Years Away
By Joker's Specter

Chapter Nine: Abandoned


Link shifted his stance at the last second and brought his sword up to block the charging guard. With a sharp clanging sound, the two swords collided. The guard had brute force on his side, so Link was forced to jump back, but Link knew the fight was far from over.

"I said, you don't want to do that," Link shouted, calculating his next move. He watched the guard's movement carefully.

The man swung horizontally at Link, but the boy simply ducked under the blow and stepped up to the guard's side. The slower man couldn't turn fast enough to match Link's movements.

Yelling in a rage of fury, the armored guard brought the sword around with one hand awkwardly, aiming for Link's head. The green-clothed boy easily jumped back, being careful not to slip in the rain. He shifted his grip on his sword, then sprung forward to strike at the guard. The older man had the advantaged in the attack with his armor. Link's sword bounced harmlessly off of the guard's armored shoulder, barely missing his face.

The guard attempted a vertical strike over his head, gripping the sword tightly in both of his hands. Link easily rolled out of the way and moved behind the guard. The guard spun around, trying to get sight of Link, made even more difficult by the fact that he only had one working eye. Link had stepped back, preparing for another attack. he held his sword in both hands, angled back behind him in a mid-crouch. The guard, finally catching sight of the young boy, charged.

As the charging soldier brought his sword up in a golf-swing style attack, Link's eyes narrowed. The attack would have hit Link, but the hero reacted just in time. With a loud yell, he swung on his toe, holding his sword outward. The spin attack knocked the sword from the guard's grip, sending it hurling through the wet night air. The second time Link came around in his spin attack, the sword clanged off of the guard's armor, putting a good sized dent in the thick metal. The force was enough to stop the guard's rush, and send him stumbling backwards.

Link stood still, breathing hard. He stared at the groaning man, who was laying on the ground on his back. The man had his god eye open, fixated on the boy. He appeared to be panting even harder than Link.

"I told you that you didn't want to do that," Link said softly as he approached the fallen man. He held the sword tip out to the guard's throat. "Turn over onto your stomach," the boy commanded.

The guard widened his eye, and then nodded his head. He rolled over onto his stomach with difficulty. After the man was positioned with his palms down into the mud and his face inches from the ground, Link raised his sword and brought it down hard.

Following a loud thud, the guard was knocked out. Link had smacked him in the head with the hilt of his sword. After the Hylian boy made sure the guard was alive, just unconscious, he went and checked on the other guard.

The other guard was in worse shape than his partner. The wound on his head was significant. The bloody laceration on the man's balding head was dripping blood, and Link knew if he didn't tend to it, the guard would die. Link rose to his feet and walked out of the clearing in search of his cloak. He stood in the area where he thought he had left it until lightning flashed, and he was able to spot it. Grabbing it, he walked back to teh clearing and used the sword to slice a strip off of the bottom of the drenched cloak.

Link dressed the wound with the strip of cloth, and then raised the guard's head and slipped the remainder of the cloak underneath it, giving the man a more comfortable surface to lay his head on.

"That ought to do some good..." Link said quietly, observing his work. After he was satisfied the man would likely live, the boy grabbed the heavy sword he had confiscated from the guard and continued up the trail to meet Tifa and Shia.

!-L- -I- -G- -H- -T-!
!-A- -R- -R- -O- -W-!

After a few minutes of traveling, Link came upon a junction that branched off into two separate canyons. He had no idea how he was going to find out which way Tifa and Shia went. He stood at the entrance to the canyons and waited, hoping they would come to find him. After some time had passed, he began to decide on which direction he should try. Luck shone on him when he heard a voice.

"Link!" shouted Shia's voice. Link saw her running down the muddy slope towards him from the path on the left. He was relieved that he wouldn't have to try to figure out which path to take.

"Link! What happened back there?" asked Shia in an excited voice as she came up next to Link.

Link glanced past Shia to see if Tifa was anywhere in sight, then said, "They'll live."

Shia shook her head. "No, I mean, how did you take out two guards like it was nothing?" she asked as anxious as before.

Link looked at Shia for a second. "Were they supposed to be good?" he asked sincerely. He figured they were just goons who had no real training at all.

Shia's mouth hung open a little. When she managed to pull herself together, she said, "Well, it freaked out Tifa a little bit. She's in some sort of weird mood... But still, that was amazing! Even people twice your age struggle against two of Keystone's guards!"

Link smiled shyly. "I had the element of surprise I guess... It wasn't really all that great," he said softly. He wasn't used to being honored like that. It was as if all that he had done back in Hyrule seemed like nothing, and taking out those two guards was everything. It made him feel a little weird, so he tried to change the subject. "Where's Tifa?" he questioned, looking past Shia again.

Shia looked behind her and up the trail. "She's sitting on a rock up there a little bit. She won't say anything, though. I'm not sure why..." she replied sadly.

Link started walking up the muddy hill as rain slammed against him. Shia followed closely behind, being careful not to slip on anything. The rain was still as rough as ever, but the lightning seemed to have subsided. Without the lightning, the boy couldn't see much further than a few feet in front of him.

After walking a few hundred yards, Link stopped and turned back to Shia. "Where did you say Tifa was again?"
"I'm right here..." said a small voice to Link's left.

Link squinted his eyes and peered through the darkness. He could vaguely see the outline of Tifa. "Oh... There you are," he said.

When Link got closer, he began to see Tifa more clearly. She was sitting on a large rock with her knees pulled up to her chest. She stared straight ahead with wide eyes, staring at nothing in particular.

"Er... What's wrong?" Link asked her. He looked back to Shia for an answer, but she simply shrugged.

Tifa's eyes shifted to look at the sword that Link was wielding. "You fought them?" she asked.

Link looked down at his sword, shifting it uncomfortably in his hands. "Yes... I had to."

Tifa went back to staring at nothing. "Ah... Heh... You know, I'm not sure why... But I never realized before now that you could actually fight. It just didn't seem possible that someone as small as you could fight like that." She shook her head, and added, "I guess if you were able to take out two of Keystone's guards, that means you can fight really well."

Link didn't know what to say. Tifa was in some sort of trance, and it was weirding him out. "Yes, I can fight. I've known how to use a sword for a while now..." he replied hesitantly.

"Well?" shouted Tifa, standing up suddenly and staring Link in the eyes. "Does that mean you'll kill my father if you get the chance? If you can take out two of Keystone's finest guards like they're nothing, then what are you planning on doing to my father, huh?"

Shia stepped forward. "Tifa...?"

"I don't know what I'm even doing! Why am I helping you? I'm going against my father. You're his opponent. I should be at home helping him!"

Link was stunned. He never thought Tifa would think of that, especially at a regarding where they were at. Why wait until they were almost to their destination to say all of that? What did he do to frighten her? "No, Tifa, you don't understand..." Link started to say.

"No, you don't understand! My father puts loyalty before everything. If he ever found out that I wasn't loyal... It doesn't matter... I... I can't help you anymore. I'm not going to. I'm sorry, Link," Tifa said, her voice calming down significantly.

Link looked hard into her eyes. He couldn't tell if it was rain or tears that was dripping down her eyes. He had no idea how he could reassure her that he had no intention of killing her father. The two of them just stared at each other for a few seconds. Tifa dropped her head finally, and started to walk away.

"W...wait! Tifa! What about the Shrine?" shouted Shia, running to catch up to Tifa and stop her.

Tifa froze in place and looked back at her friend. "I can't help him anymore, Piper... I don't know why I did it in the first place. I'm so stupid..." She turned away from the two. "I need to go home to my dad," she added, and then walked out of sight.

Link would have never expected Tifa to leave him there. Shia didn't seem to have expected it, either. She just stood there, not budging. Her mouth was moving a little bit, as it if were trying to find the words that could call Tifa back, but nothing came out of her mouth.

"You should go with her, too," Link said finally.

After a few seconds, Shia snapped back into reality, turned to look at Link, and said, "I... I can't. What about you?"

Link gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about me. I've been through much worse. All I'll need you to do is give me directions to the Shrine, and then leave the rest to me."


End: Chapter Nine: Abandoned