Alright, here's another fixed chapter. This one is different from the last one (and if you've been reading from the very first day I posted this, it's a helluva lot different from the original XD) so don't skip ahead. The main reason I'm going back and fixing things is because the first few chapters are jittery and not well thought out. I hope to now fix that with a few slight changes :)
The core story is the same, but it flows much better and sets-up the next few scenes quite nicely. I always felt that, A) Link took the sudden "shift" too well (you know what I mean if you've read before; no spoilers for new readers!) and B) His appearance wasn't questioned enough/easily accepted. Now, that is remedied and for the sake of the story development, there will be much more distrust amongst our three travellers. At least until a revelation is had ;)
Anyway, thanks for reading, reviewing, faving me and my story. If you already have, then thanks for continuing to be there as the story unfolds! And if there's anything you feel that should be written out better or missing, or if I've made any grammar/spelling mistakes, please point them out.
I'll be waiting for you in the next chapter!
-Jack Knights
Dagg was the first to exit the portal, landing on his feet in ankle deep water. He fell to his knees, surprised by the wave of vertigo that hit him. Sheik appeared next, not as lucky as the Gerudo; he crashed to the floor in a heap, sputtering in the water.
"What a rush," the dark man whispered, still amazed that his spell had worked.
"You're telling me," Sheik groaned as he got to his feet. "I could have sworn you'd died. How did you learn to do that anyway?"
"I… just recalled the words," he shrugged. "Some of the other transporters use the portals as well." He looked about, frowning when he didn't find what he was looking for. "Wait a minute, where's the Hylian?"
As if on cue, black squares of Twili fell from the portal, taking the form of a body lying face down in the water. It solidified, and Link appeared, blood dripping from his nose and mouth, mixing with the water.
"For the love of Nayru, not again," Dagg cursed, rushing to the fallen Link. "Come on, help me move him."
"Hey, is this Ordona?" Sheik commented, hands on his hips. Dagg stared at him, one eyebrow raised, accompanied by a look of disbelief. "Oh, right."
"Get your head on straight before I—" the Gerudo began lecturing him, but became dead silent when hoof-beats pounded in the distance. They stiffened, each with a hand under Link's shoulders at the sound. They exchanged wide-eyed looks before scrambling to their feet, hauling the unconscious Hylian up.
"Over there, by those boulders!" Sheik pointed. They half-carried, half-dragged Link to the spot behind the rocks, ducking down just in time as a brown horse galloped in through the open gates, a rider upon its back.
"Is he one of ours?" Sheik asked, only to be silence by his friend. The rider—a knight in gleaming silver armour—dismounted his mare gracefully, a helmet covering his face. A long sword was strapped to his waist, which he drew as he climbed neared the water. Oddly enough, he didn't step into the water, but instead walked the water's edge, becoming dangerously close to their hiding place. He stopped suddenly, only a scant few feet away and gazed skyward.
"The sky-scar… I saw it receive something," he muttered to himself, his voice cold and metallic because of the helmet. He shook his head, his armour jangling as he did so. He sheathed his sword and walked back to his steed. Dagg waited, holding his breath, sweat trickling down his temple. He mounted the chestnut mare, twisted the reins and rode out of the spring. Both men simultaneously released a sigh of relief as Link came to.
"What… what happened?" he groaned, trying to lift his head. "Where did the portal take us?"
"We're in Ordona," Dagg explained as he hauled Link back to the deeper water. "We appeared in the spring, which is lucky for us, considering your wounds. This water has healing properties."
"I know…" Link murmur, his eyes drifting close.
"Damn, that was too close," Sheik spoke, his voice shaky from frayed nerves. "I'm going to keep a lookout while do what you can for him," he added, walking over to the gates. Dagg let him go, turning his attention back to Link. He carefully pulled the Hylian's shirt up over his head, resting the man's head in his lap as he fished around his bag for a cup.
Was that knight one of our contacts? Dagg wondered, dipping the cup in the water and pouring it over the Hylian's various wounds, watching as they lost their angry red glow. A second washing took away the puffiness and the wound sealed over, looking more like a scar from a burn. But then why didn't he alert us to his presence? Why leave like that? Unless…
He turned his head to tell Sheik to be careful and found himself staring at the tip of a very long sword. His eyes travelled up the length of the blade, going up the armoured hand and falling on the helmeted head of the knight.
"No funny business," the knight spoke, sounding tense. "What is your purpose here? How do know about the sky-scars? And what have you done to that man?"
When he refused to answer, the Knight grabbed him by the hair and yanked him away from the unconscious Hylian. Pinning him facedown to the ground, he quickly and tightly bound the dark man's hands together. He turned his head to the side, surprised to see Sheik crouching beside a tree, watching events unfold. When the knight made his way over to Link, he was surprised when the knight knelt in the water, a gauntleted hand brushing his hair aside. Dagg heard the man gasp and cursed their bad luck mentally. He's not one of us…
Sheik dashed out of his hiding place and tackled the knight grabbing him around the waist. The two of them went sprawling in the water, cursing at each other. The knight made to stab Sheik, but the swift blonde had a needle in hand, piercing the other warrior's wrist through the gap in his armour. The knight cursed and dropped the sword; Sheik grabbed its hilt and made to impale the man with it, but the knight brought up his legs under the young man, connecting with his chest and sending his foe flying. Sheik hit the water hard, the sword flying out of his hand to lie in front of Link.
Sword forgotten, he brought his arms up in an effort to stave off his attacker, who took the opportunity, jumping at the blonde and driving his fists into his exposed stomach. Sheik flung out with his own fists, striking the man in the head with his fist. Although it pained him greatly to do so, it knocked the man's helm from his head and exposed his face. He barely had any time to register the shoulder-length golden hair and startled green eyes before the knight crushed his nose with a gauntleted hand. His head snapped back and he fell flat, unconscious, his broken nose spilling blood into the clear water.
Link, having regained consciousness, assessed the situation unfolding before him. Sheik was knocked out and Dagg was bound. The knight had sustained little damage during his fight with the young blonde and was currently getting to his feet. There was an elegantly carved sword in front of him, no doubt the knight's weapon. With only a moment to act before his chance was gone, Link scrambled to his feet, grabbed the sword and ran up behind the knight.
"Don't move," he muttered, placing the sword at the knight's neck. The warrior, although still kneeling, was an imposing figure. He turned his head to look at Link and instead of the look of contempt he expected, the warrior looked at him with surprise and… could it be… joy?
"I am glad to see you are alright, brother," he said, sounding quite formal. Link blinked in surprise, growing confused. He was sure he felt Dagg burning a hole in the back of his head with a demanding, questioning gaze.
"I have no family," Link said bitterly. To his surprise, the knight laughed, genuinely amused. Link narrowed his eyes at the man as he lifted his hands, pressing the sword to his neck.
"Relax, I mean you no harm," he said bemusedly as he brushed his hair away from his temples, exposing his pointed ears. They weren't as pointed as Link's, but they were not curved like a human's either. Link's eyes widened in surprise before he thought he is definitely not human, but he's not entirely Hylian either. Could he be of mixed blood? "You see? By brother I meant of the same race, not by blood."
"Why did you attack us?" he asked instead.
"My orders were to guard the sky-scar," he said, shrugging his shoulders, hands raised in surrender. "When I saw it activate from afar, I assumed that someone had come through. Someone who threatens Ordona."
"I can assure you, we mean no harm," Link shook his head, flipping the blade around, offering the hilt to the man in a show of trust. "Ordon is a… home, of sorts, to me."
"Then I assure you she welcomes her children back with arms wide open," the taller Hylian said pleasantly. "It is my home as well, you know."
"You don't say, Sir Knight," he answered, feeling uneasy. Has someone moved in since I last left?
The knight offered him his hand, grinning widely. Sid switched hands abruptly upon seeing that he was an amputee, his smile never faltering. "We are brothers more so now, it seems. My name is Sid. And yours?"
"L-Lee," he caught himself, shaking hands.
"I must say, it does my soul good to see a free Hylian," he said, bending to pick up his helmet. "There's hope yet, it seems."
Link smiled politely, nodding his head. Whatever that means, he though, confused. Dagg cleared his throat behind him and he turned to look at the Gerudo. "Now that we're all friends, can someone please untie me? I've got a cramp in my shoulder and lost all feeling in my fingers."
Apologizing profusely, Sid dropped to one knee in front of the man, and upon drawing a dagger from his boot, sliced through the bonds on Dagg's hands. He immediately helped the dark man stand, proceeding to offer him a cloth to dry his clothes. As astounded as Link by the sudden turn of events, he took the cloth silently as Sid went over to Sheik. He filled Dagg's discarded cup with water and poured it over the pale blonde's face, his nose healing. After a third cupful of water, his nose was straight again, all sign of damage gone. His eyes opened suddenly and he sat up, groaning. Sid put a hand on his back, steadying him
"The waters can heal even the most fatal of wounds," Sid said, amused. "But it can't cure a headache."
Sheik stiffened when he heard who spoke and scooted back, eyes narrowed when he saw the knight kneeling next to him, hand on his back.
"What the hell? What've you done to me?" he demanded to know, distrusting the knight when he tried to explain.
"Relax," Dagg commanded and Sheik settled down, quelled but no more satisfied. "He's not our enemy. In fact, you could say he's one of us."
"I find that hard to believe," he muttered, glaring at Sid, who looked at Dagg over his shoulder, confused.
"Anyway," Dagg interjected before either of them could speak. "Now that we've reached our destination and we have an escort to boot, shall we get going?"
"Of course, I'd be glad to escort you," Sid said, not missing a beat. He went to his horse, but did not mount. Instead, he went through his saddlebags, coming up with a wide strip of dark green cloth, which he proceeded to give to Link. "You'd best use this to cover your ears until we're far from prying ears."
Link took it wordlessly, and tied it around his head, the cloth wide enough to hide the majority of his ears. He then pulled his hair over the band, sweeping it away from his face. Sid gave him a thumbs-up, telling him it was fine. As they walked, Sid leading them on foot—he insisted that if anyone should ride his horse, it should be Link, who pointedly refused—Link wondered what had happened to the world if even Ordon, Ordona he corrected himself, wasn't a safe place anymore.
The village once known as Ordon was now a bustling township. Where once there had only been a handful of edifices, there were now many more. Businesses had sprung up on the main road, neither having been there before; there was even a bar. What the hell happened to Ordon? Link couldn't help but wonder as Sid led them through the town, their destination being the inn on the other side of Ordona. When did they build all this? Where did all these people come from and where is everyone? Did they force Rusl, Ilia and the other out when they built it up?
Lost in thought, he took no notice of the small children, as wide-eyed as he was, staring at the tall knight escorting them. Sid had replaced his helmet on his head, effectively hiding his own ears from view. He waved to the children, smiling widely as they continued to stare. Glancing at them now, Link noticed that they were staring at the tall figure in a mixture of awe and fear. Children are always blatantly honest… I wonder why they fear him?
Upon reaching the other side of Ordona, they came to stop at a large double story building. A faded sign hung above the door that read "INN." Sid tied his horse to the hitching post besides the building, taking his bags from the animal and allowing it to rest. He muttered to the horse, stroking it's side before trotting up to the porch of the inn and opening the door. "After you," he said cordially, holding the door open for the three travellers. They exchanged a brief look before going inside.
The inside of the inn was bright and smelled of bread and polished wood. To their right was an area set up like a common room, complete with a fireplace and cushiony couches. Immediately to their left was a counter where an older woman sat, reading a book. Her long brown hair was swept away from her face and pulled into a braid that she twirled around a finger absentmindedly. She raised her deep chocolate eyes upon hearing them and smiled as they entered.
"Welcome to Ordona's finest inn," she said merrily.
"It's the only inn in Ordona, Penny," Sid chuckled as he closed the door and walked over to the group.
"Sid, don't be such a jerk," she muttered as she blushed, looking away from the knight as he drew up to the counter. "You'll drive away customers."
"I said it was the only inn in Ordona," he explained as he grinned at her. "But I never said it wasn't any less regal than it is."
"Is that another crack?" she narrowed her eyes at him. He laughed, rolling his eyes. Ignoring him, she turned back to the three travellers. "Is there anything I can do you for?"
"We were just—" Dagg began, but Sid cut him off.
"Could you set them up with a room?" he asked, his smile never fading. "You can go ahead and put them in the one next to mine."
"Only one?" she murmured, looking at the three men. "Well, alright then."
The girl ducked under the counter, coming up with an armful of linens and a basket of cleaning supplies. Sid made to take the sheets from her, but she pulled away, raising an eyebrow at him. "With those dirty gloves? I don't think so…"
Sid chatted idly with the girl as she led the way up a short flight of stairs, leaving the three companions to follow in silence. Unspoken questions flew between the trio as the followed the knight to their room.
Who is this Sid? Is he really one of us or is he playing us for fools? Dagg wondered, narrowing his eyes at the tall Hylian's back. For that matter, where are the agents stationed here and how do I find them?
Something is definitely wrong here, Link observed. I might have been away from Ordon for five years, but there's no way all of this popped up in that short amount of time. Just where the hell am I really?
Link gave a false name to that knight, Sid. But why? Is he suspicious of the man? But for what reason? Sheik glanced at his charge. He's not telling us the whole truth either. There's something off about him, I just can't put my finger on it…