Chapter XII

In which the Knights of Hyrule encounter a pair of giant pigs...

"What a pretty waterfall!" Fado commented.

The group of five were gathered together near a large waterfall, desperately looking for the Zora's Domain or any sign of Zelda and Impa.

"Do you suppose they're behind the water?" Tak asked, trying to peer past the rapidly falling water.

Grog sighed tiredly. "This is a waste of time, man. We should go back before we're caught out here."

Hot Rodder hummed loudly. "This would be a good time to practice with your new swords. The little person and I can explore down river more and look for clues."

Fado clapped her hands together happily. "I'm glad we'll be seeing more of the outside world than just this area," she said cheerfully. "Come on, Mr. Rock Man!"

"Be careful!" Hana called after them as they carefully tiptoed along what little grass there was along the river. "He's right though, we should get some practice in."

"Right!" Tak yanked his sword out of its scabbard. "On your guard, Captain!"

Hana glared at him as she retrieved her own sword. "I told you, I'm not going to be captain!"

Grog sighed again. "You kinda already are, man. This is going to be tiring, I can tell. I think I'll just help the kid and the rock."

"Grog!" Hana shouted after him as he went lurking off after Hot Rodder and Fado. "We need to practice!"

"I'll figure it out later!" Grog called over his shoulder.

Tak watched him leave. "Is he even serious about this whole thing?"

"I have no idea," Hana said with a sigh. Then she lunged towards him, and Tak nearly dropped his shield in his haste to defend himself.

"I wasn't ready!"

"Well get ready then, slow poke!" Hana teased. "Ganondorf won't wait for you to be ready!"

Soon the sound of metal blades clashing against each other filled the valley, despite the loud waterfall nearby. It even reached the ears of Grog, Fado, and Hot Rodder, who were quite a bit below them now.

"Zelda, oh Zelda!" Fado called out in a sing song voice.

Hot Rodder quickly hushed the girl. "Not so loud, goro! You might alert the enemy!"

"Orrrrrr, I might alert Zelda," Fado said with a roll of her eyes.

"Uh," Grog began, scratching at his bald head. "How old did you say you were again?"

"Don't ask a girl her age, deku head!"

"Look, goro!" Hot Rodder suddenly stopped short, causing Fado and Grog to crash into him. The Goron barely budged, but the other two were sent sprawling to the ground. "What is that?"

"I wouldn't know," Grog snapped at him as he stood up and then helped Fado to her feet. "All I see is your huge back!"

Fado peeked around the Goron's legs and then gave a squeal of excitement. "It's a pig! A giant pig in armor, and with a spear and everything! Oh look, there's two pigs!"

"That's not good," Grog said worriedly.

"Those are Moblins!" Hot Rodder said, fear laced in his voice. "Quick, back up the river! We have to warn the others before those things see us!"

The trio quickly turned around and crept back up the hill they had just walked down. The pair of Moblins had not yet spotted them, mostly due to the fact that they generally had small eyes, and therefore couldn't see much of anything unless it walked right in front of them. Then the sound of a voice from behind them reached their ears, and the Moblins let out angry snorts.

"Did you hear that?" Grog asked. "I couldn't hear what she said, but it was definitely a she..."

"She said, 'Impa!'" Fado said cheerfully.

Hot Rodder and Grog glanced at each other.

"That's the name of that Sheikah!" Hot Rodder said. They turned around and saw the two Moblins were approaching two other people that were close together, although they were too far off to make out who they were. "Hey!" Hot Rodder bellowed as the Moblins began to lower their spears. "Hana, Tak, we've got trouble!" The Goron's voice echoed deeply across the water, and in an instant the sounds of clashing swords stopped.

Not waiting to see if the others followed, Hot Rodder quickly curled into a ball and started to roll towards the Moblins, who were looking around confusedly for the source of the shouting.

"Let's go!" Fado shouted as she loaded a deku seed into her slingshot before racing down the hill after the Goron. Groaning, Grog yanked out his sword and followed the girl. Not too far behind, he could make out the sounds of Tak and Hana running behind him.

Hot Rodder reached the Moblins first. He crashed into them at full speed, sending one falling to the ground with a loud crash, and the other was forced to use his spear as support before he fell as well.

"Ha!" Hot Rodder shouted as he uncurled and folded his large hands into fists. He glanced in back of him and spotted the two people he had seen before, though he didn't recognize either. One was an older woman who he assumed to be Impa, but the other appeared to be a young boy dressed in similar Sheikah garb and not Zelda like he had been expecting. The boy was supporting Impa, who was unconscious. A pair of frightened, red eyes turned to stare at Hot Rodder, and the Goron remembered that he was currently in a battle.

Turning back to face the Moblins, he saw that they had recovered from his first attack. Fado was already halfway down the hill and starting to fire her slingshot. Any doubts the Goron had as to whether or not she could actually hit her target from that distance were erased when deku seed after deku seed came pelting down on the Moblin's helmets. The girl's hand was a blur as it moved from her ammo pouch to her weapon, and not one single seed missed its target.

"What is that?!" one of the Moblins shouted angrily over the clanging sounds that the seeds made when they hit their helmets.

The other lowered his spear, determined to ignore the flying projectiles, and focused on stabbing Hot Rodder. The Goron stood his ground, swinging his arms to keep the long, sharp spear from killing him.

"Hey!" The voice of Hana was a welcome change from the constant grunting of the Moblins, but Hot Rodder was unable to turn his attention from the one that was currently trying to put a hole in his head.

"They're huge!" Tak exclaimed as the other Moblin blocked him, Hana, and Grog from getting to their Goron companion.

"Alright." Hana tried to keep the uncertainty out of her voice. "We can do this. He's got that Moblin covered, so lets deal with this one first."

"What's the plan?" Tak asked. Hana, however, was already charging forward, dodging from side to side as the Moblin swung his spear at her like a bat. Tak groaned. "Never with the strategy. Come on, Grog, pick a side and let's try to distract him so Hana can get closer."

The two quickly charged forward and swung their swords at his arms. The Moblin roared in protest at the stinging cuts they left behind, and spun in a circle to keep them back. Grog fell back, but Tak was quicker and able to duck under the spear before charging forward again and stabbing at his feet. Grog quickly joined in on the other side as the Moblin tried to shake Tak off.

By now, Hana had managed to get around to the Moblin's back, and while he was distracted by Tak and Grog, she leaped forward and landed halfway up the Moblin's armored back. Gripping tightly to the chains of armor, Hana climbed the rest of the way to the Moblin's head, surprised that he hadn't noticed her yet. Tak and Grog were still busy taking turns attacking the monster below her. Taking advantage of the distraction, Hana gripped her sword tightly and, with a shout, stabbed it into the Moblin's neck.

The creature fell without making a sound, instantly dead. Hana quickly climbed off of the corpse before turning to face Hot Rodder. The Goron had managed to snap the other Moblin's spear in half, and the two were now close together and swinging their fists at each other.

"I got this one!" Tak shouted as he raced towards the Moblin. As he charged forward, he bent down and picked up the broken half of the spear. Stopping suddenly, Tak aimed the spear and threw it with all his strength. The sharp end flew straight into the Moblin's back. He gave a pained grunt before collapsing. Hot Rodder lowered his fists, panting heavily but looking quite pleased with himself.

"Now that's what I call a good old fashioned fist fight!" he said, his voice deep with excitement.

"Everyone alright?" Hana asked, checking over the others before turning her attention to the people they had just saved. "Impa!"

The boy, who was still keeping an unconscious Impa from falling to the ground, nodded towards the group. "Thank you for your help, Hana," he said.

Hana and Tak exchanged confused expressions before Hana turned back to the boy. "Sorry, do I know you?"

Suddenly the boy let out a giggle. "It's a good disguise, don't you think? It's me! Zelda!"

Fado arrived just in time to hear this latest revelation. "Ah, so the princess is actually a boy."

"Well, no, it's a disguise..." Zelda said awkwardly. "It was Impa's idea."

"Speaking of Impa." Hana nodded to the older woman. "Is she ok?"

"She'll be fine, just got knocked out. We need to hurry, back to Zora's Domain. More troops could arrive at any minute."

"Hey, man," Grog said nervously. "What's that?" He pointed towards a small dust cloud in the distance that was getting closer alarmingly quickly.

"Those," Zelda said grimly. "Are wolfos." A chilling howl reached their ears; it was the type of howl that could belong only to a viscous, bloodthirsty animal.


I do hope the battle wasn't a bore to read. I'm never sure how much detail to put into those things...

Thanks for reading, see you Friday!