I just found out its bulblin and not bulbin...

Oops...

Born a Weapon

A Twilight Princess Fan story

Chapter 23

King Bulblin

"Eat the damn food!"

"NO!"

The first day after the attack was a nightmare. Link's wounds were healing, and he was on the path to recovery, but his body still hurt like hell. Renado had told the children to leave Link alone so he could rest and so they wouldn't see his twili companion, respecting her wish to remain secret. Midna hadn't regained the ability to move anything below her neck, and her hair hand refused to work either. She was incapable of eating and refused to let anyone help her, claiming it was humiliating. Renado decided Link would have an easier time with Midna. Even though it was clear they weren't very fond of each other, Link was the only person in Kakariko Midna knew. Link didn't blame Midna for being upset. If he was in her position, he would be annoyed too, but he wouldn't try to literally bite the hand that feeds him. Just when Link started to consider forcing the food down her throat, she finally conceded to appease her growling stomach, demanding that Link never tell anyone what happened.

On the second day, Link's body ached a bit less, and the slashes started to disappear. His right arm was still far from healed, though. Midna's torso and arms became useable, but her arms shook whenever she tried to use them. The shaking was so intense it was incredibly difficult to raise any food to her mouth, and she still needed some help to keep her arm steady.

"I got it!" Midna snapped, shooing Link away as she picked up a fork. Link backed up with his hands raised and allowed the imp to slowly raise a fork to her mouth on her own. She succeeded, despite most of the food she had impaled on the utensil falling back onto the plate in her lap. "Told you," she scowled.

On the third day, Link could move in a mostly normal way without giving himself pain thanks to the spring water, but only if he moved slowly, and the stab through his arm was still far from healed. Midna's arms stopped shaking, and she no longer needed help eating. Her legs became usable again, but they felt like jelly to her. She tried to stand up and would have smashed her face into the floor if Link wasn't there to catch her.

"AUGH! This is so frustrating!" Midna shouted as she used Link's good arm for support to remain standing.

"You'll probably be better later today, just like your arms yesterday." Midna bit her lip to hold back her thanks, refusing to show gratitude to a light-dweller. The fact Link didn't seem to care almost broke her.

On the fourth day, Midna's legs were back to normal, and her magic began to return. Her hair hand was shaky like her other limbs but usable, and she could float and merge with shadows, but it took great effort. It was on this fourth day that Link was sitting on his bed, looking out the window at the sky, his equipment leaning on the wall next to him. It was against this wall that his new shield lay. Unlike his last shield, this one was made of metal, decorated with the symbol of Hyrule. It was found in the home of a blacksmith, one of the many abandoned buildings left in Kakariko. Barnes had found it when he searched for his friend, despite knowing it would prove fruitless.

Midna sat to the side in the shade, deciding to give him this comfort without complaint as a silent thanks she would never admit to. She noticed Link's expression change to a confused one before morphing into one of surprise.

"Something's coming," he said with concern before rising to his feet and throwing on his chainmail, tunic, and gear.

"What is it?" Midna asked, merging with his shadow despite the difficulty as he moved somewhat awkwardly towards the door. She noticed Link's wounds were still giving him trouble but was glad he was moving. Maybe that meant they could move on soon.

"I don't know." Link shuffled down the stairs, nearly tripping and catching himself with his bad arm, emitting a hiss of pain, drawing the attention of the others in the room below.

"Link! What are you doing?" Renado scolded the hero, "you should be resting!"

"Outside," Link said flatly, pushing past Renado and out the inn's door. Link staggered into the street, a loud thumping sound approaching. Renado and the children followed Link outside, confused by the noise, but Link recognized the sound. Turning the road and coming into sight was a very welcome sight.

Epona.

The horse ran towards the humans on the road, but something was wrong. Clutching onto her back were two bulblins, trying to keep the horse under control. Epona darted to the sides, making forceful jerking movements that sent her unwanted riders tumbling to the ground. The bulblins quickly rose to their feet and fled back where they came from.

"IT'S NOT STOPPING!" Talo shouted as Epona continued to run straight towards the group in the street. Everyone scrambled back to the inn, but Link stayed where he was.

"Link! Get out of the way!" Colin shouted, but Link did not move.

"Link! Move! That thing is going to crush you!" Midna shouted, considering moving away, before remembering she was safe in Link's shadow. Link stood firm, a determined gaze fixed on Epona, who was almost on top of him. Renado tried to rush out and move Link, but there wasn't enough time.

With a skidding noise, the rampaging horse stopped. Epona gently pressed her snout into Link's chest, and he raised his good arm to pat the horse before giving her a hug. Relief flooded Link. Epona was alive and well, and he couldn't be happier about it.

"What is that thing?" Midna asked from his shadow, "how did you do that?"

"This is Epona," Link said, answering both Midna and Renado, who had approached him, "my horse. I was really worried about her."

"Horse… where did I hear that word before?" Midna wondered while Link conversed with Renado, who was congratulating him on his reunion and trying to usher him back inside while the children began to wander around, talking excitedly about what just happened. Midna remembered something Link said after her first time seating herself on his back when he was a wolf. 'I'm not a horse!' he said. "Wait, that means… You ride this thing?! That's insane!"

"More insane than trying to ride a wolf?" Link replied while at the same time asking Renado if there was a stable he could put Epona in. Before any response could be given, more thumping could be heard. It came from the same direction Epona did and couldn't be caused by a single rider.

Rounding the corner into the town was a terrible sight. Atop three bullbos were five bulblins, two on each bullbo beside the middle. The leading bullbo was blue and covered in metal armor, and its single rider wore similar armor with a massive two-handed axe. Link recognized the leader as the man who took Ilia and Epona, even though he was only half-conscious at the time. It wasn't crazy to assume he was also responsible for kidnapping the children.

"Get inside!" Link shouted, and everyone wisely followed his orders as fast as possible. Renado grabbed Talo and Malo and rushed them into the inn. Colin sprinted down the street as fast as he could, and Link staggered towards the door using Epona for support.

"Beth!" Colin cried, stopping in his tracks and looking at the young girl. She was too far away to make it and was only seconds away from being trampled. Making a decision quickly, Colin turned around and ran towards her.

"Colin!"

Colin shoved Beth out of the way, placing himself in the path of the stampeding animals. With no time to move, Colin shut his eyes and waited for the pain to hit him, but nothing happened. He cautiously opened his eyes to see the towering bulblin before him strike him with the blunt end of his axe, knocking the boy unconscious. The bulblin reached down, grabbing Colin and holding him high above his head as if displaying him for all to see. The monster's eyes locked with Link's before he rode off into Hyrule field with a smirk on his face. Growling under his breath, Link hoisted himself onto Epona's saddle, ignoring the pain from his unhealed wounds.

"Link!" Renado began, "you're in no condition to-" the shaman's words were interrupted by Link spurring Epona into a run, charging after the bulblins as fast as she could.

Link chased the bulblin for so long that the surrounding area turned to grass again. When hills began to come into sight, the bulblin took out his horn and blew into it. More thundering steps followed the sound, and dozens of bulblins emerged from the hills and began riding after Link. Suddenly everything clicked. He should have seen it sooner. How could Epona manage to escape without a scratch? And the massive bulblin was conveniently only a minute behind her? No, and when the bulblin held up Colin, he wasn't showing his victim to everyone. He was showing him to Link. Colin was the bait.

"Shit," Link grumbled, "it's a trap!" Link had to break off his pursuit and deal with the newcomers. If he kept focusing on the leader, his minions would surely get him. "Hold on, Colin…"

Link made a sharp left, dodging arrows that would have pierced him otherwise. He charged a group of bulblin riders as they entered the battle and either slashed at them with his sword or smacked them with his shield. The bulblins squealed as they fell from their mounts, either dead or severely injured and limping away. More arrows came at Link, but they bounced harmlessly off his shield. Link eyed the enemies around him, identifying the archers and deciding to deal with them first.

One by one, the archers fell to Link's attacks. The bulblins without bows tried to protect the archers, but Link either killed or outmaneuvered them. Link was grateful he had a metal shield because eventually, archers with fire arrows began to show up, and his wooden shield would have burned from the flames. Slowly, the tide of reinforcements started to dwindle. The leader seemed to notice and began to change his direction in response. Link quickly turned to follow him but let his guard down at the wrong time.

An arrow pierced his side, and he cried in pain. Link didn't take the time to look at the damage, instead focusing on where the arrow came from and killings its source. More bulblins tried to cut him off, but they met the same fate as the archer. When only three bulblin riders remained, they broke off their attack and retreated, leaving their leader to fight Link alone.

Link took the opportunity to check his new wound. The arrow pierced his left side, just above his hip but luckily didn't make a deep wound. He didn't want to leave an arrow sticking out of him but didn't want to risk taking it out, either. Link grabbed the arrow and snapped off most of its shaft, giving a loud cry as he did so. He tossed the useless wood away and returned his attention to his target.

"Geez, that looked painful," his shadow commented.

The final bulblin led Link onto a bridge over a deep canyon. On a bridge, the bulblin would have a huge advantage with his large bullbo and axe. Both riders stopped at opposite edges of the bride, and Link looked down to see the massive drop. The massive bulblin tied Colin to a pole connected to the back of his saddle, freeing up his hand to wield his enormous weapon.

"Plan B?" Link shouted, to which the bulblin there his head back and let out a disturbing laugh.

"Exactly! This is where you'll meet your end!"

"You're clearly different from the rest of the bulblins. Who are you?!"

"I am the KING of bulblins, little man!"

"I don't care what you're the king of! Give me the kid! Or I'll throw you into this canyon!" King bulblin only laughed at the hero's threat. The monster was clearly enjoying this, which only made Link hate him more.

"Knock me off, and the kid comes with me!" King Bulblin sneered, a confident grin stretching across his face. "They warned me about you, but I am not impressed! You're pathetic!" That statement shocked both Link and his companion.

"Warned?! By who?!"

"You know exactly who, hero!" the king shouted as he charged forward. Link grumbled under his breath at the lack of an answer but did his best to ignore it. He couldn't afford to be distracted. He spurred Epona forward and met the massive king in the middle of the bridge.

The massive axe came at Link's head, but he ducked under it and slashed at the king's side, his blade bouncing uselessly off the armor. The riders spun their mounts and made another pass at each other, then another. Link was too swift, and King bulblin was too heavily armored. Several passes occurred without any damage being dealt by either combatant.

"This isn't working!" Midna shouted.

"I know!" Link snapped, looking for any weakness in his opponent's armor. He growled at his inability to do anything until an idea came to him.

"What's with that look? I don't like it!" Link didn't respond to Midna and charged at King bulblin once more.

"This is insane This is insane This is insane This is nuts This is crazy!"

"What?! What's crazy?!"

Link leaned backwards to duck under King Bulblin's massive axe and slashed at the stirrup holding the bulblin's foot. The strap snapped, throwing off King Bulblin's balance and nearly making him tumble off his mount. Right after he slashed at the strap, Link shot up, grabbed the pole Colin was connected to, and spun onto the saddle just behind King Bulblin. Link smacked him off the bullbo with his shield and cut Colin loose, taking him into his hands as the king tumbled across the bridge. Link grabbed the giant pig's reigns and turned him around. King bulblin stood up just in time to see his own mount on a collision course with him, being ridden by the hero he failed to defeat.

"Guess I should have listened," he said with one last smirk before the bullbo rammed into him, sending the king and his mount into the abyss below, and Link backflipped safely onto the bridge. The bullbo squealed in terror as it fell, but no such noise came from the king, who fell with a smile, as if pleased he had found such a worthy foe.