Let's see here... Dododooo... Ah, yes, Link recently met the Resistance, based out of Elvira's bar, the Twilit Tavern. Aren't I creative? But anyway, let's get on with this chapter, shall we?

Chapter 11

The Blacksmith

"Who's this 'someone?'" Link asked, Marze landing upon his shoulder,

"Someone else who escaped the Tyrranical God of the Stars with me. Finding her won't be easy, but it will be more than worth it if we do. You'll have the power of a Starknight on your side with a single coin, and even more if you're right about the beast in Death Mountain," said Marze.

"All right," said Link. "Well, let's get moving, find this friend of yours."

Reaching into his pouch, Link grabbed his mask, quickly putting back on his equipment such that no one saw his face when he left town.

Once he made his way out of Castle Town and mounted Epona, Link made his way in the direction Marze told him; and that ended up being right behind the castle, which was mildly convenient for him. Heading behind the castle, which actually took a few minutes both due to the moat and due to the sheer size of the castle, he came to what looked to be nothing but a large boulder, though Marze claimed...

"We're here!"

"What? This is a real boulder. Nothing special about this," said Link as he knocked on it experimentally, finding it to be a normal rock.

"You see, due to the whole 'man taking over our world,' we got really good at hiding," said Marze, landing on top of the rock.

"Well then... Wait, what about you?"

Marze laughed. "You said it yourself. Lizalfos have an immensely powerful sense of smell. They found me easily enough."

Link nodded. "But what am I supposed to do? Is he underneath this boulder? Do I have to move this?"

"She is underneath this boulder, yes. You'll have to move it if you want to see her."

"But I'm not anywhere near strong enough to move this..." said Link as he got an idea. "But... Kain might be. Marze, we have to head back to Castle Town."

And with that, Link got back on Epona and made his way back to Castle Town. Dismounting in front of the main gate, he had Marze stay near Epona as he went back inside. He quickly made his way back to Kain's house, knocking on the door.

"What the Dark Realm, it's getting la- Oh, hey Link. What can I do for you?" said Kain as he answered the door.

"I'm going to need your help with something," Link said, gesturing for him to follow.

"Who is it, honey?" Link heard Mary calling.

"It's Link!" Kain responded. "He needs me for something. I'll be back in a little while, okay?"

"Last time you said that was about a year ago," she replied, making her way to the door. "What exactly do you need him for this time?" she asked, cradling Rose in her arms.

"It's just outside of town. I need someone with strength like Kain's in order to move something. Don't worry, I won't be taking him anywhere dangerous," Link explained rather casually.

"Well, so long as you promise me he'll be fine, I guess that's all right," said Mary.

"I promise," confirmed Link as Kain grabbed his knuckle busters.

"What?" Kain asked as he looked at bith Mary and Link, who were giving him 'the look.' "You never know. Plenty of Bokoblins out there."

"And that's why I'm going to be with you," clarified Link as he grabbed Kain's wrist, leading him out of the house.

"Okay, so what do you need me for?" Kain asked once Mary shut the door. "It can't be just moving something, right?"

"Actually," said Link, "that's exactly what I need you for. There's a huge boulder north of town that I need moved, and I don't have the strength to match Gorons. But you do."

"Are you serious?" Kain asked. "I wanted to punch something..."

"How about this; If we come across any Bokoblins or Lizalfos or anything, you get the first crack at them."

Kain smiled as they reached Epona. "I like that idea."

"Good. Now, get on, and let's get going. It should only take us a few minutes to get there."

And with that, Link, for the second time that night, made his way over to the lone boulder, sadly encounter exactly zero monsters along the way.

"So, you need this moved? I think I can do this. Legs, not the back..."

Kain quickly punched a couple of handholds into the stone, once again demonstrating that he was stronger than any other Hylian. He then went to work moving the boulder, which Link quickly realized would take a while.

And right when Kain started was when the monsters decided to show up.

"Damn it," said both Link and Kain simultaneously.

Link and Kain quickly became surrounded by Stalchildren, and there were dozens upon dozens of them. Drawing his sword, Link quickly went to work. Though there were many of them, that was the only dangerous part. Alone, a Stalchild proves almost no threat; most people could best one alone, even without weapons. But in the large numbers they usually come in, only the most skilled of individuals could hope to survive an encounter.

After the first few kills, Link started to see a pattern; they were almost exclusively trying to go for Kain. Likely, they were some form of defense set by Marze's companion in case someone proved able to move that boulder, meaning Link had to focus on protecting Kain.

It took a little while, but Kain eventually got the boulder completely off of the ground, and quickly hurled it at a large group of Stalchildren, crushing all that he hit under the stone's immense weight.

"Whew. That thing was heavier than it looked," said Kain in mild surprise as he cracked his back. "Also, is this hole supposed to be here?" asked Kain as he pointed to the hole left in the crevice that the boulder had left.

"I'd say so," said Link as he mounted Epona. "Anyway, I'll quick get you back home. Thanks for your help."

"It's fine, Link. I can get there by myself. And, I just want to say thank you for what you've done."

"What do you mean?" Link asked as he got back off of his mount.

"That bag you left at my house. It had over 1,000 rupees in it. A little bit more than Mary had payed for my bounty sheet. You got my reward... and then you gave it right back, and then some. How can I ever repay you? That was just about all my family had when I was taken away, and they gave everything to get me back. Link, you did a whole lot more than kill a monster, you gave my family their lives back. Just... Thank you."

Link smiled, patting Kain on the shoulder. "You can repay me by getting home safely."

Kain patted Link on the back in return, this time not throwing him to the ground. "Meeting you may well have been one of the most important days of my life. Look, I know this might seem sudden, but... Will you be Rose's godfather?"

Link was speechless. "What about Abel?"

"I'll be 100% honest here, I don't really think Abel's ready for that responsibility. But you are."

"Well..." said Link in thought, "all I can say is that I'll think about it. Look, I'm very grateful that you asked me, truly I am, but I just don't know right now. I hope you understand."

"I get it," assured Kain, waving it off. "I don't want you rushing into something you'll later regret. Take as much time as you need, I'm not rushing you. And, uh, good luck with that hole."

"Yeah, thanks," laughed Link turning to the hole in question as Kain left.

"I get the feeling that I'm going to need it," said Link right before he jumped into the hole, Marze flying in right behind him.

OOO

Link woke up after what felt like hours. That must have been some fall to knock him out cold for so long, but when he regained consciousness and looked out of the hole he jumped in, he still saw the starry sky above him.

"Uhhh... How long was I out?" Link asked Marze, who was circling above him.

"Few minutes, at best," replied Marze as he landed next to Link. "But, you're awake now, since let's get moving."

Link shakily stood, a slight headache presenting itself. It subsided after a moment though, leaving him to enter the underground cave ahead of him unhindered. He saw the torches lit the walls, though instead of an orange flame, each was ablaze with golden fire.

"Well, this is new," said Link.

"Not really," Marze quickly said, flying in front of him. "This is just Starfire. It's simple enough to fabricate where I come from."

Link gave Marze 'the look' like he and Mary gave Kain. "We aren't exactly at home, Marze, we're in a cave in Hyrule. Remember that I don't know everything about your homeland."

"Fair enough," replied the Stardrake before flying down the cave and out of Link's sight. Link waited a while before continuing on, thinking that maybe Marze would come back after a little bit.

He didn't.

"Sometimes I wonder if the Heroes had to deal with things like this," Link said, annoyed as he went further into the cave. Removing his mask and hood, he cracked his back, still a bit stiff from the fall earlier. It wasn't that far of a walk before he came into a small cavern at the end of the cave, lit by a huge body of golden Starfire at the back of the room alongside what appeared to be... sword blades?

Link stepped forward and grabbed a blade, admiring the craftsmanship of the blade. He could tell that this blade was nearly done, all that needed to be done was add a cross guard, handle, and pommel. He drew his own sword for comparison, finding that the blade near the fire was was actually more well balanced even without the pommel.

"I wouldn't mind one of these for myself," said Link as he sheathed his sword, still holding onto the blade.

"Well, how much are you willing to pay?" said a new voice, feminine in origin.

Link quickly raised his hood, looking around for the source of the voice. He quickly found said source, a white-haired young woman with golden eyes. She wore a golden dress with a low cut, exposing the fact that she wore a white undershirt, around her waste was a leather apron, white in color, and her gloves were of the same appearance as her apron. He dress didn't go very low, ending just below her knees, revealing silver greaves. Evidently, she took her work seriously. Speaking of armor, she also wore a silver breastplate only covering her chest.

"So, can I ask how you got here? From my studies, no Hylian should have been able to move that boulder. And even then, you got past the Stalchildren. Strong, skilled, smart... So, who do you work for?" the woman asked as she drew an elegant rapier from her side. Link had no idea how he missed that, but you know.

Link set the blade down, holding his hands up. "No one. I'm not here to hurt you."

"That's what they said before they murdered the King," she said as she stepped forward, aiming the tip at Link's neck. "You're a crafty bastard, you know that, Dark Link?"

Dark Link?

"What? No no no, I'm not Da-"

"Silence!" she yelled, pressing the blade against his throat. "You can hide your face, but you can't hide your voice!"

"Just..." Link said, "give me a second. Let me put down my hood."

She thought for a moment. "Fine. But first.." she said as she grabbed Link's sword, tossing it to the side. "You won't need that."

"I understand," Link said as he slowly pulled down his hood, the woman narrowing her eyes.

"What... What sorcery is this? You look the same, but... Your hair, your eyes... and I'll admit, even your tone is different..."

Link rose his eyebrows, only for the woman to angrily push him to the ground, aiming her rapier at his throat, pressing the blade against his neck, drawing blood.

"Those tricks won't work on me, you murderer! I'll kill you slowly, just so you can feel the pain that my people felt."

Link sighed. "I don't have time for this."

She was about to do something when Link pressed the back of his neck flat against the floor such to get the tip away from his throat as he pushed it to the side, knocking the woman off balance and taking the sword from her as he stood. However, instead of aiming at her like he usually did in situations like this, he handed it back to her.

"Just hear me out, okay? Look, I'm not Dark Link. My name is Link though. I guess that doesn't help me... Um, okay okay, if I were Dark Link why wouldn't I use that silver sword? Clearly it's stronger than that... mortal sword? Though, I guess if he'd have gone through the trouble of changing his hair and eyes, he'd use a different sword, too... I'm not getting anywhere, am I?"

The woman sighed, sheathing her rapier. "Sadly, you did when you handed me back my rapier. Even my weapons can't draw blood from someone like Dark Link, not with as little force I put behind it. So, Link, huh?"

Link nodded, grabbing his sword off of the ground, sighing when he saw scratches on the blade. She had thrown it past a few of her own sword blades. However, the ones it had hit received absolutely no damage.

"Yeah, but, can I see one of these blades?" Link asked as he pointed at the blades the woman had forged.

"Didn't you see one earlier?"

"Yes, but," Link said as he held the sword up, "I never decided to see how durable they were!"

Right after he finished speaking he spun the sword such the tip faced the ground, stabbing it into the stone without much resistance. Pulling it from the ground, he inspected the blade, nodding to see that it bore no damage whatsoever.

"Tell me- Could you part with one of these blades once they were done?"

"I don't sell my works to anyone from other worlds. I learned that the hard way," the woman replied, taking the sword back from Link.

"Well, what if that otherworlder swears to use it to liberate your world?"

The woman looked at Link much like Iris did, scanning him for weakness. "What reason do I have to believe that you could possibly do it?"

Link reached into his pouch, grabbing the Starlight Coin. "This reason," Link said, holding out the coin. The woman tensed up, backing away from Link.

"How in the world did you...? No, that can't be real. That shouldn't exist!"

Link held it out, the coin giving off a subtle glow in the dark room. "It looks pretty real to me," said Link as he flipped the coin.

"Where did you get it?" the woman asked, not willing to get any closer to Link.

"Here in Hyrule. Got it from a little something called a Queen Gohma. Now, what can you tell me about this coin?" Link asked, sitting at a table he found in the dark.

The woman looked at Link for a moment before sitting at the table across from him. "That's what you'd call a Starlight Coin. They possess power like you wouldn't even imagine. No Hylian could."

Link shook his head. "I know more than that. Come on, Marze told me that you could give me more than a name and that they hold power."

The woman looked up at Link in shock. "You've met Marze? You could have led with that, you know."

"Strange. I would have thought he'd told you. He flew in here before I entered."

"I didn't see him," said the woman.

"That's because," said the very same little dragon in question as he flew into the room, "I thought you had climbed back out the hole. It's been a while, Ms. Reinhart."

The woman, Ms. Reinhart, laughed. "Yes it has, Marze. So, this is the one you found?" Reinhart asked, gesturing to Link.

"Yes. I know he doesn't look like much, but he's much more capable than he looks. He got that Starlight Coin from a monster that had absorbed it's power somehow, and from what I understand the monster that did was extremely dangerous even without it. He did it almost singlehandedly. I think we have something to work with here."

"That's all I needed to hear. You, Link, you said you wanted one of my swords?" Reinhart asked, getting up from her seat.

"That would be nice, yes."

"Well, I can do better than every weapon in this room if I need to. My name's Petra Neinhart, Royal Blacksmith. Give me 3 days, and I'll give you the best sword you've ever swung."

Link stood and held out his hand, Petra taking it in hers.

"I think we have the start of something great here. But, can I ask for something else as well?"

"And what might that be?" Petra asked as she released Link's hand.

"I'm going to need a shield with that sword."

Hehehe. Two days and then BAM, new update! I'm on a roll! But yeah, thanks to summer brake, I have WAY more time to write, and I'm using every second of it. And it feels good.

OniHelix out!