SOUL CALIBUR II FROM LINK'S POINT OF VIEW
Chapter 3
Everyone gaped at Link, disbelieving, as he introduced everyone to Zelda.
"Zelda, this is Talim, Cassandra, Mitsurugi, Taki, Maxi, Xianghua, Seung Mina, Yunsung, and Heihachi." he said, and she nodded around at them all, her golden hair cascading over her back in waves.
"Good to meet you. Thank you for taking such good care of my husband." she said to them all, and Link blushed scarlet. Yunsung grinned mischievously.
"Do my eyes deceive me? Is the great Hylian blushing?" he said teasingly. Link shot him a death glare.
"Do you really want to get your tail kicked again, Yunsung?" he asked. Yunsung took a step backwards and raised his arms mockingly in a gesture of peace.
"No, I really don't." he said sarcastically. Then he dropped his hands. "Of course, I might actually be intimidated if you had actually beaten me."
Link growled and reached under his shield. He withdrew a humongous hammer from it, and drew his shield.
"Is that a challenge I hear?" he asked, his voice a low growl. Zelda huffed.
"Link, put the Megaton Hammer away." she said, putting her hands on her hips. He growled, glaring at Yunsung, then put his weapons away. Link huffed, then sat down, crossing his legs Indian-style. He also crossed his arms and glared up at Yunsung.
"Jeez… For someone who just barely escaped the clutches of death, you sure are lively." Seung Mina said teasingly. Link grumbled something in Hylian, and Zelda shot him a stern look.
"There's no need for that kind of language, Link." she said sternly, and he looked up at her, then shot a glare out of the corner of his eye at Yunsung. Finally Link 'hmphed' and stood up.
"Well, then shouldn't we be getting a move on?" he asked, looking around at everyone. They all nodded, and Xianghua stepped forward, holding out the Master Sword.
"You threw this?" she asked, and he nodded and took it from her. The blood on the blade was starting to dry, so he wiped it on the hem of a cloak that he had in his pack. Then he sheathed the sword, and they started walking again, Zelda coming with them. Link walked with her, telling her what he knew about this world, and she was listening intently. She occasionally glanced at the other members of the group, but kept mostly to herself and her husband.
"Link, I have to leave the next time we stop walking." she said, once he had temporarily finished speaking. He frowned in concern.
"Why? Is something amiss?" he asked quietly. "Is Hyrule in danger? Has someone threatened you?" She shook her head.
"No, it's just… I shouldn't be traveling or fighting." she explained. He looked confused. She took his left hand in hers.
"Link… I'm pregnant." she said quietly. His ears twitched and he looked at her, wide-eyed.
"You're… you're… what?!" he exclaimed quietly, yet loud enough for Seung Mina to overhear. She came over to the Hylian couple.
"What's wrong, Link?" she asked.
"Huh?" he said, not really paying attention as he tried to get over his initial shock.
"What's wrong?" she repeated. Zelda looked at Mina, a gentle smile present on her face.
"I have to go back to Hyrule the next time we stop." the Hylian girl said gently. "And Link and I have to start picking out names, because I'm going to have a baby." The look of shock on Mina's face was equivalent to Link's. In fact, their expressions were so alike that Zelda laughed at the sight of them. This snapped them out of their gaping and Link started asking 20 questions at once.
"When are you due? What's it gonna be? How many-?" he was suddenly cut off, however, when Zelda put two fingers over his lips.
"One question at a time, Link!" she said, smiling. "And, to most of your questions, I don't know yet. However, I do know that I'm due on i ernelde Narwain."
"'The 13th of January'?" he repeated. "The middle of winter…"
"That's a while away… But now we understand why you have to leave us so soon." Mina said. Zelda nodded, then turned to Link.
"I'll try to contact you as much as possible, ok?" she asked, and he nodded.
"Ok…" he stammered, still shocked in a good way. Then the three of them lapsed back into a different conversation, noticing that some of the nearer members of the group were staring at them. They obviously thought the trio was quite odd. At around 9:30 they stopped because it was getting dark, and Taki and Mitsurugi once again set to making a campfire. When this happened, Link again took a spot near the edge of the firelight, and sat with his back to one of the many large rocks that dotted the area. After a few minutes by the fire, Zelda came over and sat down next to her husband.
"Link? Na nin thalion?" she asked. He let out a sigh and looked to the heavens.
"Odo loa…" he whispered. "Odo anann loa…" Zelda's face creased in concern.
"Link, what's wrong?" she said quietly. Link shook his head.
"Nothing. I'm just thinking…" he murmured.
"About what?"
"About how when I opened the Door of Time, I felt like I fell asleep, and when I woke up 7 years later…" he trailed off wistfully, and she knew he was thinking about his younger years before he took up the duties of Hero of Time. Back when he was still innocent and very untouched by death and battles. Zelda knew that he still bore scars from his countless battles, both emotional scars and physical ones, but she couldn't love him any more than she already did. And that was with her whole heart. The only love that she had that was equal to her love for Link was her love of Hyrule. He suddenly looked down and backwards towards the rest of the group as someone had caused them all to burst out laughing. Or at least, all of them except for Talim, who bore a confused expression, and was muttering, "I don't get it…" Link chuckled a little.
"She reminds me of you and me when we were 10." he said quietly, and Zelda chuckled a little bit, too.
"Yes, she does. It's amazing that through all her 15 years she's retained that childlike innocence." she replied, and then looked at Link. She gently kissed him on the cheek, and a small smile came to his face.
"Well, I know a certain princess that is 17 who's retained her innocence for 17 years, even though she's going to have a baby now." he murmured. Then he turned his gaze back to the heavens, his eyes reflecting the clear starlight. Zelda watched him for a second, then slipped an arm around his waist. He instinctively slipped an arm around hers in return, but didn't look down at her right away. After a moment, he looked down at her face, which was turned upwards towards the stars. Then he bent down and whispered in her ear,
"I think I've thought of a name."
"Hm? For what?" she replied, snapping out of her reverie.
"Our child."
"Oh? Let's hear it, then."
"Well, I only have one for a girl. Boys' names are harder to come up with." he said sheepishly. "Well, the one that I have is… Lorwen, meaning 'Maiden of the Golden Light'. I think it's somewhat fitting." At this, Zelda smiled. She gently touched his right hand with her left, as those two hands were the ones closest together.
"I think that's a good name. But what if it's a boy?" she murmured, causing him to frown a little in concentration. After a moment, he looked at her, a cheesy grin on his face.
"Sorry. I can't think of any at the moment…" he said, and Zelda chuckled a little.
"You goofball!" she exclaimed, lightly punching Link in the arm. He faked an 'Ow!' and pretended to be hurt, rubbing his arm. He put on a pouting face, and Zelda burst out laughing. He screwed up his face, trying to keep from laughing. He looked behind them to the rest of the group, only to find them staring at the couple like they were crazy.
"What?!" he exclaimed indignantly, and they went back to their conversations. He shook his head, and looked back to the heavens. The stars were bright in the darkness of the night, and he closed his eyes, enjoying the evening. He spoke again in a second.
"I think I've thought of a name for if it's a boy." Zelda looked at him.
"Yeah? What is it?"
"Silion. 'Son Who Shines with White or Silver Light.'" he murmured, his eyes still closed. She smiled softly.
"That's a good name, too." And with that, she leaned into his arms and closed her eyes.
"…How did you know to come here?" he asked in a moment, and she opened her eyes and looked up at him. He looked down at her a second later.
"I guess… I could feel that you were in danger… Mortal danger… So I came." she hesitantly replied. He nodded, and looked back up into the heavens. She laid her head on his shoulder, her arms around him, and closed her eyes again. She wanted to enjoy his embrace while it lasted, because she'd have to go back to Hyrule in a few moments. She didn't know when she'd see him again.
A short while later, yet still longer than she had intended, she awoke in her husband's warm, sweet embrace. At first she didn't know what had awoken her, but when she looked around, she noticed that the Fairy Ocarina was ringing faintly. She sat up fully, awaking Link, who was starting to nod off next to her, and put her hand in her pouch, withdrawing the Fairy Ocarina. It was faintly glowing blue and emitting the ringing sound. Zelda frowned in recognition.
"I… guess you have to go back, now, don't you?" Link said, disappointment evident in his voice. She nodded.
"Yes…" she said quietly. Link looked behind them to the others. They were all still awake, even though it was nearing 10:00 at night. As the ringing became louder and more urgent, it attracted the attention of the others, who looked towards Zelda and Link questioningly.
"What's that ringing?" Taki asked, coming over to the Hylians.
"It's my Ocarina." Zelda slowly replied. "I have to go back…"
"Oh…" Taki said. The others all looked crestfallen, but Mina the most of all of them.
"Do you have to?" she asked, and Zelda nodded. The others were all over there, now, watching the two Hylians. Zelda rose to her feet, followed by Link, and the two walked a small way away from the rest of the group.
"I guess this is goodbye, for now…" she said quietly, and managed a small, sad smile. He couldn't manage one, though. His face was composed, but he had sad tears in his eyes.
"Yeah. Bye." he said, his voice slightly choked. She smiled and held up her left hand. He put his left hand on hers, and briefly entwined his fingers with hers. Their Triforces glowed a bright golden while their hands touched, the golden triangles reacting to each others' presence. All who saw it were awed, and all felt pity for the two who had to go their separate ways again. Soon, Link gently pulled his hand away from Zelda's, and he took a few steps backwards to join the rest of the group. She smiled, tears in her eyes, then put her lips to the Ocarina's mouthpiece. She then played the song that would take her back to Hyrule, to where she belonged. To where Link should be, too, but couldn't be until his Journey was complete. As the echoes from the Song of Time faded, a blue light engulfed Zelda, and a blue crystal encased her. She opened her eyes as this happened, and waved to everyone one last time. Then the crystal floated into the sky and she disappeared, the light taking her back home.
"Namarie, Zelda vanimelda. Namarie." Link said quietly, and a single tear streaked the side of his face. He wiped it off with his hand and turned to go back to the campsite, only to find his way barred by the rest of the group. He put his hands on his hips and looked sternly around at all of them.
"It's nearing 10:15 at night. Shouldn't we be getting some sleep?" he asked, his tone saying, 'No questions, I'm not in the mood.' They all nodded, and went back to the campsite. Link immediately sat down beneath the tree, removing his pack, sword, bow, quiver, and shield from his back in one movement, then he leaned back against the wood and closed his eyes. Talim laid down near him, climbing into her bedroll, and turned her gaze to him for the moment.
I wonder why Zelda had to leave so soon…? Talim thought. He sure looked sad when she left… I'm sure she knows how to fight. I mean, why else would she come here? She thought for a moment longer before turning her gaze to Yunsung where he was climbing into his bedroll a few meters away from her. He caught her gaze and blushed, and they looked away from each other. Talim felt her cheeks grow red.
Why am I blushing?! she mentally berated herself. I mean, he's 3 years older than you, Talim! Why would he be interested in you?! She closed her eyes and quickly tried to make herself stop blushing. When everyone else was in their beds, Link's Ocarina sounded, playing Zelda's Lullaby again. Everyone was immediately lulled into sleep, but Link remained awake. He looked sadly to the heavens.
Goodnight, Zelda. he thought. I'll see you again, my love. And with that, he curled up next to the tree and fell asleep, descending into both nightmares and dreams.
Link awoke the next morning when the sun's first rays peeked over the horizon and into his eyes. He sat up, yawned, and stretched, then looked around. The others were all still asleep. He looked at the position of the sun. It was about 7:00. He shook his head, then pulled out his Ocarina. He put it to his lips and blew. A low note echoed out through the campsite, then changed. Link played a song that spoke of rain and lightning. Of thunder and wind. He played the Song of Storms. A wind picked up as he played, blowing his hat and hair around his face, ruffling his green Kokiri tunic. A second later, storm clouds formed and a couple raindrops fell onto him. Then a downpour started. Lightning clashed and thunder rumbled as he put the Ocarina of Time away, and he quickly picked up his shield and held it over his head, protecting him from the rain. As soon as the rain got soaked well into their blankets, the rest of the group jumped awake, completely soaked. Thunder roared again, and Talim jumped. Seeing Link standing there with his shield over his head like an umbrella and grinning like an idiot, she frowned.
"What did you do, Link?!" she exclaimed, and he shrugged.
"I thought an early morning shower might help some of us." he shouted back over the fresh rumbles of thunder. She glared at him, as well as the rest of them. Then they all gathered up their stuff and the group started walking.
"Don't worry. It'll stop in a few moments." Link reassured them all as they walked. They all glared at him, and he was silent. However, true to his word, the storm stopped a second later, causing the group to rejoice. For the rest of the day, no one was mad at Link, and everyone was in good spirits, talking and laughing.
Around noon they came to a large, thriving city that was built on a body of water. Its name was Venice, Italy, as they learned from Maxi as they sailed to it. As they neared the city, Link pulled his cloak out of his pack and put it on, pulling the hood up to hide his ears. As they walked through the market, people shouted prices back and forth, and others argued over said prices. The group decided to split up and restock on supplies, so they each took some money and went their own separate ways.
Link walked down a narrow alleyway to get to the other side of the row of buildings. He was looking upwards, when suddenly he felt the ground drop out from under his feet. He just barely managed to grab hold of the sidewalk to keep his head from going under the water completely. He hauled himself back up onto the walk, sopping wet, and tried to calm his heart rate. Suddenly a pair of sandaled feet stopped in front of him, and he looked up. A woman with blond hair and emerald green eyes was looking down at him.
"Are you ok?" she asked, kneeling down. She withdrew a handkerchief from a pouch at her side and handed it to Link. He nodded in thanks and as to say 'Yes, I'm ok.', then he gently dried his face off a little, where it had been splashed.
"You should probably try to watch where you're going. Venice is full of canals like this one." the strange woman said, smiling. Her smile was warm, and had a maternal sort of air to it. Link nodded, then looked at her. She reminded him so painfully of Zelda. Then he noticed that she carried a short sword and a small shield on her back.
"Hey… May I see your sword?" he asked. She looked surprised for a second, then drew her sword. Its sleek surface shone in the afternoon sunlight, and it had strange runes engraved upon its blade. Link stared at it, wide-eyed.
"That looks exactly like the sword Cassandra carries…" he murmured, and she gaped at him.
"You know Cassandra?!" she asked, surprise evident in her voice. Link nodded.
"Yes. I'm traveling with her and several others to find Soul Edge." he explained. "How do you know her?"
"I'm her older sister, Sophitia." the woman, Sophitia, explained. "I've been looking for her for a while!" She helped Link up, then sheathed her sword and took her handkerchief from Link when he handed it to her.
"Well, then. I can help you." he said cheerily. "We're supposed to meet up in an hour. I just have to run my errands first."
"May I join you?" she asked pleadingly. He nodded, and she smiled again. Then they walked back towards the market.
An hour later, the group was all assembled, except for Link. They were starting to get impatient when a cloaked figure approached Seung Mina from behind, closely followed by a woman with blond hair that was dressed like an Athenian, who was also wearing a cloak. The cloaked figure tapped Mina on the shoulder, and she spun around, instinctively bringing up her Zanbatou into a defensive position. The person took a step backwards, their hands up in a peaceful manner. This caused their cloak to pull back, revealing Link's green tunic.
"Oh, Link. It's just you." Mina said, letting out a relieved sigh. Then she turned frustrated. "We've been waiting for you for 10 minutes!" He looked confused.
"But it's been exactly an hour since we split up…" he murmured, and she looked taken aback.
"How do you know?" she asked, purely curious. He shrugged.
"I timed it. How else?" he replied, and looked around at the others. When he spotted Cassandra, he turned to the woman behind him. He gestured over his shoulder with his thumb to Cassandra, and the woman looked at the Athenian. The woman walked over to Cassandra.
"Cassandra! Why did you take the sacred weapons and go searching for Soul Edge?!" the woman exclaimed. Cassandra looked at the woman for a second before exclaiming,
"Sophitia?!" Sophitia nodded.
"Yes. Now answer my question."
Cassandra looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Because I thought you should no longer have to carry the responsibility of destroying Soul Edge. I'll destroy the blade in your stead." she explained after a moment. "So go home, Sophitia." Sophitia looked amazed at her sister for a second before a smile broke across her face.
"I can't, though, Cassie." she said, calling her sister by her pet name. "I have to destroy the blade so that my children will be freed from its curse."
"What are you trying to say, Sophie?"
"I'm trying to say that I'm going to help you." Cassandra smiled, her sister mirroring the grin. Sophitia turned to the rest of the group.
"That is, if it's ok with the rest of you. May I travel with you?" she said, and the rest of the group nodded in consent.
"Ok! Thank you all!" she said. As the afternoon was starting to wane, she spoke again.
"It's getting late. Do you all have a place to stay for the night?" she asked, and they all shook their heads. "Ok. Well, then we're in luck! I know a good inn that we can stay at. The owner owes me a free night, so we should get the rooms on the house!" Everyone grinned, and nodded.
"Sure! That sounds wonderful!" they said in unison, and Sophitia led the way to the inn. True to her word, the inn was a very nice one, and the owner gave them all rooms for the night. The boys were in two rooms, and the girls were in two more. They dropped their packs off in the rooms, then most of them headed down to the common room. A few of them, namely all six of the girls, stayed upstairs to take baths. The boys hung around the common room. Some of the younger of them lounged around, relaxing, but Link sat at a table, drinking a small glass of milk, listening to the conversations around him. He was about to get up, return his now empty glass, and go upstairs to bed when his sharp ears caught a snatch of conversation. The words 'Soul Edge' had been mentioned, and from the conversation going on, it sounded like the people were talking about the demonic sword itself. He sat back down from where he had half risen, and listened intently, his eyes on the people at the table to his left. Slowly, he tuned out all the other conversations in the room, and could only hear the two people to his left.
"…I last heard that he was in Berlin, Germany. That Nightmare character." The blond-haired man was saying to the platinum-haired woman.
"Interesting… Don't you think, Raphael?" she replied, her face calm and composed, not showing the slightest bit of emotion. Raphael nodded.
"Yes. It is very interesting indeed… considering how he was originally German." he said. "Didn't you have a run-in with him a few years ago, Ivy?"
The woman, Ivy, shook her head.
"It is none of your concern what happened to me in my past." she said icily. "I heard that he was headed for Berlin a while back. This just proves what I heard. He's probably on a killing spree again. Trying to give Soul Edge the souls it needs to become complete again.
"I think that some of the shards are here, for mine has been radiating." she added.
"I propose we find the ones who possess the shards, kill them, and take their shards. The less spread out they are, the better chance we have of destroying them, I say." Raphael looked down at his drink, then back up again to see Ivy's reaction. She nodded.
"I agree." she murmured.
"Good. Then we'll do it tonight, agreed?" he asked, and extended his hand across the table to shake hers.
"Agreed." she said, and shook his hand. As Link watched, the two got up and exited the common room, taking to the streets. He made sure they were out of sight before getting up and walking cautiously over to Maxi, eyes still on the door. The dandy was sitting in front of the fire drinking a mug of tea when Link tapped him on the shoulder. Maxi nearly choked when this happened, and whipped around. Seeing as it was Link, he let out a sigh of relief.
"Link. What's up?" the pirate asked once he'd calmed his nerves.
"We need to get the group together for a meeting. Up in our room a.s.a.p. Got it?" Link said, his face serious. Maxi's brow creased.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"I can't say down here. We need to get everyone upstairs. Come on!" And with that, Link went over to Yunsung and Maxi went over to Heihachi. In 5 minutes the boys were assembled in Link's, Maxi's, and Yunsung's room. Link went across the hall and knocked on Sophitia's, Talim's, and Cassandra's door. Talim answered the knock, and blushed when she saw that it was Link, as she was barely decent. His face was grim, though, as he told her to meet him and the rest of the boys in his room a.s.a.p., and to tell Cassandra and Sophitia, too. She nodded grimly, hearing the urgency in his voice, and went to dress and tell the other two. When she closed the door, he walked to the door to the right of Talim's and knocked. Seung Mina answered, and stepped out into the hallway because she was fully clothed, though her hair was wet. Seeing the grim look on his face under the hood, she immediately closed the door behind her and listened intently as he told her to meet with the rest of the group in his room a.s.a.p., and to tell Taki and Xianghua as well. She nodded, and disappeared into her room. She reappeared a second later with the other two, at the same time as Talim, Sophitia, and Cassandra emerged from their room. All six of their hair was dripping wet, showing that they had gotten dried and dressed rather hastily. A few minutes later, everyone was crowded into Link's room, yet not too crowded. Everyone watched as Link took his hood down, earning a small gasp from Sophitia, and sat down on a chair.
"I overheard a conversation downstairs in the common room." he began. Everyone was listening to him.
"The man said something about a person… Nightmare he called him. The man, Raphael, said that this Nightmare was in some Berlin, Germany." At this, several people glanced around at each other, grim.
"The woman, Ivy, said something about Soul Edge and Nightmare going on a killing spree." Link continued, his face grim. "Then she said that she knows there are other shards in Venice, because hers has been radiating."
Several faces looked horrified, some indifferent.
"Raphael suggested that they kill us and take our shards."
"Wait a minute!" Yunsung exclaimed. "When did you hear this again?!"
"10 minutes ago down in the common room." Link replied grimly. "They said that they're going to go through with their plan, and tonight, at that." He looked grimly around at everyone.
"I suggest we either be on high alert tonight, or that we get out of Venice." he said, and the rest of them nodded grimly. "I also propose that we make for Berlin tomorrow. That's where they said Nightmare was sighted last." Everyone agreed to this, and they all agreed that they should get out of Venice that night. Then everyone went to their own separate rooms (three in three of the rooms, two in one.), and everyone packed their stuff and fell asleep. As Maxi and Yunsung slept in the beds above him (Link had preferred to sleep sitting up against the wall), Link listened intently to all the sounds out in the hall and in the surrounding rooms. About 2 hours later, at midnight, Link woke Maxi and Yunsung, and the three of them gathered their things. Then they crept silently out into the hall and knocked three times on Mitsurugi's and Heihachi's door. The two men were standing outside the door in under a minute, and Link went over and knocked three times on Talim's, Cassandra's, and Sophitia's door. At the same time, Yunsung did the same with Taki's, Mina's, and Xianghua's door. Within 30 seconds all six of the girls were out in the hallway, and the group silently moved downstairs, nerves on edge. When they reached the common room, Sophitia left a note on the reception desk, and the group headed out into the moonlit streets. They walked quickly and silently, passing from shadow to shadow, all wearing black cloaks so as not to be seen as easily. Link led the group, his sensitive ears hearing everything around them, listening for anything that sounded threatening. When they finally got to the ferry, they found a boat tied up at the dock. Link looked around a little more. Finally his far-seeing eyes spotted the ferry itself, tied up at a dock at the mainland. He inwardly groaned. Goddesses, this was not his day. Or night, for that matter.
"The ferry is tied up at a dock at the mainland. We'll have to take this boat across, then one of us'll take it back here and swim across to join the rest of the group." he quietly explained, causing the rest of the group to groan.
"Then who'll take it back? I don't think any of us can swim that far!" Heihachi exclaimed, his voice a harsh whisper in the darkness. Link looked thoughtfully at the older man for a moment before replying.
"I'll do it." the Hylian volunteered. "Hylians can run, walk, and swim for a long time without resting. I'll take it back, then I'll swim across the channel." The rest of the group looked at him as if he were crazy. He crossed his arms and looked sternly at them for a second before growling.
"Are you going to get in the boat or not?" he asked. Suddenly a glowing blue thing with wings jumped out from beneath his shield, ringing, startling even Link.
"What the-!" he exclaimed, jumping back a few feet. When he saw what the thing was, he let out a sigh of relief, his right hand over his heart. In a second, he turned, frustrated, to the glowing ball of light.
"Navi! Please don't do that again!" he hissed. The little ball of light rang again.
"Hurry, all of you! There's someone following you! One of them's a man with blond hair and a thin sword, and the other's a woman with platinum hair!" the light, Navi, hissed. Everyone saw Link pale considerably, even in the darkness of the ports. He turned to everyone else.
"Get in the boat!" he hissed. "And lay low for a few minutes! Then maybe they won't see us!" The others all scrambled and climbed into the boat. Link drew his sword and shield as they did this, his sharp eyes scanning the streets behind them. Navi fluttered around his head.
"Navi! Get down, or douse your light! You're a dead giveaway!" he hissed, and the light complied, sitting on his shoulder underneath his cloak.
"Link! They're all in the boat!" she hissed in his ear. He gave a faint nod and started to back up, carefully choosing his footing. Navi guided him, and soon he was in the boat, sheathing his sword and shield and swiftly untying the ship's rope. He took one of the oars, sitting next to Yunsung, and pulled backwards at the same time as the older man, causing the small boat to lunge forward. Soon, back on the docks, he spotted the man and woman. They seemed to be having some sort of argument, and the man pointed out to sea, straight at the little boat that the others were sailing in. The woman looked where the man was pointing, and Link saw her smirk. Then Ivy raised her sword and… Link's eyes grew wide as he saw her sword become a bladed whip, and the blades separated, floating in the air of their own accord. The woman, Ivy, spoke something to the blades, and they suddenly flew out towards the little boat, spinning like flying saw blades.
"Navi!" Link cried, and the little light flew out from under his cloak, dancing around the woman back at the dock. Link stood up in the boat, reached under his shield, and withdrew a bow and arrow. He nocked an arrow to the string and pulled it taut, sighting down the long, narrow shaft for his target.
"Link! What are you doing?!" Talim shouted at him. "You can't kill that woman! She hasn't done anything to us!" He didn't respond. Seeing what he was aiming for, he let the arrow fly. Talim shouted something at him when a look of grim satisfaction came to his face, and Navi started to fly back to him.
"How could you?!" Talim shouted. "She was innocent!" The 15-year-old punched him hard in the shoulder, standing up herself. However, Link didn't react, intently watching the spot where he had just fired the arrow. The little ball of blue light flew quickly towards them, her transparent wings fluttering as fast as they could go. As she neared the little boat, her glow was reflected off of the ten or so whirling blades that had now changed their course, making all haste back to their master.
"Those blades would've cut us to bits." Link explained, eyes still on the dock, where he could now see Raphael kneeling down next to Ivy as her whirling blades came together again, forming her sword-whip, which now lay silent at her side. "Besides, I didn't kill her. I only wounded her in the shoulder." His sapphire eyes found Talim's dark ones in the nighttime darkness.
"I have never killed unless I have absolutely had to." he said, sitting back down as Navi found a perch on his shoulder. "I've killed many things in my entire life, and those things were monsters that were threatening me and Hyrule. They all serve Ganondorf." At the name 'Ganondorf', Navi started ringing, outraged. Link looked at the little blue light, then said something in Hylian. She looked disgruntled for a second before replying in the same language. Suddenly, Sophitia spoke up.
"Link, who's that?" she asked, and Link's intense, sapphire gaze snapped over to meet her cerulean one. He smiled a little.
"This is Navi. She's been my partner and guardian fairy since I was 10." he explained. Navi flew up and around the boat, looking into everyone's faces closely before coming back to rest on Link's shoulder, which was moving as he helped Yunsung to row.
"It's nice to meet you all." she said politely. She said something to Link in Hylian, and he briefly turned a stern look to her before going back to rowing.
"It's not my fault you weren't with me when I came here." he grumbled in Basic. She made the ringing sound again, and said something else to him in Hylian.
"Yes, you did come with Zelda. At least you're here." he said, his temper starting on a slow rise. "So would you please stop bugging me about accidentally leaving you in Hyrule? I'm trying to row, here."
"Fine, Mr. Hero." she grumbled in Basic, causing everyone except Link to give her odd glances. Link, however, sent a stern glare Navi's way.
"Navi! I thought we had agreed not to speak of those things while we're here!" he exclaimed, grunting as he and Yunsung gave one last pull on the oar before the boat hit the shore and they were grounded. The little fairy gave an indignant sort of buzzing sound, said something in Hylian, and flew ashore, lighting the way for the group to clamber out of the boat. As soon as they were ashore, Link shoved the boat off, splashing as he waded in up to his knees, and he clambered back into the boat. He quickly turned the boat so that the bow was facing Venice, and started to row back. Navi flew to her Hylian friend.
"Go back, and watch over the group, Navi!" he said to her when she came within earshot, yet not shouting distance. "And don't tell them anything about our past." The fairy nodded, and fluttered back to the rest of the group.
Without the comforting light of his friend by his side, Link suddenly felt very alone as he steadily rowed back to the city on water. It was as if she had left him again, like she had after he defeated Ganondorf. But then he had had Zelda to comfort him. Not like now. He was truly alone, now, in the little boat. Even though he knew he'd see the rest of the group, as well as Navi, again in a few minutes, he still felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, like something bad was going to happen. Shaking these thoughts from his head as the bow of the boat hit the dock, he quickly clambered out and tied the small vessel up again. Looking back across the water, he saw that it was, indeed, a long way away to the mainland. His arms and shoulders were aching from rowing all that way, first with 10 other people, then alone. He immediately knew that he wouldn't make it back to the mainland swimming. He shrugged his pack off his shoulders, and started digging around in it, looking for something. He soon found it, but he was so distracted as he looked that he did not see the figure of a man walking up behind him, rapier in hand.
Suddenly Link felt a prickling sensation on the back of his neck, and rolled to the side just in time to see the tip of the man's rapier embed itself in the wood of the dock. Link looked up to see Raphael pull the sword's tip out of the wet planks, and prepare to try a stab again. Link quickly rolled out of the way of this stab as well, pulling out his sword and shield as he did so. He blocked the next strike with his shield, and countered with a blow of his own. He jumped into the air and brought the Master Sword bearing down at Raphael's head. He held up his rapier.
Good. Link thought. He had Raphael right where he wanted him. As Link's sword connected with Raphael's rapier, the older man blocked, just as Link had hoped. As soon as Link's blow connected, he twisted the Master Sword so that the rapier's blade was caught in between the Master Sword's blade and hilt, which curved towards the sharp tip of the sword. He thrust his blade towards himself so that Raphael's rapier was jerked out of his hand, then Link planted a very powerful kick right to Raphael's midsection, sending the man flying backwards and into the street.
Back at the mainland, Navi was hovering around the group, when suddenly she felt a prickling sensation at the back of her neck. She whipped around to look at Venice. As she looked across the black waters of the ocean, she saw two shadows moving erratically, violently on the docks. Letting out a ringing sound, she turned back to the other members of the group.
"Guys! Link's in trouble! I'm gonna go help him!" she exclaimed in her small voice that seemed to carry quite a lot for its size. The others nodded worriedly, and she flew towards Venice as fast as her wings could carry her.
Link watched, satisfied, as Raphael hit the street, momentarily unconscious, then he turned back to his pack, tossing the rapier to land near Raphael. Link sheathed his sword and put away his shield, then removed them entirely, also removing his weapon-laden belt and setting it next to his pack. He removed his cloak, and then took off his green Kokiri Tunic and his green Kokiri Hat, pulling the tunic up and over his head and just pulling his hat off, and pulled on the blue tunic he had gotten out of his pack. As the dark blue Zora Tunic slipped on over his head, he noticed a bright, blue glow coming towards him from over the water. He sighed in frustration as Navi neared him, and put his dark blue Zora hat on, too. He put his belt back on, cinching it down over his tunic. Then he sat down on the wooden planks of the dock and pulled his Kokiri Boots off. He reached for the other boots he had withdrawn from his pack, and pulled them towards him, grunting with the effort. They were the Iron Boots, and he immediately noticed the difference when he put them on. He bent down to pick up his discarded cloak, Kokiri Tunic, Kokiri Hat, and Kokiri Boots, then walked over to his pack with some effort. The Iron Boots weighed a ton, and it took an effort to walk in them out of the water.
Link bent down and put his Kokiri Boots in his pack, then folded his green Kokiri Tunic and his cloak and put them in the pack to join his boots. He then shouldered the tiny pack and was putting his sword and shield back on when Navi finally reached him.
"Link! Are you ok?!" she exclaimed worriedly. "I saw you fighting someone!" Link nodded in confirmation for both her questions. He saw Navi sigh in relief through her bright blue glow. Then he saw her look past him, and she fluttered backwards a few inches in fright.
"Link! Behind you!" she exclaimed, and he turned his head in time to see Raphael getting up, rapier in hand. He drew his sword and shield, and sluggishly turned to face the man.
Damn! he thought. If only these Iron Boots were only heavy in the water! He backed up as Raphael charged forward, starting with a vertical attack. Link raised his shield, and the blow glanced off, but Raphael attacked again with a horizontal attack this time. Link tried to dodge, but was too slow with the Iron Boots. The blow connected with the side of his leg, slicing it open. He tried to stop stepping backwards when this happened, tried to regain his balance, but he couldn't. There was no more dock for his foot to land on. The weight of the Iron Boots dragged him down, and he toppled off the dock, falling backwards into the cold water with a great splash.
"Navi! Go back to the oth-!" Link managed to shout to his friend as he fell, but was cut off by the water entering his mouth as he was submerged. Navi punched Raphael hard on the nose before complying, knowing that Link would be ok.
The entire group was watching as Navi's blue glow found Link, as he was near enough to see. They could see the Hylian clearly in the blue light as he nodded to something that Navi had said. Then they watched in horror as a figure loomed up behind the Hylian. Link turned his head and drew his sword and shield and turned sluggishly to face his opponent. The man attacked with a vertical attack, which Link blocked, backing up as fast as he could, yet still painfully sluggishly. They barely had time to wonder why he was moving so slow when the other man slashed at the Hylian with a horizontal strike which connected with his leg when he tried to dodge the blow. Suddenly, Link toppled over the side of the dock, falling faster than was normally possible, and he cried something to Navi before he was completely submerged in the salty seawater. He did not resurface. Navi punched the other man hard on the nose, then she started to fly back towards the others as fast as she could. When she reached them, she was perfectly calm, unaffected by the seeming death of her old friend.
"Navi! What happened?! Where's Link?!" Talim asked the fairy frantically. "Why isn't he resurfacing?! And why did you just leave him like that?!"
The fairy chuckled a little.
"He won't resurface." she said, and the group looked mortified. "Don't worry, though." And she left it at that, though many of them started to frantically yell at her to tell them what she meant by 'Don't worry'. Yunsung had just grabbed the little fairy when they heard a great splashing sound, and a sloshing of water, and they all turned to see a great glob monster emerging from the sea. It was covered in seaweed, and was oddly shaped, its black form a silhouette against the night. It was darker even than the darkness of the midnight sky around them, blacker than black.
"It's a kappa!!" Heihachi exclaimed, backing away from the thing along with the rest of the group. The monster, which had been sluggishly walking towards them, suddenly stopped and tilted its head to the side. Navi struggled to get out of Yunsung's grip, and succeeded, flying over to illuminate the monster. It had seaweed hanging from it, and the black stuff was hanging in front of its face. It said something in a strange, burbling language. Navi laughed confusedly.
"Link! You've got seaweed in your mouth. Take it out before you talk!" The monster turned its head to the side, and spit something dark out of its mouth. Then it coughed a few times, doubling over, then falling to its hands and knees, falling into a coughing fit. A splattering sound was heard as it coughed something up, and Navi flew over to its face and pulled the seaweed off of its head, revealing golden locks and a scrunched up face that was coughing up water. It was Link. Talim jogged over to Link, the rest of the group following close behind, and kneeled in front of him, putting a hand on his seaweed-covered shoulder. In a few moments he had gotten all the water out of his lungs, and he sat back on his haunches, catching his breath. He pulled seaweed off of his shoulders and arms, and then pulled it out from where it had gotten tangled in his belt. In a few minutes, he was completely seaweed free.
"Link, are you alright?" Talim asked him as he pulled off his hat, revealing long, golden hair tied back in a ponytail.
"Eh?" he asked, tilting his head to the side, looking confused. He held up a finger to tell her to wait a second, then he smacked the side of his head that was facing the sky. Some water fell out of his right ear, the one that was facing the ground, and then he repeated the process, tilting his head the other way. A second later, his head was upright again.
"Ok. Repeat the question now that I can actually hear you." he said, and she smiled a little.
"Are you ok?" she asked, and he nodded, wringing the water out of his now dark blue hat.
"Yes, I'm fine. But if there's one thing I hate about the Zora Tunic, it's that your lungs get filled with water." he said, setting his pack down on the sand. He opened it and withdrew a pair of boots, a green tunic, a green hat, and a cloak. Then he took his belt off and pulled his dark blue tunic off over his head. He quickly pulled the other tunic on and put his belt back on, then put the other hat on over his wet hair, the majority of it going into the hat so that only his bangs and some of the hair on the back of his neck was visible. Surprisingly, the tunic and hat were dry, and so were the other boots and the cloak. Link stood up, picking up his sopping wet, discarded tunic, and turned around. His feet sunk deep into the sand as he walked, and he seemed to have to make a great effort to lift his feet. He wrung out his sodden tunic and then turned back to his supplies. Sitting down on the sand, he pulled his boots off and put the other ones on, dumping the water out of the now discarded ones as he did so. He seemed to strain to just lift them, and when he set them down, they sunk into the sand as if a ton of bricks was sitting on top of each one. As Link put the dark blue tunic and hat in his pack, Talim bent and tried to lift the other boots to put them in Link's pack, trying to help him. However, she couldn't lift them for anything. When he noticed her straining to lift the boots, Link's brow creased in a frown.
"Talim! Stop trying to lift those before you hurt something!" he said, and she stopped. "I'll get them." He got up and bent down over the boots. He scooped his hands under them as much as he could, and tried to lift them. When he couldn't, he went back over to his pack. This time, he withdrew a pair of gauntlets. They had plates of silver running down the outsides of them, and Link slipped them on over the ones he was already wearing. Then he tried lifting the boots again. This time he lifted them easily and set them in his pack, earning curious and awed looks from the rest of the group. Then he removed the Silver Gauntlets and set them in the bag, too. Shouldering his small pack, he also buckled the Master Sword and his shield onto his back before turning to the others.
"We'd better get moving." he said, and they all nodded. "The man and woman who tried to attack us were the ones I told you about, the ones who were talking in the common room." He added hastily as they started walking. The others all nodded. Navi was perched on Link's shoulder, shedding light in his path, enough to light his feet so that he could see where he was going. Again he walked in the front of the group, listening for any signs of danger. Every once in a while he would cough, always stifling it so that almost no one heard, but the others could see the way the coughs harshly racked his body in the blue light shed by Navi. After a while, Talim walked up next to Link and looked up into his face. It was blank, but she could read in his eyes that he was in pain, though not much.
"Link?" she asked, and his eyes flicked to her once to show he was listening. However, he kept his eyes on the road ahead after that, determined to not trip and fall.
"Yeah? What's up?" he asked, his gaze scanning the ground and road ahead of him.
"Are you alright?" she asked, and he nodded.
"Yeah. I'm fine." he replied, and she nodded slightly.
"Yeah? Well, if you start not feeling well, tell someone." she said, and he nodded. Then Talim fell behind him again to talk with Sophitia and Xianghua.
"Yeah. Like you've ever told anyone when you're not feeling well." Navi muttered to him in Hylian. He shot her a stern look, but kept walking. Soon it started raining. Grumbling something about rain and people trying to kill him, Link pulled his cloak out of his pack and put it on, fastening it around his neck and pulling his hood up. Navi took shelter under his cloak, as well, sitting on his shoulder and pulling the fabric up over her head and clutching it tightly around herself, her wings folded behind her. Within a half an hour, the group was soaked to the bone. Link had long since lost all feeling in all his limbs, but he kept walking, keeping to himself. An hour after it started raining, Link found a cave a little ways from the road, and the group went to it, seeking shelter. However, they found it to already be inhabited by someone. The someone in question was curled up a short way into the cave, asleep and as soaked as they were. His brown hair was about shoulder-length, and he had a red coat that he was using as a blanket for his shivering form. However, even that didn't do much good, as the coat in question was soaked through, just like the man's brown pants and hair. Link was about to back out of the cave when the man suddenly woke up, sitting up and looking around, sharp-eyed. His hand came to a staff lying on the ground next to him, and he got into a stance as he instantly spotted Link. Link raised his hands in a peaceful manner, and spoke.
"We don't want to hurt you." he said, but the man still didn't lower his staff, eyes narrowing. Link took another step backwards, raising his hands into a defensive posture.
"My name's Link." he tried again. "Some friends and I came upon this cave, and we hope to find shelter from the storm here." He started to back away, but Xianghua suddenly pushed her way to the front of the group, looking around. Suddenly, her eyes grew wide as they fell on the man.
"Kilik?!" she shouted, and ran up to him, her hood falling back to reveal her face. He was equally stunned to see her.
"Xianghua?! It really is you!" he exclaimed as she ran up and hugged him around his bare midriff, much like someone would hug their brother. He returned her embrace, then turned his brown-eyed gaze back to the others.
"But who are these others?" he asked her as she let go of him. Her face turned grim.
"These are the warriors I've been traveling with." she explained. "Kilik, Soul Edge is back." His face turned grim as well, but he nodded.
"I know. I sensed its return." he said quietly. Then he remembered the others, and beckoned for them all to come inside. When they were all seated and out of the soaking rain, cloaks off (except for Link, who thought it better to leave his on, hood up, and Maxi, who just was too stubborn to take his off, hood and all), Xianghua started to explain to Kilik just what was going on. A while later, Kilik had learned all that the group knew, and was sitting in thoughtful silence, contemplating all the knowledge he now possessed.
"I see… Well, I was headed to Berlin anyway, so…" he murmured, and everyone nodded.
"Come with us." said Yunsung, looking almost defiantly at Kilik. Kilik looked back at the 18-year-old in the same way, and they stared at each other for a moment, as if challenging each other to a fight. After a moment, Kilik nodded, still not removing his eyes from Yunsung's in a challenging stare. Eventually, Link grew aggravated with the silent stalemate and stood up.
"Alright, then. It's settled." he said, causing the two of them to look up at the same time, breaking the contest. He walked to the cave's entrance and spoke, not looking back.
"We set out for Berlin in the morning. For now, get some sleep." he said. "I'll be back in a little while." He glanced back at the others and then walked out into the pitch black of the night, through the waterfall of pouring rain that was the entrance of the cave.