'
The heart pounds swiftly behind the chest when Linkly enters the inn again. This time, alone.
The inn owner greets him from the counter.
" Sav'aaq... Oh?... It's you! I have great news, the doctor is back now. " she smiles with her chubby face.
Linkly nods nervously and swallows hardly.
The woman looks to the right side.
" Riku, you have a patient."
" I'M COMING IN A MINUTE!"
The woman behind the counter looks back at Linkly.
" You can sit down while waiting on the doctor... Sometimes, it takes longer than a minute for her to get here..." she chuckles and nods toward the set of a table and two chairs by the corner of the room. At the right side from the entrance.
Linkly gives her a nod and walks toward the table where he barely has sat down when a woman with an opened and loose doctor coat stumbles out from a room.
" I'm here now -..." she pants with messy hair where strands of hair stand up here and there with a small layer of dust on them.
The doctor looks confused at the woman behind the counter who points with an extended arm toward Linkly.
" The little Vai over there needs your help..."
Doctor Riku sighs loudly when she sees him.
" Oh, no... What has the princess done now?" She grunts.
The woman behind the counter shushes her.
" RIKU?!... You might be a doctor, but you aren't allowed to talk about our princess like..." she starts telling her when the doctor halts her words by holding a hand up against her.
She holds her breath in surprise.
Riku shakes the head.
" Please, don't misunderstand me... I don't mind taking care of our beloved princess... I am only worried about her... How she seems recklessly hurting herself in duty of taking care of her people..."
The inn owner exhales and doesn't seem as if she wants to argue on that.
" I see... " she nods slowly and looks over at Linkly, who seems frozen in midair where he is hesitating between sitting down as planned or standing up again.
The inn owner shrugs and looks back at the doctor.
"... But you have nothing to worry about... Since it's not the princess who needs your help... It's the little Vai over there..." she explains and nods toward Linkly, who shyly stands up and clears the throat.
The doctor gasps.
" Oh?... It's not... Then..." she turns toward Linkly, who slowly approaches her.
She smiles at him.
"... Pardon me... For assuming the princess had sent you to get me... I'm Riku, the doctor around here... If you need my help, I will gladly help you..." Riku says and starts eyeing Linkly up and down.
The doctor is only about a head taller than him. Around the same height as Link.
" So?... May I ask what you need help with?"
Linkly flinches where he swiftly hands the slightly wrinkled paper toward her.
The doctor hums confused and takes the paper where she starts reading the information about his health.
She nods at the end of the text.
" Alright... Then I want you to enter this room..." Riku says and walks toward the room she came out from.
Linkly starts following her where he parts the lips in surprise of the outstanding room. The walls, the floor, and even the ceiling are covered in large and white clinker bricks.
A few beds are standing in a row by the left wall. With white curtains between each bed to keep some privacy.
Next the door to the right is a desk with a chair to the short sided wall.
The long sided wall to the right is cut off in the middle of the floor, where another room is around the corner.
Weird devices are standing here and there in the room. Making weird beeping noises.
Even a tall pot with a fern stands by the top right corner of the room. With its feathery alike leaves pointing to every direction. A few of the green leaves are leaning at the wall.
Linkly stares shocked at the big screen whose white device seems standing on a white table on wheels.
The doctor looked confused at him and followed his gaze.
When she sees the device, she starts chuckling. And gets a asking look from Linkly, who hums.
Riku smiles at him.
" I know... These things might look weird... Especially in a place like Gerudo town... But they are a great help with my treatments of sick patients... Something Purah from Hateno village helped me with... So, with her technology and my medical knowledge, I have been able to treat people who otherwise would be dead by now... I even treat people outside the village... Men who aren't allowed to enter due to the old and traditional rule where only women are allowed to enter the town..." she explains.
"... Oh..." Linkly exhales fascinated.
The doctor smiles and makes a hand gesture toward the bed.
" Please... Lay down on one of the beds, and let me examine you .."
The hylian's heart pounds faster in nervousness. Afraid the so-called examination might risk his disguise would be exposed.
... But, hopefully, she won't get angry at him since it's her duty to treat people. No matter their gender... Even though he broke the law of who is allowed to enter the town...
The Gerudo doctor puts a gentle hand on his shoulder and gets a terrified look from him.
She shrugs.
"... Don't worry, my friend... I won't do anything weird... It's a simple examination... You have nothing to worry about..." she assures him.
Linky swallows hardly and gives her an awkward smile despite she wouldn't see it due to the veil.
He nods and walks toward a bed between two others.
The body trembles, and the legs feel a little jelly. He also feels a bit lightheaded as he could pass out if he gets more nervous.
He places the axe against the wall before proceeding to enter the bed.
When he climbs the bed, he can feel the springs bounch from his weight, where he shifts on the bed to get down on his back at the mattress.
The backhead gets down on a pillow where its softness embraces him. He starts feeling slightly tired due to the comfort.
The doctor sits down on a metal stool whose wheels are sliding smoothly across the floor when she kicks gently with the feet.
Next to the bed where Linkly lies down, she shoves the hand into the pocket of her coat.
" Alright... Say ahhh..." she smiles and takes up a small and transparent stick where quicksilver could be seen in the glass stick.
Linkly grunts confused.
" Ahhh?..." he exhales with a wide open mouth.
Before he even gets a chance to avoid the situation, the doctor lifts the veil from his bottom part of the face and shoves the thermometer underneath his tongue.
The hylian jolts in shock and wides the eyes in terror.
The doctor chuckles.
" Sorry... Did I startle you? It wasn't my intention... May I tell you? You are a really cute vai... Your husband is really lucky... It's such a shame that he isn't allowed to support you here due to the rule..." she apologies while keeping an eye on the thermometer where the quicksilver is raising along with Linkly current body heat.
The shocked hylian exhales in relief. Relieved, she didn't figure out his actual gender.
But he was surprised she knew he was married.
So, he raises an eyebrow and looks asking up at her.
The doctor laughs.
" How I knew about your marriage?"
Linkly hums.
The doctor smiles and nods toward his hand.
" Simply since I saw your ring... So, I assumed it was a wedding ring... Which isn't very surprising since where is no way a cute vai as you would still be single..." she explains and makes him blush.
A short while later, she takes the thermometer out from his mouth and lets go of the veil.
She hums thoughtfully while eyeing the glass stick.
"... It seems you don't have any fever... Which is a good sign... Since you shouldn't have any kind of infection then... So... " she smiles warmly at him and stands up from the stool who creaks to the movements.
Riku puts the stick back in the pocket and leans a slightly over Linky.
" Alright... I am now going to press my fingers on your stomach... It won't hurt... But it might feel a bit uncomfortable..."
Linky looks confused but nods.
It wouldn't surprise him if Riku finds the cause of his latest problems in the stomach. Since he has been throwing up and getting a weird bulge.
The doctor starts pressing the fingers on his stomach.
Like she warned him, it doesn't hurt but feels uncomfortable. At some point, it almost feels as if he gets the need to take a leak.
A while later, the doctor stands upright with happiness written across her face.
" Congratulation... You and your husband are expecting a baby..."
The words sounded so surreal that Linky couldn't really take them in at first.
And the moment when they have somewhat sunk in, the doctor was already in a hurry to get a device over to the bed.
" Oh! I have an awesome device who can show you the baby! I am sure you will love it!" She says happily.
Since Linky wants to protest, he starts thinking out a solution how to tell her she is wrong. That he can't be pregnant at all... And she needs to make further examinations to find the real cause of his illness.
But how?
The simplest solution would be to tell her about his real gender... But that would also be the riskiest solution... So, maybe he should find another one?
The hylian blinks confused when he sees a screen pointing toward him.
The doctor sits down with a hand device in the hand where a wire is connecting the smaller device with the bigger one. In the other hand, she holds a tube.
Riku smiles.
" It's on the black screen you will see the baby... I know... It won't look like a baby... More as transparent silhouette of the child... But, it will be an awesome experience for you... You will love it..." she explains and squirts out a bluish jelly alike liquid on top of his stomach.
The sudden coldness made Linky shudder.
Out of curiosity of the device, Linkly stays silent and stares asking at the screen. Maybe the real issue can be seen on the screen?
The tip of the hand device gets placed on the blue liquid on his stomach. Then the device starts gliding around the stomach, making Linky giggle slightly since it tickles.
Weird transparent silhouettes start showing up on the screen. It still looks rather dark. But something is popping up.
It looks a bit weird... So, this is what Linkly's stomach looks from the inside?
At first, it looks like an ocean with white-ish lines... Then, a black part shows up. Circular part. Like a cocoon.
The doctor starts focusing on that part and makes smaller circulating movements with the hand device there.
Suddenly, she stops moving with the hand. Around the same time where Linkly froze with decreased pulse.
"THERE! -..." she bursts out in excitement and points with a finger at the screen. At a silhouette who obviously has a body with arms and legs and a head who looks a lot bigger compared to the rest of the body.
The doctor starts pointing out certain parts while explaining what they are seeing.
" That's the head... And that's the baby's heart..."she explains where the rest of her explanation disappeared due to weird crackling noises in Linkly's mind.
The hylian can't understand the thing he is seeing right now. How... It can't be possible, right?!
Even though a lot of his memories are gone, he is still like one hundred percent sure, men can't get pregnant. So... How... How can HE be pregnant?! It can't be real... It must be a weird dream. There is no way he is carrying a child in the womb.
And if he is... How will he be able to even give birth?
*** Many moments later at the Yigas***
Link plants the foot hardly at the leader of yiga. The overweighted man lies defeated on the ground and grunts loudly when a boot stomped on him.
The hylian smirks a few seconds until he drops the smile and sighs.
" ... You have caused me a lot of trouble... And now I will give you one last chance to survive..." Link starts saying.
The yiga leader starts trembling with the arms over the head.
" Please... Anything..."
"...- First of all... I want Urbosa's helmet back that you stole from the Gerudos..."
" Of course! It's yours... W-we don't need it..."
Link gets smugly.
" And second... Tell me what the hell you did to my husband... What did you do to the king of Calatia, and how can I undo it?!"
The yiga leader grunts surprised and lowers the arms.
"Oh?... He was your husband?" He asks instead of answering Link's questions.
The hylian wasn't in the mood of a simple chat and snaps where he raises the foot and stomps it hardly back down on the man who cries out in pain.
" Don't you dare to wriggle out of this... Answer my questions! Or you can count yourself as a dead man!"
The man on the ground lets out a desperate cry of fear. Squirming like the worm he is.
" S-sorry... Sorry... I am honestly not sure what we did... The man told me ... We should search the whole kingdom after a weird looking stone... Which we did... And found one... It was shining brightly... Then we tricked the king to swallow the stone... We thought the stone would pull out our savior... Demise... But... Instead, the stone transformed him into a dragon who attacked everyone... Including the yiga..."
Link raises an eyebrow.
"And?... The man you are talking about... The one who gave you the orders... What's his name?"
The yiga leader sniffles.
" I don't know... He never told us... And I don't know whom he is... Since he always wore a mask... A porcelain mask... His eyes seem shining in bright yellow... Please... Aren't we done yet?... Am I free to go?"
The descriptions sound a lot as Zant. So, the twilight creature found a way to manipulate a whole clan to work for him. And do weird things with Ganondorf...
Link scoffs.
"So... Ganondorf didn't transform into a dragon until he swallowed a stone the mysterious man told you to find?..."
"YES... YES!"
Link glares down at him.
" And the helmet?... "
"T-the helmet? What about it?"
The hylian crosses the arms.
"... Where can I find Urbosa's helmet?"
"Ah... It's in my office... You won't miss it... A-aren't you done with me yet?"
Link rolls the eyes with a snort and takes the foot down from the man.
" Yeah... For now... But try anything funny... And I will not be as forgiving in the future..."
The yiga leader gets swiftly up, where he glances worried at him for a short moment. Before stumbling away in an embarrassing defeat.
Link follows the man's movements for a while until he decides to get the helmet.
The worries about Linkly's health start coming back again. The doctor should know the health problems by now.
So, he better hurry up now and get back to Linkly...
*** Back at Gerudo town, outside its walls***
Link almost drops the helmet when he sees Linkly's worried face.
The taller hylian adjusts the grasp of the helmet he holds in the arm against the side of the body.
"... S-so... What's the news? What did the doctor s-said?" He gulps.
The pale hylian looks up at him.
"... You won't believe me... But... I am pr-... Pregnant..." he tells him with dull eyes.
Link lets out a dry chuckle and shakes the head.
" Stop joking... What did she really told you?" He says with increased heartbeats. Deep inside, he somehow believes those words... Even though it's not logical.
Linkly tilts the head down.
"... It's... The truth... I'm pregnant... And since I'm man... I assume... I mean... I'm not a woman, so how can I even give birth to the child?" He explains and makes Link to stiffen.
Then without any chance to avoid the next thought.
"... I'm going to die... Right?" He accidentally adds.
Link can't believe it... His worst nightmare became true. And Zant had right... He, Link, was slowly killing Linkly. Even if he didn't knew back then, when Zant was playing tricks in Vah Medoh.
Linkly is dying because of him! And now where might not be a turn back from the thing that has taken over Linkly's body... The parasite Link accidentally planted without knowing it was possible...
The thing that will most likely kill Linkly... And the blood will be on Link's hands... It's his fault!