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“Roughin’ It”Roughin’ ItBy: Chibi SakuraPart One Link was walking through the alleys of Hyrule Market. He had been walking for what seemed like hours. All day he had been window shopping, but found nothing that gave him interest. He was about to leave, when a very big man, most likely around forty, came up to him and said, "Don't leave now, 'cause some interesting shops are opening in the alleys. Go there if you're interested." So there Link was, walking around like a fool. A man came up to him and asked, "What are you doing? You've been walkin' around for so long!" Link grinned sheepishly. "I'm waiting for the shops to open up." The man looked at Link right in the eye. "There are no shops back here," he whispered. Link just shrugged. "A man told me that there were some shops around this part of town." he said. "There are no shops here," the man insisted, "you hear me? No shops!" Link pushed the man to the ground. "Shut-up!" he ordered. The man got up and dusted himself off. "Trust me, kid," he pleaded, "there are no shops!" Link folded his arms across his chest. "There has to be shops around here," he said, "why would people come here if there are no shops?" The man scowled. "There is a thief around here, so no one comes here anymore. Yeah, there used to be shops, but due to the lack visitors, shop owners closed down their stores, and found new jobs. No one has enough courage to come here, but when they do- BAM! The thief mugs 'em. My job is to warn you new comers to stay outta the way!" Link couldn't stand this guy. Carelessly, he smacked
the man's face. The man shuffled off. Link was becoming a little scared.
Is
there really a thief around here? he thought. Seating himself on a
barrel, Link drifted off to sleep, unaware that he was being watched...
That night, Link awoke with a start. He heard footsteps coming from around the corner. Kneeling behind the barrel, Link saw a large man coming around the corner–the same man that told Link about the shops in the back alley. That must be the thief, Link thought, he did this so he could rob me. The jerk! Peering over the edge a little more, Link saw the man knocking down crates, barrels. He broke a few windows before making his way to Link's hiding place. Link tried to move, but he would be caught for sure if he did. He closed his eyes and braced for the worst as the man shoved away the barrel. The man grinned evilly down at Link. "Well, look what the cat dragged in," he sneered, taking Link by the shirt collar, and shaking him around, causing his ruppees to fall out of his pockets. Grinning, the man scooped up the ruppees, and put them into his sack. "Thanks kid!" he laughed as he made his way out of the alley. Suddenly, the man who told Link about the thief stepped out of the shadows. "You should've believed me," he said. Link rubbed his head. "Are you listening to me?!" roared the man, a vein throbbing in his temple. Link shrugged. "I guess." The man pushed Link to the ground, and placed his huge foot on his Link's chest. "I don't take guesses for answers!" he roared. Link used all his strength to get the man's foot off. "I was listening to you," Link gasped, "honestly I was. I was!" The man sighed. "You should have fought back for your money." Link backed up against the wall. "He looked like he would give me the beating of my life." "Idiot!" roared the man. Link shrunk back against the wall. "You need to be toughened up," the man said, studying Link's body. "Y-yeah," Link stuttered, "but I don't know much about training yourself to be tough." The man eruppted in a booming laugh. "Oh you won't be training by yourself," he growled, "I'll be training you." "But I don't even know who you are," moaned Link. "I am Barda," the man replied, "the world's greatest
trainer."
Part Two Barda came forward to Link, and studied him. "Hmm," he said, "you could really use a good work-out." Link gulped at the size of the large man. "Trust
me, Barda, I don't need training. I don't need to beef up."
Link nodded his head. "Of course I'm sure," he replied. Barda ran his fingers through his red hair. "Too bad," he said,"I don't care about what you think. You're coming to my training grounds. I'm gonna teach you to be tough." Link stood up. "I'm not going!" he insisted. Barda looked at tanned muscles. He's not listening to me! Link thought. "Why should I listen to you, boy?" said Barda. "Y-you read m-my mind!" Link gasped. He couldn't believe it. This man was just too scary. Link gazed into Barda's sharp, red eyes. Then let out a sudden gasp. Barda was a Gerudo, but not just any Gerudo-- he was Ganondorf Dragmire. I have to get away, Link thought. "Oh, no you're not!" Barda roared. He lashed straight at Link, knife in hand. Link was as frightened as you could get. He drew his sword and backed up against the wall. Ganondorf was coming straight for him. "How did you know my secret?" Ganondorf whispered coldly. Link grinned. "With a face as ugly as yours, you can tell who you are no matter what." "How dare you say that!" roared Ganondorf. He slashed
his sword right onto Link's hip. Blood dripped down his waist. Link held
it in pain, but soon fell down, unconscious.
The next day, Link found himself lying in a strange bed. Where am I? he thought. Link couldn't remember anything. All he knew was that he had a very painful headache. Link got up from the bed, and staggered to the door. Suddenly, a large man entered the room. "Where do you think you're goin'?" he asked. Link looked at the man with a puzzling gaze. "W-who are you? Who am I?" he asked. An evil grin spread across the man's face. "I am Barda, the world's greatest trainer. You are Link. You've come to my school to be beefed up." Link glared at Barda. "So, Barda, how did I get here?" Barda shrugged. "It's kinda weird, but I brought you here after I found you in an alley of the market. You had a badly injured waist. There was blood everywhere. I took care of it until it stopped bleeding. I put a bandage on your wound, so it will do for now. You must have a headache too, huh?" Link nodded and rubbed his head. "Well, you had a cut on the back of your head when I found you. I guess someone must've attacked you," said Barda,"but you're okay now. You have amnesia, so you can't remember much, can you?" "I can't remember what happened, but after what you told me, at least I know now. But, I can remember something," Link replied. Barda raised a bushy, red eyebrow. "What?" he asked roughly. Link gulped. "Well, I remember that I was running away from somebody. The person had huge muscles. I think it was a man. The man had tan skin and red hair. I think I remember calling him Ganondorf Dragmire. He attacked me with a knife. You know, Barda, he looked a lot like you." Link pointed to the knife in Barda's belt. "The knife looked like that too. I think," he added. A frightened look came upon Barda's face. What
if the kid finds out that the guy he was talking about is me? he thought.
Barda was really Ganondorf Dragmire, and he was the one who attacked Link.
He did this so Link would fall and hit his head. That way he wouldn't remember
anything. But now Ganondorf wasn't so sure about that. I'm gonna work that
kid to death, he thought, so he'll take his mind off this.
Outside, Link and Barda–who was really Ganondorf Dragmire in disguise–were standing in front of a fence. "What do I have to do?" asked Link, gazing at the fence. Barda grinned. "Lift it," he said. Link stared at Barda in shock. "You mean...lift it?!" he asked. Barda pushed Link to the fence. "Lift it!" he repeated loudly. Link had no idea how to lift the fence. It was a huge metal fence. How could he possibly do that? Without his golden gauntlets he couldn't lift such a giant mass. An hour ago, Link was forced to wear black leggings and a black muscle shirt. He also had to wear black hiking boots. Now Link was burning hot. Taking a deep breath, Link grabbed the fence from underneath, and pulled with all his might. But the fence wouldn't budge. Link tightened his grip as hard as he could, and gave a mightly tug, thus removing the fence. He rubbed and blew on his bare hands. That fence had been black, which made it very hot. "Very good," cheered Barda, "now just lift those
fences and we can move on." Link turned around. Barda was pointing at a
row of nine more fences.
After Link had finally finished lifting the fences, Barda took him to a new place. There was a row of tires. I guess I have to run through those, Link guessed. Barda came up to Link. "I command you to run through those, but that'll be too easy. I order you to run through the tires while holding these sacks," he said, handing Link a stick. The stick had two sacks filled with stones on both ends. One sack on one end, a second sack on the other. Link placed the stick on his shoulder and held it tightly. The weight was amazingly heavy. Link put his left foot forward and started to run, but quickly fell down. He had no idea how he could run through the tires and carry the stick at the same time. Link got up and staggered quickly to the next three rows of tires, and fell down again. This is impossible! he thought. Link couldn't run through the tires and carry the stick, but he had to try. Getting up with detirmination, Link ran his fastest toward the end, not thinking about the weight of the stick. Finally, he reached the end, and fell down instantly. Barda came over. "Good job," said Barda, putting four more sticks on Link's back, "now do that three more times." Link couldn't believe what he hearing. Getting up,
he slowly moved to the end of the tires.
Part Three It had been three days of fence lifting and stick carrying for Link. He was getting tired of the same exercises day after day. But today, Barda promised that he would have new tests for Link. "Well, Link, today I have a brand new thing for you to do," said Barda. He pointed to the lake on the other side of the training grounds. "I hope you know how to swim underwater, kid." Link spat out his water. "Swim underwater? Of course I know how to swim underwater! I've been good at it ever since I completed the Water Temple. I'm excellent at it!" Barda smiled. "That's good. I need you to obtain all twenty of the rings I put down there." Link dropped his bread in shock. "Right now? I'll get a cramp!" Barda pushed Link over to the water. "That's a lesson on my training grounds. You gotta take risks." "At losing your trainees?!" Link screamed as he was tossed into the water. "Noooooooooo!" Barda grinned. " Yeah. I've lost 'o couple of trainees before." Sighing heavily, Link took a deep breath and dove underwater. He slowly opened his eyes. Bits of garbage were lying on the bottom. Grease and oil floated in certain places. Link didn't know why the lake was so polluted, but he did know that it would be hard to get the rings. Swimming straight down to the lake floor, Link batted away some bits of tinfoil, picked up ten rings, and quickly hurried to the surface. Suddenly, Link felt as if he was being pulled down. A cramp! he thought. Link struggled to get to the top of the lake, but he kept being pulled down, down, and down. Link needed help fast. But to get help he would have to do something very stupid. "Baaaaaaardaaaaaaa!" Link gasped, then quickly shut his mouth. He started to lose air faster now. Link's heart was pounding. If Barda couldn't hear him, he'd be a goner. Just then, a large figure swam down to Link. Barda, Link thought, I thought he'd never get here. Barda scooped Link into his arms and kicked to the surface. Soon the two men reached land. "Why didn't you say that you just ate?" Barda growled. "Because you threw me into the water before I had a chance to tell you," Link replied. Barda put his hands on his hips. "Well, enough about this. How many rings did you get?" "Ten rings, sir," Link answered, showing Barda the rings. "Ten rings?!" roared Barda," you were supposed to get twenty!" "I could only carry ten rings at a time, sir," Link scowled. "Well, what are waiting for? Go down and get the other ten!" Barda ordered, waving his hand at Link. "No way," said Link, "not after what happened." Barda snarled. "I don't take that kind of trash from anyone! Especially if it's a trainee of mine! I am the master! You are the student! I tell you what to do! You will obey no matter what! Is that clear?" Link shook his head. "I will not obey you anymore. I'm sick and tired of the things you make me do!" Barda shook with rage. "Fine!" he roared. He pushed Link against a tree and used a nearby rope to tie him to it. "This is what you get!" Barda took out a whip and began to crack it onto Link's chest. Link yelled out in pain. "Cut it out!" he begged. Barda did nothing but swing the whip faster and harder. It was almost like he was amused. "Hey! Stop it!" Link cried, trying to break free. Suddenly, he had an idea. Link's muscles had really grown, so he could use them to escape. Pushing with all his might, Link used both his arm muscles and his leg muscles to snap the rope. Soon, all of Link's work paid off. The rope broke and Link was free to go. Barda stood in place. H-how could the k-kid do t-that? he thought. Link back-flipped up to his trainer. "I guess I really showed you," he said, "didn't I?" Barda was speechless. With nothing to say, he pointed
Link to his cabin. "Go -- cabin -- now" he stammered. Link shrugged and
made his way to the cabin.
That night, Link lay in bed. He couldn't sleep. All he could do was think about how Barda acted. "Why?" Link said to himself, "I know he's a tough trainer, but he wouldn't whip me for saying I didn't want to swim." Link decided it was time for some eavesdropping. Cautiously, Link got out of bed and crawled toward the cabin. He peeked inside to find Barda talking to the thief that had robbed Link. Pressing his ear to the window, Link could hear the two men talking. "Yes, Ganondorf, kill him," said the robber. "No, Kieth, I'll wait for the right moment," came the response. Link saw that the man who replied to the robber's question was Barda. Only, Barda was wearing a black cloak. And the thief had just called him Ganondorf. That was the person I remember running from! thought Link, as he pressed his face closer to the window. "But, sir, we had a deal, remember?" asked the robber, whose name was Kieth. "Yes, but we shall wait," said Barda, "Link seems to be getting stronger, not weaker." "Can't you do something about it?" Kieth complained loudly, "I mean, I did my best to mug him, and all you are doing is making him stronger. I completed my task, you have to complete your task." Barda opened a bottle of beer. "So what if I can't do my task right now? I've faced the kid in the past, and boy, he was quite the skillful fighter," he smirked, "if I can't keep him weak, it's not my fault." Barda began to gulp down his beer, then opened another bottle. "They should put more in these," he said grumpily. Kieth sighed. "How can you possibly drink right at this moment? We have plans!" Barda took off his cloak to reveal his normal black tunic and tights. "I have no time for that right now. I'd rather take care of Link later," he said, kicking Kieth in the shins with his big black boot. "I want to drink right now." He took another gulp of beer. "Arg! Listen, Ganondorf, Link needs to be killed right now!" Kieth whined. Barda took a big gulp of beer and opened a new bottle. He drank it down fast. "I don't know about you, but I think that we should be careful around Link," he said, opening and finishing another beer bottle. Barda drank a few more bottles. "You're gonna get drunk you know, Ganondorf," Kieth warned. Barda - who was really Ganondorf - just shrugged and guzzled down a few more bottles. "Geez. You worry too..." Barda couldn't finish. Slowly got up and vomited on his boots, then staggared out of the cabin. Link gasped and shrunk against the wall. But Barda
didn't see him. He blew a sigh of relief and went back to all the
things that Barda and Kieth. Suddenly, Link remembered everything he forgot.
Barda is Ganondorf Dragmire. He wants to kill me to get revenge on what
I did to him, Link thought. Now that he knew what was going
on, he had to find a way to get out of this mess. |