~Gilda POV~
The next morning came and went the same as yesterday. I spent the morning chatting Rusl about random topics about the world. The kids had all run off to bother Link about the slingshot Sera was selling today. Now that I think about the Slingshot, I decide to check my pockets. Yesterday I'd found roughly 60 rupees. Enough to buy the slingshot, but I had my own two hands. I didn't need a slingshot to yeet rocks at things. Although I'd bet Link has more money than that.
Speaking of Link, He's just come into the village. I watch him for a bit, seeing him stop to talk to some of the villagers. Eventually though, he comes to me. I stand up and jump off the roof to greet him on his level.
"Hey, Link. Enjoying the day off?" I greeted him. He smiles.
"Yeah. Sure, it's a little bit of work to help the villagers, but I enjoy helping them out." Link replied. I had to admit, it's a bit surreal to hear Link talk, despite already knowing he does.
"Yeah…" I had to shake those thoughts from my head. "Anyway, I suppose in line with that, I've got a question for you too."
Link raised an eyebrow. "What can I help you with?" I took a moment to figure out how to phrase the question.
"Hypothetically speaking, let's say one day you woke up living in a world made by a story you read. If that story is a tragedy, would you let things go on as if you weren't there? Or would you try your best to change the way things happen?" I asked. Link seemed to think on it for a minute.
"I'd do my best to create a better outcome." He answered. I sighed at that.
"Even knowing that when the tragedy happens, it helps the hero progress later down the line?" I asked. Link thought it over some more.
"... You know things, don't you?" He asked. I guess he wasn't completely oblivious. I sighed.
"I just wish I knew what to do about it. To save people sooner, or later? That's the question. I dunno… maybe if the story changes, something new will be added. Something that makes sure the hero gets where they need to be regardless." I proposed optimistically. Link smiled at me.
"Something like you?" He proposed. That got a laugh out of me.
"Maybe. Only one way to find out, I suppose. It all starts tomorrow, when Illia finds out Epona is injured… and King Bulbin raids Ordon village, kidnapping the kids." I told him, having decided to forsake secrecy. Link's eyes went wide upon that revelation.
"What?!" He was understandably alarmed. "You mean the gates won't hold the monsters back?"
I shake my head. "No. Worse still, Hyrule is currently under siege today. That sword you're meant to deliver will never make it to it's destination. They're going to lose. And the Light Spirits will have their light stolen." I told him. He stood there, thinking over the timeline.
"And there's nothing we can do to stop this?" He asked. I shrugged.
"Hardly. I'm not strong enough to take on King Bulblin. I doubt you are either, regardless if you have a sword or not when he raids. And I know you can't be everywhere at once. All in all, until you get your hands on the Master Sword, things are gonna be well and truly fucked."
Link sighs. "Please at least tell me that the world can still be saved? I need a silver lining here." I nod at him.
"The good news is that the kids are all going to escape captivity on their own. They may be just kids, but they're slippery little guys, I'll give them that. Moreover, Illia gets to be the one who saves the Zora Prince's life." I told him. He looks at me in a dazed state.
"So the kidnapping needs to happen then." He sighs, fist clenched. "Dammit. I wish it could happen some other way…" He takes a deep breath to calm his nerves.
"It only happens tomorrow. You've still got today to sort out. I'll go wait by your house now. There's another event today I want to be a part of." I told him. He seems to cool off after a moment.
"Alright. I'll be counting on you to guide me then. I can trust that you'll warn me of anything significant." He says. I nod as we both head our separate ways. I go to wait at his house, and he goes fishing. Along the way, I kick over a few rocks and snag some hidden rupees from under them.
When I near Link's house, I'm stopped as the kids themselves spot me and shout.
"Oh! It's Gilda!" The three of them run up to me suddenly, swarming me. I kinda laugh, enjoying their excitement. "Hey! Colin told us you beat Rusl in a spar without using a weapon!" The oldest child said. Beth, I think.
"You gotta show us! Come on, come on!" Talo demanded. I shrug.
"Sure, why not? Maybe I can teach you kids a few tricks. You're probably gonna need to know self defense with all the monsters roaming the woods." I told them. That got Talo and Beth to sober up. They nodded urgently, while Malo muttered something.
"At least somebody's thinking of our safety." Malo muttered. I smiled, heading up to the training dummy.
"So, you guys at least know how to punch, right?" I asked. Talo nods.
"Yeah, but it's kinda weak compared to a sword, right?" Talo asked. I shrugged.
"It can be. But martial arts isn't about power. Let me show you a trick that makes your punches stronger." I got into a basic combat pose, holding my dominant hand behind me and facing my body to the side. "So! Step one. You need to be in a position where you can step forward as you make your attack. You'll do more damage if you have momentum to deliver it with." I told them. Talo and Beth both started to get into similar, if exaggerated positions.
"Like this?" Beth asked. I nodded.
"Yeah. Something like that. Just make sure you can't get knocked off balance. And… strike!" I stepped forward, delivering a shattering blow to the dummy.
"Whoa!" The kids stared in awe at the power of the strike. "Hey, I thought you said it wasn't about power?"
"It's not. It's about accuracy." I told them. "The more accurately you strike, the more force you deliver. Try it. Aim for the target in the chest." I encouraged them. I had to stop Talo though. "Wait. Don't leave your thumb inside your fist. You could break your thumb doing that."
"Oh. Thanks." Talo said, correcting his thumb position. Then the two of them followed the same movements I took. Albeit without the twist I gave my strikes to deliver even more force. I smiled as their strikes made the dummy shudder.
"Congratulations. That kind of strike would make simple robbers and thieves think twice about taking from you. Now let's upgrade that to a Monster Slayer's punch!" I commented excitedly. The kids seemed to get really excited about that.
"Heck yeah! This is the best, Gilda! You really are amazing!" Talo cheered. "So? What's next, what's next?"
"Well, there's a bit of a trick I used when I punched. Watch my hand movements." I set up for another punch. I gestured to how my hand was held palm-up under my shoulder. "See how I'm holding myself? I've got my fist held back, ready to strike. But I've got it palm up. This is so I've got a starting point for a Spiral Strike."
"A Spiral Strike? How do you do one?" Talo asked. I heard Malo grumbling to the side.
"It's probably gonna involve like a spin or something." He said, stating the obvious.
"Malo's right. Watch this." With that, I struck again, but slower to give them a full view of my arm as it twisted, resulting in my fist connecting with the dummy's chest palm down. "If you rotate your fist as you punch, you can make your attack deal a lot more damage than a basic punch. And from here, you can combo into a whole bunch of other moves too." I reset, getting back into striking position. This time when I struck, I flowed into a combo. After the initial strike, I flowed forward, keeping my momentum as I rammed my knee into it's gut and then pushed away from it with a backflip kick using it's face as a springboard. When I landed, I spring forward with a roundhouse kick. That caused the Dummy to get knocked off it's post, forcing me to stop the combo.
I grinned as the kids were awestruck. "Whoa… martial arts is awesome!"
"Heck yeah. You can use your entire body as a weapon. Hands, feet, knees, elbow? If you have it, it can hurt something. But the most important part is flow. A lot of moves can flow into one another and create a combo. How about you guys give it a try? Don't do anything too fancy." I say. I look over as I notice Link walking in. A shame he missed an opportunity to watch me show my moves again, but oh well. Talo and Beth both seem to think over their combos, before getting into a pose. Beth seemed to get into a sort of Crane Style pose, which surprised me. Talo though just went apeshit, throwing a whole bunch of punches. At least Beth handled it with grace. Malo seemed completely unimpressed.
"HYAA! AW YEAH, NOW I'M PUMPED UP! Next time one of those naughty monkeys shows up, I'll show them what they're- Wha?!" Talo stopped his boasting as he and the kids all spotted a monkey with a bow tied to its head. I looked at it.
"If any of you-"
"GET IT!" Talo immediately took off after it, not giving me a chance to finish my stern threat. Link just stood there slack jawed as all three kids took off running. I just slowly brought a palm to my face. On a side note… when did Link get his wooden sword?
"Gods dammit, I thought I could change this at least… Alright. Let's chase after them. I'm sure Colin can let the folks in town know about this." I tell Link. Link nodded with a sigh before we started dashing down the Faron trail. We stopped to check on Beth just past the entrance.
"Oh, Link! Gilda! Thank goodness… I can't keep up with those two. Maybe if you catch up to them, you can talk some sense into them." Beth said. She seemed fine.
"If it's not us that does it, it'll be the monsters." I comment, before rushing forth. Link was hot on my heels. Malo was just at the bridge, standing there and staring across the bridge. Thankfully it wasn't him I was worried about. He may be the youngest, but he's got the most common sense of the group. I hurried past him into Faron Woods across the bridge.
"Oh, damnit. That's right, Rusl and I locked the gate after we brought you to the village. Give me a second." Link said when we stopped at a closed gate. He glanced around, before running over to and picking some horseshoe shaped grass. I stood by as he played his song. Within seconds, as if Epona simply spawned into the world upon hearing the song, Link's horse rode into the clearing. Link climbed into the saddle, and offered me a hand to climb on with him.
"Climb on. We can go faster this way." He offered. I climbed on, carefully seating myself behind him despite Epona trying to pitch a fit. To calm her down, I simply hummed Epona's song to calm her down. Link looked back at me once Epona calmed.
"So you know her song too? When this is over, I'd like to know how you learned it." He stated firmly. I simply nodded and he whooped Epona into gear. With that, Epona leaped the fence, and we rode past Faron's spring. However…
"Whoa!" Link shouted when Epona stopped in front of a cave. "Epona, come on. Now isn't the time-"
"Chill, Link. We'll have to go on foot anyway." I calmed him as I climbed off Epona. With little else to say, I headed towards Coro's place off on the side. Link sighed and got off as well, patting Epona as he left.
When Coro spotted me, he seemed a bit surprised. "Whoa, hey. An Ordonan and a… huh. Dunno where you come from with clothes like that, gal. Listen, I'm not sure you two should be wandering around the woods without a lantern. Just because it's daylight doesn't mean it's safe." He told us. Of course that got me a bit self conscious about my T-shirt and short shorts again.
"You have lanterns then?" Link asked when I didn't immediately respond. Coro nodded, reaching into a satchel.
"You betcha, guy. I keep a lot on hand to give to travelers who don't have them. Here, go ahead and take these." He said as he held out a pair of lanterns. I took mine, sort of awkwardly holding it while Link shoved his lantern into his Bag of Holding. Link glanced at me just kinda standing there with it and raised an eyebrow.
"Oh. Right. Remind me to get you a bag of holding when we get back to the village. I still have spares in my basement." Link remarked. With a short nod, I let him lead the way this time, just hooking the lantern to my belt. Coro called after us.
"Hey guy, I sell oil too! Come on back any time your lanterns are running low, ya hear?" He says. I turned around, giving him a brief thumbs up as I joined Link in the tunnel.
Link had stopped at the entrance for some reason. "Talo's sword…" Link muttered with fear. Not fear for himself… fear for Talo. I frowned.
"Yeah. This is what I was hoping to avoid. Let's go get him home safe." I told him. He nods, and we both hurry through the cave.
