"Hey kid! What's taking you so long down there?" Guido yelled down below to the hold. "Honestly, what is wrong with that lad? Always daydreaming, and in times such as these." It had been two years since Gannons return to power, each of the temples had been overrun and Hyrule castle, though it held out for longer then any could have expected, it too was crushed by the enemy, and a great tower erected in its place.
"Coming captain!" A Blond haired boy stepped through the hatch, fixing his faded orange tunic, a bright green bandana hung from his head down to his waist. "What'd you want cap?" Any formalities among the two were pointless because there was only one other person on the small ship, and she was only a passenger.
Guido picked up and unsheathed a sword that was lying on a nearby box, the silver blade reflected the sun directly into the boys eyes, causing him to raise his arm to sheild them. "You do know how to use one of these?" Guido questioned.
"No, but how hard could it be?" The boy smiled, not really having to have worried about self-defense, for the past two years he'd been jumping from ship to ship, not spending more then a day or two on land, Gannons forces hadn't moved from the land too much, so he'd never so much as seen one of the moblins in his time since the 'darkening', as the townsfolk dubbed it let alone fought one
"Hey kid, don't you be gettin' cocky on me, I don't want to see one of those damned monsters taking off your head when we get to Karo Port." The youths expression changed from a grin one of fear, everyone in Hyrule knew that name, that was where everyone thought Gannon made his assault from, there were more moblins there then anywhere else in Hyrule.
"Why in the name of Din are we going there!?" The youth invoked the name of the goddess of power, something that he rarely did "Are you crazy or something!?"
"One hundred thousand rupees, that's why. Our passenger's paying that much to go there, and I'd be a fool not to take her." Guido picked up and tossed a wooden practice sword at the boy. "Have at ye, lad!" Guido stepped forward, bringing his steel blade down, arcing it at the boys head.
The surprised youth fell backward, just in time to avoid the cut. "You know I'm going to have to charge you a little more for this." He parried another slashing attack, causing a sharp pain to shoot up his arm as the two opposing blades met. The wooden blade barely splintered, but he didn't have time to admire the handiwork on the wooden blade. "Make that a lot more!" He launched a counterattack, it was a clumsy backhanded slash, aimed low.
"I told you," Guido yelled, easily blocking the attack, he stepped back and took a more defensive stance. "You don't get paid more then 200 rupees unless I know your name, and that's only because I like you."
"And I told you," The boy yelled through gritted teeth as he ran forward the short distance "I don't know my name!" Trying a move he'd seen during a fight before the invasion- he couldn't exactly remember where though,- he spun around, delivering a slash horizontally. Being caught off guard Guido barely managed to block the sword on the first hit, but the youth carried through with the attack, building power until the wood splintered across Guido's arm, causing a large painful looking wound and knocking him off balance. The large sailor fell down from the blow, looking as astonished as the boy felt.
"How do you know how to fight like that lad?!" Guido asked, not even glancing at the growing streak of crimson on his arm. "You said you've never fought before!"
"I dunno, was I good?" The boy let the shattered piece of wood fall to the deck and crouched beside Guido, who struggled to get up.
"Good! You're better then some royal swordsmen were before..." Guido trailed off and let his eyes wander off toward the clouds on the horizon. the faraway look made the boy think he was looking past the clouds, instead of at them. For a minute he stared like that as the boy watched a tear grow slowly in the old seafarers eye. Almost as it were a signal Guido snapped back to being normal as the salty drop fell to the deck. "Boy, you've done quite the number on my arm, expect the cost of the bandage to come out of your salary." Guido reached into his pocket and pulled out a bandage, rolled around a smooth wooden tube and patched up his arm. Able to tell that the boy was about to protest he piped up. "So, I think that leaves you with 480 rupees now.
The boy blinked a few times before catching on, then a grin spread across his face "480 rupees! What made you change your mind?!"
"Because thanks to this injury you're our passenger's new bodyguard." The boy spent just as long registering the news before it caught on and his expression was one of fear and surprise.
"Her bodyguard! At Karo port! I cant do that, I don't know how to fight!" Judging from Guido's expression the boy knew he was losing.
"Evidently, you do." Guido motioned towards his now-bandaged arm, a tinge of red was already showing through the milky cloth. "I'm sure you'll do fine, chances are nothing will happen anyway."
"And if I refuse?"
"You find someone willing to take you out of Karo port for free, you're broke untill you get paid, and I'm getting her to pay you when she's done with you. You dont go, you dont get paid."
"But, but... Oh, fine!" The boy threw his arms up in defeat, "But dont expect me to tell you my name when I find it out!"
"That's my boy! Go down below for a while and get some rest, you'll need it." Turning towards the bow, clutching his wound Guido yelled over his shoulder to the boy "Get to sleep fast, we slip right after sunset!"
Hyrule castle
"You felt WHAT!?" Gannon asked of his chief magical advisor, who's face was covered completely by her deep purple hood. Her robe was of sharp contrast to the great banquet hall where Gannon ate his every meal in. Gannon had always appeared in human form, rather then as king of the moblins so he fit through the doors quite nicely. The room was still decorated in the red in white it was meant to have, Hyrules national colors
"The magical energies of the triforce have shifted, neither you nor the current princess will control a third when Farores avatar awakens." The words were more felt, rather then heard. Why the wizard was called a her by everyone was beyond even those that called her that, she asked to be simply called mage, and had the sound of a thousand different voices when she 'talked' "You are no longer the sage of power."
"Then WHO exactly is?"
"I do not know, sire, but he- or she- has a strong connection to the hero of time, of that I'm sure." Gannon pondered this for a moment before picking an orange from the table in front of him, and sliding a knife out of a sheath at his side. he began peeling the orange but placed it down when he'd cut off a slice the size of a green rupee. Suddenly, almost too fast for Mage to see, Gannon sliced the orange in two.
"If you can not help me, I know how can. Find me the sages! I need to... communicate with them."
"Yes, m'lord." With a gust of wind Mage had disappeared, leaving Gannon to contemplate his predicament alone.
(Authors note: Yay! Chapter 1 done! I really need some input. I'll keep going even if I dont get any, but how could I get better otherwise? I'd like to thank Royal Demoness for being the only person to have reviewed this story (even though its not there anymore, I screwed up on the first upload, and deleted it. -.- Oh well! It works now, and everyone go read her story, now!
As for Mr. Nameless, I know that you're all thinking that he's Link, it's obvious, right? Heh, thats what's going to set my story apart from the others, I'd tell you, but that'd ruin a future cliffhanger, and I'm a sadistic prick, so I'll leave you wondering)
Next: Chapter 2: Abandon Ship