"You all drop your weapons, and walk the hell away!" Snake threatened the troops that surrounded him and Peach.
"But you're outnumbered. What are you going to do if we don't?" The voice in the back asked.
"Then I swear I will kill as many of you as possible before I go down."
The voice in the back began to laugh. "Yep! You're definitely the Solid Snake."
"What?!" Snake was startled and lowered his weapon.
"Weapons down men, let me through." The man ordered, to which his troops obeyed. Snake waited as the troops made way for the man in the back. He knew his name, so Snake figured he must know him. It was there that a man in a green tunic stepped forward.
"L-Link!"
"It's been a damn long time Snake. Almost thought you were dead." Link greeted. "I'm also glad to see you to princess." He gestured to Peach.
It was Link alright, and the seven years that passed didn't hide that fact. He looked different, the most distinct feature being his facial hair, a small five-o-clock shadow.
"How did you find us?"
"The slave camp. I had a man scouting out the place. He told me he saw a man looking like a commando infiltrated the camp by himself. And he succeeded, getting Peach out as well. He followed you two back to this cave, then reported all of this back to me." The swordsman explained. "I've only met one nutcase that's even capable of pulling that off. So I came to see for myself."
Snake couldn't help but give a small laugh at Link's humor. Peach however, was not amused.
"Link you asshole! Why did you have to scare us like that?!" She raged and glared at him with daggers for eyes.
"Peach, it's ok…"
"No, no, no Snake. She's right. That wasn't exactly a great way to start a reunion after seven years. I'm very sorry Princess. I'll make it up to both of you! Come see." He said and motioned for them to follow him.
"Alright we'll be out, just give us a second." Snake then turned to face Peach and whispered. "Still feeling a little weak?" He asked her.
"I think I'll be fine." She claimed as she began to get up. "I think I can…walk…AH!"
Her feet gave out from under her and she began to fall. Luckily Snake caught her almost instantly.
"No. You still need to recover. Don't worry I got you." He assured her and put his arm under her shoulder to support her as the moved.
"Thank you."
The two then exited the cave, and were given a pleasant surprise when they got out. Link and his men had several horses ready for riding.
"Hopefully, you'll enjoy this present. You two will get an escorted ride with me and my men back to our settlement." Link smiled and present the gift.
"Horses in the wasteland. I must say in all the seven years I've traveled, this is a first." Snake laughed.
"Well maybe you'll experience another first. We got a horse ready for the both of you. You know how to ride one?"
"I'm glad to say that I do."
"Great! She's all yours." Link smiled and got on his horse. "We're ready when you two are."
Snake and Peach moved towards their horse. Link picked up on Peach's current state, and motioned to his men to help the two out. A guard held Peach as Snake got on the horse, and then two guards lifted Peach onto the horse, where she sat behind Snake, arms wrapped around his waist.
"We're ready." Snake confirmed.
"All right, you ride next to me. Ok men! Let's move!" Link commanded as they began the journey. "Zelda is going to be so happy to see you two again."
"Zelda!" Peach's face glowed with happiness from hearing the name of her good friend.
"Zelda? She's alive?!" Snake asked taken with surprise.
"Alive and well! I'll be damned if I was to outlive the person that I've sworn to protect."
"You two were always very close." Snake remembered.
"Sounds like you got a thing for her." Peach teased the Hylian.
"Yeah, a lot of people think that's the case. I prefer to think of our relationship as one of trust, respect and great friendship and only that." Link elaborated. "Then again I could just be bullshitting myself into thinking that's the case." He admitted with a smirk.
"I think I get you. Don't want personal feelings to get in the way of duty?"
"Something like that. Anyway, Zelda and I created the settlement for any surviving Hylians to live. She's in charge of the settlement itself while I'm Captain of the guards, taking care of any military-type of duties."
"Can't believe I never came across it."
"Seems like we've got some catching up to do Snake. Seven years is a long time."
"Guess you're right. Well for me there's nothing much to tell. I've just spent all these years in isolation, surviving day by day. This past week has been the most eventful in all this time."
"I see. Hey? Do you remember the last time we saw each other? You know…before everything went wrong."
Snake thought back, searching his memories of the time before the disaster. "I do. I remember you and a bunch of the other fighters got wise to the fact that shit was about to go down, so you all got the right idea and ditched town. I was there to see you all out and said my goodbyes."
"That's right. And I remember you refused to come with us, even though you knew more than any of us how bad things were. I asked you why and you said something about needing to "see things to the end". That was a pretty cryptic answer. I knew to not pry any further but now that you're here, you mind explaining to me what you meant? Why did you decide to stay near ground zero of the end of the world?"
Peach rose her head to look to Snake, she was curious for his reason as well. After all she was also a part of that group that left town. Snake sighed heavily, never thinking he would have to answer that question. It was a very complicated situation. His reasoning for staying behind would sound strange to most people and he wouldn't blame them if they called him an idiot. However he put the uncomfortable feeling aside and would try to explain as best as he could.
"I…I just felt that someone had to see what would happen. Someone had to see how the situation was going to play out. That bitter and ridiculous power struggle between those fighters. I felt like I was the one who should stay behind and watch. I was well aware that I could have been killed doing so, but I rather that I be the one to die than any of you. I thought my life was significantly less important than any of yours…and I still do."
"Oh Snake…" Peach nearly teared up.
"Link? Peach? Do either of you know exactly how the world ended?"
"It was an explosion right? A nuclear bomb or something?" Link inquired.
"I thought so too." Peach answered.
"There's some truth to that, but not completely. No, before the explosion happened, there was a battle…no…a war between the fighters obsessed with the Smash Ball's power. Their incredible power was so strong that I saw entire cities getting leveled by collateral damage."
"By the Goddesses!" Link muttered.
"And Link?"
"What?"
Snake paused for a moment, before breaking the news. "The kid…Toon Link…he was involved. He didn't make it. None of them did."
Link sighed heavily, distraught from the confirmation. "I had a feeling something happened to him. I didn't see very much of him during that time, and anytime that I did he was acting so strange. He wasn't himself." He thought back. "Snake I know that you were under the assumption that you were the only one among us that had a dark side, and that the rest of us, other than the villains of course, were true heroes. But you were mistaken. Me and Toon, and our ancestors before us that all wielded the Master Sword in the name of fighting evil, all had our dark sides. We've all had to fight with that dark side at some point…but I guess for Toon Link…his dark side won. That goes for all the other fighters. No matter how many good deeds we may do, we all have that dark side that can take over. None of us are perfect, and the Smash Balls showed it."
Snake had no objection to this claim, because it was a fact. A fact that he saw with his own eyes.
"I'm sorry, I interrupted you. So what happened afterwards? Where did the bomb come in?"
"Bomb?" Snake asked.
"Yeah. You know, the explosion." Link reminded him.
"Oh! Yeah this is where things are going to sound ridiculous." Snake warned causing Link and Peach to look perplexed. "The explosion…it wasn't a bomb. That explosion was Master Hand."
"What?!" Peach and Link exclaimed.
"Like you said, everyone has their dark side. The Hand was no different. He became overwrought with anger at what those fighters had become. And then he turned into some…thing…some monster created entirely of black matter and powered by hatred. And that beast final attack was to destroy itself and the world with it. Even I don't understand how it did that, but that's what I saw. That's what caused this horn to be shoved into my head." He explained and pointed to the shrapnel embedded in his head.
"How the hell did you survive?" Link wondered.
"That's a good question, one that I don't have an answer for. I just remember waking up in a pile of rubble with a large amount of cuts and bruises. Sometimes I feel like it would've been better if I did die there. Maybe no one was supposed to see the horror of the battle, where heroes became monsters that would destroy that which they once protected."
"Well you are alive Snake…and…and I think there's a reason for that." Peach said to the jaded old man. "You did save me after all." She said sweetly. Snake let out a small smile and turned to look at the princess. He told her…
"You always know how to cheer a guy up."
She smiled warmly with his compliment. Snake then looked back to Link.
"Well since we've got the dramatic crap out of the way, how've you been Link. You've definitely aged since I last saw you."
"Well people change physically as time passes." Link replied being a smart-ass.
"Real funny. But really, looks like you got some facial hair going on there. You've had to shave at all?"
"Maybe I have. Don't have to worry about gray hairs though." He snickered.
"You just enjoy your youth while you can kid. You'll end up like me soon enough."
"I really hope not."
After a few hours on horse, the group had arrived at the Hylian settlement.
"Alright men! Get all the supplies we've gathered where they need to be."
"Yes Captain!" The troops sounded off. Link dismounted his horse, as did Snake, and then helped Peach to get off the horse.
"You two follow me. We're going to see Zelda and have us a reunion."
Snake remained close to the princess, still concerned about her health.
"How're you feeling?"
"I feel a little better. I think I can walk on my own."
"You sure?"
"Well let's see."
He let her go, and though she stumbled a little bit, she regained her footing and was able to move.
"Alright, that's good to see. Still, you're not fully recovered. I'm sure that there's a doctor here that can get you back to normal."
"Got it."
"Okay. Until then, I'm staying close to you just in case."
Peach began to giggle after he finished speaking. Snake noticed.
"What's so funny?"
"I'm not sure. It's just funny to see you being such a sweetheart." She laughed. Snake let out a small sigh of embarrassment. He had just began to notice how over-protective he was sounding.
"Alright. Let's go. Don't want to keep them waiting." Snake said.
"Greetings Princess! The troops and I have returned." Link spoke after entering what could be considered as Zelda's "throne room". The princess rushed to Link and gently embraced him.
"Link! It's so good to see you're back." She smiled before releasing him. "How was the trip?"
"Nothing but good things to report. I've also brought a little surprise for you."
"Surprise?"
Peach then entered the room. Zelda's face lit up with joy, almost in disbelief upon seeing her.
"Peach!" She cried and ran to her old friend.
"Zelda!" The two princesses gave each other a warm embrace, both in tears after being separated for so long.
"I was so afraid I would never see you again!" Zelda said as her eyes watered up. "Link! Where did you find her?"
"I didn't. That would be surprise number 2 that did that." Link replied and pointed back to the door.
"What?" Zelda looked up and saw Snake, who had just snuck into the room, not wanting to interrupt her moment with Peach. "Goddesses! Is that…"
"Yeah. It's Snake…my knight in shining armor." Peach told her. The old soldier stood there arms crossed, somewhat embarrassed by the title Peach had just gave him.
"It's good to see you again Zelda." He greeted and extended his hand, a form of greeting he's more accustomed to. Though it was as if she didn't see it and just hugged him instead. Snake was again in a state of embarrassment. Expressions of affection was something he just wasn't used to.
"Hug her back…" he subconsciously reminded himself and slowly wrapped his arms around the princess.
"Snake! I…I thought you were dead."
"Sorry if I disappointed you."
Zelda laughed. There was that deadpan sense of humor she knew him for. This was definitely Snake. She let him go and then looked at her two visitors.
"Oh dear, look at you two! You must be exhausted!"
"Well, we've certainly seen better days." Peach laughed.
"Please come with me! We'll get the two of you feeling better in no time."