Captian Heidero couldn't believe how bad his luck had become. He had done nothing wrong, but it seemed that somebody hated him. There was no other reason that he could think of for his current posting.
The Western Desert Hunter Brigade. Better known to the soldiers as the 'Wild Goose Chase Brigade', or the 'Colossal waste of time and resources'. It had been formed almost seven years earlier, supposedly under direct orders from King Link himself, (Rumor had it that the King had also led the initial Brigade's first expedition.) But in the years that had followed it's creation, the Brigade had never once found the person that they were hunting for.
Usually such failure in King Link's army would have resulted in the destruction of the entire Brigade, and either the execution or the 're-education' of the soldiers therein. But for some reason that no one knew, the Desert Hunter Brigade had received a constant supply of fresh soldiers and funding for seven long years. And to make matters worse for the soldiers that were transferred into the Brigade, their new general seemed to care about nothing but finding the Brigade's by now, mythical target.
So it was that Captain Heidero now found himself hiking up over a cresting sand dune and scanning the horrizon. "And of course, there's nothing living for kilometers around..." He sighed to himself, signaling for his squad to follow him up. "Alright boys, we know that General Hard-ass is going to want some kind of report when we get back, so get out there and get me something. I really don't give a shit what it is. So long as we give him something."
The rest of Heidero's squad chuckled as they set off, by now they had worked this posting into a routine. And word was that the Brigade would be setting up camp at a trade town that night, so they were all in unusually high spirits. As they hiked down the dune to continue their futile search, Heidero's mind briefly considered the vague, and completely useless description that they had of the man they were hunting, and he couldn't help but laugh. "Hah, a 'young man, with angular features and bright red hair.' That could describe almost a million people back home in old Castle City alone." He started down the dune himself, "I can't believe how bad my luck is..."
That evening, the sun was just beginning to set as the Hunter Brigade arrived at the trading town. It wasn't much by 'civilized' terms, but it was still a bustling stop on several trade routes, as it was one of the only locations in the desert with enough of a water supply to support the constant traffic. The small city of tents that the soldiers erected was quickly noticed by the various locals, who quickly descended on the Hylians in an attempt to peddle some of their wares, both legal and otherwise.
For the men of the 'Goose Chase Brigade' it was stops like this that made the posting bearable. Some of them quickly drank themselves into oblivion, while others found their peace in the form of drugs and narcotics. While others still sought their solace in the arms of one of the many professional women who worked in the town.
Heidero sat at a mess table, a drink in his hand, watching as his men shuffled off to partake of their various vices. "This is just pathetic." He chuckled to himself, picking up a deck of cards and making his way towards one of the taverns in the town. "A man should not be reduced to what we are, scrabbling for the comfort of women and drugs and drinks just to make it through to the next month. A curse on whoever it is that we're supposed to be hunting out here."
He entered the tavern and was greeted with the sounds of cheerful drunks and fellow gamblers. Making his way to a table, he quickly dealt himself into a game, and within an hour had earned himself a nice pile of coin. By now all eyes were on his game, Heidero seemed unstoppable. Then the whole bar quieted.
"Impressive luck you have tonight soldier." A voice behind him spoke. Heidero froze. He hadn't even sensed the man's presence. "Perhaps you'll do me the honor of dealing me into the next few hands."
Heidero recovered his composure quickly enough, "Of course." He said with a smile, turning to glance at the man behind him. He was big. Very big. But the seasoned soldier could tell that the man was also very, very fast. He gulped a little, something about this newcomer put him on edge. "There's always room for more players."
The large man moved to a chair across the table from Heidero and sat, lounging back in it. Now that he could actually get a look at him, Heidero blinked in confusion. The man across from him was only just over two meters tall, large to be sure, but not nearly the giant he had thought him to be. Also oddly, the man wore a cloak, with the hood pulled up. It didn't cast enough of a shadow to hide his face, so it wouldn't effect their game at all, but Heidero still found it odd to wear such a thing inside, in the desert.
The man's young face split into a wide smile. "Wonderful." He said, "Let's have some fun then. Drink? My treat." He gestured for one of the server girls to bring over drinks for the table.
Heidero leaned back in his chair, observing his generous new opponent. "I'll warn you, I'm no worse at this game drunk then I am sober." He said with a knowing grin, "So buttering me up with drinks won't improve your chances."
"Maybe so," Said the hooded man, "But drink serves to make the night more enjoyable."
"Hah, I suppose you're right." Heidero grinned, he was starting to like this man. "Anyone else care to play?" He asked the observing tavern-goers, "Let's see if we can't make this pot actually worth something."
A few other's soon joined in, and the cards were dealt. It soon became obvious to Heidero that the hooded man across from him was no amature, he hid it well, but the skill was definitely there. As was a natural talent for bluffing.
An hour later, Heidero and the hooded man were once again the only two at the table. Both had amassed a rather sizable pile of winnings. "You seem to have your own batch of good luck tonight stranger." Heidero said, laughing, his stomach now warm with good drink.
"I prefer to make my own luck." Said the other man with a smile, betting a few coins for the hand.
"A good statement. It's good to see young people still have that kind of attitude." Heidero also bet a few coins, before dealing the next cards. As he picked up his cards, he smiled slyly, "But everyone's luck run's out eventually."
"Oh? Is that a challenge?" The hooded man grinned easily, lounging back in his chair and glancing at his cards. "Then I've a challenge of my own for you." He said, leaning back forward, his eyes suddenly holding a surprisingly serious glint to them. "All in."
The watching crowd all collectively gasped slightly. Both men had amassed several thousand rupees each. That was enough to fund any kind of lifestyle short of a court noble for a full year. Heidero just smiled though, the young man was good, there was no denying that. But he was bluffing. Heidero had noticed a small tell that the hooded man had whenever he bluffed. And he saw it now as well.
"You're sure you want to do this boy?" He said, easily pushing his own pile of money to the center of the table, causing their audience to gasp again. "You know, there's no shame in admitting that you are beaten."
The young man in the hood simply smiled. "Deal the final card old man. Nobody is beaten until the final blow falls."
Heidero smiled again. "I like you boy." He said as he dealt "You've got heart." He lifted his cards and revealed them. "But you lose this time." He had a very strong full house hand, and most of the audience began to applaud. Heidero grinned and reached to collect his winnings, but a strong hand clasped around his wrist, stopping him.
"I'm afraid you didn't hear me." The young man said, "It isn't over, I said, until the last blow falls." He then tossed his own hand down on the table.
The stunned silence that followed was almost deafening. Heidero stared at the hand as if it was some kind of poisonous snake. A royal Triforce flush stared back at him. A hand so rare and difficult to make, that it was considered a myth by most. "H-how?" He managed to stammer "How could you have put that together without me noticing?"
Again the hooded young man smiled lightly, "I guess the drink did distract you a bit after all. It was a pleasure playing against you sir." He casually scooped the multiple thousands of rupees into a small bag, and rose to leave.
"Wait."Said Heidero, also rising. "Something's been bugging me since you sat down." The hooded man's eyebrow rose curiously, "Why the hood indoors? What's there to hide?"
The man grinned easily again, pulling the hood further forward, casting a shadow across his face. "For exactly the reason you just asked. It adds an air of mystery to people's perceptions. And the ladies love the mysterious ones." He then burst into a full blown laugh that boomed across the room. "Or perhaps it's because this is my lucky cloak. Who knows?" With that, the stranger turned with a flick of the cloak and made his way towards the exit.
As the stranger made it to the door, a hand closed around his arm. "Or perhaps," Heidero said, all levity gone from his voice, "It's to hide your hair color from me." He reached up and pulled the hood back, revealing the shock of deep red hair beneath. "'A young man, with angular features, and bright red hair.' Hate to brake it to you kid, but you fit the bill for the man my unit's been hunting for perfectly. I'm afraid that I need to take you in for questioning."
The hooded man looked back at Heidero with a slightly sad look in his eye. "You must be joking." He said. When the soldier shook his head, the man sighed. "Well Captain, I'm sorry that you feel that way. I actually sort of like you, so I'd prefer not to have to do this." The man suddenly seemed to blur with motion, his leg snaked up and curled around the back of Heidero's neck, and hooked a foot under his arm, before jerking back around and down. The snap of motion, and the pure, corded strength in the hooded man's body pulled Heidero around and down. The soldier blinked in surprise, suddenly finding himself on the floor, with the other man's knee resting lightly against his throat. "Don't move, don't try to move my knee." The hooded man said. "If you do, I will remove your air supply."
Heidero couldn't believe he had been taken down so easily. He'd been a soldier for years, and nobody had ever gotten the drop on him like that, ever. "Don't do this kid," He tried to reason with the man, "You'll only make yourself look more guilty."
"Guilty of what?" Hissed the young man, "Of having red hair? Is that suddenly a crime in Hyrule?" He pressed lightly against the soldier's neck, "Now. I am going to leave. Don't try to follow me. Or I won't show mercy next time."
Heidero froze as the man spoke, his instincts suddenly screaming at him that the man currently pinning him to the floor was even more dangerous than he had given him credit for. The hooded man then swept up and out of the tavern, leaving a stunned silence behind him. Heidero allowed for a few seconds to pass then quickly rolled to his feet, and hurried outside, looking around frantically. Not seeing the other man, he rushed towards the Brigade's camp.
Ganondorf had to admit, he had grown careless. He'd known that the 'Goose Chase Brigade' had a vaguely general description of him, and yet he'd arrogantly waltzed right up to one of their captains, and then taken easily two years wage from him. Cursing himself for the arrogant fool that he was, he hurried through the trade town towards where he'd been staying. He just hadn't been able to resist the temptation. To see just how close he could get before someone recognized him. "Well now you know, you stupid idiot." He swore to himself, "He's probably going to go get at least one squad and tear this poor town apart trying to corner me..."
Ganondorf stopped and hung his head, sighing in frustration. "SHIT!" He swore angrily. He turned back towards the rest of the town, "Now I need to lead them away from here before they decide that I've 'tainted' this place too." He made his way to the town's center, and waited.
He didn't need to wait long. Within minutes, shouts and the clatter of armor and swords reached his ears. Not long after that, about thirty soldiers rushed up the road. Ganondorf let out an impressed whistle, "I'm surprised he managed to get so many away from their payed nightly company..." He then sighed, and kicked a small pebble as hard as he could.
The tiny stone flicked through the air like a crossbow bolt, clanging off of a soldier's helm like a bell. The collected hylian's all shouted, and broke into a charge, rushing at Ganondorf. "Let the games begin..." He sighed to himself, before turning and bolting down the road away from the town.
The chase didn't last very long. The soldiers simply couldn't keep up with their quarry's speed, and they soon lost sight of him. They did however quickly pick up his trail out of town, and an hour later, the entire (extremely unhappy) brigade marched out of the town, back on the trail. Their General bellowing orders as he led the charge to follow his prey's trail.
A few minutes after they'd passed the outskirts of the town, Ganondorf stepped out of his hiding place and waved 'goodbye' to the departing mass of silhouettes. He was fairly confident that his illusion spell would give them a trail to follow for at least a few kilometers. "Well... that was a pain in the ass." He said, turning back to the town, making his way home.
As he made his way through the otherwise abandoned streets, a feminine voice suddenly sounded behind him. "So, I suppose I have you to thank for cutting my date short?" Ganondorf whirled around, dropping into a fighter's stance, and blinked in surprise. Standing before him was a beautiful young woman, about his age if he had to guess, with long, deep red hair. She wore a rather revealing outfit of a wrap of cloth across her well endowed breasts and a pair of slack pants. She stood with an oddly confident air about her, as she considered his reaction to her. "What? Never seen a woman before?"
Ganondorf slowly lowered his fists, "Sorry." He said, "I'm just not used to people being able to sneak up on me." He took a moment to admire how beautiful she was, while at the same time, realizing that her form and build made her profession a pretty easy one to guess. "And I'm sorry your 'date' got cut short." He said with a grin, "Did you at least have time to relieve the poor soldier of anything valuable?"
The woman blinked in surprise. "How did you know?" She asked, pulling a gold chain from where she'd hidden it between her breasts.
"I'm in a similar line of work." He chuckled lightly. "I'm Dragmire." He extended his hand in greeting.
She considered him for a few moments, before shaking his hand. "Nobooru. Good to meet you Dragmire. So, you want to tell me how you managed to get an entire battalion of troops trying to chase you out of town?"
"Not particularly." He smiled at her pouting response, "Let's go with I may have cheated one of their captains out of a lot of money, and leave it at that. I'd rather not look into it any deeper honestly." He turned to leave, "It was nice to meet you Nobooru."
"Oooh no you don't." She hurried around in front of him, "I know that you're the guy that 'Goose Chase Brigade' has been after. And I'm not letting you out of my sight until I know why." She placed her fists on her hips, causing her large breasts to bounce just slightly, and stood her ground before the large man.
Ganondorf took a moment to chuckle to himself, shaking his head lightly. As he did, he casually palmed a gold rupee from his card winnings, murmured a small spell, and then held up the rupee.
The spell caused the small gem to glitter madly, pulling Nobooru's gaze to it and holding it there. He then flicked the rupee into the air. Nobooru's gaze followed the gem up, and back down as it landed in her hand, by then the fascination spell had run it's course, and she blinked, looking around, and finding herself alone in the street.
Pocketing the rupee, she smiled as she began to make her way home. "Dragmire, huh? Interesting guy." She chuckled lightly into the night.
Captain Heidero sighed, wiping his brow in the heat. It had been two days since the trade town, and he couldn't help but think that they had been played for fools. They had followed the hooded man's trail out of town for several kilometers, before it had vanished without any trace. Of course, the General refused to believe the possibility that the man may have found a way to double back, and so, the Brigade had received orders to once more, 'fan out and scour the desert.'
"That bastard's probably sitting back in that tavern, sipping a nice glass of ice water..." Heidero grumbled to himself, "This really is the worst posting ever... I can't believe how bad my luck is."