Authors Note: Here's your next chapter.

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Disclaimer: I do not own Zelda.

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Chapter 21

"So did ya hear 'bout the fight tomorrow?"

"Which one?"

"Bronzen versus that kid."

"Yeah...I also heard about the one with that traitor versus somebody else."

Two guards had started speaking outside Link's bedroom door as they walked past. While their voices slowly faded into the distance, Link couldn't help but listen to what they were saying.

He could only assume that they were talking about the traitor that was in the jail a few days ago. What puzzled Link was that this was the first he had heard anything about the man since then, and now he learned that the traitor would fight at the colluseum the same day as himself.

Link wondered who the traitor would be fighting.

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As night quickly ascended, Link found himself unable to sleep. Visions flashed through his head; Epona, Bronzen, Tifa, Shia, Navia, the King, Cyrus, Crystal, and the Fairy Savior all went through his mind at least once.

There was no doubt that Link had a lot on his mind, but he still tried his hardest to sleep.

Nothing worked.

Sighing, Link jumped out of bed and began pacing around his bedroom. Of all the times to lose sleep, this had to be the worst of them all. Energy was a necessity for a battle.

Link only wished he could take a potion or two with him into the duel...he would no doubt have to heal himself at one point during the duel.

Link only could hope he'd get to see Bronzen's battle tactics before hand, so he would know a little of what to expect.

Half an hour of pacing and reflecting on the situation at hand, Link finally gave up walking back and forth, and jumped back in bed, determined to at least rest his eyes and limbs.

Hours later, the young hero finally drifted into a soft, but sound sleep.

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"Mornin' kid...time to get up," boomed a voice from the other side of Link's door. Moments after speaking, the person knocked on the door, and said, "Hurry up...you've got five minutes to get whatever you need." Link's eyes shot open. He quickly sat up and spun his legs over the side of his bed.

Today was the day... The day that he would win Epona back.

Nothing could stand in his way. Link would make sure of it.

Link didn't know if he even had anything in the room that he'd want to get. Everything that could have been of use to him was being held by the King.

Sighing, Link walked over to the door and opened it. Outside were two guards, both dressed in heavy armor.

"We need to hurry. After the recent attack on the city, the King wants us to be better suited for battle, and stay at our post in his throne room. He wants the two of us back there as soon as possible, so no going slowly," commanded the guard who was the tallest of the two.

Nodding, Link shut his door behind him and walked between the two guards out of the hallway, out of the castle, and towards the colluseum at the other end of the city.

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The closer Link came to being near the colluseum, the more he could hear the people from the city piling around the arena.

"How many people are going to be watching?" asked Link, looking up at the guards.

"Everyone. It's a law that you attend these kinds of events," said one of the guards. "it's free to enter...but you have to pay little a little to get good seats.

When they turned around a corner, Link's eyes bulged.

He knew that Keystone was a large city, but he never realized just how many people lived there.

Hundreds upon hundreds of people were crowding around the entrance to the colluseum. They were all crowded to either side of the gate, leadving a small aisle down the middle of them that led to the entrance. Every now and then, a small child would run out into the aisle, only to get pulled back by his mother or father.

"It's tradition that the competitors walk down that aisle before they ever led anybody in...sorta lets them see who's going to be fighting up close," explained the guard to Link's right.

"Yeah...and you might want to shut your eyes. People try to injure the challengers before the fight, usually throwing sand or alcohol into their eyes," said the guard on Link's left.

"Just stay between us and you'll get through fine," added the other.

Link muttered a small "Thank you," and pulled his green hat down over his eyes.

When the crowd saw Link, alot of them suddenly broke out in laughter. Apparently most of them hadn't expected a kid to be fighting.

"Is this some sort of joke?" muttered an elderly man.

"I don't know... It's ridiculous though...I had to wake up early to get in line..." stated another man.

Link sighed, and tried his best to stay between the two guards as they stepped into the aisle between the two crowds.

"A child?!" yelled someone.

The crowd was a mix of laughter and anger.

"What's going on?" called someone from the back of the crowd.

"They've got a child dueling!" shouted a woman.

Link covered his ears when a few people started to shout out obscene words and insults.

"Why is that runt wearing green clothes?"

"Must be his armor! Haha!" joked someone.

After another twenty seconds, Link managed to make it inside the gate. The entrance led to a large area, littered with thousands of seats all in a circle around a large grassy space roughly the size of Lon Lon Ranch's field.

"Alright kid...since we have to hurry, I'm going to trust you to make it down that stairway there, and into those large doors. You should be greeted by another of my colleagues...he'll take you to your waiting room where you can do whatever you need to. The duel shouldn't start for quite awhile," said a guard.

"Uh...okay," muttered Link, looking down at the stairway, and then to the doors he was to enter.

"See ya around kid. Good luck," said the guards.

The two of them turned and exited the colluseum. Link slowly walked down the stairs, feeling very lonely at the moment.

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Joker: Mmm...I'm adding a new section to respond to reviews. Dunno why I'm adding it now...but...yeah, whatever. Sorry for the long update... It wasn't just this story that was delayed slightly, but my other stories as well. I was having problems with lotsa homework, and other things to do. I expect to update this alot quicker next time.

www.darkmonkey.com

JokersSpecter@hotmail.com - E-mail me for whatever... Or add me to MSN Messenger if you wish to talk to me about anything.

Review!

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"Reader Spolight"

{ } = Anonymous Reviews.

[ ] = Signed Reviews.

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[LinkDragon]

-Thanks for reviewing, and thanks for enjoying the story. British stuff is welcome, hehe.

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[Inversion]

-Yeah, love triangles are always interesting and complicated.

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[swimmin-chick54]

-Nah, don't say you suck at writing. Just try writing more...to tell the truth, I still think I suck at writing. But yeah, just write more. Practice makes pefect...even though nobody's perfect.

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{Great Divide}

-Sorry, but it depends on the reviews because I have a number of other stories. The stories that get the most attention get updated more frequently.