@linkcache
This place sells a wide selection of hobby weapons and related gear. The merchandise is of average to excellent quality and is extremely overpriced. Most customers report that the staff is somewhat unhelpful.
The fighting had ignited an itch under Monty's skin that he hadn't been able to shake. Not at the gym, not on his now daily long runs through the Capitol, not at the clubs where he danced the nights away, grinding against whatever bodies got close enough to him.
So here he was, at a shop aptly called "Wally's Weapons." It was mostly kitschy stuff, marketed towards Capitolites who liked to think they could last in the Hunger Games. Dulled, ornamental blades that were terribly balanced and fragile - all for an exorbitant Capitol price. The trained eye, however, could see that some of the items were the real deal. And Monty had that eye.
A jet black, obsidian dagger flashed as he whipped it to and fro. With sharpened senses, Monty easily rolled it in his hands, parrying, stabbing, slashing invisible enemies. The shopkeep, Leesle (Wally had long since died) took a few steps back. "Whoa," she said, clearly a bit intimidated. "Take it easy."
"Easy?" he countered, tossing the blade in the air and catching it just before it hit the ground. "With rebels in the Capitol?" He snorted. "I'll take it." He handed the blade to her, and she scurried off to wrap it up.
He turned to see a welcome - if unexpected - face. "Ms. Cache!" he greeted. "Wouldn't expect you in a shop like this."
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First Meetings (Hero’s Shadow backstory!)
The highlands were particularly chilly today as Link looked out into the dunes of Gerudo territory. It was strange how he could be so close to barren heat while also freezing his butt off.
Trilling his lips, the half-Sheikah warrior stretched lazily, gaze drifting from spot to the next. He had been transferred to guard duty along the Hyrulian-Gerudo border for his new assignment. It was his first time truly far from home, and it was honestly pretty thrilling. Link loved to see and learn new things, and the Gerudo Highlands were so vastly different from the lush, wet valleys and mountains of home. Kakariko Village was tucked away near Lake Hylia, and Link had spent most of his youth swimming and rushing to the large Cracked Mountain - legend said an earthquake had caused the large split along its center, and it held mystical treasures within its belly, but all Link had managed to do as a child was get stuck halfway through and give his elders a heart attack.
Either way, he loved exploring, and this place was all entirely new. The Highlands were visible from the capital on the Royal Plateau, but he’d never really known what to expect of any of it. Now that he was assigned here, he wanted nothing more than to explore every inch of the place.
But at the moment he was on duty, and so he stayed in his position.
It wasn’t as if the Gerudo were particularly hostile. They were not part of the kingdom and needed to be watched, and they were a warrior people, making them more threatening than others, but still… they hadn’t really caused problems for Hyrule, nor vice versa. There was definitely a wariness between the factions, though, and it created tension.
Movement caught Link’s eye, and he turned, wondering if maybe it was another lizard (he had already collected three), when he realized it was a person. Small, far in the distance, but someone nonetheless. Curious and a little wary, Link crept closer, hand slowly resting atop his katana, and then he got a closer look.
It was a Gerudo. A teenager, from the looks of it - maybe even around his age. She had twin scimitars, and she was practicing with them, slicing hydromelons with ease. Link watched her a little while, watched the way she moved so fluidly, the way her muscles rippled with each twist and turn, the way her hair reflected the sun far more than the sands did. He felt himself staring a little too long, his heart fluttering a little, and he stepped back, a little overwhelmed. The girl seemed to sense his scrutiny, stopping and looking around before glancing upward at him. Link swallowed, throat dry.
She—she was—she was beautiful.
Link heard a sandal on stone, and his adrenaline immediately spiked, every nerve on high alert, just in time to see a shadow cast over him. He looked up and saw a large figure seemingly falling out of the sky towards him, large mace in hand, and Link gasped a little, rolling out of the way as the weapon slammed into the earth.
Grabbing the hilt of his katana with his left hand, the thirteen-year-old immediately went into action. The initial removal from the scabbard was a wide slash, pushing the figure—a man who bore Gerudo traits (but weren’t all the Gerudo women? That’s what he’d heard)—back a little to avoid getting eviscerated. The sun shone behind the man, blinding Link a little, and he changed his position, breaking the kata in order to get a better view. It gave his opponent an opening, and he took a large step forward, swinging the mace horizontally. Link ducked, thankful for his small stature, and jabbed his blade directly forward. His enemy twisted to the side to dodge, and Link’s flank was wide open, giving the man an opportunity to do a one-handed swing with his weapon.
It hit true, slamming Link in the ribs.
The young warrior went flying, hitting the cliffside and falling to the ground, trying desperately to catch his breath. He heard the person walk towards him, and then heard under his breath, in a bemused tone, “A child?”
Link gasped life back into himself, ignoring how his ribs protested, and he sprang back to his feet, gripping his blade with both hands as he did another sweeping cut to drive his enemy back. He jerked a little at the end of the fluid motion, hissing in pain. His ribs were definitely broken.
Did he have a fairy? An elixir? He didn’t remember packing anything, but—
Link’s eyes widened as the man strode forward purposefully, both hands around the leather handle of the enormous mace, and he swept it right where Link’s head was. Clapping his hands together, the teenager channeled his magic, feeling the air sucked out of his lungs as he disappeared before the weapon could land a hit.
Ganondorf stared, blinking at the blank space where the child had just been. Despite being caught off guard by the Hylian’s age, he was still armed and he’d still been watching his daughter, which merited a swift response. The Gerudo king looked around a moment, confused, before hearing clothes fluttering. He turned around wildly, still seeing nothing, and then the sun reflected off something bright just above him, and he looked up and—
The child was about to stab him in the head.
Hissing, Ganondorf pushed hard with his right leg, jerking his body to the side just in time for the Hylian to slice his blade across his shoulder and part of his chest. Ganondorf bit back a yell, his blood pumping faster than it had in ages, and when he’d finished dodging, he’d almost had to laugh.
He didn’t know how this child was actually managing to put up a fight, but this was actually kind of invigorating. The boy had even landed a blow!
Ganondorf knew he’d won, though, based on how the boy struggled to breathe, so he paused before continuing the fight. “Who are you, child?”
The boy immediately hesitated, clearly caught off guard by his change in tone, and he stood hesitantly in a ready stance. “My name is Link.”
“Link,” Ganondorf repeated, humming and putting the mace on a strap on his back. The Hylian hesitated, red eyes curious and hopeful and far too trusting. In an instant, Ganondorf pulled out his spear, slamming the boy’s abdomen with the blunt end. The child gasped, falling to his back, and the fight was over. Ganondorf approached him slowly, watching his chest heave as he struggled to breathe. He pulled out a red potion, plopping it on the ground next to the boy, and dug the sharp end of his spear into the earth beside the child’s light blonde hair. “Don’t watch my daughter again.”
With that, the Gerudo king walked away, wondering what in the world Hyrule Kingdom was doing sending children to its borders anyway. But he had to admit… he was impressed by the boy’s fighting prowess.
Link grimaced, turning enough to grab the potion and chug it, wondering what in the world just happened.
Despite reporting the incident to his superiors, not much was really done. Apparently, there was concern that this was the actual King of the Gerudo himself, and no one would dare cause problems by claiming the king had attacked a lowly Hyrulian guard. Link wasn’t important enough to merit a war. He also felt immensely guilty he’d even managed to bring about any concern for one.
Sighing, the teenager resumed his post the next day, a little more wary and more than a little put out.
When he heard a foot scuff on stone, he immediately drew his blade, wondering what kind of insanity he was going to deal with now.
Instead, he saw the girl he recognized from yesterday, carrying a basket and looking apologetic.
“Hey,” she said softly, holding her hands up to appease him. “I don’t mean any harm.”
“This is the Hyrule border,” Link warned, not moving.
“Yeah. I know.” The teenager replied dully, as if it were obvious. Well… it was, but still. What else was he going to say?
“That means you can’t be here,” he explained, though there was less force in his voice.
“Yeah, yeah,” the girl replied dismissively. “Technically I can’t cross the line. That’s somewhere between you and me. I’m still in Gerudo territory.”
Link lowered his sword, growing confused. “Yeah, but… what do you want?”
“I wanted to say sorry,” the girl replied, lowering her arms and gripping the basket with both hands. “My dad is… overly protective. But… yeah. You want food?”
Link blinked. Blinked again. “Uh… sure?”
The girl smiled, trotting over and grabbing a stick. She traced a line in the dry earth, easily creating a division between them. “There. There’s the border. I won’t cross this line. But we can have a picnic in the meantime.”
Link stared at her, then at the line, then back at her. And then he giggled. “A picnic sounds nice.”
The two sat across from each other, the center of the basket placed directly over the line, and slowly they started to eat and chat. And if they stayed there for hours until the sun started to set, neither really commented on it.
And if they saw each other the next day for another picnic, neither complained.
And if a King and Queen of the Gerudo stood exasperatedly at the bottom of the cliff the tenth time it happened, neither of them noticed.
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Ferrari-Raikkonen agreement and Vettel gives his blessing to the choice
The [Prancing] Horse announces the signing for 2016 in advance. Arrivabene: “Stability wins. Now repay us.” The Finn: “I’m ending my career at Maranello.”
Some saw it as a done deal. It had even been defined as “a business for the quoting of Ferrari in Wall Street.” And yet it has always been clear that Valtteri Bottas’ landing in red was anything but simple: the 20 million dollars requested by Williams to release him from an already-signed option danced around.
Thus in the end Bottas will not drive for the Horse. Kimi Raikkonen will remain at Maranello next year as well. Yesterday Ferrari caught everyone by surprise with the official announcement. An early move, perhaps to avoid other speculations, since in F1 market games are done in the summer, but then the announcements usually straddle the Italian GP at Monza. Raikkonen’s signing instead happened much earlier, probably the day after the Hungarian GP, beautiful and unfortunate for the Finn.
STABILITY
It was understood that Raikkonen’s confirmation was likely, although not certain. The team principal Maurizio Arrivabene never alienated him, trying at most to keep him on his toes to push him into giving his best. Then Sebastian Vettel has always shown a shameless cheering for his teammate, with whom he shares a great friendship. And the technical director James Allison hasn’t pushed against it, despite Raikkonen’s difficulty in adapting to the car or perhaps even because of it. Did it weigh in Kimi’s favour that there was also an assessment of the causes of apparently inexplicable incidents like the tailspin at the hairpin in Canada or the one on the straight in Zeltweg?
“We are convinced that Kimi’s confirmation will contribute to give the team stability, counting also on the excellent relationship that binds him to Seb—” Arrivabene comments— “It’s a show of trust on our part which we hope is repaid.”
VERSTAPPEN & CO
The fact remains that something must have been unlocked in the last month, bringing about the positive result of the renewal talks and thus the signing. In fact Ferrari had contacted many drivers: not just Bottas, for whom at the end a convenient financial mediation was not achieved with Williams, but also Nico Hulkenberg, Jenson Button and above all Daniel Ricciardo, bound by a long-term contract with Red Bull. Even the young phenomenon Max Verstappen was among the targets: Ferrari tried to immediately snatch him from Helmut Marko, but the baby figlio d’arte* has a contract for 2016 as well that he cannot get out of, so the talk is postponed to 2017 when there will be clauses to exploit. With this (more or less credible) shortlist of candidates, the red [team] could have waited for at least Spa-Francorchamps and Monza, two races which usually change the outcome of the championship and the fate of the drivers, before confirming Raikkonen. But no.
RENEGOTIATION?
The acceleration, more than for a lack of alternatives (in the end neither Kimi had them), could therefore be connected to the renegotiation of Raikkonen’s contract, who returned to Ferrari last year with a 2-year contract (2014-2015) which foresaw an option for 2016. It is possible that the Horse managed to not consider that clause, signed when Montezemolo and Domenicali were still at the helm, and discussed Raikkonen’s engagement on other bases. Maybe with a reduction of the fixed part of his salary and an increase of the bonuses connected to results. So that Kimi, currently being paid 11 million euros excluding bonuses, will earn in proportion to the performance he offers next year. Hoping that it's better than the single podium (the second place in Bahrain this year) obtained so far after his return.
“Staying at Ferrari for another season means that the dream goes on. For me this is like a family and it is with this team that I want to end my career,” said the 35-year-old Finn yesterday via the press release distributed by the Horse.
NURSERY NO
Now it’s up to Kimi, like Arrivabene emphasised, to repay that trust. Already starting with the GP this Sunday in Spa, promised land of the 2007 Ferrari world champion, who has won four times in Belgium: twice with McLaren and twice in his first life at Maranello. We’ll see. There remains however the mourning for a Ferrari that once again does not “risk” and makes a convenient choice, refusing for example to launch a youngster from its nursery (Marciello or Fuoco) next to super Vettel and even going to look for the competition’s foreign talent (Verstappen.) The new management, it is evident, prioritises making a winning car and no longer believes in the project of the Academy of Maranello, whose future at this point seems scratched.
*[A/N: figlio d'arte = someone who's in the same profession as their parents]
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can I get a Twilight and Epona bonding?
(I had a good time drawing that comic for you <3)
It was nice to get out of that town. Twilight felt like he was coming alive again, having spent several days cooped up in the foreign environment and recovering from his injury. But now that they had set out, it felt a bit more familiar.
As everyone settled in for the evening, Twilight took Epona to the nearby stream. He wasn't quite sure he wanted to transform just yet, as it would likely agitate his injuries, but he was more than happy to talk to her in his Hylian form.
He pet her neck as she drank, smiling at her. "Thank you for getting me out of there safely, girl. You fought really well too."
Epona paused, raising her head to look at him before nuzzling his face and nibbling a bit at his hair. He giggled, hugging her neck and letting her lean her head over his shoulder.
Eventually, the pair made their way back to the campsite, where Twilight was summarily told to get some sleep, you're not keeping watch, so he reluctantly dragged himself to the periphery. Epona laid down by a small rock formation, giving her something to lean against, and Twilight stretched, yawned, and settled beside her, resting against her and closing his eyes. He heard her tail flick once before she relaxed, and the pair was asleep within the hour.
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