hey guys, sorry it's taken me so long to get another chapter up. Life's been kinda crazy. Anyway, things are going to start to heat up in this chapter, and the next few will see a continued building of the fires of war. Will the Ordonians make it in time to save Hyrule?
Castle Town was just as they had left it, bustling with life and the activities of market day. Sheik watched his brothers back carefully, searching for any sign of discomfort. Finding none, he let a sigh escape him. The last few hours had been rattling. Link's chase into the brush, finding the girl, Saria, and now the ride back. The silence had fled the moment Saria had been found, and she had constantly sung children's tunes the whole ride back. Looking down at her Sheik contemplated setting her down at the edge of town and riding off. She had just finished one tune and looked as though she were about to go into another when a gentle tone cut through the air. Sheik looked up at Links back, recognizing the sound.
"Link's ocarina." he thought. He listened as the notes flew by, noticing that Saria had fallen silent, entranced by a melody that spoke of friendship and hard times. A tune as sad and sweet as a precious life, taken too soon. A melody of untold sorrow and silent joy. Even Sheik sat spellbound as his horse followed Link's.
"When did he come up with this one?" the though echoed silently and absently inside his head as he rode, barely aware of the crowd his horse maneuvered through.
/
"Are you sure of this?" Impa nodded as she looked the King of Hyrule in the eye.
"Yes your majesty. They were Ordonian's. I'm sure of it." the King looked toward the high window that shed light on the floor in front of his throne.
"Have one of your best watch them. We must find out what they're doing here." Impa nodded, and turned to follow her Kings orders.
/
Nabooru watched as the horsemen from before rode back into town. The lead rider now played a sad tune on a small instrument she didn't recognize, while the other man held a small girl on his saddle.
"What in the goddesses name is going on?" she thought. She took a closer look as the riders passed the Gerudo's stall, a cold chill settling in the pit of her stomach as she met the eyes of the closer, younger man. His tune never stopped, but his eyes seemed dead, as if he had already seen countless deaths and experienced sufferings greater than any man should ever go through. She looked away before he did, but felt his gaze on her for a moment longer. When the feeling disappeared she glanced around, taking notice primarily of the fact that the men had ridden past her and she could no longer see the first rider.
"What was that?" she thought.
/
Link barely looked at the woman as she took her daughter from Sheik, instead focusing his gaze on the castle. As the woman took Saria from Shiek, he turned to look directly at a large tree to the side of the street.
"Watcher." Sheik turned away from the mother, who was still thanking him for returning her daughter.
"Then I suppose we should speak to the local authorities about it." Link shook his head.
"The King." Sheik rubbed his face for a moment.
"You cannot be serious. You need to go through a whole lot of crap to see a king." Link glanced at his brother.
"Sheikah. King's men." Sheik's mouthed opened as he realized what his brother meant.
"So the King is watching us. Then we'd best be on our best behavior. That means polite conversation Link." The younger man rolled his eyes and turned Epona away, moving her into an easy trot that ate up ground quickly. The pair moved through the town and market at a reasonable clip and left Castle Town behind.
/
Far to the east a strange force was gathering. Creatures of a kind unseen in Hyrule since the ancient dark days. Vicious, grotesque and twisted versions of existing creatures, taken by dark powers and tortured. Mutilated beyond imagining until at last a new race had been born. These were the demons of the desert. The Karakov riders. Faces a horrible mixture of Hylians, Gerudo and Gorons, and bodies tortured and mutilated until they walked with bowed legs and backs. Their arms hung almost to their ankles and fingers sported long, hard nails that resembled claws more than anything. Their mounts were no better. Not one horse existed in these ranks, for fear and madness would have made them useless. Instead they rode great hogs and the horrid bulls of the lands they inhabited. And before this horde of creatures a great man rode. His armor was black against the eastern sky, and his sword was held bare in his hand. His mount was a huge bull from the lands he ruled, the largest of its kind. His red hair flew in the breeze around a face that radiated greed and prejudice. His eyes, as dark as jet, flashed in anticipation.
"Forward, we face the armies of the Gerudo first!" he cried. His army followed as he led the way into the lands of the Gerudo.
/
Many leagues stood between the lands of the Ordonians in the west and the lands of Hyrule. And with the Gorons and the Zora between the two, contact between men of Ordon and men of Hyrule was almost nonexistent. Contact even between the Zora's or Gorons and the Ordonians was almost unheard of. Unlike Hylia, or the realms of the Zora and Gorons, the lands of Ordon had no large walled cities. Scattered villages populated the plains and nomadic clans followed the many great horse herds. The King of Ordon rode with one of the most nomadic of these tribes. A huge man, he bore a massive blade, single edged, and razor sharp. And currently he rode at the head of his clan near the border to the Gorons realm. Looking across the border he saw a pair of riders moving towards him.
"Riders! What business do you have in Ordon?" he called. The riders slowed but did not stop, and the leader stood in his stirrups.
"The business of King and clan!" he yelled. The king waved the pair in, and they rode up to the group. As they drew closer their identities became clear as Link and Sheik, riders from a smaller clan near the mountains. They pulled up next to the king, and Sheik gave a quick report on what they had seen in Hyrule.
"The Hylians are complacent, their army is lax and undisciplined. The Gorons and Zora are little better. The Gerudo's and Sheikah are better, but not well enough. The armies of Ganondorf gather in the east, in preparation for invasion. If something isn't done the dark lord will reign even up to our borders, and knowing him he won't stop there." the king nodded gravely.
"I will send riders to the clans. Tell your clan to prepare for war, meet me at the edge of the Kokiri Forest." Sheik nodded and turned his horse away. Link turned his horse and followed his brother, though not as swiftly at first. The elder brother noticed but decided not to say anything.
/
Malon and Zelda walked through the halls of the palace, talking and giggling about their day at the market. Impa had gone to speak to the king, and their mother was busy elsewhere, so the girls were alone. As they spoke their conversation turned to different matters.
"Those horsemen, I wonder who they were. I didn't recognize their weapons or clothing, and their horses were much smaller than the ones the Hylian knights use." Zelda said. Malon looked at her sister.
"The horses looked more like the horses the Gerudo ride. But even the Gerudo mounts are larger than those." the girls continued to walk down the corridors until they reached the courtyard, where Hylian soldiers were training. Looking across the yard, the girls saw the stables. Malon perked up.
"Let's go ask stablemaster Talon, he knows all the horse breeds from here to Lake Hylia!" Zelda's eyes brightened at the possibility of answers to their questions.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" grabbing Malon's hand she bolted across the courtyard, dodging soldiers and servants alike in her mad dash. As the girls entered the stables they looked around for the distinctively huge frame of the stable master. Spotting him near one of the stalls Malon led Zelda over.
"Mister Talon, we had a question." she asked. The man set down the bag of oats he had been carrying.
"Well, I'll see if I have an answer. What is it that's bothering you miss Malon?" he asked. Malon took a deep breath.
"We saw two riders on strange horses, and we were hoping that you could help us out." Talon stood a little straighter.
"Well then you've come to the right place, miss Malon. There is no one in Hyrule who knows as much about horses as me, except maybe some of the Sheikah, but don't tell them I said that. They'd never let me live it down." Zelda giggled as Malon launched into her description of the horses.
"Well, both of them were really small compared to the horses that the knights ride, or even the horses that the farmers use. Both of them had what you called a roman nose, I still don't get what that means by the way. They had really lumpy shoulders and hips, and really thick necks that just seemed to twist in every impossible direction." she stopped to take a breath and noticed that Talon had taken on a very thoughtful look. The girls waited while the stable master attempted to recall a breed with those features.
"I'm afraid it's a little vague. Were there any specific things that popped out, like the size and shape of the ears, eyes, or nostrils? Or were the legs shaped differently, or were there specific markings on the horses body?" Malon thought for a moment.
"Yeah, the ears were smaller, and the eyes and nostrils were much bigger than the ones on our horses. The legs were shorter and thicker than ours but a little longer than the Gerudo mares, and they had larger hooves." Talon held up his hand.
"And what about the relation in size of the body to the head, or the markings?" Malon nodded.
"The head was a lot smaller than the heads of our warhorses, but larger than the Gerudo horses. As for markings, one looked like someone had dropped paint on it in random patterns all over. The other one was red with a white mane and tail." Talon closed his eyes as he thought.
"I'm terribly sorry miss Malon, I'm afraid that the closest breed to the one you saw is the Hylian Mustang, and those are generally pretty scrawny." Malon looked a bit downcast at the thought that Talon couldn't figure it out, but quickly perked up when another idea struck her.
"Zelda lets ask Impa!" the blonde girl looked at her sister.
"Do you think she would know?" Malon was practically jumping up and down from excitement.
"Of course, she always knows something about everything." she said as she seized Zelda's hand and dragged her off to find their caretaker.
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