With Hugh now assigned on keep Ashei entertained duty, and Shylock and Arnost having come to an agreement of sorts the afternoon ride was rather quiet. It was due to this that a bellow of a horn near the evening caught them all off guard. Looking around Link was surprised to see Thane riding towards them with a few other men and bulblins following close behind.
"Hey, you're still alive? I'm surprised you haven't been eaten or something." He greeted with a sarcastic smile.
"Well if it isn't Mr. Sunshine, what are you doing out here?" Ashei retorted also grinning.
"Hunting." He said shortly. "Ciel's going to want to know you're here."
"Are you guys camped around here?" Hugh asked surprised.
"Our base is around here. You didn't know that?" Thane smirked condescending.
"It's not exactly a major tourist attraction in these parts, so no we weren't aware." Ashei snarked
Thane just shrugged and turned his horse.
"You guys going to follow or what?" He asked
Link looked at the rest and shrugged. "Need to camp somewhere so we might as well."
"Lead the way." Hugh responded. "As long as you're sure Ciel won't mind."
"Guess we'll find out soon enough won't we." Thane said then turned to the men and Bulblins and barked some orders before leading them toward what they assumed would be the base.
"Is it just me or does he seem to be in a better mood than last time we were here?" Shad asked after Thane was out of range.
"Maybe he's only happy when he can boss people around." Hugh suggested.
"That could be it." Shad agreed as they watched Thane yelling at the bulblins for getting out of order.
After a few minutes of riding they came to the top of a ravine. For its size it was surprisingly well hidden. Thane guided them down using rock ledges just large enough for their horses with a few inches on each side. Once they reached the bottom Link was greeted with an astonishing sight, the ravine floor was covered with groups of tents and fire pits. There were people milling about everywhere, and even more numerous was the bulblins which seemed to be streaming in from previously unnoticed caves. The whole thing was incredible by the numbers alone but even more interesting was how well organized everything was, no one was sitting around without a job and no segregation, the bulblins and humans melded together flawlessly and were clearly seeing good results from it.
"Impressed?" Thane smirked at their faces.
"It's incredible!" Shad said after he found his voice. "How did you manage it?"
"Yeah well, I really can credit for any of it, it's all Ciel and King." Thane responded rubbing the back of his neck.
"King?" Link asked.
"Our general... Oh that's right you haven't met him yet." Thane chuckled. "Well this should be fun." He said to himself then urged his horse forward again.
"Should we be worried?" Shad asked.
"Probably." Ashei shrugged
"Well that's reassuring." He muttered.
After dropping off their horses with a few bulblins they continued following Thane through the base until they came to a shallow yet tall cave, the cave was well lit now that torches had been added with the setting sun. The cave was mostly filled with crates but it also held a table with maps laid out on top of it. Ciel was currently crouched over the table and was writing something on one of the maps, he didn't notice their presence until Thane cleared his throat pointedly.
"Yes, Thane what is it?" Ciel asked his head still bent over the paper.
"I've brought some guests." Thane responded with a small smirk even though Ciel couldn't see it.
"Guests? What are you talking abou-" Ciel started in confusion as he finally looked up from the table.
A few of them waved while the others just smiled at the younger brother's surprised face.
"Wha-" Ciel coughed and quickly composed himself. "Well this was definitely unexpected."
"Sorry to drop by uninvited," Hugh spoke up. "We met Thane on the plain and he said you wouldn't mind if we camped here for the night."
Ciel glanced at Thane but Thane currently wasn't looking his direction.
"Of course, I'm sure we can find some place for your group." Ciel responded as he began sorting the papers he was working on into piles. "But what are you doing this far north? My sources tell me that Arnold is miles from here."
"We were actually going to the kokiri forest." Ashei put in.
"They have the last relic that can help us stop Arnold so we need to go there first." Hugh continued.
Ciel paused for a second before responding. "Ok I'll pretend that makes sense-"
"Human! I need to speak with you." A voice bellowed from a nearby cave cutting Ciel off.
Ciel groaned. "King we talked about this! When you call everybody 'human' we don't know who you're talking to." He yelled back.
"I can't be bothered to learn all your silly human names." The voice responded. Seconds later King Bulblin walked into the cave causing more than a little panicking, namely from Shad and Shylock.
"Everyone meet my general, King Bulblin." Ciel sighed. "Now King what is it? Has a fight broken out?"
"Nothing so trivial." King said gruffly. "Give me the new cargo routes I was told you were finished them."
"Ok ok relax, I'll get them." Ciel shook his head and started flipping through the papers again.
It was at this point that King Bulblin chose to finally notice them.
"More humans?" He leaned down to look more closely. His eyes narrowed and he smiled showing all his crooked teeth. "I know you. You're the human in green I fought with before."
"Hello." Link said tightly
"You know each other?" Ciel asked surprised.
"We've met." Link responded.
"I was told to take humans, he fought me to take them back. His strength was beyond that of normal humans, so I left my former master to follow the stronger side." King summarize with the same ugly grin.
"Stronger side huh?" Ciel repeated his voice dangerously low. "And of the two of us, which is stronger? Which side holds your true loyalty?" He asked his eyes glinting.
"The green one, until proven otherwise." King responded gruffly.
"I see." Ciel said then slowly unsheathed his sword. "I guess we'll need to change that, won't we?" He asked no one in particular, his mouth curving into a frightening smile.
"Ciel?" Hugh said in surprise.
"Link, I believe our dual is overdue." He said ignoring his brother.
Link looked at him in surprise but brought out his sword in order to be prepared.
In a flash Ciel had locked swords with him, his face inches from Link's.
"Ciel what are you doing!?" Hugh yelled
"Play along." Ciel whispered, just loud enough for Link to hear. "I need his trust."
Link nodded so slightly that it would have been unnoticeable to anyone besides Ciel.
Jumping back Link swung and brought his shield up in front of him as Ciel swung again.
"You can't play defensive forever." Ciel said louder this time. "For a hero your skills disappoint."
Link smirked dangerously. "You should be more careful." He responded. "Defensive can easily turn into offensive."
Jerking his shield up Link performed the second Hidden Skill as Ciel attacked again. Temporary dazed Link attacked with a horizontal slash with Ciel catching it milliseconds before it hit him. Swiping his foot under Link's Ciel backed away while Link jumped back to his feet. Unhooking his hookshot Ciel shot it at Link. Jumping out of the way Link didn't notice the chain turning and wrapping around his waist.
"You didn't see that coming?" Ciel asked smugly
Link didn't bother to respond as he tried to unhook the hookshot only to find that it had interlocked the chains within itself making it close to impossible to unattached quickly. Ciel took advantage of this to send a wave of attacks which Link parried as best he could given the circumstances but was soon forced to jump back to avoid a vertical slash. Evidently, however, this is what Ciel was waiting for as while Link was in the air he jerked the hookshot sending Link to the ground. Before Ciel could pin him down Link kicked upwards into Ciel's stomach giving him enough time to remove the hookshot chain. Dodging Link avoided Ciel's sword flying through the air above his head then counter attacked with a diagonal slash.
They both zipped around each other attacking and blocking for a good minute without any headway until Link misplaced his step letting Ciel's sword hit its mark on his lower thigh. Link winced but continued to block until Ciel hit his sword arm making him drop his sword. Ciel swiped under Link's feet once again sending him to the ground with Ciel's sword at his neck.
"I've seen enough." King nodded. "Ciel my loyalty lies with you now." He said then lumbered away.
Ciel's eyes followed after him until he was sure he was gone then bent over with his hand out to Link. Link accepted and was pulled to his feet.
"Thanks man, honestly though I wasn't expecting you to actually take a hit." Ciel smirked handing him a red potion.
"Thought it would add to the believable factor." Link responded with a smile before gulping down some of the potion.
"What in the name of the three goddesses just happened!?" Ashei demanded.
They both blinked in surprise at the outburst. "Oh, Ciel needed King's loyalty so we fake fought with him winning." Link explained with a shrug.
"Looked pretty real to me." Hugh added.
"Well that's good." Ciel said. "If it was real though Link would have won."
"I don't know, that hookshot move was pretty tricky, how did you manage that by the way?" Link asked.
"You have to get the hookshot upgraded first, actually if you want I can fix yours up before you go." Ciel offered.
"Seriously? That be great thanks!" Link nodded happily.
"Link! Scary lady! Ciel's big brother! Glasses guy! Sheikah guy! Old guy who used to be a general! You guys are all here!" Krem yelled as he rushed over tackling Link.
"Um hi?" Link greeted as Krem clung to him.
Ciel rolled his eyes and pulled Krem off by the back of his collar.
"Krem what are you doing here?" He asked as Krem struggled to escape.
"I heard that they were here so I came to see them!" He said with a grin. "But then I saw you guys fighting! It was so cool! Of course I knew it was fake but it was still awesome!" He rambled excitedly
"Krem keep that quiet I don't want King to know." Ciel hissed
"Yeah yeah." Krem rolled his eyes waving him off.
"Here Thane take Krem and find something useful to do, I'll get them settled." Ciel said holding Krem out to Thane by his collar.
"Awwwww but I want to stay with them!" Krem whined
"Come on squirt we've got our orders quit stalling." Thane called as he started walking away.
"Ugh fine," Krem relented. "I'll talk to you guys later!" He called as he ran after Thane.
"They have way too much energy." Ciel muttered. "Anyway, you guys can camp in the lower western camp there should be room there."
"Thanks again letting us stay." Hugh said after a moment.
"It's no trouble, we've certainly got the room." Ciel shrugged.
"It is really impressive." Hugh responded looking around at the camp appreciatively
"Thank you, it perhaps not as comfortable as the village but I'm happy with it." Ciel answered with a small smile.
"So, what do you guys even do? Are you guys bandits or what?" Ashei asked
"They were before I got here." He answered. "now I've got them into trading."
"And they just went for that?" Shad asked.
"Took some convincing but they aren't bad guys. They stole at first because they needed food, then they stole because they that's all they had ever done. They just needed a purpose so once I gave them a new one they were pretty ok with switching over."
"So, who do you trade with?" Auru asked.
"Me!" Shylock piped up excitedly.
"Yeah mostly the Gerudo at the moment but we're looking to expand." Ciel continued. "Anyway here we are." He said coming to a stop in front of a group of tents. "If you need anything my tent is there, Krem's is there and Thane's is there," He said gesturing to the separate tents as he led them through. "Fair warning though Thane is less than friendly when woken up and Krem is almost impossible to put back to sleep if woken up so your choice who you want to deal with."
"What about if we come and bug you?" Ashei asked raising an eyebrow
Ciel chuckled. "If you can succeed in waking me up you will both earn my respect and I will help you with anything you need."
"He sleeps like a rock, nothing short of an earthquake or a bucket of water can wake him up." Hugh added
"Oh? And who gets the privilege of waking you up every morning?" Link asked
"Thane." Ciel groaned. "He is a ridiculous morning person and it irritates him to no end when people sleep in."
"And by sleeping in he means waking up after 6:00." Krem added popping into the conversation suddenly.
"Krem! I told you to go with Thane!" Ciel said irritatedly
"And go and do something useful." Krem finished. "Which I did! I made up the tents for them, annnnnd I got supper started so there!" He said triumphantly.
Ciel pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fine whatever, clearly you're going to do whatever you want anyway so just try not to cause too much trouble."
"Yes sir!" Krem saluted teasingly. "Come on! Your tents are this way!" He said leading the way. "Oh by the way, anything interesting happen to you since we left?" Krem asked.
"We met the Koni." Hugh supplied.
"Yeah and they stole my horse!" Shylock added irritatedly.
"Shylock we've been over this, if you stole the horse first then they're not stealing it when they take if back." Auru huffed.
"Borrowed." Shylock corrected.
"Whatever I give up." Auru said throwing his hands in the air.
"But how did you get here if your horse was ... Um taken?" Krem asked diplomatically
"He bought a new one while we were there." Link answered.
"Ah, and? Anything else?" Krem asked curiously
Link shrugged. "Got the info we needed then we head out." He summarized.
"Yeah I already know about relics." Krem waved him off. "I'm more interested in Hugh and Ashei."
"What about them?" Ciel asked confused.
"... Seriously?" Krem asked in disbelief.
"We're together now." Hugh informed him proudly.
"You weren't before?" Ciel responded surprised
"...no." Hugh mumbled.
"Oh, well congrats then." Ciel chuckled. "Hugh- I applaud your choice, and Ashei I questions yours but I hope you'll both be very happy together."
"Hardy har har." Hugh joked punching him lightly in the shoulder.
"Supper is ready!" Krem called to them from one of the nearby fires.
"When did he get over there?" Ashei asked.
"He left while you guys were talking, he does that when he gets bored." Thane answered as he suddenly appeared.
"And when did you get here?" She added
"A little while ago," he shrugged. "I was looking for Krem but now I'm on break."
"So is taking care of Krem like your job or something?" Ashei teased.
"Yes." Thane answered in all seriousness. "And I don't get paid enough for it."
"In other news, most of the group has left already." Hugh interrupted.
Ashei looked around and the only ones left were herself, Hugh and Thane, the rest had gone and joined Krem at the fire and a few were already eating.
"Well that's kinda rude." Ashei commented. "Better hurry up if we want to get any food."
Krem was enthusiastically asking questions about Link's never-ending pocket when they sat down and it appeared that Link had given up on answering and had handed him the pouch to investigate for himself. This had started out alright but Krem had quickly lost interest in simply peering into the pouch and began pulling items out of said pouch. This then lead to another barrage of questions involving each of the items to the point where Link had given his food away and was now trying to satisfy Krem's endless curiously.
"And what about this one?" Krem inquired happily as he pulled out Link's boomerang. "When did you get this one?"
"That one I got from my first dungeon actually, the monkey I was fighting dropped it after I defeated it." Link recounted
Krem gave him a strange look at the mention of fighting a monkey but didn't comment. He inspected the boomerang more closely and looked back up a Link with wide eyes.
"Is this the Gale boomerang? The one that houses the mystical Fairy of Winds!?" Krem demanded his voice full of awe.
"How do you-" Link started to asked.
"Don't ask silly questions." Krem cut him off. "Is it?"
"Yeah it is." Link admitted rolling his eyes at Krem's mannerisms.
"You are seriously awesome." Krem beamed as he gently placed to boomerang of the growing pile of items at his side.
"What the- ok this thing seriously defies every law of the universe." Krem grunted as he pulled out Link's steel ball. "I mean come on you carry this around on your belt?! It's bigger than the pouch!" Krem exclaimed.
"Hey don't ask me I just use it." Link smirked.
"Oooh whatcha guys doing?" Shylock asked eagerly as he sat down next to Krem's pile of disregarded items.
"Going through my stuff." Link answered somewhat pointedly looking a Krem.
"If you didn't want me to go through it then why would you give me the pouch?" Krem responded unconcerned.
"What's this?" Shylock asked sticking his hand into the pouch.
"Hey I was investigating that!" Krem said indignantly
"Well I'm curious too and it's not like you can stop me." He taunted while sticking his tongue out. Krem stuck his tongue out back but Shylock was ignoring him as he pulled out Link's ice arrows.
"My goodness! This is so cold why on earth do you have something like this? Arrows by themselves aren't deadly enough?" Shylock grimaced holding the arrow like he would a snake.
"I think it's cool." Krem piped up.
"Cold is the proper term." Shylock retorted with the same unimpressed tone.
Krem rolled his eyes and went back to rummaging through the pouch.
"Hey why didn't you use those while we were fighting the dragon?" Hugh asked
"I had just got them and I didn't want to risk using new items before I had had a chance to practice with them first." Link sighed. "Wish I had now but there's not much I can do about it."
"So why haven't you tried practicing with them?" Ashei asked.
"Never seem to think of it when we have the time." Link admitted
"You have the time now." She pointed out.
Link glanced over at Shylock and Krem before shrugging. "I guess I don't have anything better to do." He admitted
"I can take you over to the shooting range." Ciel offered as he finished eating.
"Thanks." Link smiled as he got to his feet
"Here you're going to need this." Krem said handing him his bow.
"Why don't you practice with all the rest of the stuff you got? I'd rather not get pummelled because you can't use your items." Ashei added.
Link rolled his eyes but did collect his new shield, diggers, and arrows.
"Bring your hookshot as well, I'll upgrade it while your practicing." Ciel added.
Wordlessly Shylock handed Link the hookshot as he continued to rummage around through his items.
"It's not far just up where we came from earlier." Ciel said
A bomb decimated another target into splinters, then ice arrow shot through the air catching the target pieces as they began to fall to the ground. The ice spread collecting the pieces and reattaching them to the tree only to be destroyed once again by another bazooka bomb.
"Nice," Ciel commented from off to the side. "Actually caught the pieces this time."
"Yeah still missed a few though." Link responded kicking the discarded target pieces to join a growing pile.
"Almost finished with the hookshot so you can give that a try if you want a break from the shield." Ciel said as he continued working.
"That might be best, there's not much else I can do with these." He admitted
"Yeah without something to fight back it makes it hard to try out a weapon's full range." Ciel agreed as he got to his feet. "Here, give this a go." He said handing Link the upgraded hookshot.
The hookshot began to float in its usual fashion with a short musical interlude playing the background.
"Thanks." Link said happily after the hookshot had landed back in his hand.
Ciel looked at him weird. "What was that?" He asked
"Don't know. It just always happens when I get an item." Link answered as he looked the hookshot over. "So aim beside the person then twist to make it lock into itself?" He asked
"More or less." Ciel shrugged as he looked around for what Link assumed was the source of the music.
Link moved to stand in front of a scarecrow target. Closing one eye he aimed just above where the target's shoulder would be. Releasing the latch the hookshot flew through the air and past the target; yanking the handle to the left he curved the chain so it began to return towards him then locked into the chain links. As soon it pulled taunt Link found himself being flung forward towards the target. Dropping the hookshot quickly he stumbled to catch his balance.
Ciel laughed. "Oh yeah, guess I should have mentioned that you have to turn the latch again after it locks or else you might end up tangled up with the person your fighting with."
"Thanks for the warning." Link responded wryly
"Also, might not want to aim for the neck unless the person has really irked you." Ciel added
"Why?"
"Well you'll either end up choking them or their head might come off." Ciel answered nonchalantly.
Link looked at him shocked.
"I'm kidding it just chokes them but they might end up passed out if you don't unhook the chain quick enough." Ciel explained.
"Good to know." Link said as he recoiled the chain and stood in front of the target again. Aiming for the waist this time his planted his feet firmly and let the hookshot fly. As soon as it skimmed past the target he yanked it to the side and flipped the latch causing the chain to lock into place but not pull him forward.
"Much better, you'll have to get good at sword fighting while you hold the hookshot though or it's not very useful." Ciel instructed.
Just then a Bulblin came and tapped on Ciel's back.
"Yes?" He acknowledged
The Bulblin gurgled something in its own language and gestured toward Link.
"Ok I'll tell him." Ciel responded. "Link could you come over here for a second?"
Link compiled as he returned his hookshot to his pouch.
"Is something wrong?" Link asked hesitantly
"No, it's just some of the bulblins saw you practicing with your ice arrows and he says they have something for you, a gift if you will." Ciel translated.
"Oh! Thank you." Link said surprised
The Bulblin looked at the ground nervously with its hands behind its back. It grumbled something unintelligible before pulling out a rusty metal box and shoving it in Link's hands then rushing back behind Ciel.
Link opened the box a found a single arrow inside with a glowing flame surrounding its head. He pulled it out of the box and turned it over in his hands. Once again the item hovered a few seconds accompanied by music before Link could really get a good look at it.
"Thank you." He said genuinely as he admired the gift.
The Bulblin gurgled again shortly before rushing off.
"Got a full set now." Link commented happily as he pulled out his ice arrows and bomb arrows.
"Cool but what happens when the ice arrows come in contact with the fire arrows?" Ciel asked curiously
"Honestly I'm not sure." Link admitted. "What if I shoot the fire while you shoot the ice and we'll find out?"
Ciel agreed and pulled out a bow. Taking aim they shot the arrows at each other high above their heads. The second the arrows came in contact the most peculiar thing happened, they stayed locked together for a few seconds as if they couldn't decide which one was supposed to overpower the other, then quite suddenly the arrows exploded sending ice shards and small tongues of fire flying out rather viciously. Both Link and Ciel quickly brought their arms up to shield their heads and Link regretted leaving his shield by the targets. The whole show was over in a matter of seconds but left the ground around them rather damaged.
"Well..." Ciel said after a moment. "I guess now we know."
"True." Link agreed as he brushed a few ice shards off his shoulder.
"Anyway as fun as this is, I need to go make my rounds so I'll leave you to keep practicing, you know how to get back to the tents right?" Ciel asked
"Yeah, and thanks for the hookshot." Link answered.
"No problem." Ciel said before walking off.
Link was only practising for a few more minutes before he chuckled to himself and turned around.
"You know you can just approach me like a normal person instead of lurking in the shadows." Link said to Sheik
"I wouldn't be much of a Sheikah if I did that." Sheik returned
"I suppose not." Link smiled lightly. He leaned to look at the princess closer. "You look slightly less tired, that's good." He observed.
"I got a bit of sleep on the way here." Sheik explained. "You on the other hand look exhausted, have you been sleeping at all?"
"Not much point, I'll just wake up anyway." Link shook his head.
Sheik hummed unhappily. "Shylock seems tired too." He commented
"Really? He seemed fine to me. Why you think he's having the same nightmares?" Link asked surprised
"I don't know, just stating what I noticed." Sheik shrugged
"Ok well I'll keep an eye out for him." Link said as he took aim again.
"Your aim is off." Zelda commented idly.
Link scoffed. "Is not." He responded just for the sake of getting a reaction
"Is too. Watch." Sheik retorted before flicking the latch sending the hookshot flying before Link could register what was happening. The hookshot lodged itself in the tree behind the dummy and yanked Link towards it. He collided with it but had managed to right himself enough to not be injured.
Sheik chuckled as Link unhooked himself from the tree. Link glared at her half heartedly before just shaking his head and walking back over. A few feet away he shot his hookshot again and hooked it around Zelda's waist, pulling her to him.
"How was my aim that time?" He smirked as he looked down at her.
"Better." Zelda responded blushing slightly.
"You guys are weird." Thane stated as he walked past them to the archery targets.
Link and Zelda immediately jumped away from each other blushing furiously.
"Um, I should probably collect my stuff." Link said as he turned away.
"Oh don't leave on my account." Thane called. "But you might want to keep in mind that you left your weapons with Krem and Shylock, I heard some explosions as I was leaving."
Link and Zelda shared a look before taking off at a run towards the camp. Thankfully Krem and Shylock hadn't managed to do too much damage before they arrived but Link made a mental note to never leave his things unattended again.