Instead of death, an earth-shattering roar greeted him. Still dazed, he tilted his head towards the stream of rats, but they were disappearing. Instead of being in their perfect lines, they scattered, running for the closest piece of cover that they could.
They were scared of that noise? That can't be good...
He turned his head in the other direction, and froze over with disgust. Standing before him was a great bear, its fur turned green with moss and slime. Its eyes were a similar red to the rats and like them it had huge boils on its face. Pus oozed from one of them, running down its pointed snout. It roared again, almost bursting his eardrums this time.
He stood up clutching his side, wincing with pain. The bear's eyes lit up at the signs of weakness. The hooded figure then drew his trusted dagger. The bear charged, but the man jumped to the side and brought up his dagger. The bear continued forward, but got a deep gash all along its side because of it. The moss and fur was stained deep red, but parts mixed with the slime to form a brownish liquid.
Even if this bear kills me, it will die from infection. Even now the bacteria would be mixing with his blood stream...
The bear turned after slowing, fire burning passionately in its eyes now. It was truly angry with its prey, so very angry. The figure didn't cower under the glare, instead he returned it. This made the bear hesitate, which was the biggest mistake it had ever made. Mostly because he sunk a little in the mud, so couldn't move out of the way of the flung dagger flying towards it. The implement imbedded itself into the skull of the beast, because it hit the bear squarely in the eye socket. The bear howled with pain, and fell over sideways, onto the side with the cut. This hurt the bear even more, but it was already in pure agony. Even though it was thrashing around, the figure approached, pulled out the dagger and slit his foe's throat. Blood poured over the mud and disappeared beneath the murky depths, as the hooded form walked away from the scene. His next destination was already in mind, and he needed to get out of this rain.
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Link waited outside the great door. Zelda was inside her room, speaking with her nursemaids. She was persuading them to pretend she was ill for a few months. Link was positive that they could've come up with something better; however Zelda was in a rush. A few moments passed until Zelda came out of the door.
"All set?" She asked him.
"Actually, I could use your packing skills a little more..."
"What did you forget to pack this time?" Zelda sighed from the tedious patterns of Link.
"I didn't FORGET anything. I merely misplaced my Lens of Truth..."
Zelda merely shook her head and led Link back to his hut.
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Link was perched on the wall separating Hyrule castle from Hyrule field, with the wind blowing in his hair. He was busy using his claw shots to pull up bags upon bags of supplies. Food, equipment, even dresses were shoved into parcel after parcel. Packages were littering the floor where he dropped them on Hyrule field's side.
Zelda was waiting with Epona to put some of the bags on the horse. She was scared of approaching the bags until Link has finished, because he was throwing them down without looking.
"How much of this crap do we need?" Link said, grunting under the effort of lifting an especially heavy box.
"It isn't crap. All of it is necessary. You should know, because over half of them are just things you thought you could use. I mean, what could you use a ball and chain for? It's what's making that box so heavy."
"I don't know what you are talking about," Link said as he dropped the box over the side of the wall. The box landed, and made a sickening crunching sound, which unnerved Epona.
"Calm down, sweet horse," Zelda whispered into her ear.
"I am wearing most of my things, anyway. I say it's your numerous dresses that will weigh us down."
"I only brought five!"
"Why would you need five dresses?" Link took a break from his labour.
Zelda considered this for a moment, and then replied: "You're right. We need to repack. You get all that stuff back there, lug it to my room, and I'll get rid of the unnecessary things." She then jumped on Epona and rode back to the gates of the field, Link grumbling all the while.
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Once they had finally agreed on what they had to bring, Link only had to toss two bags over the stone wall. They were extremely heavy, however, so Epona walked at an even slower pace with those on. Link was wearing most of his equipment too, just in case he needed them in a moment's notice. Link and Zelda strolled beside her, gazing at the clear skies.
They had slipped out of the grounds without anyone knowing, apart from the maids. The maids would have already told the guards that both her and Link were feeling ill, and that no one should approach them in the medical hall because it was a very contagious disease. Apparently, Zelda had a hard time staying awake, and had turned completely pale. Link also had these syndromes, but also frequently pukes on the side of his bed. What a great lie.
Soon after they reached the mountain range, Link could see smoke coming from behind a few large boulders. He signalled to Zelda to stay there with Epona, and went to investigate. Silently and with the aid of his wondrous cape, Link jumped on top of the tallest boulder and observed the scene.
A huge fire was in the middle of the clearing in between the giant rocks. Around it were twenty bokoblins. The piggish humanoids were clutching their sticks with a greedy look in their eyes. Most of them were looking at a pot boiling near the fire; others were looking at a cage which held a still old man. He had his face covered by his hood, and his hands were tied behind his back. Link couldn't watch any longer.
He jumped down and let loose one of his deku nuts. He covered his eyes with his hands, but all the beasts looked at the spot where the nut hit the ground, and they each felt the full impact of the flash of light. They were stunned, they couldn't move, just barely breath. Link ran around slashing at his opponents, but the effects didn't last that long. Link managed to kill seven out of twenty of the creatures before they could move again. They ran towards Link in unison, and Link ran towards them. His sword came into contact with a body, and it slumped to the ground. The remaining bokoblins tried to hit him with their sticks, but Link raised his shield. He grimaced over the feeling of twelve sticks hitting his shield repeatedly and back flipped a few feet away from them. They charged again and when they were close enough, Link summoned his power to perform a spin attack. Bokoblins flew a foot in all directions, lying on the floor. Link jumped on the closest one, his sword impaling the creature's chest. The others got up and ran at him again. He pulled out his sword and slashed open the chest of the closest humanoid. He then blocked a stick with his sword and pulled it up so he could bash the exposed chest with his shield. The bokoblin flew into another, killing them both. The other bokoblins regrouped and formed a circle around Link. They stayed at an arm's length, snarling. Link just smiled. He sheathed his sword and put his shield on his back. Before the bokoblins could respond, he started making hand gestures in the air. After a particularly dramatic signal, a sphere of fire surrounded him, expanding in all directions. The slow nature of the bokoblins led to their downfall, as the wave engulfed them.
"DIN'S FIRE!" Link yelled at the top of his voice during the exercise. All his enemies slumped to the ground, completely charred. Link stepped over them chuckling. He loved that spell. He walked over to the cage with the man, and smashed it open with his golden gauntlets. Wood fired off and splintered the ground at Link's feet. The man suddenly tensed and his hood fell over his face further.
"I'll take you all on!" The man grunted as he charged at Link.
"Whoa! Hold on, pal. I just saved you." Link said leaping out of the way.
"What..?" The man questioned as he uncovered his hood. He had deep cuts everywhere on his face; he must have been putting up a huge fight when he was captured.
"The bokoblins. They are all dead." Link said smugly.
"Thank you stranger. I shall be on my way now. Safe travels."
"To you also."
The man started walking towards an opening in the boulders, deeper into the mountain range. Link walked in the opposite direction, towards the path Zelda was waiting for him on.
"What happened?" Zelda's curious voice entered his ears as soon as he was in earshot.
"Ahh... a few bokoblins were about to eat some old man."
"You saved him, of course."
"Of course."
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They spent the rest of the day following the path up the mountain, and reached the end of the trail at sundown. Link gathered firewood and dumped it into the middle of a clearing Zelda found while waiting. Zelda rolled out their sleeping bags as Link readied a fire arrow and shot it into the pile of wood. A huge fire burst into action, warming them up instantly.
Link was looking up at the stars that had just come out on his sleeping roll as Zelda pulled out some rations of food.
"I'm sure you are hungry after your heroic battle." Zelda said pressing a bowl of warm soup into Link's hand.
"I am very hungry, princess. Thank you." Link slurped a spoonful of his broth before investigating what was inside his bowl. He saw some chunks of meat, as well as numerous vegetables.
He smiled and slurped another spoonful, and Zelda scolded him for his lack of manners. Link ignored this remark and continued consuming his soup. The heat of his soup soon ran through his blood stream, and he was very comfortable thinking of staying here with Zelda forever.
Once they had finished the meal, they settled down for sleep. They were too sleepy to bother changing out of their clothes, and Zelda begged Link not to tell anyone. They said goodnight to each other, Epona only braying, and then drifted off into dreams of great riches which waited for them at the end of their journey.
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Some twigs crunched under foot. Some bushes rustled. A faint chattering surrounded the campsite. A few red eyes peeked out of a tree. A stick poked out of another. As quietly as they could, bokoblins crept into the campsite, only to find empty sleeping bags. The leader snarled at the lost prey and signalled for a retreat.
Link and Zelda was watching them go through Link's Hawk Eye, sitting on a hill. Bows in hand, they shot down each and every one of the invaders with alarming accuracy. No bokoblins noticed until an arrow went through its head.
When they were sure they killed them all, they climbed down the hill towards the mass grave yard. Zelda went straight to getting Epona out of her hiding place, but Link went and rummaged through the carcass' pockets. With his wallet a few measly rupees heavier, he strolled back through to the campsite.
"I guess we are deep into bokoblins territory, then," Link said as he emerged from a bush.
Zelda jumped before responding in a shaky voice: "Yes, I guess we are."
Link chuckled as he sat down for bed again. He called Zeffa, a tiny bird, with his ocarina and told him to watch even more carefully for bokoblins. Zeffa claimed that as he was flying around, he spotted a huge moblin campsite not too far east. Link shuddered as he thought of the giant beasts with spears invading his small campsite. He then told Zeffa to keep a watch on the moblins, too. Zeffa obliged and flew up to the tallest tree around. Link was sure he could see the glint of the bird's eyes.
Zelda sat down next to him and waited for a moment before saying: "Any news?"
Link hesitated before responding: "No. Nothing we need to be concerned about."
Fast as lightning, Zeffa flew down to the ground in front of Link and started speaking. "The moblins are moving south east down the mountains! They might see the fire!"
"Good work Zeffa. Return to your post."
Soon enough, the bird was back, his eyes surveying the countryside. Zelda and Link stood up and kicked dirt onto the fire to put it out.
"I think a group of moblins is something we need to be worried about."
Link winced under the seriousness in her voice. "I'm not so sure. There can't be many..."
"Even so, why didn't you tell me?" The seriousness was replaced by hurt.
"I didn't want you to worry, in case nothing happened." Link's tone softened as he said this.
Zelda turned her back on him, but that didn't stop him giving her a hug. A few awkward moments passed until Zelda decided to wrap her arms around him too. They both closed their eyes and smiled, unaware of the other doing the same.
"We should get some sleep. Tomorrow will be more difficult than today." Zelda said as she pulled away from him.
"Good idea. I'll see you in the morning. Sweet dreams."
"Goodnight, Link."
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A/N: Another chapter done, people! Keep reading! Keep reviewing! Keep enjoying the fanfiction! :D