So I hope you all liked 'The Heroine'! And, of course, I couldn't just leave it at that, so I made a sequel! I will say no more, simply, enjoy the next installment in the Tales of the Heroine!
//Loui
The Heroine: War Of Shadow
The Simple Telling of a Story…
'And then, my little friends, as all hope seemed lost, our Hero picked up his sword…'
Two young children, a boy and a girl, were listening wide-eyed to an old man telling them a story, in the small town of Lake Town. The old man's eyes were gleaming as he gestured how the Hero picked up the weapon.
'…and struck it through the dark Lord!'
The children gasped and gave a start as the old man suddenly thrust his invisible sword into thin air, pretending it to be the Evil King. He then turned to the children again with a smile on his lips and made a dramatic pause. It was late afternoon, the sun was still warm on the bricks in the small town, where the children were sitting. The town was surrounded by a high wall, shielding it from the world outside. The market was about to close, and people were shouting at each other, each merchant trying to bring the towners to their shops. The town square was bustling with people, merchants and mere travelers stopping for a rest. The old man rested his eyes for a while on the children before continuing.
'Thus the Evil Shadow fell and the Golden Land of Hyrule returned to its peaceful and prosperous state. And the Hero, he lived happily ever after with his friends.'
The boy seemed content with how the story ended, but the girl jumped up and down on her seat, so eager to ask the old man something.
'But Mister, Sir! Sir, wasn't the Hero a girl?'
The old man's eyes widened as he heard her question, and then cracked a smile.
'Why you are quite right, my friend! The Hero was in fact a…Heroine!'
The little girl beamed, but the boy cried out in chock; 'What?'
The girl turned to him grinning. 'You see big brother, girls can be heroes too!'
This caused the boy to run at her and they engaged a game of tag under lots of laughter.
The old man sighed happily, watching them. 'Ah, to be a child again…' he said to himself and rose from his seat on the brown bricks, the ground slightly dusty.
'…Yes, we're glad that's over, aren't we?'
The old man turned to the voice and discovered a man sitting upon a pair of crates, one leg dangling over the edge.
The old man broke into a smile by the sight of him. 'Oh, hello,' he said politely, 'I did not know my stories attracted the older ones too.'
The young man shifted on the boxes so that both his legs were dangling over the edge and supporting his weight on his arms.
'It was cute,' he said with a shrug, chewing on a long straw, picked it out, threw it away, and without looking at the man, added, 'I like how you did the ending.'
He then turned back to the man and gave another shrug. 'Well, I suppose you couldn't tell the kiddos the truth, eh?'
The old man surveyed the young man in front of him, from his black tousled hair with the front stripes in a peculiar reddish color, down the dark shirt, his big beige pants and finally down his black boots.
The old man raised an eyebrow. 'What truth?'
The man rose from the crates and paced forth to the old man. 'Oh, come on. You and I both know that's not how the story about the Heroine ends.'
The old man looked at him. 'So it is true then? The Heroine did not stay…'
The young man flicked a wooden splinter from his hand and continued without looking at the man.
'No. She did not stay in Hyrule. A few weeks, perhaps, but not more. She left, and has been missing for about two years now. Some say she's dead, others say she gave up her title as Heroine and is now only working for herself…'
---
Meanwhile, right outside the town, a figure hooded in black came riding up to the town gates. The stallion which she rode on was dark brown with a white mane, but was dirty, almost blackish, like its rider. He gave a sudden snort, trotting up the hill until his rider held him in.
The rider turned in her saddle, looking up at the sky and saw that twilight was upon them, and night would soon fall. She pulled the hood further down her shadowed face and pressed the sides of her stallion who jumped forth in a nervous trot but soon calmed down enough to pace through the gates to the town.
---
'Well, that is a fascinating story, my boy,' the old man said as he'd listened to what the young man had said. 'But,' he said and rose, 'I don't think it is something to be shared with the children.' He then turned and walked down the street into the creeping darkness. 'Much too grim,' he said, half to the man, half to himself.
The young man looked after him, still situated on the boxes, another wooden splinter in his hand. 'Couldn't agree more,' he muttered and flicked it away.
As it bounced of the dusty bricks he couldn't help to notice a pair of hooves pacing to halt a few meters away. He followed the dirty horse with his eyes until he finally looked upon the rider. It was a woman, he could make that much out of it, but her face was shadowed by a hood. But then, out of coincidence their eyes met, her dark blue ones and his dark brown ones. The man gave a slight frown, wondrous of the strange fire that seemed to burn in the girl's blue eyes. Only for a second, and then the girl turned her horse and vanished towards the stables.
The man looked after her, thoughtfully, barely aware of the fact that he was fumbling with another wooden splinter in his hands.
---
Far away, in a distant land, the sky was clouded. As the sun fell there was only a dark grayish tone over the sky; the rays of the last sun shut out.
It didn't take long before the rain started to fall.
The land was great, with an open field lying before a great castle, and before the castle lay a large city.
Suddenly a rider galloped over the plains, the hooves making a thundering noise, the sound somehow radiating how urgent the news was that the rider was carrying.
Two guards outside the city stopped him, asking for his identification and purpose of being in the city.
'Please,' the man said, showing his papers proving to them that he was a merchant, 'I must speak to the Queen!'
One of the guards looked up, raising an eyebrow suspiciously.
'Yeah? What about?'
The merchant looked down at the guard. 'It is information too important to simply spill here on the street!'
The other guard moved in to block the merchant's way even more. 'Well, what can't be spilled here can't be spilled at the Queen,' he said in a stating tone.
'Please! I beg you!' the merchant pleaded.
'Is there a problem here?' a voice suddenly demanded from behind the guards. They both spun around surprised, raising their hands in a salute.
Behind them sitting upon a great grey mare, was a man, in his mid-twenties with short brown hair and light blue eyes, and clad in royal armor. His status of importance was increased even more as he had a dark blue cape draped over his silver armor.
'General Lian!' one of the guards exclaimed.
He raised an eyebrow. 'Well?'
The guard looked uneasy. '…Ah…Well, we were…'
'…Letting this man through, I hope,' the general finished for him. He rode up beside the merchant. 'Good day sir, my name is Chase Lian.'
'Ah… pleased to m-meet you, Sir,' the merchant said, somewhat uneasy over the situation.
'You may come this way,' Chase said and his horse paced off, but before doing so, he turned to the guards.
'If he turns out to be a threat to the Queen I will handle it. But do not act out of suspicion like that. These are peaceful times now.'
The guards nodded and turned back to their posts again. General Chase looked backed at the merchant and smiled, driving his horse to a pace, towards the castle, and whispered something to himself.
'Hyrule is at peace now.'
---
It was night over Lake Town, and the small city was sleeping, except for the people sitting in the local bar. The drunken men roared with laughter at something the bartender had said, and then kept talking and joking about something only drunken men would have laughed at.
The newly arrived woman was sitting on the edge of the bar, drinking from a small glass with something strong in it.
She had cast away the hood, and had revealed her face. It was beautiful; her skin was pale and soft, but still hardened with grief and pain. Her hair was blond, cut short around her forehead to then fall out on her back, and her eyes had the deepest color of blue.
She was unaware of that the young man from before was standing in the shadows, leaning to the wall, arms folded, watching her.
As the girl had finished her drink she tossed a coin to the bartender and left the bar, but she was not only followed by the dark eyes of the young man, but also of the hazed, but hungry eyes of some of the drunken men.
As the door to the bar slammed shut behind her, some of the gloomiest-looking men started whispering and grinning at each other in a slug way. They soon got to their legs, wobbling a bit, but like the girl, walked out the bar.
Only the bartender reacted.
'Oi, boys! Where'd you goin' there?'
One of the men turned and gave him a grin.
'Ah, no worries, Slim! Jus' out for a littl' fun, that' all!'
He then left at laughter from the other men. The bartender, Slim, sighed and went back to polishing one of the dirty glasses.
The young man in the shadows, who had been chewing once again on a wooden splinter, suddenly turned it to the other corner in his mouth and walked out the shadows. Pulling his cloak tighter around himself he walked out into the dark night.
The streets were empty, saved for an old dog that slowly wagged the street. The young woman strode over the streets, her dark mood suddenly scaring the dog that wagged off as fast as he could into a dark alley.
The woman seemed to hold something under her cloak, attached to her hip, like a sword. Suddenly she stopped, sensing someone behind her. She slowly turned to face two of the drunk men from the bar.
They grinned at her. 'Well, missy, where's you be goin' 'tis late, eh?'
The girl ignored the man's taunt as she looked behind her and saw the rest of the men blocking her path. She was surrounded. However, the girl wasn't afraid as she looked back at the man that had laid the comment.
The man beside him laughed and took a few steps forward.
'Why don't ya show us what's under tat' cloak of yours now?'
It was then the girl suddenly gave a grin as she looked back with a strong gaze.
'With pleasure.'
Then she cast away the cloak, revealing a sword, with a blue hilt proud with a ruby, and the blade as clear as a lightning.
She twisted it around in her hand, narrowing her eyes against the first man who hesitated only a second before running against her with a roar.
The girl stood firm, reading the man. He was drunk, and not a particular good fighter. So she merely stepped aside as he charged at her, and quick as a lightning thrust her sword down. She merely touched the man's leg, but at his speed it caused a great wound as he ran into the blade. He shrieked out in pain, immediately losing his footing and fell to the ground.
The girl planted her foot at the man's stomach, pointing her sword to his neck.
'Think again before following a girl in the night,' she said. But the man wouldn't listen; instead he called out to his buddies.
'Oi! What're you standing ther' for!? Get her!'
The girl looked up daring at the men that were too drunk to understand the risk and rushed her. She stepped off the man and swung her sword around her once, before beginning the battle.
The young man was standing in the shadows, watching the girl fight. She was good. Very good. They were three to one, but she avoided them very easy, using her sword with great skill. She knew exactly were to hit them were it hurt, and soon they all lay on the ground saved for one, who the girl had at her mercy, holding her sword around his neck.
'Now lucky for you I don't kill,' she hissed, still as calm as before. Then she looked at the man that appeared to be their leader, as he still lay on the ground holding his leg.
'Now get out of here.'
They didn't move.
'NOW!'
The girl suddenly lost her temper and shoved the man she'd held her sword against out of her way. The men slowly stood and then ran away, limping and whining.
The girl didn't even look after them as she thrust her sword back into its sheath, attached to her hip. She turned, only to walk straight into the dark-haired young man who had been watching her. But she quickly regained her balance, backed a few steps, holding the hilt of her sword.
'Hey there, pretty lady,' he smiled.
'I thought I told you guys to get lost,' she said darkly. The man merely gave a smile.
'No, no, no. Thankfully I believe I have a better key to your heart than their method,' he said in an amused tone. The girl loosened her grip of her sword, as she surveyed the man. He was not one of the men she'd just met, he was much younger, only a few years older than her, with eastern features and tanned skin. He was also, she noticed, very handsome.
'Isn't that so?' the man asked, looking at her. The girl, quickly renewing her grip on her sword, took a step back, suspicious. She was slim, her blond hair pulled back from her face into a plait, which had the effect that her eyes seemed to shine out of her face. A raw wind caught her dark red shirt, which she wore over a pair of black leggings, sending the shirt dancing around her slim torso.
'Get lost,' she said, picking up her cloak from the ground. The man grinned, watching her.
'So that was quite a show,' the man said, impressed. 'How old are you? Seventeen? Where'd you learn to fight like that?'
The girl turned away from him and started walking away, fully ignoring him.
The man looked at her as she walked away.
'Alright then. Then where did you get that sword?'
To his question, the girl stopped dead. She slowly turned around.
'What do you mean?' she asked, narrowing her eyes towards him.
The man rose his eyebrow and took a few steps forward, eyeing the sword that the girl held in a tight grip.
'I mean…' his eyes traveled from the sword, up her body, towards her eyes, 'Where did you buy it?'
The girl's expression turned even fiercer.
'I didn't steal it, if that's what you're implying,' she said darkly.
The man took another step closer, surveying her at close. He was now so close; the girl could feel his breath at her forehead.
'… Or course not. Why would you?'
Turning his back to her, he took a few steps away.
'There's just…'
He turned around again, but fell silent.
The girl was gone.
Giving a sigh, he let his eyes linger for a moment at the spot where she had been standing, and suddenly spotted her cloak still on the ground. He bent down and picked it up when something suddenly fell out of it. Something small and shiny. Looking thoughtfully at it for a moment, he then folded the cloak and bent down to pick it up. It was a small round object. Made out of gold, no doubt, he realized. A medal. He looked at the insignia; three triangles shaped to form one big triangle. The man knew this sign. It was the golden power of the ancient Kingdom Hyrule.
The Triforce.
The man looked up after the girl and smiled, closing his palm over the medal.
Well, what do you think of the first chapter? Good, bad, confusing? Please review!