Yay! Another chapter! I'm pretty satified with how it came out.
Hope you like it too!
The knights all packed up rather quickly, Midna ending up mock-cheering on the last knight to pack up. Link didn t hear much of what she said and decided to ignore it. His shoulder was definitely feeling better, the zora that helped him yesterday told him it wasn t dislocated that badly. The only problem was that he shouldn t move the arm too much for a few days.
His knight s shield was pretty dinged up from the fight, but Zelda assured him it would still last longer. Once Rowan finished packing, Midna smiled over at Zelda. The queen only glanced at her for a moment then back at the trainees. "So, we'll be heading to Goron City. Don't ask about the armor just yet, it'll be supplied at the stable at the base of the mountain. We'll head quickly to the stable, and we should be able to make it to the next one by nightfall. The roads to the Foothill stable are a bit wider, and the path is hard to stray from, so you'd be able to stray from the group. But you need to stay in groups of two, for safety."
Link and Damien smiled at each other. They take some time to say goodbye to the veteran knights- although Link couldn't help but think that they didn t really interact too much- and eventually tell farewell to the zora. The goodbyes went by fairly quickly, and they soon left, still rather early in the morning.
The walk, or rather, jog down the path to the marsh. It seemed like a blur to Link, considering he spent most of the time thinking about his time in the domain. Damian stayed at his side, leading him away from edges and danger when he went through memories.
The path became less humid as it went on, and he tuned out anyone talking. While in the domain, Link didn t really see any of the zora royalty. The king was visible from time to time, and Mipha trained them in spear using every so often, but Link didn't think he saw Sidon too much. Though, when he thought about it, he could remember seeing a small, red zora with a rather long head tail. His best assumption was that that was Sidon, since he looked to resemble Mipha.
The spear training was valued by him, and Mipha eventually pit each of her group pupils against each other as practice. Link was good a being humble, but he couldn't help but indulge in his victory by bragging a bit about how he beat Damian. The taller knight was a bit miffed by his boasting, but he eventually began joking about all of his mistakes.
They reached the wetlands by ten, still having time to rest at the nearest stable for lunch. Midna made a point to stay near the queen this time around, and Link kept an eye out for death traps. A lizalfos strayed near the group at one point until Rowan attacked it for getting too close. The rest of the walk through the humid wetlands was safe. Once out of the marsh, Zelda made a point to thank Midna for so diligently keeping an eye out for her safety.
The stable workers cheerfully greeted the queen, doing as she asked and went to bringing their horses out. As they waited, the trainees each crouched around the cooking pot as if to wait for a meal. Silence ensued for a few moments, then Damian peered over at Link. "You know, Zelda told us all about the lynel fight after that merchant left. In all honesty, it shows that you re going to be a great knight!"
Not-so-quiet murmuring quickly broke out around Link. Jan beamed at him. "It sounded pretty tough! I think we're lucky to have you with us, hell, all of Hyrule is lucky to have you, really!"
Blushing, Link sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean, I couldn't have done it without Ravio... and I did hurt my arm doing it... Anyone could have done it, really, I just got to it first."
Everen stared at him, as is astonished by his modesty. "Yeah, but like you said, you got to it first! You were the one brave enough to even consider it. Same goes for Ravio! He was pretty spirited to accept your invitation for him to help you fight that beast."
"You'll boast about kicking Damian's ass in spear training but not killing a lynel?" Rowan gawked at Link while he felt his ear-tips go warm. "Seriously, you heard those stories, right? Large groups got injured, almost near death, fighting stronger lynels, and you and bunny-ears stumble back to the domain with nothing worse than a dislocated shoulder. You'll definitely be pretty well known around Hyrule if the news spreads. Who knows what you'll beat next!"
Midna crouched near Link, finding an open spot in the circle. "Don't be too humble, taking down a lynel is not like killing a bokoblin. Even the red ones have felled many travelers. Sure, you might not take down a silver one like I have, but you've definitely shown your skill, Wolf."
"Wolf? My name's-"
"I know your name, that's just my nickname for you. You're wolf because I like wolves, and I like you."
The mage smiled down at Link, and he glanced away, feeling even more sheepish. Damian studied Midna, and suddenly asked, "You're not hylian, right? With your eyes and skin color, you can't be."
"I'm not, and I'm surprised no one asked earlier. I'm from the Twilight Realm, and like a few others that are in Hyrule, I'm a twili. Only a few of us are here, the way from and to the realm was broken about a decade ago, but I like it here. Yeah, I miss the perpetual twilight of my home, but the diversity of Hyrule is cool."
Midna smiled at them all, and stood up, walking over to where Zelda waited with the horses. "Well, we better get going. Like Zelda said, you can go ahead once the path widens, but don't go alone. With all of the monsters in Hyrule, it's dangerous to go alone."
An hour had passed since Damian and Link had rode ahead of the group. He had offered to stay by the queen s side, but Zelda told him that he didn't need to worry about her all the time, and that he should spend time with his friend. They didn't eat much at the stable, just a few raw ingredients before heading off.
"I feel stupid in this..." Damian muttered for what felt like the tenth time, motioning to the new armor for Goron city. It was rather bulky, and Link himself thought they looked a tad silly, but it helped keep him a bit cooler, and Zelda said it would make them fireproof. She and Midna would simply use potions to not burn up. They took the long way around the marsh, and now had their horses at a slower pace.
If he looked into the distance, Link could see the perpetually autumn area of Akkala. He'd always wanted to go there, but the young man wouldn't get much of a chance during knight training. Sighing to himself, Link leaned over a bit and patted Maddox gently, murmuring quietly to his steed. Damian watched, then asked, "When'd you get Maddox?"
Relaxing a bit, Link smiled to himself. "You know that ranch we passed on the way to Zora s Domain in the field, right? I met the owners of the ranch, and even visited a few times. It's three sisters. I liked the horses, and they liked me back. Maddox was the one that really took a shine to me, and they let me keep him. What about yours?"
Difficult to see though the helmet, Damian smiled warmly. "Yeah, she's a stable horse, but I think she likes me."
He patted his horse gently. "I named her Marigold. I like her tan color. I think she also seems calmer around Maddox than the others."
They both laughed and continued along the path. Time passed without any talking until passed the fork in the road.
"Son of a bitch!"
Both young men glanced at each other, sending the silent question of did you hear that? Barely a moment passed when they heard another horse behind them, and another rider sped between them, scaring both of the knight's horses with the speed. The horse was a bluish color, the rider wearing a black cloak with dark blue clothing underneath. Link could swear he caught a glimpse of some sort of bow under the cloak.
Damian growled, and ushered Marigold of run after the faster horse. Link glanced over his shoulder and sped Maddox up, seeing what the other rider was running from.
Three blue bokoblins were riding on their own horses with crude spears, led by a black one with a bow. It certainly explained the rider's haste.
"Sorry 'bout that, get out of the way next time!"
Link urged Maddox to go faster, and instantly recognized the voice of the rider. It was that thief they met at the castle, Linebeck, but what was he doing here? He managed to ride next to Damian, still behind the thief and pursued by the monsters. "You recognize him, right?"
"Yeah, actually, and I now want to get away from these monsters!"
They both suddenly pulled roughly on their reins, steering the two horses to the side, seeing that Linebeck had stopped his own horse completely. Damian was about to start shouting at him, but he turned to the monsters and held his bow and aimed at the monsters, nocking an arrow quickly. Link stared at the bow. It was similar to the lynel bow that the red one had, but was a bit larger, and the metal on the end was a different shape.
Linebeck let the arrow loose at the monsters, and Link watched as five arrows flew through the air instead of one, and four pierced each bokoblin's heads. The three blue bokoblins fell off their steeds and dissipated into a black dust. The darker bow-wielder fell off their horse as well but was still alive.
Link and Damian both hopped off their horses as Linebeck muttered "Shit," and ran up to the survivor. Both of them drew their weapons, Damian reaching it first. He slowed for a moment and swung his claymore at the bokoblin, knocking it back. It quickly got back to its feet, but Link slashed it across the chest and killed it before it had a chance to retaliate.
Watching it turn into a black cloud, Link turned and smiled at the thief. He simply stared back, an arrow nocked. Damian returned his claymore to the strap on his back, reaching up and removing his helmet. "Ok, I don't care if this makes me fireproof, it's really uncomfortable. Link, you might as well savor not wearing it for as long as you can."
Link nodded and removed his flamebreaker helm, walking over to his horse. Reaching up and patting Maddox, he turned to face Linebeck. "Funny seeing you here. You re welcome for the help!"
"Funny seeing you, too. I had it under control. You didn't need to help."
Link blinked. "Oh, so you running away from them was a tactic?"
Linebeck opened his mouth for a response, then closed it with a conflicted expression. The two of them were silent, Damian audibly laughing in the background.
"Anyways," Link continued, "Cool bow! I didn't know that lynel bows could shoot that many arrows!"
The thief held up his lynel bow so that Link could see it better. "It's a savage lynel bow. They're more powerful than a normal lynel bow. And mine happens to be able to shoot five arrows at a time. Magic, or some crap."
The knight trainee started to reach towards the bow but pulled his hand back. "Don't only silver lynels have this tier of lynel bow?"
"White lynels too, but the silver ones are really the only ones with the enhanced ones." A smug look crossed his face.
Link stared at the weapon for a few moments later, Damian already climbing back onto his horse. He thought back to the stories Gaddison had told him. "Wait, you were with the group of thieves that fought the silver lynel a few years back?"
Looking down at Link in silence, he held the bow out a bit, as if wanting him to hold it. Link hesitated and took it from his hands, surprised by its weight. Leaving the knight with the bow, Linebeck placed his hands on his hips pridefully. 'Of course, I was the one with the bow. I helped quite a bit from afar, and I very much doubt that they had much of a chance without my help."
Damian snorted from atop his horse, catching the attention of both of them. "Yeah, and you ended up almost dying. They would ve been fine without you. Besides, hadn't you only been in the guild for about a year at that point?"
Staring down at the bow, Link handed back to Linebeck, who took it back a bit angrily, and snapped at Damian, "Shut it, you little raven. I've had a natural skill for the bow for some time now, more so than you, that's for sure." He let out a sigh and glanced over at Link. "You guys are heading to Goron city for your training, right? I've been there a few times. I'm heading there now, actually. I'll come with you to the stable if you'll allow that."
Link nodded while Damian shook his head. A bit confused, Link ran up to Damian. "Why not?" He murmured up to his friend.
Damian scowled. "He's a jerk and not worth being around. It's easy to tell just from a few minutes of being around him. Why do you think he's worth it?"
The shorter trainee shrugged. "Honestly, I think he's a jerk too, but it might pay off to at least be friendly. I want to try and be friends with him, what the hell do you think you can get out of this?"
Glancing over at Linebeck, Damian hissed, "I don't know, I just don't trust him. I guess if I deal with this, it can be like a bit of a 'know your enemy' type experience."
"Fine! It s decided." Link turned back to the waiting thief. "Sure, you can come with us. The rest of the group is a bit behind us, we were the only ones who decided to go this far ahead." He ran up to Maddox and climbed into the saddle, allowing the thief time to get ready. They began along the path once done.
The first few minutes consisted of silence, broken only a few times by the horses quietly neighing at the sight of other animals. Every so often, the two knights-in-training would glance warily at Linebeck, Damian more often than Link. Starting to become uncomfortable with the quiet, Link spoke up, looking over at Linebeck. "So, your bow's heavier than most types. What's the bowstring like? It didn't look like any string I've ever seen."
Link waited a moment, and the thief answered, still facing forward with his hood making it difficult to see his face. "That's because it's not really string. It's some sort of fairly flexible metal. Most people would have difficultly pulling it back, but I'm fine, with a few years of practice." He turned his head a fraction in Link's direction with an overconfident smile.
"Impressive, huh?"
They all reached the stable in a few minutes, having picked up their pace later on. The stable workers greeted them, and took their horses in. Link watched Damian sit by the cooking pot, and walked over the Linebeck, sitting at the inside table. Hesitantly sitting in the chair opposite of him, Link smiled at the thief. Before he could speak, Linebeck muttered, "Why the hell are you smiling at me? I have no intention to become your friend."
Link shifted in his seat. "Well, ok. I at least was to know you a bit better. I know that you sometimes ride down to the ruins near the ocean in Akkala. Why do you do that? And why in the middle of the night?"
Linebeck shrugged and glanced to the side. "Yeah, I like those ruins. They're actually not that broken, and they're pretty at night. I also generally like the ocean. It looks beautiful with moonlight reflecting off the water."
"Yeah, but why at night? You can see the sunlight on the water. Besides, you do it so often. I assume you have some sort of sleep disorder?"
"You assume?" Linebeck asked dryly. "I don't know where you could've possible gotten that from. Yeah, I've got insomnia. Usually forces me to stay up for about six days, sometimes ten. It's pretty bloody annoying, really. Gives me more time to travel, at least."
Crossing his arms on the table, Link leaned forward a bit. "Why do you travel so much? I heard that the thieves' guild isn't much for assignments, but most of them stay in the guild territory since you guys help guard the path into the scholar's guild. You're all generally called thieves since the guild trains in stealth and taking info if needed but you guys don't have much motivation to move around too much."
He blinked and realized he had started to space out while talking. Linebeck had started to pull his hood down, currently managing to cover his eyes. "Goddesses, boy, most people say that you don t talk much, but holy crap."
People talked about him? The knight straightened up, not concealing the shock in his eyes. "Wait, people actually talk about me?"
"Don't act so surprised," The thief drawled, pushing his hood back. "You fought a lynel and lived to tell the tale. Granted, it was only a red one, and you weren't alone, but that's not really a common thing. Along with the fame, you get boasting rights when you do stuff like that." A smirk crossed his face. "Why not brag a bit, indulge in the attention you've drawn to yourself?"
Damian had walked into the stable, and was sitting on a nearby bed, changed into his own travel clothing. Linebeck leaned back in his chair, his feet on the table.
"Why would I brag?"
"...What?"
Link pulled his arms off the table, his eyes bright. "I wouldn't gain anything from boasting about it. Sure, it feels nice every once in a while, but I'd rather be known for humbly helping people out than retelling the story arrogantly, for my own selfish wants."
He maintained eye contact with the thief before becoming uncomfortable with the slightly hostile glint in the green.
Shifting slightly, Link averted his blue eyes. "I'm just trying to be friendly, ok? That last bit was a bit of a challenge, but I want to be nice to you. Why's that such a problem?"
"It's like I said. I have no intention of becoming friends with you. Besides, if you ask me, being too friendly to a person gives them a window to take advantage of your good nature. I prefer not to get too close to other people." He glanced over to the side nonchalantly, then back at Link. "I think the rest of your acquaintances have arrived."
Standing up quickly and almost knocking his chair back, Link headed out of the stable the greet the others. Waving eagerly as the queen led the rest of the group to the stable, Link glanced over his shoulder and watched Damian leave the stable to greet them with him. Zelda rode up to them and smiled down cheerfully. Her horse eyed the two of them but stayed quiet.
"I'm not surprised that you two beat us here, but we saw the remains of some bokoblins back there. I assume you two took care of them?"
Link shook his head before Damian could speak. "We did finish off one of them, but we only helped. We ran into a thief named Linebeck on the way here; he's the who killed most of them. He's pretty good with a bow."
Midna rode up to them, stopping next to Zelda. "You guys ran into Linebeck again? He didn't come with you, did he?"
"What? You don't enjoy having me around?"
The two knight trainees turned around while Zelda and Midna looked past them, both with marginally different expressions. Linebeck smirked at them with his hands on his hips. "Nice seeing you, Midna. It s been what, two years?" He glanced over at the queen. "Zelda." He said, sounding less then pleased and a tad bit disdainful.
The other knights passed them, letting the stable workers take in their horses. Zelda slid out of her saddle and walked closer to Linebeck. "I don't believe I ve met you. I have heard about you, though. Nice to meet you."
"Well, of course you've heard of me." The thief walked right past her, stopping near Midna. "I can imagine you've had fun protecting the queen for the past year."
She glared down at him. "Don't bother talking like we're close friends. I am a bit interested it what you ve done in the past time, though."
Link tuned out the talking and faced Zelda. "I didn t think he'd be too rude to you... I mean, you re the queen."
She took hold of his wrist and led him over to the cooking pot. Settling down on one of the small benches, she rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, I don't exactly act like a queen. You've noticed that I'm not very strict about things, so I guess most people treat me like another citizen. Sure, there's always respect from everyone, but I'm overall just like them."
Smiling faintly, she added, "Besides, you always expect the best of everyone. You're an optimist. But you'll be disappointed when people tend to be more selfish."
Link deflated slightly and ran his fingers through his hair. He nodded a bit stiffly before standing up. "I'm going to get my stuff together. Going through Death Mountain sounds pretty exciting, so I want to be ready to go in the morning."
Zelda watched him walk away in the bulky armor. After collecting her thoughts, she studied the other knights while they went about their business. Jan and Everen were off to the side, comparing their spears. Rowan had approached Link in the stable and the two of them were talking quietly. Searching for Damian, she spotted him a few feet away from where Midna and Linebeck were talking, conspicuously eavesdropping. Curious herself, she straightened up and joined Damian.
He wasn't facing them, but had his head tilted in a way that clued to him listening. It took a moment for the dark-haired trainee to notice her. "What? You interested in what they're talking about, too? I could fill you in really quick if you want."
The queen nodded, watching while Midna seemed to be interrogating Linebeck.
"So, Midna's basically curious as to why he s here. He just said that he was visiting Death Mountain, like he did with Link and me. Now she's asking what he's been doing for the past two years. He said exploring. I wonder how they know each other."
Zelda turned and faced away from the two talking and listened in with Damian.
Midna seemed to be talking the most in the conversation. "-so interesting about Death Mountain? What you re goal in coming here?"
"Damn, I m not allowed to search for treasure around a volcano? As much as I like talking, leave me alone already."
"You- it's just a bit of a coincidence that you run into us."
"I heard about the lynel fight and got curious about the one who killed it. Besides, you seem to be keeping a pretty close eye on the queen."
"Yeah! She's the target of some psycho trying to end her life! What, you want to help me?"
There was a slight pause, then barely audible whispering. They soon were silent. Zelda strained a bit to try and her something. She let out a small yelp when Midna whispered into her ear, "Eavesdropping, are we? Not too becoming of a queen."
The two of them whipped around and faced the mage and the thief, both with mischievous smiles. "I-I m sorry! I just got curious!" Zelda stammered.
Damian, however, kept his nerves better under check. "Yeah, she's right. I think I'll leave you three to talk."
They watched him saunter away, and then Zelda looked up at the taller two. "How do you two know each other?"
Midna shrugged. "We ran into each other about three years ago, in the Hebra mountains. He was just exploring the area and I was looking to fight some monsters. I found him running from some monsters and fought them off."
"I wasn t running; It's better to have a distance between you and attackers when using a bow!"
"Excuses, excuses. Anyways, we made a temporary pact for the time being, and were a team until leaving the mountains. I wouldn't consider us friends, but we did save each other's lives a few times in those mountains."
Zelda nodded, keeping her view mostly on Midna, watching as she spoke again. "He also mentioned about knowing about the attacks on you. I get the feeling he might want to come with this group for the extent of the knights training. Being a thief, he could help stop some of the traps.'
Turning to face the thief, she noticed his clear discomfort. "I never said that, what are you-"
She shrugged, smiling at him. "She's right, you know. You would be helpful. Why don't you come with us?"
They both regarded each other carefully, Midna trying to look uninterested in them. "Well," Linebeck muttered finally. "What do I get out of this?"
The two women were silent for a time, and Midna growled at him, stiffening slightly in anger. "You'll be helping protect the queen. Why should you expect anything for you alone?"
Linebeck scowled at Midna, before facing the queen and bending down to be eye level with her. "What's in it for me? Something that'd make this whole thing worth it?"
Zelda locked eyes with him. "You'll be known for helping protect me. You'll get extra fame."
Taking a moment to think it over, Linebeck smirked. "Sounds good to me. I'll come with you."
He turned and walked off, Midna glaring after him. Taking note of the contrast between the attitudes of Midna and herself, Zelda watched him leave with a feeling of curiosity rooted deep in her mind.
I don't know what the problem is, but having to re-insert quotations and apostraphies is getting on my nerves.
Anyways, I hope I managed to write Linebeck accurately, I've always found him difficult to write.
