Born a Weapon: Twilight Princess

Escort

I wanted this up a long time ago, but I got sick for a whole month and then got eight projects thrown at me.

Once the masked figure noticed Link, the other turned its head in his direction as well as if his companion had warned him, but no words were spoken. Both figures thrust their hands out, and Link saw two pieces of glimmering light reflecting off them. Link ducked his head under the first one and held his shield in front of Epona to block the second aimed at her. Sitting back up, he holstered his shield and took his bow into his hand, ready to send arrows flying.

"Behind you!"

At his shadow's warning, Link's head whipped around to see what was behind him and saw the same knife he had dodged heading right for his head. Left with almost no time to react as the shard of death approached, Link threw himself to the left as hard as he could. The blade eagerly closed in, determined to end its prey, and the sound of metal slicing flesh rang in the air. Link tumbled off Epona, grasping onto the saddle just before he struck the ground. Swinging back onto Epona's back, Link ignored the stinging pain in his cheek and hoped the knife wasn't poisoned. He quickly drew his bow from his back and loosed an arrow at the masked figure with the knife, who arched their back enough to flatten themselves against their horse, causing the arrow to sail over their head. The other figure broke away from battling guards to retrieve a red stone from somewhere on their uniform and point it to the sky, causing a bright red object to fly out of it into the sky.

Shortly after, a large wave of bulbins began swarming the cart and guards. What was once an open field was now packed with soldiers and bulbins, and the cart and its escort were forced to turn away from their course to avoid being mobbed, now only trying to survive. Link found himself swinging wildly into the mass of enemies and desperately throwing his shield in the way of countless attacks. In the chaos, he did not see the masked figure he had fired arrows at charge him, ramming their horse into Epona. Link would have tumbled off if not for an orange hand catching him.

Link thrust his sword forward as he swung back into his saddle, but a knife pushed it aside. Undeterred, the hero slammed his shield into his enemy's masked face. While Link continued to battle, he saw Midna silently float under his opponent's horse and unclasp his saddle, causing him to tumble to the ground. Unfortunately, with his last few precious seconds before falling, he grabbed Link's tunic and pulled with all his might, dragging the hero with him. Both warriors let out grunts of pain as they tumbled across the ground before finally coming to a stop. His body aching, Link began pushing himself off the ground and saw his opponent running towards him, but both combatants stopped when they realized a booming stomping noise approaching them.

Suddenly, every horse and bulbin rider they had passed zipped by them in a deafening stampede. All thoughts of his opponent were quickly cast aside as Link focused on not being trampled. He desperately ducked and jumped in multiple directions, and it seemed he was going to escape unharmed until a horse slammed him in the side of his head, sending him tumbling to the floor where a bulbo's foot slammed into his chest. Fortunately, before any more injuries could happen, the stampede ended.

Link slowly got to his feet again, clutching his chest and head while coughing. Quickly, he regained his bearings only to realize the masked man was already on him, ready to end the green-clad hero before an orange blur sent the man rolling back. Link was surprised that Midna moved with that much speed and power. She had not been able to do that before, so why now? With newfound courage, the imp charged forward, shooting a blast of energy at the man, who dodged it before following up with a punch from her massive hair hand, sending him rolling back. Finally, back on his feet, Link took a few precious seconds to retrieve the weapons he lost during the stampede. He picked up his sword, shield, and bow but found his quiver was a significant distance away, and its arrows were scattered everywhere.