Link let his arrow fly. It quickly found home in the leader's neck, who yelped and fell over into the advancing army, they never faltered. Even without a leader.

Damnit. He was worried that was going to happen. Looks like the ugly's don't care who lives or dies.

A loud command was heard above the thundering of the enemy, volleys of arrows were released upon the… what had Eowyn called them? Uruk-hai. Some fell and were trampled over, some arrows hit their mark, only bounce harmlessly off their armour. Their necks seemed to be the only vulnerable target. Arrows flew above their heads, Link realized there must be bowmen behind him.

Firing arrow after arrow, until his quiver was almost empty. Link looked back and saw that he only had two more of Malo's arrows. Grunting in frustration, he slipped his bow back into his pouch and drew his sword. It was the only thing he could use, seeing that ladders were being placed against the wall. He was soaked from the rain that poured from above. Most of the others wore thick armour, they didn't look very affected. Some of the men were shot down by crossbows belonging to the uruk's. He dogged to the side as one flew past his ear.

A loud clang from his right made Links ears ring. He turned, seeing a large monster appear on top of the siege ladders. Most of the soldiers around him were taken aback, but Link moved around them and swung his sword. The steel connected with the things ugly neck, it steamed on impact, and chopped its head off. He abruptly turned and sliced through another one as it appeared over the wall. Thats two uglies dumb enough to climb over.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Link hadn't noticed, until the monsters started retreating down the ladders, that his sword was glowing. A stark contrast to the dark of the night. While the enemy was occupied with deciding what they were supposed to do, Link managed to push the ladder back down. Though it didn't seem to make even a dent in the oncoming wave of enemies.

Dashing between a few more, he moved up to the next ladder. Some of the soldiers were clearly having some trouble with the advancing group. Some were falling back-or forward off the wall.

One uruk tried to swing at Link, but he ducked and did his best to make quick work of it. Some of the men apparently decided to reverse the circumstances and push the uruks off the front and back of the wall, he slipped behind a bigger one and lifted his sword. In a swift motion he brought it down and the uruk slumped and fell over along with the others. He watched as the limp body shrunk until it disappeared in the swarming nasties below.

The others were just as easy. Some did, however, manage to take Link by surprise. He made a downward strike and cut one's arm clean off, then quickly sliced its throat. He backflipped away from another swing and ran his sword through the monster's chest, only to pull it out and strike down another one.

Every time his sword would meet another uruks skin, it would steam and burn the skin.

One had managed to ram into his stomach and he was sent backwards, landing hard on his back as the breath rushed from his body. Rolling quickly to the side, gasping for breath as a sword met the stone ground. He swung his leg and the ugly monster fell next to him. Link scrambled to his knees and plunged the sword down into its chest.

This time Link ignored the others and kicked at the top rung as hard as he could. Down it went, trapping the unlucky ones under its weight. It didn't seem too heavy, but maybe it was more than it looked.

The swordsman looked back to his left and realized they had put another ladder back up. He cursed under his breath and attempted to make his way back over. However, soon enough, his path was blocked

As quickly as he could, he rolled right under a monster that was standing on the top rung and stood up in front of it, planting his sword into its stomach and pushing the ladder away. Unfortunately he had failed to notice the uruk behind him as it sliced horizontally right as Link turned. He yelped in surprise as it cut into his right bicep. Link grunted and his sword met the uruk's. It bellowed a deep ugly roar in triumph, but Link spun around and cut deep into its side. The monster roared in pain at the steaming gape as blood rushed forward. Once again, slitting its throat.

Another command suddenly passed through the wind, Link looked back and saw the archers take aim at the tortoise formation advancing towards the gates. He noticed the sides were unprotected.

All around him, soldiers fought with uruk-hai. He slashed at a few. Moving more to the right, he looked out at the army. They had parted, making a path for a certain uruk carrying something… burning.

A familiar voice shouted over the battle around him, an arrow buried itself into its shoulder, but it kept coming. It looked like it was running straight at Link. Another arrow appeared at its other shoulder.

By the time he realized he had to move away, it was too late. Regardless, he sheathed his sword, and tried to move, all in vain of course.

There was a loud deafening BOOM! And suddenly, Link felt weightless. Everything went black for what felt like only a few seconds.

Regaining consciousness was agonizingly slow. It felt as if he had been shoved underwater. The clear liquid felt as if it had seeped into his ears, blurring sound, voices and everything in between. His head throbbed, more than it had earlier. Which he had thought wasn't possible. Despite the earlier action, it was silent.

For a horrifying second Link thought he was dead. No, he couldn't hear a single thing. That was it. Now he was deaf. Great. Another thing to add to the pile of constantly multiplying problems. Silently, he prayed to the goddesses that it was temporary.

As if in response, his sense of smell decided it was a good time to register the smoke, fire, dust and blood. Subconsciously, Link coughed violently, aggravating his head and wounds further.

As quick as his sore body could manage, Link scrambled to his feet despite his legs screaming in protest. He blinked furiously. When his vision finally cleared, he saw an ugly group of uruk-hai spill through the now open wall. Like ink on a white sheet of paper. He looked a few yards ahead of them where someone lay unconscious on the ground. Link rushed forward and fell to his knees shaking the man's shoulder, when there was no response he turned to look at the uruk-hai. They never faltered, though a few tripped as the water rushed to meet them.

Link stood and drew his sword.

That awful pounding on the inside of his head was back. It was more than annoying. It was as if the person on the inside had found more friends to bash his forehead with.

Suddenly there was a shout from above. Link looked up to see a short bearded man, jump down from the wall and into the hoard of uruks. It probably would've been funny, but given the circumstances and the fact that he was probably going to get himself killed, Link didn't laugh.

He managed to kill one. Then he was knocked back into the water by another, held under as the others kept storming forward as if nothing had happened.

Cautiously, Link looked behind him. The man was gaining consciousness fast. He shook his head and looked up at Link. Through the ringing in his ears, Link could barely make out what the man was saying. Even if he had heard him he probably wouldn't have responded. From what Link knew, it was most likely a rhetorical question anyway.

Shrugging half-heartedly, Link cut him off and offered him a hand, which he thankfully took. Somewhat reluctantly. The man looked at the uruk-hai army and turned. He raised his sword and shouted something, which Link could only guess was a different language.

He swung his sword in downward motion as a volley of arrows was released upon the hoard. He then took his sword in both hands, reading himself for the onslaught. Giving a sideways glance towards Link, who readied his sword in his left hand, the man prepared his.

A solid moment passed, then he shouted and led the others towards the advancing uruks. Link quickly followed suit, worrying his bottom lip. The orcs halted and lowered their advancing spears. When he was finally close enough, Link raised his shield to block the weapons, then he swung it to the side to knock them out of the way. He then proceeded to slam his sword into the face of an ugly monster.

Links next swing was met with shield, he grunted in mild irritation. Lifting his own, the shield bashed the bastard and performed a spin attack. There was a short moment when he remembered one of the teachings he had received from the hero's shade. Link held his sword in both hands pointing it upward, waiting for the charge to reach the top. He jumped up to perform the Jump Strike. When he met the ground, muddy water splashed into his face.

Most of the stupid monsters had raised thier shields, but the steel of Links blade cut them in half like butter. Some of the uruks had received minor scratches on their arms, which then burned. They started yelling and growling at Link like deformed wolves.

He sliced down one, knocking its sword aside and vertically slashing its front. Then another one. He decapitated one on accident, it was it's own fault really, falling right onto his sword.

That was three.

Four.

Five.

Six.

Eventually, he lost count after twelve. They just kept coming, and his ears continued to ring violently, making it almost impossible to hear anything. Link saw the man from earlier yelling something to the others and motioning towards the city.

Several of the archers and soldiers obeyed and ran for the city. Link watched for the other man, he saw him running up the stairs along the wall to reach the top. He was stopped by one of the uruks. Link quickly swapped his sword for his bow. He knocked an arrow and let it fly at the monster's head. It fell to the side and the man gave him a quick glance, nodded, then proceeded.

The hylian watched as he tried to save someone, but clearly it was too late. Link followed and bounded up the stairs, killing any uruk that crossed his path. When he reached the top, he saw the man punch a monster that was climbing the ladder in the face. Then he jumped on the ladder as it fell towards the ground, but before it reached the end of its fall, he jumped and landed on a crowd of uruk-hai.

Before he could stop himself, Link combined his last arrow with a bomb and shot into the mob.

A somewhat large explosion took place, which allowed the other to climb the rocky steps and get away.

As for Link, he felt adrenaline picking up and began hacking and slashing at the rest of the uruks that stood upon the wall. It took him a while to notice he was the only one still alive on the wall that opposed the uruks. If someone was shouting at him to retreat, he couldn't hear them. His stupid ears weren't always a blessing

Moving to the side of a swing, he was able to chop the monsters arm off. Link swung at its stomach then kicked it back, making it fall back down the stairs.

He slashed about a dozen more. Some had actually posed a challenge, but luckily he was skilled enough to kill them.

He jumped to the side, right as a monster swung its jagged sword down. Link slammed the flat of his sword against its face, the uruk reeled back, screeching as its face burned. He then quickly sliced off it's head. Which rolled on the ground like the world's ugliest rock.

That burst of adrenaline Link had felt before slowly faded. His arms began to ache and his breath came in short and ragged. Beads of sweat began to pour from his brow, he was matted in it. Along with mud and blood. He had no idea whose blood it was, if it was his, the monsters or perhaps others. Battle was not a walk in the park.

Soone, he became overwhelmed, the hoard came from all sides. Up the stairs in front of him, having killed all the ones attempting to enter the city using the stairs. It's not like this hadn't happened to him before. When he was infiltrating Hyrule Castle to get to Ganondorf, Link had been surrounded by archers. Though he would never admit it, at that moment he had no idea what to do, or what would happen. Luckily, the Resistance had gotten there in perfect time. Thank the goddess. Link knew Midna would've probably killed him if he had died right then and there. Regardless if he was dead or not.

For a moment he felt awfully lonely. Though, he quickly brushed it aside. Whether he was alone or not, no one was going to save him. So, he was gonna have to save himself now.

Without a second thought, Link reached into one of his packs and pulled out one of his clawshots. He shoved his hand into the grip and flexed his fingers a few times, all the while keeping an eye at the advancing uruks.

Some uruks swung at him, but he would either move out of the way or block with his clawshot and attempt to counter. Link stumbled up the stairs. Although he couldn't hear anything, he knew they were right behind him. Running from things probably wasn't the most courageous thing to do, though just knowing that Link didn't need Midna for everything meant enough to him. He promised to rub it in her pukish face when he saw her again (he still missed her though).

Brushing all thoughts of Midna and home away, Link tested the clawshot a few more times, then aimed and opened fire. The cain was released with a loud bang and the chain made a rattling noise as it traveled through the air towards its destination. With a clang, the claws caught the rough walls farther inside the city and he was able to put at least a few feet between him and the hoard.

Eventually Link found his way to the gates where a small battle was taking place. He knew his appearance wasn't the greatest. Matted with mud, and mucky water. He honestly couldn't care less. None of the other soldiers seemed to be fairing any differently.

He quickly ascended a flight of stairs that led above the gate, onto another wall.

Link looked down and realized that he would at least need something to throw. No close combat up here. He was about to turn around and head back down when he saw the tiny bearded man from earlier and the other soldier who had jumped off the ladder and into the army. They were fighting in front of the gate. No doubt attempting to slow the assault.

As quickly as he could, he reached into one of his fanny packs and grabbed his bomb bag. But didn't pull it out, not yet. Unfortunately, he was out of arrows, so bomb arrows were off the table. He could throw them, but he didn't want to, not with those two fighters down there. If worse came to worse, he could hope his arm might reach past the two fighters. But he couldn't entirely bank on how long his throw was.

Suddenly a rope was thrown down and the taller man grabbed the bearded one and tried to climb up. The uruk-hai now had awful looking large ballistas and they were moving to aim them at the wall.

Link swapped out his bomb bag for the Gale Boomerang. The wind magic swirled around his wrist as he took aim at one of the Ugly's trying to prevent the duo from climbing the rope. He threw it towards the monster and it was sent screeching backwards.

The boomerang twirled around and hit several other startled uruk-hai in the head. Some unlucky one's near the edge were sent flying. Then it circled around back to Link, who caught it effortlessly. He held it up again, ready to throw if need be.

One of the ballistas fired and the projectile barely missed his head as he ducked, however one of the men behind him was hit and sent backwards, screaming. Link whipped around and aimed the Gale Boomerang again, then released it. It knocked several of the uruks who then lost their footing, some falling off the edges of the bridge. Link caught the boomerang again.

Soon the reckless duo was up and over, safe from the onslaught. The taller man looked over at Link, clearly wanting answers to questions. However, before that man could say anything, a ballista fired and a soldier behind them was hit.

This time, bigger ladders were being placed along the higher walls. Ones with ugly spikes holding them in place.

Link decided an attempt to haul the piece of metal up and push the ladder down, but a monster tackled him to the ground. He yelled and thrashed under it, managing to kick it off of him. As quickly as his panicked mind could work, he performed the Draw while the monster was down and turned as another lunged at him. His sword met the others with a loud clang, he knocked it back only for it to swing down again. This time its sword met his shield and, with his free, Link thrust his sword forward into the uruks stomach.

More of them were appearing, even with the other numbers of people fighting, they were beginning to become quite overwhelmed. Many of the men were retreating into the main hall. Some stayed and fought. And died.

Their numbers were decreasing drastically, not to mention Link was tired and losing blood. Some others were helping the injured retreat. However, they were going slow so he decided to try and hold back the advance. Eventually, he managed to kick a ladder back down, hopefully killing some of the enemy. At this point, every kill counted. Most of the injured were able to get away so Link took the latter and followed the others, running to the main hall.

In the small room, Link sat on a short table and tried to focus on tending to his wounds. Many of the other fighters were piling items up in front of the door, attempting to barricade it.

He hadn't realized until now that he really needed them. The veil that covered his loved ones faces was finally blown away. The puddle that prevented him from reading their names dried up. Leaving behind an ugly muddied piece of paper.

He mostly missed Midna. That really naggy companion of his. Honestly, he had hated her in the beginning of his journey. Through their adventures together they had learned to get along with each other though. Link realized his sarcasm was more than likely from her.

Then he remembered the kids from Ordon village, whom he had saved from the Twilight. A small lump began to form in his throat. Even though he had saved Hyrule, every lick of sleep he got had been plagued by awful nightmares.

It was only a temporary trip to the Hidden Village to see the old lady there before he made his way to Hyrule Castle for some meeting the newly crowned Queen had requested.

A man stood in the middle of the room, another soldier tending to a wound on his shoulder. He seemed pretty important, probably the leader of these people. He looked lost in thought, when he noticed the soldiers attempting to barricade the door, he finally said, "The fortress is taken!" then solemnly he added, "It is over."

The other man with shoulder length brown hair ran over to grab another object to place in front of the door. "You said this fortress would never fall while your men defend it!"

There was a pause before the other man looked at the other in some sort of daze.

But no, the other wasn't done, "They still defend it!" he handed the wooden bench to the other man behind him, who had long blonde hair and pointed ears, "They have died defending it!"

From the outside, something rammed into the doors, while men attempted to hold it shut.

"Is there no other way for the women and children to get out of the caves?" he looked around, Link could practically feel the waves of desperation from the man.

Link slid off the table and helped a soldier carry it over to the door.

He was too distracted to listen to others arguing. Although his hearing was only a small bit better, he could hear the gist of what the two were arguing about.

"So much death," his tone was hopeless, as if everything they had done was for absolutely nothing. There was no hope. "What can men do against such reckless hate?"

Another slam. Link was tempted to run over and help push against it, but he knew how useless it would be. Eventually they would tire, and the uruks would be able to murder every last one of them. By the goddess, he would fight tooth and nail if he had to.

Link looked over to the hopeful man, "Ride out with me," he looked straight at the leader. "Ride out and meet them." Link had to commend the man for his courage. If this world had anything to do with the Triforce, he was sure this man would hold Courage. Almost absentmindedly, he rubbed the back of his left hand.

The other stepped forward, something igniting in his fearful expression, "For death and glory?"

"For Rohan." he walked closer to the other, Link had the sneaking suspicion that they were more than just comrades. "For your people."

Suddenly, the shorter man with the long beard piped in, "The sun is rising."

The man with the short brown hair looked hopefully at the small window where bright yellow rays or light leaked into the room. Link could almost see the gears turning in his head. After a long moment of calculation he looked back at the leader.

Suddenly his expression turned hopeful, "Yes." he walked forward, away from the other, "The horn of Helm HammerHand, shall sound in the deep." he looked back, "One last time."

The bearded man raised his axe, "YES!" sounding much too excited for such a time.

The leader placed his hand on the other man's shoulder. The words they exchanged were too quiet for Link to hear with his dulled hearing. Otherwise he would've heard them loud and clear. As if they had spoken them in normal tones.

They didn't have much time to themselves, but Link took what he had. He thought back to a few months ago to when he had been taking time to himself. After Midna had left, Link thought he would have been able to just return to his old way of life. Goat herding, being a simple ranch hand. Some older kid for the younger ones to pester and annoy. After only two days, Link had realized what a stupid idea that had been.

For a few months, he shut himself off from everyone and everything he knew. Except for Epona. He spent his time in the woods, trying to stay out of the way of the villagers and traders that would come through every now and then. Sometimes he would show up out of the blue and offer to help the others with transporting their goods to Castle Town and other places across Hyrule.

After a while, Ashei had found him in the woods and refused to leave. She would help him hunt and trade with some people that had set up shops in Ordon Village.

After the defeat of Ganondorf, the village had really expanded. They took up more shops, buildings and even people. The ranch was still somewhat secluded though. Link had put his house up for sale and eventually someone made it their home. He wouldn't mention it to anyone, but sometimes he missed the old place. He had made some pretty good memories there.

About a week ago he had come to the decision it was probably better for him to just stay away from everybody. But now, seeing these men keep courage for each other made him realize that maybe he could go back to the village and spike back old friendships. First though, he would have to apologize to Ashei for being an asshole to her at first when she was only trying to help.

Actually, scratch that. First he would have to survive this.

eh, idk about this but oh well. So I have another fanfic (actually two). One of them I already posted a few chapters on ao3, but if y'all want, I can post that one here. Along with the other one I've been working on too. Anyway ily. Merry Christmas and have a good new year.

Thank you to: HiIExist, hahadrillgobrr, Ruler of the elements, Forgotten Giant, turtwigcool2, killroy777, Link0011, ddwig, Siphon 117 for following and/or liking the story. I means a lot, and thank you to those who followed me as well!

(you can follow me on insta at remxloz)

R&R~