As usual, Link woke up with a start, still hearing Princess Zelda's voice ringing in his ears.
"Another bad dream, kid?" Commented Jeralt from his side while his daughter, Byleth watched from the side, perhaps if she was capable of showing any emotion she would look on with curiosity in her eyes.
"In any case, put that out of your mind for now. The battlefield is no place for idle thought." Commented the older mercenary. "Risking our lives is part of the job for mercenaries like us, getting distracted in the battlefield is a quick way of getting yourself killed."
"Ok, time to get moving. Our next job is in the kingdom, everyone is waiting for us." said Jeralt.
Link quickly put on his light chainmail armor, and then donned his blue tunic. After two years the color in it has begun to fade.
They hadn't even left their room when a member of the mercenary group barged in.
"Sir Jeralt, sorry to barge in but your presence is needed." Said the mercenary, his voice laden with anxiousness.
"What's happened?" Jeralt said grimmly, noticing that the situation is serious.
"Bandits have surrounded the village. Damn, there are a lot of them. It seems they followed some brats who are requesting our aid."
Jeralt's back immediately straightened, "take me there." He quickly said.
Outside, they were met with three people, two men and one woman. They seemed to be roughly around the same age as Byleth and Link.
"Please, forgive our intrusion. We would not be bothering you if the situation was not dire." Said the one in the middle. A tall, blonde man wearing some sort of uniform and a blue cape around his shoulder.
"It's true, the bandits attacked us while we were resting in our camp." Said the white haired woman, who was wearing the same uniform but a red cape instead.
Her hair, it's just like the Sheikah thought Link curiously.
"We've been separated from our companions and we're outnumbered. They're after our lives, not to mention our gold." Said the dark haired one, this one was wearing a golden cape.
There are bandits after their lives and he's thinking about gold? The mere thought bewildered the young Hylian.
"I'm impressed you're staying so calm despite the situation you are in. Wait. That uniform…"
Before Jeralt could finish, another mercenary came barging in. "Sir Jeralt, this is bad, it seems they want to burn the village's buildings!"
"Damn. Byleth, you come with me, we are going to stop them from burning this town to the ground. Link, you stay here, protect this brats, don't let a single bandit get past you
Link nodded, the three people looked bewildered at Jeralt. To them, having one man, a man who looked their age no less, fighting against almost a dozen bandits seemed ludicrous. But before they could protest, Byleth and Jeralt were already gone.
"What should we do?" Asked the young woman with white hair, her eyes suspiciously scanning Link, it seems she noticed the Hylian's foreign origins due to his obvious pointed ears.
"Nothing." It was all he said to the trio before going to where the bandits were coming from, leaving them even more utterly confused.
"Wait, wait, wait. You can't seriously be thinking of taking on nearly a dozen bandits by yourself." Said the one with dark hair.
"Claude is right, you are just one man, perhaps he can aid you." added the blonde one. The one with white hair said nothing but the shock and confusion in her eyes voiced out her inner thoughts.
Link said nothing as he continued on his way. Before the trio could voice any more protest they heard a shout, and next thing they saw was a group of bandits charging at them.
Link still didn't say a word, he just unsheathed his trusty Master Sword, he could see the bandit's mocking gazes while walking towards them.
One of the bandits got close to Link and swung his axe, Link merely parried the blow and sent his weapon flying to the floor before bringing his sword downward, nearly cleaving the man in two. It took just two strikes of Link's sword and one bandit was already dead.
The rest of the bandits reeled in shock, almost as shocked as the trio behind Link. Two other bandits came swinging their weapons, but Link avoided their blows effortlessly, striking each bandit once before they fell on the floor.
One bandit, who looked to be the leader, shouted at the rest of his group to charge at Link together, his voice laden in terror.
All the bandits came charging towards Link, while he did nothing, he just stood there, waiting for the attacks to hit him. The trio behind him couldn't bear to look what was about to happen, for in their eyes, the result of a fight between one man facing half a dozen bandits without even looking like he was going to resist.
They closed their eyes, but instead of the tragic screams they expected to hear, they heard a sound that seemed to be metal clashing against metal ringing in their ears. When they opened their eyes they were utterly baffled to see a red shield surrounding Link's body. They didn't have much time to process what that was when they saw Link take action. Using the shock of the bandits to his advantage he dealt a deadly blow to each of them, followed by six dead bodies hitting the ground.
The leader, in shock and horror, decided it was not a good idea to face Link head on, so he charged towards the white haired woman, who only had a short knife to defend herself. Right before he arrived at a close enough distance to strike her, the leader could see a shadow with golden hair, he felt his vision getting heavy, but he was alive. He decided that he was better off getting out of there, so he ran away.
After dealing with the bandits, Link surveyed his surroundings, that was when he noticed an injury on the woman's arm. He hadn't noticed it before, or perhaps he just wasn't paying attention.
"You're hurt;" he said without a shred of emotion in his voice, "show me."
Perhaps too shocked due to what just happened, the young woman unconsciously stretched out her arm, and before she could retract it she could see a light bluish light coming from Link's hand which started healing her injury.
That's not Heal, and that weird red shield, who in the world is he? Thought the young woman, and before she could ask, Link stood up and silently left to regroup with Jeralt and Byleth. The trio, still in shock from what they just witnessed, followed.