Offspring

Chapter 7: Compunction

Murdoch's behavior did not make sense to Link. He could not even figure out how his actions in the past could've hurt his son badly enough to burn the bridges between them in the first place, but a violent outburst like what had just occurred? He could not even begin to piece together the reasons behind that. He had only first met the guard captain a couple hours ago at most, but regardless, an action like that did not seem like him in the slightest. Had that sudden, enraged strike been a product of overwhelming grievances in the last couple weeks, or had it been a hundred years in the making?

He didn't know how, but he had to further understand his son's feelings. The problem was...after their encounter, when he believed that his sisters were sent to him by Link, his trust in them seemed to evaporate completely. At this rate, who would he trust enough to speak with anymore?

The handle of the Lightscale Trident, now forced apart from its head by the shockwave it had endured upon crashing into the railing, sat motionless on the ground by Link's feet. Its head, with its three sharp points, remained embedded about an inch within the railing. Considering the hard stone that made up the entirety of the bridge, this was an impressive feat. It was unknown to the trio whether Murdoch had been intentionally aiming for his father when he hurled the weapon forward earlier, but undoubtedly, a direct hit to Link's flesh would've spelled disaster. Now, as Link stood up and brushed himself off, he reached for the trident's broken neck and tried to yank it out of the railing.

Mira stood a couple feet away at the edge of the gazebo, still quivering intensely from the scene that had just played out before her and her sister. "I...I...always knew Murdoch was a...bold character, but I never thought he would've done something like that."

"That makes two of us." Link muttered in response as he wrapped his second hand around the trident's embedded head. Even with the full weight of his body tugging against the object, he was failing to remove it from the stone. "I just wish I knew where I had messed up."

"I mean...I know he's always been upset that you left us behind in the Great Calamity." Mira continued, her voice cracking repeatedly. "But it doesn't seem like him to just go ballistic and attack you like that!"

Noelani gasped suddenly. "Wait...Murdoch attacked Dad? He didn't just throw his trident on the ground or anything?"

"Yes, Lani, that's what happened. Murdoch's gone now, but before he left, he launched his trident right at Dad. We're all lucky Dad's reflexes are so good." Mira answered with a chill upon turning to her sister. "I still can't believe that just happened..."

It had come as a shock to everybody. While they were still recovering from that shock, however, Murdoch was heading off somewhere beyond their knowledge, his rage still likely boiling over. They didn't know if he would simply be running away to cool off, or if he planned to do something rash from his somewhat demented emotions. At the moment, though, there were other things they needed to be worrying about.

"It's okay, Mira, it's in the past now. The question now is..." Link paused for a moment while he grunted in his attempts to remove the busted weapon from the tough stone. "...what are we going to do with Mipha's trident? I'm sure this thing was considered sacred before Murdoch destroyed it."