The General's Pride: Part II

Link had done it now, by acting like an evil character, he had angered a strong looking opponent.

The hero honestly felt bad, looking down on people was something he never did, and he himself would be angry if someone looked down on him or his friends.

After all, those knights and soldiers must be training daily and were willingly risking their lives to fight off demons, that was something he respected immensely.

He out of all people would know how important hard work and efforts were, considering the amount of times he had to surpass his own limits to stay alive.

Still, the Hero of Light had a role to play, and he would play it until the end. He needed to look as high and mighty as he could.

Link stared at the woman in front of him that had readied her weapon. An immense sword, and by the looks of it the wielder seemed skilled with it.

There's no way he'd win if he used his bow, he'd get overpowered really quickly considering there wasn't much distance anymore between them.

And so, to Impa's surprise, Link nonchalantly threw his bow behind him, inside of the keep, as if he was getting rid of an useless piece of wood.

Continuing with the act, he cracked his knuckles and his neck as if he was warming up.

There was no change in Impa's expression, though he saw the soldiers behind her get irritated that he was looking so casual when he was about to fight their amazing general. Sheik was confused, the demon certainly hadn't acted like that against him, it was way too strange.

Impa herself wasn't sure what the demon was planning. He was currently full of openings, however she was certain that this was done on purpose to get her to attack first, and so, she prefered to wait.

There were multiple reasons as to why Link was doing this.

First, it was to continue to play the role of an evil character. Refusing to kill was too odd for a demon, thus he had to make sure that they thought he was indeed a demon through his behavior. It would be much easier if there weren't any suspicions about him being something else.

Last time, Zelda had almost managed to make him spill out informations, thankfully he had remembered why he was doing this in the first place, with Midna's face flashing in his thoughts.

The second reason was to judge the woman's behavior. She actually would've been correct to attack him right away, even if he would've dodged. Her not attempting anything meant that the hero had successfully installed either "respect" or "fear" in her heart, thanks to his first impression being overwhelmingly strong.

Finally, it was to take the time to think on how he was gonna deal with the situation. Link might be smart and have a lot of experience fighting, he still needed to plan his battles as far as he could. Strategies have always brought him victory.

'The biggest problem is her weapon. From what I can see it looks like top notch craftsmanship, I doubt my armor will be able to take many hits from that, and I don't think anything else than the Master Sword would survive clashing with this, unless I had something as big as-'

His thoughts were interrupted when he remembered the small darknut's strange previous actions. Link glanced at the broadsword the Darknut had previously stuck in the ground next to him.

'...Oh.'

He was certain that Cia had completely predicted this moment and made the darknut act like that to let the hero fight Impa on equal footing.

'My only option is to use the weapon of a monster.' He disliked the thought, but he had no choice.

The hero grabbed the broadsword's handle with both of his hands before pulling it out of the ground. The Darknut Sword was a bit smaller than Impa's Giant Blade, nonetheless it was still huge compared to regular weapons. It was rather heavy, so if he wanted to use it effectively, he'd have to use it like a two handed sword. Would the situation require him to, he was confident that he'd have the necessary strength to use it one handed.

"You could've attacked anytime you wanted." Link started, catching everyone's attention. "Are you afraid?"

The general didn't seem to be affected by provocation. "No, I'm only careful."

"...You're right to be." The hero pointed his blade toward Impa. "Come."

An invitation for Impa to make the first move, the general understood as much. The demon in front of her was so confident in his strength that he allowed her to go first.

For Link, those words were merely part of a play. The real reason was that it would be much easier for him to judge his opponent if she were to attack first. It would give him a good idea on how serious he'll have to be.

'She's definitely going to make a strong impression to rival mine, that would be the most effective way to get her troops' morale back up.'

Impa said nothing and switched stance, she lowered her sword and put it at the height of her waist, edge of the blade toward the ground. She bent her knees a little to lower her center of gravity.

Link wasn't sure what she was going to do, there was still enough distance between both of them where the only two options would be to either approach carefully or dash in.

'With such a heavy weapon there's no way she can close the distance at a speed I wouldn't be able to react to. What is she planning?'

The hero's eyes were stuck on the general, unblinking.

In a moment, the general had been replaced by dust being lifted into the air.

'She disappeared?!'

With his animal instincts, Link swiftly picked up on the brutal change in the air coming from his left, permeating his being with dread. He immediately shifted towards it, switching his stance as he gripped the broadsword's handle and raised the blade in front of himself, angling it downwards. With the sword as his shield, he planted his right hand firmly on the flat of the blade, ready to take on the incoming blow.

With the speed and strength of a cannonball, Impa's blade clashed with the hero's.

Link snarled, his opponent's power was no joke considering he had been pushed back a few centimeters.

But neither was his own arm strength to be underestimated. The man had wrestled with Gorons with only the help of iron boots to make himself heavier. By the end of his adventure, he had gained even more muscle mass and became heavier.

Maybe not enough to make a difference against gorons, but enough to make a difference now.

The general withdrew her blade before immediately attacking again, on the hero's right side. Link managed to shield against it in the same manner as before, except this time he pushed with more brute force in an attempt to destabilize Impa and land a counter.

The woman was shoved away successfully, yet didn't even leave time for Link to attack as she did something he would have never predicted.

She leapt, while still carrying that giant, heavy sword of hers, the blade looking toward the sky, before Impa swung it downward, straight at the hero's helmet.

The hero reacted as fast as he could and quickly put his weapon in a protective manner above his head, in an attempt to block the overhead attack with the flat side of his sword.

The blades clashed. Link gritted his teeth, enduring the full weight of the blow.

Impa landed on the ground, about to attack again as she had expected her ennemy to have been stunned by her strike. To her surprise, he had already recovered and this time, he was already on the offensive.

The general took a defensive stance just as Link unleashed a ferocious horizontal slash. With lots of difficulties, Impa had managed defend herself, though she had been pushed away farther than he had been. She understood that the demon's physical power was about the same as her own.

With the newly created distance between the two warriors, the hero of light used the breathing room to think about the situation he was in.

An opponent with great strength, speed and wits.

The small army behind her that might attack by surprise at any moment.

The very narrow terrain.

His type of weapon he wasn't quite used to wield.

Overall, this was a very bad situation to be in.

'...If I don't go all out in this battle... I'll get killed.'

Hello, Author here, I'm looking for someone that has read this story and that also knows how to draw as I want to commission a cover image for Between Dusk and Dawn on this website.
Anyone interested please do contact me through private message (or you can also put it in the review if you're writing one I guess) with a link showing me your previous drawings. Thank you.

And to answer the confused Guest review: There are 2 different Links in this story: the one in Hyrule Warrior (with the scarf), and the one from Twilight Princess. The helmet has no voice changing properties.