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Nausea blinded Warriors as he stumbled through the shift; teetering as he tried to adjust to soft sand where once was sturdy soil beneath his boots. The bright light of the Chain’s campfire winked out with a final flare, only to be replaced by the near moonless night of a brand new Hyrule.
Near immediately, Warriors was on his guard. The familiar sounds of battle rousing his adrenaline.
Crimson lit up the darkened beachside. Two strange contraptions shone like beacons in the night, cutting through it to reveal monsters as Warriors had never seen them before. Moving almost spider-like on six legs, they crawled on top of the sand with speed that left him alarmed. Their sectioned, spinning bodies concentrated with literal laser focus.
The malignant light of the monsters backlit a much smaller silhouette. The unfortunate centre of the beasts’ attention. Flitting about the beachside, he dodged stamping feet with expert ease even as he swung back with his own weapon in turn.
All Warriors could actively see of the monsters’ assailant was the unearthly blue glow of his sword and shield.
One of the creatures scurried back, sights set on the soldier, as the other reared up, attempting to crush him under its weight. In a split second, the blue light of the fighter disappeared and the creature above him froze mid-air; its body wrapped tight in yellow chains.
A bow came to life in the hands of the stranger, its string that same blue of the now missing sword and shield; yellow-orange accents riddled its limbs. Similarly, the nocked arrow flickered blue too.
Just as the hum of the monster reached a crescendo, the arrow was loosened. It hit just shy of a bullseye to the creature’s eye; instead ripping a ghastly hole through the metallic hide of its head.
In lieu of cursing the almost of his accuracy, the soldier instead set a frantic pace towards his stunned opponent. Leaving the frozen one’s restraints to strain in his wake.
The chains of it shattered, the creature breaking free and landing heavily on its belly. It heaved itself back to its feet with a screeched creaking; its head swivelling to reorient itself; to lock back onto their opponent.
Its eye caught sight of Warriors first.
He reached for his sword, horror washing over him when he grasped at empty air. Vividly, the memory of his weapon placed upon his pack flashed in his mind’s eye; its steel blade glinting in the firelight as Warriors sat, woefully unprepared, during his watch.
Weaponless, Warriors looked for cover; both for his own safety and to not interfere with the delicate balance of battle that was being waged without him. He didn’t need daylight to tell him there was nowhere to go, though. On one side were sheer cliffs towering into the dark, on the other the dull roar of ocean waves. He could run down the beach, but the thought of turning his back on such foreign foes left him more than unsettled.
The beast’s eye blinked. The whirring increased sharply in pitch. There was no more time to plan. Instinctively, Warriors threw himself bodily to the side.
Searing heat passed by him; as if the molten core of Death Mountain itself had been harnessed into one single shot. With a courage he could scarcely scrounge up within himself, Warriors looked back.
Where he’d stood only moments before was now a fading inferno.
A screeching clang rang out, not dissimilar to that of swords meeting. Warriors’ attention was wrenched firmly back toward the battle taking place. The behemoth of a creature flailed as the glow of two of its feet winked out; the ones around its body shuddering and spinning in panic.
Following the stranger’s swift movements, Warriors watched as two more legs were severed in quick succession. The limbs combusting in a shower of fire and sparks, leaving the remaining sparking stump to be dragged through the sand. Yet, the creature, seemingly unfeeling of any pain, soldiered on. It was that same single minded bloodlust that was its undoing.
Unbalanced, the beast found itself tipping over onto its side as it tried to stand; its remaining limbs buckling under the increased weight put upon them. Taking aim at the now exposed underbelly, the soldier took a running start before leaping into the air; sword held steady above his head, ready to strike with all the weight of his body behind it.
He came down blade first. The blue of the weapon sunk deep into the blazing centre of the beast with an ear splitting shriek of metal on metal. Those spidery legs thrashed about in the air, missing its attacker only barely. Embers of the creature’s lifeforce spat into the face of the soldier, who, unphased, only pressed on further. Going deeper.
Glacially slow, at least to Warriors’ stunned perception, the thrashing died down; eventually to a sluggish stop. The red of its lights blinkered in and out, dying one by one until only the eye was left to fade into the nothingness of night.
One creature was dead.
But one still remained.
Drawn by the disappearance of its comrade’s malicious glow, the creature that had shot at Warriors redirected its attention; finally finding its original target and locking on.
Abandoning his sword in the husk of the lifeless beast, the soldier re-equipped his shield; readying it with steely determination as he backed his way into unobstructed space. The laser of the last living creature followed intently.
It was as the sound of gathering power crept up in pitch, and the soldier steadied himself for it, that Warriors made a horrifying realisation.
This stranger had absolutely no intention of dodging.
Warriors made to shout, to warn, to plead, to tell him to run. That his shield held no chance at protecting him from the monster’s attack; the remembered heat ghosting against his skin. But his voice was drowned out by the deafening sound of deathly strong and deadly accurate fire.
Blindingly bright scarlet streaked across the shore at near incomprehensible speeds, sand blackening in its wake. In a split second red met blue, a chiming ting rang out, and the projectile was sent hurtling back towards its sender.
Unlike before, this shot was perfect.
Striking a brilliant bullseye, it collided with the thing’s eye with a cracking sound; the delicate glass casing of it shattered as the shot went straight into the inner workings of its head. Smoke billowed from it in great plumes, bright light emanating from the cracks rapidly ripping throughout its metal body. Its head spun wildly, stuttering as it tried to charge up yet another attack to no effect. Mechanical wails rent the night air. Its legs gave up on it.
Fire lit up the darkness as the creature combusted from the inside out.
Warriors stared at the beast's wrecked form, now shattered beyond repair, in awe. He eyed the bits and pieces of the slain beast as they came to rolling stops where they’d flown in every which direction during the blast. One travelling so far as to stop barely a foot from his feet. The odd metal singed and still slightly aflame.
He gave a low, appreciative whistle.
Unfortunately, Looking at the battle’s victor, Warriors found the equally broken remains of his shield littered both the ground as well as the flesh of his still raised arm.
Years of post-battle work as an impromptu field medic jump started Warriors' body before his brain. He was almost to the stranger, ready to steady the injured man, when he was finally seen.
Face obscured by lengthy hair, busy inspecting the still intact corpse of the fallen foe next to him, the soldier looked up at the sound of footfalls through sand. All Warriors truly saw was the widening whites of eyes before the stranger was ripping his sword from where it was still lodged; swinging it out just shy of slicing Warriors' neck.
Standing stock still, the point of the other’s sword was held to his jugular. The smoulder of the blade reflected shockingly bright in the soldier's pupils. Gnarled scars shone eerily as blue hit the stretched flesh.
Gingerly, Warriors raised his hands in surrender. Wincing as the blade bit slightly into skin at the movement.
Hands in the air, a new light caught his notice.
There, on the bare back of his hand, was the faint golden outline of the Triforce; its radiant gleam brighter and brighter by the second. Warriors knew the meaning behind its appearance, more so than most. It was its appearance that told him who exactly this strange soldier in front of him was. Same as it had with the men that had shown up to Hyrule Castle looking for him.
This was yet another hero. Yet another Link.
Slowly, as to not alarm him again, Warriors turned his hands around; until his palms faced in and the glow faced out. It drew the new hero’s attention immediately.
Gold joined blue in the reflection of his eyes.
His jaw slackened, sword lowered, gaze fixated on the symbol etched onto Warriors’ skin; quickly diverted to his own as the Triforce appeared on him as well. Warriors relaxed, thankful for the release.
With all the defence drained out of him, replaced with plain curiosity, Warriors finally noted the youth in his face. Despite all the scarring, his skin was soft underneath it; baby fat still clung tight to his cheeks.
“What…” The new hero’s voice was quiet and rough. He wondered if the scarring around the boy’s throat had any part in that. “... is that?”
Warriors blinked, thinking back to the disaster that was Four’s recruitment; the Hero of the Four Sword having never wielded the Master Sword, let alone having heard of the Triforce. If this hero’s journey had been anything like that…
Well, this wasn’t going to be easy to explain.