Work Text:
"Is this really the first time we've decided to spar together?" Legend was reorganizing his bag at his side as he asked. The captain leaned back, hands on his hips. He looked up into the soft clouds, as if they had the answer.
"Huh. I guess so. It's usually a battle of words for us, not weapons." Warriors walked a few paces back, readying his sword in his left hand. "Winner gets to brag about it to the others. Obviously."
"If you say so, captain." Legend looked thoughtful for a second before speaking up again. "And you said I can use whatever I have within reason from my arsenal?" The captain hummed his affirmation.
"Yeah, it's not like you have things in there that I haven't seen by now, anyways." The veteran held back a smile. The hero of Warriors was severely underestimating his collection. He would find out the hard way soon enough.
"Alright, just making sure. Ready whenever you are." Legend pulled out his sword in his main hand, and kept his off hand on his bag. No shield, it seemed.
Warriors made the first move, dashing forward with his sword drawn. He struck once, twice, thrice, meeting metal each time. He held his shield forward, hoping to stun Legend with a bash he learned from watching Sky fight.
But Legend was fast. Faster than Warrior's military training could match. When the captain expected a parry, the veteran had dove and rolled behind him, putting a great amount of distance between the two thanks to his pegasus boots. Warriors was a little surprised that he hadn't struck him at that moment.
Instead of readying an attack, Legend pulled out a red cane. Something Warriors had not seen yet. Warriors strafed around Legend, assessing what sort of thing it could be. Red was often associated with power or fire. But he had fire rods and weird gauntlets that amplified strength already. He couldn’t think of anything in particular that it might be.
"Gonna spin around me forever?" Legend teased. He was trying to rile the captain up, and it was still much too early for that to work.
"Nope, just judging your poor taste in fashion. You're nearly as colorful as the smithy, you know." Warriors lunged forward, swinging his sword in a small arc from left to right. The veteran hopped back, little arrhythmic steps that made no sense to the captain. Clearly Legend never got proper sword training if his steps were so… Odd, to put it nicely.
The veteran tossed his sword well behind him. It stuck surprisingly upright in the dirt several feet back. Warriors almost stopped in absolute disbelief, but pushed forward anyway. Was Legend really going to make it this easy?
Legend grabbed for something in his bag, pulling out a cape with a flourish. He slapped it over his shoulders and clasped it together with practiced grace. Warriors drew near, ready to whack him with the flat of his blade. At least he thought he was ready, until Legend activated his pegasus boots and the cape at the same time, launching about 10 feet in the air above him. Legend continued to fly for a bit past him before landing.
Warriors was quick to turn around though, once again ready to charge. He mentally noted his hookshot in case the veteran tried that stunt again.
Legend kicked on his boots again, charging forward with a cane in front of him. Thunk. The hit was easily redirected with his shield. The captain didn't trust the smirk the other carried as he was shoved aside. The veteran skid to a stop by his discarded sword and picked it up.
He sheathed it and simply held that cane in his hands, twirling it around his fingers. It was quiet enough around here Warriors could hear the little tinks it made from hitting Legend's many rings. Warriors decided to make his move.
He jogged forward, keeping eye contact on the veteran. His sword was ready to be flicked in any direction at any given moment.
When there was about ten or so feet between them, Legend motioned the cane downwards. Warriors was left wondering why he was trying to hit with the large distance they still had. That is, until, a large shimmering cube materialized between them and forced Warriors' to skid to a stop. It was too late to save his dignity.
The captain slid into the cube, landing squarely on his rear end. The veteran's laughter was grating, but he could still keep his cool, he told himself. He was just playing around with him, and Warriors was better than this childish play.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." He pulled himself up and began to strafe around the cube. He couldn't help the glare he gave, but that only seemed to amuse Legend more. Idly, he wondered what other kinds of ridiculous things the vet had. He was almost sure he didn't want to know at this point.
The veteran seemed to get the point as he also pulled out his blade. The cube still stood between them, but they were both heading the same direction. Warriors swept his sword to the right, and the veteran parried.
They played like that, a hit for a hit, for a while. The veteran knew he wouldn't last too long like this. His swordsmanship wasn't his strong suit, but he's practiced enough to know what to expect. Luckily for him(at least in this moment), knights all fight the same. And he really did know his way around fighting knights.
The same steps, the same swipes, the same drills. It's somehow always the same, not limited by time nor space. He knew this because Sky and Warriors both moved the same. Held themselves the same. Wild too, sometimes.
The difference between the three when fighting like that was as simple as Warriors being the only left handed one. His footing was different from Sky and Wild, and maybe they had some different tricks. But it all looked the same in the end to Legend. He had fought his fair share of Hyrulean knights.
Legend hopped backwards towards the cube. Warriors had him nearly pinned to it, with seemingly nowhere to go. But the roc's cape was still on, and with the cane away he could focus on it without sheathing his sword.
Warriors was about to thrust his blade forward, but the veteran's reflexes were much faster. He vaulted upwards and landed on the cube with a thud. His balance was off, but he righted himself quickly enough. Warriors looked up at Legend and pulled out his hookshot.
The tell-tale clang of a hookshot rang in both their ears as the captain aimed at Legend's leg. It grabbed on, and he began to reel the veteran in. Legend made an indignant attempt to remain up, but was much too light to hold his ground. He was ripped down from the cube, barely catching himself as he landed. Warriors was about to pull out his sword again to get Legend to admit defeat, but the guy was already up on his feet.
Legend clicked his tongue before Warriors could process what he was doing. The hookshot was still grabbing his leg, the loose chain piled on the ground. The sneaky bastard had activated his pegasus boots and slid underneath the captain's arms. He sped off, the captain grunting as his arm was yanked around before he let go.
It clanked around a bit as Legend stopped and twirled around to face him again. He kicked off the chains and cocked an eyebrow. A challenge.
"I've got like, 4 of these. Did you really think I could be bested by one?" Legend snorted out a laugh, a deep frown settling on the captain's features. His mood was getting soured a little, but he was too stubborn to back down. The captain mentally noted that next time, swords and shields only. He raised his blade and stepped forward with his usual confidence.
Legend moved along, making Warriors choose between retrieving his discarded item or chasing after Legend. He hoped that the veteran would grow tired of playing cat and mouse and would finally face him blade to blade. He ignored his item on the ground and stepped forward.
He swung down, the clang of metal vibrating through his arms. He could feel Legend straining under the powerful hit. His blade eventually slid down, and he readied himself again. The two parried blows for about a long time until Legend decided that he had given the captain enough time to play. Legend himself was getting a bit sloppier as time ticked by, anyways. He knew he wouldn't last longer like this, so he took another risk. Something he hadn't tried on another living creature, surprisingly.
Their blades met again, Legend using his off-hand to hold the end of his blade steady as Warrior's hit came down. He bit back his smile as he activated his pegasus boots again.
The force of the magic gave him quite the interesting boost. Legend rammed into Warriors' full force, bringing them both down to the ground. The captain's sword scattered about a dozen feet away. His shield went into a bush in the opposite direction.
The veteran had sort of rolled above the captain, skidding in the dirt for more than he'd like. He twisted himself around, looking back at his fellow hero. Warriors was picking himself up from being thrown, eyes blown wide in confusion. Why would Legend even do something so stupid ?
The two turned to face each other, Legend clearly biting his lip. He was trying so hard not to laugh. It just looked so… Childish? The captain let out a snort, quickly covering his mouth. Legend couldn't hold himself together anymore, bursting out into side splitting laughter. It was clear that the outcome wasn't expected by either party.
"What," Warriors stopped himself to actually breathe, "was that move?!" He forced himself to inhale deeply, steadying his laughter. The veteran was doing the same, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Impulse. Realized that I've never tried using the pegasus boots in close combat. Figured it works well ramming into trees, so why not opponents?" Warriors simply looked at him, dumbfounded.
"You are insane, I swear." His expression dropped. "Wait... Why would you ram yourself into a tree?!" The desperation in his voice was clear. They both began to pick themselves up off the ground. Dirt was dusted off of clothing.
"Clearly, you need to go on a few more practical adventures to teach you some common sense." Legend handed Warriors the blade he had so gracefully launched away.
"No, I think I'm fine. I've decided I no longer want to know why that's allegedly common sense." The captain looked around, he'd need to grab his hookshot. "We should head back."
Legend dismissed the cube and looked around for anything else that may have fallen from his pockets. "Mm, yeah, sure. But I did technically win that one." The captain's face scrunched up. The two had gathered everything they needed from the clearing and started to walk back.
"I don't think eating dirt counts as winning."
"Buuut, you were disarmed. Your sword was ten feet away."
"By that logic, I won a while ago when you threw your sword ."
"How dare you assume I don't have several other sharp pointy things in my inventory that I can use to stab someone. Clearly, I know what I'm doing."
Warriors snorted, waving his hand. "Yeah, about that. Next time, we're sparring the old fashioned way."
"Too afraid of my ‘trinkets’? I didn't even think about using my rings, and I've got like 60 different ones. Among other fun toys I've picked up."
"You really are a hoarder." The two laughed and joked all the way back to the others. Legend did, in fact, get to enact his right to brag for winning. Warriors did nothing besides mutter something here or there about the veteran being a cheap shot. His grin betrayed all of his complaints.