Royal Rebel 4 ~ The Return

Chapter 40: Faith in the Champions

"Papa...?" Tulin shifted in his hammock as he heard a little whisper behind him, and he turned his head and opened his eyes to see his daughter behind him; the small, pink Rito was fiddling with her wings and waiting for her father to answer her.

"Ani...? What are you doing up at this time? What's wrong?" He adjusted himself so he could wrap his wings around her and lift her into the hammock with him, setting her in her mother's empty spot. She looked around, confused as to why she wasn't there, and Tulin placed his wing on her head. "Mama just left for a trip. She'll be back in the morning."

"I heard a voice." Ani said, pointing at the door. "And I saw tall people downstairs with weapons." Tulin was suddenly on his edge hearing what his daughter was saying, his mind instantly thinking the worst. Especially when he heard the same noise she had described.

"Who's there?" He asked, now spotting a shadow as footsteps against the wooden stairs grew closer. The shadow kept falling over the wood and leading closer and closer to his room. "Show yourself!" The bird felt his stomach flip as a black boot stepped in the doorway, followed completely by a tall figure.

"Tulin?" His eyes widened at the sound of the king's voice, and then he took a few steps into the room, allowing the blanket of light to fall on him and reveal that Tulin had nothing to worry about. "Hey, I just wanted to let you know that we're here."

"Well, thank you, because you nearly gave me a heart attack! I thought you were a member of the Yiga Clan!" Tulin hissed quietly, pulling his frightened daughter closer to him. Link shrugged and smiled nervously. "Go let grandmother know you're here. She's been worried sick all week. And don't scare the feathers off her, either! She's already on edge."

"Alright." Link headed up the stairs, slowly but quick enough to not be suspicious to any one. He reached the top and peered into Amalia's room, spotting the Rito woman sat on her hammock, looking down at something. "Hey, Amalia."

"Hm? Oh, Link! You're here!" She quickly got up and rushed over to him, throwing her wings around him to hug him. "Please, you have to get him out of there... my son..."

"Amalia, it's okay, I promise. We were able to rescue Sidon and Yunobo, and we're going to save Teba and Riju too." He tried to console her as she sobbed, and hearing of their success in the East made her feel a bit more at ease. But it was hardly enough to keep her from worrying about her son.

Considering what had happened to her father in a similar situation.

~~~~

"...And this one is a move she taught me just before I left!" Azu created an ice ball above his head, and began shooting little ice crystals from it in all directions. Any that came close to hitting anyone or anything broke before they hit. "Soon, I'm gonna go back so she can teach me more advanced stuff!"

"That's really neat!" Yunobo smiled, watching as the teenager began forming another ball of water. "What else did you learn?"

"Azu's getting a lot better with his powers," Ellet started as he set his things down next to mine in the large inn room. "He almost set my hair on fire yesterday while he was showing me a new move he learned."

"I believe it," I giggled, and he pushed his hair out of his face just at the thought. I yawned and sat down on the bed, stretching my arms out as I flopped onto my back. "I can't wait to finally be home, sleeping in my own bed again knowing everything is over with."

"Me too." Ellet breathed as he laid down next to me, looking up at the candles above us that lit the room up. "Do you think we'll still be friends after this?"

"Of course we will," I smiled, turning my head to look at him, and he did the same back to me. "We're saving Hyrule together. The three of us are the new hero team." We both looked at Azu, who was still practicing more of his tricks to show the Champions. "Just look at my mom and dad. They got married after they saved Hyrule." I chuckled as I sat up, placing my hands at my sides.