We all are animals anyway

Link clears his throat and starts informing them on what their next move is going to be.

"The assignment is to get rid of a group that has been assaulting people in the rural region of Sidney. The inhabitants are frightened and the government ignores their pleas for security." Link sighs "The assailants steal their food, rob and damage their crops, and enter houses to rob them or kidnap people... We are talking RURAL here" Link looks at his brothers and then at Zelda before continuing.

"That means, aboriginals that distrust tourist. Direct contact with them will result in panic and or hostility from the inhabitants, hence we are not even approaching them or their villages. That means we are not sleeping under a roof, we are staying out in the wilderness, and we hunt our own food" Link informs them.

Li nods, Zelda start going through her own backpack, Li notices and opening his eyes wide for a second, he stars rummaging through his own too.

Link smiles watching them "Free as much space as possible in your backpack, if we manage to find fruit or anything we can eat, we need a place to store it" The Hero himself starts taking everything out of his own backpack, choosing to keep what was truly necessary, and throwing out what he could leave behind. Robert recharged his gun and choose to leave behind a few old t-shirts.

Zelda threw out 2 denim shorts Carla gave her as a present, she never got to use them but was not going to miss them even a little. Link doesn't use shorts for a reason, right? she won't use them either.

"Can I help in anyway?" Zid asks all of them, but only Zelda answers.

"YES, open that drawer there and bring me the blanket at the very bottom" Zelda tells him.

Zid walked to what looked like a small box, he opened it hoping that WAS the drawer Zelda talked about. Inside it were 2 pillows and a few blankets, he grabbed the one at the bottom as Zelda instructed… it was a very old and stained blanket with a few holes.

"Is this the one?" Zid asked a bit confused by the state of the blanket.

"YES, thanks" she says as she rolls the blanket enough to fit it in her backpack and still have a small amount of free space. She was taking that blanket to guarantee them a surface to sleep on.

"You are stealing that right?" Zid asks tilting his head.

"Yes, but… it's a very old blanket, they won't miss it. I bet the owner doesn't even remember to have it in the first place." Zelda claims starting to shrink herself feeling judged.

Link sighs "I over paid the owner of the hostel for this room, my Princess can take the ugly blanket if she desires, I am sure it costs less than the amount extra I paid" Link says.

Zelda looks at Link surprised he choose to side with her. She smiles at him and mouths ¨thank you¨

Zid looks at the Princess as she starts to hum happily and asks her "You are not scared at all by this, are you?"

LINK POV

Zelda smiles "Why should I be? I am with all of you… Ziel is a damn good tracker and-"

"WHO THE FUCK IS ZIEL?" Robert asks aggressively interrupting her.

Link drops his backpack on the tatami and tilts his head glaring at his princess, he was waiting for an answer to Robert's question too.

The Princess rolls her eyes and points at Link "You of course"

Link frowns and point at himself raising an eyebrow, Zelda huffs exasperated.

"It's YOUR name you know… Ra-ZIEL"

Link raises both his eyebrows in surprise.

IT IS MY NAME, DAMN. I forgot. When did she came up with the nickname? I never thought she would waste her time pondering on a nickname… for ME, of all people. I actually kind of like it. Better than Ra or Razy like Wolf suggested.

"Wait, Raziel is your name? you presented yourself as Link, or is that just your code name?" Li asks perplexed.

"Raziel Link Nohansen is his full name" Zelda says grumpily storing the tooth brushes before closing her backpack. She was still pissed at Link for forgetting the name. Queen Claire taking time and effort to do something for someone not even blood related was RARE, and she had gladly done it FOR HIM. Zelda had been jealous of him for that… and now he just goes and forgets it.

Robert looks to the side pondering, then nods "Fair, the name actually fits your royal status"

Zid's eyes open wide "ROYAL? WHAIT A SEC. WHAT AM I MISSING HERE?"

Robert begins to chuckle "I will take this one" he cracks his wrists "short version cuz I don't have the time or the crayons to explain this to you" Li points at Zelda and Link "These two come from another dimension per se, in their world Link ended up being adopted by the King, because who doesn't fucking want a SWORD agent in the family? He is prince by adoption, but Zelda is the real deal here"

Link clears his throat to continue the explanation himself "THAT is the special circumstance that allows me to work for SWORD despite my age. In my land, the coming of age is 13 years old, that allows SWORD to make use of me without legal repercussions" Zelda looks at him in confusion.

Link looks at his Princess and chuckles "Zelda, I was 13 the day we meet, my papers state that I was born at 12:40pm. I meet with your father at 10:00am, so technically, I didn't lie, at that moment I was still 12." Link clarifies before smiling "And YES, I am sure the King knows and played along… it was a convenient technicality for the both of us" Link says wiggling his eyebrows at Zelda.

"So… you are somewhat of a royal and Zelda IS the Princess? That implies having a castle, and a lot of benefits, right?" Zid asks.

Zelda stares at Zid with sadness "Yes, that is exactly what it means… the castle feels like a prison though" she answers solemnly.

Link begins to eye the Pirate with suspicion as Zid produces a malevolent grin and opens his arms wide for a hug "SISTER" he yells waiting for Zelda to come to him.

Zelda breaks into laughter and runs to hug him. Zid lifts and spins her a few seconds, then rubs his cheek on the top of her head. Link approaches the happy pair with an eerie aura.

"ZID… what are you hoping to get out of this… out of her?" Link asks in a warning tone.

The Pirate smiles "Anything she allows me to get away with, I don't think she minds, or do you sweety?" Zelda shakes her head, Zid smiles and continues "SEE? Besides, it's a give and take relationship… I am sure she is also thinking on how she can make use of me, or why else would she ask so many questions about my physical capabilities?" Zid ends grinning widely.

Link sighs closing his eyes as he nods with a smile.

You are damn right, she wants to use you, we even joked about it… but you don't seem to mind that at all. You even found a way to flip the coin on her… in a way you just stated that ¨two can play this game¨ and if she opens that door, you will comply, but it won't be for free, and you will make sure the cost is high.

Robert is right, you are chaos, you thrive in it, and a woman's emotional outlook is chaos in itself. But you, being the expert here, just managed the Princess to your convenience… I wonder when and where did you learned to do that. Agents at SWORD are going to fear you. Because that is where you are headed bro… I will make sure of that.

"Sis, you were describing amazing me and the other two pesants, right?" Zid says with an arm around her shoulders.

Zelda laughs at that "Yes, I was. Ziel is dangerous and a good tracker, he will find us game. Rob is goal oriented and a VERY good shooter; he will shoot game or any threat. And YOU are sneaky and a local, you can point us in the right direction to find food while keeping us from danger. I am with a group of highly capable boys" The Princess takes a moment before ending her statement "To answer your question, NO… I am not scared, why should I be?"

Zid let go of her and took a few steps back, mouth open fishing for something to say but failing terribly. Li was cracking in laughter and raising his thumb at Zelda. Link was unsure of how to react, so he didn't.

That is what she thinks of US… she is not wrong, but something about this warmth she generated on my chest feels off.

*Maybe because it's not the first time she has betrayed you with this kind of charade?*

Maybe….

"Is she real?" Zid genuinely asks Link.

"Zelda? Of course not, she is an annoying hologram I brought from SWORD to keep me entertained, because she is not good for anything else" Link answers bluntly.

Before you say anything, I KNOW what I am doing.

*You sure? she is going to rant and try to beat the crap out of you*

And she is welcomed to do so, I NEED her to beat some sense back into my brain... to push away this warmth feelings. They have no place on my being.

"LLLLLIIIIIIINNNNNNNKKKKKKK!!!!!!!!!" Zelda yells irate and throws her backpack at Link's head, Zid looks at Robert confused as water bottle flies right behind his head, then a pain yell from Link is heard.

Robert smiles "Siblings am I right? advise for you: don't try to understand her or to justify him, just flow with the beat." Li tells Zid and blows a loud whistle to draw the royals' attention. Zelda was holding a small lamp on her hands, and was about to beat Ziel with it still plugged.

"HEY, LETS MOVE MAJESTIES" Robert yells.

YES SIR

Link and Zelda stared at each other for a second and then she placed down the lamp grumbling, Ziel picked up the backpack handing the Princess hers. Then they followed Robert to the entrance of the hostel, Link needed to sign off their stay at the hostel's entrance before leaving and starting the new assignment.

The lady at the entrance smiled at them, but soon the smile turned into disgust and fear once she saw Zid. She was diligently keeping an eye on any movement coming from Zid. Link caught sight of that and also of her dialing someone. After Link signed off, she asked them to NEVER COME BACK, shutting the door behind them.

They had only crossed the street when people started gathering around them with brooms and shovels. At the back of the mob was a man preparing a Molotov. Zid was pushing the Princess behind him trying shield her.

It was the owner of the hostel, she let them know Zid was here. The bitch.

The old man aimed and threw the incendiary weapon, but Li had his eye on the projectile and ran following the trajectory of the bottle, caught it and immediately threw it back. The action caused a stir on the mob as a few of the people closing in caught on fire, distracting most of them as they tried to put out the people who were ablaze.

Meanwhile Link had managed to knock down a man that came running at them taking his shovel. The Hero ran toward a female that was standing close by and hit her with the blade of the shovel on the side of her head. As she fell, he picked up the pitchfork she was holding and threw it at Zid.

ZID POV

The monkey boy caught the pitchfork amazed at what was happening around him.

[You shouldn't worry about them; they both are REALLY GOOD fighters] I should listen to Zelda more often; she was damn right. Those two are moving fluently and defending the area where we stand, no words exchanged between them, not like they need to, they know exactly what to do, and what the other one is doing… but HOW?

The crowd finally managed put down the ones who got caught on fire, then a man steps forward hands raised "You don't understand, we are not attacking YOU, we are attacking HIM" the man points at Zid "HE IS A MONSTER, he is better off dead"

Zid growls in anger and points the pitchfork at the man, but Zelda places a hand on his shoulder and then on his arm asking him to put the pitchfork down. She then frowning yells at the man.

"YOU don't understand, you are trying to damage MY PROPERTY… HE IS MINE, I BOUGHT HIM" Zelda yells.

What the fuck? That can't be right, she said I was her brother. She has a plan in mind, doesn't she?

Zid slowly lowers the pitchfork and looks Zelda, then at Link, who signals him to calm down and wait. A young man laughs at the Princess.

"Come on, don't lie to us. Or tell us who did you buy that monster from?" the man says mocking her.

Zelda begins to stumble, but Link emits a quick yell to signal Robert to come to him, the engineer does without taking his eye from the horde and grabs the shovel the Prince hands him. Link turns his back on Li and the mob and looks directly at his Princess mouthing ¨I got you¨ that fill her with determination.

"I don't remember the name, but I bought him em…" Link lifts 3 fingers and is currently typing on his cell "3 years ago, he seemed nostalgic of late, so I decided to bring him back home for a visit. But I was NOT expecting the people trying to damage me or my goods" The Princess says exasperated.

DING!!! Zelda draws her cellphone, it's a message from Link that reads: animal cruelty 309k, 3-7 prison years.

Zelda grins. She starts circling Zid, lifting his tank top a little to check on his torso, then his hands and arms. Link pulls Robert's shirt back a little to signal him to start retreating. Li did but walking backwards, not daring to look away from the mob, and Link approaching slowly mouths at Zelda ¨KEEP TALKING¨

"I will never understand why you hate them; I mean this place was obviously getting a share from the selling of these chimeras. And don't tell me you were not since you now have a small hospital. That is an institutional building that only belongs in a city, not in a small town like this one. So, why would you have it? Because this town was thriving thanks to the money from the illegal sells of the chimeras, right?" Zelda says as she finishes scrutinizing Zid. Teens and young adults turn to look at their elders in confusion, anger and disgust.

The young ones didn't know… and are angry at their elders for keeping them at bay on this matter. CHECKMATE.

Once Robert finally reaches them, he whispers: "We should leave now, I was hearing murmurs, these people are on the verge of revolting against themselves. I SAY LET THEM BURN"

Zelda nodded at Robert, Link smiled at her and whispered "Threaten them" And that is what the Princess did.

"You should thank my two companions for protecting me and my pet" the Princess says briefly looking at Robert and Ziel "If I had found a bruise or even a stain on my pet, I would have pressed charges, that means a 300k fee and 7 years prison time for everyone involved. AND YES, I HAVE THE PAPERS TO PROVE HE IS MINE, SO WHAT HAPPENS NOW?"

Some dropped the weapon they were holding and a few took a step back in fear of repercussions. Zelda grinned at them.

"Thought so… let's go boys, they won't bother us anymore." Zelda confidently says.

They all start walking together out of the town, as they were leaving, they could not help but hear what they left behind. Lots of younger people yelling angrily at their elders, some loudly wailing for what they have misguidedly done to innocent children. Then they stared hearing wails, furniture being smashed and glass breaking. Zelda was about to turn her head and look at what was happening behind her, bur Li stopped her by pulling her by the arm shaking his head.

The group soon finally put enough distance between themselves and the town in havoc. Link just chuckled "And we left the town in chaos, sounds fitting, doesn't it?" Link says as he lands a hand on Zid's upper back "Better than what you had in mind I hope" he tells the Pirate.

"BY FAR, I was afraid they were too many for us to handle, leaving me unable to…" Zid doesn't finish his thought in shame, so he turns to the Princess "So, I am your pet now?"

Zelda stares at him in bewilderment but soon recovers and grins.

"You are my brother, but you can be my pet if you want, I don't mind fulfilling your fantasy" she says in a cheeky tone.

FUCK, I love my sis… I wonder if she will take me home with her if I declare I wanna be her pet. Nah… I don't think so, Li said something about outside people not allowed entrance… THAT is what I want from her, I want entrance to Hyrule.

"Will being your pet gain me entrance to your kingdom?" Zid asks hopeless.

Zelda loses her grin and shakes her head "No… but being my brother might"

ZELDA POV

Link interjects "Like it or not, you kind of resemble me, and a DNA test says we could be siblings, Zelda is my family by adoption, making Zelda your adoptive sister too. I am sure we can abuse that technicality and grant access to both of you, I just need to dive deep into the matter"

"WE need to dive deeper into it" Zelda corrects him.

"We… of course my Princess" Link states correcting himself.

"HAHA, look at that, you got them to work together" Robert says to Zid chuckling.

"WE, and they work together just fine… you all do. I mean I saw what you just did" Zid points at the boys "Both of you took a stand to defend our position" he then turns to Zelda "And she delivered the final blow with her words… I mean of course she did, you were not going to allow her to fight or get harmed in any way, right? that immediately turns her into the group's speaker" Zid whistles "And boy did she spoke, she just kept pulling out every fucking dirty shock they hid on the couch. Did you plan this before you found me or right after we left the hostel?"

He... thinks all that was sketched by us? Am I that good of an actress? Robert may have been right, I could work performing.

Zid also mentioned I completely destroyed the moral of the inhabitants, am I that good of a speaker? Could that mean I am lowkey fit to rule? WAIT, WHAT DO I DO NOW? SHOULD I TELL ZID THAT ALL THIS WAS IMPROVISED?

Zelda turns to look at Link distressed, he looks at her half smiling and brings a finger to his lips. He then repeats the gesture to Robert who gets the message and nods. The Princess lowers her head and walks behind Link as he laughed and began walking while typing, completely ignoring the Pirate's question. Zid was pretty much chasing him, not demanding an answer, he just started talking frenetically about what just happened, and how it could have worked as content for a movie. Zelda receives a message a minute later ¨Zid is really enjoying the idea he formed of us, and what we did. He will know it was happenstance, just let him enjoy a little more… I feel like he needs this childish glee right now¨