The Hyrulian Valhalla Saga
By Queenie Z

Capture That Flag! (Part 3)

"So, that thing fires magic seeds?"

"Uh-huh!" Duo sat up in his position on the tree branch and showed Green his seed shooter. "It's really handy. When the other team shows up, I can just shoot gale seeds at them from here!" He smiled brightly. "It'll disorient them, but it won't hurt them."

"And while they're down," added Green with a confident grin of his own, "I'll hop down and take their tags. They won't even know what hit 'em!"

"Yeah!" Duo turned the weapon in his hand. "I'll stay up here and back you up."

Green nodded. "Good idea. Knowing us Links, I'll probably need the help. We don't go down easily after all!"

Duo laughed, swinging his feet from his perch. "But that's a good thing, right? Hyrule needs stubborn Heroes!"

"I wouldn't exactly call you 'stubborn', Duo."

"Hey," he replied with a slight pout, "I can too be stubborn! When I need to be!"

"Stubbornly polite, maybe," teased Green.

"But — "

Green silenced him with a harsh "Shh" and outstretched hand. The two then turned their heads towards a faint crunching sound and two sets of voices. When he recognized who the voices belonged to, Green broke into a smirk.

"It's Red and Blue," he whispered. "This'll be fun…!"

Duo readied his weapon. "I'm ready when you are, Green."

"Wait for it…"

A moment later, Red and Blue came into view, with Blue stomping around angrily (as usual) and Red bounding about with a happy spring in his step (as usual). However, they were completely oblivious to the two Heroes above them, and Duo aimed his shooter carefully.

"Okay," said Green, "fire!"

Pop! A gale seed shot straight into Red's chest, blowing him into a nearby tree with an incredible amount of force. Although startled by his partner's scream, Blue managed to notice another seed headed straight towards him and jumped out of the way. He drew his sword.

"Dammit!" he cried, looking around for his assailant, "Where did that come from!?"

"Bluuuuuuue!"

Blue turned to see Red getting pinned down by Green, who had leapt down from the treetops and was trying to take his tag. Although Red was putting up quite the struggle, he was no match for Green's strength in his disoriented state. With a harsh battle cry, Blue charged over and delivered a swift kick to Green's side, knocking him off of Red.

Red shook his head and sat up. "Thanks, Blue!" He hopped to his feet and drew his sword, grinning at Green. "Give up, Green - it's two against one, you'll never beat us!"

Green simply crossed his arms, not even bothering with his own blade. "You guys sure about that?"

Suddenly, another gale seed slammed into Blue, throwing him against Red and knocking them both to the ground. Green then marched over, stomped on Blue's back, and reached down, yanking his yellow tag out of his belt.

"Aw, crap!" cursed Blue through gritted teeth. He turned to his teammate. "Red! Red, they got me! Run!"

Red stumbled back up, supporting himself on a tree trunk. "Huh?"

"I said run!"

Startled back to his senses, Red nodded and broke into a mad dash towards the west. Green dropped Blue's tag and looked up.

"He's getting away!" he cried, "Duo!"

From his perch, Duo reached into his seed satchel. "I got it! I got it!" He then loaded a piping hot ember seed into his weapon and fired it slightly ahead of Red, blocking his path with a sudden burst of flame.

Red screeched, grazing the fire slightly as he stumbled to a stop. He turned to see Green charging towards him, his sword raised high, and braced himself. That jerk had disqualified Blue - now it was time to return the favor!

When Green was close enough, Red hurdled over him, attacking his backside with a broad sword swing. Green ducked, his persona's blade just barely missing his hat, and countered. Red countered his counter with his shield, and the resulting clash disoriented Green just long enough for Red to swoop in and take his tag.

Green's eyes widened. "No way!"

"Yes!" Red cried happily, jumping up and down with the tag. "I've got it! I've avenged you, Blue!"

Duo's laugh interrupted his celebration as he landed at the base of the tree. "Actually, Red," he said between chuckles, "I'd check your belt if I were you."

"Eh?" Red looked down, only to find that his tag had been replaced with a faint bit of char and ash. He broke into a pathetic frown. "Oh, no! My tag!"

"It must have gotten burned off by the fire," said Green, who reached over and snatched his tag back, "so you were already out when you took mine!"

"But… but…!"

Duo patted Red on the head. "Don't worry, you did your best." He looked back at Blue. "You, too, Blue. Why don't you guys go back to the starting point and take a rest?"

Blue growled at the two winners as he marched over and took Red by the arm, dragging him away as Red sniffled and wiped his face. When they were out of earshot, Duo looked nervously back at Green.

"Did I say something?"

"Nah," said Green with a shrug, "those two are the sore loser parts of my personality. They'll get over it soon enough."

Duo scratched the back of his head. "If you say so…"

Light yawned, pulling his hat over his eyes as he lay next to Team Lanayru's flag. He then made himself comfortable, crossing his arms behind his head and stretching his legs.

"Hey, are you sure you should be sleeping, Light?"

He peeked out from under his hat at Engie, frowning. "Relax, Engie. They have to go twenty miles to get here. We have plenty of time." He shut his eyes again. "Besides, I'm at my best right after a good nap."

Engie raised an eyebrow. "Okay, if you say so." He sat down, looking up at the sky. Then, after a moment, he began to snicker.

Light turned his head. "What? What's so funny?"

"Nothing," he replied, shaking his head, "I was just thinking how ironic it would be if, right after we said that, the other team started attacking us — "

Engie screamed and recoiled when an arrow suddenly lodged itself into the ground inches away from his hand. At this, Light shot up and drew his sword. He glared at the younger Link.

"Nice going," he said, "you just had to jinx us, didn't you - waah!"

He sidestepped another arrow. Then another, and another, until soon enough, both Heroes were trapped in an arrow-dodging dance. Finally, after about two dozen arrows littered the ground, the onslaught stopped, and Engie and Light peered up the side of the valley to see two nearly identical archers grinning triumphantly.

"No way," said Engie, "it's Wind and Mini! How'd they get here so fast!?"

"We'll tell you once you've handed over that flag!" called Wind, aiming another arrow towards them.

"You want our flag so badly, you can come down and get it yourselves!" cried Light just before he had to jump away from yet another arrow.

Mini laughed. "You're in no position to talk - you're like sitting ducks down there!" The two smaller Heroes ran around the rim of the valley, continuing to terrorize the other two with arrows.

After swatting away an arrow with his shield, Light gritted his teeth and reached into his pouch. "Engie," he said, "I think you'd better duck and cover."

"No, you think!?"

"I mean from this!" He pulled out a small gold medallion and held it high. "Bombos! Lend me your power!"

Suddenly, a series of explosions erupted all around them, filling the valley with smoke and flame. Wind screamed as the force of the blasts knocked him down, making him drop his weapon and sending him tumbling into the valley and right to the feet of Light and Engie. Once the chaos died down, leaving patches of smoldering grass and weeds, Wind regained his senses, only to see his two foes looming over him like wolves cornering their prey.

Engie grinned. "Wow, good idea, Light - guess all we had to do was smoke them out, huh?"

"Not so tough after all, huh, Wind?" Light reached for Wind's belt. "I'll be taking that tag of yours now — "

"Iiiiiincomiiiiiiiiing!"

Light was interrupted by a sharp, flying kick to the head, which knocked him out instantly. Engie turned to see Mini wearing the Roc's cape and smiling triumphantly.

"You two need to learn to watch your backs!" he laughed.

"Mini!" A panicked look appeared on Engie's face when he noticed that his partner was out cold. "Oh, Spirits, Mini, you knocked him out! I think he's bleeding…!"

"And Ithink I just got your tag," added Wind, who had stolen Engie's tag while he was distracted and was now dangling it in front of him.

"You — " Engie turned red and fumed. "You guys play dirty! Look what you did to Light!"

"Oh, he'll be fine." Mini walked to Light, turned him over, and removed his tag. "Nobody gets seriously hurt here, remember? He'll be up before you know it."

"Now," said Wind, walking over to the flag and plucking it from the ground nonchalantly, "don't we have a flag to bring back, Mini?"

"I couldn't have said it better myself, Wind!"

The two laughed as they waltzed away from the scene, causing Engie to grit his teeth in frustration. "Cheaters!" he cried, "Both of you!"

"Okay, Twilight," said Time, wiping a bit of sweat from his brow, "let's try a jump strike now."

Twilight grinned. "Sure thing." He got into position, planting his feet firmly on the ground and channeling energy into his blade with skill and confidence. Meanwhile, Time braced himself for the attack, holding out his shield. When he noticed Twilight's expression change and his sword lose power, however, he lowered it, cocking an eyebrow and tilting his head.

"Twilight?" he asked, "What's wrong?"

"Time," he replied, pointing behind his teacher, "you should probably get out of the way."

"Huh?" Time turned, yelping and jumping out of the way when he saw a twister barreling towards him. He then stared at the whirlwind in shock as it suddenly disappeared, dropping Brown and Sky unceremoniously on top of each other.

Sky groaned, clenching his eyes shut. "Ugh, I'm going to be sick…"

"Oh, come on, it's not that bad," chided Brown, who got off of his partner and dusted his tunic off. "Besides, we made it, didn't we? And it only took us thirteen tries!"

The elder Link opened an eye to see Team Eldin's flag, along with Time and Twilight staring at them. He shot up and placed his hand on the hilt of his sword. "It's Time and Twilight - Brown, get ready! This isn't going to be easy…!"

"That's right, it isn't!" Twilight smirked, pointing his sword at Sky. "You may be the first, Sky, but between Time and I, there's no way you're going to beat us!"

"Says you!" Instead of drawing his sword, Brown reached into his pouch and pulled out another weapon - his magic wand. "You may be better swordsmen, but I'm better with magic than either of you will ever be!"

"Ah, crap," Twilight turned to Time, "I forgot about that - I don't have anything to defend against magic!"

Time winked at his partner. "Relax, I've got this covered." He turned to Brown. "Why don't you come show me how good you really are, newbie?"

Brown fired a bright burst of energy towards Time, who ducked and allowed it to hit a tree behind him, setting its leaves on fire.

Twilight gulped. "He's gonna set the whole hill on fire at this rate!"

"Ha! He couldn't do that if he tried," taunted Time. He moved closer to Brown. "You'll have to do better than that, you know."

Gritting his teeth, the younger Hero took a few steps back and fired another magical beam. This time, however, Time was prepared - as soon as the energy was about to hit him, he took a swing of his sword, batting the magic right back at Brown. He barely had any time to react before he was struck with his own attack, pushing him onto the ground as his body convulsed and patches of his clothes burned.

Time took this opportunity to rush up to him and take his tag. "The number one defense against magic," he said, "is a well-polished sword." He crouched and grinned at Brown. "You should remember that for next time, Brown."

After getting a hold of himself, Brown snarled at the elder Hero. "Yeah, well, you can take your well-polished sword and — "

"Time! What are you doing!? Get over here!"

Time rushed over at the sound of Twilight's voice. Holding his shield in front of him, he charged at Sky, who was trying to back Twilight into a corner with a series of well-placed thrusts, and knocked him away. When the oldest Link managed to return to his feet, he smiled at the other two.

"This should be fun," he said surprisingly sincerely. "I've always wanted to spar with you two."

"You sure sound happy for someone who's outnumbered," said Time with a frown.

"Why shouldn't I be happy? This is a game, right? We're supposed to be having fun."

Twilight scoffed. "I bet he just thinks he can't lose." He sidestepped around his opponent. "So we'll just have to prove him wrong! Hyaah!"

He rolled to Sky's backside, attempting a back slice. Sky, however, calmly dodged the blow and countered with his shield. As Twilight tried desperately not to lose his balance and fall over, Time rushed in with a stab to Sky's legs. Once again, the elder Hero avoided the blow, backflipping over Time's sword and slicing at his arm, cutting into his clothing and causing him to hiss in pain. Sky returned his attention to Twilight, blocking the latter's attack with his blade and delivering a swift kick to his stomach. Time then grabbed the wheezing Link by the arm and pulled him away.

"Get it together!" he said with a glare. "Sky's more experienced than both of us - we'll have to really get serious if we want to beat him!"

"Get serious, eh?" Twilight coughed a little, then grinned. "All right. How about we do that thing we've been working on, then?"

Time blinked. "You mean - that thing?"

"Yeah, that thing." He tossed his shield aside and held out his right hand towards Time. "Let's show him what we can do together!"

With a nod, Time took his successor's hand, and together they began to channel energy into their blades. Sky stared at the two, confused, but nevertheless braced himself.

"Ready, Time?"

"Ready!"

"Double Great Spin!"

The two Heroes soon turned into a gigantic, raging whirlwind of steel and energy, barreling towards Sky. Despite his best efforts, the elder Hero could neither deflect nor avoid this massive onslaught, and he was sent flying into a tree, dropping his sword and shield in the process. When the attack was over and Time and Twilight regained their balance, they ran over to Sky. However, before they could take his tag, Sky held out a hand to stop them.

"What?" asked Time, "What is it?"

"Congratulations, you two," he replied, "that was pretty impressive." He smiled, pointing behind the two. "…But I'd check on your flag real quick if I were you."

The two looked back towards their flag - or rather, where their flag should have been, had it not gone missing. Stranger still, Brown was still in sight; neither he nor Sky had gotten a hold of the flag.

"Oh no," said Twilight, "it's gone…!"

Sky chuckled. "While you guys were busy with Brown," he said, "I sent out my beetle to take your flag. It should already be well on its way to the starting point!"

"You sneaky little — " Time turned to Twilight. "Twilight, we've got to stop that beetle!"

"Right!"

With that, the two took off in pursuit of the mechanical menace that had taken their flag. When they were out of earshot, Brown and Sky burst into laughter.

"Wahaha! I wouldn't have expected any less from you, Sky!"

Sky gave Brown a thumbs up. "You can't be a Hero without a little bit of cunning!" He stood up and gathered his gear. "Thanks for distracting them, by the way. Let's head back."

"Okay!" Brown took out his recorder, but Sky placed a hand on his before he could bring it to his lips.

"It's fine," he said, "we'll just take the raft."

By the time Twilight and Time had nearly reached the starting point, the sun was already well on its way down towards the horizon. Thought they ran as quickly as their legs could take them, they still could not catch sight of the beetle or their flag. Discouraged, they slowed their pace, huffing and wheezing from all of their running.

"Dammit all," swore Twilight, "all this way and no sign of that stupid beetle!"

"We may have to just admit defeat," said Time between huffs. "It's probably already back at the starting point - I'll hand it to Sky, that was pretty clever of him!"

Twilight groaned. "And we almost had him, too!" He then brushed away some foliage, and the two Links were in for a shock - nearly all the other Heroes, sans Brown and Sky, were already gathered at the starting point. What's more, Wind was carrying Team Lanayru's flag, and there was still no sign of Sky's beetle anywhere!

"Took you two long enough," said Mini with a laugh.

"Hi Time!" said Red enthusiastically with a wave. "Hi Twilight!"

"What are you so happy about?" asked Blue despondently, "They beat us."

"Wait," said Time, "we won? Really?"

"But the beetle had our — "

Suddenly, Sky and Brown emerged from the northwest pathway, with Sky carrying a smoking, sparking beetle in his arms with a pout.

"Geez, Sky," said Light when he noticed them, "what happened to that thing?"

"Guess it couldn't go as far as I thought," replied Sky with a sad smile. "It fell into the lake. Man, this is going to take forever to get fixed…!"

Twilight snickered. Then, his snicker turned into full blown laughter. "Ahahaha! Guess you didn't think your master plan all the way through, Honorable Predecessor…!"

Brown stomped on Twilight's toes in response to his mocking, causing him to wince in pain and grab his foot.

"Enough, you guys!" called Vio. "Now that everyone's back, the game is officially over. Team Eldin wins!"

Team Eldin (sans Twilight, who was still hopping around on one foot) cheered and congratulated one another. Meanwhile, members of Team Lanayru, either calmly or begrudgingly, congratulated the winning team.

"Good game, everyone!" said Duo cheerfully. He glanced at the setting sun, then got an idea. "Hey, how about we all grab a big dinner to celebrate?"

"To celebrate what? Us losing?" asked Blue, crossing his arms indignantly.

"Get over it, Blue," said Engie. "It's just a game. Besides, I'm hungry!"

"I say we all get steaks tonight!" suggested Green.

The others all agreed, and together, whether they were winners or losers that day, the Heroes headed home to celebrate the spirit of competition.