Chapter Two: Duties of a Queen
Queen Zelda sighed. Another busy day in politics, the usual "This needs to be fixed" or the classical "We need money for this" was a constant. Running servants, complaining lords and ladies; complaining peasants, apparently the taxes were to high. The taxes had to be raised to pay for the training and food for Hyrule's Elite guard. A new program thought of by "The Group" a small band of heroes that met quite frequently in Telma's Bar.
The Group finally got their fame, and were recognized for the heroes they were, when they aided the Hero Link in his quest to overthrow the dark tyrant Ganondorf. They had battled the outside assault of Hyrule Castle, as Link dueled to the death with Ganon. Wave and wave of monsters showed up, but they prevailed, aided by the King Bulbin, who seemed to have a sudden change of heart after meeting swords with Link.
Not only thought of by "The Group", the Elite Guard was also coordinated, and trained by "The Group", the training lessons were taught by Ashei, while the advanced weapons were supplied to the genius, and engineer: Shad. The others were a bit older, and aided in what they could, but were now usually seen aiding the Queen Zelda in council.
It was mid morning, and Zelda sighed as one of her servants rushed in, and started to dress the Queen, helping tie a corset from the back. Though Queen Zelda said she didn't need assistance, the Goddesses knew that the old Servant had more backbone then the dark tyrant himself. Only one thing was left, Zelda grabbed a necklace from the table. On the necklace dangled a small symbol, it was of a three-Dimensional Triangle with a Triangular hole in the middle.
It had been almost a year since Queen Zelda had last communicated with Link, and when she had, there wasn't much communication, Link was dazed and seemed to be slow, his mind always somewhere else, still hurt by the sudden leave of Princess Midna. Link was sorely affected by the sudden loss of what Zelda recognized as his best friend, and the women he loved.
It was about time to get to business, being the Queen, Zelda had more responsibilities then ever, and had even less time to herself, what a pain. Still she had duties, and had to protect the people she loved, after all, it was her responsibility. Lately she had been searching for an ancient relic, one that was legendary and had its tale passed down through the ages, leading back to the creation of the earth itself. She was looking for: The Tri-Force.
Rumors, myths, Legends everything told of the Tri-Force, though it was very hard to find any detailed information on the resting spot. It was mentioned in the sacred book that Zelda had, that it rested in a sacred realm outside of the Realm of Humanity, the realm that had held the Sages, and the Hero of Time who rested there in a slumber for Seven years. Who Zelda now thought was Link's great great grandfather.
Zelda knew that this sacred realm could only be accessed by one place, which was hinted at, that it was a Temple. Possibly lost to the will of nature and the ever growing hordes of the Bulbin. She knew not, where to start her search though she knew that she may be able to get some information from the leader of the Bulbins, whom served under the Queen.
"Rusl!" The Queen shouted to the elderly councilor, whom was a major part of 'The Group'.
"Yes M'lady?" He asked walking into the room.
"Fetch Lord Bulbin" She said briskly, "I have business to attend to"
Bowing, Rusl left the room to find the large leader of the Bulbins.
It would be a few hours before Rusl returned, he would have to first locate the leader. King Bulbin was always with his own men, when not with the Queen, he was always with his own. Bulbin was always busy running around Hyrule, hunting, scouting and pillaging. After becoming allies with the Queen, Zelda commanded that he only pillage creatures of a hostile nature. Creatures that were a danger, a threat to Hyrule. Though he promised, Queen Zelda had heard of his reputation with promises. He fought for the strongest, so he claimed. Queen Zelda's force was by far the strongest around.
"Ana" Princess Zelda called softly from inside her chamber.
"Yes, my Queen?" Ana the servant called from outside Zelda chambers.
"Ready the carriage please"
"Yes m'lady"
Fifteen minutes later Queen Zelda was carting through Castle Town, smiling every time she saw playing children, and grimacing everytime she saw a homeless man, or an abandoned dog, or other animal. Queen Zelda was too kind hearted to just pass these beings by, so she usually ended up losing about five hundred rupees every time she made a trip into the town, giving money to the homeless, and usually finding the animals a home. Many thought that the key to being a successful leader, was being hard and strict, Zelda showed everyone that, that theory was completely wrong. She inspired kindness, and courage with whomever she met. She just wished that she would have been better at comforting Link.
The day drifted away as the Queen walked gracefully from store to store, stopping whenever she had the chance, to donate for some lost cause. Or stopping to converse with a regular citizen. She even had a great friendship with the local Goron traders in town, and ended up getting big discounts on products though she didn't need them. As the day progressed on, she started to head back. Only halfway back to her domain, she was stopped by the loud yell of a man, who turned out to be Rusl.
"M'lady!" He shouted, gasping out of breath. "The Bulbins are under attack from a hefty force of Bokoblins!"
"Bokoblins?" Zelda asked puzzled, she knew what they were, but couldn't understand how the Bulbins could possibly be in harms way, they were far superior then the Bokoblins.
Seeing the puzzled expression that the Queen held on her face, the warrior quickly explained.
"An ambush, a massive force", that was all that needed to be said. Zelda needed no further time to ponder the decision that needed to be made.
"Send the elite force, this will be perfect training"
Rusl nodded and was then off to summon the great force. The Bulbins were attacked in the Faron woods, not far from Ordon. The elite guards were dressed like the typical Hylian Soldier, only they were the best of the best. Instead of silver plating, they had weightless ore, stronger than a Gorons hide, that were mined by the Great Darbus himself. Darbus was the Goron Elder, and was a major supplier of ore and resources, when these resources were shipped to Castle town, Shad went to work right away shaping the armor and weapons.
The Elite Guard were taught to always be alert, so when Rusl came in, and announced what had happened, they were all prepared and ready for battle. They all had extraordinary willpower, and physical abilities, and could run for miles without stop. All were also very skilled in battle, and were all expected to come back. It wasn't long until they were running out of the town, and into the bright haven that Hyrule Field was, they cut across the middle of the field and right into action. Birds hovered above where they could tell the battle was taking place, waiting for the battle to stop, so that they could gorge themselves on the remains of those who lost.
The Force came across the battle, and when entering every single one of the soldiers shouted: "FOR HYRULE!" The Bulbins shouted, now full of new vigor, since their allies had come. King Bulbin was engaged in a battle with four Bokoblins, and even then, he dispatched them quite easily. The only problem was that whenever one was killed, five or six more were ready to replace the fallen. The only real reason that the Bulbins couldn't take on the Bokoblins, was the fact that they were largely out numbered.
Bokoblins were constantly spilling out of the woods, and seemed to have an endless supply of troops. The Troops from Hyrule Castle, were already up to their knees in remains, blood everywhere, hell the knights weren't even close to getting done. Hacking, slashing, parrying, you name it and it was happening. The only thing that came as a distraction was a faint sound of a trumpet. A maniacal laugh was heard, and then some puppets appeared out of nowhere, to ravage the Bokoblins. The local Skull Kid was having his fun as well it seemed.
It was hectic, the Bulbins and the Elite force of Hyrule combined, were having trouble, all sorrounded by slashing blades. The cries of the wounded were heard, and the sounds of the swords clanging rang through the ears of everyone there. The incessant crowing of the birds that fed on the dead was also there constantly gnawing on every nerve that the soldiers had. Rusl himself was even fighting, he was a very graceful fighter, and was currently fighting two at once.
"Lord Bulbin" Rusl yelled to the King who was as usual, fighting multiple opponents. Turning to look at Rusl, King Bulbin left himself open, and received two gashes from an enemy sword, grunting he turned around and smashed the sword fodder in the face, indicating he was not wounded severely. "We'll lose unless we get out of the middle of them!" Nodding the King Bulbin brought out his horn.
A deep sound came from the horn, and a large crashing could be heard. Out of the woods some of the great boars of the Gerudo desert known as the Bullbo crashed out, three of them came stampeding the enemy forces, killing hundreds in as little as a minute. Archers with arrows of fire shooting into the guts of the brainless Bokoblins. The smell of blood and smoke mingled each complimenting the nastiness of the other. With the sudden loss of Bokoblins troops, The Bulbins and Hylian Guard quickly gained the upperhand. An hour later the last of the Bulbins had either been killed, or had ran off. The mysterious Skull Kid also disappearing.
"Thank you" King Bulbin said walking up to Rusl.
"For what, may I ask?"
"Reminding me of my Bullbos"
Rusl's jaw hung open like a tavern door. He knew that the Bulbins weren't well known for intelligence, but this. This was just stupidity at the greatest level. Who could forget the massive Boars of war, that the Bulbins depended on? Apparently the Bulbins. Whooping was heard from both forces. A long day of fighting left both forces exhausted, and a feast of Deer and other animals was in order.
"Lord Bulbin, Queen Zelda requests your presence as soon as possible"
"As soon as the feasts over" He grunted, and Rusl knew it would be pointless to argue. He was as stubborn as the Queen, and twice as strong.
After the feast was over, they laid down camp right where they were. Rusl and the others moved a ways away, they didn't want to get dirty with the spilled blood that covered the ground. The Bulbins however, had no problems bathing in the blood of their enemies. Chatter and yelling could be heard from the other side of the camp, where the Bulbins resided. Arguments on who killed who, and what killed what rang out through the night, and the strange laughter came from them, inside jokes that were most likely directed toward the Hylians. What a day.
Rusl wasn't sure what time it was, but it had to be in the middle of the night. Shouts came from middle of the Bulbin encampment. Rusl just assumed that they were still partying as they had been when he finally fell asleep. Finally when the chatter didn't die down, he got up to see what the commotion was about. Smoke poured out of the trees directly ahead. Ordon villagers running out, some bloody, all screaming.
"What happened?" Rusl yelled to one of the running villagers.
"Monsters!" He cried shortly before getting struck in the back from a flying arrow.
Pulling out his sword he dashed forward and sliced the first Bokoblins throat he saw. It was apparent that the Bokoblins had raided the Ordon Village. Guilt descended over Rusl, and his heart was enveloped with fear. Where was Uli? Was she Ok? His mind raced, thousands of questions of fear and shame entered his mind.
"Have you seen Uli?" Rusl yelled to the passing villagers.
None had. Finally through ten horrendous minutes, Uli entered his vision, running towards him. As she got to him, he wrapped her in a great bear hug. Tears flowing from her eyes. She told him the story of the raid. It had seemed that after the defeat of the numerous Bokoblins, they formed a strike group, and raided the Ordon Village in the middle of the night, setting fire to everything.
"Inform Queen Zelda" Rusl yelled, pulling one of his soldiers to him. Nodding the soldier left on horse.
"King Bulbin" Rusl yelled, "Have your army encircle the refugees" Nodding the King gave the order for his soldiers to circle the women, Children, and men. "Lead them to the gates of the Castle" With that, he kissed his wife and told her, he would be back. Something needed to be done.
Grabbing one of the great Boars that was grazing on the grass, he jumped on the back and slapped its rear. Rearing on its back legs, and then charging force, Rusl was almost thrown from the pig, from which the speed and force it gave while running. There was no saddle so he would definitely be sore afterwards, but it had to be done. Riding for what seemed like days, he got to the Castle in an hour, and ran to Zelda. Already informed she was making orders on the next force that would weed out the survivers of the Bokoblins, the evil would be eleminated once and for all.
An uneasiness was felt, nothing of this magnitude had happened since Ganon was killed, and the land put back into peace. In fact, the Bokoblins had never been this vicious before. It came as a big surprise to everyone.
Two days later, everything was sorted out. New houses were being built in Castle town, and the refugees would be able to stay free of charge, for compensation of what they had gone through. Losing homes, animals, and family members was a very hard thing, and Zelda intended on doing everything she could to make them happier. It was only an hour before she would meet King Bulbin, and ask him what she originally intended to ask.
Exactly an hour later, she sat across from the large King making small talk.
"I have a few questions I need you to answer"
"Name them" He said, obviously not happy about having to talk more than he wanted.
"You're out in the wilderness hunting a lot, correct?" When he didn't respond she took it as a yes.
"Have you ever noticed a Building, temple like and possibly run down with bushes and-"
"The place that Skullkid lives?" He asked.
A revelation. This was potentially the place that was the Temple of Time.
"Tell me of this place" Zelda said politely, though on the inside she was very excited. She was glad now that she had taken the time to teach King Bulbin, how to talk properly, she found his natural way of speaking quite dreadful.
"I'll show you" With that he turned and started to walk.
"Wait. Let me get my stuff" The Princess commanded.