Chapter Text
Back in the Chief’s room with Rashira sitting on her throne with her cheek on her palm, Dani standing on her right side, and Link on her left side.
“Since we’re in private, state your names and explain the whole story.” She said this while looking at all of them.
“We have nicknames, seeing as all of our names are Links.” The tallest one stated it with a gentle smile. Rashira’s and Link’s eyebrows rose.
“Hm, no offense, but I would hate the name Link after that.” She chuckled at some of the offended looks from the wolf-pelt man, the man with the white cape, and the one wearing the lobster shirt. The taller man chuckled.
“We go by our hero titles. I’m Time; the one with the wolf pelt is Twilight; the one with the white cape is Sky; the long hair is Wild; the lobster shirt is Wind; the pink hair is Legend; the curly hair is Hyrule; and the last one is Four.”
“Hm, then it’s nice to meet all of you. I am Rashira, and this is Dani.” She waved to her right. “And this one is Link.” Link blushed, a bit embarrassed getting introduced wearing Vai clothing. He saw the wide-eyed looks and mischievous smiles that screamed teasing. Link looked over to Rashira with a glare, which she graced with a toothy smile. The younger-looking ones were chuckling while Wild looked at his outfit with a small smile. If this had lasted any longer, Link would’ve been as red as a tomato.
“Ahem, can you tell us about this monster?” Link questioned, which left no room for any more teasing. Everyone sobered up at that.
“Right, we don’t exactly know why or how this monster showed up. We dub it Shadow. It’s been creating monsters with black blood.” Time pauses. “These black-blooded monsters are stronger, faster, and smarter than most. After we defeat them, a portal shows up; sometimes it’s a couple days after we defeat them, and sometimes it shows right away.”
“You don’t get a break in between fights?”
“Rarely.”
“I see. Well, I’ve traveled from Castle Town to here without seeing a sight of monsters. Let alone black-blooded monsters.”
“Black blood…” Rashira looked at the ceiling in thought before snapping her fingers and facing the heroes. “Sa’oten! That’s right! Link,” she looked over to her left, “I was going to tell you this after the portal got handled: my warriors found monsters with black blood blocking the way to the Ice House towards the Northwest. We can’t get any ice thanks to those monsters. They took out four of my warriors; one of them told me it was a herd of Lizalfos with one Aeralfo, which acted like the leader.” Link groaned.
“Of course it’s those. Alright, consider it done.” He looked at the other heroes and asked, “Mind helping me?”
“Aye! And we can make a game out of it!” Wind nudged Wild, who was standing next to him with a dazed expression.
“That would be fun!” Wild said with a bright smile. “Yea! We can keep count of how many we kill!” He made a bow motion.
“Naw. Both uh y’all aren’t playin’ uh games with blaak-blooded monsters.” Twilight said, exasperated. Link lit up like a candle with a teasing smirk.
"A country boy, huh? Interesting. Is this your first time in a city like this?" Twilight looked at him with a deadpan expression. Moving on with a roll of his eyes.
"Way(We) need uh plan, correct? Chief, did chur warriors havuh plan?"
"No, usually they scout for a while and strike at night. None of them knew the monsters were stronger than usual. If you climb the Northwest wall, you can see their tower. But if you want a plan, I suggest you ask Link. He has experience with plans for battle." Rashira leaned her head toward Link, looking up at him with a bored look. "Think you can put your battle plans to good use, yes?" Link was startled at the question; he honestly thought no one cared about his planning since so many plans during the war went awry, even if they won the battles.
"Oh, of course I can." He smiled brightly and said, "Shall we go? I need to see the camp to plan."
The heroes were all checking out the monster camp in the distance. Link squinted towards the camp in the distance. There seemed to be eight Lazalfos and two Aeralfos. Thinking of possible plans to take the camp out.
“Anyone good at bows? We would need at least two.” From the corner of his eye, he saw Wild perk up.
“I am.” Wild pulled some kind of block off his hip while tapping the screen. A blue light shone as a bow replaced the light. Link looked at it but shook his head with a promise of later.
“Ah’m too, not as good as Wild, though.” The rancher said this with a rub to his neck.
“That’s fine. We can use archers to thin out their numbers, and the rest of us can go in for a sneak attack. Or perhaps one with fire.” Link pulled off his bag of weapons and dropped it on the wall. He squatted to go through it. “Any magic users? Are we all magic users? It doesn’t matter; these don’t really need much magic to use.” He pulls out a fire rod from his bag, along with a magical rod, and digs a bit deeper, pulling out bows and an ocarina, bottles, and a pair of gauntlets.
“Oh, my Hylia. He’s a hoarder like you, Vet.”
“Shut up, Sailor. Not a hoarder; I just like being prepared.” Legend crosses his arms and glares at Wind.
“Not a hoarder; they're just weapons that are too valuable. So I carry them with me. You don’t do the same?” He looks back at them with a raised eyebrow. Each one shook their heads except Legend. “Guess you guys don’t have a Ravio in your lives. Actually, Mask should know.” Link chuckled, remembering the young hero.
“How do you know that name?” Legend growled, making Link look at him.
“From the war, he and a couple others came through portals to help, I guess.” Link looked back down at his bag. “Okay, so Lizalfos hate bombs, and Aeralfos hate hook shots. Only use them if you have an opening; it will stun them. Leave Aeralfo alone for now. Their attacks are predictable, but Lizalfos change their attacks every so often; they love to watch their opponents and change their tactics.” He pulled out his bombs and hookshot, grabbing all the other stuff back in the bag again. “So here’s the plan. Wild, Twilight, you stay hidden behind one of the dunes taking down Lizalfos. As many as you can, even if it’s just one. At least aim for the archers on the top level; they love to call for help.” Link paused, looking towards the monster camp. “As soon as they discover us, we strike. Magic would be the easiest, but it might be best for magic users to cover the others. Whatever you do, don’t use electricity on the Lizalfos; it gives them a boost. The Aeralfo is probably hiding in the dunes; they like to go for a surprise attack, so it’s best to clear the structure and attack from above.” He grabbed his magic rod out of his bag but decided against using it. “We move together, or team up with someone, never show your back to the enemy, and be fast with your attacks. They're weak against bombs, so keep those handy. Are we ready?”
Link looked at the others.
They moved closer to the icehouse, while Twilight and Wild stood behind a dune of sand. The others got ready to fight, hiding behind pillars. Legend, Four, and Hyrule stood towards the back next to Wild and Twilight, ready to cover the others. Time, Wind, Sky, and Link stood behind pillars. Link, being the closest to the bowsmen, looked at them and motioned to shoot. The boys nocked an arrow, pulled the bowstring back, aimed, and fired. Fortunately it didn't alert the monsters; the arrows hit true and killed one of the guards. The other guard looked around but didn't see anything, deciding to do what they were doing. They nocked another arrow and aimed at the other monster, hoping the arrows were strong enough for the Lizalfos. Luckily enough, they were.
They kept thinning out the monsters, or tried to; they got discovered with the fourth one. The boys moved in on them. Sky moved first, followed by Wind. They caught one Lizalfos’ off guard, but the one standing next to it attacked Wind. That's when Time moved in with his claymore. Slicing up the Lazalfo. Link moved in fast and low, striking two monsters before he used bombs to catch Lizalfo off guard. He killed one while Sky got the other. They walked further into the camp, looking around for the last one to show itself. Just then they heard a whistle, which had Time turn around suddenly and slice an incoming monster. Claiming the last Lizalfo in the area. But none of them were Black Blood.
The fire came quickly from above; they threw their shields up at the last second, not expecting a fiery attack so soon.
A screech sounded as an Aeralfo flew down with their sword in hand.
“Is this a black blood one!” Link shouted to his companions as he swiped his sword up to hit the wing, but the monster dodged at the last second. It flew backwards and got stabbed by Sky, who was behind it.
“It definitely is a Black Blood!” Sky shouted as he kept on the offense. Link got his footing again and was about to strike again, but the monster flew up, about to blow fire again. Link quickly switched out his sword for his bombs, throwing three in quick succession at the monster, stunning it for Sky to attack. With a nod of his head, Sky attacked and didn't let up for one second. The monster whacked Sky back with its wing and turned to attack Link with its sword.
While the two were fighting this one, the other two took on the second one. Each one took and gave hits until the two Black-Blooded monsters fell and disappeared.