Presents, Surprises, and Problems

Chapter 1

Barfight in Castle Town Square

"Another shot, Telma"

A large mug filled with bright golden liquid smoothly slid down the bar and abruptly stopped from the blockage of a gloved man's hand. The man gripped the mug tightly, and with great care downed Goron bourbon in one shot. With the drink finished, the man slammed down the mug loudly and then moved it to the side to a party of 11 other empty mugs. The man had dark blond hair, now unkempt and had grown down to his shoulders leaving his bangs the only thing that hadn't grown much. His once piercing blue eyes which showed the fierceness of a feral wolf now had a look of a person who just found out his wife was having an affair behind his back. His face that once was clean shaven with the face of a youth growing into adulthood now sported a five o' clock shadow that circled his mouth and chin. And His green tunic that once was clean with the pride of a hero is now stained badly with dirt, dust and blood from bar fights. Anyone who didn't know that he was the Hero of Twilight would most certainly mistake him as a traveling mercenary in Hyrule. Anyone that did know him would wonder why the Hero of Twilight went so low as to be a drunk after saving Hyrule.

"hon, I think you've had enough Goron bourbon for today" Telma said with concern.

"Aw… comon Tel…" Link whined with a slurred voice, "just onemor"

"No Link, and I can tell you've had more than enough" Telma sternly said.

"…fine."

"Hon, I'm worried about you, ever since she left, you've been drinking 'til you're cucco, are you listening hon?"

Link stopped paying attention at the word 'she'. The word 'she' brought pain to Link. The word 'she' meant 'her'. And by 'her' it meant Midna. It's been three months since he last saw her. Painful Memories he struggled to suppress with alcohol started rising back up. Their first encounter, how he closely worked with her to save Hyrule. Their first kiss, that fateful night they made love, the day she left him forever. Bringing a hand up to his head in an effort to suppress those memories, Link cringed in mental pain.

"Link, you okay hon?"

"You mentioned ….her" Link made a painful effort to say the last word.

"Oh… I'm sorry hon."

"It's okay Tel"

Telma had forgotten that any mentioning of Midna became painful to Link after what he went through from the heartbreak. Since then, she, Zelda, and the others who were close to Link were careful with their words whenever they were around him, avoiding the subject as if it was taboo.

After paying for the drinks, Link stood up from his seat, accidentally knocking it down backwards and tripped a large soldier, spilling his drinks on himself. Clearly pissed off, the soldier recovered and turned to yell at Link, hollering:

"Hey, watch it you drunk bastard!"

Link however, paid no attention to the soldier as he swaggered towards the door, clumsily opened it, and went out.

Grumbling under his breath, the soldier who tripped over Link's fallen seat returned to his tablemates and after a few moments of discussion, left with his friends to find vengeance at the drunk who tripped him. Once the gang of drunken soldiers was out of sight, a bar patron stood up from his seat, and went to the bar to pay his bills.

The patron walked up to Telma and spoke.

"That boy's gonna be in big trouble" said the patron.

"I'd doubt it, that boy's been through more of hell than we can imagine, what's got you worried?" Telma quizzically asked.

"I'm just concerned about him, it seems like he shouldn't be here and yet here he is, wasting his youth away, and what do you mean he's been through more of hell anyways?"

Telma looked around as if the bar patron in green was still in the bar, then turned and whispered to the concerned patron.

"He's Hyrule's hero"

"Huh" the patron mused in surprise

"Several months ago, there was a Kingdom in another place called the Twilight Realm, that kingdom was taken over by somethin' evil, and that evil made that kingdom invade our kingdom. Somehow made it past our defenses and forced Hyrule to surrender."

"Wow" the patron now interested, craned his neck closer to Telma.

"That's not all, that boy there with nothing but a sword and shield and the clothes on his back, fought back, reclaimed Hyrule, and liberated the other kingdom too. And that's not all, that boy had a traveling companion who just so turns out to be the princess of the other kingdom and both of them fell in love with each other. But the tragic thing is hon, after all the shit the boy and the princess went through, she left him."

Outside the bar, the various sounds of people and objects suddenly elevated in volume, followed by screams and swearing.

"Oh… boy" said the patron with sympathy.

Moments before…

Link stumbled out of the bar and into broad daylight, hissing as the noon sun burned his eyes.

Hyrule town is never this bright

It was midday, and Castle town was in the midst of recovering from the incident of the castle explosion. Most of the debris were picked up and cleaned and Castle town was busy not with commoners, but mostly soldiers and workers scurrying through the east and west entrances with supplies.

South Castle town being the farthest from the castle was back to its former glory, as busy as ever. The business was soon interrupted when a drunken Link tried to move with the traffic, bumping into a delivery boy and setting a chain reaction of bumping and tripping other people, contents flying everywhere.

Link however paid no attention to the chaos he made as he was focusing on his vision and trying to walk in a straight line.

Upon reaching the center square of Castle town, Link hauled himself to the edge of the fountain, and threw his afternoon lunch out his stomach. Stomach emptied, Link sat on the edge of the fountain, reflecting on what had happened after Midna broke their connection.

Flashback… (Three Months ago)

CRASH

The mirror shattered, its pieces scattering about in the wind, some of them, landing on the sand, some in large shards breaking into ever smaller pieces.

The Obsidian monolith became blank, the ancient lines that marked the portal faded away. The two Hylians stood there looking between the empty mirror frame and the giant black monolith, its smooth reflective features glistening in the falling twilight.

Link fell to his knees staring at the portal stone, unable to accept what had happened, waiting for the portal to reappear and to see that woman come back and finish what she was about to say.

Slowly realizing the events that had passed weren't dreams or illusions, he sunk even further. Arms and knees supporting his weight, tears slowly forming in his –

"Oh hoho… look what we have here, it's the drunken bastard who tripped me at Tel's Bar" a slurred voice broke his train of thoughts.

Link looked up and found himself surrounded by drunken Hylian soldiers, but with nausea and his increased sensitivity to sunlight in midday he couldn't focus his sight at the leader.

"wha do ya want?" Link weakly asked, his voice as slurred as the drunken soldier. He held up a hand to block the sunlight from his eyes.

As if the statement was an insult, the leader of the group snarled and grabbed Link by the neck of his collar and yelled "Don't fuck with me boy!"

In an instant those within earshot stopped what they were doing and looked at the ongoing commotion, curious as to why would a group of drunken Hylian soldiers would pick a fight in the middle of the day.

Then one of the other soldiers spoke. "H-hey, I know that face. He's that boy who saved Hyrule! Yeah, he's the Hero of Hyrule!"

"Is that so?" said the leader. He looked at Link, eyes trying to confirm Link's Identity.

Shit. Link thought. Goddesses please let them mistake my Identity.

Then the leader's eyes trailed to Link's left hand looking at the faint triforce marking. A smirk formed on his face. "Well, well, well. If it isn't Sir Link of Ordon" he sneered. A fist flew at Link's face, and Link was sent to the floor near the base of the fountain, momentarily dazed from the blow. Some onlookers screamed, some went to run for help, many were frozen on the spot from the sight of the commotion.

"Well some Hero you are…" A foot came up on Link's stomach, and sent him rolling over hacking blood. The rest of the soldiers snickered.

"You spilled my drink and made a mess of the market sector of Castle town" he spat. He grabbed Link's head, turned it so that he could see South Castle town, and then kneed his chest.

"So for doing that," Link was picked up by two other drunken soldiers, holding his arms in place so that he couldn't move them. The lead soldier leaned in and whispered in Link's ear. "I'm gonna spill your face all over this square for your precious princess to see it."

He then drew back and threw a sucker punch at Link's face, seemingly knocking Link out. Satisfied, the lead soldier of the drunken group left Link there for the humiliation, the rest of the group followed. Just as he was halfway between the square and the entrance to South Castle Town, a hand was placed on the collar of his chest armor and was turned around to face an angry Link.

The moment he saw the anger in Link's eyes, he was stricken with fear for messing with an angry beast. Link then grabbed the soldier by the neck of his chainmail shirt and threw him with such force that the soldier's momentum was broke the Triforce symbol on the head of the fountain, knocking it off the fountain.

The lead soldier landed at the edge of the fountain on the opposite side, groaning in pain. The rest looked at the leader who was thrown then at Link, noticing that the Link they assaulted was a different Link. Even when drunk, they could tell that this Link is gonna give them hell.

All of them had one thought in their mind: Oh shit.

Link was angry. No, beyond angry. Those drunks are gonna pay for what they just did. Not only did he felt angry, he felt power flowing through him. His left hand was searing hot, he was glowing with a golden aura, and he instantly felt sober.

Now with a clear head, he looked at the fountain and the lead soldier that was thrown. Then looking at the rest of the group who were scared stiff, he growled, cracked his knuckles, and attacked.

Link first grabbed the soldier nearest to him, gave him a vicious head butt to the head and kicked him in the chest, sending him colliding into a pair of Gorons carrying a wagonload of Iron I-beams. Taking advantage of the distracted soldiers he then quickly approached the next one and quickly disarmed him, shoving the soldier into another soldier, both of them tripping over the edge of the fountain and falling into it. By now, the three remaining members of the drunken company instantly sobered up and ran for help. Growling, Link reached into his magical pouch and pulled out his double clawshots. Instinctively aimed in separate directions, and fired with both claw shots successfully finding their intended targets.

"GET OVER HERE!" Link yelled as he pulled, bringing both clawshots and their hooked targets careening towards each other. Both soldiers collided with a loud CRUNCH and were instantly knocked out cold. Still not satisfied about the beating he gave, he then turned his attention towards the leader of the drunken company who had recovered from the throw. Looking at Link, he turned pale and started to plead with him.

"P-please don't kill me Sir Link, I didn't mean it. I swear!" Link gruffly grabbed the lead soldier's shirt by the collar and raised a fist. A glowing triforce symbol appeared just before his knuckles, and his left fist glowed bright yellow.

"Please mercy!" the lead soldier pleaded.

"Mercy your ass." retorted Link and with a deafening thwack, punched-out the soldier cold.

Elsewhere, the soldier who had luckily escaped Link had reached the entrance to Hyrule Castle. Panting for breath, he spotted Princess Zelda and quickly ran towards her.

Zelda noticed the soldier and quickly approached. She came down to the courtyard because of her triforce mark resonating ominously when she pointed it towards Castle town. Maybe this soldier has the answer to what's happening. She thought.

"Prin…*hah* cess…*hah*…Zelda…" the soldier panted.

"Calm down soldier, now tell me what's happening" Zelda calmly said.

"Need….Re….enforcments…call…. white …. Knights"

"Why?"

"D-d….Demon!"

"A demon? Here in Castle Town!"

The soldier finally caught his breath, and then frantically explained what happened.

"I don't know your highness, we were just having fun and Cid got pissed at some guy in green who spilled his drinks. We went to teach that guy a lesson and we did. But then he got pissed and started glowing and started beating the crap out of everyone. He was like a demon, man. A demon! Zelda, call reinforcements, and run! Run before you—"a claw latched onto the back of his chest plate, eyes widening the soldier screamed "OH SHIIIIIIIIIIIII—" and was yanked out of sight.

Right then and there, Zelda knew what was going on thanks to her triforce of wisdom. It dawned on her in her mind that Link was on rampage for some reason and is now wreaking havoc in the town square. And it has to be related by the fact that the soldier who was yanked away was in fact drunk. Nevertheless, she could not stand to have Link make himself look like a fool or ruin their reputation.

Looking towards the castle, she issued an order.

"I call for the White Hylian Knights!" she called in a loud authoritative voice.

Note: If you're wondering about the Hylian White Knights, you'll hear about their backstory in the next chapter

So, what do you think of the first chapter of my first fanfic? Sorry for the bad cliffhanger people.

I would like long good and numerous reviews! It would be much appreciated for the feedback.

Also, I might make some changes to the chapters here and there without notice so please don't flame me!

Update 5/21/12: Made some grammar revisions and what not.

Until then readers!

- Chibitiza