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The battle raged for hours. Despite having fought valiantly, the Rebels were at a clear disadvantage. Their morale was falling, and their effectiveness in combat with it. If this kept up, it wouldn't be long before Nal Ordona would fall to the Royalists.

Ganondorf and Link were still surrounded, and still fought off waves of attackers. They had become the absolute largest threat to the Royalists on the battlefield, especially now that they were fighting together.

A Hylian soldier swung a flail at Ganondorf, who dropped under it and swung his sword at the man's legs. The Royalist fell with a cry, and Ganondorf finished him off. As he turned away, he felt a sharp pain in his side. He let out a shout of pain, and turned while swinging his greatsword. He left a large gash in his attacker's chest and sent the man tumbling to the ground.

Given a brief moment of reprieve, he looked around for any sign of reinforcements. His men were losing.

"Damn it, where are they?" He muttered as he swung his sword at another approaching Royalist.

"Who?" Link asked, ripping his sword out of a Hylian soldier.

Suddenly, a loud rumbling could be heard. In the distant, many deep, thundering war cries could be heard, growing ever closer. From over the hills, a horde of heavily armored warriors charged towards Nal Ordona. At the head of their march was a giant of a man in gleaming, Brass and Iron armor wearing a dragon's skull fashioned into a helm.

"Them," Ganondorf said, a small frown on his face. "Our reinforcements."

The armored horde charged into the fray, forcefully knocking away or trampling over the Royalists in their path. Greatswords and battleaxes swung about, bringing the soldiers of the Hylian army down. There were many among their ranks, but the majority were very large, and covered in fur. Their appearance was grotesque, almost monstrous. They had faces like pigs, and many had large tusks emerging from their mouths.

"Are those… Moblins?" Link asked Ganondorf.

"They are," Ganondorf answered. "And they're our chance to win this battle." He turned to the remainder of the Rebels. "ATTACK! PUSH THE ROYALISTS BACK!"

There was an echoing cry of agreement from the Rebels. Raising their arms, they joined the reinforcements in the heat of battle. It wasn't long before the Royalists were retreating from the city.

"General Ganondorf," called the giant man wearing the skull. He removed the skull helm as he spoke. He wasn't a Moblin. He wasn't a Hylian either. He was a human. He had slicked back red hair and a goatee on his face. His eyes were a dark green, and his voice was incredibly deep.

"Captain Onox," Ganondorf smiled. "Glad you made it when you did. I wasn't sure we'd have lasted much longer. I was preparing to sound the retreat." The smile disappeared from his face. "I see you brought the Moblins."

"You asked for my best, sir," Onox responded. "They are my absolute best."

"They're effective, I'll give them that," Ganondorf said. "Tend to the wounded. We'll speak later."

"Yes, sir."

Onox bowed and took his leave. Ganondorf turned to Link, who stood nearby.

"He served under me in the Hylian Army, before we defected," he told Link, "Decent enough tactician. Excellent fighter. Might even be better than me." He cleared his throat and changed the subject. "You handled yourself rather well. Color me impressed."

"You did pretty good yourself," Link smiled.

"You've had time to consider my proposal," Ganondorf said. "Seeing you in combat. Fighting alongside you. It's only reinforced my belief that you would be an amazing asset to my cause."

"Don't take this the wrong way," Link said, "but I'm not sure I can trust you, sir. It's quite apparent to me that you only stayed to help us in hopes that I would join you."

"I do hope you've a better impression of me than that," Ganondorf frowned. "I did say that, yes. But I wasn't ever going to simply abandon these people to Barbarus. It was a gamble."

"A gamble?"

"Yes. I didn't get to be a General without being a tactician. I only said that to get you to reconsider. Call me what you will, but don't ever say I abandon those in need."

"I'm not sure I believe that," Link said, narrowing his eyes.

Ganondorf shrugged. "Then don't. Like I said, you'll come around. I've spoken true, and my conscience is clear. You've had time to consider my offer, Link. What's your answer?"

Link still didn't want to join up with the Gerudo Rebellion. He opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, another voice called out.

"Captain!" cried an Ordonian. "Captain!"

"What? What is it?" Link asked, turning to the man.

"One of the wounded wishes to speak to you, sir," the man responded. "He's from the farmlands, sir."

Link's eyes went wide. He dashed off towards the healer's tents.

"Fado?" he called out as he navigated through the throng of wounded soldiers and healers. "Fado? Fado, where are you?! Fado!"

He searched through the masses, and finally found his friend, lying on a cot, bleeding heavily from several wounds in his side and abdomen.

"Oh hell, Fado!" Link cried out. "No! No!"

"I have seen better days…," Fado chuckled weakly.

"Don't speak, Fado," Link urged, "Just stay quiet, you'll get healed up. We'll have you back on the farm in no time!" He turned and called out, "GET ME A HEALER! NOW!"

"We've tried," came another voice. Link turned to see an apothecary sitting at his desk. "Do you see all this around us? All these wounded? There's too much to deal with. Our healers are running low on energy and we're all out potions. Normal medicine is all we have left, and it won't do much for him, I'm afraid."

"DAMMIT, DO SOMETHING!" Link shot back.

"I can administer some more painkiller," the apothecary said, rising to his feet with a bottle in his hand. "That's all the good I can do."

The man poured a thick, purple liquid from the bottle into Fado's mouth. He drank it, and began to cough.

"Easy," Link urged. "Easy there."

"Link…," Fado began to say.

Link cut him off, "No, no. Don't say a word, Fado."

"Link…," Fado began again, "please…"

Link scowled. A worried expression appeared on his face. He nodded at his friend.

"Do… the right thing…"Fado uttered, and lifted his hand. Link took it in a firm grip, a show of camaraderie. The larger man smiled.

And with that, Fado's eyes closed. His grip loosened, and then his hand fell from Link's grip.

"Fado… Damn it…," Link muttered to himself. It grew to a yell. "Damn it!"

Link bowed his head. His jaw quivered in sadness and rage.

"Link," Ganondorf's came from behind him. "Are you all right?"

"First, Rusl…," Link growled, "And now Fado… Good men are dying doing the right thing. And I'm here just RUNNING AWAY! THEY DIDN'T DESERVE THIS! RUSL HAD A FAMILY TO CARE FOR! FADO HAD HIS MOTHER WAITING FOR HIM! AND NOW THEY'RE DEAD BECAUSE OF BASTARDS LIKE VIANA AND BARBARUS!"

"Link," Ganondorf said, raising his arms in an attempt to calm the Hylian down, "I understand you're angry."

"AND I'M STILL HERE, RUNNING FROM THE FIGHT AGAINST THOSE MEN! THE TYPE OF MEN RUSL AND FADO DIED TO STOP! WHY AM I STILL HERE?!"

"Link!" Ganondorf called out sternly. "Settle down!"

"WHY COULDN'T IT HAVE BEEN ME?! THESE NOBLE MEN COULD HAVE DONE BETTER THAN I EVER COULD!"

"LINK!" Ganondorf seized Link by the shoulders, and pulled him into a hug. "It's all right. It's all right."

Link broke down into sobs. Ganondorf let him go, and the young blond fell to his knees. His fists drove into the dirt as he wept.

He felt sick. Angry. Disgusted. Disgusted at men like Viana, who oppress others simply because they can. Disgusted at men like Barbarus, who would give such people power. And disgusted at himself, fleeing from the very right things that Rusl and Fado would always tell him about. But he made up his mind. Now, it ended. Now, he would do the right thing. He wouldn't shrug this off as "not his fight." His fellow Hyruleans were being oppressed. He'd put a stop to it.

He inhaled deeply, and choked out a few last sobs. He wiped his eyes and rose to his feet.

"I've made up my mind," he said.

Ganondorf raised an eyebrow, unsure of what Link was referring to.

"I'll join your cause," Link continued, "I'm going to do the right thing."

Ganondorf smiled. "I knew you would."

He extended his hand towards Link. The blond took it.


BUM BADA BADUM

Two at once. I like it.

This was originally actually part of Chapter Six. I probably could have kept them together, but I decided not to. I know most people write way longer chapters than I do, but my usual is about 1000-2000 words or so. Together they were approaching about 3500. So, to keep with tradition, I decided to split it.

Anyways, what did you think? Tell my why you think it.

Leave me a review. Thanks.