Chapter 2: Our Home

Clock Town Milk Bar - 9 PM

Kaz sat with Romani in the back of the milk bar, the mood being a very calming one after a long day of work. Both young adults listening to a local band playing smooth jazz as a waitress brought them their drinks. Romani gave the woman an approving nod then turned to Kaz and asked "So you gonna help the construction effort this year too?"

Kaz took a small sip of his milk and replied "Actually no... I plan on competing in this year's knight duels." Romani choked on her milk and stared at the young man beside her with a bewildered look.

However after a minute she gave him the biggest smile she could express and hugged him while cheering "It's About Time the Trooper fought! The Hyrulean guards have taken Termina's pride in the knight duel and i think it's time to bring it back!" Kaz tried to interject, but Romani then yelled out loud to everyone in the bar "DRINKS ARE ON ME!"

The entire establishment erupted into a loud mess of cheering and celebrations as the waitresses hurried to serve the customers.

Kaz had a hand covering his face as he muttered "Gonna regret that one in the morning Romani..." However she quickly pulled him up and corrected "We. We are gonna regret it, and we won't, because you will win. Now shut up and drink, tomorrow you start your training." Kaz looked at his glass and sighed, then chugged it down and held it up while calling out "Waitress?"

Romani chuckled and ordered a bottle of chateau milk, and then both started having a drinking contest. The night devolved into mindless partying, all the while outside a man and woman in hooded robes hurried into the back alleys and entered the sewer system of the town.

They closed the manhole behind them and walked through the dank and filthy tunnels of the town's underground, crossing improvised bridges made of duckboards and metallic catwalks. Eventually after a decent walk through the abysmally dark dungeon did they arrive at the water works leading to the swamp, where there was a small encampment.

Along the stone walls was a pier where small huts and cabins made out of cheap wood and rusted metal where built, crow's nests went high up to keep watch and guards patrolled both the tunnels and waters. Both of the cloaked figures removed their hoods and walked into the camp, greeted by Terminians of all professions.

A small stand was handing out cloaks and daggers to new recruits, another was receiving a shipment of fresh fruits and vegetables via pirate smuggling, and another had a blacksmith forging weapons. Eventually both made it to the end of the small camp, where a guard stopped them and asked "Oath?"

"To order." They both replied, then revealed their rounded Terminian ears, making the guard state "Only one at a time." The taller of the two, a young man missing his left arm, motioned his partner, a short woman with an eye-patch covering her left eye, to enter.

The woman nodded and entered the fairly large shack made of solid metal and wooden walls, and found the leader sitting by a fire place, a heavy, worn out, crossbow hanged elegantly over it. The woman took her filthy boots off at the doorway then entered silently as their leader asked "What's the news..?"

The woman quickly pulled out a letter from their agents in Hyrule, then red it out in a polite and well mannered tone "Agents have spotted the movement of the royal family and champions, many armed guards and supply merchants are en-route to Termina... And the princess has taken the invitation, major Lynn."

Lynn turned to look at the young woman, a ghostly elegant smile gracing the young member as she asked "Excellent... How did you lose your eye my dear?" The woman, caught off guard, stammered "I.. I was part of the late cavalry unit. I met a Labrynnan pike-man and we both exchanged blows on the field... The enemy died.. But i lost my eye.."

Lynn stood up, her robe exposing everything from her collar down to her navel, where a lazily tied ribbon held her clothes together. The young woman blushed as she saw the older woman's body, scars and scratches here, burns and gunshots there, but she still had an undeniable beauty and voluptuous figure. Lynn smiled and embraced the young Terminian in a gentle hug, then kissed her on the forehead while stating "That story could have been a legend among the horsemen of Termina... Your name would have been remembered for centuries... If they hadn't arrived and stolen our glory.."

The woman felt her eyes water at the truthful statement, with the only thing comforting her being Lynn's understanding and loving nature towards her people.

"It's okay to let it out, i won't judge you.." Whispered Lynn in a warm motherly tone as she felt the young woman's tears finally fall onto her skin. The woman wrapped her arms around the motherly figure and cried years worth of pain out, sobbing and choking on her own breath as Lynn cooed sweet whispers into the woman's ear.

Lynn gave the woman all the comfort the could, listening to her fellow Terminian and responding when cued.

But eventually the young and vulnerable woman succumbed to her fatigue and drowsiness and fell asleep. Lynn couldn't contain a smile as she picked her comrade up and set her down on a couch, then walked to her personal chambers. There she wrote a letter ordering troops at the Ikana Region to prepare for the arrival of the princess.

Once done she sealed the note, tied it to an owl's talon and sent the nocturnal bird away, securing it's safe arrival by sunrise. Lynn looked at a single photo on her night stand, it was of her, Grond the Goron and Kaz all in a trench being treated after the first day's attack.

The Desert Colossus - Edge of the Gerudo Province - 8 AM

Zelda and Link both walked out the old spirit temple in their blue tunics, Zelda reading up on Termina culture, and Link making sure they had enough water for the trip trough the wastelands. Beside the horses was Impa, securing their luggage while watching the guards prepare for the long march.

Beside her however was a younger Sheikah woman with the red eye of truth on her forehead and it's lone tear traveling down the bridge of her nose. She watched the Hero of Hyrule from behind the older sheikah with an ever darkening blush on her face. Impa looked at the younger sheikah and smacked her in the back of the head, muttering "A sheikah is meant to be invisible when they spy on someone, Paya..."

Paya rubbed her head as Link and Zelda both walked up to them, with Zelda asking "You guys ready?" Impa gave a curt nod, while Paya was as red as a Tomato and gave a stiff nod as Link wiped the sweat off his forehead.

All of them got on their horses, along with a handful of royal guards and the four guests they were bringing. Zelda turned to look at Urbosa and thanked her in a warm tone "Thanks again for watching of Hyrule while we are gone, we won't be gone for long, i promise."

The Gerudo champion chuckled and simply told the princess "Don't worry, it's our job after all." Impa gave the champion a curt nod and led the group through the wastelands of the west. After her was Zelda and Link, then Paya following rather closely, a few guards, Ashei the great swordsman in Hyrule along with Malon to keep the horses well nourished during the crossing of the wastes, then Darunia and lastly at the very back of the group, the ever illusive sheikah ninja, Sheik.

Paya looked back to see Sheik reading some untitled book and asked Impa "Master, why is Sheik coming with us?" Impa looked at Paya, and replied in a flat tone "Why not?" Paya muttered "Of course.." to herself, she might be training and studying to become the next Sheikah matriarch, like Sheik, but she was always kept in the dark about decisions that her superiors made. Paya sighed and simply remained quiet as Ashei groaned out "Why is it so damn hot? We could have scaled the mountains then gone west from there, yeah?"

Zelda rolled her eyes playfully and replied "We have two days to get to Termina, on the third their festival will begin." Ashei groaned and fanned herself as Link let out a small chuckle, earning himself a death threat from Ashei.

While Ashei argued with the Hero of Hyrule Darunia sighed and simply asked Sheik without looking at her "This is gonna be a long trip, isn't it?" The silent Sheikah nodded and replied in a low tone "Yes... And i wish it would go faster as well.."

Clock Town Southern Gate - 9 AM

"ONE! TWO! THREE! GO!" Yelled one of the workers as a large group of them all helped pick up a large stack of tied up wooden beams. Kaz was among them as they all carried the beams into the southern Clock Plaza with slow and careful steps as to not drop and break any of the beams.

Kaz and every other worker felt the weight of the old wooden beams crush them, but they carried it into the Clock tower plaza and set it down as carefully as they could. While they all sighed and panted in relief, a large group of people watched them and walked up to them, offering them both drink and food to soothe their aching bodies, among them was Romani, who simply gave Kaz a warm smile as he walked up to her.

"So, you ready to train?" Asked Lynn, but before Kaz could answer a female voice asked "Train?" Both turned to look at the source of the voice and smiled when they saw Lynn walking up to them, the ever graceful smile adorning her face as Kaz replied "Yeah... Gonna fight in the knight duels this year.."

Lynn's smile widened as she could tell Kaz was resisting the urge to stare at her, while Romani simply asked "How have you been Lynn? How's the hunting been this season?" Lynn smiled at Romani and replied hesitantly "I.. It's been slow really... Alot of animals migrated after the war and now it's harder to find anything worth while."

Romani sighed in disappointment and simply stated in a reassuring tone "Well, if you ever need a job, the farm is always hiring." Lynn gave a curt bow and simply said "Thank you." Meanwhile Romani and Kaz both headed out of the town, with Romani carrying his training equipment.

They walked for about an hour in silence until they reached the tall grass, where Romani handed Kaz a set of wooden mock armor and a wooden sword. She watched and explained to him in a stern tone "Now, this year we are expecting alot of people to join in on the duels... Some from the mountain, a few from the swamp and even a handful from Ikana Valley.."

Kaz nodded and swung the sword around, getting a feel for it then muttering with a nervous chuckle "Heh.. Been a while since I've used a sword.. And a short one at that.."

Romani chuckled and watched him put on a wooden mask to protect his face and simply asked "Ready?" Kaz smirked, held the sword properly and nodded as he walked into the tall grass.

However as both went into the wild lands of the field to train, in Ikana Valley a small group of men and women hurried into the sacred grounds of the Stone tower.

Once there they climbed onto one of the nearest cliffs and looked eastwards. Nothing but flat, dry and inhospitable wastes as far as the eye could see. The quickly set up camp and waited for their targets.

A/N:Well, another chapter done, sorry it took me a while to write this, but i think we all have been busy since E3 and all the news that fell (Kinda angry at the fact that i decided to start to write a fic a few days before BOTW's sequel was announced, but hey what can i do?) I would really like to hear what you guys have to say about the fic, you know, can't tell if you guys like it or ot if i don't get feed back.

I hope you guys have a marvelous day, please review if you'd like.