Linkguistics

Part 8: Second Impressions

At 141 hours B.C. (Before Calamity) Daruk had been enlisted for the important task of hauling around a small teenager until they get him cleaned up and figure out what language he's speaking.

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It hadn't taken long to establish a few things about the mystery man. He'd passed out from blood loss and exhaustion for a bit so they only were able to learn a few things so far.

First detail of note was the sword and the way he clutched it in his arms. As Urbosa put it, he looked for all the world like a little kid hugging a stuffed sand-seal for comfort. When Daruk tried to take it back for Zelda's inspection, his hand went numb and Link tightened his grip on the handle and bare blade. Revali speculated that the Master Sword was just dull after all those years and made a grab for it. He lost some barbs from his wingtip.

Finally, despite Revali's objections to letting the fiend anywhere near Princess Zelda, she approached him and carefully took the sword out of Link's arms. Urbosa noticed something right away and had Zelda walk around for a bit to make sure. Link became visibly more distressed the further he was away from the sword. When it was out of his sight, he started shaking. Urbosa asked Zelda to give back the Master Sword and also hand over the scabbard they'd brought along for the Hero.

Second detail was that his name was Link. Mipha assumed so when he pointed at himself and said 'Link.' Of course it had been her that thought to politely ask about this crucial detail and establish introductions. She didn't say it out loud, but the way he was trying to follow instructions when he didn't understand their words reminded her of a puppy. Zelda found the name stuck to Link much more easily than trying to think of him as Possibly-Ganon.

Third detail they learned was that Link snored. He was draped over Daruk's shoulder like a sack of carrots and weighed pretty much nothing in Daruk's opinion. Daruk figured he was barely over five feet tall and this completely justified calling him a 'Little Guy.'

The group was going to have to figure out their story before they got to King Rhoam and, more importantly, what to do with this guy. The matter of where the giant, angry cloud of darkness went was disconcerting them all. They didn't know it, but Link was concerned about where the Malice went off to as well. Or would be when he regained consciousness.

As they were walking and debating, Daruk pulled a rock out of his bag for the road. He'd at least been looking forward to the snack. He picked up the most recognizable part of the pedestal in one hand and then looked around at the floor tiles on the road. Some gravel bits from the Temple of Time's floor caught his attention."So, uh, since they'll have to repair the floor anyway... Do you think they'd mind if I tried a bite of that marble?"

Revali had been laser focused on watching Link for any sign of Ganon-like activity. This was enough to momentarily break that concentration. Even Mipha was looking a little stunned at the idea. Zelda coughed. "...Perhaps this is not the time, Daruk."

It was not often Revali could be rendered speechless multiple times in a single day. He set his attention back on guarding Zelda but growled. "You cannot be serious. Daruk, why would you ever imagine eating part of the Master Sword's pedestal?!" The movement of Link caught his attention. He was groggily eyeing the food and Daruk heard a small growling noise.

Daruk jumped on the opportunity to change subjects back to the problem at hand. "Oh, hey. Little Guy! You're awake!"

"Ihav enoid eawh atyouar esa yingbu toka y. Doyo uhav ean ythi ngi caneat?"

"Ganon's voice is annoying. I expected an ancient demon lord to have better vocal chords but he is pathetic. Are you sure I shouldn't just put an arrow through his eyes and save us all a lot of trouble?" Revali and Zelda were in the camp of This-guy-is-totally-a-demon.

Mipha adjusted her grip on the trident, just in case Link made sudden hostile motions. She was in the camp of Link being not-a-demon. This did not excuse a lack of reasonable caution. "Revali, his name is Link and I have just finished healing him..." Daruk seemed to with Mipha on this one and took another bite of the rock as Link watched.

Urbosa tapped her foot. "There are a number of reasons to believe more is going on here. I'm certain you've noticed them too, even if you do not acknowledge them, Revali." Urbosa said. "During that fight he did not raise an arm to attack. He dodged the entire time." Revali's scoffing was cut short by Urbosa. She was not done. "Despite the fact he doesn't have glowing red eyes and a dark aura, we know this is the same person that was flattened by the pedestal. His armor is cracked where it absorbed the impact. It is a pity he doesn't seem to have a helmet, it might have helped him avoid some of the injury." Maybe this was related to the fact that an Ancient Evil Force came back after thousands of years instead of hundred?

Link shrugged. He still had no idea what they were saying. "Ify oug ivem efoo dan darenic eto meil lkill Ganon fo ryou." They had no idea what he was saying. Everyone's stares made him shrug apologetically. Then he went back to trying to look nonthreatening while dangling off Daruk's shoulder.

Urbosa mounted her horse after making sure Zelda's was ready to go. "Link clearly has been chosen by the Sword. Once we figure out what language he is speaking, we can get a full story out of him. Before we present him to the castle, we should help get him some less conspicuous clothing and notify the King. I'd rather he know the situation and make an official announcement before the public starts any wild rumors."

Zelda spoke several languages and it was telling that she still had no idea what the guy was speaking in. She had also been agitated beyond anything they'd seen before. "Just what are we supposed to tell Father?! Can you imagine the scandal? A princess who is such a failure that she had some, some thing acting as her Chosen Hero?!"

Daruk tried to reassure her. "The little guy hasn't really done anything menacing other than fighting that Yiga who was trying to kill him..."

Revali would have crossed his arms if he didn't have his bow out and an arrow nocked. As things stood he barely contained his contempt for his fellow Champion's lack of brain. "You didn't see what they were doing before I got there. It was far off but this demon looked like he was committing some kind of dark ritual." It was possible that if Revali knew the true purpose behind Link's hand motions, he would have thought it was even more asinine. Revali would not ever believe Link was just trying to correct a fashion error.

"Actu allytheb ein gnic etomei soptio nalb utiam sta rving." Link said to the group as Daruk absentmindedly offered a bit of food to him. Daruk's attention was on his friends and he wasn't paying much attention to the small Hylian.

Mipha tried to reassure Zelda, "He seems Hylian to me. He's just really dirty..."

"That is because he crawled from the darkest depths of the earth. Furthermore," Revali pointed to the topic of conversation, "I have never seen any Hylian do that! Not without spitting it out or breaking a tooth!" Mipha, Urbosa, and Zelda turned to see Link slowly gnawing on a piece of Daruk's rock roast.

Daruk's grin faded despite Link smiling gratefully. Link said, "Thi staste sterri ble exce ptforthes picebu ttha nksa nyway," while Revali was begging permission to just kill the thing already. Link seemed unconcerned about Revali's hatred for him.

Link refused a second piece of rock. He did, however, accept a piece of bread offered by Urbosa. That piece of bread was inhaled.