Exile– a state of being, a person unwanted, shunned,
never to return. But it is also a place, enourmous caverns underneath the
earth, full of unwanted people, sent down by the empire. The empire. When
you’re the head in town, you don’t need any fancy names, just The Empire.
Every day, more and more people enter Exile. From conqured territories,
or nextdoor neighboors. Anyone could be sent down there, if they stole
a horse, or if they just robbed an old lady.
The small army stood at the foot of the large natural
granite wall encircling Hyrule. “Ok, set it up there, and there,” the mage
said, as he took down notes. This area had been overlooked in favor of
other territories, but now, they had the resources to take it. A new invention,
high-explosive sticks, enabled them to open a way into the unknown land.
“Ok, light it, and RUN!” the old man said as they
ran indeed, and an explosion, and the wall crumbled, revealing a road at
the other end, and a view into the land.
“The General will be pleased!!!” the mage said,
but with false enthusiasm, as he had heard tales of this place. “Ok, we
are to lead an expedition into the land as planned, then report back. Understood?”
the mage said, as a group of empire archers, and about four soldiers entered
the land, and began to walk along the road, as the Mage took notes, and
began writing a map.
Link was awake and going along his buisness in the
forest, when the ground rumbled, nearly knocking him off his feet. He looked
up to see what it was. He didn’t see anything, and decided it must be outside
the forest. He dropped his stuff, and began to run in the direction of
the forest gate. He saw archers, and soldiers and a robed man entering
through a hole in the great wall that surronded the kingdom. Link went
stealthily along, and got in front of them and ran as fast as he could
towards the castle.
At the castle, buisness as usual was going on. Zelda,
now 16, her ‘princess crap’, as she put it, she had to learn was a lot
more intensive. Which she didn’t like. However, Link ran in, out of breath,
and said to the king, “Intruders have entered Hyrule!” Link gasped after
saying it, and he shouted orders to confront the small army group.
The soldiers were walking along, trying to stay
out of sight, exploring the land. Link and the group of armed castle guards
leapt from bushes on the sides of the road, and stood in their way. “What
are you doing here?” Link asked of the party.
“We are here on buisness of the Empire,” the leading
mage said.
“What buisness is that?” Link asked.
“To claim the land in this valley, which rightfully
belongs to the Empire,” the old man said.
“This land is the kingdom of Hyrule, has been for
thousands of years,” Link said.
“The Empire owns all the land around it, and we
are claiming this as our own,” the old mage said, and the Empire archers
notched there longbows with one swift movement. They strechted the bows
impossibly far, waiting for the command to fire. “I suggest you move aside,
and let us pass,” the mage said.
“I think we better talk this over before we are
so hasty to fight,” Link said. The archers pulled back a little farther,
waiting patiently for the word to let go of his arrow.
The old man smiled, and said, “Perhaps your right.
Shall we meet with your leader, and talk out terms?”
Like we are gonna let you have an inch of our
land, Link thought, but put a false, strained smile on and said, “That
sounds good. Follow us,” Link said, and he began to walk, but the guards
fanned out on all sides, in case any of them tried anything. The archers
slung their longbows over their shoulders, but had shortbows ready to fire
now, being as trusting of the guards as they were of him. Link nodded to
the guards, and they sheathed their swords, and Link began walking towards
the castle.
After 5 minutes of walking, they entered the castle
gates, and all the guards stationed themselves in a pattern; where if anything
went wrong, they were able to act. The mage had all the soldiers and archers
wait in the courtyard, and Link and the mage went into the chambers of
the King. “Greetings, I am Micheal, represenitive of the Empire,” the old
man said.
“I am Harkinian, king of Hyrule. What is your buisness?”
the King said.
The mage’s hard blue eyes looked at him, surveying
the king. “Our Empire has claim on this land, and we were sent to claim
it for our Emporer,” he said directly.
“I’m sorry, but nothing of that sort is going to
happen here. The kingdom of Hyrule has been here for thousands of years,
long before your Empire has,” the King said.
“Nevertheless, I am going to have to send a messenger
back to tell my superiors of our predicament,” Micheal said.
“I also want to address them, for our way of life
is threatened by your army,” the king said, and took a pen and paper, and
began writing; as did the mage. After aobut ten minutes, they signed their
papers, and went into the courtyard.
“Send these messages to the camp!” the mage said,
and an archer pulled out an arrow, but instead of a head, it had a wooden
bottle attached to it. The archer put it in the bottle, stretched the bow
again as far as he could, and released, watching it soar, and drop passed
the stone wall. Link whistled, amazed at their abilities. These stupid
people have no idea what’s going to hit them.... thought the mage, looking
at the guards awed faces. “Nothing but fools,” he said where no one could
hear him, and talked to one of his soldiers, and waited for a response.
In the camp, the commander of the force had received
the messages, and read the king’s letter first. “...and we do not wish to
see combat, and a peaceful end to this situation.” He read the last of
it aloud. Then he took the other message out of the cracked message arrow.
“These people are fools. It will be easy to take their land, but I do not
wish to overestimate them. Send his letter to the emperor, and ask for
further instructions. Ask whether we should begin the setup of an exile
portal to transport their citizens should a conflict arise,” the commander
read aloud to his top warriors. “Ok, get a messenger, and have this taken
to him, and do as had been instructed in the letter,” the commander said
to his assistant, and he ran from the tent, and went to find a messanger
as instructed. “I’m taking a horse into the valley, and going to meet with
the king. I don’t want him to mess things up, by threatening the Exile-sentence
on them all,” the commander said, as he mounted a horse, and galloped through
the hole in the wall.
Meanwhile, in the castle, talks of ways to settle
for both sides were going on. It wasn’t pretty. “Were not going to pay
30% taxes on all goods shipped!!! That’s ludicrous, no way are we going
to agree to that!” the king almost yelled, as the ‘talks’ proceeded.
Then, a soldier came into the room, and said, “Excuse
me your majesty, but there is someone to see you.” Then, the door opened,
and the commander came into the chamber.
“I am commander Roberts,” the man said.
“Come, sit,” said the mage.
“Who are you?” the King demanded.
“I am the commander of the force outside of your
territory,” the commander said. That made the king a bit edgy. Clearly
something was up, and he had to find out what it was.
“Well come and sit then,” the king said.
“I would rather not. I have been told that you two
are talking it over, trying to work out a proposal. You're wasting your
breath. What you say to him has no bearing on what is going to happen.
Whatever happens, is decided by the emperor,” the commander said.
“So Micheal I would stop trying to rile these people
up into revolt, and return to camp,” Roberts said, and the mage stood up,
and looked at him with those same hard eyes, and said nothing as he walked
from the chambers.
“Now, all you can do is wait. Would you mind telling
me of your lands?” the commander said, and he did, telling him of the Gerudo,
the Zora, and the Goron.
After more telling of their history, their beliefs,
the man stood and said, “I better be getting back to my troops, it has
been nice talking to you,” the commander said. He had indeed been intrested,
but also worried. The other people of the land sounded very odd, and would
probably have to be cast into Exile. He wondered how they would react to
that, as a populous. He rode back, and had another messenger take another
message to the emperor, about the strange people in their lands, and other
things about them.
“We may indeed have a harder time than we first
thought. Did you know that trees grow that their seeds are explosive? This
area is very valuable,” the man said.
“There is no way they would be able to stand up
against us!” a tough warrior said, and a deep rolling laugh emerged.
“On that, you are correct. They will be able to
put up a heck of a fight, but they would be no match for us.” He laughed,
and they drank for a while longer, and retired to the night.
At the giant castle of Hawthorne the Emperer, he
had received the first message. “Indeed, we may need to create a
Exile portal, but only if things get way out of hand. Attempt more negotiations,
and report back on there conclusion,” he dictated to a middle-aged woman,
who wrote on a scroll. Then, another messenger came in.
“Sire, another message from the valley,” the man
said, and bowed and hurried out of the throne room.
He read it, and said, “Also add, that Exile portal
may be set up in the event these people are extremly hostile and unpredictable,
and that empire occpation will happen, and tell the troops to begin occupation
of city,” he said, and she reworded it so it sounded smooth, and it was
sent along with a trained falcon, back to the camp.
In the morning, the commander awoke to the falcon
sitting on top of him, awaiting him to get up. The bird flapped onto a
chair, as he sat up. He saw the scroll tied to it, and he took it off,
and read the scroll, while the bird awaited its next instruction. He read
the last part to his assistant, and told him to spread it to the soldiers.
“I am now going to meet with the king, gather a party of archers, and soldiers.
I don’t think he will take this too well.”
“WHAT?!” was what the king yelled as he got the
news from the General. “Listen! We will allow you to stay, but you’re not
going to be taking our deku nuts! Children live in that forest, you can’t
just...kick them out!!! We will SELL them to you, not just give, there a
precious resource!” He took a piece of paper, and hurriedly wrote a response
to the letter, and Roberts tied it to the Falcon, which took off, and left
the castle, heading for Hawthorne castle.
The Emperor read the letter, and said to his letter-writer,
“We understand, but be advised, that we are going to send in people to
evaluate your people, and flush-out the ones that are inappropiate. As
for your explosive nuts, we understand your stance. We will allow you to
harvest and sell, but we are going to start the planting of the plants
that make these, so we can harvest these incredable items in better quantity,”
The Emperor said. He then sighed, and said “What do you think about this
Walinda?”
The secretary said, “They’re whole life is about
to change. I don’t know if they’ll cope. I would send down some experienced
people to watch over the situation. You’re basically telling them ‘you’re
mine now, and everything you have is mine too!’ It’s very unnerving, even
for me. I hope no one is killed, or sent to Exile,” she said.
“I don’t either, but we must do what we have to,”
he said, and was silent for a minute.
She then said, “Did he really say there were rock-eating
giants, fish-people, and a race of female-only thieves?”
“Yes, its hard to believe. But I guess we have to
take his word for it,” Hawthorne said.
“What are you going to do if they do revolt?” she
asked.
“Send them all to Exile, the only thing I can do.
I don’t want to have a group of rebellious people, with the order that
is around it,” he said sadly. “Ok, send the bird again, she should be rested
by now,” he said, and the bird flew into the room, and the Emperor petted
his feathered head, and tied the letter onto it. “I hope they don’t mess
this up, that place sounds incredible.”
A couple of weeks later, things had become very tense
in the land of Hyrule. The king was a governor now, his daughter, a princess
in name only. The people went on, but the archers that stood on buildings
that looked-over the marketplace unnerved people, and made them cautious
of what they did. The Gerudo, always troublesome, has outwardly refused
the guards, and barricaded the entrance to the desert, and made a gate
to keep them out. They had decided to not pursue it, it was way too hot
anyways. The Goron went on as usual. The guards felt dwarfed, and it was
apparent these creatures didn’t need the help of the soldiers in keeping
the peace. And the Zora had total contempt for the guards. All they could
do is sit on the shore. And often rocks and other things were thrown at
them. All was at peace for the most part.
The hawk was sent out to report on the progress,
and it’s main focus was on the troublesome Gerudo. “They have total disrespect,
and we continually are ‘losing’ supplies daily. Request advice on what
action to undertake,” the Emperor read aloud. “Set up an Exile portal...and
rid the land of the thieves...” the Emperor said. The secretary gasped, but
kept writing, and turned to him.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said firmly. “I have been too soft with
them. Also add that any more blatant disrespect to Empire forces will mean
Exile,” he said, and went back to reviewing reports from major cities in
the empire.
“Yes sir....” she said, and wrote it down, tied it
to the hawk, petted him, and sent him out of the window.
“YOUR GOING TO DO WHAT?!” Harkinian yelled as the
commander read the letter to the former king. “You can’t do that!!! They’re
a part of our society. Ours!!! You can’t just.....dump the unwanted!” he
said.
“Yes we can, and we are,” and the commander walked
from the room.
The empire soldiers had invaded the desert, but
with very bad results. They apparently got wind of it, and the whole city
was fortified. After three days, however, they were all caught, and thrown
into the teleporter. Hyrule became very bitter towards the soldiers. Stands
charged exorbitant fees to Empire guards. The Zora had no regard for the
guards, who did nothing except fish occasionaly beside their waters. The
desert was tottaly silent, and empty. The former king was very hostile
towards the guards stationed there. He took their reports, and sent them
on their way without a word.
However, one day, an incident arose by the Zoran
waters. A guard was fishing, and had hooked something. He reeled in, and
found he had hooked a Zora child. The hook was deep in his arm, and the
guards howled with laughter. “Please, help me, it hurts!” the boy cried.
“Why should I, you mock us, make fun of us!!!” the
guard that had him hooked said, and yanked on the line, causing the child
to scream. From far below, the slight scent of blood in the water, and
thrashing and screams weredetected, and other children came to see what
was the matter.
“Ow...help me get this off!” said the ensnared child.
One got close, but was hit with a small rock, and looked up.
“You don’t help the boy!!!” roared the guard with
laughter, as the trapped kid cried.
“Tommy, go get dad!” said a Zora girl, and another
Zora dived under the water. The guard smiled, they knew the penalty for
disrespect. The guard yanked again, and another child was trying to help,
and was hit with a stone, and started to cry. The others wanted to help,
but couldn’t as there friend was trapped and in pain. Then, an adult Zora
surfaced, rage on his face.
“Let go of him!” the Zora yelled.
“Why should I?” the guard said, and the Zora went
over to help the child. A rock flew and hit his head. Another child caught
it, and flung it hard back, hitting the guard in the face, and causing
him to let go of the rod. The adult freed the boy, and the kids yelled
at the guards, and dissapeared under the surface.
The next day, the king got a heavily biased report on the incident,
how a Zora hit a guard with a stone, breaking his nose, omitting the child
being hooked. The now-governor Harkinian told them to bring the Zora before
him, but not in restraints.
“Find out who it is, and tell him I request an audience
with him,” said Harkinian, and the messenger went away.
A day later, the Zora came into the throne room,
bruised and beaten. Two guards flanked him on each side, and he looked
at the king with distaste. “GET OUT OF MY CHAMBERS YOU SAVAGES! GUARDS!!!
ARREST THESE MEN!” said Harkinian, and two guards came into the throne
room. “You do not hurt any citizen of this city, is that understood?!”
he growled, and the soldiers nodded, and the guards took the men away.
The former king then turned to the Zora, and said, “What happened?”
The Zora then proceeded to tell him, about the fishing
guards, them accidently getting the boy. Then his voice grew angrier as
he told him how they taunted him, and threw rocks at the other Zora who
tried to help, and showed him the lump that was still on his head from
the rock that hit him. “Then, I went over to free him, and WHACK! I was
hit, but one of my sons caught the rock, and threw it back, and that was
when the man let go of the rod,” said the Zora, rubbing his head. “The
child, has a deep and long gash on his arm.”
The king let out a sigh, and got a messenger. “Tell
ALL guard posts that they do not interfere with people’s normal activities,
and that they are to not hurt anyone, without provacation. And ALL injuries
caused by a guard are to be reported to me,” he said, as the man wrote
it down.
“Yes sir, I will take it immediately,” and walked
hurridly from the large room.
Meanwhile at the guard barracks, the hawk was sent
out with the account of the soldier. The Emperor read the letter, and laughed.
“They got a bunch of idiots down there! Write on there that the soldiers
better have better discresion, or they’re going to have to answer to me,”
he said to his secretary.
“I hope the boy is all right....” his secretary said.
“Me too. I think I should send person to advise
me on the situation,” he said, and she sent someone to find a worthy person.
“Someone who wouldn’t be biased toward the military. In the mean time,
tell the commander that we will not be pressing charges against the creature,
and that he is to not harm them,” he said. “Let’s just hope they don’t
stir them into rebellion,” said the Emperor.
“Why would that happen?” said the woman writing
the stuff down.
“'Cause our soldiers may make them think that they
have lost their way of life,” said Hawthorne the ruler, and he sent the
bird out.
The commander in charge of the soldiers in Hyrule
city had another meeting with the king, this time to discuss what rebellion
would be punished with. “There will be no need for punishment, as long
as you can keep your soldiers in line and not provoke another assault!
Your actions in the Gerudo desert are not forgotten. People think they
might be next. News of the Zora attack has got out. They wonder if they
will be treated the same way,” said the king. It is true, that the Empire
has a disdain for the different. And the appearance of the Hylia people,
their pointed ears in paticular, is disturbing to the guards. So they aren’t
as kind as they might have been otherwise.
“Exile is where those who blatently defy our guards
awaits,” Roberts said.
“And what if the guard said ‘have sex with me’?
If the person was scared to report it, you would send him to that place
you keep going on about, and that would be it! Have you sent anyone else
other than those Gerudo there?!” he asked.
“Not yet....”
But the King cut in, “Not yet?! It should be never!
All of our cities are peaceful! YOUR soldiers are stirring the people up!
What do you do to a begger who steals a piece of gold from a money bag
of a person walking the streets?” the king asked.
“Exile,” said the man simply.
“That is your problem!!! You do not hesitate
to send people there you don’t want!!!” the king yelled. “Out of my sight.
You come to ME before you send ANYONE there. Is that clear?!” he said,
and Roberts nodded. “Thank you. As for the Zora, you should be apologizing
to him. You beat him, when I said don’t harm him! That is not to happen
ever again,” he said angrly, and the man nodded again. The commander stood
to his feet, and left the castle.
At the barracks, the hawk was waiting on Roberts’
desk. He came back, and read the message, and threw it down. “Everyone
in this city is too soft....” he said as he sat down on a bed to cool off.
It has been now two months since the takeover by
the Empire. It was Deku-nut season, and hired harvesters entered the forest,
and marveled at the children. A represenitive from the Empire came up to
Link. “What is this forest for, a mass daycare center?” Link laughed.
“These are people. See that boy over there?” he
said, as he pointed towards Mido. “He’s over 30 years old. They don’t age
here like other people,” Link said, and the overseer’s mouth was open.
“Don’t worry, they don’t bite, there very shy, but a friendly people,”
he said. He saw Empire guards enter the forest, and Link’s expression instantly
darkned. “What are they doing here?!” he said with distaste.
“They are here to make sure that no one steals from
the harvest,” he said.
“I know what you mean. They’re not always mean,
but I saw them in the city. Most are becoming friendly to the citizens,
but some, they’re more like the Empire in general. Mean, to anyone and
anything not natural, or familiar, or different,” he said, implying to
his tone and expression.
“What do you mean, ‘in general’?” he asked.
“Have you heard of the ‘Exile-portal’?” he asked.
Link nodded his head. “It goes to a gigantic underground cave-system. All
unwanted people up here are sent down there. Your Gerudo, for instance.
I heard of your Zora, they may be next,” he said, and Link was gripped
with a mixture of shock and horror. The man saw it, and shook his head.
“It’s something we could do without. But it is the reason that the Empire
doesn’t have to build prisons, or ‘waste’ money on rehabliatation programs,
or mental hospitals,” the man said, and spit to emphasize his last point.
“People say that it is probably hell down there, with all of our criminals
down there. You never know, but I don’t think that’s true. I knew
some people who were sent down there. One was caught stealing. He stole
a pair of boots. That was it. It’s extremly unfair, in my opinion,” he
said, and turned to watch the laborers coming in the forest. Link was shocked
because of how little it would take to get you sent down there. Link knew
there weren’t enough criminals in Hyrule to fit into his treehouse. That
was because things were great.
Link turned to the man, “You can stay in my house
while the harvest is going on,” Link said, and the man of at least 33 smiled.
“Thanks,” he said, and looked in. “I’ll bring my
stuff after the evening shift is over.” And he climbed down from the treehouse,
and began barking orders at the laborers, who were bringing in ladders
and large baskets.
At the Hyrule castle, the king had come to a decision.
“Sir, I would like to request that your men leave, and let our own guards
take over,” he said to Roberts.
He only shook his head. “We have orders to stay
here until the Empire’s postion is solidified...” but the king cut-in.
“Listen! Were not going to revolt! You’ve already
destroyed a major part of our society! And if we were to revolt, it would
be 'cause of your soldiers behaviour towards our citizens! We are part
of the Empire, but in name only! We are a nation. We’ve been protecting
ourselves for thousands of years! Nothing is going to change 'cause your
‘Empire’ says they own us! We submit, but don’t go trying to exert yourself
over us!” he said, and took some paper, and wrote a letter to the Emperor.
“Messenger, go and get Link and tell him to come to the castle. I wish
to send one of our citizens, a dear friend to the royal family. I want
him to meet your ‘Emperor’ and explain what is all going on!” the king
almost yelled, and the messenger nodded, and left the room.
In the forest, Link was doing his daily routine,
which isn’t that much at all. Then, he saw the messenger, and recognized
him and walked up to him. Since the only time he ever comes into the forest
is to get him, warn him, or something else, he went up to him. “Sire, you
are to go with a person from the Empire to see the Emperor Hawthorne,”
the messanger said.
“I understand, I will get my things at once,” and
walked back and got his stuff.
After getting his things, he was on the road with
the surveyor that had been sent by the Emperor. After a long awkward silence,
the surveyor spoke. “My name is Peter,” said the man.
“I’m Link” said Link, and shook his hand.
“Your land, it’s very beautiful,” he said.
“That it is,” Link replied, thinking about it.
“Tell me, what are the different races like, in
your land?” he asked.
“I thought you already found that out,” Link said.
He laughed, and said, “All I did was stand by the
sea for a day, waiting for someone to come up, only to get splashed when
I tried to talk. The people you call Gorons, I didn’t really get an impression,
I didn’t know if there disposition was always like that,” He said.
“Well, I will tell you. The Zora, they are a very
proud people. Also people to not be messed with. The Gorons are just as
gentle as the people that occupy the cities. The Kokiri, they are just
as you saw, fun-loving children. The Gerudo, that were ‘exiled’ as you
call it,” he spit for emphasis of his point, “were only doing what they
normally do. Your people, you leave your camps unguarded, with things not
under protection?” he asked.
He said, “There hasn’t been a need in a long time
to guard our camp as if we were in a war-zone.”
“Well there’s your problem. They can survive on
their own, but what do they think when they see all your stuff spread-out?”
he said, and Peter laughed.
“I guess you’re right, but no one disputes the Emperor.”
Link then asked, “What do you mean?” For a second,
the 25-year-old mage laughed, then he got back his composure.
“Ahem, sorry, I forget you don’t know what he’s
like. The Emperor, Hawthorne, is brilliant, but also ruthless. In his rule,
no one has challenged him. No one has ever tried to break away from the
Empire, such as small cities. First of all, there is no real need to. The
soldiers protect with a mighty hand, but also kind to people who abide
the law. I guess there just not used to your people. Your land is very
beautiful. Your people, the model society. Just remember that you to try
to appeal to him, don’t yell at him, asking why he does all this stuff.
That will get you nowhere. Odds are, the reason he put up with your leader’s
letters is cause the stupidity of the bunch that are there. They’re a bunch
of stupid infantry. And archers. Not the guards you need. You should ask
him to have the army moved-out, and actual guards moved in. You should
tell him that your area is not a territory in threat of revolt, tell him,
NICELY, that you want to be left in peace,” he said, and Link nodded. They
talked a while afterwards, and came to a city, and spent the night.
A week later, Link arrived at the grand castle of
the ‘Mighty and Fair Emperor Hawthorne’, or as the palace guards had to
refer to them. Link grumbled a bit. “Makes himself to be a bit more than
he is, huh?” he said, discreetly.
“Huh? Oh, doesn’t your...friend....do that too?” he
asked.
“No, he doesn’t have to make a mighty impression
of himself on his subjects to be seen in their eyes as mighty,” he said
simply, and the words impacted Peter.
“I never saw it that way.” They continued walking,
the two travelers now friends, as they stood at the entrance to the throne
room. Two seven-foot-tall people, or what he thought were people, guarded
the way into the throne. “Those are Golems, Link. There made out of stone,
and enchanted. These are made out of extremely hard smoothed granite,”
he said as the walked up to the door, he got up to six feet away from the
small, simple granite-patterned doors, and the Golem moved, the sound of
very smooth surfaces audible as it moved.
“Do you have permission to see the Emperor?” said
the animated object. A small sapphire glowed where there should be
a mouth, sending soft blue light as the sound came from it. It was very
low, but without rasp, and was perfectly understandable. It only stood
there waiting for a response. A diamond of Onyx with four facets making
four more diamonds swiveled-around, looking at him, the object feeding
sight information to the golem gem that animated the object, which was
on its neck, glowing faintly. Peter stepped up to the object, and that
caused it to go into defense mode, and drew the long great sword it held
with one hand, preparing to strike down them if they tried to get at the
Emperor without authorization.
“We are here on official Empire business,” he said,
and held his hand out, with a slip signed by commander Roberts in it. The
golem looked at the paper, studied it for a second, and put its sword away,
and opened the door to enter the kings chambers.
“Have a nice day!” it said oddly cheerful, and the
golem-gem flashed as the two magical creatures talked to each other silently
as they stood at their post. It creeped Link out majorly. The walked into
the chamber, with the emperor’s chair elevated on a six-foot step-pyramid.
It made him look formidable. Link knew that was exactly what he was going
for.
He bowed shortly, as he expected of Royalty, and
said, “Sire?” trying to get his attention.
He turned. “Oh, I’m sorry, I was looking at something....It
is rather intresting...” he laughed shortly, and the book he had said on
the cover The Reign of our Emperor Link saw the cover of the book,
and couldn’t help but laugh. “Is there something funny?!” Hawthorne said
with impatience.
“Well...It’s that book. It seems like its just some
half-talent writer who was hoping that you would buy a ton of his books
for barracks, or whatever,” Link said off hand, and Peter looked uncertainly
from the Emperor to Link. Your so stupid Link!!! If your lucky, he may
only whip you!!! Peter thought to himself. The Emperor studied him
for a second, and the roared with laughter, “You’re very perceptive, but
also very brave, I admire that!” and Link sighed on his inside with relief.
“You are right my boy, I get a hundred of these. All are almost the seem
in totally opposite ways. However, I always get a copy of every one someone
tries to publish. Always saying how great my rule is, how its going to
get even greater,” he said in a casual tone. “You’re not here just to chat,
are you?” he said, and Link shook his head. “Well, I guess we better to
get down to buisness,” he said.
“Yes sire, I am from your new territory, the land
of Hyrule,” he said, and the Emperor’s eyes went up to his ears, seeing
their odd shape, and the different curvature of the face.
“It’s true, all your people have a beauty to your
face,” he said, then motioned with his hand “Continue”.
“Sire, I have come to see if you would be willing
to move your soldiers out of our land.” He said that, and the man laughed.
“I can’t be doing that!” he said.
“Sire, these men are not guards. They get bored
sitting around doing nothing. They pester and bother our people as they
go along their routines. Some even mangled and tourtred a small Zoran boy
with a fishing rod until an adult freed him, and then he still got hit
on the head with a rock. We don’t need soldiers in our city,” Link said,
and the Emperor nodded.
“What do you suggest we do?” he asked.
“You could leave our land to its own affairs, the
only millatary presensce being at the harvest times,” he suggested.
“Not possible,” the Emperor said.
“Ok, understandable. We want the soldiers out and
gone, and guards, real guards who don’t serve in the military who will
be staying and living in the city,” Link said, as Peter had suggested to
him.
The King nodded thoughfully. “Anything else?” he
asked.
“You could hire people from our own kingdom to be
guards, it would be absoulutly no change from the usual,” he said. After
he was done, he remained silent while Hawthorne thought it over. After
three minutes or so of dead-silence, he spoke, and it surprised the two
men standing in front of the throne.
“I have thought it over, and I think a combination
of the last two would be in order. It would allow people to warm-up back
to our Empire. I must admit, our soldiers are pretty stupid. Is the boy
allright, you alleged he got hurt.”
Link smiled, and said, “That is a good solution.
As for the boy, he was swimming, but his race, they’re like....fish people
would not be an accurate term, but the best I can come up with. According
to the friends of the boy, he was hooked, and the soldiers were throwing
rocks at people who were trying to free him. The Zora totally loathe your
soldiers. I will return, and explain things to them, about the new people
coming in. Hopefully, they will understand what is going on. Perhaps you
would like to come to our land, you can’t get the full impression of them
without seeing them,” he said.
“I’ll think it over, and as for the guards, I’ll
set that up as soon as possible. Would you not like to stay for dinner
with me tonight, so we can talk more about your land, and your traditions,”
he said.
Link obliged, bowing and saying, “That would be
excellent Emperor, I have not had a decent night’s sleep in a week. Staying
at second-rate rooms has not been very well on my back,” he said.
“As should be expected.”
Later that night, they all sat down to a dinner
that promised to be exquisite, and Link, and his new-found friend wasn’t
in the least bit. It was savory and rich, but not like fatty foods, it
was spiced to perfection. After taking a couple of large bites, Link said
to the Emperor. “Emperor Hawthorne?” he asked. Peter gazed at him in astonishment.
NO ONE said his name. Only his trusted advisors.
“How dare you say my name, without barely knowing
me!” he said in an angry tone, and the guards were ready to seize him,
if the master of the castle so desired.
“Excuse me, sir, I meant no disrespect,” he said.
“But you did disrespect me!” he said, still angry.
“I’m sorry sire. I mearly wanted to talk to you.
I did not know! I did not mean any disrespect at all, in any ways. I thought
perhaps you were tired of being called sire or sir or Emperor when
adressed. I would not like it if people addressed me all the time ‘Master
Guard over the Forest’, for that was my former title before you came into
my land,” he said.
That brought an interesting point to his mind. Right
now, most people would be groveling at his feet for forgivness. “I see,
that you did not know. You may call me by my last name, you bring up interesting
points often,” he said, and smiled. “What did you want to ask me about,
Link, was it?” he asked.
“That is my name sir. I wanted to ask you about
the dismantling of that thing....you call and ‘exile portal’.” And Peter
dropped his fork. What is wrong with him?! He just rushes into things!!!
He’s gonna get himself into something that he may not be able to talk out
of, and this could just be it.... He thought, trying to go on eating
as usual.
Hawthorne then said, “Why? It is a very effective
method for keeping a populace in line.” Link grumbled at that statement.
“You wiped out a whole civilization when you set
that thing up! And it’s an omonous thing at night. Also, what if some poor
child wanders into it, and goes werever that thing leads to? What if some
man decides to rape a woman, then throw her into there, as if nothing happened,
leaving everyone to wonder where she went? Also, there is no need to control
the populace. We never had any real jail, except somewere to keep the drunks
over the night,” he said, rather angry.
The Emperor ignored that, and said, “What about
these Zora I hear about, their total lack of respect for the guards?” he
asked.
“They return in kind what they receive! And even
if you decreed to send them into that portal, you couldn’t catch them.
You try and fence them in, try and round them up, nothing would work. Not
to mention there’s a deep bond between the Zora and the rest of Hyrule,
including the Gerudo. That is why they show so little respect, or why it’s
so lacking, to say another way. In any case, is should be dismantled, moved,
destroyed, whatever means to remove it, but it NEEDS to be removed, nonetheless.”
Link finished his little ‘speech’ with. He had a flare of making a ‘excuse
me, may I say a word’ or something along those lines into a speech that
goes quite a bit of time.
The emperor took a bite of his food, chewed slowly,
swallowed, then said, “Ok, I shall have it done.” And that was all that
was said during the dinner that was of any importance. After the night,
they departed from the halls of the Emperor, and returned to his land.
After a week, plans to set guards up were in place. But
it was of no use. The soldiers continued their stupid and foolsih taunting of
the Zora, and they rebelled violently. The Emperor had the area sealed off.
Mages came to the land, and set up a set of four portals, and edges of the
kingdom. They invoked a magic upon the portals, and transported the kingdom of
Hyrule into Exile. All that was left was the greenery, and patches of ungrown
dirt where houses once stood. After that, no town ever thought of rebelling
against the Empire.
New Fan Works