After playing through a series of video games in an attempt to break through my Writer's Block, I came up with this short one-shot after a conversation with good friend Dark Lord Link.
So enjoy.
XoXoX
The Job
"I can't believe this..." A young blonde muttered as she looked inside their personal savings and saw that there was nothing but a fly buzzing around in there. "We had over 30,000 gold pieces to last us about two weeks and we lose it within a day." She continued to complain and looked over her two companions, "I wonder why?" She asked sarcastically.
Her two companions were blonde, just like her and they also had blue eyes, just like her. Amusingly, they were all about the same height as well. If they weren't wearing anything that weighed, they would probably be almost the same weight too...but let's not tell the girl that.
One of them was an unique individual as under the green hood he wore, were pointed ears. He wore a green tunic with two brown belts wrapping around his waist which held various supplies and the other around his figure which held his sword. Underneath the tunic was a silver chainmail over a white shirt to add as extra protection. His gloves were brown and covered his entire wrist and a wristguard was added on his left hand where he wielded his sword. His slacks were tan and his boots were brown. This individual was no other then Link. The Hero of Hyrule. He came to this world when his world was threatened by an evil force that originated from this world and as a result, sent by his Goddess' to rid the worlds of this force. (They didn't give him the Master Sword)
The other had longer hair, longer then even the girl who was complaining to them about their money being gone. He wore silver armor, encasing his entire body except his head and included a blue cape. On his back was a greatsword, which required both of his hands to wield it. This was no other then Siegfried, the previous wielder of Soul Edge; a feat he's not too proud of.
Why the woman was complaining towards the two? Both Siegfried and Link were holding huge amounts of chocolate eggs. They were on sale and one thing led to another and next thing they knew, both men spent 30,000 gold pieces on chocolate eggs called Kinder's Surprise. (No idea on how they got them)
Siegfried was in the middle of eating one, "These things are good." He added after he swallowed.
Link only nodded in agreement.
The woman just sighed at the two, "You do realize that we cannot even think of eating all these to sustain us for the next two weeks?" She pointed out.
Link and Siegfried looked away in thought.
"Seriously?" She shouted.
"Well Cassandra. What do you suppose we do?" Link asked, opening another one.
Cassandra began to think for a while, "Well, we can take jobs." She pointed out.
Link and Siegfried both immediately dropped the eggs they were holding. "You serious?" Link asked. He didn't mind helping people, but he figured they would be fine with 30,000 gold pieces worth of chocolate eggs for the next two weeks.
"Yes I am." Cassandra reassured, "Sophitia trusted me with 30,000 gold pieces to find anything worthwhile here. I trusted you to keep it safe for me since I have a habit of misplacing things. Needless to say, I misplaced my trust." She added. She then looked towards the marketplace and figured there's probably some jobs there.
Siegfried sighed, "Fine. You and Link go look for jobs at the marketplace. I'll look around elsewhere for it." He suggested. He wasn't too enthusiastic about job hunting, but he figured he won't be able to win the argument with Cassandra.
Cassandra only muttered barely audible curses as Siegfried took off, "We'll probably see him sleeping at the inn." She managed to get that part out. "Speaking of which, we do have a room reserved for us, right?" She asked as she made way to the marketplace.
Link only remained silent as he followed behind.
Cassandra, noticing his silence, stopped and looked at him, "Right?" She repeated. She was only answered by silence.
Far off between the three blondes, another party was watching them. "Hmm..." The older man mumbled quietly. His smaller companion looking at him in thought.
After a while of looking.
After a while, Cassandra began getting frusterated. There were no jobs available aside from a few 'get my cat down a tree' which didn't really offer much gold as their employer for that was often little girls. (They did get jellybeans though)
Link wasn't much of a help. Still new to this world, he paid more attention to his surroundings then his objective. After seeing a couple of objects, he was starting to regret spending all 30,000 on those chocolate eggs. In fact, he saw a pastry that had white cream inside and wanted to try that one.
Cassandra looked at him; not much of a talker, she often forgot he was around, "You see any job offerings, Link?" She asked.
Link looked at her, "No." He answered simply.
They eventually reached a fountain where Cassandra decided to take a break of looking and sat on the side. Link stayed on his feet and continued to look around.
Cassandra looked towards the sky, "Wonder how Siegfried's doing?" She wondered out loud.
At the knight in question
Siegfried was in a similar predicament. He was frustrated, but not at the lack of jobs, but the job he managed to get. "Man. Mercenary work? Thought I put that behind me." He replied to himself as he looked at his contract. "At 45,000 gold pieces, I have to accept it." He added and grimaced at the contract. "Wonder if they got a job?" He muttered to himself.
Back to the two
Link had a sour face on. He pointed out that there was a billboard just across where they were and Cassandra immediately deduced that there may be a job offer. Much to her delight, there was! Of course, what the job was, is another story. Cassandra immediately made her peace with the job and was trying to convince (Or rather demand) Link to take the job with her. After seeing that the pay would be 45,000.
"No." Link immediately answered.
Cassandra immediately groaned, "Come on! You owe me this!" She shouted.
"I don't owe you anything." Link quickly snapped, as if he's trying to forget the fact that he spent all their earnings on some eggs.
"Hello? We're broke because you and Siegfried decided to buy 30,000 gold pieces for those damn eggs!" Cassandra quickly reminded, slapping Link with the contract.
Link looked at the contract again and groaned, "Not a chance! Nothing you say will change my mind." He replied, refusing the job.
After much debate on the job
Cassandra looked at the hero amusingly.
"Not a word." Link immediately replied after seeing Cassandra opening her mouth to say something.
The two stood in front of an altar in a church with only them and no one else. After getting informed on the exact situation of the job, they stood and waited. Turns out the job was from a man who was about to get married in this very church. Turns out he was certain (paranoid would be a better choice of words) that someone was going to kidnap his bride in which he was to wed in this church. At least, that's what the kidnapper would think. Thus, their job was to pose as a man and woman getting married so that when the kidnapper would come along, their employer would be having a secret wedding elsewhere, where the two would be safe. What they were suppose to do would be up to them.
Now onto the fake groom and bride, Link was still fuming and Cassandra justified, saying she always wondered how she would look like in a wedding dress. (Their attire was somehow 21st century...don't ask how they got it) Now they were planning on having Cassandra kidnapped in which Link would give chase using Farore's Wind to keep teleporting closer to the victim. Cassandra wasn't keen on getting herself kidnapped, but they wanted to see where the kidnapper would take her.
So here they are. Performing a job that they probably wouldn't even think of doing. But it was either this or feed on thousands of chocolate eggs which will probably give them health problems. Link was enthusiastic in this newfound diet, but Cassandra knew digestive problems would come along with the health problems, also affecting their teeth.
Link only leaned on the altar with his arms crossed pouting. Cassandra on the other hand was walking around a bit, planning on how to deal with the kidnapper. She originally thought handing him to the guards as would be the normal thing to do, but whenever the three (Herself, Link, and Siegfried respectively) are together, nothing is normal. So she figured handing him to the guards would be too easy.
"I know! He kidnaps me, takes me to the carriage and drives off. You go on top of the church, fire your arrow that has a rope attached to a building in his pathway, and you slide down towards us, landing on the carriage, freeing me, and beat the daylights out of him." She proposed her idea.
"No." Link quickly shut down the idea.
Cassandra turned at him, "Why not?"
"What if he anticipates my action and changes course?" He pointed out the flaw.
Cassandra walked away in thought, "You drop from the rope, grab another arrow, tie another rope, and fire at another building!" She launched another idea.
Link frowned at this, "I'm not a spider." He quickly pointed out how improbable the action would be.
Cassandra discarded that plan and continued her pacing. She placed her hands behind her and continued to think of a plan on how to get the criminal to face justice. She then rose a finger, "I know, as he takes me away on a carriage, you intercept the course and run across the road naked!" She suggested.
Link immediately groaned at this, "What good will that do?" He asked.
"You can distract him that way." Cassandra pointed out.
Link continued to frown at her direction, "Distracting him will cause him to run me over." He quickly pointed out.
Cassandra then thought for a while, "Okay, while he's distracted, I'll grab the reins and..."
"I am not running around naked!" Link quickly responded.
Cassandra went into thought again, "Yeah, we'll probably be going to prison for that stunt as well." She muttered quietly.
"Can't we just hand him in to the guards?" Link asked the most reasonable question.
"That would be too easy!" Cassandra immediately deduced and went back to thinking, "Okay, new plan. Do you have a raw fish and duct tape?" She asked.
Link only answered with a deep sigh.
After a while.
"He's not coming..." Cassandra muttered as she continued to pace about the chapel holding onto some duct tape. They were missing the raw fish.
Link remained at the same spot, still having the same scowl and having his arms crossed. "Maybe our employer was paranoid." He pointed out.
"Well, doesn't change the fact that we have to remain here until he comes back." Cassandra answered, moving towards the altar and leaned on it.
"When's his 'secret wedding' suppose to end?" Link asked, obviously getting bored out of his mind.
Cassandra sighed, "He never stated it. Just for us to remain here until his return." She answered.
Link continued to lean at the altar, "We'll stay here for another half hour and than we'll retire." Link suggested.
Cassandra only lowered her shoulders.
After the assigned half hour.
The two continued their previous actions of leaning against the altar and pacing about. At this moment, Cassandra went back to her other spot and leaned a few feet away from Link. "A few more minutes." Link muttered, as if he's continuously counting his way to freedom.
Cassandra then got an idea. It's not an actual wedding, so why not use it to her advantage? "Maybe he's waiting for something." She pointed out and turned towards Link extending her arm towards him.
Link looked at the back of her hand and figured what she was suggesting, "Do we even have a ring?" He asked. Their employer didn't give them a ring to use as decoys as he figured the kidnapper would take the bride before putting on the ring.
Cassandra continued to hold her hand out, "You must have something." She answered.
This caused Link to dig in his pockets to find a Kinders Surprise egg. The sight alone perked up the young man as he unwrapped it.
"Seriously? You'd sneak a piece of chocolate in your own wedding?" Cassandra muttered in disbelief.
Link opened the egg which had the capsule inside it. When he opened that thing, conveniently enough, two toy rings came out. Link held them up triumphly.
Cassandra lowered her shoulders, "I suppose it's something..." She answered with a sigh.
As Link handed her one and grabbed her hand, just before he put it on, he stopped, "Wait, why am I doing this?" He asked himself.
Cassandra slumped her shoulders, "Come on, it's not a real wedding. You never know this is exactly what the kidnapper is waiting for." She reasoned with his questioning.
Link gave a tiny grumble as he went on with it.
After that was done with Cassandra placing a ring on Link. Cassandra tried to marvel at it, (Marveling at a toy ring during a wedding can probably be difficult.) while Link continued his sulking.
Cassandra turned a smirk towards Link, "How about the kiss?" She asked.
This, of course, caused Link to recoil in shock. Before he could say anything about it, Cassandra already leaned forward, perking her lips, and closed her eyes. Link only stared awkwardly at a loss of words. Cassandra remained her position waiting for Link to kiss her. While she was sure that Link probably won't kiss her, offering it will probably make him put some thought into it.
True to her thoughts, Link continued to stare awkwardly, stammering at a few words before deciding to go for it. So he leaned over and draped his left arm over Cassandra's shoulder. At this moment, true to Cassandra's thoughts, the church door slammed open.
Both of them drew their swords; which they somehow concealed within their attire, and pointed it at the person walking down the aisle.
"Sorry for busting in, but I need to borrow your bride for a few moments." The assailant announced his arrival while drawing a greatsword. (He was dressed in a suit too.)
As both parties looked at each other, they all immediately lowered their weapons in shock as Link and Cassandra saw who was the kidnapper.
"Siegfried?" Link called out as he saw the knight in a suit.
Siegfried in turn was shocked to see his two companions in wedding attire. "What? You and him? You and her?" He called out.
Cassandra was a bit angry that she wasn't to get to kiss Link like she planned, but none of that for now, "What are you doing?" She asked.
Siegfried shook his head in confusion, "What am I doing? What are you doing?" He counted with a similar question, "You can't marry each other! Daddy does not approve!" He shouted out. He figured marriage didn't have a place in their journey and that no one should get married until it's over.
"We are on an important mission." Cassandra answered, stomping her foot, "Some guy was paranoid that someone was going to kidnap his bride, so we posed as decoys to prevent that from happening." She revealed her side of the story. "Where are you going kidnapping people's wives?" She asked.
"I do not kidnap people's wives." Siegfried shouted defensively.
"What about Sophitia?" She asked.
Flashback after the third defeat of Soul Edge
"I'll get it!" Sophitia shouted as she walked towards the door.
"Dinner's almost ready!" Rothion shouted from the kitchen.
As Sophitia opened the door, she smiled as she saw Siegfried, "Oh, hello." She greeted.
Siegfried didn't have time for pleasantries, so he went to the chase, "I need your help." He asked, "Me and Cassandra were exploring a cave where she fell in a hole." He revealed his reason of appearing.
Sophitia immediately grew concerned, "Great, I'll grab my stuff." She muttered with a sigh.
Siegfried grabbed her arm, "There is no time. Your sword will have to do." He answered and pulled her away.
Rothion poked his head around the corner, "Sophitia?"
End flashback
"That was one time!" Siegfried shouted.
Link became curious, "What were you two doing in a cave?" He asked.
Cassandra immediately dismissed him, "That still doesn't answer the question on why your trying to kidnap the bride here." She pointed out.
Siegfried grew frusterated, "It's my job. I was told by my employer that an upcoming wedding contained a groom who is forcing a girl into marriage and that I was to retrieve the bride. He also made me wear this ridiculous outfit." He explained his side of the story.
Link took both stories into account as the other two blondes continued to argue. "Wait." He called out, catching their attention. "Our job is to pose as decoys for a man who is intent on kidnap the bride..." He mentioned their job, "Your job is to kidnap the bride who is forced into marriage..." He added Siegfried's job.
Siegfried then caught onto his words and gave a tiny laugh, "Whoa whoa whoa..." He started, "This is way too much, even for an old pro like me..."
"Your only 23..." Cassandra muttered.
Siegfried ignored her and continued with his previous statement, "Could it be, that we were hired on different sides of the same job?" He asked.
Cassandra looked down in thought as Link already figured they were, "If this is a joke, it's not funny." Cassandra muttered as she started to see how ridiculous it all was.
"On the contrary..." A voice called out, having all three characters point their swords at the man coming down. "I found it all very amusing." He continued to speak as he came into the light.
"Raphael?" Siegfried called out, seeing the french man with Amy besides him.
Seeing who it was, Cassandra sighed, "Why would you do this?" She asked.
Raphael gave a smirk, "Me and Amy were bored and we heard about your little fund problem. So we decided to help." He answered her question, "We set up these two fliers with one stating a man being paranoid that someone was after his bride and another where a man was certain that a recent groom is forcing a woman into marriage." He replied step by step on how they got them to get the job. "As I said, we were bored and we wanted amusement, suffice to say, I'd say this was a job successful." He finished his speaking and grabbed two sacks of gold, tossing it at the three.
The trio only stared in awe on how he manipulated them to pull off this stunt.
Raphael and Amy walked away from the church, "I have to remember this stunt for next time." He spoke towards Amy, who continued being silent in his presence.
Back to the trio, they looked at each other, "We never speak of this again." Siegfried suggested.
"Agreed." Link answered.
"Aw..." Cassandra groaned.
Somewhere else
Raphael and Amy stood on top of a building, looking at the marketplace where they saw their next victim.
"Come on ladies." Mitsurugi muttered. He, along with Taki and Setsuka, were forced to look for the other three in the city with limited funds. Which were somehow used up when the two women discovered a curious treat called Kinder's Surprise and spent all their gold (30,000) on the damn treat. "How are we suppose to find the other three with no money for a room in the inn." Misturugi continued muttering. "Someone is going to get stabbed for putting me up to this..." He added to his mutterings.
"What say you, Amy? Shall we see on how these three will play out?" Raphael asked Amy who nodded and the two disappeared from view.
XoXoX
About damn time I finished this. On that note, about damn time I upload something. My last upload was what? A month ago? I'm not going to lie, but that felt longer.
Ahem, anyways, there's the story. I was wondering what attire they used in the 17th Century for weddings, but couldn't find out and decided to use 21st Century. Also why I don't describe their attire.
As for why the Kinder's Surprise got into this story...well, I think I was eating the damn eggs while I thought this up.
Despite what you may think, I'm not going to write a short between Mitsurugi, Taki, and Setsuka as we all know that'll probably end up with casualties.
Anyways, hoped you enjoyed this overdue story and review.