(A/N My apologies for being so late with the updating, school and other issues smade this a little more difficult. But I'll try to stick with a weekly schedule for updating.)
"On the grave of the sons, and the throne of Din. I, Ruin, shall avenge the Chaos lineage, and slay the Hero or die trying." Ruin announced as Link entered the ring of soldiers. He knew not to take advantage of his weapons length and strike first, a simple move like that would end in failure. Instead, he pointed the tip of his spear to the ground and raised the end at an angle, creating a perimeter around his self.
Link discovered a way to get within he perimeter and strike, but it would cost him his shield. Sliding the sword in his left hand under the shield and through the loops, he was able to throw it like a spinning blade. The rotating edges of the Hylian shield would easily cleave through any that stood in its way.
A flying shield caught Ruin off guard, but not long enough to inflict damage itself. In a swift motion, the spear rose up and propelled it into the crowd, injuring a few along the way. A sixth sense gave him the needed time to spin left and avoid a lunging Link. The second blade in his right hand came afterwards, blocked by the shaft of Ruin's spear. Regaining his balance, Link used the close range to is advantage by using both blades.
He focused on swinging faster than he did on hitting harder, speed would overcome Ruin, not power. It became an intense deadlock for a moment until Link flipped backwards avoiding a sudden counter-strike by Ruin. Lunging forwards suddenly, Ruin forced Link to put space between them. But the Hero of Light leapt forward, raising his blade above his head and using the right weapon to deflect.
It looked as if it was going to work, Link soaring threw the air towards a defenseless Ruin. The Chaos General had the will to survive, and by using his extended spear to conduct electricity released from his body and spinning it around him he was able to push Link back. It wasn't the force of the blow, but the numbing sting of the shock and the arc that stood around him momentarily caused Link to avoid it at all costs.
Clumsily landing on his back, he was forced to roll backwards and push up with his arms. Link tightened his right hands grip around the handle of his blade, attempting to retrieve feeling in the entire arm. Ruin's spear resonated a blue aura that surged with electricity, arcs would spread across the shaft.
Link felt a hand on his shoulder and looked over to see the dark red armor of the Chaos soldiers. His blade raised in the air and Link realized it was a sneak attack in the middle of a duel. Because of his recent electrocution, his body didn't respond in time to defend. But Ruin's sense of honor stopped the attempt by killing the soldier.
His leathery skin began to darken and smolder as Ruin released an arc of lightning upon him. Unable to look away, the smell of burning flesh clouded the sweat filled aroma of Hyrule field. The torture ended, and Link watched the smoke rise from his eyes, mouth, and nose.
"If any of you attempt to interfere, I will kill you. He was an example." He shouted and the ring around them grew bigger, both Hylians and Chaos feared that they would suffer the same fate. Pulling back his spear and returning to a position, Ruin waited for Link. "Shall we continue?" He asked politely. Ruin had no personal hate against Link or any of the Hylians, but the death of Lord Chaos's sons was unforgettable.
"Fine." Link said. Within Hyrule castle, Zelda at the Royal throne silently. Using the power granted to her by the Goddesses, Zelda used the Triforce of Wisdom to sense Link's presence. It took a moment and a sever amount of concentration but eventually her work paid off. She was able to feel Link Triforce of Courage and reassure herself that he was alive.
But along with Link she felt a dark presence, it was similar to Ganondorf but distinct. She was able to detect a hint of the Triforce within the presence, but it was corrupted by a power exceeding that of the Twilight. It was a confusing situation, she knew Ganondorf has died so the Triforce of power should be dormant. Unless another has retrieved it or Ganondorf has been revived. Either possibility wasn't in her favor.
Princess, Princess Zelda. A situation report from Hyrule field." A lone soldier marched into the room and quickly dropped to his knees before her. Panting and gasping for air, his duty was to return to Zelda as quickly as possible and tell her of conditions within the battle, then return to the frontline.
"Please continue." She said quickly wanting to know if what Midna said about them was true. From the Twilight Princess's words, Zelda though of their enemy as an army of unstoppable super soldiers with a leader of immeasurable strength. But she also knew not to think much of it, after a traumatic event like hers, Midna has sunken into a depression.
"It is not going in our favor, the enemy is easily more powerful even though they equal us in numbers. Sir Rusl has fallen in a duel against the enemy general..." The soldier strayed off trying to think of a way to say the rest. But a gasp from Zelda caused him to look up into her worried eyes.
"Rusl, how?" Being the captain of the Ordon Guard, Rusl was a regular at the castle. He's gone on multiple adventures with Link and has earned the respect of the Hylian Guard. For him to fall in battle was tragedy, and she knew Link wouldn't take it lightly.
"The enemy General, he has magic powers that we've never seen before. He rode a man-eating armored horse that split our ranks." He continued. So involved in telling and hearing the story, neither of them heard the footsteps from behind the soldier.
"Was there a man, with no armor and a large sword that had an eye on it?" Midna asked walking behind him. She held a calm and strong exterior, but inside was a fragile will, holding itself together. The scout thought for a second, and couldn't recall a single armor-less person in the entire field.
"No ma'am. The enemy wields a spear and armor that's similar to a skeleton." The scout said as Midna walked into the room. Wearing personally created robes to mimic those of the Twilight Realm. A full gown that covered all of her body except the beautiful face of the princess. The markings along her clothing were designed by Midna herself, not giving Hylians the opportunity to ruin her peoples legacy.
"Then we may have a chance, but the worst has yet to come." Midna's smile hasn't returned once, ever since she was forced into the Light. No longer was she affected by the Light, the power of her family gave her the ability to stand in this bright world. Even though it took time, she was able to realize the end of her world may have saved the other.
"Why, why are you here? What is it you want, revenge? Do you want something, the Triforce? Just tell me, god damn you." Link shouted as he rose up. His left arm felt numb from the amount of blood he lost, and the repeated electrical shocks. Metal didn't do well to defend against electricity. But it did create an effective offense, Ruin's multiple slashes and injuries supported this. But unlike Link, Ruin was a being of Chaos and his training gave him the ability to stand through any wound. "Is it Midna your after, tell me!" Link continued shouting.
"You act as if you don't remember, you killed the sons. They died by your blade, now my brother is searching for their bodies to honor them. My brother has given his servant the privilege of avenging our family and he failed us. Now, Lord Chaos has decided to take things into his own hands." Ruin explained and tightened his grip upon the shaft on his spear. The expression on his face was one of ambition, one that showed he wasn't simply fighting a battle.
Despite the belief of the Hylians, Ruin wasn't a simple killing machine. He was a warrior determined to fight for justice, that idea that he was evil was wrong. None of the soldiers of Chaos are evil, it was only Hyrule facing the vengeance of a greater power. At the start of the battle, Ruin swore an oath to avenge the family or die trying. He was a loyal man, which meant either Link or his self will fall that day.
"I didn't kill anyone, your wrong. All the soldiers that died here today, their lives were lost in vain." Link rose up and pulled both of his swords from the dirt. That moment of rest was all he needed to continue fighting, Ruin was a master at combat, but so was Link. "All of them have fallen for nothing."
"It doesn't matter, Hero. We both are murderers, in my eyes you are the evil one." Ruin brought up his spear and slid his right hand down the shaft. Holding the higher portion loosely and a firm grip on the bottom allowed him to make use of the flexible handle.
"You have killed Rusl, you destroyed the Twilight. What makes you think that I am evil." The Triforce of Courage burned brightly upon Links hand. To all the others, Ruin seemed like an impossible foe. But Link stood bravely before him.
"Our methods are our own, we hold responsibility for what we have done. So will you Hero, and the rest of Hyrule." As if it was on cue, Ruin's spear sparked with electricity as he slammed the point into the ground. A bolt of electricity arched forward moving across the ground, and towards Link. Feeling the power of the Triforce flowing through him, Link continued the fight in a new way.
Crossing his blades over each other, Link stabbed them into the dirt and waited. As the attack reached his blades, he unleashed the magic of the Triforce causing the Ordon swords to conduct the attack and then hold the same power as Ruin's spear. Feeling that this electric charge was enough to defend his self, Link leaped forward raising one blade over his head and using the other to defend.
Twisting his entire body to his left, Ruin avoided the attack and brought down the bottom his spear. As intended, Link used his left sword to block the attack and countered with his right. A thought in the back of his mind was how easy this would've been if Zelda would let him get the Master Sword. It probably would've nullified his electrical advantage from the beginning, and might've split his spear in two.
He did the same as his opponent and spun around, extending his blade to perform the spin attack he learned so long ago. But Ruin stood his spear upwards and stabbed the tip into the ground, stopping Links blade in mid-strike. Thrusting forward to strike him down, Ruin jumped into the air and using both hands flipped forwards while pulling the spear from the ground.
The result was Ruin attempting to split Link's skull in two, fortunately, Link crossed over his blades once again and defended. The impact from the blow sent a stabbing pain through his muscles but if left him with an idea to end this. The plan was flawless, but it came with only one problem, Link had to be ready to take a spear to the shoulder. He decided it was worth it to avenge Rusl and proceeded.
"This ends now." Link shouted as he dropped the sword in his left hand and pulled the blade in his right back. Ruin brought his spear down and the blade at the end, sliced itself into Link shoulder but stopped as Link grabbed the shaft under the blade. Now that he had both Ruin's spear and an opening to a vital spot of his choice, the only thing left to do was take the chance.
Pushing the sword in his right forward in an attempt to pierce through Ruin's armor and go through him. Link s pushed Ruin spear upwards and used both hands to put all the power he had into the attack. For everyone, even the soldiers that idly stood by and watched it all happen, time seemed to stop. The Hylians felt proud and victorious, but the Chaos soldiers felt nothing. They understood one thing the Hylians didn't Ruin was one of many, he was the weakest of a family known as the Holy Bane Generals. When Ruin fell here, it was a sacrifice that was needed to awaken a sleeping giant.
Every detail of the event was seen, the smallest movement was noticed by all. Links sword touching Ruins armor and the sparks that flew when it went through. The screeching noise made as metal pierced metal and the heavy breaths that came from both combatants. Links small smile of relief as the dark red, almost black blood leaked forward and dripped out of Ruins armor. Ruin's emotionless face, as if this was how things was intended from the beginning. All these minor details were taken in to paint the bigger picture, Ruin has fallen.
The final and most important detail of all, the blade erupting from Ruins back. He stepped backwards silently, still holding the spear in his hand. Using his empty hand, he weakly pulled the blade out of his chest and closed his eyes. He wasn't dead yet, but he was taking the last breaths he had to center his self and honor the man that killed him. Link stepped back, his shoulder feeling numb from the shocks that was sent through it.
"You are strong, Hero, as strong as I expected. But I am sorry to tell you that I am the weakest of my kin, and they will come, I truly do apologize. You were a worthy opponent against me, but compared to them, I am nothing." Ruin said as he stood straight. Ignoring the pain and surviving by sheer will. He stood before Link.
"What is this, pity." Link muttered as Ruin continued. For the first and last time, only Link saw this. A small smile, a hint of happiness or respect came upon Ruin's face. In all honesty, it looked like the smile of a great warrior, it was the exact same smile that Rusl gave him. He wasn't sure how to take it, the person he hated so much had no negative thoughts against him, they fought because they had too, nothing more.
"We could've been brothers Hero, but alas, we meet on the battlefield, that is pity. I do not want you to kill the rest of my family, but if you can, show them the same fighting ability you showed me. The red star in the sky marks when and where we shall arise. Farewell." Ruin's body went limp as he slowly fell backwards, but unlike the soldiers that came with him. His body began to dissolve into darkness and he disappeared suddenly.
Link looked up from where Ruin's body would've fallen and noticed that all of the Chaos beings have disappeared. The only trace of their presence was the fallen Hylians and the trampled grass of Hyrule field. There was total silence, no one willing to say a word after hearing Ruin speak. Link's mind was swirling with thoughts that didn't seem to make sense.
One of those thoughts was war and vengeance. Ruin killed Rusl, and Link killed Ruin, the only reason why Rusl died was because they were fighting a battle in war. Then again, none of the Chaos beings never would've even showed themselves if they weren't returning for revenge. Link killed Ruin out of vengeance for Rusl, it was a complicated cycle that wouldn't end until one of them were dead.
"Link, sir. Did we win?" A soldier asked as he bravely stepped forward. The answer was a confusing one at best, they won because Ruin died and the Chaos retreated.
"It is up for you to decide. Let's go back." Link said as he picked up the two Ordonian swords on the ground. He set them up as an X by piercing both blades into the ground at an angle. He needed a way to explain to Colin about his father's death, about his own failure to save the one's he cared for. "I don't want to be here any longer."
"Yes sir. Any that is healthy, help the wounded stand. Leave the bodies for now!" A soldier started to bark orders at the rest. The army that stood behind Link in battle was in a slight daze, but with the orders they awoke and scrambled to work. Link was able to see it in their eyes, all of them had a new perception of things, and experience in fighting the Chaos. That experience gave them a slight advantage over the others.
Link dropped to his knees and rested, his wounds were still open but the pain has ended. All the wounds came from Ruin alone, which worried the Hero. The only man ever able to injure him so badly was Ganondorf, if Ruin matched his power and was the weakest. He needed to find a way to become stronger, unfortunately, there was nothing in his mind that helped.
"Did you see that. Link killed the enemy general on his own, in a duel."
"He also brought down that massive horse, I saw one of the guys I was talking to earlier be killed by it. That thing called Zasmal deserved to die."
"Some one should talk to him, Rusl was killed. You know how close those two were, it's like watching your dad die."
"Didn't Rusl have a son, this isn't going to go well."
The soldiers talked amongst themselves and gossiped if they weren't holding in the pain. Link didn't bother listening to what they said, his attention was focused on the glowing symbol upon his hand. As he grew older and faced more situations, Link learned how to control the Triforce and the powers it brought slightly. That was how he was able to use his swords to conduct the electricity.
But there were certain times when it worked alone, now was such a time. It showed brightly as Zelda and Midna rode atop two brown horses onto the battlefield. Finally seeing the results of the battle first hand, they looked upon the diminished numbers and souls of the Hylians. Link alone stood before them, while the rest continued upon their individual orders, or treated their own wounds.
"Link, I have heard about what happened to Rusl. I am sorry." Zelda said remaining upon her horse. Midna looked at the army and sighed, it was barely half the size of what they originally were. The Chaos soldiers didn't even leave corpses, so their losses was known to them and only them. Both sides suffered the loss of a respected individual, Rusl and Ruin.
"There will be more, I have to get my sword back. Even that might not be enough but it'll help. Where are the Gorons and the Zoras " Link said as he stood up from Rusl's grave. Hylians alone weren't strong enough, they needed numbers and skills. The Gorons had the strength needed, and the ability to fight from the water was a skill the Zoras possessed
"They have promised to aid us when the time comes, we'll have help soon." Zelda recently spoke with the other leaders and told them of the threat. After they agreed to help, Midna and herself received word of the Hylians being victorious. Rushing to the scene of the battle, Zelda expected an army standing proud amongst the corpses. Midna understood the reality of the enemies power, after hearing they have won the first battle, she knew of the casualties that happened.
"Good, now I'll get the Master Sword and we should be fine." Link finished. He wasn't sure if the magical sword would even help much, but it did have abilities that saved his life on multiple occasions. It felt like another adventure was going to begin, he'd be put in the way of danger's blade.
"No, it'll draw too much attention. I have a plan but you'll have to leave the sword for now." Midna said quietly. Link sighed and rolled his tired eyes. The only thing he wanted at the moment was his sword, but everyone seemed to be against that. After wondering if Midna had an actual good plan, he decided to focus in on what they were saying. "Within the Twilight Realm there is... was, a temple. It was called the Temple of Darkness, within it was an army of bandits sealed away."
"You just said bandits, why would they help us?" Zelda asked. As a royal princess, she learned to despise those that disobeyed the laws and acted upon greed. It was something that everyone was taught, to hate the evil and be a good person. But that ideal is useless in this war, everyone had reasons. No one was evil, but not a single person could define justice.
"Freedom, it's all they wanted. If we free them from the Temple, we might be able to get their help." It was a risky plan. Link saw it as a good opportunity to gain quick help and save the Sheikah. After Impaz death from natural causes, it seemed like the faithful guardians to the royal family were gone.
"I don't think that's a..." Zelda began to say.
"How do I get there." Link said. A small smile grew on his face as Zelda shot him an annoyed glance. She wasn't annoyed because he interrupted her, but she was about to give him permission to get the Master Sword. Knowing he'd hear her mouth later, Link continued. "You broke the mirror."
"The Light and Twilight are linked through multiple ways, one of those things are the Temples. The twilight beasts appeared in the temples because of a link between our realms, one of your temples should be the gate to the Temple of Darkness." Midna stated. It left both of the Hylians to ponder for a second. "We have to decide correctly, all the others were taken by the Chaos." Not exactly one that enjoyed being dropped in the middle of a hostile army, Link was the first to came up with the idea.
"The Temple of Time, it's the most sacred of them all. It should work." Link said as he looked up into the sky. He always wanted to go back to the Twilight Realm, but going there in this kind of situation isn't what he expected. "Once everything is cleaned up here, I'll leave immediately."