The Hyrulian Valhalla Saga
By Queenie Z

Capture That Flag! (Part 1)

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They say a bit of friendly competition is good for the soul, and no one knew this better than the Heroes of Legend, who regularly put their heads together to come up with fantastic and exciting games and adventures to pass the time. These competitions started out small, but as each new Link was added to the ever-growing chain, they grew into grand events spanning the entirety of their realm. They would engage in relatively harmless ventures, like scavenger hunts or riddle quests, as well as more risky activities such as jousting tournaments, bombchu bowling, and even skydiving. Today, however, all ten (thirteen including Green's alternates) had gathered in the middle of the realm to organize a daring and death-defying game of...

"Capture the flag?" asked Duo curiously. "I've never heard of that..."

"You've never heard of capture the flag!?" cried Green in disbelief. He turned to Vio. "Vio, wanna fill everybody in on the rules?"

Vio smiled. "Of course." He calmly flipped the pages on his clipboard and read from the top page. "The object of the game is for two teams, each of whom is guarding a flag, to capture the other team's flag and bring it back to their territory. The first team to accomplish this wins the game."

"Sounds simple enough to me," said Engie from his seat on the ground.

"There's more. In addition to the team's flag, each player will have a tag - a small cloth tucked into their belts. If a player on the opposite team takes that tag, the player whose tag was taken is out of the game."

Time nodded. "So, technically, you could also win by taking the tags from every player on the other team," he said with a smile. "Sounds like fun!"

"So," added Wind, "this is just a hands-only kind of game? No weapons or items?"

"Oh no," said Vio, looking up at the others with a small smirk, "we'll be using weapons and items."

Behind him, Blue laughed and pumped a fist into the air. "Yes! Now we're talking!"

Vio turned and gave his other a look. "But," he said, "you're limited to one sword, one shield, and only the items you gained on your journeys during life." He pointed at Light. "For example, you can only use your boomerang. You can't use, say, Twilight's."

Light frowned, a little offended. "How come you used me as an example...?"

"I wouldn't share my boomerang with you anyway," teased Twilight with a wry grin.

"That's not very nice!" protested Duo.

Sky interrupted them with a raised hand. "What about animals? Can I use my loftwing?"

Vio shook his head. "Sorry, no animals. Not everyone has one, so it wouldn't be fair to those of us who don't."

Time and Twilight grimaced in disappointment, while Duo simply sulked sadly. Sky scratched his head. "Well, it was worth asking, I guess."

"So," said Brown, his hands on his hips and an eager look on his face, "who's going to be on which team? Do we just pick ourselves?"

"Nope! Vio's the referee," chimed in Red, "so he's going to pick for us!"

Mini turned to Green. "Why Vio, though?"

Green shrugged. "There's an odd number of us, and he offered." He took a quick glance at Vio's clipboard and whistle and snickered. "Besides, I think he kind of enjoys the power rush, you know?"

"All right!" called Vio, extending his left hand to his side, "Everyone on Team Eldin stand over here! Time, Twilight, Duo, Mini, Wind, and Green!"

Time laughed and smacked his protégé on the back as they moved to their side. "Haha! Hear that, Twilight? We're on the same team!"

"O-Oh boy," muttered Twilight, unsure of what to think of this situation.

Green turned back to his personas. "Vio... how come you didn't stick me with Red and Blue? I thought we were supposed to stick together!"

"It's okay, Green!" said Mini as he grabbed Green's wrist, "Between you and me, we'll be better than either of them!"

Blue stuck his tongue out at Mini before Vio shoved him and Red over to the right.

"And everybody else," he said, "is on Team Lanayru. That's Light, Engie, Sky, Brown, Red, and Blue!"

Light beamed. "All right, we get Sky!" He held out his hand for a high five, to which Sky reacted with a bit of embarrassment.

"Eh?"

"That's right, you're the most experienced out of all of us!" Brown held up his hand as well. "With you on our team, we'll be unbeatable!"

Sky laughed sheepishly and returned the high fives. "Okay, then, I won't let you guys down!"

"Yaaaaaay!" cried Red as he latched on tightly to Blue, "I get to be on Blue's team! Promise we'll stay together, pleeeeease?"

"Get off," Blue growled as he tried to shove him away, "or I'll leave you in a ditch somewhere!"

"You wouldn't do something like that!"

"Just try me!"

Once everyone had migrated to either side of Vio, he checked the numbers on each team and nodded in approval. Then, he reached in his pouch and pulled out six red bandanas. Walking over to Team Eldin, he tucked each piece of cloth into each Link's belt, then repeated the process to Team Lanayru with six yellow bandanas.

"There," he said when he finished. "Now, Team Lanayru's flag is located ten miles to the east of here in a small valley, and Team Eldin's flag is ten miles to the west, on a hill. You all get one hour to strategize and prepare; I'll set off a signal flare when the game begins. Does everyone understand?"

All of the Links nodded.

"All right then, one hour starting - " Vio pulled out an hourglass from his pouch - indeed, he had come completely prepared for this job! - and turned it, " - now."

Each team rushed off in their separate directions, already clamoring amongst themselves how they were going to best play this game.

"All right, guys," said Time, tapping his recently-completed diagram of the playing field with his finger as he squatted on the grass with his teammates. "The best offense is a good defense, so I propose that we focus our numbers on defending our flag."

Green cocked an eyebrow, confused. "Yeah, okay, I get that - but if we focus too much on defending our flag, we'll never get the other team's!"

"But remember," said Wind, "we don't have to actually capture their flag to win. If we stay put and let them come to us, we can take their tags."

Time nodded. "Precisely. If they send over all of their players, we could theoretically win without stepping foot into enemy territory!"

"Ifthey send everyone over," said Twilight with a hand on his chin. "There's no guarantee that they will."

"Twilight's right," said Mini, "if they even leave one of their guys behind, it'd be a stalemate."

Duo raised his hand. "How about we send just a few of us over, then? That way, we'll have a way to weed out whoever doesn't come to us."

"...All right, that sounds good." Time pointed to the area on the drawing where their flag was represented. "We'll stagger our defense - two of you will wait in the forest and ambush anyone who passes through, and Twilight and I will guard the flag directly. Anyone who slips through the forest will have to answer to us!"

"I can do the ambush!" said Duo.

"Me too!" Green gave a confident wink. "Me and the others, we used to ambush our enemies all the time - there's nobody better at ambushes than me!"

"And that leaves Wind and Mini on the offense," mused Twilight.

Mini nodded, then turned to Wind. "Hey, Wind, come here - I have an idea for a shortcut we can take!"

"Hmm?" Wind leaned closer to his predecessor, who whispered something in his ear.

"Uh, guys?" said Time, "I thought I was the strategist here... aren't you going to share your plan with me?"

"Shush," said Mini with a grin, "it's a surprise. Trust me, you'll see!"

Twilight snickered at Time's pouty reaction to being snubbed. Time, in response, stood and pulled his pupil up by the collar, dragging him away towards the mound where Team Eldin's flag stood.

"That's enough out of you," he said, irritated, "let's go warm up! Ten laps around the hill, Twilight!"

"W-What!? But I - !"

"Time's such a good role model," said Duo sweetly. "No wonder Twilight turned out to be so strong!"

The other Links simply looked at each other and chuckled.

"So," said Light, twirling his sword in his hand, "Engie and I are guarding the flag?"

Sky nodded. "You guys seemed like the best choice - I have a feeling the two of you will be the most alert."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Blue with a slight scowl.

"No offense," answered Brown, who stretched his arms up and yawned, "but you get into too many arguments to pay close attention. As for the rest of us, Sky and I are better suited for offense, and Red is - " he turned to Red, who was sitting on the ground and making a daisy chain, " - well, Red is Red."

"Well, then, if you and Sky are gonna be the offense, where does that leave me and Red?"

"You guys will be the secondary offense." Sky held up two fingers. "See, there are two ways to get to the other team's flag - the obvious route, through the forest, and another one over the lake. We'll enter from both sides and overwhelm their defenses!"

"Good idea," said Engie with a nod. "So, who's taking which route?"

"I've got a raft," Brown said, "so Sky and I will go over the lake."

"And Red and Blue will take the forest path," said Sky. "Hey, Red! Did you get all that?"

Red looked up from his flowery craft and smiled. "Huh? Oh! Yes, I got it!" He turned to Blue. "Did you hear that, Blue? We'll get to work together! Isn't that great?"

Blue slapped both palms to his face and groaned. "Kill me," he muttered, "again."

Light laughed. "Oh, come on, don't be like that! You guys work great together!"

"Only when he's not being an annoying airhead!"

"Bluuuuuue!" whined Red with a pout.

Engie gave a small chuckle and put his hands on his hips. "Well, I guess that settles it, then! Light and I on defense, Sky and Brown on primary offense, and Red and Blue on secondary offense." He looked up. "I wonder when Vio's gonna - "

A loud crack in the sky startled the Heroes. They all turned to see a bright red flare shoot through the clear blue, leaving a smoky trail in its wake.

"Ah, there it is!" said Brown. He adjusted his hat and cracked his knuckles. "All right, guys, let's show Team Eldin what we're made of!"

At that, he and Sky rushed off to the northwest, while Blue dragged Red away to the southwest. Light and Engie stayed behind, readying themselves for any enemy who would dare enter their line of sight.

The Heroes' game of capture the flag had begun.