Starlll: Okay, I'll make this short and sweet:
For the readers who have forgotten everything that's been going on recently: Not that I blame you; It's been taking me a while to update.
Sothe (the knife wielder), Michaiah (the light mage), Hero, Midna, and Mudd had joined together to make a resistance against the war. Along with them joined a gigantic Goron named Mr. E.
They split up (Sothe, Michaiah, and Hero in one group, and Mr. E, Mudd, and Midna in the other), and each were assigned 3 encampments to shut down. Hero's group passed through the desert, Mudd's group passed through Oradon. They pretty much crippled both armies.
Unfortunately, unbeknown to all of them, both armies were preparing a full-scale all-or-nothing assault on the other, ready to end the entire war in one major battle.
Also, Link has finally reentered the story, and brought with him the Master Sword. He hasn't joined the group, but he does seem to have some sort of master plan.
Oh, and Clukko's still with them.
They accepted an invitation to go on a boat ride through the Zora river, planning to use it to scout out any weak points to block the water flow, crippling the Zora movement and the Goron's water supply.
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Mudd and Hero hopped into the canoe-sized rowboat at the base of the river. They decided that they should, as Midna wasn't very good in the light (it burned her body), Michaiah and Sothe weren't as savvy in terms of looking for natural weak points, and Mr. E honestly couldn't fit in the boat.
Mudd glanced at Hero while the owner of the boat began to untie the string. He honestly didn't trust Hero. That's not to say that he expected Hero to slip a knife in him while his back was turned; but he certainly would rather have his old friend, Rutabaga at his side.
He had no idea what happened to Rutabaga after he abandoned the Zora army. He assumed that he was still working as a soldier. Mudd smiled, recalling a piece of advice Rut had given him when he first started out.
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"Your superiors won't know how to use you at first. You'd be surprised how long it'd take before they so much as decide to let you fight. So, my recommendation, is to get them to notice you. The best way to do this isn't to do well during drills. No, that's definitely not the best way. If you ask me, it's to squeeze through loopholes." Rutabaga sat down next to Mudd. "They ask you to rake the leaves? Do it. One leaf at a time. They ask you to go get water? Only fill the bottom of the bucket. You've got nothing to lose, and the road less traveled has a habit to be the shorter one."
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Mudd chuckled a bit. He took Rutabaga's advice. He never really moved up in rank, but he knew that the generals, even King Rails himself, recognized his face. In some ways, that was better. In a crowd, people tend to learn the jester's face faster than the host.
He glanced over at Hero again, wondering what the man was thinking. He wouldn't be disappointed, philosophically.
Hero was thinking about why he had decided to join the army. He never really wanted to join it. He never had a moment where he thought, 'I wanna be a soldier!'. No, he never knew what he wanted to be. Hero barely made it through high school. He could hardly hold a job. So, joining the Goron army just seemed like the logical choice. Then he found that he was good at fighting. Very good. Yet, it never seemed REAL to him. That was part of the reason why he was so willing to join Mudd in the rebellion.
Then the owner untied the rope, and the boat began moving.
Mudd nearly stood up in surprise, having been snapped out of his daydream. The small boat began rocking and shaking in the current, and almost threw him out while Mudd regained his balance. He put a hand on either side of the rim, and sat down. Hero was in front, paddling to either side, trying to get it to go straight.
Gradually, they managed to go with the current of the lake, which was going at a fast pace. Mudd used his oar to help Hero, water occasionally splashing in his face. Water had never been his enemy. He could swim like an otter for as long as he could remember, and could hold his breath longer than anyone he knew. Growing up, Rusl joked that he was 'Part Zora'. Mudd doubted this, in spite of constant remarks that he was 'shaped like a Zora'.
After he gain his bearings, this was no different. Hero, on the other hand, hated it. He couldn't swim until he turned 15, and even then it was mostly just a dog paddle. He feared falling out of the side, knowing that he probably wouldn't be able to stay above the rapids.
Mudd noted a narrow part of the river as they passed it, figuring it would be easier to block. Glanced around for ways that they could build a make-shift dam. Bombs seemed like the most obvious choice; find a place to plant them, then use them to knock down the sides and block it off. But, he realized, they didn't have any explosives.
Suddenly, the river made a sharp turn. They both worked to go along with it, but it was difficult. The front side flipped around, sending them completely backwards. Mudd reacted first, spinning in his seat, trying to steer when the boat was flipped around.
"Damn!" Shouted Hero, his paddle slipping out of his hand. He tried to grab at it, but he couldn't reach.
Mudd pushed the boat away from a wall as the river depressed lower into the ground, turning into a ravine. He and Hero managed to turn the boat back to normal, and Mudd quickly switched spots with Hero, who lost his oar.
He steered around several rocks in the way, wondering what sick person rode this river and thought it was FUN. He felt Hero lean to the left or right as the turned, helping him somewhat. Mudd would have preferred him to still have an oar, but it was better than nothing.
Mudd looked down the river and swore. Loudly.
"Get ready to hold your breath!" He shouted over the rapids. "And keep your legs straight when they hit the water!"
Whoosh!
The river ended in an abrupt waterfall, shooting them down into Lake Hylia. Mudd grabbed Hero's arm as they blasted over the 4-story drop, both their leg's slowly moving, as if they were trying to gain some kind of ground under them. The hang time seemed to last forever, adrenaline pumping through their bodies.
Gradually they began to descend, time slowing down as they fell. They held their breath as velocity took hold, biting the bullet and preparing to break the surface. Hero closed his eyes, his mind flashing back to the time he was catapulted across a battlefield.
Mudd, on the other hand, felt his normal fear of heights replaced by a sudden thrill, a freedom which he never felt before. Some primal instinct surged it's way forward, one that told him that this was the difference between life and living.
Then they hit the water.
They broke the surface, their feet feeling 10 feet below the rest of their bodies, before their stomachs snapped back like a rubber band. Mudd opened his eyes underwater, being a fantastic swimmer, and stroked his way back to the top. Hero gradually made it back up, not as comfortable with being in such deep water. He had lived with Gorons his entire life, and wasn't used to the lakes and oceans which Zoras inhabited, rather the shallow hot springs.
They both took a few deep breaths, watching as their boat landed safely in the water. Mudd slapped himself in the forehead; had they stayed in the boat, they wouldn't have been hurt.
"Wasn't that fun?" Asked a Zora, suddenly swimming up to them. "I'll go get your boat, and tow you two back up the waterfall!"
Mudd and Hero sank down into the water, wondering why they ever paid for this.
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A/N
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Starlll: So, I feel like I know why its taking so long for me to update: I don't have much to look forward too. I mean, all the stuff I've been planning, all the twists and cliffhangers, have all been written. Look at some of the stuff that's happened. Rutabaga's died, Mudd the first lived, I introduced Mr. E, what's left? (Sighs) So, now I just need to think of an epic way to think to end it.
