How are you guys doing? I'm extremely depressed because my cross country preseason starts, and I have to go to an annoying tennis camp right before I run.
But hey! At least I have school starting in a couple weeks!
Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda or its characters.
It was only a matter of time, really. The plague had infested Avordene, a nearby town weeks ago, and the death count was jaw-dropping. 9 out of ten people were killed who had the plague, and it spread like wildfire. Being a rather isolated town in the woods, everyone thought it wouldn't reach cities like Cranston.
The plague has very few symptoms, making it one of the scariest diseases to ever threaten Hyrule. When some symptoms start to show, such as fevers, coughing blood, and nausea, you pass quickly in your sleep. No one knows where it came from, but all cities and villages are closed for visitors for the time being. That is, except for us. Because we are the most impoverished city and Termina raided us, borders were a fools dream. It would be too costly, and helping stock the food bank and fund the orphanage were more prevalent problems.
Looking around outside was agonizing, for everyone knew what was about to come, but no one could leave. Leaving may be even more dangerous than fighting the plague, for you have a 10% chance of living if you choose to stay. But leaving the town with nowhere to go; there was lack of food and water, and monsters wandering about adds to an even greater threat.
Many couples were hugging each other, thinking about the painstaking odds that both of them will cease to exist in a couple of days or weeks. Many of the families were locked inside their houses to prevent transmission, but none of them had enough food and water to last them from coming outside. Being an airborne virus, if someone in city has it, it most likely already spread throughout the city. The city was like a timer, soon, no matter how hard you fight, the plague will eventually catch you.
"Shad, we need to do something."
"I'm already doing something. Contemplating my final days on this planet while drinking is a pretty draining task."
Strumming my knuckles against the piano, I thought of the odds of 2 people surviving the plague. Not knowing how to solve the equation, I guessed the odds were pretty low.
My friendship with Shad dates back to my leaving of Hyrule Castle. Being at the bar most of the time, we conversed to ourselves almost everyday for about a year now. He helps me with my 'adventures', and I play cards with him no matter how tired or drunk I am. As much as it pains me to say it, without Shad I would be pretty miserable.
"Castletown citizens have vaccines for the plague, for that's where most of the rich live, and vaccines cost a lot of money." I thought out loud.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking Linky?"
"Stealing vaccines from those rich bastards?"
"More like another drink, but I suppose I could do that."
Because Castle town citizens already took their vaccines, and the plague hasn't or probably won't hit them, stealing them has no real moral dilemma for me. The only problem was that the vaccine and medical supplies were stashed away in a Storage unit close to the dining hall. Because many people are there during the night and day, getting in is gonna serve to be difficult. However, since Zelda's marriage and coronation is coming to a near, they have been throwing balls almost everyday to celebrate. That would be the perfect distraction, for everyone would be entertained with dancing, drinking, and stuffing their uptight faces with food.
Shad was sketching something on his napkin. As I looked over at what he was drawing, he explained to me the gameplan.
"This is going to be the most difficult scheme we have ever pulled off Link." Looking at his sketch, he continued. "Getting into the castle is going to be hard, however I'm pretty sure we both know an easy way in from the staples in Hyrule Field."
"Shad, if you are suggesting I go into that hellho-"
"Man, great minds think alike. After you enter through the garden entrance, the vaccines should be stored in a room guarded by a couple guards."
"Sorry to interrupt, but the garden is only accessible from the dining hall. If I want to get to the room where they keep the vaccines, I'm going to have to look presentable to pass by many nobles."
"You can borrow one of my nice tunics and trousers, It will be fine. And to prevent yourself from getting recognized, you can cover yourself with a cap. Taking a heavy swig of his scotch and smiling he continued. "This is my favorite part Link. Assuming the doors are locked and you took out the two guards, you need to blow the door down. Don't give me that face, I can tell you want to do it."
"Although it would be pretty cool looking and likely fun, how am I supposed to not cause a scene by blowing a door down?"
"Making a scene won't matter. Once the door is down you need to grab as much of the vaccination as possible and skedaddle. I know, right? Sometimes it's best to go simple."
"And will you be joining me tomorrow Shad?"
Shad started to laugh, which then turned into a coughing fit. "Fat chance Link, if you don't return by early morning I will know you need help. Now go get some rest, you got a pretty eventful day tomorrow."
"Link, you look damn fine."
"Thanks Shad, may I ask why you have all of this clothing?" Of course I already knew the answer to that question. I convinced Shad one night to go to Castletown and buy some nice clothing, so we could preform together at the bar in style. At first, he was skeptical. But he then thought about how bad ass we would look together on stage.
"Hardy har, you still owe me those 300 rupees."
"I wouldn't forget it if my life depended on it."
As I walked out of Sheik's house and mounted Epona, Shad gave me one of his rare looks of affection.
"Stay safe Link, I want my clothes back without a scratch."
"Thanks Sheik, let's hope your makeshift explosive works."
With that, me and Epona were off towards Castletown. As the sun was starting to set changing the sky into a orange hue, galloping on Epona brought a wave of heart wrenching memories back.
"Do you think someone could ever get tired of this?"
I looked at her, puzzled.
"Riding in Hyrule field. Watching the sun set while riding towards the horizon. Stuff like this makes me wonder what I would do without these breaks."
I looked at her golden hair flying behind her with the wind, her rosy cheeks, and her serene expression for a while. She was by far the most beautiful women I have ever seen, especially at this time of the day. "Good thing you have me then. I think if I never came into your life, it would be pretty uneventful."
"Laughing, she pulled her horse closer to mine. After playfully punching me in the arm a couple of times, she said, "Promise me that we will always come outside every night and do this. Please."
"Always Zelda, until the end."
Shaking my head, I pushed those feelings back down once more. I learned to sort of push my feelings down, postponing them for another day or so. For 5 years I've been doing this, and it works rather effectively. Thinking about anything else helps really, but as I was approaching the Castletown, the memories kept intruding.
"20 rupees I can hold my breath longer than you."
"Really Zelda? You are 16 years of age and you still want to place these silly wagers? Let's raise the stakes. 100 Rupees you will lose to me." I said smirking.
As her smile widened even more, she withdrew her previous wager. "Instead of you paying me, I get to push you into the moat."
"Hey, that's not that ba-"
"With your clothes on" She added with her infamous sly smile.
"You're on, princess."
As I was standing on the drawbridge pinching my nose, Zelda came closer and closer to me. Because I was on the edge of the bridge, I backed up into nothing, and I fell into the water. Zelda didn't stop reminding me about the incident for 2 weeks. As I fell however, the look on her face was worth the wet socks. While she often laughs about silly and ridiculous things, I never saw her laugh quite as hard as this. As she was on the ground crying, I knew I never wanted to spend a day without her.
Luckily, there was a pond in the garden, so I got to clean my shoes of the slimy solution from the sewers. Gazing to the entrance to the dining hall, I was rather nervous. Actually, that was an understatement. I was practically shaking, I could almost feel Zelda's presence in the room.
With the help of a prep-talk, I opened the door and blended in with the crowd. Wanting to put no attention to myself, I slowly walked to the hallway where the storage unit lay. Mid-way there however, the King called for everyone's attention.
"Greetings, greetings! Today once again, we celebrate the soon-to be Queen Zelda and her lovely fiance Jack!" The crowd erupted with applause, but I noticed the King's face was much paler than normal.
As I picked up my pace to the storage unit, the crowd started to chant.
"Kiss, Kiss, Kiss, Kiss!" They all seemed to be looking towards the soon to be queen and king.
I knew that looking at the scene would only cause anger, but not looking at Zelda proved harder than expected. Eventually, I gave in and took a quick glance in Zelda's direction.
Zelda, wearing a beautiful blue ballgown looked stunning to say the least. Her hair was braided neatly, but a few strands were behind her ear as always. Next to her was of course Jack, looking dashing as ever. Zelda and Jack both kissed for what it seemed like eternity, and in response the crowd released loud shrieks of pleasure.
Pushing my feelings back down, I headed towards the hallway. Many of the nobles stared at me, for I walked right through them, slightly on edge from that scene. Finally nearing the storage unit, I had to decide how to take care of the guards.
I have never killed an innocent in any of my heists, and my record wasn't going to be cut off tonight. Coming prepared, I walked behind one of stone pillars marking the entrance to the dining hall. Quickly, I threw a stone at one of the large tinted windows. Alarmed, both guards walked over there to see what happened. Throwing the bomb, I turned around and covered my ears. Even when I covered them tightly, the explosion was earsplitting, confirming that everyone in the hall heard it. Knowing the guards were running at me, I ran in and scanned the room.
Quite easily, I found a huge canister of a red liquid labeled vaccination next to many syringes. Quickly, I poured all of the liquid into a jar I had in my shirt. As I was about to dash out however, something caught my eyes. There was a map of Hyrule across one of the walls, and Cranston and Avordene were both marked with red circles. None of the other towns or cities were circled, just us and Avordene.
Just as I was about to snatch the map and bring it back, I felt lightheaded and unbalanced. My legs stopped supporting me, and they felt like jello. Like a rag doll, I fell onto the wooden floor, darkness consuming me.
The next thing I knew, I was lying down on a sticky, rather smelly rock floor. Sort of suspecting where I was, I looked up confirming that I was in the dungeons. I must have been knocked out. Damn those bloody guards.
I remembered looking at criminals that lay down here, wondering to myself what was going through their heads. Now I was that criminal, but I most certainly knew what I was doing. Sort of. Looking around, I saw there were two guards standing outside my cell.
Death didn't seem so bad for the past couple of years. My sole drive was to protect the princess and Hyrule, and when I ran away from that, I was broken. Like a yo-yo without its strings, I knew I had to help these towns from the recent Termina invasion. It was the least I could do, and the only thing preventing me from becoming a useless corpse on the planet. After my first couple of heists, I had no real fear of whatever consequences lay ahead. Although I was still helping the country, something was missing, something I had 5 years ago.
Disrupting my thoughts, one of the two guards started talking to me. "You used to be someone I looked up to, Link. Now look at you, from knight to peasant you fell just as quickly as you rose." After an array of insults, he spat on the floor in front of me.
I was called many things in my life, so these insults didn't faze me in the slightest. I barely payed any attention to the two until they spat on the ground.
Slowly drifting asleep, I was awoken by a multitude of footsteps approaching my cell.
"Captain Ranagade, it's been a long time hasn't it?" I grinned.
"It's Commander now, and you're lucky we haven't publicly hanged you yet for all of what you done."
Confused on how they found about the other crimes, he continued. "I don't know what's the hold up to be honest. Breaking the knights code is a sentence to death, breaking into Hyrule Castle is a sentence to death, multiple accounts of thievery, if I were King I would skip the trial and hang you myself"
"Smiling characteristically, I said, "Nice to see you too old friend. How are the wife and kids?"
Almost as if I was polluting the air around him, he walked away with disgust. When he was out of sight, he said, "Your trial is tomorrow, try to wipe off your smart ass grin if you don't want to get stoned."
I never liked that guy, he was always took too long in the wash houses.
"So what's up with you two? I know dungeon duty is the worst, it smells god awful in here."
One of the guards was about to respond with some most likely unpleasant words, but the other one whispered something into his ear. "Ah, not allowed to respond to prisoners, I understand."
Getting bored rather quickly, I thought back to what I saw in the storage unit. What was that map about? Could it be that the plague had been placed on the two towns by the government? No, that was a ludicrous idea at the least, there is no benefit for them to kill off their citizens. After many hours of thinking about how Sheik is, theories of the map, and possible escape plans, I drifted off to sleep.
This chapter was a bit longer, than the first. The next chapter will most likely be a long one, so stay tuned :)
Leave a review guys :D
pm me if 5 hour energy is bad for teenagers
