Author's Note
Here we are with chapter 12. I know this is a very short chapter, but the 13th is almost finished, and I'll be posting it sometime shortly after this one.
If I'm being honest with myself, this is the turning point in the story. Things are really going to get serious from here on out, but I'm sure more lighthearted moments are to follow, but the next chapter is going to be anything but...
Uploaded
06/27/2023
LEGEND BELOW
"O-Oh goodness, I'm so clumsy!" = Normal speech.
''Dont panic.'' = Normal thoughts.
Chapter 12
Raiding the Yiga Hideout act 1
Rated-M
M rating for Romance, and things of explicit nature, and blood and death.
Music of the day
The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword - Kumite
He slid to a stop, throwing his shield up to stop the arrows flying his way, narrowly avoiding being riddled as twenty plus masked soldiers appeared as if from thin air, all armed and lacking any hesitation to begin firing upon him.
He kept moving forward, blocking their assault with use of his large royal shield, their attacks proving useless against the far superior craftsmanship of the Royal Family's armory.
He knew he was onto something the moment he entered the canyon and saw the inverted Sheikah symbols all over the rocks. He'd barely made it a quarter of the way up the steep path between the canyon walls before they appeared out of nowhere, using some sort of magic to appear with weapons drawn.
Of course, the moment they saw him they began unloading on him.
He didn't wait to plan a different way around, and decided straight through was his only option. And when they realized that stopping him with mere arrows wasn't going to do anything but slow him, they started firing bomb arrows at him.
Their mad laughter filled the canyon walls, echoing out alongside the sounds of explosions that easily reached the desert town not too far away.
He felt his hair get singed as a bomb narrowly missed him, exploding only just behind him. He rolled out of the way, kicking back up to his feet as he ran forward at full speed, most of their attacks missing him.
But as he drew near to their domain, their attacks grew in accuracy.
He planted his feet as two bomb arrows slammed into his shield, exploding with violent force. Thinking quickly, he sheathed his sword, instead using two hands to hold onto and support his shield as he pushed his way through the explosions.
"Die! Die Hero! Fall before our might!"
"Kill him! Kill the fool!"
"Fall before the forces of evil, our great god Ganon demands your death! Hahahaha!"
Their mocking laughter and claims were heard over the sound of explosions, their taunting unabashedly evil.
He wasn't surprised that the Gerudo were suffering from the presence of these people for so long.
They were insane.
Yet he pushed on, even when his arm felt like it was going to fall off from sufficiently withstanding the force of back to back explosions across his shield.
The mocking and taunting slowed, before it was replaced with a mix of rage and fear towards him, because he refused to fall before their all out attack.
The first row of archers were close to him now, and he could sense their fear behind their masks as he stormed his way towards then, drawing his blade.
"F-Fall back! He's too much!" Someone shouted, panicking as they flashed through hand signs before disappearing in a flash of tags and smoke.
"H-He's crazy! He's really storming the base!"
"Gah!! He won't die!" Another snarled, joining in the retreat.
Some weren't fast enough to escape his blade, being cut down without mercy.
Link found himself conflicted with the situation placed before him.
On one hand, these were real people, people like him, like the Sheikah of Kakariko Village. They were human, like Paya and Purah. Cutting them down felt wrong, evil, like he'd switched sides.
But, on the other hand, these people were hardened assassins that had sworn their allegiance to the King of Evil, sworn to overthrow Hyrule, to assist in bringing forth the Calamity, and bringing an end to life in the land and potentially the whole world should Calamity Ganon escape the land without anyone to stop him.
These were the same people that had tried to take Zelda's life, no mercy found in their hearts for her and all else they were dooming if they killed her. These were the same people that had been terrorizing the people of Hyrule for years, assaulting the Gerudo, and stealing and destroying all who tried to stop them from bringing forth their Demon King.
Even though they were human, they had knowingly, willingly, and intentionally sided with the Demon King, and were willing to sacrifice themselves and others if it meant bringing forth the end of the world.
For that reason, they were no more than the vile monsters he'd been training many years to slaughter.
In his eyes, they were not human, but monsters in disguise.
And unfortunately for them, he was the slayer of monsters, and all who would raise their hand against the kingdom of the gods.
His blade came down with an air of cold merciless fury, eyes cold and powerful. There was still an air of remorse in his heart as he cut them down, knowing that perhaps in a different world, in a different life, they could've been good people.
But this wasn't that world, this wasn't that life. All he was doing now was putting a stop to their sprees of murder and mayhem, and once more bringing peace to his kingdom.
Even so, he felt a bit of himself pause before cutting them down as they fell back in retreat from his seemingly unstoppable approach. He couldn't stop himself for feeling remorse over what he had to do, even though it was inevitable.
He was a Hero, and his heart was pure, and nothing anyone said would remove his sense of compassion and respect for human life. But that wasn't enough to make him stop his blade…
They made that decision for him.
Eventually he broke through their lines, finding himself storming his way into a cave tunnel. He slowed his pace upon reaching a staircase that lead downwards, his ears twitching to listen for any signs of a sneak attack.
He took a moment to catch his breath, shaking his shield arm, flexing his fingers wrapped around the handle of his Royal blade.
Then he began his descent into the dungeon, the blue of his eyes glowing in the dimly lit hall. Slowly, carefully, he made his way down into the depths of the cursed tribe that turned their faces away from the gods.
As his feet treaded the blood red carpeted path below, he took in the surroundings. All over the walls of the tunnel were markings, symbols that seemed to resemble the Sheikah symbols, but inverted, painted in a way that made him think they truly were marked with blood.
He wondered if their continued use of the Sheikah symbol after departing from their duty to the kingdom was to symbolize how they served to do the exact opposite of everything that the Sheikah stood for.
While the white haired people that swore their lives to dedicate themselves for the safety of the kingdom of the gods, their mirror image in the Yiga swore to dedicate themselves to seeing it all burn.
The thought only served to make his stomach more unsettled than before.
After a brief walk down the stairs, he found himself in a large rounded room, the design seemingly serving as a room of some accursed worship. Seven different doorways seemed to split off from there, yet all of them were, at a first glance, dead ends, all ending with some different statue or item they seemed to hold in high regard.
Standing in the center of the room, he knew this had to have been the entrance to their hideout, and deduced that the real entrance was hidden somewhere in the room with him.
He just had to find it first.
Sheathing his sword to free up one hand, his grip tightened slightly on his shield as he began to investigate the room around him, ready to fight them off should they come at him once more.
It didn't take long, and after tearing down their large drapes that openly displayed their symbols, he found the true entrance hidden behind one.
He slipped inside, drawing his sword once more.
He was in.
Be bent down low to the ground, keeping his audio profile low to try and remain undetected within the tight confines of their lair.
He swiftly move forward through the shadows, the first thing he came across being the cages where they locked up their victims or their hostages.
Thankfully most of them were empty, all save for one.
He sheathed his sword again, holding a finger to his lips as he approached the cage that held a wounded and heavily injured woman. Her eyes widened when she saw him, immediately noticing that he most certainly was not a part of the tribe that had captured and tortured her.
"Hold on, I'll get you out of here, everything's going to be okay now." He whispered warmly, hastily looking around the cage to find the way to unlock it. Thankfully, someone was stupid enough to leave a key to her cell laying not far from it. Grabbing it, he quickly unlocked it.
Once inside, he ran to her aid, quickly checking her over to see if she was suffering from any life threatening injuries. But, despite being badly wounded, he realized that she would live.
Her greatest injuries must've been the trauma, as she collapsed into a fit of tears when she saw him, wrapping her arms at him as she stifled her cries in the crook of his neck.
He hugged her in return, patting her gently on the back as he whispered sweet nothings to her to let her know that it was alright now.
He realized that even though this woman was of the hardy and mighty Gerudo woman tribe, that she was young, and terribly scared for her life.
"Can you stand?" He whispered softly, glancing around him as he surveyed the area for any more Yiga. Who knew how long his presence would go unnoticed?
"N-No… I-It hurts to even move…" She choked out, motioning to her lacerated legs.
His eyes narrowed. Her legs had been horribly cut up, and if she tried to walk her way out of this dungeon, she was going to make herself bleed to death.
He cursed silently to himself. He was here for the item that was stolen from Lady Riju, but now he had an even bigger problem. He had to get this woman out of here alive, and he had no faith that the Yiga would just let him waltz on out without a fight. Even if they did, they may disappear forever with the sacred item he needed in order to stop the Devine Beast.
He couldn't risk them making the item vanish forever, nor could he simply leave her on her own while he made his way through the hideout.
He turned back to her, noticing the fear and pain in her eyes.
If his situation wasn't bad enough, he heard more Yiga approaching rapidly, and realized that he was out of time.
He couldn't save her and raid their base, so he was left with one option.
"Here, I'm going to get you out of here." He said firmly, making sure he had her attention. "I'm going to need you to be strong for me, okay?"
"B-But what about the T-Thunder Helmet?" She asked in worry. His gaze hardened.
"You are more important. I'm sending you back to your Town, I'll worry about the helmet." He clarified, pulling out his Sheikah slate. Lights and footsteps rapidly approached the cell, and he was running out of time. "Listen, once you get back, I want you to give this to Lady Riju. Tell her to hold into it for me." He explained quickly, uncaring if anyone heard him now.
"W-Wait! What do you mean? C-Can't you do that?" She tried, eyes worried. But he didn't have time to explain, and instead grabbed her hands, placing the slate into them. He quickly scanned through his blank map until he found the location of the shrine right outside Gerudo Town, the shrine he'd activated on his way out of the town. It had been a last minute decision on his part, and he was thankful he'd done so ahead of time.
"You'll be safe now, please take care of this for me. It's very important." He smiled kindly, before pressing the image of the shrine icon.
She stared back at him in confusion and concern, wondering why he spoke as if she alone was leaving the shrine. But a moment later she saw blue, and the next thing she knew, she vanished.
A moment later she blinked, the chilling air of the outside world painful on her open wounds. She looked around her slowly, not believing her own eyes.
She was outside of Gerudo Town, right beside the front gate.
She was free…
She was out of danger!
She was home!
"H-Help! Someone please! Help me." She cried out, still unable to move.
At the sound of her terrified yet relieved crying, guards and civilians alike came rushing outside to save her. When they found her alone sitting on the ancient shrine pedestal, shaking and crying.
The two guards, the women that always stood guard at the front gate of the town ran to her aid.
They all began asking her questions, where she'd been, what happened, how she got back alive.
But instead of answering any of those, she instead clutched a strange device to her chest, saying that a blue eyed Hylian saved her with his magic, and that he intended on taking on the entire Yiga clan by himself.
It only took the two guards a moment to realize she was talking about Link.
Ever since he set out, guards and civilians alike had been curiously watching from the front gate of the town as earthquakes rocked the region where their hideout lay, explosions and bombs echoing out like a war was raging nearby.
They knew that the cursed Yiga hated the Hero, but this level of brutality and violence was unprecedented. They truly were stopping at nothing to put him in the ground, and they weren't sure if he was prepared for it…
As for Riju, she watched from her upper balcony as the man who promised to save her and her people ran off and waged a war with the clan that had been terrorizing her tribe.
The firework show of bombs and fire, sparks and blade's clashing were clearly heard throughout the silence of the night in the desert lands.
She knew that the Yiga were a band of thieves and villains that worked against the kingdom, but she was unaware of their power. The war that was being waged inside that canyon was far too intense, even for her hardened soldiers.
She feared, in her lack of knowledge, that she sent the supposed Hero to his death…
She bit her lips.
"Buliara! Gather your soldiers!" Riju called out. "Send backup, I'm done standing on the sidelines!" She decided firmly.
Chapter
12
End