Has it really been a whole year since I've updated? Oh my god… I'm sorry everyone. The internet is hard for me to come by at the moment, so I have not given this too much thought. However, I had a thought, and I could not simply let it disappear.

To recap: Link and Midna are off to the Sky City of the Oocca, and Alexander and Mina are stuck in Kakariko dealing with Shad's goofy obsessions.

Now, let's get on with the show. I'm eager to see what happens next.

Still don't own LoZ or Nintendo. Still DO own Alexander, Mina and Blood Crusade.

"I thought he'd never leave, Master." Mina paced the room, stretching and yawning. "If he hadn't almost fallen asleep on his notes, I probably would have shoved those books down his throat to shut him up."

"I know, my Dear, but it was obvious he was in the way of our companions. People would notice if he had disappeared, so we were required to, 'entertain' him." Alexander checked his pocket watch, eager to catch up with Link and Midna. "It is sundown of the following day. Let us return to the cavern, and see if our friends left us a clue."

"ready whenever you are!" She grabbed her daggers and ran out the door.

They passed the Inn's counter and saw Shawna writing in the ledger. She looked up to see the two leaving, and Alexander flashed her a kind smile, which left the poor girl stammering and red in the face. "B-be careful to-tonight, Sir. Come b-back s-soon!"

"I imagine we will, Dear. If, of course, we can have another taste of that wonderful meal you served us the last time." The door swung open and they were gone into the night before she could respond.

Back in the cave, Mina picked up a note lying in the middle of a large domed room. "Alexander and Mina, we took the cannon we found to Lake Hylia to be fixed. We believe it will help us reach the next dungeon. Good luck getting there. Link." She crumpled it up and stuffed it into a pocket. "Okay, so where's this 'Lake Hylia' at?"

Alexander pulled out the map Link had given him and looked it over. "It looks to be this large body of water here. So, it will be beyond the forest we came from."

"I wish we could do that teleportation magic that Midna has, we'd be there in no time." Mina sighed as the two made their way to the exit of the cave.

"Indeed we would, my dear." He laid a hand softly on her shoulder, causing her to look back at him. He had a wistful expression on his face. "The joy, however, lies not in the destination, but the journey, itself."

"I knew you'd say that, Master." She jumped off the ledge, landing in the small spring just behind Alexander. "You love this stuff so much, don't you?"

"Indeed I do, Childe. It reminds me so well of my earlier days, traveling across countries, battling with highwaymen intent on slaying me and picking my corpse clean of any valuable."

"And you're glad to be reliving those moments? Are you insane?" They exited the narrow canyon and set off across the bridge to Hyrule Field.

"That is a good possibility, my Dear." Alexander laughed quietly to himself. "The road is long, Childe. Do try to keep up." And with that, they sped off in a blur.

- Meanwhile -

Link stared at the line of Peahats that were flying across an expanse of clouds. He pulled out his clawshot and aimed it at the dirty underbelly of the nearest one. The claw embedded itself into the strange creature, and before he knew it, Link was hanging there, with nothing but empty sky beneath his feet.

"Ooh, great idea, Hero." Midna hovered around his head as he tried to figure out how he was going to get himself out of this most recent mess. "What are you going to do now?" Link simply smiled as the clawshot released.

He quickly plummeted toward the clouds, but without panicking, he took aim at the ledge and used the clawshot once more. When he was finally back on solid ground, Link let out a heavy sigh and put his clawshot away.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Midna buzzed angrily around his head, like some sort of fairy. "What if you had missed that shot? How long do you think you'd have fallen before splattering on the ground?" Link just gave a small shrug and went back through the door that had brought them to this chasm. "Hey, listen to me, will you? I don't know what I'd do if you died on me." Link's eyes widened slightly at her unexpected statement. "I mean about Zant and my people, dummy." she stuttered, causing Link to smile. He put his hand on her cheek and walked toward the only door in the chamber that they hadn't gone through yet.

The door opened to a long bridge that seemed to be missing the handrail on one side, and Link could hear the wind howling fiercely, ready to push them both to their dooms. He threw his Iron Boots on as quickly as he could and held his hand out to Midna.

"Okay, but if you let go of me, Hero, you're going to regret it." She put her small hand in his, and he quickly pulled her to his chest, cradling her. Not quite what I had in mind, but I won't complain, she thought to herself. Midna gripped Link's tunic with her free hand as he began to wade into the roaring gale.

Link moved slowly and carefully across the bridge, advancing when the wind slowed, and shielding them with the wall whenever he could. Midna watched the grim determination on his face, would he be this brave in the face of Zant, could he have the courage to protect her from him yet again, after the last encounter ended so poorly? Only time would tell. She shook such thoughts from her head, and tried to think more positively. "Don't you think it's about time for our two blood-sucking pals to show up, Link? The sky went dark hours ago, and with such think cloud cover here, I don't think they'll have to worry about the sun too much."

Link simply shrugged and smiled. The other-worldly warriors interested him. He still wished to test his skills against Alexander, but Mina's skill set seemed to be a bit more of a match to his own. He sighed and set his jaw, the end of the bridge was near, and it would not do for him to get careless now.

Once at the far end, Link took off the Iron Boots and put them back into his pack. He pushed the mechanism on the door, and he stepped through, Midna returning to her place above his shoulder. They both stopped dead when they saw a familiar face standing over the quickly liquefying corpse of some monster.

Mina looked up to see them when the door slammed. "Link, Midna, how's it going?" She walked through the mess toward them, a determined sway to her slender hips. Link noticed that her weapons her still in her hands, but made no move against her.

Midna, however, noticed that his shoulders had tensed, and looked around the room. "Where's your Master, Mina? You two get separated during the cannon ride?"

Mina stopped about 5 feet from Link and cocked her head as if thinking. "No, Master Alexander went on ahead. Told me to wait here for you two." She smiled and nonchalantly twirled the Kris between her fingers. "He said that if I killed everything in this room before you two got here, that I was to test myself against you."

Link wrapped his fingers around the hilt of the Master Sword and narrowed his eyes. She was no mere human, that much was certain, she was fast, acrobatic, and her weapons were light.

"Master made me promise to obey sparring rules before he would leave me alone." Mina stood straight up and sheathed her short blades. "This is only to be used as a test of skill for two warriors, no killing blows, no projectiles, only the weapons in one's hands. First blood wins." She recited, having had it drilled into her head by Alexander. She bowed to Link, who returned the gesture.

"What are you doing? We have more important things to be concerned with than who the better fighter is, damn it." Midna flew between them, and got in Mina's face.

"My Master assumes you have seen the giant dragon that has been terrorizing this place. He feels that now is as good a time as any to test my abilities, as well as measure yours."

"I can't believe this." Midna sputtered. "Do you think this is a good idea, kid?"

"I think it'll be fun!" Mina quickly pulled out the long Kris and a shorter dagger, taking a low stance. A tiger, ready to pounce.

Link drew his sword, and made sure the straps on his shield were secured. Midna sighed and took a seat against one of the walls. She knew Link's lust for battle would never allow him to be talked out of it, and Mina had said it was only sparring. She might as well try to enjoy the chance to relax. She pulled a sweet snack Link had gotten from the children and waited for the match to begin.

"Remember now, no killing blows, Master would be mad at me if I went and died." to which Link simply nodded.

Mina jumped toward him, one small leather boot arcing toward his head in a black blur. He got his shield up in time to stop her leg, and lifted his boot for a kick of his own, hoping to catch her off guard. Mina felt the shift in Link's weight and pushed off of the shield, causing him to stumble backward with the failed kick.

"Master always tells me to be careful of overbalancing." Mina giggled as she brought her weapons to bear on Link. The Kris came at an upward angle, which Link easily parried with the Master Sword. Her other dagger flashed down from above the edge of his shield. Link, finally regaining his balance, pushed forward and planted the shield into the girl's stomach. He heard the air leave her body as he forced her back.

She staggered backward and laughed. "Using a shield for offense? Why didn't I think of that?" She readied her blades again and looked to Link's feet. "Sorry about the haircut, though." A few strands of golden hair had been the only casualty of her last attack.

Link smiled grimly, his reckless charge let her blade get too close. Yet she was only thinking offensively as well. Perhaps if he forced her to defend herself, he would find a hole in her guard. She jumped again, higher this time, both feet directed at his head. Not this time, he thought, and rolled forward, quickly turning himself to face her back. Shield up, he led with a horizontal slash. Mina quickly dropped into the splits, steel passing harmlessly above her dark pigtails. Her body twisted, and her right foot shot up, kicking the pommel of his sword. The blade arced upward, and Link used to momentum to spin, kicking Mina's knee before she could react. He came straight down with his sword, hoping to end this fight relatively quickly. Mina quickly crossed her blades to block his strike.

"You kick almost as hard as Master." She tried getting her feet under her, but Link, knowing that would be a bad idea in such close quarters with her short weapons, kicked outward once more, the heel of his boot connecting solidly with her chest. She sprawled backward, sliding backward along the smooth stone floor for about ten feet.

Mina stood up, coughing slightly. Link was locked on, now. He had to win. This girl was trained by someone he wanted to test himself against. Such a fight would be over before it began if he lost here.

When Mina returned to her stance, she was no longer smiling. She wanted blood. Link flexed the muscles of his shield arm when she charged. Both tips dove for his chest, but glanced harmlessly off of the shield. She continued the assault, each strike and stab trying to reach around his shield. Link slowly backed up, watching her attacks as he blocked and parried. Up, left, down, right, down, left, up, right. She was fast, that much was sure, but Link began to see a rhythm behind it all.

Link deflected Mina's dagger, pushing her right arm wide. He spun quickly to his left and slashed downward, nicking the hand holding her Kris as it came up for another stab. Midna gave a triumphant cheer as the girl's weapon clattered along the stone. Both warriors stopped immediately. Link was breathing heavily as he sheathed The Master Sword. Mina stared at the hand that was no longer holding her prized blade. A shallow gash had blossomed on the heel of her hand, and bright crimson life flowed down along her wrist and dripped off of her elbow to form a small pool by her feet.

Link took a step forward, concerned that he might have taken off a finger in the heat of the battle. He could hear her muttering, "I lost. I really lost. Master will be mad at me because the fight ended so quickly."

Midna floated up from her seat and checked Link over to make sure nothing was wrong with him before she turned her attention to the young apprentice. "Mina, are you okay? Genius here didn't cut you too deep, did he?"

Mina turned to them both, forcing a smile. "No, I'm okay. It's nothing that a little of Mother's salve can't fix." she pulled out the familiar tin and spread a small dab of the cream aver the cut. Once she was done, she wiped the blood from her arm and started to get ready to leave. "We better hurry, Master won't like it if we keep him waiting for too long." Her hand rested on the empty, gold-etched scabbard, and she froze. "Oh no! Where'd it go?"

Raise your hand if you thought Mina had a chance of winning… no one? Well poop… guess I was the only one who was rooting for the underdog. This story has kind of grown a mind of it's own now. I'm a little disappointed with how I wrote the fight. I wanted it to last longer, but I couldn't stop the progression of the story. Hope you're all still enjoying it, please R&R.

Until next time, Kitties. (Hopefully it won't be another damned year…)