Hey all! I apologize for the long delay but a LOT of life happened during the last months... forgive me for not going into details, but most of it is simply too personal.

Anyway, I am ready to continue. What you see here is, of course, just a little appetizer and also a way for me to get back into the groove of things. The next (considerably longer) chapter is already 95% finished and will be uploaded very soon.

Hope you enjoy!

Battles and Executions

Link

Link was fighting for his life!

He couldn't even remember how he'd gotten into such a grim situation, but he had no time to ponder it regardless. Dodging yet another heavy attack narrowly he realized that his chances of escape had grown slim and worsened every moment. The relentless horde of assailants rained endless blows on him and it was all he could do to stay hale.

He had lost his weapon long ago… only his bare hands remained to keep the already evilly grinning foes at bay.

They had encircled him from all sides now, steadily drawing nearer, not a spark of mercy or remorse to be found in their eyes… He was lost!

A particularly ruthless creature barrelled into him, followed closely by its friends, finally knocking him to the ground. Link gritted his teeth… this would be the end…

"Gotcha!" a high, boy's voice rejoiced, vibrating with so much victorious glee that Link had to laugh heartily, despite the mountain of feathered children lying on him by now.

"The evil monster has been defeated! What shall we do with him, brothers?!" the young dark-green Rito yelled dramatically. A natural leader if Link had ever seen one…

"Bind his wings and throw him down!" the others roared in a frenzied, well-practised chorus. He got the distinct feeling that this was the agreed upon punishment within this particular group of rambunctious boys. He could see the appeal: Struggling in dreadful terror against the many, overpowering hands, ultimately in vain and being thrown off the lofty platforms, plunging into the unforgiving depths… then to soar up once again to the triumphant laughter of one's friends… An excellent game befitting these children… Though with a slight snag when it came to Link being the horrified victim. He wondered whether they would have the sense to see it…

"No! No, please! Anything but that!" he whined with an almost convincing display of fright, struggling just enough for the lads to have quite a hassle keeping him down.

"Silence!" the young leader boomed, fascinatingly not the tallest, nor the oldest boy. "You will get no quarter from us, creature of evil! My warriors have spoken! Face your death with some dignity!"

"Goddess above! Won't you help me against these villains that have so honourlessly teamed up against me?" Link cried for the heavens, raising his arms imploringly, yanking two of the boys up with them, making them scamper wildly to get him back down.

"We're not the villains! You are!" One of them shouted, quite indignant.

Link showed him a sly grin. "Kinda depends on the view-point, wouldn't you say?" he chuckled, knowing the lad wouldn't understand such fine points of cold-blooded murder.

"Enough!" the leader commanded regally. "The sentence will be carried out. To the edge and over with the evildoer!"

"Tulin, we can't throw him off! He can't fly!" one of the kids whispered urgently into his commander's ear.

"I know that, Mirro! Just… scare him a little, is all…" the boy replied under his breath, clearly audible to everyone.

All of the six lads flashed wicked little grins and, on cue, picked up their battered, defeated victim… after the second try, realizing that a teenage Hylian is quite a bit heavier than their usual prey.

"No!" Link wailed, wriggling weakly as was expected of him. "Mercy! Mercy, I beg you!"

"Nope!" one of them giggled with obvious glee. They laggardly carried him closer to the edge, though Link couldn't quit tell whether the lack of speed came from his weight or the boy's diabolic relish of his 'despair'.

"Oh well, in that case, I might as well enjoy my last seconds of life!" he sighed, yawning ostentatiously and stretching his body as if he were lying on a feather bed… which he sort of was. His sudden wriggling severely threw off his captors' balance and they finally toppled when he put his hands behind his back and rested his left leg on his right knee. The whole procession, so shamelessly sabotaged by Hylian oppression, came tumbling down with Link lying peacefully amidst the stricken boys.

"Oh! Is the execution cancelled? I was finally getting into the spirit of things!" he complained as he made himself as heavy as he could to hinder the six lads from crawling out under him.

"What the freaking feathers are you made of? Hinox?!" one of them moaned as he tried to dislodge himself from under the royal guardian's bum.

"No fair!" the leader yelled, trying to hide his laughter by making an angry face, which just made him look like he'd eaten something rather disagreeable. "You can't just break free when we're about to justice-fy you!"

"Oh right! I forgot!" Link wailed, slapping his palm against his forehead as if he'd just remembered something obvious. "When a swarm of cuccos is about to murder you, you should just give in to your death, as it is unavoidable!"

"Who're you callin' cuccos?!" they all shouted in unison, feathers bristling. All six glared at him furiously, but quickly joined into his loud, hearty laughter. It also didn't stop them from launching themselves at him and initiate another wrestling match. At last, they all lay on the wooden planks of the platform that had been the arena for their epic battle to the death.

"We weren't… really gonna throw you off, you know…" the leader assured in a slightly subdued tone, his eyes darting back and forth between Link's and the sky. Despite all his bravado, it seemed quite important to him that his group, in fact, wasn't a raving bunch of murderous harpies.

"I know." He simply said, winking, with which the matter was settled.

They all lay there for another ten minutes or so until the boys were called to have lunch. He was asked by nearly all of them to join, being assured that their mothers would certainly not have a problem with feeding a guest. But, still eager to explore after his glorious combat, he declined… even when that meant ignoring his stomach, which diligently filed an audible complaint.

After quick goodbyes and the promise to one day repeat their bout, Link simply picked a direction and began walking, still awed by the cosy beauty of Rito Village.