Chapter10: The Shiekah Tribesman
As the Hyrulean Army made their way through the Eldin Caves, Impa, who led in the front turned her head toward her troops, "Now," she began, "According to our map of the region, the Goron's living quarters are somewhere in the east side of these caves"
The heat inside the caves were intense. Link was already starting to sweat after just a few minutes. Though he could say it was because was wearing his tunic over his recruit uniform, he was pretty certain it was because of the lava pits scattered throughout the area.
"General!" a captain called, "We've just word that the team we sent into the caves are being attacked by monsters! If we don't get there soon, they'll all be killed!"
Impa growled under her breath, "Understood."
Just then, a multitude of footsteps could be heard further ahead.
"Monsters!" a soldier yelled, "They're here!"
Elsewhere, on the northwestern part of the caves, a Hylian Captain and the rest of his team had been cornered, and fought with all they had against the skeletal monsters surrounding them. "Damn it!" he cursed, "The lava's blocking our way back, and the monsters keep on coming! If our situation doesn't get any better, we'll all be wiped out!"
Impa planted her sword into the ground after finishing off another group of monsters, These monsters have to be coming from somewhere, she thought, but where?
"General!" Impa heard Link call. As the Sheikah moved over to where Link was, she noticed a wall with many cracks on it, and a bomb at its base.
BOOM!
As the wall crumbled, Impa could see a keep with numerous monsters on the other side of where the rock wall. "Good thinking, Link." she told the boy as she unsheathed her giant sword, and charged into the keep.
The Hyrulean forces made quick work of their skeletal enemies, and quickly captured the keep.
"General," Link called to Impa, "We captured the keep, but the monsters are still coming!"
"I know." the general replied before facing north thoughtfully, "Our comrades are to the northwest. You go with a captain, and provide backup. I'll take the rest of my troops and find the other keep."
"Got it." Link said before heading north with a captain and several soldiers.
Link and the others made it to the stranded captain and his team, and helped clear out the area, which was easier than it had been earlier thanks to the monster infested keep being cleared out.
"Thanks!" said one captain to the other, "You guys really saved our asses!"
"Don't let your guard down." the other captain responded, "There are still monsters in these caves, and it'll be a while before General Impa can join us."
As they all stood by, Link noticed that the number of monsters attacking them had decreased considerably.
"The number of monsters is diminishing! We might just get outta here, after all!"
General Impa must've taken care of the rest of the monsters... Link thought.
Elsewhere, Impa had finally found and quickly captured the other monster-infested keep, when a soldier came up to her. "General Impa," she called, "we've received word that the Goron reinforcements have arrived."
Gorons? Impa thought, So they weren't wiped out after all. "Inform the others that we're heading north to rejoin them. Also send word to our reinforcements to meet us there."
"Yes, sir."
Impa and her troops had finally rendezvoused with the other soldiers in the north. There, they stood before a tall rock spire.
"Status report." ordered the general.
"This lava is impeding our movement." a captain reported, "The lieutenant tried blowing it up with bombs, but it didn't work."
"I see..."
Just then, a Goron soldier walked up to Impa. "Sorry we're late." he told her, "Our captain's on his way here with a Bombchu."
"That's it!" Impa exclaimed, "A Bombchu should be powerful enough to destroy this boulder!"
Immediately, as if on cue, a massive of quantity of monsters literally appeared out of nowhere.
"Oh shit!" a soldier yelled, startled.
"They might attack the Bombchu!" the Goron panicked.
Elsewhere, the Dark Wizard watched at an unknown location, where the Hyrulean forces apparently couldn't hear him. "Hiya ha ha!" he cackled, "Getting you fools into these caves was so simple! Now they shall become your tomb!"
By now, Impa had taken a group of soldiers, and went south to provide backup for the Goron forces in order to protect the Bombchu. Just as the Goron had said, the monsters were headed straight for the Bombchu. After slaying the creatures, and escorting the Bombchu further north, the group ran into a giant lizard-like monster, armed with a shield.
"Stand aside." Impa ordered her troops, and the Goron troops, "This enemy is more powerful than the rest, and we don't need any casualties that could be avoided."
The lizard shouted, and launched a fireball at the general. Impa ducked the attack with ease as she ran at the creature with immense speed, and, as she rose back up, slashed diagonally at the creatures, splitting its body in two. It's so hot in here, Impa thought as she gasped for air, I'd better save my magic.
The group proceeded, and pushed the gate the monster had been guarding open.
"Great!" a Hylian Captain exclaimed, "Now the Bombchu can reach the stone spires!"
"You need the Bombchu to blow up that rock in your path, huh?" a Goron Captain asked, "No problem! That stone doesn't stand a chance!"
Once the Bombchu made to the rock spire, it made one of the most loudest and largest explosions most of the soldiers there had ever seen. And as the lava cleared out, the Hylians all cheered loudly at the fact that they could now make it out of the caves.
...Or so they thought.
When everyone made it to the nearest keep, an alarming quantity of monsters were already there, waiting. Link, tired from running, tightened his grip on his sword as he backed away slowly, and eventually bumped into Impa, who was also backing away in the opposite direction for some reason. As the Hyrulean forces found themselves surrounded on all sides, they heard the sound of a harp echo through the caves.
"What's that sound?" Link asked.
"It's a harp." Impa answered, "But where is it coming from?"
Everybody looked up at the lone figure, hopefully a woman due to their frame, who stood at a high vintage point, plucking away at their harp. Everyone in the keep, including the monsters, watched as the mystery person looked down at them all, and jumped down to where they were, landing in front of Link and Impa. Next, with two more strums on the harp, the person sent out two waves of energy, wiping out every creature in the keep.
The Hyrulean forces then stared at him/her in shock.
"Princess Zelda," the person spoke, immediately snatching Link and Impa's attention, "is still among the living. You'll reunite with her at some point in your journey, but not quite yet... You can call me... Sheik. It's a name that comes from the Sheikah tribe, guardians of the royal family."
"The Sheikah tribe?" Impa asked, "That's impossible..."
Before Impa could continued, she was interrupted by the rumbling of the ground.
"We can talk more once we leave this cave. For now, let me join you!"
Impa stared at the mysterious person. "You may join us," she said, "but once we exit these caves, I want answers."
Sheik looked at Impa, "Very well." she agreed.
As the Hyrulean Army asvanced through the caves, the Dark Wizard summoned more monsters to battle them. "Forward!" he ordered, "Cut them down! Hiya ha ha!"
Just how many monsters are in these caves?! Impa thought in aggravation as she used her water abilities to quickly strike down a crowd of monsters.
"General!" a captain called, "The monsters are pursuing us from behind!"
Damn it! Impa cursed in her thoughts, "We have to hurry! Delaying just a little could get us all killed!"
The group made it to another keep which, of course, was filled with monsters, a Bomchu, and several Goron corpses.
After clearing the keep, Impa and company finally acknowledged them.
"It appears like some of your fellow troops were killed defending this Bombchu." Impa told the Goron Captain.
The Goron sighed as he knelt next to his fallen comrade. "Don't worry brothers," he told them, "Your deaths will not be in vain... I promise."
"General!" a Hylian Captain called, "We can't get the southern gate to open."
Just then, the western gate swung open, and monsters poured out from the opening.
"They have nowhere to run!" the Dark Wizard shouted, "Crush them! Grind them to dust! Hiya ha ha!"
"These monsters won't stop coming!" Impa said to herself, "And to add to that, there are monsters pursuing us from behind..." Impa turned to a Hylian Captain, "I'm leaving to take care of this! You keep everyone here until I return!"
"Yes sir!" the captain complied.
Skeik gasped as Impa ran into the caves.
"Don't worry." Link told Sheik as he put a hand on his/her shoulder, and giving the person a reassuring smile, "General Impa's a great fighter. She'll make it out."
Sheik stared at him. She seemed to be caught off guard for a moment, then his/her expression (or how much of it ge could see) softened. It was as if she recognized him.
"...What?" asked Link, feeling creeped out by this person's blank stare.
"Nothing." Sheik answered, turning away.
Link watched as the mysterious youth walked away. "Gee," said Link, "are all Sheikah like that?"
Meanwhile, Impa tirelessly fought her way through the tunnels, and finally found the cause of the endless monster horde: a ghost-like monster (and an outpost).
"So this is where all the monsters were coming from." Impa said.
The monster charged at Impa before she killed it with a mere swipe of her blade. Next, she slaughtered the monsters at the outpost.
After several minutes, the rest of the Hyrulean forces were made aware of the monsters coming from behind.
"Shit!" a captain cursed, "What's taking General Impa so long?!"
Just then, Sheik took off toward the advancing monsters.
"Where are you going?!" Link called to Sheik.
"I'm going hold them off!" Sheik called back.
"The hell is she doing?" a soldier asked.
"Ah, leave 'em be." a captain answered, "He was probably a spy, anyway."
"That's a guy?!" another soldier asked.
"Shit, I don't know! Probably!"
"With legs like those? Hell no. That's a chick."
"But he's flat-chested! You can't-"
"We're fighting for our lives," a female soldier interrupted, "and all you perverts care about is whether that's a boy or a girl?"
Just then, the southern gate the keep opened, with only Impa emerging from it.
"General!" the captain exclaimed.
"Let's go, Impa ordered we must leave these caves at once."
The Hyrulean Army advance further southeast, with the Bombchu in tow, and took note of the two rock spires blocking their way.
"Two big stones." said the Goron Captain, "The Bombchu we have isn't powerful enought to destroy them both.
"Brother!" a Goron soldiers called, "Didn't we bring three Bombchus with us?"
The Goron Captain stared thoughtfully, "Yes... that must mean our brothers guarding it must've been killed in battle."
"I'll go find it!" Impa stated, "You all stay here!"
"I'll come with you!" the Goron Captain told her, "You're going to need someone to operate the Bombchu once you find it!"
"Very well; let's go!"
It didn't take long before the two found the Bombchu in a keep, as well as several corpses, and a lot of monsters. Impa did most of (if not all) the work in capturing the keep. When they were done, the Goron Captain controlled the Bombchu and brought it with them to the south.
"Always something in my way." the Dark Wizard said, annoyed, "I'll smash those rats myself if I have to!" The wizard manifested onto the battlefield, and charged toward the main army.
"What is that?!" a soldier asked as he spotted the wizard speeding towards them.
"It's a monster!" a captain yelled, "Watch out!"
As the wizard approached, he thrust his hand forward, and a violet-colored beast come out of nowhere, and shot itself past the soldier, taking his head with it.
"FUCK!" a captain screamed as blood erupted from the soldier's body like a fountain.
Next, before anyone had time to react any further the wizard placed a hand on the captain's abdomen, and a beam of darkness blasted through him, killing him almost immediately. The beam grew, and completely vaporized all the Hylians and Gorons unfortunate enough to have been behind the captain, leaving nothing but a pink mist.
The other captain, along with his soldiers and the remaining Goron soldiers broke into a panic. As the wizard approached the Bombchu, Link leaped from behind it, and swung downward at the fiend. The wizard easily dodged the attack. "Why, you!" the wizard uttered before firing a ball of darkness toward the boy. Link blocked the attack with his shield before charging at his opponent. The wizard dodged Link's thrust attack, and shot another purple beast out at him. The creature bit down on Link's right arm, prompting a shout of pain from the boy as he fell backward.
"Hiya ha ha!" the wizard cackled, "Did you really think you could beat me?"
The wizard was nothing short of lucky to see Impa's attack coming at him. The wizard barely dodged it. Next, Impa formed two barriers around the Bombchu and her comrades before turning her attention to the wizard.
"Damn you..." the wizard cursed.
Impa glanced back at the corpse behind her. She had felt the auras of her soldiers and some of the Gorons vanish, which was why she left the Goron Captain and rushed to where the main army waited at full speed.
"You'll pay for this." Impa threatened.
The wizard let out a shrill laugh before launching several balls of darkness at her. Impa swiftly dodged them, and swung her sword diagonally. The wizard dodged again before summoning yet another dark creature and launching it at Impa. The general slashed it in two, and formed three kunai knives, made entire of water, and launched them at her opponent one by one. After the wizard repelled them all, he gave an aggravated sigh, "I don't have time for this!" he shouted.
"Neither do I." Impa replied.
The wizard charged at Impa. Just then, Impa made a sign with her hands, prompting a blue cirlcle, along with a strange symbol, to form on the ground beneath her. Then, four replicas of her sword, made of water, formed around her. Then, Impa planted her real sword into the ground, and grabbed the hilt of her replica blades. As she swung them one by one, the blades grew in size, and struck the wizard with unexpectedly great force. After Impa was finished with her attack the wizard was launched backwards, and sent to the ground.
"Damn it!" he screamed as he breathed heavily through the pain, "You win this time. But next time, I'll be delighted to end you." with that, the wizard seemed to sink into the very earth itself.
Impa sighed as she sheathed her blade, and turned toward the army, "Are there any injuries?" she asked.
"Just one." a captain reported, gesturing toward Link, who clutched his arm as he breathed heavily, his eyes tightly shut in agony.
Impa ran to Link's aid. "It's a heavy wound," she told him after checking on his arm, "but it won't kill you. The most we can do for now is wrap it up."
The Goron Captain had finally reached the main army by the time Link had gotten up.
This time, when the Bombchus destroyed the rock spires, the army was silent due to Impa's suggestion that they do so the pay tribute to those who had lost their lives at the hands of the wizard. By now, Sheik had finally rejoined them.
As the Hyrulean forces finally reached the exit of the caves, Impa turned to face them all, "Faron Woods is not at all too far from here!" she announced, "It is there, that we will hopefully meet with Princess Zelda, counterattack, and destroy whoever is behind this invasion!"
The army cheered loudly, except for Link, who was still in pain, and Sheik. Neither went unnoticed by the Sheikah general.
Author's Note: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! The next one will cover mission 3 in Hyrule Warriors. It will most likely be posted tomorrow since it too is pretty much finished.