A note from the Hime no Argh herself–

It's 3 am on a Saturday night, whee. I love weekends when I can afford to stay up this late, though I will regret it on Monday.

I want to say thank you to SoulessCalibur for his/her kind review inquiring as to how I was doing...I am a bit more cheery now, and I thank you for the concern. If anyone saw my bio last time (I do little blog-esque entries every time I upload a new chapter) you would have seen my whining about not being able to sleep...but yeah. Better now.

More answered questions below this chappie. Enjoy!

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Chapter 30

General Valan's Challenge

"Look, I can't help you," Valan said for the fifth time that morning. In the interest of extending the hand of friendship Zelda had bought him another drink, and drawn him into a conference with herself, Link, Impa, and Rauru back at his table in the corner. "It's been twenty years since I've even picked up a weapon."

"Right," Zelda said skeptically, looking him over.

Valan grimaced. "All right, so that's not quite true. That still doesn't mean I can be your general."

"What's holding you back?" Link demanded. "Don't you want to see Ganondorf fall?"

Valan looked at him, and a tight, bitter smile appeared on his face. "Do you know how the Link who came before you died, boy?"

Link stiffened, glancing at Zelda furtively. "No."

"Ganondorf decapitated him," Valan said bluntly. "Then he chopped his body limb from limb and sent him in pieces to Her Majesty. Thank the goddesses she had already moved on, gone west to the desert to seek her revenge." He took a swig of his drink, oblivious to the bloodless faces of his companions. "Of course, none of us knew that at the time. We found out what happened only after he sent her back in pieces."

Link looked slightly sick.

"He's a monster," Zelda whispered.

"Damn right he is," Valan said grimly. "And he'll do worse to the pair of you, given the chance. I'll give you a good piece of solid advice. Give up now, before he can get his hands on you."

"He already has," Zelda said calmly, meeting Valan's astonished gaze. "Link and I met him face-to-face. He nearly killed us both, but we escaped with our lives."

"Next time, we won't escape," Link said. "Not until he's dead."

"Or us," Zelda added grimly.

Valan shook his head. "You're both outta your minds."

"What happened to you, Valan?" Impa demanded sharply. "I remember once you weren't such a coward."

Valan turned to her, eyes blazing. "Coward, am I? Call me a coward then, you who deserted Kakariko and the Hylians! You never saw your friends hung in the town square for no better reason than to make an example, or knew it was you responsible for sending thousands of soldiers to their deaths–"

"Oh, go bleed your heart out," Rauru interjected crossly, thumping a fist on the table. "Now you listen here, Valan. From what she tells me–" he waved a hand at Impa, "–apparently I die in a most horrible and unpleasant way shortly after Ganondorf's takeover. Wouldn't miss it for the world," he added with a toothy smile, ignoring Valan's dumbfounded stare, "but that'll have to wait, because I'm here in this time to help these fine young folks, and because whining and moaning is a damn waste of time. Now you can sit here and drink and gloom and cry about those lost glory days, or you can get off your sorry bum and help bring those days back! You sorry about the soldiers you sent to their deaths? Then avenge them!"

"Rauru has a point," said Impa, her lips twitching as if she were trying not to laugh. "You have a rare second chance here, Valan. Last time you warred with Ganondorf, your side was fated to lose. Nothing could have avoided that. This time is different."

"This time we're fated to win?" Valan demanded. "Is that it?"

Zelda exchanged a glance with Link. "We might win," she said evenly. "We might not. But there's always a chance, right?"

Valan's good eye scrutinized Zelda, and for a moment it seemed as though they had convinced him. Then he shook his head. "No good." He nodded to Link. "Look at that boy. He's green. He can't fight Ganondorf. He couldn't even beat me, or I'm a crowing cucco."

"Is that a challenge?" All of them turned to Link. He was watching Valan closely, but his expression was not one of anger–rather, calculation.

Valan looked at him too, his eyebrows raising. "You gonna take me on, boy?" he asked slowly.

Link met his gaze, a small smile on his face. "I won't just take you on, Valan. I'll beat you. And who knows? Maybe you'll believe that I have what it takes to defeat Ganondorf after all."

Valan let out a harsh bark of laughter. "All right, boy, I'll take you. I've been itching to hold a weapon again, maybe you can put up a good fight for at least a few minutes, whaddya say?"

"I have a condition." Valan raised his eyebrows again, and the smile on Link's face broadened. "I beat you, you swear your allegiance to her–" Link nodded toward Zelda, "–and command whatever forces we assemble against Ganondorf's armies."

"Fine." Valan's voice was icy now. "I beat you, you stop this ridiculous goose chase and leave me the hell in peace. And you give it up with Ganondorf. Because if you can't beat me, boy," he added, baring his teeth savagely, "you will never, ever beat him."

"Link–" Zelda began, not liking the way this discussion was going at all, but Impa grabbed her wrist to stop her.

"Let them fight," she hissed in Zelda's ear. "Accept Valan's terms. You said yourself that you were willing to risk everything for our cause. Whether by the goddesses or Valan himself, I don't know, but this is a test of that resolve. If you truly believe you can defeat Ganondorf, now is the time to show it."

She was right. Zelda bit her lip, looking at Link's pale but set face. He was willing to fight for her no matter what the stakes. She believed in him. He would win.

The two men looked at her for her decision, and Zelda nodded. "Agreed," she said shortly. "Link and Valan will fight for the set terms at noon today."

"In the town square," Rauru added wickedly, "right where everyone can see 'em."

* * *

Link spent the rest of the morning warming up for the fight with Valan in a small, secluded courtyard behind the inn. Maybe I should have thought this over a bit more carefully, he thought, distressed to realize how long it had been since he'd held the Master Sword. By the time he'd gone through a few exercises, though, his skill with the weapon had returned and he felt he had a fair chance of beating Valan.

He just wished the chance could be more than fair, as he glanced to his left and saw Zelda standing in the shade of the inn, watching him gravely. For her, he had to win. Far from having no general, they would be honor-bound to end their campaign against Ganondorf. The goddesses won't be too happy about that, he thought grimly, chopping down in a vertical cut.

Link cursed silently. While the headache and vertigo of his hangover had dissipated as the morning wore on, he was a touch slower than he would normally be, and against an opponent like Valan speed was his only advantage. Valan was taller, stronger, and heavier, and if his muscles were any indication, he knew how to fight. The only hope Link had was being faster, only today he wasn't at his best.

I really should have thought this over more carefully.

Link realized suddenly that someone else had come to watch–a small, dark-haired woman standing behind the fence that ringed the courtyard, staring at him with something akin to voracious hunger. It was Blue, Ronin's shapeshifting friend. As Link paused to watch her, she put her hands on the fence, vaulted over with a fluid, inhuman grace, and began to walk toward him.

With each step she took her shape changed–she became taller and thicker, her skin turning a sickly green and cracking into a coat of scales. Her nose and mouth lengthened until they became a snout; her lips stretched in a snarl, revealing jagged teeth. Her arms became short and stubby, ending in wickedly curved talons. She balanced on powerful hind legs, whipping a long tail back and forth.

Link stared into her eyes, now a gleaming yellow. He had seen a creature like her only once in his life, the first time he had entered Hyrule Field. She was a lizard-demon; Link was pretty sure the proper name for her kind was Lizalfo.

The lizard that Blue had become hissed at him, forked tongue darting out to taste the air. Then, without warning, she attacked.

She was fast, far faster than most enemies he encountered, almost as fast as Impa. She swiped at him furiously, using her talons as weapons. Link managed to barely defend against her strikes, wondering where this unprovoked onslaught had come from–then he realized–it was as though she had read his mind; she knew exactly what he needed: an opponent to practice with, one who was as fast as he could be.

Link smiled thinly and began to return her assault in earnest.

* * *

As the Sage of Light predicted, there were a great many people in the town square when Link, Zelda, Impa, and Rauru gathered at noon. Link recognized a few faces from the tavern and knew that people must have overheard their dispute and come to see it resolved. Recognizing that a fight was about to take place, the crowd thinned from the broad, open square, milling about its edges instead. In these times, when a great many disputes were resolved with fists rather than words, the townspeople knew a spar when they saw one.

Yet, as Impa had extensively lectured Link, this fight was entirely necessary for more than one reason. The most obvious purpose, of course, was to secure for their side a man with leadership experience in military affairs. But it was also, as Impa had expressed quite clearly, a chance to make their intentions public and inform the people of this town of the resistance against Ganondorf. It fell to Link to defeat Valan and ensure the old general's public declaration of loyalty to Zelda.

"So no pressure," Zelda had joked on the way to the town square.

Now Link stood at the edge of the square with the Master Sword in hand, apart from the others, quietly awaiting Valan. Impa and Rauru were chatting with Ronin, Blue, Bolo, and Cleo, who had apparently caught wind of the fight and come to watch. Zelda sat on the cobblestones and stared before her without saying a word to anyone; she looked to be deeply in thought.

"Afternoon," a voice growled.

Link turned and looked up, and up, and up, into Valan's grizzled face. The old man was formidable enough while drinking in the bar. Now, barefoot, wearing nothing but a pair of light cotton breeches and carrying over his shoulders a single-edged broadsword that was taller than Zelda, he looked much less like a haunted old general than a sun-drenched war god.

Link swallowed hard, sweating. A single thought came.

I'm in for it now.

* * *

To be continued.

* * *

The Destined Q & A Section Continued

Cliffhangers...heheh...I love 'em. ::cough:: Anyway...

Q: First, was it Zelda (the one in this chapter) who met Link there in that town, or the one in the beginning of the story? You see, you said the first Zelda gave birth to the present Zelda, but Link and Zelda keep saying things to each other about what happened to the past Zelda. See? It's confusing.

Yeah, it is confusing when you put it in those terms. x.x 3 am is not a good time to try sorting this out, but I'll give it a go. Yes, the Zelda is this chapter is the one who met Link in Kakariko back in Chapter 2. It's always been the same Zelda. The other one that they keep referring to is Zelda's deceased mother, also named Zelda. Um...is this still confusing?

All right, let me detail the timeline of this story and its relation to Ocarina of Time, since I won't have another chance to explain this in full.

Ocarina of Time: We have a Zelda. We have a Link. Link saves the world, yay. Zelda sends him back in time. They all grow up again. Zelda's father dies and she becomes the queen of Hyrule. When she and Link are about thirty, Ganny escapes the void in the Sacred Realm and is still Evil. He begins taking over Hyrule bit by bit. Zelda sends her kingdom to war against him but is destined to lose. She and Link have an affair (see Chapter 16). She gets pregnant. Link goes off to war and is killed by Ganondorf. Zelda follows him into death, leaving her daughter in Impa's care (again, see Chapter 16). Impa names the daughter Zelda.

A couple of decades pass as Ganny solidifies his rule over Hyrule. Zelda Junior grows up under Impa's care and becomes a thief. Enter Link. The Destined begins.

Does this clear things up a bit? You tell me.