The Chronicles of Zelda: Darkness Rising
Chapter 31: Repercussions
Link walked casually down the stairs into the living room of Haldamir's unexpectedly large and lavish dwelling, resisting the temptation to whistle innocently and arouse unneeded suspicion. As it was, Lunari's inquisitive gaze immediately shot to the hero, her eyes following him from her position on the sofa beside Dek, but her stare was ignored as Link nonchalantly studied the comfortable room. The makeshift dartboard that Rayen and Dek had created earlier was suspended on the wall across the room, surrounded by a number of holes where the two competitors had surprisingly missed with their heavy crossbow bolt 'darts'. Their game must have ended early, though not before an unsuccessful attempt to veil the damage, because Link had passed Rayen in the second floor hallway after his 'injury treatment', and the hero had fully explained 'Operation Lighten', so dubbed, to the hunter.
In addition to a number of large armchairs, oil lamps, and storage crates, twin sofas had been arranged near the dartboard, facing each other and separated by a low, oval table. Link's gaze finally rested on his companions, who had been relaxing on the furniture against the wall.
"What are you doing?" Lunari finally asked, slightly annoyed.
"Nothing," Link replied smugly, seeming content to stay standing.
"Where's Zelda?" the Elven girl raised an eyebrow.
"Upstairs."
"What did you say to her?"
"Nothing."
"What's she doing?"
"Nothing."
"Uh," Lunari said, exasperated, "What did you say when she said...you know…when she…" the girl hinted with more suggestion in her voice than truly necessary.
"When she said what?"
"Don't be a moron," Lunari said angrily, "I know full well what she was going up there to do, and I refuse to believe you're a stupid as you're acting."
"Uh…thanks," Link said uncertainly.
Lunari groaned and rose from the sofa, stalking toward Link, "You better not have broken her heart, you jerk," she warned as she passed the hero, who was trying desperately to keep the amusement from his face. As the Elven girl marched up the stair, unaware, Link looked to Dek, who had begun to follow, gave his friend a slight nod, and held up three fingers, closed his fist, and held up two. The elf nodded in understanding and walked at the hero's side, trailing behind Lunari.
"You know I should stop you," he said quietly.
"Yep," Link replied, "But I also know that the second you try anything Rayen will leap out from wherever he's watching us and knock you out."
"Fair enough," Dek shrugged.
Lunari had now reached the door to the bedroom where Zelda had tended Link's wounds and was pounding on it mercilessly, calling the princess' name. Occasionally phrases detailing Link's foolishness and stupidity would slip from her mouth, until she finally grew exasperated and reached for the handle, swinging the door open quickly.
To Link's satisfaction, the second the door moved inward a large sheet, intended for the beds but instead folded and disguised cleverly as a rug beneath Lunari's feet, spread out and flew upward, engulfing the girl up to her shoulders, where the rope linked to the perimeter of the sheet contracted. The cloth imprisonment effectively rendered her limbs useless before a mattress, with the addition of wooden wheels to its underside, swung down from its place attached to the ceiling of the bedroom and collided with the Elf's ankles, tripping her onto the platform, which rocketed across the hallway with its powerful momentum. It passed through a doorway directly opposite that of the bedroom and traveled roughly down a flight of stairs, gaining speed. Flying through another passage, Lunari's vessel soared through an open door and into the room which, in a house as large as Haldamir's, was reserved completely for an enormous bath.
Link and Dek raced into the room in time to see the mattress hit the ramp the hero had created and soar halfway across the bath, though its size more closely resembled a pond, and land with a splash in the water. The bath, shaped like a pool, only reached a depth of five feet at the center and so it was that Lunari was able to fight her way from the sheet and stand in the center, her chin barely breaking the surface. The girl's wavy blue hair now fell straight, dripping with moisture, and she was breathing heavily, making the death glare she directed at Link all the more feral.
"I'm gonna kill you," she growled, her gaze fixed on the Hylian who had barely finished roaring with laughter but looked as if he was about to start again. Dek, for his part, managed to contain his own laughter, though the equally amused look on his face, despite the guilty look that came with it, garnered Lunari's attention as well, "Don't think you're not getting it too, Elf-boy," she said, borrowing Rayen's nickname for the Elf, "I'm not even gonna ask why you didn't stop him."
"That's good, because he really didn't have much of a choice," Rayen stepped forward from the shadows in the corner of the room. Zelda timidly appeared from another side, attempting in vain to contain her quiet laughter.
"Zelda?" Lunari gasped in disbelief, "You were in on this?"
"Sorry, Lunari," the princess smiled, "It was either eat or be eaten," she finished dramatically.
"Don't worry, though," Link spoke, "You'll have company. And if they're on schedule, they should be arriving…now."
"Boss! Boss!" Slick's voice interrupted Lunari's retort as the reptilian raced into the room, "They're coming; just got into the living room!"
"Good job, Slick," Link said, nodding to Rayen and looking to Zelda, "Places."
Slick quickly scrambled into the rafters of the large room, moving directly above Lunari, who was still attempting to free herself from the rope around her shoulders, and gripping another rope tied to a large beam. The reptilian lowered this cord down and silently descended behind the Elven girl, quickly attaching his rope to the one that bound her and racing back into the heights of the room. Using a pulley, Slick managed to hoist Lunari up so that her feet were no longer touching the bath floor, effectively suspending her in the water so that she could not swim away; a new string of curses issued forth from her mouth as this happened.
Rayen and Link hid themselves in the shadows of the corners on either side of the entrance, gripping ropes, which were attached to pulleys hanging above the doorway, in their hands. Zelda, meanwhile, melted back into the shadows, a relatively easy task in the dim lighting of the bath. The room, minus Lunari's occasional ranting, which included a warning to whoever was approaching to stay away from the bath, plunged into silence.
Mere seconds passed before the voices of Malon and Alria could be heard as the two girls cautiously moved through the hall that led to the bath, conferring with each other as to their companions' whereabouts. No sooner had they set foot inside the room than Link and Rayen pulled their cords, causing the loops of rope around the two newcomers' feet to shoot up and bind them in the same way that Lunari had been tied.
Malon could barely scream before Link used a Farore's Wind spell and teleported the two directly over the center of the bath, on either side of Lunari, who merely sighed in annoyance at the sight. The two plummeted into the water and Slick quickly and silently suspended them from the rafters as he had done to Lunari.
"What's going on?!" Malon screamed in anger.
"Whoever did this is going to die!" Alria stated, already beginning to work her way free from her bindings with the efficiency of a Gerudo.
With dramatic flourish, Zelda ignited the large lamp that hung from the ceiling with a simple fire spell, illuminating the room and bathing the conspirators in a flickering glow. Malon's eyes traveled from Link, to Dek, to Rayen, and finally to Zelda, where she paused.
"You too, princess?" she sneered.
"Like you wouldn't have taken their side when you had the chance," Zelda taunted, causing Malon to shut her mouth abruptly.
"I'd still like to know what's going on," Alria said bitterly, "Besides the part where you children decided you wanted to play some games," she glared in Link's direction.
"You think this is bad," Malon began, "Be glad you didn't have to deal with them when they were younger. Of course, I'd thought the little boys had finally matured past this sort of thing," she shifted her gaze between Link and Dek.
"There's nothing wrong with lightening up the mood around here," Link argued, "We were getting too somber."
"He's right," Zelda said, smiling malevolently, "And I know exactly how to make this more enjoyable." The princess suddenly dashed behind the hero and shoved her weight into him, knocking him off balance and sending him teetering over the edge of the bath. With a quick twist of his body, though, Link reached back and grabbed Zelda's forearm, swinging her in front of him and throwing her over the water. Before she could hit the surface, though, there was a flash of green light and Link suddenly felt her presence behind him.
"Sorry, hero," she said playfully, her lips close to his ear, "But it's not going to be that easy." The princess quickly leapt onto Link's back, sending both of them careening into the shallow water of the bath. The hero shot up from the water, charging for the safety of land, but Zelda restrained him, dragging him further into the center of the bath. Link called desperately for help, but Rayen and Dek remained in their places, a death glare from Lunari silencing the latter. Slick, removed from his place among the rafters, looked as if he might aid the Hylian, but Alria's threatening scowl stopped him in his tracks.
"Uh…" the reptilian said nervously, backing out of the room, "Sorry, boss; I like my life."
Rayen, smiling, slowly turned away as Link called out to him. "You gave an oath to protect me, bounty hunter!" the hero shouted angrily.
"I think these would be considered extenuating circumstances," Rayen said, walking away, "You're on your own."
"Sorry, Link," Dek said, "But I plan on spending a lot of time with Lunari in the future, and I'd rather not make myself miserable."
"Oh, I see how it is," Link shouted, though his voice became distorted as Zelda pulled him beneath the water. Dek, laughing quietly, closed the door as he left the room, the hero's angry bellows and the princess' laughter diminishing behind him.
Mikau walked solemnly through the battlefield, smoke from the massive funeral pyre nearby causing uncalled water to fall from his eyes and the stench of burning flesh boring holes in his nostrils. The snowfall had finally ceased and a light rain had descended upon the land, as if attempting to wash away the blood that the stained the land that had once been so serene. The general's eyes scanned the bodies of the fallen, searching for the slightest sign of life in the desolate graveyard. He would occasionally kneel to check for a pulse, only to find none. In few cases, he would feel the faintest sign of life; an ember of hope among dying hearts. Though, like embers often do, this hope would quickly extinguish itself, leaving nothing but a corpse.
The warrior knelt down as he had done many times that day, examining the body of a Hylian soldier whose chest was barely rising; his breathing labored and shallow. The man looked up at the general with clouded eyes, attempting to talk but succeeding in nothing except coughing up blood. Any hope Mikau held in his heart for this man was quickly destroyed as the general examined the soldier's wounds; his right leg was nothing but a bloody, irregular stump and the swing of an axe had nearly cleaved him in two at the middle. It was a sizeable wonder the fighter had survived this far.
"What is it, Soldier?" Mikau asked gently, hoping to give this man one last moment of peace. He was young; far too young to have been included in this war.
In times such as this, the fragile nature of life is forgotten…
"Please…Sir…" the Hylian wheezed, "Help me stand…"
Mikau complied, placing one arm around the man's shoulders and another under his armpit, steadying him as the soldier rose agonizingly to one leg, the pain of his severed limb causing a stifled cry to issue forth from his throat. With amazing determination, though, he continued to rise, his body convulsing violently as his eyes centered on the general's.
"Sir…" he began, "Please tell my wife…her name's Palese…tell her that I'm sorry…I'm sorry I had to go…tell her that I love her…"
"I will, Soldier," the general said, although he knew that the chances of locating this woman were slim.
"Tell…her…tell her that…I died standing…and Sir…please help me go on…"
Mikau understood immediately, reaching for the soldier's dagger in a place at his side and holding the tip of the blade to the man's heart.
"Your memory will live on, Soldier," he said as he ended the warrior's life.
Impa walked wearily on the edges of the village, completing the same gruesome and disheartening task as Mikau. She had not stumbled upon a single survivor among the bodies surrounding her; the Coshraks were not of the nature to cease their brutal attacks when their opponents hit the ground. The Sheikan woman, while kneeling to check for a soldier's pulse; there was none, suddenly discerned soft noises coming from a ruined Halfling dwelling nearby. The roof of the house had collapsed, and the walls were missing wooden planks due to either their purposeful removal by the Hylians or the Coshraks' destructive rampage within the walls of the village.
Impa cautiously entered the house, stepping around beams that had fallen from the ceiling and making her way toward the strange sounds. She soon reached the far corner of the house and gasped, unable to hide her surprise. A Halfling child, no older than five winters, was huddled in the corner, whimpering quietly and covered in dust and grime. His head was resting atop his knees, his eyes closed, so that he didn't notice the silent Sheikah until she placed a hand on his shoulder. The child gasped in fright and stared up at her, his eyes brimming with tears as he attempted to discover a method of reaction to someone so much taller than his people and so imposing.
The Sheikah, with a tenderness she had not revealed to anyone save Zelda, gently lifted the boy up in her strong arms, stroking his hair and attempting to comfort him. She noticed with sadness how light he felt, discerning that it must have been days since he had consumed a significant amount.
The child, drawing peace from this new, reassuring presence, fell into a deep sleep, resting his head on Impa's broad soldier.
The Sheikan gazed down at him.
This is the type that is left behind in war…
Hawehn stood, waiting eagerly, at the edge of the town square as the weary soldiers marched, slowly but triumphantly, to meet their loved ones. The joy permeating through the atmosphere was invigorating but also saddening; tears of relief, and some of despair, falling from the eyes of the many spectators. Witnessing the reuniting of soldiers with their families, Hawehn found herself climbing atop a small crate so that she could gaze over the heads of the Hyrulians and locate Amir.
Though she remained like that for nearly an hour, time failed to have any meaning to her, and only as the last of the survivors trickled into the town square did she register that many of the reunited families had retired to their temporary dwellings to join in modest celebrations with small, hard earned meals. Slowly, Hawehn's eyes swept the square before swinging back to gaze hopefully down the path to the village entrance.
Hope surged within her as more figures appeared through the mists of fog and smoke that had blanketed the village, slowly moving in her direction, their features becoming discernable as they neared. Quickly, though, her mind registered that these men had been given the task of bearing the dead back to their friends and families before they were made into ashes. It seemed an endless number of wagons followed the first, and Hawehn frantically searched for Amir among those who pulled the carts along.
The first wagon finally neared her, drawing her eyes to its passengers, and her heart suddenly threatened to shatter, overwhelmed by grief and despair.
There, his large body resting peacefully atop the wagon, his eyes closed, was Amir of Calatia.
Diggs hesitantly pulled back the flap of Talon's small tent and entered the dwelling, unable to hide his surprise as he discovered that the ranch owner already had company; a young woman was seated beside him, crying into his shoulder. Before the warrior could back out of the tent, Talon's eyes locked onto him and the stout man gestured for him to remain inside. He whispered something to the woman and she turned her eyes toward the newcomer, hesitantly tearing herself away from Talon's comforting arms.
"This is Hawehn," the ranch owner said to Diggs, "She's my niece. Hawehn, this is Diggs."
The woman rose slowly and greeted the soldier with a small bow, wiping away the tears that stained her rosy cheeks, "I'm pleased to meet you," she said formally.
"Pleased to meet you," Diggs returned, then looked to Talon, "I'm sorry; I didn't know you had company. I'll come back later."
"No, no," the rancher said, "Stay. In times like this, it is good for us to comfort one another." Diggs nodded hesitantly, sitting on the dirt floor across from Talon as Hawehn seated herself to his left.
"You're a soldier?" she asked, looking toward him.
"Yeah," he nodded, "Lieutenant, actually. I was with the defenders at market town."
"How was it?" Hawehn said, drawing a look of confusion from Diggs' face, "I mean…I heard you were all killed. How did it feel to die?"
"Uh," Diggs began uncertainly, "Actually, I don't remember much about that part. One minute I was fighting; the next I was laying on a blackened Hyrule fields, trying to figure out what was going on. I can vaguely recall a place…the place I went to after I died. It was beautiful, but every time I try to visualize the image I can't keep it from vanishing."
"I hope that wherever Amir is," the woman sighed, "he's happy," her gaze moved to Talon, "I'll see you tomorrow, Uncle Talon. I'm going to try to get some rest."
"Take care," the rancher said as Hawehn exited the tent, "Don't forget that you still have family here."
"Amir?" Diggs said after the woman had left.
"A Calatian," Talon explained, "He was supposedly some sort of unwilling spy or something, but I could tell that she loved him. He died in the battle yesterday."
"I heard about Malon and Ingo," Diggs said, concern seeping into his voice, "How are you doing?"
"Okay, I guess," the rancher said, "It just feels like I've lost most of my family. Ingo was like a brother to me; after we finally learned to get along," Talon smiled ruefully, "And I believe that Malon is still alive, but her goodbye before she left just seemed so…final," he said quietly, "I know that you understand how I feel, whether you would ever admit it or not."
"At least your daughter's got a bit more sense than Link," Diggs pointed out, "You can at least hope she won't do anything crazy. With Link, that's a lost cause."
Talon laughed, "That's true. Actually, I'm more worried about when she actually does find Link. That boy has a talent for getting everyone in trouble."
"Hey, don't blame me," Diggs said in response to Talon's pointed look, "I've been the victim of his stunts far more than anyone else. Besides; you don't really dislike him."
"No, I don't," the rancher admitted, "I did ask him to marry Malon, you know."
"As you've told me a thousand times," the soldier pointed out, "He was only ten years old at the time."
"He could have at least given me a straight answer," Talon sighed, "Then Malon would know if going after him is really worth it or not. Of course, she'd do it anyway."
"The funny thing about this topic of conversation," Diggs began, "Besides the fact that we're discussing relationships like women, is that I can't even imagine Link ever married to anybody who could put up with him. He's too adventurous."
"I've told Malon he's not right for her, despite the fact that I joked around with their marrying and all," Talon sighed, "but she says she needs to find out for herself. But I wish that didn't involve running halfway across a continent during a war and searching for two people in a huge, hostile country."
"Strange times," Diggs said quietly, "I hope we live to see what follows."
Link's eyes traveled swiftly across the room, studying his opponents and searching for any signs of weakness; the slightest twitch of the eyes, the smallest downturn of the mouth. He was locked in a battle that would decide the fate of all who participated that night; the stops had been removed and the stakes had been laid on the table.
The hero tossed a card down and grabbed another from a pile, receiving no more than slight glances in his direction. Zelda casually reached out and took the card Link had forfeited, placing one of her own down in its stead. Her turn ended, and the game continued to run its course; the game to decide the resident of the sole bed in the guestroom that night.
The game had begun much later than expected; largely due to the repercussions of Link's prank; the hero had spent a large amount of time getting 'maimed' in the bath, especially when Alria escaped her bonds and released Lunari and Malon. A daring escape, which included using Din's Fire to ignite a ball of flame in the center of the bath, transforming the room into a pocket of steam, slipping away from the girls through the fog, leaping from a second story window and swinging to safety on a clothesline, and hiding atop a windmill, had freed the hero from custody. Afterwards, though, he was forced to spend time apologizing to Malon, Alria, and Lunari; Zelda wasn't very upset, seeing as how she had initiated the revenge.
Also due to Link's 'bit of fun' as he had called it, the five who had ended up in the water were left with soaked clothes that had needed to be placed on a line outside to dry. The hero had, as expected, refused to remove his tunic; due to the fact that his only other clothes consisted of the formal outfit he had worn for the banquet in the Calatian palace. Lunari, Alria, and Malon, though, had been forced to don the long towels found in a room adjacent to the bath, which they had wrapped around their bodies while their clothes dried, and was how they sat now. Zelda, though Malon had purchased an outfit for her with their declining money supply to replace the torn gown from the Calatian banquet, had been threatened into wearing a towel as well; Lunari had brought up the fact that she had already betrayed them once and she deserved to suffer with them. So, after a number of Rayen's jokes regarding 'new women's fashions' and 'scantily-clad women', all of which he received one or more blows to the head, the card game had finally been initiated.
Slick suddenly slapped his hand down on the table in the living room, which the group was seated around, spreading his cards out in a show of triumph that made his companions grimace and stare in dismay. After a few seconds of disbelieving silence, Link's voice rang through the air, "What!?"
"How did that happen!?" Rayen wondered, equally angered, "He's a freakin' lizard! I've played the best gamblers in all of Calatia and won!"
Dek rose from his seat abrubtly, "You cheatin' piece of -"
"Alright!" Lunari yelled as Slick backed away from the table in fright, "You three are insane!"
"It's a game," Malon pointed out.
"It's not just a game!" Link argued, "It doesn't even have to do with the fact that he gets the bed! It's an issue of pride!"
"Hm…" Zelda said thoughtfully, "So there is something bigger than your mouth." Link turned to her, an expression of mock-pain across his face.
"She's getting better," Lunari whispered to Malon, who nodded in agreement.
"I wouldn't dish out the insults so freely, Princess," Rayen began, "Link's close enough; one yank on that towel and it'll come right off."
Zelda flushed crimson, clutching the towel tighter around her chest, "He wouldn't."
"Don't test the extents of a man's pride."
"How about I test the limits of your life," Alria growled, then turned to Malon, "Men are idiots. I've just gained more respect for the Gerudo culture."
"Hey," Rayen said, "Without us, you wouldn't even be here." Alria opened her mouth to respond but Malon suddenly spoke.
"Really bad topic of conversation to get into," she pointed out, "I argued with Link for months about that."
"And I won," the hero pointed out, reclining against the back of the couch he was seated upon.
Dek suddenly snapped his head around as Slick slowly backed away from the scene, "Don't think we've forgotten about you," he said threateningly.
"I suggest sleeping with one eye open tonight," Rayen added.
"He beat you fairly," Lunari said, "You don't have to scare him like that. Now sit down; before your heads explode with rage. We all lost, and the rest of us aren't resorting to threats."
"Yeah," Rayen said, smirking, "But women are used to getting stepped on."
The heads of the four girls in the room suddenly snapped toward the bounty hunter, their glares promising death.
The bounty hunter suddenly realized his mistake, "Uh…it was a joke…not serious…"
Link groaned and shook his head, "This is not going to end well."
Author's Notes
Alright…well that took a long time.
Once again, I was having trouble finding the inspiration and energy needed to work on this story. I wrote the first half about a month ago, didn't work on it for a while, and wrote the second part in just a couple days. Yeah…it was kind of weird.
Anyway…I'm still not completely sure what avenue I'm going to pursue as to my writing and stuff. I'm definitely writing an original story, as I've finally decided, and I don't think I'm going to make a sequel for this one. For right now, I'm going to let the chronicles end at this story, and if I decide to write a sequel I'll go back to this and make an alternate ending. Because this is my first story and I guess I could be considered very inexperienced (I didn't even have a plan for the entire story drawn out from the beginning. I basically wrote it chapter by chapter, and if a new idea popped into my head it was difficult to incorporate it), I have a strong desire to end it and start fresh. I'm really not happy with the earlier chapters of this story; they tend to be inconsistent and, in my opinion, not as well written as they could be. I could go back and rewrite but that would take a lot of time and only fix part of the problem.
But don't worry; the ending's going to be cool…as soon as I finally get there.
And now (if anybody cares) I talk about my next story…
As for my original story; I think I finally have an idea I'm going to stick with. I actually had written about a chapter or two for a Final Fantasy VIII fiction, but I discovered that I was going to have a tendency to focus too much on my self-created characters rather than on the ones from the game, making Final Fantasy basically just a background for my own story. So, I brainstormed some ideas, came up with some character sketches and names and such, even drew a map of my own world, and came up with a story based in post-medieval times. By post-medieval I really mean post-medieval; basically immediately after the age of warfare in my land ended and the world became more focused on trading and making money than on fighting. So I had all this stuff planned out and everything…and then I decided to scrap the idea.
Next, using many of the characters from my medieval type idea, but with slight differences, I created an outline for a science fiction story; heavily inspired by Star Wars (owned by George Lucas, etc, etc). The story involved a super weapon capable of traveling at the speed of thought, a coalition of rebels, a psychotic conquering diplomat, and a bunch of other stuff. Finally deciding that this would be too cliché, and too heavily based off of Star Wars, as well as loosing interest, I moved on.
And here we are…a small description of what I hope can be made into an excellent story.
I decided to forget the science fiction idea (besides, thinking of all these fancy futuristic names for things like Walkie Talkies and handguns was really getting to me), and I chose to think about writing a story based in times little different from ours; slightly better technologies, different world order and such; as well as using my own land, probably from the medieval map. The main character of the story is Ryo, a blue-haired swordsmen whose been sitting around in my mind (and who I actually drew out a few times) being incredibly bored and waiting for his chance to shine (Side Note: I did not realize that rearranging the letters of his name spells out Roy from Fire Emblem (not owned by me, etc)). Ryo, either because he's some special race or some other way, has deadly blades imbedded into his forearms that can extend and stuff (no I am not stealing Wolverine's claws (I do not own X-Men, blah, blah…)). I actually designed some weird character a while back with blades like those, thinking that would be a cool idea. Anway…Ryo's blades only number two, one in each arm, and they're more like swords than anything else. Through some way I haven't decided yet, he's also got enhanced reflexes and agility, and maybe healing ability (though that will raise more Wolverine suspicions and stuff). So basically there's this whole resistance movement he gets caught up in, a legend that involves X number of people coming together and stuff, and super-beings that are secretly running the world.
Hope it sounds exciting…because the story's going to be packed with action and it will travel at a much faster pace than this one.
What I'm basically doing is encouraging all of you to read that story when I post it on (I'll give you the details later – for right now my id is Sabre9). It'll definitely have many characters from this story; such as Rayen, Kard, an equivalent of Slick, and maybe even Dek and Lunari.
On another note, if for some reason somebody wants to write a sequel for this or just use my characters for something, just let me know and I probably won't mind. Not that I'm being conceded or anything…
I'm once again advertising the story Dark Tide by Ace the Mace. A reviewer, anonymous, has asked for more specific details so here they are: the story is rated PG-13 (I think), and it's under the Zelda category on this site. If you can't find it just search for the title or the author, but it should be easy to find it if you go to the 100,000 words page; it's a bit more than halfway down the page last I checked. There's a sequel in progress, too, so you don't have to worry about not getting enough of the story.
I did mean for the dramatic changes in mood in the chapter, by the way. I really wanted to illustrate the terrible aspects of war to destroy the illusion that it's something grand, since I'm guilty of creating that illusion myself…
Well I'm sick of begging for reviews (thanks to everybody who does) so…have fun!
I'm done now…
"A world without string is chaos." - Mouse Hunt(funny movie)