VI

A Defensive Outburst

The time since the meeting had been uneasy to say the least, all troop stations had been doubled, and Rito flew in every hour to give report to the current watchman stationed, Hyrule was not actively at war again, but it was closer than anyone felt comfortable with.

Zelda actively waited for any report that had anything more than just the occasional raiding party of monsters, but none had come in weeks, and she was beginning to think she had caused the whole of Hyrule distress for nothing. I should be so lucky for the skirmish to have been a one-time thing, perhaps multiple raiding parties had simply been in the vicinity, but they seemed too coordinated, for that to simply be the case, I should be out there, learning what I can, not cooped up in the Castle, not when my people need me.

Link found what pleasure he could in the little things while they waited. For the last two weeks this came in the form of knocking their newcomer on his butt during sparring sessions. Training always seemed to lift his spirits, and the newcomer with a knack for sword play did well to at least keep up with him, however, Link noticed, he did have a certain sloppiness with the blade itself, but he proved a suitable training partner, nonetheless. It was odd, Link noticed that he understood the concept of stances and even how to quickly swap back and forth, even incorporating movements Link had never thought of, but every time they sparred, he was slow, a half-second here, a full movement behind there. How could one so skilled in the practice of swordplay but lack the speed that often came with those skills. He was more than just practiced, Link could see that, it was if the man's movements were being held back, unable to move as even the man wished they could. There was more to this man than he let on, and Link would find out.

"You must understand Link, where I come from the blade is weightless," Obi-Wan said, holding out the blade as if to demonstrate its weight, "the only heft I have to handle is, well, the handle, the lightsaber was an elegant weapon, not for the clumsy or foolish, and I assure you I have trained in dueling nearly my whole life. I know it may not look it, but I was once a cunning warrior. By my adulthood I had mastered several forms of lightsaber combat, and was particularly adept in its most defensive style."

"If you wish to join us against these creatures, your sword skills have to be better, I don't care if you were a master duelist with your 'light-sword', not being able to properly handle a real one almost got you killed a few weeks ago."

As weapon training took up the bulk of Obi-Wan's training time, he was farther behind in his sign lessons than he would have hoped and as such, he was only able to pick out a portion of what Link had to say, but luckily the royal interpreter was more than willing to watch the two men in action whenever they trained and gladly helped Obi-Wan understand Link's words.

"I understand, is that not why you've been slapping me around with a training sword for the last couple weeks. 'Link is our best and most accomplished knight, if anyone is to train you, it should be him' is that not what her majesty had said, or do you simply enjoy knocking me about every day?"

Link could hardly hide the smirk that crossed his face at that accusation. It wasn't that he enjoyed it, he assured himself, simply that it was an added benefit to the arrangement. Training had always been something steady for Link to do, so what if watching Obi-Wan get knocked down made him look forward to these sessions slightly more.

"Even though you're improving, you're still using your sword like a shield, and that's a good way to break it, trust me, I've ruined more than my fair share of weapons."

"Well, if that's the problem…" Obi-Wan shifted the sword to his less dominant hand and gave a few swings at the practice dummy in the courtyard. After which he seized a pot lid from the nearby cooks and rushed Link. "En garde, my friend!" Unprepared, Link fell back on instinct but found no way to pierce the defense of his partner. Locking into a back and forth, the once lopsided fights between the two soon turned to a dance of parries and blocks, climbing ramparts, the two began to laugh as neither could seem to best the other. Just when one thought they had an opening, a new tactic would be employed, a deft block here, and a weave to the side there. Soon a crowd had begun to gather watching the two has they tangoed across the walls of the castle. Obi-Wan had not enjoyed this dance in many years. Only once Obi-Wan seemed to take the upper hand, with Link slowing down from a near perfect defense did the battle come to a halt as Obi-Wan, still a little slow with the sword, missed a vital attack and Link let out one last flurry rush smashing the lid Obi-Wan had been using to protect himself and knocking the old Jedi on his back from the force of the hit.

"Oof! Well, I suppose dinner will have to wait a while then," Obi-Wan said, looking at what was left of the pot lid in his hand while being helped to his feet by his sparring partner. "I don't suppose you have a real shield I could borrow; protectors of the peace are supposed to be proficient in defense after all, plus if I don't have to worry about my shield falling apart in my hands, I may just beat you before the sun goes down today."

"You might just make it, old man, I haven't seen someone use a potlid that well since… well since I used one to parry a guardian beam"

"Most impressive young man, I've heard your tales of these guardians, once I get the hang of these weapons, you may yet be a match for me." Obi-Wan jested as he clasped Link over the shoulder.

For fear his eyes may roll all the way back into his head, Link decided it best to lead him to the royal armory before that happened. Here the two scoured the area looking for what would suit the Jedi best. In the years since the Calamity, blacksmiths all over Hyrule had been busy crafting new arms and armor for the knights of the Kingdom, and nowhere else was there such a collection of these items. Unused to the sheer amount of metal knights had to carry on them made this excursion rather difficult for the Obi-Wan, as nothing seemed to feel right in his hands, and especially since potlids were less than reliant on fields of battle. Stopping for a moment a black piece of metal caught the older man's eye. It was covered in dust and even had a few cobwebs around the grips, clearly no one had seen, much less used this shield in quite some time.

"What about this one Link? It looks just like your guard's shields, but at half the weight."

"You don't want that one, its barely more reliable than the potlid."

Stretching himself for another go Obi-Wan looked at least a little skeptical,

"Well, what do you say we give it a shot?"

"Okay, but you're telling Zel that you broke a priceless artifact."

"If it's so useless, why is it priceless?" Obi-Wan's skepticism at the artefact was beginning to grow.

"The Sheikah created them before the Calamity, they were supposed to be superior to the normal gear given to the royal guards" Link gestured to the polished, golden arms that they had cast aside, "but somehow they messed up the designs and all of those items, the shields, the bows, and the swords, came out at barely usable hunks of metal that'll break at the slightest touch, and now, no Sheikah has made the arms in a generation, they're just good wall decoration, if even that."

"In that case, would you be so kind as to humor me with this piece, perhaps if it does work out, we could try and commission a lighter shield for myself"

With that the two resumed their sparring regime. A beautiful dance of thrust and block, swing and perry, two warriors in their natural habitat, doing as only came natural to them. A leap here, and wide twirl there kept the battle interesting for the two, at last seeing each other as equal, as only two men who grew up steeped in combat could. Throughout the fight Link was careful to pull back if he thought he was going to hit the shield too hard. This became harder though, as their melee raged, and Obi-Wan become more comfortable with the shield, he began to use it more and more to interrupt Link's swings in new and innovative ways. Ways Link had no way to account for as his sword skidded across the delicate finish of the shield.

Zelda's gonna kill me if she finds out we broke one of these things, but it makes Obi-Wan happy, so I might as well play along, hopefully she'll be madder at him if it does break. Link thought to himself, just as Obi-Wan threw his pommel into Link's stomach after a careful fake-out. Coughing, Link decided that getting yelled at by Zelda would be worth it to knock Obi-Wan off his feet again.

"Sorry if that was too hard, my former partner occasionally needed some sense knocked into him" – Was that an actually pleasant thought of Anakin? Well, those haven't come in quite a while.

Obi-Wan distraction was just enough for Link to get his sword a little too close to Obi-Wan's head, leading to a hasty block that rattled the shield in a most unusual way, rattled it but did not break the two noticed.

Interesting, they thought in unison. As their melee continued, Link was no longer holding back on the delicate shield, he wanted to know why he didn't break it with that last swing. Another few swings and Link managed to get Obi-Wan disarmed, but ever determined, Obi-Wan thrust the shield into Link's next attack, causing the two to stumble backwards, not from the impact itself, but from the nova of red and blue energy that emanated from the shield.

"Well, you certainly don't see that every day."

"No, I've never seen them do that, and I was here when the Sheikah presented them to the royal guards. And they were very excited to show them off."

"Well, what say we go visit these Sheikah and find out more about it." Obi-Wan said, as he eyed the black piece of metal in his hand. "Speaking of, why weren't they at the summit, I assumed every major player on this world was there, this is the first I've really heard of these Sheikah peoples."

"The Sheikah have been mostly incorporated into Hylian society and keep to themselves. Their elders however have long been friends to the royal family and much of our technological advancements have been thanks to them, though much of that has been lost to time" As his message was relayed, Link looked to the many towers in the distance with a since of pain and awe in his eyes. Technology lost to the ages, technology that nearly spelled the end of Hyrule and did spell the end for almost everything I cared about those hundred years ago, all but Zelda. A moment passed with Link lost in thought of a bygone era.

"Link, Link! Are you alright? You seemed rather lost in thought there?"

"Fine"

"We should speak to Paya, Robbie, or…" Link shuddered, "Purah, they're the smartest people on Sheikah technology. Robbie's probably the best to talk to, but he's also the furthest away, Paya is closest, but she hasn't been studying the tech for nearly as long as the other two."

"And what about this Purah you mentioned, where might she be?"

"We'll talk to Purah if the others don't know anything else, but I'd prefer not to go back there if I can help it." Images of an over excited young lady flashed through Link's mind as she pricked and prodded him during "routine check-ups", check-ups he was not allowed to leave until he sat for a picture for her patented wall of fame/wall of shame. "First though, we should talk to Zelda about this, she loves this Sheikah tech and is technically the foremost Hylian researcher on the matter, though there isn't much competition since Hylians themselves can't access all the functions the Sheikah can."

"Well, lead the way my friend, I wouldn't dare to seek an audience with her majesty unannounced, but I'm sure she won't mind you asking." He gave his younger superior a wink as he strode towards the inner parts of the castle, the young Hylian merely rolled his eyes as he ran to catch up to the older man.

Entering the castle and finding the throne room empty, the two began searching the castle for their Queen, finally finding her in the first place they should have looked, her study on the balcony overlooking the castle and Hyrule field. Knocking at the door the two men actually discovered her deep in a research-induced nap.

"Ah-huh-oh! It's just you two. Apologies for catching me sleeping like that, I'm usually much more alert."

"No, please Zelda, it is we who should be apologizing, we came waltzing into your study unannounced."

"How about we call it a draw, Obi-Wan" with that she gave him a well-meaning smile and fixed her hair that had fallen during the impromptu nap. "So, what is so important that you needed to interrupt my 'research'" she snorted, unable to help laughing at her own joke.

"Zel, you gotta see this, come out to the overlook" and with that the excited Hylian jumped from the balcony, catching himself with his paraglider just before the drop.

"I'll… take the long way down, you'll want to see this I think."

"Obi-Wan, Link is in a better mood than I have seen him in in a very long time, what did you do?"

"Oh, you'll see." Sensing a slightly stronger pull of the force than he had when he first arrived, Obi-Wan did what any sensible Jedi would do and followed Link off the balcony, completing a full summersault before landing almost perfectly. "Blast, that shouldn't have hurt like that did." What just got into me, I haven't vaulted off of something in at least ten years, but something caused me to feel the force more than I had when I first arrived here, it filled me with a confidence even training with Qui-Gon hadn't reawakened. I was true that Obi-Wan had barely felt the pull of the force since arriving in Hyrule, brief moments of it seemed to come to him, but nothing substantial. Why, I haven't felt this reckless since I was a padawan, between Leia and Link, I feel younger than I have in years.

"Well, your highness, are you in position?"

"Yes, I can see you both quite well, what exactly am I watching for?"

"Oh, you'll see, ready Link?" Obi-Wan said, falling into stance with his sword and shield.

The Hylian raised his sword. The two exchanged blows, working up a fervor in the battle when Zelda caught what Obi-Wan was using as a shield.

"Wait, Link! Obi-Wan! That is a priceless Sheikah artifact to be studied, don't you dare break it!"

As if on que Link brought the full weight of his sword down as Obi-Wan pushed his shield up, the two clashed and the blue shockwave sent them both flying back. Gasping Zelda ran down the battlements as fast as her legs would allow her. Guards came rushing to see what the blast they heard was, thinking the Goron cannons arrived ahead of schedule.

"Link! Link! Are you alright! What were you two thinking! You know how delicate Sheikah armaments are!"

Groaning from being heaved so far back, Link only had one thing to say for himself: "Yeah but wasn't that the coolest thing you've seen one of those hunks of junk do."

"Well, I suppose…" realization dawned in the queen's eyes as she realized just what she had seen, "Link, that was incredible, it was almost like one of the Sheikah bomb's blasts, that's, well, that's fascinating! We must study this further."

"No don't worry about me, I'm quite alright." Came from somewhere in a stack of fallen hay bales.

"Oh, goodness, Obi-Wan!" After making sure Link got up, Zelda rushed to the man's side to help him as well. "Are you alright? How did that happen? What did you do? How many times have you repeated this process? Do you go flying every time? Is there some mechanism that activates the blast? Oh, do tell me everything!"

"Well, first things first, neither I nor Link, really know what happens, we were hoping you might be able to give us some insight, or at least give us your blessing to seek out these Sheikah. And secondly, the last time that happened it was with much less force, but it seems to activate when I strike with the shield itself."

"Incredible! When the Sheikah first presented these, they seemed little better than decoration for honor duty, something that looked nice and would do in a pinch, but nowhere near practical. I can't believe they had a hidden function no one knew about." Steeling herself and standing straighter, Zelda swapped her smile for her throne room face: "However, in these trying times I cannot in good faith send my best knight on some quest with an unknown entity like yourself."

Obi-Wan's and Link's faces dropped in near perfect unison. But as Zelda walked away leaving the two men aghast at how thoroughly their request had been denied, Zelda swiveled back around.

"Although, if I, Zelda, Queen of Hyrule and foremost Hylian researcher of Sheikah technology chose to see the foremost Sheikah scientists for research into these armaments they left with us, I suppose, I, Zelda, would only be right in taking my best knight and the stranger who stumbled upon these hidden functionalities to see these scientists. We leave in the morning, rest well boys."

The two men heaved a sigh of relief as they smirked at each other and headed for the dining hall to close out the day. As long as Hyrule didn't collapse into the sea, a new adventure awaited them in the morning.