The First Attack
The next day, he checked his bruises in the mirror before leaving. They were quite a bit better than the day before. They were less dark and looked less lethal. He scoffed at the memory of the Yiga clan member shaking him, "Geez, if that's not a new low. Shaking someone while you're choking them because they're taking too long to die." He almost chuckled at the weakness that was shown by the member in those moments.
Nonetheless, the dreadful marks earned him sorrowful and empathetic looks from the women washing clothes when he arrived. He wanted to explain, but that would mean drawing more attention to himself and he'd rather them talk amongst themselves than to him. He got compliments for washing his own clothes, though.
After eating breakfast, he didn't know what to do with himself. Zelda was on Death Mountain, Link was out of the castle for knight duty, and he wasn't of any use to the people excavating for the Divine Beasts he'd started to hear about. 'I guess I can go see if they'll let me help with an expedition..' He made his way to the Guards' Chambers, finding them all, once again, standing outside their quarters. "Excuse me, do you know where the commander is this morning?"
"He should be at the castle gates. I believe he's briefing some new knights about what they should be doing," A thin, tall guy responded.
"Okay, thanks." He heard questions rise in the background about why he told him that as he left. Young Link saw the commander giving orders at the gate just like the guard had said, "Morning!" He greeted.
The commander at first didn't recognize who was talking to him, causing him to turn around to look. His stern face turned a bit softer once he saw him, "Ah hello there. Bright and early, isn't it? What can I do for you?"
"I was wondering if I could be of use on another expedition today. I've got nothing to do and nowhere to go so I thought I'd ask."
The younger guards both looked at each other in surprise as the commander rubbed his chin, "Hm, well I definitely don't want you getting hurt like you did last time. You seem to be a bit of a Yiga magnet, if you get what I mean."
"Yeah I understand. Has the King changed his orders about dispatching them yet?"
"Not yet, but I can tell he's getting there every time he hears something about what they did to his people." He put a hand on his hip, "How about this: in about an hour, we're sending a group out to the southern end of Hyrule Field. If you can go with them, follow orders, and no shenanigans happens, and you don't get hurt, I'll give you a regular spot on my list when you're here at the castle." Now the two guarding the gates were shocked.
"Deal! I won't let you down! Plus, I've actually got a shield now." He took it off his back to show him.
"A zora shield, eh? Just be careful in case it breaks on ya. If you need a shield, ask one of my men to give you one, don't let them be smartasses about it either." He gestured for him to go off before getting back to the guards at the gate.
'Sweet!' He thought, 'I'll actually have something to do and I'll get to ride Grace again.' He was mainly glad that he managed to leave a good impression, though from a different angle, he basically saved one of his men from getting killed by using his arm, so that wasn't hard to do. One thing that stuck was the captain mentioning his shield breaking.
'I know wooden shields can catch on fire or be smashed, but metal? That would be a first.' He remembered his Hylian Shield, 'Then again, that was a pretty strong shield. It had scratches on it, but there was nothing that could put a dent in it. I dunno, I guess I'll see, especially since the zora made it thinner for me.' He shrugged and continued walking toward the stables. The walk itself would take up the majority of the hour before the expedition started since the stables were far from the front gates.
When he arrived, he saddled up Grace and rode back to the castle gates, avoiding groups of maids and other castle staff. As he got closer, his ears picked up yelling and screaming. After noticing the front two guards were gone from their position, he raced into Castle Town, immediately running over a red, singled-horned….goblin? He didn't know what they were called, but they were everywhere!
They had knocked over several shop stands and were terrorizing the citizens. There were already guards at work trying to combat them, but the town gates were wide open, letting more and more of them in.
Young Link quickly decided there was no space for combat on Grace, hopping off her and sending her away. He unsheathed his sword and finished off the monster he initially trampled. Pushing forward, he took out several more before hearing the gates finally starting to close.
He could hardly remember the layout of the roads, but he checked where he'd previously been the first time he was in town, slaying any monsters he came across. When he got closer to the gate he recognized Piper, the little girl from the other day, getting grabbed out of her own home. She furiously screamed and kicked at the beast, but it was no good. Young Link immediately lunged forward and cut through the goblin, catching her as she fell from its grip. "Are you okay?" He quickly asked, carrying her back up to the door of her house.
She looked up after hearing his voice, tears running down her face as she nodded. Piper ran back inside after he set her down. It was just in time too. A freakishly tall goblin had just come around the corner, wielding one of the smaller ones as some kind of weapon.
'These guys are insane!' Young Link thought as he watched it swing it around by its legs. Upon noticing him, the tall one threw the goblin at him, the young hero dodge-rolling out of the way and killing it. As it got closer, he realized that taking him out would be no easy feat. The goblin wasn't a little taller than him like the others but was in fact gigantic from his point of view.
He looked around for other troops to call over to help him. He didn't exactly want to take it out by himself if he didn't have to. Somehow, despite being so close to the gates, there were zero guards around. "Alright, fine!" He yelled, the monster picking up a stray plank of wood, "One-on-one it is!" As it prepared to swing the heavy wood, Link raced forward and rolled underneath it's legs. He would cut the back of its knees but with it holding the plank, it would surely put a dent on one of the surrounding houses by falling as a result. The young hero instead hopped up and latched onto its back, clawing his way up as it swung at the air and howled at the touch.
Now on top of the monster's shoulders, he stabbed his sword through its right shoulder, disabling the arm from being able to swing around the plank. To his surprise, it reacted quicker than he thought and grabbed him, Young Link facing upside down in its tight grip. 'Aw geez I've done it now! Now it'll squeeze my guts all over the place!' Pfft., like he'll let that happen. He quickly bit the monster's hand as hard as possible, dismayed that his teeth actually sank in. After that, the next thing he felt was the hard pavement. The monster had dropped him.
Making sure to remember to use his shield, he swiped at the goblin's legs, putting them out of commission. He finally heard more guards come around the corner as he stabbed his sword into its head, it turning black and diminishing into dust afterward. He faced the guards, "Finally!" He yelled, "Where were you guys!?"
An unfamiliar captain came forth, sounding offended at the question, "We were doing the same as you, getting rid of these pests! And I don't like that tone, as a knight, you should be able to at least get a foothold in one of these moblins a—" He briefly adjusted his helmet, his eyes narrowing at the sight of Young Link, "What the!? You killed that by yourself!?"
"I didn't want to! But there was no one else around and it was gonna crash into these homes if I didn't do something!" 'What kind of captain lets his helmet be too big for him? Also these things are 'moblins' apparently.'
The knights behind him were silently nodding their heads in agreement as the captain sighed, "Well, in any case, did you see any more bokoblins? We took care of the majority of them I believe."
He sheathed his sword, "I haven't seen any after the moblin showed up, but I was going to check the west side of town just in case." They all nodded their heads and followed him there, splitting up once they arrived. The bokoblins were easy to find, all you had to do was use your ears. They're loud and clumsy creatures. The young hero and the rest of the group were able to quickly kill off the rest of them and bring the town back to its previous safe state.
The commander gathered them together and thanked them for their efforts, but Young Link couldn't help but think about what was going on outside of the gates. Surely they didn't all disperse after learning about the gates closing. Or maybe the knights that were out there killed them all? 'I want to check for myself but if the expedition is still on then I can simply wait…'
Charlie, the captain from his last expedition walked up to him, "I saw that you're on the list for my group again. Are you ready to ride?"
"Oh, right now?" He didn't think any groups would go out after the attack for some reason.
"Unless you're frazzled, yeah."
"Pfft what? No way that's me. I'll call Grace and follow." He whistled for her, Grace galloping to the scene and him hopping into the saddle.
Instead of going out through the town gates, they went out the east gate to not stir up commotion with the citizens. Henry, Kevin, Isaac, and Lucas were all waiting for them. Lucas gave him a fist-bump when he saw him, "Hey dude! I heard you saved a little girl and took down a moblin all by yourself!"
"You're sure doing a good job of making the program look bad…" Henry sighed.
Young Link was shocked, but Kevin elbowed the knight, "Hey now! The kid's called Link for a reason! Maybe if you put in a little more effort, you could save a girl someday as well!"
"But not take down a Moblin?"
"Aw shut up man! Keep your dumb hopes up and it might happen," Lucas laughed, Kevin snorting behind him while Henry rolled his eyes.
Isaac approached him on horseback, "H-hey there. I never thanked you properly for saving me from that Yiga dude. So..uh...thanks for that."
He nodded, "Of course! That's what comrades are for. You're not too traumatized, right?"
The knight chuckled, "Well, let's just say I can still clearly remember the arrow piercing your arm, but it doesn't appear in my dreams anymore."
Charlie motioned for them to get on their horses, "Enough chit chat! Let's go see about this monster scum!" They rode through the gate, "Also! The kid is to never be behind the group, understand?!"
"Sir yes, sir!" They all responded.
He was surprised, but it made sense that the captain heard of his request some way or another. They first checked around the front gates, not finding anything and continuing further out into the field. "Huh..everything is clear despite the obvious attack. Did they really all run off?" He wondered aloud.
"Those monsters? Run off? No way." Kevin responded, "Me and Lucas can tell you for sure that a group that size is hiding somewhere. They don't just go back to their business after bothering to group up."
"For sure, for sure!" Lucas agreed, "My bet is that we'll find them holed up in the Breach of Demise."
"The what?"
Henry groaned, "The Breach of Demise. It's basically just a scary bunch of ridges and cliffs that we have to ride under. It leads to the Ancient Tech Lab."
"Damn right!" Charlie agreed, "It's not necessarily scary per se, but! It is a good idea to check there before we return to the castle. Good call, Lucas!"
They continued their survey to the breach, passing the local quarry, a small town, and the Carok Bridge on their way. Despite them trying to locate the monsters, Young Link still couldn't help but feel so free, weightless even as he rode Grace. The wind in his hair, the fresh air, the clouds overhead and even the trees. It was riveting to be out of the castle grounds again. However, his Yiga encounters still hung in the back of his mind. The fact that a clan that was so ruthless was able to run free kept him from completely enjoying the scenery. It was like a bad aftertaste.
It was a longer ride than he was used to, but they arrived late in the afternoon. They quickly checked the area, even seeing further up the path toward the lab, but to their amazement, there were no monsters to be found. Lucas was the most upset about it, "Damn! And this was my idea too! Guess I wasted our time, sorry."
"Nonsense," Isaac said, "If they're not around the castle they totally would have gone here!"
They all grouped up on horseback, all reporting nothing. The young hero rubbed his chin, "Something isn't right.."
"What do you mean?" Kevin put a hand on his hip, "We checked more than we should have."
"I mean," His head tilted to the sky as he tried to think. "Wait what? What is that?" He squinted his eyes at the small, circular objects that were falling from the sky, his pupils narrowed at the realization, "RUN! BOMBS OVERHEAD!" He shouted, him and Grace dashing away with the other guards. Luckily, they were all farther away when the bombs hit, causing loud, massive explosions.
"We could've died back there!" Isaac yelled, sweat running down his face.
"Wrong type of thinking! We need to go back to the castle and alert them of where these monsters are!" Charlie commanded.
"But what if they go attack the lab instead!?" Young Link could see them easily bombarding it now that they had practically run them off.
The captain thought about it, "I don't think it's worth possibly getting men killed and you obviously can't be here by yourself!" There was no sense in arguing with that. They galloped at full speed to the castle and told the nearest gate guards about the monsters.
They all hopped off their horses, "What now?" Kevin panted.
Young Link reluctantly got down, "We're not going back?" They looked at him in astonishment.
"Why would we go back when it's just us!?" Lucas exclaimed.
Charlie put a hand on his shoulder, "Listen, I know you're worried about the Tech Lab, but trust me when I say that they're more than capable of defending their turf."
"R-right. I guess I'm used to trying to solve things by myself…" 'Which is true, after all. No one exactly came and helped me fight anything, and the help I did receive I had to work for!'
"Which is interesting because you're a kid," Henry commented, "Usually they're the ones that always call for help."
"Well, considering he's practically like Link, I'm not surprised." Kevin put a hand on his hip, "Seriously, any time you do anything I keep seeing the similarities. Back when we were in training together, he was always doing things that no other kid could do. We used to think that his dad drilled him at home or something, but as we got older, it got obvious that he was born to be a fighter."
As he finished his sentence, more of the royal guard showed up and it was time to leave again. After getting back up on Grace, he recognized the dark colored horse he'd rewarded some time ago. He managed to ride up next to it and give it a few pats on the neck, causing the knight who was riding to look his way.
It was Link, "Oh, Y-Young Link?" The name came out weird, he didn't blame him, "I didn't know you went out to search for the monsters."
Despite flubbing his name, seeing his descendant made him smile, "Oh hey! Glad to see you're here, and yeah, we originally thought they really had disappeared after checking the Breach of Demise. Turns out, they're on top of the cliffs. They nearly bombed us to death!"
He frowned, "Wow, that's pretty smart, even for them.."
Now the commander was leading the group. He debriefed everyone about where they're going and what they're doing. "Captain Charlie!" The commander called.
"Yes sir!"
"Who saw the bombs fall?"
"The kid over there did," He gestured to him.
The commander rode over to Young Link, "What's your name, boy?" His voice was gruff and deep. No wonder he was the commander.
"Young Link, sir!" He saluted, "Me and another one of your knights have the same name."
"Interesting, where did you see the bombs come from?"
"They came mainly from the middle of the path there." He explained, "More bombs came from the top of the north side of the cliffs than the south, so it might be necessary to send more men on that side."
He rubbed his chin, a few seconds of silence following, "It's been decided! Twenty men go up the north side and fifteen go up the south. We're going to attempt to ambush them from behind. A party of ten will catch the fallers and stragglers." He sorted out who was going where and everyone, except the separate party, hitched their horses since the way up the sides were too steep.
Young Link was tasked on going up the north side while his descendant was a part of the smaller group. He wanted to wave bye, but he didn't want it to come off in a weird way. 'Ugh, this climb is something else," he grimaced, his foot nearly slipping on one of the loose rocks, 'I can only imagine how all these other guys in clanky armor feel.'
While the breach itself was very dead and decayed and lacked flora other than bare trees and twiggy bushes, above the protruding cliffs was a grassy field that even had wildflowers growing. A direct contrast.
They were instructed to keep low in the tall grass and to move as silently as possible. 'I'm for once lucky that my tunic is green. All the reflective silver or iron on their uniform could draw some serious attention. Grass doesn't sparkle.' However, the chances of the sun giving them away were removed once the darker clouds moved in. A chilly breeze came with it.
The commander was on the southern side of the breach. Once they were in position, they waited for him to make the first move. Young Link took note of how many monsters there were. There were at least fifty or so bokoblins and ten moblins sitting near the edge of the cliffs and looking below on the north side. They also had several red barrel-bombs at their disposal.
He frowned, 'No wonder those explosions were so massive! Isaac was right saying that we nearly died.'
Without warning one of the barrel bombs went off on the other side, the explosion sending the bodies of the bokoblins over the edge and causing the enemies on their side to go on alert. Everyone took that as the signal and shot the bomb barrels as well, it resulting in the same effect.
The execution of the attack wasn't very organized at all. There was a good chance that anyone who didn't have their shield up could have gotten hit with debris. Young Link didn't let that be him. When the dust cleared, he peaked over the edge of his shield and saw that six of the ten moblins still occupied cliffs along with a handful of bokoblins.
"Men! Do your worst!" The captain of the group commanded, surging forward with a battle cry.
The Hero of Time ran with the rest of them toward the monsters, him specifically running over to the moblin that was near the edge and slicing at its legs and feet for the purpose of pushing it over the edge. 'I've got to be careful myself. This would be the worst time for this thing to grab me and become suicidal.' He wouldn't forget the nasty tang of moblin blood for a while. Luckily this moblin was trying to hop away from his attacks, soon causing it to stumble over the edge and fall.
After, he turned around and took care of the bokoblins that were nearby. The other troops managed to push a couple more of the moblins off, but the remaining three were proving to be a menace to face. This was due to them having wooden spears that they had no trouble stabbing at the knights. It naturally made them harder to approach as well, but Young Link had an idea.
He ran up to one of the knights that had a bow, they were standing a little ways away from the main combat, "Hey can I borrow that for a second?"
He looked to think about it but quickly gave him the bow without question.
The young hero lined up his shot with one of the moblin's heads and let the arrow loose, it nailed him right between the eyes. The knights roared with vigor as the moblin crumbled to the ground, then hacked at it until it died.
The other bowmen got the idea and started trying to attempt shots as well, resulting in another moblin getting wrecked and poofing away. Young Link witnessed the last of the monsters get slayed. However, the other side wasn't looking too good. Despite setting off all the bomb barrels, less of them got hurled off, leaving more monsters to attack them.
"We should go help the other side!" He called, pointing to where the cliffs overlapped.
The troops were heading to go down the way they came up and scale up the south side. "I don't think we can climb over that, kid!" A knight called back.
"Yeah, that's not a bad idea but the overlap is too high up!" Another agreed.
"We could climb on each other's shoulders! It might not take more than one person at the bottom giving a leg up and whoever is on the top giving them a hand!"
This made them stop in their tracks and look back.
"It means that not everyone will be able to get to the other side, but most of us will be good enough! Going all the way down might take too long!" He was nearly out of breath from all the shouting.
Most of them looked between each other and nodded their heads, "Let's do it then!" They raced to the overlap. Three of the larger men acted as bases and started giving boosts to the smaller knights, who then gave a hand to the next who got up. In no time, nearly two thirds of their group were able to assist the south side and defeat the rest of the monsters.
"Good work men! To the entrance of the breach!" The commander ordered.
Young Link kept up with them as they ran back, hearing occasional mentions of his name on the way. When they got back down and mounted their horses, the group that kept an eye on any that fell gave the 'all clear' and joined back up.
"This was an exceptional victory boys! The teamwork shown today was a prime example of why the royal guard is a force to be reckoned with!" The commander praised, the men hollering with valor. "Let us go rejoice a solid victory at the dining hall! Pronto!"
The young hero rode next to Link on the way back, they both agreeing to share their experiences over food. The guards at the gate were glad to see everyone came back in one piece. The only injuries that were suffered were a few bruises, and at worst a broken finger. With a victory hanging in the air, the atmosphere of the dining hall was electric and full of excitement.
"Good work out there!" Link commended, taking a sip of his drink.
"Well it was a positive experience to say the least! How was it down in the breach?" He asked, curious.
"It wasn't as action packed as you would think. You guys got them pretty good up there. All we got were two moblin survivors, and they went out in a couple of hits!" He chuckled.
"Oh hey, this kid is actually pretty damn special." A knight that was sitting nearby said, "The south side of the breach looked like there were enough monsters just for it to be a struggle and we were gonna go all the way back down and then climb back up the other side."
Link's eyebrow raised, "You didn't think to climb over the overlap?"
"Exactly! That's what the kid said to do! But it's really tall, even for us. He tells us to give people boosts so they can help others to the top. For being," He looked at him, "What? Ten? Eleven? You've got some decent strategy and teamwork."
Young Link scratched the back of his head, "Ah, haha, well thanks. If anything, I didn't want to get scolded by the commander."
"Link we should let him practice with us sometime! He even knows how to use a bow!" A closer knight suggested, "He came up to me and asked to use it. I really didn't know what he was going to do, but he hit one of the moblins square between the eyes! First try!" He sat back in his seat, "I was like, holy crap! This kid is something else!"
He wasn't used to hearing these compliments for what he considered to be basic abilities. It made his cheeks turn pink, "Aw well, I really wasn't that good. There's no way I measure up to Hyrule's best, let alone someone who's top of the guard." Young Link smiled and nudged his descendant, "I bet he's close to being the top! You're super amazing at combat! I still remember that one day when you shot 3 arrows all at once and how you practically stopped time to land hits on that older guy you were sparring!" His eyes gleamed, "Ahhh, that was sooo cool!"
Link smiled, blushing, "How do I respond to that? That, and I'm one of the top in the royal guard."
The other guys laughed, "Please, Link. You don't even gotta be modest! Kiddo, this guy is crazy types of good. Great bowman, swordsman, he can even use a two-handed sword like it's nothing!"
A thought hit the young hero, "Wait," he turned to Link, "How are you back from Death Mountain? I thought you and the other's left early this morning." The knights looked to wonder the same thing.
"He's got a point."
"Yeah, how did you get back?"
"There's no way you ran, right?"
Link shook his head, "Okay okay, basically, we were near the base of the mountain, but not near the entrance, if that makes sense. We had just crossed the bridge when I looked back at the castle and saw a horde of monsters storming toward Castle Town. I got back on my horse as soon as possible. In fact, it was just in time to join up with you guys." He paused for a moment, the look of realization appearing in his eyes, "I should leave, actually."
Young Link was surprised at his decided tone, "Wait at least stay and eat. There's no use in going while you're hungry." The descendant started to stand, him taking a hold of his forearm, "Dude c'mon, Zelda has two other guards with her. I'm sure she'll be okay."
He gave him a slightly unnerved look at the gesture, only begrudgingly sitting back down after he saw it had no effect on him. "I don't know how you managed to convince me, but fine," Link cracked a smile, "I'll at least eat a little before I go."
'Gosh, I feel like a dad.' He now bashfully thought, 'I didn't think he'd actually stay..but still! I would know that going on a long ride while you're hungry is the absolute worst!' The other knights looked stunned, "What is it?"
They snapped out of it.
"Oh, it's nothing."
"Don't worry about it."
"Yeah, it's not a big deal."
'Weird,' he shrugged.
Soon the food was served. It was a hearty slab of seasoned steak and mashed potatoes. Young Link nearly went bug-eyed at the thickness of his, "Uh...I'm not sure I can eat all that...but I don't wanna be wasteful."
"That's okay," Link said, "Sometimes the leftovers go to the cook's dog. I'm sure it'll be fine."
He tried to eat as much of it as he could, but on top of the potatoes, he could only eat about barely half of it before it was too much. "Ugh, as much as I would love to eat more, I think I'll die if I even look at this steak again." The dim lighting was making him sleepy despite the loud chatter, "What time is it?" He didn't feel like checking himself.
Link got up and looked outside before sitting back down, "Looks to be about four in the afternoon or five in the evening. I didn't realize all that took so long."
"No kidding, I'm about to sleep so hard. I won't be surprised if it's the next day before I wake up again." Link was getting his things together, "Good luck on your trip there. Don't forget a fire potion," He groggily said.
"Y'know I almost forgot about that, thanks." He waved to them and left.
Young Link left for his room soon after. Typically, he would do some type of flip into his bed, but out of all the jumps that came to mind, every single one of them would have resulted in a broken neck if done at this level of consciousness. He gave up and flopped into it instead.
The next time he woke, it was dark and raining outside. Being stuck in a time loop in Termina forced him to learn the exact time based how the sky looked. He's been a walking clock ever since. Sometimes he could simply feel it. "It's really three in the morning? Ugh." His sleepy haze made him reach for his ocarina and play the Sun's Song. In little to no time, to him, the storm calmed down and the sun came out. He sat back on his hands, soaking in the rays that came through the curtains, "Ah, much better...WHAT HAVE I DONE!?"
Young Link immediately ran to the windowsill and looked outside. If he messed up time, there should still be rainwater on the surrounding parts of the castle, meaning there wasn't any time for it to dry up between the sun coming out and the storm suddenly disappearing. "Huh!? There's no water anywhere!" He looked at his hands and then back at the ocarina, "D-did I... did I sit here for five hours straight!? " His head hurt to think about it, but that must be what happened.
He mulled it over, 'So time speeds up for my…well my consciousness, but then for everyone else it remains the same, which would make whatever I did in the process look incredibly slow…' Now muttering, he looked back at his bed, "So if I walked over here as the sun was rising, and someone came in and saw me, they would watch me take between an hour or the full five hours to get to the window, depending on how long it took me." Another aspect came to mind, "I wouldn't have seen them either! If time moves fast for me, they'll look like they're moving quickly too!"
The young hero came to the conclusion that it worked the same way it did in his universe, and with that came invincibility to others as time changed. Simply put, if a monster tried to scratch him in Hyrule Field, he would already exist in a time where he hadn't been scratched and so therefore would continue to be unaffected by it. The monster was effectively trying to scratch a heavy rock that was protected by a magical barrier. It dawned on him that he was ridiculously lucky that no one came in and vowed to never play any of the time-related songs ever again.