Holy crap guys, look who's back!

Roy: Whoooooaaaaa

Link: Miracles DO happen!

Marth: I think I just crapped myself

Fox: ...!

Now go enjoy the very much delayed story!


Chapter 7:

Silence reigned in the tent. Today should have been happy beyond belief, having been reunited with the lost four, but it wasn't has happy an occasion as it should have been. Finally, Marth and Zelda gently shook Roy's shoulder to wake him. None of them had eaten for days. Link shivered, remembering the storm on the plains back in Hyrule, the last time food was mentioned. He dearly hoped Saria, Malon, Talon, and Navi had gotten to safety.

Roy rose, a look of hope flashing across his face momentarily, but his face darkened into a frown as he recognized his surroundings. "What?"

"You need to eat. None of us have eaten for days, and it's important that we get some sustenance." Zelda scolded him gently.

Roy scowled darkly, but got up nonetheless. The smashers ditched their armor, almost immediately relieved of the heat that was left as the sun hung low in the sky. After a short wait, they picked up a voice.

"…I'm sure they're just fine. Ardath should be queen now, and is probably taking good care of her. Oh… Good point, she probably went off with that griffin rider…" after a moment's silence, Izu stuck his head in through the tent flap. "Food, anyone?"

Young Link barreled into Izu. "Yes food!" there was a sharp bark and a yelp as Izu's wolf took this as an attack on her friend, but Young Link had backed off fast enough that no harm was done.

"Young Link!" Zelda cried, disappearing through the flap with Link on her heels. Roy and Marth followed more slowly, Fox and Falco behind them.

"S-sorry mister." Young Link was apologizing to Izu, who had a look of disdain on his features.

"No problem kid. Just be more careful." Izu finally stated before turning to Zelda. "Follow me, if you would."

Without waiting, Izu and Amina turned heel and walked away, causing the smashers to hurry to keep up with their unusually long pace. They wove their way through the mass of tents back to Nix's tent. Inside, another table had been set up, with food set out in crude lightweight bowls. Samus, Katan, Pichu, and Ness were already seated, Katan blank faced and Samus looking worried. Nix stood behind the 'White Riders,' a concerned look on his rough features as well.

The Smashers entered and were quickly seated. Nix motioned for them to eat. "We've plenty, and you guys look half starved. The majority of the smashers fell on their food like ravenous wolves. Roy merely stared at his food until Zelda threatened to force feed him. He still ate with a detached look. Ness, Pichu, and Katan didn't touch their food as well, though Nix seemed to understand this and not attempt to force them to eat.

Throughout dinner, Roy felt like he was being tortured. Katan sat near him; how he wanted to take her in his arms, to taste her lips again… But she wasn't the Katan she used to be, if she ever would be. Finally, Nix dismissed the three, seeing as they weren't going to touch their food.

"So… What… Exactly does a rider squad deal thing do?" Link ventured to ask.

Nix visibly relaxed. "Well, as I said earlier, riders are the unlucky ones that figure out a way to get here, but loose their memory as a result." Nix sat down where Ness had been a moment before. "But, all of these memory-less arrivals have an uncanny talent in leading attacks. A distraction, if you will. All rider squads are separated into color groups, depending on what their hair and eye color are. Currently, there are four squads: Your own White Squad, more popularly known as the white riders, then there's the Blue Squad, the Green Squad, and the Red Squad, listed in population size, with White Being the smallest and most talented."

The Smashers took this in. "So you get quite a few of those who lost their memory then." Marth commented.

"Unfortunately, yes. Each squad is given the materials they need. Sand bikes, or motorbikes as you would call them, gear, weapons, whatever they need." Nix sat back. "One squad is always at Home in case of an emergency, and its usually the Red Squad, due to their larger size. Meanwhile, due to their, well, lack of memory, each squad has a general looking after them." Nix nodded his head at Samus. "White Squad has Samus."

"Well, how does this whole… battalion work then?" Falco asked.

"Well, it works as in there's an attack leader, like myself. Then there's three captains, you've already met Izu, one of my captains. Under the captains, there's two generals per captain, unlike your normal ranks. Samus here is under Captain Fallon, who first found Samus, Katan, Ness, and Pichu." Nix paused a moment, then continued. "Finally, each captain has a major under them. Captain Fallon was only a major when he found the four. Then there's the normal soldier, which a majority of the camp is made up of. Finally, in their own ranks, there are medics and cooks. The lead medic is a doctor, then nurses, and aids, and in the cooking field, the lead cook is called Cookie, and the Chef, and the rest of the cooks."

"Wow." Fox commented.

They asked questions for a little while longer, before the smashers excused themselves for a good nights rest. Their uncomfortable, yet restful night in the little cave seemed to be so long ago…

Morning came all too swiftly. The night had been strange, without the worry of being attacked by bandits or Wireframes. Roy had slept through the night, his dreams dark and unusual. At one point, his mind had replayed the moment that Samus had been shot, Luan and the old man-What was his name? Eula, that was the old man's name- had been stabbed by the enraged and distraught Marth, and the white light, swallowing them in a white Christmas. They had each woken up in their own worlds after that, cut off from one another for what seemed like an eternity. But it was only three years.

When Roy awoke, the sun still hadn't risen, but daybreak wasn't far off. Rising and stretching, Roy saw his comrades in various parts of the tent. Marth was on the floor next to Samus, hands still entwined (How Roy found himself in envy of them!), Link sitting in a corner with his Master Sword propped against his shoulder. Zelda had her head resting on Link's lap and in a spoon shape around the ball of green that was Young Link. Fox and Falco were nowhere to be seen. A long white braid was hanging from a hammock, and a white ear poking up at the end of the Hammock with a baseball cap hanging on one of the hooks. This was where Katan, Pichu, and Ness were fast asleep. Katan was murmuring in her sleep, which left Roy in a heartbroken heap.

"Lu… Lu…" She would repeat. Roy had to turn away to keep himself from going to her aid.

Suddenly, an orange furred head poked in. "Roy?" Fox whispered. "Want some breakfast?"

Roy nodded, not realizing how hungry he was. He slowly made his way to the door, stepping over Marth and Samus's prone forms. With one last wistful glance back at the hammock, he made his way outside.

Despite the heat from the day before, the morning air was cool and crisp. The horizon was dyed deep ochre red, with the lighter shades of pink following close behind. Only a handful of the twinkling stars were left, blinking out their good days to the rising sun. The camp itself was already busy. Tents were being broken down, preparing for the journey to the capital rebel city, Home. Roy watched the various people working away, folding tent canvases into smaller bundles, rolling up hammocks, folding cots, and then loading them onto the backs of large lizard-like creatures, who's rough yellow skin matched perfectly with the sand.

"Come on this way." Fox called back, already disappearing into the silent chaos of camp breaking. Roy hurried after, hearing someone stirring in the tent. Who it was, he didn't know.

The fox and swordsman weaved their way carefully through the maze of tents, both still standing and being-broken-down states. They soon reached a flat large tent with people hurrying in and out. Enticing smells drifted from the tent, making Roy's stomach growl hungrily. Fox paused at the entrance for Roy to catch up.

"They have some really good food, for not having a lot of ingredients for good food around here." Fox commented to Roy before entering. Roy entered, curious now as to breakfast.

There were five long tables and benches that seemed to be formed of hardened sand. Several large pots sat over small beds of coals to keep warm, though several coal beds had already been dowsed with sand. Using water was too dangerous, what with steam and the chance of dehydration in the desert. A couple homely women were ladling out bowls to the soldiers as they came and went. Roy couldn't help but notice scars. He thought about how everyone here had already died once. Did that mean that they had died too?

How were they supposed to get off this planet?

"Come on now." Fox coughed, bringing Roy back from his reverie. They approached the women, and soon had nice bowls of soup. As they ate, Falco joined them, and soon Link, Samus, Young Link, and Marth entered. After getting some soup themselves, the smashers were once again, reunited. Or almost.

"Where's Zelda?" Fox asked through a mouthful of soup.

"Getting her arm checked out. There's a healer, but not with skills like Zel's." Link replied between his own mouthfuls of the delicious soup.

Suddenly, a strange whistling sound loudly made its presence, followed by a booming version of Nix's voice; a loudspeaker. "ALL RIDER SQUADS AND THEIR GENERALS REPORT TO HEAD TENT."

"That's me." Samus bowed her head, then exited the tent, putting her bowl in a large container filled with many other dirty bowls for being cleaned upon return. Marth watched with a frown as she disappeared.

Soon, a man approached the group. His features were almost wolfish in a way, yet human at the same time. "Are you the Smashers?" he asked, his voice young and raspy.

"Yeah." Fox, the unspoken leader of the smashers at the moment, stood up.

"I'm Captain Fallon, and Nix asked me to fetch you." Looking over the group, he frowned. "There's one missing."

"And accounted for." Came Zelda's voice. She approached from the entrance, her arm splinted and hung for support from her neck.

"right. Follow me, please, and I'll get you your lizars." He turned quickly. "Leave your bowls in the containers. They'll be properly cleaned when we've returned to Home."

The Smashers followed his instructions. "Are lizars those lizard things?" Young Link asked.

"Yes, sir." Fallon replied. "A brilliant man just took the d out of lizard and named them that." He kept such a serious face on that the smashers almost wondered if he was being serious, but he finally cracked a grin.

It turned out that lizars came in different colors; the tan lizars were strongest, yet slow, and therefore used for transporting goods. White lizars meanwhile were the fastest, with grey being in the middle. On rare occasion, there were black lizars. These were reserved for leaders and captains, due to their amazing speed and strength. Each of the smashers were given a white lizar for usage during their time in Desert. Lizars were basically Desert's version of a horse, or perhaps a camel, but due to their reptilian ways, they were tiresome to ride.

Leading their lizars back to the tent, Zelda gave a cry of dismay as they found their tent in shambles. Samus looked up before saluting Fallon. "Your stuff is over there, dear." She quickly told Zelda, pointing to what belongings they had brought from the wreckages. Nearby, Katan, Ness, and Pichu were busy inspecting their Sand Bike. A dark grey lizar sat nearby, while a tan lizar was closer, already carrying a bit of the tent stuff.

The smashers threw their feeble belongings onto the strange saddles on their lizars' backs, and were ready as the last of the tent was packed away. Soon, no tents were left standing, only their sandy supports. Nix sat on top of a very tall black lizar on a hill where all the soldiers were gathering with their pack lizars. With a quick inspection of the deserted campground, Nix gave a cry like that of a hawk, and with a swipe of his hand, caused all the sand supports to collapse, covering whatever remained of the campground.

"Wow." Falco whistled. "That's pretty impressive."

The rider squads were assembled near Nix. With a wave, they took off, the fore guard of the assembled battalion. And with that, they moved off.

By the time Home was in view, the short yet blazing day had recently disappeared on the horizon, though the nearly unbearable heat still lingered. Link couldn't remember ever being so tired in his whole life, other than in the tournaments back when he was an official smasher, and they'd had daily melees going on. Looking at his friends, he observed their tired selves. Fox, due to his fur, was looking more and more like a sun burnt dog, his tongue lolling, drool dripping every once in a while. Falco was on the opposite spectrum. Being an avian, the heat had less an effect on him, but his legs were probably numb with soreness. Zelda looked like she could kill someone; Young Link looked dead on his lizar. Marth had long since adjusted himself and gone to sleep, while Samus, having long ago adjusted to Desert Life, was doing fine. Roy was totally unaffected by the heat. If he weren't having a moment of heartbreak, he probably would have been prospering in the heat. But with the combination of lizar riding, his emotional status, and the unwelcome heat, he looked worse off then Young Link and Zelda put together.

Link hadn't seen a single one of the three memory-less 'riders' as Katan, Ness, and Pichu were now known. Looking over at Roy, he felt a stab of sympathy. Then he thought a bit more. Roy should be helping them try to regain their memory, not just moping around… Link shrugged to himself, and returned his thoughts to staying on his lizar. The lizars were very much like horses, each with a personality all their own.

Another stab; Link thought of Epona. He hoped she was okay. And everyone back on Hyrule.

A whistle blew somewhere. It was soft, and Link almost thought he didn't hear it. Looking around, he waited to see what he was supposed to do. But the lizars carried on their monotonous travel across the slowly cooling sand.

Suddenly, there was a scream, then explosion. A large figure darted through the sky.

"Bandits!" came a cry. Without a word, Link drew his bow, aiming for the sky-borne creature. He then paused; what if it was an ally?

Sand flew everywhere as an explosion came from nearby. More screams of mortal pain. Then abruptly, the winged creature landed, and Link knew that this creature was not friendly.

The creature looked like a winged lizar, its scales gleaming coldly. A blast of familiar light brightened the scene momentarily as Samus let off a blast from her gun. Swords drawn, Roy and Marth were already off on lizar back, slashing quickly. A light colored figure detached itself from the panicking soldiers as Katan came to aid in the battle, Pichu and Ness right behind her.

Link charged after them as well, noticing Roy's moment of hesitation. Pushing his lizar on, he carefully balanced himself, and was soon vertical, standing carefully on the spine of his lizar as it charged with an angry hiss. A spear jabbed at him from the winged creature's back.

"The Empire requires you to surrender, fools!" the human on the back of the creature cackled. Several more winged creatures screamed overheads, landing in the panicking, yet self-organizing mob of soldiers. Link launched himself onto the winged creature's head, only to successfully get himself launched through the air. A current of air caught him; Zelda had caught him with her magic.

Link was soon back on his feet, so he dashed helter skelter through the crowd back to the beast, but by the time he got back, Katan, Roy, Marth, and Samus had the rider captured, Pichu and Ness holding the beast in a paralyzed state. Marth grinned over at Link, though Link could now barely make out his face in the failed light.

"So, I've decided, you make an excellent distraction, Link." Marth called. Link coughed at him, sending Marth inching as far away as he could without letting the man up. Link immediately got down and helped hold the man using his heavier body to keep the man pinned.

"You will not escape with this!" The man managed to snarl through the sand. He abruptly shoved against Marth and Link, loosening a hand. Marth scrambled to regain the hand, but it was soon under the man. "Later, Rebel scum."

Samus screamed a warning, but it was too late. An explosion sent Link and Marth flying like two dust rags in the wind. Zelda managed to catch Link again, but Marth was too far for her to catch.

Suddenly, a large web of air caught and held Marth. Ness concentrated hard, holding Marth up until Samus could get to his aid.

"Marth!"

Samus held Marth's head in her hand. "Oh Marth, don't leave me now!"

Link meanwhile, was nearly fried to a crisp, but was just fine; as Zelda quickly healed his injuries as well as she could with only one hand. They hurried over to Samus and Marth, as did Katan, Ness, Pichu, and Young Link. Roy held back a moment, but was soon there at his best friend's side. Fox and Falco were no where to be seen.

"Please Marth, don't leave me." Samus cried softly.

Marth mumbled something. Samus squinted, trying to understand. "What?" More mumbling. "Marth, speak louder, I don't understand…"

"Your squishing my hand." He mumbled louder. Samus moved her knee, revealing Marth's hand. He sighed and was silent.

"Marth?"

"I'm not dying, if that's what you're wondering." Marth stated, a grin creeping on his face.

Samus gave a cry of relief, hugging her swordsman to near death. The rest of the group gave a sigh of relief. While Zelda and Samus watched over Marth, the rest of the watchers returned their gaze to the winged beast. It returned their gaze with a hiss, scratching its claws in the dirt.

"Is it a dragon?" Link asked.

"No, a wyvern." Katan stated simply. She slowly walked forward, talking softly in a language no one had heard before. No one except Roy.

"She's speaking dragonese." Roy gasped quietly.

"What?" Link and Young Link looked at him. But they returned their gazes as Katan expertly approached the wyvern and was soon sitting in the saddle. The wyvern took to the sky, and soon disappeared to where a single other wyvern was still fighting.

"My god…" Ness squeaked. Link turned his gaze to the young psychic and gasped. Ness's hair was no longer white, his eyes no longer silver. Rather, he looked the exact same he had on Christmas Eve, only three years older.

"Ness…!" came Samus's gasp. Ness looked about.

"I… I… Remember everything!" he gave a whoop of joy. Roy looked around, and sure enough, a yellow mouse poke'mon was looking about, a look of amazed confusion on his face.

"What?" Pichu squeaked. "Wait… What?"

Roy scooped Pichu up in his arms. "But how?" he couldn't help but ask.

"It was you guys, and the shock of battle." Ness had already analyzed the situation. "Somehow, that released the block on our memories!"

"It was so strange, knowing everything inside, yet not being able to express it!" Pichu squeaked again.

Roy's heart soared. Another explosion brought the group out of their amazed shock. "We've a battle to take care of guys." Marth complained. He tried to stand, but Samus shoved him down. "Sammy?"

"We have a battle. You and Zelly are injured." Samus whistled, her grey lizar loping to their side from in the battle. Its mouth was covered with blood from fighting. Samus helped Marth onto its back while Zelda climbed on her own lizar. "Stay together please, you're in no condition to fight." Samus pleaded with Marth.

"Yes, dearest Sammy." Marth gave her a quick kiss, and the grounded smashers struck out, new hope in their hearts.

We'll be together soon, Katan. I promised. Roy thought, giving a battle cry as they dove back into the melee. "I promise!"


Soooo? I hope that a year wasn't toooo much of a wait?

Marth: Are you crazy woman? Of course its a long wait! And its almost been two years, geesh.

Roy: Heeey, at least she did update?

Fox: Can't argue with that.

Link: This typing thing is getting really annoying, you know.

I know, I know, I wish it would go away. Like now.

Fox: Review, She's on a role!