I Live to Serve

Chapter #5: Nothing Important

If there was one thing Link hated about Cuccos, it was their affinity for being as annoying as possible all the time.

This wasn't an exception. The peaceful crack of dawn was interrupted by a particularly loathsome cucco that had clucked the entire roost into a frenzy. He let out a groan of annoyance as he was pulled out of a previously peaceful slumber. Before he could even process where he was, he was whispering obscenities about cuccos and what he'd love to do to one. Wherever he was was warm, and peaceful, and quiet up until that damn bird decided to ruin it.

The second thing he noticed (his brain seemed to be working at half capacity, at best) was his headache. A deep, concentrated pain that throbbed at the very front of his skull. He instinctively reached a hand up out of the blankets to rub it...

Blankets. That was the third thing the knight noticed: he was in a bed. A particularly soft one. One he'd probably have to pay 40 rupees to sleep in at a stable (although he doubted any stable would be generous enough to give him such a hefty, luxurious blanket). Such a comfortable bed dissuaded him from even questioning why or how he was there, until the screech of another Cucco drove him to complete consciousness. He sat up quickly. Too quickly. The burning pain in his head only intensified, and a groan escaped his lips. It reminded him of the feeling he'd experienced when he'd first awoken in the Shrine of Resurrection. Despite having spent a century recovering from his injuries, his initial experience of consciousness had been one plagued by a similar intense headache that had almost pushed him back into another slumber. At least now, though, he vaguely knew who he was. A knight of the Princess Zelda. Zelda.

All care about his headache or the bed subsided as he quickly realized that he didn't have any idea where the Princess of Hyrule was. Despite his vision being little more than a blur, he slung his legs out from the comfort of the bed,]. He must've been in an inn of some sort. His clammy hands rose to his eyes, and he attempted to rub some amount of clarity into them. He needed to think. Where was he, and much more importantly, where was she?

But when his vision cleared, his priority to find Zelda subsided for a moment when he saw the curled-up Sheikah on the floor. It was Paya. He knew instantly, even though her face was pressed against her pillow and a thin blanket was pulled over her. Carefully, now, Link stepped towards her, and in a split second decision, he crouched down and nudged her shoulder.

Paya's entire body lurched the moment Link's hand touched her. He instantly regretted his voice as the frazzled young woman scraped the blanket that was previously covering her off like a trapped animal trying to escape. "Master Link!" she eeped. How she knew it was him after about one moment of being awake was lost to him. He looked back at her with wide eyes as she clambered to her feet. "Master Link, hello!" the words stuttered out of her mouth. Her poor face had grown red faster than Link was able to open his mouth to reply at all.

"Good morning, Paya," Link hesitantly replied. Her frightfulness put him on edge, but not in the same way that Zelda's presence did. With Zelda, it felt as though the entire weight of the world rested on whether she thought he was an idiot or not. With Paya, he just desperately wanted her to feel comfortable. It was a similar sensation to his rejection to praise. He didn't think himself important enough to receive either reaction. Why she felt so nervous around him wasn't something he understood, but a truth he knew and tried to subdue. Certainly, it was something he did wrong- a wrong he could right. Link, in that moment, committed to the goal of making the young Sheikah girl comfortable around him. But first, he would need to address the larger problem at hand.

"Paya, do you know where the princess is?" his eyes darted around the room just in case Princess Zelda was hiding behind a laundry hamper.

"Don't worry about the princess, Master Link! She's just in town- she has an escort of 4 Sheikah soldiers with her at all time!" Paya assured him, although by the tone of her voice, it seemed as though she was still very much so the one who needed reassurance. But that information did allow for Link's jaw to unclench itself. 4 Sheikah soldiers and just in town, where the biggest threat was the looming presence of the damned cuccos.