Chapter 10: Memorable Malice; a Rescue Mission Laced with Danger

Path to Palashia's Premier Arc

Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda, this is just a Fanfiction.

Featured Music: "Ranked Amongst The World's Best" - The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass OST. Chapter Briefing.

"Ultramarine Deep" - YS VI: The Ark of Napishtim OST. Scene 1 (First & Second Half).

"Those Who Fight Further" - Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children OST. Scene 2 (Second Half).

"Factory City of Zeiss" - The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky FC OST. Scene 3 (Second Half).

Having just barely been robbed of his first-place victory in a titanically-explosive battle in the Hylian Hyrax tournament, Link fairly quickly licks through his wounds and decides to join the Prima World Tour; a martial arts tournament that tours 'round the continent of Aurelia in national play-offs before eventually culminating in the world championships themselves. In securing second place, at the very least he has a five-hundred point head-start on every other fighter, including his old rival and the boy that he once fought with in the ruined timeline in which he came from.

Raynard Van Garrick.

As they exchange their farewells and 'good games' with one another, however, the group follow their leader Impa to a nearby waterfall at Hylashia Road; a beautiful landmark teeming with wildlife and incredible sights. While there the group regain their strength as Impa puts the ever overconfident Link through his paces; their training bears fruit in the little lessons of 'okizeme' and patient fighting.

Something the brazen blonde youth could learn a thing or two about.

As they enter the lands of Palashia themselves, a metropolis known for its richness and beauty, the group are shocked by the size of the spire-like houses and businesses therein. The city is a perfect municipality fit only for those with the right Rupees; a fact that Impa lets the heroes in on as many Hylians and Aurelians spend their retirement there. Surprisingly, however, they also learn of injustices within Hylian history that have been conveniently omitted; when the Hylian members of their group begin to receive dirty looks and are treated shoddily, it is the knowledgeable Alwyn that explains what is missing.

In ancient history, before the 'Continental Divide', the entire world itself was once governed and led by the Hyrulean Royal Family themselves. During the old days, Aurelians such as the Gerudian people or the Palashians, were contracted and essentially enslaved; horrific lives that have echoed into the future via their surviving relatives. Although the poor Link, Zelda and Malon have done little wrong with their short lives, the surrounding Aurelians all blame them regardless simply for their telltale pointed ears; the signature of a Hylian.

Thinking ahead however Impa decides to utilise a chain inn by the name of 'The Sorcerer's Superstation'; a lodge that has existed since ancient times itself, once said to have been opened by the legendary figure himself in year one ACD (After the Continental Divide), the Sorcerer of the Divine Divide as a way of helping fellow Aurelians and Hylians on their travels throughout the continent of Aurelia. Thanks to the chain generally having no anti-Hylian sentiment, Impa has essentially managed to secure the children's safety; a crafty manoeuvre to fit the wily-minded Sheikah.

While there unfortunately they are approached by a nearby man by name of Paul claiming to have come from the 'Greymont Mines'; a mining area to the south of Palashia's main city of 'Rocknesse'. He explains desperately that his team, and the city's mayor, have all gone missing; an ambush that had apparently been planned for the visiting mayor and the people working within. Fear of the unknown does little to deter most of the heroes however and, with four votes to two, they all proceed under the well-held leadership of their advisor Impa to Greymont Mines.

On the way there the travelling Link can't help but draw connections to the missing Scaverin and the ambushes, however.

A fact that troubles him...

Scene 1

When the heroes arrived it was an unsurprisingly sparse location; only a single soldier stood at the edge of the entrance itself, geared out as if for war and dressed as if he were the commander. As the group all approached, led by Impa as always, the soldier stepped forward and issued forward his free left open palm as if to stop them in their march.

"Stop right there!" He called out, eyes narrowed beneath his white-shaded helm. "The Greymont Mines are off limits to civilians!"

"We came as a response to one of your mine's employees," Impa responded, calm as always in her frowning-faced contralto. "Apparently you require assistance?"

The soldier snorted in response, as if he were insulted. "We can handle this!"

"Seems to me like you're strugglin'." The grinning-faced Link shot back from behind her, rising his small arms up to rest behind his blonde-haired head, drawing a twitching scowl from the man.

"Regardless of your reasons this could be considered treason from one Aurelian country to another!" The commander called back angrily. "Now step back Hylian! We have no need for outsiders!"

"What about Gorons?"

The deep-voiced Barkner's rumble made the soldier turn his surprised frown up to face the large-bodied Goron himself, rising an eyebrow down at his smaller human form.

"And Zorans," the contrastingly frowning-faced Alwyn spoke up alongside his younger companion, placing a slim hand on his hip as he narrowed his eyes forward. "I understand we're essentially civilians as far as our position comes within this country... but don't make the same mistake in thinking we're not as skilled as you are either."

The man grunted out in annoyance, eyes narrowing beneath his helm. "What do you know of this? Hm?!" He called over. "This is a suspicious enough situation as it is! Our city's mayor has been taken hostage; I can do nothing from here!"

"Hostage?" Impa batted back, fire-red eyes narrowed curiously. "By whom?"

"We have no id- why in the holy name of the Sorcerer am I telling you any of this?!" The soldier exclaimed out frustratedly, shaking his head. "Begone civilians! We have no need!"

"I think you should accept any help you damn well get!" Malon bounced back angrily, placing her hands on her hips to display it. The listening Link couldn't help but wince as he stood next to her, drawing an amused chuckle from the watching Barkner. "When your back is against a wall and you have no options left, what else is there to do?!" She insisted passionately.

The soldier re-opened his mouth in his scowl, perhaps ready to shout back a series of insults in anger, before he at last sighed and shut his eyes. He re-opened them again to speak, calm in contrast. "All right... fine...," he conceded finally, shaking his head morbidly in response. The group exchanged victorious smiles as they marched toward him to close the distance. "There's a group of fiends within that have already managed to take hold of the last unit I sent in there," he began in explanation, frowning on as if he were speaking to new recruits. "They appeared suddenly, as if all-at-once; it makes no sense."

"How many?" Impa pressed him in a hardened narrow of her fiery red eyes.

"We're not sure," the soldier shook his head again. "It could be as many as a small army for all we know but it was easily enough to overwhelm a five-man battalion."

"Daaamn," the listening Barkner winced before he soon regained his enthusiastic grin and slamming his fist into an open palm. "More to wipe up then!"

"So what's the plan boss?" The ever-enthusiastic Link spoke as he flipped his head up to cast his ardent grin up toward the tall Sheikah above him.

She narrowed her eyes into the darkness of the unknown mine entrance before them before re-opening her own mouth to respond. "Four of us go in separately I think," she began turning to eye the members of the group. "Link, you're with me; we go in first."

"Can do!" The keen young Hylian nodded obediently, pumping a confident back-fist up at her in response.

"Alwyn, Barkner; you two follow us in, in a five minute interval, got it?" The Sheikah continued on, her brow furrowed on as she did. Alwyn nodded in response to her, as if she were his military commander, drawing a similarly-enthusiastic grin from the listening Barkner. He pumped up a rocky-bodied fist of his own and showed off his muscle, as if by way of agreement somehow.

Impa, of course, rolled her eyes but she chose to keep the small smile that they managed to get from her.

"Impa... what should we do?"

The Sheikah turned her curious-eyed head down to find the frowning Zelda and Malon staring up back at her and she soon regained her hardened business-like frown.

"Tend to any wounded we rescue," she ordered, drawing nods from the two children. "And, Zelda, be ready with that Aegir Art... just in case."

Knowing exactly what she was talking about, the frowning-faced princess bowed dutifully as she nodded in agreement. "Yes, of course."

"All right then, everyone fully briefed?" The Sheikah began in her hardened contralto, drawing nods from each and every member. "Then let's get going!"

Link grinned on in exuberance as he knocked his Mirror Shield roughly against the squeaking Keese that so aggressively charged at him before side-stepping gracefully to his right, giving the glaring-faced Impa room with which to spin 'round his own form and issue out a wide sweeping roundhouse. The squealing Lizalfos that attempted to strike at the retreating Link was thus slammed savagely across its face, sending it and its weapon tailspinning into the air ruthlessly before landing noisily, its lizard-like form burning up in the signature green-shaded fire that was so memorable of it.

CLANNNNG

As its small-sword knocked noisily against the ground the two heroes turned their contrasting expressions around them into the far-off darkness that they had surrounded themselves in. Link relaxed his stance and lowered the Gilded Sword he carried lightly as Impa relaxed her own into a firmly-frowning position. She reached up with her open-palmed left hand and narrowed her ruby-red gaze forward carefully as she blew on it.

Link watched on expectantly as his mentor brightened up the otherwise shadowy depths they stood in, the Aegir in her palm the catalyst. She reached up and placed the tiny orb of Quintessence on the crown of her head, as if to wear as a hat for a passive buff before turning to face the blonde boy.

"I don't like this," she admitted in her firmly-held frown. "The last time we saw Lizalfos like these was when..."

"I know," Link replied in a grinning-faced rolling of his oceanic-eyed gaze, leaning to his left as he utilised the Gilded Sword as a kick-stand; by stabbing its double-edged hilt directly into the soil below, he hung up casually, folding his arms back at her as he did. "You're worried it's Ganondorf again."

She winced lightly. "Not quite," she admitted. "Last I checked he's ruining the floors of our cells back in Hyrule Castle."

"So...," Link began again curiously, losing his sociable grin in place of a curious-faced frown, his brow furrowing as he leaned his small frame off the hilt of his sword. "You think it's one of his...?"

"Followers, maybe, yeah," the Sheikah elucidated on, nodding her silver-haired head as she did. "He was fairly charismatic, after all, lest we forget."

"I mean there was one," Link mused aloud in his own frown, re-folding his arms as he briefly lowered his eyes in thought before swiftly re-raising them to face her. "Do you remember his name?"

"Scaverin!"

The pair, surprised by the voice's interruption, swung their heads 'round, their senses on immediate alert. Link swiftly drew the Gilded Sword from his carefully-chosen resting place and narrowed his oceanic-eyed gaze forward through the darkness before them and the frowning Impa glared on as she re-opened her mouth.

"Who's there?!" She called out demandingly. "Identify yourself!"

"I-It's okay! I'm a friend, I promise!"

The frowning Link found himself exchanging a quizzical blink with his likewise unsure mentor before they re-faced the front.

"In here; I'm in here!"

The pair stepped closer toward the source of the baritone and, as they did, they found themselves within what seemed like a storeroom. Link cast his curious-eyed gaze 'round the many barrels of ore and minerals and collection of timber hanging on hardwood shelves to their left. As he turned his straw-haired head forward he found the cowering form of what looked like a small statured man, wearing fairly common clothing akin to miners.

"Y-You wouldn't happen to have brought those creatures with you, would you?" The miner asked worriedly, briefly wincing as he spoke. Link chuckled well-naturedly as he shook his head in response, placing a hand to rest on his green-clothed hip as he did.

"Nah," he answered. "We've already killed quite a few on our way here, actually," he began again, drawing a surprised and pleased smile from middle-aged man. "You one of the miner guys I take it?"

"Oh, thank the Sainted...," the man sighed out, concisely lowering and shutting his eyes before soon re-opening them to face the two. "You're here to rescue me, aren't you? I'm Nikos!"

"That's correct; I'm Impa and this is Link," Impa nodded, folding her arms as she always liked to, gesturing toward the grinning and waving youth on her lower-left. "Where's your companions? How many more of you are there and what happened to the soldiers that came in after you all?"

"They're all dead...," the newly-introduced Nikos moaned in a saddened cringe, joining his hands together as if to pray for them. "I watched them with my own eyes..."

"Which ones, the soldiers?"

"Y-Yes...," Nikos murmured out. "T-They didn't stand a chance..."

"What about the other miner guys?" Link pressed the man curiously, his frown regained. "Are they okay?"

"I-I don't know...," Nikos murmured out again, shaking his head as he suppressed back an audible sniff of sorrow. "I haven't seen them since we got separated; there was a huge lumbering beast that blew apart a large portion of the mine itself. We have no idea how it even got in!" He insisted, shaking his head like a madman, wincing on as he did. "It just suddenly appeared, as if from nowhere!"

Impa exchanged a knowing nod with the unusually-frowning Link before they re-faced the Palashian. "Where, exactly, did it appear... if you can remember?"

Nikos gulped down a load of nervous-gained saliva before nodding gravely and turning, presumably to lead the pair. When they reached what appeared to be a staircase leading down, the small statured man pointed directly down it, nodding toward it.

"Down there," he insisted. "If my friends and that goddess-forsaken monstrosity are anywhere... it's down there," he repeated before turning to re-faced the two. "If you're smart you'll escape with me. You can't fight that thing; it's not of this world."

"Thanks for the concern but I reckon we'll be fine," the ever-confident Link batted back, folding his arms as he did. "This ain't our first time."

"If you come back the way we came you'll bump into a Goron and a Zoran by names of 'Barkner' and 'Alwyn'," Impa quickly informed the small man, frowning on as she did. "They'll be making one last sweep of the mines to ensure all traces of fiends are eliminated."

"W-Who are you people...?" Nikos murmured out, eyes widened. "How can you still be sane and want to go down there...?!"

Link flashed his telltale grin back at the man as he responded. "We're the heroes my man! But only those that show up at the last minute!"

–

2

Having entered what seemed to be another storeroom located below the mine itself, the two heroes cast their curious-eyed gazes 'round the darkened corners just waiting to surprise them both. Thanks to the powerful light of Impa's Aegir, however, their position was secured and unlikely to receive any assaults or ambushes unwary.

"There's definitely something down here... I can feel it," Impa spoke up in a quietened but firmly-held frown, red eyes narrowing as she did. "Show yourself!"

A figure stepped forth from the darkness of the wide berth around them and a familiar one at that; as Impa's brow furrowed in suspicion the wide-eyed Link's frown quickly upturned into an excited open-mouthed grin.

"Ray!"

Sure enough, it was him; the winner of the previous Deadly Frenzy tournament and the national championship of Hyrule itself. The anti-social black-haired boy of Hylian origin stood frowning back at them, folded-armed as always; Raynard Van Garrick. Dressed as always in his weathered brown tunic, boots and tattered cape, he cast the pair a curious look and rose one of his raven-shaded eyebrows at them.

"What the hell are you two doing in here?" The young mercenary questioned, unfolding his arms as he stepped forward to join them. "The Palashian tournament ain't for another couple days and it ain't in here."

"That's my line," the suspiciously-eyed Sheikah spoke serrated, her brow furrowing forward through the flavouring of her firmly-frowning words. "Link, Alwyn, Barkner and I are all here to help the city out due to an infestation of monsters. I don't see why you should be any-"

"Come on Impa-sensei, lay off him," the grinning Link spoke up for his rival, stepping forward as he cast the surprised Sheikah a brief glance. Raynard rose a similarly curious-eyed eyebrow up as he watched the blonde step toward him. "I'm sure he's here for a perfectly reasonable reason!"

"Contract," the boy stipulated fairly quickly with, ever in his likewise business-like frown, unfolding his arms as he re-faced the suspicious Sheikah before him. "I was told there'd be work here for me."

"What kind of work?" Impa pressed him curiously, a single eye narrowing in scrutiny.

DROOM-CRASSSHHHH...

The group swung their heads 'round toward the source of the sudden and abrupt noise, glaring-faced and all. As the rest of what seemed to be the surrounding shelves blow apart from the mild explosion that sounded, so too was the cause at last revealed; a fearsome ebony Wolfos turned its snout to the ceiling and roared animalistically. The creature's blood-red eyes, a feature that would normally send chills down adventurer's spines, merely emboldened the grinning-faced Link and the scowling Raynard.

The young mercenary reached behind him and spun the huge steel halberd he normally sported so well in an expert twirl, glaring forward as he stood next to the party, apparently joining forces with them.

"That kind." He answered the Sheikah, drawing a half-smirk from the listening Link on his left.

RRROOOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRR

"Scatter!"

On command, the three adventurers shot in opposite ends of each other; Impa to the ceiling, Link to his sharp-left and Raynard to his right. Just as the Sheikah was concerned about, however, the giant Wolfos widened its beady blood-red eyes as it sent forth a huge paw to smash down on their original position. As expected, the ground exploded up in a beautiful show of rocks and debris. The glaring-faced Raynard darted across one of the still-standing shelves on the right, twirling his steel halberd before widening his eyes and leaping up high into the air.

The Wolfos, its eyes desperately watching the quickened forms of Impa and Link double-took in the high-flying Raynard's direction before it widened them, glaring back at the black-haired boy. It was only then, however that as its left pawed fist came careering to catch him in mid-air, it howled out in agony as the firmly-frowning Impa and grinning Link peppered its legs with slashes via their respective knife and sword.

CRRRRACK

HHHOWWWWLLL

Its attention having been successfully diverted by the two heroes beneath it, the gargantuan Wolfos cried to the heavens in sheer agony as the wide-eyed Raynard stuck the blade end of his halberd deep into its skull. Inevitably it swung its claws 'round its crown to madly swipe and assault the boy; he growled back in response as he shut one eye in brief concentration, darting his spiky-haired head out the way of each attempt before finally regaining command of his weapon in a sickening squelch.

CRRRRRRRACK

The Wolfos screamed in anguish again as the grunting Van Garrick short-hopped off the creature's crown, leaving it bloody-headed and blindly swiping up at the air after his fast-retreating form. Angered by the peppering it received below itself however, the Wolfos growled and roared a third time as it stomped its legs rather primally, channelling its beast-like Aegir to cause ripples and sheer earthquakes within the ground. Impa gasped as she landed on one of the broken shelves the creature destroyed earlier, her footing near dropping as it shook.

"We have to finish this quickly!" The Sheikah called out in an unusually-loud exclamation of desperation, ruby-red eyes narrowing in her grit-toothed scowl. "The mines will cave in and kill anyone else remaining in here!"

"I can do quick!" The grinning-faced Link shot out from below her, staring up at the blood-red eyes of his much larger enemy, his Kokiri-clothed body leant to the side as he spoke. "Watch this!"

FWIP

The air gave out a tiny little gasp; the only indication that the young Hylian had moved as his form almost completely disappeared from common view. Able to follow his lightning-quick manoeuvre, Impa and Raynard narrowed their eyes and darted around the room as the blonde-haired boy deftly shot around the room, his body knocking against each wall in acrobatic wall-kicks. The Wolfos was barely able to keep up, satanic eyes widened as it howled and bellowed in its wild-swiped assaults, never finding its mark.

Raynard landed on one of the debris-filled shelves and glared on as he watched his straw-haired rival zip 'round the mines, slashing and swiping at the yelping jackal, his Gilded Sword filled with his signature element of fire.

"He's already faster than when we fought two days ago..."

The anti-social boy's doubtful ruminations were spiced only with a half-appreciative upturn into an amused smirk; perhaps at the thought of a challenge, Raynard carried his grin into the air with an acrobatic somersault of his own, halberd in hand. Impa double-took in his direction, her eyebrows rising up to match the shock she registered with her eyes.

"Raynard, no!" She called out.

But by then, it was far too late; the impertinent youth had already committed to his assault.

Sure enough, almost as if it were reading the very mind of the shouting Sheikah herself, the nameless black Wolfos swung its large head in its attacker's direction before widening its hellfire-red eyes and howling forward, utilising its huge clawed paws alongside it. In response the gasping Raynard found his plunging attack halted dead-centre in mid-air; his tree-shaded eyes widened and, realising the gargantuan Wolfos had somehow tricked him, he found he couldn't move even his limbs. He darted his horrified eyes in search of the cause and clocked the powerful Quintessence that the Wolfos had utilised; seemingly a commanding invisible prison applied with its intimidating glare.

A fatal mistake and one too many.

Raynard's eyes twitched in his terrified scowl as he hung in mid-air; unable to move, he could only watch as the Wolfos pulled back its right paw with which to attack. Even as the gasping Link landed from his last pass and he attempted to interrupt the beast, the Wolfos merely used its free paw to slap the yelling youth back whence he came into a tailspinning retreat.

"Is this how it ends...?"

Raynard's frightened meditation was one that reflected the regret laced through his great dread; something the cape-wearing boy at last came to terms with. As he slowly shut his eyes in silent defeat, he waited for the growling Wolfos to end his life.

KRRRR...

DROOM-BROOM

SWISH-HOWWWL

The watching Impa and Link widened their eyes in similarly-held shock when they found the hulking beast retreating its arm in howling pain; when they swung their eyes in search of the cause, they found a pair of Zoran fins flying through the air, having previously struck the Wolfos in its pass, and a large wall of earthen material.

Presumably it was a shield of some kind.

The head-shaking Link, realising who they both belonged to, cast his grateful grin directly below him in a friendly salute.

The likewise-faced Barkner stood in a low-held position; his two rocky-bodied arms gripping at the ground below him, presumably to craft the earthen shield that saved Raynard's life, as he turned his Goron head up to face the Hylian.

"Sorry we're late!" He called up, ever exuberantly.

The grunting Alwyn dropped his comparatively slim form next to the sighing Impa, raising up his forearms to catch his boomerang-like fins with. The Zoran nodded his head twice; both in the respecting Impa's direction and the ever-grinning Link's.

"Took ya both long enough!" The audacious Hero of Time shot over to the well-known pair, his arms folded as he did. "One second later and I'd have had to stop playin' around to save Ray!"

Listening in on the conversation, and released from his torment from the Wolfos by now, the narrow-eyed Raynard's deeply-disapproving frown fairly quickly morphed into an angered scowl, his pride having been damaged by the encounter.

RRRROOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRR

The deep guttural bellow that rent the air managed to shock-awake the rest of the standing fighters. They tensed their senses together and readied themselves only to find the wide-eyed Wolfos pressing its assault down on the closest available foe; the narrow-eyed Barkner below it. As it shot down to slam its clawed legs and paws down in attack, the firmly-frowning Goron shot up his earthen-blessed fists to block and parry the strikes in an amazing defensive display that left the watching heroes in reverent grins and frowns.

"All right!" The excited Link called out, pumping a morale-filled fist up to embolden his comrade before leaping off the debris-filled rafter he stood on, presumably to give chase.

As the Wolfos sent its left fist careering down in one final assault, Barkner widened his chestnut-brown eyes and grappled with it. Having obviously seen the attack coming he responded with an effective and powerful reversal that saw him pulling the gargantuan creature's form over his sheer shoulder; an incredible display of physical strength that left the watching Impa, Alwyn and Raynard in widened eyes of their own. Barkner gave vent to a loud call of effort as he sent the Wolfos swinging overhead into the wreckage-filled ground behind him with both muscled arms, renting the very mines themselves into a powerfully-shaking earthquake.

CRASSSSH-DROOOOOM

The Wolfos grunted out, its bones suffering in the assault, before it re-widened its beady blood-red eyes only to find the glaring-faced Alwyn high above it, fast-descending down in a somersault kick.

SLAM-CRRRRACCCCKKK

The Wolfos' own scowl was lost to it and it couldn't even howl in the agony; its eyes widened a second time following its last assault and its mouth opened but no sound of torment came from it. As the grunting Zoran soldier leapfrogged off of the Wolfos' body, however, he left it open to further assault; something that the group did not refuse. The glaring Impa re-appeared at the wolf's head and narrowed her fire-shaded eyes as she swung a knife directly into the beast's growling neck, drawing large amounts of blood and anguish. It rumbled deep within its bleeding throat as it tried, in vain, to swipe its claws away at the head-darting Sheikah's form.

"Rgh... just... die already..." The woman muttered out disdainfully, eyes glaring down at its bleeding form.

As the contrastingly grinning Link dropped down from the ceiling's debris, he cast his sociable cheer on the relatively introverted Raynard on his left. He twirled the Gilded Sword 'round his left fingers expertly as he began to advance forward in a gradual march that the frowning Raynard duplicated, reaching back for his own steel halberd.

"You up for this?" The ever cheery-grinning Link asked in a deft up-raise of his head. The frowning Raynard double-took in the blonde's direction before briefly lowering his head, shutting his eyes and grinning lowly back.

"Hmph... fine."

FWIP

FWIP

In merely six words shared together, the two leapt up in a simultaneous somersault, fast-descending down in a plunging assault that saw them digging their weapons deep into the wide-eyed Wolfos' broken torso.

HHHOWWWWWLLLL...

In one final gasp the vanquished beast's eyes rolled up behind the back of its head; the last signature of its defeat. Impa, Link and Raynard all widened their eyes as they flipped and back-stepped to avoid the inevitable green-shaded fire that encompassed its gigantic figure, leaving the mines at last free of its rampage of destruction.

When the emerald-shaded fire surrounding the giant Wolfos' corpse at last dissipated, alongside the body it covered, the ever-grinning Link sheathed his Gilded Sword and shot forward a bold-faced gesture. He rose up his index and forefinger together into the air together, the rest of his fingers and thumb all clenched up into a small fist.

"All right!" He exclaimed out excitedly. "That's cool!"

–

3

"Thank Din there ain't no guts after that...," Barkner winced out as he stepped forward to join the growing party of five, placing his hands upon his hips as he did. "That thing was huge...!" He ended out in a cringing hiss.

"Too big to be a normal Wolfos... that's for certain," the frowning-faced Impa agreed with the Goron as she twirled the knife she carried 'round her fingers expertly before bringing up a small cloth to rid its steel blade of its victim blood. "Whatever was in here... was called somehow."

"Y'mean like it was summoned?" The newly-frowning Link asked, lowering his outstretched left hand to raise a straw-haired eyebrow up at the Sheikah.

"Could be...," she sighed unknowingly, eyes briefly shut as she twirled the knife a second time before deftly sheathing it on her belt. "There's no way to know for sure."

"Would he have something to do with it?" The folded-armed Alwyn spoke up in an accusing nod, directing all surprised attention toward the surprised Raynard standing in the centre of the group; the black-haired boy darted his tree-shaded eyes around them before his scowl twitched and he shut his own eyes in response.

"Hmph...," the similarly stoic mercenary merely grunted back. "If you really think I'm connected with an open contract on this thing then you're stupider than you all look." He simply shot back, his irritated scowl showing a lack of patience with the group.

Alwyn exchanged an unsure hardened frown of his own with the head-shaking Impa, almost as if to dissuade him from pressing the black-haired boy any further.

Without any evidence to support their claims, after all, they had little to work with.

"Ahhh he's fine," the ever-sociable Link threw into the conversation, stepping forward and ringing his right arm 'round the anti-social mercenary's neck casually, grinning on as he always liked to. "He's just a little weird... aint'cha?" He pressed the boy with as he cast him his friendly grin. Raynard stared back at him, folded-armed and all and eyebrow-raised, before eventually regaining his old low smirk. He shut his chestnut-shaded eyes before lightly lowering his head and responding in his usual standoffish way.

"Hmph."

"In any case...," the sighing Impa began again as she cast her eyes 'round the debris-filled battlefield they had just fought in, placing a hand on her hip as she did. "We should probably go locate the missing mayor and any remaining survivors holed up here."

The grinning-faced Barkner saluted as the contrastingly-frowning Alwyn merely nodded in acknowledgement. Raynard, however, huffed as he swung his spiky-haired head out of the arm-lock that his rival placed him in, presumably to go marching off toward the staircase behind them to leave.

"My contract's over so I'm out of here," he called over his shoulder, unfolding his slim arms, marching on as he did. "Later."

Although the watching Impa narrowed her fire-red eyes on after the leaving Raynard in a suspiciously-held gaze, the ever-grinning Link slammed his left fist into his openly-held right palm, drawing the Sheikah's attention.

"Sounds good boss!" He called out. "Where we lookin' first?"

Following their quick but harrowing battle with the mysteriously-summoned giant Wolfos, the party eventually managed to find the remaining survivors; a group of men working within the mines that tendered their thanks, alongside the present mayor of Palashia himself.

Lavrentius Marino.

Although the group were left with virtually no answers following the mysterious invasion and accident within, they were thanked not only by the remaining miners but by the office of the grateful mayor himself; something that served them rather well within the bustling city of Palashia, and the upcoming Deadly Frenzy national championship tournament. Once inviting them up to his private manse to thank them personally, he took the time to introduce himself with the newer members of Impa's party.

Mainly Zelda and Malon.

"I had expected you'd have all been a group of fighters," the slim man smiled in their direction from across his desk, using a crutch for his right arm, seemingly having been damaged in the original attack. "As I said before... we're truly lucky you all came to our rescue," Lavrentius spoke again, smiling as he nodded toward the ever-grinning Link and frowning-faced Impa. Barkner, his arms folded, nodded forward in his own respectful grin, drawing only a simple nod of frowning acknowledgement from the standing Alwyn. "We all owe you our lives... thank you all, sincerely."

"Hey don't worry about it. Thank that other miner guy; Paul," Link threw in casually, raising up his slim arms to rest behind his green-hat head; an old habit. "He's what got us the info that helped us help you guys."

Lavrentius smiled again in an appreciative chuckle, nodding. "I'll have to thank him as well then...," the purple-haired man claimed. "So... you are all involved in the...?"

"Deadly Frenzy tournament, yeah," Barkner answered the man politely, grinning on as his younger Hylian comrade loved to. "We've just come from the national championships held in Hyrule."

"Ahhh Aurelia's capital!" Lavrentius smiled on in an understanding nod of his own before casting the standing Zelda a knowing look. "That'll be why our continent's princess is gracing us with her presence, hm?"

The blonde girl smiled similarly from her position next to the grinning Link, hands joined at her back. "Something like that."

"Do you have any information at all about what may have caused the appearance of that fiend?" Impa questioned the man curiously, re-folding her armoured arms as she did. "Normally when creatures show up in small number it's nothing to be concerned about, but..."

"But when one as large as that does it's a wonder it was even hid from the public," Alwyn finished for his commander in an accusing narrowed eye, frowning on firmly as he spoke. "Someone called it," the Zoran soldier claimed. "And we need to know who."

Palashia's mayor sighed softly through his throat and lowered his head as he leaned back against his desk, strands of his purple-shaded hair dropping over the spectacles he sported so well. "I wish I could tell you all, genuinely," he answered at last, re-raising his head to face the unsure group before him. "I was there to do my monthly inspection and to share recognition with a particular miner for his outstanding contributions to Greymont, but...," he began again, shaking his head a second time doubtfully. "It just all happened so quickly."

"I don't imagine anyone would have been able to prepare," Malon spoke up from Zelda's right, hands on her hips. "Wasn't the whole regiment that the Palashian military sent in wiped out by the fiends?"

"That's correct," Lavrentius nodded gravely, frowning back at the fire-haired girl. "There's almost no way of knowing... but I know what you mean," he began again, turning his frowning-faced scepticism over to eye the suspicious-eyed Sheikah on his right. "There's something about it that just doesn't add up."

"Y'got that for sure," Link agreed with the group in his jolly-grinning nature. "Anyway... I'm just glad we could be there to help," he offered in his light and friendly chuckle. "And so close to the tournament too!"

"I'll have to secure seats for you all in the audience stands," the well-natured mayor chuckled on, his eyes briefly shut as he spoke. "A small token of my gesture of thanks."

"We appreciate that," Impa smiled back genuinely. "It's not too difficult for the participants to watch, given they get a good view from the competitor's box, but for the rest of us it can be a difficult case to even see what's happening with how popular these tournaments can be."

"Ah!" The newly-frowning Lavrentius called out, as if surprised by his memory. He soon regained his smile, this time sly in nature, and swung it 'round on the group of youths. "You all know what the number one prize is to be this year in the Pathos of Palashia's Premier, don't you?" He asked the grinning-faced Link, drawing a blinking-eyed frown from him in response.

The blonde exchanged an unsure shrug with the head-shaking Zelda and Malon before re-facing the older man. "A trophy...?"

The mayor chuckled knowingly. "In a sense...," he began again in a suggestively-light grin, drawing curious-eyed stares from the listening group. "I hear the Palashian royal family has offered their kingdom up for grabs for whoever becomes the Palashian martial arts champion this year."

Impa's eyebrows shot up in surprise and she held back a gasp. "Is this true?"

Link grinned on, placing a hand on his hip in another of his old habits when talking to people. "Sounds like fun!" The former Kokiri claimed confidently. "So what would I do if I win? Be Palashia's king or something?"

Barkner held back sniggers from the side, drawing the blonde's curiosity and doubtfulness. Before long even the frowning-faced Alwyn began to smirk alongside the silent mayor across from him.

"I don't get it; what's-?" Malon began, unsure in her own blinking-eyed frown before, suddenly and all at once she made the connection; her sky-blue eyes widened and she turned her eyes away from the group, an embarrassed red tint to her cheeks taking over.

Obviously it was some form of realisation.

Link's newly-gained frown turned annoyed and he looked over at the similarly-smiling Zelda next to him; she merely shook her likewise-haired head at him, almost as if to disincline his silent request.

"I get it!" The brashly blonde boy called out in an abrupt grin before deftly lowering his smirk in favour of a bored-faced frown. "I don't get it...!" He finished out in a comically-voiced hiss, eliciting an eventual burst-out laugh from the listening Barkner next to them. Zelda giggled on in amusement with him as Malon and Impa rolled their eyes. At last, however, the Hylian princess opted to throw him a bone; she leaned in to his side and began to whisper in his small and pointed ear. His frown perked up and he blinked on silently as he listened.

Soon enough, when he took in what she said, he swung his blonde-haired head back 'round to re-face her in a horrified open-mouthed frown almost as if for her to confirm. She smiled back as she nodded in affirmation, joining her small hands together at her centre as she always liked to.

"B-But then I can't win!" He cried out in his worried frown, drawing another booming laugh from the listening Goron. Lavrentius chuckled lightly, lowering his purple-haired head as he did in a deft shake.

"Better hope you don't!" The man wisely stated. "I hear the family of Palashia's princess is very controlling," he claimed, leaning his body to his left, as if to avoid any unnecessary pain on his right side. "However, that said... winning the Palashian championship and a young woman's hand in marriage?" The man started a second time, this time in a thoughtful-faced frown. "You'd have your whole life set out for you! At least financially!" He smiled on positively.

"Ech!" The horrified Link called back, rising up his left hand as if in disgust. "I'm only eleven! Who knows how old that hag is! I'm still just a k-"

Lavrentius smiled back in an affirming nod of his own. "Yes, princess Vassia is fast-approaching thirteen herself so you're not even that far apart," he spoke on in his calm baritone before blinking in a light frown, as if forgetting something. "Age-wise anyway." He amended in a light chortle.

"She's even older than you are...!" Barkner whispered out suggestively in his amused grin, leaning to his right to nudge the unamused blonde boy's left side. He turned his oceanic-eyed gaze 'round to deadpan stare back at him in a comically-faced frown, drawing entertained looks from the rest of the room. "You can't say no to that!"

"No!"

The group swung their heads 'round in surprise, only to find the source of the soprano as the firmly-frowning face of Malon, running in to wrap her slim arms 'round the surprised Link's neck. He drew out a surprised gasp as she pulled him toward her, his cheeks turning red out of inevitable embarrassment.

"Gagh!"

"It'd be like sending off an animal to die!" The passionately-voiced farm girl called out, her arms growing tighter as she spoke. "I refuse to let that happen!"

"M-Malon...! C-Can't breathe...!"

Suddenly realising she was being called, the auburn-haired girl blinked before turning her frown down on the hissing and gasping boy in her possession. She winced and immediately let go of his neck, allowing him to regain his own space once more; he gasped away in relief and cracked his neck from side-to-side as if to restore feeling to it. The watching group all exchanged amused looks, drawing laughs from the more sociable side of them.

"I always knew you are a dog!" The grinning Barkner called out affectionately, nudging the Hylian boy a second time. Link swung his straw-haired head 'round however and barked back at him by snapping his jaws in a rather noisy and childish gesture that sent the wide-eyed Goron laughing back to his usual position.

"In any case...," the chuckling Lavrentius spoke lightly, shaking his head as he wiped away a single tear, presumably of hilarity. "I should let you all go; I imagine you're all dying to get some rest after all that action."

"Thank you, mayor Lavrentius," Impa nodded forward in a grateful-faced smile. "For the tickets and for the hospitality."

–

4

Barkner let loose a long and tired yawn, stretching his rocky-bodied arms as he entered into his room.

"Whew! What a day," the Goron began, glad to be at the end of it as he strode lightly toward what seemed to be his bed on the other end of the room. "I can say we did some good today, at the very least!" He grinned on in satisfaction as he finished his march, reaching down for the quilt covers below.

It was only when he double-took to his top-left that he dropped his grin in favour of a surprised frown, finding only the frowning-faced Zelda staring back at him in the bed far across from him. The curious Goron darted his eyes between her unsure form and the door he just walked through, quizzical and puzzled.

"Sir Barkner this isn't your room," the young princess claimed as she sat up from her lying position, revealing the clothes she had picked out presumably for sleeping with. "What are you doing in here?"

"But...?" The Goron began again, turning his eyes away in deep thought as he pulled out the brass-shaded room key that he stood in. His dark-brown eyes widened however in sudden realisation, his mind quickly going back to his last encounter with their red-haired companion. Zelda, sensing his suspicions, rose up her light-blonde eyebrows and widened her ocean-shaded eyes to match. "That cheeky motherf-!"