DISCLAIMER: SEE CH 1
AN: Took a while, I know, sorry…
Review Responses:
Spiritual Stone: Uh, glad you liked it!
LinkIsaacANDLloyd: Ok, for your first idea, I don't think that's going to work here, but thanks for the idea. For your second idea, I do have something similar planned already, involving a couple WTFPWNAGEUBERELITE knights. Oh, and you should definitely trademark that word, it's awesome. I don't know about your third idea yet…
Anime Wildfire: again, thanks for the review!
Chuck: Thanks for the review, I hope it gets better.
ElfMaidenOfLight: I did :) Glad you like it, by the way.
And now, the story…
As soon as Link came out to blood fields, he ran to the left, and then back into the forest. He slid behind a tree. From where he was, he could just barely see the path leading to Jarmania. A bunch of guards were running out to blood fields. They looked around.
"Damn it… he must have gone into the forest. We'll never find him there." One of them said.
"You're right. Head back men, at least we caught the treachery of the princess." The leader barked. They all headed back to the gate. Link stepped back out of the forest. He had to get some help, get back in there. Not only were there gladiators to free, but princess Elisa was caught because she tried to help him. Treason was a serious charge, she'd be lucky to just be exiled. Execution was much more likely.
Link knew if he went to Hyrule, it would be too late. Without a horse, it would take days. Even Gerudo Valley was too far. He'd have to round up some people from blood fields. But would anyone come? It was then that Link got a good look at Blood Fields. It was very quiet. He walked to the top of one of the few hills, and looked out. All he could see was Jarmanian outposts. He looked to the entrances to Gerudo desert, and saw they were blocked by Jarmanian camps. Blood Fields had been taken.
But there had to be survivors. Maybe prisoners in the outposts. There would be people, there must be. People hiding, unable to leave because of the blockade of Jarmanian soldiers at the pathways through the mountains.
Link walked out into the field. He had a plan, nothing special, but it would have to do. He would rescue any prisoners still alive, if there were any. He would find any soldiers hiding in the trees, there were always survivors. They could sneak into Jarmania, and free the gladiators and Princess Elisa. He could offer the gladiators asylum within Hyrule, if they helped fight through one of the camps and into Hyrule. Link stopped. It wouldn't help to be caught and trapped in an outpost. He quickly used Farore's wind where he was, setting a warp point. He needed a back door.
He walked near an outpost, which was basically just two tents and some soldiers. There was a couple of Hylians tied up and tossed to a side. Link lay down, using his green tunic to blend into the grass as best as possible, and scoped out the place. There was only four visible soldiers, and there couldn't be more than six concealed in the tents, they would have set up more otherwise. So ten, at the most. Link crawled towards the two prisoners. He lay beside them, hidden from view. One of them was a basic soldier, the kind that wielded cheap spears. The other, however, had an insignia on his light armor, near his heart. It was the Hylian flag design, with the Triforce and red eagle, like on a Hylian shield. A member of the royal knights, an honour passed down from father to son, dating way back to the great wars. This could be a useful ally. Link untied the regular soldier, who was closest. When the man rolled away, a guard shouted out. He hadn't seen Link because the guard was far and Link was behind the prisoners, but he saw the rope come off.
Link leapt to his feet, startling the guard. Link drew his sword, and charged ahead. He met the first guard, who had nothing but as short sword, and with three quick slashes dispatched him. The other three ran over, two of them had spears, and one had a sword and shield. The one with the sword came first, and Link slashed at him. The man blocked with his shield, and stabbed back. Link sidestepped this and slashed down, splitting the man's helmet and killing him. The two with the spears came at the same time. Link back flipped, avoiding their stabs, and used his jump attack to kill one. He spun and brought his sword up, leaving a shallow cut on the other man's leg. He fell to his knees, and dropped his weapon.
"I surrender!" He cried. Link dragged him over to where the prisoner was, and tied him up with the rope from the soldier he untied. Link peeked in the tents, but they didn't have any soldiers after all, just supplies. Clearly they weren't expecting an attack. Link ran back and untied the royal knight.
"I thank you." The knight said, getting to his feet. "You fight well."
Link smiled, and bowed. "Don't bow, young warrior. You clearly aren't a soldier, so I am not your superior." The man said gently. "My name is Agraros."
The other soldier, who had been watching from a distance while Link fought, came over now. "I am thankful too." He said. Agraros went into a tent, and came out with their weapons. He handed a cheap spear to the soldier, as Link expected. Agraros had two swords, one over his shoulder and the other on his waist.
"My name is John, by the way." The spear wielding soldier said. Link nodded to him.
"My name is Link." He said, turning and looking to the next outpost. "I have a favour to ask of you."
"You saved my life, I will do as you ask." Agraros said.
"I need help breaking into Jarmania. There are slaves there who may help us, if we free them." Link said.
"No way. No way, you cannot be serious, man, its impossible!" John almost shouted.
Agroros spoke up, "We will die here otherwise, there is no way through the mountains without help. I cannot speak for John, but I will go with you."
"Well, I'm not staying here alone. I guess I must go too." John said.
Link smiled, and bowed his head thankfully. "We should rescue the others. There are two outposts small enough for us to attack. After that, we will find any survivors who are not captured. Then I will find us a way into Jarmania." He explained quickly.
The trio ran along the field for fifteen minutes or so, to the next outpost, also made up of tents. Agraros held up a hand, and stealthily approached the camp. There were no guards on duty, it seemed. They were all sleeping. Clearly they were even less concerned about an attack then the last outpost. Agraros freed the one soldier held captive there, another royal knight. His name was Gorem. He wielded a dagger and an axe. He also agreed to go.
The next camp was actually guarded, so sneaking up was impossible. The four charged straight on. One guard was sent in the other direction, probably to warn the others. Eight soldiers lined up in in the way of Link and his allies. Link ran straight through, using his shield to thrust away the spear points, and slashing from side to side, killing two as he passed through. Agraros and Gorem had equal success, Agraros killing three and Gorem killing two. John was attacked by the last soldier, and they fought for a while before Link kicked the soldier, knocking him off balance so John could stab him. There were two generic soldiers and one royal knight here. The soldiers both struck out on their own, but the royal knight, a woman name Kasha joined them. She had a bow, as well as a long, thin, slightly curved sword on her waist.
"How many of you are there?" Link asked.
"It was just the three of us. We were each leading a small army. They seemed to know about us, they took us alive." Kasha answered.
Link nodded. Three royal knights on his side. He had not expected to be so lucky. If they gathered a small group of other soldiers, they had good odds of taking the coliseum, with careful planning. Link found a Hylian flag that lay abandoned.
"It is risky, but the only way to get the attention of any Hylians. We are going to march along the tree line and wave this. We'll make our way to Jarmania that way, hopefully gathering soldiers." Link explained.
Everyone nodded, so Link raised the flag, and began waving it as they walked to the edge of the field, near the forest. He turned and followed the line of trees towards the path leading to Jarmania. More soldiers seemed to be hiding then he had thought. They crept out from the trees, heartened by the flag, a Hylian flag in territory controlled by the Jarmanians. Once they crept close, they saw the three royal knights, Hyrule's elite warriors, and joined without hesitation. By the time they reached the path, there was Link, the three knights, and twenty-eight soldiers. Thirty-two warriors. Link had complete confidence they would take the coliseum, as long as they were quick and allowed no one to escape for reinforcements. With the gladiators' help, it would be easy to escape again. They had to avoid severe losses to escape blood fields, though.
Link quickly explained the plan. He would scale the wall with his hookshot, and take out the guards at the gate. He would open the gate, and they would hide the bodies. When they were in, the would run through the town, covering their ears with helmets, hates or hoods, to buy them some time. It wouldn't be much, because people would notice the soldier's uniforms, but they should make it to the coliseum. They would take it quickly, block the doors, and hope no one figured out where they were in time. With the gladiators' help, they would fight their way back out and into the forest. They would regroup, and plan a way back to Hyrule from there.
"It is not foolproof, but it will do." Gorem said. Everyone slowly agreed, and they headed down the path. They would only get one chance.
AN: I know that wasn't terribly interesting, but it had to be done. By the way, if you want to know how I imagine pronouncing Agraros, I think of it as "ah-grare-ose." I know I make weird names, sorry. Anyway, please review.