A shortie. Ok, so some people are probably thinking, "what the hell? An update after this long," so I guess I need some sort of explanation. I was watching the Super BowlÔ , slightly surly, close to falling asleep. I wasn't planning on watching it because I'm a Redskin's fan, but since there were so many former 'Skins it was almost like my team was there. So while I was bordering sleep they kept calling out the name of the Raiders quarterback about every two minutes (who was a benchwarmer for us at some point. So the name 'Gannon' was branded into my mind and when I woke up, I thought to myself 'Damn it, I've a few Zelda fics that I never finished, and there's at least one or two people that like Shadow Walker, why don't I work on that some more?' So here it is, Shadow Walker is back into the picture.

…Oh, and I got kinda bored after I woke up, so here's a portrait I drew of Julia. Cut n' paste, since link tags are stripped:

http://community.webshots.com/photo/43596171/61934968tLpFGx

Admittedly, I'm a better artist then an author…

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Finish it, something sinister in my mind hissed, finish it now, let her blood spill just as she would have done to you…I shook my head slowly in response. But I did not back down. No, not after all the shit I went through. I looked back at her with what I hoped was cold fury, and she seemed to shrink back. Her eyes were sharp with fear and the pain and humiliation of a lost battle. That was all the satisfaction I needed. I left it at that. Without a word, I withdrew my sword from her neck and stepped back from her. A gasping sob escaped her, and let her head fall back against the sand, closing her eyes and breathing raggedly.

I couldn't help but smirk. It felt good to have the upper hand now and then. The power of life and death was intoxicating, but I didn't let it get to me; there were more important things to take care of.

Looking back to crowd, I saw that most of them were standing about in absolute shock, I took it that they didn't get beat at their own game too often. But the man over there with the lady that I took to be the warrior women's leader was looking at me quite differently. He was viewing me with calculating shrewdness, like he was trying to figure me out. Didn't care too much though. Hell, he was nothing to me anyway, his clothing suggested that he was a farmer or something along those lines.

"This was a fight to the death, foreigner," the woman who had been a mere inch from death said thickly. "Our queen would have been satisfied with either of our deaths."

I didn't say anything.

"Yet you have shown her mercy," said someone from behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see the woman with the many jewels. The circle of women had broke, and, once they saw that there was no more excitement to be had in the battle, they were all returning to their various duties.

"I guess you could say that," I replied, turning to face her. "Would you have really killed me?"

"For the sport of it, yes, I would have had you killed, it has been many a year since we have seen any sort of excitement," she answered, shrugging, her jewelry clinking together as she did so. "But because I was unaware of your imprisonment, and therefore not the one to order your execution, I thought it would be fair to give you the chance to prove yourself. If it had not been for my intervention, you would have surely been beheaded. But now that I've seen such a performance, I'll let you live. It'd be a shame if you were to die by an unworthy hand."

I wasn't really sure what to make of that. "Thank you for your kindness…uh…"

"Nabooru," she supplied, smiling, handing me my scabbard. The man, the only one I had seen since arriving, walked over. He limped; it seemed that his right leg was a full two inches shorter then his left. He came to stand behind the woman who called herself Nabooru, observing me from over her shoulder. I wasn't sure why, but there was something…different about this man. Perhaps he was more then just a simple farmer. He had finely pointed ears, which was strange enough, then I remembered that Hyrule was one of the few elven kingdoms. He was somewhere in his early twenties, his blond hair was tied back, and his completion was fair. He definitely did not live here--the sun would have burnt him to a crisp. His dark blue eyes were cold, hard and sharp as my sword.

"Who are you and why did you come here, girl?" the warrior woman asked.

"My name is Julia Salem, I come from the country of Guinness from across the desert," I answered without hesitation. The answers came fluidly. "There's a power struggle for the throne between King Lethane and a lesser lord, war across the land. I wasn't too keen on getting raped and killed, so I left."

"You must be tough indeed," she remarked, "I have never heard of anyone crossing the desert unaided."

"I had my horse." The horse in question, threw back his head and made that shrill, piercing scream that assaulted our ears. The elf-man flinched, along with many others nearby. "He got me out of more scrapes then I can count. I'd appreciate it if you were to release him as well."

She nodded then issued a command in another language that I didn't recognize. A woman rushed to the enclosure, hurriedly unlatching it should he take a fancy to bite her, then flung open the gate. As docile as an child's pony, Cyrus came out, trotting lazily to me. I placed a gentle hand on his velvet nose, and he grunted affectionately.

"Remarkable animal as well," she said, "My woman are some of the finest riders and trainers ever to grace the land, but not one of them could come anywhere near him." Her tone turned serious once more. "And exactly what are you going to do in this land?"

"I don't know yet," I said honestly, shrugging as I put the scabbard in it's rightful place at my side. "I haven't given it much thought."

"We could always use an extra sword, but I don't think we could find the room to accommodate you."

She lied through her teeth. I had seen the state that their fortress was in as hey had brought be up from the cell. Half of the rooms were empty, and parts were falling into disrepair. I had the impression that there had been many more of them at one point, but now their numbers had been cut considerably.

"That's alright, milady Nabooru. I'm sure I'll find something."

She looked doubtful. "I don't know. You've arrived at a rather poor place, girl. Jobs are hard to find for foreigners."

"I'll find something."

She looked rather doubtful, and, admittedly, I felt the same way. What work was there for a woman? Prostitution was a last resort, and thievery was out of the question. But then her face lit up with a bright smile, her white teeth a striking contrast with the darkness of her skin.

"Link, why don't you take her?"

The man behind her jumped as he was addressed. He had obviously thought that she didn't know he was there, though I got the impression that little escaped her. She turned to him, and I took my queue to stand at her side, the black stallion breathing into my cloak, picking at strands of my ill-kept hair with his lips.

He scowled, his eyes becoming all the more colder. "You can't be serious."

"Why not? You could always use an extra hand at the ranch, am I right?"

"No," he said firmly. "we turned down two strong and able lads just last week. We don't need and can't afford--"

"Please, Link?" she crooned stroking his cheek with her long, nimble fingers. He looked away.

"Not a chance," he said forcefully.

"It's OK, really, I'll be--" I was completely ignored. Of course, I'd take all the help I could get, but it really wasn't necessary.

"I'll throw in the gray mare," the woman offered softly.

He met her eyes again quickly. His demeanor had changed like a flipped coin. "Deal."

"You still must pay for her, but I can delay payment."

"Fine, fine," he grumbled. "I will. It'll give me a chance to speak with Talon about Ingo." He looked pointedly at me. "But if you do anything to get me into bad favor with the ranch owner, I'll have your hide. Is that understood?"

I was taken aback by his coldness. What in hell had I ever done to him? I had the mind to tell him he could take his damn job and shove it up his ass. But I held my tongue, he had some use apparently, and I intended to exploit him to the fullest.

"Yes, of course, sir," I said, my voice and face carefully blank. "Thank you for your charity."

Nabooru nodded in approval. "Good, now with that settled, I'll have someone fetch the mare, and you two can be on your way."

He took another hard look at me, then turned on his heel and limped off. I replaced my sword with a soft shing, sighing.

"I don't know whether to thank you or curse you, milady," I told Nabooru.

"Don't worry," she answered, placing a friendly hand on my shoulder. "He's alright, really. Link's bitter, he has been betrayed too many times, perhaps, seen too many things." She glowered, her full lips pressing into a firm line as she looked off towards the Northwest. "But he knows and means well. He'll make sure that nothing ill becomes of you."

I sighed again, and prayed to whatever gods there were still left in the world that our trip and our time together would be short.

But the gods hated me and they always had.