Link lay on his back and stared at the starless sky. His mind was clear, and any thought that came through was empty. He was frightened beyond belief, nothing in his life could compare, or so he thought. Link was a young man of about twenty-two years that originated from a village in the great land of Hyrule known as Kokiri Forest. Kokiri was full of elf-like creatures whom were mostly passive, outgoing, and all around nice beings. They lived in tree houses a few feet above ground level along with their own fairy's that each were given when they had ten years of age.
They resided in Hyrule with three other races of beings. The humans of Kakiriko village, the fish-like humanoids known as the Zora of Zora's Domain, the stone-like creatures known as the Goron of the Volcano, and the Gerudo of the desert. Hyrulians lived in harmony for hundreds of years. There were of course minor skirmishes between the trouble causing Gerudo and the Goron, but events like those were bound to happen in a span of hundreds of years. The war in Hyrule was a brutal one. A war which the likes of its inhabitants had never seen. Not being content with the gigantic portion of land that they owned, the Gerudo had decided that it was their turn to rule over the land of Hyrule. They were going to overthrow the king. After assembling all of their available troops, the Gerudo planned an attack on the castle, as well as the small village that lay under it. The attack succeeded, and many knights as well as townspeople were lost. The King would not stand for acts such as this. A rebellion meant war, and it was just what the Gerudo wanted.
Link was a scraggly young man with longer blonde hair that seemed to be tussled most of the time. Diligent, serious and somewhat lazy, Link seemed to be a typical solider. He was physically strong, and knew how to fight very well, which got him along quite nicely in times of battle. His officers didn't seem to think twice of him, even if he was the only Kokiri in his squadron. Reasonably average in stature and weight, he seemed to be just the average person. But in the dark depths of his mind, Link knew that he wasn't just an average person. He knew that somehow, someday, he would do something that would change the world, and help out the others he cared about in the process. Link turned to his best friend, Eldin. He flashed an empty smile and continued looking at the sky. Eldin had been his best friend ever since he joined the army. Their friendship was a typical story, they were both somewhat different, and in the end, had become best friends. They had much in common, such as their love for horses. Each of them had one, Link's being Empona, and Eldin's being Alto. They both cared for their horses for no other, and the horses themselves seemed to be very weary of that.
Link's squadron, Beta, was due next for reconnaissance. This always worried Link, for he knew the possibility of an ambush was very likely. Almost out of nowhere, Alpha Squad appeared out of the distance.
"No sign of any of 'em," the Captain said in a hushed tone. Link was relieved, maybe he could sleep tonight.
"You ready?" Eldin said in a hushed tone. Link didn't respond, he took night duty very seriously. So many things could go wrong in such a short period of time. He grabbed his hookshot, a tool that had helped him out of many predicaments, and placed it on his steed. The sky tonight was starless, not a good one for vision. Nevertheless, they began on their way into the darkness of the field near Lake Hyrule. Not one of them knew what was going to happen, and as much as they didn't want to admit it, the entire squad was deathly afraid. Their minds were racing, except for Link's. His mind was void of all thought, other than what his course of action was going to be if Gerudo were sighted. In the far off distance, Link thought that he saw a small flash of light. This worried him deeply, as the primary weapon of the night for the Gerudo were flaming arrows. Just as everyone grew apprehensive, the silence was broken. The land lay still.
"That was a close ca-" a member of the squad began to say in exasperation. In mid-sentence an flamed arrow struck him directly between the eyes. The horses kicked, and Link saw Eldin fly through the air like a rag doll. He hit the ground with a thud, and lay unconscious. Link managed to land on his feet. He thought he heard a slight crack, which very well could have been his ankle breaking. At this point, it was do or die. Ignoring the pain and shouts of the other men, Link made his way toward cover. He wasn't worried about Eldin, it was far too dark for any Gerudo to see him. This wasn't an average archer, it was a sharpshooter. This was a full out ambush. Gerudo started to seem to pour out of the blackness. Link's primal instincts began to come out. He ran at a member of the opposing army, unsheathing his sword. He went at a Gerudo and swung. Their swords clashed together with a significant amount of force. So much in fact, that the solider was knocked back. Link lunged at the helpless warrior and stabbed through his flesh. He heard a sickening groan and heard a release of breath that seemed almost like relief. The solider was dead. Link turned around quickly, expecting another Gerudo to be attacking. Instead, he saw nothing. They seemed to have left as quickly as they came. He heard the groans of many of his fellow squad members, and saw the dying ember of the arrow buried into the face of Farin. Link let out an exasperated sigh, it was finally over. In reality, the attack had only lasted about three minutes, but it felt like years to Link. The sun had begun to rise over a ranch far off in the distance, leaving the land slightly orange, but very beautiful. Link was lost deep in thought when he was interrupted by the yelling of his Sergeant.
