TOTK: The Lonely Hero

The Wind Temple

Boom!

The roar of cannons greeted the two warriors, as the Stormwind Ark's automatically aimed themselves at them and opened fire.

"Look out!" Tulin shouted, as he and Link dove down, weaving through the hail of cannon fire. The heat of the gunnery was on their backs and faces as the rounds flew past them and burst in midair.

Diving past the flaming projectiles, the two landed on the deck of the great skyship, to a rather intriguing site.

The cloaked figure stood at the edge of a large, round, metal vent, blowing a continuous stream of wind upwards. Before him was a Zonai terminal, the traditional glowing green hand sign shining. Without an arm like the one Rauru had gifted Link, it would have been impossible for him to interact with it.

Pressing the blade of his royal guard's sword to his hand, he slit the palm, as not blood, but liquid gloom poured from the wound. Raising his hand to the symbol, he watched as the terminal's glow went from the bright green to a blood red.

Just as his hand was about to touch the symbol, he suddenly halted himself. In a flash, he leapt out of the way, just as two arrows flew past him.

Spinning around, the hooded figure finally took notice of Link and Tulin, both standing with their bows fixed on him.

"Alright, mystery man! Put your hands up and take off that hood of yours while you're at it!" the Rito commanded.

The stranger said nothing, as he remained still as a rock. Link kept his eyes trained on this foe, an ice fruit fused to the tip to keep him where he was. He couldn't help but be surprised at the composure of this foe. He was all alone now, with no more traps in sight for him and Tulin. What could he do now?

Just then, the figure raised the Sheikah Slate, aiming it right at Link. Realizing what he was trying to do, Link quickly loosed, just as he was frozen in place by the stasis rune. In his frozen state, his gaze became that of shock, as he watched him then draw with his free hand none other than the famed Hylian shield, the one he'd lost in the caves.

The ice arrow burst upon contact with the legendary shield, leaving only a layer of frost behind on its royal blue surface.

"Link!" Tulin gasped, before responding with three arrows, fired in rapid succession. The stranger leapt to the side, out of the way of the other two, before parrying the final arrow with a swing of his shield.

Then, with a flash of the slate, he hurled a remote bomb at the two, the weapon detonating just as Link broke free from the stasis lock.

The two were thrown back by the blast, Tulin barely being able to catch himself in the air. As Link recovered from the blast, his eyes suddenly caught the figure charging towards him, sword raised.

Drawing his kite shield, Link hurriedly parried the strike, before swinging back with his feathered edge.

To his shock however, the foe suddenly leapt aside before returning with a rapid flurry rush, reducing his shield to splinters in a flash. Never before had he ever seen anyone but himself perform such a move.

"What is this enemy?" Link wondered, as he backflipped away from an incoming swing. Tulin soon came to his aid with another hail of arrows. Raising the Hylian shield overhead, the stranger held firm as all three shots bounced off the hard metal.

With him distracted, Link looked for a way to strike. Spotting a wooden crate, he activated ultrahand and grabbed the crate, raising it up into the air and promptly dropping it over the stranger, now busy with taking aim with his bow at Tulin.

The dark warrior was knocked to the ground as the crate was splintered to pieces upon the deck. Link drew his feathered edge and leapt in for a fatal stab, burying the blade into his gut.