[center][u][h1]Oasis: Resistance HQ[/h1][/u][/center] The commanding officer of the HQ paced back and forth a moment after the Sheikah messenger departed. It was only now that the man, Gerik, realized that the messenger hadn't come alone. Another Sheikah remained within HQ, and in spite of his silence, it was clear that he was offering himself as a volunteer for the contingent Gerik requested. Good, perhaps a little subterfuge would keep this little skirmish from becoming anything more than that. Of course, Gerik knew the young man's secret, or at least one of them. Rath had informed Gerik of the piece of Triforce that the lad had come into possession of sometime before making the trip to Oasis. Well, all the better as far as Gerik was concerned. Any edge they could get over those Moblin bastards, the better. Then Gerik heard a voice, one that made him rub his temples and almost immediately induced a headache. It wasn't that Gerik didn't like Etzo, in fact the scraggly alchemist proved himself quite useful as a potion and medicine supplier for Gerik's men, something they sometimes sorely needed. And yet, Etzo's manic and oftentimes hyperactive personality made him quite the handful to deal with. He fired away with some questions about supplies and ingredients, but given the current circumstances Gerik only partially paid attention. Right now the skirmish was the most important thing on his mind, not Etzo's shopping list. As if to compound the stress, a shrill voice made itself known, one that belonged to Yuri, a merchant who had multiple dealings with Gerik and his men. At first Gerik was ready to just shush the two of them and hurry them along their way, but some peculiar words caught his attention. [color=steelblue]"W-Where. Where did you get that?! How do you have one too!?"[/color] The voice, while not someone Gerik worked with personally, belonged to a knight he was well aware of. More importantly, this was a fellow who made it no secret that he was investigating the Triforce, why was anyone's guess. But just then, with that exclamation, Gerik's suspicion was confirmed. He [i]did[/i] have one, and apparently so did Yuri. Four. That was four pieces that he now not only knew of, but learned were all in one place. This was either some form of destiny, or the world's biggest coincidence. Before Gerik could speculate to himself any further, Yuri and Etzo briefly began to argue only for the knight to loudly intervene before proclaiming that he was going to Gerudo Fortress to offer his aid. "Hold it right there, Sir Knight!" Gerik stayed quiet until now, but he was having no more antics or suicidal heroics. Not in his garrison, anyway, most certainly not on his watch, "Before you go gallivanting into what could be your death, I suggest you volunteer for the contingent and leave with help at your side." he wasn't giving an order, this knight was not actually one of his men and therefore did not fall under his command. Still, that didn't mean Gerik couldn't make a [i]strong suggestion[/i], and if this man were a true knight he would almost certainly respect local authority enough to comply. "First of all," Gerik began, "as soon as the supply convoy is rescued we're [i]all[/i] going to sit down and have a nice, long discussion about this Triforce business, and what we're actually going to do with these pieces some of you have apparently felt the need to keep hidden. Secondly, I'm in no mood to babysit today, so either make yourselves useful or stay out of the way!" Gerik didn't normally act so abrasive, the current circumstances were the root of cause of that at the moment. [hr] [center][u][h1]Gerudo Fortress[/h1][/u][/center] The moblins attacking the convoy might have had a quick victory. The hired mercenaries were skilled but the moblins practically doubled them in numbers so overwhelming them wouldn't take too long. However, they didn't count on the convoy receiving aid so soon. Namely, a couple of moblins fell, struck by balls of lightning. The lizalfos commander was also hit, but his armor kept it from being a serious wound. Being reptilian, it wasn't hard for the lizalfos to smell the blood of a Zora nearby, and spotted Dia in the distance, deducing her to be the source of the attacks. With a pitched bark, the Lizalfos ordered the moblins to advance on Dia. One lone Zora couldn't hope to fend off nearly twenty moblins. Then, the lizalfos smelled something else, something advancing on them and doing it quickly. Gerudo blood, someone from the nearby Gerudo Fortress was coming out to aid the convoy. Still, a lone Gerudo instead of sending out an entire unit? Fools, if the Gerudo woman wished to die so badly, then it would be their pleasure to oblige them. Some of the moblins broke from their charge on Dia in order to advance toward the charging Nadijah. Fortunately for the two women, not all the mercenaries were killed yet and those that still lived decided to use the opportunity to renew their attack against the enemy forces. It was a real battle now. ([url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVd10vHAghI]Battle Music[/url]) [hr] [center][u][h1]Castle Town: Temple of Time[/h1][/u][/center] Six eyes watched the Knight's emergence from the temple and his following struggle against the ReDead horde. He fought hard, valiantly even, but there were just too many of them. In fact, more were about enter the courtyard from the direction of town, and even some of the dead ones looked as if they were about become reanimated again. Ganondorf's curse on the area prevented it from ever being truly cleansed of the horde, at least not without managing to kill the Evil King himself. From the shadows they watched, six eyes belonging to three Sheikah agents waited and observed. Watching the struggle unfold, one of the Sheikah motioned to the one in the center with a gesture of communication, to which they silently responded in kind. The exchange, though silent, went a little something like this: [i]"Do we intervene?"[/i] [i]"...Not yet."[/i] So they watched, at least until the Knight finally fell. By that point, the Sheikah had seen all they needed to see. Namely, their leader sensed an unknown power of sorts coming from the Knight, one that he was sure he'd seen before but couldn't place it. In any case, with a simple nod, the Sheikah sprang into action like a well-oiled machine. Their initial strike was from a distance, all three agents carrying crossbows that they used to pick off the ReDeads closest to the Knight's body. Once close enough, two of the agents used their throwing knives and Kodachi to keep the ReDeads at bay, at least for as long as they would be able to. But even just a few precious seconds was more than enough time for a Sheikah to act decisively. The third Sheikah knelt by the Knight's unconscious form. He could see no other identifying features other than a nearly-faded Hyrule's Crests on his breastplate. That didn't make much sense, their intelligence indicated that most if not all the Knights of Hyrule were killed off during Ganondorf's initial invasion of Hyrule Castle. So how could one still be among the living now? Reaching for his pack, the Sheikah knew of one method to learn the answer, and quickly put on an eerie-looking mask. It was mostly kite-shaped, like a shield, but it had a slit cut into it for the eyes. It was pure white, with the Eye of Truth symbol of the clan painted on it in red. The Mask of Truth, or at least one that still survived. They used to be more commonly used by Sheikah a long time ago, but war with Ganondorf had seen the destruction of most of them. With the masks, though, one could briefly gaze into the thoughts of another person. "Sorry to prod your mind, friend, but we don't have a lot of time for pleasantries." the Sheikah, a rarity for these people. Though, to be honest this particular Sheikah had a way of defying most of the traditional stereotypes of his people and yet somehow still reinforcing them in a way. With the mask, the Sheikah had a brief peek into the fallen Knight's memory. What he found was... surprising, to say the least. In actually, there was little to be found, which was itself the surprise. This meant the Knight had his mind wiped at some point, how or why was completely unknown. But what little was there, it was apparent this Knight still felt a burning hatred for Ganondorf and still fought with the desire to save his kingdom. But there was also a peculiar light in the Knight's memory, and this was certainly what interested the Sheikah more. This Knight, almost completely crazed and with little in the way of sanity, possessed a piece of the Triforce. That was what prompted the Sheikah to interfere, whoever this knight was he needed to be saved and brought back to Oasis. Removing the Mask of Truth and returning it to his pack, the Sheikah looked to his brethren and said, "Form up, I'm getting us out of here." the two Sheikah silently obeyed, and stepped back as close to the Knight and their leader as they could. The leader, meanwhile, retrieved a golden flute from his pack and began blowing notes into it. He hurriedly played a song his people helped create, the [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2KoRa6RHYc]Requiem of Spirit[/url], and he repeated the song even while orange balls of light circled around him and his compatriots, whisking them into the sky. In the next instant, even as the Sheikah was still playing notes on the flute, the Sheikah and the Knight found themselves magically transported to a place in the desert, overlooked by a tall statue known as the Desert Colossus. Oasis was practically a stone's throw away, and without even missing a beat, the three Sheikah worked together to lift up the Knight to begin transporting him to where the Resistance waited.