FicWad

The next morning was rather…awkward. The first factor of awkwardness was that we had to move on and continue saving Hyrule, rather than snuggling and all that love stuff. The second factor was that everything that had happened, at least for me, was completely unexpected. I wasn’t sure if what happened that night was an accident or what. The third factor was that I didn’t know if that meant Link and I were dating or if we just let off some steam. We were adults now, and I thought that adults need that intimate feeling with someone else. This whole thing was just terribly confusing.
When I woke up, Link had already got up. He was getting dressed when I opened my eyes. He changed back to his green tunic, rather than his red one, which was understandable, seeing that his red tunic was most likely covered in blood and sweat. He didn’t know I was watching him as he stretched and put on his undershirt and then he out on his green shirt. He walked over to a table to get his hat and I noticed that he was limping.
I could hear him breathe and I could hear every footstep that he took. I watched as he struggled to put on his shield and sword and watched as he tucked his hat onto his head; tucking the cloth behind his ears. His sharp features were beautiful in the sunlight. He turned around and noticed me looking at him and smiled.
“Good morning,” he said.
“Morning,” I said quietly and I got up. I was still in my red tunic, but I actually liked the tunic more than the green one, so I decided to leave it on.
“Are you going to change?” Link asked with a smile.
“Nah,” I said and I walked over to the table and grabbed my red hat. “I think I like this tunic better. Green just isn’t really my thing.”
Link smiled and said, “You’re so weird. Weird, but cute.”
I smiled back, but it was a little forced. I didn’t know what to say to that. I took my finger and poked both Navi and Max, who were still asleep. “C’mon guys,” I whispered, “wake up.”
The slowly started to hover around us as Link and I just looked at each other for a second. I didn’t know what to do or what to say. The moment was just so breathtaking, until Navi shouted this: “Hey! We need to keep moving!”
“No shit,” I snapped at her.
Navi shot underneath Link’s hat and Max was already going back to sleep in mine. Link then suddenly kissed me and he held me afterwards. “Unfortunately, Navi is right,” Link said and he touched my face delicately. “We should probably get moving.” He then kissed me again and I felt his blonde bangs brush against my forehead. I wanted to melt, but our moment was shattered in a second.
“Ow,” Link suddenly shouted and he fell to the ground. I kneeled down to see him holding his sides.
“Link, what’s wrong?” I asked quickly and I began to hold him as he winced in pain. Something was wrong with him. I didn’t like to see him in pain at all, but I didn’t know what to do. “Link, please tell me.”
After a little while, he stopped wincing and making sounds of pain. He stood up and pulled me up with him.
“The poison isn’t fully gone yet,” he said with a stern face. “I don’t think we should get involved into any intense fighting just yet.”
“Well, the Gorons are throwing a feast today,” I said. “They invited us both to be honorable guests. Link the Goron has done a great job of getting things back together. The feast will be at seven tonight.”
Link smiled and said, “Well, I could use some good food right now. We should go. You look really hungry anyway. We could both use some food.”
He hugged me and kissed my forehead and went to the door. Before he opened it, he sighed. “Unfortunately-“
“We need to keep this under wraps?” I said. I knew what he was going to say. It depressed me a little bit, but we both knew it was for the best. “If we get our emotions involved, Ganondorf will know what our weaknesses are and things would get complicated.”
“Exactly,” Link said, “which will be hard, but I don’t want Ganondorf to take you.”
I smiled and was probably blushing, but I didn’t mind. I had never felt this way before, the way I did with Link.
We walked out of the room and I decided to just pretend that nothing had happened. I needed to act just as I had towards him before. Everything returned to normal when we walked out in the Cucco Lady’s living room. Zucchini and Lux were eating yet again, but they were eating what I assumed was a breakfast sort of food. I couldn’t see the Cucco Lady anywhere.
“Scyther!” I heard Zucchini shout and he ran right after Link and gave him a hug. I smiled and walked over to Lux, who shot up and landed on my shoulder. He was still really happy to see me back. I would have let him sleep with me last night, but I didn’t exactly sleep in my bed.
I heard the front door open and saw the Cucco Lady who smiled and said, “Hey sleepy heads. It’s almost noon. I don’t really mind you sleeping in, though. I couldn’t imagine how much sleep you two have lost.”
“We’ve lost quite a bit,” I said with a smile. “We both appreciate your hospitality.”
“Well, if you two ever need to stay anywhere, I’ll be here,” the Cucco Lady said. “Thank you for all you have done and good luck. Make us proud, knights of Hyrule.”
I grinned and headed for the door with Link and the gang following me. I liked that little name, but that name also reminded me of the huge weight that Link and I had on our shoulders. I walked out, saying a quick goodbye and stood still.
“I guess we should go to Goron Village and see how they’re handling that feast,” I said. “Maybe we’ll get to try out some of the food beforehand. I could really use some gourmet food right about now.”
“Rai,” Lux said on my shoulder and he his eyes were sparkling. He wouldn’t mind food, either.
We walked through Kakariko Village and heard some hubbub going on. I heard one person shout, “The Lord is coming to town today.”
I looked over at Link and said, “Some shit is probably going to go down today.”
Link rolled his eyes. “Yeah,” he said, “we’re slowly taking Ganondorf’s plan and ruining it. He’s going to want to stop us as quickly as he can. We best not stick around here and just go straight to Goron Village, like you said.”
He was right. Ganondorf was probably looking for us. I was sure that Ganondorf would come to Goron Village and try and get us out, but we’d be ready.
I just hoped that he decided to get us after the feast. My fighting would be much better with some food in my belly.

We got to Goron Village safely and walked around with Link the Goron. That pot had already been made and there were gray chops on them now, which must have represented Darunia. Basically, everything had been restored to the way it used to be, except one Goron was missing. His name was Biggoron. But, because he was gone, we were using his room to hold the feast. From what I was told, Biggoron was a huge guy, so he had a huge room.
Biggoron’s room was actually the room that Link the Goron had took Link and I into when Volvagia was in the village. Now there was a huge, wooden table and chairs made of stone. This table was huge and so were the chairs, but there were two smaller chairs at the front, which were probably the chairs for Link and I; Link the human, of course.
I rubbed my stomach as I imagined food neatly laid on this table. Man, I couldn’t wait to eat. Link and I hadn’t had a big dinner since seven years ago, when we ate across from Ganondorf at a royal feast, so this would be a filling experience.
“Do you like it?” he asked. “That table was freshly made this morning and so were all the chairs. When we say special, we mean special,” and he looked at me and gave me a small wink.
Banners and decorations were being placed all throughout the village as Goron children rolled around; celebrating their freedom from Volvagia. I enjoyed watching the little ones laugh and play. It made my job seem like it had some sort of an impact.
With the anticipation that I had to eat, it made the day rather slow. I felt like a president that was back home or something, for Link the Goron paraded us around, introduced us to the elderly, and had us kiss baby Gorons on the head. There was a lot of standing and walking involved, but I just wanted to eat. I never had time to just enjoy every bite I took of something. Everything was rushed; changing clothes, eating, sleeping, walking, and etcetera. I just wanted to cool down.
It was when I heard the gong and a Goron voice shout,” Thirty minutes ‘til the Grand Feast,” that I knew I would be able to cool off and just eat my fill. I just hoped that they had more than some measly rocks on the menu.
To my dismay, there was a long line at the dining room, but Link the Goron just pushed us through, so we didn’t need to sit and waste our time in line. I felt like a celebrity as I skipped over everyone in line, but I also felt kind of bad. While my feet would be satisfied, others would have to wait, and I knew I couldn’t skip the line every day, if I lived in Goron Village, because it would make me feel extremely bad.
Link the Goron sat us both in our respective seats. Link sat across from me and beside him sat Zucchini. Lux also got his own seat, though he had to stand on the tip of his back feet to actually be able to eat what would be put on the table. As soon as we sat down, Link and I had two tea cups set in front of us with coffee in them and, because of the aroma of the coffee, I assume, Navi and Max came out of our hats and rested in them. I wasn’t really sure if they actually drank the coffee or just laid in it like it was some sort of bath, but they both seemed to enjoy it.
I looked across the table at Link, who’s bright, blue eyes were looking at me. He had on a smile and winked, like he was some sort of stud. I didn’t care though, so I just flashed him a cute smile and looked around nervously. Yes, Link made me nervous, especially right now. I didn’t like this ‘love’ stuff. It felt nice, of course, but I knew that it could also come back and bite you in the ass.
It took a little while for everyone to get settled, but once they did, Link the Goron wasted no time to get the feast started.
“My Sworn Brothers and Sisters,” he began with his booming voice, “today is a day of grand celebration. Though we have not suffered as much as our great friends, the Zoras, we were still under a threat. We were all clenched in the sharp, stubbly grasp of Volvagia, the terrible dragon that, eons ago, haunted our very ancestors. The village that our ancestors were apart of was rather big, as this was before the Great War, which depleted the Goron numbers. We were all more helpless than they were. But, with the help of two great young adults, we were able to escape the grasp of Volvagia and ultimately gain freedom.”
Link the Goron paused and let the Gorons give their applause. I could tell he had got my motivational speaking methods, though mine were a little harsher with cuss words or whatever. But, he wasn’t done yet.
“I am sure that there have been very few instances where the leader of the Goron Village has called a Hylian a sworn brother or sister, but there are two that may break that barrier. Link, Ash, can you please stand.”
I smiled at Link and we both pushed out our chairs and stood up. However, Link the Goron had to wait several seconds for me because I couldn’t get the chair to move backwards and, after almost falling on my face, I was able to stand tall and proud and overlook the Gorons.
“These, my Brothers and Sisters,” Link the Goron said proudly, “are the two young adults that saved our village.” Then there was the applause thing again and Link the Goron held up his hand for silence. “Ashley and Link have saved our village now twice. Once from hunger and now from evil. We owe them our lives; twice.”
“Ah, you don’t owe us anything,” I said and I guess Link the Goron decided to ignore me, because he went on.
And on…
And on…
And then…off…but only because, out of the blue, a rapier came from the ceiling and sliced my plate and landed in the table. Everyone was speechless as I just stared at the blade of the sword, which vibrated from impact. I suddenly got angry and shouted, “Shannon, where are you, you bitch!”
“Now now,” I heard a smooth, male voice say. “You’re quite the rude one.”
Link suddenly shouted, “Show yourself, you coward.”
“Show myself?” the man said. “Why would I do something like that?”
“Where are you, bastard!” Link snapped.
All of a sudden, a blur came from the ceiling and there was a sound. It was the sound of someone landing rather hard on the table and some plates and glasses shook from the impact. The rapier that was in the middle of my plate was brisked away and, in a split second, Link had a thin blade at his throat. He was still sitting down and I was able to see the man behind him.
This man had blonde hair, which wasn’t a very bright blonde. He also had a pointy chin goatee, which was also blonde. His eyes were a dark blue, unlike Link’s, which were a lot lighter blue. In this man’s eyes, I could see rage, but calm rage. He was different than Ganondorf or Shannon. I realized then and there, that this guy would possibly be my match.
“Who are you?” I asked.
The man smirked and repeated, “Who am I? Shouldn’t you be a bit worried about your friend here, rather than knowing who I am?”
I looked down at Link who had on a worried expression, so I stood up and cracked my fingers and, as I did that, I felt the static in my hands go crazy. I held out my hand and had my bolts wrap around this man’s right arm, the arm that held the rapier across Link’s throat. I then let out a jolt of lightning with my other hand and knocked the man backwards against the wall. I jumped on the table and to get over on the other side just to see the man. He was against the wall, his rapier still grasped in his hand, but he still had on a smirk.
“Now then,” I said, “who are you?”
The man smiled, his hair covering his eyes. He slowly stood up and flashed those eyes at me.
“If you must know, my name is Leon Sorel,” he said. “I am from the Soul Dimension and hail from France on the continent of Eurasia. I come from a long line of swordsmen and I am the oldest son of the present Sorel family. I left that dimension to protect Ganondorf from some…others from my dimension and I also left to take Shannon Dragmire’s hand in marriage. I am also the head Knight of Hyrule.”
“What do you mean by others from your dimension?” I asked. I was a bit startled that Ganondorf had ties with others outside of the Ninten Dimension.
The man laughed, which seemed a bit forced, and said, “Now, why would I tell you that? You’re going to set a plot against Ganondorf, won’t you? I’ve heard about you, Ashley Brandt, so don’t think you can slip past me.”
Ganondorf had more enemies than I thought and, with Leon here, I had to stay on my toes. If I could utilize Ganondorf’s enemies, maybe this whole thing could be easier. Where ever this Soul Dimension was, I needed to find it, but I still needed to keep trying to stop Ganondorf.
“So, why are you here, then?” I asked.
“Well, I knew that there would be a celebration today and Ganondorf knew that you two would most likely attend,” Leon said. “I was asked to come here and try and stop you brats once and for all.” He then pointed the blade of his rapier at me. “Ms. Brandt, Link, I’m here to have a duel with each of you.”
“So, like a truel?” I asked.
Leon put on a disgusted expression and said, “What?”
“A truel,” I said. “The word duel and trio put together. I duel between three people.”
Leon still kept on the same face and said, “I don’t work that way. The rules of a duel are kept sacred to me. I will duel both of you, but at separate times. Once I defeat the first, I will move to the other.”
“Now, don’t get too cocky,” I heard Link say behind me and I heard him walking towards us. “Ash and I are both conditioned by the blade. Don’t underestimate us.”
“You, boy, have no idea who you’re dealing with,” Leon said with an evil tone.
“But, on the contrary,” I said smartly, “you technically don’t know who Link and I are, so you too have no idea who you’re dealing with.”
Leon’s face suddenly became very stern and he said, “Shut up and fight.”
I went to unsheathe my sword when I realized that I had left my shield and my sword in Link the Goron’s throne room.
“Uh…” I said. I was speechless. “I have come unarmed.” I looked down at the ground in defeat.
“So did I,” Link said.
“Well, you’re just in luck then,” Leon said. “One of the rules of dueling is: Live by the sword, die by the sword. If you are unarmed, the opponent has to let you retrieve your blade, even if they are the one that disarmed you. If you do not have your sword and your opponent kills you, they will have their sword taken from them and will be doomed to live a life without dignity.”
“Ashley,” I heard Link the Goron say. “I will have one of my Gorons go and get you and Link’s swords and shield.” I then heard a deep clap and heard one of the Gorons leave. I watched Leon closely, to make sure that he kept his word. He was one of Ganondorf’s minions, so I couldn’t trust him, even if he talked all smooth as he did. He was stroking that goatee of his while waiting; his rapier grasped in his other hand.
It took a little while for the Goron to get back with Link stuff and my stuff. Link began to put on his shield but I stopped him.
“I don’t think you should put that on,” I said as quietly as possible. “Leon seems like a pretty quick guy and his sword style most likely matches. That shield might weigh us down, which would be bad for us.”
Link smiled and said, “I think I’ll be fine with the shield on. You just worry about yourself right now. I’ll take this guy down first, so you don’t have to duel with him.”
“But Link-“
“No buts,” he interrupted me. “I can do this. Just watch me.”
Link still put on his shield and unsheathed his sword. I sighed as I watched him approach Leon, who just stood straight and smirked.
“Are you ready, boy?” he asked Link.
“Yes, I am,” Link replied.
“Well, this is exciting then,” Leon said and he pointed his blade at Link. “Let us duel then.”
Link and Leon’s blade met as a salute in a way to start the duel and then they took three steps back. “Let’s begin now,” Leon said and his feet started to move quickly as he got into his battle stance. Link just decided to charge after the guy, which wasn’t at all a good idea. All Leon did was spin around Link and poke him in the back lightly, which was probably just to taunt him.
Link thought fast and turned around and they had a little sword slashing fight, which lasted awhile, however Leon’s agility began to tire Link and he slowed down a lot. I knew that that would happen, seeing as Shannon had a similar style of swordplay. However, Link had never dueled against Shannon, so he really didn’t know what to expect from Leon.
“I told you about that shield,” I whispered as I watched Link struggle.
I knew it was close to the end of their fight as Link was breathing heavily and attempting to take breaks while Leon ran towards him. He held up for a while, but Leon did a swift kick to Link’s head and he fell over. Link was on his back when Leon put his boot on Link’s chest and pointed his blade at Link’s throat.
“Now, time to die,” Leon said and he pulled back his sword.
I thought fast and ran to Leon and grabbed his right hand so he could shove his blade into Link’s throat. “Alright,” I said, “you won, Link lost. Now, it’s my turn.”
“A duel is a fight to the death,” Leon snapped and he jerked his hand out of my grasp.
“If you lose to me, then you can kill us both,” I said, “but right now, this isn’t fair.”
“It’s part of the rules, you idiot,” he snapped. “You must follow the rules.”
“Screw the rules,” I snapped, “I’m not letting you kill Link.”
“The boy deserves it.”
“No he doesn’t.”
“Yes he does.”
And this went back and forth for a while, until I got tired of it and held out my hand and let out several bolts of lightning. Leon was thrown backwards, so I quickly went over to Link and helped him up. I asked him to walk over to the table and I watched as he limped and held his side. Of course, the poison he received from Shannon had probably contributed to his defeat, but I had to ignore him for now and have my duel with Leon.
I looked over at Leon who was getting slowly. He glared at me as a small line of blood went down his face. It dripped off his pointy, sculpted nose and plopped on the ground. He had more rage in his eyes than before, so I knew I was in for a fight.
“Link,” I said, without even looking at him, “throw me my sword, if you will.”
I heard the blade come off the stone table looked over to see it being tossed at me. In some sort of badass miracle, I was actually able to grab the hilt with my right hand and put on a badass smirk. “You ready?” I asked Leon, who had now completely stood up.
He said nothing and brushed his bangs to the side. Since we were away from each other, we didn’t need to do that whole three steps thing and I definitely would not salute this scumbag.
Leon didn’t even say when to start; he just charged right at me. I was caught off guard and slashed on my upper shoulder which stung like hell, so I jumped back as fast as I could. I didn’t get very far, but I saved myself a little time to recover. I was able to prepare for another swipe from Leon and succeeded in repelling him. I then gave him a quick kick to the torso and made him lose his balance.
I gave him a quick slash to my right, which made my arm cross my body, but I was able to get his side. There was a thin, but long wound on his side, but that didn’t stop him, unfortunately. With my arm still crossed, he slashed me on the side of my right arm, but I threw my right arm back to the right side and felt my heavy blade against his light, thin blade. Our blades met several times after that as we both try to tire the other out. My eyes were moving quick as I scanned Leon; trying to find an area that I could put a quick jab in and slow him down. If he was hurt, he would have trouble fighting back.
Finally, after many small cuts on both of us, I was able to have Leon slip up and keep himself unguarded. I used a quick jab of my blade to his right side and pierced it a bit. Unlike him, I wasn’t bent on killing anyone, so I did another swift jab with my sword and hit the hilt of his rapier right out of his hands. It slid across the floor and made a sharp sound, but I kept my eye on Leon, who was holding his right hand. I noticed that blood was dripping from it. He immediately began to limp over to his blade.
“Leon,” I said softly, but stern, “I do not intend to kill you this evening. I also don’t intend to duel much longer. You’re a great match and all, but I have stuff to do, rather than kill someone like you.”
“I’ll never surrender to the likes of you,” he said to me right before he reached down to pick up his sword.
“Go home Leon,” I said. “Go home and tell Ganondorf that his time on Hyrule’s throne is almost up. Tell him that he had better take advantage of the time he has right now.”
“Never,” Leon growled and he charged at me as quickly as he could, but I knew he was weak, so I thrust my sword forward and got Leon right in the shoulder. My blade went pretty far in actually, and he just stood there and looked at me; the rage in his eyes gone, now replaced with an empty, painful look.
I pulled out my sword and watched the red blood drip from it. Leon retreated backwards, holding his shoulder in pain. I didn’t want to harm him any further, so I stayed put and just watched him struggle. He collapsed on the ground beside his rapier so I walked up to him and crouched to his level.
“Tell Ganondorf that the Real Knights of Hyrule are going to come and kick his ass,” I said and I took the hilt of my sword and hit Leon on the head with it so he would pass out. I looked over to the Gorons and said, “Before I send this jerk back to the castle, I need you to clean and dress his wounds.” I reach on my belt and grabbed Pasta’s Pokeball and released him, instructing him to stand by until Leon was done, and then Pasta would fly him to the castle and leave as soon as he could.
With that said, I walked to my sheath and put my sword back in its place and then sat down at my seat. “Who’s ready for some food now?” I asked with a smile.