Having handed in the horse with the guards at the checkpoint before crossing the gate meant that Malon was without any mount when she arrived in Camelot, though it was not the first thing on her mind when she arrived. Before her laid a widely open area, and once she had passed those large rocks surrounding the gate she was able to see it in all its glory. The Hyrule Plains were tiny compared to this... expanse. As far as the eye could see, there were green plains, villages and farmsteads dotting the landscape before her, and what she imagined to be a city far off in the distance. It reminded her of Hyrule Castle.
In either case this place was enormous. Traversing it on foot would take long... but with any luck she could make some money with a quick job somewhere in a farmstead and get a carriage ride to one of the big holds. Saving up wasn't always easy but she was skilled at her job. After that? Well... she'd have to see. The priority right now was to arrange for something to make a living with. With those thoughts in mind she adjusted the pack on her back and walked along the first path she found, towards the closest settlement. Even at a decently fast pace that took her over two hours, but she was sufficiently physically fit to not be spent when she arrived.
What she was greeted with she had not expected... several injured men and women clutching bleeding arms and legs, one was even nailed to a wall with a spear driven through his shoulder. There was loud yelling coming from the inn and Malon could see a few black horses in front of it, tied to stakes to wait for their owners. Quickly she realized that this town had fallen victim to an attack... the bandits were probably holding the innkeeper at knifepoint, or someone else, to have them bring them drinks and food. She turned away to run, but it was too late. One of the men standing guard by the horses had noticed her. She barely covered a hundred meters before he had mounted his horse, reached her and knocked her to the ground with the butt of his spear.
"Well, who've we here?" he asked with a nasty grin. "Didn't your mom teach you not to travel alone, little girl?"
"Leave me alone!" Malon yelled. She couldn't reach her sickles in this state and cursed herself for having attached them to her backpack, not her waist. Instead the man grabbed her by her hair and forced her to her feet, then again poked her with the butt of his spear, then turned it around to point the pointed end at her backside.
"C'mon, back to the town we go. And keep your hands on your head. I've got nervous hands, if you make a sudden move I might slip."
Malon cursed her bad luck again... at least she didn't have much that the bandits could steal from her. The sickles would be her greatest loss, but the provisions were neglectable, and she had no money with her. "Listen", she said. "Just take my backpack and take what you want. I've got no money with me, you can check my pockets if you want."
"Shaddap. Scar'll decide what we do with you." Again he grinned mishievously. He led her back to the inn and dismounted, leaving the horse with his companion, then put a hand on Malon's shoulder and exchanged the spear which he also left with the horse for a dagger that he poked her into the back with. "Move."
The inside of the inn smelled like cheap beer and cooked meat. A woman was writhing in her restraints, bound by several meters of rope that tied her to a support beam in the inn, with two more bandits pointing their spears at her and glaring towards the counter every so often. There the innkeeper, presumably the woman's husband, was just refilling a mug with a desperate face. He couldn't do anything, they had him in their grip and were drinking away his beer and wine while outside people were bleeding out or suffering from wounds that if left untreated would cripple them for the rest of their lives. Around the largest table in the room, the only one not shoved against a wall, sat several men and three women with worn leather or chainmail armor, with their leather boots propped up on the table and eating and drinking. The only one that was behaving half-decent was a tall man wearing a leather armor with fur sewn onto the shoulders and a symbol painted on it: a cross with a very long arm pointing upwards, probably representing a sword, and three 'X's to the left, right and over the sword, respectively. There was also a helmet reminiscent of the Camelot Guardsmen at the Nexus Gate sitting next to him on the table. As the bandit shoved Malon closer to the table she noticed that several cuts and burn marks disfigured the man's face, leaving ugly red and brown scars, with the most prominent one going from the right of his forehead over his eyebrow, barely missing his eye, over the bridge of his nose and the left side of his lips, to his chin. That must've hurt a lot.
"Beast? What's this mean?" he asked as Malon stopped before the table. His voice was deep and gruff, and Malon shivered. That was the voice of someone who was used to having their orders followed.
"Just a little birdie that I caught trying to run away", the bandit replied. "I thought you might want to see her."
Scar looked Malon over. "You're not from this village, are you?" he asked.
"... no. I just arrived here... through that gate in the, uh... the Nexus."
"So you're from the Nexus. Are you a Prime?"
"I've heard that word before but I don't know what it means", Malon replied honestly. Scar waved his hand impatiently.
"Can you summon things? If you concentrate hard enough can you turn Omnilium into what you think of?"
"I... I don't think I can."
He eyed her over again. "Can you cook?"
"I... yeah, I can."
"Well, thanks to that idiot Beast -" he gave the man a glare - "you've seen my face, so we can't let you go alive. So, here's your choice: we could find out if you're a Prime right now by slitting your throat. If you respawn at the Nexus, then good for you, and more time for us to leave this place before you can call the guards on us. Or, you could come with us. My men can't cook anything that doesn't make everyone who eats it throw up, so we've got to steal food on top of our other loot when we get out there." He grinned. "You'd be keeping your life, get a bed to sleep in and a share of our loot if you prove yourself a good enough asset to join the Silver Hands." Malon shivered as Beast poked her backside with his dagger, seemingly unable to wait for his boss to give the order to murder her. When Scar noticed her shifty eyes he added: "If you're worried about my men, you can relax. I don't tolerate rape or abuse even of our prisoners, especially of the women. Those who disobey that rule get to feel what it's like to be an Eunuch."
"Can't I just... I promise I won't say a word to anyone?" Malon asked. "I've only caught a glimpse, if even that, I couldn't describe you to a guard."
"Choose. Now."
Malon felt her stomach turn. Was her adventure to end this soon? She hadn't even seen Hyrule again! She had just escaped the Nexus and everything related to it! "I don't really have a choice", she mumbled bitterly. Scar clapped his hands.
"Great! Now then, we'll need to tie your hands and take those sickles from you for safety reasons... oh, and blindfold you so you don't know where our lair is. But Beast here will be so nice as to take the sickles and your backpack for you, and he'll be so nice as to not go through its contents, will he? I'd hate to have to cut a few of his fingers if you find anything missing." He gave Beast a smile that the bandit responded to with gritting teeth, while he let Malon take off the backpack and tied her hands on the front. "Can you ride a horse?" Scar then asked.
"Yes."
"Then you can take Crow's mare. Poor guy met his end impaled by a pitchfork." Beast then led her outside. The bandits were already getting finished with their drinks anyway, so she was only given a few minutes before being told to climb into the saddle of a black mare. The saddle was in good shape luckily, and even with her bindings Malon was able to get in the saddle. One of the bandits blindfolded her and someone else took the reins to lead the horse, since Malon being blindfolded couldn't hope to do so. Again she cursed her luck. The only thing she still had was her life and a handful of belongings... come to think of it this was barely any different than having been forced to work for Ingo.
And from what she had learned, there were no heroes. Not in Hyrule, and not here. So she needed to do as she had already done with Ingo... be patient, obediant and to await her chance.
In either case this place was enormous. Traversing it on foot would take long... but with any luck she could make some money with a quick job somewhere in a farmstead and get a carriage ride to one of the big holds. Saving up wasn't always easy but she was skilled at her job. After that? Well... she'd have to see. The priority right now was to arrange for something to make a living with. With those thoughts in mind she adjusted the pack on her back and walked along the first path she found, towards the closest settlement. Even at a decently fast pace that took her over two hours, but she was sufficiently physically fit to not be spent when she arrived.
What she was greeted with she had not expected... several injured men and women clutching bleeding arms and legs, one was even nailed to a wall with a spear driven through his shoulder. There was loud yelling coming from the inn and Malon could see a few black horses in front of it, tied to stakes to wait for their owners. Quickly she realized that this town had fallen victim to an attack... the bandits were probably holding the innkeeper at knifepoint, or someone else, to have them bring them drinks and food. She turned away to run, but it was too late. One of the men standing guard by the horses had noticed her. She barely covered a hundred meters before he had mounted his horse, reached her and knocked her to the ground with the butt of his spear.
"Well, who've we here?" he asked with a nasty grin. "Didn't your mom teach you not to travel alone, little girl?"
"Leave me alone!" Malon yelled. She couldn't reach her sickles in this state and cursed herself for having attached them to her backpack, not her waist. Instead the man grabbed her by her hair and forced her to her feet, then again poked her with the butt of his spear, then turned it around to point the pointed end at her backside.
"C'mon, back to the town we go. And keep your hands on your head. I've got nervous hands, if you make a sudden move I might slip."
Malon cursed her bad luck again... at least she didn't have much that the bandits could steal from her. The sickles would be her greatest loss, but the provisions were neglectable, and she had no money with her. "Listen", she said. "Just take my backpack and take what you want. I've got no money with me, you can check my pockets if you want."
"Shaddap. Scar'll decide what we do with you." Again he grinned mishievously. He led her back to the inn and dismounted, leaving the horse with his companion, then put a hand on Malon's shoulder and exchanged the spear which he also left with the horse for a dagger that he poked her into the back with. "Move."
The inside of the inn smelled like cheap beer and cooked meat. A woman was writhing in her restraints, bound by several meters of rope that tied her to a support beam in the inn, with two more bandits pointing their spears at her and glaring towards the counter every so often. There the innkeeper, presumably the woman's husband, was just refilling a mug with a desperate face. He couldn't do anything, they had him in their grip and were drinking away his beer and wine while outside people were bleeding out or suffering from wounds that if left untreated would cripple them for the rest of their lives. Around the largest table in the room, the only one not shoved against a wall, sat several men and three women with worn leather or chainmail armor, with their leather boots propped up on the table and eating and drinking. The only one that was behaving half-decent was a tall man wearing a leather armor with fur sewn onto the shoulders and a symbol painted on it: a cross with a very long arm pointing upwards, probably representing a sword, and three 'X's to the left, right and over the sword, respectively. There was also a helmet reminiscent of the Camelot Guardsmen at the Nexus Gate sitting next to him on the table. As the bandit shoved Malon closer to the table she noticed that several cuts and burn marks disfigured the man's face, leaving ugly red and brown scars, with the most prominent one going from the right of his forehead over his eyebrow, barely missing his eye, over the bridge of his nose and the left side of his lips, to his chin. That must've hurt a lot.
"Beast? What's this mean?" he asked as Malon stopped before the table. His voice was deep and gruff, and Malon shivered. That was the voice of someone who was used to having their orders followed.
"Just a little birdie that I caught trying to run away", the bandit replied. "I thought you might want to see her."
Scar looked Malon over. "You're not from this village, are you?" he asked.
"... no. I just arrived here... through that gate in the, uh... the Nexus."
"So you're from the Nexus. Are you a Prime?"
"I've heard that word before but I don't know what it means", Malon replied honestly. Scar waved his hand impatiently.
"Can you summon things? If you concentrate hard enough can you turn Omnilium into what you think of?"
"I... I don't think I can."
He eyed her over again. "Can you cook?"
"I... yeah, I can."
"Well, thanks to that idiot Beast -" he gave the man a glare - "you've seen my face, so we can't let you go alive. So, here's your choice: we could find out if you're a Prime right now by slitting your throat. If you respawn at the Nexus, then good for you, and more time for us to leave this place before you can call the guards on us. Or, you could come with us. My men can't cook anything that doesn't make everyone who eats it throw up, so we've got to steal food on top of our other loot when we get out there." He grinned. "You'd be keeping your life, get a bed to sleep in and a share of our loot if you prove yourself a good enough asset to join the Silver Hands." Malon shivered as Beast poked her backside with his dagger, seemingly unable to wait for his boss to give the order to murder her. When Scar noticed her shifty eyes he added: "If you're worried about my men, you can relax. I don't tolerate rape or abuse even of our prisoners, especially of the women. Those who disobey that rule get to feel what it's like to be an Eunuch."
"Can't I just... I promise I won't say a word to anyone?" Malon asked. "I've only caught a glimpse, if even that, I couldn't describe you to a guard."
"Choose. Now."
Malon felt her stomach turn. Was her adventure to end this soon? She hadn't even seen Hyrule again! She had just escaped the Nexus and everything related to it! "I don't really have a choice", she mumbled bitterly. Scar clapped his hands.
"Great! Now then, we'll need to tie your hands and take those sickles from you for safety reasons... oh, and blindfold you so you don't know where our lair is. But Beast here will be so nice as to take the sickles and your backpack for you, and he'll be so nice as to not go through its contents, will he? I'd hate to have to cut a few of his fingers if you find anything missing." He gave Beast a smile that the bandit responded to with gritting teeth, while he let Malon take off the backpack and tied her hands on the front. "Can you ride a horse?" Scar then asked.
"Yes."
"Then you can take Crow's mare. Poor guy met his end impaled by a pitchfork." Beast then led her outside. The bandits were already getting finished with their drinks anyway, so she was only given a few minutes before being told to climb into the saddle of a black mare. The saddle was in good shape luckily, and even with her bindings Malon was able to get in the saddle. One of the bandits blindfolded her and someone else took the reins to lead the horse, since Malon being blindfolded couldn't hope to do so. Again she cursed her luck. The only thing she still had was her life and a handful of belongings... come to think of it this was barely any different than having been forced to work for Ingo.
And from what she had learned, there were no heroes. Not in Hyrule, and not here. So she needed to do as she had already done with Ingo... be patient, obediant and to await her chance.