Hundreds of them lied dead and undiscovered. The Gerudo hills were good at hiding things people won't expect. Not even the Princess and Chosen One.
...
"The champion and Princess...are supposedly missing."
He felt his heart almost plop from his behind. His daughter? Missing? Link? Missing?
It didn't add up and it even increased his anger. He slammed a fist on the table, startling the other members of the board. "This...is impossible. How could they vanish!?"
"I have a patrol actively investigating where they disappeared. A man at Outskirt Stable said he last saw them heading off towards Gerudo on they're horses. It's um...rather gruesome."
"What do you mean "rather gruesome?" Rhoam asked before the room door swung wide open from a heavy kick. Thunder erupted lighting Xeri's face. He appeared to be soaked wet but didn't seem to care.
The room was quieter than a mouse, Rhoam stayed seated. Eyeing the old warrior. Xeri began to take step by step. Inching towards the wide table, all chairs were filled with intimidated officials. Only except one chair, Zelda's. He unsheathed his sword and gently set it on the table but not without a dramatic thud. He eyed Rhoam intensely with him returning the glare. "Everyone leave the room."
With that, all of the officials scurried out of the room except one. Rhoam rose from his chair but not before Xeri walked to him. They were face to face now. "There better be a reason why your not out there swinging a claymore at other peoples head."
"Don't tell me how to handle this situation Xeri. Your still on thin ice after what you did to Revali."
"Snot nosed kid asked for it. Now let me ask you again. Why aren't you out there looking for your goddamn daughter?"
"Don't. Don't start with me, I might be the one swinging a claymore at your head." An intense stare down from the two men. "We're suspected that the Yiga clan did it."
The Yiga!? Xeri almost flipped the table. This wasn't an ordinary attack on the two, but it was a planned attack. He looked at Rhoam with a slight idea. "Do you have people investigating?"
"Do you take me for an incompetent father?" Rhoam almost jumped forward into Xeri's face. Xeri wasted no time taking a few steps to match his energy.
"You seem a cozied up in here. Meeting with officials, I would've thought you were ripping heads off by now. Whose out in the canyon?"
Rhoam put his hands behind his back looking out a window. He continued to look out it before staring out it, the lighting and thunder colored his face gray. "Impa and Purah. Urbosa insisted that she was helping, so some Gerudo warriors are present as well. I've handed it over to the Sheikah. But make no mistake. I will be out there looking too."
He turned but the doors were wide open and Xeri was gone.
"Hylia." Impa has breathed. Tens of Yiga had laid slain on the sand of Gerudo. Limbs detached, weapons discarded and the worst was no sign of Link and Zelda. "Check for any survivors."
"Well, you don't see this everyday." Purah had knelt down looking at a clan member. His arm had been severed cleanly. His torso was cut up pretty bad, and a deep wound in his thigh. "They weren't joking when they said Link was brutal in battle."
"But the question is, how did they manage to nab both the Princess and Link?" Impa questioned. She looked towards the tall cliffs of Gerudo. "Purah, a witness said they were on horses, correct?"
"Yes."
"So...where are the horses?"
"Good question." Purah had stood up, looking in the distance. "Maybe they ran off? Wandered off?"
"Nah, horses don't "wander off" to that. Plus the stable has taken care of they're horses, so they'd see them out and about."
"I currently have people on it," A soft voice came from behind them. Urbosa had walked towards them, stopping just in front of the two Shiekah. "These Yiga are going to pay."
"Indeed Urbosa, but let's not our emotions get us. I feel the same way."
"Then we have a mutual enemy. The Yiga have been stealing from my people for years. It's time they come to an end."
"But there's so many of them," Purah said. "I don't know if we'd ever be able to get rid of them."
"We could. It's just a matter of consistency. All we'd need to find is there hideout. And we're golden. Let the Gerudo do the rest. Now let's find these two."
"I'm sorry but that's not happening," A voice called out from behind them. Xeri walked towards the trio, before stopping in front of them. "Not without me."
"Yes sir." Impa said nodding her head. "I think we should start piecing things together." Impa had looked at the bodies that had riddled the ground.
Xeri squinted his eyes, he had seen something in the distance. A figure, it's red hair was flowing with the wind, it's muscular body resembled a man no doubt. He blinked and it was gone, he looked around before sighing. Maybe I'm going nuts.
"Hey! I got something!" Purah yelled from behind them. She had been kneeled down looking at a wall. Xeri had walked alongside Impa and Urbosa before stopping.
"What is it?" Urbosa asked.
"It's a hand drawn letter." Purah moved so everyone could see it. G. It had been sluggishly and maybe even rushed to be drawn on the wall. Xeri lightly put his finger where the letter began and noticed it's trail was smaller than usual. This had to be her.
"We found this too." Purah added. She had handed over a small light blue clip. He examined it before it almost hit him. This is her hair pieces. It all began to hit him. She had begged him to stay and be her knight. Which he would most dearly would, but it was time for a new one. Link. He had almost forgotten about him, but what pondered his mind was; how the fuck did they manage to nab him and Zelda? He tucked it in his pocket before clenching his fist and slamming into the wall of the cliff. It tumbled before rocks and debris lightly fell from the cliff. The three woman almost jumped back from how powerful the impact from his fist was. He turned around to face them.
"We must find them."
Urbosa stepped closer. "We will. Daruk, Mipha and Revali are on they're way as we speak."
"No, I mean we need to find them. My little girl is out there." Xeri seethed through his teeth. "If she dies, my promise to the Queen is broken. We need to search every corner of this desert and hills. Search the highlands as well."
"We can't just do that. We need days to prepare for such harsh conditions in the Gerudo Highlands. This is not as easy as you think it is Xeri." Urbosa explained with a stern voice.
"I don't think your getting the predicament of this situation," Xeri said staring a hole into her soul. "The Princess of Hyrule and Hylia's best warrior is missing. We don't have days to prepare, for all we know they could be in a ditch dead. So let's pull our head out of our asses and search this damn hills."
"Okay, but any casualties will be and fall on you."
"I'm aware of that."
"Then I think we know where they may be at."
Link didn't remember much of what had happened. Yiga had surrounded them from all angles, and the last thing he remembered was telling Zelda to hide and run. After that point he had began to swing the master sword.
But what hurt the most is that he failed. He failed Zelda. He failed the King. He failed Xeri. And most of all, he failed Hyrule. If he were to be found and executed he wouldn't argue against. His right eye had been swollen shut from a blow from something very heavy.
He had barely anytime to react when he was knocked out cold by a heavy weapon. After that, all he remembered was that he woke up here. In a cold dark room chained to a wall. He legs and arms stretched and were aching of pain. He could've swore they weren't there at all.
He felt the cuts on his body and the bruises. He opened his left eye to see, but could make out almost nothing. He went to move but couldn't. And then he heard a heavy door shut close. He shot his head up before looking around the room frantically.
From left to right before a dark tall figure abruptly appeared in front of the door. He heard a dark laughter before the footsteps got closer. Red straight hair had appeared into his vision. A tall, muscular almost Gerudo like man appeared in front of him.
"W-who are you...?" Link sluggishly asked, his voice dropped lowing than a whisper.
"What was that?" His voice certainly didn't match his image. "Speak up boy."
"Who are you?" Link asked, heightening his voice.
"I'm glad you asked. I'm the reason your here. In this dark, cold and lonely chamber in the Gerudo Highlands. Before I move her, I want to officially talk to the man who has bested me for centuries!"
"What have you done with her?"
"Don't worry, your little Princess is safe. But this isn't about her," The last sentence he made it very clear and his soft spoken voice had turned into a cold one. "Tell me something Link, what does it feel like to win every time?"
"I don't know what you mean by that sir."
"Think about it." His rough blunt fingers touched a wound making Link jump in pain. "Your the great Chosen One. We've met here and there in past times but I've never seen you with that blue. It's new, I like it."
Link eyed him.
"But this is no fashion show so let me get to the point. You won't last long with that wound on your side, it's bleeding as we speak. So I'm gonna make this quick," He stepped closer making Link's heart pump faster. "You can either sit here and die slowly. Or watch me rip her head off her shoulders and tear Hyrule apart. You make that decision."
Link had bored a hole into his face with his stare.
"I guess this is Goodbye Link! Or see you later. Whatever you want. Just know, there are consequences for you actions."
And with that. A heavy fist hit him and he had blacked out. Fighting to keep consciousness.
The cold wind of the Highlands had been smacking Xeri in the face as he rode the Rito warrior. "I'm not seeing a hole!" He called out.
"Ok. Let's head towards the middle." Revali had come along on the journey flying Mipha on his back while Daruk and Urbosa had stayed back to watch out for anything. A medic from the Rito had been flying with the as well.
The Rito had ducked lower in the wind so Xeri could get a closer look and behold a hole had been discovered. It was a gigantic hole, with Yiga written all over it. "There!"
The Rito he had been riding had stopped down to the ground where the Hideout had been sitting there. He had hopped off before running towards the gigantic hole. He turned back towards the group. "Revali and Mipha your with me. You two stay on guard, I'll send him up if we find anyone. Until then stay here, if we're not back in an hour. Go get help." They had all jumped into the hole.
Xeri had practically almost killed himself before Revali used his back to catch him. "We don't need you dead. Yet." Xeri almost chuckled before the three descended. "So what's the plan?"
"Kill anything that isn't friendly. Find Link or Zelda. Hell find them both, we know this is where the Yiga hide. But damn, you'd think it'd be crawling with Yiga." But not a single one in sight. All the Yiga marks had been splattered all over this place.
"Maybe it's an ambush?" Mipha asked tightly clutching her spear.
"No," Revali said. "If it were, I don't think we'd be this far into they're hideout."
"We may have just missed them or something." They came across banana peels, Mipha almost slipping on one but not before Revali caught her hand.
"The banana peel is fresh." Xeri said picking it up and tossing it aside. "Yes. We must've definitely just missed them."
"Maybe they could've left something around to indicate where they were going?" Mipha asked.
"Yeah. Split up. Meet back here in ten minutes." Xeri walked up a staircase before turning a corner and turning another corner. Zelda had been racing through his mind. Hylia, what if she really was dead? It'd be almost like he has no purpose in life.
She's his world. He remembers first holding her, and promising to not let anything of harm come to her. And he did. He remembers the last request the Queen had asked of him. Please guide her to be an amazing Queen.
He can't do that if she's dead somewhere. He spotted fresh blood on the ground, leading around the corner. His anger grew and fists clenched he followed it before realizing it stopped at a wall. "Mipha! Revali!"
He had began to inspect the wall before actually physically touching it. Revali and Mipha had appeared behind him. "What is it?" The bird asked.
"This trail of blood stops at this wall."
"Meaning?"
"Trails of blood don't just stop at a wall. They lead to something." He felt the wall before feeling hard wood. "This wall is fake."
"How so?" Mipha asked.
"Feel this part of the wall and feel the other one. The walls in this place are pure solid. This one feel like wood and shallow."
Revali stepped up inspecting it. Brushing his feathered hand against it. "He's right. But how do we-" Before he could finish the sentence, Xeri had punched a hole through it. He broke a piece off and it was painted just like the other walls to blend in. A piece of wood.
He began to kick and punch the wall before he could make a sizable hole for him to fit. He saw something move slightly. Drawing his sword he pointed it toward the darkness. "Who's there?"
"Xeri..." He heard Link almost whisper. He saw the cut up tunic barely hanging off his body.
"Link! Damn! Revali, grab the medic. Mipha, work that magic girl." He had swiftly cut the chains with his sword letting him down. He practically heaved Link onto his shoulder before carefully helping him into the wall. Revali had quickly arrived with the medic.
"Hylia." Revali breathed out. Link had almost been torn to shreds. Cuts all over his body, a bleeding wound and bruises around his right eye. "What happened to you knight?"
Link could barely answer as Mipha and the Rito medic worked on him. "Some of these wounds I won't be able to heal fully." Mipha looked up at Xeri.
"As long as we can move him. We need to get to Gerudo Town," looking at the two Rito. "You two our are only bets out of here. The medic can carry both Link and Mipha. They both weigh less than feathers. Revali you'll carry me."
"Yes sir."