Fight of the Champions

Chapter Sixteen - Zariah

She woke with a yawn laying against the softness of a bed, tucked under the covers. For a second, she fooled herself into thinking that she was home, comfortable and safe. But she was wrong, she wasn't home, and she didn't know if she'd ever truly be safe again.

She yawned again and leaned forward in bed, finally realizing that she didn't fall asleep in the bed, she fell asleep in the chair and— that must mean that Aadil had woken up!

Zariah practically jumped out of bed and raced to the door to see if he was there when she paused. There was somebody talking outside, but she didn't recognize anyone's voices. No, she did recognize somebody, Corvus. Who was she talking to?

"Corvus?" She called, starting to open the door.

"Make the right choice," She heard somebody else say.

She opened the door, but there was no one else there. Corvus stood alone outside the house, looking confused.

"Hey, Corvus, who was that?" She asked.

She shook herself and turned to her, "Nobody," she said, "You should probably get back to bed, you'll need some rest before all hell breaks loose,"

Zariah nodded and started to turn back when there was a ringing noise. She turned around and both Jira and Aadil stood there.

"Aadil!!" She grinned, racing forwards and wrapping him in a hug. He awkwardly stood there and then patted her back.

"We've been everywhere, every village in Hyrule is offering their assistance," Jira said, before freezing up as she faced Corvus, "Are you still planning on leaving?"

"What? You're gonna leave us?" Zariah said, turned around in shock.

Corvus nodded, "I have to look after myself,"

Jira moved closer to her, "Corvus, come on, we need you to stay,"

"Do they need me to stay or do you?"

Jira froze.

"Bahuma is too powerful, for me, for all of us," Corvus continued, "If you guys want to continue fighting, if you want to drag a literal child into battle then so be it, her death will be on you. But I don't want any part of this," she softened a little and turned back to Jira, "If you were smart, you'd leave too,"

"You realize if we don't stop him now, we'll never be able to again," Aadil said, "You'll be hunted for the rest of your life,"

Corvus said nothing, just started to turn away. Jira stopped her, holding her back.

"Please, don't do this," She said.

"I'm sorry,"

She shook her off and crouched down, starting to fly away.

"Corvus, no!" Zariah called after her.

But it was too late, in a couple moments, she was gone, no more than a black speck in the sky. Zariah thought she saw tears in Jira's eyes.

After a long while, Zariah turned to them, "So what now?" she asked

"Now we rest," Aadil said, "We've got a long day before us,"

All three of them went back inside, and — despite napping for most of the day — she fell quickly asleep on the bed.

It was still dark outside when she woke up. Aadil was still sleeping in the chair, but Jira was no where to be seen. Zariah yawned and snuck out of bed and outside, in time to see Jira sitting against the side of the house, looking out into the sky. She jumped as Zariah walked out.