The Legend of Zelda: The King's Sword

Part Seven: Family

Link's POV:

"One last jump, chico," Iván says, as I have joined him on the first rooftop where we began, and Paco jogs behind Eron.

Eron takes off from the edge of the wall, and almost falls to the sand below, which isn't a far fall, nor a far jump, but still staggers to get back up from the edge, so I lend a hand for him to grab and pull him up, quickly joined by Paco, gracefully landing beside us.

"Let's go back down," Iván asks, the pink-orange sunset glow reflecting from his face.

"I'm tired, Iván," Paco sighs. "and so is Eronito."

"You didn't sleep as I told you, did you?" Iván tilts his head to the taller man, who pokes out a lip and slowly shakes his head. "You should go to sleep then, my friend."

"Okay," Paco looks back over the tainted roof. "I can already hear my father asking me where I've been."

"You'd better go ease his worries," Eron heaves.

"Sí," Paco smiles down at us. "You two sword masters mind each other, and, easy there, Eronito." he hops off the roof and does a playful, showy roll when he hits the ground and stands for a moment with his arms outstretched, and saunters away.

Another night with a black sky arrives, this one not filled with rest. Eron and I stay awake with Iván and stroll down the street whose doors, windows, and shops are closing.

We begin to wipe our eyes of exhaustion as we come by the edge of the street, where Eron says Roberto had played his guitar the night before, but no one seems present, so Iván proposes we patrol the right side of the map.

This area of town is particularly dark, but not like the section where the cave is located. It's impossible to tell if the entire right district is as deserted, nor if Merunia is usually a spooky place at night with the fear of Gerudo. After a quiet moment, we turn to each other as we hear distant shouts, running footsteps, and wrenching screams...

of a woman.

"Vamos."

We take off in the direction of the finished noise. After a long time, we begin to falter at the silence, that we were too late to save anyone, then, a depressed groan emerges. We near a torch-lit corner, from which the sound faintly issues.

We find the path through yellow brick walls, the only light that is given comes from the torchlight. In a dead-end down the trail of dust, a brown-skinned individual kneels in a feeble arch. She wears a high red birdtail and white Gerudo clothing. She does not look at us when approach, like a criminal waiting guiltily for their punishment.

"Um," Eron is the first to step forward. "Miss? Are...what is wrong?"

"You," she sobs, "take my little sister..." she hangs her head lower as a tear falls into the sand. "...and you ask me what is wrong?"

"We are not the men who took your sister," Iván says. "We actually...are here to help you get her back. We want to stop this war."

"I tried to tell her, we should not enter the city of the voe, but she disobeyed Mother's rules anyway, and what if she, what if they kill her? Or worse..." the young woman collapses into more tears, to which Eron responds by putting his hands around her shoulders.

"Please, don't worry," he says softly. "we came here to help you."

"You would do that?" she looks up at him.

"We are Stallions," Iván says.

"There are many more of us who want to help both the Gerudo and Merunia," I add.