Chapter 11: As time passes by...
In the weeks that followed, the five Humans, three Hylians and the Lylatan became good friends. They had to build a bigger tree-house, but the nine of them were able to handle it. The Humans helped with the gathering of money and food and they enjoyed their time with their new friends. Especially Terry, since he hadn't ever had so much people around him. Friendly people. He had insisted that Athena would remain home to take care of her sick mother. Not that Terry cared much for Athena's mother, but he hadn't forgotten what his father had said to him in that dream. That she was not to be trusted. Kyo missed her, but Terry thought that Athena wasn't able to break Kyo's heart that way. Terry was far from a sensitive guy, but he didn't want his best friend to get hurt by this girl. Terry hadn't trusted her from the beginning. She was just TOO sad to be true. Poor, poor Athena. Alone on the world with her sick mother. It could've been a nice fairy tale. But it wasn't. This was reality. Terry just couldn't forget what she and Kyo had done in his bed. When it would come true that Athena wasn't the sweet little girl she pretended to be, Terry would punch her down, he was sure of that. Making use of his best friend that way... That was asking for trouble. Zelda had been occupied by her dream for a while. She hadn't seen the girl with dark hair and the man with the noble spirit yet, but she trusted that they would come. One day, when she sat on the improvised balcony of the tree-house at night, Kyo approached her. "Goodevening, your Highness." he said polite. "Hey, Kyo." Zelda replied. "Your Majesty..."
"Zelda."
"Zelda." Kyo said, correcting himself. "There is a favor I wanted to ask you. If I may, of course."
"Sure, go ahead." Zelda said. "You... Zelda, your reputation in the arts of magic is widely known across the world. I was wondering if you could teach me how to improve my skills with the fire. I am willing to pay for it." Zelda smiled. "Of course I want to teach you. But I do not need any money, Kyo. I've had enough money for the rest of my life and it didn't make me any happier."
"You are most kind, princess." Kyo said, smiling. "No, I'm not." Zelda said. "Shall we start tomorrow?"
"Great idea!" Kyo said enthusiasticly.
The next morning, Link, Fox and Terry went to the marketplace to help Fox with his little merchandise. Each of them carried a bag of goods as they walked from the forest to Castle Town. "What's in all this, Fox?" Terry asked. "Junk." Fox answered. "And you sell it?" Link asked. "Yes." Fox said. "There are always idiots who buy stuff just to have it. If you let them think they can't live without it and that they can have it relatively cheap, you got yourself a bargain."
"So you just swindle a bit?" Terry said, more as a comment than as a question. "Now that's a harsh word, Terry. I say... Help them off their money."
"Swindler." Terry said with a slight tone of amusement in his voice. He had bought different clothes in the past weeks. All in the same nonchalant style as usual, but there was one thing which remained the same about him. His baseball cap. He refused to take it off. Now he was wearing jeans, a white shirt and a thick, brown, leather jacket. When the trio reached Castle Town, they helped Fox establish his stand at the marketplace. It didn't took long for the customers to arive at Fox's stand, since the Lylatan had created some reputation amongst the searchers for bargains and the finders of sales. Link had seen and experienced a lot in his life, but the things he saw at Fox's stand made him sometimes scratch the back of his head. Some people did nearly everything to get their hands on a good bargain and that was a strange thing to see for one who had almost nothing. Terry was no exception. He sometimes bursted out in laughter as Fox was speaking his usual saletalk, making people indeed think that they couldn't live without the thing. If Link hadn't known his friend better, he would have bought something as well, that was for sure. The three friends rather enjoyed themselves that day, especially when Terry tried to sell something as well. Link had to stop him from beating up a pretty arrogant noble. When the marketplace was closing at the end of the day, so did Fox and the three went to the local tavern to get themselves some well-earned beer. "Greatings, fair customers." the innkeeper said as Link, Fox and Terry took place at the bar. "What can I get to ease those thirsty throats?" The short, bearded man had quite the accent which Terry recognised as Scotisch and Link recognised as a Dwarven tongue. The stout man was indeed a Dwarf, since Link noticed that he was standing on an edge behind the counter. "Do you have some strong beer, my good man?" Fox asked in good spirits. It was pretty crowded in the tavern, but the noise wasn't overcoming Fox's voice. "Something strong, eh lad? I've got a nice Dwarven ale in the back of me tavern, but I doubt that would go through such a soft, Lylatan throat without burning it. And I doubt yer friends have what it takes either." Terry got a surprised look on his face. He slammed his fist on the counter. "There isn't a beer in the world a Bogard can't handle!" he said with a slight irritation in his voice. "Easy, lad. I see ye have the temper of me wife. I'll get all of ye laddies a sleek of it and then we'll see." The bartender disappeared through a door and returned with a bottle and three glasses. He put them in front of the three friends and filled them with the liquid from the bottle. "Here ye go, laddies. Don't say I didn't warn ye all." Terry picked up his glass and looked at the light-brown liquid inside it. "Hmph. Doesn't look much to me." he said. "Down the hose, my friends." he said to Fox and Link before he took a huge sip from his glass. "Hmph. You call this beer?" Terry said as he put his half-empty glass on the counter and whiped his lips with the back of his free hand, disappointing the Dwarven barkeeper. Link and Fox shrugged their shoulders as they looked at each other and Fox said: "Cheers." before he and Link took a sip from their glasses as well. Almost immediatly after they wanted to swallow it, they bent forward and spirted the beer out of their mouths and on the tavern floor. They started to caugh as the tears stood in their eyes. This relieved the bartender, who started to laugh. Terry turned to the man and said: "Kids." as he shrugged his shoulders. As soon as Link came to, he walked back to the bartender. He still wasn't completely over the beer as he put it on the counter. "One milk, please." he said with a hoarse voice, making the bartender laugh. The three friends remained in the bar for some time, until someone familiar entered the inn. Someone familiar to Link. He was accompanied by a few soldiers and they were pretty loud, so Link noticed them pretty fast. "Well, well..." he murmered as soon as he recognised the captain of the guards who had beaten him up in the dungeon. Link counted six men without their weapons who walked to the counter. "Beer for the tired soldiers of Hyrule, innkeeper!" the captain yelled as he slammed his fist on the counter. Link looked at him. He had still not forgiven the man for beating him up, let alone standing between him and Zelda. "Do you know that guy?" Fox asked. "He beat me up when he had captured me." Link said, gritting his teeth. "I'll get ye all some beer, lads." the Dwarf said before disappearing again behind the door. Then, the captain noticed Link. "Well, well. If it ain't the little fairy-boy." he said threatening. "I bet you know where the Princess is, you piece of scum. You know there's a reward for the one who turns her in, eh?" he said as he walked towards Link. "I don't know what you're talking about." Link said. "And even if I knew where the princess is, I would not tell you."
"I believe you DO know where she is, boy. And if you don't tell me, I'll be forced to kick your little ass again." The two men stood face to face now. "You're just jealous, because you can't get a girl." Link said with a mean tone in his voice. "Maybe that's it. Maybe I AM jealous. There aren't many girls with an ass like that and such big tits." the captain said, infuriating Link. "You take that back, fuck-face!" Link said. Fox knew that when Link started to use abusive language, he was definetly furious. "Loosen up, fairy boy. I said she is hot. Don't tell me you don't want to fuck her too?" That was it for Link, with a furious strength, he punched at the man. Only to get his fist stopped by the captains arm, who punched Link in the face with his other hand. Link got knocked to the ground. "You're too green, kid." the captain said as Link shook his head to clear the fog and noticed blood dripping down from his nose onto his green tunic. Terry rapidly grabbed the captain at his collar and punched him hard in the face several times before he threw the man with his head against the counter. The captain bounced back and stumbled on the ground. This all didn't go unnoticed by the people in the inn, who started to cheer at the sight of the fight. "How does that feel, piece of shit?" Terry asked angry as he enclosed the knuckles of his fist with his other hand. While Fox helped Link up his feet, the other soldiers threateningly walked towards Terry. "Get him!" the captain ordered as he tried to stand up with his bloody face. "C'mon, get serious!" Terry said with a confident smile as he gave his cap a slight tug. The soldiers surrounded Terry, believing they could get him by attacking all at the same time. "Need some help, Terry?" Fox asked the blond young man. "Are you serious? There are only five of them." Terry commented. "Come on, guys. Don't keep me waiting." Terry said. That was the sign for the five soldiers to attack him. Terry did a step forward to get the soldier in front of him first. The man punched at him with his right arm, but Terry simply moved his upper body to the right to evade it. He grabbed the man's arm with his left hand and hit him in the face with his other elbow, facing the man with his back. Still holding the soldier's arm, he turned to the left to get away from the man's face and, while doing the half turn to get away from the man, he kicked another soldier in his face with his right foot, who fell backwards, because of the power behind the kick. Terry made a half turn back to exactly where he had had been standing before and hit the soldier he held for a second time with his elbow at the same place. He noticed a fist coming in from the left of him, so he duck underneath the arm while not letting him go. He hit the man he held at the back of his head and dropped him to the ground. He quickly turned around half a circled and hit the man behind him with the back of his left hand as he did so, forming a pretty heavy punch. He had no idea there had been someone behind him, but with so many people around him, the chance was pretty big. He did not let the man retreat to recover from this, but as soon as he had completed his turn, he punched the man in his stomach a few times before he grabbed him and tossed him over his shoulder at a second soldier, who fell down under the weight of his comrade. Terry's rough ponytail danced about, following his movements as if it did that for fun. "Hadn't had enough?" Terry asked when he ducked to avoid another soldier's punch. He punched him hard on the upper-leg, making him bend through his knees in pain. Terry rose up and formed a powerful uppercut, hitting the man on his chin and sending him soaring through the air for a couple of meters. The soldier who had had his friend thrown against him, had been able to stand up and grabbed Terry from behind, holding on to his waist. "We're not getting too friendly here, are we?" Terry asked, turning his torso around a bit and hitting the man with his elbow in his face, making him stumble backwards. Before the man could restore himself, Terry turned around to him, quickly turned his cap the other way around and jumped up in the air as high as he could. The dizzy man was still trying to get back to reality as Terry jumped at him and raised one fist in the air. "Power..." Terry yelled. Link could barely believe his eyes as he saw Terry's fist was starting to glow. Terry punched down with his glowing fist, which formed a ball of a strange force, and struck the man. "Dunk!" Terry finished as he landed on the ground and straightened his cap as the man flew backwards, striking through the wooden counter. Pieces of wood flew about and the sound of tearing wood could be heard. Steam floated into the air from Terry's fist as he looked around to see if there were some people still standing. There weren't. At that moment, the innkeeper returned with the requested mugs of ale. He nearly dropped them on the ground as soon as he noticed the mess in his tavern. Instead, he put them on the remains of the counter. "Thanks." Terry said as he walked to the mugs of ale. "That's just what I needed." He grabbed one of the mugs and drunk from it. "Wha... What by the beard of Olban Axecleaver has happened here!?" the tavernowner yelled as soon as he was over his surprise. Terry looked down at the unconscious men and then back up at the tavern owner. "They must have smelled your beer." he said, shrugging his shoulders. The crowd in the tavern started to laugh as Link and Fox joined Terry. "You okay, kid?" Terry asked Link as the people in the tavern returned to their own business. "I'm fine." Link replied. "I've had more punches in my life."
"I believe these gentlemen will pay for the damage, innkeep." Fox said, looking at the Dwarf. This seemed to comfort the bearded man. "And what if they don't pay?" Link asked Fox. "They don't have a choice." Terry said, grinning.
"Okay, Hylian. I'm going to teach you the createst sport of all time." Terry said. He had his cap backwards on his head and a ball was twirling around on his index finger. He wasn't wearing his red jacket. Just his new t-shirt and his blue jeans and sporting shoes. With the help of Fox, he had sat up a large wooden pole with a wooden board attached to it and to that board, he had put against a metal ring. The two had made the construction pretty sturdy and it stood proudly on an underground made from wooden boards in the middle of the forest. Link looked at Terry fascinated as the Human threw the ball to the ground and started to dribble to the pole. He grabbed the ball with two hands, jumped as high as he could and smashed it through the ring. He grabbed the ring and remained hanging on it for a few moments, checking the sturdiness of it as the ball bounced from the wooden boards onto the grass and remained lying there. Terry let go of the ring and collected his ball. "Basketball." he said with a grin, looking at Link. There were three people at the improvised field. Terry, Fox and Link. Not enough for a little game. But Terry figured Link needed some practice. Fox was already familiar with the game and knew how to shoot. Terry threw the ball to Link, who caught it as he cast a questioning look at Terry. "The aim of the game..." Terry started. "...is to get the ball through the ring using your hands. You can throw or dunk or whatever. You can only dribble with the ball. You know. What I did."
"Bounce the ball?" Link asked. Terry nodded. "If you like to call it that way. Come on, give it your best shot, Hylian." Link looked rather clumsy as he dribbled around a bit and threw the ball at the ring. His shot just hit the board and bounced back. It took Link a long time before he finally scored, but he thought it was a great game. When Zelda came by to watch, Terry ran at her and said: "Hey, princess. Want to play a game? We need another man. And it doesn't really matter that it's a woman."
"Oh sure." Zelda said. "Let me change first. There's no point in playing in my dress." She snapped her finger and lights flashed around her, forming a strange vortex. When it disappeared, she stood in her Sheikah-suit, without the mask. Terry explained her the rules and the teams were picked. Zelda and Terry against Link and Fox. It became more of a match between Terry and Fox, since Link and Zelda kept each other busy. Too busy to mind the ball. This annoyed Terry. All this love crap. All this stupid happiness. Where was it good for? It could only get you into trouble. And why wasn't he allowed to experience it? He hated it. He hated it so much. He had never felt love and he didn't want to experience it anymore. If he wasn't allowed to feel it, then so be it. If his father hadn't told him to go to Hyrule, he wouldn't have gone. If the world dies, tough luck. If hell breakes loose on earth, so be it. Did he care? No. Would he care? No. His brother was the only one who deserved to live. But even he had found happiness. Kyo hadn't. Kyo thought he had, but he hadn't. This made Terry feel better. Kyo was victim of love. This made Terry feel better. Oh, how he would love to knock Athena's lights out. Wham! Just like that. Down to the floor with that slut. It wasn't fair to think about Kyo, his best friend, that way, but who the hell cared? Everyone was happy, safe for Terry. And he was unfair for being jealous? Oh no! The world had made him like that. Life had made him like that. "Hey, showoff!" Mary, who had come to the field to watch, yelled as soon as Terry dunked the ball spectaculary through the ring. Terry just blew some air through his nose as he formed a grimas on his face. "Mind your own business, Mary." he said. Mary just shook her head slowly. She wondered if Terry would ever know how to treat a girl. She doubted it. A shame, that. Terry was pretty cool. Not to mention handsome. If he would've only been a bit more social, he would've been perfect. She looked at Link and Zelda, who just stood there, holding each other. Zelda giggled at some remarks Link made, though Mary could not hear what he said. It was odd. She had heard from Fox that Link had been a lonely tramp his entire life, but yet he was gentle and caring with Zelda. A real gentleman. Terry hated people, Mary had found that out. He hated love and friendship and was always distant, especially to her. That bothered her. Such a handsome guy... Terry walked to her. "Hey, Mary. Have you seen Andy and Mai? I have barely seen them these last days." Mary sat down in the green gras, stretching her arms behind her back on the ground for support as she looked up at Terry. "You know how they are, Terry. They're probably having some private moments."
"Oh." Terry said. "So they're fucking each other again?" Mary sighed. "Yes, Terry. Probably."
In the weeks that followed, the five Humans, three Hylians and the Lylatan became good friends. They had to build a bigger tree-house, but the nine of them were able to handle it. The Humans helped with the gathering of money and food and they enjoyed their time with their new friends. Especially Terry, since he hadn't ever had so much people around him. Friendly people. He had insisted that Athena would remain home to take care of her sick mother. Not that Terry cared much for Athena's mother, but he hadn't forgotten what his father had said to him in that dream. That she was not to be trusted. Kyo missed her, but Terry thought that Athena wasn't able to break Kyo's heart that way. Terry was far from a sensitive guy, but he didn't want his best friend to get hurt by this girl. Terry hadn't trusted her from the beginning. She was just TOO sad to be true. Poor, poor Athena. Alone on the world with her sick mother. It could've been a nice fairy tale. But it wasn't. This was reality. Terry just couldn't forget what she and Kyo had done in his bed. When it would come true that Athena wasn't the sweet little girl she pretended to be, Terry would punch her down, he was sure of that. Making use of his best friend that way... That was asking for trouble. Zelda had been occupied by her dream for a while. She hadn't seen the girl with dark hair and the man with the noble spirit yet, but she trusted that they would come. One day, when she sat on the improvised balcony of the tree-house at night, Kyo approached her. "Goodevening, your Highness." he said polite. "Hey, Kyo." Zelda replied. "Your Majesty..."
"Zelda."
"Zelda." Kyo said, correcting himself. "There is a favor I wanted to ask you. If I may, of course."
"Sure, go ahead." Zelda said. "You... Zelda, your reputation in the arts of magic is widely known across the world. I was wondering if you could teach me how to improve my skills with the fire. I am willing to pay for it." Zelda smiled. "Of course I want to teach you. But I do not need any money, Kyo. I've had enough money for the rest of my life and it didn't make me any happier."
"You are most kind, princess." Kyo said, smiling. "No, I'm not." Zelda said. "Shall we start tomorrow?"
"Great idea!" Kyo said enthusiasticly.
The next morning, Link, Fox and Terry went to the marketplace to help Fox with his little merchandise. Each of them carried a bag of goods as they walked from the forest to Castle Town. "What's in all this, Fox?" Terry asked. "Junk." Fox answered. "And you sell it?" Link asked. "Yes." Fox said. "There are always idiots who buy stuff just to have it. If you let them think they can't live without it and that they can have it relatively cheap, you got yourself a bargain."
"So you just swindle a bit?" Terry said, more as a comment than as a question. "Now that's a harsh word, Terry. I say... Help them off their money."
"Swindler." Terry said with a slight tone of amusement in his voice. He had bought different clothes in the past weeks. All in the same nonchalant style as usual, but there was one thing which remained the same about him. His baseball cap. He refused to take it off. Now he was wearing jeans, a white shirt and a thick, brown, leather jacket. When the trio reached Castle Town, they helped Fox establish his stand at the marketplace. It didn't took long for the customers to arive at Fox's stand, since the Lylatan had created some reputation amongst the searchers for bargains and the finders of sales. Link had seen and experienced a lot in his life, but the things he saw at Fox's stand made him sometimes scratch the back of his head. Some people did nearly everything to get their hands on a good bargain and that was a strange thing to see for one who had almost nothing. Terry was no exception. He sometimes bursted out in laughter as Fox was speaking his usual saletalk, making people indeed think that they couldn't live without the thing. If Link hadn't known his friend better, he would have bought something as well, that was for sure. The three friends rather enjoyed themselves that day, especially when Terry tried to sell something as well. Link had to stop him from beating up a pretty arrogant noble. When the marketplace was closing at the end of the day, so did Fox and the three went to the local tavern to get themselves some well-earned beer. "Greatings, fair customers." the innkeeper said as Link, Fox and Terry took place at the bar. "What can I get to ease those thirsty throats?" The short, bearded man had quite the accent which Terry recognised as Scotisch and Link recognised as a Dwarven tongue. The stout man was indeed a Dwarf, since Link noticed that he was standing on an edge behind the counter. "Do you have some strong beer, my good man?" Fox asked in good spirits. It was pretty crowded in the tavern, but the noise wasn't overcoming Fox's voice. "Something strong, eh lad? I've got a nice Dwarven ale in the back of me tavern, but I doubt that would go through such a soft, Lylatan throat without burning it. And I doubt yer friends have what it takes either." Terry got a surprised look on his face. He slammed his fist on the counter. "There isn't a beer in the world a Bogard can't handle!" he said with a slight irritation in his voice. "Easy, lad. I see ye have the temper of me wife. I'll get all of ye laddies a sleek of it and then we'll see." The bartender disappeared through a door and returned with a bottle and three glasses. He put them in front of the three friends and filled them with the liquid from the bottle. "Here ye go, laddies. Don't say I didn't warn ye all." Terry picked up his glass and looked at the light-brown liquid inside it. "Hmph. Doesn't look much to me." he said. "Down the hose, my friends." he said to Fox and Link before he took a huge sip from his glass. "Hmph. You call this beer?" Terry said as he put his half-empty glass on the counter and whiped his lips with the back of his free hand, disappointing the Dwarven barkeeper. Link and Fox shrugged their shoulders as they looked at each other and Fox said: "Cheers." before he and Link took a sip from their glasses as well. Almost immediatly after they wanted to swallow it, they bent forward and spirted the beer out of their mouths and on the tavern floor. They started to caugh as the tears stood in their eyes. This relieved the bartender, who started to laugh. Terry turned to the man and said: "Kids." as he shrugged his shoulders. As soon as Link came to, he walked back to the bartender. He still wasn't completely over the beer as he put it on the counter. "One milk, please." he said with a hoarse voice, making the bartender laugh. The three friends remained in the bar for some time, until someone familiar entered the inn. Someone familiar to Link. He was accompanied by a few soldiers and they were pretty loud, so Link noticed them pretty fast. "Well, well..." he murmered as soon as he recognised the captain of the guards who had beaten him up in the dungeon. Link counted six men without their weapons who walked to the counter. "Beer for the tired soldiers of Hyrule, innkeeper!" the captain yelled as he slammed his fist on the counter. Link looked at him. He had still not forgiven the man for beating him up, let alone standing between him and Zelda. "Do you know that guy?" Fox asked. "He beat me up when he had captured me." Link said, gritting his teeth. "I'll get ye all some beer, lads." the Dwarf said before disappearing again behind the door. Then, the captain noticed Link. "Well, well. If it ain't the little fairy-boy." he said threatening. "I bet you know where the Princess is, you piece of scum. You know there's a reward for the one who turns her in, eh?" he said as he walked towards Link. "I don't know what you're talking about." Link said. "And even if I knew where the princess is, I would not tell you."
"I believe you DO know where she is, boy. And if you don't tell me, I'll be forced to kick your little ass again." The two men stood face to face now. "You're just jealous, because you can't get a girl." Link said with a mean tone in his voice. "Maybe that's it. Maybe I AM jealous. There aren't many girls with an ass like that and such big tits." the captain said, infuriating Link. "You take that back, fuck-face!" Link said. Fox knew that when Link started to use abusive language, he was definetly furious. "Loosen up, fairy boy. I said she is hot. Don't tell me you don't want to fuck her too?" That was it for Link, with a furious strength, he punched at the man. Only to get his fist stopped by the captains arm, who punched Link in the face with his other hand. Link got knocked to the ground. "You're too green, kid." the captain said as Link shook his head to clear the fog and noticed blood dripping down from his nose onto his green tunic. Terry rapidly grabbed the captain at his collar and punched him hard in the face several times before he threw the man with his head against the counter. The captain bounced back and stumbled on the ground. This all didn't go unnoticed by the people in the inn, who started to cheer at the sight of the fight. "How does that feel, piece of shit?" Terry asked angry as he enclosed the knuckles of his fist with his other hand. While Fox helped Link up his feet, the other soldiers threateningly walked towards Terry. "Get him!" the captain ordered as he tried to stand up with his bloody face. "C'mon, get serious!" Terry said with a confident smile as he gave his cap a slight tug. The soldiers surrounded Terry, believing they could get him by attacking all at the same time. "Need some help, Terry?" Fox asked the blond young man. "Are you serious? There are only five of them." Terry commented. "Come on, guys. Don't keep me waiting." Terry said. That was the sign for the five soldiers to attack him. Terry did a step forward to get the soldier in front of him first. The man punched at him with his right arm, but Terry simply moved his upper body to the right to evade it. He grabbed the man's arm with his left hand and hit him in the face with his other elbow, facing the man with his back. Still holding the soldier's arm, he turned to the left to get away from the man's face and, while doing the half turn to get away from the man, he kicked another soldier in his face with his right foot, who fell backwards, because of the power behind the kick. Terry made a half turn back to exactly where he had had been standing before and hit the soldier he held for a second time with his elbow at the same place. He noticed a fist coming in from the left of him, so he duck underneath the arm while not letting him go. He hit the man he held at the back of his head and dropped him to the ground. He quickly turned around half a circled and hit the man behind him with the back of his left hand as he did so, forming a pretty heavy punch. He had no idea there had been someone behind him, but with so many people around him, the chance was pretty big. He did not let the man retreat to recover from this, but as soon as he had completed his turn, he punched the man in his stomach a few times before he grabbed him and tossed him over his shoulder at a second soldier, who fell down under the weight of his comrade. Terry's rough ponytail danced about, following his movements as if it did that for fun. "Hadn't had enough?" Terry asked when he ducked to avoid another soldier's punch. He punched him hard on the upper-leg, making him bend through his knees in pain. Terry rose up and formed a powerful uppercut, hitting the man on his chin and sending him soaring through the air for a couple of meters. The soldier who had had his friend thrown against him, had been able to stand up and grabbed Terry from behind, holding on to his waist. "We're not getting too friendly here, are we?" Terry asked, turning his torso around a bit and hitting the man with his elbow in his face, making him stumble backwards. Before the man could restore himself, Terry turned around to him, quickly turned his cap the other way around and jumped up in the air as high as he could. The dizzy man was still trying to get back to reality as Terry jumped at him and raised one fist in the air. "Power..." Terry yelled. Link could barely believe his eyes as he saw Terry's fist was starting to glow. Terry punched down with his glowing fist, which formed a ball of a strange force, and struck the man. "Dunk!" Terry finished as he landed on the ground and straightened his cap as the man flew backwards, striking through the wooden counter. Pieces of wood flew about and the sound of tearing wood could be heard. Steam floated into the air from Terry's fist as he looked around to see if there were some people still standing. There weren't. At that moment, the innkeeper returned with the requested mugs of ale. He nearly dropped them on the ground as soon as he noticed the mess in his tavern. Instead, he put them on the remains of the counter. "Thanks." Terry said as he walked to the mugs of ale. "That's just what I needed." He grabbed one of the mugs and drunk from it. "Wha... What by the beard of Olban Axecleaver has happened here!?" the tavernowner yelled as soon as he was over his surprise. Terry looked down at the unconscious men and then back up at the tavern owner. "They must have smelled your beer." he said, shrugging his shoulders. The crowd in the tavern started to laugh as Link and Fox joined Terry. "You okay, kid?" Terry asked Link as the people in the tavern returned to their own business. "I'm fine." Link replied. "I've had more punches in my life."
"I believe these gentlemen will pay for the damage, innkeep." Fox said, looking at the Dwarf. This seemed to comfort the bearded man. "And what if they don't pay?" Link asked Fox. "They don't have a choice." Terry said, grinning.
"Okay, Hylian. I'm going to teach you the createst sport of all time." Terry said. He had his cap backwards on his head and a ball was twirling around on his index finger. He wasn't wearing his red jacket. Just his new t-shirt and his blue jeans and sporting shoes. With the help of Fox, he had sat up a large wooden pole with a wooden board attached to it and to that board, he had put against a metal ring. The two had made the construction pretty sturdy and it stood proudly on an underground made from wooden boards in the middle of the forest. Link looked at Terry fascinated as the Human threw the ball to the ground and started to dribble to the pole. He grabbed the ball with two hands, jumped as high as he could and smashed it through the ring. He grabbed the ring and remained hanging on it for a few moments, checking the sturdiness of it as the ball bounced from the wooden boards onto the grass and remained lying there. Terry let go of the ring and collected his ball. "Basketball." he said with a grin, looking at Link. There were three people at the improvised field. Terry, Fox and Link. Not enough for a little game. But Terry figured Link needed some practice. Fox was already familiar with the game and knew how to shoot. Terry threw the ball to Link, who caught it as he cast a questioning look at Terry. "The aim of the game..." Terry started. "...is to get the ball through the ring using your hands. You can throw or dunk or whatever. You can only dribble with the ball. You know. What I did."
"Bounce the ball?" Link asked. Terry nodded. "If you like to call it that way. Come on, give it your best shot, Hylian." Link looked rather clumsy as he dribbled around a bit and threw the ball at the ring. His shot just hit the board and bounced back. It took Link a long time before he finally scored, but he thought it was a great game. When Zelda came by to watch, Terry ran at her and said: "Hey, princess. Want to play a game? We need another man. And it doesn't really matter that it's a woman."
"Oh sure." Zelda said. "Let me change first. There's no point in playing in my dress." She snapped her finger and lights flashed around her, forming a strange vortex. When it disappeared, she stood in her Sheikah-suit, without the mask. Terry explained her the rules and the teams were picked. Zelda and Terry against Link and Fox. It became more of a match between Terry and Fox, since Link and Zelda kept each other busy. Too busy to mind the ball. This annoyed Terry. All this love crap. All this stupid happiness. Where was it good for? It could only get you into trouble. And why wasn't he allowed to experience it? He hated it. He hated it so much. He had never felt love and he didn't want to experience it anymore. If he wasn't allowed to feel it, then so be it. If his father hadn't told him to go to Hyrule, he wouldn't have gone. If the world dies, tough luck. If hell breakes loose on earth, so be it. Did he care? No. Would he care? No. His brother was the only one who deserved to live. But even he had found happiness. Kyo hadn't. Kyo thought he had, but he hadn't. This made Terry feel better. Kyo was victim of love. This made Terry feel better. Oh, how he would love to knock Athena's lights out. Wham! Just like that. Down to the floor with that slut. It wasn't fair to think about Kyo, his best friend, that way, but who the hell cared? Everyone was happy, safe for Terry. And he was unfair for being jealous? Oh no! The world had made him like that. Life had made him like that. "Hey, showoff!" Mary, who had come to the field to watch, yelled as soon as Terry dunked the ball spectaculary through the ring. Terry just blew some air through his nose as he formed a grimas on his face. "Mind your own business, Mary." he said. Mary just shook her head slowly. She wondered if Terry would ever know how to treat a girl. She doubted it. A shame, that. Terry was pretty cool. Not to mention handsome. If he would've only been a bit more social, he would've been perfect. She looked at Link and Zelda, who just stood there, holding each other. Zelda giggled at some remarks Link made, though Mary could not hear what he said. It was odd. She had heard from Fox that Link had been a lonely tramp his entire life, but yet he was gentle and caring with Zelda. A real gentleman. Terry hated people, Mary had found that out. He hated love and friendship and was always distant, especially to her. That bothered her. Such a handsome guy... Terry walked to her. "Hey, Mary. Have you seen Andy and Mai? I have barely seen them these last days." Mary sat down in the green gras, stretching her arms behind her back on the ground for support as she looked up at Terry. "You know how they are, Terry. They're probably having some private moments."
"Oh." Terry said. "So they're fucking each other again?" Mary sighed. "Yes, Terry. Probably."