Champions of a Fallen Age

Zora's Domain

"So what should I tell Mipha?"

Link's face slackened in surprise momentarily but quickly hardened again as he tried to shake her off.

"So what should I tell her? That her dear friend didn't care enough about her too-"

"Shut up," Link interrupted coldly as his fire-filled eyes bored into her.

Urbosa's eyebrows crawled up her forehead. She continued to hold onto his arm even though he had yet to attempt another charge towards the Lizalfo encampment.

Her Hylian companion had been having an episode since they had departed the tower. Whatever he had seen had drawn him so far into himself that she had been forced to guide him along most of the precarious path to Zora's Domain.

It was an irritating and taxing journey at best. She had not made nearly the progress she had hoped for. The Gerudo Champion had taken Gruve's warning to heart. She navigated the winding path cautiously, stopping every few meters to analyze her surroundings for threats, keeping a firm grip on Link the entire time.

As they had been making their way next to a cliff face, a black form fell towards them from above. Urbosa, adrenaline racing through her system, had sped Link and herself under the nearest overhang. She pressed herself against the cliff face as she thanked Hylia for Midna's intelligence. The wolf had followed Urbosa's lead and had made herself as small as possible.

Glancing back had revealed a Lizalfo with a gaping hole in its chest. Urbosa, not believing that its killer was benign, had scaled up the cliff to investigate.

At the top, she found the largest Lizalfo camp she had seen. Walking towards it was a white Lizalfo. She cursed quietly as the lizard-like monster ambled onwards. Ordinary monsters would be problem enough. Adding a white Lizalfo into the mix put whoever they attacked at a serious disadvantage.

A brief rustling accompanied by the sound of a blade being unsheathed quietly had been all the warning she had received. Her hand had lashed out, quick as lightning, to grab the Hylian that had followed her up.

"What good will charging down there do?"

His lips tightened until they were the palest shade of white.

"What do you want?" he finally asked quietly.

"I want you to stop and think for one dinforsaken moment. You charge down there now and the only chance the Zora will have of mounting a proper defense will die with us."

"How so?"

"You know they can't climb and it doesn't look like there is any other way up here, even from the other side. Unless they have magic or technology we don't know about, I would think it's safe to say that they have no idea what they're up against."

His expression told her he was unconvinced.

"I won't claim to know or understand what's going through your head right now but I will tell you one thing. No matter what it is, it doesn't excuse such rash actions."

"And why not?" he snapped as his fist slammed into a nearby rock.

"Because our lives don't just belong to us," Urbosa replied with all the patience she could muster. "They also belong to all the people who are relying on us."

Link gave her a long, hard look. Eventually, the tension left his body as he sighed. Urbosa followed him as he jumped off the cliff, both pulling out there paragliders midway through the fall. As soon as they landed Link began making his way along the path as though the last few minutes hadn't happened.

Urbosa followed him, watching the young Hylian's back carefully. The expression she had seen on his face, or lack thereof, concerned her greatly. She had worried that his emotions would rule him. Now she was worried that he was shutting it all out. Emotions could either be a warrior's friend or enemy.