Link relaxed on his seat in the fighter's waiting area, drink in hand, after his latest fight, lips quirked in amusement at the beating he'd given the arrogant knight. He was not normally one to give in to pride, but everybody had their limit, as Mido had often found out when he pushed a bit too far.
Navi arrived in short order, a wide smile on her face as she settled on her partner's shoulder. "Well, you sure showed Sir Fop the error of his ways. His fellow knights will never let him live this down. He's not exactly popular among them."
Link simply chuckled before sipping on his fruit juice, imagining what Turen had to look forward to when he encountered his peers.
Kicking her feet Navi looked at him as he relaxed. "So… a deku scrub? You never mentioned that."
"Wanted to surprise you." Was his simple response before he looked up as a pair of men in armor approached.
"We saw what you did to Sir Turen, kid…" One of them, his head shaved and a goatee on his face, growled.
Link watched them placidly, sipping his drink without worry, though Navi eyed them darkly.
Then both of them burst out laughing. "Twas the most hilarious thing I've seen in all my time as a knight!" The second man, who had pitch black hair and grey eyes, exclaimed between guffaws.
Link smiled in response as Navi sighed and relaxed when it became apparent there wouldn't be a fight.
"Sir Anodai, Sir Muskei, you had me worried for a moment." The fairy said as the two knights regained control of themselves.
"Apologies, Lady Navi." Said the bald one with a slight bow. "We simply wished to show our appreciation to your companion." He turned to Link. "Turen is not regarded too highly among the knighthood. Many of us are from common origins, elevated to their stations during the last war, and most of the rest hold no bias against those that are."
"Turen and those of his ilk are from the more self important nobility, the kinds that see everyone else as an inferior meant to lick their boots." The dark haired man continued where his companion left off. "They did not view the princess' favor of you in a good light. I would advise you to be on your guard. They're liable to lash out even more now, after what you just did. But where are my manners?" He held out a gauntleted hand to shake. "Sir Lerin Muskei."
"Sir Nelis Anodai." The other said, shaking Link's hand as well.
"Link. Of the Kokiri." Link introduced himself as he shook their hands.
"So we've heard." Anodai said. "It was well known that Lady Navi served the princess while searching for her missing Kokiri partner, but we expected a child, not a man such as you. Her presence by your side does speak to the truth of the matter, however."
Link shrugged. "I'm adopted."
"So we'd heard." Muskei said with a nod. "We may have not been knights at the time, but you have our apologies on behalf of the order for any role we had in your orphaning. The war was not a clean affair by any stretch of the imagination."
Link waved his hand. "I am content with my current life."
The two knights nodded, pleased by his attitude. "In any case, how do you feel about your odds in the rest of the tour-" Muskei cut himself off, eyes widening when the sound of heavy bells began to come from Castle Town.
Link frowned when he saw that not only the knights, but many of the other fighters in the waiting area had gone stiff, looking around in alarm. He glanced over at Navi only to find her mouth hanging open. "Navi?"
She turned her head to look at him so quickly he was afraid she might have hurt herself. "Link, that's the alarm Zelda had set up in case of any sort of incoming threat or attack. Something tells me this isn't a drill."
She'd barely finished her sentence before Link had bolted from his seat and began to rush out of the fighters' area, the two knights, plus several other competitors, right behind him.
"What's wrong?" Zelda snapped out to her attendant as soon as she heard the warning bells begin to ring, getting to her feet and looking around at the crowd in the stands, grimacing as she realized how disadvantageous the current situation was. Everything seemed normal as she was talking to the sages, so she couldn't fathom what could have happened.
Before her attendant could answer one of the guards that kept watch over the crowd from the top of the stands rushed down to the royal seats. "Your highness!" He gasped out to Nohansen. "Some sort of beast approaches from the southeast! It appears to be some sort of dragon!"
The rulers there paled and balked, none more so than Darunia, memories of Volvagia running through his mind. "You're certain!?" The king asked seriously, doing his best to keep control of his sudden panic at the news.
"It is still somewhat distant, but our spyglasses helped to determine it. We're as sure as possible at the moment." The guard responded promptly. "From our estimates we have ten minutes at most before it arrives.
Zelda didn't waste a single moment. "I want the civilians immediately evacuated from the stadium. The town is better defended against dragon fire than a wooden structure. All archers and mages are to assemble to do battle with the beast. Get as many of the tournament fighters and mercenaries to assist as you can. We can pay them back once the crisis is over. A continuous watch must also be kept in case of any additional attackers." She quickly turned to her fellow sages. "I trust I have your cooperation in repelling this attack?"
"Of course." Nabooru said with a nod, serious for once. "I'll organize my women to back your forces up."
"Same here." Ruto said firmly, Darunia nodding gravely behind her. "My water mages should be useful in countering the dragon's fire." The zora continued.
"And my people can cause more damage than most if we manage to ground the thing." Darunia rumbled.
As Zelda nodded in understanding Hyrule's king simply looked on. His daughter hadn't even thought to glance at him before beginning to give out orders, authority radiating from her so that nobody even thought to question what she said. Some in his position would be upset at being sidelined in such a way, but Nohansen simply felt pride at his daughter's ability to lead. She would make an excellent ruler when the time came, no doubt leading the kingdom into a new golden age.
The people in the stands began to be evacuated, worry and fear widespread, but thankfully not so much that they were panicking just yet.
Zelda was about to lead the other leaders out as well when another guard rushed over to them. "Your highness!" He briefly looked to be at a loss for words.
Zelda raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"
Upon being told she quickly made her to the highest point of the stadium, the sages and her father close behind. When she reached it she looked out over Hyrule field. The first thing she saw was the dragon, now much closer and most definitely headed their way. The second thing was what she'd been told about.
Nabooru was the one to give voice to their thoughts. "What the hell is he doing?"
"What the hell are we doing!?" Navi cried as she held onto Link's shoulder for dear life, the wind buffeting her as Epona galloped at top speed towards the approaching dragon.
"Stopping it." Link answered in his usual manner as he held on tightly to Epona's reins, eyes locked at the quickly approaching form of the airborne terror.
Epona, for her part, simply snorted as she saw what they were headed towards. Had her rider or his companion been able to understand her at that moment they would have heard her mutter "Great, another dragon."
The dragon in question was large, with a wingspan of thirty feet. It had rough, red scales edged with back, and odd patterns on the wing membrane. Its tail ended in a sharp spike that seemed to be intended for stabbing, and its head was shaped like an arrowhead, great teeth filling an almost beaked maw, and comparatively small golden eyes glaring malevolently.
When they got close enough to make out the details of the beast Navi spoke. "I don't recognize the species."
"It's a Rathalos Drake." Link informed her, eyes narrowed. "Native to Paracemia."
"One of the places you've been?" The fairy asked. At his nod she spoke again. "Well what in the name of the goddesses is it doing here? And how do we beat it?"
"It's weak to lightning magic." He told her as they finally got close enough that the dragon fixated on them, turning slightly to attack.
"And here us without a lightning mage." Navi said sarcastically.
Link's lips quirked up before he made his bow appear, a quiver of arrows on his back. Waiting till they were close enough he took aim, electricity beginning to spark along the arrowhead. When he let loose just as the dragon was about to let out its breath attack on them, the arrow shot out like a bolt of lightning, a small thunder blast ringing out.
The dragon didn't have enough time to dodge and was struck right at the wing joint. It let out a cry and briefly tumbled from the sky before catching itself and rising back up. Now angry it turned to follow its attackers as they passed by, letting out a roar of fury.
"I think you got its attention." The fairy said as she kept an eye on their pursuer, quickly getting back in the groove of fighting alongside her partner. In spite of the situation she felt a smile stretch across her face. This was what she had been missing all these years. Facing danger alongside her kokiri was where she belonged. She was finally complete again.
"Hope things are going well back in town." She said as Epona turned to avoid a blast of fire from the dragon.
Zelda, the King, the Sages, and various officials and knights all watched in awe as one man fought a dragon from horseback single handedly, bolts of lightning flying from his bow to strike at the beast, which constantly tried to take out its attacker with bursts of flame.
"Incredible." One of the knights breathed, and Zelda couldn't help the feeling of pride for her friend that filled her. It had been so long since she'd seen what he was truly capable of that it left her in awe as well. And she could tell her fellow sages felt the same way.
"Organize a force to join him on the field." She ordered quickly to one of the messengers that had approached to ferry any orders. "We shouldn't leave it all to him. Use the time he's given us to continue reinforcing the town as well." She was interrupted before she could continue when her sharp eyes caught sight of a dagger slipping out of the messenger's coat and flashing towards her at blinding speed.
The action was so quick she was almost too late, but her training asserted herself and she deflected the blow with a quick sweep of her arm, a knife of her own appearing in her hand as if by magic out of the folds of her dress to stab forward, hitting her assailant in the shoulder, causing him to cry out in surprise and pain. Then she stepped forward and slammed a palm thrust upwards into the man's chin, making his teeth clack together loudly before he fell backward onto the stairs, stunned, and hit his head against one of the corners with a crack, blood splattering along the wood.
Zelda only took a moment to gather her wits after what had just happened before turning her attention to what was going on around her, finding the other sages under attack as well. Impa was dealing with an assailant in finery that had attacked the king, stabbing a knife into their eye. A woman in the dress of a servant tried to hit Darunia in the throat with a small mace only for him to block with one arm and lash out with a punch from the other, a loud crack resounding as he struck her face, the woman falling onto the seats below, unconscious.
Nabooru dealt with two men that attacked her with short swords, dancing around their strikes and lashing out with hand to hand blows of her own, showing why she was leader of the Gerudo. One of the men was thrown over the wall to fall to the ground below, headfirst, before the thief disarmed the second one and stabbed him in the heart with his own blade.
Ruto, for her part, had the most trouble, but that wasn't saying much. She had a small cut on her arm, but she'd called up some water magic and encased her attacker's head in a bubble of water. The woman that had tried to kill the zora dropped her dagger and panicked, trying foolishly to draw breath and simply ending up drowning herself that much quicker.
Other nobles and knights were also attacked, but many of them weren't as lucky or skilled as the sages, and more than one fell to the attackers' blades. The knights faired better than the nobles, but not all of them would make it out alive when all was said and done.
A knife in each hand, Zelda watched this all happen, her heart clenching as she realized that her peaceful days were once again over, and this time she didn't know why. "What's going on…?" She whirled around when she heard a loud cry of pain come from behind her.
Epona whinnied in irritation when she had to dodge another burst of dragon fire. She couldn't fathom why her Link hadn't dealt with the overgrown lizard already.
Link, for his part, pursed his lips as another lightning arrow hit the dragon in its scaled chest, adding to the score of scorch marks that he'd been inflicting. It tumbled before barely catching itself in time to avoid slamming into the ground, but it did not do so as gracefully as it had before, obviously tiring. Still, he was surprised at the creature's resilience. Most Rathalos Drakes would have already fallen to the ground, their bodies disrupted by the electricity too much to be able to keep going.
"Stubborn bastard, isn't he?" Navi said.
"It's been enhanced." Link said grimly.
"What do you mean?" The fairy asked, surprised.
"It should have gone down by now. Someone used magic to make it stronger."
Navi glanced at Link's quiver. "You've got five arrows left. Any ideas?"
Link looked at her briefly before abruptly pulling on Epona's reins, making her turn once again, now heading straight for the drake. He drew another arrow even as his enemy prepared itself to breathe fire again.
"Link?" Navi asked when she saw he wasn't moving to avoid it this time. "Link!?" She asked more loudly, getting concerned. "LINK!?" She shrieked as the fire streamed out, enveloping the three of them in its heat.
Before the breath attack had run its course another lightning arrow shot out of the conflagration to punch into the roof of the drake's mouth, making it shriek in agony and finally fall from the sky even as Epona burst out of the cloud of flames, Nayru's Love protecting her and her passengers. She then quickly turned to head towards the stunned beast.
Navi was clutching onto Link with a death grip, eyes wide and terrified. Then she punched him in the head, which didn't actually do much beyond make her feel a bit better. "Don't ever do that again, you oaf!" She yelled, making him chuckle, much to her indignation.
The drake managed to force itself to its feet as they approached, roaring at them in rage before taking a deep breath and shooting fire at them once again. Thankfully Nayru's Love held and Epona kept galloping forward, undaunted.
As they got closer Link sent his bow and arrows back into storage, a spear appearing his hand, which was quickly pointed at the Rathalos. The head of the weapon sparked and crackled with electricity as its wielder's eyes narrowed in concentration.
The beast was incensed by their continued survival and began to lumber towards them, ready to rip them to shreds with its enormous teeth since its fire did not seem to be working.
When the two met Epona moved to the side to evade the bite she saw coming, allowing Link to score a hit to its flank and along the membrane of its wing, tearing great strips out of both. The drake screeched in pain and turned with surprising swiftness, following after them.
Link, seeing that the monster was too close to turn and use the lance again, briefly let go of Epona's reins, trusting to her to keep going without direction. Then he made a bomb appear in his free hand, igniting the fuse with the electricity from the spear and dropping it behind them after waiting a second. He was rewarded with an explosion and screech of pain from the Rathalos. Glancing backwards he saw it was stunned and quickly took advantage to turn Epona and charge straight at the drake.
The beast shook its head in order to recover its senses after the blast of the bomb hit it in the underside of its head, dazing it. Unfortunately for it coherence did not arrive quickly enough, and it looked up just in time to see the tip of Link's spear as it stabbed into the Rathalos' eye, the electricity bursting through its body even as the weapon itself went deep into its brain.
Without another sound the Rathalos collapsed to the ground, wrenching the spear from Link's grasp as it remained buried in the monster's skull. With one last shudder it went still, its remaining eye unseeing.
Epona slowed to a stop, whickering softly at the sight of their defeated foe. At Link's prompting she slowly began to approach, wary that it might be playing dead despite the damage it had endured. Navi left the Hylian's shoulder, carefully approaching the dragon and examining it, looking into its blank eye.
"I think you got it." She said, feeling relief travel through her. She'd been worried about what this thing could do if it reached Castle Town. Thankfully she wouldn't need to find out.
Link climbed off Epona with his hand on the hilt of his sword, still being cautious but reassured by the fairy's words. When he reached the large head without incident he reached down, pulling the spear out of the monster's skull with a squelch, the weapon covered in blood and brain matter. Sighing and knowing he'd have to spend a while later cleaning it he placed it in his storage before heading back to Epona. "We need to check in with Zelda." He told Navi.
Said fairy nodded as she moved to sit on Link's shoulder again. "Right. We need to figure out why a dragon from another land came to Hyrule." She rubbed her arm, shivering slightly. "I have a bad feeling about this…"
Link spurred Epona into motion, the mare beginning to trot back towards the stadium to make sure everything was alright.
When they arrived at the fairgrounds they were surprised to see bodies scattered about, along with madics rushing about, tending to wounded knights. Spotting Impa standing near one of the stalls, waiting for them, Link directed Epona towards her, quickly sliding off the saddle once he was close enough. He didn't notice the awe that many looked at him with, too focused on his old friend and the current situation.
"The Princess has ordered that you be brought to her immediately once you returned." Impa said as soon as he got close enough, not giving him a chance to speak first. "As you can see, we were attacked while you were dealing with the dragon."
"How are Zelda and the rest of the Sages?" Navi asked immediately.
"The Sages are fine." Impa said before hesitating. "However, the King…"
Link's eyes narrowed before he turned and began heading towards the castle, Impa following along once she'd had someone collect Epona and take her to the stables.
As he walked Link sighed. As always, it seemed he was once again in the middle of a new conflict. It was time to find out who his enemies were this time.
Yay action chapter!
As stated before, this is the chapter where the plot proper starts. I have plans for things going forward. So many plans… *Evil Laugh*
In any case, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I had fun writing it, even if I did get stuck at a few points.
As always, please remember that you can have a say in what I write each month by donating to my Pat A Ron. For each dollar you donate you get one vote in my monthly poll. This month's features a double poll, one for which of my recently updated stories to add a chapter to, another to choose one of the stories that haven't been updated in a while. Again, that's at Pat A Ron dotcom /athanmortis.
Thanks everyone for your support. Till next time, please review!