Chapter 12: Nasc

The group headed southwards through the woods until it merged into the field of Hyrule. Monsters hounded their every step. It seemed that Ganondorf's return had convinced all of the monsters to come out of whatever hole they were hiding in and prowl about. Twice, Link himself had nearly been killed.

Their mysterious savior fought like a madman. His sheer strength would cleave monsters in half, their bloody remains falling in his wake. He easily killed the most monsters out of all of them. He wielded a massive sword that was clearly meant to be two-handed in a single hand. The monster blade was longer than Amai was tall. The man used no shield; rather, he used the sword's massive flat as a shield. However, Link never discovered what the band on his arm was for.

They immediately turned west, heading for uncharted lands. As they moved further and further away from the castle, the monster attacks began to thin out, and the group began to relax a little. Except for the stranger. His expression remained grim even after the monster attacks completely stopped.

They had not been attacked for an hour by the time the sun had set. When the light vanished, they all began looking for a place to camp. Eventually, they settled for a clearing surrounded by thick bushes. Based on the sudden appearance and tidy nature of the clearing, Link guessed that it had been cleared as a campsite by a villager. He didn't care too much, though. He was just glad to have a place to sleep that was out of sight.

The man stood with his back leaning against a tree, watching as everyone settled in as best as they could. Link still didn't know what to think of the man. Sure, he had saved their lives, but could he really be trusted? Link had no idea.

"Thank you for saving us," Zelda told the man from somewhere behind Link.

"No problem," was the man's curt response.

"So," Link began, "Why did you save us?"

"I get the feeling you don't fully trust me yet," the man observed.

Link hesitantly nodded.

"I don't blame you," the man continued. "Strangers can be very dangerous, especially in today's world. So let's not be strangers to each other. My name is Nasc."

"Nasc," Link repeated. "Is that foreign?"

"Define foreign."

Link thought about the events of the recent past and realized that this man may have been one of the people inadvertently dragged over by Ghirahim's spell.

"Never mind," Link stated after a moment. "So, seriously. Why did you save us?"

"I saw people being attacked by monsters. I had the ability to help, so I did."

"It's nice to meet someone who's decent in this world," Link stated.

"Of course, I stuck with you for a different reason."

"And what would that be?" Link questioned, genuinely curious.

"Take a good, long look into my face."

Link stared at Nasc's face. He had a soft, slightly pointed chin that was covered with scruff. His eyes were a deep blue. His nose was a little on the small side. His ears were long and pointed. Then Link did a double take. Take away six to eight years and the scruff, and Link would have been looking into a mirror. Nasc's face was so similar to his that it was downright scary.

"I take it you've figured it out," Nasc said with a smirk.

"Yeah," Link stated, still shocked.

Gasps went out from the rest of the group as they all realized what Link and Nasc were hinting at.

"There's no way," Zelda whispered.

"This is an interesting occurrence," Fi observed.

"So there's two Links now?" Amai asked innocently.

Link sat there in silence, staring at his more muscular twin. It was truly scary to suddenly meet someone who pretty much looked just like you. Link's father had never mentioned an older brother, and the possibility of him being from a parallel timeline seemed plausible.

"How come you were not shocked when you saw me?" Link inquired.

"I was," Nasc answered simply. "But the last few days have been really weird for me. A few days ago, there was a burst of powerful magic and I was suddenly in a place I'd never seen before. I've been wandering around since then, trying to make sense of what happened."

"We can enlighten you, if you so wish," Fi offered.

"That would be appreciated."

"These events began approximately five days ago. An ancient evil being known as Ghirahim lured Link into a trap at the lake far to the south of here. Once Link had arrived at the location, Ghirahim cast a spell which linked our world to parallel timelines. From those timelines, Ghirahim summoned the deceased bodies of the incarnations of Demise, Ganondorf if memory serves, and brought them here. To answer your question directly, when Ghirahim brought the Ganondorf bodies into our realm, he also brought many other people from the alternate realms. There is a high probability that you were among the people who were brought over."

Nasc's eybrows shot up as he did a little whistle, indicating his surprise at Fi's long-winded response. The man uncrossed his arms and walked over to where Link was standing.

"Is she always like that?" Nasc asked Link.

"Yes," Link replied simply.

"Does my response require simplification?" Fi requested.

"No," Nasc answered easily. "I got most of it."

Link stared at Nasc. The man showed no surprise at the events that had just been relayed to him. Everyone else had gotten over their shock in the time that Link had been with them, but Nasc didn't seem in the least bit surprised.

"You aren't surprised by this at all?" Link finally asked.

"Nope," Nasc replied.

"Not even a little?"

"Nope. This actually clears things up."

"Oh."

There was an awkward pause as no one seemed to know what to say. Everyone just looked at the newcomer, trying to decide what to make of him. Link decided that the man seemed rough and kind of simple, but there was a determination in him that couldn't be undone.

"I'm going to go get firewood," Nasc announced suddenly as he rose to leave.

"What for?" Zelda asked.

"A fire. Duh."

Zelda sat back, her expression clearly stating how stupid she felt.

"I'll go with you," Link threw in, rising himself.

"Sure, whatever."

Nasc disappeared between the trees surrounding the grove. Link ran to follow him, so as not to get lost in the maze of woods. It took him a few seconds, but he was able to find Nasc walking casually away from camp.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Nasc asked out of nowhere.

"What makes you think I want to talk?" Link asked, somewhat confused.

"I'm not an idiot. People usually don't follow other people without a reason."

"My reason is to help get firewood."

Nasc looked at Link suspiciously for a moment. Link grew uncomfortable in the large man's gaze.

"Do you think you could stop staring? I don't feel comfortable when you do that," Link stated.

Nasc just huffed and refocused his vision on what was in front of them. The woods were growing thinner. As soon as they found pieces of wood, Nasc bent over to pick them up. Link hurried to do the same. They gathered the wood in silence, with Link being at a loss for what to say. Then, it hit him.

"Are you going to stay with us?"

Nasc looked at Link again, the pile of wood in his hand having grown quite large.

"Why would you want me to?" Nasc countered. "Not long ago you were having trust issues with me."

Link thought about that for a second. It was true, he hadn't trusted Nasc at first. But he considered the facts. One) Nasc had saved their lives. Two) He looked exactly like Link. Three) He seemed to have common sense about him.

"You have given me some reason to trust you," Link said at last. They were heading back to the camp now, firewood in hand. "I think you'll be a worthy addition to our group."

"You are, of course, assuming that I actually want to stay."

Link did a mental double-take at that one. He had thought that Nasc would easily agree, given that he had followed them that far.

"Do you not want to?" Link asked carefully.

"Maybe."

Link had to think about his next words. However, he felt that the argument he was about to put forward would quiet any protests Nasc might have.

"You stand a better chance of living if you stay with us."

"True," Nasc answered thoughtfully. "However, do you have anything better to offer me?"

Link was once again taken aback by how difficult this man was. He was quickly correcting his observations about Nasc. Nasc seemed to be focused on exactly one person, himself.

"That assumes that protection isn't enough."

"Good argument," Nasc replied. "However, sometimes money speaks louder than risk."

Link was now roped into this thinking game. He had to come up with something that he could come back with. Then, the idea of his large group spawned an answer.

"Larger groups can take on bigger, better paying jobs."

"Interesting," Nasc said. After a slight pause, "You argue well. I like that. I think I'll stick around just to see how interesting things get."

The man did a full hearted laugh as Link's face reddened with embarrassement. Nasc had been playing with him the whole time. Or, rather, testing him.

Link noticed that Nasc was getting ahead quite rapidly. Link adjusted his grip on his pile and sped up after the man, intending to make camp. Link felt confident that he had just secured a strong new ally.

A/N: Hello readers. So the next chapter is here at last. Now that I've finished The Dark Triad, I'll be focusing more on this story. Hopefully updates will come out sooner. Please review.