This chapters been rolling around in my head for ages. Its something I've been wanting to work on for a while, and it's what I do with most stories I do. (the story with a side thing. So you get the cannon and you get the fiction side) and normally...it's a small thing like...oh...Zelda I had my OC guarding Kakariko whilst Link was in the past. Small things.

This...is kinda both ambitious, and yet terrifying for me to think of what I'm going to be doing...I've been told I can do good stories. It's a trend so long as I focus and keep the pace and idea of it. As I've always done, this won't become the major element of the story, this is a minor...at most it's below equal. But it's something that I feel will add to the story. For what it's worth, there will be a good amount of chapters for this, again, not overtaking the main story. I've been wanting to do this, with...not the biggest idea of how to.

I guess what I'm trying to say is...wish me luck. I'm going to need it. Remember how Writers rely on feedback...it's especially true for these chapters.

Chapter 35:

In the Dark

I kinda felt a bit like some sort of spy for all of this stuff.

A secret meeting in a pub with an organization you've never heard of.

Kinda reminds me of the SOE of World War two.

Just not that useful in comparison...

Ever walked into a pub where everyone's merry, drinking away as if nothings going on with a barroom singer at the back singing a merry tune? I can safely say I have...now put that in a city that practically a front line...never expected to find that here.

The pub mentioned in the letter, a small place on the side of town. Big enough to be noisy. Probably the one place in town that still is considering. The place was filled with people of various professions and creeds, backgrounds, everything. Hell, I saw people actually talking to Darcsens as if they were just another person.

Bet he's drunk.

I was probably the oddball here, walking in and listening to the music as I headed for the bar. A stranger, on instinct strangely, offering me a full glass of beer. I wasn't in my military uniform...but I hoped my pistol didn't stick out too much under this jacket. I took the drink, offering him a small nod and raising my drink to him, before lifting the oddly normal shaped glass and taking a gulp.

"You're new here, ain't cha stranger?" he asked me, his voice oddly shrill for what I thought it would be.

"What's it to ya?" I replied, looking at him.

"This be the house o' the merry, the meeting of the lax and the law of the day is you don't come to this 'ere place if you don't 'ave somethin' to do 'ere" I smirked, chugging down the drink.

"I'm meeting someone" I told him, instantly feeling that paranoid feeling of eyes on me. Either I've said something wrong, or I've said something right...or I'm paranoid, that's something to think of.

"Let's me give cha some advice stranger...don't look for trouble...it'll find you soon enough" he stood up, putting a couple of ducats on the bar before leaving. I spun around on my stool, turning to the rest of the room.

For what it was worth...I couldn't see anyone looking at me...which is what bugged me the most. In a place like this, even someone like me should stick out like the priest with the slut in his pulpit whilst he stands giving a sermon...how did I come up with that analogy? The thing was...there was one woman who looked like she was having a conversation with a young man, but she wasn't really talking. She wore a low cut blue top with a miniskirt...not really the 1940's style if that makes any sense. Hell she was wearing black sunglasses. And her hair was black, long and tied up with a ponytail of sorts. She even wore a pair of black gloves.

"You keep checking out the customers boy, they are going to start thinking you're looking for a date" an ominous voice spoke behind me. I turned around, seeing a smartly dressed man, almost befitting the apparent age. I put the glass down, nodding to him.

"Cheers for the advice" I spoke, lifting the glass back up and finishing the liquor. "But if I were here for a date, I wouldn't be with a job in mind now would I?" He leaned down, his bushy eyebrows rising as his elbow touched the desk.

"Well then, what can I serve you with?" He gave me a somewhat toothy grin, showing sections where teeth had just fallen out. I reached into my pocket, pulling out the folded letter and planting it down on the desk, looking at it before raising my head to slowly look at him.

"Give me a glass of Gallia's finest" I couldn't help but put a somewhat Irish accent on that

He gave me a confused look, reaching down and picking up the piece of paper, unfolding it slowly. His beady eyes switched between me and the writing. His expression switching between confusion, amazement and wonder. It was like showing a king that he had been excommunicated by the Papal states. I smirked, rubbing my arm. He eventually lowered the letter, looking over to the singer at the back of the room.

"Ruby! Change the track!" She finished singing the song at this point, thankfully, turning to the barkeep.

"What song do you want on sugar?" she replied, giving an almost white smile back.

"Guilty Skies!" He nodded, something obviously going on. I raised an eyebrow, knowing the song from my time.

"Ladies and gentlemen...by request of the barman-" I didn't hear the rest, the barman grabbing my shoulder and lifting me up. I heard a flute playing, that was about it before he dragged me.

"Best of the Drinks in the back" he told me, his voice more stern then before. I pushed his hand off me with a simple brush, the man opening the stocky wooden door behind him. "Private drinking session for them...follow me"

He went into the room, his feet stamping away as he did so, the singer starting to get into the central beat of the song as she went into it. Part of me was suspicious already...well, that it wasn't an invite to something good. It was shady, and that was putting it nicely. Hell, I wouldn't know if this was a trap if I walked into a firing line.

But part of me...part of me wanted to trust this guy. To follow him despite the fact that he could be doing what I just mentioned. Besides, I had my pistol on me just in case of things like that. If anything went wrong, I'd take as many of the bastards as I could with me. That and it's a bloody pub. If it was a trap, it'd be heard wouldn't it?

I shrugged, sighing as I walked forward, my hands getting thrown up in a 'what the hell' fashion as I followed. I heard a few footsteps behind me, my head turning slightly.

"Don't bother...probably one of the barmaids coming to close the door" The Barkeep spoke, the door leaving my sight before it closed. "See"

"I'll trust that for now" I spoke, blinking as he led me to a door in the side, pulling out a rusty key and inserting it slowly.

"Here's how it works: you go in, find your drink, get it over with. Got it?" He told me, turning the key, the locks loudly moving within before he pulled the door open. "In you go...oh, and take that torch from the side. Gets kinda dark in there" I raised an eyebrow, looking to a barrel on my right and seeing the torch. It was kinda odd, but familiar at the same time. It didn't look like your common everyday torch, more like...an attachment for a pistol? Well, guess I know one thing I can do when I get in. "Other then that...have a blast...and don't make too much of a mess" I'm good with my drink mate...I'm good with my drink...

I slowly walked in, holding the torch in my hand, leaving the barman behind me. The room I walked into was a small cube...with a staircase downstairs to the left, way too dark to see without a light. For what it's worth, I bet it's to a wine cellar of sorts...saying that it's a bit too...dusty, webby, that sort of thing. Hell, the walls in this little cube are full of dust and grime.

"Oh, by the way kid...your gonna need that pistol of yours" The Barkeep told me, slamming and locking the door behind me. I turned quickly, seeing one last crack of light before it was sealed from me, darkness overwhelming everything. I ran at the locked door, slamming my side against it, punching, kicking and just about anything else I could do, frantic in the darkness. I remember cursing him loudly.

"Son of a bitch" I dejectedly spoke, backing away, shaking my hands to try and work off the pain. "Couldn't have just given me a bloody open door could he?" I clicked the light on, looking down the stairs, the beam being my only real guide. I normally loved the dark, but right now...I didn't really fancy it. My first steps in the dark were tentative, slow, trying to find a path somewhere in this, barely finding the stone steps heading into the depths. My eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, letting me see outside the torch light. Allow me to just point something out here. Back home

I walked down, my footsteps echoing around as I did so, my hand resisting the urge to grab my pistol as I moved. I could hear a distant dripping, presumably alcohol of some sort...least I hoped it wasn't water, not this deep. As I came to the bottom of the stairs, as much as I'd hoped otherwise...it was a crossroads of sorts. To the left, the standard storage area for the kegs of alcohol and such. I could see the pipes leading to where the bar was...hell, I could hear the section of the song. 'I will hold on to this pain because I can't abandon it'. Didn't know I'd been down here so long.

"How much longer is he going to take?" I heard someone speak. I turned, hearing it from downstairs. "My trigger finger is getting itchy" OK, that's too obvious. I turned the light off, grabbing the pistol and charging it.

"Hawk, shut it. You're gonna give us away" a second voice spoke. I walked slowly down the stairs, crouching down and doing the best I could to stay silent. The stairs barely made a sound as my boots touched them, almost like I was a ghost.

"Eagle"

"No words, Hawk" I heard a pistol charge. "He's near"

I got to the bottom of the stairs, seeing an archway to the right with a bit of space for cover near it, instinctively hugging the wall. So there were at least two of them. If this turns into a firefight, I'm already at a disadvantage. Only real one I have is that I'm not using a light, so I don't need to rely on the flashes of the gun barrels as they fire to pinpoint where they are.

"What's the plan?"

"Clean kill, one to the head or heart if we can help it" I looked out slightly, seeing two figures in the darkness. I froze in place, not so much out of fear, but letting my eyes adjust to the new shapes. Two figures, that was for sure, and they were aiming at the doorway. I breathed, crouching down and relaxing, knowing what was coming.

Thank god I knelt. I noticed a flash as I ducked, blinking twice in order to try and figure out what it was. The two figures...were training dummies, covered in Imperial armor. It was a trap, that much is certain, just not the trap I thought it was. I stood up, holding the gun over my arm and moving into the room, surveying the area.

It was a large cellar complex, plenty of room, plenty of boxes, plenty of pillars and such to hide behind. I found myself both drowning in dust and fanning away cobwebs as I walked, my foot occasionally stepping into a puddle of something, my presumption being it was just water.

The conversation continued. I looked over at the pair, seeing a tape player between the two, sighing as I walked slowly and carefully over, grabbing a pistol from the hand of one of the pair, checking it over. It was rusted over more then King Arthur has dirt over him. I looked at the tape player once more, seeing the buttons and pressing the stop button.

Something moved from my eye corner, my reaction to aim my pistol over at it quickly, seeing a glint of steel. I flipping the old pistol in my hand, throwing it full force over towards it, hearing a thud and a clink. I smiled.

"You know, if your trying to hide from someone, you're doing a crap job of it" I told them, grabbing the second rusty pistol.

"Who say's I'm trying to hide?" A rough female voice spoke.

I heard a pistol charge, blinking once before diving behind a pillar, shards of the stone work flying off around me. Whoever this was was aiming at my right side, my gun hand, firing...four shots? OK, so three left in the clip if it's a Valk. I swung out as the gunfire stopped, quickly aiming my gun and firing back, unleashing three bullets in quick succession.

It was a woman, early 20's, sorta mid length hair. Couldn't tell anything else in the light, never mind the fact that she hid behind a metal crate to avoid the gun fire. She held a second gun up over as she hid, blind firing where I was, my reaction making me move cover as well, heading to the next pillar, flinging the rusty gun behind me, hearing it splash loudly in a puddle.

I heard her change two clips, two pistols blasting at the cover behind where I was before. She'd taken the bait. I took the clip out as silently as I could, putting it into my pocket and grabbing a new one, placing it into the gun. She stopped firing, the sounds of her climbing over the metal box ringing around as she ran to the opposite side of the pillar I was on. Perfect, she fell for it.

"Not gonna hold forever meat bag" She spoke, swinging her pistol out and firing a few more shots. I grabbed her arm, yanking her forward and tripping her up. She landed harshly on her front, me moving quickly to point my gun at her.

"Do you give?" I asked her. She smiled, giving me a somewhat evil grin.

"Not gonna happen short stuff" She quickly kicked my gun out of my hand, rolling around and pointing a pistol at me. I was knocked off balance by the kick, tripping left and dodging a bullet flying by my head.

I swung my leg out, smashing it into her pistol, sending it flying across the room as we collided. I kept the momentum going, slamming my other leg into her hand as she began to raise her other pistol, sending that flying as well. She moved quickly, grabbing my foot and twisting it, dragging me down, landing with a thud in a puddle. She moved fast, crawling up to my back. I span around, grabbing her shoulder and pinning her to the ground below me, my hands on her shoulders, gritting my teeth as she fought against me, trying to push me off.

"Game over" I told her, breathing a few times. She stopped struggling, looking around as she tried to find some sort of escape from this situation. "So...you giving up or do I have to get serious?"

"I thought you were already. I was just warming up" She admitted, sighing. "But I still have a few tricks up my sleeve"

"Like what?"

"You got a partner?"

"No, why do y-"

She moved her arms up, putting them around the back of my neck and pulling me down, lifting her head up at the same time and capturing my lips with hers, closing her eyes at the same time. My eyes opened wide with shock and surprise. She was even exploring the my lips with her tongue. I pushed away, escaping from her and letting her go, shaking my head.

Before my mind could compute anything, she threw a fist at my gut, winding me as I hunched forward. She then attempted to throw another fist to my chin, getting a shoulder in the way as I moved quickly, her hand barely going over my hair. I recovered quickly, wiping my chin and throwing a fist down, somehow colliding with a fresh punch from her.

My fist erupted in agony as we met, both of us shaking them as we pulled them back, quickly moving to throw a second punch. I found myself suddenly facing right with my cheek in a lot of pain, with my hand feeling something soft. We both groaned, myself falling over backwards, my legs still either side of her chest.

Silence fell, broken only by the our breathing and the occasional drip. We were both panting a lot, both in pain from the fight. We hadn't even been fighting that long, that's the worst bit. I felt her moving, moving my head slightly to see her moving her back to a pillar, blood running from the side of her mouth. I felt a burning sensation running from my left eye...odd considering she never hit that.

"You're good...I'll give you that...considering we didn't fight that long" She told me. I lifted myself slowly up, kneeling on the ground, cracking my neck and massaging my fist.

"You don't get around without a backup skill" I told her, pushing myself up to stand.

"Right" She pushed herself up, which I didn't do anything to actually stop. We both took a stance once more, both of us ready to go again.

She led the charge, with myself counter charging her. Both of us throwing our fist out, both colliding with the others chest, following it up quickly with a kick. She jumped up, doing a spinning kick at my head, only I did a leg sweep, dodging and missing her due to the actions. I kept the momentum, running to an upper cut as she slammed her fist down.

I met her chin, she met my shoulder. Neither of us recoiled from this, only using it to fuel our next punches, both of us kicking at each other, our shins meeting in the air. I backed up a bit, letting her step forward. She threw another punch, this time I grabbed it, grabbing her arm and twisting it behind her back, pushing her forward against a pillar, slamming her head against the brick work, hearing her cry out. I kept on twisting her arm, throwing a fist to her back.

"Just give up already" I told her. She laughed, I raised an eyebrow, barely noticing what she was doing. She somehow ran her feet up the wall, flipping over my head and swapping our positions, pushing me against the pillar and locking my arm into place. I felt my face shred against the brick, gritting my teeth as I felt the blood start properly.

"Is that all you've got?" she asked me. She moved her head closer to my shoulder, so I used my free arm, elbowing her face hard, causing her to release me and recoil away. I followed up, running at her and punching her in the chest. Se recoiled once more, and I paused, catching my breath, still watching her. She turned to me slowly, wiping blood from her nose. I did the same, smiling.

This was starting to get fun. The rush, the excitement. Whoever this girl is, she's brought this out of me.

"Come on then" She told me, taking her stance again. "Bring it"

"Ladies first!" I shouted back at her, swinging my arm down. She smirked, running at me once more, swinging her fist low. I charged her back, swinging my fist high. Both our feet echoing as we stamped our way full pelt at each other. We both yelled as loud as out lungs would allow.

Her fist collided with my chest, as my fist collided with her head. My head was thrown skyward as hers was thrown to the side, both of us freezing in place as the moment went, no noise whatsoever, save for the odd drop and whatever came from upstairs.

We finally reacted, both of us stepping back a few times, her falling over backwards as she tripped on a barrel, myself taking a few steps, stopping then falling to one knee. Both of us were breathing heavily, barely moving from where we were.

"Fuck...I feel...like I...just had sex" She commented. I raised my head, turning to her.

"I don't know...what your sex life is like...but if that's how you feel after it...something's fucking wrong" I told her, smirking through the heavy breathing.

"I just...love the rush...from battle" She slowly moved her arms, pushing herself up and looking at me, wiping blood from her mouth. "You gotta little.." she pointed to her mouth. I blinked twice, wiping my mouth, seeing the small trail of blood spread on my hand.

"Thanks..." I breathed a few times, looking at her, seeing her starting to lose her balance. I could feel mine going at the same time. "OK...maybe we... should have a break..."

I fell over backwards at this, and heard her doing the same. My vision slowly but surely blurred, until all was black...

I don't know who she is...I didn't know I could fight that well.

Scarily...it was fun as well...

To just... let loose like that...let everything go and just fight.

Hell...getting matched blow for blow...it really made me feel better...aside from the out cold part.