"I've never seen a sword that curved." Link said, breaking the silence. The group was on day three of their journey and the pace had slowed to a crawl. The day before, Link had tried asking Nabooru more about Impa or the Gerudo but Nabooru, for whatever reason, was in no mood to talk. For hours the only thing that could be heard was the buzzing of insects, croaking of frogs, and the sucking of mud as it clung to the horses' feet. They were lucky last night, and found a cluster of boulders to sleep amongst so they could stay dry. Link doubted they would be that lucky again.

So far Nabooru had, again, been unwilling to converse with the curious boy. Because of that, and an unmanageable amount of boredom, Link directed his newest attempt at Nagina.

"I imagine there are many things a boy who's lived in the forest his whole life hasn't seen," Nagina replied curtly. She didn't even bother looking over her shoulder. Link would not be dismissed so easily.

"But why shape it like that?" he asked. "Isn't it more difficult to smith a curved sword than a straight one? And it looks like you only get one sharpened edge. Doesn't that limit your fighting?" Both Din's Wrath and the Kokiri Dagger had been double-edged swords.

Nagina gave an exasperated sigh. "I suppose you'll harass me for the rest of this journey if I don't explain it to you, yes?"

"Yes."

Nagina reached cross her lap and drew one of her scimitars out. After scanning the blade with her narrow dark eyes she flipped the sword in the air, caught it between her thumb and four fingers by the flat of the blade, and held it out to Link. Reverently Link took the sword by its worn leather handle. It was lighter than he'd thought it would be.

"The desert is too hot for thick armor," she explained while Link rotated his wrist. "So carrying a broadsword or a great-sword is unnecessary. The weight of such weapons is only useful when you need to pierce plate mail or chainmail. Scimitar wielders rely on dexterity as their defense." She drew a second scimitar from her saddle and began weaving quick circles with it on each side of her body. Gracefully she allowed the pommel of the single-edged weapon to rotate slightly in her grip whenever it reached its zenith. The slight adjustment made all the difference in where the killer edge ended up.

Slowly, so as to avoid accidentally slicing the back of Epona's neck, Link did his best to mimic the move. While easier to maneuver on horseback than Din's Wrath, Link worried about the single edge. He could already tell his backswing would need tweaking in order to be effective with such a weapon.

"The curve of the scimitar," Nagina continued. "Optimizes the effectiveness of slashing. The edge is also made of a softer metal than the fuller and back. This gives the weapon a certain flexibility allowing for more powerful engagements without having to worry about breaking your sword."

"How does it handle against a shield?"

A less malevolent smirk from Nagina. "Gerudo warriors don't carry shields. Bows, spears, and guandaos are used on horseback and two scimitars or a spear are used on foot."

"Two scimitars?" Link asked. "I've never seen anyone use two weapons at once."

Nabooru looked over her shoulder. "The greatest of Gerudo warriors are ambidextrous and can wield a sword perfectly in either hand, or both simultaneously. Nagina is the epitome of a Gerudo warrior."

The first full-blown, genuine smile Link had witnessed from Nagina appeared. The attendant bowed her head even though the queen had returned her gaze to the southwest.

"You flatter me my queen."

Link waited a moment so as not to disturb Nagina's moment. When he did speak he asked, "Which weapon do you prefer? Dual scimitars?"

"Typically yes," she answered. There was little to no annoyance in her voice now, Link noticed. "But the guandao holds a place in my heart as well."

"Gone-what?"

"Gwan-dow," she patiently repeated. "It's a spear with. . . " she scrunched her face up trying to think of a way to describe the weapon to the ignorant forest boy. "with a small scimitar blade on the end."

Link tried to imagine the weapon that was just described. What most concerned him was how he would fight against an opponent wielding a guandao.

"Does Queen Nabooru prefer a guandao, or two scimitars?" Link asked. Nagina held her hand out to take her scimitar back from Link. He handed it over without the fancy flip in the air.

"Her Majesty has no need for swords or spears," Nagina stated. "She has myself and a kingdom of subjects ready to lay their lives down for her."

Link nodded, not wanting to get Nagina riled up. "How long has Queen Nabooru been queen?"

"Fifteen years," Nagina answered. She secured both scimitars on the sides of her saddle then faced forward, looking at the back of her queen. To Link it looked as though memories were dancing through the Gerudo woman's gaze. Whatever those memories were they ruined the woman's mood.

"I grow bored of your questions boy." Her annoyed tone had returned. "I believe I have answered enough of your questions to earn a respite from your ignorance." She put her heels into her small horse and bid it forward, away from Epona.

"Thank you," Link called after her, despite her rudeness. He wasn't expecting a response, therefore wasn't disappointed to receive none.

As Link had feared, when night approached, there was no dry land anywhere to be seen. Only wet, muddy, humid, hot, sticky, insect infested marsh, as far as the eye could see.

"We will rest here," Nabooru announced. The sun was more than halfway below the horizon and quickly descending.

"In the mud and still-water?" Link failed to keep the disgust out of his voice.

Without hesitation Nabooru climbed down from her saddle and stepped into the mud and filth of the marsh. Surprisingly her pointed shoes only sank an inch into the black soft earth. While Nagina climbed off her horse the queen went up to the mule and started pulling large brown sacks from the saddle bags.

"These are sand grub husks," she explained catching Link's gaze. "After the giant insect is killed, hollowed out, then dried, its skin becomes an adult sized, water-proof sleeping sack.

"That's incredible!" Link jumped out of Epona's saddle to investigate the mysterious husk. To his horror his boots sank deep into the marsh. So deep that mud and water poured into the tops of his Hylian boots, soaking his toes and feet from the inside.

Nabooru and Nagina laughed at his misfortune.

"How are you not getting sucked in?" he growled while trying to pull his foot out of the trap without losing his only pair of boots.

"Gerudo people are light, with wide and long feet," Nabooru reminded him. "At home it keeps us out of the sinking sands. Here it keeps us out of the filth."

Link grumbled to himself unintelligibly.

That night the horses had to sleep standing up while the three travelers curled up inside the weird smelling corpses of sand grubs. Their meal had been nothing but dried fruit cakes. Since there was no dry land, or dry kindling, there was no fire. Link didn't mind since even at night the warmth of the swamp was stifling.

"Goodnight Navi," Link whispered, careful not to let Nagina overhear.

"Goodnight Link," Navi said with none of her companion's bashfulness.

A chuckle could be heard from one of the worm bags. Likely Nagina's.

"Link!" Navi whispered urgently into Link's ear. "Don't move, there are armed men around you."

Adrenaline flooded the boy's body instantly yet obediently he remained still. Keeping his eyes closed he forced the last remnants of drowsiness out of his body and focused on his hearing. There were no voices but it wasn't hard for Link to hear the slurping of feet moving through the mud.

"Seven men," Navi warned, not needing Link to ask her for information. "One has a bow. One has javelins. The rest have short swords. No armor. One is moving towards us. He doesn't know what this sleeping bag is. Five feet away." She went silent then.

Link could hear the man breathing. He berated himself for not keeping Din's Wrath on him while he'd slept. In his mind's eye he could see it hanging uselessly on Epona's side.

A high-pitched nervous whiny sounded passed Link's feet. Epona was awake. Praying the distraction was enough, Link pulled open the sand worm sack that had been closed over his head and scrambled out as fast as he could.

"Aaah!" the startled man cried. He had not expected a child to crawl out of what looked like a giant sleeping bug.

Without any semblance of grace the man swiped wildly at Link with his short sword. The boy scrambled backwards, fighting the thick mud to get to his feet. Just as he up righted himself an arrow thunked into the mud to his left.

Shit!

He didn't have time find where the archer was and he didn't have a shield to cover himself. That left one option. Link juked towards the man with the short sword then leaned backwards narrowly missing the short blade. Just as the weapon passed Link, the boy lowered himself down so one knee was hovering just over the mud. He drove himself forward catching his attacker's leg and wrapping his arm around it. With all his might Link lifted and pushed, praying the man's steel didn't catch him in the back.

The unforgiving swamp held the man's planted foot, preventing him from jumping backwards to maintain his balance. With a swear word on his lips the man and Link crashed into the ground. Since the soft earth cushioned the man's landing Link knew he had to be fast. He climbed up the man's body just as the sword arm was making its way around. Link blocked the incoming arm by meeting the man's forearm with his. The instant their arms made contact Link pulled his arm down so he could catch his opponent with his hand.

Fingers clamping around the wrist of the man's sword arm, Link threw his body around the man's head, over his shoulder, then under his arm. The edge of the short sword was dangerously close to Link's face, but he had the man's wrist secured between both his hands and the man's arm secured between his legs. With the dynamic movement that only comes from hours and hours of drilling the same technique Link pulled his enemy's wrist down while driving his own hips up. There was a pop followed by a scream. Link pulled the sword from the now limp wrist of the human then rolled to his feet. He was just fast enough and lucky enough to meet the second swordsman.

The poorly crafted short sword in Link's hand had none of the magical force-halving properties of Din's wrath. Between his muddy grip, and the aggression of the attacker, the weapon nearly went flying from his hand. Link managed to deflect the swing hold on to his weapon. Immediately Link realized that the mud would hinder any sort of footwork or maneuvering so the well-trained boy set his feet in a wide fighting stance.

The second swordsman was no more skilled or graceful than his broken comrade, but he was prepared for the fight. He was short by adult standards, only a few inches taller than Link. The boy attributed this to the man's poor offense. Without the man bearing in on the boy, Link was able to parry each of his swings. After a perfect overhead block Link twisted his sword, mimicking the thrust he had seen Impa use, and drove the blade into the man's diaphragm. Blood and spittle flew from the man's mouth, but Link wasted no time in regret or ceremony. With the flat of his blade Link slapped the man in the face, knocking him aside.

A third swordsman was helping the first man up to his feet while a fourth man charged at Link. This man was fitted with a clumsily made wooden shield and a rusty blade. While the man plowed through the mud another arrow whizzed by Link, narrowly missing him.

"I'll take the archer!" he heard Nagina shout behind him.

"Nabooru is up too," Navi informed him. Link nodded and readied himself for the man with the shield.

The man had no more skill than either of his two brethren, but the shield was proving to be a problem for Link. Instantly he regretted not training against a wider variety of styles. No matter how well Link deflected or parried the sword, he couldn't strike fast enough to get around the shield. If he could move his feet he might be able to out maneuver the fighter but that wasn't an option.

"High-low-high," Link suddenly recalled Impa saying. "Forces your opponent to create an opening. Unless their equipment covers their entire frame, head to toe, they will give you an opening."

Link brought his weapon down hard with an overhead strike. The moment his sword met the wooden shield, he disengaged, and brought his weapon down for an upward strike. Again shield met sword. Again Link quickly disengaged and brought his sword up to swing at the man's now exposed skull. The man's shield interrupted the blade's murderous journey. Not dismayed Link dove to the side into the mud. Just before he was sucked into the filth he lashed out at the man's exposed calf. Sword and shield were too slow to protect the man. The steel sliced inches deep into the man's leg. With a cry of pain the man collapsed. To Link's dismay the 150 pound man collapsed right on top of him.

"Link!" Navi cried out. She could see that her friend was now trapped on his belly, inches deep in the mud, below the bandit.

Link squirmed, trying to get out but he failed. Luckily the downed swordsman was in too much pain to effectively strike at the boy. All he managed was to weakly bash Link in the back of head with his shield.

"I got 'im," growled an advancing bandit, the one who had stopped to help his friend. He held his blade up ready to deliver the killing blow.

"HYAH!" Nagina somersaulted over the bodies flopping in the mud towards Link's newest attacker. The man tried in vain to defend himself against the two spinning scimitars of the tumbling woman. One slash, then another, stole the man's sword arm, then life. The red warrior woman who smelled like honey and something else landed on her feet and turned to dispatch the man atop Link.

Free of the man and his bashing shield Link clambered to his feet. "Lookout!" he cried to Nagina. The woman turned in time to witness a javelin headed directly towards her, too fast to dodge. Rearing her head back Nagina slashed upward in an 'X' with her blades. To Link's amazement she deflected the short spear, sending it up and over her head harmlessly.

Link was stunned as she did it a second time sending the next javelin harmlessly off to the side. The javelin thrower was equally stunned. Even more so when an arrow buried itself to the shaft, in his chest. In disbelief the man looked passed the vile woman and boy in green to where his ally should have been standing with the bow. Another red woman was standing there in his stead, second arrow already notched.

Leaving the dying man to her queen Nagina turned on the whimpering bandit clutching his broken arm. Before Link could stop her she took the man's head, separating it from his crippled body.

"Dammit!" Link growled shutting his eyes. He had no desire for a headless corpse to plague his nightmares.

"Are you injured?" Nagina asked, confused by the boy's outburst.

Link sighed. "No. You?"

Nagina snorted. "As if such mongrels could cause harm."

"What about the seventh one?" Navi asked.

Nagina and Link both whirled around looking for their last attacker.

"There he is!" Link pointed out the lone bandit trying to ride off into the distance atop their mule, of all creatures.

"Hmmmm, hold these." Nagina held both of her scimitars out to Link.

"Okay. . ."

The woman daintily picked her way through the mud and bodies until she found one of the javelins she'd deflected.

"Fifty rupees," Nabooru called through cupped hands. "If you can hit the man without wounding our pack mule."

"I'd do it for free!" Nagina called back. Link turned to gauge the distance. Even with the mud slowing the mule down the thief had already put nearly one hundred yards between him and his dead allies.

No way she makes that throw, Link thought. Nagina pulled the javelin back, pointed forward with her other arm, exhaled, then lunged forward with her whole body. The short spear whistled through the air higher and higher.

No way.

The bandit, too frightened to look back, thought he'd made it out safely. Sure he would be called a coward for abandoning his cousin and friends, but even one mule was worth enough to feed his wife and kids. And that wasn't including what the saddle would go for. Good leather was hard to find this far north. Mules were surefooted and reliable. He was sure, even if that green boy and the red women pursued him, he could outrun them. He was sure his Donna would forgive him, would understand why it was actually the brave thing to do, to steal the mule and ride off. He was sure the money this trip would bring in would be enough to move his family closer to the city. He was sure there wasn't a metal tipped spear suddenly protruding from his chest.

"Dammit Dorly," he wheezed. "You jealous bastard."

Link watched, amazed, as the short spear hit its mark perfectly, taking the man in the back and dragging him off his mount. Their mule came to a halt as soon as its false master sank into the mud.

"Wow," was all Link could say. Nagina bowed low, her long nose almost touching the ground. Nabooru clapped and said something about her purse as she picked her way over to her horse.

Link examined the area around them, trying not to look too closely at the corpses. He was trying so hard to avoid their dead stares that he almost missed the fact that one of them wasn't a corpse.

The only survivor was strewn out in the mud, clutching his bleeding chest. His breath was short and the veins in his neck and forehead were bulging. He had a cut on the side of his face where Link had swatted him aside. Link moved over to his side, swallowing to keep the lump in his throat down.

"What's your name?" Link asked in a soothing voice.

The man's body was spasming and his head was jerking forward like he was choking.

"What is your name?" Link asked again, more stern this time.

"Al. . .alf. . alf. . ." the man couldn't manage more than that. With one last violent jerk his head fell back and his eyes stared at the sky.

"Alf," Link repeated to himself. "Alf and Enos." Two of the three men he'd killed. He needed to remember their names. To remember their faces.

"You did well," Nabooru said when Link joined the two Gerudo women by their horses. The queen was digging around in one of her saddle bags.

"For a child," Nagina added. Link wasn't sure whether to take that as compliment or an insult so he decided to leave it alone. He walked over and patted Epona, who was stomping and snorting nervously.

"Sorry to scare you like that girl," he said rubbing her neck.

"Link, grab your sand grub. Thanks to these buffoons we are eating breakfast in the saddle," Nabooru called. She had found what she was looking for, and handed a rupee to her deserving escort. "And would somebody grab our mule?"

Author's Note: Some more violence for you. I find action scenes especially difficult to write. If you have any advice, or can recommend some good examples of well written action scenes (professional or otherwise) don't hesitate to PM me. Thanks!