Hello everyone! I'm happy to say we finally made it to Chapter 100! This time Link's fury has proven to be unstoppable, and the Gerudo are the only ones standing between him and the knights! Can they prevent a total war to break out and save both Hyrule and Gerudo Valley? Read and find out!
"Captain Andreas, I have an urgent matter to discuss with you!"
Impa shouted out as she ran down the path of Gerudo Canyon towards the bridge that went out into Hyrule. Accompanied by her was her two knight guards, Sir Knave and Sir Lackey.
"Woah it's Lady Impa!" spoke one of the knights, as he and some of them saluted, but Captain Andreas lowered his hand to make them stop.
Ashe saw Impa and her eyes widened, she had heard many great things about he Princess Zelda's nanny, mainly her being a skilled ninja of the all-but-extinct Sheikah, and how she had recently become a mother.
One of the knights looked at Sir Knave for a second and whispered to another, "Why is one of her bodyguards in his underwear and a poncho?"
"The Gerudo must have weird taste." whispered another.
"And just what are you doing out here, caretaker of the royal family?" spoke Andreas, scowling at Impa from under his galea helmet, "Shouldn't you be busy changing the diapers of your new child..." he smirked slightly, "...or that of the Princess Zelda?"
Impa narrowed her eyes, "I have an important mission I'm on. What I'm more curious about is what you're doing out here? As far as I recall it's not the royal captain's duty to go out on field missions unless in extreme emergencies..."
"If you must know, I've been informed of just that." Andreas spoke, "It seems that the new Gerudo King is approaching the bridge with killing intent, I made it my duty to prevent him from crossing the border into Hyrule Field tonight."
'So Lady Nabooru's hunch was right. They couldn't have gotten here so soon without advance warning, Andreas already knew about this well before Link even disappeared,' Impa thought to herself, 'Just who was it that tipped him off though...?'
"It's our job as Hylian Knights to protect this land from those who would bring suffering to it and it's people." Andreas spoke, "And we shall not allow the Gerudo King to lay one foot onto Hyrule soil."
The knights all cheered out at Andreas' words, but Impa, Knave and Lackey all looked to each other with uncertainty.
"Listen, from what we've seen the Gerudo King is merely striking down wild monsters and bandits causing trouble in the area, I'm sure this threat of danger from him is just a misunderstanding by your source." Lackey said.
"Yes, you should return to Hyrule Castle for now and rest, we'll keep an eye on things here and report back if there's any cause for alarm." Impa spoke.
"Hmph. If there's no threat, then there would be no reason to tell us to leave, would there?" Andeas suggested, "Fear not, Hyrule will be safe so long as we stand our ground here."
Impa frowned, she could tell there was a hint of awareness to Andreas' words,
"Is that really all here is to it? I've heard the rumors circulating around you Captain; that all the wars you've participated in has given you a bloodlust for battle, and you desire to fight a war as grand as those you had in your youth."
Andreas stared down at Impa for a brief moment. Despite the intimidating stare he gave her that frightened many a solider in the army and made them bend to his will, Impa did not even flinch at the sight of it.
"... …rumors will be rumors." Andreas spoke, "But I will say if the Gerudo king dares strike down one of my men, then wartime may very will be upon us. That is all."
'He would go this far over that twisted desire of his...' Impa thought to herself with a scowl, she shouted, "Hold your men back or I'll see to it the princess hears of this!"
"Heh... your princess? Go right ahead. She's merely a figurehead of the royal family, her sole goal being to breed and produce the next heir in her line." Andreas spoke, "She has no influence over me or the Parliament outside of pointing out trivial technicalities in the law. It won't be long before we have no need for her, or the royal family."
"Why you...!" Impa took a step forward, but was held back by Lackey and Knave.
"Come Lady Impa, let's head back." Lackey assured Impa, turning and walking off with her, but taking one last sharp look at the Hyrule army's captain.
"I can't believe that bastard!" Impa scowled as they walked back to the Gerudo's camp, "He's willing to risk the lives of his own men to go to war with the Gerudo?"
"Don't worry Lady Impa," Lackey assured her, "Trust me when I say none of us will allow something as horrible as that to happen."'
"So no luck then?" Nabooru asked Impa as she and her team arrived back at the camp, to which Impa shook her head.
"No, and you were right about him knowing what was going on. It seems Captain Andreas has no qualms about sending his men in to die by Link's hand." Impa sighed.
"Damnit..." Nabooru spoke, "If we can't back down the knights, our only chance is to stop Link before he gets too close to the bridge. I'm just weary of how he's acting due to the power tonic..."
"You mentioned before about a rebellion, I never would had thought they'd go to such extreme measures with that power tonic as you said." Impa spoke, "I had a talk with Granny Truttlo in Kakariko Village after Link and Dr. Sarami dropped her off, and she told be about some of the experiments she was made to do. I've talked to the Parliament about this but it fell on deaf ears."
"Yes, it's only a matter of time before Mother Eclipsis plans her attack on Hyrule Castle. I can only hope things go well enough with the meeting. But if we can't stop Link here, we may never get that chance." Nabooru muttered.
She looked over to see Link's fiances all looking to each other worriedly; Aviel, Saria and Togau were huddled together, Nemisa was looking off in the distance, Sarami was trying to focus on her research into the tonic but clearly shaking, while Kesuta and Korume were both on their knees in prayer begging for the goddesses to do something to help Link.
"So what do we do then?" Knave spoke worriedly, "Is there anything we can do to help him?"
"...stopping him is one thing... helping him... I'm not so sure.." Nabooru spoke.
"Huh? What are you talking about Lady Nabooru?" Kesuta asked.
"If we have no other choice, we may have to put a stop to him for good..." Nabooru spoke distantly.
"Wait, you're not suggesting we may have to kill Link do you?" Nemisa exclaimed, causing the others to gasp out.
"Now hold on a minute Nemisa, I'm sure Lady Nabooru don't mean somethin' like that!" Togau said, turning to their leader, but there was an awkward pause, "...don't cha?"
"...I don't like to think that way... but you've seen what that tonic can do to others Togau." Nabooru said, "Remember back the Moblin you fought from the rebel factory?"
"Oh... yeah..." Togau muttered sadly, "B-But that still ain't right! This is Link we're talkin' 'bout!"
"No one we've encountered after taking the power tonic has lived to tell about it..." Nabooru continued, "Sheeva was the sole exception, but that was due to a blessing by the goddess of beasts Uvooru, and we can't just gamble that Link will be saved by our goddesses this time..."
"Ugh, I feel absolutely sick about the idea, but he was rather fierce when we fought earlier..." Nemisa said as she looked down at her arm bands, which were pretty damaged now.
"After we saw what he had done to those marauders in the canyon..." Saria whispered softly, "You don't think he'll do the same to the knights, do you...?"
"..."
"Nabooru, you don't seriously think he's that far gone...?" Korume asked, clutching at her own arm.
"...it's okay, I won't expect any of you to deal with him directly." Nabooru whispered, "I think have a plan to stop him, and if it comes down to it..."
She looked out in the distance, down the road they knew Link was traveling. The girls all looked to Nabooru in shock as she spoke out to them,
"...before he can hurt anyone else, I'll strike down our king myself."
Sarami gasped out as she saw the look in Nabooru's eyes, she recalled seeing that pained expression once before, back when she had told her about what she had gone through while the doctor had been living at Kakariko Village...
The doctor thought to herself, 'Nabooru, please don't tell me you suspect that he's becoming-'
"NO!" shouted a voice that got everyone to turn to Aviel, who was looking at Nabooru angerly with small tears in her eyes, "I refuse! I love Link too much to let you do that!"
"I'm with Aviel on this one, how dare you even consider something so terrible Lady Nabooru!" Kesuta shouted.
"Look, I'm not saying I absolutely have to do it, I'm saying if it comes down to that point I may have no other choice!" Nabooru stated, trying to remain as calm as possible.
"It's easy for you to say something like that Lady Nabooru, you're not engaged to him!" Aviel said as tears went down her cheeks. She pointed out her finger straight at Nabooru, "You don't care about him the way he cares about you!"
Nabooru stood there with wide eyes at Aviel's accusation as the bodyguard continued to shout to the head lady,
"He's done so much for all of us! If it weren't for him I'd still be a lookout guard that just stayed out of everyone's way, Nemisa would still have a stick up her butt,"
"Hey!"
"Togua would have had a kid without a husband, Dr. Sarami would have still been too afraid to even have a kid, Kesuta and Korume would..." Aviel looked sadly over to the twin sisters, who recalled what happened back at the Spirit Temple,
"Aviel..." Nabooru whispered, admittingly impressed Aviel understood her family so much.
"I don't care what you think of Link, but I'm still his bodyguard, and I'm going to save him no matter what!" shouted Aviel, "He's our friend and husband, and we love him! If you forgot about that than we'll just have to save him ourselves!"
"That's right, I'm with Aviel too," Saria said putting a hand on her arm, "We'll find a way to get through to Link without having to take his life!"
Nabooru could only watch as Nemisa, Togau, Sarami, Kesuta and Korume all gathered with Aviel in agreement as well.
"It seems your people have chosen their way Lady Nabooru." Impa said with a small smirk, "As the caretaker of the princess I can understand you feel you need to do what's best for your people, but you need to take into account their own feelings as well."
"..." Nabooru said nothing at first, but looked downcast as she realized how far she had almost gone in pursuit of protecting her people. In some ways, it was close to how far Link was trying to go for revenge against the knights...
"Hey! Hey guys! Help me out here!" shouted a gasping voice, getting everyone's attention.
They all saw it to be Reirousa coming up the path, carrying six Gerudo women on her back. She came to a stop, her legs shook a bit, before she fell to the ground. The girls she was carrying all fell on top of her in a pile.
"Reirousa! Thanks the goddesses you're okay!" Saria exclaimed.
"Link didn't do this to you did he?" Nemisa asked, recalling they left her and the guards to stop him.
"Eh... he didn't beat me up too badly..." Reirousa groaned out.
"Everyone, get General Reirousa and these girls over to the sleeping mats we brought!" Sarami called out to the others, "I'll see to their injuries immediately!"
"Seriously, I said I'm fine..." Reirousa muttered, "Just make sure the girls are okay..."
"Nonsense Reirousa, you're getting treatment too." Saria said, putting a reassuring hand on her forehead, "You're a part of us too after all."
"...uh, thanks..." sighed Reirousa as Nabooru and Togau both got her up to her feet.
"How did ya even find us anyway?" Togau asked, turning into her Lynel form so she could help Nabooru lift the hulking woman, "I woulda figured you'd just go right back to town."
"Ugh... cause I'm the one that helped Lady Nabooru plot out this route." Reirousa said, "I noticed some footprints that led up the path and figured you girls might be going here to stop Link before he gets to the bridge."
Nabooru sported a slight smile, admiring the woman's tactical skills, it was part of why she relied on her so much for defending their home.
"Wait a minute, I recognize this woman!" Nemisa exclaimed, looking over one of the Gerudo Reirousa had been carrying, it was the Ebony Sisterhood engineer Meokuro. She was laying on the ground with her eyes spiraling, "She's the rebel we dealt with back at that factory, the one who was having Sarami's mentor make the power tonic!"
"So she was the one behind Granny Truttlo's disappearance two years ago..." Impa spoke.
"Huh? That was a rebel? Oops." Reirousa said as she was being looked over by Sarami and Saria, "I found her on the path and picked her up along the way."
"Wakey wakey, you rebel scum..." Korume muttered, poking Meokuro on the forehead a few times.
"Uuughh..." Meokuro stirred, getting herself up and rubbing her head, "What's for breakfast...?" she looked around at all the Gerudo women staring at her. She pulled up her goggles and blinked a few times to get her eyes into focus until she realized who they all were. There was an awkward pause as she sat up staring at them.
"...o-oh, is it still night out? Guess I better go back to sleep." Meokuro said, laying down on her side and shutting her eyes, "Good night!"
"WAKE UP ALREADY!" shouted everyone in frustration.
"Esooooluuuu!"
"Hey lady, where'd ya go off to?!"
"Ugh, still no signs of her..."
"Come out, come out where ever you aaarrrre!"
"We're not playing hide and seek Skuld."
Ruto, Darunia, Link-Goron, Vekai and Skuld were all walking down the route of the canyon, trying to find out where the Link's mute child-bearer Esolu went. Zopem stayed behind with Oton, with Ruto being forced to promise not to directly engage with Link if he showed himself to be dangerous.
"Honestly, just how did she make so much progress with that child-heavy body of hers?" Ruto sighed out, "I'm so worried about her."
"Why do you think that lady left to begin with?" Skuld asked, looking under a small pebble in a failed attempt to find the woman.
"I have a feeling she was looking to find Link." spoke Vekai as she was holding Esolu's sketch pad, "She must have been worried about him after we told her what had happened."
"So she's just as much worried as we are." Darunia sighed.
"She might also be blaming herself for what's happened to him, the poor dear." Ruto spoke sadly.
"Hey guys! We found her!" shouted Tatl as she flew up to the group along with her brother Tael.
"She's just ahead, come on!" Tael shouted, he and his sister escorting them all a little ways more down the road until they saw just who they were looking for.
Esolu was gasping out for breath, leaning against a rock for support as her pregnant body was awkward to carry around. She looked out at the path as she thought about Link, before getting back up to continue waddling down the road, but was stopped by Ruto suddenly running up and embracing her.
"Esolu, there you are, dear!" sobbed Ruto, "We were so worried about you!" Esolu was surprised from Ruto and the other ambassadors finding her like this.
"Here, you forgot this." Vekai said, handing Esolu her sketch pad, which she accepted and hugged close to her chest, nodding to the Kokiri as if to thank her.
"Come on, and let's get back to the palace!" Darunia said, "You got a kid coming, and you need to rest before she buds off your stomach!"
"That's not how it works!" Tatl shouted.
Esolu paused for a second, before rapidly shaking her head as if to disagree with them. She took her sketch pad and flipped through the pages, before coming to one particularly detailed sketch she did of Link. He was lounging back on a pillow in the nude, and sporting a very exaggerated masculine expression, flashing a wide toothy smile and holding a rose between his teeth.
"Oh my." Vekai said with a light blush, her fairy companion tried to obscure her sight of the drawing.
"You really are worried about him that much..." Tael spoke softly, affirming the belief of the others.
"Hey Esolu is there any chance I can buy a copy of that sketch from you...?" Ruto whispered to the mute woman.
"Queen Ruto..." Tael coughed out loud.
"Oh right! We need to get you back!" Ruto said, starting to take Esolu back.
But the mute woman pulled herself away and held up the sketch again, pointing at Link. She looked to everyone with a sad look in her eyes,
The others all looked to each other, uncertain of what exactly to do about her...
Back with Nabooru and the others, they were all confronting the rebel Meokuro, who was no longer pretending to be awake, but now bound up in ropes with multiple bumps all over her head.
"You guys suck." Meokuro pouted.
"I knew you rebels were behind all of this!" Aviel squawked while waving her wings, "You better change Link back to normal right now!"
"I didn't have anything to do with what happened to the false king! And quit shoutin' in my ear!" Meokuro shouted back.
"Wait, yer tellin' the truth there?" Togau asked.
"Of course I am! Why the hell would the Ebony Sisterhood want the false king killing a Hylian solider?! I was under orders from Mother Eclipsis to form a tower defense and stop him!" Meokuro stated.
"I figured as much." Nabooru said stepping up, "The rebels aren't ready to declare war on Hyrule just yet, and doing anything to instigate it right now would get in the way of their plans."
"Exactly, this would just as disastrous for us as it would be for you!" Meokuro said nodding her head.
"But Ms. Meokuro..." Saria said, "We found traces of your FZ-501 tonic and the hypnotic substance in some food Link ate. How could someone outside of the rebellion get a hold of those?"
"Heck if I know." Meokuro shrugged, "I just make the stuff and distribute it to whoever Mother wants. She works on a need-to-know basis, so I dunno what the heck she does with it all."
"Maybe..." Togau pondered, "What if that Mother Eclipsis lady is selling the psycho juice out to people? Something that powers you up like that could be worth a pretty good rupee on the black market."
"Ehh... maybe I guess? I have been getting more funds lately then before now that I think about it..." Meokuro said.
'Sounds like she's as much in the dark as some of the rebels we've captured...' Nabooru thought, 'Just who is this Mother Eclipsis, and why does she always have to be secretive even with her own organization...?'
"Nabs!" called out Sarami, looking up from one of the wounded Gerudo women Reirousa brought over, "You need to take a look at this!"
"Huh? What is it?" Nabooru asked, walking over and looking for herself.
"Look at these injuries." Sarami said, "Does something about them seem off to you at all?"
Nabooru's eyes widened at the state of the wounds. She thought about it for a few minutes, before Sarami saw tears start to form in her friend's eyes, as a small smile appeared on her lips. Nabooru looked out once again over at the path that Link was heading down to get to the bridge.
"It means we can still save him..." Nabooru said softly, "Despite all the anger and pain he's going through right now, he's still and has always been our friend, and I was wrong to doubt him."
Everyone else had relieved smiles on their faces as they saw this newfound confidence in the Gerudo leader's eyes. Nabooru cleared her throat and spoke up to the others,
"Listen everyone, Link is approaching the bridge, but we will not allow him to hurt those knights. I have a plan, now listen up...!"
"Captain, the gerudo king is on his way here!" said a frantic solider running up to him.
"...I see..." Andreas muttered, thinking about how Lady Impa showed up so suddenly and trying to divert him and his men from being there. He looked up at the cliffs and narrowed his eyes, before issuing a command to his soldiers, "Troops, start going out to confront the Gerudo King immediately!"
The knights were alarmed at this command, as a younger one stepped up and spoke out, "B-But captain, he hasn't actually tried to cross the bridge yet! He hasn't committed any actual crime yet!"
"...did I just hear words of defiance, soldier?" spoke Andreas with a furious look in his eyes that terrified the knight.
An older knight panicked and shouted, "Wait Captain, please don't-!"
But the army captain suddenly reached out and grabbed the young knight by his neck, before taking and flinging him off the side of the bridge down the waterfall. The others all gasped out in horror of the soldier's sudden fate. Ashe in particular was in shock, she had heard Andreas had a reputation of punishing disobedient soldiers in the worst ways possible, but this was her first time witnessing it.
"Oh goddesses... poor Bruce..." muttered one of the knights.
"Let this be a lesson for you all, traitors shall not be tolerated. The Gerudo King was once a Hylian himself, but forsake his place in our peaceful society to be one with the rats of the desert, so he himself must he dealt with by any means necessary. Now go forth and strike him down, for the safety and peace of Hyrule!"
"SIR!" the soldiers saluted, before going off across the bridge down the path of the canyon, towards the Gerudo King.
As the marched off, Captain Andreas stood and watched. Had anyone looked at him in that moment, they would had seen him grinning slightly and licking his lips, as if in anticipation of something to come...
The lady knight Ashe marched along with the other knights, feeling a sense of nervousness about confronting Link, as she thought briefly about the kind smile of her friend and lover...
"Lady Nabooru!" a Gerudo spy shouted out, running up to Nabooru, "The knights are already heading out into the canyon to confront King Link!"
"What?" exclaimed Impa, "That bastard Andreas must have gotten impatient, he really is ready to incite a war!"
"Damnit, just as I had a plan figured out." Nabooru spoke, pondering to herself, "We just need to stall Link for a little while longer so we can all get into position!"
"Hmm... I might be able to help with that." spoke one voice, it was Impa's bodyguard Sir Lackey, "King Link is hunting down the Hylian knights, correct? What if he was to run into one on the way?"
"Wait, not you of all people Sir Lackey!" Impa exclaimed, "I can't let you-!"
"It'll be fine." Lackey said, "Lady Nabooru; with your permission, I'd like to help you stall the Gerudo King. It's the least I can do after what's happened tonight."
"But Lackey...!" Impa protested.
"Impa." spoke Lackey, looking to her straight in the eyes, "I can do this."
"..." Impa stared at Lackey for what seemed like forever, before she gave in and sighed, "Very well, just please be careful soldier."
"...are you sure of this?" Nabooru asked, rather surprised Lackey could speak so strongly to Impa, "If Link strikes you down, this would be terrible for both sides involved in this."
"I'm confident in my abilities Lady Nabooru, and I'm confident no harm will come of me." Lackey nodded.
"...very well, thank you for this Sir Lackey." Nabooru nodded, before turning to Aviel to help them with her new strategy.
Link continued down the road, feeling angrier and angrier as he thought of Esolu's untimely death and knight who did the gruesome deed. The young king recalled the words that the knight's wicked tongue spoke about challenging him, and how much he wanted to cut out that tongue.
There was small faint urges within him to stop what he as doing, but he shrugged them off to concentrate on his goal. With each step, he could feel a voice deep down getting louder and louder, eagerly calling out to him that it was almost time, and that they would soon be free, but Link didn't even seem to pay it much mind.
On the other side was Ashe and the Hylian knights, walking down the road to confront Link. Ashe gripped her twin swords, prepared to battle the Gerudo King if she had to in order to protect Hyrule. She wished she could figure out just what was wrong with him, thinking perhaps Impa might have known, but knew as a mere private that she was in no position to speak out like that before Andreas.
"There he is!' said a knight. Ashe looked ahead to see Link, and gasped out at how he was like now.
Link was slowly lurching towards them all, his somewhat-tanned body was turning a darker shade, strange markings were forming on his face and chest she had never seen before, and she could have sworn he looked taller than before. His hair was growing out longer and wilder then before and now a pure white. His eyes themselves were devoid of any of the tranquil blue from before and had a piercing white gaze. His sword was dripping with the fresh blood of fallen monsters and bandits he had slayed along the way.
"Link... what on earth?!" Ashe spoke softly. She had to admit if not for the murderous aura he was giving off in that moment, she might have found him to look even more attractive than before... but she shook off those thoughts so she could focus on her mission.
"Geeraaahh... EERRAAAHHH!" Link shouted out, foam flew out from his mouth as he shouted. He eyed the knights ahead of him and his anger intensified, thinking he had finally found his target, and many more targets to boot.
Ashe couldn't believe what was going on, 'I-Is this really Link...?' she thought to herself, recalling the kind words he spoke to her before, how he treated her so compassionately when training back at Gerudo Town, how he made love to her... 'What's happened to him?!'
"Private Ashe, are you okay?" a knight spoke up, "Steady yourself, the Gerudo King is on his way!"
Ashe stared out at the knights around her, it seemed they were all nervous about taking on the gerudo king as she was. Ashe looked down, thinking about the smiles of the children she saw in Hyrule Castle Town. She was reminded of her resolve to protect Hyrule and keep those children smiling. She nodded to herself and stepped forward, brandishing her swords as she stared down Link.
"You all stay back." Ashe said, "I'll hold him back as long as I can myself."
"But Private Ashe...!" a knight spoke, but Ashe ignored him.
She stared at Link as he slowly lumbered forward. She narrowed her eyes and took a deep breath, as she brought up her blades, she hoped her training experience with Link back in Gerudo Town could be enough to prepare her for this battle.
"Come Link... if you wish to, let's have our rematch..."
Link stared at the knight before him, she didn't look like the one who had killed Esolu, but she was in the way of his goal. He wanted to go after the other knights, but found himself hesitating at the sight of the woman...
The two of them stared each other down. The knights all looked out at the confrontation nervously, too afraid to try and intervene. Ashe then gritted her teeth as she charged forward, as Link did the same. Before before either of them could land an attack a voice called out,
"LINK!"
Link and Ashe both came to a halt and turned in the direction of a third voice, to see another knight before them, having been just dumped off by Aviel flying him down. It was Sir Lackey, standing there with his sword out, and they both noticed the sword was covered in red liquid.
"Huh? Aren't you Sir La-" Ashe started, but Impa's bodyguard interrupted her.
"Hello Gerudo King," Lackey spoke with a wicked smirk, "So you finally arrived, and just in time... I assume you're here to make me answer for what I did to that woman...?"
Link paused in confusion, before he realized what the unfamiliar knight was talking about and snarled out.
Lackey continued, "Yes, that's right... I let you bare witness to her execution; gouging out the insides of her stomach, and I absolutely loved it. While she couldn't speak, she had a look of sheer pain and horror in her eyes, and allowing you to witness it for yourself... just made it all the more satisfying."
"What?!" Ashe spoke in confusion. She looked to see Link was starting to shake, as those painful memories started to fill his mind once again.
"That Esolu woman died like a bitch, just as her unborn daughter did." Lackey chuckled, "And before I leave this world, I vow to cut down every single last one of those whores you call your lovers." he held up his sword as the red liquid dripped off of it, as he gave the liquid a lick, "And I'll make you watch every, single, time."
Meanwhile high up on the cliff, Impa and Knave were both watching Lackey speak to Link.
"Sarami did a fine job decorating his sword in red chu jelly so that it would look like blood." Impa said, "I just hope Nabooru's plan works."
"I-I never knew Sir Lackey could be such a great actor!" Knave spoke, his jaw was dropped down in shock at what he was telling the young king.
"I guess you never know what some people can turn out to be." Impa said, as she stared down at Lackey with concern, 'Please, be safe...' she thought to herself.
Link clenched at his head, trying to absorb everything the knight had just told him, and his body was swaying and shaking. Link wanted to strike at the knight, he wanted to kill him for everything he had just boldly admitted to him...
But as Link looked back up to the knight, something felt off, something that made Link struggle to want to attack him...
'I knew it.' thought Lackey with a light smirk, 'Just like Lady Nabooru said, I knew he wouldn't try to hurt-'
But then a sword came up, pointing right at Lackey, it was Private Ashe, narrowing her eyes coldly at the knight.
"You... bastard..." Ashe spoke coldly, "Esolu was my friend, if you think I'm just going to let this go because you're a Hylian knight, than you're mistaken..."
"Huh?" Lackey was surprised at Ashe's words.
"Now I understand why Link is suffering like this... I'll never forgive you for what you've done. I'll take you down and bring you to justice!" she shouted out as she shot at Lackey with her sword, forcing the knight to be put on the defense.
The other knights all stood in confusion as they saw Ashe coming at Lackey with everything she had. Lackey was effectively blocking off each attack, but Ashe was still relentless in her assault.
"Huh? How does that knight woman know about Ms. Esolu?" Knave asked Impa.
"This is bad, I didn't realize that woman was friends with her, we need to put a stop to this immediately!" Impa said.
She brought up her fingers and did a series of Sheikah ninja art motions, and suddenly from a cloud of smoke a large paper ball appeared over the battlefield. It dropped down right in the middle of the fight between Ashe and Lackey and exploded into a large cloud of smoke, throwing everyone off guard. Lackey took that chance to drive Ashe backwards with a forward thrust of his sword.
Before Ashe could regain her composure and strike back against Lackey, a kunai came down near her feet with a note attached to it. Curiously she removed the note and read it over,
"Esolu is fine, please have faith in Lady Nabooru to help Link." Ashe read, she looked up through the smoke to see Impa standing atop the cliff. She was hesitant, but decided to go with what she said and backed off.
When the smoke cleared, Link and Lackey were having a stand off. Link was just continuing to stare at the knight before him. As angry as Link was, something about him still seemed familiar...
But then leaping in from out from nowhere was Nabooru, brandishing her scimitars and swinging them down at Link, to which he instinctively blocked them with his shield. Nabooru backflipped away from Link and went into a battle pose. She glanced to Lackey and nodded, as the knight took a step back.
"This needs to stop Link." Nabooru spoke, seeing into his fierce white eyes, "I spent nearly six years working to make the Gerudo a part of Hyrule, and you and I have spent the last three years working together to further accomplish just that. Don't take away all we've done in one night."
Link took a step back, feeling more uncertainty of this new woman before him. A distant memory of someone coming up and hugging him from behind with a temple of some kind flashed through his mind.
"Kid, that was amazing! I knew there was something great about you!"
Link snarled and shook his head, before running at Nabooru, and the two went into a clash of their blades. Nabooru dodged a swing of Link's sword and blocked a thrust of his shield, before kicking Link in the stomach, sending him staggering back. She lunged in with her twin scimitars, but Link brought back his blade and performed a spin attack, repelling back Nabooru.
"Is... the Gerudo king fighting his own people now?" a knight standing by asked.
"I don't what to believe here anymore..." said another, "Maybe we should fall back."
"But what about Captain Andreas' orders?" asked a third one.
Nabooru darted forward at Link, spinning her blades in each hand, as she evaded a sword swipe and slashed at him. Their blades met and the two tried to force the other back, but Nabooru was starting to sweat from the incredible power Link was giving off.
'Aviel and Saria were right, this isn't just the power tonic influencing him... it's something else...' Nabooru thought, 'I just have to get him into the right spot...'
As the two of them were fighting, Esolu slowly walked down the path of the canyon, escorted carefully by Ruto and Darunia, with Skuld, Tatl, Tael and Vekia all watching. Link-Goron even stood behind her in case she fell backwards. Esolu was straining herself with each step she took, her full-term pregnancy certainly didn't make getting around very easy, but she forced herself through it.
Soon they came to the battlefield where Link and Nabooru were fighting it out. They were all shocked at what Link was doing.
"Link...? Please stop this!" Ruto shouted out, "Look, we have Esolu here!"
"Yes please Brother, we don't want to lose you to this!" Darunia shouted.
"What?!" Nabooru exclaimed in surprise at the others being there, but positioned herself in between them and Link, "All of you keep back!"
Link cringed from the voices calling out to him, giving Nabooru a chance to slash him a few times. He forced her away from him with a sword swing, and then took and slammed the Quake Medallion to the ground, causing a shockwave that forced Nabooru to quickly roll and jump to evade. Seeing he was briefly stunned by using the forceful power of the medallion, Nabooru came forward again and swung down both her scimitars at Link, slashing him again. The young king shouted out in pain from the blow.
Esolu watched the battle helplessly, feeling guilty with the knowledge that Link had been doing all of this because of her. It pained her to see him like this. She tried to do anything she could to try and get his attention herself. She frantically held up pictures she had drawn that had "Look over here!" and "I'm okay Link!" written on them. Seeing Link was still completely ignoring her, she was at a loss of what to do, she had to get his attention some other way without getting close to him.
The pregnant Gerudo woman closed her eyes and thought about a memory from her past, of another woman walking off into the distance, and another memory of when she shouted out and ran into a sandstorm with her swords ready to battle. Esolu gulped and breathed out as hard as she could, seeming to try and force something out from her throat. Ruto and Darunia could only hold onto her as she tried her hardest to get it out.
Esolu thought about the day they met; when Link walked into his room to see herself along with Ragome and Leivuri, all of them prepared to make love and have children with him. She remembered how Link sat down with them all, saying he wanted to get to know them first before he considered having kids with them. She remembered the fear he had over the idea of becoming a father and how he wanted to love them all, then when he finally worked up the resolve to go through it, and the kind kiss he gave her. The feeling of his kiss, the sensation she felt when he made love to her for the first time... the happiness he felt when he rubbed her pregnant belly...
"Link stop!" Ruto pleaded to Link, snapping Esolu out of her thoughts, as she saw Link had managed to drive Nabooru back with the Quake Medallion again.
As Link came at Nabooru for another attack, Esolu closed her eyes and gulped, before opening her mouth, she tried her very hardest to force out what she wanted to, and a very faint noise started to rise up from within her, a noise that grew in volume until it became a loud scream,
"... … … iiiiiiinnnnNNNNNKKKKKKK!"
Just in that moment, Link came to a complete halt before Nabooru, and his whole body stood motionless. Despite it being a noise he didn't recognize, it was something that resonated with him. It was like an almost harmonious sound that pierced through his mind, and he felt a powerful sensation flow through him.
Nabooru stood in bafflement of what just happened, but decided to take advantage of this situation.
"Everyone, now!"
Before Link could recover, a large hulking figure came up and hugged Link from behind. It was Reirousa, having made a quick recovery, and was holding him to prevent his movement. Link tried to break free, but just the thought of the powerful voice he had heard before made it hard for him to.
"Hey Link, remember back at Hotaig's Mausoleum? When I poured my heart out to ya, when you said if you or I were in a funk, we'd just hug it out together? Well I'm hugging it out with you right now!"
As Link struggled to break free of the woman holding him, he felt a strange memory go through his mind...
"Reirousa; I don't expect you to just get over your loss and move on, I understand that as much as anyone... All I can tell you is just take it one step at a time. And if you can't deal with the pain... then I'll help you through it."
"You... you will?"
"I promise I will. And if neither of us can ever let go of the past, then we'll just comfort each other for the rest of our days."
Link cringed from the new pain he was feeling, a powerful and angry voice was trying to drive out those memories, and force this giant woman off him, but then he felt something else grip both his arms. It was Nemisa and Togau, the latter having taken on her Lynel form to give herself some added strength to restrain Link.
"Please Link, you must stop this!" Nemisa shouted desperately, "Revenge against the knights isn't the answer, you taught me that back when I went to kill the slaver Jayde!"
"I still need to go after that man first. I can't let him escape."
"Nemisa... I really don't think-"
"Don't worry. I know what I have to do now."
Link flinched as he felt those memories from deep within, as another voice called out to him.
"Link, ya gotta mellow out!" Togau said with tears in her eyes, "It's okay! I totally understand how you feel, but ya gotta be honest with us about what yer goin' through. You taught me it's okay to be sad!"
"I don't think you always have to force yourself to smile to try and hide your true feelings. I want you to be honest with me and how you feel. If you want to cry, then go ahead and cry, I'll be here for you no matter what."
The young king started gasping out in pain, as yellow mist was starting to rise out from his mouth. Thsi greatly concerned the Gerudo since they knew this was his blood being changed by the power tonic. Then he felt something grab onto his sides, it was Saria and Aviel, both holding him tightly.
"Link stop doing this!" Aviel sobbed, "You're making a huge mistake, but that's why I'm here for you, to help you fix it!"
"...you know something Aviel? I think you can really be a birdbrain sometimes."
"WHAT? No, not you too Link!"
"You must be one if you forgot all that you've done for me and everyone. You've been there for me since the beginning of my new life. You trusted me from the moment we met, and supported me every step of the way until now."
"But... I keep screwing up at it..."
"Don't worry about it. We all screw up sometimes, especially me."
Link heaved out more yellow mist as he heard a small young-sounding voice speak out.
"Link... please, I want you to go back to the way you were!" Saria sobbed, "I never want to lose you again! I want to keep making great memories with you forever as your best friend and your wife!"
"We may be best friends, but there's a lot more to that then just our past memories together... So let's get out there and make some new memories, okay?"
"You've always stayed by my side and supported me in so many ways that a friend, sister, a mother, or even a lover would, and I've just come to think that how I feel about you can actually be all of that."
More powerful feelings surged through Link's body as he felt the two holding him, he tried to move his legs to get away, but found them restrained by the two mystics known as Kesuta and Korume, both having their arms wrapped around them.
"Please our dear husband, drive back this curse of pain and strife!" Kesuta shouted.
"Yes our beloved, just as you showed us how truly valuable and precious is our own life!" rhymed Korume.
"Don't ever think like that again, Kesuta. Your life is just as precious as Korume's, or anyone else's... and no one's is worth sacrificing."
"I have too much to live for now, and I'm not giving it up for you or anyone!"
Link closed his eyes tightly as he felt all the girls holding him, just as another girl with a large soft chest came up and embraced him from the front, it was Dr. Sarami holding him, burying her face against his neck.
"Link-honey, please remember us. You don't have bear the burden of this pain any longer, please let us heal you of it together...!" she spoke softly.
"No matter what could or will happen, I know that Link will always be by my side to support me, just as he has since the day he taught me that I need to relay on others."
"Sarami is one of the most important people in my life, she's saved me more times then I can count, so I make it a point to help her whenever she needs it. We relay and depend on each other, like how a family does."
More memories were coming back to Link, an angry voice in the back of his mind desperately tried to drive them out, but as Sarami and the others continued to speak out to him they were overwhelming those bad thoughts. He then opened his eyes and looked up to see the woman with the twin blades come up to him, a beautiful woman he could swear he had known since he was a child...
"How about you return to Gerudo Valley in say... seven years. When you do I'll bestow on you my new promise."
...a woman that took his virginity one wonderful night... and made him into the fantastic lover he was to all these wonderful and beautiful women around him...
"Come on. Allow me to help you with the burden you're carrying on yourself."
"N-Nabooru... I-I've never done this before..."
"It's okay, stick with me and I'll teach you everything you need to know."
...a woman he had fallen in love with, and wanted to make his Grand Queen...
"I plan to see to it you'll never be unimportant to your people, because when the time comes for me to marry my fiances and they can become my queens... I want you joining them."
"I mean it with all my heart... I want you by my side for the rest of life... to have and to hold forever..."
"Nabooru, I love you!"
As the woman was coming more into focus, Link closed his eyes once again to block out those thoughts, only to reopen is eyes again when he felt a gentle warmth against his lips. He saw a perfect tan-skinned face inches from his own, as she was kissing him. She opened her eyes to show a pair of shining golden pupils staring right back at him, as she whispered in a silky and familiar voice...
"Link, remember who you are. You are our king, our friend and the one we love."
Everything was motionless and silent in that moment, as Link stared right into Nabooru's eyes.
The young king let out a gasp, as more yellow mist emerged out from his mouth, and he finally collapsed backwards into the arms of the Gerudo women all around him. He weakly took one last look at Nabooru kneeling down to him, before he fainted.
"So the Gerudo have subdued their king?" Captain Andreas spoke some time later, clenching at his arms as they were folded. The knights he had sent out to confront Link were all back, safe and sound.
"Yes sir, they said they're bringing him back to Gerudo Town." said a knight bowing his head.
"...and no casualties?" Andreas growled.
"No, I mean, yes sir, everyone is accounted for. Even Officer Bruce was found to have survived his... erm... 'accident' from falling off the bridge." the knight said, looking over to see Officer Bruce was laying on the ground getting water sprayed out from his mouth by another knight pushing at his stomach.
"Hmph... very well... We'll return back to Hyrule Castle for now..." the Hylian Captain spoke. As he turned to go retrieve his horse, he took one look back at the road where the battle had just taken place, 'You Gerudo got lucky this time... but we'll see just how long your luck lasts when you meet with the Hylian Parliament.' he thought to himself as he started to mount his steed.
Meanwhile Ashe gazed out at the path down the canyon, still at a loss about everything that had happened that night. She looked out at Lake Hylia from a distance on the bridge, and saw the sun was just beginning to come up. She looked back down the path of the canyon that led to Gerudo Town. She thought about doing something in that very moment, but a voice spoke up jolting her out of it.
"Come along Private Ashe." Andreas said, "We need to head back to report what's happened tonight."
"...yes Captain." Ashe said, climbing up onto her horse and riding off with the knights.
And that ends the chapter. Next time everyone takes a rest to figure out just what happened to Link, but is this really the end of their troubles, or is something new on the horizon? Find out next week!
Wow... 100 chapters, when this story started I didn't even think I'd make it to 50. This has been such a fun experience for me to do, exploring ideas and themes I've never written before and challenging myself in so many ways.
And I have all of you to thank for motivating me all this time! Your like, follows, comments, and PMs have all been a huge encouragement to keep writing! The story is far from done, and I hope you continue to support me going through to the end!
Again, a big thanks to all my readers!