A/N: Hey all of you amazing people, Robin here, thanks for picking up this fanfiction and I am so sorry for such a late update and for not really doing an introduction last time. I was pretty eager to publish the last chapter that I completely forgot to write up an Author's note, but I remembered to do so this time. I just wanted you all to know that this is a passion project that I've been working on since day one of the game's release, a lot of that time has been spent doing a hell of a lot of research, in game and on wiki sources, constructing plots, developing character attributes, and world building for all that's going on outside what is detailed in the actual game. As for how late this chapter is, I am really sorry again, I had planned to publish it back in August but college and starting a new job distracted me but did not deter me. Fret not, I do plan on continuing beyond this chapter, chapter three is on the way. Please enjoy this late update!

Chapter 2

Phillip awoke to afternoon sunlight hitting his face through a tent flap that was carelessly left ajar. Shifting in the cot made him aware of a throbbing sensation in his lower left leg, reminding him of the event that unfolded last night. He slowly sat up rubbing the grogginess out of his eyes and moved his feet over the edge of the cot onto the sandy floorboards. He was still wearing his black tunic, but his chain mail and other armour pieces were missing, and his trousers had been replaced with a new pair. At first, he noticed the bloody bandage around his left shin and the empty cot that was in front of him, then he noticed the elderly Hylian man rummaging through supplies in the back half of the tent.

"Ah-ha, here it is," the man exclaimed as he pulled an extravagantly jewelled dagger out of a lockbox. When he turned to leave he jumped in shock of seeing his guest stirring, "Oh, you're awake! I didn't expect you to wake so soon after such a heavy dosage of healing potions I used to treat all your wounds and the poisoned laceration on your leg. You must have an outstanding immune system to survive such a close brush with death and wake up only three days after taking some of my home brewed potions."

The man's rambling only confused Phillip's still groggy mind, so he stared at him questioningly, "'Brush with Death' what do you mean? It was only a - wait! What do you mean three days?" What the man had just said finally made sense and he stood up quickly, frantically searched for his gear.

"Don't worry about your stuff, it's back here on the table, and I haven't taken anything. As for the three days, that lass that came here to meet you is still waiting here, so no need to worry," the old Hylian moved past Phillip carrying the dagger to the tent flap. "Oh, and the name is Arslan, dealer of arms and brewer of potions. Now, I'll be finishing this deal out here, you can come out when you are ready."

When the man was gone, Phillip found his gear all present on the table as promised. He sighed in relief as he drew his family's katana from its scabbard partway, then replaced it before grabbing his boots and heading towards the tent's entrance. Outside the tent was a busy trading centre filled with traders and travellers of all different races working out transactions for various goods. He was surprised to even see what he believed was one of the Rito, a birdlike race that didn't have any villages back in Holodrum. Arslan gave Phillip a nod as he passed the blanket of weaponry set out, but he continued on with his own business. Of all the people going about their business, one stood out relaxing despite the energetic hubbub of commerce. Victoria sat at the edge of the oasis pool with her feet soaking in the water, which seemed like a perfect way to endure the blistering heat of the day.

"Sav'aaq, sleepy head," the Gerudo greeted as Phillip sat down next to her to remove his boots and joined in soaking his feet.

"Good afternoon," he returned the greeting. "Now why would you wait on someone you just met only to give them directions? I'm flattered, but shocked all the same."

She pushed back her long red hair and laughed in response, "I can't just abandon the person whose adventure I'm trying to join. Now that is quite the impression to make the other day, defeating a whole warband of Lizalfos by yourself and escaping Death's clutches. In just three days you've already become pretty popular with everyone I know back in Gerudo City. It's also worth to note that you've become quite a desired voe as well."

Phillip unwrapped the bloody bandage to reveal a wicked scar rather than a healing wound to which he gave an impressed grunt. "Nothing I do is ever for the fame or fortune, I could care less as long as I survive. Anyways, what I did wasn't that impressive, careless at best, and I nearly died," he remarked as he absentmindedly rubbed at the scar.

"Humbleness is great and all, but you are being a little too harsh on yourself. Surviving a bandit attack is an accomplishment in of itself," Victoria placed a hand on his shoulder as she stared at him with alluring golden eyes. "Now, what is our destination on this grand adventure?"

"Since when was it our adventure? I thought you were a guard for the city?" He gave the woman a questioning glance.

She retracted her hand and gave an embarrassed grin, "Well you said you were an adventurer, and life as a guard is boring, so I got permission from my older sister, the captain of the guard, to join this adventure." She cheerily motioned over her other side to her pack and gear sitting ready to go.

He was surprised by her enthusiasm to prepare to join him without asking first, but Phillip welcomed the opportunity to have help and possibly make a friend. "First stop is Kakariko city for some advice, but my final goal is to defeat Calamity Ganon and restore peace to Hyr-"

Victoria cut in with a long whistle as she leaned back on her hands, "Going for the golden apple eh? Hopefully this advice you're looking for gives us skin of steel because I need to toughen up a bit before I can help you take on that monster." She looked on out into the eastern desert with a slight smile on her sun kissed face before resuming, "We'll both need to toughen up if we have any hopes to survive against the legions of monsters out there."

"Indeed," he responded. Phillip already knew that he would most likely have to fight thousands of monsters before he could get the chance to strike down Ganon, and he had hoped on it so he could refine his skills. Though unexpected, he wouldn't mind having someone to watch his back and to save Hyrule alongside with him. "You ready for the dangers that wait for us out there?" he asked looking off into the night growing from the East.

"There's adventure out there with my name written all over it, of course I'm ready," she replied with a cheerful fist pump. "Oh, I nearly forgot, since we will be passing by it on our way to Kakariko city, there is a great plateau near central Hyrule that has a treasure filled shrine that I want to check out first. That is if you don't mind climbing a lot," She cheekily smiled at Phillip unaware of how enthralling her own golden eyes were to him.

How could he resist both her captivating eyes and the prospect of securing funds for his adventure, they were too tempting to forego the opportunity. "If you are fine being at the mercy of Hylia's wrath for raiding her shrine, then it sounds like a good plan."

For the rest of the evening, they spent their time at the only pub in the village-sized bazaar drinking away the evening and merrily joining in with other customers as they toasted another good day of business. Even old man Arslan joined in the festive debauchery of drinking games, tales from the adventures of travelling merchants, and a general good time, though he couldn't nearly match Phillip or Victoria for liquor tolerance. Through his inebriated haze, Phillip could see plenty of his fellow male inebriates clumsily trying to make moves on or smooth talk to Victoria and the other Gerudo, but he could only laugh when he saw the girls use it to their advantage to get free drinks.

Over the course of the evening, he picked up on a few of the stories that Victoria told about the harsh training to become a Gerudo soldier but how mundane guarding the city was compared to what she had expected. She seemed more than capable of holding her own against the dangers of Hyrule from what other Gerudo soldiers confirmed in their stories they shared together, though he never doubted. He couldn't blame her for taking the opportunity to go on an adventure that promised adventure, action, and freedom from an ordinary life. Though grateful for her company, he just hoped she was prepared to get into situations where she would have to hold up her half of the bargain of protecting each other, for he was willing to trust her and carry out his half.

As dusk wore off into night, the population of the tavern waned and Phillip could feel the effect of his many drinks dragging him down, but he couldn't head off for his borrowed bed just yet. A couple of travelling merchants that still remained at the tavern told the tale of the many monsters they encountered in the wild and how they barely escaped with their lives.

"I wath tellin' you, mate," the fatter merchant slurred as he put his arm on Phillip's shoulder, "It wath a gian' sthpider machine tha' glowed blue an' its red eye shot beamths o' ligh' an' fire. I wath runnin' for da hillths da moment I sthaw it leerin' at me." Phillip doubted the man had run a day of his life, and he doubted the story's credibility even less from such an intoxicated narrator.

"A giant spider machine you say, eh? Must have been a nightmare," Victoria remarked Phillip's same thoughts of disbelief.

"Aye, it be true," confirmed the merchant's more sober companion, "though it may not have chased us, we watched it shootin' beams of light after some other less than fortunate travellers. They were called Guardians a long time ago when they were controlled by the Royal Family."

"How do you fight off these machines?" Phillip asked, his interest peaked by the reliability brought by the second merchant.

"You can't. You just run an' hide an' pray they don't find you," the second merchant morbidly answered. Phillip wasn't really surprised by the development, but he knew that nothing could be completely impossible to defeat. I will have to find a weapon strong enough to deal damage against the Guardians, and I probably will have to study them a lot to properly formulate a strategy for the fight, he thought to himself while spacing out from the conversation.

"I see that look on your face, Phil," Victoria grumbled, pulling him from his thoughts. She was glaring directly at him while downing her entire pint of beer, "I haven't even known you for very long, but I can already tell that there is something buzzing together in that brain of yours." She called another refill before continuing on her point, "Don't go getting us killed so soon by messing with those Guardians, you hear?"

"Of course not, I wouldn't dream of it," he replied nonchalantly.

"Now cheer up!" she jokingly slapped Phillip on the back. "One last drink before we turn in for the night! We have an early morning tomorrow."

"How could I refuse such an offer," he called the Gerudo bartender to top off his drink and joined Victoria in a toast before finishing both their drinks. After that, Phillip couldn't remember much other than Victoria helping him take a passed out Arslan back to his tent and both of them parting ways to their accommodations for the night.

The Next Morning, Phillip woke up before the sun completely rose above the horizon despite the massive headache he had from all the drinking the night before. He made quick work of dressing completely and packing all his gear that had waited untouched on the table. When he tried to pay Arslan for all of his expenditures, the old Hylian just rejected the offer telling him that the expenses were covered by the weapons, armour, and loot recovered from his fight. Arslan even handed over the rupees that remained after his spoils of war were sold to cover his costs, giving him and extra one thousand rupees.

After a quick breakfast of dried meat, he found his way out to the centre area of the bazaar that was already revving up for another busy day of trading. Victoria waited for him at the same spot by the oasis pool, but this time she stood tall at the edge with her pack on her back and equipped with a scimitar, a golden hoplon shield, and a recurve bow supplemented with a full quiver. She wore what seemed to be the normal Gerudo outfit comprising of a steel breastplate, which must have been custom made to fit her perfectly, a bronze belt to hold up a combat skirt, and standard hobnailed sandals that laced up her shins.

"Sav'otta, partner!" she chimed cheerfully.

"Good morning," he tried to cover the subsiding ache in his head.

"Let's not waste any time. If we leave now, we can reach Gerudo Canyon by noon and avoid the worst of the desert heat," she explained, hinting at her eagerness to leave the desert. And he couldn't agree any more, the last thing he wanted to do was to trudge through the heat while suffering from the headache of a hangover.

The surviving Lizalfos from his fight must have spread the word of how terrifying Phillip was because he could not see a single one of the marauding bastards lurking on the dunes that surround the sandy road. Victoria must have picked up on the lack of the bandits as well for she exploited the freedom from combat to drop her guard and focus her energy to dig up what she can about Phillip.

He didn't really have anything to hide from her, he was not dissatisfied by the youth that he spent training to become a master swordsman as he had made many friends among the other descendants of the Hylian refugees that were training to become soldiers. He could even say he was proud of the accomplishment he had achieved in his training, his grandfather always said he had a knack for seeing the swiftest way through a fight.

"What was it like being a refugee in Holodrum?" Victoria asked back to him as they passed the small settlement that accompanied the Gerudo Canyon Stables.

It wasn't an impossible question to answer, just complicated. "Well from what I was told, Holodrum had a very small population compared to Hyrule initially but had more territory, so resettling tens of thousands of Hylian refugees was not that difficult and the natives were extremely welcoming. Most of the difficulties that we faced were self-inflicted though. General Hideyoshi, our leader at the time, practically established us as a military state and isolated us from the people of Holodrum," he explained as he caught up to Victoria. "Hideyoshi named himself the Grand General of Hyrule, pretty much a dictator. Everyone that was a Hylian was conscripted into the Hylian army for a time at some point in their life, even I couldn't avoid serving my three years. Hideyoshi's successors, Pershing and Cadorna, didn't let up on their policies either."

Victoria looked on at him in curiosity from my last sentences, "This is all in preparation to take back Hyrule? It sounds like a power grab for the throne of Hyrule is their true purpose rather than saving the kingdom."

"Which is why I finished my three years and discharged from the army," he commented while taking the lead to scout out the canyon path.

"Well at least you're here now and not a soldier, your talents would be wasted there instead of actually saving the world." Phillip could only look back at her curiously for the compliment.

"Thanks. You really like to give out compliments, do you?" he asked turning his attention to the winding canyon road.

"Well where is the fun in putting people down, besides you should stick to accepting a compliment from a cute girl like me," she said, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him playfully. Phillip scolded himself for being too stiff to his travelling companion.

"To answer your question about being a refugee, I really didn't notice anything different about my childhood, or rather lack thereof, until I was in my late teens," he did not need to see her face to recognise the sympathy she exerted as she held on to his shoulders a little longer before letting go. "Life in a military state readying for war is not something that can be described simply." The air between them grew silent as they continued down the dry, dusty road. He knew he had to fix the dreary situation, "But enough of that, what is it like to grow up to be a guard in Gerudo City? The whole 'no voe allowed in the city' has me wanting to know more."

"Ha-ha, well I have nothing compared to you because I didn't start training until I was seventeen, but I did make a name for myself in the five years since," she recounted. Ah, so she is only three years younger than me, he thought to himself. "I've seen several successful battles in the war against the Yiga Clan, so you can be sure that I have experience in the field," she triumphantly proclaimed, "Maybe my achievements on this journey will garner honour and legends for myself like Lady Urbosa!"

Hearing the name of the Gerudo Champion brought Phillip to the realization that they would have to surpass the strength, talents, and skills of all five Champions of Hyrule in order to defeat Ganon. "I'm sure they will," he replied trying to sound as positive as he can against the grim odds.

Their pleasant conversation was cut short as Victoria pulled him back by his collar behind the canyon corner, out of the line of sight of the monster camp that he nearly stumbled upon unawares. She further proved her own strength as she practically threw him flat against the canyon wall on her other side.

"Watch it, Bokoblins," she whispered sternly as she leered around the corner. "I can count at least thirty of the little bastards and two Moblins. Damn, I thought Liza's company cleared this region out last week."

"What's their set up? Weapons and armour, too, if you see them," he asked, readying to formulate a strategy.

Victoria peeked around the corner again for a few seconds before withdrawing back to cover. "Two hundred metres away, they have two towers with archers on top. There is a third archer on the ground, I think, the captain has a nice broadsword and kite shield, and the rest just have an assortment of clubs and crude swords. There are some boulders on the path that we can crawl up to for better shots." They dropped their packs to lessen the load for the coming fight.

"We need to scatter them first and take out the archers first," he explained as the plan formulated the battle plan, "I have a bomb arrow so I can do the first part while you wipe out the archers, then we both rush in and eliminate as many of the subordinates while they are confused. Withdraw if they start to reorganise." She nodded silently as they both prepared their bows.

They crawled out on the dusty road out of sight towards the targeted boulders thirty metres from unaware monsters. Crouching behind his boulder, he pulled out and knocked an arrow tipped with a small bundle of high-powered explosives. He nodded silently at Victoria, who was crouching nearby with an arrow knocked and ready to shoot, before standing up, drawing back the string, and shooting the arrow into the targeted camp of clustered monsters.

The enemy didn't have time to react to his sudden presence before the bomb-arrow exploded on impact at their feet, sending them flying a few meters as they burned. The explosive power of the small bundle of black powder and flint never ceased to amaze Phillip, but the awe-inspiring fire did not faze Victoria as she jumped from cover and fired off two shots in succession without missing. Drawing only his katana, he charged onto the battlefield with Victoria close behind wielding her scimitar and shield.

Their initial slaughter of the monsters lasted around a minute as they hacked and slashed the Bokoblins that were fumbling to get to their feet and put out the fires on their bodies. Phillip was so caught up in the action that he forgot the plan for a tactical retreat until an arrow hit him in the shoulder, knocking him off his feet. The projectile luckily did not penetrate his chainmail but it was sure to leave some massive bruising.

"Time pull back a bit, Lucky Buck," Victoria called as she dragged him away from the recuperating squad. Nearly a dozen of the monsters, including the blue captain and the two Moblins, stood growling and posed to strike back.

"Thanks for that," he called to her. Throwing aside the arrow, he drew his shorter sword to prepare for the coming onslaught and his partner raised her shield to protect her barren midriff from the archer. But nothing could prepare them for an unlucky Bokoblin being thrown at them by one of the Moblins. They both shouted in surprise as they dodged the flailing bastard as it flew past them and landed head first with a painful crack and blood curdling scream. I guess there is no regard for the safety of their comrades, Phillip thought while looking at the monsters flanking his side and Victoria's.

"You get the ones on the left while I get the ones on the right, agreed?" She huffed, sounding upbeat about their prospects.

"And we watch each other's backs," he nodded in agreement.

In a flash, Phillip swiped an arrow out of the air as it whizzed towards Victoria's unprotected head. "I guess we are even then, just watch that archer for now," she advised, receiving a silent nod from her ally.

Unlike the Lizalfos that he had faced the other day, these monsters did not seem to have any sense of tactics other than to overwhelm their enemy with numbers. There was not a clear battle line as Phillip and Victoria both weaved through their mobbing attackers while dodging for their lives and striking when the opportunity arose. Neither of them could avoid getting minor nicks and scrapes in the wild flurry of blades and clubs, but on a few accounts Phillip overextended himself to block fatal blows aimed at his partner's back and he saw Victoria out of the corner of his eye do the same occasionally. He was definitely thankful for her joining him.

From the brief moments that he took to study her techniques, he could tell that she was an adept fighter with an interesting style. While Phillip's own style focused on lithely dodging around attacks and swiftly striking exposed vital points, Victoria's was a balance between defence and attack. She expertly deflected blows with her shield and brutally struck her enemy while they were off balance, which proved her to be a deadly force on the battlefield.

The odds of the fight seemed to flow unopposed in their favour, the weak Bokoblins fell one after another and in a matter of minutes there was only the captain and two Moblins left. Standing back from the remaining foes, they were both breathing heavily and sweating profusely from a combination of the heat of the day and the battle, then Victoria stepped back and slipped on the blood-soaked road. The captain Bokoblin jumped the chance and tackled her to the ground into a bloody hand-to-hand brawl.

Phillip didn't have time to call out to her, let alone help her out, as the two Moblins simultaneously attacked him. The clubs that they swung at him were the size of small trees, so he dodged every swing with everything he had as a single hit could prove to be fatal. Despite the devastating and overwhelming appearance of their swings, the Moblins were relatively uncomplicated to dispatch as he pirouetted around them and cut them to ribbons with his dual-wielded swords.

Victoria didn't even need his help once he was finished, she was already sitting up against a bolder next to the corpse of the Bokoblin Captain while sipping on a health potion vial. He could not spot any indications of fatal wounds produced by the assault, but she was covered with an uncountable amount of lacerations and abrasions that were slowly healing thanks to the potion.

"Here," she held out the half empty vial in Phillip's direction, "You need it just as much as I do. It'll help with sore muscles as well." His partner was right, he could feel the blood and pain flowing from nicks between the openings in his armour, which was amplified by the adrenaline subsiding from his veins.

"Thanks," Phillip accepted the vial, tipped it up to his lips and finished the fruity liquid, "You definitely live up to the skills that you claim, thanks for keeping me alive back there."

The Gerudo woman responded with a wide, toothy smile and thankful, golden eyes that hid the weariness of combat. Slowly, Victoria picked herself up off the dusty canyon road and limped slightly towards their abandoned gear. "We should only take for spoils what we can carry easily, except you should take that shield the captain had," she gestured to the steel kite shield discarded by its fallen owner. "It would serve ya well to add some defence to your wild dance of a fighting style, dodging can only get you so far."

"It's far from being wild, more like an adaptive manner of fitting any situation. I seem to survive some dangerous situations pretty well with it, and the dodging helps add maximum effort into each swing," Phillip answered, but obliged to pick up the shield before retrieving his pack and bow. He had never picked up using a shield when he was training in his youth, and even when he had been conscripted he continued to adhere to his teacher's style, but he was interested to learn something new all the same.

"I swear, we have only been in on fight together and I've nearly had a dozen heart attacks with the recklessness that you flaunt in battle," his partner scolded playfully while pillaging through a monster's wallet.

Phillip laughed in response, he picked up a satchel full of useful potions and stored it away. "I'm the reckless one? Says the one practically armoured in the bare necessities, though I can't complain with how you look," he jabbed back with a flirt.

He received an amused glare in return, "You know, I thought you were going to be a stiff partner, but it looks like you know how to loosen up a little. Just need to get it all out of you all the time."

"And you seem to know how to be harsh too," he retorted. The camp's store of meal packs fell into the swordsman's sights and revealed a trove of non-perishable food stuffs ripe for the taking.

"Touché, my fascinating partner," was she said for the rest of the collection of spoils.

Phillip could honestly say that his journey so far was far more enjoyable thanks to Victoria's presence, though he did not have much to go off of since it was only day one. However, he still was not sure if he was okay with putting her life at risk by drawing her into the conflict that he had resolved himself to finish. He put that thought out of mind immediately, they probably had a few years before they could confront Ganon.

On the last thought, his mind drifted to the five fallen champions of Hyrule: Revali the Archer of the Rito, Chief Daruk of the Gorons, Sir Link of the Hylians, Princess Mipha of the Zora, and Lady Urbosa of the Gerudo. After one hundred years, they would surely be dead and their souls have waited restlessly all that time for their mission to be completed so they could be freed. Phillip did not want to waste any more time than he had to, the souls of the greatest warriors of all time and Princess Zelda depended on his efforts to beat the darkness.

A slap on the back snapped him back from his thoughts, Victoria had approached him from behind obviously trying to catch him off guard, "Hey, daydreamer, spacing out like that is only for when you're on guard duty. I think we're finished here, but we should go ahead and set up camp a few miles away from this place." And to answer his unspoken question, she added, "We will reach the Great Plateau in about two days after that."

He agreed full heartedly, so they gathered all their equipment and continued to follow the worn path towards the North East. Soon enough, Victoria started up some small chat, which lead to them both to sharing stories like good friends, bonded together by their life-and-death experiences in battle. Unknown to Phillip, Victoria finally felt like the chains of a dreary life were broken, all thanks to a chance meeting with an unexpected hero.

A/N: AYYY see what I did there with the last line? Sorry for the title pun, but it was only one part for why I chose this title for the story. Please follow and favourite if you liked this story. Reviews would be really appreciated so I can get your opinions and constructive criticism. Chapter three is on the way!