Unwelcome Surprises

They had left shortly after the introductions, Renado watching as the small group left with his parting words ringing in many of their ears. "May the Goddesses bless your voyage and keep each of you safe."

With the addition of Sheik and her own mount they were able to change how the wagons were protected. Rusl stayed near the rear wagon while Sheik kept pace with the lead one. Link continued to circle the group eyes roaming across the land searching for danger. As the young blonde man once more passed in front of them, Sheik started a conversation up with Auru and Telma. Both of whom were sitting in the front of the lead cart, Shad was riding with Nabooru and Ashei in the other.

"So tell me Auru, what do you know of Link," Sheik asked while piercing him with her intense red-eyed glare.

But it was Telma who answered her instead. "Sadly honey we don't know much 'bout him. He's been in my bar a fair far few times, but he never drinks alcohol. Then there's Renado an' the Gorons who both sin' his praises, but even they know next to nothin' 'bout him. He's a walking mystery ta us all. The most we know is he's quite capable since he freed Kakariko, an' helped them Gorons out. Course, he handled some drunks in my bar quite nicely an' he's picked off a few of the monsters out here, but as far as we know no one has seen him in a real fight."

Sheik's eyebrow rose into her blond bangs once again before her eyes narrowed dangerously. "You would trust a complete stranger with such an important mission. I must say I am quite surprised considering the necessity of this, and the amount of trust put into you Auru," there was a definite tone of reproach in the Sheikah's voice.

"I know Sheik, I know," said Auru acknowledging her reprimand but keeping his eyes on the path while he spoke. "We were in a hard spot especially with Nabooru's arm. If I'd known you'd be joining us Sheik we wouldn't have asked him. While I don't think he'd betray us I will admit he is rather difficult to work with."

"So why not explain to him that he is no longer needed and save yourselves the trouble of having an unstable partner," asked Sheik in a commanding voice. Telma and Auru both looked about to speak up when several loud screeches were heard.

To the horror of many of the group a horde of bokoblins and bulbins were rushing them, some on foot while others rode bulbos in pairs, one steering the large swine while the other held a bow. Before anyone could shout out a command, Link rushed head on towards the oncoming menaces. As they rode forward the young man let loose several arrows all landing in the riders of the bulbos. Without anyone to control them the large pigs ran wild twisting in every feasible direction effectively throwing off their other rider.

Once all the riders had been dispatched the boy raised his bow again, and fired an arrow into the middle of the horde. The stunned watchers didn't even have a chance to wonder why before an explosion blew the group of creatures apart. By now the youth had reached what was left of the horde but he would be at a distinct disadvantage on his horse against the multiple ground enemies.

Bulbins and bokoblins were short creatures, and their weapons could easily hurt the legs of a horse while its rider was too high to do much damage to them. Link seemed to realize this as he launched himself from the saddle while Epona veered away from the fight still keeping close to the fray.

Link had drawn his sword before he had even landed immediately attacking the remaining beasts. To the group there still seemed to be a lot of the creatures left, far more than one person could take on alone. The other members of the group were still frozen in there shock, only made worse as Sheik shot forward to help the young swordsman.

She too departed from her horse as she neared the battle area hand shooting out, several hidden needles flying from her fingers. The others seemed to finally come out of their reverie as they began rushing forward to join the fight; however, there was little point to it. Link had already taken care of many of them before Sheik joined him, and with her help they were dispersed quicker than the others could hope to run.

Link bent down on a clean bit of grass to wipe the entrails from his sword before standing to survey the gore about them. They were in Hyrule field in a more isolated area and there was little they could do for the creatures' corpses lying about. Eventually the guays and kargarok would pick the bones clean and anything left would be a feast for the many insects.

Still though it would be evident to anyone something happened here for some time to come, and any who happened upon the scene would grow suspicious. The group had converged around Sheik looking between her and the warrior youth. Link ignored their pointed stares, whistling a short tune that brought Epona trotting up to him. As effortlessly as if the wind had blown him up there Link mounted the mare directing her in a direction away from the one they had been travelling.

"Link," Rusl's voice was incredulous since it was very apparent the boy planned on leaving them. "What's wrong, we aren't headed in that direction."

The young man glared over his shoulder at them his face as hard as stone. "As I understand it you have no need of an unstable partner now that Sheik has joined you. Since your group has no need of me, and never truly wanted my help I'll be on my way."

Auru and Telma looked abashed that they had been over heard, Rusl had an astonished look like he couldn't believe what was just said, Ashie looked smug; while Nabooru appeared calculating. However, it was Sheik that spoke up.

"You can hardly be surprised by their sentiments. As I understand it you have not gone out of your way to even attempt at being friendly let alone making an effort towards being welcoming. It is clear that your temper controls you instead of you controlling your temper, so yes you are quite unstable and thus a liability. I am a trained warrior in the Sheikah arts; part of our training is recognizing a weakness in our defenses, and finding a way to eliminate it. You are a skilled fighter to be sure and we could use such skill. But if you are willing to let such petty little things like words spoken to wound you then perhaps you truly don't belong with us. You may make the decision as to whether you will continue with us or not, but we will not tolerate your petty attitude for the duration of this mission."

Link turned Epona about to face the Sheikah, his face was as red as her eye; it was all too clear that he was livid at her words. Sheik didn't even flinch under his burning gaze, only staring back at him coolly waiting for his reply.

"This group," Link hissed at her speaking through his teeth, "asked for my help. They said that it was a matter of life or death to get these supplies to the various towns. My attitude as you put it has nothing to do with accomplishing that."

"Wrong," Sheik snapped back at him, "the mission has not changed but your attitude could make or break us. For example instead of alerting all of us to the threat just now you chose to take it on alone. If you had alerted everyone and accepted our help then we could have dealt with them quicker, and quite possibly without injury," Sheik continued to berate the young man as she indicated a wound on his arm. "Like it or not this is a group effort, and while on this mission everyone needs to be a part of the group. If you cannot do that than we do not need you; however, if you can swallow your pride we would be happy to have your skills. Because in the end this isn't about any one of us; it's about helping those who are in need."

Rusl held his breath at the Sheikah's harsh words; Link wasn't the type to take such criticism easily. The youth would turn his horse around and leave them without so much as a goodbye. The older man felt pain in his chest at this thought. True Link wasn't exactly the greatest of companions, but Rusl felt as Telma did. He was sure there was a very good reason behind the boy's abrasive attitude, and he found himself almost compelled to help. Maybe it was the fact that Rusl was a father that had something to do with these feelings. In truth it would kill him to see his own son as Link was now.

Yet, as the others he stood there frozen from the tension between the two warriors. Rusl wanted to convince Link to stay, but at the same moment he could not dismiss Sheik's words. Yet he could not find the words on his tongue that would help him. It was with great shock to all of them that Link slowly turned Epona back the way they were going.

"We should leave before more predators are attracted by the smell of blood," Link's tone was curt as Epona started moving forward.

Rusl wasn't sure if Sheik was just as shocked, but the rest of the group seemed to be. However, if he had been hoping for Link to suddenly become more open with them he would have been greatly disappointed, luckily Rusl held no such fantasy.

The rest of the day's journey was quiet with a layer of tension laying upon them like the thickest of winter quilts, but still it had lessened considerably from what it was. When at last they stopped for the night everyone in the group went about the task of helping to set up camp for the night. Telma was forced to shoo Shad away from the cooking pot when he somehow managed to burn the water Ashei and Rusl had brought up from the stream where Link was watering the horses.

Nabooru and Sheik had the tasks of gathering firewood and preparing the resting areas. As they were all finishing and preparing to eat Telma noticed Link seemed to have disappeared. She was about to go and look for him right up until she saw him near where the horses were tied and grazing.

Huffing she marched over to him and before he could protest started dragging him back towards the fire and food. Link cried out and attempted to shove her off him, but Telma wasn't about to fall for that a second time. She may not have been full Gerudo, but she did know a few tricks. "Now you just stop that, ya hear?! You heard Sheik we're all in this together an' that includes meal times. Whether ya like it or not yer goin' to start joinin' us."

Once the bar owner had him near the fire, where the others were sitting, she spun him around knocking his feet from under him as she did so sending him to his rear next to Rusl. With an irritated but warning look at him she shoved a bowl of food into his hand. "Ya best eat all of that ya hear, an' no excuses." Telma's voice carried enough of a threat that though he mumbled into the bowl he did not move.

Rusl chuckled as he began to eat his own dinner, "You know," he said between bites, "with women it often helps just not to fight them, and do as they say."

Auru who sat on Rusl's other side chuckled, but Link didn't seem to share their sentiments. A dark look crossed his face as he finished his forced meal in a matter of seconds before going to rinse out his bowl. When he returned he still sat near the fire, but apart from everyone else. Telma saw this but decided to let it go, there was no point in pushing him too far too fast.

The night continued with Shad keeping up an endless stream of questions directed at Sheik and her culture. Ashei talked swords with Rusl while Auru spoke with Nabooru on the lands she'd been to. Telma watched them smiling until she noticed Link still sitting alone on the opposite side of the fire. Sighing she went over to sit near him; noticing him stiffen slightly.

"Ya know they're a jolly bunch an' would be happy ta include ya," Telma said while staring into the flames like he was. When he continued to stay silent she tried again to draw him into some sort of conversation. "They also have quite a bit of knowledge between them. Why ole Auru there…"

"You are assuming I desire their or even your companionship." Link broke in before she could continue. "You assume that because I am alone that I must be lonely. That could not be further from the truth; I chose this life for good reason. My only desire is to be left alone, and despite what you may think it is far from lonely. I am only helping with this mission because there are those who would suffer otherwise, and many of them are very likely innocent. Once all is said and done I will go my own way as I am sure each of you will. You may as well save your breath or expend it on your friends, for nothing you can do or say shall change my mind."

Telma felt her eyes widen at his cold words. Surprised that he chose to be alone; that he purposely alienated himself. Sighing she stood up brushing off her skirt as she did so. "Alright honey if that's what ya want I'll letcha be. Just remember if ever yer tired of being alone we'll be there for ya." With that she let him be joining the others across the way.

Rusl had been watching Telma try to coax Link into being friendlier, but once again his heart dropped out as it became obvious she had not succeeded. It wasn't long after that that they turned in for the night each pulling out their own bed roll. Rusl noticed that all Link seemed to have for cover was a thin and worn blanket. Instead of lying near the fire for warmth and protection like the rest of them, he had gone over to lay with Epona. It was funny even the horse stood off from the other horses, it seemed the pair of them were quite suited to each other.

The weeks following their first day went by smoothly with only occasional trouble from the normal creatures that inhabited the fields of Hyrule. Slowly they learned to work together as a group, learning each other's strengths and weaknesses. Sheik and Link both proved to be the strongest fighters of the group, much to Ashei's chagrin. This was not to say the mountain warrior and the others were not skilled it was simply clear that the Sheikah and Hylian far surpassed the others. This was not surprising when it came to Sheik since the Sheikah and the Gerudo were known far and wide as the best combatants. In fact Nabooru would have likely given the pair a run for their money if her arm was not injured.

What was surprising were Link's skills, while it was not unusual for Hylians to be skilled sword wielders. They still were rarely a match for either the Sheikah or the Gerudo, but both Rusl and Auru agreed that if it came down to it they were not so sure Link would be defeated by either. There was a feral ferocity in him as he fought, that appeared to incinerate his opponents before he even touched them.

Then there was his fighting style, which was not typical of anyone trained in Hyrule. His skills almost seemed to blend into other cultures creating a way of fighting that was utterly unique. He had the lithe agility of a Zora, the blunt brutish strength of a Goron, the silent unsuspecting abilities of the Sheikah, and even some of the very forward and swift movements of the Gerudo. Really no one style could be attributed to him and even more perplexing was the question of how he had learned such fighting styles.

Link had yet to warm up to any of them, still keeping his distance, so just who had he trusted enough to teach him? Both Auru and Rusl had tried several times to bring it up the youth's fighting style, but Link remained as silent and perplexing as ever.

By now Rusl was sure that he would fail in reaching the boy as they only had one delivery to go. They had just finished delivering the supplies to a small fishing village near Lake Hylia. They would spend the night on the shores of the famous lake before heading out to Rusl's own village of Ordon.

Their camp was situated very near the large damn that regulated the flow from the river into the Lake. It had been made to hold back the flood waters from Hyrule's rainy seasons and allow the village to be built. While there was another body of water on its other side that water was used not only to fill the lake but it was all channeled off to other streams to provide water throughout much of Hyrule. It was this area that the Zoras monitored carefully keeping it far cleaner than one could imagine possible.

The little group was just getting their camp situated when a scraping of metal against a scabbard was heard along with Nabooru's hiss. At first none of the others could figure out why Link had drawn his sword nor why Nabooru stood at the ready, but approaching dark shadows soon ended their confusion.

"Vell I never daut I vould see zee day vhen bothz a Gerudo and a half Gerudo vere helping Hylians. Even as bhāgēḍu you zould 'ave far more respect for yourselves zen zat. Our noble ancezetorz vould veep at hov low you 'ave degraded our proud heritage."

By now everyone had their weapons drawn; even clumsy Shad with his small daggers. "Aveil," spit Nabooru in the direction of the figure that had spoken.

"Nabooru," the one called Aveil said as she stepped forward into the light of the feeble campfire. "Zuch a pity you vere well on your vay to being zeee Hā'i prīsṭēsa and you gave all zat up, but zen again you vere alvays zuch a raktastrāva hr̥daya."

Most of the others weren't sure what Aveil was saying but the way she said it and Nabooru's stiffening posture made it clear there was at least one insult in there. "Vhat are you and your simpering pups doing here Aveil," Nabooru asked through gritted teeth.

Aveil smiled, her heavily painted lips pulling back in a disturbing way as she spoke. "Vell ve 'appened acrozz a couple of little birdiez. Zey made a deal with uz zat if we zhould zpare zeir pathetic livez zey vould tell uz about a good haul. Of courze ve took zeir information and zen ve took zeir lives." Aveil simpered at this declaration, as if killing someone was the most amusing part of her day.

Shad, who didn't always realize there were times when he should keep quiet, spoke up then. "B-but th-there is no way for you to h-have known. W-w-we are the only ones aware of these dealings." You could almost hear the group cringe at Shad's question. It was obvious that that they had found out and his logic held no water.

Aveil laughed at the young man as she answered his question in a mocking tone. "Ah only an idiot zcholar could poze such a foolizh queztion. Maybe inztead of killing you ve vill beztow upon you a fate worze zan death and just cut out your tongue. But to anzwer your queztion ve learned it from tvo zimpering men vho zeemed to zink zeir livez vere in danger from your group. I do not knov zeir namez, nor do I care to. Nov I vill give you a choice, if you hand over zee zuppliez perhapz ve vill let you live."

"Just like you let those two men live," growled Auru.

Aveil didn't seem to be the least bit perturbed by his tone as she replied. "Zey vere vorthless and held no value to my people or yourz. Zeir only uzefulnezz vaz az food for guayz. Zough zadly I do not zee many in your little band here zat are much better. Maybe ve can convince a fev of your voman to join our rankz, but zadly only one of your men look to even be vorth zee effort. Ah vell maybe after ve finizh vith you ve vill have better luck in that little fizhing village. Nov enough of this mindlezz banter. Chooze, either ztand down or die."

A/N: Hey everyone, sorry short chapter but I felt this one and the next were better this way. More anticipation in my opinion, but who knows you may all end up hating me for this cliff hanger. Anyway lots of action coming in the next chapter so be patient with me. Admittedly though I really have to quit waiting until the last minute to edit these things since I'm always rushing and probably missing things. I'm hoping none of the errors are too grievous and you all will forgive me if they're there.

Well how about we get down to everybody's favorite part, the thanks. Procrastinating-tothemax, Mjbiz, and Shadows from Twilight get big thank you's for being the newest people to either follow/favorite this story and or me.

Next to all my reviewers thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. I love seeing them and I often reread for writing inspiration to keep me going on these stories.

KPGirl1227: Lol no you didn't make a fool of yourself, I think that's funny. Actually it's never really said in the story itself; I kinda left open to interpretation. But I will tell you that when I was writing this I did imagine Sheik being the Princess and she being the one to engineer this whole thing. Mainly because she saw how her people were suffering, but could do nothing about it until her coronation. While I'm sure adding this into the story would have made for great tidbits and I could have gone farther with it the story itself is short and probably leaves a few things unknown. I hope this satisfies you to some degree that yes Sheik is Zelda. Oh and if you like Sheik as a uniquie individual I have started on 'The Offer', I don't know how long it will take me to complete but he will be a substantial character in that story.

Guest: Yes uncomfortable, but I'm not sure if indifferent is the right word for it. It's a bit complicated and I believe that not in the next chapter but the one following you'll find out what happened to him.

ThePredicate: Well you've met part of the reason why already, and no ole Gannony doesn't make an appearance here. You know I hadn't thought about it until now but I seem to not prefer him as the bad guy in my stories. Sure sometimes he's the guy in the back pulling the strings, like in the games, but I don't use him too often. Oh well I am working on one where he is the main antagonist, just slow going on writing lately.

Guest: Thank you and yes I will. I made a promise to you guys that I would get a chapter edited and up once a week and I'll stick by that as long as I have access to my computer. Glad you're excited though and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.