Chapter Nine! I'm sort of apprehensive about this one, but let me tell you, it was SO hard to write. I edited it at least twice. And I'm still not fully sold on the order in which it's organized. Well, at the end of the chapter, just let me know what you think about it! Constructive-and, preferably, NICE-criticism is welcome ;) THANKS, ENJOY.

Chapter Nine: Mutual Fears

"Get into your stances! Hold it! If you feel the burn, it's working!"

Damita rolled her eyes as she bent her legs and squatted, reluctantly obeying the orders of the training leader. Around her, other Rebels were attempting to stay still; their legs were shaking, and many were sweating and groaning from the effort. Damita and Nabooru squatted beside each other, each with a perfect form. She barely felt any pain in her legs as she stood, almost completely still. They looked at each other, and Damita made a face of boredom. Nabooru's eyes flashed warningly.

"Come on! Push yourselves!" the leader continued screaming. She stood at the front of her group with her arms crossed on her large bosom, and her narrowed green eyes incredulously scanned the group of Rebels that fought to stay standing.

Telma had always been a larger woman with an even larger personality. Her skin was almost as tan as Nabooru's, but not quite as smooth, and her eyes were a darker shade. Also unlike Nabooru, Telma had pointed ears. Damita couldn't help but feel sympathy for her because she was truly a kind, compassionate woman, yet she was constantly teased and slandered by the other Rebels. She was only half Gerudo, one with "dirty" blood. That was why she had pointed ears; her mother had been a Gerudo, and her father had been a Hylian. Damita recalled the times when she, too, had been made fun of because she was Hylian. She shuddered discreetly at the memory.

"Stand steady. Keep your fists tightly against your ribs...Don't move, or I'll have you stand like that for an extra five minutes, do you hear me?"

The constant teasing had turned her outwardly harsh, and Damita saw indifference flash in her eyes as she continued barking orders. But she knew Telma well enough to realize that she had good intentions. And Damita could sympathize with her feelings; they were the only two female members of the Rebel camp who weren't Gerudos. It had been the origin of their bond, and how they had first come to be friends. In the Master's eyes, they were two of the most important Rebels, anyway. Telma was one who commanded authority, and even with the teasing that occurred, she was feared for her brutal training programs throughout the camp. The best warriors in Hyrule had been sculpted in her callused hands.

"Come on, Telma, give us a break! We've been at this for hours," one Rebel, a human male, complained. She whirled around to face him with narrowed eyes, and her curly, thick red strands of hair flew across her shoulder. The blood-colored beads beneath her right eye glistened in the sun, and as Damita felt her stomach turn excitedly, she couldn't help but smirk.

"A break, huh?" Telma asked, tilting her head. There was sarcastic innocence in her voice. "Are you tired, my poor dear...?"

The man's features became tense, and Damita could see the droplets of sweat accumulating on his taut forehead. Nabooru snickered beside her.

"Well, let me tell you something." Telma moved among the other ranks until she came up behind the man. Gently, she put her hands on his shoulders. Then, she leaned forward and whispered, "Here in the Rebel camp, we don't get breaks." Telma pushed down on his shoulders, hard, and he let out a scream of pain as his knees were forced to bend further. Sweat rolled down his flustered face in flurries. She continued pushing, and he continued screaming. Damita's smile unexpectedly evaporated.

Finally, after what seemed like ages of hearing his shrieks, Telma released her grip. At this point, the man was in tears, struggling immensely to keep his stance steady. Telma put her hands on her hips and chuckled, mostly to herself, and walked back to the front of the lines.

"I am the leader of this training, and I will have respect," she bellowed. Almost everybody flinched at her voice. "One more outburst like that, and I'll have everybody squatting for the next hour! Do you know what squatting does for you, ladies and gentlemen?"

Unexpectedly, Telma smacked her thighs, letting out a loud clap. The skin of her legs remained completely still over the taut muscles of her strong thighs. Damita and Nabooru had difficulty suppressing their laughter, while the other Rebels seemed to shrink back in fear.

"It gives you muscle, that's what. If you want legs like mine, you keep squatting. Leg muscles mean steadiness, and steadiness means a better chance of winning should you come against a Loyalist. Don't underestimate them."

Discreetly, Damita looked down at her own thighs, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nabooru doing the same.

"In less than three days, you will attack the castle. And let me tell you, the Loyalists could have anything hidden up their sleeves. The more training, the better," she said. Then, her eyes moved to Damita's, and the large woman gave a subtle nod of respect. "So to answer your request: no, you may have no breaks. Keep squatting. Next, we do lunges."

Telma's harsh speech made Damita giddy, and suddenly she could not get the invasion out of her mind. She looked around at all of the other Rebels, starting to realize that these were her own troops, being trained to battle under her command. She could finally be a bigger part of making Hyrule a better place. If she were the one to bring down the tyrannous monarchy, she would be hailed as a hero for the rest of time.

The great General Damita, she thought dreamily. The woman who brought down the monarchy and freed Hyrule.

Damita walked with her back erect and her head held high, and she deliberately ignored the harsh heat of the sun against her mostly bared back. Walking directly at her heels was Nabooru, whose beautiful face was sporting a smirk of satisfaction. Damita, on the other hand, kept her expression as blank as a stone. She was walking in front of a line of men and women, all standing as straight as poles with their hands clasped at their sides. Their eyes stared directly ahead, and Damita relished in the knowledge that they were afraid to look her in the eyes. She could feel the authoritative power coursing through her veins as she walked in front of that line; behind them was another line, and another line was behind them.

"The day is almost here," she began, "where we finally take that leap of faith. With the downfall of Princess Zelda and her corrupted government, Hyrule will be ours. This invasion is of the utmost importance. Failure is not an option." Her voice almost seemed to echo in the air, emphasizing her power over these Rebels. They listened without a single word.

"There are two possible outcomes of this invasion. Either it will be easy...or it will be extremely difficult. Therefore, we must prepare ourselves should the latter occur. With our forces, and with the training we have gone through, getting through the Royal Guard will be nothing. The only thing that could ruin this plan is the Loyalist camp. We have done everything in our power to keep our plans secret, but..." Here, she couldn't help but pause. Her feet stopped in the sand, and the desert winds blew ominously with a haunting whistle. Damita stared hollowly at the horizon.

"The Loyalists can be just as sneaky as us," she continued. Then, the words seemed to flow from her lips without her control. "Their leader is quite...cunning. He has a way of f-figuring out these things. He may be planning his own security plan as we speak, and he—"

"Damita," Nabooru interrupted, putting a hand gently on her shoulder. Damita blinked from her trance at this touch, and Link's face finally disappeared from her mind.

"Anyway, the point is, we need to stay prepared," she swallowed. "So for the next few days, we will be training hard. Nabooru, please divulge to the troops the security plan of the castle. Then, true training will begin."

"Very well," Nabooru sighed. She turned to the troops, holding the stolen security plan in her slender hands. As Damita walked back toward her tent to plan, her second-in-command began explaining to them the security of the castle. Damita rubbed her temples in frustration, and the pressure was finally starting to sink in. If she failed, the consequences were unthinkable...it was impossible to fail.

But with Link as leader of the Loyalists, it was also impossible to succeed.

Nabooru walked in on Damita in her tent, pacing and panting heavily. Her slender fingers pulled at her delicate, silver hair, and her teeth were clenched tightly. At the sound of Nabooru's footsteps, she looked up, but did not stop pacing rapidly. Nabooru sighed heavily and continued moving forward, recognizing Damita's rare state of panic.

"Darling, you need to calm down," she said. Damita finally stopped, and plopped down onto her creaky bed.

"How am I going to calm down? I just realized that this mission is impossible!" She buried her face in her hands, speaking through gritted teeth.

"What has gotten into you?" Nabooru cried in exasperation. She moved forward and sat beside the fragile girl, beginning to rub her back soothingly. "Just yesterday, you were ready to invade without a care."

"I know," Damita groaned. "But now that I've had the chance to think about it, my thoughts are starting to change."

"Tell me, dear, what is it that you've been thinking of?"

"I'm not ready for this, Nabooru." Damita's head snapped up, and her eyes were filled with tears, a rare occurrence. "I can't lead an entire invasion against the castle. If I fail..."

"Don't think about that," her best friend interrupted. "What you need to do is keep your mind clear and do what you know how to do. Everything will fall into place."

"What if the Loyalists show up?" Damita cried. "What if Link shows up? Then there's no way we can win!"

Damita fell onto her back, staring up at the roof of the tent, and then turned her back to Nabooru. The wise mentor raised an eyebrow incredulously and crossed her arms.

"Damita, what are you thinking about?" she asked. "The invasion...or Link?"

Damita didn't answer. She didn't have to. Nabooru already knew that Damita was always thinking about Link.

"What do you want to do? I mean, we can't just sit here and do nothing," Sheik rationalized. Link nodded, running a hand through his hair as he paced the tent. Shad and Sheik sat on the bed, watching him. "In a few days, Hyrule will be in shambles. Mobs are already congregating in the royal city, and Nayru knows where else!"

"I-I know," Link breathed. Shad adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat awkwardly.

"What do you think the Rebels are planning?" he asked uncertainly. Link swallowed and shook his head vivaciously, feeling as if his head were about to explode from the pressure of the situation.

"It's definitely not something good," he said. "And it's going to happen soon." The three of them were silent as Sheik bit his nails, Shad cleaned his glasses, and Link fiddled with the blue hoop hanging from his pointed ear.

"I know this is a ton of pressure, buddy," Sheik finally broke the silence. "But at this point, you're the only one who can figure this out. You've been here longest. You know the Rebels better than me and Shad combined."

"Thanks, that helps."

Sheik chuckled and shrugged innocently. Shad shifted uncomfortably and begin flipping through his notebook rapidly. To block out the sounds, Link put his hands over his long ears and continued walking. He was becoming desperate, and found the frustration inside of him ready to burst in a horrid inferno.

"Hey, Shad, did Princess Zelda say anything else to you?" he finally demanded. Shad furrowed his brow in thought, and then shook his head. Link groaned, and his pace quickened.

"No, she didn't. Now that I think about it, I really didn't spend much time mingling during that ball." He scratched the back of his neck with an embarrassed chuckle.

"Do the high-class women intimidate you?" Sheik laughed jokingly. Shad smiled, but Link's face remained in a state of exasperation. He was rarely one to joke in times like this.

"Actually, I danced with quite a few beautiful women besides the princess," Shad defended. "One was actually quite ravishing, though she refused to divulge to me her name. She had the greenest eyes, and silvery hair..."

Link and Sheik's heads both snapped up, and all of the blood drained from the leader's face. His arms fell limply to his sides as Shad's words sank in, and he found himself suddenly unable to think straight.

"S-silver hair?" he repeated. Shad nodded, completely oblivious to his friends' current states of panic.

"Yes, as bright and silvery as the moon," he replied. "Honestly, she was just as beautiful as the princess herself."

"Ahem, Shad," Sheik took a deep breath. "What exactly did you say to this...um...girl?"

"Nothing much, really," Shad began explaining. Overwhelmed and trying to deal with the chaos in his mind, Link sank to the floor and leaned against the wooden pole in the center of the tent. He closed his eyes, praying that everything could disappear for just a moment. "She seemed awfully interested in the stolen papers, as well."

"You're sure you didn't tell her anything important?"

"I'm fairly certain. Why...?" Shad was beginning to catch on to their panicky states, and Link buried his face in his hands to block out all of the light for a few seconds. It was making him dizzy. "Link, ol' chap, are you okay?"

"Shad," Sheik's merry comportment had completely evaporated at this point, and his forehead was scrunched in apprehension. "That 'ravishing' girl is...well..."

"Who?"

"She's the assassin." Link finally lifted his head. His words left a haunting, chilling silence in the air. Shad's jaw dropped just slightly, and he stared at Link in shock for a few moments.

"Sh-she's the what?"

"Her name is Damita," Sheik interjected, saving Link the pain. "She's a trained Rebel assassin."

"That woman is an assassin?" Shad gasped in horror, as if he refused to believe it. "Oh, how could I have been so stupid?"

"It's not your fault," Link said hollowly. He looked neither at Sheik nor Shad, but into blank oblivion. "It's my fault. I should've warned you."

"I'm so sorry, my good men, I truly am," Shad groaned. "I'm such a blubbering idiot!"

"Don't be too hard on yourself," Sheik comforted with a click of his tongue. "There's no way you could've known."

"Well, how did you two get the knowledge that this woman, Damita, is in fact the assassin?" Shad's face was red and flustered in humiliation, but even in his dazed state, questions flowed from his quivering lips. Sheik opened his mouth to respond, but found himself unable to do so. He looked to Link with sympathy glistening in his eyes, but Link's glassy gaze did not falter.

"Nobody else could have done it," he finally answered. "She's the only Rebel skilled enough...besides the leader..."

"Yes, but how do you know that? What is it about which I'm unaware?" Shad threw his arms up and stood up in exasperation. Link didn't answer. He didn't even flinch at Shad's outburst.

"Well, the story with Damita is...ahem...complicated to say the least," Sheik chuckled dryly. Before he could continue, Link stood up and moved toward the entrance of the tent. He stopped just in front of the flap.

"Damita used to be a Loyalist," he said bluntly. Shad drew in a breath, hugging the notebook more tightly against his chest. Sheik sighed, watching his best friend with an empathetic expression; the scholar didn't say another word.

"Assemble a group of twenty strong, prepared men. We leave for the castle at sundown," Link ordered before exiting the tent. "I don't want to take any chances."

Sheik crept along the winding paths of Hyrule Field, fully clothed in his warrior suit, and keeping a cloth to cover the top of his head and his mouth and nose. It felt refreshing to finally be on watch after what seemed like an eternity, and have the chance to use his keen eyesight to protect the small Loyalist camp in the hidden alcove of the field. The men were all asleep, though Sheik doubted that Link would be able to get any sleep tonight. He imagined him sitting in the dark tent, staring at the roof with a thousand things on his mind.

The warrior was unaccompanied as he walked back and forth in the field in front of Castle Town, humming to himself softly. He was the only one of the group who could successfully guard the camp in this dark hour of night; it was rare for somebody to see as well as Sheik could, and even Link could not match his hand-to-hand combat skills. Besides, Sheik loved the night. The twinkle of the stars made him feel more comfortable. With a perk in his step, Sheik just continued walking, unaffected by his solitude.

Suddenly, in the distance, he heard the sound of heavy footsteps. He stopped walking, and his humming died down into silence. The footsteps were getting louder with each passing second, and Sheik raised an eyebrow suspiciously. Instinctively, his eyes moved back to where the camp was situated; even as a group of twenty men, the average passerby would never see the camp. As the seconds swiftly rolled by, the footsteps became accompanied by hushed voices and the quiet whinnies of horses. Sheik narrowed his eyes, diligently watching the path from which the voices seemed to be coming. Then, his heart stopped. He could just barely see the silhouette of a large group of people filing swiftly into the field.

Without another moment's hesitation, Sheik leaped gracefully onto the sturdy branches of the nearest tree. Among the leaves and in the black of the night, it would be impossible to see him. He made sure that he had a clear view of the incoming group of people. Some of the approaching figures were on horseback, and some were traveling on foot. In the darkness, he found it slightly difficult to make out the face of the leader of the pack, riding a horse as black as the night itself. The group seemed to get bigger...and bigger...and bigger, and Sheik felt the bubble of fear inside of him swell. The head of the group was leading them toward the entrance to Castle Town, and Sheik kept his wits about him as they neared the tree in which he was crouched. There was an uncomfortable churning in his stomach as their faces and figures became clearer to his squinted eyes, but they failed to notice the crafty Loyalist watching them from a nearby tree.

In the name of Din almighty... he thought in disbelief, and was finally able to catch a glimpse of the leader's face. The group was made of about fifty people, all heavily armored and carrying weapons... about to attack. They all stopped just close enough that the guards surrounding the city walls could not see them, and Sheik took his chance to nimbly leap from the tree and rush back to the camp.

All was quiet until he burst into Link's tent.

"Link!" he gasped, and Link sat up from his mattress without hesitation. "Outside...in front of the castle...a huge group of Rebels!"

"Rebels?" Link cried, jumping to his feet. "Here? Now?"

"Yes! And they look like they're about to invade Castle Town." The two of them ran outside, and as soon as they left the tent, Link began barking orders.

"Wake up! Everybody get up and prepare for battle!" he shouted. "The castle is about to be attacked!"

"Wait, Link," Sheik grabbed his arm, speaking to him in a hushed tone. He found himself reluctant to admit his findings. "We have to be careful of their leader."

"We've dealt with the Rebel generals before, Sheik," he grumbled. "I'm sure we'll be fine."

"No, you don't understand," he persisted. Link looked at him with questioning eyes. "Th-this time it's different. This time...it's Damita."

It's...kind of a mess...well, that's what I think. What do YOU think? Please leave a review and let me know! Thanks again to everybody who is taking the time to read this ^u^. I LOVE YOU ALL!