Chapter 24: Crime-wave Central
Hunt for the Abducted Students Arc
Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda, this is just a Fanfiction.
Featured Music: "Ranked Amongst the World's Best" - The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass OST. Chapter Briefing.
"Twilight" - Final Fantasy X OST. Scene 1 (First Half).
"Sprouting" - Final Fantasy X OST. Scene 1 (Second Half).
"Balamb Garden" - Final Fantasy VIII OST. Scene 2 (First Half).
"Find Your Way" - Final Fantasy VIII OST. Scene 2 (Second Half).
"Crash Addiction" - Yakuza 0 OST. Scene 4 (First Half).
Having managed to save the city of Kaiohdrahl and its people from the sudden and abrupt invasion of Velkarez's 'Templars of the Weeping Stars', Link and his companions enjoy a fairly hospitable stay at Tiverpool Castle, comfortable in the knowledge of their rescue of the metropolis and its citizens.
Though not without incredible near-godlike effort at that.
As Impa's original group clash with Velkarez, leader to the Templars', they find themselves met with unsuccessful tidings in the form of his very power alone; something that Link later confirms even higher than Ganondorf or Majora's Mask themselves, all after he returns from the dead, having been sent by the Sorcerer of the Divine Divide. In his return he finds not only all of his own companions felled but his older rival Raynard; a shocking development that leaves only he to deal with the powerful contender for Kaiohdrahl.
Although the former Hero of Time fights with great courage and ferocity indeed it is not nearly enough. The two play with one another in the beginning, like tigers looking for an opening to kill, before at last Velkarez makes the offer; to drop their proverbial gloves and fight with all of their respective physical and magical energies. As the Sorcerer once informed him on, even with the power boost he entrusted him with, Link is unable to meet Velkarez's strength increase even half-way; a horrifying discovery that leaves not only he but the watching Zelda terrified for the fate of Kaiohdrahl and indeed, all of Aurelia itself.
It is only when all possible alternatives are explored and failed in that Link at last decides to heed the Sorcerer and the concerning words in which he advised him with.
"But... there is one last remaining card that you can still play... you give in to the power... of 'Akuma'."
Referred to in Historia scripts as a 'yōkai', Akuma is essentially a plague upon mankind and the earth itself; demon-like entities that prey upon settlements, travellers and the good of the world. It is said that 'Akuma' also bears a heavy resemblance to the Hero of Time himself; an eerie discovery Link and his old friend Tatl made when plunging through Rockvale Temple in Termina, referred to within their old scripts as; 'the Fierce Deity'. Although most of the Forgotten Ones that hailed from Rockvale and Ikana are gone and missing, some remain and they all point to some strange and ghoulish connection between Link himself and the legend-like existence of the 'Fierce Deity'.
It is a legend, however, that proves true when Link dons the Fierce Deity Mask; having procured it in his time-travelling three-day long trip through Termina, he utilises it as one last trump card in his struggle with Velkarez and is successful. With the untold powers of a fallen god, Link easily exorcises Velkarez's very soul itself with the 'Rikudo Osatsu'; a technique said to be linked to the holy Triforce, Kage Narumono and the Shinzui-et-Sanmiitai itself.
With Tiverpool Castle and Kaiohdrahl's people having been saved, Link and his companions decide to take the opportunity to further assist them in their recently-learned problem, having a lot of time to kill until the next national championship martial arts tournament; the odd disappearance and seeming kidnapping of the young students at 'Clearwater Institute'. They are joined by the young woman leading the intelligence division of Kaiohdrahl; knight commander Shanaari herself.
When travelling from Beechmere Bridge however, the heroes are soon assaulted and ambushed but merely by a single person and entity; an oddly familiar foe that the suspicious-eyed Link soon manages to recognise. In his journey through Termina and Ikana Canyon's well, he was ambushed there by a young woman similarly dressed to their new enemy; a black-cloaked figure, brandishing the razor-strong power of wind itself. During the engagement they soon discover that this mysterious young woman possesses her own powers; a strange fizzling-red kind of Aegir-like energy that, when struck or touched and infected with, essentially renders one paralysed.
Truly a horrifying concept indeed.
It is only when most of Link's companions are felled and paralysed with this same strange Aegir that he is assisted by his ebony-haired mercenary rival, Raynard himself. The pair fight valiantly together and at last discover a way to safely fight the mysterious night-clothed aggressor; by utilising their own Aegir, they coated their bodies and their limbs with a layer of Quintessence that essentially acted as an effective shield. Like magic being knocked against magic, Black Cloak's very passively-powered Aegir was met with failure however, even in this new knowledge, Link and Raynard still find themselves out-powered and up against a wall.
Unwilling to give in to the power of 'Akuma' a third time in his life, Kage Narumono himself instead opts this time to come to his Hylian host's rescue and awakens once again; the first time since his surface in the the Palashian national championships. The tables are turned very quickly; as Black Cloak now finds her offence and even defence crumbling in the face of Kage's new hellish power, the demonic will himself opts to finish the nameless young woman as mercilessly as he did her comrade in Ikana well.
One incredibly massive sphere of Aegir and magical energy, all drawn from the godlike power of the Shinzui.
It easily tears, rips, cleaves and sunders through the wayside of Beechmere Bridge, not five miles from Kaiohdrahl's capital itself; a surprising and frightening fact indeed. In spite of this, however, only Black Cloak herself is engulfed in the white-light of Kage's hellish technique; Raynard manages, in his own surprising manoeuvre, to save Link's companions as quickly as he can once he recognises the sight of the huge sphere of Quintessence.
Only the survivors are left to deal with the horrifying aftermath of an ambush handled awkwardly...
Scene 1
"Urgh..."
The sound of Black Cloak's mezzo-soprano echoed out into the great dark surrounding her; as her consciousness finally stirred, so too did her body. She re-opened her blurry-eyed vision only to find the far-off expanse of black and ebony around her, standing slowly to her knees and then her black-cloaked feet at last.
"W-Where...?"
"Grnnngh..."
The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end and she widened both green-shaded eyes in an abrupt display of horror and recognition. Her eyes darted to her far-left side toward the source of the deep-demonic baritone behind her, her senses soon escalating into concern and anxiety. She reached for the fizzling-red Aegir of her strange magic but, oddly, soon found herself unable to; the revelation of which left her even further anxious.
Like a scared animal, as she felt his presence step closer to her own, she swung her ebony-cloaked body 'round to face his and put up her clenched fists in an attempt to seem intimidating. Unfortunately for her, however, the watching form before her was none other than the last foe she remembered from ending her previous consciousness; Kage Narumono himself. The fiery-formed demonic will stared back at her, his vampire-like fangs hidden beneath his scowling-shut mouth.
"W-Where are we...?" She questioned him curiously, eyes darting 'round their surroundings suspiciously. "What have you done to me?"
This time Kage's scowl upturned into a smirk but only briefly. "Nothing I wouldn't already have done...," he began, chuckling malevolently. "Trust me."
Black Cloak glared back at him, green eyes narrowing into his own deep-crimson ones. Kage's silently-held scowl soon returned to him as he re-opened his mouth to continue.
"As you have already no doubt have guessed... you did not survive our encounter."
His words, so surprising to the spiky-haired young woman, could only make her gasp back in wide-eyed shock.
"I killed the last of you in Ikana...," he began again, face twitching in the inflection of his hate-driven sentence. "What did you call her again...?"
"E-Ellys..."
"Yes... 'Ellys'...," Kage spoke again, his fangs shining in the darkness as he repeated the young woman's word. "I'm fairly certain I knew of her inevitable goal in the end... but you..."
The listening Black Cloak glared back at him, a worried look in her eye.
"You hope to do the same thing, don't you...?" The demonic will chuckled, a malicious spirit in the words of which he spoke. "You'd think the Himitsu Shakai would have learned to have sent more than one operative this time...," he chortled again, shaking his fiery-haired head as he folded his muscular arms back at her surprisingly taller form. "But I suppose even those playing with the power of the greats are also subject to simple human error..."
"How... how did you do it last time?"
Kage rose up one of his flaming eyebrows in response, curious.
"How did you kill Ellys?!" The nameless operative exclaimed back this time, an angered look in her half-nervous eye. "She was stronger than anyone in our units! Let alone any of your ragtag gang of mercenaries!"
Kage's scowl soon upturned once again into a satisfied-looking smirk, fang shining a second time in the empty void they stood in.
"Do you really think your pathetic group of zealots can even begin to approach the power of the Shinzui...?"
His question, though simple in and of itself, drew a surprised gasp from the listening Black Cloak; she could only blink back at the demonic will, looking for some way to prove him wrong.
But it was impossible.
The results were all there, plain to see for anyone to deign; in great spite to the Himitsu Shakai's powerful operatives and the high information they worked with, they both still failed in the face of Kage's monstrous demonic-like power.
"It's... not fair..."
Kage's smirk dropped, this time in half-curiosity to match the fiery-shaded eyebrow that rose upward in response. Black Cloak's own frown soon contorted into an angry, frustrated scowl that twitched almost as if to convey her burning chagrin.
"They sent us to die..."
Tears formed in her emerald-coloured eyes, leaving the watching Kage to merely stare back in his mildly-interested lowly-held frown. Eventually, however, his satisfied-seeming smirk soon shone on the surface of his expression.
"Of course they did... haven't you realised that yet?" The seemingly knowledgeable aspect of chaos claimed, brow furrowing in his lightly-amused smirk. "You're no different from those pathetic Van Garricks of Hyrule... or the Rocknesse soldiers of Palashia; you're essentially all disposable cards to gain information with."
Finding no words with which to fire back Black Cloak could only grimace in retort, her frustrated scowl twitching away. Kage chuckled on wickedly.
"Shame you'll be meeting the same end she did...," he snickered on malignantly, stalking toward her as if to finish his long-intended job. Black Cloak's field-green eyes widened and she took slow steps backward to create valuable distance between them, suddenly deathly aware of her vulnerability. "Come... nameless woman of the Shakai...," the demonic will spoke lowly, his devilish baritone echoing out amongst the great void surrounding them. "Come join your friend."
"Sh! He's waking up..."
The blonde-haired youth groaned, grimacing in effort as he re-opened his oceanic-shaded eyes, wincing as the brightly-held noon-sun of Beechmere Bridge and the road he lay on near blind his eyes.
"Are you okay...?"
It was only when he felt the delicate touch of Zelda's fingers on his own that he recognised her voice; a soft and comforting soprano that, in strange spite to his precariously waking position, put him in a fairly calmed state. His vision at last began to settle and, as it did, her own deep-shaded blue eyes were the first thing he saw; although at first a similarly reassuring sight, the youth was suddenly fatally aware of the rest of his party staring at them.
Link's normally pink cheeks soon turned red and, as his eyes perhaps inevitably wandered 'round the group's own prying-eyed watch, they soon settled on her to cast her a simple-faced smile and nod.
"F-Fine...," he chuckled out nervously, nodding along as he stood sheepishly to his feet. The watching Vassia, annoyed, merely rolled her raven-shaded eyes as she watched, slim arms folded. "W-What happened, is everyone else all right or-?"
"Everyone else is a little banged up but mostly fine, yeah," Impa answered him, ever in her usual business-like tone and folded-armed frown. "How are you?"
"Better 'n I thought I'd be, to be honest," he chortled back well-naturedly, sheepishly rubbing the back of his green-hat head as he flashed his ever-exuberant smile back at the serious-faced Sheikah. "I'm glad we're all okay though."
"Surprisingly," a voice in the back scoffed out, drawing his surprised-eyed attention like a fox to food. "I didn't think even you'd pull out of that one."
It was only when some of the party members themselves stepped out of the voice's way that the wide-eyed Link got a good look at the firmly-frowning and folded-armed Raynard himself, standing in a leaning position.
"Ray!" Link called out, his surprised frown soon upturning into a happy grin. "Well... what can I say?" He bounced back, his smirk soon turning to a more confident one; an expression the group knew him fairly well for. The youth shrugged on in impertinent arrogance, all played up to the extreme for the comedic entertainment of his companions. "I guess I was just too strong for her!"
"Yeah, yeah...," the watching Barkner chuckled back, nodding his rocky-bodied head upward as he did in his amused grin, folded-armed as always. "We all heard! You didn't quite do it yourself didn't ya?"
His childish grin very quickly evaporated into a slow-gaining frown, oceanic eyes wandering away in defeat. "Yeah...," he murmured out. "I ain't proud of it, but... it seemed to be the only way to stop her," he claimed again, turning his oceanic-eyed gaze 'round as if in search. His brow furrowed in quick realisation when he couldn't seem to locate Black Cloak's fallen corpse. "Where...?"
"We're not sure," Impa answered him with, shaking her silver-shaded head as she did. "When we came to... we couldn't seem to find her either."
"When Kage hit her with that incredible projectile... almost everything around her went up in flames," Raynard added atop the Sheikah's speech, nodding his raven-haired head diagonally upward behind him.
Link swung his eyes 'round and, sure enough, the sight of sheer destruction on the road of Beechmere Bridge was so bad he couldn't help but wince and pull at the collar of his Kokiri tunic.
That is bad, he thought.
Thank the Sainted Three no-one was hurt.
"If I wasn't still able to move everyone around here in time... I think it'd have probably been much worse." The ever-scowling mercenary spoke up from the back, drawing surprised looks from one or two. Link shot his black-haired rival an appreciative grin and an upward nod of his own blonde-haired head.
"Guess we owe ya a drink or two then! Huh?" The ever-exuberant Barkner shot back as he leaned down to take the surprised youth in for a brief grapple, running his hard-bodied knuckled fist across the boy's spiky-haired head. Raynard let out a shocked gasp before abruptly struggling with the strong-willed Goron, drawing amused expressions and chuckles from the watching group.
"At any rate... this still doesn't change the fact that we got ambushed, nearly killed may I add, and gained almost nothing from it," Impa spoke up again, ever-frowning as she effectively broke up the humorous engagement. The group all regained their serious frowns and re-faced the Sheikah. "Is there anything you can tell us about this person Link?" She questioned curiously, fiery-red eyes narrowing as she did. "Anything at all?"
The listening Hero of Time held back a sigh, winced and nodded in response, unable to hide the rest of his information any longer. "Ah... well... she's the one from that weird organisation I mentioned before...," he began again, lightly rubbing the back of his green-hat head in sheepish nervousness before re-rising to face his mentor. "From Ikana Canyon."
"You've mentioned her before."
The quiet-toned soprano beside him made the youth blink briefly before turning only to find the frowning-faced Zelda at his side, drawing curious looks from the ever-listening Alwyn, Impa and Raynard. Vassia and Malon, however, both rolled their eyes as they looked for other things.
"U-Um... yeah...," the blonde answered, lowering his straw-haired head as he rubbed it again before soon re-rising it to face the group as a whole; an old habit. "When we went through Ikana Canyon's well... there was one of those things waitin' for us both; me and Tatl I mean." The youth reiterated, frowning on.
The listening Vassia's frown blanched and she made a face at him, as if somehow disgusted by what he said. "Who's Tatl?"
His frown deepened, but just a little as he swung it 'round on the young Palashian princess' face. "Guardian fairy at the time," Link answered, almost as quickly as the question had come. Although it did little to answer the poor unknowledgeable girl's query, she merely blinked and listened on. "She didn't really do the same stuff there as this one did, but..."
"Whoever they are... they're dangerous," Impa responded, swivelling her suspicious-eyed frown 'round on the scene of destruction behind her. "And if this isn't the first time they've come for you..."
"Then they'll be back," Raynard agreed, adding on to the Sheikah's words in a wizened folded-armed frown of his own. "It's only a matter of time."
"At least we know now what they're after," Alwyn offered in, a lighter shade of a frown as he rubbed at his small Zoran nose with his calloused right thumb, as if to scratch an itch. "It seemed strange that they'd just up and attack one random Hylian all across different countries and continents."
"B-But if they're after this Triangle thing then shouldn't we not be doing any of this?" Malon shot into the conversation with, blinking unsurely as she did. "I mean the risk only grows if we keep-"
"Come on baby."
The surprised farm girl blinked and turned her fiery-haired head 'round to the source of the overconfident tenor, only to find the ever-grinning Link stepping toward her. He placed one of his tanned slim arms to rest across her left shoulder, drawing a half-annoyed deadpan-like frown from her in response.
"Was that really a risk though?" The overconfident young Hylian asked, straw-haired eyebrow shooting up to match his display of gallantry. "For me?"
The listening Zelda, not far-off from their position, grew a small smirk that she hid behind a rather modest set of fingers whereas the watching Vassia merely rolled her eyes, thoroughly unamused.
"Yes!" She angrily shot back, firing him an annoyed turn of her scowl as she swung her slim arms into a folded-armed position. "You're going to end up killing yourself!"
"While she may be fairly inarticulate in expressing it...," Impa chuckled on, similarly entertained as the chortling Barkner and half-smirking Alwyn. "She is right Link," the youth's mentor continued on, her ever-hardened frown re-adorning her face. "I've always said you should be more careful."
Although the listening Hero of Time could only hold back his annoyed sigh in a light roll of his own azure-shaded eyes, he instead turned them away as he re-opened his mouth to reply. "Yes... Impa-sensei."
"There is one thing, however..."
The surprised-eyed youth blinked back at her unsurely, awaiting and curious as the Sheikah slowly turned her silver-shaded head 'round to narrow her fire-red eyes suspiciously at one of the group's only three Hylians.
"Why are you here?"
The listening and ever-stoic Raynard, similarly surprised by the addressing, could only rise up both raven-haired eyebrows in response before re-facing her in his own folded-armed state. "Me?" The young mercenary half-laughed back, his light smirk very quickly dropping from his face. "If it wasn't for me you'd all be-"
"Asking serious questions about the validity of your presence here... Raynard was it?"
The sound of Shanaari's interruption, eyes likewise narrowed in a round of doubt as she stood next to her Sheikah comrade.
"Come on guys...," Link laughed into the conversation with, grinning on as he cast the group a head-tilting shrug. "He is right... I wouldn't have been able to fight that chick without his help."
Impa turned briefly to exchange her unsure frown with the ever-grinning Link before swivelling back to re-face the young Van Garrick.
"I'm here on a contract... if you must know," he answered at last, frowning firmly in her direction. "Family's lookin' for one of their missing kids and had this job posted for a while. Decent amount of rupees in it for me."
His response, though expectant enough, left the rest of the listening group fairly satisfied.
"In any case... we apologise," the Sheikah continued on, directing her words this time toward the similarly business-like and professionally-faced Shanaari. "What's our next course of action?"
"Well...," the Kaiohdrahlian knight began, lightly smiling as she turned to view the group around her as a whole. "I suppose we press on to Clearwater Institute."
–
2
When they had at last crossed the distance, and ambushed no longer at that, the party of heroes finally got a good look at the Clearwater Institute itself both from the outside and in. A large building, and with many additions on both sides, the institute was intimidating in size and mass alone to say the least. In travelling through the huge main gate and its spacious open ground, the group got many a look from the whispering students all dressed up within their expected uniforms.
"This place is huge...!" Link called out quietly, eyes widened as he stepped into the large building's foyer; a likewise massive hall that seemed to cover all ways of directions.
In the centre of the large foyer was a similarly tall staircase embossed with golden-shaded railings that forked into two additional staircases, both east and west to what seemed to be the first floor of this particular building. Sitting on the huge staircase's right were two smaller staircases that seemed to descend downward into what appeared to be a basement of sorts, both symmetrically well-designed in line with the rest of the large lobby. Resting ahead even further past the initial main staircase and the presumed basement entrances were two frontal areas that seemed to led further on through the building, blocked by what appeared to be hardwood fence-like structures ostensibly designed to prevent unauthorised access.
Link had to crane his neck to the right and squint his oceanic eyes down the far-off building's openly-designed hallway to get an idea for how long it went, but it seemed to stretch on forever; a sentiment that surprised the watching youth even further.
"Ahhh! Good morning!"
A woman's voice, firm yet fairly lenient, made the group of adventurers swing all their heads simultaneously skyward, only to find the source of it descending down from the first floor above them; a woman smiled down at them all as she stepped on through the beautiful rug-carpet beneath her, being careful not to bump into any passing small students and the odd member of staff that walked by her way. As she eventually reached halfway and at the top of the main staircase itself, the watching group at last got a good look at her; she was slender and wore a similar-looking uniform to the rest of the students with more details, presumably as if to insinuate her high-ranking as a staff member. Her hair, a dark-auburn, was wrapped up fairly neatly tied up at the back as if to avoid getting in the way. Two long fringes sat comfortably on both ends of her shoulders, lengthy and thick to match the small and reserved pair of glasses that framed her likewise modest frame.
"Princess Zelda of Aurelia's capital!" The unnamed woman began, smiling on as she took her right hand off the golden railing of the staircase she stepped off, placing it down to rest with her left arm, hands softly grasping each uniformed elbow as she did. "What a pleasant surprise... and I see you've brought an entourage with you. Finally decided to stay for the semester? We may just be able to squeeze you in..."
The similarly-smiling Hylian princess bowed forward respectfully, bright-blue eyes shut before re-opening as she re-rose to face the older, taller woman. "Not quite...," the well-mannered princess laughed nervously, smiling apologetically as she joined her small hands together at her centre form. "We're here to help your country's recent issues in missing persons."
"Ah!" The nameless woman called out a second time, this time in eyebrow-risen surprise, a frown re-forming on her face before swiftly changing back to a smile. "Surely! The suspected kidnappings..."
"We should probably discuss this outside of student earshot," Impa spoke up from the right, briefly scanning her ruby-red eyed gaze across the multiple young pupils walking by and talking together, occasionally stealing glances in the group's direction. "I wouldn't want to reveal anything... too offensive or sensitive out in the open."
"Yes, yes, I apologise," the woman chuckled, shaking her auburn-haired head as she smiled on apologetically. "Come! This way."
"Sorry about the mess..."
When the group followed the seemingly important woman directly back to what seemed to be her quarters; a rather spacious office with two long sofas on both ends, presumably for visitors. As Link turned his oceanic-eyed gaze around the vast room he couldn't help but tilt his head in response to the woman's words.
There is no mess, he thought to himself.
Sure enough, the area felt rather well-kept and tidy enough; a simple but lavish desk rest in the centre, sitting atop a beautiful royal-blue carpet laying beneath them all. Atop the hardwood desk appeared to be papers of all kinds; perhaps for the school itself, related to either business or otherwise.
"Now...," the woman smiled on through a light sigh as she stepped 'round the desk to extend one of her slim hands toward the ever-frowning and folded-armed Impa. "Welcome to Clearwater Institute. Audra Hepburn, headmistress and current chairperson of the Aurelian school-board," she introduced herself with, turning her auburn-haired head to eye each watching member of the adventurers. "And you are...?"
In introducing themselves, fairly effectively and efficiently at that, the standing heroes all chose to head on over to each sofa to rest their tired feet, leaving only their group's leader Impa, Alwyn and Raynard to stand conversing with the self-stated headmistress. Hardly interested in the politics of the conversation, Link opted to go sitting by himself on the lavish couch resting beside him, cobalt-blue eyes briefly wandering around the spacious room to match the light jog his small legs gave off as they hung off the edge of the seat.
It was only when he felt the smiling Zelda approach him that he indistinctly tensed up, an odd feeling of butterflies hanging uncomfortably in his lower stomach. He held back a half-annoyed growl and his frown twitched to convey his annoyance. Unable to display it directly he felt like back-handing himself.
What's wrong with me, he thought.
Zelda's an old friend; I shouldn't be feeling like this around her.
"Ever since that night in Palashia we spent together it's been like this..."
"This seat taken?"
Her sudden, yet somehow soft response to his privately-held ruminations, made him widen his own sky-blue eyed surprise to face her; he held back a blink before chuckling and shaking his blonde-haired head as he gestured next to him with his free right hand, wandering his eyes away from hers as he did. He tried not to flinch as she, expectantly gracefully, swept by him and placed herself softly on his right. She turned and, hands delicately arranged in her lap, cast her likewise smooth smile in his direction.
"Do you like the place?"
He attempted, with surprising difficulty, to push down the odd feelings buzzing in his chest before regaining one of his curious-faced frowns as he swung it on her, straw-haired eyebrow risen up as he did.
"The Institute?" He asked her curiously, almost as if for clarification. She nodded, still within a well-held smile.
What's her game, he wondered.
"Um... I guess...," he murmured out, turning his head forward to watch the annoyed-expressed Vassia seemingly arguing with the laughing Barkner far across from them, the grinning-faced Malon giggling away at them both. "Place is huge but it's basically a school, right?" He batted back this time, a query of his own.
She smiled on as she nodded a second time.
His brow furrowed inquisitively, tilting his head a little as he narrowed his sea-blue eyes back into hers. "Wait a minute...," he murmured out thoughtfully. "Weren't you... weren't you supposed to go to one of these?"
"That's correct," Zelda at last chuckled back, her smile widening a little, as if satisfied he had broached the very subject she was prodding him to. "I was slated to start a semester here this year, actually."
"R-Really?" He responded, single eyebrow risen up in surprise. He turned briefly in his disillusion to steal a quick glance in the others' direction, almost as if to be certain that they weren't being watched somehow before eventually re-facing the Hylian princess on his side. "So why the hell aren't ya studying here?" The youth further pressed, single eye narrowing in light and doubtful scrutiny. "Aren't we just stealin' ya away from your duties?"
Zelda's smile, ever carrying her on in her endeavours, carried her further as she re-rose it to face him. "I think... that I'd much rather be here."
Almost as quickly as she finished her sentence did he feel her velvety fingers entwine with his own just casually strewn on the sofa on his right; the sitting Link couldn't help but dart his oceanic eyes in his companions' directions, hoping with great fervour that they were just simply too engrossed in their conversations to notice the red tinge his cheeks took. It was only when he carefully and gradually rose back up his head to face hers that he near double-took in doing so. She passed him over with another of her smiles, this one different somehow; although she was always naturally cordial with him, this particular look in her eye reminded him fairly distantly of their time together in the time he came from.
Strange, he thought, his own frown softening up into an odd mixture of melancholy and puzzlement.
"She has this weird way of lookin' through me like that..."
He chose not to draw any potential attention his way as he lowered his embarrassed-eyed gaze from hers, a kind of zig-zag-like frown drawn about his red-cheeked face. Her own smile, a far more resilient one, stayed ever bold and plastered across her porcelain expression as she turned her own blonde-haired head downward, as if to join him in his movement.
Link opted not to pull his fingers from hers, even when she rubbed them ever so softly within his own.
–
3
"Thank you again for this, truly," Audra smiled on, auburn-haired head tilted a little as she joined her hands softly at her centre, marching on through one of the school's many hallways. "Our students' test scores have all been suffering as a result of the stress inflicted on them thanks to these kidnappings; it's been horrible for them."
"I can imagine," Impa responded, her own armoured arms folded as she followed alongside the walking headmistress on her right, the odd couple of students passing them by as they did. "Well... we can't promise we'll be able to help with those... but we'll certainly find whoever's doing this to your students," the Sheikah stated confidently, nodding along as she briefly turned her silver-haired head to eye the similar-faced Audra on her right. "We promise you that."
"I appreciate it... well, we all certainly appreciate it," Audra chuckled on gratefully. "As always, all of our institute's records are all at full disposal to you. We offer full transparency; good luck in your search." The woman smiled on as she lightly bowed forward respectfully, as if to dismiss herself from the Sheikah. Impa's business-like frown ever carried her as she nodded in response, turning briefly to watch the headmistress march on further down the hall, as if to reach one of the institute's many staircases.
The likewise-expressed Link stood behind her, eyes half-closed and bored as he rested his slim and small arms across the back of his green-hat head, joined as ever by the lightly-smiling form of princess Zelda on his right, her own hands joined at her centre. The former Kokiri found his oceanic eyes wandering around the hallway they all resided in, briefly eyeing each student that similarly stared back at him, as if they were curious on his conspicuous clothing.
"I can't believe you passed this place up," the youth spoke aloud his lightly-voiced thoughts, craning his neck to see inside of one of the many open-door classrooms. "I sure wouldn't."
Although the smiling-faced Zelda made ready to open up her mouth to respond, one in the group behind her got to it first.
"As if you'd fare any decently at one of these prestigious schools!" The laughing Vassia called out behind him, eliciting a half-annoyed turn of his eyes as he swung 'round to eye her curiously. The Palashian princess turned her violet-shaded curly-haired head backward as she placed her slim hand across her open-mouth, laughing on as she did. "Oh ho-ho-ho!"
"In academics maybe."
His answer, surprising the listening Vassia, could only make her stop mid-laugh only to blink in curiosity when she clocked the similarly quiet Barkner smirking on her right. Alwyn behind them, arms folded joined Malon and Raynard on his own right as he shook his head, eyes shut, seemingly expecting and knowing what was coming.
"And what does that mean?" The young girl demanded, brow furrowing inquisitively. The watching Link, his blonde-haired head swung 'round his shoulder to face her, upturned his initial-faced frown into a satisfied-seeming smirk before he re-opened it to voice his thoughts.
"It means raisin' hell here with you prim and proper types'd be fairly easy."
Barkner at last let loose with his uproarious laughter, drawing in the watching Zelda to hold back a titter of her own, small fingers risen upward to rest on her closed and smiling mouth.
"All right... that's enough," Impa's ever watchful contralto cut into the jolly atmosphere like the marching boots of imperial soldiers through the cobblestone streets of a light-hearted city. "The less in-fighting we do while inside these walls, the better," the Sheikah admitted, eyes briefly wandering to glance around each passing student that whispered as they swept on by. "I'd rather we have little negativity to report to king Daphnes, after all."
"Don't worry Impa," Malon spoke up, stepping forward from the back of the group in a light-faced grin as she ringed her surprisingly-strong arm 'round the surprised Link's neck, pulling him closer as if to man-handle him. "I'll make sure he don't cause any raucous."
"Agh! Let go of me!"
The watching Sheikah rolled her eyes, softening her limp-eyed frown as the surrounding group members let out their own respective displays in humour, laughs and smiles all-round.
"In any case...," Impa spoke up a second time, her contralto raised a shade as if to disperse the children's hi-jinks. "I think our best course of action here is diplomacy; the only way we'll find the culprit to these kidnappings is through interviewing the students themselves."
"Awww...," Link moaned from within the head-hold that the blinking-faced Malon had him in. As he grunted and pulled her slim but calloused hands and arms off him, he eventually swung his half-annoyed look up on his mentor to voice his dissatisfaction. "I hate theory work!"
"Think of it this way!" Malon began, resting her hands under her crossed arms' elbows, turning her fire-haired head to face him in her own light smile. "Zelda and I can help you with it! It'll be like study group."
The listening Zelda held back an amused titter on his right as the former Hero of Time frowned back. Oceanic eyes half-shut, as if bored, he rose up one of his pinkie fingers to absent-mindedly dig through one of his small and pointed ears; an unfortunately bad habit he made certain not to do around Saria.
"Yeah I'll bet," he shot back sarcastically, drawing a half-annoyed huff from the listening young Hylian. "I'd honestly much rather fight the students... but they don't look like much." The brash youth admitted, peeking into another of the many open-door classrooms.
Sure enough, as Zelda next to him peered in with him, she confirmed his suspicions in the young boys' and girls' small and seemingly bookish constitutions. The listening Raynard, behind them all however, couldn't help but let loose with a noisy and amused-sounding snort of entertainment, drawing similar small laughs from Barkner ahead of him.
Impa, annoyed for the last time, turned her fire-eyed gaze on the half-smirking Raynard before re-opening her mouth to speak to him. "Find that funny do you?" She spoke so quietly and quickly that the listening Hylian youth had to blink out of his amusement, double-taking upward as he did. It was Impa's turn to smirk; a fairly reserved one at that, that left the watching Raynard's blood curdling. "Then I have the perfect job for you."
"Next..."
Link hung back against one of the classroom's many oak chairs he sat on, hanging the chair's only remaining two back-legs against the ground, the other two resting skyward as he teetered in dangling his form with the chair he sat on. He rested his slim arms horizontally out across, palms opened as he likewise balanced an average-sized pencil across his nose. The sitting Raynard ahead of him turned his black-haired head over his shoulder as he awaited the next student to walk in, brow furrowing in scepticism before he opened up his mouth to voice it.
"You're gonna fall."
His statement, clean and simple, followed the confident tone with which he spoke it as he turned his raven-haired head back 'round to the front to face the smiling-faced student walking in; a young girl wearing the same uniform as most of the institute's.
"As if." The insulted Link huffed back, cerulean-shaded eyes very briefly wandering in his direction before re-focusing on his form. His figure teetered for a second or two before, eventually, Raynard was proven right as the wide-eyed young Hylian blonde found himself collapsing from inevitable wavering hold on the ground.
CRASH
As half-expected, when the grunting youth fell to the floor in a pained groaning heap, the surprised-eyed student found herself turning her brown-haired head in light alarm. Raynard, as opposed however, swung his head 'round in a narrow-eyed glare as if they had been ambushed before eventually rolling his chestnut-brown eyes in annoyance.
"Sorry." The professional youth apologised to the nameless student in a tenor-voiced sigh.
When the groaning Link double-took in their directions, finding them both staring at him, he soon dropped his annoyed-faced frown and replaced it with a light grin. Rather roguishly, and shamelessly at that, he made a flirting-expressed kiss at the air as he rose up his straw-haired head at her in response. She held back a laughing giggle; a small hand risen up to rest on her mouth as if to hide it respectfully. Raynard instead opted to hold back a groan in contrary the entertained young girl, rolling his eyes a second time as he did.
"Idiot..."
His mutter, generally only heard by himself thankfully, carried him on as he finished up the interview with one of the last remaining students of the day; a long and tedious exercise designed by the more academic members of their group in order to distinguish a potential spy within the ranks of the institute. Unfortunately for the more combat-inclined members of the group, however, an exercise in near-futility.
"Urrrgh!" The tired and frustrated Link called out loudly, directing his tenor to the well-designed ceiling of the guest classroom they resided in, his brow furrowed in a mixture of annoyance and restlessness, resting all splayed out across the hardwood floor of the lightened up classroom. "How do these guys do this all day?"
"Don't ask me...," Raynard muttered over his shoulder, a light-faced frown on his similarly bored and limp-eyed expression. He very neatly set the papers he had been using to take notes and filed them carefully, knocking them together tidily and cleanly before placing them back down on the desk he sat at on his right. "I never grew up in schools."
Link rose up his blonde-haired head in genuine curiosity, a humorous look about the rest of his body as he did. "Not even in Hyrule?"
His raven-haired rival ran his own head horizontally, as if to confirm his earlier claims. "No," he answered, his tenor firm and uncaring. "When my family were killed school wasn't exactly a top priority of the royal family."
The listening Kokiri-clothed youth frowned back similarly and, this time, found himself propping his small form up via his hands, intrigued by the conversation's turn and the boy's clearly resentful tone. One of Link's cobalt-blue eyes narrowed, digging into his memories of his friendship with him in the time he was from.
Thing is I don't remember much, he thought sadly, frown twitching as he lowered his eyes.
He never ever talked about his past, especially not to me or Sheik.
Maybe I can change that in this time.
That sentiment and thought carried him on; his eyebrow rose up as he tilted his head and popped a light grin.
"Shame I never met ya around Castletown," he began again, drawing a half-curious turn of the cloaked Raynard's head. "I could have gotten you in the orphanage's school in-"
"Mrs. Thomas' orphanage?"
Interrupted by the surprisingly knowledgeable youth, Link could only blink back in response.
"U-Um... yeah...," he chuckled nervously. "How'd you-?"
"I was denied entry there one day."
This time the listening Hero of Time found himself gasping out in genuine shock, unable to voice a response to such a shocking statement.
Surely he's not lying, he thought.
But then why would he? What would he even stand to gain from it?
The back of Raynard's head shook as he re-opened his mouth to elaborate. "I can't quite remember how many years ago it was but I was fairly young and still homeless," he admitted. "I was cold, scared, hungry...," he continued on, his frown twitching up into what seemed to be an annoyed scowl, head tilting a little as he spoke as if recounting a simple anecdote from memory. "Since then I've lived by myself."
Link's shocked face took a quick turn into a softened sad one and he re-opened his own mouth to respond. "Ray I'm... I'm sorry, I-"
Raynard's response was quick and biting; he flung his spiky-haired head 'round to eye his blonde rival, chestnut eyes narrowing as he did. "Don't," he warned, surprising the younger Hylian. "I get enough looks of pity and pathetic platitudes from people that don't know me," the mercenary muttered out, re-softening his own facial expression as he turned back to face the front, eyes watching the hardwood desk he sat at. "At least with you I trust what you say is what you really think."
Link couldn't help but sigh through his nose lightly, his frown taking on a kind of exasperated yet half-entertained quality to it. "You ain't wrong there." He merely shot back in a casual-faced grin, leaning his body back to rest on the floor again. The youth placed his slim arms to rest behind his green-hat head, an odd new kind of flavour in the air that replaced the bored and disinteresting taste that the room had taken.
"So I'm the last one then... am I?"
Raynard looked up from his ruminations and similarly rose up his eyebrows in curiosity only to find another of the institute's many students waiting for him. He was a scruffy-looking sort, his uniform far more out of place than his other classmates; the boy's dark-blue shirt lay hanging out of his trousers, his light-green tie hanging on his similarly unbuttoned collar rather lazily. The blazer he wore at least fit him rather well; a fair contrast to the rough and tattered look he carried, marred further by his low posture and the uncaring look in his red-eyed irises. Spikes of his similarly-coloured black-shaded hair came tumbling down his fringe, the rest standing on end as if it were sheerly electrocuted somehow; a shocking display at that, that left the watching Raynard curious. The nameless schoolboy wore his slim arms deep and indifferently into the holes of his trouser's pockets as he stared back down at the sitting mercenary, blowing up what seemed to be a bubble of pink-shaded chewing gum.
"I'm back!"
Link rose up his own head from his own lazed position, straw-haired eyebrow rising skyward as he cast a look toward the open door, joined by their new interviewee and the frowning-faced Raynard's looks. The half-smirking Vassia stood in the doorway and, as she peered in, her own posture soon straightened up and she blinked in curiosity as she viewed the new changes. Link rolled his eyes and replaced his arms to rest behind his head, lowering his top half to lay back down again as Raynard similarly gestured toward the seat before him for his interview candidate to sit down.
"You're still not finished?" The ever-impatient Palashian princess sighed, rolling her own raven-shaded eyes as she placed her slim hands to rest across her hips when she wandered back into the classroom. "You've been at it all day."
While the listening Raynard's chestnut eyes briefly wandered in the young girl's direction, he quickly turned his attention back to the papers he had so recently filed on his right, pulling them toward him and bringing up the pencil he had been utilising earlier for notes.
"You realise this place has nearly a million in students alone?" The lazily-laying Link left laboriously with her as he shortly lowered his eyes in her direction before re-facing the ceiling high above him. "If anythin' we're gettin' through this quicker 'n we should."
"According to you perhaps!" Vassia batted back, ever the coarse and impolite one; her overconfident smirk carried her on even as she swept by the talking Raynard and his last interview candidate, making her way toward the laying Link. "But in this particular instance, our Palashian staff could have gotten this done in half the time!" The disrespectful girl smirked on as she stood over the frowning form of her friend, placing her small hands upon her likewise modest-sized hips.
The listening Link used his Aegir to pull down a small pencil from one of the nearby desks and, like magic, it floated down to meet him; when it eventually reached his face the youth let it balance on his small nose, rubber top first. His oceanic eyes narrowed down the instrument, as if he were concentrating fully and completely.
"Whatever." He merely shot back in response, simply opting to dismiss the rude girl's claims in a likewise boorish and insulting manner. As expected Vassia did not take well to it; in a turn of her porcelain-complexion face she lost her smirk to an annoyed frown and furrowed her brow down at the blonde boy.
"Don't you want more time to be able to do things together?" She pressed him with, tilting her violet-curled head at him curiously. "We still haven't gone on a social engagement yet!"
"What the hell is a social engagement?" Link muttered back half-interestedly, eyes briefly wandering in her direction before returning to the ceiling and his exercise in Aegir-control.
This time Vassia's smirk returned to her and she rolled her raven-shaded eyes. "Why a date of course."
The young Hylian found his cheeks turning red in surprise and he resisted the urge to groan.
Where's Zel or Saria when you need 'em, he thought.
Even Tatl would be able to scare this chick away.
"Wonder how she's doin' with Tael and Skull Kid..."
As he finished his curiously-driven rumination, he sighed through his nose and re-opened his mouth to respond to her and rather dismissively at that.
"Forget it."
"Why?!" She shot back angrily, her smirk very quickly morphing back into an annoyed scowl.
Link rolled his eyes. "Because I already told ya I ain't marryin' ya," he spoke irritatedly and informally. "Quicker you get that through yer thick skull the quicker we can actually start enjoyin' each other's company."
A few seconds of silence soon descended upon and the pair and, as it did, Vassia found herself turning her newly frowning-faced head 'round to eyeball the only other two people in the room; Raynard and his as-of-yet-to-be-named interviewee behind her. In the distance that they both sat at, a few steps away, she was fairly confident she could get away with speaking lowly enough that they wouldn't be able to hear her. And even then they were talking with one another anyhow, she thought; the sound of Raynard's tenor mixed with the young scruffy boy's voice filled the room, like a dull echo, comforting and lightening.
Vassia regained the confidence she was so well-known for and, her smirk returning to her, swung her expression on the uninterested-expressed Link below her. She squat down on his level and cupped her left hand 'round her mouth as she leant into his small and pointed right ear, carefully and boldly running her right index finger across the torso of his ragged green Kokiri tunic.
"If you don't go with me I'll tell everyone you kissed me."
Link's disinterested oceanic-eyed gaze widened silently, the pencil he carried in the air via use of his Aegir very quickly dropping across his face and clattering to the floor.
A very telling event at that.
He answered the Palashian princess' query by unfolding his hands behind his head and using one to grab the pencil resting on his right. Placing it on the hardwood floor next to him he rose up a straw-haired eyebrow at the ever well-dressed young girl before furrowing his own brow at her thoughtfully.
"What'd you have in mind?" He ventured to ask, propping himself up on his hands a second time, eyebrow risen in her direction.
Still squat down at his level she smirked back in success, raising up her right index finger to sit softly across her closed mouth, held skyward by the horizontally-placed left arm under its right elbow. "Well... there are supposed to be some lovely exotic restaurants here in Kaiohdrahl... I've only been here once before and I've never had the pleasure of trying any. You could treat me to some seafood!"
The former Kokiri's face fell in response, a tired-eyed frown adorning his young expression. "You're the princess and I'm payin'?" He complained, annoyed and miffed at her boldness. She rolled her eyes back down at him.
"Don't whine; it's unbecoming of a handsome man," she shot back rudely, her smirk ever plastered on her face. One of Link's cerulean-toned eyes narrowed back at her as she continued. "And of course! It's tradition for the man to pay. Don't you want to be the man?"
"Of this relationship?"
His sudden fire back to her question, so rude and witty, made even the talking Raynard and his interview candidate turn their heads in curiosity. Link shrugged his shoulders aloofly, turning his frown forward as he did.
"Meh."
Finding some form amusement in the exchange, Raynard snorted in response before turning back to re-open his mouth and continue the interview. The listening Vassia, angered again, turned her initially surprised frown into an annoyed scowl before leaning down to his right ear again.
"I'll make you regret saying that."
CRACK
"Ow!"
He winced, pulling back his right leg from the sudden and abrupt kick she gave it as she turned to walk off, presumably to simmer her rage. As the blonde inevitably nursed the area she kicked him with, he couldn't help but grow a small smirk of satisfaction in the end of the engagement; although he had been essentially press-ganged into a date, he at least made her work for it.
An injury too, however small, was also some form of success he felt; a sign of his ever-constant defiance.
"H-Hey, come on now... I-I was kidding..."
Link pulled his eyes over to the pair of boys sitting on the desk a few steps ahead of him, eyebrow risen upward in curiosity.
"Is that so...?" Raynard murmured back, his own tree-brown eyes narrowing back at the scruffily-dressed schoolboy. "Didn't you say you got a lucky invite through this school? And yet now you're telling me you always had a place."
"W-Well yeah!" The nameless boy managed back, a sweat-drop of noticeable nervousness dropping from his forehead. "I mean... I thought I got lucky... but my family gave me a place here!"
Link's brow furrowed as he listened to the pair. Although he wanted to give the boy the benefit of the doubt, especially given the fact there was almost no way feasible that they could have been able to verify his claims, there was definitely something in the air; something that made him doubt and he was almost certain Raynard could sense it too. He watched on, tilting his blonde-haired head as he did.
"Really...?"
"Really!"
A few seconds of silence fell upon the group of children; Raynard's hardened and firm glare, so cautious and confrontational, made the sitting boy wince and wander his eyes from his interviewer.
"What were your parents' names again, Kale was it?"
Link's eyebrows both shot up almost as quickly as the newly-named Kale's did; the youth unfortunately hadn't been listening to the conversation since Vassia opted to pressure him and, for him, this was as new as it was for anyone else listening in.
"U-Um-"
"He already said his parents' names."
The boys all swung their heads 'round, surprised to find the soprano belonging to the smirking-faced Vassia leaning against the classroom wall on the right watching them. "That's correct," Raynard answered the surprisingly-wise Palashian princess' words with his own; a firm tone hanging around his tenor as he glowered back suspiciously at the nervous-eyed Kale. "He did."
"A-Ah... M-Mark and... and Lisa-"
SHHHING
The sound of Raynard's steel halberd sung out noisily as it came brandishing out and rather quickly at that; a sudden and abrupt manoeuvre that made the watching Link sit up fully from his lazily-laying place earlier. Kale leaned back in his chair, left eye twitching as if in some form of frustration to match the small drops of sweat that fell from his brow.
"Daniel and Evelyn were the names you gave me when you walked in that door," the knowledgeable mercenary shot back, shaking his spiky-haired head as if in disappointment. "Are you even trying anymore...?"
"Damn..."
The hissing curse that escaped the scruffy boy's lips carried with him as he suddenly jerked back in his chair, the legs scraping loudly against the hardwood floor beneath them all; a bold war drum to go with ongoing nature of confrontation hanging strongly in the air. This time the worried-faced frown that formed on Kale's face switched to a low-faced smirk, lowering his head as he narrowed his red-shaded eyes back at the watching Raynard.
"How careless of me... I thought you three were complete idiots...," the rude-toned boy grinned on, taking careful and nervous steps back as if to create space between them all. He slowly drew his gaze 'round each watching operative in the room, from the folded-armed Vassia against the wall on his left, the glaring Raynard ahead of him and the surprised-eyed Link behind the black-haired mercenary. "The Himitsu need more intel on your group before they send us out here like this..."
Link's eyes widened in realisation; something that the watching Raynard and Vassia had already managed to piece together by now. He stood to his feet and his senses all tensed up, readying himself for combat.
"Well...," Vassia began in a light-faced smirk, pulling herself off the wall she leant on to dust herself off before re-raising her violet-haired head. "I suppose we found our rat...," she claimed, tilting her head lightly as she briefly eyed the surprised Link and the glaring Raynard before eventually focusing and narrowing on the worried-looking Kale. "Didn't we?"
–
4
FRRRRRRRRRRR...
The sound, and sudden appearance of a huge wall of flame surrounding Kale's form, erupted up around him to effectively fill the room up in a powerful glow of fire. As opposed to the nervous and uneasy look about him, Kale now carried a far more resolute and calm quality through his eyes; his posture was held high and straight, only his smirking-faced head held lowly as he placed his slim arms deep into the pockets of his his black-shaded slacks.
Although Link far-off from the group ahead of him rose up his own arms in defence as if to block the surrounding flames, the glaring Raynard merely stood in a similarly calm-looking glower as he placed his own hands in his pockets, his spiky-haired head held likewise lowly as it blew about roughly in the unnatural wind that kicked around them. Vassia similarly stood in her earlier folded-armed stare, raven eyes narrowed darkly and her posture unchanging even in great spite to the surrounding wall of flames that dangerously engulfed the classroom.
"You two are harder nuts to crack than the Himitsu gave you credit for," Kale spoke up again, briefly eyeing the glaring forms of Vassia and Raynard. "I genuinely thought you two would go running at first sight of these flames and I'd get a crack at ol' Firbrand there, but...," he began again, nodding his raven-haired head up at the blinking-faced Link standing a few steps behind Raynard. "Sometimes you just don't get quite what you asked for." The mysterious agent chuckled, a form of malevolence dancing on his tongue.
"If you're the best the Himitsu sent...," Raynard started in reply, his brow furrowing in the inflection of his words. "Then they should just stop while they're ahead."
Kale chortled, amused as he rose up one of his opened-up palms from inside of his trousers, a single sphere of flame forming inside of it. "Confident... are we, eh Hylian?"
FRRRRRR
As if fired like a projectile itself, the sphere of flame shot forward blindingly fast and the glaring-eyed Raynard side-stepped deftly to avoid it. Kale, however, opted to give the raven-haired youth little time to react and merely continued his onslaught of barrages; a series of whips and strikes of heat that burnt, blackened and beaten, savage and ruthless at that.
"What do you think...?" Kale ventured to ask, his impudent grin successfully conveying his overconfidence and hubris to the watching Vassia and Raynard. "Are we impressed?"
Raynard and Vassia exchanged an expression together, a likewise look of disdain, before both bringing it upon the mysterious agent. The young mercenary snorted out, as if in derision.
"I've seen better fire out of Link."
Finding the young Van Garrick's remark spoken in what felt to be some kind of inflammatory back-handed compliment, the listening Link himself furrowed his brow in his raven-haired rival's direction before narrowing his eyes in humorous suspicion.
"Hey!" He called out, offended.
Vassia turned her violet-curled head to the sky and laughed boomingly, manicured fingers resting above her open mouth; a common laugh for the young girl. "Ohhh-ho-ho-ho! Indeed!" She laughed on, amused as she re-lowered her head to grin back at the newly-frowning Kale. "Such paltry wildfire pales in comparison to mon chéri's!"
While the frowning-faced Link scrunched his facial expression up in deep-thought to the Palashian princess' words and what they could mean, he sighed through his nose in a half-satisfied frown, somewhat content in the idea that she wasn't degrading him verbally as she always seemed to love to.
"Yeah...?" Kale murmured out half-curiously, his hardened frown barely concealing the slow-growing anger that bubbled in reaction to his enemy's commentary. "Well let's just see about that."
FWIP
Almost immediately the scruffy schoolboy's form vanished and, as it did, the group of three children widened their eyes. When he re-appeared it sheer luck that the similarly surprised Link managed to catch his form glinting off to his sharp-left; he held back a gasp and double-took in the fast-advancing air-dashing boy's way.
"Mon amour!"
Vassia's abrupt warning in Palashian, though unnecessary, was a surprising help; he found himself reacting almost instantaneously and, as Kale came rushing toward him with his fists flaming at his sides in a powerful lariat assault, Link grunted out in effort as he shot up his own slim fists and arms in a defensive front double bicep pose of his own.
SLAM-FRRRRRRRRR
"Nice try...," the newly-grinning Link greeted at last, his tenor grunting his words out with noticeable effort as he struggled to hold his position, similarly to the likewise-expressed Kale himself. "But I ain't no amateur."
"So the Himitsu tells me...," Kale smirked back, a single drop of sweat falling from his brow; a signature of his own effort. "You're quite a catch Firbrand."
THWUCK-THWUCK-THWUCK
The wide-eyed Kale at last broke the lariat hold that he held with his blonde adversary before abruptly bending his body backward and, having anticipated it coming, only just managed to avoid the fast-approaching steel halberd that sung noisily and horizontally through the air. As it flew overhead, the narrow-eyed Kale gasped out in hard-grit teeth as he turned his initial quick evasive manoeuvre into a simple back-step; he pulled the rest of his body up as he spun his uniformed body 'round in what seemed to be a side-stepping dance-like movement.
"Ressenha!"
Only the sound of Vassia's high-toned soprano alerted the watching Kale and he darted his red eyes to his immediate left, only to find the fast-moving Vassia herself somehow flying through the air very briefly in a controlled advance; she swung her body half-way through the air in her quick advance, swinging her slim arms and extended palms out as if they were swords, chopping at her surprised opponent as she did.
SLASH-SLASH
"Gurngh...!"
The Palashian princess followed up in her meaty-timed assault; she swung up both legs in an upward double-kick that sent the shut-eyed, grit-toothed scowling Kale up into the air.
"Mujinjyaku!"
SLAM-SLAM
"Weak!"
SLAM
In her final ferocious follow-up, Vassia savagely swung a roundhouse across the grunting Kale's face, sending him flying through the air. He twisted his body in a backward somersault to recover, landing in a noisy and destructive drift, his rough and callous movement eating up the hardwood floor beneath him.
SKRRRRRR
This time it was Raynard's turn to pile on the pressure; his super-fast form buzzed high into the air in a deft acrobatic forward-flip before he brought down his left leg, searing in wind-elemental Aegir, into a downward axe-like strike. Kale snapped up his head before blocking with a single arm, double-taking to his right as he clocked another form moving quickly to his seemingly undefended right. The ever-grinning Link shot around to his side and, pulling his flame-flavoured fists back presumably to attack with, the young Hylian grunted out in effort as he swung them both up and forward at his older enemy.
SLAM-FRRRRRRRRR
Rather surprisingly, the once-thought to be overwhelmed Kale managed to somehow block the incoming Link's double-handed assault and all while having his other arm indisposed with the mid-air floating form of Raynard; a fact that left the watching Link genuinely impressed in a wide-eyed frown.
"Damn!" He whispered out quietly to himself, his grin soon fading in favour of the astonished frown he used to convey his surprise with. Kale, entertained by his enemy's commendation, could only smirk back in his light chuckle before calling out in great effort of his own as he suddenly yanked the wide-eyed Raynard over his shoulder.
"WoaaaAAAH!"
CRASSSSSH
The gasping Raynard's tenor cut short as his body violently mashed with the classroom floor beneath him, coughing out a small fraction of blood in the savage entanglement's result as he ricocheted slowly off the ground. Kale darted his black-haired head back 'round to face the assaulting Link and grinned on in spite of the sweat-drops of effort that formed on his forehead.
"Is that all you Hylians can do?" The older youth spoke on, a mocking laugh flavouring his baritone. "That Palashian canary got a bigger kick than you do."
KRSH-SKRRRR
Kale's eyes very briefly shut as the glaring-eyed Link abruptly ended the hold between them by pushing forward with his fire-elemental Aegir, forcing the adolescent operative skidding backward, his dress shoes eating up the hardwood floor below them.
"Yeah?" Link batted back, tilting his blonde-haired head to the side as he smirked back, almost as if in some kind of knowing. "I guess that's why you're tryin' so hard... huh?"
Amused by the youth's taunts and words, the watching Vassia let slip a high-toned yet quiet-sounding giggle from behind him.
"Huh..."
FRRRRRRRRRRR...
The sound of a powerfully-charging sphere of flame echoed on out from inside the frowning-faced Kale's right opened palm, laying limp at his side as he kept his head lowered and half-tinted in shadow.
"You really think I'm trying...?"
Link watched him carefully, single eye narrowing in scrutinisation as he listened to the slow and steady of his baritone. With little warning other than a sudden upturn of Kale's frown into the overconfident smirk he began the engagement with, the watching group could barely react as the young adolescent turned to sprint across the classroom, his aura of Aegir easily eating up the plastic and hardwood desks littering about the area in glorious shows of debris and chaos.
"Let me give you a taste of it!" The newly-grinning Kale called out as he leapt to his right in a graceful side-flipping somersault through the air, tossing forward the small sphere of flame in the frowning Vassia's direction. When she clocked the size of it she rolled her eyes and smirked as if to mock the technique.
Link and Raynard, however, knew far better.
"No, Vass! Get away!"
"Vassia move!"
In great spite to the pair of Hylian boys' pleas the overconfident Palashian princess instead chose to stand her ground and brought up an aura of Aegir, presumably with which to block the incoming assault with. Link grunted out in great effort as he crossed the distance in using his own Quintessence, one quick bound, before getting in between the surprised Vassia and the small sphere of fire.
"Link!" The angered girl exclaimed out in her thick Palashian accent. "I don't need you to-"
"Shinku HADOKEN!"
FWUP-!
DROOOOOOOOOOOOOM-KRRRRRRRR
Almost as immediately as the enlarged Hadoken technique clashed with the seemingly small-framed sphere of fire did it suddenly and aggressively grow in size at least two-fold; a shocking sight indeed that made the watching Vassia rise up both violet-haired eyebrows to convey her surprise.
KRRRRRR-FWIP
Although the two projectiles, powerful as they may be, managed to cancel one another out as they met in mid-air in two similarly large explosions that rent the air between the two combatants and all surrounding them. The wind that kicked up as a result blew all the classroom's remaining desks and debris across the area, leaving the watching Vassia and Raynard to merely bring up their arms defensively to block the bold shock-waves of the savage exchange. It was only when the wide-eyed Vassia got a good look at the flames left in the aftermath, clearly of Kale's deceptively large-scale technique, that she realised her own mistake.
Although she genuinely felt like apologising for a change, the situation itself did not allow it.
CRASSSH-THWUCKTHWUCKTHWUCKTHWUCK
Perhaps inevitably, the smirking-faced Kale came rushing directly at the surprised-eyed Link almost immediately after his projectile assault, air-dashing through the dust and smoke itself. As he clashed directly with the younger boy, the pair bobbed, weaved, blocked and parried in and out of one another's attacks; simple enough punching assaults that were lightning-quick at that, their bodies and arms leaving sheer after-images of each other in their movement. Fairly quickly however, as their attacks drew on, the wide-eyed Link found himself outmatched slowly and surely; a fact that the watching Kale took some form of pleasure in.
The black-haired adolescent grinned on victoriously as he shot through one of the boy's blind-sides; a bold and well-placed assault that sent the young Hylian skidding savagely backward across the classroom. As Link used his right hand to wipe at the lower left side of his mouth, he used his superior left to grapple at the hardwood floor beneath him and ruthlessly clawed at it to slow his momentum, bringing up debris and wreckage in its place.
When his movement stopped suddenly and shortly however, he widened his eyes and gasped as he darted his straw-haired head down to his boots. Below him appeared to be some form of a crackling Aegir sparkling incessantly and noisily at his feet.
"What the-?!"
Raynard's own chestnut-brown eyes widened in a similar show of shock before he quickly re-opened his mouth to voice his concern. "A trap! Get out of there!"
"I...," Link began in reply, gritting his teeth in effort as he yanked at his legs roughly and in fast-growing panic. "I can't!"
Sure enough his boots were apparently caught in some field of Aegir previously left there; not only a blunder mid-battle but one that they could have probably filled in earlier with a fair search of the classroom beforehand.
An unfortunate mistake, to say the least.
"Now...!"
The group of three swung their heads in response to the sudden call of the grinning Kale; he rose up both hands and, with a sphere of flaming energy rapidly building above, laughed on as he re-opened his mouth.
"Let's see you break through this one!"
The sphere of nature's fire in his two-handed grip grew to at least double the size of the original's expanded form; a frightening proposition alone for the trapped Link as it came careering toward him. Rather than show any discernable fear however, the ever-grinning Hero of Time opted instead to pull his left fist back, flaming with slow-growing Aegir energy. Vassia called toward him excitedly, as if worried on his questionable decision-making whereas the watching Raynard furrowed his brow in genuine curiosity.
"What's he...?"
"Let's go!"
The sound of Link's overexcited tenor hit the ceiling of the classroom before even his technique could; a precursor to his next manoeuvre. As the crimson-coloured Aegir behind him grew in similar rapid strength, so too did his eventual reveal; the grinning Link swung his left fist sky-high in a triple somersaulting shoot up to the wind above them itself, a huge aura of flame coating his punching dragon-like assault.
"Shoryureppa!"
FRRRRRR-SLAMMM-KR
It didn't take long for the techniques to clash and react; as Link's high-rising punch technique coated in fire met with the similar ball of flame in mid-air the sphere was very quickly batted back and, like a projectile being struck by an instrument, found itself flying back toward its sender. The watching Kale widened his eyes in shock-faced awe, simply unable to believe the proceedings before him. Vassia and Raynard, similarly surprised, could only watch on.
"What the hell?!"
Faced with little to no option and desperation filling his senses, Kale grunted out in great effort as he leapt quickly and frenziedly to his left; although he managed to only just evade the fast-advancing projectile of his own making, it was only when he re-opened his eyes as he skid across the ground that he realised his mistake.
The smirking-faced Link ground against the floor with his boots to meet him, his right fist pulled back presumably to attack with.
"Oh hell."
"NGH!"
FRRR-SMASH
"Agh...!"
At last the group's enemy was struck and directly at that; the Himitsu's seeming operative grunted out in shut-eyed agony as he was sent pelting across the air toward the glaring-faced Raynard.
"Ray!"
Kale had just enough time to open up his eyes in response to the voice of his earlier assaulter, only to come eye-to-eye with the hateful scowl on the young Van Garrick boy's face; he pulled back the black wind of his own that blew away on his fist before eventually widening both chestnut eyes as he drew it toward the flying youth.
KERRRASSSH-FRRR
"Urngh...!"
Unable to respond in any other way, the gasping Kale could only block the assault as best he could; a near futile attempt that saw the black-shaded wind essentially infect the youth, and send him even further flying through the air, backward this time. In his flight he found himself fast-approaching the smirking form of the Palashian princess herself, her cheer and smug expression unbound.
"Vassia!"
Raynard's own tenor, a touch lower than his blonde-haired rival's, was enough for the curly-haired princess to act. She pulled her legs back and, likewise charged with her own Aegir displayed as Palashian petals dancing around her form, charged forward in one final seeming assault; she leapt forward in three successive somersaults, essentially stepping on the wide-eyed Kale's own form and halting his flight indefinitely and abruptly. In her third pass, the shock-wave she generated was so great, that as she landed graceful form atop the yelling adolescent's back the very building itself shook with a powerful tremor to match the beautiful petals that decorated her attack.
Genuinely surprised by the skill and strength with which she launched her last assault, even if gained by her comrade's assistance, the watching Link and even Raynard could only rise their eyebrows in similar bedazzlement.
"Damn...," the young Hero of Time murmured out in beginning, his frown carrying him on. "That even looked good I gotta admit."
Vassia smirked on as her ego was stroked, turning her violet-curled head over her shoulder to face the boy. "I do charge for lessons you know..."
Suddenly regretting his decision to compliment her, Link merely uttered out a mildly annoyed groan, his oceanic eyes drooping as if to convey his humorous exasperation.
"Yeah... I'll bet."
