FILE 05 - "Advance Division"
Master, a report.
Everyday we get closer. I can feel it. Soon, I know, we will be reunited once again, and I have to admit, I look forward to our meeting. I simply cannot contain the feeling inside of me that tells me that I cannot wait for me to once again serve by your side properly.
However, somewhere in me, I also feel the feeling you call... "dread". Will you be the same? Will I even be the same? Will things simply return to the way they were, or will things be different now?

Lucas wasn't sure if Samus had ever gotten his note, but all he knew was this.

As soon as the kids made it to the Advance District, they quickly had to hide. Police scoured across the streets, demanding at random people for their identification, or risk getting arrested. This served as a problem to all three children, as neither of them had the files the police were looking for.

Ness didn't have any because he came from lowly SNES, where no one expected any identification.

Lucas' had been destroyed when his house came crashing down in flames over his mother.

Little Link wasn't even from their time. So, even if he did actually have identification, it wasn't even valid yet.

So the three runaways quickly ducked into the underground tunnels that also operated as the sewers. Lucas expertedly led the way until they made it to a crossroads. There, as the noises of their stomachs were echoing through the tunnels, they decided to have some of the bread.

When they started the journey, they had quickly discovered that Little Link was having trouble swallowing. Ness said it was because of the injury he had sustained, so Lucas spent some time breaking up the bread into smaller, more easily swallowed pieces, which Little Link had been grateful for. For the most part, they just wanted him to keep his throat from getting too dry, so they mainly focused on him drinking for the time being.

Ness had never had to take care of someone who was injured before. Samus was always there before, but this time the battle was more drawn out, and she felt they had time to wait for Dr. Mario. Ness felt different. He trusted Dr. Mario, but then he would hold onto the person for a week later, and they didn't have the time to be short two people, since he also had Fox.

Kumatora, however, from what he had learned from the past two-three months, was quick to give a bill of perfect health after PSI dealt with the issue, and she was always right. Sure, she could be a bit brash... but she was pretty fun to have around.

As the three ate and drank in silence, someone approached from the distance. Lucas looked up, panicked for a minute, until he suddenly broke out into a large smile, dropped his bread, and stood up. Ness looked at him in surprise, before Lucas dashed away, ramming himself into the hold of the new arrival.

Ness and Little Link watched as Lucas happily laughed, letting go of the new arrival.

And then Ness smiled.

"Duster!" exclaimed Lucas. "Duster, it's so good to see you!"

Needless to say, when Samus, Captain Falcon, and Link returned to her place to find the cardboard pushed out of the window and the children missing, all three adults panicked. Samus was relieved to eventually find the note, but it was not exactly the "We went out for five minutes" not she was expecting:

Samus -

Me and the others decided that Little Link can't wait, so we're going off to the Advance area to meet with a friend of mine who can help. Her name is Kumatora.

If you come after us, I don't blame you... We did kind of disobey. But if you go to, ask around the streets for a man named "Duster", because we'll be with him when we meet with Kumatora.

Signed,

Lucas

For a moment, Samus felt slightly betrayed that the children had disobeyed her, before she decided that they were right - waiting around for Dr. Mario to get to it would take some time, and they were probably worried about that horrible scratching sound Little Link was now making. Ness was one to worry.

She had never heard of this "Duster" character though, or this "Kumatora". She had once lived in the Advance Division herself, but she didn't recall either of...

Wait.

"Duster" as in Wess' little Duster? Samus frowned. That little boy she once knew must be in his twenties by now. So he had survived the Wireframes? That was good news. She remembered the thief Wess. He had tried for as long as she could remember to teach Duster the ways of the Thief Arts, but recalled one incident...

"Samus?"

Samus once again blinked away from her memories and thoughts to find herself standing in her living room. "What?"

"Samus, should we get going, then?" Captain Falcon asked. She noted he looked worried. "Where did they go?"

"Pack up," she ordered. Link immediately turned to her kitchen to do just that. "They're heading to the Advance Division, to meet up with one of Lucas' friends who he thinks can help Little Link."

As they were getting ready, Samus immediately fretted. The Advance Division was closer to the slums and was a long trip on foot, which is what the kids were probably doing. Three days, if they were rushing.

Link, coming out of the kitchen with some supplies, seemed to notice her dilemma. He approached her slowly, and she watched him carefully, still not fully trusting this new version of her old friend.

He didn't move his hands to sign anything for a moment, before he slowly signed, [I might be able to help track them down, if you wish me to.]

Samus tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

[My friend, that I told you about in 64. She can help.]

"How so?"

[You might not believe me if I tell you, so I'll do it.] He then, glanced down at his shadow, and a wispy being came from it. One eye glowed from the being as it blinked at him.

"Link, did you want me to do it here?" A female voice came from the being, an ethereal feeling coming from her words.

Link only gave a nod.

And, suddenly, he was surrounding in shadow, until he completely transformed into a big, furry wolf, which the being landed on his back to ride, suddenly very visible and very real. She would have been described as cute if Samus didn't think she looked just a tiny bit evil. Link, after a moment of glaring at the being, turned to quietly look at Samus.

She blinked, stunned for a moment. She didn't think anything at all for a few minutes, before finally, she said, "I'll go see if they left anything here."

Link nodded.

Ness and Little Link didn't know how long Lucas just stayed in Duster's hold, but eventually the young man chuckled and moved to let go.

"Lucas. I have to get up or I'm not going to be able to stand for a bit," he said, as Lucas finally let go. He then painfully stood up and smiled at Ness. "Ness, good to see you again."

"Likewise!" Ness chirped.

"And who's this?" Duster asked, glancing at the Hylian.

"This is Little Link," Lucas introduced. "Little Link, this is my caretaker, Duster. My dad left me in his care."

Little Link was about to say hello, but stopped, remembering Link's words. He frowned and put a hand slightly to his throat. He was getting more and more agitated about his injury.

Duster frowned somewhat at the boy's actions, before turning to Lucas with a smile. "So, what are you doing back? I thought you were going to be with Ness for a bit, saving the world?"

"We hit a little problem." Lucas' voice didn't stutter at all as he spoke. "I need Kumatora's help, because both me and Ness' PSI Life Up did only a little bit... See, Little Link got hurt..."

Duster's eyes flashed to Little Link's throat. "I can tell. Well, how about we head home for a little bit. I'll make us some soup, and Kumatora should be there now anyway."

The sunset made the sky a beautiful orange.

From the harbours of the Advance Division, the sky was completely visible over the water. Samus always admired the view from the walkways, looking over the ships and sailboats to the very edge of the oceanview, with the sky looking back at her. She remembered all the times she had just stopped on her way home just to forget about life and look out at it.

This time, she wanted no more than to do it now. Forget about the Alloys and the upcoming battles, forget about the hole in her window, forget about the fact that Ness, Lucas and Little Link had disobeyed and had run off. She couldn't afford to do that right now, because she had to find them. She had to make sure they were safe. She had to defeat the Alloys or the same disasters would happen over and over again.

"Excuse me," came Captain Falcon's voice. Samus looked away from the ocean to see he was speaking to a baker. "Do you know someone named Duster? My group and I are trying to find him."

"Duster?" asked the baker. He had a frown on his face. "Now wait just a minute - I know that lady. She's a bounty hunter. I ain't telling you where Duster went."

"You misunderstand," Samus immediately argued, coming up to him now. "I'm off duty at the moment and I'm trying to find a friend. He told me that if I needed to get a hold of him, I just had to ask Duster."

The baker was quiet for a long moment, regarding the group and looking down at the beastly wolf by Captain Falcon's side, with the strange imp thing on his back. The baker then looked away for a moment, before finally sighing. "... Fine. But you have to promise me - you're not going to arrest him. That guy... he took care of every single orphaned kid from that attack about a year ago. He still does. He does so much for those kids, that I worry what would happen to them if he was gone. I can take you to where he lives, but I want to make sure you're not going to do it."

"I can give you my word," Samus replied instantly. "I give you my word that I will not arrest Duster. I know his father. I wouldn't ever disgrace Wess because of what he does, because he does it for the good of the people. I won't arrest Duster."

"He does what he does because he has little mouths to feed," was the baker's reply. "Some of those kids are gone now... Some were adopted... others were just too sick. But little Lucas, and little Kumatora... those two are his. I know Lucas' father is still alive, but that man..." The baker earned a disgusted look. "He went on a wild goose chase after his other son. Claus, I think it was."

"Wild goose chase?" Captain Falcon blurted out.

"Oh, everyone knows Claus is gone. He went after those things that destroyed his house, and with it, poor Hinawa, Flint's wife and the mother to the twins," the baker explained. "Flint felt that Claus was still alive, but it's been a year now. I don't think the man's coming back. Poor Lucas..."

Samus felt a lump in her throat just from hearing the explanation. Lucas was all alone except for Duster and Kumatora. "I see..."

"Well, anyway, his place is this way," the baker began, closing up shop as he spoke. "I'll take you as far as the tunnels, from there it's pretty straight forward."

"Thank you," Captain Falcon replied. Samus could see the pained look he was trying to hide.

What more were these things going to take away from children? Ness' family and home. Lucas' family. Little Link's voice was probably going to be a casualty.

What would make them stop?

"Knock it off!" Ness exclaimed.

"Bwahahahaha! Come on! You run away with my little brother and you think I'll just let you get away with it?!" laughed a pink haired girl wearing a blue sweater-dress pullover. "What are you going to say? I'm expecting something~!"

Little Link, Lucas and Duster cleverly ignored the encounter as the two young boys watched the young man prepare the soup. The little shack like building was small, but very homely, and somewhat cluttered with the various things that Duster had acquired for sale. The somewhat working fridge was stocked with stolen goods, the dressers filled with various clothes, some in need of repair.

Despite the state of the place, Lucas had grown to call this place "home". He had been left in Duster's care, and had expected his father to come back very soon. A year later, Lucas almost didn't even want his dad to come back. Duster was now his dad, in all but blood. Duster was the one that taught him how to make various foods, Duster was the one that tucked him in bed now and even comforted him after a nightmare. Kumatora had quickly taken to him and instantly began to call him her "little brother". He never hesitated to call her "big sister".

Boney bounced about, joining in on the fun easily. Eventually, though, everyone settled down on the floor of the kitchen, the three PSI users surrounding the injured Hylian as Duster stayed off to the side and out of the way, cutting away at harvested herbs he would need for the soup.

"Alright, so we're dealing with vocal cords," Kumatora sighed sharply. "That's hard stuff, vocal cords, but I'm sure we can manage. On three! One! Two!"

On "Three!" the three PSI users cried out "PSI Life Up!" and a light came around the four of them. Duster had to stop his preparations as he could no longer see. Boney barked loudly at the sudden bright light, stopping once it died away.

Kumatora opened the eyes she hadn't realized she had closed. Looking at the Hylian, she smiled when she learned they had done it, they had cured him! Upon seeing the sword strapped to his back, however, she had to frown. It was reacting.

"Did we do it?" muttered Ness as he opened his own eyes.

"Hold on. Little Link! Speak!" Kumatora ordered, as if she was speaking to Boney.

Little Link hesitated before saluting. "Yes, m'am!" His voice was scratchy, almost as if he had lost his voice and was getting it back. Still, it was better than anything.

The three PSI users cheered instantly, and Duster even appluaded.

"We did it!" cheered Ness. "We did it!"

"Yaaay," Lucas quietly said happily.

Kumatora then became very serious. "Hey, can I see that sword?"

Little Link immediately frowned. "... Why?"

"I just want to see it. I'm getting some weird vibes from it. What is it?"

"The sword of evil's bane, the Master Sword," replied Little Link, taking it off his back. He kept it in its scabbard, just in case.

Kumatora carefully held it in her hands. Duster, who had gone back to making his soup, glanced at the sudden serious silence. Ness and Lucas eyed her curiously, wondering what she wanted with the sword.

She grasped at the hilt slightly, and gasped out as her mind was suddenly overcome by images. Her psychic powers delivered those images to everyone else in the room, and they were all overwhelmed by what she had to see.

The sky, oh the big blue sky, with a floating island...

Two large birds flew through the clouds, each with a rider with blonde hair...

Such happy faces, happy faces of villagers...

And then a man, a scary looking man attacking one of the riders from before...

Adventures. The man went on so many adventures...

And then silence, as he sadly stuck the blade into a pedestal of stone, and everything went black...

"Wh... What was that?" muttered Duster incoherently. He had almost toppled over the soup he had been making through the flashing images.

Kumatora was quiet for a moment, before finally she spoke. "... I think... I think that was the sword's memories. The sword... it... it's alive, and it wants nothing more than to be with you, Little Link." She then returned the sword to his hands, a smile on her face. "It is so devoted to you, I was overwhelmed."

Ness and Lucas appeared confused, but Little Link was even more confused.

"... The sword is... alive?" He glance down at it, surprised.

He wondered... if the sword was alive, did it have a personality? Did it have likes and dislikes? What was it like? But just the idea...

It was alive.

FILE 05.5 - "A Reunion"
Master, I cannot contain or properly describe the feeling that I have inside of me.
It feels like every fiber of my being will explode, like I am happy, yet want to cry just upon our re-meeting. It means so much to me to be able to serve by your side, as the Goddess had once willed and allowed me to do. I had once called the information and data that I had recorded on our journey... the most precious data I had on record. Now... Now I have a chance to improve on it, to add more data and facts, to aid you once again, to serve you, Master.
Please, allow me to once again.