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Chapter Text

The sound of the heavy pendulum filled his ears. Even blindfolded, he could realize its position to him and swung the training sword into the sandbags attached to it. Swiftly, he pulled it back and hit the other side.

“Wrong,” he heard. “Footwork.”

Quickly, he corrected his stance on the pillars. The pendulum swung again and Link quickly stepped past it, spinning around to strike another sandbag, this one higher than before.

“You’re holding the sword too tight. Loosen your grip a little.”

Another correction and he stabbed low, missing the bag and striking the wood, but recovered quickly. Before he could get his blade ready again, he heard a swish of air and was stuck in the side by a clay jar, but kept his footing at least. When he heard another, he took a swing in that direction and shattered the jar.

“That’s enough. Get down, Link.”

He reached for the blindfold and pulled it up over his head and off. As his vision adjusted once more, he saw his mentor, Alfonzo standing with his arms folded across his chest in the training yard of The Tower of Hera. Behind him a few other boys were being trained in the basics of swordplay with wooden swords. “How’d I do?” he asked.

“Other than your footwork and sometimes gripping the blade a little tight, fine. Even though it took you a second hit to realize something was coming at you.”

He hopped down from the pillars he’d been standing on. “So who threw the pots?”

“I did,” a girl said. Link looked in her direction. She was about her age with short white hair and wore a purple robe.

“You really have to throw it that hard, Cia?”

“Alfonzo said to simulate battlefield conditions. Ghouls and strigas aren’t going to hold back, so he said I shouldn’t.”

He chuckled a little, but shook his head. “Yeah, alright. Fine.”

“For the last part of your training today, I want you two to find a clearing and practice against an armed opponent,” Alfonzo said. “Cia, I trust you will create a shadow for him to use.”

“Of course,” she said.

“Good, give him one or two then.” He folded his right pinky back and patted the fingers on his bicep, sure she saw what he actually meant. Alfonzo was however not aware that Link had caught it.

“Three?!” he cried.

“You want to make it four, kid?”

“Three is fine.”

“Good, go get your leathers then and get going. Both of you.” He looked squarely at Cia then. “Know you’re still on probation from what happened with Olsafa. So hop to.”

The sorceress grumbled something as she turned from them and started for the entrance to the barracks. Link glanced at his mentor for a moment before chasing after her.

“Well, good to see he’s finally learning something,” Alfonzo heard behind him. He turned on his heel to face a woman nearing middle age, just as he was.

“You’re early, Impa,” he replied. “The Royal Family isn’t supposed to be here for a couple days.”

“I know. I came to check on you and your charge.”

“Heh. Well we haven’t left yet. It’ll be first thing though.” He smirked a little as he moved to lean on the pillars Link had been practicing upon. “You didn’t just come to do that though. Come on. We both know better than that.”

“True…”

“So, what is it?”

“The monster.” She pulled a paper from a bag on her hip and handed it to him.

“Oh.” Alfonzo took the paper and opened it. It was a list of information that had been gathered about the beast that had been attacking travelers along the road. He’d been a Chosen for over twenty years now and everything he saw immediately told him what kind of monster it was. “An aquamentus. Not a forktail or wyvern, but an aquamentus?”

“Daphnes wants you to send Link after it for his First Hunt.”

“I’m assuming then you have the tunic.”

“Right here.” She patted the bag. “Once you return with him and if he passes, we’ll get it fitted for him before the ceremony.” Impa pulled it off and handed it to him. He took it and opened it to see inside a pristine blue tunic with white markings on it.

“What about his White Sword and shield?”

“Being forged as we speak. You think he will pass?”

He grinned a little and closed the bag before looking down at the courtyard behind him. There was Link in simple leather armor and his training blade in hand while Cia stood on the opposite end and a shadowy doppelganger of the teenage hylian followed his every move. A couple locals were watching near the gate as the practice fight continued with Link parrying a swing and using the magic signs he’d been taught to avoid being hit. “No one has ever passed The Trial of Courage as quickly as he did. I’m sure Farore has great plans for him…”

Chapter Text

There was the quiet sound of wind blowing on the grass and the leaves in the trees as Link opened his eyes. He heard birds and breathed in the scent of pine. He sat up and grabbed his fire striker. Within moments, the hylian boy had made a fire and was reheating a stew he’d brought with him from The Tower. He hummed happily as he watched the broth boil and squeezed the green pendant he wore around his neck. His thumb ran over it, recognizing The Mark of Farore carved into it.

“Map,” he said, digging through his bag as the meal finished warming. “Where is it?” Link quickly looked around his campsite and found it under the blanket he’d used. It was damp, but still readable. His small hands flattened it against a stone belt before he grabbed his spoon and sat down to eat. Clearly marked was the alley and the main road he’d be returning to. To the south was the village of Kasuto. To the north and hewn into the side of the mountains was The Tower of Hera itself. If he climbed the tree he was leaning against as he slurped his stew, he could see the main part of the keep and the ruined columns. A few minutes later, he finished gathering his things and smothered the fire. He slipped the sword over his left shoulder and rolled his head on his shoulders before starting back towards the road.

On the way he came to a stream with three large rocks in it and hopped across it. He loved being outside like this, away from the tower. It felt right to be in the surrounding woods and not stuck like the two mage apprentices he’d met there. He couldn’t wait to tell them about some of the things he’d seen out the past couple days. There were also the roots and mushrooms he’d gathered up for the mages for their alchemy. What exactly they did, he didn’t know. Alfonzo had said he’d learn one day, when he was nearly ready to earn the blue and white tunic of a Chosen Champion.

It also got him away from the others. He was friends with them all, even the twin sorceresses in training, but sometimes a couple of them did grate on him. He’d gotten in a fight the other day with Groose over Epona. It was why he’d been sent out actually. Link really didn’t mind it though. He loved exploring the forest and enjoyed the sights, sounds and smells. It was so different from the island in the South Seas he’d spent the first six years of his life on. The trees were different for one and the wind didn’t carry the smell of saltwater.

At the moment though, he didn’t care. The boy dashed across a fallen tree trunk over a dried riverbed with a grin on his lips. A few minutes later he was on a grassy hill and could make out the edge of the road at the top that would lead him back to The Tower. The grass was nearly as tall as he was. Link pulled his short sword from his back with a smile and started to hack through it. Occasionally he’d shout and practice the movements of his training. A hop forward and a downward slash followed by an arc didn’t do much to cut it, but a horizontal slash did. He swung it in one swipe to the right and with a step forward, swung it to the left. He stopped and tried channeling some of the magic he’d been taught into the blade and when he spun in a circle the energy released. A larger swath of grass had been cut away by it. He sheathed his blade then and took two steps forward before pulling it out and in a wild spin and leap, slashed in a diagonal. He screamed but began to laugh in the middle of it.

A snapping though stopped him. He felt his heart leap in his chest and he quickly looked around for what had made the sound. There was something moving in the nearby grass. Before he could back away though, a pair of jaws jumped out. He was caught in an instant as they clamped around him. His arms were to his sides and he could not move. Link let out a scream as he felt its teeth sink deeper into him. They went through his arms and into his stomach. The wounds burned from whatever the plant used as saliva. He struggled and screamed before managing to get free.

He dropped to his knees as it pulled back. The deku baba snapped its jaws a couple times and lunged again. Link was in pain. His vision was blurred by tears he’d not known he’d shed. As the jaws opened, he slashed upward. The strike forced it to stand right up. He swung again as the head recovered and cut it off at the base of the stem. It let out a shriek and writhed on the ground. Link stabbed the head a couple times before his strength left and the adrenaline rushed through his body. He collapsed on the ground, huddled and sobbing, the white tunic stained with his blood.

Chapter Text

About three miles from The Tower of Hera and a mile under the earth was an ancient shrine that had once been used by The Sheikah. For what purpose, Link had no clue and the hylian boy had no care at the moment for archeology as he stood in the chilled room.

He hugged himself and rubbed his arms as he looked over the blocks in front of him and the gap out to his right. After another minute of looking over the puzzle before him, he went to push the same block he’d moved. As it had before, it slid along the floor until it collided with the edge of the icy floor. Once done, he climbed up on the other block nearby and looked to see where to slide it to next.

“Okay,” he said. “Okay, push that one there and then this one into the side and to that one. That’ll raise the bridge.” He looked at the gap and the door on the other side. “I need to get the other one too, but…” Link sneezed then and hugged himself to try and warm up a little. He looked then to the massive tower that was in the center of the labyrinth. Whatever room he was in for the trial they were putting him through, he could see it. At the top of it was the sheikah spymaster Impa and his mentor. He wondered though if there were other potentials like himself up there and watching, but dismissed the idea when he realized that’d they’d see the Trial of Wisdom and then have an advantage.

Impa leaned over the opening in the tower and watched him closely, holding a telescope carefully. She turned it carefully, zooming out from the sight below so she got a better idea of the room he was in. A second later, she glanced at the hourglass and ancient sheikah slate on a table next to her before going back to watching. Her ears picked up someone coming up the stairs behind her. Training and instinct kept her casual, but ready to grab the knife she had hidden on her.

“So, how’s he doing?” Alfonzo asked.

“He’s at the ice blocks and the two switches,” she said, not turning to face him. “Doing fine on time too.”

“Well, least he didn’t stop at the statues. I hated those things when I went through this.” He nudged her in the arm, offering her a mug of coffee.

She lowered the telescope and took the mug with a nod of thanks. “He did reset that one more than any other potential… He’s just as stubborn as you!”

“Hey, I got through the statues portion after three resets of it,” Alfonzo answered, motioning his own mug of coffee at her,

She took a sip before turning to lean against the wall and facing the champion. “Link reset it nine times. I was actually thinking he was going to run out of time on it.”

“Ah… Well, what about the written portion? How’d he do on that?”

“He scored about average.” Impa was shaking her head. “He’s plenty smart though. Just doesn’t want to do the reading.”

A grin spread across Alfonzo’s lips and he chuckled. “Have you read any of those treatises on monster physiology? Hell, I fell asleep reading it.”

“I have. But I see your point. I’ll talk to Daphnes about updating the material.” She took a long drink from her mug then before glancing down at the boy in the maze.

“When Eagus woke me, I learned that the kid had broken Cia out of the library, snuck past the guards and both of them were somewhere in the woods…” He sighed and closed his eyes for a second, remembering the insanity of that day. “Thanks for covering about that too.”

“Yep.”

“And for not reading me the riot act.”

Impa’s eyes focused directly on the man in the blue and white tunic before her as she finished her coffee. She placed the mug next to the hourglass and looked back down at Link in the maze. “I did not wish to make a scene in front of Impa the Elder and her granddaughter.”

“Ah….”

“You do owe me still for that.”

A sheepish laugh escaped him then and Alfonzo rubbed the back of his neck. He looked down at the almost black fluid steaming out of the mug. “…Hey, what’s the kid doing?”

She picked up her telescope and focused it back on Link. “…It looks like he’s kicking the block and hurting his foot. …And screaming.”

“We know what he’s saying?”

“Use the slate,” she said. “It’ll pick up the listening runes set up down there. You could probably watch him through it too.”

He had quickly grown to loathe this puzzle. He knew it was important and knew exactly why they were supposed to be put through the trials after all. The Kingdom needed her champions to be able to embody all aspects of The Triforce. He just wished he had a little more control over how the blocks moved so he could get them into position. He kicked the block a second time, harder. It was so heavy though, all kicking did was hurt his foot. “GAAAH! YOU STUPID DEMISE-PLOUGHING PIECE OF SHIT CRATE!” Link shouted as he hopped on one foot for a few moments. “Damnit-damnit-damnit!” The boy hissed through his teeth as the pain subsided and he looked around again. “Okay… Get this goddess-damned block back on the center switch. Raise the bridge. Leaving…” He stopped then and checked the things he’d been given.

Opening the bag, he dug through it, finding two thermite bombs, two smoke bombs and a pair of deku nuts. There were the frost arrows for his short recurve bow that was on his back with his sword along with some fire arrows. There was a rope as well, his simple blue charm made of a gosspi stone and two bottles. One had water in it while the other had lantern oil. “Oh.” His eyes went wide as he had an idea and looked at the floor again. He pushed the first block into position and it colided with the second block. There was a clunk as the one he’d pushed landed on top of the pressure switch. The bridge began to raise.

At hearing the sound of the young Link cursing through the sheikah slate, Impa immedietly lowered the spyglass and looked directly at Alfonzo. Her lips drooped at the corners and eyes narrowed.

He quickly slid a finger across the slate to silence it and put it back down. “Hey, I didn’t teach him to swear,” he replied.

The look on her face didn’t change. “…Right.”

“I mean it, Impa.”

She sighed and shook her head, smiling ever so slightly as she looked back down at the maze. “Well, in fairness, that was pretty tame compared to what I heard you say to the striga.”

“Sweet Farore,” he groaned. “You’re not ever going to let me forget that damn striga.”

“Of course not.”

“Heh.” He took a deep breath and another sip of his coffee. Putting it down next to the hourglass and slate he walked over and looked over her shoulder down at the maze below. “So, how’s the princess?”

“Mired in her statecraft classes when she’d rather be talking archeology at the archives with Auru.” She looked over her shoulder at him. “She’s very good at it in spite of her protests. Will be a wise queen one day and excellent commander for The Chosen. One not everyone will adore, but one that can be trusted and respected to do what is best for her people. I admit though, that there are times she needs to think more with her heart and less with her head. The mistakes she makes are the result of thinking too logically.”

Alfonzo chuckled a little. “The opposite problem of Link down there…”

She nodded in agreement, remembering some of the boy’s antics and attempts at righting percieved wrongs around The Tower. When she looked back down, she saw the position of the blocks. The boy was moving to another and in the time of their conversation the bridge had been raised. “Speaking of whom, he has that puzzle. He just needs to…”

Alfonzo sighed as he saw Link stop at the wrong side and pushed the block“…Nope…”

Impa shook her head as she saw him climb on top of the block that was now pushed to the far corner of the room. “If he’d just move the other block to stop that one from sliding…”

“Wait, he’s doing something.”

“Mmm?” She looked back and pulled the spyglass back up to her eye. “He’s using the frost arrows on the bridge. To hold it in place but that still leaves the lock.” Impa watched as once he’d held the bridge in place with the arrows he pushed the block that was keeping it up off and onto the other switch. The one that would have opened the lock. The bridge shuddered and ice cracked off the sides of it, but it did not budge.

“Surprised he didn’t stumble into the answer by now.”

“Well, it’s obvious to us since we’re up here and can clearly see what to do. And you’ve done it before. I recall Galen saying you figured this one out very-“

“Hey, what’s he doing?”

“What?”

“There’s smoke down there.”

Link’s frustration had gotten the better of him. He was sick and tired of this puzzle and the entire Trial of Wisdom. He pried open one of the thermite bombs and poured as much of the redish-brown powder he could into the lock. Once content, he stuffed the fuse into it and backed away. Thanks to some of his training, he didn’t need the fire striker or the fire arrows and flicked his wrist outward, coiling index and pinky fingers palmward. There was a snap and a flash and a fast spout of fire errupted out, hitting the fuse. Within seconds, there was a sizzling sound from the lock. Molten metal and sparks shot outward and bubbled on the stone floor. He ran over the bridge to the other side to avoid getting burned.

Impa clenched her teeth at seeing the brightness of the thermite burning the lock. “…That little…” She heard her friend behind her snickering. “Not a word, Alfonzo.”

“Did he get out?"

As the smoke and molten metal faded, she saw Link rush back across the bridge and charge through the door. “He did! And it looks like he used one of the thermite bombs from the last room! Burned through the lock if I had to take a guess! Did you ever teach him that trick I taught you?”

“Nope. Not gonna let a ten-year-old near what we use to cut into a rogue armos’ stone hide.”

“Alfonzo…”

“He might’ve seen me do it once or twice on some of the jobs I could take him on, but I never actually taught him! Honest!”

She smiled a little as she lowered the telescope. “I must admit though. He’s very good at improvising a solution.”

Alfonzo nodded in agreement. “He is. They’re usually just not very elegant.”

“You can say that gain. It’s probably good he’s going last though now.”

“Why’s that?”

“We’re going to need a new lock.”

Chapter Text

It’d been a while since he’d been in Aboda. The last time he was there was before heading off to the islands of the South Seas, chasing after a wind mage. The hour was late now as he headed down the street. A couple guards walked past him and he saw a group of traders from Windfall talking on one of the piers and torches alight further down the way by the ferry to the islands. He smiled a little as he took a turn and neared a large building that stood at the end of a square. He reached the door and pulled it open just as two people came out, laughing and cheering. Link sidestepped them as he went in.

The bar was busy and filled with people. A waitress squeezed past a goron talking with a zora with a tray on her hands. A couple people sat at a table with numerous others around them, playing cards. A cry from one of the players came as the other one placed another card on the table. The smell of a boar on a spit in the kitchen filled the warm room, while the sound of a lyre and drums came from the stage, singing of two brides in an argument with their mother-in-law. Though Link didn’t know the exact words, Medli had given him the translation the first time he’d heard it.

“Sir,” a man said. Link turned to see a man in a sleevless leather vest, revealing large muscles. “Weapons are not allowed on the premises.” His eyes narrowed and the folded his arms.

Without a word, Link pulled the green charm from around his neck and held it up. The man’s demeanor changed in an instant. “From The Tower of Hera,” he said.

“Oh. Chosen.” He let his arms fall to his side. “Sorry sir.”

“It’s alright.” He let go of his charm and it fell to his collar. “I’m looking for a rito, maybe you’ve seen her?”

“Describe her.”

“About my height. Auburn hair. Probably…”

“Link! Over here!” Medli cried. She waved to a table near the left side of the stage.

“I guess over there!” the man said with a small chuckle. “Anything else?”

“Mmm, drinks?”

“I’ll send someone over.”

“Thanks.” Link turned away and started for the rito. She laughed a little as he approached and shook her head.

“You really have to bring your sword and shield?” she asked, opening her arms. The two shared a hug before she let go and pulled a chair out for him at the table.

“A Chosen doesn’t go anywhere without their tools,” he replied.

“Still, how likely are you to run into trouble here?”

He chuckled a little as he pulled out another chair for her and sat down. “Well, I’m not leaving them in Epona’s bags.”

Medli nodded in thanks as she sat next to him. The table had a couple things already on it including a deck of cards, a pitcher of water and glasses. “I ordered us the buttered apples for a treat.”

“Ah, perfect.” He rolled his head on his shoulders a little. “So, I miss the band yet?”

“Just the first set.” She grabbed the deck of cards and flipped through them quickly. “Haven’t seen Marin yet though.”

“Who?”

“Their lead vocalist.”

“Aaaah…” He chuckled a little. “Aryll’s letter said she and the band was incredible when she saw them a couple months back when they went through Azundella.” The performers on the stage finished their song. There were a couple humans, a goron and two rito. One of them had long plumage and feathers akin to a peacock, while the other looked like a white and blue macaw with a large accordion in his feathery hands. The group bowed on the stage to applause before filing out.

“They usually don’t go that far inland.” Medli poured him some water as the crowd grew quiet. Link glanced up to the stage once more to see a woman walking out. She was dressed simply in a blue dress and held a harp in her arms. She went to a stool and pulled it over, tossing her red hair over her shoulder before sitting down to tune her harp briefly. The audience fell quiet and she took a deep breath, looking out upon the crowd.

Her fingers began to dance along the strings. Link recognized the tune, but had never heard it played so skillfully. After a couple bars, she began to sing. He didn’t know the language, but knew the tune and could see the story she was telling. A tale of an island of dreams and an ancient egg on its highest summit. Of how The Hero of Legend came to the island to chase away the nightmares. How he fought the evils in the minds of the island’s inhabitants and saved them. He didn’t notice the apple that was oozing with its juices and a dollop of goat butter planted on top of it was placed under his nose. He was only vaguely aware of how the charm around his neck shook on its golden string. The songstress’ song came to an end and she got to her feet. After a brief bow, the tavern began to applaud. Some got to their feet even. The Chosen Champion was among them.

As the applause died down, he took hold of the charm in his hand. “Yes?” he asked.

“You busy?” Lana asked in his mind.

“Vacation,” he replied, squeezing the stone a little. Medli noticed and looked to him as she sat back down. “Sorry, give me a minute.” Link walked away from the table to a quiet corner of the tavern. “What’s going on?”

“We might have a small problem down there,” Lana said. “And I’m sorry about bothering you on your break but you’re the only Chosen who Rauru thinks could handle the thing.”

“What’s going on?”

“There’s a basilisk down there that’s made off with a couple cattle. The Provincial Governor wants someone to deal with it before it kills some people. And the closest guys are over by Calatia right now.”

He groaned a little. “Alright,” he said. “I’ll look into it first thing in the morning.”

“I’ll tell them too that you’ll be taking whatever time off that is taken here.”

“Thanks.” He let go of the charm and shook his head. Alfonzo had always said that being a Chosen meant sometimes vacations would be cut short or interrupted. He was thankful at least that he wasn’t anywhere near the capitol. In the past year he had wanted to stay as far as possible from there for a myriad of reasons.

When Link got back to the table, he saw the songstress sitting next to Medli. The two women laughed together. Medli shook her head as she grabbed her drink and took a sip carefully.

“So, that’s why I’m not allowed back,” Marin said.

“I’m sure that he’s quite happy about that,” Medli replied. “You and Pavo do that at every arcade you find.”

“Well, it’s just so boring otherwise! And I like putting them in their places.” She looked up at Link. “Oh, and this must be the hero who helped you with the winds!”

“I see Medli’s told you about me,” Link said as he sat back down.

“I’ve been tempted to write a song about it.” She offered a hand across the table. “I’m Marin.”

“Link.” He gently took it and shook.

“Everything alright?” Medli asked.

“Just a basilisk I need to deal with.” He looked to his baked buttered apple before grabbing his fork. “I’ll deal with it in the morning so it doesn’t interfere with my vacation too much.”

“Need any help?”

“If you’re offering.” He sank his fork into the apple and tore a piece off. It seemingly melted away the moment it entered his mouth as he smiled a little.

“Sure.”

“So you do this thing all the time then,” Marin reasoned. “Can’t be an easy life.”

He swallowed his second bite of the sweet. “Not really, but rewarding.” Link smiled a little. “Get to help a lot of people. And I’m trained for it.”

“Like the adventure you had in the seas with Medli.”

“Yeah. Yeah like that.” He glanced at the handmaiden for a moment who raised a feathery hand. The small gesture told Link everything he needed. Though she’d shared some of the details, the more sensitive ones had remained secret. It was a part he didn’t always like, but knew the importance of it. Especially some of the more dirty political details of his work.

“Y’know, she’s never told me exactly how you two met. Just that you ran into each other on Windfall.”

“We did. Literally.”

“Link!” Medli cried with a laugh.

“The winds were so bad that day she crashed into me as I was looking for a ship to take me to the freighter. In the middle of that big plaza by the wheel in Windfall.”

She laughed a little. “Feathers everywhere?”

“Not quite,” Medli admitted.

“So,” Link began. “How much has she told you about our adventures?”

“Well, it took you to the islands and dealing with pirates and men made into monsters by a mercenary lord who was seeking to reclaim his glory all because of a wind mage.” She studied him with a small smile. “I’m sure there’s some details that got left out given that charm around your neck. Which, would be expected given as well the fact that you are going after a basilisk tomorrow morning it sounds like. To say nothing of the fact that Medli insisted she couldn’t answer all the questions I had about the monsters, or the mage who gave him the information to make the monsters.”

That was more than he expected, but he was impressed how she’d pieced some of it together. “Very perceptive of you. So, how’d you figure that out?”

“Which part?” She took a sip of her drink.

“That the mage was responsible.”

“Mmm…” She put her mug down. “Well. Conservation of detail for one. As a storyteller, you only have so much to use. So, you want to make sure you’re using the right words in the right way to convey the meaning of it. Giving too many details can make things far too confusing, as well as drag the pace along. Could lose your audience’s interest. You need some, especially for mysteries, in the form of red herrings, or general detail to help make the world feel alive, but… Too much when it comes to storytelling can be just as bad as too little.” Marin waved a hand slightly. “Medli made mention of the mage being involved with the wind problems, but also that you ran into the monsters there, after the mercenary lord had been dealt with. So, clearly the mage was responsible because most mercenaries would not hold enough power to have that sort of magic at their disposal. He put it all in motion. Why’s the question I could never get answered. And I’m guessing I won’t because of state secrets.”

Link chuckled a little as he took another bite of his apple. “Impressive. So what’s kept you from writing a story about this?”

“Research. A good storyteller knows their material to convey and knows how to use it. And right now I’ve only had a chance to speak with Medli about it. You have enough information then you can figure which details are important and which one aren’t. Like… Like the song I just finished here.”

“Ballad of the Wind Fish, right?”

“Yes.” She smiled a bit at him. “Tale of Koholint Island. And there’s a few different versions of that tale. Little changes to it throughout the world.”

“Example?”

“Depending on where you are, it could have changes to its tale. For example, if you’re hearing a version from Termina, it involves some of the mythology from that land a little. Such as talking how the Wind Fish was cursed because of Ikana’s greed. Or in the islands. Where it’s the tale of an island that was ensnared by a dark dreaming god and it was up to The Hero to save it. But, the dark god was a sore loser. So he sank the entire island.”

“Haven’t heard that version before.”

“It’s not a common telling. Heard it from a fortune teller on Ember Island. It’s probably also one of the more darker tellings of The Hero’s adventures.”

“Aaah.”

“Heard a lot of his stories?”

Link nodded. “Yeah. Was a lot of them we heard back at The Tower. Heard the one about the ghosts and the ranch?”

“I have. Termina retelling.”

“What about the cursed princess?”

“Which one? The one who got turned into a striga, a stone statue or a frog?”

“What about the one with the picori?” he quickly replied. “And the talking hat?”

“Okay, that one I haven’t heard of. What’s it-”

“Marin!” the goron on the stage called. “Time for the next act!”

She spun around in her chair to see him waving her over. “Well, intermission over.” Marin pushed off the table and out of her chair. “It was good to meet you. “

“Same.” He smiled at her.

“Enjoy the rest of the show.” She started for the stage.

Perhaps it was a little curiosity about her tales and the versions she knew. Or there was the natural curiosity of what other things she’d performed. There was also that smile and her red hair that seemed to just make her all the more striking with her slight accent and incredible voice. “Hey… Marin?”

“Yeah?” She turned back around.

“Can I buy you a drink after? I’ll tell you enough to finish your story. Just not the stuff that’s under Crown Seal.”

There was that smile, wider than before and a glint in her eye. “I’d love to.” With that, she went back to the stage, grabbing her harp off the stool she’d used earlier. The rest of the troupe had come on and were tuning their instruments.

“You can stop grinning now,” Medli said to Link quietly.

“Mmm? I’m not grinning.”

She laughed a little. “Yes you are. And blushing a little.”

Chapter Text

Gustav Nohansen and The Waring States

An essay by Shad of Azuncella for The Royal Archives

Part 1: The Northern Kingdoms and Prince Gustav

Legend tells us that Hyrule was born from the end of Demise's armies as he was sealed away in the deserts. That the continent was at peace for centuries before The Hero arrived to stop the evils seeping from that tomb. Or that our nation was ordained by The Goddesses leaving their mark upon the world and a wish upon The Triforce. History however, paints a different picture of the birth of our nation. It was born out of blood spilled in the courts of kings, desperation and the torches of war. Before Hyrule, our land was a collection of city states. Each region ruled by its own king. And each king sought to expand his rule in the face of The Southern Empire.

Gustav was born to a small noble family in what is modern day Eldin and served under King Harakin in the city state of Eliiev. To the north were the clans of Holodrum. To the East was the Sheikah Enclaves and Cael, later Calatia. To the south was Temeria, Redania and Cintra as the largest powers of the time. During this period, the city states wared with one another. All for the simple reason of trying to control The Northern Kingdoms. The largest of these conflicts was an attempted invasion of The Southern Empire as they sought to expand their grip on The Continent.

These were the days of The Waring States. And it was only the invasion that saw a brief alliance of The Northern Kingdoms that repelled them. It was a grand alliance, which saw the crowns working in concert. As victory became assured however, each started to look at the others with contempt and thought of how they might make their mark on history. During one of the final battles, King Harakin's allies turned on him and his guard, slaughtering them in the chaos. Done to remove a small rival quickly from the board and it would look simple enough that The Empire was to blame. The culprit would eventually be discovered, but not for decades.

It threw Eliiev into chaos. Harakin had only one daughter who could take the throne, but many questioned her competency. As a result, others sought the position. Including Gustav's mother, Aleska. She did so by appearing as a valuable ally to the young heir. Rooting out those who sought her life. As this occurred though, she had her son, at sixteen, seek out The Sheikah. She'd heard of their skill and saw it as a valuable tool to her desire to build an empire of her own.

He learned their ways after a false start and soon earned the reclusive shadow folk's trust. And eventually their loyalty. The young queen however learned of Aleska's deception. And sought to find a way to safely remove her from power. Aware of the possibility, she sent for her son to bring forth their new allies. Gusatv, unaware of what she was planning, agreed and sent forth a small cadre. In a matter of days, the young queen was disposed of and Aleska seized power, using her agents to pacify major political rivals. The Kingdom was hers. The Sheikah Elders were however, furious at the deception. The young Gustav spent months working to smooth over the trouble. Lucky for them though, Aleska's reign was short as plague swept through Holodrum and into Eliiev.

Disease gripped the city state. Hundreds died, including Aleska and the kingdom looked almost certainly doomed. Seeing the chaos, Gustav, now in his twenties, rode to the capitol to take power to save his home. Though the survivors sought to take the crown for themselves, Gustav had an ace up his sleeve: The Sheikah. It took a great deal of convincing, but he was able to convince the elders he had no idea what his mother had planned. Him and his wife, a sheikah warrior named Imira, fought through a rival family who sought to swear fealty to Redania. His head was placed on a pike along with his honor guards as traitors to their nation.

With all internal rivals silenced by either plague, his mother's blackmailing or seeing no opportunity at the moment, Gustav became the king of Eliiev. His first act was to welcome The Sheikah as valued allies And seek to gain new allies in the gorons of the Death Mountain range, who he credited with stopping the disease spreading further south.

For Gustav saw a greater threat to his home in the south. And it wasn't the rival kingdoms. But he first needed to consolidate and secure his position. So, he held a great feast to listen to the other families in power. It was here he would have the first attempt on his life. The assassins, hired by a retainer who had been loyal to Harakin's family, struck during the feast, but were stopped by a swordsman who Imira's family had called as a favor. Gustav was thankful as he owed the swordsman his life and would pay him whatever he asked for. But he was no Hero of Legend, even if there are tales about him still told to this day.

What followed could be seen as legend. Of the tales told by bards in taverns or on the road, but all records show that this was a practice of the time, especially for some schools, most notably ones who taught extensive swordplay or simple magic. The swordsman looked the young king in the eye. And after the king confirmed that was what he had offered, the swordsman said: "You will give me that which you already have but do not know. I will return in six years to see if destiny has been kind to me."

With The Law of Surprise invoked, and not even a king able to refuse it, he left. And almost six years to the day he returned, looking for the surprise that was promised to him. He indeed did find what he sought. The daughter of Gustav and Imira: Cirilla. The child who would be named in legend as Gustav's Lost Daughter or The White Lioness.

In the time before the swordsman’s return and the next invasion though, Gustav put to work the talents he’d earned through his youth of diplomacy and gain new allies to secure his new position. All the while, knowing of the threats that surrounded his weakened kingdom.

To be continued in Part 2:  The Volvagian Brotherhood and Second Invasion

Chapter Text

The wind whipped at his sides as he clenched the rope in his hands, watching the other boys crawling down the cliff face. Link glanced back up as he repelled carefully, remaining in the middle of the others. His foot slipped a little as he continued down, hearing one of the others shout at how they were in the lead. He could see to another part of the mountains and a small clearing. There he saw his mentor, Alfonzo, watching. He saw someone else walking up the path behind him then, but turned his attention back to his descent.

Alfonzo didn’t look back from watching the potentials on their trial as Impa came up from behind him. He lowered the telescope from his eye and glanced back over his shoulder. “Prince Daphnes wants to know how they’re doing,” she asked him. “Any stick out?”

“Well,” he began with a small smirk.

“Other than your charge. We both know you have a soft spot for the kid.” The sheikah folded her arms as she watched him.

“Hey. You do too. Was anyone else you caught having snuck off with Zelda, you’d have put ‘em in the stocks for a day or sent them out to the woods for a month.”

Her eyes narrowed a little before she took the telescope out of his hand and brought it to her eye. “Just answer the question.”

“You alright?”

Impa lowered the telescope and looked back to him. The unamused glare was one he was quite familiar with from having worked with her for so long, but there was something in her eyes that was different than when she’d grown tired of his antics or someone’s idiocy. “Something with Impa the Elder?”

“Yes,” she briskly replied, looking back to the potentials on the cliff. “And Sheikah politics regarding Holodrum.”

“This has to do with the jarl who died, doesn’t it?”

Impa slowly nodded as she took the telescope from her eye. For a moment, she glanced down at the long wooden bridge below them that connected them to the other side of the pass. It would be a quick way for them to get across if something went wrong. “It does,” she admitted. “She has ordered agents into Holodrum to monitor the situation. There is fear that Jarl Hulninn will invade with or without the support of the others.”

“And nobody wants a war.”

“Exactly.” She handed the telescope back to him then, pushing a strand of hair out of her face as the wind whipped around them. “And this act may inflame hostilities. Last time a jarl raided Hyrule I was still learning to read. It was short but bloody.”

Alfonzo nodded grimly before glancing at the ones on the cliff. “And if that happens, Robin may just ask us to put all those boys through The Change.”

“Would Robin order it?”

“If we suffered heavy enough casualties, probably.”

Impa shook her head a little at his words and closed her eyes. She didn’t know all the details of what The Chosen carried out in their tower nestled in Northwestern Hyrule. Even The Sheikah weren’t permitted to know all of their secrets, just as a Chosen would never learn all of her tribe’s traditions. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“Yeah. I still remember my Trial of Grasses.”

There was a term she’d heard before, even if she’d not heard a lot of details about them. Supposedly it awakened the Hero’s Spirit within the ones who passed all the trials. The truth was far darker. Only due to her position as a member of the personal guard of the Royal Family did she even know what she did about The Tower’s most secret ritual. “Read the old accounts. Never been to one though.”

“And you probably won’t. No one other than Tower staff is supposed to be there for it.” He looked down at the telescope she’d handed back to him. “But Korin. One of the kids who was a Chosen of Din like me. Just before the chemicals made me pass out I saw his eye pop out of its socket while he fought the restraints on his table.” His eyes became unfocused and his hand began to shake slightly. His right hand reached back and gripped his sword’s handle to steady it. “Heard… Heard the bones cracking too. Something had gone wrong…”

“By Din…”

With a deep breath and sharp exhale, he looked back at her, composed once more. “I was last to come to. But Eagus never lost consciousness. He’d seen the whole thing. He was in tears with Albert and Storin. We always thought the five of us could accomplish anything. That we’d look out for each other.” He became quiet then, hand letting go of the sword’s grip and returning to rest at his side. “Me and Eagus are all that’s left from that year. Albert got caught in a grapeshot from a Labrynnan frigate during the war and Storin…”

“I was with you two,” she interrupted with a sympathetic tone. “I know.”

“Yeah…” He stuffed the telescope back into a pouch on his belt and reached up to inspect the charm around his neck. It was a simple red crystalline stone with the Mark of Din etched into it. His thumb ran over the indentation carefully before he let it fall back on his neck. “Heh. Week later we found Link.”

“We did?”

“Yeah. Him and his sister.”

She smiled a little remembering the entire event. Seeing the boy going up against such odds for his sister was something impressive, even if a piece of her felt that he had been a bit too violent. “Aah.”

“Yep. “

“How’s he doing?” she asked.

Alfonzo smiled at the question. It almost looked as if any lingering memories of the prior part of their conversation had vanished. Impa knew of course how he’d answer, but was glad to see his reaction anyways. “Very well,” he admitted. “He’s happy. Ecstatic whenever he gets a letter from Aryll or they come up to Kasuto. He’ll come find me and the read it aloud with the biggest grin on his face.” He chuckled a little as he raised a finger. “And then. Then he goes to find the twins and reads it to them.”

She laughed a little with him. “Oh?”

“They’re usually busy or in the girl’s dorm. So, he shouts for them at the top of his lungs, still grinning as he does!”

“And how do they take it?”

“Cia shouts his name back at the top of her lungs. Lana ignores him for the first couple shouts. Then she makes this long annoyed noise and goes to see him.”

The two began to laugh a little. She was sure it would grow annoying, but the images and sounds of the boy shouting for his friend was amusing and amazing to see how much he’d grown since they’d first found him.

“She loves hearing about it I’m sure,” Alfonzo continued, “but the fact Link does that just to aggravate her I think annoys her to no end.”

“So he does do it on purpose.”

“Of course!”

“Heh.” She glanced over to the cliff face to see how the boys were doing. They were still climbing down at a steady rate. “We never were really allowed to interact with the seers in my clan. Officially we were told it was because we were to be ready in case we needed to cull them at The High Inquisitor’s order.” She sighed at remembering her upbringing. “I pray such am order is never given again.”

Alfonzo gave her a sympathetic pat in the shoulder. She smiled a little at the gesture and looked back to him. “Let’s get back to the kids,” he offered.

“Gladly.” She watched them for a minute in silence with him. “What’s Darunia think of them?”

“Isn’t so sure about a couple of them,” Alfonzo admitted. “Says if Groose learned to keep his mouth shut he’d be a fine warrior once he’s grown.”

“Think he will?”

“Probably not.”

“Why? He’s ahead in the trial so far. Completed the strength testing portion well before anyone else. And he’s currently in the lead for the rappelling. I’m expecting he’ll do okay in the mock battle section as well, even if his tactics will leave something to be desired.”

“No, I mean he prolly won’t learn to keep his mouth shut.”

“Oh.” She laughed a little then.

Alfonzo had to laugh a little too. The boys got along only some of the time, but he wasn’t sure if it was because they were just enjoying antagonizing each other a little or if there was actually a disdain for the other. “Had to break up a fight between him and Link the other day actually.”

“Really?”

“Yep. In the mud of Kakriko. Link said he threw a dead baba bud at him. Just old enough to have developed its teeth and start feeding on passing rodents.”

“Oh…”

He glanced back at her then. “Paya found me before it got too bad but still.”

“That’s good.” She smiled a bit at the girl’s mention. “She’ll make a fine agent one day.”

“Oh?”

Impa smirked a little. “Don’t let that timid exterior fool you. She is the best hand-to-hand fighter in her entire class. And incredibly good when it comes to observation.” The smirk faded as she recalled a victory of hers in the sparing ring; one that had she been there and in training she’d have been ecstatic about. “Whenever she fails though she’s incredibly hard on herself. All because of being the elder’s granddaughter.”

“She push that girl too hard?”

She shook her head. “No harder than I was when in the training. But I am sure it’s because of the blood relation. And she’ll…” Impa leaned to her left, looking back to the boys on their descent. Her eyes narrowed as she noticed how one of the ropes was waving oddly.

“Mmm?”

“Something’s wrong.” She pointed to the cliff.

He pulled the telescope back out and quickly scanned the cliff. “Where?”

“Topside. That boy didn’t secure his ropes well enough.” She grimaced a little, already thinking of the worst case scenario. “Signal Darunia. It could come free.”

Alfonzo raised a hand, curling his index and pinky fingers into his palm. A spout of sparks and flames shot from them into the sky several feet. They saw a pair of gorons quickly rushing to the top of the cliff. One had a hammer, but it was too late. The spikes used to secure the rope ripped out of the earth and flew away. The boy began to fall.

“Alfonzo!” Impa shouted.

Through the telescope, Alfonzo saw another boy fall, his rope still secure. The small figure slid down, causing some dirt and shale. The first boy’s fall slowed as the other grabbed the rope. He was only a few feet from the ground now, while his savior was still well above the ground. The spike and rope that the first boy had been using landed then, the spike barely missing them both. “Those spikes topside aren’t strong enough to hold all that…” He saw them both fall. The first landed and moments later the second did on both feet, a loud cry from him cut short from a hard landing. Neither waited then. Alfonzo didn’t even pocket his telescope and bolted for the bridge. Impa was right behind him. The second rope whipped and the spike dug into the earth. By the time they got there, the first boy was leaning against the cliff face, catching his breath and shaking. The other was curled in a ball.

“By Din. Link!” Alfonzo cried. He knelt down and gently rolled the curled boy over, finding his charge with tears in his eyes and hurt on his face, but he did not cry. He was fighting to not show any sort of pain.

Impa went to the other boy. “Are you hurt?” she immediately asked. Her tone might have been sharper than she’d wanted, but there was still the others above.

“N-no. I’m okay,” he replied.

“HEY!” someone shouted from above. Alfonzo and Impa looked up to see Darunia looking over the edge. “Everyone still breathing down there?!”

“Alfonzo’s charge is hurt!” Impa called back. “Seeing how badly now!” She turned her attention to the other potentials on the wall. They’d all stopped to see what had happened. “Continue down! You’re still on the clock!” She looked to the other boy as the others slowly started climbing back down. “Can you help me clear the ropes? “

He nodded quicly before assisting the sheikah in clearing the ropes. As they did, Alfonzo took Link in his arms and carried him back across the bridge. Within minutes they had finished and started across the bridge. Impa had the ropes coiled and on her shoulder as they walked. By the time she’d gotten back across, she saw others had joined them. A tower mage in a blue and black robe was on her knees carefully looking over Link. A boy and apprentice to the mage stood next to her, watching the work.

“How badly is he hurt?” she asked the Chosen.

“Miraculously no broken bones,” Alfonzo said. “Sora just said he’s hurt both his ankles, but they’ll be able to fix them in an hour.”

Impa let out a long sigh and pushed the long braid of hair out of her face. “You alright?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m okay.” He laughed a little then. “I’m used-to seeing Link not think things all the way through by now. And yet he gives me a heart attack every time he does still.” Something bumped his arm. When he glanced in that direction, he saw her offering him a canteen. He took it and a long drink.

“Well, I’m sure Rauru said the same thing about you when you were being trained.” She looked to the mage as she began her work. A soothing blue light filled her hands and she gently started to move them along one of Link’s ankles. The apprentice next to her held the potential’s boots and watched silently. For his part, Link remained quiet and watching the sorceress’ hands. There were more tears in his eyes, but still he did not sob and he fought to keep a neutral expression.

Alfonzo swallowed, finishing off the water and had to nod a little. “Maybe I’m getting too damn old for this too.”

Chapter Text

It was not the first time he’d been chained in a cell. And he was sure it wouldn’t be the last. He scanned the dark room, his eyes having long adjusted and carefully looked at the bars. The wood of the door was rotten and old, and he noticed how the bricks above that held the bars had old mortar. He could break the bricks free and rip them out of the wood if…

“I found you!”

Link’s train of thought was interrupted as he heard the voice. His eyes darted to the right where it’d come from. In the shadows, he saw a tall woman in a dark, hooded cloak. Her hands were on her hips and red eyes studied him as her lips curled into a smirk. Strange teal markings glowed along her arms as he couldn’t tell if she was wearing tight gloves or had used magic to wrap herself in shadow. She didn’t look entirely human, but with the strangeness he’d encountered recently, she looked comparatively normal even with her blueish skin and fiery orange hair.

“Quite the hit on the head you took there!” she teased. “Though I guess it’s good you’re a bit thick-skulled anyways…”

He remained silent, watching her closely. He wasn’t sure if this was part of some interrogation but knew better than to volunteer any information as long as he was chained and naked in a dungeon cell.

She studied him quietly before inspecting her nails. “Mmm, maybe it affected the speech center in your brain too if you are just going to glare at me like that. And here I was maybe thinking of letting you out… oh well.”

“Out?” he asked.

“Oh! So he does speak still! Maybe there’s hope for a deal yet.” Her hand fell slowly to her side as she looked back at him.

“Who are you?”

She smirked at him. “Well, that’s at least refreshing! Most people would ask WHAT I am, rather than who.” She took a few steps, looking at the chains. “Hold still a moment, will you?”

He kept from rolling his eyes as the chains suddenly snapped. A flash of orange and teal sliced open the manacles around his ankles and right wrist. She’d clearly missed the manacle on his left hand though as it remained clamped tightly around his wrist. He could get it off himself later though now that he was freed.

“Mmm. Sloppy of them not to use dimeritium. After all, you could be hiding something.”

He rubbed his wrist, inspecting it a little before glancing in her direction. He watched as she slipped through the bars, her body turning to shadow and smoke for a moment before reforming on the other side. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet. I still haven’t decided if I should let you out.” The strange woman yawned then and leaned her back against the door to the cell across from him.

“Just had to get out of the chains.” Already he’d spotted the flaws in the old cell and grabbed the chains he’d been bound in. He threaded them through the bars and wrapped them each around a bar. Once done, he picked up one set and began to pull. The wood almost immedietly began to give and the brick above rattled as old mortar began to flake away.

“You had a plan to get out even before I came along, didn’t you?”

“Mmhm.” He kept pulling before one bar suddenly broke free. The bricks above broke a bit as well, freeing the next bar. Link quickly picked up the next one and started pulling on the chain he’d put there.

“Well, I was going to see if you were worth the trouble by seeing if you could get out of the cell yourself but you’ve proven already you’re definitely smarter than you look.” She cocked her head a little. “Even if the basilisk suggested otherwise…”

That’d been well over a month ago when he and his ‘merchant’ friend had run into the draconid and sorceress. “You’ve been following us.” Link grunted as he pulled the next bar out. One more and he’d be able to squeeze through.

“Yes I have. And you both seem quite aware of how worlds are colliding. That this may be the work of some madman wanting to invade your world.”

Immediately, Link recalled his history lessons from The Tower. In particular, The Interlopers and that sunk Hyrule into a bloodbath over three centuries ago. “Thought another world could be involved in this… conjunction.” He stopped for a moment to inspect the mortar around the last brick. “You’re from one of those words, aren’t you?”

“Usually not this obvious.”

“Illusion over yourself?”

“Obviously.”

“Guessing too then you’re trying to figure out just what’s going on too?” He gave the bar a couple hard tugs and it fell free. He quickly caught it before it clattered on the floor. With the third bar gone, he slipped through them. By the time he was in the hallway, the strange woman had vanished.

“Well, you could say that,” he heard her say in his ear. He spun around, but didn’t see her. “I’ve got my own theories. And plenty of evidence to suggest they’re true.” It must’ve been some sort of spell he reasoned. How else would she have gotten into the dungeon that was likely as heavily guarded as The Royal Palace back home. “But never mind them. I’ve decided I like you enough to help you.”

“Lucky me.” Something grabbed his ear and pulled hard. “Ow!” Link’s head was pulled along with it.

“But you have to do as I say,” the woman said in his ear. He could feel her breath and left hand on his shoulder. “Understand?” She let go of his ear then. Link took a couple steps forward and rubbed his ear.

He looked back to see her standing with her arms folded. She looked like she was dressed like a sorceress from Labrynna, though he’d never seen the strange pattern like she had on her skirt though before. Thinking briefly, he knew that he couldn’t trust her completely, but with how she held herself and some of what she’d said, he could at least trust her to be of use to get to the bottom of this mess. Maybe even find his friend and get him out of here too. “Alright, fine,” he said. “I’ll work with you but I’m not gonna be your slave.”

“Well, of course not. If I wanted a slave, I’d have kept the chains on you.”

Without a word and the same glare on his face when he’d first met her, he held up his left arm. The chain rattled against the manacle. A second later, bands snapped around it and it was sliced cleanly off him and landed on the ground with a clatter.

“No, more a servant.” She flicked her fingers a little, the last of the magic energies fading from them. “By all means, if you think you can change my mind about something, you’re welcome to try it.” Her eyes locked with his then and a small smirk appeared on her lips. “No promises on if you will though.”

“Heh…”

They stood like that for a few moments before her impatience became clear. “Well, what’re you standing around here for? Let’s get your buddy out and get out of here!”

Link looked down the hall for a moment. “I need to get something first.”

“Like what?”

He gave himself a brief lookover. “Other than pants? My gear. They…” Small black squares suddenly began to appear in front of him. They fused together into a dark silillouette. Link recognized though the grip of a sword and a shield on top of it all. Color returned to it, revealing his clothes. He caught them as they finished forming. “Thank you.”

“Not doing this for you. But can’t have you running between worlds naked and unarmed.”

“Heh.” He quickly pulled his pants on then, followed by a white cotton shirt. His tunic was nowhere to be seen among the belongings, but it was so distinctive he was sure he’d be spotted the second he pulled it on. “So, if we’re going to be working together, what do I call you?” Link pulled his boots on then and grabbed his belt.

“Midna.”

He buckled the belt and tried offering her a hand once he’d finished. “Link.”

She glanced at the hand offered before looking back down at him. “That’s a verb, not a name.”

“So I’ve heard,” he sighed. Turning away from her, he grabbed the scabbard with his sword off the ground. He pulled it out briefly to check it, finding the blade in exactly the same condition before he’d been captured. It went over his shoulders and he soon had it adjusted and the shield on his back. “Okay. Let’s get going.”

“Good. I’ll be watching.” She took a single step towards him and vanished. In the dim light though, he saw wisps of darkness and smoke merging with his shadow.

Link rolled his shoulders a little and turned back down the hall. Already he couldn’t wait until she was gone.

Chapter Text

Link had hoped that he’d have a little more time to relax after his last assignment.  But circumstances had decided to place him into the sewers of Aboda after another Chosen had failed his task.  The stench filled his nostrils, but he ignored it.  He’d smelled far worse things.  Especially during his brief stint as a wolf during The Conjunction.  At least as well, he was sure he’d get a new tunic if the blue and white one he wore got stained beyond all reason.  The grimy brown water sloshed around his boots as he advanced, with a lantern on his hip.  He shook his head as he reached a split in the tunnels.  He swung a hand out at a particularly large and fat fly and remembered the last time he’d been in a sewer.  And the monster he and his two friends had found lurking in Lorule Castle Town.  “Ugh.  Knowing my luck, I'm gonna find a zeugl down here...” he groaned. 

“Oh Gods, I hope not,” he thought he heard one of them say.  “Don’t even joke about those things.  Eeuugh so disgusting and pimply...”

Link chuckled a bit.  “Heh.  Yeah.  Lucky you're not here right now.”

“But I am here.”

Link tensed his shoulders.  His eyes narrowed, and thanks to his mutations and the low light from the lantern, the world became clearer.  He focused on the shadows, studying the ones around him, before stopping to focus on his own.  It stood at an angle that accentuated a hip, and had its legs crossed at the ankles.  A pair of glowing red eyes were where his would’ve been.  He frowned slightly, but it turned to a smile for a moment.  “What're you doing here?”

“What?  No hello?”  Her voice came from the right now.

He turned to face the twili sorceress.  She was dressed in a long black skirt and bodice, matching what she’d wear when disguised as a member of this world, but her skin was its natural pale blue.  “Hi Midna.  What're you doing here?”

“Just dropping by to see my favorite light-worlder.”  She frowned when her boots went into the water, and pulled the skirt back to check, before she sighed and shook her head.  With a snap of her fingers, the skirt vanished into tiny black squares, It left her in tight dark slacks and high boots that would help keep the rest of her dry.

He had to smirk at how she’d reacted. “Uh-huh.  And why are you really here?”

The mask of sarcasm and defensiveness cracked, and Link saw the exhaustion in her ruby eyes.  The small change in her expression as well that had he not known her so well, he’d have never caught.  “...I needed to just get away from...  from everything for a few days.”  She sighed and waved a hand out at another insect.  A flicker of turquoise jumped from her finger and zapped it into ash. 

The tenseness in his shoulders faded.  “Everything okay back home?”

She closed her eyes for a second, and nodded.  “Yeah.  Just having to deal with Zant and some of the other clans and the aftermath of The Conjunction.  And lords and princes insisting some of the perceived problems could have been avoided if my father had married me off to some sorcerer prince by now...”

He grimaced.  “Ah...”

“I just need a couple days to clear my head.  And I knew if I went to the summer palace I'd be harassed and dragged back into those debates.”  The confident smirk reappeared on her lips.  “So. I though. Where's the one place no one would think to look?”

Link had to chuckle a little.  Even if he’d not planned for it, at least it’d be nice to have a friendly face with him.  “And so, you waited until the worlds were in alignment and hopped over.”

“Yep.  I have a plan in place if something happens and I need to get back too.”

“Smart.”  There was a splash down the tunnel.  Link turned his head that way, hand reaching for the white sword on his back.  “Uh, I'm kinda working here right now, but after I can show you around town.”

“I can tell.”  She glanced at the wall.  “So, the brickwork suggests dungeon. But the stench says sewer.  Which is it?”

He let go of the grip of his sword and focused his senses.  After a moment, he shook his head, and pulled the map he’d gotten from the alderman.  “Sewer.  Definitely a sewer.”

“...Maybe a bath first thing after we're finished here then.”

He chuckled as he went to the wall and checked the mark etched deep in the stone.  He compared it to the map, and then knew exactly where he was.  Link rolled it up again, and stuffed it in a pouch on his belt next to a silver knife.  “You wanna help?”

Midna messed with her hair, putting it into a ponytail.  “After the week I've had, facing bloodthirsty sewer monsters is preferable to nobles.”

He grinned at her.  “You should come up north sometime then.  I'll introduce you to the dodongos and forktails.  Maybe we'll run into another cursed yeti.”

She laughed.  “No gohmas or ghouls?”

“Sure we could find some if you really wanted to!” Their laughs echoed through the stone.

Midna smiled at him and moved to the wall.  She planted her hands on her hips, and glanced down briefly at the water.  “So, what's the contract you're on?” she asked.

“Couple dockworkers went missing about two weeks ago,” he said.  “Thought they'd fallen in and got taken out with the tide, but the zoras didn't find any remains.  Couple days ago, the guards found half a torso with marks and tattoos that matched one of the workers clogging a drain.  A Chosen got called down to handle it.”

“You.”

He shook his head.  “Actually, I'm supposed to be on vacation.  The guy who came in, well, this was his first assignment and he just barely passed The Trials and had his first hunt about three weeks ago.”

“So, something happened.”

Link nodded, and motioned for her to follow.  They started wading through the filth down one of the tunnels.  “He had a little bit of a panic attack.  Supposedly broke his foot, and we can't risk waiting on it so I said I'd take a look.”

“Hope they're paying you overtime then.”

“Heh.  I already spoke to Zelda about it.  She said she'll extend my vacation by however many days this job takes.  But it really looks like it might be incredibly simple.”  He stopped at another section, and checked the numbers on the wall.  He stopped then as he noticed the gruesome corpse of something in the water.

“Well, that's something at least.” He heard her movements stop behind him.  “Hey, wait a second.  Couldn't your elixirs fix broken bones?  If he broke his foot, coupled with his mutations and a couple of those blue potions you use, he should be up and about in a day at most.  Even if he looks like a freshly raised redead because of the toxins.”

Link nodded, and glanced over his shoulder at her.  “Yeah, But I didn't wanna deal with the politics of it.”

“What do you mean?”

“He's a blue blood.  Not all Chosen are orphans.  Just most of us are.   Sometimes, noble families will send their boys to The Tower of Hera.  Wanting the clout that comes with the position.  Not aware of what it entails.”  He turned to face her then.  “And no one outside of The Tower knows about The Trial of Grasses.”  For a moment, he recalled his own trials, and thought he felt the leather straps around his wrists.  The eye-clamps holding his lids open as needles were inserted to mutate his eyes.  He closed his eyes for a long moment, and pushed the memories away.  Even if for a brief moment after, he could feel the tubes in his arm, and the burning pain of the mutagens as they were pumped into his body.

Midna nodded then.  He was sure she’d caught the brief discomfort, but was thankful she’d not said anything.  “Lot of washouts then?” she asked.

“Yeah.  Lana's last guess was nine out of ten noble kids go home even before The Trials.”  He reached the corpse, and squatted down to get a better look.  As he turned it over, he realized it must’ve been someone’s pet.  He turned it over carefully, and studied the bites and remains a little more.  “He's got potential, but lacks confidence.  And maybe still a little too used to the softness of nobility.”  He glanced back at her over his shoulder.  “Uh, no offense.”

She shrugged her shoulders.  “In fairness, it does take a lot of getting used-to. And I admit that those first few days in the wilds I was completely out of my element.”

Link chuckled a little as he recalled one of the very first chats during The Conjunction.  At least one that hadn’t started with them getting upset with one another.  It made him realize just how far their friendship had developed.  “Didn't you go around the wilderness as a girl though?  Isn't that how you found Fenris, and started raising wolves?”

“Teenager, but yeah.  But not like you did.”  She moved to the other side so she could get a look at the creature’s remains.  “Didn't learn how to skin animals or what animal parts were safe to eat.  Or hell, all that conservation stuff you guys do.  Nothing really on extensive wilderness survival training.”

“Ah.”

She frowned as she looked at the remains.  “So what's that?”

“Was someone's pet dog.” Link pointed at the pink collar that’d somehow survived whatever mauling the animal had taken.  He was sure the head was somewhere around here, but as it was, it was just a shredded mess of fur, bone and muscle.  It’d been missing three legs and a large piece of its rear was also missing. 

“Aww, poor puppy.”

“Yeah.  Poor puppy.  But this is a good sign.”

“How?”

Link got to his feet.  He removed the collar to see if there was a means of identifying the animal’s owner, but didn’t find any tags.  They must’ve been somewhere in the water.  He thought about trying to find it later, but the collar might be enough to determine who would need to be notified.  He slipped the collar into his belt and looked back to Midna.  She was inspecting her nails, but he could tell from her expression she was still focused on the task at hand.  “It's been two weeks since the workers went missing.  We have the torso and now these fresh remains.  In that time a zeugl could grow to the size of an outhouse with the amount of waste and material thrown in Aboda's sewers easily in that time.  And they almost never leave remains.”  He looked back down at the dog’s corpse.  “Especially ones still with a lot of meat on them...”

Midna sighed in clear relief.  He couldn’t blame her.  “So, drowners then?”

He nodded.  “If I had to guess, yeah.  The teeth marks on the bones, and damage to the rest of the corpse suggest it.”

“Guess That means...”

He looked right at her, and folded his arms.  “Mmm?”

She shook her head, and waved a hand his way.  “Oh, just thinking aloud.”

Link smirked.  “Try me.”

Midna pursed her lips, and squinted her eyes a little.  She almost looked like she was pouting in the low light.  “Well… you've always said drowners were mostly scavengers.  Hence their classification as necrophages. But they do hunt sometimes if they need to.”

“Yeah.  So?”  He smirked, as he recalled learning about the creatures years ago.  Even if he’d fallen asleep in Horwell’s classes, he felt he’d learned more from firsthand experience with Alfonzo.

She caught his smirk and frowned at him.  “This is payback for all the times I called you an idiot, isn't it?”

Link shook his head as a grin appeared on his face.  “Nah.”

Her frown deepened, but he could see a hint of playfulness in her eyes.  “It's for the condescending instructing.”

“Yes.” 

“Second guess.”  Midna let out a far too dramatic sigh to be authentic ire. “Alright.  Fiiiine...  it all suggests that something has changed in their environment to make it so they need to hunt.  Happy?”

Link chuckled a bit then as he nodded.  He wondered for a moment if this was how Alfonzo felt when he finally pieced together something during his training.  “Ecstatic,” he said.  “We'll make a tower sorceress out of you yet!  C'mon.”  Link jerked his head down one of the tunnels, and they followed the flow up. 

It didn’t take them long to find the drowners.  The diminutive humanoid creatures looked like small zoras from a distance, but getting closer, it was clear they were not.  They lacked the distinctive tail on their heads, and looked more emaciated, with webbed, clawed hands and gigantic eyes.  Six of the creatures knelt around the remains of another animal, that Link couldn’t tell what it was from his place down the tunnel, but the pack of creatures appeared oblivious to his presence.  He felt the emerald charm around his neck, bearing the mark of Farore, shake slightly, and gripped it to stop it.  He realized that it wasn't someone calling him from The Tower, and was just reacting to the magic of his companion.  “Well?” he asked.

“Eight of them in all,” Midna said in his ear.

He started looking to the left, but turned to his right to see her there.  She frowned at him, but it vanished.  “Find the nest?” he asked.

“Yeah, it’s in the back there, at the end of the tunnel.”  She looked at the walls.  “Lucky there’s enough shadows there I was able to sneak around in them fine.”

“Notice anything else we could use?”

She shook her head.  “Least it’s a dead end.  So they can’t get around us.”

“Mm.  This is pretty far inland as well as far as the sewers go.”  He counted the six there.  “The other two in the back in the nest?”

“Yeah.  Looked asleep.”

“Second we attack, they’ll wake.”  He looked back at her then.  “Think you could get behind and deal with those two silently?”

Midna grinned.  “Can get them bound, then slice them open.”

“Alright.  That’ll leave us six, and put you behind them.  So they’ll have to divide their attention.”

“You need any potions?”

He shook his head.  “Not for this.”  Link stopped for a moment, then thought better of it.  He dug into the pouches on his belt, and felt, finding a Din’s Fury.  A second later, he had it to his lips and drank it down.  For a moment, he felt nothing.  Then, his heart started to pound harder, and the concoction burned down his throat like lava juice out of Labrynna.  His muscles tensed as the potion went to work.  Everything became clearer, and he could see gentle movements with greater ease.  If someone were to loose a bolt or arrow at him, he could slice it in half before it reached him now with little effort.  The wild swings and swipes of a drowner’s claws would be easily sidestepped now.  “Okay.”

“Better safe than sorry, huh?”

“True.”  He took a couple steps forward.  “I’ll try and hit them with Din’s Fire.  Directed, rather than the whole dome.”

“Just don’t hit me with it.”

“You have a shield spell.”

“Yeah, but I still don’t wanna get burned.”

He chuckled slightly, even though he knew she could hold a shield for hours if needed.  His own signs were mere parlor tricks compared to what a true sorcerer or sorceress could perform.  “Alright, fair.  Any who survive it, or put out the flames, I’ll handle.”

“Not if I handle them first.”

He gave her impish grin look of mock-annoyance.  “There’s eight of them you said, right?  You take four, I’ll take four.”

Midna gave him a fake pout.  “Fine.”

“Besides, less chance of their blood staining your nice clothes.”

“They’re already stained with whatever’s in the water.  Gonna have to change them when I’m out of here.”  She melted back into the dark along the wall, and vanished.  Link took a deep breath, and pulled the white sword off his back.  He rolled his right wrist in a circle.  If he didn’t need the hand free for his sign, he’d have taken the shield off his back.  He could use Nayru’s Love as a shield if he needed it.

He advanced then, and the drowners took notice.  As he got closer, he was grateful he’d taken the Din’s Fury.  He recognized the speckled marks along their arms, and realized they were actually a different breed of drowner.  Ones the commoners called drowned dead, even though there was nothing undead about them.  One snarled, and Link raised his hand.  His fingers flicked out the sign of Din’s Fire, and a gout of sparks and fire erupted from them.  The other six drowners were all caught in the flames and the snarls turned to shrieks.  Two jumped forward, diving into the shallows, while two more were ensnared in glowing orange bands.  There was a snap as the bands constricted, and sliced cleanly through the creatures, turning them into cubed and diseased chunks of meat.

He lunged forward, and swept his blade in an arc.  The strike went deep, and opened the bellies of two drowners, while his return swing claimed one head.  From behind, one of the drowners jumped out.  Thanks to the potion though, the creature never got a chance to land a blow.  Link sidestepped it with ease, and brought his blade down.  As the drowner landed where he’d once stood, his return stroke beheaded the creature.  A second later, he scanned the tiny bit of sewer, and realized, the rest were down.  Link looked up, to see Midna emerge from the shadows. 

“Ugh, that smell,” she groaned.

He shrugged as he looked about the dead drowners.  “Could be worse,” he said as he sheathed his sword.

“Believe me I know.”  She sighed, and Link heard her boots sloshing in the water as he grabbed one of the heads of the drowners.  He took his knife to another of the corpses, and claimed it as well.  The alderman would want proof that the deed was done, and the town had to be kept safe. “Well, I've heard of flushing money down the toilet but this looks like overkill.”

Link looked up.  In one of the drainage pipes, leading up to the streets above, was a bright colorful collection of green, blue and red rupees among the muck and filth.  “Think we found the change in the drowner's environment.”  He looked at the heads, and placed them next to the pipe out of the water, before pulling one of the green ones out of the mess.  He rubbed it clean with his gloved hand, and then sent a tiny pulse of magic into it.  He frowned then.  “They're fake.”

“All of them?”

Link took a second, this one a blue rupee, and after another application of magic, shook his head.  “Think so.”  He held up the green one.  “It should glow red with a little pulse of magic put into it.  Way to identify it from a counterfeit rupee.  There's no marking it from the Royal Mint.  And...”  He hurled the green one into the opposite wall, away from them.  As it collided, it shattered into thousands of pieces.  “A real rupee would break cleanly and not a much.”  He tossed the blue one next into the stone, and it took broke like the green one. “Only green, blue and red ones here too.  No purple or orange or even yellow.”  His eyes went wide, when he realized just where he’d seen fake rupees like this before.  For a moment, he thought he heard Marin’s laugh, saw her smile, but he knew he’d never see or hear her ever again.  “I know where they came from.”

“You can't possibly.”

“I do.”  He turned to face Midna again as he pulled his map out.  He checked it quickly.  A tiny glowing globe, one of the tiny sols Midna carried on her, floated overhead to give him light.  Link checked the numbers on the map, then on the wall.  “They’re from the arcade.  They’re targets for the shooting gallery.”

“We goin’ there next then?”

He nodded, as he put the map back in his belt, and picked up the drowner heads one by one.  “Soon as I drop these off, and take a couple minutes to wash off the muck and stench.  Alderman’ll want to know what happened too.”

“And the clog?”

He looked at it for a second, then pulled his sword once more.  He held it in reverse, both gloved hands carefully gripping the blade, and swung the pommel into it a few times.  Each time, the fake rupees shattered into colorful fragments.  On the fifth or sixth smash, black water gushed out in a spout.  Link dropped his sword as sewage coated him in a torrent.  He heard Midna shriek in surprise as the drain started to flow normally once more. 

“Twin Sols!” Midna cried.  Though he could hear her giggling.  Link reached up, and wiped the filth from his eyes.  He swatted his hand out and the grime splattered along the wall and in the water.

“If we find another clog, you get to clear it.”

“Oh, no.  I’m just visiting.”

He looked down into the dirty water, and moved his feet in a shuffle until he found his sword.  “You said you wanted to help.  Next clog, you get to clear.”

“You sound so confident we’re going to find one.”

A particularly large glob of dirty water dropped off his soaked hair, and splattered on the tip of his nose.  “Yeah, yeah…  Grab the heads from the back for me, will you?”

The meeting with the alderman had happened quicker than he’d expected, as a guard had gone in looking for him.  Needless to say, he had been surprised to find that someone had accompanied him down there, but the guard was smart enough not to ask questions of a Chosen.  The rest of it had gone pretty much exactly as he’d expected to happen.  The alderman had given him a small bonus, and it turned out the guards had already been looking into someone who’d stolen from the arcade a recent shipment of targets used in the shooting gallery.  With it done, Link was quite happy that he didn’t have to do anything else.

After a bath that was only to scrub out the grime of his hair and ensure he didn’t reek like a sewer, Link quickly dressed once more, but didn’t find a second of the blue tunics that easily identified him as a Chosen.  He pulled on a cotton shirt over his head, followed by a pair of trousers.  Thankfully his boots had been cleaned while he was bathing, and he slipped the scabbard to his white sword over his shoulder once more, followed by his shield.  Finally, he slipped the emerald green talisman, the charm bearing the Mark of Farore upon it, around his neck and stepped out of the barracks.

Midna was not far off, in the main courtyard, watching a pair of soldiers sparing in a fistfight, and clearly ignoring a young dark-haired Hylian man in a blue tunic.  He looked more like a boy than anything though.  Link instantly recognized him as Kanen, the Chosen he’d been asked to help, and showed no signs of injury.  He could’ve recovered by using the potions and some rest, or he’d never been hurt in the first place and had shirked his duty.  With a frustrated groan and shake of his head, he started over to them.  It confirmed his suspicions, but as he’d said in the sewers when Midna first appeared, he’d not wanted to get involved in the politics of the matter.  He’d make a note and discuss it with Alfonzo and probably the other older Chosen when he got back to The Tower.

She no longer appeared as she actually was, but looked of mixed Gerudo and Sheikah descent.  He assumed she’d used her magic to cleanse herself of the filth of the sewers, for her outfit had changed into a knee-length dress that bore the same pale inverted gear patterns he’d seen on her traditional robes before, with a shoulder-less top.  A snarling wolf broach held her cloak together at her collar, and her hood was back.  As Link approached, he heard the young man continue his embellished tale. 

“Kanen, see you’ve met my guest,” Link said.

The young man looked up.  “Oh, you know her?”  He smiled broadly.  “She’s been real quiet, but listened to everything I said.  Maybe you can tell me where she’s from?”

“There you are,” Midna said with a slight snap in her tone.  Her eyes glared up at him.  “So, are you going to actually show me something good to do around town, or is the height of excitement hearing this boy's fractured fairy tales?”

Link fought the smirk that threatened his face as he recognized the tone she’d used.  “Boy?!” the other Chosen cried.  “Hey, I’ve-“

She rolled her eyes and provided a dramatic sigh that he knew had been rehearsed.  “He’s boring me.  Can we get out of here?”

“In a moment,” Link said, raising a hand.  He pulled the young man aside, maybe gripping his tunic a little firmer than he would’ve normally.

“You can go back on vacation.  I can handle some diplomacy since she-“  Kanen began, but stopped when he saw the frown on Link’s face.  “What?”

“You forfeited the job to another Chosen,” Link said.

He frowned then.  “You won’t report it.”

“I’m not in the habit of lying, Kanen.  I know you just passed your first hunt, but this isn’t something where you can just ask your family to handle these things for you, or keep pawning it off on others.  What if I wasn’t here?”

“Someone would’ve come along.”

Link let out a hiss of frustration through his teeth.  “You are that someone.  That’s part of what it means to be a Chosen.  We do the things that no one else can.”  He thought for a moment.  “Remember The Conjunction?  What would’ve happened if someone hadn’t come along there?”

The boy shrugged.  “Someone did.”

“A lot of people did.”  He glanced back at Midna, who idily was inspecting her nails.  “So did she.”

“Wait…”  Kanen’s eyes went wide.  “You?  Really?  You were the one they had…?  Wow.”  He forced a laugh.  “Really?  You?”

He sighed, and regretted attempting to reason with the boy.  Cruel as it was, and he knew it, he was thankful that at least the mutations meant that Kanen would never sire a single heir.  “Yes.”

He started past Link, smirking.  “Guess I need to-“

“No.”  He grabbed Kanen by the back of his collar, and just held the boy there.  “You get to do the paperwork and go talk to the thieves who caused this whole mess in the first place because you’re to follow the orders of your seniors.”  He looked Kanen right in the eye, and a small flash of the red charm bearing the mark of Din he wore.  “A senior Chosen who had the courage you clearly lacked.”  The words clearly had grabbed Kanen’s attention.  And Link saw he even looked a little hurt by them.  “You’re still new.  And there’s a lot you still have to learn.  But you can only learn if you actually face those challenges.  Understand?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Good.  Now.  The thieves are in the cells downstairs.  Alderman knows one of us will be talking to them.  And remember to talk to the mages at The Tower if you need to.  They’re there to support us.  Got it?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.”  He looked back and gave Midna a nod.  She got to her feet, and headed for the gate.  “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to entertain a foreign sorceress.”  He let go of Kanen’s collar, and walked off.

“You alright?” he heard from Midna as he stepped out onto the street of Aboda.  She leaned against the wall of the barracks as he stepped out.

“Said I wouldn’t get involved because of the politics, and I’m sure there’s going to be something from his family now about this,” he groaned.  “But he’s one of us.  He needs to learn still.”

“Could you bring it up with the guy who he apprenticed to?  Like your guy?”

Link nodded.  “Would prefer not to.  But if that’s what it comes to…”

“Heh.  Well, that’s how the cookie crumbles.” 

“Yeah.”  He shook his head.

She slapped a hand on his shoulder.  “Y’wanna get a drink?  I could use one after listening to him drone on about the exploits he thought worthy of song and a lay.”

Link chuckled and gave her a nod.  If nothing else, at least the job hadn’t been as bad as it could’ve been.  And it’d been nice to have a helping hand.  “He tell you about how he tried to ride Epona one time?”

She pushed off the wall, and walked next to him.  “Did it go about as well as when I first tried it?”

He had to laugh as he recalled both incidents.  “Yeah.  Yeah it did.”

Chapter Text

“Evening, milady!  How wonderful to see you tonight!  I do hope you’re prepared for the festivities!  Mmm?”

With an unamused glare, Impa’s eyes went to Alfonzo as he performed an overly-low bow to her.  The Chosen of Din stood in a frilly cravat and blue coat, along with matching breeches and small dark shoes.  The red bandana he’d usually have over his bald head was missing, though she was sure he had it somewhere at hand.  “There a reason you’re looking and sounding like a Labrynnan fop?” she asked.

He grinned at her, before glancing out at the rest of the party that evening at the royal palace.  “You mean other than the assignment?” he replied.  “Simple.  For the look on your face.”

“Heh.”

“Besides, you’re one to talk.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a ball gown and corset and face caked in makeup.  And...  by Din, is that a wig or a loftwing’s nest on your head?”

She gritted her teeth as she moved in the restrictive gown and wig she’d been made to wear.  Even though she’d much prefer not to be made up as such.  Though she knew it was her duty, she still didn’t enjoy being placed in a position that was essentially hiding in plain sight.  At least in such an outfit.  “Daphnes insisted I 'blended in' for once rather than formal garb or sticking to the shadows.”  She practically spat the words, and sucked in a breath.  “I can barely breathe though.”

He gave her a familiar smirk and she caught his brows waggle subtly.  “Corset laces too tight?”

The action would've made her smirk faintly, if not for the rest of her ensemble.  “It’s all this damned powder on my face.”

The grin faded.  “Ah...”

She sighed and went back to looking at the party.  Knights and nobles, along with a couple Sheikah elders and some Chosen and their charges.  Even a couple zoras from the Snowpeak Domain were there, and a goron elder with two others she knew were his bodyguards.  A couple servants were at work at a table of some sweets and the like, as a couple other in the other room cleaned after the evening meal.  “So, who’s having their trial tonight?”

Alfonzo didn’t look at her, and instead scanned the rest of the participants.  “Link.”

“Oh.”  His words immediately made her watch him closer.  It’d been years since they’d first found the boy and his sister in Aboda at the end of the war.  And she’d seen him go from a frightened but fearsome orphan into one of the most promising potentials for The Chosen. She’d watched him go through the trials of Wisdom and Power.  Tonight, it seemed was his Trial of Courage.  If he passed, then he’d have one more, that not even the Sheikah were fully privy to.  Impa had heard what Alfonzo had said for his and knew it might be the hardest one for the boy yet. 

“He completed the gauntlet no problem, as expected.  But now we’re in the thick of the real trial.”

“You sound worried.”

His gaze stopped on a hylian boy, maybe ten years old.  He wore a green tunic and pants, his blond hair combed back behind his ears.  He fought with the ruffle around his neck until he finally tore it off.  The blue-haired girl next to him, around the same age, chastised him in a hushed tone, but the boy just shrugged his shoulders.  Alfonzo kept his gaze on each of them, as the two children went over to a window in the hall.  “Should I not be?  I mean, he’s practically my son.  We worked hard and have spent years together training and teaching.”  He bowed his head then, breaking eye contact with his charge and one of the two best apprentice magi in the entire kingdom.  “And I’m worried if he succeeds.”

They’d had a discussion like this before.  Impa could clearly see the hope mixing with fear in her friend.  Doubly so that he’d said similar things before, but never would sire a child thanks to the ‘enhancements’ he’d gone through.  The same ones that Link might end up going through if he succeeded tonight.  “You don’t want him to?”

“He’s passed the other two.  He passes this trial and it’ll be The Grasses for him.  He fails and he might be able to have a good position in the royal guard.”  He looked right at her.  “A Chosen’s life is not easy.  You know it better than most, Impa.  And all of us, save most of the Tower Magi, have already had the world take so much from us at such young ages.”

She gave him a sympathetic nod, but stopped to reach up and keep the ridiculous wig she wore from falling off.  “You want what’s best for him, but are unsure on what is.”

“Yeah.  And I know all he wants is to make sure his sister is happy and safe.  He fails, he may be able to see her more and they can finish growing up together.  He passes, given our job, he may never see her again.”

“He’s said he wants to help people too.  To make sure...”  She trailed off as Alfonzo shook his head.

“I don’t know how.”  He stopped and moved much closer.  She felt a hand on her arm as they moved a little away from some of the other nobles and knights.  When they stopped, he spoke in a near whisper.  “I don’t know how much of that is him and how much is the stories and legends he’s been taught.”

She just nodded.  “I see...”

“Even after all the training and teachings, he’s still a boy.  With a mind that is malleable to fit what someone else may want.”

“Isn’t that the point of the Trial of Courage though?  At least as it is written?”

He sighed.  “True...”

“You can make a case that it is along the lines of something The Interlopers would put their hexer initiates through to prove their loyalty and that they had been properly indoctrinated.  Or you could argue that the teachings imparted here are to test if the individual is willing to do what must be done for the greater good.  To have the courage to do that and thus embody probably the most important part of The Triforce.”

“I see.” A servant approached them with a tray, and drinks upon it.  Alfonzo plucked two from it, and offered one to Impa.  “So, which side of it do you fall into?”

She took the offered beverage, even if she had no intention of drinking it.  After a moment, she changed her mind, and took a small sip.  “I would like to think I’m in the camp that it is a choice,” she started.  “It is, after all, why we see some potentials fail the Trial of Courage.  They make a conscious choice during it and thus show that.  Or they make the choice and pass it.” She took a much larger drink then and smacked her lips as the alcohol burned faintly on her tongue.  “But, if I were able to impose reform in The Tower, I would after give the potentials who passed all three main trials a choice then.  Have them discuss it with their mentors.  If this is truly their choice.”

“Ah.”

“However...  I also fear that the system may have made us complacent.  That we continue on this path because it is familiar and arguably safe.  Orphans who fit the criteria are taken and tested at The Tower, along with a couple nobles who think this is like entering the army or seeking to serve as knights of the realm.  Only the ones who pass the training and trials become Chosen.  And they only pass as they’ve been molded that way by the system in place.  And by doing so we deny these boys perhaps the most important and greatest gift The Goddesses gave us: Choice.”

Alfonzo looked down in his glass then with a sigh.  “The system has to change then.”

“I agree.  All we can do with it is try and work within it.  I can make recommendations to Daphnes and Robin all day, but the choice is up to The Royal Family.”  She held up a hand then, to forestall his words.  “But we can still to a degree work within it.  The Crown wants loyal servants yes, but sycophants will lead Hyrule to ruin.  We need Chosen who are loyal to the kingdom, but not blinded by the supposed glory of the position or indoctrinated like an interloper.  And that is where we come in.”

“Helluva fine line we walk doing it though.”

“It is.”  She finished her drink, and looked for a place to put it out of the way.  There was none though, so she remained holding it.  “Where’d all this worry come from?  Is it because of The Grasses or something else?  Because you weren’t worried about the other trials.”

“Something about this one just kind of made it all real.  Y’know?  Like, it’s an ending of sorts.”

“Aah.”

He forced a quiet laugh.  “Little bit of denial I think there on my part.  Maybe?”

“Ah.  Well, if you’re unsure, you could call him over.”

“I’m not gonna bother Daphnes with-”

“I meant Link.  Better make it quick though.”  She pointed him out, by the window with the blue-haired girl, Lana, and her white-haired sister, Cia.  “I heard Cia will be responsible for taking part in the trial tonight.”

“Does she know?”

“Not yet.  I’m sure Sahasrahla will tell her soon though.”

For a moment, he studied her.  It was a look of mild confusion, but she was sure there was some glitter in his eyes as he plotted something.  “Are you suggesting I...  alter the scales?”

“Of course not.  That could get you executed.  I’m suggesting you put your mind at ease by asking him what he’d want to do if he wasn’t a potential.  If he could choose to be anything.”

“I see.”  He watched as the boy and girls all laughed at something.  For a moment, Impa was sure they’d just thrown the ruffle the boy had been wearing out the window and the girls had set it on fire with their magic.  “Link!  A word please!”

His head snapped around, and he looked briefly guilty next to the girls.  Lana to his right gave him a look, while Cia to his left attempted to look innocent.  The two backed away from him after a second, and Link rushed over.  Both Alfonzo and Impa recognized his demeanor, as he tried to remain casual, even though he knew they’d likely seen his antics with the twins.  “What is it?”  he asked.  His eyes went to the sheikah woman, and looked up at her.  “Why’s Impa got a nest on her head?”

Impa saw how her friend fought a grin, and her own desire to smack him on the head with the damn thing on her head.  “How do you know it’s her?” he asked.

The boy shrugged.  “Zelda said she had a nest on her head.  No one else here has a wig that looks like a nest.”

Impa glared for a second at Alfonzo as he fought to keep his snickers silent.  “Alfonzo had a question for you.  I’ll get us fresh drinks.”  She stepped away then, leaving him to handle his charge.

Link looked up at his mentor in silence, while Alfonzo looked down.  After a moment of just looking at one another, Alfonzo knelt down to him.  “I need to ask you something.”

“Is this a test?” Link asked.  “Rauru said the tests never end.  I’m getting sick of them.”  

“No.  Not a test.  Just a question I had.”

“Okay?”  He glanced back at the twin sorceresses-in-training.  “Can you hurry?  Me and the twins were gonna try and get cake before the fat zora gets to it!”

“Yeah.” Alfonzo took a deep breath and looked Link right in the eye.  “If you could do anything you wanted.  What would you do?”

The boy blinked, and there was clear confusion on his face.  “Uh...  I dunno...” he began.  “Maybe see the world?  Try to find The Master Sword?  Or climb to the top of Stone Tower in Ikana?”  His eyes went wide then as realizations came to him.  “Oh!  See Swallow’s Nest in the frontier!  Wander the woods around The Tower.  Maybe see if we can find where the White Lioness went so long ago!”  He was smiling then.  “And I’d take my friends with me.  Lana and Cia and Pipit and even Groose, though he’s a little bastard.  He’s our little bastard.  That’s what I heard Eagus say at least, cause he was born out of wedlock so he’s a bastard?”

Alfonzo chuckled.  “Okay, stop saying bastard in polite company.” 

Link just grinned.  “Oh!  And Aryll would be there too!”

“So, just wander?”

He nodded.  “Uh-huh.  Like the stories of The White Wolf.  And we’d help people too.  Like The Hero.  We’d help make huts in the frontier for people to make it through winter.  Make the spirits of Ikana rest.  Even herd goats and sheep.  Aryll’s good with cuccos too she says!  Like the gulls from the islands.”  The grin had seemed to widen to the point it started to hurt.  “Maybe even go back to Outset...”  Something appeared in his eyes then, and the grin fell.  Slowly at first, but it collapsed as his shoulders fell.  “See...  see everyone...”  He looked at his feet.  “Find my mom...”  He was quiet for a long moment.  “She said I have to take care of Aryll.  I promised I would.”

A firm hand patted his shoulder.  “And we have been,” Alfonzo said.  “She’s safe and happy it sounds like.”

“But I would have to take care of her.  But she’d be safe and happy.  I’d make sure of it.”

He thought he caught his mentor’s eyes change briefly.  Watered perhaps, even though he smiled.  “I’m sure you would.”  Alfonzo reached out with a hand and rubbed his head, messing up his air.  The boy laughed.  “Now, here is a test for you.  Should you choose to accept it.”

He tried to fix it a little, though it was clear he was happy to have it not so well kept anymore.  Just as he was happy to have torn the ruffle off around his neck that was now ashes thanks to a little flare from Cia’s fingers.  “What?”

“Get everyone a slice of that cake.  Get one for Lana, Cia…”  He glanced around.  “Myself, Impa…  And of course, the princess.”

Link grinned up at him.  “Okay!”

“But!  You can’t be seen by Impa.  You’ll have to get her piece of cake to her without her knowing it’s you.  Or else Griffin hatchings will fly out of her hair and carry you off into a pit of stalkin and strigas!”

“I could get the sword she has hidden in her dress probably though!  And fight them off!”  He frowned a little then.  “But, strigas are usually alone.  And their curse can be broken.  Why’d there be lots of strigas together?”

Alfonzo chuckled a bit as he got back to his feet.  “Go on then.”

Link scurried off then.  Before he got too far though, the prince, Daphnes, in his red robe and his daughter next to him approached the boy.  That was it.  Alfonzo remembered his own Trial of Courage, and that something was about to happen to test his charge.  Maybe someone would attempt to tackle the prince.  Or go for Zelda, who stood near her father.  It would now all be how Link handled the situation.  Alfonzo took a deep breath, and watched, alert and ready.

“So?” Impa asked.

He glanced back over his shoulder to see her there.  In the fine gown, elegant corset and terrible wig that hid her muscular figure and long white hair.  “He’ll pass,” he said, taking the new drink he offered her.  “I know he will.”

“What’d he say?”

“He’d want to explore.  See the world with his friends.  But above all, make sure Aryll is safe and happy.”

“And you’re sure of it?”

“Yeah.  He was excited and you could tell just by the look in his eyes.”  He kept from saying more.  He was sure she’d caught the tail end of his conversation with Link. 

He gulped down the wine.  “And now it’s just a question of time.”

“Sahasha give you a time?”

“Early was all he’d-”

 “BOMB!”  Alfonzo and Impa both looked in the direction someone shouted, and had found it was Link who’d shouted.  A small black ball flew towards Daphnes in from the window.  Smoke and sparks coming from the fuse. 

“...now it seems!” he finished.

Link rushed for the bomb.  He tried to catch it as it flew, but he missed, and it rolled onto the floor.  He grabbed it then, and tried to pluck the fuse, but his fingers kept slipping.  “LANAAAAAAAAA!” he cried.

The blue-haired girl spun to him.  “WHAT?” she shouted.

 “Shield it!”

“Shield what?!”

He threw the bomb into a far corner.  As it hit the wall, Lana flicked her fingers.  A transparent blue diamond formed around it in a flash.  “Get back!” Link shouted.  “Back!”  A moment later though, the fuse vanished, and a second later, the bomb did too, apart from a simple hide ball.

The barrier vanished, and Link rushed forward.  He picked it up then and turned it over.  Though few were watching the others, Alfonzo noticed how a couple knights and nobles started to smile.  “...it’s just a ball?”

“You are an idiot sometimes, Link,” Lana sighed.

“What’d I do?!”

“Grabbing a bomb?!  That’s insane!  Even if it wasn’t-”

“I didn’t try to!  I tried to catch it so I could throw it back out!”

“Children?” Impa asked, stepping past Alfonzo.

The two spun to look up at her.  The ball fell out of Link’s hand and rolled back into the corner it’d been thrown.

She smiled faintly, and stepped aside.  She moved a hand out towards Daphnes.  “Your future king has a few words.”

Daphnes stepped forward to them both, and smiled as he looked down at them.  He placed his hands on his hips.  “I must admit a slight deception here,” he said.  “For this was the Trial of Courage.”

“It was?” Link asked before the prince had finished speaking.  Lana elbowed him in the side, and glared at him.  He returned the glare, before Daphnes cleared his throat, and both children stood at attention and looked up at him.

“The gauntlet you faced earlier was indeed part of it, but courage is a choice.  Here however, you saw what could happen and made a choice for the greater good of Hyrule.”  He looked back out at the rest of the gathered party, and raised his voice.  “It is in the moments we least expect it, that we must be courageous.  And these youths have shown they are willing to do what is needed for the kingdom.”

Link and Lana both looked up at Prince Daphnes, before looking at one another.  The girl shrugged, but smiled a little at him.  He returned it, then took a step forward towards the future king.  “So...  I passed?” he asked.

“Yes.  You did.  And having passed all three trials, you, Link of Outset, truly carry part of The Hero’s Spirit within you.  You are one of our Chosen Heroes.  Congratulations.”

The rest of the room broke into applause.  A couple people cheered.  Link just blinked, and looked at Lana.  “Did you know?” he asked.

“No?” she responded.

Impa retreated back to Alfonzo’s side and folded her arms as she watched as Daphnes produce a small green sphere on a gold string.  She knew it bear the mark of Farore upon it and gently slipped it around Link’s neck.  The boy cheered, and showed it to the sorceress-in-training next to him.  “No question he’s one of Farore’s,” she said to Alfonzo.

“Mmm?” he asked, glancing her way. 

“Only a Chosen of Farore would be that reckless.”

A small laugh escaped her friend.  “True.”  Worry returned to his features as he saw Lana tackle his charge in a hug.  One the boy returned, laughing.  “But now he must face The Grasses…”

Chapter Text

Link had seen chorts before.  The relict’s body was as large as a small barn, with twisted horns, cloven hooves for its rear legs and massive claws for hands.  The beast’s goat-like head had large sharp teeth for tearing flesh rather than grazing, but most distinctly was the eye in the middle of its forehead.  Though not as dangerous as its larger cousin, the fiend, he’d seen and fought chorts before The Conjunction.  This one however, had not been killed by another Chosen.  He wasn’t sure if there even were hexers or professional monster hunters all the way out here in Termina.  It lay not far from the field where cows had once grazed near Romani Village.  Its stomach had been ripped open, leaving much of its entrails in the dirt.  The rest of the area around the body had prints of the chort, along with another.  Hooves far larger than the victim and tufts of orange hair.

“So?” his companion asked.

He glanced back over his shoulder at Midna.  She remained mounted on Epona, a magic illusion over her to ensure to anyone who saw her would merely see a woman who appeared of mixed gerudo and sheikah ancestry dressed in black.  The mare shook slightly, causing her to grip the saddle a bit tighter and gently reach out to stroke Epona’s mane and neck.  “Lynel got this chort,” he said.  “I recognize the clawmarks on its face.  The hooves are distinct and larger than the chort’s too.  And there’s some of the creature’s mane in its teeth.”  He reached into the corpse’s open mouth, and pulled the hair to hold up.

“Same one?”

“If I had to guess, yeah.”  He got up from his squatting position over the body, and handed the hair to her.  “Sense anything about it?”

“Mmm…”  She frowned as he got closer.  “It’s like that archgriffin feather.  Saturated.”

Link groaned as he closed his eyes.  “This isn’t going to be fun.”

“Better than Ikana hopefully.”  He heard her boots squish in the fresh mud as she dismounted Epona.  With a snap of her fingers, the hair vanished in black squares.  “You wanna tell the mayor, or am I gonna do it?”

He sighed as he looked at the chort.  “I’ll tell him.  Can you dowse with the hair?”

She smirked.  “Who do you think you’re talking to?”

He smiled back with a small chuckle.  “Fair.”

“Guessing you have a plan?”

“Yeah.  We herd it into that bit of swamp.”

She nodded in agreement.  “Can get Remus and Skiba to help there, with Fenris being the main motivator.  Then it’ll have trouble moving in the water because of its size.”

“Yeah.  A little relict oil on the sword will help keep it from recovering easily from injuries as well.”

“Relict oil?”

He thought for a long moment, recalling the lessons from The Tower.  Though she wasn’t a true alchemist, she had at least been able to mix up easily a couple of the more basic potions with things he’d scavenged.  “Uhh…  Dog tallow, but mutton tallow can work well in a pinch, and then some mistletoe.”

She raised one brow, while the other scrunched as she squinted at him.  “Missile…  Toe?”

He chuckled a little at her expression.  “Don’t have those in The Twilight?”

“Nope.  Remember, fungal forests?”

“Yeah, I remember.”  He smiled a little at how a visit into The Twilight a couple months back had taken them through one of them and some of the caves.  He went to Epona’s saddlebags, and dug through them for a second.  “Mistletoe is a parasitic plant, so it’ll be on trees.  Not like a boko baba.”  Link pulled out his worn, green leather sketchbook and checked through it, seeing if he had any pictures.  A quick flip through revealed he did not though.

“Ah.  Like some of the nastier things growing in the gills of some of the larger mushrooms.”

“I have a couple other things I picked up to strengthen it too.  So, should be more effective than just the tallow and mistletoe variant.”

Midna nodded.  “Y’know, for someone who can do some impressive cooking with just whatever you find and hunt, your alchemy talents really leave a lot to be desired.”

“Heh.  Lucky I have a sorceress with me then who knows how to do that.”  He stuffed the sketchbook back in the bag, then climbed into the saddle.  Epona whinnied and pranced on her hooves as Link realized Midna had hopped back on as well.  He gently pulled her reins, and directed them back to the main road.  He heard the snap of Midna’s fingers, and when he looked over his shoulder, he saw she held a map in one hand, and the tuft of mane in the other.  A small turquoise shadow crystal spun over the map as she looked down at it.    The skies overhead remained cloudy, but Link hoped that they’d not open up until after they’d finished the contract. 

“So, lynels,” she began after a minute or so of riding.

“You’ve seen them.  Remember the one in Lorule?”

“There more than just one type?”

He nodded.  “Yeah.  There’s a few different breeds.  Ones further north have a lot of hair to help keep them warm, and speckled coats.  They’re plenty smart too, with some people thinking they once actually had an entire civilization and culture.  It’s why you’ll sometimes find some of them carrying weapons.  Backed up by the relict classification.”

“Must mean they’re pretty old.”

“Incredibly.”  He glanced back over his shoulder at her.  “My teacher back at the tower, Horwell, he thought they might’ve come through during an earlier conjunction actually.  Because there’s just nothing quite like them on The Continent.”

“Well, least no more should end up in Lorule.”

He chuckled briefly.  “Yeah.”

He felt the dribble on his cloak as they neared the ruined barn.  There was evidence something had been around it, as there were bones of animals, including a couple freshly-killed cows, almost completely stripped of meat.  One of Midna’s wolves prowled not far off from him, melting in and out of the shadows of the broken trees and overgrowth.  Its master was behind him, and remained silent as they all heard a rumbling snore.  Link looked at the barn, and then back at Midna.  The twili sorceress nodded, and the largest of her wolves, Fenris, emerged out of a long shadow.  She looked at him in his one good eye, and the massive wolf silently slipped around then. 

“Well?” he asked.

“It’s in there,” she said.  “My wolves can smell it.  And that’s the barn on the map.”

Link glanced back.  He spotted Epona far off, near the main trail.  The plan was simple, but he hoped it was going to work as they’d discussed.  “Ready?”

“That’s what I’m askin’ you.”  She flexed her fingers, and flickers of orange and teal fell from them. 

He checked the small quiver of silver bolts on his hip, and loaded one into his hand crossbow.  Link slipped it back onto his hip then, ready to be drawn.  He drew the white sword from his back, and pulled out the bottle of relict oil they’d made.  With that ready, he checked the couple of bombs he’d pulled from the saddlebags.  A pair of dimeritium bombs, and a thermite bomb he’d picked up in Ikana to deal with eyegores and armos.  The second was a grapeshot   He carefully applied it with a rag, then grabbed the potion mixture.  A Farore’s Kiss to enhance his signs and ensure he didn’t run out of magic.  A Thunderbird for the battle trance and Din’s Fury for the reaction time.  Finally, a Lupine Sense to enhance his senses to track the creature and a Kaepora’s Vigil to ensure he remained conscious and prepared for a long fight.  He’d need to use the Nayru’s Tears stowed safely in one of Epona’s bags after to cleanse his body, before he could take anything to heal himself with, but it would be a small price to pay to ensure he walked away from the fight.

Link took a breath, and drank the entire black slimy mixture down in a couple quick gulps.  It was oddly sweet at first, but the aftertaste made his tongue revolt.  With another swallow to force the last of it into his body, Link took a deep breath. 

The effect was almost instantaneous.  He felt his stomach twist, muscles twitch.  Link wretched, but the viscosity of the potion would not allow itself to be dislodged from his body, as his mutations absorbed it.  Altered him.  His skin grew pale, and veins marbled along his neck and face.  Dark circles formed around his eyes, which lost their cobalt blue color as his irises dilated.   With a snarling breath, he righted himself, and gritted his teeth.  The world looked clearer.  The stench of the dead animals the lynel had killed and dragged to its lair were far more potent in his nostrils now.  He could hear the crinkling of grass in the wind and if he focused, the breathing of Midna’s wolves, even though they were well hidden.  If he focused just a little bit even, he could watch and count the beats of a nearby fly buzzing over one of the cow corpse’s empty eye sockets.  “Okay,” he said.  “Now, I’m ready.”

Midna gave him a nod then.  She gently waved a hand out, and her wolves moved silently towards the barn.  Even Fenris, to his surprise, moved quietly.  The scene was silent for a moment.  Link slipped his shield from his back then as well.  There was a roar from the barn then, and a couple loud barks.  Midna gasped then, eyes going wide, as she felt something in connection with her wolves.  The barn’s wall exploded then, Fenris on top of something, that reached back with a clawed hand. 

The lynel itself looked like others Link had seen before.  A massive centaur-like creature, with the arms of a man, and head of a lion, while maintaining a massive quartet of hooves that could crush a man’s skull into dust.  Unlike others however, this one’s skin was pale, eyes pitch black with a hint of red.  The creature’s red mane seemed to blaze.  Thanks to the potions in his system, with a bit of focus, he saw dozens of long dark tendrils, akin to a shadow beast’s, writhe and shake in the hair, giving it the illusion that the rest of its mane was ablaze.  Its head however, looked only vaguely like it had been a lynel in the first place.  It had antlers instead of horns.  The snout was much longer, with what appeared to be a third red eye having formed on its forehead, similar to a fiend.  Two of its fangs were much longer than what was normal as well.  If Link had to guess, they were the length of a short sword each.  The clawed hands however, gave him a brief bit of pause as they threw Midna’s largest wolf into the dirt and animal corpses around its lair.  They were wreathed in twilit magic, just as hers were at this moment. 

As Fenris rolled in the dirt, crushing bones of another animal under his bulk, the corrupted lynel snarled as it raised its hands.  Before it could administer a killing blow, bolts of teal magic flew into its chest.  The monster snarled, and threw its hands out.  To his amazement, the creature created a simple shield, that blocked the rest of Midna’s attack.  The magic barrier shrieked and groaned with each blow, before it rushed for her.

He briefly realized that if the lynel was this mad, and with innate twilit magic capabilities, there would be little to no way they could lure it into the swamp.  Especially as it threw magic attacks as opposed to seeking to close the gap like its uncorrupted ilk.  The fight would have to happen here.  Link drove the blade of his sword into the dirt, and pulled the crossbow.  Thanks to the cocktail of potions, it was easy to lead the shot, and he sent a single bolt into its head.  The creature’s head snapped around when the crossbow’s string twanged.  It swung one of its claws out, and caught the bolt with its palm, the hard way.  The lynel roared, a distinct shriek to its pain as well, that caused Link’s knees to buckle.  He caught his partner fighting to keep standing as well, as the magic screech attacked their physical nerves.

When he regained feeling, the lynel was almost atop him.  Link rolled to the right, as the beast trampled its hooves towards him, and grabbed his sword out of the dirt.  He swung, slicing into its legs as it passed.  It stumbled, but the momentum of the beast kept it moving forward.  The lynel turned back around then, and pounded its hooves in the dirt.  As it did, the drizzle from above started to turn more into a rain.

“Shit,” Midna snarled.

“Can you bind it?” he asked.

“Not easily!”  She yelped as a blast of magic flew from its mouth, barely getting her shield raised in time.  One of her smaller wolves jumped on its backside, and bit down.  The lynel kicked and bucked, sending it flying, but thankfully not striking it with its rear hooves.  A set of bands of orange magic wrapped around one of its legs then.  Midna pulled her hand back with an angry cry, but the beast swung its own hand out, and struck her with a raw blast of energy.  It did not fall, though it did stumble.

Link took the opportunity as it was distracted, and rushed for it.  His fingers flicked, and formed Nayru’s Love around him, before with a leap, a streak of green wind magic trailed behind him as he flickered away, and then reappeared above the back of the lynel.  He aimed his blade down, and stabbed.  The beast twisted away, and the blade went through its side, missing the spine Link had been aiming for.  As his feet landed, Link kicked off, before it could throw him off.  The lynel kicked, and the wind left his lungs as the back of one of its hooves slammed into his gut.

The lynel roared though in clear pain.  The relict oil burned in the wound, and would not heal swiftly.  Link gasped for air.  To his surprise, one of Midna’s wolves moved to push itself under his arm to help him to his feet.  He was grateful, and looked back at his quarry.  It was occupied with Midna, throwing magic at her orange sphere-shaped shield.  When one blow came, she thrust her hands out, creating a bright flash of teal.  With a roar of her own, a lash of teal twilit magic swung like a whip out from her hand at the beast, and lopped off one of its antlers, and created a gash across its torso.  It raised one hand then to block the return strike, and he saw it use its other hand on its chest.  To his surprise, red bands, similar to the same tendrils Midna used to bind targets, slipped up the wound, creating a magic stitch to hold the gash closed. 

With the creature occupied, Link thought back to his lessons.  He knew it’d be better if his partner used her magic offensively to either cripple it, or even deliver the killing blow.  They needed to end this fight fast.  He slipped the shield on his back again, and dug his hand into the bomb bag.  He knew she’d have trouble with her spells for a few moments, but if it gave them a chance that the lynel would focus on him, he was willing to try it.  “Midna!  Back up!” he shouted, as he held up one of the dimeterium bombs. 

She shouted something, which he recognized as a swear, but did jump back as the lynel threw another blast of magic her way.  With her clear, Link lobbed the bomb, fingers flicking, to create a small bit of sparks that lit the fuse.  It struck the lynel in the back, and a second later went off with a bang.  Silver dust hung in a cloud around the creature, as it became saturated.  The energies in its claws faded considerably from the anti-magic material.  The bands that held its wound closed vanished away, and started to bleed once more.  The creature roared, and dropped into the dirt and mud.  It rolled and fought to get the dimeterium dust off it.

Link took the opportunity to charge it.  He gripped his sword and swung.  He got one blow in along its back, before it had rolled, and kicked with one of its forelegs.  The strike shattered the magic barrier he’d created with his sign, and knocked him back, away from the beast.  Before it got too far though, the creature grabbed his arm, and pulled him back.  He didn’t let the momentum go to waste though, and lunged into it.  The blade went deep, resulting in another roar of pain from the monster, before it let go and got back to its feet.  Link jumped back as it took another swing with its claws at him, and the last of the dimeterium dust that’d saturated was brushed off.  He wasn’t fast enough though, even with the mutations and potions, and the strike swept deep.  It tore open his tunic, and ripped the chainmail shirt under it open, along with his skin. 

He’d gotten his wish, as the lynel reared back, kicking its forelegs to bring down upon him.  Red bands though lashed around one leg, and pulled.  They flickered out a second later, but it was enough to throw the beast off balance once more.  Midna stood not far off, cloak billowing as a ball of energy formed between her hands.  Any illusion she’d worn had vanished in the concentration of the fight.  Her teeth gritted, she whipped her arms out, and there was a flash.  Red bands formed around one of its hands, but the beast snarled, and whipped it out back at her.  The red tendrils whipped around her body, and knocked her into the grass.  Link heard her scream, and saw flashes of teal and red. 

A piece of him wanted to rush to her side.  To make sure she was okay, but knew he had to break the beast’s concentration.  Like any spellcaster using their magic.  He grabbed another bomb out of the bag, flicked his fingers to light the fuse, and threw it.  As it flew, he realized then he’d not grabbed the right one, and prayed it would still do something.

It did.  The lynel roared as fire and sparks and the metal casing of the thermite bomb scorched its mane and arm.  Slag dripped onto its leg, along with more sparks and thermite as the beast’s side began to cook.  It roared and screamed, but the flames kept burning.  He saw a teal lash whip out from the grass, and cut another slice into it.  Link went for the side, and stabbed forward, driving the blade through its stomach.  When it went deep, he pulled it along, and opened its belly.  The lynel swung its arm out, back at him.  One claw scraped along his neck, while the back of its hand struck his jaw.  He saw red, and tumbled into the earth.  A faint pain on his neck, and a sharper one in his shield arm.  He reached up.  If not for the trance and potions, he’d be in a panic.  Especially when he felt the depth of the gash in his throat.  Link dug feebly about his things, and found the cloth he’d used to apply the relict oil, and bunched it up to cover the wound as best he could.  The beast let out one final cry, and he saw it collapse, before things started to go black.

It was done.  Her outfit was shredded, and she could feel pain from the cuts on her body, but Midna knew the beast was dead when Link had disemboweled it.  Of course, the fact it had backhanded him as one final strike made her rush over on nothing but adrenaline.  She reached where she’d seen Link fall, and found him there, eyes wide, unfocused and his left hand to his throat.  The rag there was turning a dark red.  His right arm though, had been twisted in an impossible way.  Her eyes went wide when she realized that the strike from the lynel that’d knocked him away had likely struck with enough force to break his arm.  Looking closer though, she saw bone jutting out of the torn and bloodied fabric.  His bone and blood.  She’d never seen such an injury before.  Except when she’d shattered the wing of the archgriffin near Lake Hylia with her magic. 

“Link?” she cried.  He didn’t respond.  “Damnit…”  She gritted her teeth and tried shaking his arm.  Again, no response.  “Oh, by the Twin Sols, you idiot…”  Midna looked him over.  The gashes in his chest were bad, but she knew from watching her wolves why they went for the throat.  She reached into the dark, and summoned one of the smaller two.  It formed almost instantly out of black squares and rose out of the shadows of the grasses.  The more muscular of the two smaller ones, Remus, stepped out and nudged her with his nose.  She could hear his thoughts in her head, and he whimpered as its empathy and fear for her.  She’d burned a lot of magic during the fight to shield herself.  And to pull away her own spell that the damned monster had thrown at her had cost a lot too.  Calling Remus out of the shadows again too drained her even more.  At the speed of thought, the wolf rushed out to the road, where Epona had been.  She frowned when she thought the mare had run off some time during the fighting.  She hoped now that he’d alert someone. 

Healing magic had never been her favored art.  Though she’d had to learn and improvise for more than a year now it felt like, she still wasn’t sure it’d be enough to heal such a grievous wound.  She inspected the cloth at his neck, and saw the blood was much thicker and darker.  It looked like he wasn’t bleeding out as badly as she thought he was, but he still needed help.  She carefully pulled the cloth away to get a look.  “Okay,” she said, taking a deep breath.  “Okay…  Think…”  An idea struck her then.  She pushed the cloth back to his wound, and dug into the pouches on his belt.  She found a red potion.  His mutations let him heal at incredible speed with the elixirs.  But she wondered if the toxicity of the potion, mixed with the other ones he’d taken for the fight would do permanent damage.

There was no option though she as she felt her fingers growing cold with his blood, when an idea formed.  She might not be able to use her magic to seal the wound like a healer, but there was something she could do.  Midna looked down at the wound, and pulled the cloth away.  Red bands flickered in her hand, and she placed her other hand on the edge of the gash.  A small spurt of thick, nearly black blood stained her hand, as a tiny field of shadow formed over it.  With a deep breath, she carefully wound the bands into his skin, tearing and binding, until, just like the lynel had, she’d stitched it shut with magic.  A little blood escaped, and she held the spell tighter in her mind, and her left hand.  It’d add another scar she was sure, but she’d seen just how many he’d gathered over his life already a couple times already.  She tore the cork of the red potion out with her teeth, and nudged his head to look skyward.

His eyes were still open and glassy.  She wondered briefly if he was aware of what was going on.  If he knew he was dying.  If he knew she’d saved his life, again.  Then again, he’d returned the favor several times by now too.  The time on Snowpeak, their harrowing trip through Ikana, and even back in Lorule when they, along with Ravio, had faced the diababa.  A little guilt roiled in her gut then, about how she’d bullied him about his fear of carnivorous plants.  Just as when she’d seen his oldest physical scars on his sides at an inn on the coast of Lake Hylia.  

She was about to pour the potion down his throat, when his left hand reached for her, and he wheezed out something.  “What?” she asked.

“Cleanse,” he managed to gasp.  “Tears.”

“Oh.”  She saw his eyes gradually growing more alert, even if only vaguely.  Midna looked at the potion in her hand.  “Do you have-“

“Epona.”

She gave him a sympathetic look.  “She ran off.  Don’t know when, but…”

Link gritted his teeth and clenched his eyes shut.  “I’m…”  He reached for his neck.

“Hey, careful!”  She dropped the potion then to grab his hand.  She didn’t know what would happen if he touched the bands of energy holding his throat together.  The red potion spilled on his torn tunic.  Her fingers clenched around his wrist tightly.  “I’m holdin’ it shut right now with a spell.  Was hopin’ that…”  She looked down, as she realized at least half of the potion had soaked into his ruined blue tunic.  “Oh, damnit.”

“Like the lynel?”

“Yeah.”  Her head darted up when she heard barking, and a bit of excitement from Remus in her mind.  She looked back, and heard a horse whinny.  By the nearby road, as the rain continued to come down, Epona pranced.  Through the grasses, Remus dashed, tail wagging and ears back as he reached his master.  More importantly though, there was a cart with a couple people on it.  A look through Remus’ memories told her that it was a pair of young women, a man, and a pair of children.  They’d seemingly spotted Epona, and the horse had led them back.  “OVER HERE!” she shouted.  “HELP!”

“How bad…?”

“You don’t look good, Link.”  She looked back over again, seeing a figure hop off the cart.  “HEY!  NEED SOME HELP OVER HERE!”

“You.  You okay?”

In truth, she wasn’t.  The gashes and cuts from her own spell thrown at her could’ve sliced her into giblets.  But she could still walk.  Her partner on the other hand, probably couldn’t even stand with his arm broken like that.  She could sew herself up and apply some bandages and other healing salves later.  “I’ll live.”  She spun when she heard the grass, and a flash of an image from Remus’ mind of a pair of people from the cart. 

The girl had a bow, while the man had a simple spear.  Both stopped at least two yards away from where Midna knelt over Link’s body. 

“What the…?” the man began.

“Well don’t just stand there!” Midna snapped.  “Help us!”

“What…  What are you?”

She realized the illusion she held over herself usually when not just with Link had not been brought up.  Seeing the look of surprise on the two hylians made her roll her eyes.  Thinking quickly, she decided to use the same story they’d come up with in Ikana.  “I’m a genie.  He’s the one who let me out of the bottle, and thanks to a stupid wish on this noble idiot’s part, now instead of a lamp, his shadow is my home!  So, if he dies, I die!”  The two hylians just stared at her in a bit of disbelief.  “By the Twin Sols, are you two gonna help us?”

“If you’re a genie, why can’t-“ the woman started.

“Laws of magic and the wording of his stupid wish.  That’s why.”  She looked back at Link.  The threads of her spell still held the gash in his neck closed, but until she could get his system cleansed, she’d have to hold it.  And already, she was feeling the strain of it wearing on the rest of her exhaustion.  She moved her hand up his wrist to take his hand.  In spite of the clear exhaustion and blood loss, his fingers managed to entwine into hers.

The two others looked at one another.  The girl slipped her bow on her back.  “What do you need?”

“Cremia,” the man began.  “That guy looks like he’s a goner.  Like he’s some redead.”

She took a single look at him.  “Go clear some space in the cart.  And some dry blankets.”

“But-“

“Don’t argue, just do it!  Mayor’ll wanna know too what’s happened.”

The man backed away, but jogged back to the cart.  With it done, the woman approached and looked down at him.  Out of the corner of her eye, Midna saw the woman gasp, and the familiar look of horror on her face when someone saw Link after he’d imbibed several potions.  In spite of it, she looked back to Midna.  “What can we do right now to help him?”