Chapter Text
“Master Kohga, Please, run away…”
Those were his last words before he collapsed. He could still fight despite his injuries, but he decided to fake his death, hoping it would convince his master to make his escape. Sooga knew they could never win this fight. The hollow was too strong for them. He had no other choice, and he was ready to die if it was the price to pay for Master Kohga to stay alive.
His master ordered him to get up, and for the first time in his life, Sooga disobeyed. He just had to stay still, or his master would never go because he told him he would stay and fight with him until the end. And he knew how stubborn the leader of the Yiga Clan could be, sometimes.
“Sooga, wake up, or no bananas for you for a month!”
The Yiga couldn’t help but smile behind his mask. Even now, in such a terrible moment, he was still the same, as eccentric as usual. But his smile faded when Master Kohga screamed with rage. It was the most heartbreaking scream he ever heard.
“Astor, you’ll pay for this, I swear!”
The wizard simply laughed wickedly. Sooga wished he could cut his throat to make him shut up. If only he had thrown him from the top of the desert cliff the other day… So many of his comrades’ lives might have been spared.
Master Kohga spoke again so only his officer could hear him this time, even though he really believed he was dead.
“I’ll avenge you, Sooga. I promise you that I’ll make him bite the dust.”
And after that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Finally, he was gone. Sooga looked over the hollow, as it was still unmoving, as if waiting for an order from his creator.
“How disappointing. Won’t you resist a little more?”
The Yiga stood up, his eyes full of hate though the seer couldn’t see them.
“You knew that I was pretending to be dead?”
Astor snorted with contempt.
“If you were dead, your soul would have already been offered to Calamity Ganon. Lucky for you that your master is slow and didn’t notice.”
Sooga drew his swords, willing to make the prophecy man pay for his affront.
“Your end is near, Seer,” he grunted. “Calamity Ganon will dispose of you as soon as you won’t be useful to him anymore.”
“We’ll see.” the sorcerer answered. “For now, it is time for you to become a sacrifice.”
When he raised his hand, the hollow charged at the Yiga. Sooga managed to repel it, but he knew he couldn’t fight long. He wished to avenge his fallen comrades but had no strength to carry out his revenge, and soon he fell on his knees, exhausted, while the hollow was approaching slowly. It was the end.
Memories passed before his eyes. He saw the nightly events, pure moments of bliss and joy with his friends. The time he spent training with the footsoldiers and the blademasters to help them become stronger. The day he became Master Kohga’s right hand, the very day he swore allegiance to him.
He thought about these evenings where the two of them stayed together and discussed until very late, allowing him to know him better. He recalled his master’s laugh, this one laugh he cherished so much, the way he was moved every time a member of the clan came to him to give him a present, his smile. For this smile, Sooga was ready to give his life.
And something awoke in him. An urge. The urge to see this smile once more. Sooga never had the chance nor the courage to tell his master what he really felt for him. He never told his master that he was more than just the best master the clan had ever known. Master Kohga was so much more to him.
He was a guide. He was his light, the light giving him strength in his moments of doubt. A man he would follow until the end of Hyrule, a man he could not live without.
Sooga never really cared about Ganon. All he cared about was his master’s safety and happiness, and he always acted for him. Betrayals did not matter, as long as his master stood with him.
Sooga could not allow himself to die yet. He teleported just in time, before the hollow’s blade reached him.
When he opened his eyes, the Yiga was safe. Worn out but safe. Astor wouldn’t find him here.
He examined his own wounds and realised he made it. He survived. He could see his Yiga comrades again. He would see Master Kohga again.
“No.”
Deep down inside himself, a voice spoke.
“You haven’t been strong enough. You do not deserve to see him again.”
Sooga was ashamed. He had been barely able to protect his Master and only saved him thanks to a pathetic ruse. He had been unable to avenge his comrades, assassinated by the seer, unable to avenge their souls gathered to serve Calamity Ganon’s purpose. He was weak.
He spent all of his life struggling to become stronger for the clan, and in the end, he was just weak.
If he came back now, he would have to face his own failures, this weakness that caused him to hurt the man he swore to never hurt.
Sooga wanted to come back. He desperately wanted to, to see his master and his smile again, to tell him he was still alive.
But not now.
For now, he had to become stronger, to find a way to forgive himself for his failure. Until then, he would serve Master Kohga in the shadows. He would hide his identity. And when the day would come, he would reveal himself to him and beg for his mercy. And maybe his master would smile at him once more.
Thinking about this day, Sooga made a promise to himself. He would keep fighting until his very last breath.