I'm back, baby.
So you know how Lorule was the evil version of Hyrule in Zelda: A Link Between Worlds? Well in this story Lorule is the good version of Hyrule, since Hyrule had been overthrown by Ganon. Just clearing that up.
Song suggestions: Rupin encounter- "Under Siege" / Misc.- "Guilty Feeling" (Both songs from Hyrule Warriors OST)
Disclaimer: I don't own anything regarding The Legend of Zelda. I wish I did.
Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 2: Snowpeak
2150 HOURS.
ROOM 9B, ANJU APARTMENTS, CASTLE TOWN.
70 DEGREES INSIDE.
We prodigies all lived a block away from Zantland and the agency. That way we'd "never be late to work," according to King Ganondorf. What a fool, he was. We didn't even have supervisors! No one would catch us if we were late.
Anyway, since we prodigies required large living spaces, the ninth (and top) floor of Anju Apartments only had four rooms. The owner, Anju herself, said that due to limited space, everyone would have to share a room with another. Pipit and Groose were roommates, and Fledge and Malon were roommates as well. Malon chose Fledge to be her roommate because he was nicer and more timid, and she didn't want a hormonal guy (namely Groose) drooling over her while they lived together.
So, lucky for me, I got a room all to myself.
That is, they said, until the next prodigy comes. Then I'd get a roommate. I protested, arguing that the next prodigy should just take the last room and leave me alone in mine. They retorted by saying that the last prodigy to reveal himself or herself would live in that room.
So there I was, opening the door to let Zelda into my apartment.
"Um, h-hey," she said timidly, almost cutely.
Wait, what!? Come on, Link. You don't even know her. Don't develop feelings for a coworker anyway.
"Hello," I said without a smile. I extended my hand out to her. "May I take your bags?"
She nodded, handing over a large black bag. "Thank you."
After awkwardly setting the bag down in the middle of the room, I turned to face her. She was staring at me, like she had no idea what she was supposed to do. "Okay, I need to know where you'll be sleeping, and stuff."
Zelda pointed to the opposite side of the room where my bed was. "There… I'll take that half."
My apartment was freaking awesome. I could see how amazed Zelda was when she first came in. The door was at the south end of the room, and when you first walk in you're standing on kitchen tiles. The northeast corner of the walls were windows from ceiling to floor, overlooking the entire beauty of Castle Town. Naturally, Zelda picked that side to put her stuff. The kitchen was in the southwest corner, but it was large, complete with state-of-the-art appliances. A bathroom was in the southeastern corner. My belongings (queen-sized bed, cupboards, wardrobe, nightstand, picture frame of my parents, and a lamp) were in the northwestern corner of the apartment. I didn't have much, but that left more room for Zelda.
I had bought an extra bed, cupboards, wardrobe, and nightstand for the new prodigy a year ago when I had actually wanted a roommate. Stupid me. Be careful what you wish for, dumb sixteen-year-old self. So, those said items were left on Zelda's side of the room.
"I'm sorry," said the blonde girl, "but I didn't catch your name. What is it?"
"Link," I said. I offered her my gloved hand and she took it, shaking it daintily. "Don't worry; I mean well. You'll enjoy it here, Zelda," I said nonchalantly.
The blonde nodded, still looking at me a little funny. What was with this girl? "Link, how do you know my name?"
"Hmm?" I asked, readjusting my dark green cap over my long, golden-brown hair.
"I haven't even told you my name… yet you know it somehow. Why is that?"
I sighed, not knowing exactly how I knew this girl's name. But she wanted an answer, so I needed to give her one. "You know that legend that you hear by the campfire, or that your parents tell you at bedtime…?" She tilted her head in my direction, intrigued. I went on. "Of course, there are many legends Hyrule has to offer. But I'm talking of the very first one."
Zelda sat down on her bed. "…The legend of the skies?"
"Yes. Hylia's chosen hero destroyed Demise, the Demon King. In a dying wish, he cursed the hero and Hylia's reincarnate to be reborn every hundred years or so, along with the hatred that burns within Demise…"
"And… how does this have to do with you knowing my name?"
I rolled my eyes. "I'm getting there. Anyway, I am Link, the hero's descendant. I have a feeling that you are of the same bloodline as Hylia's reincarnate." I paused, kneeling down to her eye level. "I feel like fate has brought us together."
She backed up, her expression mixed with confusion and worry. "I don't think I have Hylia's blood, Link," she said meekly. "I can't trace back to my ancestors… I can't even trace back to my parents."
"What?" I asked, sitting next to her. "What do you mean?"
She looked into my blue eyes with her own beautiful ones, murmuring, "…My parents are dead."
I nodded in realization, looking down at the floor. "I know how you feel."
Zelda shook her head. "No you don't, Link. For all I know, you're some rich kid who had a perfect childhood living with your parents, and… and…" She began to sob, putting her hands in her face. "You don't know what it's like to have no childhood…"
"I grew up as an orphan in the ghettos of the Ordonia Province," I said firmly. Zelda looked at me through her tears, mouth slightly agape. "Every day I had to cover my face to protect myself from the plague while walking down the dirt roads. I lived in a tree house with a maximum of five rupees in my pocket per week. No electricity, no plague medications, nothing. When I took the exams at age eleven I had avoided any government official so I wouldn't have to leave my home and work for a kingdom I don't give a damn about." I stood up, maintaining eye contact with the girl. "So, I'm sorry you lost your parents."
I left my own apartment, slamming the door on the way out.
2230 HOURS.
ANJU APARTMENTS LOBBY, CASTLE TOWN.
65 DEGREES INSIDE.
I was about to leave the building and go for a walk to cool myself down. Before I could, however, something caught my eye. I looked into a mirror next to the revolving door, seeing an almost foreign man looking back at me.
I was in my dark forest-colored tunic (not the bright green that my ancestors wore; a much darker tunic). I wore a similarly-colored hat, which was long and pointy at the end much like my ancestors' hats. Under my tunic was a smoky undershirt, almost black. And finally underneath that was a thin, but bulletproof, vest. On my right breast, shining silver letters read: HBI. The tunic ended just above my elbows, and on my arms were two brown gauntlets. Over my eyes were the standard HBI sunglasses, and I wore them even though it was night.
I looked one hundred percent badass.
I was about to go back upstairs and apologize to my new roommate, who I felt that I needed to get along with, when I spotted something peculiar out the window.
In the barely-illuminated streets of night, I caught a glimpse of a familiar man walking past the apartment complex. He had a large backpack which was overstuffed with masks. His face was wrinkled from excessive smiling, but today he wore just a determined frown.
On a mission, I suppose?
I chuckled when I saw the Triforce logo (the symbol of Lorule) on the man's purple vest. Some rookie Lorulean in a cheap disguise. I heard talk of this man lurking in the streets of Castle Town. Now was my chance to catch him.
I didn't know what he was up to, but I knew he'd be trouble. Maybe I should tail him?
"Link?" asked the bellhop, Kafei. "Malon wants to know where you've stormed off to…"
I kept looking at the man, who stopped in the middle of the street. "Tell them I'm going for a walk," I said.
"Yes, Link."
I flipped Kafei a red rupee and began to ease my way toward the revolving lobby door. Then the guy with the masks quickly turned his head, looking straight at me with a freaky Redead mask on his face.
I jumped, startled at the hideous mask.
The mask guy removed the Redead mal from his face, laughing at me. He mouthed, "You fool," in my direction, then broke into a run down the streets.
"Hey!" I yelled.
I was in hot pursuit, pushing my way through the revolving door and sprinting full-speed towards the Lorulean man. He was quick on his feet, but the heavy backpack weighed him down. I easily caught up, yelling, "Stop!"
The man turned his head, this time wearing a Goron mask on his face. I hesitated before lunging upwards, bringing my fist into the center of the mask, caving it in. He fell to the ground, removing the dented mask from his face. People gathered close enough to see, but far enough away as to not be seen by me.
"Ow!" complained the man. "What was that for? Can't you take a joke?"
I cuffed his hands together with a pair of handcuffs I kept in my pouch. "No hard feelings," I said. "Just business."
"What 'business'?" mocked the man.
"I work for the HBI, and you obviously work for Lorule. Therefore, you are under arrest." I gripped the chain in between the two cuffs, ripping the man up to his feet. "Name?" I demanded.
"Rupin. Some refer to me as the 'Happy Mask Salesman.'" Then the guy smiled creepily.
"What are you smiling about, you fool?"
The man's eyes flickered white, as if taking a picture of me, and then he said, "Now we know who to look for."
The man's frame turned to thin blue wires, and he disappeared into thin air.
A hologram.
"Damn!" I cursed as the handcuffs fell to the ground. I snatched them up and returned them to my pouch.
Now we know who to look for.
What could that mean? When Rupin's eyes flashed, he took a picture of me, most likely sending it back to the Lorule Provinces. After all, the Loruleans were the first to cover up with technology like that.
Disappointed at myself, I shook my head and returned to my apartment building, ignoring all onlookers.
0845 HOURS.
ROOM 9B, ANJU APARTMENTS, CASTLE TOWN.
65 DEGREES INSIDE.
I awoke with a burning sensation in my left fist. At first I was confused, but then I remembered punching the hologram. Doing so will shock your system for a few hours, forcing your mind to not feel the pain. Then after a while of ignorance you feel what I was feeling. Burning.
I shoved the sheets off of my body and hurried to the sink, where I ran cold water over my inured hand. I had completely forgotten about having a roommate, so I hadn't had the decency to be quiet that morning.
Zelda shifted in her bed, then sat up to view me. "Uh, morning, Link…" she murmured.
"Morning," I replied, turning off the water. I reached into a cabinet and pulled out a jar of blue Chu Jelly, which supposedly helped soothe burns. I spread some onto my knuckles with my other hand, ignoring Zelda's confused look aimed at me.
"What's the Chu Jelly for?" she asked me, stretching her limbs subtly.
"I got burned last night," I said flatly. I returned the jar to its shelf, closing the cabinet door. "Lorulean hologram."
Zelda nodded, though it looked like she didn't understand. She was very new to the agency; she probably didn't know close to half the stuff we did about technology. She looked like she was about to ask me something, but was struggling to find words.
I walked over to her side of the room and offered her an explanation. "Last night, after I… left, I saw this guy walking down the street. On his vest was a Triforce."
"The Lorule symbol?"
"Yes. A stupid rookie mistake, I had thought. Everyone knows the Hyrulean symbol is the Great Sword. So when I ran out to confront the guy, I took a swing at him," I showed her my jelly-covered fist, "and I earned this. Then the guy took a picture of me, said, 'Now we know who to look for,' and disappeared."
"They're looking for you? What- why?" Zelda stood up from her bed and looked at me, concerned. The girl just met me and she was already worried about my well-being.
"Don't know. Lorule is probably out to kill me now." I sighed, looking down at the ground. "Listen, I don't know you at all, so don't think this is 'coming from the heart,' or whatever," I said with air quotes. She nodded, urging me to finish my thought. "If they're after me, stay away. We don't want them to get two prodigies." I worded it like I was more worried about Lorule's success than Zelda being safe. But that wasn't true.
Zelda nodded, her expression grim and sorrowful. I watched her walk away toward the bathroom, her nightgown revealing her long, pale legs.
Stop staring.
I shook off my thoughts as Zelda entered the bathroom to change, and I did the same out in the room. Instead of my thin white night shirt and brown shorts, I adorned my usual attire, but I didn't get the chance to throw on my clothes from the waist up before Zelda came back out.
She jumped upon seeing me shirtless, blushing furiously. "S-sorry! I- I didn't k-know…" when her words started malfunctioning, she cut herself off and walked to retrieve her forgotten hair bands.
When Zelda shut the door with one last awkward apology, I chuckled slightly to myself. I continued to throw on my white undershirt, bulletproof vest, dark green tunic, and gauntlets.
When Zelda returned from the bathroom minutes later, I offered to cook her some breakfast. She accepted, and I began to work on scrambling some cucco eggs.
"By the way, Link…" Zelda said from the counter, sitting on the stool and leaning her elbow on the granite surface, "…I'm sorry."
I nodded, not looking up from the pan. After a short while I replied, "…Me too."
"So… we're okay?" she asked, resting her chin on her hand.
"Yeah," I said, meeting her eyes, "we're okay." When the eggs were done, I took off two plates and scraped them onto the plates with a spatula. Then I gave Zelda her serving of eggs with a fork, and I made sure to give her and myself a glass of Lon Lon milk. I sat down on the stool next to her, which she was subtly surprised about. She eyed me uneasily, but then appeared nonchalant.
"Do you like working for the HBI?" Zelda asked after a brief moment of silence.
"I love my job, but I just hate-" I cut myself off before finishing my thought. I didn't trust Zelda yet; she could turn me in for saying things I was about to say.
"Link?" She touched my arm, causing me too flinch slightly. "You just hate what?"
I sighed, looking back down at my half-eaten eggs. "I hate working for Ganondorf," I said in a low whisper, as if eavesdroppers were here.
Zelda's eyebrows raised. "Why?"
"You kidding? You know the Ordonia Province? It's been infected with the plague for years on end. And does Ganon give a damn about it? No." I took a bite of my eggs, trying to cool myself down. "And you know what he's forcing us to do?"
Zelda intertwined her fingers in mine, and I struggled to meet her eyes. "What?" she asked sweetly.
I finally met her sky-blue eyes, saying quietly, "Invade the village… Ganon says that the Ordonians are stealing plague meds from the upper classes."
"Okay, Link. I know we don't know each other very well at all, but we can agree on one thing." She put her other hand to mine, smiling warmly. "I hate Ganon too."
"What has he done to you?"
"Killed my parents, I'm pretty sure."
"What!?" I exclaimed, though the news should not have surprised me.
Zelda sighed, looking down at her cleared plate. "I'll explain things to you eventually…" she said, choking up a bit. "…It's just not the right time."
I nodded, though I hated to be left hanging like that. I sure hoped I'd fine out eventually.
1207 HOURS.
HBI HEADQUARTERS, CASTLE TOWN.
68 DEGREES INSIDE.
"Gee, Link, you're pretty late today, aren't you?" said Malon with a cute wink.
Malon had been my friend since I first came to the agency two years ago, and I thought she had a crush on me. She, Fledge, and Pipit had been the first three prodigies all at age eleven, and had to be trained by experts to use things like guns, knives, and state-of-the-art technology. Then came Groose at age thirteen, who was probably too dumb to realize that perfect scorers get to be accepted into the HBI. So one day, as Malon told me, Groose walked up to a soldier guarding the gate to the Lanayru Province, and showed him his right arm. Then he asked the soldier, who was standing there in disbelief, "Is this a good score?"
"Yeah," I replied to Malon, "I slept in a few extra hours." After Zelda had left for the agency this morning, I did just that: sleep. It was a bit of a habit of mine.
"It's so unfair," Groose muttered. "We all show up here on time, and then the slimy Ordonian shows up two hours late…"
"Shut up, Groose!" snapped Pipit. "Sure, Link does need to show up on time, but that gives you no right to say things like that to him! Shame on you."
Groose just scoffed at the yellow-clad boy. "And who are you to say things like that to me?"
"A guy who can kick your ass."
That shut Groose up.
"…Anyway," Fledge muttered, "Link, we're temporarily suspending the Ordonia case for the day."
"Well, that's good…" I said under my breath. This time more audibly, I asked, "What are we doing today, then?"
Fledge offered me a slight grin, and he looked at Pipit. Pipit said with a determined smile, "We've found the next prodigy."
1420 HOURS.
SHEIKAH SETTLEMENT, SNOWPEAK PROVINCE.
29 DEGREES OUTSIDE.
Though we were at the bottom of the icy mountain, the province was still bitterly cold. We agents had to wear black jumpsuits that covered virtually every part of our bodies save our eyes, which were masked by our black sunglasses. Despite my rather warm attire, I was shivering cold.
"Hey!" I called out to Pipit, my voice slightly muffled by both the jumpsuit and wind. He looked my way. "Why are all of us are here to find the last prodigy?"
Typically, only one agent rode up to the province on horseback to find the next genius, but oddly enough all of us were at Snowpeak. For me, it was Pipit riding up to Ordon Village. For Groose, Malon had ridden her horse named Epona up to Gerudo Valley.
"They say that Snowpeak is on Lorule's side!" Pipit hollered back. "This mountain is home to the Sheikah tribe, who were once loyal to the late King Daphnes!"
Zelda, who stood next to me on the snowy ground, tensed up subtly at Pipit's comment. I was the only one who noticed it, but I didn't bother to question.
"The Sheikah are dangerous to Hyrule, Ganon said," Pipit continued. "Though they never openly opposed of him, rumor has it that some of them slip away to the rebellion provinces unnoticed! We must practice great caution while searching for the next agent!"
We all nodded. Though Pipit had no authority over any of us, we all looked up to him as a natural leader. Even Groose did.
We trudged along through the snow, toward the ramshackle mansion built directly at the button of the mountain. It was built from stone bricks, but the outside was poorly maintained. The scarce plant life that grew in this region was located on the sides of the large home, which were ivy and moss. Surrounding the mansion were better-built longhouses, home to the lesser Sheikah.
Pipit knocked on the door rather forcefully, at which Malon winced in preparation for what was to come. The door swung open after a brief moment, and standing inside was the tribe's leader, Impa. She swung the long strand of white hair over her shoulder, her red eyes locked with Pipit's glasses. "HBI agents, hmm?" she said in a rather masculine voice. "Please leave. We do not want your business here."
"In afraid you can't make us leave, ma'am," said Groose.
Impa's fiery eyes narrowed at Groose and she snarled. Her skin was somewhat tan, despite the region she lived in. Under her left eye was a teardrop painted in red paint, as well as three triangles painted above her eye and below her brow. Located at her waist were various daggers, and even a flintlock pistol. I didn't know how the Sheikah hot ahold of advanced weaponry. (Though "advanced" weaponry these days were blasters, which shot blue beams that you could program to either kill or stun.)
"We have come for your prodigy," Pipit said, taking a step forward.
In defense, Impa put her hand to the daggers at her waist. "I'd advise you to step back."
Pipit grumbled. He was a man of business; when it came to serving Ganondorf he'd throw his own opinion away and immediately follow orders. A good soldier; not a very good man. "This action is required by King Ganondorf himself, ma'am. Now I'm going to ask you one more time…" Pipit withdrew his black blaster, but didn't point it at her. "Where is your prodigy?"
I saw Impa's eyes briefly and subtly drift behind us, and she seemed to be viewing a moving figure. I whipped my head around to see a fleeing boy our age, carrying a backpack filled with Sheikah weaponry. "Hey!" I yelled. I began chasing the boy, with my companions following close behind. Impa had latched onto Groose's arm, digging into his flesh with her red nails. Groose wailed in pain, but slapped Impa's hand away and began to follow us.
The boy was very quick, but his stuffed backpack weighed him down. When I got close enough I lunged forward, grabbing onto his ankles with my hands. We both fell to the icy ground, and I slammed my knee into an icy stone on the ground. I grimaced in pain, but held on to the struggling Sheikah boy.
"Let me go!" he yelled in rage. "I'm not working for your goddess-damned agency!"
"You don't have a choice!" Pipit said when he caught up to us. "Link, cuff him."
I did. His wrists were restrained behind his back, just below his tied-back blonde braid. The boy thrashed while trying to break free. "Rot in hell!" he snapped, spitting on Pipit's boot.
"Things will only get easier if you cooperate," I whispered in his ear. The boy grumbled, glaring furiously at Pipit.
"We're going to need some information," he said. He pulled out a clipboard from a briefcase that Fledge had been carrying. "Let's start with an easy question. Name?" The boy maintained his glare.
"Sheik."
By the way, Impa's appearance is based on her Hyrule Warriors look. Sheik is based off of his (yes, he's a dude in this story; no gender swapping at the end) Ocarina of Time look.
To be continued.
Until then, Review, Follow, Favorite, eat sausage, do whatever your heart desires. Just make sure it's legal.
~SausageLink43
