Finally, her efforts were successful and she was able to tumble from the hooded man's arms. She fell to her side and scrambled up, the residual smoke bomb still stung her throat. Coughing, she forgot to capture her breath and took to her feet. The man pulled his hood down, his jet black, short cropped hair stuck up in the back at an angle. His scarred eyebrows lifted in greeting as he pulled the mask from the lower half of his face, a cocky grin displayed in the midst of his dark stubble.
With a laugh, he leaned against the wall of the secluded alley and folded his arms.
"Long time no see! I was beginning to think that you-"
"Dammit Volmar! Don't you ever do that again! I don't care what the situation is. I'm not some ragdoll to be carried around!" She shrieked and shoved her finger in his face. Her anger was overflowing. How dare he? She gave him a well deserved knee to the groin and he doubled over, his breath taken from him. Ignoring his pain, she turned away and rubbed her face in frustration.
"I had someone with me! Now he's lost and probably upset and confused. I don't have time to properly chew your ass right now." she groaned out, tapping her foot on the cracked stone of the alleyway. It was quiet and private, a laundry pool trickled from a spring that lead under the town and rested there. It was not enough to quell her anger.
The man straightened up as best he could after her low blow, his voice strained.
"That weirdo was with you? I thought he was just leaving the deli." Volmar choked out, laughing to himself despite his pain and her anger. She shot him a glare. "He looked like a scared little boy who couldn't even-"
His voice was choked into a strangled yelp when he was struck out of nowhere, a blur of green overtaking the man. With a heavy smack to the face, the man lost his balance and his back scraped down the brick surface of the wall. He ducked just in time to avoid another swing and Link's arm grazed the brick, the clang from the refurbished bracers cementing in her mind how hard the hit would have landed. Annette jumped back in shock, as she hadn't even heard footsteps. In an enraged growl, the swordsman grabbed Volmar, scarlet beginning to gush down his face. Link pulled him forward, his eyes focused and wild, and in a great effort slammed the man against the brick wall, the crack of the man's head against the surface was gruesome.
Staring in awe as the unfortunate raven-haired menace fell against the wall, Annette felt her breath catch when Link's icy eyes moved to her, his expression hard and his brows arched. Rushing over, he pulled her with him, her balance vanishing as his hand slapped around her arm. The dark-haired man, though bloodied and shaken, got to his feet, his stance lowered. Link's grip on her was instead focused on shoving her behind him, once again she was tugged around like a ragdoll. His strength wasn't carefully measured now. He was scared and rightfully so and where he had grabbed her stung a little.
Both of the fighters stared each other down. Annette was speechless and still not over the shellshock. This is the thing she dreaded. Luck was on her side, however, as the dark haired man was the first to break the tension. Not by the drawing of a blade or any sudden move, but by a harsh, bitter laugh. He straightened up, any battle stance was forgotten on his part, but Link didn't budge. In fact, he reached behind him, his hand grabbing for her to ensure that she was still behind him, his fingers finding her forearm.
"Wow, you are something! Anne, where did you pick up this woodland fae?" he chided, blowing the blood from his lips. Link stiffened and shot her a concerned and confused look, his wide eyes still contained that wild look from only seconds ago.
Annette averted her eyes to glare at the robed man. She hoped that she could have time to explain this before he met Volmar, but her hopes were dashed. As much as she wanted to claim that the opinions of other people didn't matter, she wanted Link to understand her. For what reason, she could not decide if it was because she truly wanted him to trust her or if her surfacing crush had anything to do with it.
Link looked from the dark man to Anne, who gave no answer. The man had abducted her and Link had ran around the corner just in time to see the woman knee him. Some words were exchanged but Link hadn't heard them due to his focus on getting the man away from the brunette. And now, Annette was idly standing by him as if she had no intention of fleeing from the man who whisked her away in a cloud of smoke. Worst yet, he had called her Anne. They knew each other.
The silence lingered over the three and Annette crossed her arms. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath, her face red with her anger.
"You deserved that. I hope you got a concussion." She snapped back and let her fingers pinch the bridge of her freckled nose. "And it's Annette, to you. What do you want anyway?" She huffed her question out, her shoulders drooping in resignment.
Link's attention turned to man, who after rubbing the back of his head, tried to wipe the excess blood from his gloved hands. From his hip under his cloak he pulled a small red and gold embroidered sack and tossed it to Anne, who barely caught it. Her eyes lit up in recognition.
"This is-" she trailed off and the man finished her statement for her, sniffling to clear the blood from his sinuses.
"Your mom asked me to deliver this to you. I would have taken it for myself if I knew Chotti wouldn't string me up from my feet." he gave a self deprecating laugh and gave Link a small, pointed glance. In response, he glared back, hoping that the man got the message with his bloody nose. It didn't matter if his arm was sore and throbbing with pain right now, if this guy pulled something like that again, Link knew he would do more than shove the man into a wall.
Anne scrutinized the bag, looking up to narrow her hazel eyes at the cloaked man.
"First you cause a scene and cross the line to deliver a package and then you steal from me? You're the worst." Her voice lifted in volume, her accusation caused the man to scoff.
"Me? Steal from you? You know me better than that." He played, but his raised eyebrows and faked smile was enough the tell the truth after being called out.
"Yes, I know you too well but I also know the popular embroidered bags that come only from a certain Gerudo blacksmith. Hand it over." She scowled and reached her hand out in a demanding gesture. Link was stunned at how quickly she had caught on. He also turned an accusatory stare towards the man. He had better give her whatever weapon he had stolen if he knew what was good for him.
"I'm not-"
"Now! Volmar!"
Her angry command rung through the small area, drowning out the trickle of the water in the background. The man, Volmar, rather, groaned aloud and rolled his eyes, muttering something to himself as he untied the weapon hidden beneath his cloak. It too was wrapped in a silky, red and gold embroidered fabric, all that was visible was the brassy handle. He spitefully dropped the clothed weapon into her grip and took a step back as Anne pulled it close.
Taking a moment, she pulled the bag open and pulled a small, folded piece of parchment from it and read it silently to herself. Once her eyes had finished trailing the words, she pointed the handle towards Link, catching him off guard. Did she want him to hold it for her?
"For you, from mom. She says it's better than the, in quote, "petty Hylian toothpick'' sword you carry now. Also, ginger candy for me." she resolved and Link took the sword. Petty Hylian toothpick. Which was the letter referring to? The Ordonian sword or the Master Sword? Either way, he knew that the statement was ridiculous.
Volmar snickered as Link pulled the blade from the cloth, the curved steel glinted in the sunlight and reflected his own face. It was a nice sword, but he found his two to be way better for his fighting style. It was weighted nicely and balanced itself in his grasp. It had to cost a decent amount, he concluded.
"Great, and who is this that receives a scimitar from Chotti? The Clock Town man-hater and cynic extraordinaire? Anne, don't tell me…" he smirked in his sarcasm and teasing. He tilted his head back to try and calm his nosebleed, his words a little nasally as consequence.
"Don't have to explain and don't want to. Bye bye! Come on Link, let's go." The brunette ushered, having put away her small bag. Her fingers wrapped around Link's upper arm and he wrapped the scimitar back up, hoping he would finally be able to ask Anne what exactly just happened. Why was she so familiar with this shady figure. There had to be some explanation for it because surely she couldn't be associated with him, could she?
The man spoke up as the woman pulled Link along, his words a warning tease.
"Oh okay, leave and miss what incredibly important lead that I have regarding you know what. You're busy anyway, selling strawberries and playing house in your cozy little home." Her tugging stopped and Link almost collided with her as she paused. Her eyebrows raised and crunched back down into a glower. Link would just have to try to piece together what was happening.
"Damn right I am. I don't care about "you know what" and as far as I'm concerned, you can shove it up your-" She began, her spare hand pointed at him before it fell, the man now gaping at something other than her, his teasing, sarcasm lifted to be replaced by a wide eyed look of astonishment. Link knew that Anne's words weren't what the man was stunned by, and tracing Volmar's gaze to his own back wasn't the only thing that made Link realize.
Come to think of it, Link had heard the name "Volmar" before. If he recalled correctly, he heard it in the discussion that Anne and her mother had over the Master Sword. Link, looking over at the sword fastened to him knew that it was this sword that had the man so entranced.
"Is… is that?" He uttered softly, his eyes still focused and wide. He took a step towards them, his now drying nosebleed forgotten. Link's hand twitched, ready to take action if necessary, even if he knew that the man would not be able to unsheathe the sword. He didn't want to watch another person try to take the sword and be extinguished like a flame.
Anne scoffed and rolled her eyes.
"Oh that? I would think you of all people would be able to tell a cheap replica apart from the real thing." she teased and crossed her arms. He snapped out of it and scrunched his face at her.
"Replica? Of course that's what it is. I would never be fooled by that cheap thing." he said in defiance and turned his nose up. "What is he doing with a fake anyway? Is he asking for trouble?" He asked Anne, who shrugged. Link focused on the man and watched as he was being talked about as if he wasn't even there.
"If that's all, then I need to be going now." Anne said and gripped at her parcel bag. Volmar gave Link a judging glare before tilting his chin up in a quick gesture.
"I have something to show but first I need to ask if your friend here is happy keeping his mouth shut."
"Volmar, I don't have time for this right now and I don't really care." She said abruptly, motioning for Link to follow her.
"It's about Nalo. One of my men found something." he said and the brunette stopped.
Link yet again opted to be silent, noticing how the mood shifted and any argument left the brunette to replaced with a stark seriousness. She was not the only one who's mood shifted, the silence lingered over both of them. Anne let her head tilt down and she took a deep breath, her eyes shut for a passing moment.
"You better not be playing. I swear, if you are then…" she trailed off, any heat to her voice was gone now when she was so eager to discard the dark haired man before.
"Come with me. I have it inside and I'll explain but your friend has to zip it or else you know what happens. I don't wanna do that but I will if I need to." He said with a hint of warning. Link tried not to bristle too much at that. He wasn't sure but he thought he knew what Volmar meant and he didn't like it at all. What was he doing that required him to make a death threat like that anyway? The more Link knew, the less he liked the situation.
"He'll be fine but don't get too cocky. I don't think he'll hesitate to bust your nose again." she gave with a half hearted laugh and the man rolled his eyes and gave Link another daring look.
"Hilarious. I wouldn't have just let that happen if he wasn't with you." he excused but shook his head as if shaking away his thoughts. "Let me go inside and put a few things away. I trust you but not him and he doesn't need to see a few things for his own good." Volmar stated and gave another useless wipe at his blood crusted face, doing little to clean himself up.
With that, he strutted across a little wooden bridge that connected the land to a concrete landing which lead to a door. As soon as the man was in the door, Annette turned towards Link. She took a deep breath and exhaled in a shaky manner. Her hazel eyes were wide and she gave the door a glance.
"Okay, you're not going to like this, but I'll have to explain quickly." she began and Link folded his arms. She was probably right about him not liking it but he still didn't see where she fit in with this. He gave her his undivided attention, hoping that she would be able to clarify some things in the short time that he expected that they had.
"These guys are bad news and they're after your sword, or rather Volmar is after your sword. You can't say anything to make him or the rest believe that what's on your back is real and you absolutely can't say anything about my brother's journal. Please, Link, don't say anything. They've been trying to get their hands on these for years and they won't hesitate to rough you up if not kill you for it." she said in a rush and let her breath catch up with her.
"If I say anything that you know isn't true… please don't correct me. I don't want them to get the journal. I know that's asking a lot and you probably don't trust me much now but I'll do my best to explain everything later. For now, please trust me." Her words were desperate and pleading and he had never heard her like this. She didn't look him in the eye and her gaze was focused downwards towards the water.
He took a deep breath and tried to express what he was thinking, but he wasn't really sure what he was thinking. He knew that she was involved somehow in a mess with someone like Volmar but he didn't know how or why. He knew that if anything were to happen, he would come out okay just as he always did but he didn't want to be let down.
Still, the brunette hadn't let him down yet and he was somehow convinced that she wasn't going to. He wanted to trust her and he wanted to give her that chance. She had done nothing but help him and even if she wasn't who he thought she was, even if she wasn't a model citizen, she still helped him when he was down. He kept thinking of some way to say thanks, of some way to pay her back.
Maybe the best he could do now was to let her know that he trusted her?
"Okay, I promise." He spoke up, for the first time, his voice came out quieter than he intended. She looked up at him in surprise and her expression softened. "I won't say anything."
"You trust me?" she asked in disbelief and he gave her a nod.
"I trust you, even if I don't know what's going on."
"That's a poor choice around here, but I'm glad you do. I'll fill you in later, if you don't figure it out for yourself in a minute anyway." she said and rubbed her arm. The crisp scent of smoke still lingered in the air and Link remembered the mask that she had dropped when Volmar had abducted her like a maniac. The thought turned Link's mood sour.
"Did he hurt you when he grabbed you like that?" he asked, his hand wondering to his pouch where he had tucked the mask she dropped. She shook her head.
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me…" she trailed off and looked down at the scimitar she had forgotten that he was holding.
"Guess mom didn't find you so awful, huh? She's always trying to give me weapons so I'm glad she has someone else to dump that on now." she said, trying to diffuse the tension.
There wasn't time to respond as the door across the pool opened and Volmar poked his head out, tissues stuck in his nostrils. Link might have found it funny if he didn't already dislike the man. He gestured to them and held the door open.
On cue, Anne gave him a warning look and they both headed over to the door.
Link didn't know what he would discover inside, but he did know one thing. He trusted that Annette would tell him whatever he needed to know afterward.