TWO

Link brushed the fingertips of his right hand over the golden triangle on his left. The skin didn't feel any different to him, despite having a metallic sheen over the triangle. He made a fist with his left hand, flexing the tendons and muscles underneath the shape but there was no change, like the skin around it the triangle moved like normal. Link was suddenly aware of a presence to his left and looked over to see James staring at him, his face a mixture of both curiosity and what he assumed was terror.

"Link... What the fuck was that, man? You scared the shit out of us yelling like that. And that flash, fuck that was bright." James took a step toward Link, stopping short when he got another glimpse of the bright golden triangle on the back of his hand. Link shook his head at James, looking around the office to the faces of his other terrified coworkers.

"I... James, I don't know what's happening..." Link was cut off by the door to their office being kicked open. A trio of stocky men in ballistic gear entered one after the other, raising rifles to their shoulders. They scanned the room quickly, stopping when they caught a glimpse of Link's hand. Even from across the room, the shimmer from the golden triangle was bright enough to be easily spotted. Before Link had a chance to react the three men were rushing him from across the room, pushing a few of his unlucky coworkers to the floor in their haste. Without warning, the room began to spin around him before everything faded to black.

()()()()()()()()()()

"Yes, very good Link. As always, your skills with a blade are sharp. Your form is excellent and your strike is deadly. But, you must be prepared for any situation lad. Sheathe your sword, lay down your shield."

Just as suddenly as Link's vision went dark, color returned to him. He felt... Odd. Similar to his dream with the tree, he felt as if he were just a passenger in his own body. Link didn't recognize the man standing in front of him but he somehow still felt familiar, his strong chin and pointed mustache standing out to him and evoking feelings of warmth and friendship. Link did as he was instructed by the other man, sliding his sword gracefully into a sheathe strapped to his back. The shield in his right hand was discarded as well. His opponent mirrored him, leaving them both unarmed.

"The monsters you're so used to fighting favor blunt weapons. Crude clubs, whittled spears, I'd wager some may even use swords. Your skill with a blade gives you the advantage in most situations, but there may come a time when, for whatever reason, you find yourself unarmed. The most skilled of warriors must be versatile, they must be able to engage an enemy not only with steel, but with the flesh as well. Come now lad, raise your fists and fight me."

The man opposite Link grinned, taking a step back from him. He took on a fighter's stance, turning his body at a forty-five degree angle and spreading his feet to shoulder width with his weight resting on the dominant leg. Both his arms came up, his left hand high and his right down low. Link didn't know much about fighting but his opponent seemed to be knowledgeable, which intimidated him. Without any prompting from him, Link's body began to move on it's own, hands coming up to defend. The two men sparred, each getting in their fair share of hits. Link felt no pain from his current body though he imagined that some of the blows likely would have dropped him outside of this bizarro dream world. The match finally ended with a well planned blow from Link's opponent, sending him sprawling into the dirt.

"Ha! Well fought lad, but you still have a ways to go in the art of hand-to-hand combat. Not to worry though, I'll make a fighter out of you yet."

The man stepped forward and offered a hand to Link, which he took. He was pulled to his feet and the man patted him on the back before picking up his shield. Despite having never met the man before then, Link had a feeling that the two were close. A wave of warmth rushed over him when the man grinned and he heard a name in the back of his subconscious, almost a whisper.

"Rusl... Thank you."

()()()()()()()()()()

Link snapped out of his dream just as the three men in combat gear rounded on him. A surge of adrenaline coursed through him and to his surprise, time seemed to slow to a crawl. His body moved on its own, taking up a fighting stance like that of Rusl in his dream. The first guard pulled a baton from his belt and swung it hard in Link's direction. His left arm shot out instinctively, batting away the guard's arm from the inside while taking a step forward. Link lunged then, taking the man's throat with his right hand while using his right leg to sweep the guard's leg in a backward motion. Maintaining his momentum, Link took the guard down to the floor hard before striking him in the face with his left hand and knocking him out.

Link lunged upward at the second guard before he had a chance to react. Fingers steadier than they had any right to be wrapped around the barrel of the guard's rifle, pushing it out of the way before Link kicked him hard in his solar plexus and sent him sprawling. Link maintained his grip on the end of the rifle, pulling it from the man's limp hands and bringing it up like a bat. Using both hands he swung the butt of the rifle hard to the right and caught the third guard in the side of the head. The man was stunned but didn't fall so Link dropped the rifle, charging him and taking him to the floor in a spear tackle before dispatching him with a well placed punch to the throat.

Link stumbled backward after taking out the third man, falling back on his ass and huffing in deep breaths. The whole scene had happened so fast that Link still wasn't able to process exactly what had gone down. The murmuring of his coworkers pulled him from his thoughts and the gravity of the situation started to materialize in Link's mind. The situation was bad, that much he was clear on. Link pushed himself to his feet, wavering for a moment before turning to his desk. James didn't speak, only watching him as he sat down at his computer and brought up the scan of the emerald from before. Link worked quickly, sending the photo to the printer before grabbing his jacket from the back of his chair. Though he still wasn't clear on what was happening, he knew that he couldn't stay in the office anymore.

Without a word to his colleagues Link made his way across the office to the printer, grabbing the freshly copied image of the emerald and stuffing it into the pocket of his jeans. Despite still being in a daze, Link knew that he wouldn't be safe going home. Considering the three guards were armed and picked him out of the crowd specifically he wouldn't have doubted that there were probably more where they came from. With his apartment out of the question Link settled on just winging it. Hyrule City was massive and with a head start he was confident that he could at least find somewhere to hide for the time being. Link took one last look at his coworkers, his friends, before making his way to the exit.

Link didn't go for the elevator, instead choosing to use the emergency stairwell at the end of the hall. With a renewed vigor he took the steps two at a time, making quick work of the dozen floors separating him from freedom. Link hesitated in the final landing of the stairway, debating whether he should take a chance and leave through the front door of the building or use the emergency exit in the landing which would set off an alarm. The thought of encountering more guards made the decision for him, plus he figured the distraction would work to his benefit anyways. Link bolted for the door, exiting into an alley behind the high rise as the fire alarm started wailing behind him. The racket was enough to startle him but he didn't wait around for a response, sprinting down the alley to the main road.

Despite how late it was, it only took Link about fifteen seconds to hail a cab. The driver, a Geruda man probably a few years younger than himself, didn't seem fazed in the slightest by his demeanor. When Link told him to "just drive, anywhere out of downtown" the driver just grinned and nodded his head before stomping the accelerator. Link slouched down in the back seat, pulling his cell phone from his pocket to check the time. It was nearing on nine at night and Link was thankful of the late hour, otherwise he didn't think he would have had such an easy time exiting the building. With the earlier surge of adrenaline finally starting to wear off, Link was finally able to start processing the events that had just taken place in his office.

Link had never been in a fight before in his life. Despite growing up an orphan, he had been lucky enough to have a fairly smooth childhood. His grades were consistently good throughout school and his status as a warden of the government had even granted him some opportunities like his full ride scholarship to Hyrule City University. Come to think of it, his upbringing was about as far from "rough and tumble" as one could get. Even after the fact, sitting in the back of the cab Link was unable to properly replay the events from his fight back in his head. It had just... sort of came to him in the heat of the moment. It was almost as if his body acted of its own accord, doing what it had to do to pull him away from danger.

Link pulled himself from his thoughts, taking a look out the window of the cab to figure out where he was. Considering the late hour traffic had been pretty light so the cabby had made it pretty far out of downtown in the short ride. Link sat up in his seat, fishing his wallet from his back pocket.

"This is fine man, you can just pull over here." Link fished a few ten rupee notes from his wallet, passing them over the seat back to the driver. "Keep the change, but do me a favor if you could..." Before Link had a chance to finish the cabby was waving his hand dismissively before taking the notes from Link.

"You don't have to worry about a thing pal, I never saw you." The Geruda man passed a knowing glance at Link and he got the feeling that it wasn't the cabby's first time shuttling around a sketchy passenger late at night. Link just nodded and grinned at the man before climbing out into the cool night air. They had made it about fifteen blocks from downtown on the north side, an area he was mostly unfamiliar with. Link knew that if he continued north for another twenty blocks or so he would be near Government Square, the home of the Parliament building and the Royal Residence. Instead he decided to head west, figuring he could hit the train station to leave town if he needed to. Link zipped up his jacket and pulled his hood over his head before crossing over to begin his walk.

Link had made it no more than a couple blocks when he stopped walking. The source of his sudden unease couldn't be pinpointed, but he was acutely aware of the sensation of being watched. Turning around slowly, Link carefully scanned the facades of the surrounding buildings. Most of the windows were dark and the ones that weren't had their blinds closed or the shades pulled tight. Link's heart was pounding in his chest and his brain was screaming at him, telling him to run. After the upset he had caused at his office he knew he had to be in some kind of trouble. Had they already caught up to him? A voice from behind Link caused him to jump and he turned quickly to face them.

"Relax dude, I'm not with Dragmire. You need to get off the street, you're in some pretty deep shit. I kinda get the feeling you know that, though." Link didn't recognize the woman that the voice belonged to and kept his guard, ready to run if need be. The woman was tall and slender, her hair concealed by a large beanie. Both her hands were tucked into the pockets of her hoodie and she had a relaxed stance. Link wasn't fooled though, the woman's emerald green eyes having all but drilled a hole through his face.

"Just leave me alone, lady. I don't know you and I'm seriously, seriously not in a mood to fuck around tonight. Okay?" Despite his attempt at sounding tough, Link came off more scared than anything. The woman noticed the golden triangle on the back of his hand and smiled, more mockingly than anything else.

"Really dude, that's how you talk to women?" The stranger looked up to the sky briefly and shook her head. "Honestly, I expected more out of the Hero chosen by the Goddesses." Link gave the woman an odd look before shaking his head.

"What, are you high or something? You want money? I'll give you a fiver if you fuck off and leave me alone." Link started to reach for his wallet, more annoyed than anything else. The woman snorted before bursting out into genuine belly laughter. Link stopped, eyeing her nervously.

"Holy shit dude, who says something like that to a total stranger?" The woman laughed again, shaking her head. "You need to chill out man, I promise you I'm not after your money. Exact opposite actually, I'm here to help you."

Link stared at the woman suspiciously. "Look lady, I don't know who you are. Maybe you have me confused with someone else? But it's late and I really need to get going, so if you'll excuse me." Link started walking, passing the woman on her left.

"You sure you don't wanna reconsider? I can tell you about that flashy golden triangle on your hand." Link stopped dead, hesitating for a moment before turning to face the woman.

"Seriously lady, who the fuck are you?" Link's tone was deadly serious, his gaze even more so. The woman smiled again before pulling her left hand from the pocket of her hoodie. Shining brightly on the back of her hand was a shining golden triangle, almost identical to his own aside from a slight difference in location.

"My name is Zelda," the woman said, her tone softer now. "I'm a friend, you can trust me."

()()()()()()()()()()

Didn't expect to get another chapter in this week, so that's a pleasant surprise. After looking back at the first chapter I was pretty unhappy with the amount of times I started a sentence with the word "he" so I've tried to fix that moving forward. I'm not the best writer but I'll at least make an effort to try to make the story more enjoyable to read. Also this was my first time writing out an action scene, so hopefully it hasn't gone too bad. Anyways, thanks for reading and as always, I welcome feedback and criticism. Cas.