A/N: Okay everyone new short story up. I'm not entirely sure how happy I am with how this one came out. I still like the idea, but I don't know something just felt off about this one. I don't know, but I finished it so I'm going to put it up and let my wonderful readers decide. I do know I'm currently not happy with the ending, but I can't seem to think of a way to fix it at the moment. Hopefully it will come to me by the time we get to that point. Also I know the title is bad, but it kinda stuck and so it shall stay.

This story is mainly a mix between Twilight Princess and Ocarina of Time but with a few added twists. It's only rated M due to later chapters and some mild swearing, mainly from Rusl. There aren't really any pairings or love interests in this unless you choose to see it that way.

Lastly I'll only be putting up the chapters one at a time once a week for various reasons. I'll be uploading on Sundays with the only possible exception being next week since I have to make a drive half way across the country soon. I should be back home by Sunday, but as we all know things happen. If that does occur I'll give you two chapters on the following Sunday.

That's about it, let me know whether you like it, love it, or hate it in a review since that all helps to develop my writing, plus it helps will me to write more stories. Preferably constructive criticism ask just trash talking tells me nothing other than you don't like it. Until my next chapter ~Later

Losses and Gains

"Damn them, damn them straight to hell," shouted the ash blonde man while slamming his fist on the table he sat at causing the cups of him and his companion to shake omniously.

"Calm yourself Rusl," said the angry man's friend, quietly.

"I'm sorry Auru," said Rusl while running his hand through his hair, a worried expression on his face. "It's just…well damn that Jovani and Purlo. They nearly ruined everything and if we hadn't caught them when we did well…" Rusl's voice trailed off as he thought of what would have happened had they not caught the men in time.

"I know how you feel Rusl, but blind anger will get us nowhere not to mention that if you continue with these outbursts we will surely be caught. Besides, need I remind you, it will not only be our lives that shall be forfeit should we be discovered."

Rusl nodded his head before placing his face in his hands trying to rein control over his emotions. "What are we going to do now Auru," Rusl mumbled in a quiet almost broken voice through his hands. "We're two men short now and even before all of this bokoblin blasted shit we were still a man short. Three people alone cannot hope to complete this mission, but if we don't so many people won't last the winter."

"I know Rusl, I know. That's why we're here tonight, I'm hoping Telma can help us," Auru said in a weary voice.

Rusl looked up at his friend sharply, "How is that possible? When we asked before, she told us no one she knew was near enough to help."

"I'm not sure," admitted Auru after a sip of his drink. "I received a letter from her yesterday asking for both of us to come here tonight. All she said in her missive was that she had some friends she wanted us to meet."

Rusl was perplexed but refrained from asking anymore questions, aware that Auru wouldn't have the answers to give him. They sat in silence for perhaps five minutes or so before a robust redheaded woman sashayed into their cloistered area, which was kept away from the normal patrons, carrying a tankard of her own. Without an ounce of hesitance she sat herself in one of the empty chairs immediately taking a good swig from her mug before speaking.

"Telma," Auru greeted her with a nod before quickly following up with the first of their questions. "Who's minding the bar and the tables for you?" Telma shook her head at the man's attempt at small talk but she indulged him none the less.

"Ma daughter Marin an' niece Malon are waitin' tables tonight. An' Malon's father, Talon, is bartendin' for now."

Auru nodded pondering his next question a moment before giving it voice. "How are they both doing since Ajalon passed and they lost the ranch?"

Telma sighed heavily taking a minute to gather her thoughts. "Malon, misses her mother an' the ranch somethin' awful, but she's bearin' it well. Tough cookie that one, just like her ma. I try an' help her by tellin' stories 'bout her mother an' me when we were just a couple of bean sprouts. I think it helps her some, or maybe it's just wishful thinkin' on my part. I'm tellin' ya though, that girl is just like my sister was at that age. She can be sweet an' kind but ya cross her just once an' you'll get yerself an earful. Sharp as a tack too. If she'd been in charge of that ranch they never woulda lost it. That Talon though, laziest bum I ever laid eyes on. He hasn't even tried changin' his ways since they lost everythin'. I barely manage to keep him outta the Chateau Milk let alone gettin' a decent day's work outta him. He's endearin', don't be gettin' me wrong, but the man don't have an ambitious thought in his head. If it weren't for my sister bein' so good at business he woulda lost his family's ranch lon' ago."

Both men nodded solemnly remembering well that fateful day when Talon had lost it all forcing the father and daughter to show up on Telma's doorstep unannounced, heartbroken, and with only the clothes on their backs.

"Well maybe she'll get a chance to get it back," Rusl said comfortingly breaking the thick silence. "From what I hear, that Ingo character isn't doing any better at it. He can't keep help ,and his prices are so high it's costing him more to run the ranch than he's making."

Telma smiled at him, "I've heard as much about that gamblin' fool, an' that's what we're hopin' for. We're already workin' on a plan to get it back, might take a while though." Silence fell on the group once more as they sipped at their drinks until Telma broke it this time.

"Alright honeys enough of the small talk, ya want ta explain ta me just how, when we're only days away from our departure date, everythin' went ta hell an' a handbag an' we're now three people short insteada just one."

Rusl groaned inwardly, of course Telma would want answers before she gave them any. Thankfully Auru was the one to answer her, knowing Rusl was not one for explanations.

"Well as you know Telma, Rusl and I have been doing regular checks on the supplies, to be sure they weren't discovered or damaged until we're ready. Their location was a closely guarded secret from everyone, or so we thought. Not even Shad was to know and he's been the one organizing most of this. The most fortuitous thing about all of this was that we kept doing random checks to avoid suspicion. It was lucky we did because yesterday as Rusl and I walked in we found Purlo and Jovani with these three weird little men. Turns out they were the infamous Tingle brothers, and those two were planning on selling all of those supplies for a hefty profit then they were going to take off. Thank Farore they didn't manage to steal or damage anything, but they all got away before we could capture them. Though we managed to give them all a few reminders of what happens to traitors. As per our normal amount of luck the commotion drew the attention of the Knights, and we had to do some fast talking to keep them from finding the crates. I'll say this, Rusl did a good job of playing the jilted lover, but still it was far too close of a call for several reasons and now…well now I don't know what we're going to do. I was hoping by your letter Telma you may know someone who can help us."

Telma tapped her nail against the table seemly lost in thought before she leveled a steady gaze at the pair. "Well as much as I hate ta admit it I can't say I'm too surprised, those two were always a pair of greedy sons of a bokoblin. It was stupid of us ta even include them in the first place, we were lettin' desperation cloud out judgment. I'll tell ya I wish I coulda helped you two give them rats what they had comin' to them. Imagine being willin' to sentence all those poor little things to death just for a couple extra rupees in your pocket," said Telma with more than a little venom in her voice as she shook her red lock back and forth in sadness.

"Yes," said Rusl the anger creeping into his voice once again. "Not to mention selling them to the Tingle brothers, they're the largest crime syndicate in all of Hyrule! I can't imagine what those criminals wanted with that stuff, but it wouldn't surprise me if they had planned on trying to sell it to all the villages for twice the profit." Rusl was nearly ready to slam his fist into the table once again only stopping when Telma shot him a warning look over the rim of her glass.

"Well it don't matter anymore. They're gone, the supplies are safe, an' Auru yer right I do know a couple people who are willin' to help. The letter I got from her was a bit delayed, which is why I sent ya such a rush letter so ya'd get yer butts here quick as could be. Luckily for us I've known one of them since she was knee high to a grasshopper, so she's most definitely trustworthy."

Auru looked at Telma seriously, "Well that will certainly help, but can she fight? We already have Shad coming with us, and he's utterly worthless with any and all weaponry save a book or a map. Rusl and I are good but I'm not as quick as I used to be, and Rusl can't be expected to defend everyone else and the supplies, all at once."

Telma snorted as she took another drink. "Ashei's father was a Knight an' a brilliant strategist for the castle until he and the King got into some kind of bitter argument. I don't know the details but he got himself banished, and had to sneak into the city whenever he had to come back this way. Ashei was his only child so he taught her everythin' he knew 'bout fightin'. I'd be willin' bet she could best any Knight in Hyrule, an' likely give you and Rusl a run for your rupees."

"Good to hear," said Auru also taking another drink while Rusl spoke up.

"What about her friend? Can they fight?"

Telma shook her head in the negative as she responded to the query. "I'm afraid I don't know anythin' about this friend of hers since she only mentioned that someone was comin' with her in the message. But knowin' Ashei if this person wasn't useful in some way she wouldn't be havin' them travelin' with her in the first place."

"When is she due to arrive," enquired Rusl.

"I'm not too sure actually since I don't know fer how long that letter was delayed. If I had ta guess I'd say they should be here tomorrow or at the latest the day after. I'll send for the two of ya once they're here."

Both men nodded to the red-head's words but before anymore could be said a shriek brought them all up and out of their chairs. Pulling back the curtain that kept prying eyes out, they were met by quite the disturbing sight. It was late into the evening, near closing time, so there were few patrons left in the bar. The few still there were stupid drunk by this point in the evening, and had either passed out or were beyond all reason in their drunken stupor.

The few that could walk had Malon pinned to a wall while Marin was being held down on a table by her arms with her legs dangling down over the ledge, but not quite touching the floor. Talon, who should have been there to help the girls, was passed out on the bar two empty bottles of Chateau Milk lying beside him.

Rusl, Telma, and Auru were about to rush forward when the two holding Marin fell back, away from the girl, quickly followed by those holding Malon. The girls practically ran to Telma, trembling and very obviously scared, but the question remained what had just happened? The drunkards appeared just as confused until their bleary eyes focused on the back corner of the bar. Someone must have been standing there but from where the small group stood neither of the men or women could see who was there.

"Whatzz zda hell do yous think you're d-'hiccup'-oing," slurred one of the men who had attacked the girls.

If it had not been so quiet in the bar they would've never heard the reply. "All of you need to leave and go sober up."

"Jus whod ya dthink yar toa tell us whaz to do. Wez jus h-havin bit o fun with dem gwrls."

"Funny, they didn't seem like they were having fun. Now I'll tell you again leave or I'll make you."

"Pfft vwoman dshon't know whatzz they weally want til a freal m-man gives it to dem."

"There are several things wrong with your statement, the least of which is that none of you are real men. Now are you going to leave or do I need to show you through the door?"

Maybe it was the words, or perhaps the posture of the yet unseen man; quite possibly it could have just been that the drunks ran out of patience. Either way that seemed to ignite the tension that had been brewing since the first shriek. And so with stumbling drunken movements several of the men started toward the still invisible speaker.

Auru and Rusl rushed forward to help the foolhardy man who had instigated the drunken mob, there would be no way he could take on that many even if they were drunk. Or so they thought; they had barely rounded the corner when several of the men were sent flying backwards, crashing into a table. Now that they could see the entire scene they could see the other men lying on the ground nursing apparently sore appendages. None of these men drew the pair's eyes nearly as much as the short figure standing near the wall.

Little could be discerned of the man, they were sure he was a man by his voice, because of the dark brownish-gray cloak he wore. "Now get the hell out, or I won't be so lenient when I throw you out the door, and I promise if it comes to that I won't bother opening it first."

The drunk men seemed to take this threat all too seriously, and in a comical pratfall scenario began to fall over each other trying to be the first out the door. As the last man tripped over his feet falling out of the door two women entered directly stepping on the oaf.

One had short black hair tied up tightly while also wearing body armor over red clothing. She was sturdy, and walked with a confidence reminiscent of a warrior. The sword she carried on her back gave some credence to this observation. Her dark eyes roved about the room quickly, taking everything in in an instant. Overall she seemed to be a compact woman with no great height to her, yet her demeanor seemed to make up for this several times over.

The other woman was taller with long flaming red hair. Unlike her friend she wore few clothes and no armor, yet her frame emanated the grace of a predatory cat. Her weapon of choice was the sword as well, but unlike her friend's broadsword she bore a pair of twin scimitars on her hip. This came as little shock to any who saw her as she was clearly a Gerudo. The only odd thing about her appearance was that one of her arms hung in a sling. It wasn't often a Gerudo was hurt so all who saw her felt sure it must have been one hell of a fight.

"Ashei," Telma's voice clearly conveyed her shock at seeing the warrior woman. "I thought ya weren't ta be here until tomorrow?"

The dark haired woman looked towards the curvy red-head with the two younger girls still standing timidly behind her, clinging to her dress slightly.

"Yeah we gots lucky an' sum Gorons gave us an escort since dey was comin' 'ere ter sell sum wares anyway. Now min' tellin' me wat in the name of Din 'appened 'ere, yeah?" The dark haired woman had spoken in a heavy accent as she looked about the bar.

As she spoke the two women had moved forward away from the old and heavy door. Telma was about to reply to them when everyone's eyes flew back to said door as it creaked on its hinges. They were just in time to see the tail of a dark, worn, cloak flutter out of the room.

Rusl wasn't sure what made him do it, after all he knew little of this mysterious person, but before he could stop himself he was shouting out while running towards the door. "Wait, please!"

As he ran out of the door he saw a dark shape already climbing the stairs that lead to the rest of the town. Gasping slightly in fear of losing the man he hurried forward forgoing the stairs by leaping onto the platform. As he came into the alleyway he saw the same dark figure nearing the West gate.

With a burst of speed he didn't know he was capable of Rusl reached the figure grabbing his shoulder before he could exit. The reaction was one Rusl never saw coming, and with his head now whirling he found himself on the ground, unsure of how he'd gotten there in the first place. All the while acknowledging a slight throbbing in the arm that had touched the man cloaked man.