Disclaimer: GrimGrave does not own any of the characters featured; they belong to their respective franchises of Nintendo, Namco Bandai and Arc System Works. GrimGrave does not make money for writing fiction.
My apologies for the prolonged wait. I know you've been waiting for this, and thankfully most of you have been patient – good for you! I hope this chapter's contents will be making up for the wait!
The others –not so much. It's free entertainment, stop hounding me. I don't respond well to such behaviour.
To Hunt Down a Hylian
Chapter 5
Cassandra's Secret and the Truth Unfolding
An old, wrinkled hand caressed the pristine shiny crystal orb atop its small spire and swirly, venom green mists swirled inside at the contact: images of warrior-women appeared and disappeared in a flash and the old man grunted a wheezy grunt.
More images flashed by, each showing a woman of particular skill and strength, be it from sheer muscles, weapons or even magic. The old man let out a brief dark chuckle, his steel-grey eyes narrowed with amusement. "So many candidates… Such potential. It's always good with a backup plan…" He laughed again, followed by an abrupt series of wheezy coughs. "Those five should be enough… But then again, how many have fallen before the cursed Hero's blade already?"
The crystal orb lit dimly green. "Yes… Many a great monsters have fallen… That boy is a nuisance, and as long as he still roams I won't be able to fulfil my goal… But I need to conserve my magic for that: If I were to summon others again I would… Hmm, what to do…" His nearly bloodshot orbs averted briefly before looking back at the "candidates." "Yes… There are a few that would be worth the effort, but what if those five does succeed? Wasted magic… Bah!"
Tearing his hand away from the orb, the old man paced back and forth restlessly, muttering lowly to himself as he did. He paused mid-turn before hastily stepping back to the orb, crooked, bony fingers clasping around it.
"That's a good candidate… And that one too! Perhaps… it would be worth the efforts to have an ace up my sleeve…" he said, his whispering voice soon erupting into a string of mad cackles through a tooth-filled grin.
::::::::
"You better have an explanation for this, Cassandra."
A groan. "I told you, I know him!"
"How can you possibly know that man? He's not even from our world."
The Grecian warrior ran a hand through her blonde tresses with another groan before giving her raven-haired companion a glaring scowl. "If you would just wait a minute, I'll tell you Taki. He has to wash his face since someone threw dirt on it! Zeus above, you even punched him!"
"As I would to any enemy, Cassandra," Taki replied with a stern tone. "He conjured fire like it was nothing – just look at the state of this island. Even the tree is still burning!"
"I'm sure he has an explanation for that, Taki! Just hear us out before you-"
"It's a certain power."
Both women turned towards Link and Taki arched a thin eyebrow. "Pardon?"
"The fire," he continued. "It's a certain power that was bestowed upon me. With it I can create an expanding shield of flames as you saw. A Great Fairy granted it to me, there's nothing demonic about it nor am I some sort of demon."
The ninja eyed him up and down, clearly unconvinced, and glared. "…So just who are you then? I've been told of you, but Cassandra here claims that's not the case…"
"Been told what? …Wait, is this related to the boy and the two girls who attacked me earlier?"
"So they did find you before us huh…" Taki mused. "Your assumption is correct. To give you the short version, together with those three Cassandra and I were summoned somehow by this old man who clearly wanted you gone. If he was indeed lying then you're not this "evil knight" he made you out to be…"
Link's eyes widened. "What? Me, an evil knight?!"
"Calm down, Link!" Cassandra urged. She patted him on the shoulder, squeezing comfortably. "I'll take it from here. Taki, you don't know because you weren't with us at the time, but back when the hunt for Soul Edge…"
::::::
"So you're telling me that this man lent aid to Soul Edge's destruction? So how exactly did he arrive to our world?" Taki's hazel eyes narrowed sceptically between Link and Cassandra but the latter stared back sternly.
"It's a bit difficult to explain," Link began, knowing that Cassandra didn't know the answer. "But basically I travelled by horse through the woods until I was sort of … teleported I guess you could call it. I was meant to destroy that blade as it would be used even against my homeland – this land – so I can only assume it was the Goddesses' will."
The kunoichi remained silent as she continued to peer at the green-garbed Hero. She didn't break her gaze; she barely even blinked as she (most likely) scrutinized him. Her stare was cold, uncaring, and it wasn't until she eventually looked away and sighed that she replied.
"I've known Cassandra for quite some time… I can tell that she's being sincere. If she's speaking the truth, then I'll take her words for it. However," she eyed Link again. "I will keep an eye on you."
"If that's what it'll take for you to trust me eventually, then it's fine," Link chuckled. "But for now I want to know who this old man you two mentioned earlier is. How, or rather why, did he summon you here anyway?"
"Assuming that we know the truth know," Taki immediately began. "Then the old man is an enemy of yours who were looking for pawns. He gathered a handful of us to ensure your death before we could return home." She tapped her chin, eyes averting as she pondered. "What I don't understand is why he wasted such magical powers to summon us… Surely he would have enough to take you out by himself…"
Link frowned slightly. "I wouldn't be so sure. I've faced powerful beings before - a simple wizrobe or whatever this man is can't be too that much of a threat."
´Yes… That's right.´ Cassandra's bright green eyes drifted off towards Link. ´Link is strong… How could I ever doubt that when I've personally witnessed his strength…´
/"W-Wait!"
A green-garbed man stopped in his tracks and turned towards the voice: his azure eyes held a soft gaze and his features were covered in a thin sheen of sweat despite his calm demeanour.
"Just… who are you? Your swordsmanship is extraordinary…"
The foreign warrior chuckled and offered a kind smile. "I'm Link," he replied. "And you are?"
"C-Cassandra! Cassandra Alexandra!" The blonde Grecian returned his smile. "I… I'm sorry, but I have to ask you…"/
Her cheeks heated and her heart skipped a beat as her eyes drifted towards Link. It began to beat faster and she found herself unable to concentrate with all the butterflies in her stomach taking flight.
Upon seeing Link again after all this time, the feelings Cassandra had thought died a long time ago were resurfacing.
´Perhaps… being brought here wasn't entirely a bad thing…´
::::::::
"This looks like an inn, right?" a cheerful, bubbly blonde exclaimed as she jogged over to the building – above its doorway hung a sign reading Stockpot Inn and Milk Bar. "We can spend the night here, right?"
"Hmph," the elegantly clad blonde crossed her arms. "This filthy hovel will have to do. We need to hide somewhere anyway since someone had a little fit from earlier and shot the two guards at the drawbridge! We're lucky that there weren't enough people around to see us."
"…They'll live," Noel replied meekly. "The b-blasts just k-knocked them out…"
Lili turned to face Noel with an icy glare. "Stop muttering already! Either speak up or just remain silent."
"Hey!" Rikku stepped over to Noel and patted "him" on the back. "Why are you so mean to him for? He's a great guy!"
"Some guy he is then, to pretty much alerting this whole town of our whereabouts! I'm only putting up with you two because I want to get back home but Mon Dieu you're testing my patience! I'd be better off without you-" Noel's shoulder bumped into hers and she paused, her baby-blue eyes firmly locked with irritation at the gunslinger. "Hey! Watch where you're going! …Where are you going?"
Without a word, the gunslinger kicked opens the wooden door and headed inside the inn, forcing her supposed team mates to quickly follow suite.
:::::::
"Excuse me?!" the elegantly clad blonde's loud voice earned the other patrons' attention but she kept going without even batting an eye. "What do you mean I'm trying to fool you?! You'd expect people to recognise money when they see it!"
"That's what I should be saying to you, young lady," a burly man, around his late thirties and shaved head said. His eyes stared down at the blonde, fancy-clad girl with a spiritless glare. "Are you trying to take me for an idiot? I don't know what your game is, but here we take rupees; not some fancy looking scraps of paper or weird metal bits. I'd be happy to lend a room to you, as long as you can pay! Now beat it!" He waved their hand at them dismissively.
Lili bristled, her hands balling up into fists. She felt the urge to scream and attack the man with everything she had but Rikku stepped past her. "Old man, how much does one room costs?"
The innkeeper grunted. "45 rupees for one night, then 10 more for each additional night you're staying."
Rikku smiled a wicked smile. "Then, will this cover it?" she said, reaching into her pouch to pull out a small crystal that was purple in colour. "This should do, right?"
The innkeeper took it and inspected it briefly, seeming pleased. "This'll cover one night. Here's the key, your room is the first one on the left, up the stairs."
"Thank you!" she replied, grabbing the key as she immediately jogged up the stairs, her teammates following suite. As she found the right door (carved with the numbers 201) Lili grabbed her by the shoulder.
"Okay, jeune fille, how exactly did you come across the necessary currency?"
Her glare was stern and her arms crossed, but the bubbly blonde merely grinned and Lili the victory sign as she stepped inside their room. "Thief extraordinaire!"
::::::
"Well this is a rather… glum room…" Rikku said with frown as she plopped herself down on the simple bed. "Could've been worse though."
Lili bristled, eyes glaring. "This is an outrage! Does this world not have any dignity?! This place is a … a dump! The beds look cheap and smell awful, the walls are even worse, and the whole room looks like a prison!"
"We can't afford anything better, if they even have that!" Rikku retorted. "I thought for sure that purple crystal would be worth more… I guess we'll just have to stay for the night. It's still day though, maybe we can just take a quick nap?"
"Philistines…."
"An n-nap sounds f-fine…" Noel meekly replied, immediately hopping into bed. Her face showed the discomfort of the bed (which they all agreed on – they were rather on the stale side) but with no other options, the gunslinger closed her eyes and soon dozed off.
Rikku giggled. "At least one of us is getting some rest. You should too, grumpy!" she added, sticking her tongue out at Lili like a child would, before napping.
The Monegasque girl's ire resurfaced, the urge to give her scantily-clad teammate a good kick being barely contained until she took a deep breath: she had a point, even if Lili didn't want to admit it. Perhaps a quick rest would do her good.
Not that it was easy to relax: baby-blue orbs glared up at the ceiling as Lili kept replaying the memories in her head – memories of her absurdly quick defeat at the hands of this knight. Her blood boiled and she gritted her teeth the longer the thought back on it.
´He were just lucky and took me by surprise, that's all!´ she thought. ´When I find him again, I'll beat him! I'll make him wish that he never crossed my path and beat him into submission! Death would be too good for him… I'll make him my slave and have him spend the rest of his days in shame!´
A small grin curved her petite pink lips at the idea. Why would she let him off the hook by merely killing him? As long as he was defeated, the old man should be satisfied, and she would gain a new servant that she could – and would – toy with to no end.
Slowly her ire was washed away and replaced with a sensation of amusement as her plan came together. She could see it so clearly now…
Battered and broken, the green-garbed hero attempted in vain to get back up on his feet only to slump back onto his rear. Lili laughed mockingly and stepped over to the man, a wicked glee being visible in her eyes. "Look at you… You honestly thought you could defeat me? Now you're just a hollow shell of a man… How the might have fallen…"
The blonde man glared back at her, defying her with his stare but flinched as she stepped closer. "You're nobody now. Whoever you were before doesn't matter now. You're just a lowly servant – my servant! Honestly… What will I do with you now?" She curled her lips into a wicked smile, chuckling softly. She stood in front of him, her boot-clad leg stepping in front of him. "Lick my boot, peasant, and be quick – you've got a lot to do now."
Begrudgingly so, the man eventually leant over to the white boot, his tongue darting out and hesitantly licking its surface. Lili burst out with laughter at the sight, enjoying the power she had over her former enemy.
"Miss Rochefort…" he moaned in-between his lickings. "Miss Rochefort…"
"Yes…"
"Miss Rochefort…"
"Miss Rochefort!"
Lili shot up from her bed with a startled yelp, catching herself before she collided with Rikku who was standing beside her. "Whoa! Calm down, it's just me!"
"You…" Lili groaned. "What is it?"
"We've been resting for nearly an hour and a half now," Rikku replied. "I figured we best move on and try to find him again." Her smile turned into a smirk as she eyed Lili over. "Besides, it was starting to get awkward, listening to your faint moaning. Pleasant dreams I assume? Sounded like you were dreaming of him…"
Lili's face flushed scarlet immediately and her eyes widened. "D-don't be ridiculous! As if I could sleep peacefully in this hovel, nor would I want to dream of him!"
"Whatever floats your boat," Rikku teased, earning her a punch to her shoulder and she winced with pain. ´Still, I kind of have to admit… He's cute, and sort of good looking… If only he wasn't a big meanie! Then I could perhaps introduce him to Paine and Yuna… Just to rub it in their faces!´ she mused with a smile.
"…" Noel was staring absentmindedly at the window, ignoring the bickering of her teammates as she did: a light blush crept over her features and she vaguely smiled for but a moment before she regained her stoic look.
:::::::::
"I still can't believe that we meet again, Link," Cassandra exclaimed with a radiant smile. "It's been so long!"
Link chuckled. "Indeed it has. We departed on such short notice as well, and for that I apologize – I was worried about my homeland and-"
"It's alright, Link. I understand. But at least we're together now," the Grecian replied with a smile, only for it to falter and gasped. "I d-don't mean t-t-together as i-in together, I meant-! Oh Heavens…!"
Link merely laughed wholeheartedly at that. They kept reminiscing over their past adventure, laughing and being overall merry whilst Taki walked quietly behind them. With them continuously catching up on events and re-bonding, the kunoichi settled with keeping a watchful eye on the supposedly friendly knight.
At last, she had enough. "Where exactly are you taking us?"
Link looked back, his features twisted into a frown over the raven-haired woman's tone of voice. "I'm taking you to the castle to see the Princess. Once we've shed some light over this mess we'll go from there."
"Very well," Taki replied, fiddling with her short-sword. They exchanged a mild glare before Link's attention was back to the beaming Grecian whom had decided to walk closer to him as they left the lake.
The kunoichi's eyebrows knitted in confusion. How could Cassandra be so close and calm around this knight – the same knight that supposedly was the bane of this world – and claim that he was quite the opposite? Sure, they had a brief history together, and if this man had a hand to play in Soul Edge's destruction then that was solid proof – but who knew what lied underneath the surface?
If looks could kill, Link would've been impaled by her seething gaze: she didn't take her eyes off him for even a second, with short-swords firmly gripped in her hands for any sign of hostility.
She would give him a chance, for Cassandra's sake. But that didn't mean that she would let her own guard down around him.
:::::::::
Princess Zelda sighed in slight irritation. She paced around her chamber, eyebrows firmly knitted and azure orbs shifting their gaze ever so often.
What was taking Link so long? She grew worried, her gentle hands balling up into fists as the seconds ticked away. It was in her best of interests that Link came back as soon as possible – she had to tell him. There was no time left to procrastinate what she wanted to do for a long time.
´Come back to me, Link… You have to know my deepest secret, my heart's yearning…´ she thought, sighing again. ´I'm sure he's on his way back now. Any minute now he'll step past these very doors, smiling…´
These women are more than capable of fighting and if they were to get to the people-
Women, you say? These attackers are women?
A scowl appeared on the princess' face. Her heart ached with anxiety by the mere thought of these female invaders even being close to Link, hostile or otherwise! Unpleasant scenarios flashed by – scenarios of Link with another woman in his arms and Zelda's scowl darkened as a result.
She mentally cursed herself for having waited to tell him.
´I have to tell him immediately. He deserves to know how I feel… and I'm certain he feels the same way.´
So, in case you couldn't tell, I'm actually considering to throw in - one - more member. I have all the suggestions from last time, and a handful of them are very tempting... I would like to hear your thoughts about it. Should I really add another one or not? If yes - who?
Hope this chapter made up for the wait.
Till next time!