Ancient Wisdom

Chapter 3 pt 3. Memories

(A/N: TW, depictions of emotional and physical abuse. Robbie explains his traumatic backstory in this chapter. I placed a warning before the beginning of the triggering material as well as a summary at the end so that those that could not read it won't lose the plot.)

(Yes, I know it's been a while, but I hope I can make up for it with this chapter that is way longer than usual)

Since Sage had arrived at Kakariko Village at dusk, by the time the dispute with Robbie's father had finished the pale crescent moon with it stars were already shining in the night sky. Most of the villagers had already went inside their homes. Using this opportunity, Sage swiftly escorted Robbie away. She had witnessed his father gripping his goggles away from his face and saw how he got hurt. She opted for quickly walking him up the hill and into the small forest where the Great Fairy Fountain lay.

On the way up, Robbie started to come to, looking around with a dazed expression as Sage led him by keeping a hand on his back and holding his arm gently. He winced suddenly, causing Sage to halt as he brought a hand up to the left side of his face. He lowered his head when Sage turned to him. He had trouble keeping his balance, he was still trembling. She decided then to carry him up the rest of the way. She kneeled in front of him and told him she would carry him. He let out a quiet "what?" but obliged anyway. She carried him piggy back style and continued to walk up the hill. She felt him rest his head against the back of hers and heard his breath hitching occasionally from his crying earlier. Passing the Ta'loh Naeg Shrine and reaching the fairy fountain, she gently sat him down on the edge of the fountain.

She wanted to collect some of the water from the fairy fountain to heal Robbie's wounds, but doing so required for her to see his face. She hesitated because of it, but still inspected her surroundings to make sure there was no one else around.

"Robbie..." she gently called out to him. His long hair still concealed his face from her view as he held his head down. But after she called him, he slowly lifted his head to look at her. She held in her gasp as she finally got to see what was under his goggles this whole time.

His left eye had been replaced with the eye of a guardian. The area surrounding said eye was also covered in guardian metal, with its intricate constellations glowing in its gentle blue. He had slight scarring tissue surrounding the metal parts as well. His blue eye was hypnotizing, but combined with his right eye, a dark crimson, all she could see were the eyes of a broken person. His right eye was puffy since he had cried and the residuals of tears also reflected on metal around his left eye because of the glow of the area. There were fresh scratches across his face, from the struggle with his father earlier. Luckily they weren't bleeding, but they surely stung.

Sage may have stared a little too long, because Robbie let out a sob, struggling to breathe and started trembling more. Her first instinct was to take hold of his hand, placing it above her chest where he could feel her breathing and heart beating.

"Please, breathe with me." She said as took deep breaths, squeezing his hand over her chest in an effort to ground him. Robbie once again looked at the ground in an attempt to hide himself from her. Sage needed to treat his wounds though, so she slowly extended her other hand over to his chin and he let her lift his face to hers again. She offered him a comforting smile while looking directly into his eyes. His opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn't formulate words in his state. She then lowered the same hand and dipped it into the water of the fairy fountain, before lifting it again and tracing his scratches as well as the edges of the metal delicately with her fingers. She knew that the water from a fairy fountain had healing properties, since she had visited another fairy fountain in the Gerudo Desert.