I hope everyone that celebrates it had a Merry Christmas. I know I did. And of course I hope that everyone else had a cool Yule, a Happy Hanukah, or a Kwazy Kwanza (thank you Krusty the clown). This chapter's got a bit more action toward the end, so have at it.
Still don't own LoZ or Nintendo. Still DO own Alexander, Mina and Blood Crusade.
"What business do you have here, creature of darkness?"
"Rest assured, Shaman, my apprentice and I are not here to harm anyone in this village, let alone, the Children of Ordon." Alexander took a single step forward, his arms out in front of himself, palms up.
The boy with the wooden sword spoke up. "How do you know where we come from?"
"Link has told me about you, Colin. I commend you for your willingness to protect those dear to you." He looked back up toward Renado. "Tell me, Shaman, where is my traveling companion?"
"I do not sense any evil intent from you, Creature, not like those Bokoblins that have been terrorizing us of late. However, I am as yet unsure if I trust you enough to give you that information."
"You perhaps believe I might try to spirit him away in his sleep, yes?" Alexander smiled at the ridiculous nature of the thought, revealing his fangs to the moonlight. The children gasped at the strange sight. "Talo, is it?" a second boy nodded. Good, would you run, I imagine to the hotel, and go get Link. I imagine the three of us have somewhere to be tonight."
Talo ran as fast as his little legs would carry him toward the inn. Colin had lowered his sword as he stared at Alexander. "How did you know that Link was at the inn?"
"Because, dear child, that is where he told me to meet him."
"You promise you're not here to hurt him?"
"I promise. In fact, I'm going to help him restore young Ilia's memories, so you all have nothing to worry about." Alexander looked over to see Talo pointing Link toward him. Link had a broad smile on his face and glanced at the moon, telling him how early he was. "Yes, I know, Hero, I figured you may want to head out as soon as we arrived, so we left once the paths were bathed in shadow." He glanced around, not seeing Midna. "Where is-" a stern look from Link "the next place we're headed?" Right, he thought to himself, the people do not know about the Princess, best not to mention her, then.
Link pulled out his map and pointed to a canyon that was marked with a red 'X' and trailed his finger into an empty section of map.
"So, there is a cave in this pass that we must get to, then?" Link nodded his response. "Lovely, shall we be off, then, I'm sure we can be done by dawn."
Link rolled his map back up and stuffed it into his magical little pouch. He clapped his hands together and headed off toward the far side of the village.
"Come along, Mina, it's time to get to work." Alexander followed his warrior companion into the darkness.
"Yes, Master Alexander." She smiled as she ran to catch up.
The three quickly reached where Darbus was waiting for Link.
"Oh ho, Brother!" The giant Goron laughed. "I didn't think you were traveling with anyone!" He turned to Alexander and Mina. "You two must be excellent wrestlers if our Little Brother here will let you travel with him!"
"I suppose you could say that." Alexander gave Link a questioning look, receiving a simple shrug.
"Maybe I should test your skills, then, as I am Chief of the Gorons in Death Mountain." Darbus stepped forward, only to be stopped by Link. "You're right, Little Brother, there are more important things to be doing tonight." He turned toward a wall of crumbling stone. "Stay close behind me, all of you, it's going to get a little rocky!" Darbus let out a tremendous laugh at his terrible pun before he started crashing through the rock face. The three warriors ran to keep up with the rolling Chief. Soon, they had reached the end of the tunnel, and were met with a dilapidated little town. All the buildings were wooden, some were missing large sections of wall, others had roofs that had caved in decades ago. Dust and sand blew about in all directions, further eroding the decaying wood. "You are all on your own from here, so be careful, Little Brother." Darbus clapped Link on the back and rolled back through the cave.
"Are all the races of your world as strange as that one?" Alexander asked. "And what does he mean by 'wrestling'?"
"What he meant, Vampy was sumo wrestling." Midna had appeared out of Link's shadow once Darbus was out of sight. "It seems to be a past time of the Goron tribes."
"Wait, and Link beat him?" Mina squared him up, noting that he was only an inch or so taller than she was. "How'd you pull that off?"
Link pulled out the Iron Boots and slipped them on, beckoning Mina to try to move him. She came forward, clasping her hands with his and pushed as hard as she could. Link moved, but only slightly, perhaps and inch at most. "Wow, those things are pretty heavy, no wonder you were able to not get pushed out of the ring."
Link took the boots off and motioned for everyone to be quiet. He pointed toward a nearby guard tower. A Bokoblin stood watch, bow in hand, ready to fire at any intruders.
"I suppose it was too much to ask for this to be simple." Alexander whispered, noticing more creatures in windows of the buildings, as well as patrolling the streets and alleyways. "Although, the easy way has never been the fun way." He smiled, silently drawing his blade. Mina followed suit, ready to engage the enemy. Link, however pulled out his Hero's Bow and motioned toward the tower. He signaled that he would fire at the first one, leaving them an opening to get behind the first buildings, and they would advance from there, clearing the town. Midna and the two vampires nodded.
"You go right, Mina, I'll take the left. Remember your stealth training."
"Yes, Master."
Link took the shot, watching the Bokoblin fall to it's death. His companions quickly darted into the shadows, with nary a sound as he stepped into the street, knocking another arrow. Alexander dove through a window at the back of his first building, and with a quick spin decapitated his first of the night. The head flew away from the body and out the doorway before flying right back in, one of Link's white-fletched arrows quivering against the wall. Alexander looked out the door and smiled at the amazing shot before he pointed up to a window opposite him. Link fired again, the creature collapsing with an arrow in its throat.
Mina slipped into an alleyway directly behind a patrol, and sunk both her daggers deep into their hearts from behind. She held back a small giggle as she watched them squirm before falling limp at her feet. "Such good little dollies, stay there while Mommy plays with the rest of your friends." She jumped into the window next to her. Her foot caught on the sill, and she went crashing to the floor. A Bokoblin turned to see what the noise was, only to fall to the ground. Mina picked herself up quickly, noticing the shaft sticking out of the beast's head. She went up the stairs in the building and found two more enemies, both firing arrows out of a window at Link. She rushed them, kicking one out the window where it received three consecutive arrows from Link before hitting the ground. She quickly turned to the second one and stabbed it in the eyes with both her blades.
Link continued through the street. By his count, they had taken out fifteen. He quickly knocked an arrow and took out the sentry on the far side of the street. He knocked another arrow when Midna pointed toward a tower next to a small shack just apart from the other buildings. He slapped the Hawkeye and drew the bow back, before letting it loose. He watched as the seventeenth foe perish by his hand. He continued forward, unsheathing the Master Sword. The ones that were left had to be waiting to ambush him, he knew it. He had reached the last buildings on the main street when one Bokoblin charged at him from behind the tower. He stood ready to intercept it when he noticed two more burst from opposite buildings headed right for him. He pushed Midna away and braced himself, at least one of them was going to get a hit in. He stepped forward, thrusting the Master Sword through the stomach of the one that came from the tower. He jerked the blade out and turned quickly to his right, slashing at the next one. Its head separated from its shoulders and it fell at his feet. He spun on his heels, ready to block, hoping it hadn't reached him yet. He gasped in surprise when he saw Alexander on one knee, his sword protruding from the chest cavity of the Bokoblin, and Mina doing what looked like a handstand with her daggers buried in its shoulders. She spun around and landed in a sitting position on Alexander's shoulders as he stood up, cleaning his blade. Link couldn't help but clap at the synchronized attack.
Mina giggled. "Did you like what you saw?" Link nodded. "Master's taught me a lot."
"True, Childe, but that little bit of acrobatics is your own." Alexander patted her on the thigh. "now, if you wouldn't mind, I am not some kind of horse to be ridden around, so please get down, my dear."
"Okay, Master." Mina bent backward into a handstand and kicked her legs off of Alexander's shoulders before standing back up.
"Hey, guys? I know you're all having fun killing things, and while it has been great to watch, you might want to finish what you came here for."
"Princess, are you concerned that we might not make it back before sunrise?" Alexander smirked.
"Well, there's that too, but I'm just really tired. We traveled all day and were just about to get some rest when that damned kid started pounding on the door." Midna was irritated. Link had finished sharpening his arrows and was just about to join her on the bed for a quick nap when there had been a knock at the door to their room.
Link gave her an angry nudge, upset about the way she was talking about someone from his Village. Rather than hear her explain herself, he turned toward the only intact building in the town and started up the hill. He's mad at me now, Midna thought, just great, how am I supposed to keep him helping me if I make him mad? She followed behind him, Alexander and Mina bringing up the rear.
Link knocked on the door. He heard some shuffling from behind it, and the voice of an elderly woman. "Who's there? Are all the creatures gone?"
"Yes, Ma'am, they are." Alexander said.
"Wonderful, let me unlock the door and let you in." There was a loud click and the door creaked open. "Come in, Come in. My name is Impaz."
Okay, there we go, three warriors clearing a hostile village better than entire squads of my fellow soldiers overseas. Hope you all enjoyed that little taste of action there, I know I did.
Just an advance warning, I may not be putting anything up until after the new year due to a few different things that people want me to do right now. Hopefully I will be able to have something up before January 15th.
Thanks for reading so far, and don't forget to R&R. Till next time, Kitties.
