady, I'll need you to leave. There are plenty of stables around that will be happy to take you in."

"And he could fight just as good as you..." she began to walk towards him, and Klay stepped to the side, hoping that she would stop, but she didn't. She instead turned to him and cornered him against the mountain. "And his name was also the same as yours..." She reached her hand out for him, but he caught her wrist instead.