Welp, back to the front.
RRRP:
ChangelingRin (FF): Yes, yes it did. It kind of had to go in this direction, because Ganondorf still hasn't been sealed yet in the present despite having been stopped in the future. Time makes everything weird.
Anon (FF): There is not going to be a sequel to TOM. At least, not one that I would ever write. However, I am not indisposed to someone else writing a sequel to Tears of Memory, as long as they cite me and send me a quick PM before doing so. Plus, I'd like for them to wait until after the story is done.
RandomFFnetUser (FF): Malon doesn't remember the events of the future past, only Zelda and the Sages do. She knows about it because Link told her. And this fic should be done before the end of March, at this pace. No, I'm not killing off Malon. That'd be a bit too much.
Quadjot (AO3): Thank you very much!
Chapter XXVII: The Start of the Tempest
King Daphnes hadn't lied about getting as many arms as he could. Children only a few years older than Link- physically, that is- were being outfitted with spears and clubs and whatnot at a nearby makeshift armory. They were also given a smaller Hylian shield and a body suit of chainmail armor. That was the part that Link couldn't stand. In a battle, it was better to not be hit at all than to let armor absorb the blows one took. Maybe he could find some way to get around it.
Evidently not, because the moment Link stepped into the armory, a spear was being shoved in his hands. "Excuse me?" Link said.
"Standard procedure, kid," the knight running the armory responded automatically. "Weapon, shield, and armor. It's as much as we can spare."
Link blinked. "I can't operate this thing. Are you sure you don't have, like, a longsword I could use?"
The Hylian knight stared at Link for a bit before bursting into laughter. "Kid, you couldn't even pick up a standard longsword, much less fight with one. You might poke your other eye out!"
Some redheaded kid next to him scanned Link's body, momentarily locking onto his vacant eye, before nodding sagely as he grabbed a particularly large club from a wall. The boy was muscular, and was definitely better equipped to use such a weapon than Link was. Then again, he also had the mark of Hyrule on his right shoulder, signifying that he was a member of the knighthood. Probably a page or a squire, given his age.
"I can prove it," Link mused. "Get me a longsword and someone to fight."
"I could do it," the squire mentioned offhandedly. "All this waiting has got me really stressed, and a friendly bout would be nice."
"Hold your tongue, Groose," the knight said exasperatedly. The name sounded familiar.
"Bah, what's the worst that could happen?" Another knight interjected. Link quickly recognized him as the Kakariko guard who wanted to buy a Keaton mask for his son. He'd have to do that some time.
The lead knight sighed. "Fine," he spat, unstrapping his own longsword and handing it to the Hero of Time. "Don't break it, kid."
He ignored him. "Hey, thanks for that," he said to the squire as they left the armory.
"Don't worry about it, pipsqueak," Groose replied. "Just remember to give it back after the bout."
Link only laughed, albeit hollowly. "So, how's life as a squire in Hyrule Castle?"
"Page," Groose corrected. "I was going to become a squire next Summer's Day, but… well… I don't know. Everything that's happened with the Gerudo is really messing with us."
"True," Link agreed. They then found themselves in an abandoned section of town that had been repurposed into a sort of training ground. A few knights milled aimlessly about, but otherwise weren't really using it.
Groose more or less dragged Link into a corner of the square and they quickly began the bout. Link instantly realized that Groose was a brute-strength fighter, using his innate brawn to his own advantage and going for quick and debilitating attacks. He was also rather careful to keep himself on Link's left side. Link could respect that, but it allowed him to exploit a major flaw in the page's battle strategy. His devotion to powerful strikes to end the fight early tired him out and would render him less effective as time went on. He was a glass sword- powerful, but quick to break.
A few minutes passed in such a manner; Groose would attack, and Link would dodge by the smallest of margins. By this time, the page was sweating profusely, breaths coming out in ragged puffs. The Hero of Time had to admire his dogged endurance, but it would mean his defeat here.
In a sudden burst of strength, Groose swung his club across Link's body and leaned into it just enough to score a solid blow, throwing Link to the side a few meters. He brandished his sword, finally intending to use it for real. When Groose tried his next attack, Link caught the club midswing with his longsword, and then wrenched the bat out of Groose's grasp with a quick flick of his blade.
The redheaded page, now disarmed, was defeated.
"How on the Goddesses' green earth did you do that?" Groose asked, still panting heavily. "It's like you're everywhere at once!"
"Your fighting style is tailored to defeating armored enemies, who rely on their garb to deflect attacks that their weight prevents them from avoiding," Link quipped, channeling his inner Ivan scholar mode. "Unfortunately, I don't use armor, or even a weighted shield. Therefore, I'm able to dodge a lot of those attacks that you attempted. The downside to that is, when you did hit me, you hit me hard. My side still hurts a good deal, actually. The results of that bout notwithstanding, if I had been wearing something that hampered my movement a decent amount more than these, I totally could have lost that."
Groose looked confused. "Why do you talk like some old man, pipsqueak?"
Link chuckled a bit. "It's a long story," he said. "And my name isn't 'pipsqueak'. It's Link."
"Groose," the page introduced. "And I'm going to take that info and run with it. When we next fight, it won't go that way!"
Link smiled. "Don't ditch the armor. It helps keep you alive, and you're used to fighting with it. I don't wear armor because I've fought without it for a long time, and fighting with it would change my movement so much that I'd fare much worse than before."
Somehow, the redheaded page appeared even more confused, but didn't comment on it. "Let's just head back to the armory," he said, dropping the subject.
!0*0!
An unearthly moan echoed through Hyrule Field straight into Kakariko village, thoroughly terrifying everyone inside. For almost all of them, it was fear of the unknown. For Link, it was more a sense of agonizing dread. He'd heard those noises before.
At least the glowing of the Triforce had died down.
"What was that?" Groose asked the air, not expecting an answer.
"It sounded like an Elder Skullfos," Link shuddered.
"A what?"
"A fifty-foot tall six-headed skull demon," the Hero answered casually. "And if it's here, than the others are probably here too."
His page companion was as pale as a sheet. "Others?"
"I've only really seen two, and they were some sort of thin bird thing and a giant chained hairball with laser eyes."
Groose appeared horrified, which was a logical reaction to learning that these Lovecraftian monstrosities were now marching on Kakariko. He didn't have an audible reply, although Link did notice how his adam's apple bobbed within his throat.
They made it back to the armory. Link didn't get to keep the longsword the knight had given him, although he was told that he'd get a longsword by the time of the battle. Given the hecticness of pre-war Kakariko, the Hero of Time was unsure of whether or not he'd actually get it in time. For that reason, he asked Groose to stick with him during the battle, a proposition to which the page agreed.
Granted, some of that chaos had dissipated somewhat, with the fact that those who weren't participating in the battle- the sick, younger children, the elderly, and others who were otherwise unable to defend the village- had been brought to Goron City for refuge. A force of Gorons and Zora had also come to Kakariko's aid via the rapid transit that linked Goron City to Zora's Domain through the Lost Woods. While the Lost Woods did drain life energy, they spent so little time in the forest that it was negligible.
The encroaching armada could now be seen, if one dared to peer outside of the safety of the village walls. True to Link's predictions, Ganondorf's forces were now augmented not only by the Triforce of Power, but a horrifying swarm of eldritch demons. The Gerudo appeared to still be under their king's domination, as they were dutifully lugging their cannons into position to bombard one of Hyrule's last safe havens.
Kakariko's defense was justifiably terrified, and morale quickly began to plummet throughout their ranks. Worse, a small, mostly unnoticeable squadron of Gerudo warriors split off of the main assault force and made for Kakariko much faster than the rest of the pack. Hyrule shakily readied itself for the incoming storm, hardly confident that it could survive to see the next sunrise. It was evening at the time, with the sun setting just behind the windmill.
The Gerudo who departed from the main force quickly approached the entrance to the village and were instantly apprehended. Interestingly, they didn't even attempt to defend themselves, and further investigation revealed that they weren't armed in the first place. Also, Nabooru was at their head, demanding to speak to the King.
"I'll be right back, I should go take care of this," Link told Groose before darting in the direction of the insurrectionists. The page, meanwhile, simply stared in uncomprehending shock before hastily following Link.
"... Goddess dammit, we're not your enemies! We- oh, hey Link," the Sage of Spirit shouted.
"Hi, Nabooru. King Daphnes sent me to grab you and your company," Link ad libbed.
The guards the Gerudo were arguing with sputtered and formed an array of half-excuses to prevent the warrior women from having an audience with the King. They disregarded the menfolk and departed further into Kakariko Village.
"Link! Did you just lie to the guards?" Groose demanded. "That's…"
"Got to do what you can to stay alive," Link countered calmly. "Let me introduce my friend here. This is Nabooru. She's the Sage of the Spirit Temple out in the Gerudo Desert and… uh… actually, what do Sages do now that the future past is gone?"
"The same thing we did then," the Gerudo informed. "Aid the Hero in defeating Ganondorf."
"That," Link summed up. "Are you good?"
"I guess…" the page sighed. "Honestly, I'm half expecting you to tell me you're not actually from anywhere on the continent."
"I'm Hylian," Link drawled before contemplating it further. At most, he was half Hylian, as his father was from Catalia before it fell. Could he really identify as a Hylian without being fully Hylian?
Probably. He supposed it was more about how one lived than how they related to their forefathers.
Groose only sighed harder.
!0*0!
"King Daphnes," Nabooru greeted curtly, inclining her head as customary in Gerudo culture. Link said nothing, already being on decent terms with the king. Groose, meanwhile, let loose a small squeak and dove into a deep bow, evidently never having met Zelda's father before.
"Nabooru," Daphnes replied, ignoring Link as the youth yanked Groose's ear to force the page into a standing position. "You told me that you were disguising yourself among the brainwashed Gerudo, did you not?"
"That I did," she continued. "But the ruse was up, and it was only at the last second that my sisters and I could escape. We were able to gather some reconnaissance on the new… additions to their army. They are the ancient demons that populated the Hyrule of the decayed timeline, the one that your daughter, among others, still remembers."
"Well, shit," Link breathed despite knowing that it was true. Groose's jaw dropped, astonished at his companion's word choice, before attempting to slap the Hero of Time across the cheek. Link reacted on instinct, however, and snatched the open palm out of the air before realizing that it wasn't a sword. He let Groose go, sheepish, and shot him a look that hopefully promised answers at a later time.
"Indeed," Nabooru affirmed. "Also, the curse on my brethren cannot be broken by any of the means we attempted, which included counter-curses, slaps to the face, cold water, talking about things from their past, or otherwise causing unrest among them. We've determined that the only way to break the brainwashing is to stamp out the source; that is, Ganondorf's surrogate mothers whom can be seen flying above his armies. They're two witches of extraordinary skill, but they've been bested before. Or will be bested, depending on how you look at it."
"Only because of the Mirror Shield, though," Link pointed out. "Which we don't have access to anymore. It's still in the Spirit Temple. In other words, we lack the only thing that can effectively hurt the witches."
Nabooru gave him an odd look. "It's just a shield with a mirror on it. Do you have mirrors here in Kakariko?"
"Uh…"
"P-permission to speak, milord?" Groose whispered. Given the way the King glanced at Groose, it was evident that he had forgotten about the page's presence.
"... Granted," Daphnes said.
"My granny lives in Kakariko, your Holiness. She sells mirrors, among other things. I'm sure she wouldn't mind letting us use one…"
"Good," Daphnes replied, nodding at the knight-in-training. "Get the mirror ready as soon as possible."
Groose wasted no time in sprinting away, beelining through Kakariko in search of his grandmother's shop. The king, Nabooru, and Link stayed put.
"What's our plan?" Link dared to ask.
"We fight," Nabooru declared. "Our goal is to fend off the monsters long enough to kill Twinrova. By then, the Gerudo will join our side, thus turning the tide of the war."
Link let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Very well."
With that, they departed in different directions, to oversee last-minute preparations for the climactic battle that would determine the future of the world- and the Triforce.
!0*0!
"Don't go, Fairy Boy."
They remained in their embrace. To anyone looking on from the outside, they would have appeared like a pair of heartfelt siblings separated by the war, despite the stark difference in their own appearances. To Link, though, it was much more. So, so much more.
"I don't want to, Mal," Link replied truthfully.
"Mal…" Malon mused. "I like it."
Link smiled softly. "You did in the future too."
The sun was at that intermediary point where, while it was below the horizon, its light still bathed Hyrule. The moon hung just over the land in the opposite direction, and the stars were beginning to make themselves visible beyond the pink clouds that streaked across the sky. It was cool, especially for so close to summertime. It would be a brutal summer, though, with high heat and higher humidity.
"Mal…" Link started. "If I don't make it back-"
"Shut up, Fairy Boy," she suddenly huffed. "You're not going to die. Because if you do, I'm going to kill you."
Link exhaled lightly out of his nose. "Okay," he sighed. "It's not like I was planning on not coming back to you."
"Back to me?" she asked in a strange tone, pulling away from his embrace to look him in the eye. Her cerulean eyes, the same shade as a blue Tektite, were shining with unshed tears. Link could tell with naught but a glance that they were more tears of joy than sorrow.
"Back to you," he affirmed, planting a featherweight kiss on her cheek. He then took his leave, throwing a glance over his shoulder to wave goodbye for a time. She was gently touching the point where his lips had made contact with her skin, face erupting into a crimson blush. She looked happy, though. And that only steeled his resolve to win this battle.
He made for the front lines, taking his position next to Groose. He'd acquired a mirror from his grandmother and had it strapped to the inside of his shield for safekeeping. It was smart.
Ganondorf's hordes was almost upon them. Link attempted to draw his longsword, only to remember that he still didn't have it. To say that was an issue would be a gross understatement.
He took a deep breath and marshalled all of his energy. He'd need it.
Let the battle begin!
NOOTTD: Groose's Granny is a thing from SS, and how Impa is the catalyst for Groose's development as a character. I thought it'd be cool to have a reference to that in the fic.
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