Once again, this is a crossover between Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn and Twilight Princess, and follows none of the plots, so Ike is still in Tellius. Anyway, enjoy chapter 4!
Chapter 4: Land Beyond the Desert
At first, nothing but darkness. But slowly, gradually, light began to sprinkle itself around Link like a soft snow. Large objects became visible, colors more vibrant. Gradually, the small, tan tent Link was housed in came into focus. Link blinked once, twice before scanning the area carefully. The first thing he noticed was a young man with his back to him. The young man sat, holding a knife that shone slightly in the tent, running his fingers along the edge, feeling its sharpness. The dark green of his vest matched the young man's wild green hair sitting messily upon his head.
Link started to sit up, and the man turned suddenly around and pressed him back down. Link, just gaining consciousness, was startled. He sat as the man scowled and burned his golden eyes into him.
"Don't move." the man said.
The hand pressed to Link's chest made it hard to breathe; he instinctively attempted to pull the man's hand off. However, Link noticed that his hands were tied down to the bed he was laying on. Noticing Link's attempt to rise, the man slid his silver knife against Link's throat.
"I do not care what Rhys said." the man said, pressing the blade as hard as he could without breaking Link's skin, "I don't trust you. I don't believe that you saved Rhys; you were aiming for him. I know it."
The tent's flap-like door opened and two more men stepped in. One of them had long, black hair; the other looked about Link's age and had air of authority about him.
"Sothe! Get off of him!" the man apparently in charge yelled.
Sothe ignored him. "They will trust you." he pulled his knife up until it rested just beneath Link's chin. "But if you hurt anyone—I mean anyone in any way—I will personally hunt you down and cut out your throat. Do you understand?"
Link was still stunned.
"Sothe! I said get off him!" the general said, pulling Sothe off of Link.
Sothe—taking a moment to regain his balance—nearly fell to the dirt floor but managed to catch himself and stood glaring at Link.
"What is wrong with you?" the general said, forcing Sothe to pull his eyes from Link to look at his commander.
They had a quick, whispered discussion before Sothe slipped quietly from the tent.
The general stepped over to Link and carefully cut the ropes holding his wrists from his bed, mumbling something to himself as he tossed them aside. Finally free from his binds, Link sat up carefully.
"I apologize for him." the general said, nodding towards the door, his blue hair kept out of his eyes by a long, green sash tied around his forehead. "It's his job not to trust anyone."
The smaller man hovered behind the general, keeping a weary eye on Link.
"We've all been on edge since the war..." the general whispered, "But, I'm sure you would like to know where you are, and who we are."
Link nodded slightly.
"First, I would like to ask your name." Ike said.
Link gave his name.
"Link, I am Ike, commander of this group of mercenaries. This," Ike said, motioning to his dark-haired partner, "is Soren. He has a smart mind—and tongue."
Soren's gaze did not flicker as Ike continued his explanation. "We are in the northeastern most regions of the country of Daein."
"Daein?" Link asked, puzzled; he had never heard of a country known as Daein.
Ike nodded. "North of Begnion, east of Crimea."
Link continued to stare. He had heard of none of these countries. Where was he?
"Where are you from?" Ike asked, also puzzled.
"The Kingdom of Hyrule." Link said, still thinking.
"There are no places known as Hyrule." Soren said flatly.
Ike cast Soren an annoyed glance before continuing. "How did you get here?"
Then, suddenly, all of Link's memories rushed back to him; the black knight, him falling into the river, and Zelda's death. It all hit Link like a ton of bricks; he buried his face in his hands and tried desperately to remove the image of Zelda's broken body before him.
"He killed her!" Link suddenly yelled, "It was all that damn knight's fault!"
"Knight?" Ike asked, "What knight?"
"The knight in ebon armor!"
Ike felt his heart jump into his throat.
"I tried to stop him. But he was too strong! Dammit!"
"How did you get here?" Soren shouted, pulling Link's hands from his face violently.
"He knocked me into the river." Link answered.
"The River of Death?" Ike asked, trying to ignore the fast beating of his heart.
"The Zora's river." Link said, calm now.
"Does this 'Zora's River' run though the Desert of Death?" Soren asked, releasing Link's hands.
Link nodded slowly.
"I didn't know there was anything beyond the desert." Ike said skeptically.
"Nor did I." Soren said, back to staring intently at Link.
"We always knew that there were lands across the desert." Link added, "But no one had gone to them and returned alive."
"What was Zelgius thinking, crossing the desert?" Ike wondered.
"Zelgius? Is that the name of that murderer?" Link asked.
Ike nodded. A chilling silence filled the air.
"I must get back to Hyrule as soon as possible." Link said suddenly
"Why?" Soren asked.
"That Zelgius, he killed the queen." Link said softly.
"The queen of your kingdom?" Soren's eyes jumped to Ike for a flash before he closed them.
"I do not know what his intentions are, but for him to go as far as to assassinate Zel-" Link couldn't finish, Zelda's name caught in his throat.
He didn't need to; the others knew what he was trying to say.
"The situation is dire, I understand that," Soren said, opening his blood-red eyes to look at Link, "However, there is no way to return you to your country. Crossing the desert is not an option; it is suicide to venture through it."
"What about sailing around the desert from the southern tip of Begnion?" Ike asked.
"Many have tried it, all of failed." Soren said sharply.
Silence pervaded the air as the three man thought.
"Wouldn't Volug know a safe way through the desert?" Ike asked.
"I am not sure." Soren replied, thinking.
Before the discussion could continue, Rhys stepped carefully inside the tent. He nodded towards Ike and Soren and walked over to Link's bed.
"I will find Volug and ask him if he knows a safe passage through the desert." Soren said, taking his leave, Ike followed him.
Rhys stood over Link, examining his now healed hands.
"You were the one who found me right?" Link asked.
Rhys smiled warmly and nodded.
"How is your arm?" Link asked, noticing the bandage on Rhys' forearm.
"It's healing nicely." Rhys answered, "I must thank you, if you hadn't been there, I would have more than a cut to deal with!"
Link smiled as Rhys continued to examine the progress of Link's healing.
"It looks like you are completely healed!" Rhys said once he was finished.
"Does that mean that I can get out of this bed now?" Link asked.
"If you feel like you are ready, then go ahead!" Rhys walked slowly from the tent.
Link carefully stood and stretched, noticing his equipment in a small pile on the other side of the tent. He walked over carefully to examine it; his legs were still a little shaky from being bed-ridden for so long, but Link made it to his satchel without too much trouble. Link was a little surprised that the bag had stayed with him the entire trip down the river. He opened his bag and began to empty its now dry contents. Link noticed his bow lying nearby and lifted it up gently before placing it to his right; His bow was fine; he found that out the day he had washed up. Link frowned as he noticed that both of his clawshots were so rusted, the chain didn't extend at all. Link had left the rest of his weapons at the castle, not bothering to bring the ball and chain or Dominion rod. Underneath his rusted tools, Link noticed his wallet which jingled cheerily as he lifted it up. Link smiled as he noticed his bottles, which, by some miracle, had managed to stay intact; the fairies floated lazily in the four bottles. The fairies were nothing more than bright orbs of light with butterfly-like wings. The color they shone greatly depended on their mood. Currently, all of the small balls of light were glowing a calm, white color.
Link placed these next to his bow and frowned noticing his shield was here, but his scabbard was missing its sword. Carefully standing and slipping his wallet into his pocket, Link decided to look around for a replacement. If this truly was a mercenary camp, there was sure to be a nearby caravan to buy a new sword from. Link stepped out of the tent only to be greeted with another blade hovering at his throat.
For those wondering why Sothe was in the tent to begin with, here is an explanation. Link had been unconscious for a few days, and they wanted to make sure that someone was there just incase he woke up and he wasn't friendly. They had some of their more capable fighters sitting in with Link. Sothe lost almost all trust of everyone during the war preceding these events, and just so happens to be there when Link wakes up!
Also, if I made it hard do tell, the furthermost regions of the Gerudo Desert is known as the Desert of Death and directly connected to Daein's Desert of Death (after miles and miles of sand of course!).
Thanks to Adriannu255 for pointing out some errors in chapter 3! Don't forget to review peoples!