FicWad

I was able to get the carpenters back to Lyle’s tent and they had a nice little reunion with him by being scolded and being put straight to work. I couldn’t blame him because Dmitri had a week of letters to catch up on and the carpenters probably had other things to work on after the bridge was finished. Despite being angry towards the workers, Lyle was calm towards me and thanked me, offering lunch as a reward, but I declined. I was very eager to start working with Edge Master so I could challenge my dark self. Of course, I didn’t tell Lyle that, but he said he understood and I went on my way back to the fortress.

I grabbed Lightning and walked with him as Lux sat in the saddle. The noise of progress was echoing through the canyons, so it didn’t fade from our ears until we got to the fortress area itself. Once we got there, I received some dirty looks from some of the guards, but the Second-In-Command was waiting for me.

“Ashley, come here please,” she said with a smirk. In her hand was what looked like a leather square that had the Gerudo symbol on it. She held it out to me and said, “This is a Gerudo membership card. If you ever need to come here for help or use our facilities, you will just need to show someone this.”

I took the card from her and looked at it. “So, uh, what can I use this for exactly?” I asked.

“Well, our training hall, where Edge Master is, can only be entered with this card,” the Second-In-Command said to me. “But, there’s also a dining hall, an archery practice area, and a free pottery class, which makes the pots to be broken for the archery area. All of this can be utilized with your card there.”

I smiled and was a bit impressed. For savage thieves, they sure had a great operation in the desert. Back at home, we had this thing called a YMCA, which you needed to membership to join to use their facilities, like a pool and all that junk. The Gerudos seemed to create something similar to that without knowing it.

I thanked her and went on my way to the training area, which was closed off by a metal gate. The Gerudo watching the area welcomed me with a warm smile and then offered to take my horse to the stall up the hill. I let her take Lightning and she opened the gate and let Lux and I in, then closed it behind us.

The path ahead of us was dark, but I could see a few torches in a chamber that was ahead. It was actually rather quiet, except for a couple of drips of water, which echoed throughout the hall we were walking down. Once in the chamber, I reunited with Edge Master who greeted me with a nod, but no smile. I knew this was going to be some serious business.

“Good evening, Ms. Brandt,” Edge Master said and he was stroking his beard. “I hope you’re ready for hours upon hours of training.”

“Oh, I’m more than ready,” I said with a smirk.

“Now then, what did you want me to teach you?”

“I want to learn how to use a staff,” I said.

“Oh, the staff, huh?” Edge Master said and was thinking to himself, or at least it looked like he was thinking. “I can teach you the staff, but I will warn you that it is a whole different weapon from the sword.”

“I’m aware.”

Edge Master paused and then asked, “If you don’t mind me asking, why do you want to learn how to use a staff?”

I sighed and said, “It’s a very long story…”

“Please, do tell. I’ve seen that Hyrule is in some troubles, anyway, so I know that something is up.”

“Well, if you insist,” I said and pondered where to start. “Okay, so this other guy and I are working together to try and save Hyrule. I guess we’re the chosen ones or something. Anyway, we have to reawaken these sages of Hyrule so they can lend us their power and so we can defeat Ganondorf, this king of evil. For the last two, my partner and I needed to split up, so I’m here in the desert and he’s in a village. I’m also given the task of clearing the temple located in the desert. But, for me to clear this temple, I need to get passed my dark self, who is guarding the final boss from me. For me to defeat my dark self, I need to take a different approach to my fighting style, thus I need a different weapon to use against her. I guess, somewhere in the temple, is a legendary staff called the Spirit Staff, which is my best option for beating dark me. That’s why I have come to ask for your assistance. I need to master this weapon as quickly as possible.”

The Edge Master frowned. “It takes a little longer than a day to master a weapon, Ashley.”

“I know that,” I said, “but I need to challenge myself and awaken the new sage so Hyrule is saved. I would love to take all the time in the world to learn how to use the staff, but there’s no way. I can’t let Hyrule’s fate hang in the balance for several years just so I can master something. I’m begging you, even if you are setting me up for failure, to let me learn from you. I might not be your best student, but I bet I’m the most driven.”

“You might be right about that,” Edge Master said and he stroked his beard and walked back and forth. “Unfortunately, some people regard drive as being useless.”

“Well, I don’t,” I said defiantly. “I have to save Hyrule.”

There was a long pause as the Edge Master just walked back and forth. He finally stopped and looked at me.

“I will teach you, Ashley,” he said, “however, it will not be easy. I don’t usually give people like you lessons, but you seem determined enough, so I think that I should help you out. The staff is a very useful weapon, as it covers more ground than the blade does in some instances. There are many different methods and ways of the staff, but the way that I know best and think is the best is the way of the Ling-Sheng Su.”

“I’m not familiar with that one…” I said.

“The Ling-Sheng Su is a temple that existed in the Animus Dimension,” Edge Master said. “I taught at that temple for a short while, but all of my students were killed by a man that was driven by an evil force. I was able to stop him, but I was too late; the whole temple was killed. I was able to calm down the young man and he was full of grief for his friends. His rampage wasn’t his fault, but I would rather not get into that. But, I took him under my wing and trained him so he could destroy the evil that caused him to go insane. He wielded a staff and was already a novice at the Ling-Sheng Su staff style. It took me a year to make him a pro at it.”

“I don’t have a year, unfortunately,” I said with a stern face. It wouldn’t be easy, and Edge Master knew that, but I had to learn how to use a staff.

“That is right, which is why I will need to work you harder than I did Kilik, the young man that killed hundreds of people,” Edge Master said.

“I’m ready for anything you have to give me,” I said.

Edge Master nodded, but still looked serious. “Fine then,” he said. “For your first part of training, I want you to work on your footwork. Though the staff doesn’t use quick footwork like a rapier, I would still like you to be quick. In the room to the left, there is an obstacle course. I want you to collect all ten silver rupees in there before time is up.”

I smiled and said, “Sounds easy enough.”

“Oh but, Ms. Brandt, I’m not done yet,” Edge Master said. “To make it a little more difficult, you will have this on your back.” I waited for whatever ‘this’ was as the Edge Master walked to the back wall and took a staff off the wall. I was finally going to handle one. The Edge Master held it out to me and I grabbed it with one hand, but quickly held it with two.

“What the hell is this thing?” I asked as I was forced to slouch because of the staff’s weight.

“That is called an Iron Rod,” Edge Master said and he cracked a smile. “It’s made completely of iron, which is why it’s so heavy. I use it for training purposes. Now, I will holster this to your back.”

I rolled my eyes as the Edge Master took my shield off my back. “Unbuckle your sheath, if you will,” he said and I did what he said.

“At least those are gone,” I said, relieved that I only had to carry the Iron Rod.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself, Ms. Brandt,” Edge Master said. “You’ll still have your sword and shield on for this task. It’ll add on that extra weight, which should make you stronger quicker.”

The belt that went around me to hold my sheath had another hook for the small, round holster that the Iron Rod could go on. The hilt of my sword was usually a little over my right shoulder, so Edge Master put the holster so that the staff was diagonal, starting above my left shoulder. My shield was then put right in the middle. I felt like a damn camel with all that stuff on my back.

“Now, if only I could get some Iron Boots,” Edge Master said.

“No!” I shouted and then tried to play it off cool. “They don’t make Iron Boots in Hyrule.”

“I’m sure they do.”

“They don’t and-er, regardless, I need to get started on training, like now,” I said quickly. I tried to evade the mentioning of Iron Boots again.

“Well, that is a shame,” Edge Master said and he pointed me to the first door to my left. I walked up to it and he said, “Now, you have five minutes to collect all of the rupees.”

“Sounds easy enough,” I said and I walked through the door and turned around. Edge Master was holding a lever, and then added, “Oh, yeah. And did I mention there are giant rocks?”

“Wait, what!” I shouted, but before I could do anything Edge Master had already pulled the lever and a door slammed down. I walked a little farther and noticed that the room I was in was nothing like the room that Edge Master described to me. What I saw was a room that had a lot of sand in the middle.

“Oh, I did also forgot to mention one room,” the Edge Master said, but I looked up and saw a small speaker. He was speaking through an intercom. “Before you begin the initial task, I want to give you a warm up. The room in front of you obviously has sand on it. It’s not quick sand but it will deter your movements, especially since you have more weight on you than usual. Anyway, enjoy.”

I rolled my eyes and took one step on the sand and felt my foot sink a little. I then put my other foot in the sand and my whole body sank a ton. Before I could react, these lizard monsters came straight at me. These guys were light and quick, so I was already in trouble. There were three of them and they surrounded me.

“Remember, utilize the staff,” I heard Edge Master say. “It can cover more ground than the blade, even enemies behind you.”

I grabbed the Iron Rod quickly and swung it around at the tip. I felt it slam against the lizard monsters and heard them retreat. They weren’t done yet however, as they started to jump at me. I received a couple knicks from them, but nothing too serious. To stop these guys, I did some fancy spinning moves above my head. I heard them all cry in pain and saw that one of them wasn’t moving. I looked around and saw that they were all down and out.

I fought my way through the sand and was able to get to the other side when I heard Edge Master from above, “Very good. “Now the next room is the rock room, I promise.”

“Thanks for the tip, asshole,” I said, but he shot back with: “I heard that!”

I didn’t bother saying anything else and walked through the next door, which immediately shut behind me. Bars also came down and locked me in so I couldn’t leave. I walked down the first path of the obstacle course and noticed that, on a ledge in front of me, there was a silver rupee up against something. I walked forward but immediately stopped when a rock rolled right in front of me.

“You have the choice of either running, or fighting the rocks,” I heard Edge Master say.

I chose to avoid the rocks and started to run. I looked over at an opening that was on the wall and figured out where some of them were coming from. There were a couple boulders behind me, so I knew that there must have been another opening somewhere.

There were a lot of steep hills in this place, which made it even harder for me walk, since I had a lot of weight on my back. It also made it easier for my rock friends to pick up speed and chase me across the damn place. It was a good thing Link wasn’t there, or I would be hearing it.

I was able to collect the goddamn rupees, but barely on time. The last rupee was the worst. It was just floating in the air, right above a ledge. The problem was, rocks were making their way down to the ledge, so I had to think fast, which I did, however, I forgot about the enormous amount of weight on my back, so when I jumped to try and reach the last rupee, I ended up falling on my face. The rock behind me launched off the ledge and was just under the rupee. Seeing that, I knew what to do, but I didn’t have much time left.

I ran up a path that lead me to the ledge, but I waited for a rock. As soon a rock fell and began to roll, I jumped on the side of it and held on. Once I was close to being on top, I stood up and ran with the rock. Unfortunately, I forgot one detail which was the way the rock was rolling. I planned on just running forward on the rock, but I actually ended up running backwards because of the way the rock was rolling. A cold sweat broke out as I feared falling off, but I was able to concentrate and keep my balance. Once at the end, I felt the rock lift off of the ledge and saw the rupee right in front of me. I grabbed it and saw the door I came into unlock. I rolled out of the way once I hit the ground and the huge rock I rode on hit the wall and broke into little pieces.

“Congrats,” I heard the Edge Master say and I sighed. Maybe I was done with training. “Now, return to the lobby for more instructions, my dear.”

I left the room and exited through the sand room where I fought those stupid lizard things. Once I got into the lobby, I met the Edge Master once again.

“How did I do?” I asked with a smirk.

“It was impressive,” Edge Master said with a smile, “but not good enough.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“For a beginner, you did wonderful, but you do not have enough time to be a beginner. Now, I will follow you on your next task.”

“And what would that be?” I asked.

“Shh, you will see,” Edge Master said and he grabbed a staff for himself. I walked behind him and saw Lux on the ground sleeping. Lux was probably more bored than tired. I just hoped that the training would be done soon. I just wanted to go and fight my dark self and then reawaken the next sage.

Edge Master led me to a door and it opened at the touch of a button. Suddenly, I felt intense heat coming from the room, but I had no choice but to continue in. Edge Master turned around and looked at me with a smile. The door slammed shut behind me.

“Because we are so short on time, this will be your final test,” Edge Master said with a stern expression. “I wish I could train you further for you do possess a rather determined soul. However, our time is cut short. The last part of training pushes you to use balance and concentration, while keeping style in mind. If you forget these elements…I’m afraid you will fall to your death.”

“Wait, what!?!” I shouted and Edge Master moved over. I walked to the end of the ledge and saw pillars; some were thick and some were thin, and right below that was a lot of lava. He wasn’t kidding; if I couldn’t pass this part of training, I would definitely die.

Edge Master jumped backwards and landed right on a pillar. I sort of wished that he had fallen in the lava, just so I didn’t need to do this ridiculous test.

“Now Ashley,” Edge Master said, “you have the choice to leave and never come back. If you choose to fight me, then step on the pillar in front of me.”

I looked at the pillar and then turned and looked at the door. This seemed a little extreme, but I had to do it. If I wanted to save Hyrule and ultimately defeat my dark self, I needed to finish my training. I reach back for the Iron Rod and took it off its holster. With the rod in my left hand, I jumped on to the pillar in front of Edge Master.

“Are you sure about this, my dear?” Edge Master asked and he still looked serious, but I could see some surprise in his eyes.

“I’m sure,” I said and cracked a small smile. I needed to keep cool, even though there was tons of lava below me. I put the rod on my left side and placed my left hand on the bottom with my right hand in the middle of the rod. I was ready to fight the Edge Master despite the fact that I knew I was only a beginner.

The Edge Master sighed and said, “Very well.” He bowed to me and got into his stance.

It was extremely quiet and tense. I liked to give my opponent the first move; I just thought that was courteous. Edge Master realized this and came at me, thrusting his staff forward. I quickly jumped to the pillar beside me, but miscalculated how wide the pillar was and almost jumped right over it. I felt a cold sweat as I realized my mistake, but I had no time to stop for the Edge Master took his staff and swung it at my ankles.

I jumped over the staff and used my first attack against the Edge Master by trying to slam the end of the staff on the side of his head. He jumped out of the way however and waited for me to attack again. I thought too quickly and went after him, not realizing that I was setting myself in his trap. He jumped over me and onto the pillar behind me and took his staff and slammed it against my back. I almost lost balance, but I used his hit to catapult myself to the next pillar.

I had to figure out a trap of my own, but I didn’t want to kill this guy, so I wasn’t sure what to do. My own question was if he actually wanted to kill me. There was no way that this guy was using his all during our fight. I heard that the Edge Master was probably the best warrior anyone could ever encounter, but I just didn’t get that feeling from this guy.

He came at me while I pondered this, but I was more than ready. I just had to trap him and then pin him, rather than throw him into the lava. He swung at me sideways, but I put my staff in the way so that his swing didn’t hit my side. When he drew back his weapon, I heard his wooden staff scrap against my Iron Rod. His staff was lighter, so it enabled him to be quicker, but I had sheer force with my staff and I needed to use that.

I blocked several of his attacks and kicked him. He did these really cool somersault things and landed on a pillar that was farthest from mine. There was a pause, of course, and then he ran straight for me. I put my staff over my head and swung it around like it was the propellers on a helicopter. I did this at the right moment and the staff slammed against the Edge Master’s cranium several times before my wrist became tired and I had to stop. The Edge Master jumped back to a pillar. He dropped his staff and held his head with both hands and then collapsed.

I smirked and jumped to the pillar he was on and took the end of my staff and put it right on his chest as a way to pin him down. “Ha, gotcha,” I said smartly and the Edge Master just looked to the side in pain. His head was bleeding and I felt a little guilty, so I definitely let my guard down.

What I didn’t know was that Edge Master was just waiting for me to feel sorry for him and let up. I didn’t expect him to grab his staff that was on the ground beside him and slam it into my head. It hurt like hell and I immediately dropped the Iron Rod which fell off the pillar and landed in the lava. I heard the hot lava engulf the rod as the iron bubbled and melted.

My head was pounding and I lost balance. I tried to stay still and put one foot on the pillar, but my foot didn’t land on the pillar and I felt my body fall backwards towards the lava pit. I prepared myself for the burning death I would face, but I actually felt a tug on the collar of my tunic and then a hand on my back. I opened my eyes and saw double of the Edge Master. I couldn’t help but crack a small smile.

He picked me up off my feet and jumped across several pillars to get us both back to solid ground. He opened the door to the lobby of the training hall and sat me on a rug. I began to regain my senses and sat up slowly. My head still hurt like hell, but I could finally see straight again.

“You did a lot better than I thought you would out there,” Edge Master said. “You’re a worthy opponent, Ash. You don’t deserve to be killed by something like lava.”

“Speaking of lava,” I said, “I’m sorry about your Iron Rod…I think it’s gone.”

“No, it’s fine,” Edge Master said. “I have piles of those damn things lying around at home. I always have them ready for someone to use for training. I actually have three with me right now.”

I stood up slowly, but still held my head as I saw little dots. I breathed slowly and the little dots disappeared and I was able to see rather clearly. “Well, I suppose I should go now,” I said. “I have a lot of things to do. But, thank you for all the training, even if it was short.”

“Before you go, I would like to give you something,” Edge Master said and he walked over to a wall that had staves hanging on it. He looked at several staves and then nodded. He lifted up a staff that was a dark orange color and had a black jewel on the end, which was held by a grey claw. He walked over to me and set it in my hands when I held them out. The rod was a lot lighter than the Iron Rod and I felt a lot more comfortable holding it.

“This is called the Ling Sheng Su Bo,” Edge Master said. “This staff is from the Ling-Sheng Su Temple and there are only a few left in this world, since the temple was destroyed. From what I have heard, only the most driven of warriors can handle this weapon and I think you’re a good choice. Take what I have taught you, Ashley, and save this kingdom. I wouldn’t like to see this place end up like my homeland. I’ve heard of how the Triforce drives men made, like the current ruler here. This Triforce thing reminds me of a sword from home called the Soul Edge, which drove many men mad, like the young man I had trained after he destroyed his family in the Ling Sheng Su Temple. I hope you can overcome any madness that the Triforce might bring.”

“Thank you, so much,” I said and I put the staff through the holster on my back, underneath my shield. The load I was now carrying was extremely heavy. “I do have a question, however. The sword that you speak of, what is it called?”

Edge Master looked at the ground and said, “I will only tell you if you promise me that you will not try to seek it.”

“I promise,” I said with a smile.

“The sword is called Soul Edge,” Edge Master said. “I wouldn’t really call it a weapon, despite the fact that it is in the form of a huge zanbato as we speak.”

“What’s a zanbato?” I asked. I had never heard of one before.

“It’s sometimes called a horse-slaying sword,” Edge Master said. “The blade is usually very thick and very long. Only a skilled and large person can handle these swords. The Soul Edge thought that this would be the best weapon to take over, seeing as it could break the thin blade of a rapier into pieces. It’s a truly disgusting sight to see whenever Soul Edge takes over one’s weapon. Unfortunately, if one holds the hilt of the weapon that Soul Edge uses as its host, they will become a host to Soul Edge as well.”

“But, this sword is only in your dimension, right?” I asked.

“Yes, and no. As you get older and continue on your journey, you will realize that your soul is intertwined with people you haven’t even came across yet; people from a whole other dimension. Or even people that are closer than you’d think.”

Closer than I think? I thought to myself and I thought of people that I knew. It was scary to think that someone like Link knew about this Soul Edge and, when I left Hyrule, what if he was driven mad and decided to pursue the sword? He seemed a little smarter than that.

“Now, don’t worry about this sword,” Edge Master said. “You have other things to worry about. Just remember that people’s reasons for fighting may differ from yours and that people who seem like friends could be enemies and people who seem like enemies could be friends.”

That didn’t really ease my mind at all, but I nodded anyway and smiled. “I won’t let you down, sir.”

“Good,” Edge Master said with a smile. “Now, do what you need to do and save this kingdom from evil. It needs someone like you to defend it.”

There was really nothing more said. I went over to Lux and woke him up and we basically got on our way. The Edge Master and I exchanged our goodbyes and I walked out.



Unfortunately, I would never see him again.