both were silent.

there were ways for kicking and screaming.

In all honesty, it would have been far easier to be angry with Midna than he would have liked. The ugly truth was that she had led Nimue to Ordon, and then to his hometown of Kakariko. So much pain and devastation had been wrought because he'd agreed to take her around Hyrule, when Nimue had been looking for her. Of course, he shared some of the blame in that as well, but the simple truth was that it couldn't have been prevented with what they had. It was a burden that both would undoubtedly carry for all the days to come, but it was a burden they couldn't have avoided, not without knowledge of the future.

But, seeing her there, so dejected, well. It just further confirmed what she was actually like. He had made a stop on the way to the Lake, once all the immediate problems were taken care of. They'd have to go back, he had another appointment with Zelda, but for now, they could get away, get Midna some rest, then they could make the trip back. But for now, he'd managed to pick up a sword that he figured could help take the place of her old one, at least for the moment. It was funny, he never imagined her as a sword master, and she most certainly wasn't. But she clearly had the fancy of using one in general.

The sword was wrapped in a cloth strapped to his back, and he approached and wordlessly sat down next to her. What could he say that she didn't already know? Instead, he simply reached over and curled his hand inward, dragging his knuckles up and down her tiny back. When he was a kid, it'd always been good at calming him down, maybe it would be the same for her. She was a wreck right now even if she was trying to hide it, and this had to be handled as delicately as possible. Simply cooing that it was alright would be rejected. Saying she couldn't have known would be obvious. Sometimes it was better to just say nothing and show that you were there to support them.

both were silent.

there were ways for kicking and screaming.

She seemed to relax a little, so that was a good sign. It was easy to tell that she wasn't taking this any better than he was. In fact, she was almost certainly taking it worse. Instead, she could only get out a question of where they would go from here. The answer to that was obvious, but it also was a direct question, so he would answer it. "We'll have to go back soon." Rebuilding efforts would have to be planned out. The capital would take the majority, naturally. Zelda had to rally her citizens as best she could considered her condition. He couldn't remember a time where Hyrule had such dark days ahead of it, and it granted the land a sense of foreboding hopelessness. Everyone had lost so much so quickly.

It was less an evil enemy, and more a force of nature that had struck the land. It also meant having to consider other factors. With Hyrule weakened as it was, the Black Lands would almost surely begin taking interest. The only thing that would keep that at bay is the monsters squabbling amongst themselves as they always did. It kept them from unifying, from becoming a true thread, and now they were merely hoping that the monsters would not be able to do anything with this ground shaking information. "There'll be a few ceremonies. You'll probably be formally introduced to the realm. Contact from another realm is always a big thing." He'd try and remain truthful with Midna though, she didn't seem the type to like being pampered.

Moving his hand up, he placed it on her shoulder and pulled her over just a little so she'd know that he was still there, he was on her side, and that she at least had a friend next to her. "There will be an uproar with the surviving nobles. A lot of those knights were scions, children who were meant to inherit. Morrigan didn't succeed in killing Zelda, but she destabilized the realm." They'd survived, but now the next challenge for the princess would begin. Would she delay her crowning, he wondered. "The game of thrones begins. Zelda will be pressured to marry and produce an heir, and the nobles will kill each other, possibly literally, in order to make sure their name is attached to that heir." Really, he still wondered if he should accept the offer. "After that, we can only take it one step at a time." He only knew what would likely come immediately after.

both were silent.

there were ways for kicking and screaming.

Out of everything, she was bothered about having to reveal herself? To be honest he found that to be rather strange. He figured it was an inevitability. The truth was he didn't know whether she would be formally introduced or not, that was entirely up to the princess if... when she recovered. The idea of if wasn't a good one. Who would the throne pass to if she perished? It was agreed it would fall into chaos, but House Rozengale was considered a strong contender. From what he'd seen of Seyka Rozengale anyway, she might be a good fit.

But the simple answer was "You'll have to ask Zelda." He said, shrugging, raising his hand to run through her sunset pony tail. Digging four fingers into her locks and simply pulling them through like a comb. It was something that could comfort most people, and that was what she needed right now. "But you really can't be secretive about all this anymore." He just wouldn't lie to her about it all. She was a big girl, and she knew how to handle herself, and with that came some responsibilities.

Reaching over his back, he pulled out the wrapped item and bringing it to his lap, began to pull away the cloth. He had gotten it for her and she hoped that she would like it. "Anyway, about your sword, it's not much but..." He trailed off as he realized what else she had said. "Wait, who else has seen you?" She was a big girl and could take care of herself, but this might have been something worth sharing. Really why leave her only tour guide completely in the dark?

both were silent.

there were ways for kicking and screaming.

Well she was dismissing that really quickly. Apparently it wasn't a big deal for her. It was something worth knowing with him, but he was realizing that this was a fight not worth fighting and that she had already moved on to something else. She was already fascinated with the new sword. Wasn't the old one kind of special or something? He finished unwrapping it, baring it to all the world. Yes, indeed it was a BEAUTIFUL BLADE. It could easily be used with one or two hands, and it was sharp and light enough that she could use it effortlessly.

And still she had questions about it. Was it as durable as it was pretty? Well, weapons for the Wardens were usually made quite well, given that many smiths put extra effort into the swords, so he figured as much. "I don't think it'd stand up to Morrigan but otherwise, yes." Of course, when you were dealing with someone like her, there really wasn't much in the way that could take a direct hit from her. He took the blade into his hands, gripping it for a moment. Yeah, it was a good sword, he was happy he got it. It still wouldn't be able to stand up to Morrigan in a direct clash, so the same strategy as last time wouldn't work.

However, the sword began to glow with a soft blue light as he looked out towards the lake. "The great thing about these though, is this." And making an overhead swing, as best he could sitting down, he unleashed a crescent of blue magic that traveled across the lake surface before fizzling out a ways away. "I'm not sure what that sword of yours could do, but hopefully this can work as a substitute in the meantime." He remarked before handing it off to her to try out for herself.

both were silent.

there were ways for kicking and screaming.

As he watched the sword he had gotten for her disappear in a puff of... stuff. He had no idea what to call it, he was actually fairly impressed, and a little envious. His eyebrows perked up a little at the power, not for the strength (or lack thereof) that it exuded, but rather just how damn useful it was. "Wish I could do that." He admitted. It'd be really handy to just poof everything away and back on demand and not have to worry about things like packing and all the extra weight from it. A wonderful thing, that.

But he also noticed that her expression was starting to change a little, to something just a bit more cheerful. Perhaps she was a bit of a sword nut? An imp after his own heart, he guessed. He could sympathize. "Every Warden has one of those." He'd explained what the Wardens were... at least he thought he did. No, he was pretty sure he did. "The Gorons have a hammer, the Deku have a spear, but we have a sword." Really, it was quite surprising just how varied all the organizations tended to be. He wondered what would happen if someone could worm their way into all of them.

Maybe play on the idea of swords more. He hmm'd a little as he looked at the imp to his side. "All the best swords have names, you know." He'd let that sit as a little hint for her. Maybe she would figure one out in the future, who knows~

both were silent.

there were ways for kicking and screaming.

He was glad she liked it, something that would give her something to use and something to remember her journeys by, a nice souvenir. It was only when she pronounced the name so effortlessly that he was flummoxed. He understood that it was almost certainly in herown native tongue. The problem with that was that she had managed to pronounce so many syllables so flawlessly that he had no way of keeping up with it. Ymaqyhtan? "Ae-mah-qae-ha-teahn?" He tried to pronounce it after her, wincing as he could only manage to horribly mangle the name. Yeah, there was no way he was going to be an expert on the language of the Twili anytime soon. Yeah, he done made a fool of himself, gods knew she'd probably pick up on that.

Still, "What?" That had to be one of the strangest names he'd heard. Now he was beginning to wonder something else. "So what's it mean?" Seriously, that was such a weird word. Maybe it meant something like, Deathwing or something cool. Maybe it was something outrageous, like Fuckslayer... would Midna name something Fuckslayer? Well maybe that exact name might have been a bit much, but he could totally see her giving it a crazy name. Seriously, now he was just looking at her, clearly expecting an answer to this question. Plus there was a part of him that was curious to find out more of the language of the Twili, might come in handy later if he met anymore of them.

both were silent.

there were ways for kicking and screaming.

Yeah, he really managed to mangle it. That much became apparent when Midna managed to pronounce it slower, but just as flawlessly the first time. Then there was the fact that she wasn't going to explain what it actually meant. Now that was driving him nuts. She was just acting like it was nothing important and that it really wasn't worth going over. He just looked at her. Yeah he was just going to ask one of her Twili at some point, get an answer there. Now he wanted to know what it was she named it. But that was something for another day, he was tired, and he could grill one of her Twili later on.

Taking off his vest, he soon bundled it up and let himself relax in the last days of summer. The past couple days had been such an exhausting experience that it took almost no time for him to pass out into the bliss of slumber. Not a light sleep, but something that could only be brought about due to exhaustion. Oh yes, one could say that perhaps he had earned this rest, and it was the first time he'd been able to really get any rest since the showdown with the Lightbringer. Since then, he'd been running around Hyrule on necessary errands, or helping to tend to the wounded, or something else. Midna probably had some sort of idea just how tired he actually was, probably more than most anyone else.