The Origin of a Champion

Chapter 7- Sworn Enemies

 Friday night took forever to arrive. The next two days for Alvar were very hard due to his injuries. He insisted he still train and work, no matter how many times Zarya tried to talk him out of it.

"I still think you should stay back from the trip to Zora's Domain tomorrow," Zarya called over her shoulder to Alvar. He was resting on the couch because Zarya insisted that he rested as much as possible. She was packing up for the long trip. They would leave tomorrow morning and come back on Tuesday if all went according to plan.

"I will be fine. It's a relatively short escort trip. I'm sure nothing will happen," Alvar insisted. He was stretched out on the couch looking through the book pile that Zarya always had next to it because he was bored. Zarya was a bookworm and passed that trait to Link. Alvar himself didn't care much for reading through.

"Link? Are you almost ready for Zora's Domain?" Zarya called out to him. She had just finished packing for Alvar and herself. Link came sliding down the hallway and into her sight excitedly.

"Yes, I think. Could you please check to make sure I have everything I need? I want to be as ready as possible!" Link exclaimed quickly. He was very excited since this would be his first official visit to Zora's Domain. He had been twice when he was a baby, but he couldn't remember it.

Zarya smiled at his enthusiasm, "Yes of course." She walked to his room and looked at his clothes all spread neatly on his bed. He had his little bag against his bed stand. She looked through all his things and put them in his bag after she approved of it.

"Well, you got everything. You have your swimming shorts I see, that's good. Oh, and you are only bringing one sparring sword."

"Moooom please can I just bring two at least?" Link whined.

"No, we are going there to be friendly, not picking sparring fights. Anyway, you might make some new Zora friends, and you won't do that through sword fighting with them."

Link reluctantly picked his favorite sword and put it with his bag. But his slight disappointment didn't last long. He was still very eager and ran to Alvar to proudly announce that he was ready for the trip. Alvar smiled at his son's enthusiasm and then told Link to go get ready for bed since it would be an early morning. Zarya glanced at Alvar, who was still on the couch and skimming through her collection of books.

"Well, I haven't seen you read anything but maps and letters for a while. Nice to see you reading my books," she said.

Alvar looked up at her and smiled, "Ha, I'm not reading it, I'm just bored. All your books are romance novels anyway. There's no action," he stated, trying to seem as 'matter of fact' as possible.

Zarya giggled, "There's no shame in liking reading. It's good for you, you should read more often."

"As I said, your books are all romantic. I don't want to read them."

"Well sorry, I'll make sure to pick up 'The Complete Idiot's Guide To Fighting' next time I see it in the bookstore," Zarya teased, then broke out laughing at her own joke. Alvar mocked offense at her jest.

After Zarya had composed herself, Alvar asked her, "Wait, does that book really exist?"

"I don't know, to be honest, I made that title up. But if I find it you'll be the first to hear about it."

Alvar looked at her and smiled, "You know, I would read more often if I wasn't always so booked." It was his turn to laugh.

Zarya playfully scowled, "That's not funny. You need better jokes."