#sotf41

[katedoesfics]

Shadows of the Future | Chapter 41

Rusl stared at Impa. His nostrils flared. “What do you mean they have Mipha?”

Impa held her gaze, but chose not to respond.

“How?” he snapped. “The city is warded from the Yiga.”

“Yiga, yes,” Impa commented simply.

Rusl’s face paled. His heart leapt in his throat. “Who did this?”

Impa shook her head. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “It wasn’t Dorian. He’s the one who reported it to me.”

Rusl wanted to feel relieved, but his gaze narrowed on her. “You can’t know that.”

“You don’t trust Dorian?”

Rusl hesitated.

Impa stood from behind her desk. “Dorian is gathering what he can about this,” she said. “He is unaware of anyone else in the Yiga Clan, but even he does not know everything. In the meantime.” She held a folder in her hand, waving it at him before handing it to Rusl. Rusl looked through its contents as she spoke. “The Yiga have opened another portal. Tomorrow, I will tell Zelda and Link about it. They will go and close the portals and deal with whatever has spewed out of it.”

“I guess you want me to take care of the Yiga lurking around and waiting for them?”

“They’ll be expecting you,” Impa said. “They’ve likely guessed at our plan, and they’ll expect that Link and Zelda will arrive shortly after. Your timing will be critical. Clear them out before they can send in another troop.”

“You think it will be so easy?” Rusl sneered. “Their numbers will be double this time. Triple.”

“I thought you wanted a challenge?” She smiled.

But Rusl was not amused. “We’ll get destroyed out there.”

“You will have the Sheikah,” she reminded him. “Kohga can only afford so many men. If Dorian’s intel proves true, he’s already spreading his army thin.”

“If?”

“Kohga will not be able to recover quick enough to stop Link and Zelda. The portal will be closed and they will be back in the city before his men can return. If you want them to survive this, destroy them.”

Rusl dropped the folder onto the desk. “No pressure,” he muttered. He left her office without another word to her.

*****

Rusl was being watched, this he knew. But he chose to ignore the stares as he propped himself up on his elbows. He peered into the binoculars toward the Temple of Time. From their position on the cliff, he had a decent view of the ancient temple and the surrounding forest. He had spotted just a handful of Yiga soldiers milling about, moving in and out of the temple, but he was sure there was an entire army of them hiding in the forest.

“What’s the big deal with this place, anyway?” Jini asked. He was still watching Rusl carefully. He smiled. “I mean, Impa doesn’t put her number two in charge of a measly stakeout mission.”

Rusl continued to check the perimeter of the temple. “Number two?”

“You know,” Jini continued. “In the three-way you have going with her and Dorian.”

Rusl’s nose wrinkled. He turned to glare at the soldier beside him.

“Do those stripes come with being the father of the Chosen Hero, or did you fuck your way to the top?”

Rusl’s nostrils flared, and Jini grinned at his response.

“C’mon,” Jini said. “I’m fucking with you.” He took the binoculars from Rusl’s hands and peered through them. “But you can’t expect us to believe there isn’t more to this than you’re telling us.”

Rusl turned his gaze toward the temple in the distance. “If it concerned you, than you would know.”

“So, it is hero business.” He frowned. “What do the Yiga want with this shit pile of a temple?”

Rusl got to his feet but did not answer him. After a moment, Jini, too, pushed himself to his feet. He turned his gaze to Rusl. “Or, maybe you’re just getting yanked around like the rest of us.”

Rusl frowned.

“It’s no secret,” Jini continued. “You’re not exactly invisible, you know. Everyone knows what you’ve been involved in. No one really believes you earned those stripes.”

Rusl met his gaze and glared at him once more. “Do you have a problem?”

Jini shrugged. “No. I’m on your side. I’m just saying.” He thrust a thumb over his shoulder, indicating the rest of the troops behind them. “Round ears don’t trust us.”

“You and I are not the same,” Rusl muttered. He turned his back on the temple. “I couldn’t care less what anyone thinks.”

But before Jini could offer another sarcastic remark, the air pulled violently around them, practically pulling the breath out of Rusl’s lungs. Yiga soldiers appeared in the air with a sharp snap, dropping to their feet and immediately pursuing the Hyrulean and Sheikah army that had attempted to keep out of their sights.

Rusl and his men tried desperately to fight them off, but there were simply too many of them, and they were heavily outnumbered. This was no where close to what Rusl had expected. It seemed as if Kohga had sent a majority of his army to defend the portal, perhaps in hopes of dealing a heavy blow to them, giving Hyrule a heavy disadvantage and leaving the Chosen Heroes exposed for an ambush.

It was a smart move. One Rusl should have seen coming. Of course Kohga would make such a bold, confident move. They shouldn’t have expected anything less from Hyrule’s biggest enemy. They were careless; stupid. And his stupidity would no doubt lead to the death of his son.

He cursed under his breath. There was nothing he could do about it. If even the Sheikah couldn’t stand up to the Yiga Clan’s forces, then there was no hope for them. The battle would be lost. This was a truth that Rusl knew.

Still. He couldn’t let them win. He wouldn’t. His son’s life depended on it. And for the love of Hylia, he would make sure that damn kid stayed alive. It was foolish to think he could do anything to prevent their loss, but that didn’t stop his feet from moving under him as he sprinted into the heart of the battle.

“The fuck do you think you’re doing?” Jini shouted to him, but Rusl ignored him. He ignored the call to fall back. He ignored the soldiers falling around him as the Yiga Clan pressed on. He slid to a stop only when Yiga soldiers appeared suddenly in a snap, the air pulling around him as they landed on their feet, circled around him.

His gaze darted around them, and they smiled and laughed wickedly, taunting him. He holstered his weapon, knowing it would do no good to him now. He watched as one of the soldiers stepped forward. He raised his arms, and his eyes pulled at the corners beneath his mask.

“Well?” Rusl spat at the ground. “Let’s see it.”

His eyes narrowed on Rusl. Rusl felt the power flowing through the Yiga before it burst out of his palm. He lurched forward into a full sprint, faster than he ever thought he was capable. He threw a leg out in front of him, sliding across the ground like a baseball player sliding into home, narrowly dodging the attack as it burst forth. Just as the Yiga soldier’s gaze caught Rusl once more, he was lurched to his feet, throwing his fist and knocking the Yiga backwards. Rusl lunged on him before he could react and pulled his blade from his hip, swiftly bringing it across the Yiga soldier’s neck and ending his life in a blood sputtering instant.

No sooner had he done so, however, the other Yiga soldiers sprang into action, lunging at him from all sides. He stood as they came at him, and with one sweep of his arm, they were immediately thrown backwards with tremendous force. They crashed into trees, snapping the trees completely in half, and dropped to the ground, lifeless.

The rest of the Yiga army, now alerted to Rusl’s attack, turned their attention to him as he stood among the bodies scattered around him. They didn’t waste a second, instantly turning their attacks on to him. Their attacks came quickly, instantaneous, and without any order, determined to defeat the Hylian that proved to have inexplicable, immense strength.

But Rusl simply held up his arm, immediately erecting a shield around him, and their attacks bounced violently off of the invisible force field, flinging back towards them and taking the Yiga soldiers out in masses.

Those that had survived their own attacks lept into the air, disappearing in another snap, but Rusl expected this. When they appeared once more, they were not more than a yard away, their palms outstretched as another attack ripped from their open palms. But in the split second before their attack hit Rusl, the ground erupted violently around him, cutting their attacks short and once more sending the Yiga soldiers flying violently back.

Rusl wasted no time in his second attack, thrusting his palm towards the ground, causing it to erupt again around the Yiga soldiers in a fiery explosion. In the chaos of the short battle, the Hyrulean army found a chance to escape, falling back quickly. Rusl felt a violent pull in the air, signaling the escape of several large groups of remaining Yiga soldiers who had survived long enough to make their own escape, and when the dust and the smoke settled, only Rusl remained standing.

The sun was high in the sky, now. Link and Aryll were in school. If Link hadn’t heard from Impa yet, Rusl was sure he would soon. Their path to the portal was clear, the mission a success.

His knees were weak. The corners of his vision began to darken from overexertion, and a tingling sensation crept down his limbs, into his fingers and toes. The last thing he saw was Jini approaching him. He could hear his voice, but he could not make out his words. Still, he knew Jini was swearing up and down at him. His knees gave out and he lost consciousness.

*****

If it weren’t for Impa’s hardened expression glaring at him, he would have been sure he had died. But no; her presence reminded him that he was very much alive, still stuck there to endure her wrath.

“What part of don’t use your powers did you not understand?” her voice bellowed.

Rusl sighed and closed his eyes. “Sorry,” he murmured.

“You are NOT sorry!”

A smile pulled at his lips. She was correct.

“Do you know the position you put yourself in?” she hissed. “The position you put Link in?”

Rusl opened his eyes, meeting her gaze, and frowned. “What?”

“They know who you are,” she sneered at him. “That ward will do you no good, now.”

Rusl closed his eyes and shrugged a shoulder. “They can’t get me as long as I’m in the city,” he said. His eyes opened again, his brows furrowing. “And so what if they do?”

“Fool,” she spat. “They won’t kill you. You’ll beg for death, but they will show you no such mercy.”

Rusl sat up, wincing. His head was pounding. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” he muttered. “If I had done nothing, we would have failed.”

To his surprise, Impa did not argue with him. When he turned to her, her expression had softened. She was gazing out the window, a deep frown on her face. After a moment, she turned her back on him.

“Go home,” she said simply.

And home he went. He was still exhausted, and while he figured Impa had healed him, he was sure she didn’t put a whole lot of effort into it, leaving him still just exhausted enough to not be a pain in her ass.

Aryll was just getting home when he pulled into the drive, and he greeted her with a tired smile. Link was not home, but this came as to no surprise to him. He was sure at that moment, he and his friends were off on their rescue mission to save Mipha and close the portal, completely unaware of all that was going on behind the scenes to ensure their success.

Confident that Aryll could entertain herself for at least an hour, Rusl dropped into his bed and closed his eyes, and immediately drifted off to sleep.

It was much later when he awoke, sleeping much longer than he had intended. He rubbed his eyes tiredly. The pounding in his head had quieted, his body easily doing its job to heal what Impa had left behind, and he already felt back to normal. He stretched and cracked his limbs, then trotted downstairs to take a tally of his children.

Rusl stood in the doorway for a moment. His gaze moved from his daughter, to his son, both present and accounted for on the couch, and he stepped into the kitchen.

“Someone decided to come home?” he said over his shoulder. His attention was turned to another ripped up shirt in the trash. The Master Sword was laying out on the table where Link had casually tossed it, the pendant still looped around the hilt. His brows furrowed and he turned to the fridge to grab himself a beer.

“You know,” he started, moving into the living room. “This isn't a damn barracks.” He turned his gaze to his sleeping son and sighed.

“What's a barracks?” Aryll said, looking up at her father.

“It's somewhere I'm going to send your damn brother,” he muttered.

Aryll frowned. “Why?”

He turned his attention to the tv. Still images of the strange portals seen throughout Hyrule were moving across the screen as the reporter spoke.

“King Roham's press conference is expected to be sometime later this week. Stay tuned for all the latest updates...”

“Are you mad at Link?”

He turned his gaze back to his daughter. “Huh? No. Why?”

Aryll shrugged. “Sometimes it seems like you're mad.”

“I'm not mad,” he said, though he was far from reassuring. “Your brother is an idiot, but I'm not mad at him.”

“So why are you angry all the time?”

He hesitated. “You think I'm angry?”

“Sometimes.”

“Oh.” He pulled his gaze away and reached for the remote, clicking off the tv. “Don't you have cartoons to watch?”

“Its okay to be scared,” Aryll said. “I'm scared, too. And I bet Link is, too.”

“Oh, yeah?”

Aryll smiled and nodded. “But it's okay. I know everything will get better.”