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jadedrrose · 3 days

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𝐀 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐧'𝐬 𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐞

Chapter Four: The Choice

Synopsis/other info is available on my masterlist. (Including art of Rose's outfits!)

Five days had gone by since Rose had been ambushed in the woods near Satori Mountain.

In that time, nothing else had really happened. For the first few days, she’d been left completely alone. No signs of anyone watching her, nobody coming to ask her to join their clan, and certainly no attacks. But after five days of silence, there was a change.

She was out by Rutile Lake, not even fifty feet away from her cottage, collecting different kinds of herbs. After being injured by the mysterious Sooga’s dual swords, she’d realized that the few medicinal herbs she kept on hand would not be enough. So, she headed out to collect a few, needing more than she’d originally anticipated. Finding a good patch of medicinal herbs, Rose crouched down to collect them.

Deciding that some regular Hyrule herbs and a couple warm safflina was enough, she tucked them into her pouch and stood back up, ready to head back into her cottage to make herself a healing tea. But as she began to walk, a gut feeling presented itself to her. She wasn’t alone.

Pausing to focus on everything surrounding her, she then noticed it. A second energy was nearby; she could sense them, feel it, even.

Before she could even physically see them, Rose had a feeling that without needing to recognize the energy or even look at the person, she knew who was watching her. Thinking things over, she decided it would be best to approach him now. It would be risky without her katana, but she did have her powers if things went bad. Taking in a deep breath, Rose turned around, took a few steps towards the energy’s location, and she was able to quickly catch sight of the red figure hiding between some trees.

Suddenly, all the courage she’d worked up had disappeared. It was left with fear now, leaving Rose frozen in place as her eyes met the inverted Sheikah eye on Sooga’s mask.

“So you can sense my energy,” he acknowledged, nodding toward her.

Biting her lip, Rose struggled with what to say, unsure of if the Yiga general would attack or not. “Yes… I can,” she mumbled, meekly. “Why are you here?”

“I’ve come to observe you,” Sooga replied, coolly. “And perhaps discuss my offer again.”

“I haven’t changed my mind, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Rose frowned. An awful heat crawled up her back, and she averted her eyes away from him. Why did the idea of him specifically watching her bother her so much?

“I assumed you hadn’t. But Rose… there’s something I need to know about you,” Sooga ominously said. “There’s something about yourself that you haven’t told anybody of.”

What? Did he mean…? “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rose lied.

“But you do,” Sooga began to approach her, coming out into the clearing, right up to where Rose stood. With him now so close, she shivered at the sight of him. He was so tall, and incredibly strong. He could take her down with the flick of his wrist, at any given moment. “I saw not only the way you transported yourself, but also how the inverted eye appeared when you used your powers. I know what you are, Rose…”

Staring up at him with her lips parted, Rose found that she didn’t know what to say. Deny it again? But he’d clearly figured it out already, and the last thing she wanted was to anger him. That would probably result in him attacking her again. But before either of them could speak, shouting filled the air.

“I saw him! He was up here, I swear!”

Gasping, Rose’s eyes widened in horror at the other voice being so close by. Somebody saw Sooga coming up here… and now they’ll know where I live-

Not expecting to be grabbed so suddenly, Rose gasped again as Sooga held her with one arm, transporting them both away, into a darker, much cooler place. Looking around, Rose realized he’d brought her into a cave; one of the ones within Satori Mountain.

“What are you- let go of me!” Rose hissed, trying to squirm her way out of Sooga’s arms.

“Be quiet,” he muttered, tightening his hold on her.

Feeling embarrassed, Rose couldn’t help the blush that had spread across her cheeks. She hated him, and yet, the way he held her tightly against his toned body… no! Stop with those thoughts now!

Faintly, the two could hear the voices up above them.

“That’s odd, there’s a cottage here. But… it looks abandoned,” a boyish voice said.

“Yeah, I highly doubt anyone would live up here anyway,” another older, more gruff voice came. “Are you sure you saw the Yiga’s leading general up here?”

“I swear, I did!” The younger male voice pleaded. “He must’ve teleported away… ugh. I’m sorry for rushing you over here for nothing.”

“You’d better be. You know we’re not supposed to leave our stations at the stable. And what you were doing wandering over here in the first place is beyond me…”

With every second that went by, the voices became fainter and fainter. The last thing Rose had made out was the younger male mentioning wanting to see a “mountain spirit”. Although they were completely gone by now, Sooga waited another moment before moving again. Rose made a slight wincing face at the whole ordeal, wanting to get away from Sooga’s grip on her as soon as possible. After one more awkward moment, Sooga then transported himself with Rose in tow back up to the pond, where he finally let go of her.

Stumbling away from him, Rose did everything in her power to fight the blush she knew was spreading across her face, but to no avail.

“Now. Back to where we were,” he grumbled, annoyance evident in his tone.

Forgetting her embarrassment and being reminded of their discussion, Rose bit down on her lip, feeling like her world was shattering as she came to terms with the fact that somebody else knew what she was. Bracing herself to tell the truth, she waited for Sooga to speak again.

“Rose. Based on what I saw, I can only assume that you are of-“

Before he could say another word, a footsoldier suddenly appeared a few feet away from Sooga.

“Lord Sooga! It’s- ahh! The w-warrior!” they shrieked, jumping behind Sooga, shakily looking out from beside him at Rose. So now the footsoliders were scared of her? Perhaps that was why she’d only seen regular blademasters for a while, at least until Sooga showed up.

“There better be a very good reason as to why you’re interrupting my work,” Sooga warned, crossing his arms as he faced the footsoldier.

“I-it’s… Master Kohga, uh, sir! He wants you b-back at the hideout, at once!”

Sighing, Sooga then turned back to look at Rose, sending shivers of fear back through her. “I’m afraid I will have to find answers another time…”

With that, he formed a hand sign and disappeared at once, along with the footsoldier, leaving Rose completely alone. But rather than worrying about the fact that they knew where she lived… another, much more terrifying thought occupied her mind.

Sooga knew of her secret.

—

With another week having gone by without any encounters with Sooga, Rose had a lot of time to think. Not to mention that she’d been unable to train due to the injury he’d given her. It had since healed, thanks to the herbs she’d collected, but the attack had left a fading mark across her abdomen. With all of her newly found free time, she chose to spend it relaxing while also reflecting.

She thought back to all the pain and agony she’d felt for the first year after her family’s death. Even with the Great Fairies comforting her, it had been hard to move on. How hopeless and alone she felt some days, and the times she’d burst into a rage, swearing to the night skies that she’d kill all the knights in Hyrule for what they took from her.

And she had yet to actually go through with it. The incident where she’d choked the knight had almost been a starting step, but killing him? She couldn’t fathom being able to take anyone’s life away. But she still wanted her revenge. Her heart was torn; the two sides fighting over what path would be the right one. Finding the exact knight who’d slit her mothers throat and killing him sounded thrilling, but what would she do after? Be a wanted criminal for the rest of her life? However, sitting up on this mountain, doing nothing to avenge her family seemed unbearable; almost as if she’d be dishonoring them by letting the Hylian knights get away with their crime.

As she thought more and more, searched deeper within herself every day, Rose finally found her answer while sitting by the lake late at night.

It started when she’d finished staring up into the star-lit sky, knowing she wouldn’t find an answer there. As her eyes gazed upon the quiet pond, she found herself repeatedly eyeing the spot where she had spoken to Sooga a week prior. Even after she’d rejected his offer and fought him, he still had tried to get her to join the Yiga Clan again.

What would it be like to join them? Were they always cold, cunning assassins, or did they have a more family-like environment, when in their hideout? She’d have no way to know, unless if… she found out for herself, of course. But, was that something she’d be able to do, join the clan who’s sworn enemies with the kingdom of Hyrule?

Wait…

She’d decided that the knights of Hyrule’s royal family were her enemies long ago. The Yiga Clan had that in common with her. Perhaps joining them was the answer to her dilemma. Was she willing to do it, though? Give up living on Satori Mountain, to go live somewhere unknown, with people who’d been trying to kidnap her, and become an assassin?

As she thought about it more, it was almost as if a sense of calm washed over her. As if she physically knew what her destiny would be. The desire to avenge her family outweighed all else, and joining the Yiga Clan would be the first step in the right direction.

Finally, for the first time in days, Rose was able to sleep peacefully, not plagued by the thoughts of being ambushed or not knowing what her heart wanted. Because now… she’d found hope.

—

The following day, Rose began scheming. She’d need a solid plan if she were to actually go through with joining the clan. So, she sat at her small kitchen table, thinking hard, determined to figure this out as soon as possible.

At this point, she couldn’t be sure that Sooga would return to offer anything to her again. She’d rejected it twice, and thus proved herself untrustworthy. So she needed a way to convince them that she could be a great asset to the clan. Of course, there was the fact they wanted her abilities on their side, but that more than likely wouldn’t be enough any longer. So what else could she offer? Twirling a finger through her dark brown locks and biting on her lip, she searched for the answer.

Her bounty hunting work had made her somewhat well known throughout Hyrule. If she were to act carefully and continue doing “good” work, she might be able to gain the trust of those close to the royals. If she were to successfully do so, she could possibly be the greatest spy the Yiga Clan has ever had.

Nodding to herself, Rose decided she’d use that and her powers as reasoning. With that out of the way, she needed to get to another task; learning how to transport herself.

When she’d done it for the first time, it was because she was in a panic, fearing for her life. So how could she recreate that dire need to get somewhere else?

Deciding to start small, she headed outside, staring at one of the apple trees that grew near her cottage, willing herself to be in that very spot. Closing her eyes, she tried continuously to force herself to transport there, but found that it simply was not happening.

Thinking back to the way Sooga had transported away when they’d last spoken, she recalled that he had used a hand sign. Trying to replicate that, she focused all of her energy on being next to the tree.

Furrowing her eyebrows, she internally yelled at herself, desperate for it to work. And still, nothing happened.

Opening her eyes with an annoyed sigh, she searched her mind for another method. Would scaring herself work, since that’s what started this in the first place? That just didn’t seem reliable, though. Pacing around between her cottage and the apple tree, Rose thought deeper.

Until an idea finally came to mind. Heading back to her cottage, she stood just a few feet away from the door, taking in a deep breath and clearing her mind. Breathing out, she closed her eyes, and focused on her energy. Imagining the tree in her head, she erased the image of everything around it from her mind, leaving only her and the tree. Forming the hand sign the Yiga members did, she imagined herself at the tree, focusing her energy on herself, rather than the apple tree.

With a puff of smoke and prayer tags exploding around her, Rose opened her eyes to find that she was now standing under the tree. I did it! I transported myself! Smiling widely, she willed herself to relax again so that she could now practice, using the method again and again until it was perfected.

Imagining her energy to be over near the pond, she closed her eyes, formed the hand signal, and focused her energy again. And with another puffing of smoke and tags, she gleefully found herself now at the pond.

Rose continued to practice this until nightfall, where she finally transported herself back into her cottage, feeling incredibly exhausted, but still proud. Now all that was left for her to do was find a way to the Yiga Clan’s hideout.

—

Standing at his master’s side, Sooga listened as Kohga went on and on about how they needed answers about the Great Fairies’ warrior, and how badly they needed her to join the clan.

“She’s just too good to let go, you know? I mean, imagine it… a magical fairy warrior on our side?! I’d have the best lackey ev…er, uh, second to you, of course…” Kohga shamefully scratched at his neck.

Ignoring the comment, Sooga shook his head. “Master Kohga I’ve told you already, she refused twice. What makes you think she’ll change her mind the third time?”

“I dunno, maybe she’ll say yes to make you leave her alone?”

Sighing, Sooga decided not to respond to that. “Regardless of if she joins or not, we need answers about her lineage. I am certain she’s of Yiga descent, but she won’t admit it. That, and, I don’t understand how she went unnoticed for so long.”

“Hmm,” Kohga crossed his arms, seemingly in deep thought. “Now that I think about it, I don’t recall any kids named ‘Rose’ ever being born around here. Are you sure she’s really one of us?”

Hesitating, Sooga had to admit that he really wasn’t sure. Other Hylians, like himself, had joined the clan and were able to master the ancient arts, but it almost seemed to come too natural to Rose. He had no doubt about her performing the transportation technique on accident, yet it took regular Hylians years to be able to perfect doing it like that. That and, if she’d never been in the clan in the first place, how was she able to produce the inverted eye symbol?

“I cannot say that I have no doubt about it,” Sooga began to reply, “however, it seemed as if the ancient arts were something instinctive to her. No regular Hylian would be able to do such things on a whim, especially without practice.”

“That’s true…” Kohga mumbled, still thinking. “I’ve got an idea. Why don’t we send someone to observe her for a little bit, see if she does anything else with the ancient arts, huh?”

“Everyone who has seen her in the past reported that she performed nothing similar to our abilities,” Sooga said, seeing no point in Kohga’s idea.

“Yeah, well… maybe you awoke something in her, hm?” Kohga shrugged, a more playful tone in his voice now. “Maybe I should send you again and she’ll do something even more crazy.”

“…I do not think that would work, Master Kohga.”

“I’m only messing with ya! We’ll send a spy, someone who’s good at going unnoticed. How’s that sound?”

Nodding, Sooga could agree to that. “I believe that would be the best course of action.”

—

Spending the next couple of days practicing transporting herself and combining it into her combat routine, Rose was happy to find that she’d gotten pretty good at it. She still needed a bit more practice, but perhaps she’d be able to perfect it once she joined the Yiga Clan, since someone there would more than likely help teach her.

At the moment, Rose was at the very top of Satori Mountain, sitting underneath the cherry blossom tree. She was mindlessly doodling in her notebook, drawing a blupee that had curiously followed her up the mountain. It was currently about fifteen feet away from her, checking out all of the carrots that grew around the small pond.

With a slight smile formed on her lips, Rose looked up at the blupee, finding that it was now scratching at its ear. The sight was quite adorable to Rose, and her eyes lowered back to her notebook, starting a new sketch of the rabbit-like creature, mimicking what she saw in real life.

Just as she finished the rough shape of the blupee, Rose looked back up to find that the little creature had moved. Looking around, Rose sat up straight to get a better look at her surroundings, trying to see where the blupee had gone. But, to her dismay, it had disappeared. Why had it run off? Typically they’d stay around Rose, so long as nothing else showed up. So she assumed that’s exactly what had happened, another animal was close by and had scared the blupee away.

Only… there were no other animals in sight. Not even the chirping of a bird or leaves scattering from a squirrel. Trying to sense any other energies around her, a chill went down Rose’s spine as she identified another person’s energy nearby.

Perhaps somebody from the Yiga Clan was here? Maybe Sooga was back, ready to interrogate her about her secrets? Closing her notebook and tucking it under her arm, Rose stood up and began to creep around, trying to spot where this other person was hiding. Except no matter how much she searched, the person was nowhere to be found.

No Hylian soldier or traveler would be able to evade her with such ease. So that meant it was somebody from the Yiga Clan, she just didn’t know who. At the very least, she was able to determine it wasn’t Sooga, as his energy could be quite strong.

Well, whoever it was, if they didn’t want any confrontation, then Rose figured that she should just continue on with her day. Sooga knew where she lived already, so it wasn’t as though heading home would be a risk any longer. Whether or not he’d told anyone else where she lived remained unknown. But considering that somebody was watching her, she was inclined to believe that he had.

Heading back home, Rose opted to simply walk down the mountain rather than transport herself. It had been a day of good weather, and now a cool evening breeze was sweeping through the area. Humming a tune to herself, Rose looked ahead at the sunset, admiring the golden rays that it cast off. How long would this unknown Yiga be stalking her for? She could only faintly sense them now, but she knew without a doubt that they were still in the area. Whatever it was they wanted to see, Rose figured that they’d be incredibly bored as they watched her go through her normal routine.

Now passing by Rutile Lake, Rose let out a yawn despite not being very tired. Perhaps trying to sense others' energies had taken up too much of her own.

Heading into her cottage, Rose set her notebook down at the table and began preparing herself a small dinner. She steamed a few vegetables over her small stove, cut off a chunk of bread from the loaf she’d baked a couple days ago, and then sat down at her table, mindlessly eating. Whoever was sent out to watch her was probably starting to get annoyed with her doing absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. But with a little smirk to herself, Rose was the only one who knew that boring them was all part of her plan. While she hadn’t expected somebody to show up so quickly, it was convenient for the plan. She would mislead them into thinking that she was unable to transport herself or do anything else remarkable, until she was ready to head to the hideout. Afterwards, she’d force them to take her there.

Finishing off her food, Rose stood up and cleaned her dishware before preparing a bath for herself. As she let the water warm up, she ensured that the door to her home was locked and that the windows were firmly shut. The last thing she wanted was to give this unknown Yiga the entertainment of watching her bathe. Making a fowl face at the thought, Rose pulled her bathroom door shut and locked it. Stripping herself of her day clothes, she slid into the water and allowed herself to relax.

With the aid of the warm, soothing water, Rose was able to get into a meditative state, successfully, for the first time in a while. With her mind clear, she could now clearly sense that the Yiga stalking her was still close by. The thought of wondering if they were bored yet vaguely crossed her mind, but when in such a peaceful state, Rose hardly cared. Instead of worrying herself over what they were doing, she allowed her thoughts to dissipate, putting herself into a quiet, calming trance. She thought of nothing at all, simply felt the life around her. An owl hooting in the distance, the vines that grew on the sides of her home, the water flowing in from the lake to her home.

She’d almost become too relaxed. Finding that she was starting to fall asleep, Rose snapped herself out of her meditative state and took in a deep breath. Exhaling, she opened her eyes and squinted at how brightly lit the room suddenly seemed, despite not being very bright at all. It was then she noticed…

The unknown Yiga’s presence had vanished.

—

Returning to the hideout, the footsoldier made her way to the dining hall that was reserved for only the highest-ranking members of the clan. Currently, that just included Master Kohga and Sooga. Upon arrival at the wooden door, she knocked before waiting to be allowed in. The two were more than likely having dinner, as was most of the clan at this hour. After a few seconds, Master Kohga’s lively voice beckoned her in, and so she opened the door and stepped inside.

Bowing to her masters, the woman waited to speak.

“Back already, Uki?” Kohga inquired.

“Yes, Master. The warrior- She’s… done nothing,” the footsoldier sighed, almost sounding slightly annoyed.

“What do you mean by ‘nothing’?” Sooga then pried.

“Well, mostly I mean she literally did nothing interesting at all. When I arrived, she was foraging in the woods, then she went up to the top of the mountain and started drawing. After that I followed her home and she just ate dinner and took a bath, it was the most boring thing I’ve ever seen-“

“But did she show any signs of using the ancient arts? I don’t need to know what Rose does in her free time,” Sooga clarified, after clearing his throat to cut Uki off.

“No,” Uki answered. “The only thing is… I think she was able to sense my energy, even after I’d tried masking it.”

“She was able to sense mine as well,” Sooga shook his head. “Although, I did not mask it.”

“But that’s not enough evidence!” Kohga cursed, “that’s it! We're just gonna have to ask her ourselves!”

“Should I approach her, tomorrow?” Uki asked.

“I do not think she’d answer to you,” Sooga sighed. “If anyone questions her, it should be myself.”

The three sat in contemplative silence, before Kohga finally spoke up again. “How about this; Uki, you go to watch her again tomorrow, and if nothing happens, Sooga will go the next day.”

Nodding, Uki agreed with a quiet “yes, Master.” Sooga then gave one nod, also in agreement.

“Alright… you’re dismissed, soldier, go get yourself some grub!” Kohga exclaimed, waving Uki off.

With a respective bow, Uki then made her way out of the room, leaving the two leaders to finish their meals.

#sooga x oc #sooga x original character #hwaoc sooga #sooga #sooga x reader #legend of zelda fanfiction #zelda fanfiction #zelda fic #hyrule warriors fic #age of calamity fic

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jadedrrose · 19 days

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𝐀 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐧'𝐬 𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐞

Chapter Three: Hunted

Synopsis/other info is available on my masterlist. (Including art of Rose's outfits!)

With a year of work as a bounty hunter behind her, Rose had managed to make somewhat of a name for herself all around Hyrule.

People from all across the land had hired her, for all sorts of reasons. From stopping petty crime to defeating monster hordes, she’d developed a pretty good reputation. However, supposedly two groups were not happy with what she was doing.

The king being the first. From what others had told her, he thought that Rose made his soldiers look weak. That only made her scoff. Luckily, though, she had yet to run into a knight who shared the king’s views. She could only hope that she never would in the future.

On the other hand, the second group who apparently disliked her was the Yiga Clan. That was more of a rumor, though, as nobody had any sort of direct or even indirect conversation with them. From what she could tell, this was all based on some workers at Outskirt Stable being approached by suspicious-looking travelers who would ask about Rose’s whereabouts. Regardless, she wasn’t too concerned about them going after her. It’s not like anybody knew where she lived, after all.

It was the early afternoon that day, with the sun high above her in the center of the sky. Rose was near Jeddo Bridge, training by herself near the strange rock formations. Thankfully, not many people were traveling today, so there’d been no interruptions during her training.

Allowing her mind to be clear, hearing nothing but the odd whistling that came from the rocks, Rose became lost in her training routine. Eyes closed, she twisted and turned in almost dancing-like movements, throwing her wooden kunai at targets she’d set up. Once she’d used up all the throwing knives she had on hand, she opened her eyes, gazing at all the targets around her, finding she’d successfully hit each one with perfect precision. With a satisfied smile, she collected the kunai, moved the targets around, and began the whole routine again.

By the time Rose finally felt she had completed her training for the day, the sun had already dipped behind the Gerudo Highland mountains, leaving the sky around her a deep blue, though it wasn’t quite dark enough to cast out all sunlight. Gathering all of her supplies, she put them into a bag before deciding she could meditate in the field that was just slightly North. Crossing the road, she found a nice soft patch of grass to sit on, setting her things to the left of where she sat.

Trying to clear her mind, Rose found that she was struggling. She’d never been very good at meditating. It always seemed that her thoughts were too loud, or that the slightest thing occurring around her would grab her attention and pull her out of any sort of trance. Sighing, she tried a method one of the Great Fairies had taught her; close her eyes, and listen to the life around her, feel it, even. Think of how the wind breezed across her skin, how the grass tickled her legs, or how the nocturnal wildlife’s singing would soon fill the air. Then, allow those things to lull her into a peaceful state, where she could finally meditate without distraction.

Just as Rose was beginning to think the method was working, she felt her body swaying, growing more tired by the second. Training had exhausted her- perhaps a nap was needed before she did anything else. Without another thought, she laid back against the grass, falling into a deep slumber.

—

The sound of clashing metal startled Rose awake. Sitting up with haste, she looked around with widened eyes. Not seeing anything immediately, she jumped to her feet in preparation to pull out her katana while still glancing around, searching for the loud noises that had awoken her. But before she could find the source of the sound, something heavy crashed into her. Landing on the grass, Rose found that whatever had shoved her to the ground was now forcing her to stay down.

Turning her head to see who was on her back, she was rather confused to find it was a Hylian soldier, snarling and shouting curses at her as he pinned her.

“What the hell are you doing?!” She screamed, trying to squirm out of the man’s hold.

“You filthy woman!” He shouted, struggling to grasp for his sword as he tried keeping her in place. “I saw it all!”

“What are you talking about? Get off of me!” Instead of focusing on crawling her way out of his hold, Rose tried to free her right arm, which was currently underneath her. If she could do that- she could use her power on the man.

“You’re one of them,” he growled, finally able to grasp the hilt of his blade. “One of those damned… traitors!”

Having no idea what the man was alluding to, Rose hastily pulled her right arm out from underneath herself, flipping her palm upward, aiming it directly at the soldier. It was right when he pulled his sword out, raised high in the air to strike down at her, that she shot the vines from her hand, having them wrap around the weapon and forcefully tear it from the man’s grasp.

“What the- sorcery!” He yelled, jumping away out of fear immediately. “I knew that your lot was capable of evil magic, but this is…”

Rose still couldn’t understand. Who did he think she was? What exactly did he see before she’d woken up?

“Your kind deserves to die!” He snarled, pulling a smaller secondary weapon out from beneath his armor. A dagger. With a glare that sent shivers down Rose’s spine, he began to charge at her. Without second thought, she threw her arms up defensively, instantly sending vines at the man. They tangled around him, squeezing through any gaps in his armor.

With hatred and fear flowing through her veins, Rose continued to entangle the soldier in her trap, watching with a heavy glare as the vines wrapped around his throat, tightening and slowly cutting off his breathing. With choked gasps, the man clawed at his throat, his body spasming as he panicked. And yet, blinded by her rage, Rose didn’t stop. She wanted to watch him suffer. He’d attacked her, spewing vile things at her that, even if weren’t true, were still cruel. He deserved to die, in her eyes.

But as the man let out another choke, she was able to make out a couple words:

“Please… my- family!”

Clarity flushing over Rose, she stopped her vines, staring at the man with terrified, glassy blue eyes as she felt tears threatening to spill. Family. This man had a family, and she was about to take part of it away.

“I-“ she choked out, feeling the tears beginning to slide down her pale cheeks. But what could she say? Nothing could undo the harm she’d caused.

Shaking her head, Rose rushed to grab her bag and began to take off. But the man grumbled out one last thing, that she was barely able to hear as the pounding of her heart filled her ears instead.

“Damn you… Yiga…”

—

The incident with the soldier had Rose paranoid for weeks after. For the first few days, she didn’t even dare to leave Satori Mountain, afraid that the entire Hylian army was out searching for her. After two weeks, she had no choice but to leave, as she had work to do over on the outskirts of Central Hyrule. And to her relief, based on passing comments she’d overheard during her travels, the army was looking for a Yiga Clan member. But… she didn’t understand. Why were they looking for someone in the Yiga Clan? She certainly had no ties to them, but the soldier who’d attacked her had thought she was one, too. So why?

Unable to come to any conclusions, Rose continued on with life. Though now, she was much more careful about the people she spoke to when traveling.

Until, one day, while she was out in the woods, training like she always did; things finally started to become more clear. At least, partially. She’d barely caught sight of it, but Rose knew without a doubt who was there.

A lone Yiga Clan footsoldier had been watching her.

It made no sense. Why was the Yiga Clan spying on her? They clearly weren’t looking to attack her, otherwise the footsoldier would have done so when she’d caught them watching. While she couldn’t think of any sort of reasoning for that, she did come to a conclusion on her other predicament; the Hylian soldier she’d encountered all those weeks ago must’ve caught someone from the clan watching her sleep. That was the only thing she could think of. He’d called her a Yiga, and apparently told the entire army that one of them had attacked him. He wouldn’t have done so if he’d simply stumbled upon her sleeping, after all.

With that now cleared up, Rose found that now she had something new to be constantly anxious about. For a reason unknown to her, the Yiga Clan was watching her, and they clearly wanted something from her.

—

It wasn’t until Rose was ambushed that the clan’s motives became ever so slightly more clear.

Perhaps if she wasn’t distracted by the stray bokoblin wandering nearby the bottom hills of Satori Mountain, she would’ve realized that something was suspicious.

It was later in the day, but Rose was never one to stay indoors as soon as night fell onto the land. So she was heading down to the woods below, when a blue bokoblin wandered into her path, alone but clearly looking to harm somebody. It charged at her, swinging its spiked club around. So Rose did what she normally would when fighting monsters; used her powers to contain it before killing it. She had her vines tangled around the monster, the creature thrashing about and letting out horrible noises. Not giving it a second thought, Rose raised her katana before slicing down at its neck, ending the malicious creature’s life. Once its remains had poofed away, she sighed and put her katana back into its sheath, ready to continue into the woods, when several puffs of smoke appeared around her.

Glancing in every direction around herself, Rose stood frozen in fear as multiple Yiga Clan members surrounded her. Three footsoldiers and one blademaster. She watched as the tallest of the group seemingly stood on standby, not pulling his windcleaver out, while the footsoldiers pulled out their sickles, charging at her.

Grabbing her katana once again, Rose created a barrier of rose bushes around herself, shielding her body from the soldier’s vicious sickles. Then, when their blades inevitably cut through the barrier and caused it to vanish, Rose threw her hand up, generating energy that glowed bright from her hand, shining a pink hue of light onto the surrounding area. She focused on the three energies around her, and cast a freezing attack on them. The footsoldier’s movements were slowed, and then she thrust her sword upward, sending thorns from it that locked onto the three targets around her. Unable to deflect the attack, the three footsoldiers yelled out in pain, stumbling away as they each observed the small thorns pricking at their bodies.

With the smaller ones slowed down, now Rose could deal with the blademaster. Only… he’d vanished from the spot he’d been in before. Scanning the area with narrowed eyes, Rose couldn’t find him anywhere. Until there was another puff of smoke and prayer tags, and the blademaster appeared behind her.

Just as Rose turned her head to glance at the man, he grabbed her, holding her in place, shouting to the other three. “Capture her, now! And do not harm her!”

The footsoldiers all quit pulling the thorns from their uniforms and instead began to approach Rose and the blademaster, each one holding some red rope in their gloved hands. Were they going to tie her up? For what reason? To possibly kidnap her?!

Squirming, Rose fought against the blademaster’s strong hold, but found that she couldn’t wiggle her way out. So instead, she resorted to using more of her power, sending vines around the man’s ankles before yanking on them, throwing him to the ground.

Finally released, Rose ran a few feet away before glancing back behind herself. If she fled, they’d only follow her. So she had no choice but to keep fighting. With her katana in her right hand, Rose rushed at the four Yiga members and slashed at them, more thorns flying from her blade. With her enemies now slightly injured, she should be able to cut at them. The footsoldiers fell onto each other, yelling curses about the rose thorns poking them. The blademaster, on the other hand, barely flinched. But he still hadn’t drawn his weapon, giving Rose a chance to strike at him without anything blocking her.

Using vines to push herself into the air, Rose raised her katana high above her head and flew down at the blademaster, slashing at him. While her weapon did make contact with him, it didn’t do as much damage as she’d anticipated. The blademaster’s uniform was torn, and he was bleeding, but it didn’t seem like he was in any sort of horrible pain.

Taking a few steps back, Rose observed the assassins and figured that would be enough to keep them off her back. Sliding her katana back into its sheath, she watched with some pride as the footsoldiers all formed a hand signal before disappearing in retreat. The blademaster, however, remained with her. He was on one knee now, a hand pressed against the area Rose had sliced.

“You’d better be more careful, strange warrior,” he grunted out, mask tilted up at her as he spoke. “We will have you, eventually.”

With those parting words, the blademaster then disappeared, leaving no trace that the four clan members had even been at the scene. His words confused Rose, though. What did he mean by “we will have you”? Did that mean they were attempting to kidnap her after all? But why? What did she have that the Yiga Clan would desire? Frowning, Rose found that no reason came to mind. But, that could be an issue for another time. The fight had left her exhausted, especially after using so much of her energy to aid her in using her power. Retreating up Satori Mountain, Rose returned to her cottage and cleaned herself up before going to bed.

—

By now, she was fully aware that the Yiga Clan was stalking her nearly every day.

Rose had mastered being able to spot the soldiers without alerting them to the fact that she knew of their presence. Whenever she left Satori Mountain, they were there, watching. She’d had a few more ambush incidents since the first one, and things were now at the point where only blademasters dared to attempt capturing her. While she did struggle to fight against them sometimes, she found that they were providing excellent training to her and that she was now at the point of exceeding them in fighting terms. She wondered how long they’d keep it up, as it became more and more difficult for them to so much as grab her, with every encounter.

Standing in her small kitchen, Rose was washing off some fruit she’d gathered earlier that day. There was at least one comforting thought despite all the Yiga nonsense going on; they still didn’t know where she lived. So for the time being, she was safe in her home.

Cleaning off some of the Hylian tomatoes she’d picked, Rose couldn’t help but see the Yiga Clan in everything now. The shade of the fruit reminded her of the red uniforms the soldiers wore. Shaking her head, the brunette woman tried to think of other things, knowing she’d more than likely go insane if her every waking thought surrounded the group of assassins. Perhaps she needed a day of relaxation. Today would be a good day for that, too. She had no work to do, had already trained the previous evening, and the weather was perfect for sitting by the pond near her cottage.

Eating one of the tomatoes she’d gathered, Rose put the rest into a basket and set them in her kitchen’s windowsill, deciding that she should make herself a pizza for dinner; since she had all the correct ingredients now. It’d take a bit of preparation, but would be worth it, especially if she was supposed to be treating herself today.

Dressing down to just the skin-tight tunic and shorts she usually wore, Rose headed out to the pond, sitting along the bank and sliding the lower half of her legs into the water. The sun was high above the area, warming up the pond. Smiling, Rose leaned back on the palms of her hands and basked in the sun, observing all the wildlife around her. With her being so still and quiet, the animals that also called the mountain their home were quick to come around. Birds flew down to the grassy floor and started pecking around in search of food, squirrels and other small critters ran throughout the area and played, a doe with a fawn trailing behind her crept out into the clearing, and they began drinking from the pond. Rose watched the sight fondly, always so fascinated by the deer that would sometimes wander up the mountain. More often than not, it was a lone doe or sometimes one with her babies, but rarely did Rose ever spot a buck coming over to the area. The males always seemed to stay in the more dense areas of forests.

Closing her eyes, the brunette slowly moved down to lay on her back, deciding that a nap wouldn’t be a bad idea. After all, she had nothing else to do today. With the sounds of nature and the warmth of the sun lulling her to sleep, Rose began to drift off. The peaceful melody of the ducks splashing in the pond, the birds singing in the air, and the rustling of the leaves blowing with the wind were all that filled her mind as she nearly succumbed into her slumber.

But the serene music had disappeared, leaving Rose unable to hear anything but the sound of her own breathing. Confused, she opened her eyes and sat up, looking around to see what had happened; only, what she discovered was that every other lifeform had vanished from the area.

All the animals had left, and the wind came to a quiet stop, leaving Rose a bit unsettled. Why had all the creatures run off? Only one reason made sense, and the brunette woman’s stomach started to sink as she connected the dots:

Somebody else is here.

Heart pounding, she glanced around, eyes darting between each tree, quickly looking around to search for the person who had scared off all the animals. She found nothing, though.

Breathing coming out shakily, Rose found herself frozen, unable to move an inch. What could she do? Run to her home? But then she was essentially just trapping herself. Trying to think with haste, she simply could not come to any conclusion on what to do. If she ran off, she risked getting caught without her weapons. That and, she was only in the underclothing part of her outfit, without shoes… It was overall a bad idea.

She finally decided on pretending to go back to sleep, despite knowing it wasn’t the safest option. But what else could she do? Lowering herself back down to be flat against the ground, Rose closed her eyes once again, but this time, she listened with intent. If this person got too close, she’d jump up and use her powers to defend herself. Trying to listen for footsteps, Rose’s panic didn’t subside when all she could hear was the beating of her own heart, hammering against her ribcage.

But as the minutes went by, nothing happened. She didn’t hear a single noise aside from the wind picking back up. Eventually, to her relief, the birds began to sing, and the other sounds of nature returned, lightening up the area with the same peaceful song as before.

Sitting back up, Rose rushed home, deciding that she should stay indoors for the rest of the day.

—

Another week had gone by before Rose felt comfortable enough to leave the area of Rutile Lake, let alone descend Satori Mountain. The first few days of inching further and further away from her home had gone by without hindrance, so today, she decided to go even further.

She started by heading over to the spot where many apple trees grew, collecting a few of the red fruits while peering down the side of the mountain, observing the deserted pathway. It seemed as if nobody was traveling today, then. Feeling a little more confident, Rose headed home to get her weapons and put proper clothing on so that she could go train in the woods for the day.

—

Striking her katana down, Rose huffed and stared at the poor piece of wood that had been repeatedly met with cuts, slashes and stabs from her blade. The thing looked about ready to collapse, but she couldn’t find it in her to replace it. Besides, cutting down a tree just to make it into another dummy seemed like a waste to her.

Sighing as she pulled her katana out of the abused wood, the young woman sheathed her weapon and sat down in the soft grass, running her fingers through the green strands. It didn’t matter how much she trained, or how focused she was on it; the thought of the Yiga Clan stalking her plagued her mind constantly. Shaking her head, she decided to give up on training her body. Instead, she’d train her mind; meditation would hopefully be her solution to peace.

Relaxing herself and focusing on the wildlife around her, Rose did everything she could to try and get into a meditative state. But as the moments kept going by, it proved to be more difficult than she’d hoped. All the things unknown to her kept flooding her mind; why did the Yiga Clan constantly chase after her? All of those soldiers she’d previously fought had never said a word to her, aside from the one blademaster who’s parting words had been “we will have you.” And they clearly were trying to avoid harming her. So what exactly did they want from her?

Thinking of any possibilities that made sense to her, Rose could only come up with two ideas. One being, maybe they wanted to kidnap her without harm so that their master could kill her himself? But that didn’t quite add up. He would’ve shown up by now, if that were the case. So with that theory out of the way, that left her with one last conclusion:

They wanted her for her powers.

That thought left an uneasy feeling within her. She doubted they wanted to simply have her powers on their side, as that would be too much of a risk on their end. They wanted to take them from her. As for how they would do so? Rose frowned at the thought of those possibilities. Regardless of that, nothing that they may try would even work. The power gifted to her by the fairies was for her alone. She couldn’t teach it to others or even pass it on through offspring. So if that was their goal, it would be futile in the end.

With meditation doing nothing to ease her mind, Rose decided to get back to training. It’s not like this was a good spot for meditating anyway; out in the woods, away from home where anybody could find her. And she didn’t need a recurrence of what happened between her and that Hylian soldier.

Standing back up and drawing her katana, she began to swing it around, gracefully, pretending she was having a fight with a strong enemy. In fact, that’s probably what she needed. All the Yiga soldiers she’d fought in the past seemed to give up too easily. Perhaps it was to avoid having to hurt her, but Rose liked to think it was actually because she was stronger than they were. Regardless, she decided to imagine that a Hylian knight stood before her; the image of what she hated most. The people who took her family from her.

Imagining that a knight was standing before her, Rose began to use her techniques in her movements. When she’d strike her katana down, she’d send thorns flying from it after generating them with her energy. Channeling more of that energy into her fake attacks, she raised her right hand to the blue skies above her, preparing herself to create another attack with thorns. Only, she found it odd how everything began to glow red, as she looked up to find the glow emanating from herself. With a gasp, she finally noticed that the inverted Sheikah eye had flashed around her hand.

Beginning to panic, Rose tried to think of a reason as to why that would’ve happened. Yes, sometimes the Sheikah symbol would flash whenever she generated large amounts of energy with her powers, and that made sense, but why was it red and inverted, a sign of the Yiga? Surely, there was some reason for this, because Rose knew for a fact that other than them wanting to kidnap her, she had absolutely no ties to the Yiga Clan.

Taking a deep breath in an effort to calm down, Rose kept telling herself that it must’ve been a manifestation of the anger and confusion she’d been feeling so much of lately. Still, this combined with the clan constantly chasing her around left her frightened. Surely, her secret wasn’t the reason they pursued her? Nobody alive knew of it, at least she thought so. Realizing that she was spiraling in her thoughts, Rose forced herself to get back to training.

Getting into her fighting stance, Rose began to ponder what her next move against the imaginary enemy would be. At the very least, she knew it would be nothing involving her powers, as she now wanted to avoid using them for a bit. Perhaps she’d just used too much energy in the last couple of hours…

But right as she stood still in thought, there was an explosion of smoke, somebody appearing directly in front of her.

Gasping, Rose raised her katana in a defensive position, eyes widening as a peculiar figure revealed itself to her.

The smoke and prayer tags cleared, and from within it an odd looking blademaster of the Yiga Clan stood. This one didn’t have a hood like the others did, among some other differences in his uniform. That, and Rose took notice of how he wielded two windcleavers rather than one. But before she could make any more observations, he unsheathed his weapons, attacking her. Using her katana as a shield, Rose deflected the sharp gusts of wind that his blades blew toward her.

Once the wind cleared, Rose leapt away, trying to look for some sort of advantage she could have against this man. Noting their size difference, she thought that maybe she’d be able to get around him quickly and perhaps strike from behind. Hastily, she began to attempt exactly that.

But it didn’t work. Somehow, he’d predicted her attack. That or, he had followed her movements so closely that he was able to move with her. So next, she tried using her vines to grab at his legs, but the man was quick to cut her growth with one slash from his left hand. How was he able to see through her attacks so quickly? Biting her lip, Rose tried a few more things, but all she was left with was disappointment and fear quickly rising within her as she realized he was much, much stronger than she was. If planned movements wouldn’t work against him, then she’d just need to fight against him with brute force; which is exactly what Rose attempted next.

But still, he was able to quickly overpower her. He was definitely more than a foot taller than she, and seemingly made of pure muscle. Striking down at her again, Rose found she was growing far too exhausted already as she used her katana to protect herself. Unable to push back, the force the strange blademaster had used sent Rose flying to the ground, her back colliding with the grass and a pained huff escaping her lips as she hit the earth’s floor.

Trying to collect herself, Rose breathed in deeply and grabbed at the ground to her right, palm searching for her katana’s hilt. But before she could grab her weapon, the man pointed the sword in his right hand at her throat, keeping her from moving any further. At the very least, he made no move to hurt her. For now.

Staring up at him, paralyzed with fear, Rose didn’t know what to do other than simply wait. Would he speak? Or was he simply pitifully looking over the life he was about to take?

“I’ve been observing you, warrior of the Great Fairies,” he finally mumbled, breaking the silence between the two of them.

Feeling her body tremble with fear, Rose began to work up the courage to speak. “…what do you want from me?” she weakly cried, before finding that anger was rising within herself. “Why has your clan chased after me for so long?!” She yelled, glaring up at the blademaster.

Taking another step closer towards her, the blademaster’s sword just barely met the skin of Rose’s neck, the cool touch sending shivers down her spine. Suddenly, all of her anger turned back to genuine, chilling fear. Still, he made no move to hurt her. With the both of them now motionless, Rose glanced around, finding she was completely trapped. He’d forced her into an area surrounded by large rocks that would be impossible for her to jump over. She was cornered, and he had all the power over her. Finally, he spoke again;

“My clan seeks you and your abilities,” he said, almost nonchalantly.

Rose began to shake her head in confusion, but quickly froze as she felt the sword’s cold blade graze her skin again. “But why? I can’t teach others to use them or even pass it on! I’m of absolutely no use to you,” she pleaded, “just leave me be!”

Tilting his head, the blademaster paused, but continued to speak.

“You are mistaken,” he said, voice lower but less threatening now, “we want you to join us. You would be a great asset to the clan.”

Blue eyes widening, Rose couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Staring up at the cracked mask in disbelief, she took note of the horns on either side of it, and then overlooked his uniform again. “So then… you’re the… master?”

“I am not,” the man replied, “I am Lord Sooga, the right hand to Master Kohga.”

Under her breath, Rose repeated his name, internally questioning if she’d ever heard it before. His name wasn’t familiar, but the title was. Right hand man… The footsoldiers she’d fought just over a year ago. That’s where she’d heard of him before, the stronger enemy she’d wished to fight. Until now, that is.

“We are very intrigued by your powers, Rose,” Sooga spoke. “Come with me to the hideout. You’ll be highly regarded.”

Brows furrowing, Rose looked up with even more confusion. He knew her name? The Yiga Clan must’ve had much more information about her than she’d anticipated, then. But still, why was he being so forward with her, when all the other clan members she’d previously encountered wouldn’t say anything? Was this a last resort?

“No,” she then found herself saying without another thought, “I don’t want any part in the war. I just… want to avenge my family,” she sighed, the latter part of her sentence coming out in a hushed whisper.

Sooga hummed, but made no movement other than the slight tilting of his mask. Rose got the feeling he was looking her over, and that sent a strange feeling throughout her. One she didn’t like.

“Fine then,” Sooga then muttered.

Realizing what was about to happen, Rose rolled away from Sooga’s blade and jumped up, grabbing her katana as she did so. He was going to start attacking again.

Raising one hand to the sky, the inverted eye flashed around Sooga’s palm and a red glow emanated from it. The sight caught Rose off guard. It was so… familiar. It then began to dawn on her; it looked exactly like what she’d done before he’d appeared. But then, when she tried to move again, she quickly realized he’d somehow frozen her in place. Desperately trying to move, Rose felt tears welling up in her eyes as Sooga raised his swords, crossing them in the air.

Striking downward, the same sharp gusts of wind were sent towards Rose, and as they met her, she let out a pained cry as it cut into her. Although it wasn’t as painful as she’d anticipated. Still, she was severely weakened and wouldn’t be able to keep fighting for much longer.

As the wind cleared, Rose found that she was able to move freely again, so she quickly dodged another swing from his blade.

“If you won’t come with me willingly, then I’ll simply have to force you to,” Sooga’s deep voice rang out as she kept running.

Yelping, Rose stumbled to the ground as she felt Sooga’s hand try to grab her. Luckily, he hadn’t been able to get a hold of her. Looking up behind herself, Rose found that he was getting ready to strike again. I need to escape. At this point, she knew that she was far too exhausted to keep running. Panicking, she searched her mind, trying to think of any way she could escape. But nothing could be thought of.

Just as Sooga was about to try and grab her again, Rose raised her arms up in front of her, poorly attempting to shield herself. Wincing, she waited for the inevitable capture, but… nothing happened.

Opening her eyes, Rose glanced around, realizing she was no longer in the woods, but now inside her cottage, unharmed.

“What… how did I-?” Shaking her head in disbelief, Rose couldn’t understand how she’d suddenly teleported into her home, with no trace of Sooga following her.

But for the moment, all that mattered was that she was safe at last.

—

Sooga returned to the hideout moments after Rose had disappeared. He’d waited for a brief second, looking around to see if she was still nearby, but he couldn’t sense her energy any longer, and had decided to give up. But now he had more questions than before- when Rose had vanished, prayer tags and smoke were the only trace that she’d even been there. The very same prayer tags that his clan used. That and, he’d seen the way the inverted eye appeared over her palm while she’d been training. However, of all the times he’d previously observed the strange woman, this was the first time he’d witnessed anything like that.

Heading straight for Master Kohga’s quarters, Sooga knew this information would shock the leader of the clan. After all, it had surprised him, to the point he almost didn’t believe his own eyes at the moment.

It didn’t take the blademaster very long to reach his destination, as anybody nearby had quickly gotten out of his way, all of them easily taking notice of Sooga’s determination.

The footsolider stationed outside of Kohga’s room swiftly stepped aside without a word, allowing the larger man to head inside the closed off room. Rounding the corner, Sooga fought the urge to roll his eyes as he found Master Kohga napping. Of course.

“Master Kohga,” Sooga announced himself, waking the older man up instantly.

“Wha-huh?! Oh, Sooga. Back already? With good news, I hope!”

“It is not the news you expect, Master Kohga,” he began to explain. “Rose… refused my offer, so I attempted to kidnap her.”

“…and?” Kohga leaned forward, suspiciously looking at Sooga.

“I regret to inform you that she escaped,” he sighed, defeat evident in his tone. “But I do bring some other news.”

“Regarding…?”

“The woman. She… escaped using our technique. But, it seemed as though she did it unintentionally. That and-“

Before Sooga could get another word out, Kohga’s hands flew up to clutch at his head in disbelief as he shouted, “she what?! So then… she’s-“

“When I was observing her before our encounter, she had a second power along with her strange fairy-like ones. The inverted Sheikah eye appeared over her hand, in the same way ours does,” Sooga revealed.

Though he couldn’t see it, Sooga was certain that his master’s mouth was hanging open in shock. It took some stuttering and stumbling, but eventually, Kohga burst out again;

“She’s… already one of us?!”

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