Akko had managed to conquer the dungeon of the eastern palace, but ended up coming across just without realising in the time she was sleeping the royal entourage of Wedinburgh left without Kagari who ended up being alone by the village of Doras, in this she found herself in the option of having to walk back to the queen's castle, but it would still be a long way and the first time she's doing that, luckily, she even manages to take a camping tent and resources to prevent any creature from getting close, as well as other things to keep surviving, all fitting quietly in the hero's bag that because it is magical fits a lot of things she can still take.
At dawn just before dawn in the Doras building where Akko was staying she wakes up to start the day, goes doing personal hygiene and then eats while the day was gradually dawning at that time, just thinking about how she will act when she leaves the place on a long journey to the city of Wedinburgh.
After doing everything to prepare herself she went to the exit of the city and took a deep breath, soon being waved by everyone, who saw her leaving, Atsuko was walking a little through the hills of Doras and was soon noticed by the presence of Arcor who landed in a tree that was there nearby.
"It looks like you'll be making your way all the way back alone, don't forget the advice I gave you about how it works here at night, as you're alone be very aware of thieves and other dangers, even during the day it's still not entirely safe, especially if you end up coming across slave traders capturing allied people from the kingdom of Wedinburgh to enslave and take there" Said the crow.
"I know that, they told me on the way, but I have to do something, I don't have Rupees to buy a horse so it's going to be a walk back to Wedinburgh" said Kagari as the crow flew away.
(Damn, I hope those little guys don't show up here, although the kingdom of Appleton is well isolated from here, it's not so spread out and I can still walk quietly, good time to move further on, come on the road is long).
The crimson-eyed one began the long walk, she even ran with the boots she won that give an extra boost, only she realised how she tired exactly the same as a normal run, still leaving her legs a little sore, which for long distances was not useful, but could be useful in a probable escape.
That way she was just walking slowly, walking always attentive, even more so when she left the forest that circled the hills of Doras where the village is located, coming across the various ranches that were around on flatter lands, which mostly served to feed the people of the city.
(I might stay on one of these if I knew they were further out of the way, anyway it's gone now, the bloody Wedinburgh's have deserted me, by now I don't doubt they're way up ahead and I won't even be able to catch up or even get a mount, horses had to be so expensive in Doras, 900 Rupees for a mount, I don't have that).
There wasn't much else on the way apart from several wagons passing through the Hyllian side of Luna Nova from one side to the other, on the dirt road that led out of the hills in the lands of Hyrule, on a long road back to the kingdom of Wedinburgh, which already takes six days on horseback to reach, walking could take even longer.
[...]
The day was getting dark on the wayAkko had already gone far from the hills of Doras reaching a flatter place where she was already starting to dig the camp circle around before being attacked by creatures, which on the way she was even very safe without having to fight with any thieves or hostile creatures in the morning.
With the circle made she started to set up the tent, since that would be the night where she would rest from the many that were yet to come.
"Wow, it's very lonely here, I'm already going crazy, I want to go home soon, or at least to my home now, well at least it was quiet and according to the map I should already be here, I have to be careful, I remember that the royal entourage diverted the route here since the lands of Appleton are ahead" Kagari said alone.
(Although I may try to get through there myself, it cuts out a good bit of travelling and would save me a few days of travel, who knows, I won't know if I don't try and I'm still pretty well armed).
Atsuko was finishing setting up the tent having some small difficulties common at that time, mainly because she was not so used to doing something like that, but she was soon able to arrange the tent and with that she was preparing the rest of the things, starting to set up a fire, since hunger had struck and she had not eaten anything all day walking everything to be able to walk as much distance as possible.
"And here is my fire, now just prepare food with the cucco eggs I could get and also bread, besides the fruits that had in the various trees nearby on the way out of Doras, lucky to have plenty of trees there" Said the girl with crimson eyes.
"(I suppose I could hunt for something to eat, but I'll eat what's around here, gee, the sky is already getting dark, too bad I can't leave before dawn without taking my chances, damn it, why did the royal entourage decide to abandon me just now?)
The food was being made, luckily the hero bag allows the girl to store a lot of things even the biggest she has without filling and giving weight, that way she can make even a considerable feast where she was eating until she was all full, while looking at the sky getting a little purple with the darkening and sunset in front of her, being a landscape that was thinking.
(I wonder how the girls in the castle must be, did they miss me all this time, I imagine they did, I even miss the annoying Cavendish, that little princess with her pompous way "Oh how petulant" hahahaha, ahhhhh, I hope she now at least stops being so annoying to know that I did it).
And the time goes byAkko goes looking at the sky and the stars, tired she soon goes into the tent, seeing that the creatures do not come even close to the circle that she herself made, which soon she will lie down on the cloths that she put on the floor improvising a mattress to sleep on the floor.
Sleepy she was soon asleep even having the noises of many creatures that could take the sleep of anyone, the so much fatigue that the brownish was able to overcome any fear, she was falling asleep and just thinking about what she will have when she returns to Wedinburgh.
The next day dawns, as soon as the sun appears, Atsuko gets up from the improvised bed, goes demonstrating the camp, keeping what was necessary and leaving other things behind, but before going she was already preparing a reinforced breakfast, watching the beautiful sunrise.
(Now it's the second day going to Wedinburgh, this trip is already tiring me all, at least when I arrive there will be that luxurious bed for me to lie down, it's even a divine relief, I can only imagine, me in my comfort again, being rewarded for my mission, I'm sure the queen will know everything and will be very disgusted with her entourage having left without me).
When she finished eating and doing all the personal hygiene that she could do at the time of camping, it's time to leave, she goes with everything packed, sees that the path is safe, takes a deep breath, starts the long walk, towards Wedinburgh, where she already decides to go straight crossing a little of the lands of the kingdom of Appleton on the way, so much so that it is notable that the royal roads make a curve, where Kagari was just following straight where the map pointed.
(I'm not going to hang around and linger any longer, I can get a few extra days head start, maybe even meet the royal entourage on the way if I'm quick enough).
The hours were passing, the long walk left Akko's feet a little tired, according to the map she would already be around the lands of Appleton's dominions, which she was becoming more attentive, so far she had not been robbed or approached by any slave trader, but that would change.
She comes across a large group of traders walking with two slaves who were tied up in ropes, she hid behind some rocks and watched the men pull the wagon over.
"These two are all we could find from the lands to the west, we were almost attacked by the royal retinue from Wedinburgh, so we won't have one to do business with, one short and one overweight, they'll only serve as useless slaves, no men so far" Said one of the slave traders.
(There are six of them, I think I can make a joke here, come on Akko, the right thing to do, maybe we can steal these guys' mounts, look at all the provisions, that's what I should do, I'm too smart).
Sneakily the Hyllian of Luna Nova was finding a great position, already turning her scepter into a bow and aiming an arrow at one of the slave traders who was taking an arrow in the back, which already activated the defence mode of all the rest, including one of them who was hiding waiting for someone to get close to the mount.
"Who's there? Come out of your hiding place and reveal yourself!" Said another of the men and soon Akko takes another arrow.
(You have no idea I'm hiding, I think I'd better get out of here or they'll find me).
"There's someone hiding in these stones, man, we've already had two casualties, maybe it's the competition, or some invader" Said one of the slave traders.
Hidden Akko aims the bow this time to catch the trapped girls who end up having the ropes burst, then throws a bomb to get the attention of the men who soon look at where the explosion was, sneakily walks getting very close since the group of four men is focusing on following where the explosion was, what Atsuko throws another bomb to distract more, what they even walk back and the two girls are just watching everything shocked.
"Where is this bloke? Get him!" The traders said in desperation.
"You meant get her, didn't you? Your friends didn't die, they were lucky that this arrow doesn't kill, it just immobilises them, they went to sleep deeply, now the sword I don't say for myself" Said Hyllian of Luna Nova and the merchants soon started laughing pointing at the girl.
"Hahahahaha! So that's what attacked us? As far as I can tell from your clothes and bearing, you're part of the kingdom of Wedinburgh, you're in forbidden lands now, it's not our problem to kill you" Said one of the slave traders as Kagari took out a boomerang from her bag.
"No, she could be valuable to the sovereign, have you ever thought what she must know, by the clothes she seems to know the royal family, apart from that she is a very beautiful slave" Said another approached.
"Get out of the way or I'll have to use force!" Said the crimson-eyed one threateningly with boomerang in hand.
"Is that your weapon a bow and that strange thing? How pathetic, let's teach her a lesson" said the slave trader threatening her.
They went with swords and whips in hand getting close, but simply with the boomerang the brownish one was throwing at each one of them who was paralysing and that way she was just laughing at seeing the four as statues that could not even get out of the place and were kind of shocked to be standing there, until Akko was shooting at each of the four, leaving only the last one who looked in those scared ruby pairs.
"You messed with the wrong warrior you idiots, my name is Atsuko Kagari and I am a warrior from Luna Nova, I will be the future hero of Hyrule!" Said the Hyllian of Luna Nova aiming her bow at the remaining slave trader and even going from being paralysed.
"What kind of weaponry is this? You are not normal!" Said the frightened man who was taking a few steps backwards.
"This is for taking innocent lives and forcing them to work unwillingly, now feel the consequence of your cursed actions" Said Atsuko firing the arrow that even catches the last slave trader who falls to the ground fainted like the other five of the group.
(Well that was the last one, these arrows don't kill Hyllians, it only serves to stun them, when they wake up they will end up facing a not very pleasant surprise, I will steal their cart and go home with it, maybe so I can at least get home faster).
Then Kagari was taking off the clothes of three of the slave traders, tying the six together in a rope, while they were still in a deep sleep, when she finished the job she went back where there were two girls still amazed at everything that even freed did not run, one with pink hair and the other with dark hair.
"You can come with me, you're safe, put those clothes on while we're here, they'll think we're the slave traders from this land and so we'll pass safely to the other side" said the crimson-eyed one.
"Will you save us?" The pink-haired one asked.
"Sure, I hate these guys, this is one of the worst kind of human beings there is, let's go to your house, I'll let you have the wagon until, I don't need it, I'm now living in the kingdom of Wedinburgh" Said the brownish one.
"Oh we were going there, only on the way we were attacked, we lost all our Rupees, we came to try life in the kingdom, Constanze here is very talented with the creation of technology, I am already a very good cook and I also know how to summon demonic creatures which can be good for the kingdom, but these merchants
attacked us, this wagon was ours, with our things, I am Jasminka Antonenko and this is my friend Constanze Amalie Von Braunchsbank Albrechtsberger" Said the sympathetic Jasminka to Akko.
"Pleasure, Atsuko Kagari, I am a warrior with real protection, let's get out of here soon before more of these guys appear, let's take advantage and put on these clothes of theirs, by the way the wagon is all yours, if you have your things, maybe so we can get home soon" Said Akko to the two.
The three put on the clothes of slave traders, climb on the wagon and so they go safer to the way through the kingdom of Appleton without being noticed, Constanze was more shy, she did not speak, much because she was also mute, but she kept writing over and over again what she felt, Jasminka is very nice, she has a calmer way of speaking that comforts those around.
Thanks toAkko's courage she can have a wagon to get back on the road quickly and pass through Appleton's lands without danger, since it would take hours for the slave traders to wake up again and some of them even had their weapons stolen by the trio.
[...]
The days passed and the royal entourage arrived well before Akko and the two girls she met, upon arriving in the city they are already going to the throne room to announce their arrival which was evident in the anxiety that the two princesses were with the arrival of Atsuko back to the kingdom, but soon the news would come.
"Finally you have arrived, we have been looking forward to your news, it seems you have succeeded" Queen Laura said.
"We did it, sire, your warrior managed to defeat the monster of the eastern palace and save the daughter and granddaughter of the queen of fairyland" said one of the soldiers.
"And where is Akko?" Princess Diana asks.
"She's in Doras now" said the same soldier.
"What? But you were supposed to go back with her, you left Akko alone? She herself left to her fate? She can't be left alone! She can't be left unprotected like this! You should go back with her!" Said the furious princess.
"But we didn't know that, we thought she was going to stay in Doras a bit longer, she seemed to be quite comfortable there, so we just went back" said the soldier shrugging and the queen wiped her hand across her face.
"Very well, you have forgotten Akko and now she may be in danger, I want you to organise yourselves to look for her, you know that on the way you pass through the lands of Appleton, if some slave trader finds her it could be the end of our heroine" Said Mrs McLaren.
"We will start, Your Majesty, you can leave it to us" said the soldier bowing to the queen.
The royal entourage then ends up leaving that throne room and it is evident that the two princesses are very concerned about the whole situation, they thought Akko would return with everyone, they just wonder what could happen, especially Cavendish who is exuding enormous concern about everything.
"Mum, you know that lass is a stubborn lassie, she's going to want to go on her own and on top of that she's going to risk cutting her way through Appleton land, you should have taken that piece of land ages ago, there's no point in leaving that bend" said the eldest daughter.
"I know girl, but it seems that it is not a good option, the troops in this portion are very well concentrated and this could cause a war between the kingdoms and I do not want that, a third war could be devastating for both sides, we are still recovering the losses of the second, let alone a third, we can beat them yes, but we do not know how strong Appleton's troops are, it is dangerous" Said mum Bernadette.
"Akko..." Said the worried Diana as she made her way out of the throne room.
"She's coming back Diana!" Shouts the younger sister and soon the mums puts her hand on her shoulder.
"Let your sister have her moment, it's just a much needed concern, our troops will find Akko soon and she will be here with us" said mum Laura to Hellene.
"Why did they leave her behind, it doesn't make sense, I saw you ordering the troops to stay five days, they came back early, this is all very badly told mum, these troops are acting behind your back" said the younger McLaren.
"Stay calm girl, everything is under control, I know well what I'm doing, soon Akko arrives and she will be fine, our girl is smart, she knows how to turn around, if she got the pendant of courage from the east palace dungeon it is a sign that she killed the dangerous Ansolew Airo, Appleton's troops are nothing compared to the statue that moves, apart from that she must have the boomerang in hand, any soldier is paralysed when hit by one, it was what guaranteed us victory against the kingdom of Appleton in the two wars that came" Said the queen comforting her daughter.
And with that Hellene also leaves the throne room she goes outside just waiting for Akko to come back, she even had a visit from her friend Marianne, but that where normally the two would play a lot in the most was with the princesses huge concern about Akko coming who disappeared, for what they thought.
[...]
The day after the arrival of the royal entourage arrives the wagon with Akko, Constanze and Jasminka, the three were entering the city and until then people were continuing with the routine normally, only that the soldiers strolling through the city soon notice the presence of Kagari and approach her.
"Hold on there Mrs Kagari, we were looking for you" said the soldier.
"Ah yes, they finally remembered me, I'm already going to the castle, I'll just leave their wagon in the stable" said Hyllian of Luna Nova.
"I ask you to come with me to the castle immediately, along with this wagon, we can leave it in the royal stable along with these two other girls" said the soldier.
"Okay then, let's go girls" said the crimson-eyed one, shrugging.
With this approach they walked to the castle, where the cart was pulled over right at the castle gates and the three got off the cart, soon after the bridge was lowered and accompanied by the soldiers the three were walking through the corridors, which were arriving at the throne room where soon the brownish was surprised by Princess Diana running towards her and hugging her.
"Ugh, why all this Diana? I'm alive, it's the fault of your royal entourage that I'm arriving like this" said Atsuko.
"I knew you'd be back soon, it seems you managed to come back alone, or rather with these two girls" Queen Laura said.
"These are Constanze and Jasminka I saved them from being slaves, when I walked through the Appleton lands I defeated the slave traders and the rest of the way with the wagon was quite safe, we managed to camp and have enough food to feed us" Akko said.
"Oh that's good to know, you took care of a group of slave traders, very good you know, I'm relieved to hear you're back well", said Majesty McLaren and then the warrior gets a punch on the arm from the younger Cavendish.
"Don't think about dying like that again, I know you lost the hour sleeping too much, you lazy girl," said Diana and soon Hellene also arrives to hug the warrior.
"I was also worried about your return Akko, I'm glad it can come soon, but I want to know how you defeated slave traders, they always walk in groups and even a good warrior can't handle it" Said the youngest McLaren.
"Unless this warrior has a boomerang in her hands, this weapon can paralyse any creature that dares to get close, she must have done that and then defeated the slave traders, well first of all I have something to tell you about what really happened" Said Queen Laura.
"I hope you're not mad, I almost hit your mum for that, I actually hit her in anger" Queen Bernadette said.
"In reality I left Akko purposely abandoned, I wanted to test how she turns alone returning home, so I told the soldiers who were in the entourage to go on the third day just before dawn and leave without Akko noticing, since she would be in a deep sleep and it worked, when they arrived I had already talked about it and they
just pretended to be making a mistake, just like I pretended all that concern, but anyway it was purposeful, I wanted to test Akko to see if she was fit enough to go back alone through the land of Hyrule and turn around, apparently yes, since in the next missions they will have nothing of the kind, since one pendant of courage is in the icy Cork hills near the Dublin ranch and the other is precisely in Appleton's dominions, near the village Kakariko climbing the mountains there is a tower that there is where you will get the last pendant, but anyway, I want to apologise for what I did, I admit to having acted controversially" Said Majesty McLaren.
The expression of animation and happiness of the warrior of Luna Nova changed to a furious countenance, mainly because of the whole situation that she went through on the way, which could end up going very wrong, when she realised that all that was still just a test of the queen, a test that could risk her own life, not only was she getting angry, but also the two princesses, both exhibited a furious countenance.
"You what? I could die! Do you realise that if I didn't have a boomerang I could end up being sold into slavery like Jasminka and Constanze? I'm not a little game, I passed the ordeal, but it was because I had help from my weapons and them letting me come back with them," said the furious Atsuko.
"Mum! This is horrible, Akko could have died on the way, have you thought about the future of Hyrule? I know that the missions that come after don't have the same protection, but could you at least leave Akko being protected in this one, what if...?" Said Diana equally furious.
"I know... I know... I trust Akko and this is a sign that we can trust her, Akko managed to return home alone, you can be furious all you want, even I feel a little bad for this decision I made, I just wanted to make sure that the kingdom's security was really in good hands and that the training worked" Majesty said.
"Well it worked, but that was a big of a blunder Mrs McLaren, how can I trust the queen if she acts behind my back, I honestly think that after this I will leave for the Dublin ranch and stay with your sister... Even she hides things too, doesn't she? I don't have much of a place to stay apparently... It was only a matter of time before this happened" said the angry Kagari.
"Please forgive me for everything I did to you, I didn't mean to hurt you on purpose Atsuko Kagari" Said the queen who left the throne and even knelt down to the warrior who was a little shocked.
Everyone around was in shock to see that a person of that position went so far as to bow to ask for forgiveness from a mere commoner who even gets a little impressed feeling a little of the weight of that act of the queen what she takes a deep breath and puts her hand on the head of the majesty.
"I forgive you, after all it was a training as you say, but don't do something like that again, I don't want you to act behind my back" Akko said and Mrs McLaren stands up hugging the warrior.
"The true nobility of the queen is compassion, she has put aside her position or any superiority she thinks she has for the act with humanity of asking for forgiveness from a warrior and that is what a true queen does, she knows when she is wrong" Said Queen Bernadette.
"I've been in her position before, so I know what it's like to be a warrior, now let's go... Let's enjoy a welcome feast, celebrate the return of our warrior" Said the majesty and all go nodding.
[...]
Far away in the kingdom of Appleton lord Hanbridge was sitting on his throne bored as ever until his soldiers brought some slave traders half dragged into the throne room and they were getting even more scared seeing the man's presence.
A tall boy with green eyes, black hair, a very athletic build, clothes that show the power and status, made with colours of the rarest, showing a purple that shows the true power that exudes in his clothes, which also has black details.
"My liege, we are relieved that you have attended to us" said the slave trader who was exactly the same as the one attacked byAkko.
"What do you rabble want with me now? I told you not to waste my time with your nonsense" said the lord.
"It is important sir, we were attacked by a single warrior, we are in six as you can see, we were well armed, we had a whole arsenal to attack, but a short girl with brown hair who appeared in our lands, with clothes from the kingdom of Appleton attacked us, when we had returned with a wagon full of things and two slaves, she stopped us, she still stole everything back from the slaves" Said one of the slave traders.
"Her name is Atsuko Kagari, she says she comes from Luna Nova and calls herself the heroine of Hyrule, she attacked us with a strange curved thing that when it hit us it made a paralysing effect and then gave us arrows, but they were not arrows that kill, they only left us lying in a deep sleep sir, she seems to be a great threat to the kingdom" Said the merchant who had been attacked last.
"Luna Nova? Well, guards, get these guys out of here and give them each 250 Rupees for the information that was given, I don't want to see their faces around here again" Said the head of Appleton and so the men were bowing on their knees to the leader who was then dragged out of the throne room by the soldiers, which was evident that the boy clenched his fists looking fiercely at the wall where there are paintings with the arts of the kingdom.
(Luna Nova! That's where I really think I am, according to the prophecy the chosen hero of the forest who wields the master sword, would defeat the great evil of Hyrule who was with the spirit of ganondorf and I am the one with this immense power and one of the pieces of the triforce, I need to take a better look at this situation and prepare for the war that is to come, if I just kill this girl another warrior will appear, I have to keep her under my radar, but first I need to prevent myself).
"Bring Louis here, I have a mission to spy on him again" said the lord of Appleton.
The chief of all those lands, is already getting apprehensive about a possible defeat, calling one of his best spies to be able to collect more information about the girl who was told about who the slave traders said, already warning the blond boy about Akko's characteristics and also her name, which will be useful for a larger spy mission.
Akko returned to Wedinburgh, kind of alone when she was abandoned by the royal entourage which revealed to be part of Queen Laura's plan around training Kagari who was very angry and frustrated with all this, but lost her majesty for the noble act that the royal woman showed her, regardless of the position she was in, she showed that she had empathy above all, which also shows that this whole adventure of Hyllian de Luna Nova will also carry some dangers ahead.
See you, home witches...