Chapter 3:

Wood and steel

At about nightime, Link led Ashley to the second floor, where a mattress was ready for her, with red bedsheets and a pillow of goose feathers. Link apologized if it looked uncomfortable. The excuse was that people don't often visit him, more rarely sleepover. Strangers don't seem to come to Ordon village too much, so the people figured a hotel wasn't necessary.

As a matter of fact, Ashley didn't mind. The makeshift bed was against the bark wall. The room included another bookshelf, a drawer and two ladders - one to the balcony overlooking the yard, the other one was to Link's room. Before he wished the girl a good night, he informed to meet him tomorrow in the yard, where he'll test Ashley's skills.

Ashley only took off her hat, boots and weapon belt, also throwing in her new leather gloves into the pile. She didn't find it necessary to undress fully, Ashley was able to fall asleep easily with her clothes on ( Ask Subodai. The guy constantly finds her drooling on the desk, overworked and tired). Blowing out the few lit candles, she slipped under the bedsheets and tuned on her left side to gaze through the small window, just over the gap she climbed. The sky was dark as ink, with little glittering dots scattered around it. Ashley never slept a night so dark. She only heard of such night from books, mostly featuring medieval times. It was like that for the lack of lighting in the villages, but that wasn't a problem in the Spiral or Earth. It was just a minimal atmosphere difference to Ashley, and she figured not to dig too deep.

XXX

Black...everything was black, maybe blacker than the very night. A visible breath of air spread out, realizing it was Ashley's, she quickly came into vision. The swashbuckler was curled up and shivering, her lips blue from the cold surrounding her. Why? Why was it so dang cold? It's summer!

Ashley slowly got up, rubbing her arms to get warmer. Looking around the darkness, she noticed a glimmer further up ahead. Making her way towards it, the glimmer revealed to be a mirror. But where was the light coming from to make that little glimmer? With countless questions in her head, Ashley approached her reflection. She wore her old purple jacket that once was shredded by captain Barnabus Blood - a dread pirate, blinded by power and immortality, who almost managed to kill Ashley; her hat's pink feather was frozen and soon started falling apart before the girl's very eyes. She frowned. The feather faded right to the tip, a few crumbs of it fell into Ashley's palm.

She looked at the mirror once more and saw herself, but completely dark: dark hair, dark clothes, even the skin was pitch back. The only remaining colours was a creepy red in her left eye and blue in the right one. Ashley's breathing tensed, she felt fear swirling inside her. She backed away, but the reflection, instead of being also scared, was grinning at her and was taking steps towards her. The grin lasted only until a howl echoed through the darkness. Both of the Ashleys looked around, then at each other. Suddenly, the mirror shattered, and the only thing left to do was to awake from the horrible nightmare...

XXX

Ashley woke up with a terrified gasp. She clutched the bedsheets and filled her lungs with fresh air. It's been a long time since she had dreams that literally clutched her breathing tracks. After coming around, she jumped up and looked into the mirror in her room. It reflected her pale face, covered up by her messy morning hair. She sighed in relief and irritation, throwing back her long brown hair.

The sun was out. It's warm rays shown brightly through the windows, spreading a cozy sensations to the tree-house. The early birds were chattering outside, along with the chickens...no, scratch that - cuckoos. There were cuckoos, not chickens in this world. If you see one in-game, the thing you want to do is always avoid them. Cuckoos are known for their aggressive attitude...Well, aggressive is a very soft word to describe them. Trust me.

Ashley figured to take a peek from the balcony. As I said before, it opened up to the yard below. Link was already up and getting warmed up by preforming a few tricks on the training dummies. A few armour pieces were lying on the grass further away. Link was accompanied by a few village kids, watching and admiring his skills. Ashley rolled her eyes and thought - show-off. The kids are probably going to be witnesses of Ashley's ''test'' today.

A ball of feather suddenly ruined her sight-gazing. A couple inches from here, sitting on the wooden roof tiles, landed a little blue bird with a red neck and white belly. It was an eastern bluebird, and it was curiously tilting his head towards the girl.

'' Hey there, little guy,'' Ashley muttered, carefully leaning on the windowsill. She turned her look away, but the bird came closer. Ashley's eyebrow rouse. The bluebird chirped at her and tilted his head once more.

'' Hmph,'' the swashbuckler smiled. She stretched her hand out towards her new friend and it suddenly jumped on her index finger. Ashley's eyes widened in surprise. The animals around Hyrule must trust people more than on Earth. She lifted the bird and drew it closer to her.

'' Morning flight, I presume? Guess you're not the only one who like working out early,'' great, Ashley thought, now I'm talking to a bluebird. This is gonna be an interesting day.

The bird turned on her finger and flapped it's blue wings a couple times. Ashley got the message and gave it a lift, setting the bird off to wherever it was going. She then got back inside and took the ladders down. The dining room still had a scent of something baked, and just then the girl noticed a plate with a bread, an apple and a glass of milk left for her. She excepted the light breakfast, taking the apple with her and planning on eating it on her way to the yard.

Getting down the main tree-house ladder she took her first bit and looked at the moving village. Everyone cheerfully greeted each other, parents were beginning to give the kids their chores. It was a nice view, Ashley almost managed to forget her nightmare even. The girl then turned for the training grounds.

Link was on his one knee, resting and talking to the kids. He seemed to be explaining the test schedule, which Ashley was very interested on finding out. She leaned against the shade's pole, under which was a wooden bench and a few placed shields around it. Link heard her as soon as she took another bite of the apple. Those elf ears, she thought. No sound could get passed them.

'' Good morning,'' Ashley greeted the hero. He wore his usual green clothes, complete with a shoulder plate and a small chest plate.

'' Slept well?''

'' Yes,'' a lie went out. Ashley wasn't sure if her dream should be of concern yet. Hopefully not. She took the last bite and threw away the apple's core. '' So. What are we doing?''

Link took a wooden sword waited for Ashley to take it.'' Duel. Let's see your reactions,''

The girl stared at him, glimpsed at his little friends, who were obviously dying to see what Link will use to beat her.

'' Fine by me,'' She accepted the sword and walked to the centre of the yard. Link was prepared with his own deku sword. They both stepped into position: Ashley with her weapon wrist slightly raised and her left arm high to keep the balance, Link- stooping and his left weapon hand raised high to the chest. Ashley waited for his move, she was looking at his arms to see when the muscles will tense. She got that sign and calmly blocked Link's horizontal attack, then a high cross, followed by a low cross.

After that combo she jumped away to get some space. Link unleashed a vertical swing, Ashley simply stepped to the side and tried to get behind Link, but he did his famous spin attack, which, surprisingly, Ashley completely forgot about. She was quick to duck and swing her leg, Link jumped and went for a stab. The swashbuckler rolled away and tried to thrust. Link almost managed to knock the wooden sword out of Ashley's hands. With the tingling sensation still in her right, she quickly switched hands and blocked the hero's attack. Him being close enough for a kick, Ashley lunged her leg at his chest, knocking him back. Ashley got behind Link and placed her sword against his throat.

'' Did I pass?''

'' Not yet,'' Link, realising that his opponent likes using cheats, hit Ashley's arm with his elbow. The girl gasped from the pain beaming through from her wrist, and soon found that very arm locked behind her back.

'' Oh, you little,'' Ashley sniggered and spun to free her hand. She tugged Link towards herself and kicked him once more. This time he jumped aside and aimed to press her against the dusty ground. Unfortunately, his crafty trick didn't work. Their swords met in the process and Ashley took the chance to disarm him.

Link's wooden weapon flew away, he was left with his hands raised, giving up.

'' No one was able to dodge my stabs like that before,'' Ashley said stepping a little closer.'' You nearly caught me off a few times,''

'' Does that make me your first worthy opponent?'' Link smirked. The girl turned the still raised sword and thought about his question.

'' Yes,'' she slowly nodded.'' Surprisingly, yes,'' The hero raised his eyebrow. He then suddenly lunged to the side and picked his Master Sword up.

'' Shall we make this a little real then?''

Ashley stared at him, a smile grew on her face. She threw the training sword away and drew her rapier instead. They started off with a few low and high slashes, sparks weren't fast enough to reach the ground as another cloud of them kept joining by the second. Both of the teenagers were skilled in battle, each knew clever tricks and how to use them.

The kids' audience stared at them with their mouths wide open. Only one young girl with pigtails was covering her's and even blinked when the weapons let out an eerie clang.

'' How is she able to stand against Link?'' a boy next to her said in disbelief.'' He's using all his might!''

'' And she isn't,'' a younger boy replied.'' The girl uses trickery and quickness. Strength doesn't mean anything to her,''

'' Doesn't it?''

'' Why are their weapons shining so brightly?'' the older girl asked. And she knew it wasn't the sun's fault...

This time, the duel lasted a bit longer. After so much beating and dodging, the two heroes stood a few feet apart, panting.

'' Tired?'' Ashley asked.

'' Just...warming up,'' Link replied.

'' Yeah...me too,'' she straightened, showing her point.'' So...did I pass yet?''

'' Yes,'' Link also straightened.'' I do believe you did. You are quick, patient and strong. Good traits for future trouble,''

'' Great! Now just give me a second to rest,'' with that, Ashley fell into the dust and groaned.'' I haven't had such a workout since...since LaFitte introduced me to Aquilo Santelli. Oh that was a painful evening,''

Link sniggered. He taunted the girl by swinging the Sword's tip over her stomach. Ashley's rapier knocked it away.

'' Get that thing away from me,'' She said with a grin. She then sat up and watched as the kids approached. The young girl with pigtails told them about their weapons shining unnaturally. Link shrugged and suggested it might've been the afternoon sun, although Ashley curiously analysed her rapier.

'' So you are leaving?'' the younger boy, about seven years old, asked the Hero of Time.

'' I need to get her back to her own home. And it might be a difficult task from what I heard,''

XXX

Link brought his horse from the village stables. Ashley's jaw dropped as the huge mare stood before her. Epona, Link's iconic friend, was a rather odd breed and it was difficult to narrow it down, but Ashley guessed it was a mix between a Clydesdale and maybe a Mustang.

Epona's fur was a somewhat reddish colour, amusingly similar to Subodai's. Her mane was white and spiky, the roots of her tail were blacker, but it still ended to be white like the mane. Epona's legs were overgrown with fur, making them look massive enough to break your skull. She was mounted by a dark blue leather saddle.

'' Say hello to Epona,'' Link said patting her snout.

'' Hello, Epona!'' Ashley was still blown away by her size.

'' This is Ashley,'' Link whispered to Epona.'' Do not worry, she is a friend,'' He then let her try and pet the horse. Ashley felt Epona's breathing, she stared at the girl with dark clever eyes, silently greeting her.

Link hopped on her back and offered his hand to Ashley. As she took it, he easily pulled her in the saddle.

'' Hold on, Epona likes to start off with a flash,''

'' Oh?'' Ashley modestly wrapped her hands around Link's stomach and she suddenly felt how Epona's muscles tensed. The girl stormed out of the stables and galloped pass the houses. The wind's whistling died for a short time when they entered a transporting cave, picked through the small mountains.

Epona carried them into the small woods, but soon all of it was gone and the only thing before them were marvellous fields of lush grass.