Chapter Three

Link was having a relatively hard time adjusting to her adventuring lifestyle, having been the one to end the demon thief Ganondorf, and as such was being called the Hero of the Twilight. At the time, no one except for Zelda had known that she was female, so when the rumors regarding her became a bit... much, she decided to shock them all. Thus, she was in her usual chain mail shirt, with the green tunic and cap, and leather boots, with the Master Sword and Hylian Shield slung over her back. She hadn't bound herself, this time, either, so when she walked in, all conversation stopped, and the herald announced, "Link, the Heroine of the Twilight!" the room was dead silent. Zelda, behind the crowd, hid her smile with a hand, as Link jogged over to her. She bowed, and Zelda said, "And how is my favorite bodyguard today?"

Link stayed silent, but not by choice. She was mute, having an arrow scrape the front of one's throat does that to a person. She just pulled out a note, and passed it to Zelda, who read it, then ordered everyone except Link out. Zelda fixed her friend with a penetrating glare, and Link shifted slightly. "Let me get this straight," she said, as she started to rub the bridge of her nose, "the Master Sword wants you to go to another land, another dimension entirely, because of something that it detected there."

Link nodded.

"I think the Sword's rather mad, if I say so," said Zelda, before shrugging. "Go for it. We'll be fine here, just go take care of it, and please," this time Zelda got up, and took Link's hands, "be careful." Link nodded, and pulled the princess into a hug, much to her surprise. "Good luck, Link. May the Goddesses be with you."

Link gave a bow, and jogged out of the throne room, moving at her regular pace, and headed for Epona, who was waiting for her outside the castle. Link leapt onto her faithful mare's back, and they took off, galloping for the Sacred Grove. Link gave Epona a farewell and explanation via the horse call that Ilia had given her before she left Ordon to face Ganondorf. Soon, Link vaulted off of Epona, and sent her to the village, before heading to the Sacred Grove, where the Skullkid was. But, this time, the Skullkid lead her directly to the pedestal, and left, giggling. Link drew the Master Sword, and slipped it back into the pedestal from whence it came into her life, and watched as the temple rebuilt itself, and expanded back into it's regular size, but it was dark, much to her startled surprise. From behind her came a voice. "Welcome," it said.

Link spun around, ripping the Master Sword out of the pedestal, but the man standing there looked vaguely familiar. "Looks like this time they chose a woman, huh?" he asked, examining her.

She glared at him. He waved a hand at her, and her throat started to itch, badly. She started to scratch at it, but the itch died down. "What did you do to me?" she snarled, only to freeze in shock. She had spoken! For the first time in about a year, she had spoken!

"Yes, you can speak now," said the man. "That princess of yours deliberately decided that it would be a good idea to heal your voice box wrong, and as such left you mute. You're lucky I could reverse the damage and heal it right." He straightened, and walked closer, into the light from the top of the chamber, which surrounded the pedestal. "I am what you Hylian's called the Hero's Shade," he said, stopping on the crest for Shadow. "My name, on the other hand, is Jinsei Kaminari."

"Link," said Link, slowly. She took in what he was wearing, even the hand-and-a-half sword sheathed across his back that he bore as though it weighed nothing. Loose black pants, tight black shirt, which was tucked into said pants, and woven straw sandals were on his feet. A belt similar to hers was slung across his torso, to which the scabbard of the sword was attached, and the sword was sheathed.

"Welcome to Earth, Link," said Jinsei. "Come meet the rest of the crew." He turned and walked out, Link following after sheathing her sword, and settling her shield comfortably. He didn't have a shield, she noticed, so pulled out a Goron-made shield, and called, "Jinsei, catch!"

Jinsei turned, and easily caught the shield, which immediately turned into steel at his touch, and a dragon engraved itself into the shield. "Looks like I've got a friend for Kōken'nin," he remarked. "Shahei-tai, welcome to my world." He looked at Link, who was staring at him as though he'd grown a third head, and said, "Thanks, now, come on!" He grabbed her forearm as he slung the shield across his back as well, and hauled her along. "I need to introduce you to the family," he explained. "We'll be joining my adoptive parent's sister to her school, and we need to get you introduced before we go."

Link just nodded, numbly. "Back to school we go!" sang her mind. He grinned at her, as though he'd heard the thought. "Link, it's alright," he said, chuckling. "We're playing bodyguard. I'm going to be in all the public places, you everywhere else. Lucky me, I can also sense magic, so all her mail routes through me. Bloody irritating, all the fragging fan and junk mail. I've started to use the letters as kindling for the fires."

Link let out a startled laugh at the absurd image of this muscular six foot five inch man kneeling in front of a fire, quite a few shredded letters next to him as he attempted to coax a fire to life. "I'm a comic genius!" he shouted, pumping a fist, only to trip and roll down the stairs, landing on his face with his feet by his head. "I don't think I'm supposed to land like this," he groaned.

"Get up you dork! We need to get moving," a young woman stepped around the corner her black ears flat on her head, "Oh! Who's your friend?" She asked, noticing Link.

"Judging from the clothes, a swordswoman," said a man wearing a black suit. His crimson hair was styled back, revealing blood red eyes, and an elegantly blocky face, which was looking at the strangely positioned Jinsei, before laughing his ass off.

"Shut up, Yūyake," groaned Jinsei, pulling himself out of a position that had to be uncomfortable.

"Fuck you too, Jinsei," said Yūyake, shaking his head, and reaching into the suit jacket. Jinsei tensed, but what Yūyake had pulled out was a cell phone, and he quickly dialed a number. "Hello?" he said into the mic. "Yeah." A pause. "Yūyake Chiheisen, assignment?" Another, longer pause. "Understood." Pause. "I get it, asshole!" Yūyake shouted at the phone, before snapping it shut, and throwing it. A handgun appeared in his hand, and he shot the cell phone. "Damn phones," he muttered, the gun vanishing again. The woman was trying to hide a chuckle. "Shut up, Neko," snapped Yūyake, giving her a death glare. Making a small 'mew' she hid herself behind Link. Yūyake snorted in irritation. "I swear, she's got the nature of a cat, and can hide like one!"

"I'm a Kitsune," Neko explained.

Yūyake said flatly, "Target practice."

Neko looked wide eyed at Yuyake in horror, then pure rage as she march up to him, her black tail twitching, looking up seven inches at him, "WATASHI NO SHIPPO YA MIMI O DAINASHI NI SURU TO WA, MEINU O SHINU!" Stepping back she took a deep breath

"Ayah, seikō wa nani? Watashi ga shitakatta to shite mo, watashi wa kitsune ni gai o ataeru koto ga dekinai koto o itta to omotta! Sore ga doko ni aru ka, watashi wa watashi no atama ga sukide, dōmo arigatōgozaimashita!" yelled Yūyake, his crimson eyes flashing. "Nani ga jigoku...?" He started looking around, unaccountably tense. "Get them the fuck out of here!" he roared, a black pair of .50 calibre Desert Eagles appearing in his hands, which he aimed towards the entrance to the temple. "We're about to have some hostile company!"

"Oh, shit. Let's go!" Neko said, grabbing Link's arm and pulling her along. "Aurora! Let's go!"

"Coming!" shouted Aurora, sprinting into view.

"Go that way, dammit!" roared Yūyake, opening fire with several deafening cracks. "Leave us the fuck alone, you bastards!" He started ranting at them in Japanese. "Kuso wa kuso dewa, deki sokonai o kuso, watashi no kusokuraianto o korosu tame ni shiyou! ? Sore ni dageki o atae, kuso ga watashi o sugite shutoku shiyou to, naze shinaide, anata wa isshō o kuso suru to kyohi! Watashi wa anata o aete, anata yarō o kuso!" Neko was listening with half an ear, a grin stretching her face to a nearly obscene smile.

"What's he saying?" asked Aurora, watching the tall Japanese man swear at the men and women he was shooting at.

"Literal translation," warned Neko, "'Fucking attempting to fucking kill my fucking clients, you fucking bastards? Give it a shot, and try to fucking get past me, why don't you, you fucking lifetime rejects! I fucking dare you, you motherfuckers!'"

Aurora's jaw dropped. "He's swearing at them?" she demanded, staring at Yūyake.

"Yep," said Neko, popping the 'p.' "Don't you dare use that kind of language, though. He may very well shoot you."

"Why?"

"Stupid people piss him off," remarked Neko, still hauling Link and Aurora down the hall. "Wait, where's Lily and James?" She spun, and saw their two motionless forms. "No," hissed the kitsune. She roared at Yūyake, "Karera wa, Yūyake, wakai jibun no ryōshin o koroshita! Uchigawa no oni o rirīsu!"

"You didn't," snarled Yūyake at the group still coming through the doors.

"We did," said the leader arrogantly.

"DIE THEN!" roared Yūyake, as he suddenly became very much inhuman. Massive draconic wings spread from his back, his suit having been torn to pieces. The Desert Eagles became infernal, and shot exploding fireballs. "GO TO HELL, ALL OF YOU, AND MAY YOU ROT THERE FOR ALL THAT YOU HAVE DONE!" With that, he started shooting the Demonic Pistols at machine gun rates. Fireballs literally rained down on the invading force, until they were all incinerated. Yūyake pulled himself back into control, and stood there, panting, as his suit automatically fixed itself. "I hate people who kill my clients," he snarled, his guns vanishing.