The Leather man is revealed as the Crusader, a mysterious Vampyr. Where does he come from, and what does he want with our heroes?

Note: I still do not own any rights to LoZ characters, only The Crusader.

---------------------------------------------

"Crusader, huh?" Midna and Link watched in amazement as Alexander's flesh began to return to his face. Midna began poking at the new skin, which had a pink, rubbery look to it. "Now that we know who you are, mind telling us WHAT you are?"

Alexander brushed her hand away. "I would appreciate you not doing that, it is quite tender." He walked toward a bench along the wall, carefully skirting the sunlight. He picked up a long, heavy leather coat and threw it over his shoulders. "as for what I am, I am a Vampyr, forced for the rest of my days to hide in the shadows and live in darkness, much like you, little one."

"A-a-a Vampire?" Midna began pushing Link forward. "Hey, drink HIS blood, I taste terrible, and he's not much help to me, anyway!" Link gasped and tried to dig his heels into the flagstone beneath him. He managed to get hold of Midna's arm and gave her an unpleasant look while she struggled to free herself. "I was kidding, damn it, give me a break! You're supposed to protect me, aren't you?"

Alexander chuckled watching the spectacle. "You two can relax, I have no need to feed from either of you." Midna relaxed and Link Let go of her wrist. "You don't talk much, do you boy?"

Link looked up and opened his mouth, only to be interrupted by Midna. "He doesn't need to, his job is to fight and find the mirror shards for me."

"I see." He looked around for a moment. "Do either of you have any idea how to get out of here, then? I'm not sure how long the ceiling will keep the rest of that damned sunlight at bay." As if to accentuate his statement, a few small pebbles bounced off of his head.

Link looked around and saw a door at the far side of the fallen dome. Pointing, he began to walk toward it. Alexander sighed as he watched him walk away. "Forgetting something kid? Sunlight bad, remember?"

Midna kept with Link, but turned around. "So wrap yourself up in that coat of yours. It looks thick enough to block the sun. Aren't you supposed to be old and wise?" She laughed heartily as she caught up to Link.

"Well, I feel sufficiently stupid now." With that, The Crusader threw the coat over his head, tucked his arms in and dashed across the open floor until he was back in the safety of the shadows.

Link grunted as he pushed open the door. Numerous lit torches dotted the long, narrow room. "Link, take a look, I think I see some stairs over there. Might be our way back into the Temple." Midna looked around. "Something doesn't seem right, though." She pulled the dark shard out of a small portal and jammed it against Link's forehead. He shouted, causing a group of Keese to scatter, and transformed into the blue-eyed beast.

"Well now, isn't that an interesting ability you have there." Alexander said, more to himself than anyone else. Link looked up at him, those piercing orbs daring him to make a smart-assed comment. "Calm down, kid, I'm not going to say anything. It wouldn't be the first time I've seen a man turn into a wolf." Link leapt up and tore one of the keese out of the air, tearing it to shreds in his fangs.

"He's my good little wolfie, yes he is!" Midna hopped on Link's back and began scratching him behind the ears. Despite himself, Link leaned into the gesture, unable to control himself in the face of a good old ear-scratching. "And he's going to find me, I mean US, a way out of here." She stopped scratching Link's ears as suddenly as she had began. "See if you can't sniff out a trap or something, it almost seems too simple." So Link began to carefully step along the uneven stonework, noticing each shift in the air around pressure pads and sinkholes. "And you be sure to keep up, I don't want to die because you can't follow a dog down a hallway."

"I'll keep that in mind, M'lady." Alexander smiled and bowed, more out of habit than anything else. He began to take the same carefully plotted steps that the wolf ahead of him had.

"So, Crusader," Midna bobbed lazily on Link's back. "Where exactly are you from? You don't exactly sound like these Hylians, and I know you're not one of my Twili."

"That's a fairly good question." Alexander replied, stepping around a few raised stones in the floor. "I'm not sure if I'm in another world, universe or dimension altogether, all I know right now is I was training my apprentice, and when I left the room to take care of some business, there was a strange flash of light, and I ended up in that room." Realization dawned on his face. "I need to get back, quickly. My apprentice tends to worry easily."

BACK ON EARTH: A small girl, appearing to be about 18, with long pigtails and a dark red jogging suit knocks on a door. "Master Chaos! I'm done, I did all 500 laps. I'm ready for weapons training now." She waits a moment. "Are you in there, Master Chaos?"

BACK TO HYRULE: "I'm sure she'll be fine." Midna waved her tiny hand dismissively. "What does any of this have to do with cold, dead and sparkling?" She giggled, recalling the rather bloodless decapitation.

"A while back, I had heard reports of a young vampyr harassing young girls at a high school outside of our borders. I thought nothing of it for quite some time. That is, until I heard about the stalking. His obsession with young girls was becoming dangerous. We began a hunt to remove him from the mortal coil." Alexander let himself smile a moment. "Imagine my surprise when I was transported here right next to our target."

"Sounds rather convenient, if you ask me." Link simply nodded. Midna looked back again, smiling. "So, how bad does it - DON'T STEP THERE!"

It was too late. Alexander's heavy boot came down on a rather well hidden pressure pad. Gears and other mechanisms could be heard grinding to life in the walls. "Run, you two! Get to the stairs!" Large saw blades began to cross the hall behind them, quite effectively cutting off the path back. Alexander ran, the blades constantly nipping at the tails of his coat. He dove through clouds of arrows coming from all directions, rolling and sprinting again when he landed. Large steel spikes shot up from the ground. He jumped, kicking off the wall and over the deadly pitfall. He looked up to see Link and Midna at the first step, Link, studying every movement silently, while Midna floated there, not sure whether to look angry or worried. He was almost there. What seemed like a full quiver of arrows shot out of the wall beside him. He quickly leapt and spun, the tails of his coat slapping most of them away harmlessly. He continued to run as the blades kept closing in. Noticing a change in the stones by the stairs, Alexander dove and slid across the stones. A large stone wall crashed to the ground inches from where he lay. "That was a close one, wasn't it?" He stood up and glanced at the pair a mere fifteen feet away.

"Maybe a little TOO close for you?" Midna, unable to decide between the two emotions, settled for scathing wit. "You kind of look like a pincushion from here." Link Whined in disapproval, not pleased that someone got injured on his watch. "What? Okay, fine, I'll change you back." Midna reached into Link's forehead with her fiery red hair-hand and pulled out the shard, sighing indignantly and muttering about how much cuter he is as a wolf. Link stood up, with a mild look of concern on his face, and beckoned for Alexander to him. He knew from experience that it was better to have a second set of hands in order to pull out an arrow.

"Yea, let's get these things-" There was a clicking sound underneath his boot, and a large, spiked beam fell from the ceiling. Link gasped as it crashed into Alexander's torso, sending him flying back against the wall with a wet thud. Alexander didn't move, bright red blood flowed out from him, pooling underneath him.

------------------------------------------------

Is he dead? Did a careless footfall cause the demise of Alexander? R&R, and you might find out.