"I wasn't expecting that."
Link and Zelda slept behind me as I took watch. And after they'd fallen asleep, a guardian showed up.
"All I said was there would be a surprise."
"You didn't say what."
"That ruins the surprise~"
I rolled my eyes as I slipped behind the wall, blocking my view of the guardian.
"Why'd you send it now? I can't do anything against a guardian."
"We both know that's a lie. And, I want to see where your skills lie. See how the monster reacts to us."
"They only react to me cause you're in my head..."
"Not just your head."
I grabbed my wrist on instinct, glancing at the others.
"I wish it'd never happened..."
Movement passed the wall, drawing my attention. My eyes widened when the guardian peered over the wall at us, its laser pointing a Link.
My hand moved, grabbing my sword. I'd moved to cover him and Zelda before I could think about it.
"Don't," I hissed.
I raised my sword to move for the guardian, but it dashed away. I stopped, letting my stance fall.
"Interesting. They'll listen to a direct order without fail."
"I... I didn't order it-"
"No, you did. You told it to stop."
I frowned, before sheathing my sword.
"I hate this... I hate all of this."
I took a seat on a broken wall, holding my head in my hands.
"If I had known things would turn out like this, I wouldn't have tried to go to Kakariko..."
"It's a bit late to regret the past, don't you think?"
I grit my teeth, closing my eyes for a moment.
"Just leave me alone."
~ * ~
Zelda watched me from her horse, her brows furrowed in worry.
"You didn't sleep again, did you?"
I glanced at her, before turning my attention back to my hands.
"It's okay if you wake us up so you can sleep. We're here to help each other."
"Last I checked, we were here for Link's memories..."
A Bokoblin moved in the corner of my eye. I glared at it, and it scurried in the other direction. The voice made some comment I blocked out, ignoring it.
"Amethyst?"
"Hm?"
My gaze moved back to Zelda, who looked up from the map.
"When did you last sleep?"
"You can't lie to her. You gotta tell her-"
"Before we left."
Zelda pressed her lips together.
"That's not true..."
"I didn't say from where."
"Amethyst, it's been days, maybe even weeks now. How are you still up?"
I shrugged, finding a loose thread in my tunic to fiddle with.
"I'm just not tired."
"There are dark circles under your eyes."
I rubbed at my cheek, shrugging again.
"You don't have to worry, Princess. I'll be fine."
I turned away, staring off in the other direction. The map shuffled, and the horses sighed.
"We'll probably reach the Riverside Stable by nightfall, if we hurry. And if there're no setbacks."
Link glanced back at me, but I kept my gaze away from the two.
"Let's get as far as we can then."
"Setback, you say?"
"Don't!"
"Why not?"
"I don't want any of your 'surprises' right now. I don't have the energy for it."
"Maybe if you slept...?"
"It's your fault I can't sleep."
A warm hand took my, bringing my attention back. My fingers wrapped around his on instinct as he squeezed my hand.
"I don't recommend getting close to the Hero."
"I've already seen him die, how much worse could it get?"
"Much, much worse, dear."
Link squeezed my hand again, and I looked up. We were leaving the Gatepost Town Ruins.
"I'm surprised there weren't any Bokoblins in there. I usually ran into them all the time," he commented.
"Maybe we're just lucky?"
I spotted movement to our left, but it was only a horse. I frowned, looking ahead of us again.
"We actually haven't seen any monsters since before we left Hateno."
"Maybe Ganon is planning something. But... that shouldn't be possible."
It grew quiet around us, and the horses stopped moving.
"Oh! Would you look at that?"
I turned around, spotting a guardian. My breath caught as the others looked back, spotting it.
"It hasn't spotted us."
"Just you wait!"
I grit my teeth, reaching for my sword.
"Zel-"
"Both of you, keep going for the stable. I'll take care of it."
I jumped down from the horse, pulling my sword out.
"Amethyst, don't!"
I paused, glancing at them.
"I've had to fight a few guardians while you two were gone. Besides, I'm not important in any of this. You both need to stay safe."
"We can't just leave you-"
"Don't worry about me, please. I'll catch up with you soon."
Their voices grew louder as the guardian spotted us, sending their horses off.
"How will you do this time, hm?"
"Shut up and stay out of this."
The laser pointed at me as I moved closer to the guardian. It backed up as I moved closer, the beeps and whirs slowing slightly.
Without a second thought, I rushed for the guardian.
"Start with the legs. Disable its movement," I whispered.
My sword cut through the metal effortlessly, snapping the legs. Sparks flew as I moved around it, cutting each leg off. The guardian spun its head, trying to keep up with me, but I kept going.
"Once it's disabled, aim for the eye."
I climbed up the guardian's base, reaching up to hold its head still. It whirred, its laser moving about frantically as I raised my sword.
Almost on instinct, I plunged my sword into the mechanical eye. The whirs from the machine grew louder as the malice emptied the machine, leaving behind an empty shell.
I watched as the malice disappeared, before pulling my sword out. I released the guardian, sliding down.
"Impressive. I didn't know you could take them down so fast."
"You've been here for how many years now and still haven't paid attention?"
"What can I say? Guardians become boring after some time."
I rolled my eyes, reaching for a stray screw.
"Purah would like these for her research."
"You're not going back there, though."
I paused, letting the screw fall.
"Oh... right."
"I can't go back."
"Why not...?"
I turned to head for the stable, but found Link and Zelda standing right behind me. My body froze in shock, my heart dropping.
Zelda's eyes were on the shell of the guardian, her eyes wide. But Link... his eyes met mine, and were full of concern.
~ * ~
We've been caught! I'm curious what you think will happen now that they've seen something.
Let me know what you think of the story so far! I did struggle with this chapter, but I do like it!