A little side note before you begin, I decided to break this chapter into two parts as it was getting very, very long. The next chapter will finish up Part One of the story.
Also, in this chapter I reveal the name of Hyrule's royal family, this isn't some exciting reveal but I wanted to address it because it took sometime before I came to decide what it would be. The obvious choice, and the most backed, is that their last name is also Hyrule - I did not like this, and so I decided to use another name in the story as the House's name which you will see further in this chapter. Anyway, without further distractions enjoy and thank you for your support.
The Dutiful
When most people thought about the Termenia province of Hyrule they thought about Clock Town and its massive commerce center, but what was often forgotten was the sheer size of the region – it has several hundred hamlets, farms and many unsettled lands. It was gears for the Hyrulean machine and mainly populated by Humans with a mix of religions, including the old giant religion and Hylian one.
A large contingent of Hyrulean knights had been traversing the great lands, feasting with local lords and creating a very extravagant sight – and this wasn't even the contingent with the Heir of the empire. It was the contingent of mainly diplomats that were going down to represent the King of Hyrule in the Festival of Time that would be held across the giant-believing world.
Most of the history the Royal Family either tried to ignore the festival of time or, at brief points in their history, were hostile to it. But these days they saw their attendance as a means of firming their control of the human population and even tie the old religion to their own. There were those on both sides that would cry out about the Royal Family attendance, but most saw it as a means of gaining closer influence.
A great sea of land about fifty miles outside of Clock Town belonged Odolwa family, a very old Human family that had many notable legends tied to their name. Most recently, and perhaps most notably, Von Odolwa led a fantastic victory over the now conquered Deku Tribes many centuries ago. He had been gifted a great deal of land after his victory, and today his land had close to a dozen hamlets on it and long miles of farmland. The crown jewel of Odolwa's land was their fortress that sat upon a hill, with a large town surrounding it and two walls fortifying its position – it was a impressive sight and a testament to their knightly achievements. Their family crest, a banner of green with a shield and long sword fluttered over their keep with pride.
A young man sat upon his horse with about a dozen guards following his lead, while boredom ate at his every bone he never let it show through his proper stance and dutiful watch of the horizon. His brown hair fluttered a bit when the winds swept through the fields but the chill did not breach through his brown doublet and thick wool cape. He had been alerted that the Hyrulean contingent was close now and truthfully he was rather excited, at the helm of the contingent was an old friend of his - Nohansen Bosporamus of the Royal Family, child of Gustaf, the brother to the King and chief diplomat of the realm. The two of them were mentored together along side the now banished prince, Rhoam Bosphoramus and had grown to be as thick as brothers (it wasn't often a Human was taken under the wing of the Royal Family, it was a pride of the Odolwa family).
Just as he was about to question his scout's words the flutter of the Royal Family's banner made itself visible upon the horizon. The horses were lazily making their way down the hill now, which only brought a smile to his face.
He rode down to meet the Hylians, the leading Knights stopping the convoy as they approached. Before any of the knights could issue any orders Nohansen broke through the pack, he could barely be recognized as it had been a fair couple of years since they've seen each other – but the long blonde hair and purple doublet was unmistakeably a fashion of the royal family, and the smile Nohansen had brought back many memories.
"Always at your own pace I see, Nohansen," the words seemed to strike a nerve in the Prince who's face stirned.
"A Prince of Hyrule is on the pace of none, and is always to be identified by his title except by those of his family," the lecturing caught him off guard a bit, perhaps Nohansen had changed over the time they had been gone. Except the Prince's stern face broke and was replaced by a bright smile, "Except of course I consider you a brother, Fin Odolwa."
They clasped hands and embraced each other in a hug, any fear or worry of his changing was washed away quickly.
"I need to get off this horse, my ass is killing me!" The Prince cried in laughter as they turned to ride back towards the Odolwa's family home. They rode quickly until they reached the gates of the village that surrounded their home, as they marched into the streets they slowed their horse into a trot as soldiers cleared the path for the two of them. The village was sizeable and hugged tightly into the confines of the gate, it wasn't as large or lavish as Clock Town but was a modest area of tailors, blacksmiths and a few inns.
"Tell me of your travels, how was Eldin?" Fin asked the Prince who gave a sour look in response.
"Do you like rocks?"
"Not particularly."
"Then I don't believe you'd like Eldin. Sure, it has it's beautiful sights and many, many hot springs. But as soon as you move past the Human and Hylian settlements and into the mountains we were alone from any sort of civilization. Nothing but Gorons for so long, they are such boring creatures, and the only source of entertainment was watching them fight each other in their games." Nohansen explained in exasperation, "I went into it open minded, you know? I thought it might be fun to bed a Goron just once, but no, I took one look at their women and I wanted to throw up. As soon as we reached a Human settlement I bedded a farm girl, a farm girl! Fin, surely you may find me a woman of my class here?"
Nohansen made Rhoam look tame the way he acted, Rhoam always had the care to be careful whom he laid with – 'nothing is worse for a kingdom than renegade bastards' he would remark. Nohansen didn't seem to care for such logic, something he was sure his family would be very unhappy with if they found out about his actions.
"Better places in Clock Town," Fin explained, "Nothing high class, just enough to please the traveling peasants." None of the Odolwa's would frequent such establishments, they were the protectorates of this village and reflected a higher moral standard – at least that's what his father had said to him. Besides, Fin was already married and in their religion that bond was internal.
"Well isn't that disappointing, come with me to Clock Town and we'll have our fun. Skip out on that ridiculous ceremony too."
"I apologize but the Odolwa family will not be attending Clock Town's festival," the words brought disappointment to Nohansen who wasn't entirely aware of who was attending.
"Why not?"
"We have a ceremony of our own," Fin replied, "There will be plenty of people to talk to though don't worry."
Nohansen made something of a snorting sound, "Oh sure, plenty of Humans there. Do you know how many families claim to be the blood of the old kings? There will be nothing but sneers behind my back from the pretenders."
"The Ikanas and Tufts hold pride in their relation to the kings of old." Fin was actually somewhat happy he wasn't attending the festival, there were many old families there that pledged loyalty to the Hyrulean Royal Family in name only, bitter over a wars that occurred ages ago. Because Fin was raised with the Princes he was often remarked to be the 'Royal's pet' by those families, "There are Hylian families that will attend as well and most will be very warm to you. My lady's grandparents will be there, House Romani as well as her sister-house Cremia."
"Your wife's family breeds strong horses. Don't much stand up to the speed of Lon-Lon's though."
"Romani breeds war horses and are not for show like Lon-Lon's." The two family were the largest breeders of horses in the lands, her sister-house Cremia was far less prestigious and made their money mostly off moo-moo milk. "It is a fact my wife will vigorously argue you over with."
As they approached the gates into the estate there was a sudden and immediate difference – the estate had a grand entrance of stone and wide ranges of well kept gardens at the entrance – that despite the fall breeze – still had lovely flowers. The entire family was out to meet them, the head of the family was Fin's grandfather who sat in a chair (he could barely walk much less stand on his own) along with his father who stood tall with a great, well kept beard and fine clothing. Fin had many siblings but all married off now, so the only one present was his younger brother who was a knight for the house. The women of his family were present as well, his mother by his father's side and his own wife, the tall red haired woman with a thick blue fall dress on that did little to hide the baby bump.
"I see you've been rather busy," Nohansen remarked to Fin quietly before dismounting from his horse. His grandfather rose to meet him but was quickly assured down by Nohansen, "No my lord I insist you sit, your gracious invitation into your house is enough of a welcome."
"An Odolwa always stands." Fin's grandfather remarked as he pushed himself up, his legs wobbling a bit before he found his footing, bowing his head in respect to the Prince before finding his chair once again.
"Of course, of course," Nohansen moved on to shake the hands of each person there, greeting them as he went. When he arrived at Fin's wife he welcomed her with a hug, "Lady Odolwa, your husband has written that he married the goddess herself, and now I see he was incorrect. Your beauty far exceeds that of my cousin's!"
"You're too kind, my Prince." She replied, perhaps a little thrown off guard by his familiarity. She had known Fin grown with Nohansen and Rhoam but she obviously didn't understand how close the three had gotten.
Nohansen was welcomed in a feast that sat many from Odolwa's lands, including the mayors of the largest villages and hamlets that dotted its countryside. The feast was massive, the main meal meat pies and greens while the wine flowed endlessly. As Nohansen danced with one of the mayor's daughters, Fin's wife leaned in and whispered.
"Did you dance with every young lady when it was just the three of you?" The three had gone many places, after all Rhoam was the heir to the realm so when he toured the countryside Fin and Nohansen had been blessed to accompany him. There were many great memories and adventures they undertook when he was younger, some best not said.
"I was the Human with the Hylians, I always had to act my best or face the wrath of my critics." He assured her, which she merely replied with a long 'uh-huh'.
As the feast whined down Fin sat alone with Nohansen by the hearth in their great hall. They had both drank many cups of wine and Fin was beginning to feel the grogginess in his head. Fin leaned against the leather back of his chair and let the warmth of the fire draw his eyes down.
"You passing out on me, Odolwa?" Nohansen asked, prodding his shoulder. "We used to drink far more you know."
"That was awhile ago..." Fin responded, "A decade ago you know."
"Yes, yes... how I miss those days..." Nohansen stared long and hard into the fire, but Fin could see his gaze was falling to the past. "Do you remember when we were in the Great Bay?"
How could he not? The Great Bay had beautiful beaches and exotic food, while trade with the islands and the old kingdoms across the sea brought wondrous sights and smells that were lacking in the heart of Termenia. Not even the ports in the southern portion of the province brought in as much exotic things as they did in the Great Bay.
"It was beautiful," Fin recalled, "We left our royal contingent and spent days out in the beaches together with that Zora Prince and Princess."
"And then we came across those smugglers, they wanted to kidnap us and sell us no doubt..."
"You and Rhoam acted swiftly there."
"We ALL did..." Fin remembered those days with pride, it was worse all the punishment they received when they were found. The Zora had mobilized so much of their forces to search for them that they were half worried there would be a diplomatic row between the two Royal Families. The Zora Princess was infatuated with Rhoam and part of Fin thought he shared those feelings.
Nohansen never gazed away from the fire, but his voice grew with angst as he continued, "You know what the problem is though? Tomorrow I will sit upon that clock tower and celebrate a festival and the next month another Prince will be there. One younger and more foolish than any of us. The Heir to our great home land – a child."
Fin held his tongue, Nohansen was damn near speaking words of treason and he did not want to involve himself in the quarrels of the Royal Family.
"Your father is teaching him, he will learn to be a good King."
"Perhaps a good king... but not a great King." He seethed, "We all knew the truth, so don't you hold your tongue now Fin. Rhoam was great, just and charismatic. Pushed aside for his sister and that fake hero."
Fin felt distraught over this, he fully believed that Rhoam would have made a great King had the throne rightly passed to him and he held his reservations over the Chosen Hero like many did. After all it had been many generations since they last had a Chosen, and they found it in a Daku? It seemed rather convenient and the circumstances were unusual at best. When Fin entered into the barbaric war five years ago, the Chosen was killed in battle and everyone spoke about how awe inspiring he was – truly mystical in the way he fought - but he wasn't sure so he dared not distinguish truth from fantasy. But conspiracies such as these were best left unspoken.
"The realm would have been in good hands, I have no doubt." Fin merely said as diplomatically as possible.
"Yes, yes," he turned towards him now, raising his drink high into the air, "So let's have a toast to our one and great Prince. Where ever he is now, let fortunes smile upon him. To the RIGHTFUL King of Hyrule."
Fin bit his lip, telling himself that this was not the right thing to do. But perhaps the wine was getting to him and he felt nostalgic over the childhood they all shared together, he held his glass up to meet the Prince's.
"To the rightful King."
The Banished
Rhoam was stirred back to consciousness as the heat of the sun bore down on him, his entire skin burned from too much exposure and the sticky painful feeling across his shoulder told him he had been cut deeply. He reached to wipe his forehead of sweat but found his hands chained tightly to a post, then nonsensical screaming soon stirred him further awake on the uncomfortable heat and surroundings told him he wasn't in a safe place at all. He opened his eyes to the blinding force of the sun bearing down on him, making it rather difficult to assess what type of situation he found himself in.
"Hey!" He croaked out over the shouts of a crowd, his throat was dry and he could barely speak. His vision began to focus again, his sight falling upon countless people who had gathered around him and two other individuals. The two other individuals, like him, had been stripped down to just their under garments and were being lashed by guards. A woman with a snake wrapped around her arm was shouting to the crowd, quoting some scripture of the Sand Goddess that Rhoam did not know.
"For the crimes of theft, the Sand Goddess has sentenced this soul to twenty lashes!" She shouted as the lashing continued. What was he being accused of? He hoped it wasn't theft because that looked nasty.
By the time they had finished with the man his back was a bloody mess, they unlatched the poor soul and he crawled back into the crowd that spat and shouted at him. They moved next to Rhoam, the woman with the snake gave him such a deep spiteful look that distinctly reminded him of the look his parents would give him.
"This one," She snarled in a very theatrical way, "Was found in the sacred gardens, running about like a lunatic. Attempting to defile a Sand Priestess."
Well he would have to say that none of that happened, yes he woke up in the gardens but did he really try to defile a Sand Priestess? Honestly they were trumping up charges at this point.
"I did no such-" He tried to defend himself but the woman turned on him and slapped him hard across the fact.
"Silence, barbarian!" She shouted. Well if some lashes were his punishment then that would hardly be the worse fate in the world. "For such grievous actions against us on such a holy day there is little we can do, other than sentence him to death!"
Death? Did she just say death? This was outrageous, he struggled as two large men seized him and held his head still, exposing his neck towards the crowd. The woman drew out a long knife from her pouch, showing it high for the people to see.
"You want me?" Rhoam hissed, his heart pounding as she neared him with the knife, "You have no idea who you're dealing with! Take me and feel the wrath of heavens!" He had the blood of the Hero and the Goddess flowing through him, he had faced countless enemies and cut them down, if this woman wanted to kill him for an affront to a fake goddess then let it happen. He didn't want to die afraid, he wanted to die striking fear in his enemies.
He felt the cold steel press against his throat and he knew this was it, he found himself looking through the crowd in an attempt to see Urbosa, maybe catching one more sight of his partner before this woman cut his throat open. He couldn't find her amongst the crowd and his heart pained at the thought that he would not see her before he left this world. It was always a risk, he knew, being in this society that eventually things would push back against him... he just didn't think it would be now and under circumstances that he didn't entirely understand. He closed his eyes and wished for the death to be swift, even though he knew that death she was about to deal would be agonizing.
As the cold steel pressed against his throat the ground began to awake around them, he wasn't sure what was going on at first but the ground shook so violently that the sudden cracking sound as houses within the city shook violently. None of the houses appeared to collapse but the damage being done was irreversible. The woman with the snake fell back and the men let Rhoam go as the crowd screamed in fear, there were being praying aloud to the Goddess to stop her rampage, as only a moment later the shaking had stopped and things began to return to normal.
"What was that?!" He heard the people question what had just happened as they pulled themselves up from the ground.
"H-He summoned the wrath of the Goddess!" Another shouted, the woman he was about to execute looked offended by such commit.
"Blasphemy!" She shouted, "No voe can command the Goddess." There were many other priestesses in the crowd and around that looked confident at the woman's words, yet others found the occurrence of the two events to be too much of a coincidence.
Rhoam wasn't sure what just happened, the rational part of him would say that was merely a coincidence but after everything that had happened he wasn't entirely sure about that anymore. Either way his blood was pumping from it all and he couldn't help but laugh.
"Stop laughing!" This only angered the woman, "Stop!" She picked the knife back up, moving quickly towards Rhoam, "The sentence still stands! I speak for the Goddess, I do!"
"Then slit my throat and see if you truly know the words of your Goddess," Rhoam threatened with more than a little confidence. A silence hung over the crowd as everyone watched to see what the priestess would do. He could see the doubt deep in her eyes as she wondered if it was the right thing to do, no doubt wondering what would happen to her soul if she ignored a potential sign from her Goddess.
"Halt!" A voice shouted from the crowd. The crowd was – rather violently – pushed aside by large Gerudo men dressed in black leather armor and holding tall spears, they moved in a diamond formation, with the outer guard being of the men while an inner unit of women warriors with golden armor that signified their higher rank. A group of barely dressed slaves shouldered a litter made of light wood and adorned in gold silk, inside the litter a young woman with vibrant red hair and bright green eyes sat, she had on several golden rings that tied around her arm and neck while a golden tiara with red rubies adorned her head. There was such an extravagant show of wealth, the silk the woman sat upon was probably worth more than any of these people would ever have. Rhoam barely recognized her but no doubt it was Barta, the girl they had helped before on the road, the apparent runaway princess.
The slaves bent to their knees, allowing Barta to step out of the litter. She stepped forward, dusting her fine silk clothing off before directing the crowd, "I had heard that the Priestess intended to punish wrong doers in the town square... I had not known it would illicit such a great response from the Goddess herself."
Many people in the crowd had dropped to their knees and bowed their heads towards her, others who weren't sure who she was joined them as to make sure not to offend whatever powerful person she was.
"Yet..." She looked the Priestess square in the eye, "You still intend to carry out the sentence?"
The Priestess was unhappy, the woman with fiery passion for her Goddess (and the influence it gave her) did not like someone else telling her what to do. "Who are you!? How dare you step up and question the will of the Goddess?!"
A large woman stood in front of Barta and furiously slammed her spear against the floor before declaring "This is Princess Makeela Riju, her Grand-Mother is the Queen of the great country of Kara, Chieftess of the Great Horde-Vah Naboris and ancestor of the hero Lady Urbosa and last King of the Gerudo, Ganondorf of House Dragmire."
The Princess had apparently lied about her name unsurprisingly, Rhoam had suspected she was more than she said she was, perhaps a Princess of some small Gerudo state in this vast land, but even he knew of the country of Kara. It wasn't as rich as some of the Gerudo merchant cities that hugged the coast and had been on the decline of influence for many centuries now - plagued by civil unrest and pestering by its neighbors - but still the country was well known to Hyrule's Royal Family. It was their dynasty that had attempted to invade the Hyrulean Empire long ago.
The Priestess was less impressed, or at least did a good job hiding her intimidation perhaps, "It doesn't matter how many titles you have. You don't have power here and you wouldn't dare defy the Goddess."
"I know this." Makeela responded without any fear of the Priestess potential ramifications, "We are all equals here after all. However, I just wished to point out the dangers of killing this one after such a sign. Why tempt the Goddess's anger? It would be far more effective if you left his fate up to the Goddess herself. Let him face Molduga."
There were gasps among the crowd, but Rhoam was very unsure what was going on. Molduga? Some warrior? Either way he liked the sound of it, he would kill any warrior in front of him easy. Looks like Makeela bought him a way out.
The priestess seemed to like this idea, as it didn't take away her authority but it seemed to shift the blame away from her if in fact the Goddess wanted him to live. And in her own thoughts, there was no way Rhoam would survive Molduga so it was a good thing either way for her.
"...We shall know the Goddess's will when he faces Molduga. Get the prisoner up and moving, he shall face the great Molduga!" The crowd seemed excited by this, for a roar of blood lust erupted from them. Gerudo loved their blood sports.
He was unlatched from the guards and moved through the crowd that parted quickly, seemly afraid to be anywhere near someone who may be protected by the Sand Goddess. It was as he was being dragged through the crowd that he noticed a familiar face standing not to far from where Makeela was - his friend and partner Urbosa who watched him with dread across her face.
"Urbosa!" Rhoam shouted before being silenced by the guards. He was dragged through the city until he reached a wagon that started to take him towards the edge of the town, there was a large crowd following close behind their wagon as the people wanted to watch the impending fight.
"...Water?" Rhoam asked with a glance towards his guards. "Oi, I want water."
"I'll give you steel." The guard threatened and Rhoam knew that he should not try his luck. His throat was desperately dry and his body ached, he would have to conserve all his energy for this fight. Rhoam glanced out of the wagon to see a massive Colosseum in the distance that looked older than any of the temples he had seen.
"Welcome to Arbiter's Ground." One of the guard said with a toothless grin.
The Colosseum was amazing, perhaps many centuries old and huge, could seat thousands of spectators . He was taken into the lower ends, where the cool inner quarters were a welcome escape to the heat that blistered outside. He was chained inside while priestess came and started to scrub him clean with uncomfortable bristled sponges, he was even fed and given water which struck him as being very off.
"You must be cleaned for your end." The priestess merely said.
"This is not my end." Rhoam replied, ready for whatever beast of a man they would throw at him.
After they finished cleaning him he was brought forward into the center of the Colosseum – it was huge, the grounds had many pillars protruding out of them but the general area was covered in sand. It didn't look like this place was well maintained, as the east portion of the Colosseum had collapsed in on itself and led a clear exit out towards the dessert.
Rhoam had been offered a bow and arrow along with a blade, which he welcomed gladly. He figured he would lodge an arrow straight into the head of his opponent and call it day.
"Bring Molduga out!" One of the priestess roared from the spectators, he looked across to see many people flooding into the arena but from the distance he couldn't recognize any of them.
"Alright, let's do this!" Rhoam roared, pounding his chest as massive drums from the seating area played, the chants from the crowd lending to the noise. So where was this Molduga? Rhoam eyed the entrances into the arena carefully but didn't see anyone coming out to meet him. What was going on?
He didn't notice it at first, the gradual rhythmic sound that seemed to shake the arena just a little. Rhoam thought it was the drums at first, but as it grew he knew that it was something else... something big that was coming from the east.
He narrowed his eyes towards the area, seeing what appeared to be a wave of sand moving closer from the direction... and it then occurred to him that it wasn't a failure of infrastructure but an entrance. Whatever it was that was approaching the area was moving quickly and Rhoam knew he needed to get off the ground, he threw himself upon one of the shorter pillars and climbed to the top, notching his bow as the wave of the sand drew closer until something burst out of the sand like a fish out of water.
Molduga was immense, longer than any of the pillars on the ground and wide, with a giant fin on its back and scales that pushed outward like blades. It had eyes on the front of its head and its mouth opened like a crocodile with a vast set of teeth and long tongue as well. It burst into the area which moved the earth with such power that the pillar Rhoam was standing on was up heaved from the ground, Rhoam leaped off of it and rolled onto the sand as Molduga dived back into the ground.
"Molduga! Molduga!" The crowd chanted, a euphoric feeling mixed with fear of what was before them was clear in the crowd as they urged the creature to eat the man. It was only fear for Rhoam as he cursed Makeela for suggesting this awful idea, perhaps she wanted him to die for finding out what she was back at the inn.
Putting aside any of those thoughts he wasn't sure how he could fight such a thing, but his instincts told him he had to move to high ground. As the sand rippled behind him he knew the creature was approaching, and it leaped once again out of the ground and high into the air to the cheers of the ground, flying over him before going back into the ground. It was playing with him, perhaps it even liked the cheers of the crowd, which would imply its intelligence was higher than some dull beast.
Rhoam could easily track as it moved through the ground as the waves of up heaved sand gave it away. As it sped through with remarkable speed Rhoam couldn't figure out how to get a strike on it, then as he was giving up hope it stopped and briefly popped its head up from the ground, seemly unable to locate where Rhoam was. It was clear the creature could not see him when in the ground so it must have relied on his movement to track him down and it must have lost Rhoam in the noise of the crowd.
He notched an arrow and hoped his aim was still good as he centered the arrow onto one of its eyes and released it. The arrow spun through the air and he knew he would have made his mentors back at Hyrule proud with the shot, except the arrow was a bit too high and bounced harmlessly off the tough eyelid of the Molduga.
"Oh..." Rhoam muttered to himself as he quickly notched another one, but the Molduga had seen where he was and was on the move again with waves of sand kicking up everything in its way. "Shit!" Rhoam yelled as the beast leaped from the sand and into the pillar, shattering it and throwing Rhoam to the floor below...
The Wanderer
It had been two days since she awoke in her bed without Rhoam next to her, which at first elicited little fear - she suspected he had gone to find something to eat or find a drink, but when he didn't turn up hours later she started to grow concerned. She knew he didn't just leave her because his family's sword was still in their room, but he was no doubt missing now.
Urbosa braved the midday heat, shrouding her body in garbs to protect from the sun before going out to the nearest inns he might have gone to. "Have you seen a man, tall, white, a Hylian with a blonde beard and hair?" She would ask the inn owners and anyone who would listen.
"If he's not fasting, perhaps you may check the pleasure dens? Many men wander there." One woman told Urbosa. She knew he wouldn't be there, never once had he gone to one of those places even when they had plenty of gold to spend.
Yet after awhile she found herself there, asking around to see if any of the men or women who worked there had seen him. They had not, and she wasn't sure if she was happy or saddened by that news. When the night came she returned to their room and hoped he would turn up, he didn't, and at that point her thoughts turned to the assassins from before and how they may have pursued them from the city.
Still Urbosa didn't give up her search, this time she was putting the word out that an escaped slave named Rhoam had gotten away from her and was wanted to be returned – unharmed, of course. Soon the word had been spread after she gave a few coins to the town criers and she spent the day searching and praying for him until the nights grew too cold to venture any further.
That morning she awoke to pounding upon her door, when she threw it open to the sight of several large soldiers she thought this might have been the end. She was happy it wasn't in fact assassins, but the woman they had helped earlier walked into their room. The explanation about who she actually was left Urbosa shocked and they had barely moved on in the conversation when the ground violently shook. The screams of the crowd outdoors brought both of their attention towards the town square where, to her horror, she saw Rhoam chained up and with a knife to his throat.
"Why did you do that!?" Urbosa cried to Makeela after she suggested Rhoam face the Molduga, but the Princess gave no answer, instead she brought them both to the Colosseum without so much of another word.
Seated next to the Princess now with Rhoam just entering the arena below, "You were not helping him. Now he faces an even worse fate."
Makeela sat rather relaxed against the cool stone benches, compared to Urbosa who watched anxiously as Rhoam strutted onto the field, clearly unaware of what he was about to face. "I wanted to see if it was true."
"If what was true?"
The drums began, sending chills of horror through her body. Makeela's eyes seemed to glisten as she watched with a devious smile growing across her face. "I wanted to see if he truly has the blood of gods."
"Blood of gods?" She repeated aghast, what was she talking about?
Makeela looked at Urbosa with wide eyes, a little taken aback by her words, "You don't know? I thought he would have told you."
"Told me what?"
"His name is Rhoam, that's the word you put out onto the street, correct?" Urbosa nodded to Makeela's words, "Well perhaps peasants would not know for sure. Rhoam is a Hylian, but clearly not a normal one..."
"He is a son of a Hylian Lord, I know."
"No, no, not just a Hylian Lord... A Hylian KING." Makeela stated, "It is known to those of higher society that the banished child of the King of Hyrule made his way to this part of the world. Many people have been searching for him, something he probably wasn't aware of." She began to explain, "Rhoam Bosphoramus of Hyrule, rightful heir to the Hyrule Empire. His Great Grand-Father was a Chosen Hero and his grandmother claimed to be the Great Goddess Hylia incarnate. He has the blood of gods in him supposedly, so I wish to see how powerful those Hylian gods truly are."
Urbosa was speechless, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Questions raced through her head as the Molduga entered the arena. The roar of the crowd meant nothing to her as she stared wide eye in horror, coming to the realization that the man she had spent all this time with was much more important than he let on. Was she angry? That was an answer she couldn't come up with right now...
The Banished
Rhoam hit the sand hard as small pieces of pillar splashed about the field, his bow had dropped out of his hand and he was very disorientated about his whereabouts. Thankfully the Molduga was hard to miss, the giant creature was worming its way back into the sand when Rhoam pulled himself up from the ground.
Rhoam unsheathed his sword and made a brief attempt to cut into its tale as it moved into the ground but the whipping motion of it made it impossible to even get close to it without the risk of getting cut apart by its razor fin.
"Dammit!" Rhoam roared, looking around for his bow that he had lost in the fall. But after realizing it was likely destroyed in the fall he started to move to higher ground again in a hope to buy time to come up with some sort of plan. Upon pulling himself back onto another pillar he looked around the location, thinking it might be best to attempt to flee the arena but the exit was a vast swath of sand – which meant Molduga would have no trouble chasing him down. He second best option was to wait up on a pillar for Molduga to get tired and leave but he suspected the Gerudo up in the arena would likely start shooting arrows at him if they got bored.
Most of the pillars in the arena were either standing upright or shattered from previous fights, but one pillar caught his eyes towards the northern portion of the arena where one jutted out in a sideways fashion, tilted over slightly from the movement of the battle perhaps. It was perhaps a long shot but the only plan that was making sense to him at the moment.
He waited for the Molduga to circle and when it was at its furthest portion from him he leaped down to the ground, taking off to the northern area knowing the creature would soon be on his tale. And it was, he could hear the sand being pushed up behind him and the many pillars he dodged around being pushed aside like it was nothing.
"Alright, they want a show, let's give them a show!" Rhoam roared as he reached the northern area, the Molduga right behind him now. He ducked behind the jutted pillar as the Molduga leaped out of the sand, intending to try and swallow him up as it dived down. As the Molduga came crashing towards him the jutted pillar acted as a spear and the force of its own velocity doomed it - the Molduga swallowed up the pillar, or tried, as the jutted pillar speared directly in the back of its throat, breaking the pillar and causing the Molduga to collapse on its side with half of the pillar still deep in its mouth.
It flailed and whined as its red blood coursed out of its mouth and onto the sand, the crowd fell silent as Rhoam moved out of hiding. As the Molduga settled down from the blood loss he unsheathed his sword and plunged it directly into its underbelly, moving across it to gut the creature like he would if it was an actual fish.
The blood splashed onto the sand like a wave of water, followed by its innards and the repulsive smell they held. Rhoam laughed like a maniac, which was about the only sound in the arena as everyone stared in wonder. Rhoam pulled himself onto the Molduga's body and looked onto the crowd as a victorious warrior.
"Are you happy!?" He roared towards them, "Have I proven enough!?"
The crowd was in a mixture of reaction, some where in pure shock others even raged at what they hoped would be his death, but others had fallen to their knees in a sort of reverence towards Rhoam. Two signs of had been shown – the earth had shook and the great Molduga had been slayed. What he just seemly proved was that he was being protected by their Sand Goddess.
It took him a moment but he realized that many were bowing towards him and he was very taken aback, not since he was in Hyrule had he seen so many people bow in his presence. It was remarkable moment. No one spoke, not a single word or noise protruded this moment, just awe and wonder filled the crowd.
Things only became more strange from there, he moved through the Colosseum without anyone saying a word to him. They all kept their head bowed in respect to him. "Water." He demanded and the priestess complied, "Go, find the woman named Urbosa... she'll make herself known I'm sure. Bring her to me."
There weren't as many priestesses here as there were before but Rhaom paid little mind to that, he just drank the water down and cleaned what blood he could off him as he waited for the people to return with Urbosa.
Not long after they left they returned with her. Never had he seen such a beautiful sight as her, after all that had happened it warmed his heart to see her, "Urbosa, I- I..."
He was loss with words, her face was itched with emotion; perhaps she was unsure how to treat him anymore, perhaps she was angry for what he gotten himself in.
"Listen, I'm sorry about all of that. I didn't mean for any of that to happen, really," he was getting annoyed by her silence, "Would you say something already?"
"I'm not sure what to say. They are saying you've been chosen by the Goddess... you, I've never seen you worship anything but drink and coin." She said with a dismissive shake of her head, "But then, perhaps I don't really know you... Rhoam Bosphoramus of Hyrule."
He was lost with words, unsure how he knew that name and unsure how he should react. He felt almost guilty for it.
"...I had to protect myself." He defended his own actions, it was the only thing he could think to do.
"From me?"
Rhoam nodded, "What did you expect? Legally I was yours, you could make more wealth than you could imagine selling me off. It was the only choice I had."
The way they met was not entirely great either; the mercenary army he was part of was resting in a village when he met her on the streets. Having been out in the fields for a long time he was enchanted by her beauty, he followed her to an inn where they started drinking together. Urbosa challenged him to a drinking contest and that was the last thing he remembered of that night, the next morning he woke up beside her and for some reason he didn't leave right away, they talked and came to the radical agreement that they could make lots of money in the slave pits together. He left the mercenaries and rode off with her that day.
"We've been partners for awhile, you know, I wouldn't have just sold you like that." Would she, though? Rhoam still wasn't sure of that.
"Well... now you know." He said, finding a seat, his entire body ached of pain. "So what are you going to do?"
Urbosa fell silent, her eyes glancing between Rhoam and the door as if the two represented two different decisions. Finally she looked at him and spoke words the drowned his heart, "I don't know."
She turned for the door, Rhoam's screamed in his mind to stop her but his pride halted his tongue. In a mere moment she was gone, out of her sight... and his heart felt lesser for it.
A mere twenty minutes later the door came open, Rhoam stood from his seat at the hopes that Urbosa had come back, but alas it was not her. It was the Princess Makeela in tow with her many body guards, she had a great wide grin on her face while Rhoam's soured at the sight of her.
"What?" She asked at the look of his face, "No thank you?"
"Thank you for what? You sent me against that beast." He snarled back.
"I saved your life," she laughed off, "Although, I suppose the Goddess saved your life. Very impressive, I knew there was a reason we met when we did. It was destiny."
"Horseshit. You're an impulsive little Princess that got lost in the wasteland. No Goddess crossed our paths." As Rhoam spat out venom Makeela clapped her hands, ushering in a group of maids that placed down food for them to eat. Rhoam didn't touch it. "Leave me be, Princess."
He laid down on the bench and turned his back to her, he was intending on catching up on rest while he decided what to do with his life now. Makeela didn't seem to want to grant him his request, she walked right over and sat down next to him, laying her head around his shoulder.
"Now why would I leave when we've got so much to talk about?"
"I have no desire to talk to you, or anyone," he moved his shoulder to bluntly move her away from him.
"Oh relax, so down after such an amazing success. Blessed by the Goddess," she nearly twirled in excitement, "You know my Grand Mother would make sure you never wanted for a thing. Gold, drink, a harem of a thousand girls. My country needs you."
To Rhoam that sounded like a pretty good deal, but back among royalty again? That was what he left, he liked the idea of gaining that gold with Urbosa but without her the success seemed so hollow. He didn't answer, he simply ignored the temptations that the Princess offered.
"Hmm... what a shame." She finally seemed to admit defeat, "I will leave you to rest for now, but know this Prince of Hyrule – our fates are intertwined. I've seen it myself, you and I are among giants."
There was something so familiar about what she said, but he paid it little attention simply thankful that he was left in peace. Yet even still there was a nagging feeling, a feeling he couldn't quite place. He pushed it aside for sleep.
The Mouse
Rat had fainted long ago during the harsh night that followed the brutal heist the Bombers preformed, but by some miracle he had hung onto his life so far. Mouse wasn't sure for how much longer though, his breathing sounded terribly weak and every time she lost track of his slow breathing she would check up on him to make sure he was alright.
Anju had fallen asleep while the chef dozed on and off throughout the night, but Mouse stayed wide awake, watching as her friend fight off death while feeling completely helpless to it all. Her head fell against the old wooden shelf, her eyes steady on Rat as she clasped her hands together. Her body felt tense as if every moment would be his last.
She thought back to the streets, with the sudden explosion and how quickly everything dissolved into chaos and blood. Orphans like her were shredded by that blast or crushed by the Goron and left on the streets for dead like trash. Then her thoughts turned back to the Goron who she gutted and she wondered if anyone was with him in his final moments to comfort him... she wondered what type of family she had destroyed in that act of brutality. Unlike that Goron no one would cry if she had died tonight, after all she didn't have a family, her family abandoned her long ago and obviously didn't care for her. She had Rat and that was it, orphans cried for orphans, but no one else would spare them any thoughts.
When sunlight peaked over the kitchen curtains it seared her sleep deprived eyes with vengeance of the gods, she rubbed them before ducking out of the morning rays. Figuring she was already up now she walked over to Rat's body, dipped a towel in the cool water and gently ran it across his sweat covered forehead.
"You're my best friend you know..." Mouse said to the unconscious boy with a soft sniffle. "I would be dead without you, a thousands times you saved me from my own stupidity. I don't know what I would do without you."
It was probably one of her earliest memories, she was deemed too old to live with the church anymore so they made room in their already crammed orphanage for more unwanted babies. They left her out in the cold and she was lost and unsure what to do, she stumbled around the west district figuring that death would take her quickly. She hid under one of the few trees in the district, shivering to the bone when a group of orphans came towards her.
She begged them for warmth, but instead they tried to steal what small amount of food she had. But she didn't let go, even when they threatened her with a knife, it was hers and she wouldn't let them have it. That's when Rat came, the bony little child came at them like a demon, wailing about and scarring them away from her. He grabbed her arm and led her to the nearest church where they hid the night in the rafters away from the harsh cold.
"What do they call you?" Rat asked the small child as he broke off a piece of hardened bread he had been holding on.
"I don't have a name," she responded as one of the mice bravely stole a crumb of bread that had broken off.
Rat just laughed, "It's small and bony just like you!" He said after it made a daring escape through a hole in the wall, "I'm going to call you Mouse!" They had been together ever since, beating the odds and just trying to survive in this harsh city.
Tears welled in her eyes, she had thought she couldn't cry anymore but sure enough she managed to squeeze out some. But what was left after the tears was resolve, resolve to do more for Rat and make sure he survived.
Mouse found her way into Anju's office, the morning light giving just enough illumination for her to find her way around the desk. She wasn't sure what she was looking for because she couldn't actually read any of the words that were written down. But she understood the basics of how the ledger worked, how many people checked in which day (numbers on a calender she could understand) and she immediately went back a couple of days for when she and Rat spent the night in the kitchen.
There were three check ins in the building, one of them must have been the Ranger. Perhaps he had survived the fight and returned to the building, or perhaps he had some magical potion that could help heal Rat's wounds that she could find.
Grabbing the set of keys she made her way upstairs to the three rooms listed, banging on the first door she called, "Rusl! It's me open up!"
A voice shouted back, "Wrong room, get lost!" Well that was fair enough, Mouse thought, going to the next door and once again repeating her request. There was no answer, she tried again and after silence returned her request she took it upon her to enter the room with the keys.
The room was fairly dark and small, with a simple bed pushed into a corner and a desk on the opposite side. There was a chest for personal storage and a coat hanger as well but other than that the room was empty.
"Maybe he did die there..." It was the likely conclusion, she doubted even a Ranger could survive everything that place threw at him. "Well I guess you won't mind me stealing from you then." She went to the desk first, there were letters with words she didn't understand and a small pouch that, when she opened it, was filled with map tools and such.
She threw open the chest next which was largely empty, there was a thick blanket inside and a couple of bags. One was a bag of gold – which she pocketed – and another filled with small plants that were tightly bottled.
"Okay, so what do we have here?" She wasn't sure what it was but perhaps Anju might. Mouse was disappointed though, she thought the Ranger would have much more stuff that could help them. This didn't seem like his stuff at all really.
"Eh... who are you?" A voice suddenly caught her attention, she turned suddenly to see a man, groggy from sleep with untamed hair and a bushy beard, standing at the doorway with a puzzled look on his face. "You stealin' from me?"
It was then Mouse came to the hard realization that this wasn't the Rangers room. "Oh, um, room service?" She suggested to the man who didn't seem to buy her excuse. He stepped towards her, perhaps expecting to grab hold of the orphan quickly, but as he neared her she rounded right past him and darted to the door.
"Get back here!" He yelled starting to run towards her. This was not the situation Mouse wanted herself in at all, she couldn't leave the place because Rat needed her but she couldn't be caught either. She had a little bit of a head start now, she rounded the corner and the first door she saw she ran into.
It was unlocked, perhaps an unoccupied room, and very dark. Mouse wasn't paying attention to the room as she closed it shut and waited silently for the man to pass by, locking the door to make sure he couldn't barge in if somehow he figured out she was there.
It was then she turned back to the room, rather large with thick curtains blocking the windows, a size able bed in the corner and a bookshelf that was stacked opposite of a small fireplace that crackled lightly with fire. It was a little chilly and musky, like the window hadn't been opened in awhile.
"Anju, is that you...?" A weak voice spoke from in front of the fireplace. Mouse froze, unsure what to do and hoping that maybe she could slip right out before this person noticed who she was, "No not Anju... doesn't walk like her, can barely hear your steps... whatever I don't have much so nothing to lose. Stoke the fire for me please."
The frankness of the woman caught Mouse a bit off guard, but if she wasn't complaining Mouse didn't see the harm in stoking a fire. Kill some more time while she waited for that man to stop searching for her.
Mouse walked over, the light from the small fire showing the voice belonged to a gaunt old lady, her size partially concealed by the many blankets that wrapped over her and her face was tired and aged looking. Her hair though was well kept, brushed frequently which made Mouse think this was probably Anju's grandmother and she seemed to take very good care of her.
"You aren't of this place, are you?" She asked as Mouse picked up a log to place into the fire.
"I was born in this city." Mouse replied as she placed the heavy log into the fire, using some smaller pieces to help the larger was catch afire.
"Not hardly." She huffed, "When I was a small child like yourself the city was filled with tall, beautiful humans. Not so many Hylians or Gorons or Deku... they were good times, strong times with leaders that made sure Termenians came first."
So Mouse figured Anju's grandmother was a little racist, whatever not like she cared, "Well, I believe it." Frankly she wasn't sure what the big deal was, they were all rude to orphans so she didn't much like any – Human, Hylian, Goron or Deku.
"Do you have faith in the giants, child?" Most of the time Mouse slept in the rafters of one of their churches so she knew a lot about their faith. Plus the church would feed orphans so long as they sat for services so she had plenty of knowledge of them. But belief? Perhaps, she wasn't sure what she felt about it.
"We all come from the moon, and we shall return." Mouse quoted the line often repeated from the followers of the faith.
"Indeed, indeed," the old lady mummer, "There is darkness before the light, child." Those words sent chills up Mouse's back, it brought her back to the dingy Curiosity Shop where the old man muttered the exact same words moments after he opened the door to the terrifying scene of Deku locked up in shipping containers.
Mouse merely gave a weak smile, suddenly feeling this old lady was a bit less sweet than she might have imagined. She quickly muttered goodbye before deciding the halls were probably safe for now.
When she made her way back into the kitchen she noticed at first Anju was awake along with the chef, who was checking over Rat's wounds. "How is he?" Mouse asked as she quickly made her way to his side.
"He's still not conscious and I'm worried he's running a fever." Anju said as she fixed the ruffles of her hair, "I'm leaving to go get a proper doctor. It might be difficult to find as it's the Festival today but I'm sure I know someone who can help."
It hadn't even occurred to Mouse that today was the festival, there would be games and food and at night they would have fireworks that would light up the night sky and bring in the new calender year (which was a different year than the Hylians recognized). None of that mattered to her of course, she had much bigger things to worry about.
"I will go with you." Mouse said but Anju quickly dismissed it.
"I don't know what you kids got yourself into last night but I suspect the guards will be looking for orphans like yourself. You stay here out of sight." She wasn't about to tell Anju what they did, after all Mouse had killed a Goron. The guard would probably have her hung for that.
"O-okay..." Mouse nodded. As Anju left Mouse found herself helping the chef prepare breakfast for the inn's patrons, which was enough to help her distract from Rat's dire situation. She chopped potatoes for the soup while the chef baked fresh sweet bread that was fairly traditional for the city, the sweet bread was a sign of good luck for the people of the city and often eaten on the day of the festival.
When the doctor arrived the kitchen was masked with a smell of sweet bread cooking in the stone oven, which did wonders to cover the smell of gore that Rat gave from the side of the room. The doctor was a middle aged man, fairly built too with hair that was neatly brushed over to his side. Anju explained to Mouse as the man looked over Rat that he was a foot soldier during the war five years ago and treated wounded soldiers. Naturally the man had seen wounds like these before and hopefully he could help Rat.
"You did well to clean the wounds..." He said as he undid the bandages to examine Rat, "He's still in critical state. I'm going to give him potions of health to speed along him strength. He's already very undernourished."
He fed Rat the red potion through a small drip into his mouth, it was slow but it gradually made it way down until the bottle was almost empty. He changed the bandages and spoke to Anju privately about Rat while Mouse stayed at her friend's side.
Anju walked into the room, the look of stress she had seemed to age her many years. "What did he say?" Mouse asked.
"He's done everything he can, now it's up to Rat to recover."
Mouse looked over at her friend who's pale face made him look half dead already, "He's strong, one of the strongest people I know. He'll get through it."
Hours passed, lunch came and went and dinner followed from there. It was endless hours of nothing, but nothing was good because the longer Rat kept breathing the more it looked like he would survive this. Then an hour after Mouse had eaten her small dinner Rat's eyes opened.
"...Hey..." He spoke so softly his words could barely be heard. Mouse leaped to her feet and ran towards her friend, stopping by his side and resisting the urge to hug him.
"Rat! Oh gods I thought you were dead, you're awake though! He's awake!" She called towards Anju who had stepped out to check on her weird grandmother.
"Not yet," he chuckled. Anju came in and fetched him water, even she seemed pleasantly surprised that he was alive. Perhaps one good thing to happen to a woman wracked with problems.
After Anju had came and gone Mouse sat beside her friend, joking and laughing like everything was normal. Rat was staring off in the distance when Mouse softly poked his cheek.
"Hey, what are you thinking of," she asked, resting her head on her palm of her hand.
"I don't remember much from last night," he said squinting his eyes as if to see the memory before him. "I just remember the explosion and blinding pain. Why am I here? Why aren't I with the Bombers?"
Mouse was deeply conflicted, the Bomber had been the linchpin for them – they gave them a purpose and rewarded their efforts with rupees and food. But they had left them to die that night, the brotherhood was nothing and Mouse wasn't sure if she wanted anything to do with them again after what they did.
"Rat..." She began, her voice drifting off into silence as she thought about what to tell him, "Listen, you were right. That mission was so screwed up, like... really bad. I think our Bomber days should be over. We can survive without them you know? They were useful at first but we can get much more stealing on our own, and safer too."
Rat was far too weak to ask her anymore questions or to question the fact she dodged the question completely. "Yeah, that was screwed up." He laid his head back down, soon later he drifted back into sleep.
Mouse found herself back in the front of the inn along with Anju, helping her with the dishes that were left about the tavern portion of the building. "I've been needing some helping hands around here." Anju said as she swept up the mud and dust brought in from the travelers. "Perhaps you and Rat would like to help out?"
Mouse's was caught off guard by this, normally people didn't want anything to do with orphans like them but Anju had (almost) always been kind to them, and this was the perfect out for the two of them. "Y-you want us?"
"Sure, the two of you know this building well." She nodded, "You'd have to stop stealing from people though. Can't have that kind of stuff dragged into my building."
"Oh of course!" Mouse replied, giddy at the thought, "Yeah no problem at all! Never steal anything again I promise!"
"Good," Anju replied with her typical sweet smile, "Then consider tomorrow your first day."
"I mean, I could start tonight."
"No, no," the taller woman dismissed, "Tonight is the festival anyway. There will be fireworks, you can even see them from the rooftops. If Rat is feeling good enough maybe the two of you should watch them from there?"
"The festival?" It seemed to keep slipping her brain, "Oh gods, we don't even have masks yet!" It was traditional, at the start of the new year it was though that ghosts would rise from the earth and walk among the people once more. People without masks could be preyed upon, so everyone would go out around the city with masks on to keep them safe. Mouse wasn't sure if she believed that, but given she just killed a Goron she didn't exactly want that poor creature coming back for revenge.
"They're selling masks all around the square. If you hurry you'll get there in time and back." she swiped the plates from Mouse, "Go on, go. Get one for Rat too."
"Okay!" There was a surreal feeling, Rat had gotten through the worst of it and the two of them had been offered a place to work and stay. Perhaps next year would be better, perhaps even, she would feel like she actually had a family. She'd even learn to love the creepy grandmother, she thought.
Mouse was out in the streets, the cool night air was like a fresh breeze from the inn and the streets were filled. The closer she got to the main square the bigger the crowds became, people were dressed in exotic colors and masks of all shape, sizes and colors. Music and laughter filled the crowd, the smell of sweet smelling treats and sweat perfumed the air while confetti fluttered from the sky from flying Deku. It was an amazing sight that Mouse almost didn't realize what time it was, the huge clock tower was the center of attention – immense in size, it rose high into the sky with different floors filled with people. She couldn't see many from down on the streets, but she imagined they were the higher ups of society – the land owners on the first couple floors, and the old families on the top.
Mouse found a salesman peddling off masks to a couple with two young children, normally such a sight of family love would send chill down her spine, but now there was a feeling that perhaps things would be different for her.
"Hello child!" The loud peddler with red hair cooed, "You are without a mask! Hurry now before the ghosts rise, I have plenty that will fit you perfectly!" He exaggeratedly presented her with a mask adorned with bright pink flowers, which she gave a frown towards.
"That isn't me." She said, her eyes falling upon a mouse shaped mask with a long nose. It was too perfect, "That one!"
"A fantastic choice!" She dropped a couple of small red gems into his hand, and then picked out what she thought was a rat mask, but may have been something else. It had small horns on the head but the rest of it looked like a rat. "Have a wonderful night and tell your friends about the Happy Mask Shop!"
Mouse put her mask over her face and a smile showed itself, she felt like one of the people right now, not outside like usual.
As she walked away from the square and back towards the inn the first round of fireworks broke into the sky. There were two rounds, one before midnight and the other after the clock chimes. The fireworks broke into the sky with magnificent glory of colors, the crowd gazed in wonder and cheered as they flew into the air. Mouse just quickened her pace so she could get back to the inn before the second round of fireworks broke.
"Come on, come on, new year, new life!" She said to herself, vowing that she would never again find herself in a situation where the life of another was in her hands. She might even be a better person!
Suddenly the loud cracks of the fireworks were broken by an even louder boom that shook so violently that it threw Mouse to the ground. The first thing – aside from the sound – to be noticed was the intense flash of flame that covered the plaza before her. It was shaking, the explosion burst from the bottom of the Clock Tower and immediately consumed the first couple floors in flames that made the night before look small in comparison.
Only after the initial explosion did the screams of the crowd below register for Mouse, who knows how many people by the clock tower were consumed by the flames and rubble, but after the explosion the clock tower just began to lean on itself, briefly stopping as what remained of the lower floor tried to hold itself up...
It was a brief moment of calm, before the clock tower screeched and the upper floors came crashing down on the plaza below in a sudden, horrifying moment.
"Oh gods..." Mouse couldn't believe what she was seeing but the crowd before her was turning around and stampeding down to the streets to get away from the plumes of smoke that quickly moved around the plaza following the falling of the clock tower.
"Run!" People screamed as Mouse got to her feet and ran along the streets, trying to run from the smoke that seemed to move quicker than waves of water. Her legs couldn't outrun the smoke and soon it consumed her, the plume of smoke breathing against her back and filling her lungs with the choking material.
She threw the mask off her face and coughed violently, holding her sleeve over her nose to try and stem the flow into her lungs. People were on the floor, feeling for their way while others seemed to fall to the whims of the smoke. Mouse found herself against a building, the screams and cries of people were overwhelming her senses and she couldn't tell where she was going.
Mouse felt her way around until she came upon one of the manholes into the sewers, she hoped below would have been spared the worst of it. She knew the sewers and when she slipped below the smell of the waste was a welcome reprieve from the smoke above. She ran through, her mind racing in a panic as she wondered what exactly was going on – a pain in her stomach told her it had something to do with weapons they stole the other night.
One of the Bomber locations weren't far from here, perhaps she would slip over there to figure out what was going on. It would be safe there from what was going on in the streets. As she moved through the darkened sewers she could see a figure up ahead leaning against the sewer walls, she dropped low, figuring it was a Bomber watchman.
"Thirty-five-forty!" She spat out the code, knowing that they would be on edge. Yet no one answered her back, the figure just sat there unmoving. When she felt brave enough she moved closer to the figure and it became clear to her the boy was no longer alive. His wound was ghastly, a hole in his chest that soaked his lower body in his own blood, but he was clearly a Bomber.
"What is going on?" Her legs told her to run, they shook with adrenaline and everything in her told her to run. Shouts up ahead became evident, she peered around the side and noticed the lights of torches in the hands of close to a dozen lightly armored men – it was Clock Town guards. The Bomber location was a small clear in the sewers that they had used to direct messages to different operations, Mouse had been there once to deliver a pouch of information to the center, where the center once was filled with orphans coming in going it had been replaced by a grizzly scene of guards massacring the Bombers and gathering up all the boxes of documents that had been stored
"Clear the place out, come on!" One of the guards shouted as he wiped his bloody knife with silk, "They're putting up a fight at the main center, we're being called into reinforce them." Mouse couldn't reason why everything was happening while it did, how did they know about the main center? Why was this happening right now?
"Move! We'll come back to this," The senior guard ordered as the group began to move down one of the sewer corridors. Mouse found herself sitting besides the dead man in shock, her thoughts were like a waves bearing down on her, losing any direction in her thoughts to make any sort of logic as to what was happening. The simple logic was that the Bombers had done this, and that the guards were reacting to it – but it happened not even a half hour ago, and the guards were never this fast to react. She knew deep down there was more to this, and she knew she had to get far away from this place.
Mouse followed the opposite corridor, she knew safety would be in the Stock-Pot-Inn. Climbing out of one of the manholes about a block away she took to the streets again, which were shockingly empty. She imagined most people were hiding away right now, terrified of any further attacks taking place. What she immediately noticed was the huge plume of smoke coming from the town center where the clock tower had been consumed in a flurry of flames, but there was also smoke coming from the northern district where the government conducted their business. Was there more than one attack? What was going on?
She stumbled towards the back door of the inn, pounding her fists against the door until it swung open to Anju, who looked at her as if she saw a ghost. "Mouse! Oh gods, I thought you were dead. Come inside, quickly!" Anju pulled her into the inn, slammed the door and then brought her into a hug. Mouse couldn't contain herself, she just started crying into Anju's apron while her entire body shook in fear.
"There's so many dead!" She cried out, "And, and, it's just so crazy. This isn't right, none of it is!"
"Mouse," The voice of Rat called out, as he pulled himself up despite the pain he must have been in. He was as confused as everyone but he did not pester her with questions, instead he walked over and put his arms around her, "I'm so sorry."
They just stood there for awhile as Mouse cried, how could anyone comfort anyone after witnessing something like that. After that moment subsided Anju decided to politely excuse herself to go make a bath for Mouse who was covered in sweat, sewage and smoke.
As the water for the bath was coming to boil there came a heavy handed knocking on the door, the chef directed his gaze towards the front door and started towards it. Mouse didn't give it much thought until a voice followed the knocking.
"This is the town guard, open up immediately!" The words sent chills down her spine, the horrors of the sewers were brought back to her suddenly.
"No, don't open it!" She yelled, running from the kitchen and down the hall as fast as she could, and as she reached the main hall her heart plummeted, the guards had already been let in. Standing in their silver armor and armed to the teeth, close to seven men stood in the hall. They looked towards Mouse and she knew right there that they would grab her, no doubt they were hunting down all Bombers... yet to her surprise they looked away without giving so much of another glance.
"We're here for a Ranger who goes by the name of Rusl," The man said towards the chef who did not answer them.
"For what reasoning?" Anju's voice came as she came down to see what was going on.
"In relations to the attacks being conducted around the city. We know he's here." What did they want the Ranger for, none of this made any sense to her and the tense feeling made her stomach sick.
Anju glanced between the guards, Mouse knew that Anju had hired the Ranger to look for her runaway husband and no doubt was worried what this all meant.
"He checked out yesterday and hasn't been back sense. You won't find him here." Anju explained, lying to the guards, which Mouse was fairly surprised the sweet girl was capable of doing.
The guard -who was perhaps twice the size of Anju – stared at her, unbelieving of her words. "Seize her!" Two guards suddenly grasped her by the arms, the chef who stepped to protect Anju was quickly bent over by two other guards who pressed a knife to his throat. Mouse moved to run but one guard came upon her quickly, slamming her against the wall and holding her tightly there.
"Search every room, find the Ranger."
"Stop, you can't do this!" Anju yelled as the guards moved upstairs.
Mouse could barely breath, panic was seeping through her as the guards burst into the rooms above. One other moved down the hall to the kitchen where Rat was, Mouse flailed to try and get out of the guards grasp but the tightened grip was nearly choking her out.
"We can't find him, sir!" The guards shouted from above. The larger guard turned back towards Anju and with a sudden movement slapped the woman with the back of his hand, so hard that blood poured from her mouth. He seized her by the hair and demanded loudly.
"Where is he!?"
"Leave her alone!" The chef roared, throwing a guard off him and grabbing the other and tossing him into one of the tables. He charged towards the guards holding Anju with tremendous speed as if he was a bull charging, yet as intimidating as he was a spear quickly halted him in his track as the metal pierced into his gut.
Anju screamed, Mouse would have too if she could. The guard pulled the spear out of the man, spilling blood upon the floor and making the chef roll over to his side in agonizing pain.
"This inn is in direct confrontation with the state by harboring terrorists. It is too difficult to identify which are aiding this establishment... so I see no other choice, execute everyone and burn this place to the ground." The guard spoke such horrifying words, his reasoning was mere excuses, they were planning to torch this place all along, "The girl and her grandmother come with us."
"NO!" Anju screamed as the guards went about every room, the screams of the guests as they started executing everyone who had made it back (or never left) to the festival. Mouse acted quickly as soon as she saw a chance, the guard lightened his grip a bit and Mouse bit down hard, breaking skin and causing the guard to let her go.
She ran down the hall, flying towards where Rat was, she knew she would only have a couple of second before they would catch up but she was sure she could grab Rat and they could get out in time.
"Just finish this place off. We've got other places to go, come on!" The lead guard had taken his exit along with Anju while other guards were already going to work lighting the place afire. They wouldn't stop until all evidence of this inn was erased.
Mouse made her way down the hall and slid into the kitchen, "Rat, Rat we have to move!" She yelled, her hopes of escape were still a chance – until she came into sight of the area. Her heart dropped, as she saw the guard holding a knife to Rat's throat.
"You're next." The guard hissed before he drew the knife across Rat's throat in one horrifying moment. Mouse watched helplessly as the blood seeped from Rat's throat, his eyes staring widely at her as if to beg her to help, or perhaps to say one last goodbye. Mouse stared helplessly as the life left his eyes.
"Rat!" She screamed, aghast as she saw her only friend die in front of her. "No, no, no!" She charged the guard, letting a deep rage take hold of her. Mouse wished she was larger, stronger so that she could bring her friend revenge, but the guard overpowered her in a moment, smacking her to the ground and shoving his knee into her stomach to hold her still.
"Disgusting little runt, hold still!" Her readied his bloody blade, but as he brought the knife forward there was a loud 'thump'. A guard from across the hall was thrown, so hard that it knocked him out. Mouse stretched her neck to see who it was but the smoke from the starting fire obscured her vision.
"You looking for me?" A rough, cold voice spoke as a hooded man stepped from the shadows – undoubtedly it was the Ranger. His blade was drawn and bloodied. The movement was quick, the guard tried to react but the Ranger moved much faster and in a mere flash of the blade he had lodged his sword in the slits of the guards armor, spraying the thick red liquid all over the shiny armor the guard had on.
Two more guards in the room tried to stop him but were dispatched so quickly in seemed unnatural. The speed was needed as the fire was taking to the old house quickly, blazing across the main entrance and towards them.
Mouse was getting to her feet and preparing to go over to Rat's body when the arms of the hooded man wrapped around her and pulled him up. "Come on, we're leaving!"
"No, no, no!" Mouse struggled, "We can't leave him, we can't!"
"He's gone already you foolish child," He growled as he moved towards the back door, "And we shall join him if we don't move!"
"Leave me, I don't care, I don't!" She pounded at him as he kicked open the door, "Leave me!"
She watched as the flames consumed the kitchen, catching upon the body of her friend and wrapping itself over in its destructive fury. She screamed until her voice left her while Rusl carried her away to the nearest park where the wooded area was a welcome hiding place.
Mouse turned towards Rusl, her eyes glaring down at him like he was the murderer.
"You did this, they were after you!" She yelled, hitting at the larger man who did not budge to her anger, "You killed my friend!"
His face was shadowed by the darkness but his expression remained unmoving, instead he wrapped his arms around the crying girl and brought her closer.
"I'm sorry, Mouse." He merely said as she cried out, "I'm so sorry..."
From the edge of the forest they watched as the fire rose over the inn, even in the night sky the sight of the glowing flames across the city were evident. Whatever had happened in the city, whatever great force was on the move was wreaking havoc wherever it touched, one thing for sure was that the amount of innocent who suffered was immense, and the night wasn't even over yet...