Samus in Altea

Chapter 1

AN: Okay so! I got this idea a few years ago all from the photo on the side and I never had a sturdy enough foundation for a story. Like I knew what I wanted to do but I didn't know how to do it. So here we are. I hope you guys enjoy it. Feel free to vote and comment!

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As Samus crept through the dark, damp cave, she swept her eyes back and forth, ears perked for any unusual sounds. The only sounds in the eerie cave were the sounds of her heavy, metallic footsteps and her steady breathing. There had been an alert of metroids in a nearby cave, so Samus decided to check it out. Suddenly the cave shook, causing some stalactites to crash to the ground. She put her arm cannon over her head protectively, despite her helmet. The shakes were getting more violent, so she figured she was getting closer. Her suit suddenly detected movement to her left and she pointed her cannon in the direction, charging it up. Her eyes darted back and forth, but when she saw nothing, she slowly put her arm down, still on guard. She heard a rock get kicked behind her but before she could turn to face the sound, she felt the blow of a sword hit her torso and heard the clang of metal on metal as someone attacked her across the ribs. She swung her arm down, making contact with something solid. The body fell to the ground as she knocked him out. She slowly approached him. It was a man with dark, blue-looking, hair with a gold band resting on his head. Even in the dark his features were graceful, making him look almost princely. He wore a pale blueish tunic and a dark cape with a ruby-looking underside. He had boots that went up to his knees. He had dark gloves that went to his elbows and with four or five buckles lined up horizontally and they had a big hole on the back of each hand and there was a smaller hole below each knuckle. His entire outfit seemed to match his hair. Before Samus could do anything else, she felt the start of another tremble and she instinctively covered his body with her own by kneeling over him. A few rocks hit her suit and rolled off. Just before the tremor ended, he woke up, watching her curiously. She turned her head away and when the tremor finished, she got up to leave. He called after in an unfamiliar language. She turned back, confused, then she scanned him and her suit recognized it and translated it.

"Thank you," he said. Scratching the back of his neck, he said quietly, "Sorry... for attacking you..."

"No problem," Samus said, walking off, her suit making her sound masculine.

"I'm Marth," he said, sticking out his hand. She sighed and turned around. "To whom do I owe my life?"

"Samus." She took his hand then abruptly turned back.

"You don't look like you're from Altea, Samus," Marth said, walking beside her. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye and smiled at his height; he was almost as tall as she was in her suit. She couldn't help but admire his fine, regal features. When he looked up at her, she averted her eyes and realized that she hadn't answered him.

"I'm not. Look, pretty boy, I'm on a mission," she half growled.

"As am I," he said, unscathed. She turned to him in shock. "As you may have guessed, I'm the prince of Altea, but I can still defend my country when it needs it."

"I didn't think that," Samus lied. "So then why are you here?"

"Many of my people have been attacked by a form of flying... jellyfish."

Samus couldn't help but laugh, figuring he was talking about the metroids. "Do they look like this?" Samus asked, her suit projecting a picture of a metroid before them.

"Yes," Marth said, in awe. "What are they?"

"They're called metroids and they're why I'm here, as well."

"What do they do?"

"They extract your life energy. They were originally created by the Chozo as a way to get rid of X-Parasites, but the Metroids were stolen by space pirates before they were complete."

"Chozo? Metroids? X-Parasites? Space Pirates? Where the hell did you say you were from?!"

Samus turned to him and grinned. "I didn't." Another violent tremor erupted, but this one was worse than any of the others. Samus' face grew serious as she looked around. "They're close." She charged up her gun and slowly crept forward. Marth replied by drawing his sword and following suit. When they slowly entered the catacomb the metroids were in, Samus was horrified by the large number. "We need to retreat," she said quietly to Marth, to avoid being noticed by the swarm.

"What?" Marth turned to her, "With your gun and my sword we can easily take them out." He began walking into the catacomb, but Samus grabbed his collar and yanked him back.

"Don't be stupid! You've probably only fought one of them at a time and it was easy, right? Just slice them in half and ride home proudly, knowing you slew the beast and your kingdom is safe? Try doing that when there are twice as many metroids as the surface area on your body. I've had to fight that many before and it was a long, tiring fight. Let's just go while we have our energy and they don't know we're-" Before Samus could finish her sentence, the metroids had noticed them and began to swarm. Even while attempting to retreat, Samus had a considerable amount of her energy drained and she could hardly stand. Marth helped her out and fought off as many metroids as he could.

Finally outside the cave, Marth led Samus into the nearby forest and sat her on a tree stump. Samus looked around the clearing and saw a pure white horse, grazing casualy, as if she didn't even notice they were there.

"We need to get that suit off of you," Marth said, circling her as he examined her suit.

"No! Ah- No. I'm fine," she said. "I've got it. I just need to rest a bit."

"The castle isn't far from here. Let me take you to the palace and you can rest there for the night. In the morning we can discuss what to do with the metroids."

Samus nodded, "Alright." She stood up but quickly sat back down in dizziness. Marth observed her fighting with herself and then brought his horse over.

"Climb on," he held out his hand.

"Not in this suit. I'd be too heavy. I can walk," Samus said, putting up her hand to stop him.

Marth sighed at her stubbornness and grabbed her arm, pulling her up. She was surprised by his strength and she could feel herself blush, thankful for the almost one way glass in her helmet that was hiding her face. Marth pushed her closer to his horse's side and rested her right arm over its back. He then wrapped Samus' left arm across his broad shoulders, undertaking some of her weight.

"Thank you..." Samus breathed, her vision slowly failing. Before she knew it, she was in the castle, in a bed and Marth had gone, biding her goodnight. When she was sure she was finally alone, she took off her helmet and took a deep breath. Somehow in her fatigue, she managed to take off her suit and then she sunk back onto the bed. She had never slept in such a luxurious bed. She could feel herself sinking in and she loved the way it felt as if it was swallowing her up. She closed her heavy eyelids and felt her sleepiness take over.