Shiek's P.O.V.

Frustration. That is all I had to show for my hours of searching. I had a hard time believing that some of these people had the coordination to walk while swinging their arms, let alone wield a blade with any skill. No wonder Ganondorf left this town mostly alone. There's not much sport in killing a sheep that walks willingly to the slaughter.

At least I had the town tavern left. I would have liked to go a little later when the number and quality of customers increased, but I could at least get started. The bartender would probably be my best source of information anyway.

The tavern was pretty standard, perhaps a little cleaner than most. Only three people excluding the bartender were in the building, and none was exactly the pinnacle of society. Two were on opposites sides of the bar, while one was sitting at a table nursing his drink. These were the kind of people one doesn't give a second look, but that's not the way I was trained. No, at this point, it was second nature for me to analyze every detail of whatever I came across. I'm not sure I could stop if I tried.

As I discreetly searched the man on the far side of the bar, a pang of familiarity struck through me. No. No, it couldn't be. But. . . His hair was different. It used to be neat and trimmed; now it was long and stringy, and he had an untamed beard. It hadn't been a decade since I had seen him last, but he looked as if time had carved twenty years into his face. No matter the differences, it was him. Maybe this day would not be a waste after all.

I signaled to the bartender to bring me a drink, as I took a seat next to him. I slid the drink over, and he grunted his gratitude before looking over at me and cursing under his breath. I believe he also said something along the lines of "not another one".

"Look, I appreciate the drink, but I'm not really in the mood to deal with one of your kind right now."

I bit back the angry retort on my tongue and kept my face neutral. "Hello, to you too, General," I said in the most polite tone I could manage.

He visibly stiffened at the sound of his old title. "I think you've gotten me confused for someone else," he said in a way that would not fool anyone.

"I see your days with drink have not improved your acting abilities, General."

Looking defeated with his hands rubbing his temples, he said, "How do you know who I am?"

"You know of my people. We always made it a point to know who is important. You were important once, before your demotion."

"Have you only come here to mock me, boy?"

I had misspoken. Wounding Link's pride was one thing; it would help him in the long run. This man was so beaten down by the hand life dealt him that his pride was all he had left.

"No, I came to offer you an opportunity."

"Ha," he breathed as he stared into his glass. "What could you possibly want from me?"

I was unsure of the best path to take—this was a completely different man than the one I knew previously—so I decided a direct approach might be best. "Your skills as a trainer."

"No!" he yelled slamming down his fist and attracting the stares of the others in the tavern. His face was contorted and red, and it took him several deep breaths to calm down enough to continue. "I will not train more groups of boys, so they can be lead to their deaths. I refuse," he said with his fists clenched.

"My apologies," I said trying to calm him down. "I should have explained myself better. I do not wish for you to train groups of men, just one. One man in great need of your services."

He let out a humorless laugh. "Oh, you must have had more to drink than me if you think there's a chance I would train one of your kind."

I allowed myself a slight smile since my mouth was concealed. "Once again, I apologize. I have not conveyed my intent very clearly. My skill with a blade is sufficient at this time. The man I want you to teach is Hylian through and through."

"That's a little better, I guess, but I still don't see any reason to do as you ask."

It always comes down to a price. "You would be paid, of course."

A glint of greed shone in his eye. "How much?"

"Enough."

He snorted. "I'm sure our definitions of enough are very different. No thanks."

He was right about that, but not in the way that he thought. "Your money holds little value to me, but I have access to much of it. You will be compensated adequately." I hesitated before adding, "In addition, accepting would help you to keep your word."

He glared through red-shot eyes. "There isn't a Zora's chance in the desert that I ever gave my word to one of you."

"Not me. A promise you made to a little girl a long time ago."

His eyes widened. "What?"

"You told her that you would do anything in your power to help her and keep her safe. Well, she needs you now. She needs your help in something that is currently outside her capabilities. Will you train him, or has your loyalty to the princess run out?"

He gave me a hard look as he took in my words. I think he was trying to find deceit in my eyes, but even were I lying, he would find no sign of it: I am a very adept liar when necessary.

"Are you trying to tell me you've been in contact with the princess? No one knows where she is, but one of you knows what she wants and needs? Sorry, but I don't buy it for a second."

Proving my association was already beginning to become tiresome, and I had just started. I made a mental note to find a shortcut to use as proof of my identity before I answered, "I can prove it to you. I have a way to contact her. If you can think of a question to which only she could know the answer, I can show you we are working together within a day or two."

He shook his head. "We weren't exactly close."

"Yet you personally promised to protect her?" I asked raising an eyebrow. "Regardless, I am sure you can think of something to ask."

He looked thoughtful for a moment before gulping down the rest of his drink. "Tell you what: if you can come back and repeat the words I said to the princess the last time we met, I'll take the job."

I nodded. "I will return here in two days with the answer. Then we will leave this town, so be prepared to travel."

He grunted. "What makes you so sure I'll be here?"

"It is a simple enough deduction to make. However," I said as I motioned the bartender over, "as insurance. . ." I switched my attention to the bartender. "This man's tab is on me. I will be back to settle in two days." I gave the bartender a few rupees to show I was good for it before I stood up to leave.

Overall, I was happy with my progress. Realistically, I thought I would have to search much longer before I found a suitable teacher. The goddesses were surely smiling in my favor, though I wondered if there was more to it. He had said, "not another one," which made me wonder if Impa had anything to do with his appearance in this town. If so, I would need to remember to thank her for saving me countless hours of searching.

Link's POV

"You've got to be kidding me."

Landon couldn't contain the giant grin that spread across his face. "Nope. We were really hired as pest control for this place."

I looked around the huge barn from the entrance, stupefied. Apparently this massive building was jointly owned by a few families. Story was there was some sort of property dispute a couple generations back, and the current monarch had ordered the shared barn as the solution/punishment. I'm not sure what it looked like then, but right now, it was a complete disaster.

"How could they let it get this bad?"

"You know how things were after the invasion," Trenton said. "A few creatures probably found their way in at some point. Then I'm guessing each family hoped the others would take care of it. When no one did, it got progressively worse until it got to, well, you can see."

Yes I could, and it was bad. Almost every surface was completely blanketed with cobwebs. Just from my limited view, I could see dozens of skulltulas. Sure, most were the smaller ones with bodies only about the size of a melon. I didn't have much trouble with those even when I was a kid. But I could see at least eight shadows that signaled the presence of the man-sized ones hanging from the ceiling.

"So target practice?" I asked raising my eyebrows.

"Huh?"

I took my bow off my back. "Sheik's been riding me about my accuracy. He made a crack about me not being able to hit the broadside of a barn, so I guess this is the perfect time to practice."

"Look at you being all proactive," Landon said. "Looks like Sheik really got you whipped into shape."

"No," Trenton said with a sly smile. "I think it's a different, more royal person who's got him whipped."

"Shut up. I already told you guys it's not like that. I haven't even seen her since we were twelve years old. I'm just trying to help out an old friend while doing my duty to the crown at the same time. Now stop stalling and draw your weapons so we can finish and get paid before we have to leave this town."

We each positioned ourselves at the entrance and alternated shots. While my archery could definitely use some work, all of my targets were both big and close enough that I didn't have too much trouble. However, there were so many that it took us over an hour just to clear out the ones we could get from the door. We ran out of arrows right about the time we ran out of targets. I looked to Landon and Trenton and saw they were also dreading the next part. I let out a breath before pulling my sword from its sheath and my shield from my back. I didn't have much practice with it, but the weight felt right in my hand and it provided a little comfort as I crept into the darkness.

Silence was necessary in a situation like this because the large skulltulas were great at hiding and then swiftly descending in a sneak attack. However, they made this small scratching noise right before they spun down, which gave you just enough time to jump away. That became my new pattern: walk slowly, hear the scratching, jump back, and strike. I may complain about it to my companions, but I secretly love this kind of work. It was tiring and dirty and dangerous, but I was good at it. Also when I was working like this, I could get into this kind of groove where everything else would just melt away.

I was near the back of the barn and had almost recovered all my arrows and taken care of all the skulltulas, big and small, when a skittering sound that was subtly different from the skulltulas' made me whip around. I was just in time to see a giant spider-like creature unlike any of the other skulltulas advancing rapidly towards me. While the others' bodies were mostly vertical, this creature's body and movements were more horizontally inclined. Its head was the smallest part of its body, but attached were a nasty pair of pincers that looked like they could easily cut through flesh.

I brought my sword down on top of the monster, but it must have some kind of armor on the outside because my blade bounced off harmlessly. My reckless offensive strike cost my footing as the spider slammed into me, coming down on top of me. The several pairs of eyes on its face looked victorious as its pincers descended toward my neck. I was able to whip around my shield just in time to deflect its attack. Undeterred, it continuously brought its head down against my shield with a metallic clang.

I was incredibly grateful for my new shield, but I still felt horribly trapped. I tried my best to struggle from underneath it, but the monster had me pinned all too well. I heard Landon charge the creature, but his slash against the top was as ill fated as my own. The impatient spider barely gave him any attention, but still managed to send Landon flying with a strike from one of its long wiry legs. He landed in the territory of one of the few remaining large skulltulas and got spin-slammed into the wall with a nasty crack. Trenton ran over to take care of Landon, which meant I was on my own. I can understand his concern for his brother, but seeing as I was the one in more immediate danger, I would have appreciated a little help.

The spider finally realized it needed to change its tactic, and reared up on its four back legs to deliver a full powered blow. At the highest part of its rise, my body was just free enough that I could pull my legs to my body. As the creature started to come down, I put all the power I could muster into kicking out my legs. They connected perfectly to its soft underbelly, effectively flipping the monster on its back. Its legs waved frantically in the air, and it started rocking to try and right itself. No way was I going to let that happen though. That nasty creature needed to meet its end right now.

I twirled my sword in my hand once to get it in a better position before I brought it down into the spider, meeting little resistance from this side. I stabbed it a few more times just for good measure. I kept my eyes locked on the spider as its legs curled up, and turned into a small pile of dust as nearly all demons tend to do.

Finally satisfied, I turned to see how the twins were faring. Trenton was kneeling next to Landon, who was just starting to come to. I put away my sword and shield and took out my bow to take care of the few remaining skulltulas. When I was done, I asked, "Hey, were we hired for cleanup too or just for extermination?"

"Just extermination," Trenton said. "Which is good because it's nearly dark, and we still need to set up camp."

"No way guys. I am sore, dirty, tired, and hungry. I'll use my share of the money to get us a couple rooms in town."

"What about Sheik?"

I sighed just wanting to get a bath, a hot meal, and a bed. "He said he'd find us when he's ready to leave. If that's supposed to be tonight, well, he's gonna have to drag me behind him."

We trudged back to the main part of town and split up. The twins went to collect our money, and I went to the inn to set up our rooms. But when I told the innkeeper my name, I was surprised that two rooms had already been paid for and set up for us. This made more sense when I discovered Sheik sitting on the bed in my room.

"What happened to you?"

"Just a typical eradication job with a small complication," I said as I took off my equipment and laid it in a neat pile in the corner.

His eyebrows came together like my words had given him an idea. "We will stay in this town for another day and half. We will train in the morning again, but then I have some business to attend to, so I probably will not see you until we are ready to leave. In my absence, I would like you to take on more jobs of the same nature."

"That was the plan," I said as I started to take off my boots to prepare for my bath.

"Yes, but this time it would be best if you took on clients who cannot pay you."

I stopped my actions in surprise and then started laughing. "Yeah Trenton and Landon will love that. Especially since they want to work to repay you for their shields."

"If that is a true issue, then I will give you rupees. Tell them that you're handling the money side of things, and give them the money after."

That caused another burst of laughter. "They're not going to go for that. I always leave that stuff up to them since I'm terrible at haggling."

"Fine, tell them I am demanding it as part of your training. You would not even be lying about any of it."

"Sure, whatever," I finally said, just wanting Sheik to leave. Then a horrible thought crossed my mind. "Oh, did you want to share this room?"

"No, I still have much to do. I will be back for you in the morning, however." With that said, he stood and threw a deku nut, once again vanishing into the flash of light and smoke.

"Really?" I said to the empty air. "You couldn't just use the door?"

A/N I've been struggling over how much of this story I should put from Sheik's point of view, so if you especially like or dislike those parts, please let me know. Any other kind of feedback is also much appreciated. Thanks for reading, and have a great week.