SessKag; Breath of the Wild

FIFTY-SEVEN

While Kagome went off with his two most important items and Twilight, Link stayed back and started bartering at the bazaar with Sesshoumaru keeping an ear out for whispers of information. He's heard from the patrolling Gerudo guard during their change of shifts that their investigation of the Yiga had led them to Karusa Valley, where they suspected the group's hideout supposed to be. However just going north of Gerudo Desert meant danger from the element since sandstorms were active there.

Not only the sandstorms threaten any that come near the valley, but the monsters populated the area near there and the drastic temperature change meant that anything short of complete and thorough preparation spelled death for them. This all has yet to include the members of Yiga terrorist that hides in the valley itself. The soldiers were currently preparing themselves and flushing out any Yiga spy remnants all around Gerudo Desert.

While compiling all these information in his head, he watched Link talking to that odd Hylian male on the small outpost, staring at the sandstorms nearby. Link turned to him a moment later and approached Sesshoumaru with information, "That guy Nobiro," He gestured at staring dark skinned Hylian, "said that there's some kind of ancient treasure deep inside the sandstorm there," He pointed at the direction the male was staring, "Apparently the sandstorm there stopped for a few hours a day, so he's been keeping watch,"

Sesshoumaru raised a brow and Link shrugged at the unspoken question, "He's been keeping watch for a few days,"

"Even at night?" Asked Sesshoumaru.

Link rubbed his chin, "Not sure..." As he walked closer to study the sandstorm in the distance, he suddenly froze and paled. Sesshoumaru recognized the symptoms just as Link knelt to the ground, hand to his head and groaned painfully. Standing guard over the remembering Hylian knight, Sesshoumaru glared at the sandstorm. Since the Hylian, Nobiro, have been staring in that direction even when he and his pack arrived early in the morning with no sign of the storm letting up, Sesshoumaru deduced that it stops when Nobiro wasn't watching and the only possible chance the obsessive Hylian would stop watching was when he became too fatigued to continue his disturbing staring, it was highly possible that the sandstorm stopped at night.

Link groaned back to reality a few moments later, standing back up and shaking his head. His tense shoulders looked as though he was a moment from attacking anyone or anything moving too suddenly. As his mind caught up to him, he grumbled, "Damn Princess's pride and the Gerudo law. Could have gotten herself killed. Stupid masses and their blasted rumors..." He continued to grumble along the same line and Sesshoumaru waited for Link to calm down.

If anyone could talk him down from his emotional state, it would be Kagome and right now their most mentally and emotionally balanced pack mate was not nearby so Sesshoumaru could only be a supportive silent pillar. Whatever it was that Link just remembered, it set off his 'kill everything' instinct.

Sesshoumaru prayed to any divine being listening that Kagome will get back before things get too tense. Sesshoumaru's not good with therapy talk other than calming something she called PTSD and survivor guilt. Anything deeper and he's out of his depth.

Meanwhile, Link was furious. He had sat down near the oasis by a coconut tree, munching aggressively on an apple while his mind replayed that memory over and over. He knew that his fury came from his memory self, but he'd be damned if it didn't affect him the way it does.

What was she thinking? Sure, she's suffocated by all the staring and the muttering, especially with her 'reminder' constantly stalking her, but still-!

Oh who was he kidding? Link would have run off too the first chance he get. In fact he does that whenever she's stuck in her tower and he's been given a moment of respite from his guard duty. Link remember coming back from one such resting day, free from his guard job over a stubborn person of interest that made it well known how much she despised his very existence, only to find out that the Princess of Hyrule had escaped from her tower and ran off to Chief Urbosa's abode.

Making use of the somehow leaked news that he's away for the morning to escape and taking advantage that he can't enter the strict Gerudo Town because of his gender to permanently keep him out of her sight. Link still suspected that a Yiga spy leaked the news and plant stupid ideas in her head to separate them. Because, by the Goddess, he almost didn't make it.

A moment later and...

He still feel that terror, watching from afar how she stumbled and the Yiga assassins coming closer, their Vicious Sickle held high in a dramatic pose as they watched her fair feature twisting in terror with glee...

He thought that he must make it, his burning lungs be damned. Without her, he's...

Without Princess Zelda, what is Link? Nothing more than a freak of man who's too good with weapons and violence. On some days, Link felt that he's monster, a beast without purpose. He had lived as just another Hylian, but it was obvious that he's too different. A slow life on the farm just wasn't for him. His reaction time and natural ability with any weapon placed in his hands was too...

The insecurity, the staring, the way other kids stare at him when he killed a wild wolf attacking them when they were given herding chores with nothing but a stick in his hand at the age of five, the way his peers calling him a monster whenever he killed anything too easily...before the Master Sword, Link remember waking up at night in terror from nightmares of him killing everyone who taunted him.

At time he wondered if he really was nothing more than a killing machine...

"Link?"

Link blinked out from his brooding and looked up to see that Kagome has returned. He smiled but she frowned. She reached out and the next thing he knew, he was embraced gently. He knew well that Kagome's a physically affectionate person so he didn't take it wrong. But this time he wondered if he deserved to be held.

Kagome sighed and pulled back, yet her gentle hands remained on his shaking shoulders. Usually she won't press for answer whenever he's in one of his mood but this time she asked, gently, "What happened?"

And Link told her, in the way that a hundred years ago he couldn't. His terror and his rage when he saw his Princess almost killed. How furious he was at her stupidity of prioritizing her pride and freedom over her safety and life, how terrified he was when he saw her on the ground with the Yiga above her, her life in the bastard's hand. He poured his anger, his fear and his insecurities until he was completely drained of it all.

Link drifted in and out of consciousness as Sesshoumaru covered him with his fur, his head on the proud male's lap. Kagome sat on his other side; hand in his hair as she leaned against Sesshoumaru. He listened to their quiet conversation as he let his tired mind and heart rest...

Kagome sighed, "I'll admit, that was stupid of Zelda,"

"Hn,"

"But at the same time...I get that she's suffocating from all the whispering and the Old Man's expectation,"

"Hn,"

"But she didn't notice just how similar Link's situation was to her. Except his was the opposite. He's too good that it frightened people away from him. If it wasn't because of the Master Sword, I'm not sure if Link would have turned out as...well...composed as he is,"

"Hn,"

"People are stupid and cruel,"

"Hn,"

"You're stupid and cruel,"

"Kagome..."

"What? I have been talking about all these and all I get from you as input is a grunt,"

"This one simply acknowledges the fact that your thought is similar to ours,"

"Oh, get off the Hinox's shoulder, Sesshoumaru. I hate it when you go all formal like that,"

"This Sesshoumaru has been trained in the art of nobility's etiquette since we can talk. One cannot be blamed for behaving so..."

"Oh, I will so blame you. You have shown that you can talk without that..."

And Link drifted away with a smile. Odd as it was, this normal argument between them was the best medicine for him at the moment after the explosive emotional confession...