Altered States

Altered States

A Legend Of Zelda Fanfiction

By OJR

Part 8

Two days left.  Only 48 short hours from a showdown with something big, monstrously big, that wanted a piece of two worlds.  The only thing that stood between the unknown evil and the peace and tranquillity of parallel universes were a hero, a princess and a boy who felt he'd been shit on from a great height.  The impending feeling of the proverbial "shit" hitting the equally proverbial "fan" was even more clear on this, his second, day of training.  He'd sparred with Link several times, each time increasing the flow of his combat moves.  He'd still not bested him but he'd been able to put up a solid resistance every time they'd faced off.  Zelda had not been complacent either, meditating and training with the boys to ensure the peak of physical and mental readiness.  All this was conducted in the relative solitude of the woods by Jamie's house.  Jamie had been shown other magical abilities such as Farore's Wind and Naryu's Love.  He'd found that concentrating on the action he wanted to perform, rather than the performance itself, allowed him to use these abilities easily.  The only worrying thing was that he always felt drained after using his powers and the nasty green liquid was the only thing that could perk him up.  The final lesson was to prove the most exhilarating, and frightening.

In the field they stood, Link slightly away from the others in a combat stance.  Link called back, without looking round.

"You can channel your energy into your weapon and unleash a deadly blow.  However, you must be careful to moderate your attack to lessen the risk of unwanted damage to yourself and others."  He brought his sword into the ready position and composed himself.  Much to Jamie's surprise, Link's sword began to glow.  First it was a deep, soft blue, changing steadily to a vivid deep orange.  With his sword fully charged he let out an impressive grunting roar and spun round, the shockwave striking out around him and cutting a wicked gash into the tree he was in proximity to.  Link stepped back and drew a breath slowly before turning to his pupil.

"If executed correctly, the sword charge should give you extra stopping power without draining you too much."   He motioned for Jamie to try it.  Jamie easily charged his sword with a little power, giving it a distinct violet glow, and slashed upward.   The pulse of energy scorched a long, deep scar in the trunk of the target tree.  Jamie smirked to himself, thinking "Well, with this power I feel a little more sure of myself in combat."  He turned to his companions and smiled at their looks of pride, like a child hunting for praise from its parents.

"Very good, you're really looking like a warrior now."  The dull edge to Zelda's tone as she said this betrayed how she hated seeing a peaceful person forced into combat against his will.  He was about as ready as he was going to be, Link mused, but a little more sparring wouldn't hurt.  He turned and drew his sword and called "Enguarde!", a word he'd heard Jamie use to warn his partner to be ready.  Jamie lifted his own blade and they were just about to charge when Navi jumped up shouting "Look out!".  This was the signal to cease training as she'd spotted someone coming into the woods.  They quickly stowed their weapons and sat down on the grass next to Zelda.  The people in question were a large group of teenagers who were talking loudly amongst themselves.  Jamie turned to his companions.

"Try to look casual, not just to hide the fact that we've been training but I don't think that they're up to much good, in fact…".  He never finished his sentence and the cold feeling of having someone stand over you crept up his spine.  Link and Zelda looked on in apprehension as the tall boy in the baseball cap sneered down at them.  His mocking features showing the signs of adolescent acne, and a scruffy set of wispy sideburns clung stalwartly to his cheeks.

"Oi, got the time?"  This was the standard greeting of somebody who really wasn't interested in what the time was and was more interested in whether what you told the time with was of any value.  Jamie lifted his arm slightly and displayed the absence of any timepieces.

"Sorry, I don't have a watch."  He said as amiably as he could.

"Is there anything we can do for you?" quipped Zelda sweetly, following the lead of being pleasant rather than confrontational.

"Oh yeah…you could ditch these two gay losers and hang out with us babe."  He grinned, the kind of grin a shark displays to a baby seal.  His gang numbered six, four boys and two girls, ranging from sixteen to twenty years of age.  The two boys had to hold their temper at the slight.

"I'm sorry, but I'm fine where I am, thanks for the offer though."  She smiled that saccharine smile again.  Link sighed heavily and rolled his eyes, sitting back a little.  This was a mistake, a non-intentional bad move, but a mistake nonetheless.  One of the boys in the gang piped up.

"Eh Gaz, he just gave you a funny look."  They were asking for trouble.

"What?  Did you just cuss me dickhead?"  He walked over to where Link was sitting.  Link looked up, with a hint of annoyance on his face.  This disappeared into a sincere smile almost instantly.

"This is it" Jamie thought, "This is where it gets messy".   Much to his surprise, Link did not knock the odious person to the floor.  Instead he broadened his smile.

"I'm sorry, I was just stretching, and I didn't mean to cause offence."  His voice dripped with honey.  The leader of the gang was a little frustrated by the lack of a fighting nature was clearly getting to him.  He didn't want to out-and-out assault them.  Whatever was left of his conscience demanded he had a reason.  Since one was not readily available he decided that he couldn't really have his fun with these little hippies.  At least he'd pester them so they'd leave, anything to help bolster his flagging self-esteem.  His "friends" were becoming increasingly agitated as well, looking for their own ego boosts.

"So what are you and your little bum chum doing out in our field then?"

"Nothing" said Link "just enjoying the wonderful day."  The guy turned and scowled as a few of his gang snickered.  He wheeled on Jamie.

"So you think you're fucking funny eh?"

"Oh no, I was just leaving anyway."  The leader smiled a 'look at me I'm a big badass' smile to his cohorts and strode back to them.  Jamie grabbed the holdall, which contained enough weaponry to turn the gang of youths into a quivering mass of sushi, and stood up.

"C'mon guys, we can find somewhere else to practice."  He said quietly.  The gang decided to snap one more retort.

"What you practicing?  You and your bitch gonna practice sucking green boy off?"  The gang guffawed.  Jamie smiled again, the same smile he'd given the robber before he'd broken his nose.

"Well, yes actually.  If you wanna whip it out I'll give you one hell of a shine, you look the type who likes head."  Jamie had to stifle his laugh and kept his sincere smile on.  Gaz, as he was known, balked and physically recoiled.

"What do I look like?  A poofter?"  It took all of Jamie's willpower to stop him from answering in the affirmative.  Link stepped in to finish the conversation.

"You'll have to excuse my friend, he's a little ill at the moment.  He has Kokiri flu and can get a little delusional."  He smiled sincerely again and led Jamie and Zelda away, leaving the gang speechless.  Thoroughly disarmed and confused the gang moved on.  The trio picked up Navi, who had been in the trees watching.  As they walked away Jamie's face turned to a scowl.

"God damn assholes!  I can't believe that people can get their kicks from picking on people!"  Zelda smiled a little.

"You have to pity them, they're young and lacking in self esteem.  I sensed much insecurity in them."  Jamie looked toward her.

"You could read their minds?" she nodded and said "To a certain degree".  They walked on and Jamie had to ask Link a question.

"Hey, Link.  You could have easily dealt with them, why did you play along with the distraction bit?"

"Because I know what you know."

"And what is that, pray tell."

"The greatest victory is the battle not fought."  Jamie pondered this.  It was correct, not starting a fight was always better than winning one.  He turned to Zelda.

"Hey, what am I thinking now?"

"Well, between thinking about sex, or thinking about food you're thinking about whether I can really read minds."  She smiled and he paled.

"Ummm, well…."  She hadn't read him that time, but you didn't have to be a mind reader to work out people's thoughts sometimes.

Authors Note:  So, this was a bit of a filler episode, and a testament to my hatred of all bullies.  Anyone called Gareth, Gary or Gaz, please do not take offence as it was the first generic name I could think of and that it sounded better than Bob.  Also, I have two endings planned for this.  I could write both, one good, one bad, but to determine which I post first please reply with how you'd like it to end.