While he was not the friendliest person around, he made a point to be at the very least, someone honest, with a sense of humility, of knowing how to treat others. By all means, a monster that had seemingly defected from villainy was not going to be easily greeted, even if it was something difficult to come to. Both for the defector and the people who had to live with a neighbour that seemed more than a little quirky.

For the first few months, it seemed fine. He would take care of some menial labour, cooperate whenever it was in his hand and continue on. His mindset would be a simple one: if he is able to do things that alleviate the life of others, does it not make sense to do so, without expecting retribution? That in itself, to do good, is a fair reward. Although it does align with the goal of making his life an easier one: someone who acts almost servile, politely, makes for an unfair target, regardless of what they may be like.

Or so it should have been, until one day, after coming back from hunting, he found himself chased off Kakariko with pitchforks and torches on hand. Something about this being predictable, how he'd been a liar... That made no sense in his rigid mind. He had upheld his own opinions constantly and never acted beyond his firm principles. By the time he'd made it to the camping site he'd built on the graveyard, the realisation hit harder. A canvas lean-to tent, a fire pit and a few of his personal items were either in disarray, burnt or simply torn.

People should consider breaking down when such a thing happens: he's had to fight his way to get back: break someone, or rather multiple someone's arms just to get through and push others away. He didn't enjoy any of it, but it had to be done for his own well-being. As soon as he senses there is no longer a mob on his behind, his right hand goes to where it must: to his sword. Even if he isn't preparing for violence, he has come to notice he does this when he's either in deep thought or... Just at any other time, too.

"Good grief." He shakes his head as his shoulders slump. The sun will set soon and looking for both somewhere safe and assess what belongings of his can be preserved will prove to be a pain he has no interest in subjecting himself to. He was about to crouch, when he noticed someone else's footsteps: heavier than his. Ah, it's that guy again. His former captain, apparently. So was the hierarchy between those two, although Kael stopped considering him anything but an equal the moment they parted. "..."
There's not so much as an acknowledgement. He knows he is here, why should he then call it out? It would be wasteful.

"You look pathetic." His voice is as unpleasant as it has always been. The elder Darknut spits on the soil as he takes another step towards a still stoic Kael. "Your pets decided to turn against you? How did such a thing come to pass?"

"I have no clue. But, you seem to know, both that, and where I have been off to for the past months. If you want to tell me what you have done, you should be straightforward. I will be playing no guessing games with you.
Or anyone, for the matter."
Much as he tries to be articulate with his thoughts, he is not talkative, which results in him coming as needlessly wordy at times. The Captain frowns in response to perceived insubordination from a defector, yet he does not approach again.

"They turned on you." His voice was almost lazy. "Like frightened animals. You'd think after all those months of playing nice, they'd have trusted you more. Shame, really."

Kael's hand hadn't moved from the pommel. "You know something about it."

"I know a lot of things. It is my duty to know about my recruits."

"Tell me what you did."

"What makes you think I did anything?"

Kael stared at him for a long moment. "Because you are here. You would not be here otherwise."

The smile faded. "You used to be less... Direct. I preferred that you would be more cautious."

The sun setting behind him doesn't quite allow him to look into Kael's expression that well. He's aching to see rage or something break. This was a rather long punishment session he had prepared. If it turned to not have much of an effect to demoralise or break his target, then taking him by force or executing him should do. Not the first time he has done such a thing.
However, nothing in Kael seems to have changed. He's staring unflinchingly and his hand remains on the blade's hilt.

"You disgust me, you know. You could have stood above them, claimed this as your territory by force and I would not have minded."

"I had no such needs."

"You would be acting like a real man.
You beg for scraps of gratitude from creatures half your size who will never see you as anything but a beast. You make the rest of us look like we can be tamed. And that, is unacceptable. We cannot yield to weaklings whose throat we can rip with our bare teeth!"

Once more, he tries to scan into the younger knight imitation's face. Kael's expression remains calm and collected through this, not an inch what he'd been looking forward to: either him collapsing to the ground so that he may be reeducated properly or the rage of a child once playtime is over. But once again, no such thing happens.

"..."

"Heretics like you are a pain in the ass. And they always end up dead or coming home again: which one will it be? Take a good look at your camp and consider well your answer."

He takes another step closer, looking into Kael's eyes. There's not a hint of broken pride or the defiance he expected from someone his age. He seems deep in focus, but into what? "Are you even listening to me, kid?"

"I am listening. However, what I am struggling, is to deduce what it is you do want.
You took the time to find me, destroy what life I was preparing here. It was a good plan. It worked, I cannot tell you otherwise, but there's something I must find an answer to."

"I burned your supplies. Turned those... Pests, against you. And you just stand there. Like a stone. By all that is holy, you disgust me. I don't know how you can live with that, or how have you even made it for so many years.
You're done here, or anywhere else, Kael. Come back, or rot."

And this time, it was Kael who took a step closer. The captain's hand drifts to his own blade, not yet unsheathing it. "Whatever you have in mind, I'm not afraid of you."

"No." Kael took another step, hand still on the hilt of his blade. They were close now. "You want that from me, but there's more you are here for, am I wrong?"

"What I want, is you to stop pretending, kid. To stop groveling at the feet of creatures who'll never see you as anything but..."

"You want me defeated." Kael interrupted without seeming to realize it. "Or at the very least, submitting to your way of thinking. If neither of those can be applied, you will accept me being dead: you can cut your losses like that and return."

"Know your place." The captain snarled, but his voice lacked what weight it held a moment ago. He looked into Kael's eyes, and dread settled in his stomach. He couldn't find anyone behind them. Kael wasn't looking at him with hatred, or even anger. There was a person talking, but there was nobody home.

Kael's stare doesn't seem to flinch as he slowly frowns and looks slightly downward, checking how ready his opponent is.

"Very well, then. Should we get started fighting each other to death, then? That is why you came here. We do not have that much daylight left."

"... Look, I'm not interested in breaking your bones today," Trying desperately to rationalize the situation and regain control. His hand stayed on his sword, but he hadn't drawn. Neither had Kael, yet unlike the older veteran, the younger Darknut didn't seem to be considering the draw with any urgency or panic.
"You're young and still have use. Come back and serve properly. This doesn't have to end with you dead."

"But that is an option are content with, should it come to that.

As things stand, both destroying my reputation and my camp is just wasteful. So allow me to repeat it: you want me submitting to you or dead. Those were always the options you'd accept from anybody beneath you."

"If you're so eager to have it come from my mouth, fine! Should you decline, then I will have to discipline you! Are you that much of a slut for punishment you wanted to hear it?!"

"Then this makes things obvious." He was not a person to talk back, but seems something has been set on fire metaphorically. His tone seems to be carrying an authority and certainty that could and would silence a man like his former superior.
"Either option results in either the loss of my freedom or my destruction." Kael's voice was flat, empty of accusation. "I have considered both. I consider submission to be preferable to my destruction, but I do not accept either."

"Then what do you want?!" He stammered, taking a half-step back as the suffocating weight of Kael's nothingness pressed on him. "You're wasting your potential out there! Is living like a pet all you want?!"

"I want a comfortable life." Kael continued, as if he hadn't interrupted. "I want to live without being managed. What fear people have for me can be turned into obedience and respect with good conversation. That is what I want." He looked down at the remains. His usually bright reddish-pink shield had taken the colours of soot.
"You have made that impossible here. You will make it impossible elsewhere I run to."

"You don't know that."

"I know you and have known you for years. You will not stop. Either I die or lie under your boot. I said I find either of those unacceptable." The words hung in the air. Kael's tone did not do so much as sound upset, despite the content of his words. "And I will not stand by that."

"Is that a threat?"

"No? I said things as they are." He stepped directly into the Captain’s space, his gaze hollow and tone devoid of much in the way of passion. "I simply need you gone.

For my own life to function. If I want to live comfortably, you cannot remain alive. And before you go into the defensive, is not a threat, either: I am merely stating what is true.
You will never stop. So I have to kill you to protect that which I consider a correct way of living for myself. It's that simple."

"You're saying you'll kill me," Something about being threatened in such an open manner felt wrong to say. "You're actually saying it! I'm so proud of you, I would almost consider you'd grown a spine, had you said this to anyone else! But right now, you're delusional."

"I say we fight until one of us drops dead. And that is a proposal.

That is what you wanted, is it not? Why else would you have arranged for things to turn this way. After leaving me without shelter or ways to trade, what am I to think other than you want me dead."

Kael's hand would start tightening on the blade's handle. He wasn't considering his former captain's transgressions, nor was he mourning his camp. If his comfortable life was gone, removing the culprit was the only logical step to do in such a situation. It would not restore, it but it should provide slightly more lasting peace than to run away. "What's wrong?" He would repeat himself.
"Why hesitate. I trust it that you have fought others to death in the past."

He could feel the steel beneath his fingers. He'd dreamed of this moment, Kael finally dropping the pretense, finally giving him the fight he deserved before being slain. But not like this. Not with that coward looking at him like he was already dead. "This isn't—"

"Draw your sword," Kael said. "Your hands seem ready."

His back hit a tree. He hadn't realized he'd been backing up.
"Kael. What's wrong with you?"

Kael considered the question. His expression didn't change. "Nothing. I am doing what's reasonable. I have decided that I need you to die for the sake of living a life I can lead in peace. Those two things align. I do not understand why you're hesitating to fight."

"Because you're not..." At this point his voice cracked in full. "You're not angry. You're not anything. You're just standing there, talking about killing me like..."

"LIke what?" Kael tilted his head in confusion: was something so wrong about taking a challenge head on? That was what he had been educated on, too.

"Like it's nothing! At least show a little emotion! You're talking about this like it's maintenance or guard duty!"

"But it is that simple, if not more. If I kill you, I become closer to living a comfortable life."

"And what then?!" The Captain demanded, voice high. "You think Ganondorf will just let you LIVE!? You think he won't send others!? You kill me, and he'll send a dozen more. Then a hundred. You can't fight all of them, can you?!"

"Oh. You make a fair point." Kael's face does seem to consider his answer for a moment, in the same way one would change their expression upon being given a challenge.

"In that event, I will have to kill them, too."

And at that point, his blood went cold. He was talking to a man, yet there was something missing from it that he could find in Hylians, in fellow monsters, even in Ganondorf. There was an absence of something that created an horrible creature.

"You can't..." Part of him wanted to believe this was delusion. That Kael was being misguided by his own, admittedly, amazing strength. "You can't just say that.
He's the Great King of Evil. You're one man! One single pathetic defector! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

"I do not need or wish to fight an army. I just need to fight whoever comes for me. One at a time. Right now, this is you." And as usual, Kael's voice remained perfectly calm. "If he sends more, I will then kill them as they come. If he comes himself, I will kill him too. That is all. That does make sense, does it not? Of course, I might die then, in the way to such a point or tonight, should you be skilled.
You might die tonight, too. That is what happens in a fight."

By this point, he did not particularly care about life and death. There was something horrible about Kael that he had to comprehend. Before either killed the other. "You don't really care, do you? You don't want to rise against Lord Ganondorf dominion, about Hyrule or your kin. You're looking out for yourself."

"I am doing that. I want to take care of my personal problems.

You are a threat to my comfort and have proven repeatedly that talking does not help. I have decided that I will be killing you in turn.
So, yes. If Ganondorf becomes a threat to my comfort, I will have to kill him if he does not back down. If anyone else tries to stop me from living a comfortable life and refuses to talk out our problems, I will wound or kill them should they return." Kael blinked slowly.
"It is not that complicated. Would you not do the same?"

"... You'd kill the Great King of Evil... For your comfort?"

"For my life to function... Yes. I will kill him, or anybody, should he come to refuse dialogue. I will not let anything get in the path of my ideal, like you have. Take out your sword already.
Night has fallen in this pointless digression and I would like to continue on. When night falls, finding scraps will be difficult."

"You're not like me." He couldn't help but laugh, even if said laugh was as hollow as his former subordinate. He mentioned he should had taken over Kakariko with an iron fist: what was stopping him from it, then? Was it that he had no need to do it?
"... Goddesses help me, you're not. You're much, much worse. What are you?"

"I am a Darknut just like you."

"Kael. I have people," He tried, desperation creeping into his voice. "Allies. If you kill me, they'll—"

"... I told you I will kill them too, as with anyone coming my way. Why must you make me repeat myself? Do you not want to get this done?"

"It..." The voice broke. "You talk about murder and death like it's weather. I have killed. I have enjoyed it. But there is nothing in you. Doesn't that bother you, even on your own death?"

"It does not. Draw your sword."

The Captain's hand fell away from his sword. He couldn't do it. Not only because he was afraid of losing, but the instinct to kill in Kael was a beast he couldn't understand. He did not want to understand it, either.

"... Come on. Take out your sword already." His grip, at last, materialises as Kael prepares himself to draw, but... He ran away. Until his lungs burned and his legs gave out until he finally collapsed in the fields, looking back. No one was coming.

Kael still stood in his tent by the graveyard, hand at the ready, watching the space where his once superior had been. He simply stood there for a long, silent moment, sighed... And turned back to his ruined camp, knelt down, and resumed sorting through the ashes.

Should he come back, he will attempt to talk. And when that fails, to slay the other will become an option once more.