It's about time he got his new gear, right? Yay, new sword and shield! *Cheering sound effects* Thank you, thank you, it's good to be here. But for cereals, let's get real with a chapter 15.

Chapter 15

Gerudo Variety Market

"Pleasure doing business with you!" Link said as he put both his new metal shield and ax in his pouch, strapping his new sword and shield on his back.

"I really don't want to take the money though..." Petra lamented as she grabbed the back of Rupees off of the table.

"Just use it to by more materials and keep doing what you do best," said Link as he turned to the door, a smile on his face. "Besides, I know a few folks who deserve weapons of this quality," he finished as he pointed at the new sword on his back. Heading back up the stairs, he offered one last, "Bye!" before he left Petra's shop.

"Hylians..." Petra said as she shook her head, though she grabbed a green Rupee from the bag Link had used to pay her. "But I have to admit, they have a really pretty currency."

OOO

Hopping on Epona, Link began riding back towards Castle Town. He would have worried about a confrontation with Virtus, but thanks to his new clothing and weapons, he had pretty high doubts that the knight would notice him.

He quickly donned him mask and raised his hood before entering the walls of Castle Town, only after hopping off of Epona.

"Southern thoroughfare," Link said as he recalled the location of the Twilight Tavern. Heading to the southern part of town, he was relieved to see that though he passed by Virtus, bumped into him, in fact, the False Hero didn't recognize him in the slightest.

Turning down the stairs to the bar, he was stopped by a tanned woman with red hair wearing red clothes.

"Hey, kid," she said, gesturing for him to come closer. Reluctantly, he did, looking around in case something was about to happen.

"So, a bounty hunter, huh? Stopping by the bar to get a drink after a contract? Or getting one to cope with a failed task?" she asked, though Link crossed his arms.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Like getting to the point, huh? I like that. My name's Bastet. I work for a... special store that only caters to those who the boss deems worthy," the now-named Bastet said. "You can probably guess why I'm telling you this."

"So, I get to shop there, huh?" Link asked, raising his eyebrow. He wasn't really fond of conversations like this. "Can I ask what it's called before I join you?"

"The Gerudo Variety Market," Bastet said with a smirk. "I'm one of the shopkeepers. I'm sure you'll like our stock."

"Of course I will," Link said sarcastically as he followed Bastet throughout a secret alley that was rather well hidden into what on the outside looked like an old house, a chained door blocking others off who came from the eastern thoroughfare.

"So, this is it, huh?" Link asked as he looked over the building. Though it looked mildly inconspicuous, there was a sign above the door that said 'Gerudo Variety Market.'

"Just so you know, everything we do is legal," Bastet said quickly such that Link wouldn't get suspicious.

"I'd imagine so," Link said as he looked at the store. "If it weren't, this would likely have been taken down by now."

"I don't think so," Bastet said as she shook her head. "The boss would make sure that didn't happen. He's pretty tough. Definitely tougher than that so-called Hero every loves to talk about so much..."

"Virtus?" Link asked. "I can't really say he seems like the Hero to me. Too cocky."

"That's what the boss says," Bastet said, smiling. "No wonder he said that you could shop here."

"Who's this boss you keep talking about?" Link asked, leaning against the wall next to the door.

"The King of the Gerudo," Bastet said. "He's the most recent of the Gerudo males born every 100 years. I'm sure you and him would get along fine. He's always favored the strong," the Gerudo said one last time before entering the store, Link following after her.

He had to admit, most of what he saw in the store looked really nice. There were several intricate swords lining the walls, though he seriously doubted they matched the craftsmanship of Petra's works. Among the swords there were other things such as other shields, axes, hammers, a few spears, as well as other items that looked magical in nature.

He made his way over to one of the axes that sat upon the walls as Bastet walked behind the counter of the market. The entire store bore a very Gerudo-like air about it, likely because it was filled with genuine Gerudo artifacts such as curved swords, revealing outfits, and their signature orange and green decals upon the otherwise red room. There were even some very fine pots, though Link resisted the urge to shatter these.

His eyes had landed upon a certain ax that seemed to be in the style of the Gerudo with silver blades and the orange and green decals on both sides of the handle where the main blade branched off alongside four huge bolts, two on each blade. One side had a full curved blade while the other had a smaller blade that tapered to a point. The handle was primarily straight, though it curbed a little towards the main blade before curving away and reaching the pommel of the weapon, which was a gem made of topaz. The handle was wrapped in the normal Gerudo colors, and it seemed to be even larger than his current ax. (1)

"How much is this?" Link asked as he took the ax off the wall, holding it up to see that it really was heavier than his current one, though not to the point of being unusable. He actually like the higher weight, to be honest.

"The ax? Nothing else?" Bastet asked. "Well, that ax is 300 Rupees."

"That's it?" Link said as he placed the ax upon his shoulder. "Easy," he said as he went through his wallet, placing the money on the counter. Bastet looked through it and nodded approvingly, putting it under the counter.

"It's yours," she said, leaning on the counter.

Link smiled and put the ax in his pouch, startling Bastet.

"How's you do that?" she asked as she pointed at Link, backing up a little as she did.

Link laughed for a second at her reaction. "Haha. It's just a pouch I got from my father, it makes everything I put in it pretty much weightless," he explained.

"Oh," said Bastet, though she didn't come any closer to Link. "Thank you for your patronage."

Link smiled as he left the shop, taking the secret route back to the Twilight Tavern. Entering the bar, he wasn't surprised to see that no one recognized him. He saw Tensa sitting over at a table in a corner of the room away from the door. Tensa looked in his direction for a moment before closing his eyes, leaning back in his chair. He also noticed that Alphonse, Iris, and Meredith were all there as well, Meredith helping out Elvira by passing out orders for those too lazy to get it themselves.

Walking up to the bar, Link took and empty seat, though one patron, an older man with rough black hair and a scar over his left eye, likely missing, turned and looked down at him.

"I never said you could sit there," he said, glaring down at Link.

"Interesting," Link said as he turned to the older man.

"That means move, small fry," he said as he stood, cracking his knuckles.

"Brucis, knock it off," Elvira ordered as she popped up at the bar next to Link and the now-named Brucis.

"Why don't you keep your nose out of my business, woman?" Brucis replied before grabbing Link by the collar and throwing him onto a table two patrons were eating at.

"What the Dark Realm, Brucis?!" one shouted as he stood, helping up his female companion who Link had unintentionally knocked over when he was thrown at them.

"This kid didn't ask permission before he sat next to me," Brucis said, trying to make Link ou to be the bad guy, but the man who Link had been thrown at didn't like that.

"Well, you didn't ask for permission before you threw him at us!" the man responded as Elvira made her way around the corner.

"That's it, Brucis. You've had enough. Get out," she commanded, pointing at the door.

"Oh yeah?" he asked, turning to Elvira. "And who's going to make me?"

"Iris! Tensa! Get him out of here, please!"

The two Elvira had called upon rose from their seats, Tensa silently making his way from his seat quickly whilst Iris clanked through the seats to stand next to her friend.

"I believe we are," said Iris as she stood next to Tensa, crossing her arms.

"Hm," 'said' Tensa as he did the same, though he kept his eye closed.

"Ha!" laughed Brucis as he looked at Iris and Tensa. "A woman and a runt? Now that's a laugh!"

Truth be told, Tensa was actually a pretty tall individual, only a little bit shorter than Brucis. Iris was also a very well built woman, being more toned than Tensa was.

"Yep. Looks like it," said Iris.

"Not gonna happen," he declared as he punched at Tensa, the green-haired man easily ducking underneath the attack, simultaneously kneeing him in the elbow and nearly breaking his arm.

"Should have warned you," said Iris as she turned to Brucis, "but Tensa is a master of something called Martial Arts. It means he's a better fighter than you."

With that said, Tensa grabbed Brucis by the shoulders and brought his knee into his face, HARD, breaking his nose.

"Gah!" cried Brucis in pain as he held his nose.

"For future reference," Iris said as she placed a hand on Brucis' arms, pulling them from his face to reveal his horrifically misshapen nose, "when the owner of an establishment as fine as this asks you to leave, you leave."

And with that, Iris caught Brucis in the jaw with a devastating right hook, sprawling his unconscious form out on the floor.

"Thanks, guys," said Elvira as she quickly dragged Brucis out of the bar, rather easily as well. Link figured she must do it pretty often if she could move that mountain like she did.

Closing the door, Elvira made her way over to Link and helped him up, dusting him off once he was standing.

"Sorry about Brucis," she said, placing her hands on her hips, "he tends to get drunk and pick fights with whoever sits next to him. Don't take it to heart. My name's-"

"Elvira, yeah, I know. We've met before, regrettably under similar circumstances," Link confirmed as he lowered his hood and mask. Since he wasn't wearing his Demon Clothing, he didn't need to worry about anyone recognizing him.

"Oh, Link! Good to see you again!" she greeted, patting him on the shoulder.

"Is that really you?" Iris asked, lowering herself to eye level to look him in the eyes. "Huh. Guess it is."

"Hm." You can already guess who said that.

"Good to see you too, Tensa," Link said before helping pick up the table he had knocked over when Brucis threw him.

"I'm really sorry about this," he said as he picked up the table with the help of the male patron.

"Hey, don't worry about it," he replied as they set the table back down in its original position. "Brucis has always been a mean drunk. He always likes to drink and then pick fights with people. Not only that, but its usually Tensa and Iris who end up stopping him. Sad, really."

"Anyway," Link said as he sat back down, "I'm still sorry."

The man smiled and waved him off, sitting back down with the girl he was with.

"So, what can I get you?" Elvira asked as she got back behind the bar. "We've got a little bit of everything."

"Just some food," Link said. "I'm starving after my trek through Eldin Province."

"Well, how about a few loach fillets?" Elvira asked.

Link nodded. "That sounds fine."

"Coming right up!" Elvira said with a smile as she went in the back to prepare the food.

"So, care to explain why you left like you did last time?" Iris asked as she sat next to Link, taking Brucis' empty seat.

"I just had everything I needed at the time," Link said. "All I needed to know was where the trouble areas were."

"Interesting," replied Iris. "And how did it go?"

"It was nothing," Link lied. "There was just a mishap in the mines that prevented the Gorons from mining, though it resolved itself easily enough."

"You killed the monster, didn't you?"

"Yeah," he admitted.

"You can trust us, Valion," Iris said as she patted Link on the back. "We'll do what we can to help you."

Link smiled and was about to respond, but Elvira came from the back with a steaming plate in hand.

"Sorry for the wait!" she said as she put the plate down in front of Link. "Careful, it's hot!"

"Thank you," Link said as he grabbed a fork and took a bite, the warm food easily being the most enjoyable part of the day.

"Oh, Goddesses I needed this," he said as he took another bite.

"Well, I leave you to that then," said Iris as she went back to her original seat.

Link wasn't complaining. He wanted to have some time to enjoy his food before he went back to work.

OOO

"Oh, that hit the spot."

Link just finished his food, and he was quite impressed with it. Elvira really was a talented cook.

At this point, he only had to wait a few minutes for Elvira to close up shop such that he could find out where he had to move to next in order to do what he had to do.

As such, he took a seat across from Tensa, the green-haired man glaring at him as he did.

"Hey, Tensa," Link greeted.

"Hm."

"What, no hello?" Link asked.

"...Hi..."

"Look, I get that you really don't like people, but you need to open up a bit to people," Link said. "It might just get a few people to open up to you."

Tensa merely continued to glare at Link before closing his eyes. "My personal life if of no concern to you. All you must know is that I am loyal to Hyrule."

Link sighed. "Fine. In time, however, I expect you to open up to me soon."

"Farewell," Tensa stressed, glaring at Link once more.

Link sighed once more before getting up from his seat, sitting back at the bar, Elvira setting a glass out in front of him.

"Yeah, that's not going to work to well too well on Tensa," Elvira said, cleaning a glass from another patron.

"I'll make it work eventually," Link said.

Elvira smiled for a moment before setting the glass down.

"All right, folks, it's closing time! Finish up and start heading out!"

As she had commanded, everyone got up and started leaving, except for Meredith, Alphonse, Iris, and Tensa, of course. They all made their way to the back of the room, Alphonse laying the map back out.

"So, to begin today, it turns out that Link managed to clear out the Goron Mines earlier," he said clasping his hands together in front of him. "Good job. I guess that means we can take the mark of the map."

"On it!" Meredith cheered as she went to scratching the paint off with her nails. "I'll have this off in a jiffy...!"

Link laughed a little bit at her expense as she took a little longer than 'a jiffy' in order to take off the paint, though she eventually got it.

"So, where else is having problems?" Link asked, getting straight to the point.

"That would be here," said Iris as she pointed to a red mark on the border between the Eldin and Lanayru Provinces. "A large number of reports have come in saying how the grave there has been haunted or something, making it impossible for people to pay their respects."

"Okay," said Link as he looked over the map. "I'll see what I can do."

"Just so you know," said Alphonse as Link stood up, "you'll have to make your way back through Eldin Province and over the Bridge of Eldin in order to get to the graveyard. It's known as the Emerald Grove due to a large grave made out of a huge gem much like an emerald. If you can't find your way, just ask the locals, they should be able to point you in the right direction."

"Thanks, Alphonse," said Link as he headed out of the bar, Marze popping out of his cloak as always.

"So, we're headed out?" he asked, Link nodding in response.

"Yep. The border of Eldin and Lanayru. There's this place called the Emerald Grove that might prove worth our time," Link explained as they made their way out of town, Link mounting Epona after handing her an apple from her saddlebags.

"All right, girl, we've got quite the little adventure ahead of us," he said as he pet her, Epona whinnying gratefully in response as she began moving.

"Emerald Grove, here we come."

Okay, here we go! Chapter 15's all set to go! And hey, a point! Let's quick get that out of the way so you know what the hell ol' Oni here was talking about.

(1) Essentially the same ax as an Iron Knuckle from Ocarina of Time, though with a few minor changes such as the curved handle and single full blade.

Anyway, you guys know the drill.

OniHelix out!