Friday night took forever to arrive. The next two days for Alvar were very hard due to his injuries. He insisted he still train and work, no matter how many times Zarya tried to talk him out of it.

"I still think you should stay back from the trip to Zora's Domain tomorrow," Zarya called over her shoulder to Alvar. He was resting on the couch because Zarya insisted that he rested as much as possible. She was packing up for the long trip. They would leave tomorrow morning and come back on Tuesday if all went according to plan.

"I will be fine. It's a relatively short escort trip. I'm sure nothing will happen," Alvar insisted. He was stretched out on the couch looking through the book pile that Zarya always had next to it because he was bored. Zarya was a bookworm and passed that trait to Link. Alvar himself didn't care much for reading through.

"Link? Are you almost ready for Zora's Domain?" Zarya called out to him. She had just finished packing for Alvar and herself. Link came sliding down the hallway and into her sight excitedly.

"Yes, I think. Could you please check to make sure I have everything I need? I want to be as ready as possible!" Link exclaimed quickly. He was very excited since this would be his first official visit to Zora's Domain. He had been twice when he was a baby, but he couldn't remember it.

Zarya smiled at his enthusiasm, "Yes of course." She walked to his room and looked at his clothes all spread neatly on his bed. He had his little bag against his bed stand. She looked through all his things and put them in his bag after she approved of it.

"Well, you got everything. You have your swimming shorts I see, that's good. Oh, and you are only bringing one sparring sword."

"Moooom please can I just bring two at least?" Link whined.

"No, we are going there to be friendly, not picking sparring fights. Anyway, you might make some new Zora friends, and you won't do that through sword fighting with them."

Link reluctantly picked his favorite sword and put it with his bag. But his slight disappointment didn't last long. He was still very eager and ran to Alvar to proudly announce that he was ready for the trip. Alvar smiled at his son's enthusiasm and then told Link to go get ready for bed since it would be an early morning. Zarya glanced at Alvar, who was still on the couch and skimming through her collection of books.

"Well, I haven't seen you read anything but maps and letters for a while. Nice to see you reading my books," she said.

Alvar looked up at her and smiled, "Ha, I'm not reading it, I'm just bored. All your books are romance novels anyway. There's no action," he stated, trying to seem as 'matter of fact' as possible.

Zarya giggled, "There's no shame in liking reading. It's good for you, you should read more often."

"As I said, your books are all romantic. I don't want to read them."

"Well sorry, I'll make sure to pick up 'The Complete Idiot's Guide To Fighting' next time I see it in the bookstore," Zarya teased, then broke out laughing at her own joke. Alvar mocked offense at her jest.

After Zarya had composed herself, Alvar asked her, "Wait, does that book really exist?"

"I don't know, to be honest, I made that title up. But if I find it you'll be the first to hear about it."

Alvar looked at her and smiled, "You know, I would read more often if I wasn't always so booked." It was his turn to laugh.

Zarya playfully scowled, "That's not funny. You need better jokes."

"Maybe if your page-ient I will think of a better pun," Alvar continued to chuckle as Zarya sat down next to him after he sat up to make room for her.

Alvar looked at her light brown eyes and smiled mischievously, "You know, I would like to read some books on mountains," Alvar stated, trying to sound as innocent as his voice would allow him. Zarya looked at him curiously.

"Mountains? Why would you want to read about mountains?"

Alvar started to snicker, "Well Zarya, one could say they might be a real cliffhanger."

Zarya groaned, "Ugh, I walked right into that one, like always."

"Yes you did, you should really be more shelf-aware." Zarya glared playfully at him, but couldn't help but smile back at his dorky grin.

"You need some sleep. Tomorrow is an early start, and knowing Link when he is excited, it will come much earlier. Come on." They went to sleep after wishing Link goodnight. Zarya fell asleep quickly since she was tired, but woke up because Alvar was shaking her awake.

"What?! What is it?" she asked, the sleep evident in her voice. She looked at Alvar as she rubbed her eyes. Alvar looked at her excitedly.

"I just thought of another book joke. I wouldn't want to read about the Zonai Mazes, because I would hate to get lost in it. Get it?" He accepted the pillow to the face because he knew he had it coming.

*This time skip to the next morning and placement skip to the outside of the Hyrule Castle Town is brought to you by the bedpost I just ran into while in a desperate attempt to get on my bed so I could write this*

Alvar and Zarya rode alongside each other to inspect the small party that they would be escorting. The King, Queen, and Princess would ride together in a small carriage. Alvar was riding Shadow and would be in front of the small procession. Zarya would ride along with the caravan with Milkshake. And behind them would be six Hylian royal guards. Alvar handpicked the six so he knew that they would be no trouble. In fact, all six were close friends of his. Link was allowed to come as long as he wouldn't cause trouble or be seen. He technically wasn't supposed to be there, but a small exception was made. So he followed along with the royal guards. They all knew "Little Link" as they called him and the six friendly guards were more than happy to keep an eye on him. Usually, when such events took place, Alvar and Zarya would take Link to Kakariko village to be watched by Kato and Akilah and play with Purah and Impa. But this time they decided there was not enough time and after all, they did want Link to visit Zora's Domain.

After the King signaled that they were ready, the small procession started to slowly ride to Zora's Domain. They left at Sunrise and planned to get there before Sundown. The first three hours went by uneventfully.

But as the group passed into the Lanayru Region they heard the familiar rustle of red cards that appeared as the Yiga Clan did. In the blink of an eye, four Yiga foot soldiers appeared outside around the group. They each took a different side of the line. Soon after they came, two Yiga Blademasters appeared in front of the procession with their leader in the middle of them.

"Kogha," Zarya gasped.

The six Hylian soldiers on instinct surrounded the carriage and got into a defensive position with their swords drawn. Alvar knew he was still sore, but he was determined as ever. Link ran next to his mother and she grabbed him and put him in her lap on top of her horse. Alvar got off his horse knowing he would fight them better on foot. He winced as his feet hit the grass. He faced Kogha.

"Well Alvar, funny seeing you here. You won't stand a chance, and based on your limp, you can hardly stand at all," Khoga jeered. The Yiga footsoldiers behind him laughed. After the many fights Khoga and Alvar had, they knew each other by name and usually got their share of insults before actually fighting.

"Very funny, at least I'm not wearing a red onesie and 100 pounds overweight." Alvar and his soldiers laughed as Master Kogha looked behind him to see who he was talking about, then realized Alvar was referring to him. Zarya mentally facepalmed. Link didn't do his mentally.

"Fool! You will die for that!" Kohga shouted, enraged at the insult.

"That's what you said last time, and the last 12 times we've fought."

Kohga's only response was a snap of his finger, and the footsoldier and blademasters disappeared and reappeared in front of the Hylian guards. Master Kogha flipped in front of Alvar and the battle for the royal family began. Link watched with fascination as the swords and sickles collided. The Hylian guards easily got rid of the Yiga soldiers whose skills were meager compared to the well-trained Hylians, but the battle wasn't finished yet. They all watched as Alvar and Kogha dueled and they gathered around but still gave them room to fight. Link's mother clutched him a bit harder than needed with worry as she watched Alvar. He wasn't fighting as well as he could have, but he was still putting up a fair fight. But his injuries caught up when he was too sore to efficiently dodge his blade, it did not wound him internally, but it sliced his arm very well. Alvar fell and Zarya gasped as Master Kogha stood over him and laughed.

"Die now!" Master Kohga said as he raised his sword. But as he brought his blade down Alvar rolled out of its way and jumped up. Alvar backflipped behind him and drove the knife he had hidden in his boot into the Yiga's right leg in a desperate attempt to weaken his enemy. Kohga yelled out in pain and pulled the knife from his leg. He stared at Alvar with hatred under his mask.

"Gah! How dare you, insolent dog of Hylia! That was my favorite outfit!" 

The Yiga footsoldiers looked at each other and exchanged confused gestures. One ran to his side taking a protective stance for his injured leader, but whispered, "Master, you always wear the same outfit." 

"That's why it's my favorite, you idiot! I shall now employ the most successful battle strategy, passed down through countless generations of old!" 

"Running away!" 

 Kohga then snapped his fingers and disappeared with a flash and red cards decorated with the eye of the Yiga. The remaining Yiga gasped, then quickly disappeared as well, leaving their evil talismans in their wake. 

Alvar smiled victoriously as he picked up his royal broadsword and sheathed it. Zarya ran up to him and into his arms.

"Are you ok?!" she asked as she pulled up his sleeve to reveal his deep arm wound.

"It needs to be bandaged, but I'm fine other than that. Thanks," he replied.

The King emerged finally to check on his guards and announced they would break where they were and continue the journey when everyone was checked on. No one died and the guards were only a bit scratched and bruised. The worst wound was Alvar's arm, which Zarya immediately busied herself with. The Queen and Princess stretched their legs and walked around a bit. Little Zelda picked flowers and showed them proudly to her mother and told her all she had learned about them. Link was being kept busy with two of the soldiers who were showing Link the moves they executed during their recent battle. Link would try to copy them and perform them and even play with the soldiers who were more than happy to spar with him. Link reminded them of themselves when they were younger and eager to learn how to swordfight.

The other guards watched with amusement, and from a decent distance, while Zarya fussed over Alvar.

"I told you your injuries would get to you," Zarya said, as she was finishing wrapping up his arm.

"I still won, didn't I?" Alvar smiled.

"Well I'll admit you did fight very well, but your insults need work," Zarya teased.

Alvar pretended to be offended, "YoUr InSuLtS nEeD wOrK," he mimicked her voice.

"See what I mean?"

"I was teasing. I could've said something worse."

"Uh-huh, whatever helps you sleep at night. Anyway, that should hold you over until we get to the Domain," Zarya said. She stood up and told Rhoam that they were ready to continue their trip. With a snap of the horses' reins, the procession carried onward, bound for the Zora's Domain.