He Took The Time
Chapter 2 Warriors
Two Heroes stumbled through the woods. The older one acted as a crutch; helping his wounded companion on their journey. They had been ambushed by a pack of lizalfos. The oldest Link and the Captain had decided to scout out an unusually active dimension gate trying to find a pattern in order to plan attack strategies to get a handle on the situation. What was supposed to be a stealth mission that was purely intel-gathering had turned into a bloody ambush when they had been discovered by the enemy.
"Captain, we need to get back to the others."
"Keep your tunic on, Old Man. I'm going as fast as I can," He hissed in pain as his wounded leg was jostled. He tried to keep in straight and immobile but it proved to be an impossible task. They'd been unprepared and were overwhelmed by the enemy. They'd tried to contain them if they couldn't destroy them. Many had escaped when they'd both taken bad hits. The Captain had taken a bad hit to his leg limiting his mobility while his companion had somehow gotten his sword arm crushed limiting his fighting ability. They barely made up one warrior between the two of them. Yet they stumbled along behind their enemy trying to save the younger members of their group.
"They'll be fine."
"They are strong warriors," The Captain agreed, yet he couldn't dispel the feeling of dread deep in his gut.
They continued to try and reassure one another between gasps. Strategizing between pants and waves of pain. They knew that the others would be fine. There were seven heroes against what was left of the hoard. They were strong fighters with many powerful weapons. They fought well together and would watch one another's back. Tired and wounded from their fight they soldiered on to make it back to their comrades. The Captain and the Leader refused to let them fight alone. They refused to let something happen to those they'd promised, in their hearts, to protect. Nothing would happen to them if they could help it.
The Captain felt himself float in a place between awake and unconsciousness. He let the pain flow through him trying to preserve his energy. He was the one that'd need to fight when the time came. He carried the only weapon between the two of them since the older man had to hold him up with his good arm.
He felt his human crutch slow, "We need to stop."
"We can't, we have to save the others." He didn't know how much time had passed but he knew they were falling too far behind at the slow speed they had to go.
"The others will be fine. But you won't be if we don't get that bleeding under control."
"I'm fine."
"For being so smart at healing others, you can be really stupid with your own health."
"I can make it."
"I know ya can because we're gonna get this bleeding stopped."
He was given no choice. After being sat against a nearby tree trunk he was given a stick to bite down on to preserve his teeth and keep the enemy from being alerted to their vulnerable position. The two worked together using both his working arms and the Old Man's good one; they were able to put enough pressure on the wound to stop its flow.
He lost time again.
The first thing we noticed when he awoke was the feeling of safety. Which surprised him, since the last thing he remembered was pain, danger, and worry. He cracked open his eyes when he heard laughter. It was definitely not the Old Man laughing. As his vision cleared he took in the sight of eight heroes banged up but whole, sitting in the firelight.
He laid there, weak from blood loss, just drinking in the sight of all his companions safe.
A voice came quietly from his left, "They finished off the lizalfos and then came hunting when we didn't make it back," He turned to see the Old Man sitting near him with his arm in a sling.
He tried to push himself up but fell back as his body refused to support him. He needed to get up. He needed to run a perimeter check, make sure all the enemies were eliminated, and draw up a battle plan. He needed to make sure everyone was truly alright and attend to any wounds.
"Stop worrying," The Old Man laid his good hand on the younger man's trembling shoulder, "It's all been taken care of."
"No...need to," He gasped through the pain, trying to push himself up again.
The hand on his shoulder kept him down, "It's okay to let other people help you. You don't have to do everything."
He caught his breath as he lost patience with the older man, "I do and I don't try to do everything."
The old man just gave him a look out of his one good eye. They sat in silence glaring at each other. They only broke eye contact when a loud voice called that the Captain was awake. Cheers went up and he didn't have the heart to call them down about being so loud so close to an overly active gate. They all came running over smiling and talking over one another. All he could do was smile and take their concern and good-natured ribbing. Tomorrow when he had more energy he'd secure the area, strategize, and get back at the ones teasing him about fainting, missing the fight, and his rumpled appearance.
But that was for tomorrow. Tonight he'd let the other Links take care of everything.