Author's Note: My first submitted fanfiction, if it can be called that. In truth, it only occurs in the (a?) Zelda universe, in a Hyrule that belongs to no specific game in the series.
In this Hyrule, a dark sorcerer of unconfirmed identity has gathered the forces of darkness to him and amassed an army. With legions of Moblins, Gerudo, Stalfos, Lizalfos and Zola (River Zora) at his command, he has begun an assault on the strongholds of the races of the light, the Hylians, Gorons, Zora, Deku and Rito. In the face of this unholy allegiance, the reigning Princess Zelda has decided to ignore the words of her advisors. Instead of placing her faith in the arrival of the legendary Hero of Time, she has allied herself with the other races and made preparations for a defence against the new threat to her kingdom.
The true Hero of Time has not manifested himself, but in the defence of their homes and comrades, heroes are rising up in every tribe, in every corner of Northern Hyrule. Those truer in heart and mind enter the ranks of the Sacred Army, and pledged to loyally serve the nations of light. However, those warriors less inclined to give their lives entered the new profession of "Mercenary," soldiers of fortune who would reply to the call of a comrade or nation in need of aid, but just as soon fight who and where they themselves choose.
This particular story centres around a group of such sellswords. Seeing as how my interest lasts, I might write more stories in the same universe but surrounding different characters, or just give up at this one.
Chances are, I'll finish this particular tale. But I'm a fickle raconteur, and my interests may be drawn by some other project before long. Have faith.
The Zelda universe is the creation of Shigeru Miyamoto, and all rights are owned by Nintendo. Probably. The land of Hyrule and its inhabiting species and provinces are in no way my creation.
A hum of gentle, lulling noise hung over the Black Bubble Inn at evening, repose of various mercenaries in shadowed Kakariko Village. The noise could be broken down into myriad tiers of tone: The singsong, lilting tones of the Zoran men and women, sipping reservedly from their hip-flasks or tentatively sampling the Inn's milk or wine. Beneath their voices in terms of timbre were the Hylians, whose notes varied from the deepest grumbles of broad-shouldered brutes to the high-pitched harmony of the milk-sipping maids. Higher than each was the calming, reedy sound of the Deku scrub in the corner, Loprotte, playing his long, slender clarinet with determined tenacity. And of course, beneath all the other inflections and intonations were the bulky Gorons, most of which were huddled in the corner of the low-ceilinged den, sipping on cocktails of molten metals.
One Goron was not sitting with the others of his tribe; Instead, the stony figure sat with a group of four other hired hands, a melange of races in themselves, and drank from a flagon of hot springwater. The man, whose name was Trantus, had skin a shade more reddish than was the norm with his tribe, and myriad shadows were cast by the rumpled stones of his back in the Inn's low lighting. Unlike the others in his group, he sat on the flagstone floor, likely to accommodate for his greater height, and possibly chair-destroying weight. Trantus also seemed to handle his drink with a certain tenderness, as his large hands were chipped and marked as though they had been put to hard work recently. Other than this, though, he conversed with the four that he sat with animatedly, his tone and open demeanour marking them as close companions of his.
In order to follow their conversation, it is necessary to give description to those who currently engaged the Goron's interest. On his direct left sat a Hylian woman, her red hair held back in three tight buns apart from a pair of slender bangs that lay across her cheekbones. Her eyes were a deep green, set in a face whose delicate paleness was in odd juxtaposition with the armour that she wore. She wore a corset of dull grey metal, which matched the thick gauntlets that she wore on each hand and the pair of spike-toed boots on her feet, which joined onto thick greaves of the same metal. Her name was Tahni, and she was, to all intents and purposes, the group's leader. This position clearly did not hold much meaning in the bar's warm familiarity, though, as she appeared to be hastily defending herself from some jibe of the other Hylian's which had left him and the other three in fits of raucous laughter.
This male Hylian, who went by the name of Tilado, currently sat between Tahni and a male Sea Zora on his other side. He wore significantly less armour than the female, garbed instead in a rather simple tunic of green, with a leather guard on his right shoulder and a pair of leather sandals and shin guards on his legs. Leather gauntlets with the same thorn pattern adorned his hands and forearms, although they ended at his knuckles, leaving his pale fingers bare. His hair was a pale green, cut in a center-parted fringe with a pony-tail that lay below his shoulders. His eyes matched it, and his face was a gentle oval, with a sizeable bandage across his left cheek and jaw. It didn't seem to affect him, though, even when the force of his laughter suddenly caused it to be tinged with pink in the centre.
The previously-mentioned male Zora at his left side wore nothing above the wide, blue trousers which covered his legs above the ankle. This exposed the intricate, deep blue tattoo which wound its way up from the right side of his abdomen, over his thick shoulder and upper arm and down to the tips of his fingers. The tattoo was made up of wide spirals and depictions of coral shapes on his body, slowly changing to delicate, thin-lined wave formations as it moved down his arm. The Zora, Jopruin, had very pale, silvery skin, marking him as one born in the deep Zora capital of Corazora Citadel. The tattoo that he bore showed that he was a Spiritualist, an elemental magic-user of their kind, and thus the fins on his forearms lacked the size of a Zora warrior's. Jopruin, although engaged in the conversation as any of the others, seemed to be sitting a tad further back from the circular table, and his deep blue eyes often flitted to take in the petite female Zora at his left, as though to reassure himself of her continued presence.
The Zora girl, Makebu, was the fifth and final member of the group, seated between Jopruin and Trantus at the table. She was also the smallest of the group, standing at just five feet, although at the time she sat on a stool with her elbows on the table, her hands clasped around a wooden cup of some odd, dark red liquid. Her head was broad in the manner of some Zora females, with secondary eyes on the rear tips of her triangular skull. Like her male counterpart, she wore only a single piece of clothing, in her case a waistcoat of shimmering golden scales. Also, from her finlike ears dangled a pair of earrings, both made out of some shimmering red material. Her ulnal fins were a great deal larger than Jopruin's, albeit somewhat frilly and slender-looking.
It was Makebu who, after recovering from her own fit of laughter, looked up to notice the spreading patch of blood on Tilado's face. "Oh, Til', your face is…" she exclaimed in a high-pitched voice, her hand going to her own cheek in sympathy. The green-haired Hylian looked confused for a moment, before realisation struck and his hand rose to stroke his bandage.
"Huh… I didn't even feel it, that time," he murmured, into the ensuing silence. No-one spoke, although Trantus and Makebu both seemed to be watching Tahni with curiosity and distaste, respectively. Tahni spoke first.
"I'll go and fetch you a potion," she said, a little too loudly, before standing and turning to walk to the bar. Trantus turned back to the table with a small shake of his head, but the small Zora seemed to be even more infuriated by the Hylian woman's action. She had raised a hand, and looked about to shout something when Jopruin leant forwards and placed a hand on her upper arm.
"Don't, love," he advised her, his voice gentle but still audible to the other two. Makebu herself barely paused before leaning back again with a huff, linking her right hand with the Zora male's. Trantus crooked an eyebrow at the exchange, but Tilado seemed the most confused, although he briefly looked away to wipe the pooling blood off of his jaw before it dripped onto his tunic. Shortly, Tahni came back with a curved bottle of bright red liquid, ignored or failed to notice the glare from Makebu and handed the potion to Tilado. He took it gratefully and drank, sipping once before gulping the rest with a grimace.
"It can't be healthy to down three of those a day, he pointed out, laying the bottle down on the table and quickly moving to gulp a mouthful of milk.
"No, it's not healthy to be in a situation where you need to down three of those a day," rejoined Trantus in a deep voice, to which the other laughed in reply again, and the ambivalent mood of earlier returned. Tilado changed his bandage, Makebu wincing at the sight of the ragged wound, but remaining silent. Jokes were made at Tahni's lack of clothing beyond her armour, to which she retorted that she seldom took even that off. Discussion ensued about the amassing Gerudo force at the border of the Western Mountains, and the plans for tomorrow's hunting, at which point Makebu became almost worryingly animated. It was in the midst of talk about Trantus' ensuing work at the Death Mountain Mines that the group was interrupted by an unexpected visitor.
"You could definitely stand to get a bit bigger, Trantus," pointed out Makebu, by this point leaning back on the content-looking Jopruin, and gesturing with one of the fingers of her cup-wielding hand. "You've got a ways to go before you can't fit in the Black Bubble's door, at any rate." This was met by more laughter, but it was cut short when a girl cleared her throat nervously at Tilado's left shoulder. Every eye at the table suddenly whipped around to fix on the short-haired youth, who was rendered temporarily speechless while the troupe took in her Hylian crest and official-looking parchment with clear misgiving. Every trace of tipsiness from before had suddenly and inexplicable vanished.
"Am… Am I correct in thinking that this is the mercenary troupe headed by a Miss Tahni?" the girl inquired, her querulous voice displaying clearly that she hoped that she wasn't.
"I am Tahni," replied the young knight, without moving from her laid-back position.
"Oh… In that case…" replied the young messenger, worrying the parchment with quivering hands. "…I am here to inform you that you have been d-drafted."
Although the news had been expected by each of them, not everyone was able to conceal their distress efficiently. Tilado leant back in his chair with a groan, and Makebu declared "Rot!" with a plaintive tone. The messenger seemed wholly taken back by the response, as her eyes bulged slightly and she gaped slightly before the green-haired Hylian spoke.
"Since when are Castle Messengers issued to give draft orders?" he inquired, peering at her from between the fingers fanned across his face in frustration.
"Uh… I am led to believe that you have been specifically requested for this mission by General Hup of the Hylian army," the blonde girl replied, her fingers creasing the parchment that she held without her realising it.
The group's attention was suddenly all the more intense. Personal requests were rare, especially from such high-ranking officials, and the collective minds of the five were suddenly racing to work out what they had done to deserve such attention, and what their prospective mission might be.
"I think… Uh, I mean… I am led to believe that your reason for being chosen is based on your bold and resourceful actions during the battle for Query River," continued the girl, answering at least one question. She was apparently spurred on by the group's silence. "Details on your mission are given in this parchment."
"Aren't you going to read it?" asked Tilado, after a significant pause.
"Oh! Oh, ah, they told me… I mean, I have not been cleared to open the briefing myself. It is for your eyes only. I have also been told to request that you do not open it unless in a secure area."
"There's nowhere more secure than the Black Bubble," replied Makebu, leaning across Jopruin to pull the scroll from the girl's trembling hands. The messenger suddenly glanced up and behind her, as though looking for the arrow slits and battlements which the bar must have held, before Tahni spoke again.
"Is that all, miss?" she asked, her attention quickly shifting to the unrolling manuscript.
"Uh, ah, I think… I believe so," she squeaked in reply.
"Then go away," commanded Makebu without looking at her. The girl hurried out without a pause, only stooping to pick up the trumpet which she had thankfully propped up next to the door upon entry.
The group leant over the unrolled manuscript, placing their cups on the outstretched corners to hold it I place while they took in the writing. After a short while, they leant back collectively, with noises varying from mild interest to outright distress.
"Query River! Why ever did we decide to take the initiative at Query River?" wailed Makebu, melodramatically placing the back of her hand on her forehead.
"Don't be selfish," chided Jopruin, glancing over the map that accompanied the briefing with his arm still around the female. "That battle was going badly. If we hadn't hit their supply route, Lake Hylia could have been lost by now." Makebu pouted briefly, before her expression became one of satisfied nostalgia.
"Ah, the looks on their stupid Freshie faces when we blew up that dam… It was a fun day," she proclaimed, as though her memory of the brutal skirmish ended with their opponents' chagrin. Trantus looked confused by the exchange, scratching idly at the space under his earhole.
"Uh, I must have joined after the Query River battle. What exactly happened, and why was it enough for the officials to take notice of us?" he asked, sipping at his now-cold spring water with a look of distaste.
"Well, uh, do you know the basics of what happened?" replied Tilado, leaning back. "It was only a couple of weeks ago…"
"I think I do," rumbled the Goron, putting down his drink and placing a hand on his square chin. "The rush to take control of the Riverbind river system ended with a skirmish between both forces at Query river, which splits to run down to Lake Hylia on one side, and the Zolan Lake Swell on the other. The battle began at the juncture itself, but due to the twin fronts of Zolan armies, coming simultaneously along Query River itself and the Swell tributary, the Zoran forces were gradually being pushed back. The river would likely have been irreversibly lost, had in not been for the resilience of the Zoran forces who held the advance at Palgresa point and the destruction of the nearby Zolan dam, I forget it's name, which cut off the Zolan supply route on one side. Query River proper was lost to The Legion, but an outpost was made at Palgresa Point, which even now holds Lake Hylia against further invasion."
This rather surprisingly succinct summary was met by silence, until Tilado cleared his throat and reminded everyone else to blink.
"That was, uh… Correct. Yes," he replied. "The dam was just called Lower Riverbind Dam by the Zola," he pointed out, to which Trantus nodded in recollection. "And the four who were responsible for its destruction… Well, I don't doubt that you've worked it out."
"It was a fine manoeuvre, if I may be so vain," stated Jopruin, gently closing Makebu's gaping mouth. "And although I can credit the idea as being my own, it was Tahni's excellent command and the courageous and skilled action of these two," here he gestured to the two that sat beside him, "Which ensured victory, and also that none of us were lost to the enemy."
"Impressive," murmured Trantus, gesturing to the busboy and evidently cataloguing this information for addition to his own archive of knowledge. "I'm surprised that I haven't heard of this in the time that I've been with you."
"Well, after the award presentation, we got a bit tired of talking about it," pointed out Tilado, offhandedly. "Still, we got paid triple, and the ensured safety of one of our side's most valued outposts was just gravy."
"We should have know that it would lead to something like this, really," sighed Jopruin, rubbing Makebu's left shoulder idly. "Battle skill is irrelevant, it's taking the initiative that gets you noticed."
"And how good we are at sneaking around, of course," supplemented the indigo-skinned girl. "Which now we get to do again, but on a better-guarded dam. I don't suppose we can refuse?"
"No such luck," replied Tilado with another sigh. "As fancy as it seems, it's as much a draft as anything else. Ignoring orders here would be treason, not to mention morally bankrupt."
Makebu made a raspberry noise, as though morality was of lesser importance, but Trantus' attention was drawn by something else, and it wasn't the new flagon of hot spring water that had been placed in front of him. "Are you quite alright, Tahni?" he asked, concern painted on his rocky features. "You haven't spoken in a while." Indeed, the group's leader had been fixated on the briefing and map since they had been laid out, not even taking in the subsequent conversation. She looked up now, somewhat disorientated, and caused Tilado to give a short laugh, although he was careful not to upset his jaw again.
"You shouldn't have interrupted her, Trantus, another couple of minutes and we'd have had a fully-formed battle plan." Tahni opened her mouth once, as though to reply, but then something clearly struck her and she returned to the manuscript. This elicited a giggle from Makebu, which in turn made Jopruin rap her on the head.
"Don't knock her. We did fine last time, but with the situation this time I'd much rather have a plan thought out well in advance. The enemy will have much greater numbers, here, and after the last time they'll most likely have tightened security on their dams… Not to mention the fact that it won't be near a war zone, so their forces won't be divided away from guarding," he pointed out. The Zora girl had leant back on his chest as he spoke, and after he finished she looked up into his face with an expression of deep concern.
"You're boring," she stated.
Tilado and Trantus laughed loudly at this, and the rest of the evening passed in relative normalcy, although all of them secretly nurtured some concern for what would transpire the next day.