To think that the day seemed so good at first…
Rish crouched on all fours in the vegetable cellar, hands over his head. His mother, a tall woman with a few strands of gray even at the age of thirty, bent on all fours beside him. The cellar was no more than ten paces wide and ten long, and completely dark. There had not been vegetables inside for ages, despite the name. This compartment below the floor of the hut had been set aside for an occasion such as this.
The terror did not leave either of them, however. The bandits had come so suddenly, carrying torches and swords and spears, ready to plunder. Rish's mother had gotten them below by a hair's breadth, and the boy knew that it would take another stroke of luck to keep them from finding this place, too….
There is speaking too soon, and there is thinking too soon.
The wooden panel was ripped from its place, and the light hit Rish and his mother in the eyes. They can just register the shape of an older, bearded raider, grinning to show a mouthful of black and broken teeth.
"What do we have here?"
For a moment all Rish could do was stare, like a deer in the sights of an archer. Then, too suddenly, an unseen force pulled the bandit out of sight as he let out a surprisingly high-pitched yelp. Rish spent another moment in complete silence then scurried up the rope ladder before his mother could stop him.
The bandit lay spread-eagled on the floor of the hut, out cold. The boy jumped over him and through the open doorway. Two more figures came into view, standing perhaps fifteen feet away from him. He saw one to be another bandit, dressed in a surcoat of chainmail and a metal helm. He swung his sword with both hands, trying to hack at the other figure.
His opponent was a tall young man, dressed in a green tunic. Sandy blonde hair poked out from under a long green hat, and his face was set into a glare. He held a wooden shield in one hand and a sword of his own in the other.
The bandit's face was concealed by his helmet, but Rish could sense his desperation as he took a wild swing at his enemy. The green-clad stranger blocked the blade not with his shield, but with his sword. He delivered two strikes with his leg, first a stomp to the bandit's foot, then a knee to the groin. As the bandit dropped his sword and doubled over, the stranger swung down with his other arm, hitting the bandit's helmet with the edge of the shield. The man sunk face-down without a sound.
Rish could not help but look from side to side. The huts, so similar to that of his own family, block his view. But he already knew that the bandits had been defeated. He watched the green-clad young man swing his sword in a flourish and sheathe it across his back. Shield in hand, he began to walk off into the distance.
Rish did not notice at first that his mother has joined him. When he did, they embraced, and stared after the direction of the wandering stranger.
"Another round for Link!"
"Here, here, here!" Ashei, Shad, and Auru, sitting at the circular table, raised their cider glasses. They saw Link, sitting at the bar, modestly point his glass at him, but the three of them-the knights, the red-haired scholar, and the old adventurer-could see that both the gesture and his smile seem somewhat half-hearted. They each took sips, but Link managed to chug half of his third glass of the night.
Link put the glass on the bar's wooden paneling and stretched his arms. He was still dressed in his green tunic, but he had previously left his hat with the sword and shield in the corner. There are no other customers around; bartender Telma had decided long ago that this would be a special hour for the group.
Rusl, Link's mentor from Ordon Village, sat next to him. He clapped the younger man on the back. "Twenty bandits taken down in less than an hour? You'd have to be pretty sharp to sniff them out."
Link smiled weakly. He had in fact, sniffed them out. The black Twilight shard in his pocket poked at this thigh again, and he recalled taking it out and letting himself turn into a wolf again, just as he had done in the old days where she would….
Link paused, picked up his glass and finished the rest of the cider. Rusl's eyebrows drooped in worry, but his focus was cut off by Telma walking back to their spot after switching out some of the bottles on the shelf. The stocky, tawny woman was dressed the same as every night, with her red hair tied back and a low-cut gray dress hanging off her frame. She smiles at Link.
"How about we cut the praise and get on with the reward? I have something in the back, it'll make you feel super!" Telma leaned forward as she said this, allowing Link a look down her cleavage.
The younger man smiled, but waved his hand and gets off his stool. He walked to the corner, put on his sword and shield and hat, and walked into the night with Rusl staring after him.
Link hiccuped as he climbed up the stone staircase leading back into Hyrule Castle Town. It was no longer an unfamiliar act to him anymore.
He had not done too badly, all things considered. In the six months that had passed since the Twilight invasion ended, he had become a personal knight by order of Princess Zelda's decree, and traversed the land as he had done so before as he battled the forces of Zant and Ganondorf. Village after village, victory after victory. Of course, as he realized now, he could never have expected it to be so lonely.
Midna was no longer around. She had left Hyrule for the Twilight Realm. He understood her desire and her duty. But in the six months that had followed her departure, he had not been able to muster the nerve to continue living at Ordon Village. In fact, he could not recall any gatherings among family or friends, except for nights like these, where he had plopped into Telma's bar.
Link hiccuped again as he crossed the second cobblestone road of the night. Having abandoned his home in Ordon, he now resided in a section of the guards' barracks with his horse, Epona. True, it did not have a soft bed or windows, but…..he felt he had weaned himself of such things long ago.
As Link begins to walk through an alleyway, he heard a faint shout. Not a cry for help, not a plea for reprieve, but an angry ripple through the air. He picked up the pace, moving through the rest of the alleyway and sidestepping a couple of buildings so that he walked into the central plaza. He then saw what the commotion is about.
"Stop! Thief!"
Two guards, one tall and one short, both in uniform and carrying spears, were chasing a figure around the water fountain in the middle of the plaza. The figure was covered head to toe in black, and he held something in his hand. He was not running too fast, and yet the guards were still failing to catch up to him.
Link rolled his eyes before he jumped into action, moving to intercept the thief as he revolved around the fountain again. The young hero swung his arm up to the sword on his back, his hand grabbing the handle. He could see the thief more clearly now. He was covered in a one-piece suit from the neck down, and a face mask obscured everything from the neck up except for his eyes, tiny dots squeezed too close to each other. His costume, in this better light, was not truly black but a patchwork mixture of grays and browns and reds. And the item in his hand, no doubt his stolen prize, was a sky blue ocarina with a gold band on the mouthpiece.
All these details flashed into Link's mind and tuned out just as quickly. He had to focus. He and the thief were now just a couple feet from one another. He had to lunge forward, draw his sword and telegraph a blow with the sword before striking him down with the shield in his other hand. It would be an instant takedown.
Of course, Link's plan was based on the thief stopping in his tracks as he saw the sword flash in the air. He did not. Instead, he dropped to his feet, swung out his leg in a wide arc, and knocked Link off his feet. The hero barely saved himself from face planting by slamming his shield arm towards the cobblestone street. He dropped the shield and lunged forward, pushing the thief on his back. With his left hand still on the sword handle, he grabs the tip with his right gloved hand and pushed forward, hoping to hold the blade to the other man's neck and make him yield.
But the thief was, once again, too quick for him. He did something very unexpected. He held the mouthpiece of the ocarina to his lips and sung a few notes even as he felt the cold steel of the blade touch his skin.
Then everything went white.
No buildings, street, no shouting guards. It was just Link and the thief.
Then everything came back again.
There were cobblestones under Link and the thief once more, and there were sounds of people talking, and shuffling. More strikingly, there was now sunlight.
The air was crisp and the sun bore down on the pair. As Link hunched over, stunned, the thief wiggled out and bolted as soon as his feet touched the ground, running through a crowd of Hylians.
Link struggled to his feet and sheathed his sword. The Hylians…some old, some young, men, women…were pointing at him and watching him and speaking to each other in hushed whispers. As if he had popped in out of thin air.
In fact, it dawned on him, that must have been what had happened.
He stumbled to his feet, ignored the passerby, and stumbled back through the alley he must have passed through. Then the sound came back to him.
"28!" The small man shouted, waving his sign! "Today is Day 28 of the new year!"
No…
Link scrunched his face. It was Day 230….wasn't it?
But the answer had already hit his brain.
He had gone back in time.
And he remembered this particular day…
"There it is! The last Fused Shadow!" Midna swiped the dark artifact from Link's hands." I'll just take that, thanks! Now, don't resent me for all I've put you through. I NEED this thing!"
Link's self-control lapsed, and he huffs. Lakebed Temple had been tiring enough, and he had this imp breathing down his neck again. Even for the sake of the mission, he could not quite believe he was doing so much for her. Midna must have detected his change in mood, for she stopped short even though her devilish smirk did not drop.
"Anyway, if it makes you feel any better, I'm sorry for dragging you all over the place with me." There was an awkward pause. "So, shall we go?" She watched Link nod wearily.
Midna opens the portal, Link follows her to it, and the two began their destination to the place that redefined their relationship.
At least, for the old timeline...
Here goes my first try at a Twilight Princess fanfic! Here's hoping all goes well!
