Shattering the Stars

For Our Eyes Only

I'm honestly shocked that I managed to finish this chapter in a week. I thought I'd be working on this for a while, but hey, go me for being productive with the story! Anyways, this one is a bit more uplifting by the end, so enjoy!
-Jooostan

Shattering the Stars
Chapter 16: For Our Eyes Only

There was an eerie stillness looming above the clouds of the Snowhead region. The peaks, normally blanketed with ice during the fall and winter, remained snowless during the summer, overlooking all of Termina quietly as the minutes ticked by. The Gorons had lived for many years undisturbed by any calamity, ever since a boy in green helped quell the rage of a beast known as Goht that had been unleashed on the temple by the corrupted witch, Majora. Yet now, even in the welcomed era of peace throughout Termina, something was present that none were aware of.

Hovering above the chilled clouds of Snowhead was a dreadnaught belonging to a man that was alien to the realm. He and his crew, all profane pillars to a shared plan, inspected the land acutely. On the bridge of the advanced ship stood Shatterhand, a tablet in his hand, absorbing all the information he could about the land that one of his foes hailed from. Beside his boots was one of his hounds, a blood hound, asleep comfortably with its master. It was outfitted with miniscule surgical enhancements around the eyes, ears, and mouth in order to make it a fearsome hunter.

On the tablet in his hand, there was a live feed of Clock Town, the drone's camera zoomed in and focused on the Stock Pot Inn. It was there that Shatterhand was certain he had seen a young, red-headed woman. Something about her called out to him.

One of the many men working under Shatterhand's grip nervously approached, a number of his coworkers pleased that he was the one that had lost the bet to speak to their leader. With a distinct stutter, he asked, "Is everything satisfactory, sir? I-In regard to the sentries out around the regions...?"

Shatterhand said nothing for a moment, until easily moving past his followers' initial question and going on to what he suspected they wanted to discuss. "You have news for me, from the captain, I presume?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then speak," Shatterhand ordered.

"W-Well, sir, there seems to be a new anomaly in our scans. Far out in realm ADDQ-2004, then moving to ADDQ-1988. Our readings show high variances of energy not dissimilar to your Ultra Sword..." After another moment of wordless collection, Shatterhand deactivated the tablet in his hand. "It-It seems that the variants have an ally..."

Shatterhand stopped. It was as if he had abruptly become a statue, motionless. About half a minute passed before another word was spoken.

"In some realms, it's said that victory is decided before a battle even begins," Shatterhand mused aloud, his words only confusing his underling. "It all revolves around strategy if I remember correctly. You must prepare for the kill while the opponent is unaware."

"Uhm... I'm not sure I follow, sir..." The technician mumbled in response.

"Do you think that we were unprepared for our battle in the Mushroom Kingdom with those... people?" Shatterhand asked, turning his head, glancing at his minion out of the corner of his right eye.

"N-No, sir..."

"Then how to you suppose we were not successful in eliminating them?"

"B-Because we were-"

"Not prepared, that is correct," Shatterhand said before the other man could even finish his thought. The hound by his feet instantly woke up at the sense of its master growing irritated. "Now in all of my years of doing this, only some of our targets ever fought back. A few didn't even acknowledge that they were on the receiving end of revenge. But now there is a band of misfits that were able to stand up to our own strength, ending that battle in what I'd call a draw."