Volink Week II

Disclaimer: I don't own HW.

Warnings: Language, Violence, Mentions of Blood

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Day Five: Loyalty

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Link thought nothing of it as one of his fellow soldiers stepped out from in between two war tents and walked beside him without a word or greeting as he made his way to take up his assigned night post. Not even a twinge of alarm or doubt sparked through him as a second soldier took up walking alongside his other side. He smiled and nodded hello to him all the same, just as he had done to the first soldier. Only as soldier after soldier stepped out of the dark and silently joined their crowd of grim-faced comrades as he passed by did Link suspect anything wicked.

Outside the allied base, Link stopped and so did the circle of Hyrulean soldiers following him.

"Good evening, Hero," one of the soldiers said without a drop of friendliness in his voice.

Link reminded them that they marched at dawn to ambush Zant's forces and that they should be resting.

"We will, oh we will," the soldier assured him. "There's just…none of us could get to sleep. On account of our thoughts weighing so heavily."

The circle of soldiers ranged in ages but more were on the older side and altogether they were from a wide number of territories and provinces across Hyrule.

"You see we all got the same problem. We all can't figure out how you can stand him, how you can look at him, and listen to him tout on about how great he is and how weak we are without wanting to break his smug face."

Link told them that he does get tired of Volga's bragging after a while and punches him in the face and then the dragon knight punches him back, they fight, Link ultimately wins, and then Volga shuts up for a while. He also reminded them that Volga was their ally now.

"Yes, we know," the soldier snarled, as anger edged through his clearly forced calm. "You brought a monster into our army. You brought the bastard that killed our families and wiped out our villages. And you know what? He's never once shown regret about what he did. No, he practically prides himself on what he's done. He brags about how he could incinerate us all!"

Oh Goddesses, this was escalating quickly. Link offered the soldiers a placating smile and raised his hands up to his chest-height in a please-settle-down manner but that only seemed to fan the flames. The soldiers surrounding him inched their way toward him. Link noticed the shadows of hammers and glints of knives as the soldiers pulled their weapons from their hiding spaces or brought them forward from behind their backs.

"My little girl…she…that goddamn fire lizard killed my little girl," the soldier in front of Link wept, his body shaking with fury and grief, "and you want to make him OUR ALLY?"

He shoved Link backwards and Link stumbled into the arms of two men who immediately grabbed and restrained him as the weeping soldier punched him in the face. As Link kicked and struggled against their locked grips, another soldier punched him as hard as he could in the stomach to get him to stand still.

Link couldn't believe what was happening. His men, his fellow comrades, his countrymen who he was sworn as the Hero to protect were ganging up on him and beating in the street.

"You're the Hero!" the soldier said in between punches. "You're supposed to be the champion of Hyrule. You're supposed to save us in our time of need. You're not supposed to pal around with a dragon because you want a goddamn pet!"

His eyes swelled with tears and blood. His heartbeat pulsated in his ears. He wasn't sure if the taste of blood in his mouth originated from his mouth or if the blood running down from his nose had seeped between his lips.

"Tell me, Hero…Tell us…" the soldier said, grabbing him by the hair and wrenching his head up. "Where do your loyalties lie?"

The torches and braziers lighting the street suddenly flared, startling the circle of soldiers and dragging their attention away from Link.

"Your hatred lies with me, not the boy," Volga said, standing in the street two tents away. "Let him go."

The fearless soldiers found a reason to be afraid and the two men holding Link dropped him immediately and scattered with the rest of the gutless posse. Bleary and battered, Link managed to catch himself mid-fall.

"I warned you that you'd be damning yourself… Men can be swayed to turn, even from the Hero," was the only thing Volga said, his voice unusually soft, apologetic even, as he helped Link slowly walk to the medical tent.