Chapter One: Always

Link watched from the distance as another city fell to the forces of Gannondorf. When he was younger, he would've rushed into the city and defeated the monsters and liberate the people. But War was no Fairy Tale, and the brash young boy he once was had been killed long ago after he first challenged Gannon. To put it lightly, he had been humiliated and broken by the Gerudo King with ease. It was also when he learned that Gannon never took prisoners, he took slaves. He was shown the true horrors of just what he was capable of when Gannon showed him what he has done to Slaves that resist their masters… He can still feel the scars on his body from the Mad Man's 'hobbies'.

Link was removed from his thoughts when his honed senses heard the sound of someone approaching. "Sir!" It was Russl. "The Gorons are in position, the soldiers are ready for battle, and the field hospital has been assembled!" the Guard Captain saluted.

"Alright," Link replied. "I wish to check in with the Field Hospital first," he walked past Russl.

"Yes Sir!" Russl left for his own division.

FIELD HOSPITAL:

Link walked past many people, who saluted, as he searched for someone. He found her sitting on a wooden table swinging her legs without care. She may have left the Kokiri Village only a year after his departure, but she was still shorter than him. Since leaving the forest and forsaking her Immortality to be with him, she had grown into a young woman. Standing at 5'5, Saria still dressed in the same fashion but now wore a dark blue cloak. She had a brown satchel and a steel dagger sheathed on her left hip. Next to her lay a Short Bow, one of the few weapons the Kokiri know how to use due to their sheltered nature.

He, however, had changed greatly thanks to his Hylian Genes. Now fully grown, Link stood at 6'1. His hair was now elbow length and scruffy ash blonde. His eyes were a soul-piercing bright blue that would analyze every feature and would predict any and all movements of a person be they friend or foe. Their relationship had always been close and he would often confide in her, or in most cases, simply be close to her. Saria always had the ability to soothe him into a peaceful sleep when he was unable to do so on his own, and she would never question him or his actions. All she cared about was seeing him return to her safely, which is unlikely and would mean that the Head of the Hospital Unit would gladly heal his wounds.

"Hi, Link!" She smiled at him. "Do you need something?" she asked.

"I just wanted to let you know that we are heading out to the City now," He told her, his voice not deep but not light either. (Imagine Inyo's voice from Magmall) "We won't be long,"

"Okay," she replied. "Good luck!"

THE CITY:

He took pride in his skills as a General, and would always lead his Soldiers into battle. So right now Link had skillfully cut down monster after monster with his units sticking to hobgoblins and lizalfos, while he and the Gorons would take out the larger monsters. Only he would fight the commanders and other high-ranking monsters as they were both strong and skilled, unlike the brutes that the Gorons could simply overpower. Every time he caught the glimpse of chained citizens his swings got quicker. Eventually, he reached the Monster's main camp and saw what he expected: Chained, beaten, and naked women being taken advantage of by hobgoblins and the like. Some sat around campfires, feasting on the corpses of cooked children. Whether they knew of his attack or not is unknown, which required him to suffer through more observations to form a plan. His soldiers were catching their breath, trying to ignore the screams from the Monster Camp and tend to their wounds until they move on.

"Alright," Link turned to the Goron Captain. "Daruk,"

The large Goron had a white beard turned him. "Yes Sir?" he stood tall.

"They have prisoners, but they're for pleasure so we don't need to worry about a hostage situation should their commander decide on it. It seems like they're using the market square as their Base Camp. I have no visual of the Commanding Monster, be cautious near the buildings. Most likely lazing around until they have orders and aren't making any signs that they know we are here, despite having taken out the patrols inside the city…" Link explained. "I want the Gorons to make good on your bombs and blow up the side opposite of our current position. When they become alert and rush to get their gear, we strike from behind and the Gorons block any form of escape."

"Sandwich them in?" Daruk summed up. Link nodded. "Got it," he curled into a ball and led his units to where Link ordered as the General got his own units ready to attack.

A few minutes later, they killed off the low-level monsters and got the women to safety and he waited for the Commanding Monster to show up. Link stood with his Sword and Shield Drawn and ready when the Boss Monster smashed through the wall of one of the buildings.

"Damn!" He cursed, "It's a Litch!" he said. Throughout the war, Gannon had managed to sway more monsters into his cause. Many of which, used magic. The Litches could summon its dead comrades into mindless zombies that don't feel pain. The only way to really beat them is to kill the Litch's source of power, or through magical flames. "This is going to be a pain…" He added before he sprinted at the Litch, but was unable to make it far when it used a wind spell to send him flying back. This gave it enough time to resurrect its fallen minions. Link got up and began to massacre the undead hobgoblins, but he was unable to dodge every attack since the undead were always tricky to deal with since each of them was linked with one mind making them hard to predict.

So he took arrows to the back, thankful for the reinforced Guardian Armor Darude, the master Goron Blacksmith, made him as it stopped the arrows from going too deep. That didn't mean it still doesn't hurt… Link got into the Lich's personal space and pierced its skull with his sword while using his shield to punch the red crystal core in the undead's chest, shattering it. The Lich died with a shriek and the undead hobgoblins fell to the ground.

"It's over," Link told himself before sheathing his sword and going back to the Base Camp.