Princess Zelda watched Link desert. From her window she could see the camp and the small shadow of a man sitting by himself. Her gut told her this was the same blond haired boy who looked like he was going to throw up during her father's speech. His eyes had been clamped shut and he swayed as if he was about to faint, out of everyone in the crowd he seemed the most hopeless. When he stood up she could see the outline of the sword and shield on his back, he didn't even look back to see if anyone watched him leave. She wasn't angry at the man who felt no need to protect her and her kingdom. Logic told her that the army was only as strong as its weakest link, and she was sure that that weak spot just walked away. Maybe he knew that a mistake had been made and that it would be better if her were to leave.
She thought about the boy's face when he stood in the crowd. Long blond hair. Bright blue eyes. Zelda walked to a mirror and gazed at her own face. Her blonde hair, her blue eyes. If the holder of the triforce of courage would not appear, maybe the holder of the triforce of wisdom would be enough to seal away the darkness coming for Hyrule. From the balcony the man did not seem to be too big, and he kept to himself enough that no one would know him apart from any other blond wearing a green uniform.
Bending her arm behind her back, Zelda grasped the zipper and pulled it down, letting her gown easily fall off her body. She stepped out of it and walked to a large armoire in the corner of her room. In the bottom drawer was a green tunic and cream colored pants, a new soldier's uniform complete with sword and shield. Quickly she pulled on the pants, chain mail and tunic. She returned to the mirror to put the long pointed cap on her head, carefully tucking her hair into it to hide the length. The uniform was loose enough to hide her figure, even when she put the sword and shield on her back. She knew the soldiers would be returning to the courtyard to practice archery, some servants had been putting out targets since the men left. She checked the window to make sure they were getting ready to return and then slipped out her door and headed for the courtyard.
"Now that we have seen sword skills we want to see who has skills with a bow and arrow. We want everyone to be competent with both, however, starting tomorrow you will be divided into two groups. One will have training specialized in sword use, while the other will be trains with a bow." Zelda slipped into the crowd and listened to the general. He divided the men into ten groups of ten and lined them up at ten large targets lined up along the wall. One man from each group was to shoot at the target three times and then wait for the generals to assess the targets, then the next man would go, until all ten men had fired three arrows.
Zelda stood in the back of her line. Most of the men were much taller than her and she strained to look around them to see how well the first group was shooting. In the first group only one man was able to hit the target, the other 29 arrows fired were either buried in the ground or broken from hitting the stone wall behind the targets. The next eight groups were mostly the same, a handful of men were able to hit the target with all three arrows, but most showed how little the people of Hyrule knew about aiming.
After what seemed like an eternity it was Zelda's turn. The bow resting on the quiver was smooth and polished. The string was tight, yet easy enough for her to pull back. Although she was used to her golden bow that rested in the back room of the armory, along with her father's longsword. Still she pulled out the first arrow and nocked it. She closed her left eye as she raised the bow up, holding it steady with her left arm she pulled by the string by her fingertips. A few minor adjustments to the aim, and smoothly released the string, sending the arrow soaring straight into the center of the target.
There were no applause. No outburst of the first bull's eye of the night. No one paid much attention to the small man who separated himself from the group. So the princess silently nocked two more arrows, each hitting the same spot as the first and splitting the arrow that was already there. Pleased with herself she set down the bow and waited for the general's assessment.
"Link of Ordon Village." He called and waved Zelda to step forward. "It looks like for the first time today you showed some promise." He gestured to the target. "No one else here was able to even come close to your performance today. Congratulations. You are not a complete failure after all. Back in line." Zelda bowed her head slightly and hurried to the end of the line. The same rotation happened until ten at night. Every arrow Zelda shot was a bull's eye. By the end of the night twenty men had burrowed their arrows into the center of the target and about a dozen others hit the target. Those men along with Zelda were assigned to sleep in tent one, while the rest of the men would stay in tent two.
Link wasn't sure where to go. He was still wearing a knight's uniform and it was only a matter of time before someone noticed he had gone missing. Though he figured he would be hard to find since even he didn't know which direction he had wandered off too. All that mattered to him was getting to cover before sunrise, or else the whole army would see him and who knew what punishment would be given. As the hours passed he got more and more nervous. There was no moonlight or stars that night so it was impossible to see ahead and for all he knew he was walking in circles.
After a while he could sense the world closing in around him, as if he found some pathway between cliffs. Soon Link noticed that it was no longer silent, and there was a slight bug like noise coming from ahead. Although the sound was clearly an insect it seemed to loud to be a normal bug. He stopped and strained his ears and eyes, hoping to hear or see something that would help him understand what he was hearing. Without warning he heard a spring like noise and a mass was on top of him. All he felt were four limbs wrapping themselves around him and pinning him to the ground.
Link wriggled his body until the thing lost its grip. It only took a second for Link to pull himself out and draw his sword. He had no idea where the thing was or how it would attack next so he started swinging the sword wildly in all directions. Next thing he knew he felt a blow to his back and he was sprawled out on his stomach. The sword had been knocked from is right hand and landed somewhere on the ground above his head. While trying to kick the monster off of him he did his best to reach for the sword, but could only get his left hand around the hilt. Without thinking about what he was doing he swung the sword in a smooth arc over his body. He felt when the blade made contact with the creature, but it only added a slight resistance to his swing.
The body, now cut in half, landed on either side of him with a small thud. He laid there for a minute. Eyes wide and hands shaking. It was the first time he ever killed anything, the man hadn't even killed a fly in his twenty one years of life, let alone some mystery creature that was almost as big as him. Part of him wanted to get up and give it a proper burial, while the other part reminded him he was on the run from the royal army.
He wiped his sword off in the grass, unsure if there was any blood on it from the creature or not. Before moving, he listened for sounds of any more bug creatures, or worse, any knights approaching. When everything remained silent he started walking again. Instead of sheathing his sword he kept it firmly grasped in his left hand, it seemed more balanced and comfortable there. Like an old friend. Link also pulled the shield off his back. If anything else popped out at him, he would be ready.
The next morning Zelda quickly realized how cumbersome broadswords were. She could barely lift up her arm for more than ten minutes holding it and she knew using it in a fight would be out of the question. A large circle had formed around her even before the lesson began, she imagined this was because of how poorly Link had handled the sword. Struggling to get the blade high enough to mortally wound someone Zelda decided to take a break for a minute and observe the knights training around her.
"Not so good with a heavy sword are you?" Impa's familiar voice rang in her ear and Zelda jumped noticeably. "Perhaps the princess would have more success with a rapier?" The woman whispered, a hint of mischief in her eyes. Zelda pressed her index finger to her lips and nodded her head to the side before leading Impa away from the crowd.
"Please, they can't know."
"They can't know? You can't be doing this. These are going to be real knights going to fight real battles, Zelda. You need to be kept safe."
"No. My kingdom needs to be safe." Zelda's eyes hardened on her caregiver.
"Please, you don't understand what you are saying."
"Yes I do. I was trained to fire a bow. I can learn to use a sword. I can protect Hyrule better than half these men." She realized she was speaking quite loudly and lowered her voice. "Impa, I need to do this."
"No you don't. These men will learn." Impa looked over at the men and made a face of uncertainty.
"Even you don't believe in these rag-tag warriors, one of them didn't even make it through the first night."
"If you want to train as one of them fine. But I cannot allow you to sleep in their bunks. And your father must be informed." Impa then disappeared, as she often did, leaving Zelda without a choice in the matter.
