I've got some good news! Yesterday I finally finished the very last chapter of this story, so now that I don't have to worry about catching up with myself and having to rush any future chapters, I can update more frequently! I've decided that I will now update every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I'd update everyday, but I like to give myself time to proofread each chapter one last time before I throw it up for all the world to see. Anyways, without further ado, here's the next chapter!

Chapter Nine

The Plan

As soon as Link left Arly's room, he was greeted by the severe face of Impal. Quietly, they slipped outside; it was early morning, and even the receptionist was still gone for the night. Some early birds were chirping, just hearable over the few cars overhead.

"Hey, Impal," Link whispered as they walked together through the near empty Hylian district.

The man beside him grunted.

Taking that as a sign to continue, Link did. "Could we stop by my friend's house? I just want her to know I'm alright and-"

"No."

"But-"

"Listen to me, kid," Impal said as he turned to face Link. In the morning sun Link finally noticed that this man's eyes were the same dark red as the symbol stitched into the front of his clothes. "Talking to anyone outside can put them in danger. So... no."

"But-"

Impal raised a hand to silence him. "There's something you need to get through that thick skull of yours: Ganondorf is looking for you. He's not going to stop until he finds you. If he knows about your connection to those women over there, he will kill them to get to you. You talk to people, you put them in danger. Now let's go."

Link remained in stunned silence the rest of the way to the city. He cast one last regretful look back to his old home, hoping to at least see Sera in the window, so she could see he was alright, but the house was still dark and quiet just like its neighbors.

They went through the same doors they had left from, and the same rebel was there to make sure the doors were covered and hidden after they closed again.

"Impal," Link began, finally breaking the silence that had fallen between them. "That one woman I met before, the one with no sense for poetry, what's her name?"

Impal snorted in amusement. "Impa. General Impa."

"Impa... does everyone in the rebellion have a name that starts with that?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Really?"

Impal didn't answer. Instead he led Link down more hallways until they finally stopped at the cafeteria that Link had blundered into the other day.

"Get something to eat," Impal ordered. "Oh, and you used a fake name before, right? Eddo or something stupid like that."

"Yeah..."

"Keep using that."

"Why?" Link asked, but Impal was already marching away from him. Link stood there for a moment, pondering this latest development. Then he recalled Impal mentioning something about spies, and started to feel nervous. Were there really spies in the rebellion working for the Gerudo? How did anyone trust anyone around here?

As Link headed into the large room, he noticed that there were far less people in there this time around. Only a few of the tables were being used, so Link quickly found a plate, threw some bread and what looked like the porridge he used to eat at school onto it, then found a seat.

One of the rebels broke away from his table and wandered over towards Link, an expression of curiosity in his dark eyes. While he was garbed in the strange rebel uniform that everyone else was, his head was left bare, revealing a round face and sandy hair. "Are you the new guy?" the man asked. "No, that's a stupid question, of course you are! You don't even have your uniform yet!"

Link had been just about to take a bite of his porridge, but now the spoon just hung in midair as he tried to think of a response to the rapid speech of the other man. "Uh..." The porridge slipped from the spoon and landed back on the plate with a small splat.

"The name's Imparo. What's yours?"

"Eddo."

Imparo snickered. "You really are new, huh? Well don't worry, you'll get your fake name later."

"Right..." Link felt like pouting, he had enough trouble keeping track of two names, never mind three. "Say, Imparo, can I ask you something?"

"Ask away! I used to be the newbie here before you showed up, it's really nice to not be the new guy anymore. So if you need help with anything, just let me know! I'm your guy!"

"Thanks! So... how did this rebellion get to be so big? Where do you find all these people?"

Imparo glanced around the room. "Well... you know... we just sort of do. I mean, how did you get recruited?"

"Well..."

"Same as the rest of us, right? You were inspired by the rebellion's focus on liberating our people from the Gerudo's oppression, so you just sort of seek them out, and then there you are!"

"I see. But some of them look like they should still be in school, don't they?"

Imparo shrugged. "What's the point of school anyway?"

"What's the point!? It's... it's..." Link frowned. What was the point of school? In the books he had read, the Hylian authors had always talked about schools like they were something grand, even something to be revered, but for the life of him he couldn't come up with anything to defend his own school. They hadn't even been the ones to teach him how to read or write, he had had to learn that before he went.

"See? It's just another way for the Gerudo to oppress us."

"I'm sure the scholar's school is better."

Imparo shrugged. "Maybe. Wouldn't know. I ran away from the worker's school when I was ten, haven't looked back since."

"How did you manage that?"

"Grandpa helped me," Imparo said, his grey eyes twinkling.

Link grinned. "Good ol' Grandpa. So... have you been with the rebellion since you were ten then?"

"Sort of. I wandered the city for about a year, just trying to stay out of sight, but then Impal stumbled on me... literally, actually, he sort of tripped on me when I was sleeping, and he brought me here."

"That seems a bit young to be fighting anyone," Link said with concern.

Imparo shrugged again. "I was good at it. Those Gerudo scum deserve it." Imparo suddenly laughed. "Grandpa once told me that I should be patient and wait, but I've never been very patient, and if I can do all this stuff now why bother waiting?"

"Grandpa told you a whole sentence?" Link asked in awe.

"Well, not exactly. He sort of just said "time" but I took that to mean be patient."

Link frowned; so that's what Grandpa had meant by the word.

"Well, I gotta get going. See you around, Eddo."

"Bye." Then Link was left alone with his thoughts. The utterance of the word time was sort of obvious that Grandpa had been implying to just wait. Did the schools just serve to make people dumber? He tried to remember if he had been smarter before he entered the school. He couldn't remember anything being particularly confusing to him, even the aptitude test; there had been several riddles read off to him, and a ton of other questions that had needed his verbal answers, but from what he could remember of it he hadn't felt particularly stumped by anything. But he must have been, otherwise he would have scored into the scholar's school. He sighed and let the shadowed memories fade away again. He had spent so much time trying to forget his school days he couldn't remember much about how he had been before.

"Hey." Link looked up and saw Impal standing at the doorway. "Time to train."

"You have to block me!" Impal shouted, not for the first time.

Link was trying, he really was, but the man was so fast, one minute he was swinging to his left and then, when he tried to block that attack, he was suddenly struck on the right.

"It's called a feint, Eddo! A false move! Be ready for them!"

Link didn't see how he could see a false move before it was too late; wasn't that the point of them anyway? Another blow struck him square on his forehead, and he collapsed into a sitting position on the matted floor. "Ow."

Impal sighed and finally pointed his wooden sword at Link's neck. "I could've killed you a hundred different times by now, and this isn't even a ranged weapon," the man said, standing over Link.

Before Link could respond, there was a flicker of something in his mind. It was almost like a memory, it felt and looked like a memory, but Link knew it couldn't possibly be, because the memory was just ridiculous. He was in a position quite similar to the one he was in now on the floor of the training room, only the training room was gone and he was in some sort of... dungeon... and instead of Impal standing over him with a fake sword pointed at him, there was a grotesque skeleton standing over him, with a real sword pointed at him and a large grin on its face. In this memory, however, Link seemed to know what to do, as he wrapped his legs around the creature's own legs before twisting; the monster collapsed at the same time that Link stood up, grabbing the creature's sword from it before it could catch its balance. Now he was the one standing over the monster, with weapon in hand.

The memory faded, and Link found himself standing in the training room. He noticed that Impal's sword was in his own, and he was currently holding the heavy stick at Impal's head.

"Well done," Impal said, half impressed and half just plain shocked.

Link stepped back and helped the man up.

"How did you know to do that?" Impal asked suspiciously.

"Instinct?" Link offered. To be perfectly honest though, he had no idea.

Impal frowned. "Instinct," he repeated doubtfully. "Kid, I've seen instinct make people do some crazy things, but nothing that sophisticated. You moved like you've been fighting your whole life."

Link shrugged just before Impal struck out at him again, hitting him hard against his ribs. "Ow!"

"Pay attention! The battle isn't over until your opponent is dead!"

"But that's not fair, I can't kill you!" Link protested as he failed yet again to block another of Impal's attacks.

Link collapsed into a nearby chair. Everything hurt. He couldn't even breathe without that hurting, too.

"Alright, we'll stop for today. You're getting better."

Link looked at Impal in surprise. "Was that... a compliment?"

"Don't let it get to your head, kid. You've been at it for a few weeks, most usually pick this up faster than that. But, at least you're starting to figure out when I'm feinting. ...Even though you still can't block anything, at least you know."

Link gave him a tired thumb's up. "Thanks."

"See you tomorrow."

Impal stalked out of the room, leaving Link to try and find the energy on his own to go to his room. For his first night there, he had slept in the dormitory with most of the other rebels. But then the nightmares had gotten worse, and General Impa had decided it would be best for him to have his own room, separated from the others. So the general had given him hers. Where she was sleeping now Link had no idea, but he was grateful for the privacy.

Just as Link was about to try and sit up, General Impa herself stepped into the training room.

"Hello," she said casually as she walked in.

"Hi," Link replied nervously. He hadn't seen her in days, and he was suspicious as to why she had suddenly decided to pay him a visit now.

"Impal tells me you are improving."

"I guess so."

"Good. Good."

Link watched her as she began to fidget nervously. "Can I ask you something?" he asked finally when he realized she wasn't going to say anything else.

"Of course."

"There's something that's been bothering me for a while now, but I haven't gotten the chance to ask anyone about it yet."

"What is it?"

"Do you... know anything about plants?"

"Plants? Eddo, I'm far too busy to discuss horticulture with you."

"No, I mean... see, at the worker's school we grew these plants. And then every so often we harvested them and then they'd disappear. I thought at first they just threw them out, but then after I graduated I saw them shipping them to the scholar's school."

There was a slight pause before Impa waved him towards her. "Follow me."

Eager to finally get his answer, Link barely noticed the aching in his body as he forced it to move again. He followed Impa through the hallways until they finally stepped inside a large room. Link had never been in this room before, and as he looked around he noticed there were several tables, all covered with maps and charts and other papers that Link couldn't read at the distance he was at. Impal was there, along with a few others; they were gathered around one of the tables and seemed perfectly content to ignore Link's presence.

General Impa led Link deeper into the room, to the table furthest from the other rebels. "Show me where you saw the delivery vans," she said as she pointed to a map of the city.

"Well, I was outside at the time. They were just flying along the path that goes around the lake."

"Which direction were they coming from?"

"What?"

"What part of the city?" Impa insisted, her voice becoming more intense.

Link had no idea; he hadn't really been paying much attention to where they had been coming from, only where they were going. He frowned, trying to concentrate. He had been near the city when he saw them, so what part had they come from? He studied the map. "Here." Link pointed at the place he thought made the most sense.

"Are you sure?" Impa asked with a frown.

Link nodded. "What area is that, anyway?" he asked, leaning closer to the map.

"It's where Ganondorf's palace is."

Link felt his eyes widen. "Really?"

"Normally they don't go over the Gerudo districts, I think the smell bugs them, but I guess they finally decided they prefer safety over perfume."

"What are those plants used for?" Link repeated.

The general stared at him for a while before finally sighing. "We don't know. We've been trying to find out. All we know is they've been shipping the stuff to the scholar's school for years now, for some sort of project."

Impal joined them, not even greeting them before pulling the map closer to him. "They must be going the long way around the city, to avoid any places with too many Hylians."

"What's the project for?" Link continued, ignoring Impal.

"They probably go along this route here," General Impa said, pointing along the map and ignoring Link. After a few seconds of studying the map she looked back up at Link. "We don't know. There are a few graduates from the scholar's school with us, but from what we've learned from them the students believe it's the smartest thing to try and not find out what the project is for. They study the properties, they mix chemicals together that they're given, but they don't try to make any connections to things. They say that if anyone figures out what they're actually doing, the school makes them stay to continue their work after they graduate."

"So... you don't know anything about it at all?"

"No. How would you like to help us find an answer?"

"I'm not too sure about this plan," Link said uncertainly. The small group of rebels that he had been listening to were now all staring at him with impatient looks in their eyes. All, that is, except for Impa, who just looked angry. Link wondered if the woman was capable of feeling any other emotion.

"This isn't your plan, Eddo. Now you said you wanted to help, so you either do what we tell you to do or get out now."

"It's just... why do we have to blow up so many buildings?"

"It's a distraction," Impa said between gritted teeth. "There's no other way to get the vans to land."

"Right, but there must be some other way."

"There isn't. We've tried. This is the only thing that'll work."

"Ok, but you've tried this plan, what? Three times already? And you still haven't managed to get close enough to the vans to sneak into one."

"We will this time. We've got another idea we can try."

"Which is...?"

"A secondary distraction." She continued when Link just sighed. "Look, we blow these buildings here as the vans are about to fly over them. They'll be forced to take a detour along here." Impa paused to point to a highlighted road through the city. The Gerudo won't feel comfortable in that area, so they'll cut through here and park in this area of the Gerudo residences. Once they land, we'll have a small group waiting to ambush them. While the guards are distracted, we sneak in our spies."

"Which is me."

"Yes, because you're young enough. Imparo will be going with you; you're both close to the same age, and could pass as senior students."

"But what if-"

"Listen, this is what we're doing. It'll work, trust me."

The confidence in Impa's voice made Link almost want to trust her on an impulse, but then his doubts returned. "A lot of people could die in these explosions of yours," he said quietly.

Impa stood. "Prepare the teams," she said loudly. As the others filed out of the room, Impa looked down sharply at Link. "They're Gerudo. They deserve to die."

The explosion was close. Link had never been that close to one before; the sound was deafening, and the shockwave threw him and Imparo off of their feet.

"Ugh," Imparo groaned as he picked himself up. "I'm not used to these student uniforms. They're so... flowy..."

Link grimaced at the use of a made up word, but then found himself agreeing with his partner. The worker's school just used overalls and plain shirts, nothing fancy about them but at least they were practical. The uniforms they had at the scholar's school, however, were long, almost toga-like in appearance, and every time he moved the long sleeves and robe flowed around him like a sail.

"Here they come!" Imparo whispered.

Link looked at where he was pointing and saw the large vans approaching the area, just as Impa guessed they would. "She's good," Link muttered to himself as they watched the vans slowly lower themselves down. Dust flew out from underneath the large vehicles just before they touched the paved ground.

"Get ready," Imparo said, bending his knees and preparing to sprint towards the vans. Link remained where he was, crouched near the wall and peaking out from the alleyway they were hiding in.

The sides of the vans opened up, and the easily recognizable stench of the plants drafted over to Link. Several guards jumped out, but Link noticed a few other people remaining inside; they were garbed in the same white outfits that he and Imparo were wearing.

Just as the last guard finished climbing out, several rebels leaped out from other alleyways, shouting as they charged towards the guards and firing at them with small pistols.

The Gerudo women threw down small, black boxes which at first didn't do anything, but then just as the first few volleys of bullets were about to hit them the boxes sprang up and unfolded, creating a low down shield that the women could easily duck behind.

"Now!" Imparo shouted as the Gerudo women started to shoot back at the other rebels.

Link quickly sprinted after Imparo, adrenaline taking over and letting the sounds of the battle fade into a dull background noise as he focused on what he had to do.

They were at the closest van. Hurriedly they started to climb inside to join the other students. All around him, Link could hear the sounds of stray bullets from both sides cutting through the air. Then they were inside the van, just as the Gerudo were beginning to climb back inside themselves. The heavy doors closed around them, and the rebel's bullets clanging harmlessly against the thick metal. Link and Imparo were in, stuck in a car with armed Gerudo guards and a bunch of geniuses. Glancing to his side, he saw some of the students were already looking at him and Imparo suspiciously.

"We thought we'd go for a walk... bad idea, huh?" Link whispered casually to the student closest to him.

She raised an eyebrow. "You know you came back to the wrong van, right?"

"How so?"

She snorted in laughter and then turned to talk to another student. Link looked around again, but couldn't really see anything wrong with it.

"Aw, man," Imparo suddenly groaned quietly. "There's just all girl students in here."

Link realized with a start that he was right. "Well... at least there's just one scholar's school. We'll still end up where we have to be."

"Sure, but let's not tell anyone else this anyway. We'll never hear the end of it."

Link nodded in agreement.

General Impa looked up from her charts when Arlene came into the room. the rebellion leader's head covering was off now that that the day was nearly over and she didn't have to interact with any of the rebels anymore, so her long, graying blonde hair was finally free to flow past her shoulders. "Hello, Sage. You've come at a great time," Impa said. "I've just learned that the plan was finally successful."

Arlene raised a thin eyebrow at her. "You think so, do you?"

"No, I know so. Impal just reported back; both Link and Imparo made it in."

"Oh, then I suppose a congratulations is in order."

Impa sighed; the other woman still didn't sound too pleased. "What is it, Sage?"

Arlene slammed her gnarled hands against the table and stared into Impa's eyes. "What were you thinking sending Link in there? He doesn't even know how to defend himself yet!"

"He knows enough." Impa matched Arlene's glare. "Look, he can keep fighting with his toy sword and guns all he wants, but he's not going to learn a thing until he gets out there and actually has to fight for his life."

"Well that's very poetic of you, dear, but you've missed an important piece of your puzzle."

Impa sighed impatiently. "And what might that be?"

"You sent Link to the scholar's school... as a student."

"Yes."

"On a day that Ganondorf visits."

Impa felt the pen in her hand slip from her fingers. "It's not... It can't be... I..."

"You're so focused on making your plan finally work, you're not paying attention to what's right in front of you!" Arlene shouted.

Impa stood sharply, her chair scraping angrily against the floor.

"It's too late now, Impa, he's already there by now."

Impa's wide blue eyes stared back at Arlene in horror. "Oh goddesses. What have I done?"

Thanks for reading!