Link was rowing the boat as it, slowly but steadily, approached the northern side of Toronbo Beach. Once they were close enough, the Prince jumped out of the boat, got behind it and started to push it until it got stranded on the sand.

  ZELDA POV

  All right, we are here… maybe our stay is not going to be that hard. Link can hunt, and I can already see some herbs that we could eat. Oh, and that one in particular works for making the heal potion. But what is that coming out from behind it? Is that a Red Chuchu?

  Link also notices the enemy and immediately rolls in front of the boat throwing some sand at the chuchu to draw its attention. The jelly monster follows Link deeper into the island, and away from the Princess.

  Zelda appeared to be frozen in fear, but she quickly got out of the boat and started running around the shore, searching for a sturdy branch or something Link could use as a weapon.

  Come on, there must be something around here that… A SWORD?

  As she approached it, she stumbled on some wood laying there, it appeared to have been a part of a chest that used to contain the sword, but something smashed it to pieces some time ago.

  Well, it’s not a dagger like Link is used to, but he is a SWORD agent, he should be capable of fighting with this dented piece of steel.

  She actually managed to grab it and run back carrying it, the sword was a little heavy for her, but the fact that she was at least able to carry it made her smile.

  “LINK!” she screamed as she threw the sword at him.

  The Hero saw what was thrown at him and ran to intercept it, he caught it midair by the handle and performed a moulinet to quickly assess its structural integrity. The blade had seen better days, but it was still functional. He pressed the middle of the blade to his forehead as a whisper of breath left his lips, words not for the world, but for the blade alone.

  Now I am confused, is he praying to the Goddesses or something? Is he afraid? He shouldn’t be. I have seen what he is capable off, it may not be a stiletto, but I know he is more than capable of using that sword.

  The Hero slowly turned to the gelatinous foe, the blade glinting on his left hand as he twirled it threateningly. Link smirked and dashed forward. The first slash came quick, a diagonal cut that sliced into the gelatinous flesh with a satisfying slurp, then another and another in quick succession. His blade moved like lightning, as his torso and legs quickly adapted to the angle he took for every strike. Zelda was staring at him in shock.

  Raziel is a fucking monster… have I been losing my time training with the guards? I mean, it’s just during my spare time, but I thought I was accomplishing something by keeping up with most of their training. I have even spared with some of them, and won at times even. But this… how can I even compete?

  I thought he was proficient using daggers... and I stupidly assumed that I stood a chance at winning against him if we spared using swords. But he manipulates the sword like it’s an old dance partner of his.

  The Princes shook her heat smiling, maybe defeating the blue Hinox really was a possibility. Who could stand a chance against the two legged monster in front of her.

  The Chuchu was dead after the first strike, but Ziel wouldn't stop his attack. He viciously continued the assault with a rapid succession of sword slashes, and then delivered a slash of pure untamed power until there was nothing left of the jelly monster. Just some puddles of it on the sand, and remnants of it dripping from Link's blade. The Hero retrieved a fragment of Chuchu Jelly left behind by the monster and spoke to Zelda.

  “I am sure you could use this to increase the potency of the healing potion you are making… but I want to keep this small amount of it. I could use it as a weapon against the Hinox” Link said.

  Use THAT slurpy thing as a weapon? How? Well, if he thinks he can use the jelly, then he is free to take it. I don’t mind.

  Zelda starts dusting herself with her palms “Take it… by the way, where did you learned to fight like that? I thought your weapon of preference was the stilettos”

  Link negates shaking his head “In the Quantum World I use daggers because they can be easily concealed under my clothing. But my personal preference will always be a sword”

  And he just elaborated on why he uses stilettos for his job, but didn’t answer my question about his mastery using a sword. I know he heard it, but he is choosing to disregard it. And I am smart enough to know I should not press on that. It’s obviously a sore spot for him.

  The Princess sighs “So, am I to believe that this is what you will do to me once we restart my sword training?” she asked pointing at the remnants of the Chuchu.

  Link frowns “Of course not” he approaches the puddle, and draws her crying on the sand using the tip of the sword, he then drops on one knee and grabs some of the Chuchu puddle and splashes it on the Princess drawing “more like this” he says with a mischievous smile.

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  Fuck…that IS a good drawing. At what does he not excels at?

  Zelda yells furious and starts punching him, he deviates some of her blows easily, but allows her to land some of the punches with a smile. Then something in his eyes changed. As the Princess lunged forward to continue punching, Link’s hand shot up like a viper. Fingers clamped around her wrist, stopping her cold. In one fluid motion, he twisted her arm behind her back, forcing her body to turn with it. Link chuckled and started speaking to her ear.

  “Actually, it will be something similar to this Princess” Link says letting go of her “I will only be allowed to perform 1 attack move, and 1 dodge move.”

  “But… was that really everything you did now?” Zelda asks.

  “I deflected your attacks when I could, and I attacked when I saw the chance by twisting your arm behind your back. Just two moves. That should give you a lot of room to improvise and come up with a plan to defeat me… it’s not going to be easy, but it’s doable I think”

  Damn, I can see the light now; it just became possible to defeat him. I know, if he limits himself its like cheating, but come on. Who could defeat him if he went all in? None of the castle guards would stand a chance...

  Zelda starts smiling as a plan takes form on her head.

  He needs to train the guards. I should talk about this with father… just to polish the idea, because I am sure he would be more than happy to execute it. After all, this will mean that Raziel is no longer allowed to be absent for more than a week at a time, maybe 2 weeks.

  “I like your proposal; it’s fair and gives me something to aim for”

  “Good… I don’t see any other threat around; I will leave you here to pick up anything you may need for your witchy brewing needs. I will find the portal and start setting camp by it, and then I will come back for you” Link turns to walk away.

  “I AM NOT A WITCH” Zelda yells, but soon starts giggling.

  LINK POV

  The Hero walked whistling care free; he had the sword resting across his shoulder.

  *Hey, I know that you just had to demolishing that Chuchu out of pent-up frustration. But I don’t understand why you took a moment to pay respects to this sword…*

  You know, the Zelda I had when I was fighting Ganon was willing to stand idle and watch me being eviscerated. But this Princess refused to be dead weight.

  *What you are saying is that this Zelda is a team mate, an ally even*

  Wouldn’t call her and ally since she hates me, but…

  Link chuckled as he finally found the portal, though it didn’t have a frame to signal its existence, he just knew it was there because the edges of the space wavered but nothing else moved, even when the wind blew, the fallen leaves and the tree branches remained still.

  Do you know how much I prayed for Zelda to help me on that final battle with Ganon? All she had to do was to grab the master sword and throw it inside the ring of fire for me… but she never even thought about it. A few moments ago, I almost cried when I saw it finally happening. And she did it not because I was weaponless and about to die... she did it because she could and wanted to help. I just had to show my gratitude to this blade and raise a prayer to the Goddesses.

  Inspecting the area, the Hero found a cooking pot that had been obviously carried there from somewhere else on the island. He kept searching the ground for signs of a buried crate; Michelle had told him once about how she had built it and hidden it for storage use. When he finally found it, he uprooted small plants that had been growing there and brushed off the dirt that had accumulated over the years before opening it. Inside he found a sleeping bag, a notebook and a Picto Box.

  Nice, the Princess has somewhere to sleep, and I finally have the Picto Box, agent Snail never allowed me to use. Well, sorry Michelle, I am going to use it to take the picture I promised my King.

  As he thought of that, curiosity made him look to see if there was a picture already stored on it, and there was one, but he could not really see it. The picture was in black and white, and the poor illumination didn’t allow him to really see it. So, he walked into an area where the sun rays penetrated the foliage and his eyes watered as he saw the picture.

  On the first plane you could see Michelle smiling, her skin was pale, untouched by sun. Her eye color was clear brown, not a striking color, but still captivating. And her wavy black hair was tied up in a high ponytail. Behind her was Link in his usual green attire, lying on the floor while he slept after having eaten more food that he was used to.

  I remember that day, I woke up scared because I had fallen asleep in front of a stranger… I had no idea that over eating caused that. But she told me it was ok, and that she could share more food with me if I followed her.

  *Haha, I remember that, she sounded like a criminal going for an easy kidnap*

  I know, but if she wanted to hurt me, she would have done so already. And I needed the extra food for myself and for Saria, hence why I followed her through the Lost Woods. She struck the back of my head, tied me up and… why am I telling you all this? You were there, you should know the rest.

  *You are telling me because talking about it helps heal from the loss, and I am a good listener*

  Link stared at the picture for a while, trying to engrave it on his mind. Then he discarded it, opening the slot for the future picture of him and a dead Hinox.

  Ziel stared at the notebook.

  *Open it, the worse that could happen is that it breaks you… you don’t want to cry in front of the Princess, so better do it now*

  Link opens it and what he read made him feel nostalgia. It was agent Snail detailing Link, how he targeted food carriages and robed them, how sometimes he ended up fighting castle guards for the food. She wrote that the unknown kid had an uncanny mastery of the sword arts, an oddity for someone so young.

  On the next page, the agent wrote about the reason why she decided to follow the kid. One day, a random guy entered the bakery at the Market; he stole the money and raped one of the women that worked there. The kid entered the bakery and discovered a young female sobbing on the floor, the other two hugging her and trying to console her. Once he managed to get them start talking, the ladies described in gruesome detail what happened. The boy left the establishment irate. She thought the kid was giving off a pretty dangerous vibe, so she started to follow him.

  The last page she wrote in detail how the kid had managed to track the culprit down, draw him out of the market and drowned him on the river. She wrote every part of the process with gruesome detail. And then described how the minor dusted his clothes and continued with his day as if nothing had happened.

  So THAT is what she saw that made her want to recruit me… I guess I had always been SWORD agent material. Thanks for everything Michelle… you didn’t kidnap me, you saved me in many ways.

  The Hero sighed and decided to head back to Zelda.