Chapter 53: Egregious Effectiveness; Fight for the North

Turmoil in Gylomecia Arc

Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda; this is just a Fan fiction.

Featured Music: "Ranked Amongst the World's Best"The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass OST. Chapter Briefing.

"Soundtrack 1" – Dragonball GT OST. Scene 1 (Second Half).

"Pathway to [Oedo Castle]" – Mystical Ninja: Starring Goemon OST. Scene 2 (First Half).

"Leon with Claire" – Resident Evil 2 (1998) OST. Scene 3 (First Half).

"Crash Addiction" – Yakuza 0 OST. Scene 4.


In their rough yet surprisingly-profitable foray further into Aurelia, Impa's group of heroes soon find themselves face-to-face with a legendary sea-monster in their attempt to travel across the Aurelian seas; as their new addition to the group assists them with connections to a crew and a ship, grand-finalist and winner of the Stralanavia Skirmish Veronika, they very quickly find themselves up against strange and suspicious circumstances.

Indeed, although the sea-creature attack seems unprovoked and even random, Impa wisely speculates the connection between their recent clashes with the mysterious group Link briefly encountered during his stint in Termina; an organisation known only as the 'Himitsu Shakai', translated in ancient Hylian as:

'Secret Society'.

While they suspect this group of having sent the ferocious sea-beast to attack their ship it is not their group that directly encounter them, rather, it is the relatively small group of two travelling in close timing with them; the former aide to Ganondorf himself, Scaverin Estienne and his recent new apprentice, Link's old companion from his original era now-turned-rival Raynard Van Garrick.

Before Link and his friends can manage to reach the edge of the now-abandoned underground of the island they are led to, it is Raynard and Scaverin that encounter the last remaining figure left for them by the Himitsu Shakai themselves; a mere woman dressed in a black cloak. Scaverin, much to Raynard's surprise, makes the correct deduction that the woman is deceased; a noticeable trait via her odd facial features, cracked and pale.

Just like a corpse.

Scaverin easily dispatches the summoned cadaver and, with it, gains ever stronger before plunging further deeper into the island's depths… only to find another surprising discovery left behind for them both; a kidnapped young toddler and his mother, both sitting in a cell. While Raynard attempts to protect the boy from harm in sheer guilt, Scaverin enacts his near-insane scheme by turning his Aegir-blade on the poor woman in the cell.

Now left with a body and a boy without a mother, Link's group of companions arrive but far too late; they are left to bring the body and the boy back with them on their way to Gylomecia and, although are thanked for by their new benefactors for their actions, find themselves in bittersweet agony over the mere grisly sight of the fallen body alone. In returning them however they are gifted with gratitude and a place to stay, much like in the previous regions of Aurelia they have travelled through thus far.

In arriving to the far-off lands of Gylomecia, the group of heroes soon learn that not only is the Prima World Tour's next national competition cancelled, but that the country is now currently suffering from the fires of a bloody and political civil war. Indeed, two warlords recently crowned now sit at the helms of their respective armies; two women that both disagree with the lack of leadership in Gylomecia, opting to take matters into their own hands.

Bryda, of the north in 'Obsidenne'.

And Cyna, of the south in 'Léger'.

These two larger powers, charismatic in their own fashions, are manipulated otherwise however… by an even more mysterious and unknown factor at play; an elusive-armoured Gylomecian man known only as 'Kaius' and his assistant Amalda, both with odd ties to the similarly enigmatic group known only as the Himitsu Shakai.

This new proverbial game of chess is one that will shake not only its indigenous lands of Gylomecia…

But all of Aurelia itself.


Scene 1

"So… there is no tournament here… is there."

Raynard held back a noticeably-annoyed twitch to his scowl as his mentor spoke up behind him. Following their recent arrival to Gylomecia, and even before their rivals did, both Scaverin and Raynard found very quickly that their efforts to reach the far-off land for the upcoming martial arts national championship were all for naught due to the seemingly-recently brewing civil war.

"I suppose then our best course of action would be to move on to our last destination."

Raynard's chestnut-brown eyes widened this time in surprise, and he swung both 'round to face his robed mentor standing behind him, only to find him folded-armed and staring out into the distance of the Gylomecian marketplace and the numerous Aurelians gliding through.

"Draerith." The bald Hylian finished, 'rounding his hardened-eyed frown on the black-haired boy to his lower right, drawing out a surprised-eyed look in response.

"B-But…," Raynard began again, this time in growing desperation, looking for any reason to stay. "We have to stay!"

Scaverin's hazel eyes narrowed back interrogatively. "Why?" He pressed curiously.

Raynard's own eyes wandered away, as if in search. "B-Because… well what if they start up the tournament and we've left?"

"You've already gotten enough championship points anyway," Scaverin countered, brow furrowing back at him. "I imagine you have enough now to qualify for the world championships in Draerith. If we leave now we can get there fairly early."

The listening youth lowered his eyes again and his face, this time in disappointment and defeat.

"Although…"

The surprised Raynard shot up both eyes again, his black eyebrows shooting up with him in a sudden dose of hope.

"I hear Gylomecia is going through a civil war as we speak…," Scaverin murmured out knowledgeably and curiously, raising up one of his hands to rest under his chin thoughtfully as he did. "This could be a good opportunity to earn some more information about any potential future enemies."

"Y-Yeah! I agree completely."

Although Raynard had no stake in his leader's odd scheming, it was simply just an excuse to stay in Gylomecia a little longer, if only to increase the chances of meeting his blonde-haired rival once more and locking fists with him.

A strange pull that drew him to duelling with him that even he couldn't seem to pin down absolutely.

"All right… we'll stay perhaps another night or two, if only for reconnaissance… but I'd rather stay ahead of schedule if we can help it," the robed summoner spoke again, turning his frown on the black-haired boy next to him. Grateful for the small chance awarded to him, Raynard couldn't help but grow his small frown into a similarly small smile as he nodded to match. "A few days… no longer." He reiterated to the youth, drawing out another confirming nod from the young mercenary.

"Yes… Scaverin-sensei."

"Hrm…"

Scaverin's murmur carried his hardened frown on as he turned to continue marching through the market district of Gylomecia's capital, Raynard soon following ever-faithfully behind him.

Even if it's just a few days, he thought.

Maybe I'll get a chance to lock fists with him again.


In their fairly beneficial excursion through Gylomecia and, in great spite to having recently missed 'Point Spotting', to their surprise at the breakfast table Link and his friends found themselves reunited with more recently-made friends from their tournament fights in Palashia; Lavrentius and Lycidas Marino, mayor of Rocknesse and former Palashian champion themselves. When questioned on their odd presence, the ever-cheery Lavrentius explained his intention to be present in assisting Baltus and the rest of the Gylomecian council with his sage advice and administrative skills.

Lycidas, aside from protecting his father with his mere presence, seemed to be there merely for the ride.

"I still can't believe I'm seein' you here."

Link's ever-bold if, cheeky comment, managed to command attention his direction as it often did; a call that made even the firmly-frowning form of Lycidas himself swing his hardened glare on the young Hylian boy sitting across from him.

"Feels like years since we met ya both in Palashia!" The green-clothed youth called out cheerily, grinning toothily as he cast his expression on the bare-chested Lycidas and the smiling-faced Lavrentius, sitting next to his son ever in his usual formal clothing fit for a mayor official. "I only wish Ray was here to run your set back with you Ly!" Link added on, directing his words and his new nickname directly to the hard-frowning Lycidas. Finding little response but a glare however, Link winced back, his enthusiasm deterred a little as he pulled himself back from the table.

Zelda on his right and Veronika on his left both watched on with amused smiles.

"Yes…," Lycidas at last spoke up in his hardened glare, seemingly an unintended rude expression he normally liked to wear. "I would very much have liked to, how you say… 'run it back'… with your friend…?"

"Hey if all goes well maybe we can lock fists," Link flashed the man back a grin as he leant back in his chair, reaching both small arms up to rest behind his green-hat head as he did. "I'd love to see what kinda fight we'd have!"

"Is that all you think about?" Vassia sighed languidly in the seat next to Zelda's, a similarly bored-looking limp-eyed frown adorned on her expression as she placed the side of her face into her hanging opened palm resting on the table, craning her violet-haired head 'round to cast her irritated glance on the blinking Link. "Sometimes I fear all we'll do is argue and fight when we're married."

The listening Barkner across from them couldn't help but spit out the drink he was taking in sheer hilarity, bursting out laughing as he did, joined by his comrades in grins, smiles and chuckles; seemingly a common occurrence for the group. The frowning-faced Link turned his earlier-grin into an annoyed-eyed frown, dropping down his own brow and eyes to match Vassia's seemingly-irritated expression.

"Sometimes I hate you guys." He sighed comically, leaning forward on the table in a stance similar to the Palashian princess two seats on his right, both hands in his chin. It was a reaction that pulled further amusement from the listening group of people, even drawing out responses from the smiling Lavrentius.

"I see you all have not changed…," Palashia's mayor smiled on, ever-gripping his walking cane, even at the breakfast table. "It's refreshing to see you all again, after Palashia… but what brings you all in Gylomecia?"

"Initially it was the next championship tournament," Alwyn spoke up on the Palashian's left, his blue-shaded fingers threaded together as his arms rose up diagonally on the table, elbows resting on it thoughtfully. "But… seeing as it's been cancelled…"

"Ah… due to the civil war… of course," Lavrentius nodded along in acknowledgement and understanding as he swung his head 'round in the Zoran's direction on his left. His purple-shaded eyebrow slowly rose up in a mixture of careful realisation and curious-eyed inquisition. "But… then that would mean…?"

"Yeah, we're involved," the grinning-faced Barkner began on the frowning-faced Lycidas' right, casting his own look across the table. "I mean, not directly yet but… y'know."

When the half-smiling Lavrentius couldn't seem to work out quite the group's intentions, it was the similar-eyed Alwyn that spoke up for him again.

"Because 'it's the right thing to do'…," the Zoran began again, briefly casting his own half-smile in the blinking Link's direction. "Apparently."

"Hey, why you all-?" The young Hylian began in his unsure blink, swinging his head 'round to find them all staring at him before he chuckled in realisation, a small blush on his cheeks as he rubbed the back of his head in light embarrassment. "Oh."

"So… you are all here to assist them… commendable," the lightly-frowning Lavrentius laid out before upturning his frown into a half-smile, eyebrow raised up as he shot up his eyes to face them all again. "That… is precisely why my boy and I are here."

The curious-eyed Veronika swung her frown over toward the smiling mayor. "Really…?"

He nodded in another well-meaning light chuckle to his baritone. "It is true!" He reiterated, re-opening his mouth as if to elaborate as he did. "I'm here as part of the official Palashia representatives to help smooth things over with the currently warring forces in the north and south."

"So what's the big guy doin' here then?" Barkner bounced back at him in a rude if, friendly little smile, edging his thumb in the firmly-frowning form of Lycidas' direction.

"Someone's gotta watch his back I guess," Link chuckled back in response. "I can't think of anyone better than him."

Perhaps satisfied with the praise he received, Lycidas re-folded his arms and shut his eyes as he lowered his ponytailed head.

"Not even moi?"

Half-surprised by the sudden if, soft interruption, Link could only cast his blink 'round on Vassia, seated on his far-right next to Zelda. His eyelids lowered and his frown soon deepened humorously as he re-opened his mouth.

"Especially you."

While respectful as always, Veronika and Zelda seated on opposite sides of the boy let out silent-faced smiles as they lowered their eyes in restrained amusement. The listening Malon and Barkner however, instead opted to display their own delight through a fairly obvious and derisive burst of laughter aimed at the visibly-annoyed Palashian princess.

"Ah…," the smiling Lavrentius chuckled on at the scene before him. "I've missed this."


2

After receiving their next briefing from Baltus and his other councillor comrades in the committee, Impa and the group soon found themselves involved in another battle yet not one of fists; this time of diplomacy.

Certainly not one of Link's strong suits.

Given that the council are so busy defending Corinium City from any possible invasion by the northern or southern forces, and with the heroes' presumed neutral influences, they requested that the group attempt peace talks with both sides in any way they can manage. While it sounds a fairly simple proposition, it is one that the group universally agree is the best course of action, especially for this fast-growingly concerning situation.

Impa, as group leader decides to divide their own forces and send each side to both northern and southern in an attempt to make contact and end the civil war peacefully, as soon as possible. She sends a smaller group led by the ever-savvy Alwyn to the north and takes her own light force into the southern lands of Gylomecia, with the hope of breaching contact with the known leaders of the opposing militaries; two women.

Bryda, of the north.

And Cyna, of the south.

Having been used (almost entirely) to the near-tropical climate of their sailing expedition to Gylomecia, Link and his companions within Alwyn's group soon find themselves struggling to deal with the quickly-dropping temperature in the air; a climate that nearby Gylomecians find little to no trouble with. When they at long last begin to make the final approach to Erynthios, northern-most city of Gylomecia, the small group of Alwyn, Link, Zelda and Veronika soon found themselves amidst not only a section of the country in sheer chaos, but an unnaturally cold one.

Especially for the somewhat tropical climate they were used to in travelling to Gylomecia in their first instance.

"They say Gylomecia is supposed to be both one of the hottest countries in the world…," Alwyn began wisely at the front as all four marched forward through the cold nipping air, the light cloak he wore to protect himself blowing lightly in the wind as he did. "And simultaneously one of the coldest," he added on, eyes briefly shut as he did before soon re-opening them to comment again. "It's easily one of the more erratically-tempered nations… I suppose it makes sense it's embroiled in civil war."

"Can we go to the hottest part then, maybe?" Link complained back behind the Zoran leading the three children, his small hands wrapped 'round his own cloak he bought with his earlier tournament winnings, his temperature still fairly low. "This is just way too cold man."

The sound of some odd twinkle in the air made the listening Hylian swing his blonde-haired head 'round to his right, only to find the smiling Zelda next to him waving both of her own small hands into the area around her person before soon lowering them and hovering them both over the surprised-eyed Link's form. While he darted both oceanic eyes 'round her, as if suspicious somehow, she cast him the same smile she normally utilised around him, and he settled his nerves.

Oddly enough, when she finished and pulled both small arms back from him, he found his temperature quickly rising back up to a more manageable level.

"Wow…," Link murmured out, blinking as he briefly lowered his head as if to gauge at his figure again, lightly rolling his fingers around in an effort to feel the cold leave them and the blood flow to come back in full force. "How the hell'd ya do that?" He shot back this time, snapping his head in her direction, single cerulean eye narrowed at her carefully. She smiled back at him and joined her hands behind her small form in her own march, shaking her ponytailed head as she did.

"Subtle shifts in your Aegir to match my own," she answered as she did. "It should last you a few hours."

"Damn… guess I owe you." He fired back, casting her an enthusiastic grin as he did. The Hylian princess' smile carried her on, even as she re-rose up her head to briefly eye the frowning Alwyn ahead of them and the ever-business-like Veronika on her companion's left.

"Alwyn, Veronika?" She began, re-raising up her arms almost as if to offer them. The Zoran merely shook his head in her direction, half-turning his half-cut fin-head before opening his mouth as if to elaborate.

"I should be fine. I can withstand this temperature for a good long while."

Veronika instead softened up her frown as she faced the Hylian princess on her right, merely raising up her own left arm; rather shockingly, a claw-like abomination of light-bright purple that looked more animal than man. While it didn't quite answer the curious-eyed Zelda's query, it was enough to make her smile back and nod in some sense of understanding.

"Παύση!"

The group of four stopped in their march immediately, some widening their eyes and reaching for their respective weapons. It was the more savvy and well-experienced Alwyn leading them however, that rose up his weathered and calloused right arm to stop the three children behind him from taking any rash action. When they looked up to the voice's source, a man's baritone, they soon found small group of blue-dressed soldiers casting down their hardened-eyed glares on them from atop a snow-coated garrison.

"Τι δουλειά έχεις εδώ?" The first man that initially spoke called up at them all, narrowing his eyes down at them suspiciously. Alwyn's ocean-teal eyes darted between each of the three men above them, curious and unsure before opening up his mouth to respond to him.

"We're just travellers," the former Zoran soldier called skyward in response, his brow furrowing as he did. "Here to see warlord Bryda, if it's possible," he added. "Would she be willing to speak with us? We have an offer from the council."

The three north-aligned soldiers all exchanged unsure looks and murmurs together, some even shaking their heads before the one that initially spoke turned to leave, presumably to retrieve someone that could speak modern Hylian. Alwyn relaxed his earlier-tense muscles yet still kept his eyes focused on the two remaining soldiers watching them above, as the frowning-faced Link tilted his blonde-haired head in curious-eyed inquisitiveness.

"What the hell was he speakin'…?" The young Hylian muttered out rudely, raising up one of his small fingers to scratch at his hooded head. "I couldn't understand any of it."

"Gylomecian," Veronika answered him with a lightly-amused smile on her face as she turned her light-brown eyes to face his. "I imagine they all speak it here."

Realising his obvious mistake, Link's frown turned zig-zagged, and he could only hold back an embarrassed wince before re-opening his mouth. "Oh," he merely muttered back. "Figures."

The listening Zelda giggled wordlessly next to him in a display of her own amusement.

"What is your offer, Zoran?"

The group swung their heads up to the thick Gylomecian accent speaking their own language, only to find another soldier, this one however dressed quite a bit different than the last three soldiers they had seen previously; an older man wearing robes, dyed in what seemed to be a bright-blue sky colour, colour co-ordination perhaps the only thing linking them together. It was obvious he was a part of the same militaristic force as the rest of them. Alwyn's face fell, even further than its usual hardened stiffness before he re-opened his own mouth to retort.

"We're emissaries of the Whiteblood Council," the former soldier reasoned. "You don't seriously expect us to discuss this in public, do you?"

The robed man, hands joined at his back, briefly exchanged a look with the soldier on his left. The soldier nodded silently before lightly raising up his steel lance. As he shot it up and back down again, the steel bars creaked and groaned to life ahead of them, slowly grinding up to the top of the garrison and granting them entry. Alwyn exchanged one last look of confirmation with the frowning Zelda, Veronika and Link before all four followed their Zoran leader through.


"Ah… you four must be those foreigners from… Hyrule, was it…?"

Bryda's low-toned contralto knocked across the walls of the well-defended garrison that the small group of heroes now managed to infiltrate, her voice coming from a high-positioned seat above a few stairs, joined only by two halberdiers at her throne's sides. She wore her short-black hair fairly well, complimented by the plate-blue armour she wore across her body, indicating her position in the north.

"How'd ya know we're from Hyrule?" Link shot back up in an unintentional rude little quip up of his eyebrow and frown, curious and all. Alwyn noticeably winced in a hardened frown of his own, knowing of his social faux pas. When the blonde boy suddenly remembered the little pointed ears he and Zelda carried he chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his green-hat head; an old habit. "O-Oh… yeah… the ears…"

The watching Bryda, seemingly half-amused, let out a small smirk on her face as she leant the side of her right cheek into her opened up right palm, placing her elbow on the throne's arm-rest as she did. "Yes…," she answered, re-opening her mouth to elaborate further. "We also have a few eyes and ears of our own across the country, watching its comings and goings."

"So you know we've already come from the council then." Veronika answered her fairly curtly and with a hardened frown of her own. Bryda briefly lost her own small smirk, devolving back into the business-like frown she liked to wear before opening back up her mouth.

"I do…," Bryda responded, her brown eyes lowering and eyelids similarly lowering to match the contemplative expression on her face. "I imagine this 'offer' will be little more than a peace offering."

"Well… as it turns out… it is, lord Bryda," Alwyn spoke up in a light sigh, taking her words as a sign to stand from his respectfully-knelt position. "Sir Baltus and the council have sent us to-"

The snort that came barrelling out of Bryda's nose managed to stop him in his tracks, a kind of annoyed frown on her face. "'Sir' Baltus…," she muttered. "Don't make me laugh," she warned the Zoran with, brown eyes narrowing as she did. "I was cleaning that man's messes up when he was helping running this country. The last thing he deserves is any kind of title."

Realising her stance on the council, Alwyn exchanged an unsure silent look with the contemplative look on Veronika's, Zelda's and even Link's faces before swinging it back 'round on their target.

"I… apologise… lord Bryda," Alwyn began in an apologetic lowering of his head, frowning softly and shutting his eyes in a respectful-eyed expression. The tactful Zelda and Veronika followed his example, seemingly knowing and well-inclined. Link instead however merely exchanged his unsure frown with his three companions before at long last following through with them and bowing his green-hat head forward in respect.

Even if he didn't completely understand why.

"Hrm…,"

The little murmur that Bryda let out was the precursor to her next statement and she leaned forward in her seat to give voice to it.

"Foreigners with manners…," she began curiously. "Impressive."

Taking her words as invitation to raise their heads Alwyn, Veronika and Zelda all did so, joined shortly by the unsure-eyed Link.

"Perhaps you could help us with something…," the woman began this time, a kind of hopeful little grin, small and careful adorned on her face, leaning both elbows across the armrests of the throne she sat on. "There's a… problem we've encountered, ever since re-taking this garrison from the south," she explained briefly, eyes wandering amidst the inflection of her sentence. "You four seem as though you're… particularly experienced… I imagine it's why Baltus sent you to us."

Alwyn very briefly eyed the curious-faced Link before turning back to face the woman above him. "W-Well… yes, but-"

"I have a proposition for you, Zoran… what is your name?" She asked, tilting her head this time as she did.

"Ah… Weirson, my lord. Alwyn Weirson."

"Weirson… good name, strong name," Bryda half-smirked this time, lightly nodding her head to the side as she did. "And… these three? I imagine they also can fight?"

Although Link regained his usual overconfident grin to speak, it was Zelda this time that reached over to stop him; a soft yet firm grip on his left fingers made him double-take in her direction with a curious-eyed blink; she shook her ponytailed head back at him, almost as if to dissuade him.

He couldn't help but feel hurt somehow yet listened to her silent request regardless.

"Yes, my lord…," Alwyn nodded faithfully, briefly eyeing the children in his care. "They're all capable enough on the battlefield."

"Excellent," she responded, joining her fingers together atop her front. "Then here is my offer… not only will I listen to Baltus' no doubt ludicrous offer… I will grant it."

Alwyn waited patiently and knowingly, fully expecting a roundabout way for a shortcut.

Bryda's smile widened just a little as she re-opened her mouth to speak. "But only if you take on my offer." She added this time, her smirk widening a second time. Alwyn nodded expectantly.

"May we hear it?"

"Of course," she began again, her smirk carrying her on. "All I require… is for one of you to…"


3

Link sighed out into the cold northern Gylomecian air, resting his right arm across the garrison's top section overlooking the gate, casting his oceanic-eyed gaze out into the great and beautiful distance. He opted to spend his time whittling it away out by himself while Alwyn, Veronika and Zelda worked out a tactical course of action to respond to Bryda's strange request.

And after having sent him away, almost as if he'd make the situation worse somehow.

Something felt off since he and his friends arrived, something strange and standoffish with his companions and it only intensified with each passing hour that they spent within its borders.

What could be so wrong, he wondered.

Things were like this before.

He remembered the looks he was receiving not just from Vassia or Veronika but Impa and even Zelda just mere minutes ago.

Maybe I'm just thinking too hard, he thought.

This is what you did back in Hyrule; don't do this to yourself again.

Before he could turn and go back to his friends, he double-took into the sunset air as he caught the sight of a glint a little aways from his current position. He narrowed his oceanic eyes forward in his leant stance before briefly turning 'round, almost as if to check if anyone was coming for him. Finding that the coast was veritably clear he instead chose to go investigate the strange sighting and cast his frown back forward before hopping off the garrison.

As the young Hylian carefully landed and began striding toward the source of the odd glint, he felt a very strange chill in the air, and not one reserved for temperature; a peculiar nature of killing intent.

Something he was powerfully familiar with, having dealt with Kage Narumono on regular occasions.

FWIP

The sudden appearance of a blurry figure leaping out of the snow-coated bushes made him widen his eyes and unsheathe the Gilded Sword in an instant, spinning the Mirror Shield 'round his right fingers as he swung it 'round to block the figure's sudden assault on it.

CLANNNNG

The figure back-flipped through the air to land and left the watching Link with a single-eye narrowed frown, lowering his shield though only lightly, still opting to remain cautious. The figure, seemingly a man dressed in strange Gylomecian armour, stared back at him in a hardened-eyed frown of his own, gripping a simple yet powerful-looking hardwood staff in his right hand positioned behind himself. Long dark hair, untamed and fiery in nature, flowed down his back, a single large strand dropping down from his forehead.

The eyes on him, however, were yellow and cat-like; something that put a strange kind of chill in the watching Link.

"Impressive…," the nameless man began, his hardened frown carrying him on. "Zero-point four seconds reaction time… I've never seen that in a child before."

The listening Link merely narrowed a single suspicious eye back at the watching armoured figure before him, curious and unsure. "Who are you supposed to be?" The young Hylian asked rudely. "You ain't with Bryda… are you?"

The nameless man turned his hardened frown into a light smirk, shaking his long-haired head as he did. "No," he answered. "I am… uninvolved in the dispute of our lands."

Link found his grip on his Gilded Sword and Mirror Shield lessen lightly, keeping them up but lowering the small arms holding them as he did. "So… what are you doin' here then?"

"I have been watching you… and your little group of mercenaries since you arrived in Warwick Landing," he explained briefly, lowering the long wooden staff he carried as he did. Surprisingly, he managed to procure a second one from the first he carried with him and lightly tossed it forward. The startled Link reached out with his shield-holding right arm and managed to catch the staff before it fell onto the snow-covered ground around them, blinking down at it before re-rising his green-hat head to face the man above. "You are all great warriors, especially for how young some of you are… but you…," he began again, narrowing his eyes down at the blonde boy. "You are unique…"

Link furrowed his brow back at the man as he lowered the staff the man gave him carefully before slowly sheathing the Gilded Sword and Mirror Shield, danger seemingly having left his mind entirely. "Thanks…," he answered unsurely. "I guess…"

"I apologise…," the mysterious man began again, bowing forward to the boy in an odd display of respect. "I… am Kaius Torquatus," he at last introduced himself with, frowning as firmly as he did when first meeting the boy. "A former traveller… much like yourself."

"Is that right…," Link murmured back in obvious suspicion, tilting his head ever-so-slightly to the lower left as he did, spinning the wooden staff the older man gave him as he did. "So what the hell are ya so interested in us for?"

The newly-introduced Kaius put on a light smile this time as he re-rose his black-haired head to face the boy with. "Not your groupyoung Link… but you."

"Me…?"

"Indeed…"

THWACK

Link widened his oceanic-eyed gaze back at the older man as he suddenly yet somehow slowly swung the wooden staff he carried at the boy, forcing him to draw his own in a defensive diagonal stance.

"I have been watching your climb through the ranks in the 'Prima World Tour'… I have been watching all of your companions fighting through them in fact," he began again, bringing up his staff this time in diagonal and horizontal defence as the narrow-eyed Link returned the swipes. "Yet none have quite displayed the talent that you have."

The former Hero of Time held back a half-amused snort and smirk as he pulled his weapon back, hanging it at his side as he leant his body and cast his stare back at the armoured Gylomecian. "I guess that's why I've lost every one I've been in then huh?"

"Often it is not the strongest opponent who wins…"

THWACK

Link widened his cerulean eyes again as Kaius swung his own weapon diagonally down on him, forcing him to block in a hardened-eyed frown, leaning back from the sheer strength the man commanded as he did.

"But those with the strongest will!"

THWUCK-THWUCK-THWUCK

In an incredibly-quick manoeuvre Kaius managed to sidestep the wide-eyed Link's obvious stabbing assault before countering with a swift stab of his own; a non-lethal one that landed the end of his staff under the boy's Kokiri tunic, essentially catching under it and lifting him up into the air. The shocked Hylian yelled out in surprise as Kaius effortlessly tossed him overhead, sending him landing in a pained tumble on the snowy ground behind him, the armoured Gylomecian ending his counter-assault in a low-leaning posture that seemed to fit his well-attained martial arts skills.

Angered abruptly and suddenly by the change in the fight, even if it were seemingly a friendly one, Link scrambled his boots and cast the narrow-eyed Kaius a near hateful-eyed glare before breaking out into a sprint, pulling his wooden staff back as he did.

"Kaiten…," he began, widening his eyes as he leapt up into the air before descending downward, twisting his body in an endlessly spinning maddened assault filled with impatience and coated with fire elemental Aegir. "Resshō!"

FRRR-FWOOSH

"Aspída tou Neroú!"

Like magic, an aura of water elemental Aegir shot up between the pair, seemingly materialised by the older man's raise of his free left plated arm; as half-expected, Link's rash and fairly predictable assault was easily blocked and he was sent spiralling and tailspinning overhead again, yelling out in shock and surprise as he did.

THUD

"Ugh…!"

Link grunted out in half-frustration as he ate the snow beneath him, pulling himself back up to his knees in annoyance. The sound of Kaius' staff twisting in his expert-like grip made him snap his head behind him, dirty-blonde eyebrows risen up as he did.

"When fighting an opponent with superior strength you must use his strength against him." The armoured Gylomecian merely called out with, as if he were teaching a lesson, before stepping forward to march his boots through the crunching snow beneath him. Link held back a gasp, brow furrowing in suspicion.

"Why are you teaching me…? I already have a sensei." The young Hylian shot back.

"Ah yes… your Sheikah mentor from your homeland I imagine?" He shot back, propping up an eyebrow as he lowered his free hand to help the boy up. Link widened his eyes in shock at the man's sudden reveal of knowledge.

"How…?"

Kaius put on a half-smirk on his face as he helped the boy back up to his feet. "I have already done the necessary research into your group…," he reiterated in his half-smirk before soon dropping it in favour of his earlier frown. "I have seen that you are not trusted with important decisions… I can't imagine why, with your experience."

Link glared back at the man, holding back the worried look he carried behind it. "You don't know my friends… or me." He shot back.

"Perhaps not…," Kaius relented softly, frowning as before. "But in the end… trust… is all that we have." He finished, bowing forward a second and one final time, almost as if to put an end to their duel. Link blinked back at the man before following his example in a forward bow, unsure in the Gylomecian customs yet opting to show respect anyway.

It was only when he re-rose up his blonde-haired head that he found the armoured man suddenly and somehow vanished from sight, leaving him wide-eyed and shocked.

"Where…?"

In his quietened murmur he could only dart his head around in swift search for the man, unsure and quizzical. Soon realising his small group of companions would be realising he is missing; Link spun the wooden staff he was given before double-taking in dropping and leaving it on the snowy ground below him. He narrowed his eyes down at it and, casting a quick look almost as if to see if the man was still present, reached up with the staff before hiding it in his inventory behind on his back before jogging forward to run back toward the garrison.

He didn't see the smirking-eyed Kaius hanging on a high branch of a snow-coated tree, armoured arms folded and upside-down.


"There he is."

"Over here!"

Link rose up his head as he entered into one of the garrison's many rooms – this one the main hall – strode on over to join his small group of companions, turning his blonde-haired head as he clocked Veronika and Zelda's voices respectively. It was all he could do to contain his surprise when he felt Zelda almost immediately crash into him with a seemingly concerned hug; he widened his oceanic-shaded eyes down at her and splayed out both small arms, still a little reddened from the cold outside, before exchanging an unsure frown with the folded-armed Alwyn and frowning Veronika.

"W-What'd I do now?"

"We were all so worried about you…" She answered him with, a kind of troubled tone to her soprano.

"They were worried about you," Alwyn corrected for the ever-melodramatic Hylian princess. "I imagined you'd have been nearby."

"Still though…," the watching Veronika began, tilting her raven-haired head at the boy. "It was a long time you were away," she spoke in her Stralanavian accent. "Where did you go?"

He chuckled half-nervously as he wrapped his own small arms 'round the now-smiling Zelda's back, as if to set her at ease. "Just… out," he responded with before his own smile soon dropped in favour of a curious-eyed furrowed brow. "What were you worried for? I figured you all thought I was useless here."

"Well… I suppose when it comes to politics you are, but…" Veronika trailed off in a cheeky-smirking shut of her eyes, briefly wandering her head from his as the watching Link put on a humorous-looking limp to his annoyed-faced frown.

"Turns out you're not useless," Alwyn brought up, ever the objective one. "Bryda's made us an offer."

"Oh yeah?" Link propped an eyebrow up back at the man, casting him a curious frown of his own as Zelda at last pulled away from him if only to leave her hands on the small of his back.

Something the watching Veronika did not let go unnoticed.

"She's listened to our offer and will do what Baltus wants, but…"

Link tilted his head lightly at the Zoran in waiting.

"Only if one of us 'shows their strength'." The former soldier answered, folded-armed and all.

"'Shows their strength'…?" The young Hylian repeated in another furrowed brow. "What the hell does that mean?"

"It means she wants one of us to fight for her," Veronika answered for him in response, tilting her head again lightly as she did. "She knows we've all fought in the Prima World Tour."

"B-But… we're neutral in this civil war thing…," Link began in reply, swinging his head between the frowning Alwyn, Veronika and Zelda. "Ain't we…?"

"Not in the war…," Zelda responded, shaking her light-blonde head at him, her small fingers still gripping his back. "In the ring."

Both of his eyebrows shot up this time in recognition and his frown turned softer, his eyelids lowering lightly as they did. "Oh… well if that's all, hell, I'll do it." He shot back confidently, swinging his newfound grin on the ever-frowning Alwyn on his left's front.

"It's not quite as simple as you might be thinking," the wise Zoran replied, shaking his own head at the former Kokiri, his cut head-fin swinging lightly with his movement as he did. "She's requested that we fight on her rules, not the PWT's."

"And… what are her rules…?"

"She's said if we fail the fight… then we either fight for her cause… or we die."

Veronika's response, so cutting and so firm, managed to make the listening Link widen his eyes in shock.

Goddamn, he thought.

She goes hard.

"Well… damn," he chuckled nervously. "Guess I can't lose then."

"She's also said we'll not be fighting any of her regular soldiers." Alwyn added curiously, drawing out another quizzical look from the listening Hero of Time. He sighed this time however and cast their Zoran leader with a half-annoyed turn of his frown.

"Just tell me what I'll be fightin' Al."

"A Hinox."

Veronika's response, again managing to surprise him, made the listening Hylian swing his pointed ears and his blonde-haired head in her direction.

"A what?!" He called back, shocked and wide-eyed. "How the hell did she manage to get her mitts on one of those?!"

"Keep it down." Alwyn hissed out, darting his narrow-eyed head behind them, as if looking to make sure they weren't being listened to by the many soldiers patrolling the area. Link winced visibly and turned his oceanic-eyed gaze away from his companion's ocean-teal, noticeably embarrassed.

"You are our best chance," Veronika spoke up again, voicing her opinion and ostensibly the group's seemingly collective one. "After all… you've had the most fiend-fighting experience between us all here." She responded. Link looked up at the frowning-faced Alwyn and found him nodding in silent-eyed agreement.

"I guess that is true…," he murmured out thoughtfully, turning his tongue within his inside cheeks as he pondered on their notions, brow furrowing again before he double-took in Zelda's concerned gaze directed at him. "What do you think Zel?"

"I don't want you to…," she answered, shaking her ponytailed head at him as she did. "There has to be a better way than this."

"If there is, I'm not seeing it," Alwyn shot back dismissively, shaking his own head lightly. "I understand why you'd be worried… but Bryda's not going to budge on this, and we can't go back to Whiteblood empty handed."

"I suppose I could send a message to Impa… but I'm not sure what else we could do." Veronika hung up the possibility as she rose up her black-haired head to face the similar-expressed Alwyn on her top left.

"I'll do it."

The group of three swung their heads Link's way, half-surprised.

"I said I'll do it," he added, this time in another confident-faced grin. "And I'll do it."

The listening Alwyn and Veronika exchanged another look before the frowning-faced Zoran shrugged his shoulders in response; a respectful understanding and relenting to the well-experienced boy.

Zelda, however, was far more objecting.

"No."

The former Kokiri turned to her and blinked before smiling at her weakly; she merely stared back at him, this time in a hardened if somehow soft-faced frown back at him.

"I won't let you."

He held back a laugh and shook his head at her. "I'll be fine Zel," he answered. "I always am; it ain't like I'll be fightin' a livin', breathin' person; this is just a monster. I can fight these things in my sleep."

"This is true," Alwyn reinforced his words with a light nod. "He'll honestly be fine. It's just a shame we can't back him up." He finished, drawing out an agreeing silent nod from the listening Veronika.

"Besides…," Link began again in reply, shrugging exaggeratedly back at the Hylian princess gripping at the small of his back, flashing her one of his usual overconfident toothy smirks. "How bad could it be?"


4

SMACK

"AHHHH!"

SLAM-CRASSSH

Having entered the ring underfoot that Bryda had specified for him, Link's new opponent wasted no time in crossing the distance between them before slamming its incredibly huge backhand across his face, sending him tailspinning and yelling humorously through the air before at last crashing into the wall behind him; a long and wide horizontally-placed wall that pre-set the seating stands above it.

Apparently this ring existed in this particular garrison in times of yore.

Seems an odd place to put it, Link wondered as he groaned and pulled himself out of the wreckage the Hinox threw him in.

The sound of the screaming soldiers venting their enjoyment (and perhaps frustration) over the match-up above him echoed in his small and pointed Hylian ears, making him near-wince from the sheer adrenaline they threatened to infect him with.

Stay calm, he thought.

You've always worked best when dealing with monsters like Hinoxes in a calm state.

As if the huge Hinox itself was somehow reading his very inwardly-private ponderings, it gave vent to a thunderous roar that shook the seats the soldiers sat on before immediately shaking the ground again in an incredibly-quick shoulder-charging sprint. Link stood to his boots and narrowed both oceanic eyes at it, lowering his Gilded Sword and Mirror Shield both to his two sides, channelling Aegir very carefully and slowly through the ends as if to give them extra blades to attack and defend with. As the lumbering Hinox eventually crossed the distance between them both in a careless charge, Link widened his eyes and side-stepped it fairly effectively, running his Gilded Sword and Mirror Shield across its exposed leg as he did.

SQUELCH

The Hinox roared out a second time as the Gilded Sword and Mirror Shield managed to effectively wound it, bringing blood down into the ring below it, staining it foully as it did.

KERRRASSSH

In a clumsy crash, the one-eyed Hinox's rush managed to see it slamming directly into the same wall that Link himself was thrown into, effectively ruining it completely and bringing a good chunk of its upper construction down with it. The soldiers above seated all called out in surprise and shock before scrambling to get to safety, their cheers and bellows unchanged. The Hinox, angered, turned and grappled at one of the fallen pieces of wreckage with an odd hole in it; one that the watching Link managed to take note of. As it swung the debris 'round, presumably to attack him with, the Hinox screamed out angrily as it brought it whining down to meet the young Hylian.

WHHHIIIINNNNE…

CRASSSSH

In a fairly anti-climactic clash, the Hinox was left seemingly with no opponent at all, bringing the watching soldiers to a shocked silence; only the sound of the small rocks from the earlier wreckage falling managed to permeate throughout, leaving the area in an odd mixture of disarray and confusion; even the previously-raging Hinox quelled its rampage to lower its one eye in examination, listening for its victim's movements.

SKRRRR

The strange sound of steel slicing through framework echoed out beneath the piece of debris, leaving even the watching soldiers baffled; the Hinox furrowed its brow and reached down to grab at the wreckage before widening its one eye at the contents beneath.

A simple freshly-cut hole in the ground, just big enough for a small person, with no sign of its opponent anywhere.

The Hinox grunted out in curiosity as it began to turn its large white-haired head around in search for the young Hylian, desperate and unsure. It was only when the soldiers surrounding it screamed out in approval that the Hinox realised he was behind it and, as it darted its head around, it was far too late; the narrow-eyed Link, re-appeared behind it, yelled out in effort as he shot his shield-elbow into its face before finishing up with a low uppercut to the chin and a spinning air-roundhouse to the face.

"Tatsuma!"

ROOOOOAR

Time slowed down for the pair and even for the watching soldiers as the Hinox was sent tailspinning wildly and violently through the air from its smaller opponent's spinning hurricane kick, sending it tumbling and rolling across the ground in an incredibly earth-shaking quake.

DRRROOOOOOM

Filled with rage over having been denied, the Hinox pulled itself up to its huge feet before screaming loudly into the air again, both gargantuan muscled arms at its side as it did. The creature rushed toward the still-recovering and wide-eyed Link, seemingly intent on counter-attacking him. The watching Link could only watch in a shocked stare as he spun through the air in his Tatsumaki Senpukyaku technique.

"Uh oh."

Like a berry plucked from a bush, the Hinox grappled at the grunting Link's Kokiri tunic by its back before spinning around itself in a near-unending twist. The poor young Hylian yelled out as he was rag dolled around the air before, finally, the Hinox let go and tossed him high up into the air.

"AHHHHHHHHHhhhh…!"

The sound of his humorous exclamation was slowed to match his fast-vanishing appearance, before he crashed violently and painfully into the stone ceiling of the garrison; rather shockingly and agonisingly, his small form passed through the stone, and he flew directly up into the sky. As he did, hanging slowly into the air, he shut a single eye and grit his teeth before spitting out the blood that collected at the side of his mouth in a fairly humorous expression before soon lowering his arm as he fell to catch at the ground and recover in a light backflip.

Almost as immediately as he was sent up did the creature follow; the garrison's stone ceiling crumbling under the Hinox's incredible weight beneath and above it. As it roared yet again in an animalistic wide-eyed glower, it shot down one of its similarly huge hulking-like arms in attack, forcing the similar-eyed Link to cartwheel in evasion to avoid the incoming strike.

CRASSSH

Although he was certainly athletic enough to avoid most of his enemy's lumbering and careless attempts, it was the smoke and debris that the Hinox caused that afforded its next opportunity; Link cried out in surprise as the monster managed to catch one of his legs and, with it firmly in its grip, began to roar once more as it swung the poor yelling Hylian boy 'round and 'round in the air. The cold snowy air filled the wide-eyed Link's lungs even as the Hinox at long last finished its toss, calling out in a single-eyed yell, throwing the former Hero of Time far through the air and out into the snowy field behind him.

Before he could go too far, however, the narrow-eyed Link regained control of his senses and with a swift narrow of his eyes, reached back for the golden hookshot he received in his travels across Termina, sheathing his weapons first as he did. When he aimed it forward, one eye shut and head leant to the side in effort, an odd recent memory of his meeting with the strange and oddly-suspicious Kaius coming to mind.

"When fighting an opponent with superior strength you must use his strength against him."

KCHK-TRRRRRRRR

SQUELCH

The Hinox screamed out in sudden, clueless anger as the blade-end of the hookshot managed to pierce its exposed flesh, drawing out its blood as the blade and its chain shot out of the creature's back. As Link very quickly drew back the way, so too did the blade on his hookshot, effectively pulling the Hinox back with him; it called out in distress and rage before lowering both chunky muscled arms grapple at the relatively small chain. Seemingly unable to yank it out from him, Link began pulling on the hookshot's blade even further by narrowing both oceanic eyes and yanking it backward as he landed on the snowy ground beneath.

In spite of his respectable strength, even the standing Hinox managed to resist by staying on its feet and on the garrison's ceiling somehow; eventually the tide turned, and it widened its only-one eye forward before roaring again as it grappled and pulled at the hookshot's chain. Link yelled out again in surprise when he was dragged through the cold air back whence he came; he slammed his weathered brown boots against the garrison's stone wall as he was hauled up the fortress. Rather clumsily however, the poor beast soon found itself toppling over the garrison's opposite edge in its attempt to drag its much-smaller opponent back up to its own position, screaming out lowly and blood-curdling toward the next building beneath it.

SMMMASSSSHHH

Pulled along with the screaming Hinox, Link grit his teeth and bore the wreckage that threatened to remove his grip from his valuable hookshot, flying through the air itself with the creature ahead. Eventually, mid-flight through the incredible exchange, the Hinox roared again as it managed somehow to remove the hookshot's blade from its lower stomach just in time to crash through the building's stained-glass window in front of it. It was only when Link landed that he realised his hookshot had left the monster's body and, as it flew back to its resting place in a loud click, he back-belted the hookshot before bounding forward in immediate pursuit.

When Link landed back outside into the cold air of northern Gylomecia to investigate, he found the poor Hinox's scream cut short as it landed on the church's outside fence, its body entirely caught and skewered by the protective blades all around it. The watching Hylian could only put on a kind of humorously-disappointed frown atop his expression before frowning back down at the scene, sighing through his small nose as he bent forward atop the church's broken stained-glass window, uttering only a single word with which to describe his let-down.

"Damn."