Chapter 71: Rivals' Rebound; the Runback
Nation of Domination Arc – The World Championships
Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda; this is just a Fan Fiction
Featured Music: "Character Select" – Killer Instinct (1994) OST. Chapter Briefing.
"The Instinct" – Killer Instinct (2013) OST. Scene 1 (First Half).
"The Circuit" – Street Fighter III'rd Strike (Online Edition) OST. Scene 3 (First Half).
"Mishima Estate – Round 2" – Street Fighter X Tekken OST. Scene 4 (First Half).
"Results (The Ghost Survivors)" – Resident Evil 2 (2019) OST. Scene 4 (Second Half).
"The Beep (Arranged)" – Street Fighter III'rd Strike OST. Scene 5 (First & Second Halves).
"Ryu & Ken-no-Theme" – Street Fighter II V OAV OST. Scene 6.
Round fifteen of the world championships.
Things have moved at an incredible pace indeed; with the lower bracket in the world tournament, only Vassia Palashia, Raynard Van Garrick and Barkner Elbrus all advanced in their match-ups. Vassia first lost to Raynard, Lycidas to Barkner and then, finally, Barkner to Raynard. As a result, now, in the finals, Link Firbrand himself at long last may finally see an end to a tournament with he as its victor.
Link Firbrand VS. Raynard Van Garrick.
It is a match-up some are calling in the Prima World Tour as a coming of age story, a rivalry at last about to reach its climax and its end; a clash once seen five years previous in the Hylian Hyrax – the Hyrulean national championship. In the Hylian Hyrax, Raynard once saw victory very narrowly, albeit by borrowing on similar powers that Link once did with Kage Narumono.
Now without the dangerous influence of Kage Narumono running through his body, Link utilises everything he has learned from his first mentor Impa and his last mentor Sun Hui, in order to combat his upcoming foe and former friend Raynard. Although Link himself has been vastly preparing for the predicted confrontation, so has Raynard; in the five years leading up to the tournament, he has been taught extensively in the killing techniques familiar only to former warlord Ganondorf Dragmire himself by his former aide and first-hand, Scaverin Estienne.
Having also been preparing to 'ascend' as he claims, Scaverin's motives and methods remain a mystery even now to Impa and the heroes, patiently waiting for him to reveal himself and put his plan into final action. Even to the likes of Raynard, the only person he seemingly trusts, an enigma his thoughts remain; the raven-haired rival of the blonde-haired Hero of Time instead keeps his focus firm and focused hard on the upcoming finals match-up, a runback between two of the greatest martial artists seen in their homeland… seen even in the continent of Aurelia.
However, a few words that Link once spoke to him and in genuine concern despite Raynard's suspicious claims, leaves an impression on him; the last survivor of the Van Garrick clan finds his mind constantly going back to those words he was once given, and all by the one person he once trusted above all…
"I told you… because you're my friend."
Scene 1
"Here we are folks… round fifteen."
As opposed to the earlier excitement the surrounding Aurelian audience exuded earlier, the multi-national people all watching patiently in the stands chose to contain their commotion, opting to remain either silent or exchanging mere quietened words with one another; a small chatter at best. The firmly-frowning form of Mr. Marshall, chief commentator for the Prima World Tour, cast his carefully-expressed frown out past the glass window he spoke through, the small Gossip Stone on the table in front of him carrying it on.
"The lower bracket has at long last caught up and, since then, we've had some impressive turn-arounds for some of our bigger players downstairs."
"Hell yeah we have Marsh!"
The second commentator, a younger man wearing much more informal clothing, gave his own expression – a lightly sociable grin – as he too faced the surrounding audience.
"We got one hell of a line-up for ya for the finals!"
"Yes…," Marshall responded with a firm-faced nod, oddly grave and much more serious in nature than he usually portrayed himself as. "With Elbrus', Fedoroa's, Palashia's, and Marino's losses, only one emerges victorious to challenge the finalist…"
As if reacting to his words, the small Gossip Stones below shone up a display on both pillars of the main building, a single name.
RAYNARD VAN GARRICK
"Yooo… does that mean what I think it means Marsh?!"
Seth's excited call made even the most resolute member in the stands near sit up from their seats in genuine curiosity, leaving the rest curious and perplexed. Marshall instead, opted to remain careful and dutiful.
"That it does my young friend… that it does…," he began in his hardened frown before soon re-opening his mouth. "Upcoming in the final round, what may be the grand finals itself, we have an old story for you… one from five years ago…"
"The Hylian Hyrax!"
At long last the audience reacted, letting loose the dogs of war in an emphatic scream that rent the rafters of the huge building they all sat in.
YEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH
"Marsh I can't wait for this one!" The excited Seth called out with a similarly enthusiastic grin on his face. "It's like… fate or somethin' weird like that!"
"That it is Seth… that it is…," Marshall responded with in another hardened-faced frowning nod, soon re-raising and re-facing the audience far out of the glass box he resided in with his co-commentator. "We're going to see a match-up we haven't seen in a long time… all this, and more, after the break," he began again fairly reservedly, casting a quick nod in the audience's direction. "Don't go away."
"Now remember… your opponent will be Raynard!"
"I know Malon, you've told me five times already this morning."
The listening Malon puffed up her cheeks and furrowed her brow down at the low-smiling Link below her in an insulted fashion, previously having leant down forward as if to speak down to him, coarsely-shaded hands held together behind the dress she chose to wear that day.
"And I do appreciate it." Link spoke up again this time, wisely managing to rectify the situation before it grew worse. He re-opened up his oceanic-eyed gaze as he turned it up to face the fire-haired woman on his right, tilting his messy-blonde haired head at her as he did.
Malon, while watching, found her annoyed-faced frown very quickly fading in favour of a genuinely-surprised zig-zag-like expression of embarrassment. A satisfied little smile began to dance awkwardly and gratifyingly across her pleasing countenance as she turned away from him, mumbling something incoherent.
The similarly watching Barkner from across the room, the boys' room of course, opted to cast his younger friend with a satisfied little grin of his own, spicing it with a confirming nod and upraise of his thumb as if to approve of his handling. Alwyn on Barkner's right, gave the sitting Link a folded-armed smile of his own, very subtly-small and careful in nature. Link himself couldn't help but have his own smile grow, even just a little, sharing a silent moment with two of his closest companions from his homeland.
"Urgh… I still can't believe mon amour won't get to fight me in the grand finals…,"
The sound of Vassia's ever-inflated soprano made the smiling Link drop it in favour of a curious-eyed frown when her voice reached his small Hylian ears. She stepped toward him exorbitantly, ever the actress.
"Whatever will you do without me there, mon chérie?" Vassia spoke again, her cheeks pursed together as if she were speaking to a baby. To further add to her style of speech, she leaned down to his level and grappled at his own cheeks, pulling them both further together in a manner similar to children. At first the watching Link cast her with a wide-eyed shock-faced expression before, soon, it devolved down into a half-annoyed humorously-looking drooping of his eyes, drawing out appreciative laughs from around the room.
"Ah'm shure ah'll be faine."
His slurred speech, spoken as well as could through bunched up cheeks, only further amused the surrounding group of close friends.
"You'll do more than fine… you'll do great."
This time it was the ever softly-spoken Veronika that managed to surprise him and, as Vassia let go of his cheeks, the smiling Stralanavian sauntered over toward him as she re-opened her mouth to speak again. She leant her hands down, clawed purple one and all hidden in bandages, and threaded their fingers together as she did with his own; leaving him in a kind of half-embarrassed frown again, unsure on what to do or say in response.
"Good luck out there today…," the young-looking Stralanavian smiled back down at him in a nod as she re-opened her mouth again to speak to him. "If anyone deserves to win this one today… it's you."
"She's right pipsqueak."
This time it was Barkner's turn to offer his words of encouragement, ever grinning as he stepped toward them to approach.
"I can't believe you ain't won any of these tournaments we been fightin' at," the Goron chuckled, drawing out a rolling-eyed smile from the listening Link himself in response. "That all changes… today."
"Keep your guard up…," the lightly frowning-faced Alwyn spoke up as he leant off of the wall, slim blue arms still folded as they so often were. "You don't honestly know what he's gonna throw out there on that arena."
"I concur with that… double time."
Impa's words made the group, not just Link, swing their heads 'round her direction. The ever-wise Sheikah stepped over, armoured arms also folded, before re-opening her mouth to speak to them all.
"We all still have no idea what Raynard and Scaverin are planning… but if they are, it won't be pretty," the fire-eyed woman began carefully, turning her silver-haired head between them all. "I just wish we had some idea of what he's planning to do…"
The rest of the group, unsure and unable to even hazard a guess at the potential answer, could only exchange quiet and silent looks with one another before Impa sighed lightly through her contralto and re-opened her mouth to re-address the group around her.
"All right… come on people," the Sheikah began again wisely, unfolding her arms to begin marching toward the door. "Best we leave our would-be-champion time to gather his thoughts for the last match of his life."
"Least we can do for him huh?" The grinning Barkner opted to throw into the conversation with, a light chuckle on his rocky-skinned lips before turning to leave, joining the rest of his friends.
When Impa noted the frowning-faced Zelda idling on one of the boys' beds, sitting at the end of it and casting her own curious-eyed look back at her bodyguard, the suspicious Sheikah stared curiously back at her, finally eliciting a response from her.
Even if it was wordless.
The Hylian princess upturned her frown into a small smile as she pulled out a pair of scissors and a comb from her back, drawing another half-sigh from the watching Impa.
"Fine," she finally conceded before nodding her silver-haired head back at the Hylian pair. "Just don't take too long… he has a match to get ready for."
The listening Zelda nodded back in an understanding, patient smile, eventually giving Impa the excuse she needed to step out of the room. As the expensive oak door shut quietly behind it, the two young Hylians were left in a quietened sense of awkwardness together; the sitting Link, painfully aware of her presence, attempted to push the odd feelings from his chest before re-setting his shoulders straight and placing both hands to rest upon his knees. He turned briefly to face her and gave her a light-faced smile, eliciting her to stand up from the bed she sat on previously and come sweeping toward him, lightly clicking away at the scissors in her small fingers.
"I think… that Impa might be right."
Link's smile very quickly fell when he felt her reach for the band holding his hair back, pulling it softly back as if to trim it a little further.
Even now, as he listened to her, he knew that this was just an excuse.
So what does she really want to talk about, he wondered to himself silently.
"We have every right to be worried…"
Link upturned a dirty-blonde eyebrows at her behind him, choosing not to turn his head for obvious reasons. "What about?"
"Scaverin, of course."
He nodded his head, even very lightly and softly, in having known of what she spoke of.
"If… if only we had some way of knowing what it is exactly he wants to…"
"Whatever it is… this 'ascension' stuff…," Link chimed in as she began to falter in her speech, oceanic eyes narrowing forward as he did. "It's dangerous. He's already caused too many deaths and injuries in what he's doin'…"
"It can't be linked to… you know who…," Zelda began again carefully, her eyes very lightly narrowing likewise, a kind of unsure and pensive look on her expression. "Can it…?"
"I doubt it," Link responded, holding back from shaking his blonde-haired head when he felt her very precariously play with his long hair behind him. "This is Scaverin's work. Ganondorf was cruel but he wasn't ruthless or even senseless," he reasoned on carefully. "Whatever it is he's planning… it's only gonna cause more needless deaths."
"Not if we stop it."
This time the youth's eyes opened back up further and he even turned his head 'round to face her briefly, finding a similarly hardened look on her own exterior. Link couldn't help but smile back at her, nodding as he re-set his face to the front.
"Yeah…," he nodded again lightly, his smile carrying him on. "I think we can do it, together."
It should be us that does it, he thought to himself.
Especially after failing to deal with him back home.
"What about… Raynard…?"
His eyes re-widened, eyebrows rising up in half-surprise before they lowered again in realisation, his eyes wandering down in genuine thought and care.
"I can bring him back."
It was Zelda's turn to raise an eyebrow, slightly cocking her head to the side as she stood over him, lightly placing the majority of the back of his hair between two thin fingers she carried. The frowning-faced Link upturned his expression into one of his old trademark confident-expressed grins, assured and near-certain.
"I know I can," he expanded upon, nodding forward at the closed oak door ahead of himself as he did. "I've gotten through to him before and, besides, I refuse to let what happened to anyone here what happened in my timeline."
"I… I realise that, but… what if he…?"
"If he's gonna go for anyone Zel, it's me, don't worry,"
She held back a surprised gasp, turning her sea-faring eyes down at him in curiosity.
"He's like a dog with a bone at this rate," Link began carefully, his frown slowly raising up into one of his old and comfortable smirks, overconfident and classic. "And I gotta admit… so am I."
"W-What do you…?"
The former Kokiri's smirk only grew as he re-opened his mouth to elaborate further. "I know it's dangerous to go on without a plan to deal with Scaverin… but I want this."
Zelda, curious and sceptical, could only furrow her brow down at him concernedly as she fingered around his hair.
"Even if we end up near-killing each other…," he added, this time in a confirming low nod, a light smirk playing across his face. "It's gotta be."
"You can't be serious…," she murmured out, shocked and horrified. "What happens when Scaverin takes advantage and…?"
"It's the only way Zel," Link answered, oceanic eyes turning only in her direction behind him before soon re-facing forward. "Ray ain't gonna listen to either one of us, you least of all."
The listening princess lowered her blonde-haired head, eyelids lowering with it in a form of disappointment.
She knew of Raynard's clan's bloody history, and her own homeland's unfortunate hand in their demise.
A fact that Raynard likely blamed her and the royal family for.
"Well…," she began again, her frown softening again as her sea-shaded eyes similarly in a cushioned state as she slowly re-rose them to face the marginally younger Hylian below her. "If anything… at least be careful… for me,"
Half-surprised, Link decided to revolve his head 'round to face her this time, his uncoupled hair whipping with him. She chose to smile down at him wanly, a kind of weary look about her.
"Please?"
The youth's blink and frown very quickly upturned again into a leant-faced smirk; a call back to his old behaviour and personality, something the pair found comfort in together.
"You know I will."
2
"Now… just a little more… and then…"
The frowning-faced Raynard's expression twitched as he stood just outside the main area of the fighting arena in a far-off, uninhabited darkened place of the Great Hall. Somehow having managed to sneak in his mentor, the frowning Raynard found himself watching the world tournament from afar, obliged to spend as much time with the older Hylian as much as he could before his long-awaited grand finals match with his blonde-haired rival.
Although his back faced the robed man behind him, Raynard already had some idea of what he was attempting to do; the sound of powerful and forbidden kinds of Aegir burned away quietly behind him, humming and vibrating through the air. Familiar kinds of forbidden Aegir that made the listening Raynard's hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
Raynard could barely remember his parents and knew of some of theirs and his clans' history but, even with it, he found himself at a loss with how familiar he felt this particular kind of magic and Quintessence.
The kind that lent itself well to the abandoned legends of the Forgotten Ones.
"Scaverin-sensei…" He began, chestnut-brown eyes lowering as he thought of them, a kind of saddened-faced frown atop his exterior.
The firmly-scowling form of Scaverin himself snapped his bald head 'round to glare back at the much younger Hylian through the blindfold he wore, mildly irritated. "What?!" He exclaimed. "What is it?! I'm busy!"
Raynard's frown twitched but he stayed the course, keeping his patience, even as he turned his spiky-haired head to face his angered mentor behind him. "I… I think maybe we shouldn't…"
"What is it boy? Speak up!"
Raynard's right eye twitched this time but he re-opened his mouth to continue regardless. "I think we shouldn't follow through with this anymore."
This time Scaverin 'rounded his head to face the younger Hylian with fully, angered and scowling, his ruined eyes hidden beneath the blindfold he wore for five years previous. The formerly religiously-affiliated Hylian stood up from his unknown task in front of him before turning his shocked angered gaze on the black-haired boy behind him, marching over toward him.
"What did you just say to me…?"
In great spite to their age difference, and perhaps even in their current levels of strength, Raynard still yet found himself intimidated by Scaverin's persona; his shadow loomed over him like that of a childhood bully, threatening and menacing.
"For five years… we have marched around Aurelia…,"
Raynard's eyes unconsciously lowered in guilt, as if he were a student in school being lecturer by its teacher. Scaverin himself, casting his disapproving glower down on the raven-haired boy with, chose to march around him with a scowl on his face.
"For five years… we have travelled these plains… all for you,"
The listening Raynard held back a guilt-ridden wince, his left eye twitching this time.
"And now you want to stop…?" The robed Hylian hissed out quietly and angrily, leaning his head to the young man's back-ear. "What's wrong…? Haven't you the belly for this?"
His pride being poked and prodded, Raynard finally came alive again; the last surviving son of the Van Garrick clan darted his eyes up angrily and swung his scowl on Scaverin's own, mixing together like oil and water.
"Of course I do…," he began, similarly angry in his own way, his eyes very briefly lowering in hesitation. "I just…"
Scaverin's blind brow furrowed once in genuine curiosity. "You just… what?"
"I think there's no need to involve innocent people in this, Scaverin-sensei," he elaborated on finally, re-raising his chestnut-brown eyes to face his mentor's ruined ones, at long last standing up to him. "Just let me deal with Link… and the royal family. They're the only ones that deserve to die."
"That's where you're wrong."
Raynard's eyebrows lifted in unsure scepticism, letting out a small surprised sound as he awaited the man's next narrow-eyed words.
"To create gods… and ascend those worthy enough… sacrifices must be made," Scaverin spoke out ominously, glaring back at the boy as he did. "I had thought we made that abundantly clear back in Gylomecia…"
Raynard's eyes lowered again as his thoughts went back to their life-or-death struggle with the Fierce Deity's ascension, barely coming out alive.
He's right, in a way, Raynard thought.
Multiple people died because of all of that, most of them innocent.
And no-one will get reparations for it either.
"No, my son…,"
Raynard re-raised his eyes to face the confident man before him, a new frown atop his exterior.
"You and I… will require much more than just a small vision of sacrifices…," he chuckled, a small smirk growing on his face. "By the time you finish your little spat with lord Ganondorf's imprisoner…,"
As he began speaking again, a low smirk playing upon his lips with malevolent intentions, Raynard could only watch him in intimidated concern.
"They will all pay the toll for the suffering they have caused your clan."
"Welcome back ladies and gentlemen… to the world championships."
YEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH
Mr. Marshall's relatively reserved baritone, echoing out around the deep arena they all resided in, was the precursor to the final round of the world championships themselves.
"We're finally here… we've reached the end of the road," he began again, a hardened frown atop his exterior as he did. "In just a little over five years we've seen an incredible variety in martial artists; skills from every corner of the continent and, indeed, the very world itself," he said, his words booming out through the small Gossip Stone in which he spoke into. "But now, here at the end, we come to a match-up most of you who have been following us from the beginning… will know very well…"
As if reacting to his words and his cue, a display of two pictographs labelled with names and statistics flashed up on both sides of the commentator's box's pillars. One on the left featured the simple-faced frowning Link, leaning to the side as he stared back at the viewer in noticeable restraint; a far cry from his much-earlier overconfidence years before. A similarly coloured pictograph on the right depicted a contrastingly scowling-faced Raynard, also leaning in an opposite direction, seemingly not much having changed him in the past five years.
Link Firbrand
Aggressiveness: S+
Agility: S+
Tenacity: S++
VS.
Raynard Van Garrick
Combination Damage: S++
Aggressiveness: S+
Agility: S+
YEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH
"In the past five years, we've seen grand finals after grand finals of our boy Firbrand going up against each current national champion and, now, finally, with a world-class series on the horizon we have an age-old story…"
"Hell yeah Marsh!"
The sound of the second commentator, a younger man grinning at his side echoed out exuberantly, leaning against a chair he sat in lazily and excitedly.
"It's a Hylian story!"
YEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH
In response to the younger man's excited calls came their own; a cacophonous cheer that rent the very huge building to its core, leaving even the commentators half-surprised by the buzz in their step.
"Indeed… a story as old as time; boys becoming men… men now on opposite sides with a match history to boot!" Marshall at long last grinned, re-opening his mouth to continue. "Those of you watching from our very first tournament in Hyrule, the Hylian Hyrax, will know these two squared off in the grand finals of the national championship."
"What a set that was Marsh! I can't wait to see how this one turns out!"
"Right you are Seth; a sentiment we all share here at the Prima World Tour," Marshall nodded in a light-faced chuckle before re-facing the audience. "This is it ladies and gentlemen, the ultimate face-off! Underdog, 'Fire Fist Firbrand' versus national Champion Van Garrick! Let's do it!"
YEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH
"Welcome back boys."
Even as Link and Raynard both approached from their respective sides, they cast their looks on the smiling-faced referee before them, stepping up the small marble staircase to the arena. The referee cast his own smile their way, nodding at the two in acknowledgement.
"We've missed you boys, we really have," the chubby man reiterated, the very same referee from all those years ago at the very first championship in which the two took part in. "Welcome back… and congratulations on making the grand finals, both of you."
While the watching Raynard gave the man an unsure, awkward little frown, the contrastingly smiling-faced Link opted to give the referee a nodding smile of his own in response before the pair of rivals eventually parted to step out toward their own respective sides; one red and one blue, as per the colour-coding of the Prima World Tour. As the watching audience's chatter all eventually began to settle, so too did their attention garner toward the ring; the last and final of the tournament circuit itself before them.
All this, for one final set.
Link stood in a near-unreadable stance, casting a simple-faced frown forward as he kept his body stance-less, open-handed fists resting at both sides. Raynard, in opposition to his marginally younger foe, leant his slim body to the side, his right side facing the blonde-haired youth as he did. His own fists were contrastingly-clenched together and, as he did, the air-conditioning within the Great Hall lightly blew at his spiked hair and tattered weighted clothing.
The scowl on his face however told Link almost all he needed to know.
"Red side, ready!"
Link cast a simple nod, light and basic, back at the referee as he finally affixed himself into the Loftwing-Style stance, bladed and careful.
"Blue side, ready!"
Raynard, glowering and hateful-eyed, could only nod similarly in response, his stance unchanging.
"Begin!"
3
Last Surviving Member of the Van Garrick Clan
Raynard Van Garrick
As the gong sounded out in a powerful echo, the wide-eyed Raynard and Link both called out in wide-eyed exclamation as they both rushed at one another, inhibitions lowered. As they both approached one another, fists and legs outstretched, only a single one of each clashed together; Link stood in a peculiar stance indeed. His lean and muscular body leant to the side as he slammed both his right forearm and right knee into the similar-stanced Raynard, a simple-faced frown atop his exterior as opposed to the hateful-eyed glare on his foe's.
The two struggled for a short while before, finally, Link broke their temporary stand-off by throwing a quick free fist forward; an assault that the wide-eyed Raynard saw coming and met with his own. The rivalled pair dropped their hold on one another to begin a second engagement; this one a far quicker variant.
Raynard at first threw a quick punch, glaring at his younger Hylian enemy; an attack the narrow-eyed Link parried with a quick block of his raised left palm, opened and ready, before soon responding with a swift darting jab of his own.
FWIP
In a deft response of his own, Raynard rose up his elbow to swat away the youth's jab before quickly firing back a punch of his own, brutal and filled with Aegir. Almost as if encouraged and pushed to it, the pair found themselves very quickly exchanging a lightning-fast series of blows together; punches and kicks and all while still remaining chained to their spots in the centre of the ring.
An exchange that saw them both locking stances once more.
Link attempted to break it a second time with a quick darting jab; an assault that the narrow-eyed Raynard caught with his one free palm. The pair glared at one another, teeth grit and showing to one another, before finally one of them landed an attack.
SLAMMM
"Urgh…!"
In a debilitating uppercut, the watching Raynard managed to send the grunting Link flying backward through the air, wincing and in light pain. He swung his blue tunic body 'round, caught the marble floor behind him and flipped back up to his feet in a low crouching-like position.
FWIP
He widened his narrowed oceanic eyes when he felt the presence of his fleet-footed foe behind him and, quick as a flash, slipped up a superfast back-kick in the older Hylian's face.
SLAMMM
"Gurgh…!"
In a manner similar to how he previously struck Link, Raynard himself was now sent a few inches up into the air; time slowed briefly for the pair, Raynard in his shut-eyed scowl and the narrow-eyed Link leaning his body forward for his successful back-kick, a satisfied little grin plastered across his youthful expression. Even as the last Van Garrick landed, however, safely at the ring's edge, the watching Link cast his knowing smirk on the watching youth before him as he affixed himself back into the Loftwing-Style stance. The glaring Raynard, his left arm twitching and glowing with a strange kind of Aegir-aura, soon upturned his scowl into a small smirk of his own.
A look that the watching Link could only drop his own smirk to cast a curious-eyed glance on it.
Soon enough the black-haired youth acted and widened his chestnut-brown eyes as he suddenly extended forth his left arm, pulsating with Aegir and power. Like magic, his arm's length and reach somehow expanded and stretched unimaginably, leaving the witnessing Aurelian audience chattering and surprised. Link however, seemingly expecting the technique, furrowed his brow knowingly and darted his slim body to the side to avoid the sudden grapple before returning with his own; a quick grapple counter-attack that saw the watching Raynard wide-eyed and shocked.
"EEEEYAH!"
In a powerful swing and toss, the narrow-eyed Hero of Time rotated the surprised Raynard 'round and 'round before finally letting go and throwing his raven-haired rival far up into the air above them both. As Raynard grit his teeth and attempted to recover in mid-air, soon finding himself levitating, he widened his eyes a second time down at the similar-faced Link below him; the young blonde re-opened his mouth and called out in battle as he shot his half-closed right palm up.
Like magic, an invisible wave of Aegir shot up slamming into the wide-eyed Raynard's face, sending him sagging up further into the air. Recklessly and thoughtlessly, the narrow-eyed Link gave immediate pursuit, leaping up high into the air to further pressure. Having seemingly recovered faster than expected, the wide-eyed Raynard pulled back his right arm and, pulsating with powerful wind-elemental Aegir, he tossed it forward to fire a raging projectile down back at the shocked Link.
"REPPUKEN!"
WHOOSH…
CRASSSSH
Having recklessly advanced with little thought to his safety, the wide-eyed youth crashed directly into the low-flying wind-charged projectile, successfully connected with him and sending him careering back down to planet earth.
VWEEEE…
"RGGGGGHHH…!"
Raynard's own chestnut-brown eyes widened similarly, this time in further offence as he pulled back both arms. With effort filling his body, he yelled out as he rapidly fired down a superfast series of arrow-like projectiles, all made of Aegir. They all whined out noisily and cacophonously as they all flew downward to catch the fallen Link's body, filling the arena up in a massive festive wind-green.
KURASSSSSH
When the smoke and dust cleared, and quickly at that, the watching audience marvelled at the destruction suddenly caused by the young Hylian champion; he dropped his body down to land gracefully on his weathered boots, casting a hardened glare forward as he did. As Link now lay in a pile of debris and wreckage, his Draerithian blue tunic having been ripped apart by the savage blast of red-hot Aegir, his back now sported light injuries across it; small bruises and burn marks. Surprisingly, he hopped up back to his feet fairly easily and harmlessly, landing gracefully as he did.
Now bare-chested, he carried only his lower half atop him and turned his frown over to face the glaring Raynard; as they locked eyes, the young blonde couldn't help but upturn his frown into a half-smirk, somehow confident in spite of the beating he had just so recently taken. The watching Raynard, while seemingly genuinely curious, also swung his hardened scowl up into a knowing-faced smirk, merely uttering a single grunt under his breath.
"Hmph."
YEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH
"What an opening!" The excited Marshall cried out, pumping a fist forward as he narrowed both eyes down at the scene below from his glass box. "We've already hit levels of talent that shouldn't be possible! Our current Hylian champion Van Garrick and his fleet-footed foe, 'Fire Fist Firbrand' are fighting for their lives right now!"
"I always wanted this Marsh!" Seth exclaimed, similarly excitably, leaning forward in his own chair as he re-opened his mouth to speak again. "We never ever had this runback!"
"In the Prima World Tour's history of over twenty years, not one competitor has even managed to approach the levels of feats these two young men have managed at their original tender ages of eleven and twelve," Marshall began again, cutting into the conversation with a simple-faced frown. "But to see them both now… exerting this kind of strength, even after five years of preparation…"
"It's somethin' else Marsh." The grinning Seth responded with, lightly swinging his head in the brown haired man's direction as he did.
"It certainly is Seth," Marshall smiled back in the younger man's way with a nod before re-facing the front. "This is just a portent folks… a simple harbinger of what's truly to come…"
"You're a lot stronger than five years ago,"
The half-smirking Raynard lowered his expression in favour of a curious-eyed frown, upturning a raven-haired eyebrow as he did. Only the similarly-smirking Link stared back at him, bare-chested body leant to the side as he reached over for the rest of his weighted clothing, presumably to drop it to the ground and prepare for the rest of their fight.
"I mean you were gonna be…," he began again, this time in a knowledgeable and half-amused chuckle, lightly rolling his shoulders as if to restore the blood-flow. "But even I couldn't expect it to be this much of an improvement."
The listening Raynard uttered out a huff, briefly shut his eyes and regained his smirk as he did. "I suppose you've made some improvements yourself… for a commoner."
The listening Link, easy to take the youth's banter, could only allow his own smirk to grow further as he rolled his shoulders silently.
"Y'know… if it wasn't for this allegiance y'got to Scaverin… I'd have given you my all."
Raynard's eyebrows shot up in genuine shock, his smirk dropping back into a half-annoyed frown. Link's own frown carried him on as he continued.
"But I know he's important to you," the blonde began again, an understanding tone of sympathy and empathy to his baritone, head leant to the side as he did. "So I get it."
"And what do you get, exactly?" Raynard hissed over, tilting his own spiked-haired head back at the youth. "Scaverin-sensei's the only one that stood by me… even when you and those parasites wouldn't."
Link smiled back wanly at the easily-angered youth, shaking his head softly as he re-set himself into the Loftwing-Style stance. "You'll always have friends Ray," he began again, re-opening his mouth to continue. "Me, Bark, Al… everyone. Even Zel."
Raynard's scowl grew worse; an indication of rage bubbling within the boy. He swung his scowl on the watching princess herself, far-off in the competitor's box with the rest of the blonde's group, before soon re-turning his doubting expression on the smiling-faced Link.
"And even when your back feels like it's against the wall…," Link began again, his smile unmoving. "I'll always be your friend."
If Raynard was holding back his anger it finally showed; something snapped within the youth and he widened both chestnut-brown eyes before an aura of Aegir billowed around him angrily.
"Shut UUUUUUP!"
4
SLAMMM
SKRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
In a mixture of what seemed to be anger and misplaced hatred, the narrow-eyed Raynard air-dashed his elbow into the frowning-faced Link's own elbow; a clash that saw light sparks of artificial electricity and tufts of their massive auras of Aegir escape from. With little warning the pair of young Hylian men erupted into a furious flurry of fisticuffs and blows, their arms and fists moving at such a speed it left after-images. Raynard's long red headband, much like Link's small pony-tail, blew in the artificial wind they both created as they sped around the large arena, the sheer building itself shaking from the strength with which they commanded together.
In the first manoeuvre of evasion the wide-eyed Raynard managed to pull his head back from Link's desperate haymaker before swiftly counter-attacking with a debilitating chest-punch.
SLAM
It didn't take long for the wide-eyed Link to stay in pain however; he put on a half-annoyed scowl to his face before deftly firing back a quick darting punch in Raynard's face.
"HRNGH…!"
Link quickly pursued and, as he did, a second bout of fists and this time kicks erupted between the two, speeding around the arena; an attempt to push the glaring Raynard out of the ring. The former Hero of Time grunted out in effort as he found a tiny weak spot in his foe's defences; slamming a quick low kick to his right side. In just the nick of time, the last surviving Van Garrick managed to somehow block with his right leg before firing a quick swipe with his right fist.
An assault which Link, of course, evaded with a swerve of his blonde-haired head.
The straw-haired martial artist grunted out as he threw forward both arms to attack with; Raynard met his assault with his own counter, grabbing both palms. The pair grappled at one another and stared each other down, lowering their fighting stances and shaking the earth with their rapidly-increasing powers. It didn't take long before the narrow-eyed Raynard managed to break this hold however; a quick widening of his eyes caused the warily-watching Link to widen his own before swiftly ducking in evasion.
VWEE…
BZZZZT
A pair of deadly lasers shot straight from Raynard's wide-eyed glare fired directly toward the wide-eyed Hylian, forcing him to duck in evasion before responding with a deft double-footed mule-like kick.
SLAMMM
As the grunting Raynard was sent a few yards back from the sudden blow, he somehow managed to keep hold on the shocked Hero of Time via use of his incredible Aegir-control technique; indeed, a paired stream of Aegir was left in Raynard's arms' place, effectively trapping and catching the shocked Link to prevent him from fleeing. Even as far away from his foe as he was, Raynard followed up with a quick counter-attack by laughing out as he twisted both arms' Aegir-streams to bring up the yelling Link.
CRASSSSSSH
CRASH
CRASH
In three numerously-pained slams to the ground, Raynard essentially treated Link as if he were a simple piece of wreckage by endlessly raising him up and then bringing him back down again, breaking the tournament arena's tiles beneath them both as he did. In the fourth raise, Link's sea-blue eyes widened and he countered himself by streaming his own fire-elemental Aegir into the fingertips of his hands.
SSSSS…
Raynard called out in sudden light aching his fingers let go of the Aegir-stream he handled earlier, essentially freeing his fleet-footed foe; Link deftly leapt his body up in an aerial and acrobatic back-flip, endlessly somersaulting across the very stream of Aegir itself that Raynard handled. The humble audience, disquieted and sheerly shocked at both Hylians' use of Aegir, could only watch as he eventually made his way across the magic cord and eventually across the similarly-shocked Raynard's arms themselves.
CRACCCK
"Urgh…!"
Raynard sagged backward in pain as Link abruptly cracked his elbow deep into Raynard's cheek, sending him staggering a step back from the sheer force with which he hit him. As the blonde youth landed next to him, he set off in immediate movement, his slim bare-chested form a mere after-image to the untrained eye. Raynard growled in annoyance and, pulling back the paired stream of Aegir he extended forth previously, rubbed at the light trickle of blood his foe had drew from him, chestnut eyes darting in deft search for him.
"Shit… where is he…?" He cursed out crudely in a mutter under his breath, eyes darting 'round in desperate search.
WHAMMM
Appearing somehow directly behind him, the wide-eyed Link slammed his now-bare right foot directly into the shocked Raynard's face, sending him grunting and sailing again through the air. The current Hylian champion growled out a second time and, as his arms reached down for the broken tiles of the arena below him to recover in a swift side-flip, the smirking-faced after-image of the similarly-speeding Link appeared to his undefended rear.
SMMMMACKKK
Time slowed down for the pair of rivals and, as Link sunk his right elbow into Raynard's exposed gut to send him reeling up, he followed up his offensive with a swift series of super-fast strikes and slashes with his fists.
"HEYT!"
CRACCCCK
"Gurgh…!"
In a pained and devastating dive-kick upwards, Link finished his brutal offensive with a quick crack to the face, firing the shut-eyed and bleeding Raynard flying through the air again. The heir to the Van Garrick clan reached down to the tiles beneath him and, catching them, vaulted himself high up into an acrobatic somersault of his own. Angered and enraged by his inability to easily dispatch with his straw-haired rival, the wide-eyed Raynard's teeth grit horribly as if to emphasise the wounds now visibly-present on his face, leaving the frowning-faced Link watching in ambivalence below him.
"Dog of the royal family…," he began lowly yet loudly enough for the frowning-faced Link to hear. "You could have helped me unearth the truth of what happened to me… my clan… my family…,"
The listening Link's frown grew softer; a kind of understanding and saddened take to it, morose and sullen.
"But now you've just thrown it all away!" The angered youth further exclaimed, pulling back his right arm. Pulsating with powerful wind-elemental Aegir, he tossed it down and forward toward the watching blonde; a massive wind-charged projectile snaking across the air in similar rapid-speed. "Final REPPUKEN!"
Link pulled back both arms and, ocean-blue eyes narrowing, similarly quickly prepared his own counter-attack; a massive projectile of magic and Aegir. "Kaen-Sendan HADOKEN!"
Unlike his previous uses of the 'Shinku Hadoken' technique, this new one was filled with a beautiful and dangerously fiery take on it; indeed, the huge wave of power was coated head-to-toe in lava and fire, a kind of restrained take on the age-old Kage Narumono's 'Shakunetsu' variation. Realising his enemy responded with his own technique's weakness and fully committed, Raynard could only watch in horror as his signature attack was quickly eaten up by the projectile below him. As the Kaen-Sendan Hadoken technique began to rapidly approach him he widened both eyes and shot side through the air in an attempt to evade it.
WHOOSH
Link's oceanic eyes widened in realisation but, by then, it was far too late; he could only turn his head, time slowing down for the pair, as Raynard re-appeared directly behind his defences, arms raising up.
"RAGIIIING…!"
Oh no, Link thought to himself.
Only one other person used this technique.
If it's the same one… then…
Raynard's own chestnut-brown eyes widened and he scowled terribly as he brought both crossed horizontally-placed arms up to the air, a massive billowing cloud of Aegir covering him, before finally bringing both arms crashing down savagely into the ground to strike his foe's back.
"STOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRM!"
KURRRRRAAAASSSSSSHHHHH-RUMBLE-RUMBLE…
Like pure thunder slamming against and breaking apart hard rock, a humongous stream of wind-elemental Aegir flew up to match his movement high into the sky, cutting and shearing away at small sections of Link's lower half. The poor young Hylian was sent careering from the strength of his foe's assault, his bleeding body knocking and sprawling in pained rolls across the ruined tournament arena. Before he could reach the edge of it, however, he widened both eyes and grit both sets of teeth together as he caught the ground with one of his hands and quickly pushed up off it to side-somersault in recovery.
"Where…," he began in a pained huff, landing in a kneeling position as if to highlight the newfound damage to the lower half of his trousers, as well as the rest of his body; cuts and stains of blood lay strewn across his bare-chested body and face. He brought up an arm to wipe away at the blood that trickled down his lips, a pained frown adorning his usually-confident expression. "Where did you… learn that…?"
The firmly-frowning form of Raynard slowly rose back to his own feet, setting both muscular arms to his side as he narrowed both eyes forward. "Who else? Scaverin-sensei taught me it."
Link's brow furrowed and his cerulean eyes lowered in brief thought.
That adds up, he thought.
There's no way Ganondorf could have taught him that, let alone met up with him.
Maybe there's still a chance I can bring him back then.
"I have to try."
The silent-voiced Raynard eyed him suspiciously, single eye narrowing as he did. "What?"
Finally pressed to answer, Link re-opened his mouth and stood to his own feet, dusting himself off. "What else has he told you?"
"About what?"
"About… him," Link began again firmly, brow furrowing. "About the man he served. The men that betrayed you in my timeline. The men that killed you and Al… about Ganondorf?"
Raynard's firmly-faced frown quickly switched to an angered scowl at first before it soon softened a little, eyes lowering as if in deep thought. "Only… only that he was his aide… nothing more."
"That man was going to stage a coup d'état of the Hylian royal family… and kill innocents in doing it," the former Kokiri explained briefly, tilting his blonde-haired head to the side as he did. "That's why we jailed him."
"But-" Raynard started in brief impatience and passion, clenching a fist as he did before swiftly realising his place of argument. He winced, briefly lowered his eyes a second time, before soon re-raising them to face the blonde. "He wouldn't have…"
Even before he finished his sentence, Raynard realised his naivety; after the horrifying ordeal that was the unknown island in the Kirkway Pacific with his mentor Scaverin, having brutally killed a young mother with very little reasoning other than his mad ambitions, he was more than unfortunately willing to believe his straw-haired rival.
"Fuck…!" He hissed out in a mixture of anger and frustration, whipping his spiked-haired head to the side, eyes beginning to tear up when he thought of the surviving orphan's face five years ago and his unfortunate part in standing idly by as his mother was savagely murdered. "I've been…," he began again, shaking his head in a hateful-eyed scowl, shutting both as tears began to stain at them. His voice choked up and he tried his level best not to struggle in speaking. "Been on the wrong side… I've been so blind…"
Link's own hardened frown softened and he couldn't help but put on a wan-faced smile, head leant to the side as he re-opened his mouth. "If you see it now… you ain't blind anymore Ray,"
The listening Raynard, half-shocked by the youth's words of encouragement and friendship, could only swing his head up in surprise, tears blinking away as he did.
"You're a good person," he reasoned with the older Hylian, smiling well-naturedly as he did. "I know you are; I know you." He began again.
"But I…," Raynard began again, lowering his eyes and twitching his pained scowl to himself. "The things that I did…"
"All under duress."
The shocked boy gasped out quietly to himself, eyes snapping back upward.
"We all make mistakes, I have too," Link smiled back, shaking his blonde-curtained head, his pony-tail lightly waving with him as he did. "First thing you gotta do… is forgive yourself," he spoke again, re-setting his head to face the black-haired boy with. "That's the hardest part."
"So… so what Scaverin-sensei told me…," Raynard began again, eyes briefly lowering again as if in pondering before deftly rising up to face Link's. "It was a lie?"
Link shook his head, his smile falling in favour of a frown. "Not all the way," he began before re-opening his mouth. "Your clan was killed… but not by the royal family."
Raynard's brow furrowed; his mouth held agape in curiosity.
"They were doing some… crazy things with Aegir… with magic… stuff best forgotten about," Link spoke quietly this time, attempting to avoid the rest of the now chattering and restless audience around them from hearing them. "Peoples' kids in Hyrule Castletown started to go missing… and they blamed your parents for it."
The listening Raynard gasped, eyebrows shooting up in quick realisation.
"I don't know if it was true, but…," Link started again, shaking his head, his own eyes lowering before re-raising. "It was the people that came after your parents. They lynched 'em both and killed them."
Raynard's breath fell in his throat, holding himself from taking a step back in shock.
"They were gonna go for you too before Zel's father stepped in," the surprisingly-wise youth continued, a firm-faced frown to his complexion. "King Daphnes."
Raynard's eyes lowered again and he shook his spiked-haired head in disbelief. "I thought that…"
"He made a royal decree that no adult from that particular incident be able to contact you. They weren't even to acknowledge you."
The listening Raynard could barely believe his ears; he uttered a shocked little gasp as realisation bred knowledge. Suddenly and, all at once memories of Hyrule Castletown's people simply ignoring him filled his head, coming to mind almost immediately. An odd sense of déjà vu washed over his spine as he recalled the looks he received.
Looks of resentment, disgust and even hatred.
They must have blamed me, he thought to himself.
Blamed me for the loss of their children.
"Hey,"
Almost as if sensing his inwardly-private thoughts, both concerning and curious, the smiling-faced Link stared back at him perhaps in an effort to call his attention; the surprised Raynard re-raised his chestnut-eyed gaze to face the young Hylian with, straw-haired head leant to the side as he did.
"You're a good person, I know you are," he insisted again in another well-intentioned smile. "It wasn't your fault… no-one should have blamed you."
"But I…," Raynard began again, eyes lowering in shame. "My parents… my clan… their children…"
"All out of your control."
The listening Van Garrick show up his eyes again, holding back an agape-mouthed gasp.
"You were just a child yourself; I remember those days," Link spoke again, this time in a lightly-saddened frown. "If me and Zel… if we met you back then and not after it all… then maybe…"
Breath choked up in the listening Raynard's throat; he rose up his callous-fingered hand, back-facing to hide his mouth, eyes lowering again in a mixture of regret and guilt. Tears began to sting and stain at the sides of his eyes; a fatal attempt to stop them from flowing.
"I… I tried to kill you… kill her… kill her clan…,"
Link's frown fell a little as he listened, head still leant to the side.
"I'm no better than…"
"No."
Raynard swung up his teary-eyed frown to face his only friend's, waiting and shocked.
"I know you…," Link chose to smile again, shaking his pony-tailed head lightly as he did. "With us… you helped. With us you were yourself; I remember you from my time. You are a good person Ray… you're one of us, always have been."
The listening black-haired youth held back a kind of half-relieved laugh, almost as if he were unable to believe the words coming out of his rival's mouth.
"Okay… what's say we finish this fight… make it a good one?" The former Kokiri smiled one last time, leaning back into his usual Loftwing-Style stance, bladed and ready. The listening Raynard's morose-faced frown upturned slowly into an appreciative-faced smile and, at long last, appeared saved.
"Yeah…," he responded with a grateful-eyed nod, affixing himself into the only stance he knew, fists at either side of himself. "Thank you… Link."
YEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH
Although unable to have listened to the pair's quiet-voiced exchange, the smiles on their faces as they slowly refixed themselves into fighting stances, so wholesome and well-intentioned, could only re-invigorate the watching audience; they erupted into a powerful echo of excitement, their voices reverberating against the walls of the Great Hall as they did.
5
In the light turn from his initial grateful-faced smile to a simple-eyed frown, Raynard began approaching in a rapid sprint, his form leaving after-images in the sheer speed with which he moved. Link's own smile similarly dropped from his face as he tightened his stance and narrowed his eyes forward. As Raynard made his final approach, so too did Link eventually vanish from common sight; the watching audience could only murmur to one another as only the sound of clashing, fists upon fists echoed out around the walls of the Great Hall, leaving them all curious and unsure.
"Up there!"
Zelda's excited call from far down in the competitor's box, watching from just outside of it, managed to draw all attention first to her, and then to tracing her bare finger; a directing to the air high above them all. When the people swung their eyes up to trace it, they found the high-flying and hovering forms of Link and Raynard locked in combat, exchanging a seemingly never-ending series of fists and kicks, all of which made their successful mark on each other. Finally, however, one seemed to get the better of the other and one that seemed to normally always do in this particular match-up.
CRACK-CRACKCRACKCRACK
SLAM
The shut-eyed Link grunted out as he was hit by a savage double-handed strike, sending him veering and careering back down to a ring-out portion of the hall; widening both oceanic eyes in realisation, he stopped his fast-undulating form as he dropped down continually before pulling back both arms, as if in preparation for a familiar technique.
"Shinku…"
VVV…
"HADOKEN!"
VVVVV
FRRRRRR-CRASSSSSSH
The young Hylian utilised an older technique and fired it down toward the area in which he were to fall into before breaking apart the ground with it, essentially turning his earlier fall into a quick high-rising vault.
VWEEEE…
The watching Raynard, still levitating high in the air, could only stare back down in sheer shock and disbelief.
A fatal mistake.
"HEYT!"
SLAMMM
As Link's incredible velocity took him further and further vertically up in the air above, he eventually slammed both fists into his black-haired rival's chin, sending them both further up as he did. Perhaps angered by the attempt, the glaring Raynard swung his body back as he fell back down to planet earth and threw a quick wind-charged projectile.
"REPPUKEN!"
VWEEE…
Link's eyes both widened in shock and, realising he couldn't do much in the way of altering his falling arc, could only watch as his foe's projectile clashed and connected with him, shearing his bare chest with cuts and further wounds. He exclaimed out in pain and agony as the pair dropped back down safely to the destroyed tournament area, both bodies slamming and ricocheting lightly from the sheer height with which they dropped.
CRASSSSHHH…
The pair of rivals' bodies rebounded agonisingly against the tournament arena below them both, wincing cringes atop both their bloodied and injured faces. The two, taking their sweet time in standing to their feet, could only grunt out in pain as the referee himself stepped back into the ring, presumably to begin a countdown.
"One!"
Link grit both sets of teeth together firmly, bruised eyes shut firmly as he did, struggling to even move his body.
"Two!"
Raynard, similarly weakened, could only gasp out roughly as he attempted to push his body up from the ruined tiles beneath him.
"Three!"
Link at long last began to find his footing, both legs halting their shaking as he finally re-opened his oceanic eyes together, standing tall.
"Four!"
Raynard, in comparable great effort, held back gasps of his own as he forced himself to his feet, re-clenching both arms to his sides as he did.
Realising that the two Hylian young adults managed to stand successfully to their feet together, the recognisable referee let out a nodding smile in both their directions before turning to hop off of the destroyed tournament arena, leaving them both gasping and staring at one another.
"I never…,"
Link's dark-blonde eyebrows shot up in half-surprise as he caught the sound of the gasping Raynard's baritone speak up.
"I never hated you…,"
The listening Hero of Time could only blink back at the black-haired boy, genuinely surprised by the words with which he was spoken to with. The frowning-faced Raynard, his stance held lowly and his eyes similarly lowering, shook his spiked and tousled-haired head as he did as if to emphasise his next words.
"Not like how I hated… her… and her clan," he admitted further, eyes very briefly hovering in the frowning-faced Zelda's direction to their right. "You at least… you were my only friend… are my only friend."
Link upturned his fatigued-faced frown into a warm-expressed smile, shaking his own head lightly in polite refusal. "No…,"
The watching Van Garrick rose up an abyss-black eyebrow, curious.
"Now you got all of us," the blonde began again, leaning his head to the side in a favourite stance he liked to adopt. "In fact… you always did." The standing Link elaborated on simply and eloquently. Raynard's own sombre-faced frown morphed into an appreciative-spiced smile of his own, briefly shutting his eyes as his smile widened to a low-faced smirk. He only uttered out a single, comfortable sound between them; one that they both somehow knew together after so many years fighting one another.
"Hmph."
Before Raynard could even re-open his eyes the slim-muscled Link's form suddenly vanished from common sight, leaving all perplexed and desperate in search for him; his raven-haired rival darted his eyes around in similar investigation before he was suddenly onset with a slamming elbow to his face.
"Urgh…!"
Taken completely off guard, Raynard's own figure was sent just a few tiny centimetres up into the air from the sheer strength with which he was struck, allowing the recently-reappeared Link to follow-up his abrupt assault with a brutal combination of kicks; a savage entanglement that ended, only in the similarly savage gut punch.
"SKAIT!"
SLAMMM
A powerful beautiful-blue shaded Aegir covered his form as he leant down to sink his fist into the shock-eyed Raynard's gut, sending him briefly sailing up into the air. He managed to catch his legs back to the ground, however, the pain of which was simply just too great; Raynard couldn't even utter out a single word, making sounds of agony and light gasps as he cast his wide-eyed bloody-faced stare forward. Finally, he began to sag forward on the narrow-eyed Link's right side, at long last dropping and falling agonisingly to his back.
Just before he did, however and shocking even the watching group in the competitor's box, the wide-eyed Raynard used the very last of his energy and Aegir, wind-elementally charged and body-shearing.
VVVV-SLASH-CUT-TEAR
"Hrngh…!"
Similarly taken aback by Raynard's precipitous counter-attack Link was sent tailspinning diagonally through the air, time slowing down for the competitive pair as they finally landed simultaneously and agonisingly across the ground opposite one another.
SLAM
SLAM
6
The two Hylians' bodies ricocheted and rebounded roughly against the tournament arena beneath them painfully, finally and seemingly at long last leaving them both unable to move. The silent audience and others watching kept their voices within their throats, genuinely curious on how the fight would end with such a close encounter. The referee, watching from within the bounds of the arena itself, finally stepped in to begin a second countdown.
"One!"
Link attempted, without much success, to stand to his feet, grunting as he did.
"Two!"
Raynard, similarly unsuccessful, could only growl out through his blood-stained teeth as he attempted to push up from the ground below him.
"Three!"
Link widened both oceanic eyes and, in great effort, let a yell of passion escape his lips as he slammed both fists into the ground on either side of him. Only the sound of the recently-deceased form of Ragnar's words echoing in his mind.
"Four!"
"Win today."
He managed to picture the bloody-smiling face of his former Draerithian rival staring back up at him as he grit his teeth and re-opened his mouth to yell in sheer determination.
"Do our dojo proud… do Sathryon proud…"
The young blonde slammed shut his grit-together teeth and scrunched shut his eyes similarly as he somehow found the effort to raise himself to his knees.
"If anyone deserves to win here today…"
The youth turned eerily silent as he snapped open both eyes, a kind of desperate and somehow patient quality to them, tears beginning to stain at their corners.
"It's you."
"AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
CRASSSSHHHHH-DROOOOOOM
In a beautiful explosion of Aegir and magical ability, Link somehow managed to stand to his near-ruined two feet pulling his body backward to arch it as a massive aura of power radiated from him, as cerulean-blue as the sea in his eyes. The watching Raynard from his fallen position on the ground could only widen both chestnut-brown eyes, unable to move from his own spot on the ground from the expended effort the pair of rivals let out.
"Match and tournament set!"
As the referee finally made his last callout, the watching audience waited, bated breath and all. The man swung an arm in the standing Link's direction, a firm-faced frown adorned his expression.
"This tournament's winner… and the world champion… is Link Firbrand!"
