A.N: Same as always. Sorry if the punctuation is off, my mate Rosie, didn't correct it for me this time.

Chapter 8: Journey into battle

The young elven warrior straightened his spine after a few minutes and sighed deeply, blinking repeatedly to keep his anxious tears from falling. Glancing at the older men, he left the room, with them in tow.

"Hey!" Siegfried yelled at the 17 year old blonde man. "We have until tomorrow night, why are you so worried?"

"Because the armies aren't ready. If we don't succeed in thrashing Ganon's butt, we're screwed. And not just the people of this world you as well and I don't think our enemies are going to be too merciful. In fact, if they do let us live, it'll only be so they can torture us enough to make us wish they had killed us, trust me I know their minds. I personally am not worried for myself, but more for Zelda," Link replied

"I know, did you see the way he was looking at her? It's like he was lusting after her or something," Yunsung commented

Link nodded his head as if to say 'exactly'

"Anyway, I'm going to do some training to make sure my skills are up to scratch, you're welcome to join me." he stated before leading the way to the area the soldiers used to train.

The training grounds were a large, flat stone courtyard, hidden from view by high stone walls. Where it was positioned no-one was quite sure, the castle had a way to accommodate everything, though it didn't seem to be able too from the outside.

Sand pits stood in the centre of the courtyard for the men to fight in and be able to fall without hurting themselves; targets were lined up on the far left wall for archery practised and several other training devices stood around. The soldiers in the castle only used dummies for new comers to train on, because they couldn't fight back, the more experienced men needed more experienced enemies so they fought other soldiers.

Liam as the main Captain of the guards, kept lists of the guards and how experienced they were and moved them accordingly to whether they won or lost a battle.

The patter of feet reached Link's ears, but knowing it was Liam, he drew the Master sword and Hylian shield and turned to the men standing behind him.

"So who wants to show me what they can do first?"

"You want us to fight you?" Raphael asked

"Not yet, I want to see your usual training first."

"I'll go," Yunsung stated, walking towards the sand pit

"My god! You're showing some damn maturity aren't you?" Maxi commented. At this point Liam walked in and trotted up to Link, then turned to watch Yunsung, who blushed after seeing his audience was about to size him up.

"Alright, you're going to have to show them just what you can do. Just imagine you're back at the dojo." the young man thought to himself.

Walking to the far edge of the sand pit, he turned to face his audience, switched White Storm (his sword) to his left, holding it so the blade faced his body and lowered his head, breathing deeply to steady his nerves.

"Come on! You're the best fighter in Korea, I almost got Soul Edge, damn it! Just do it!"

With his right hand's palm resting against his thigh he breathed in deeply. (A/N: Anyone who's played Soul Calibur 2 will know I'm talking about the demo scenes now).

Starting his moves he raised his head and right arm, flicking his hand so that his palm faced the audience. He slowly moved his arm towards his sword, and gripping the hilt, moving it away from is left arm without his left arm moving. His wrist suddenly flicked out, brandishing his sword towards Link again. Slowly he began to move his entire body, swinging his sword expertly, his foot steps and jumps flawless. His moves were accurate, quick and strong, the three things they needed to be. Whilst he acted brash, blunt, and clumsy at times, his moves were graceful and complicated, practiced to the perfection of his dojo from which he learned his skills.

He ended his sequence with one leg stretched forwards, his sword inches away from his foot. He straightened, awaiting his Link's reaction. Link looked at the slightly older teenager and smiled

"Nice moves," he commented

Yunsung chuckled and moved away to the back of the group, panting slightly.

"Right, next," Link requested as he stared at the sand pit. The warriors showed off their skill one by one, Maxi, then Raphael and Siegfried and finally Link. Sheik strolled up, just after Link had finished, and gave a demonstration of his own skills. The warriors finally paired up and fought with each other, sharpening their skills. By the time they had finished with the physical training, it was late and they went inside to discuss the situation and tactics.

"Ok. So, who's going to fight who?" Maxi asked "I'm versus Astaroth and your against Ganondorf, obviously, but what about the others?"

"Ah, we'll see when we get there."

"Is that wise?"

"It won't make much difference who you fight, I don't think. You're all very skilled so it shouldn't be too much of a problem."

The talk continued long into the night, the king, Impa, Leon and Zelda walking in and discussing with the warriors.

As the conversation began to draw to a close and the final plans confirmed they discussed the foe of each warrior and the sages sealing Ganondorf back in the evil realm, hopefully with a stronger seal this time, with the help of the Goddesses, of course. Impa 'treated' the other worldly people to a short version of Link's quest as the Hero of Time, while Link began to doze in his chair.

"So when do you want the sages to come in?" Zelda asked Link

"When Ganon is out of it," he answered, with a tone in his voice as if to say 'when else'

"Wouldn't it be easier for me just to come with you, rather than hanging around with the sages and Leon. Plus, if Leon is going to come and defend me, I'll have to use more magic to transport him, and well, I won't really need guarding if Ganondorf is knocked out."

"Zelda, we don't want you there in case you get hurt," the king answered

"I can defend myself perfectly well, thank you very much," Zelda retorted

"Be that as it may, we don't want to take any chances of you getting hurt."

"Do you think I'm incapable of staying out of harms reach? I went into hiding with Impa, I was trapped in Ganondorf's castle, I've fought of monsters, I can use magic and physical attacks, and I took up a very convincing role of Sheik. Why do you insist that I'm going to get hurt?" she spat, angry that her father would treat her like that.

"Zelda, that's enough. You are a princess, not a warrior. Despite the fact that you can fight and defend yourself, I do not want to risk it."

"It's because I'm a woman isn't it? Just a weak and feeble woman, fit to do nothing more than look pretty and be a housewife. Well thank you very much."

Link groaned and buried his head in his arms, he knew that Zelda could get very out of hand if she thought someone saw her as nothing more than a week and feeble woman. The others shifted uncomfortably, not happy at seeing this sort of display.

"Young Lady that is enough. I do not want to hear anymore protests from you. The fact that you are a woman has got nothing to do with it. If you carry on acting like this I'll treat you like the child you're acting as and send you to your room."

"I'm not going to be sent, I'll go anyway," she bit out quietly, before turning on her heel and storming out of the room. The door slammed shut with a loud 'BANG'

The men and Impa stared at the door for a few seconds and then turned to look at each other in stunned silence. Zelda was usually so pleasant and mild mannered that no-one thought she had it in her to get that annoyed.

The last time Impa and the King had seen Zelda that annoyed was two years ago, when she was fifteen. Since then she had matured and her anger very rarely flared up, although when she did get angry well, everyone trembled with fear. She had a red hot temper and could give a very painful tongue lashing, so to speak.

Link, Liam, Leon, King Harkinian, Impa and Sheik sighed quietly. Raphael, Siegfried, Maxi and Yunsung sat uncomfortably, not knowing how to act after that display.

"Uh, it's, uh, late so, um, I'm going to head to bed you know," Leon mumbled and made his way towards the door

"Good night" he said and slipped out of the room

The rest of the group made their way back up to their bedrooms in dribs and drabs. Raphael heading off to check on Amy one last time and retiring to his room after. Link, along with Maxi disappeared up to the bedroom hallway. Liam hung around downstairs for a bit longer before heading out with Siegfried and Yunsung.

Zelda lay in her bed, sulking. It wasn't like her to do that but she hated people thinking of her as nothing more than a woman, especially after all she had been through.

'Who do they think they are, treating me like that? I'll show them. I will go with them to the fight and take on Ganondorf by Link's side" she thought.

As she drifted off to sleep a simple plan formed in her mind

'I took up a very convincing role as Sheik...'

A cuccoo's crowing announced day break and everyone important was up almost instantly, excluding Zelda that is (although Link was up within half an hour of the wake up call, so that's got to count for something).

Due to the fact that it was the day before the battle, Hyrule Castle Market Town was extremely busy. The citizens gathered up belongings and tried to secure their houses as best as possible, because despite the fact the King had reassured the citizens that the Hylians would win against the Gerudos, they knew that they were unlikely to. In the past week half of the citizens had packed up and headed for Kakariko village, taking all they could carry and their families. Merchants were non existent on this day, as well as any relaxation.

Although the king was worried that the people if the Market town didn't trust the strength of the army, he really did prefer that they had moved to a safer place, even if it was only a few minutes away on horse back.

Up at the castle hundreds of soldiers practised attacks, checked their armour, sharpened their weapons and listened intently to the orders being given by Link and Liam.

The King was discussing something about attacks to a tactical battle manoeuvre thingy person (sorry, I can't remember the proper name)

Impa and Sheik sat together in Impa's room, performing rituals to try and help the army win and the sages seal to be stronger.

Leon was sitting in his room, checking his equipment and trying to shut his pet birds up.

Maxi, Yunsung, Siegfried and Raphael were down in the infirmary waiting for the doctor to come out.

The day flew by with preparations for battle, everything being checked and double checked, testing weapons and armour, making sure the horses and men were in the top condition that they could be.

By the end of the day the younger soldiers were excited and nervous at the same time, impatient to start moving off. The older soldiers stood silent in the ranks, prayers echoing in their minds that their families would remain safe and that they could return to them.

Liam and the King were at the head of the ranks, sitting on horseback, waiting for news from Leon, who had gone on another stealth mission to find out when the Gerudos were starting to move off. It was about 11: 25pm and the moon was high over head, casting its pale light on the silver armour of the soldiers and horses.

The ranks parted suddenly for Link and the other warriors to pass through, Impa and Sheik taking up the rear, Zelda was inside reading quietly or so it seemed.

Link made his way through the gap that the soldiers had made for him and his companions, he led Epona along by the reins, his body starting to tense up in both anxiety and excitement. He was dressed as usual, the only difference being that he now wore gold coloured chain mail beneath his green tunic, and a long emerald green cloak hung from his shoulders.

Siegfried walked just behind Link, his zweihander, Requiem, latched onto the back of his armour that had seemingly come from nowhere, since he hadn't got it from Hyrule and hadn't brought anything with him other than his sword. His long blonde hair was tied back into a ponytail, with his fringe still hanging over his eye, hiding his scar.

Maxi, just behind Siegfried, glanced around at the faces looking at him, some scoffing at the fact that he had no visible weapon on him. He had, rather obviously, got his weapon with him, just it didn't seem like one, after all the Hylian soldiers had only trained with swords and other sharp weapons, the notion of using two sticks tied together with a bit of chain was ridiculous to them, especially when you compared Siegfried's Zweihander sword to Maxi's nunchaku.

Yunsung strolled leisurely after Maxi, dressed his normal orange and white attire. Inappropriate for battle maybe but he was better off the Maxi, who was wearing his normal open fronted sailor's coat, which left his chest and stomach bare.

Raphael took up the rear, dressed in his normal, if now slightly worn, clothing, his rapier sword slipped through a loop in his belt and hanging down next to his leg. The soldiers glanced at the French noble man, obviously not expecting to see someone like this helping to save another country other than his own (which he probably wouldn't do anyway)

The warriors were followed by Impa and Sheik. When they reached the front of the ranks they filed out so they were facing the king in a row, as each of them bowed and he nodded in return. They turned back around and Link mounted Epona, and moved to the left while other horses were brought out for Maxi, Yunsung, Siegfried, Raphael and Sheik. Once they were mounted, Link moved so he was in front and central to the others.

Everyone waited in anxious silence for Leon to come back.

Clouds began to drift across the sky as the moon rose higher and the men began to shift restlessly. Link sat on Epona, his head bowed and eyes closed as he prayed to the goddesses. His companions, Maxi, Siegfried, Yunsung and Raphael, were in the same stance each thinking about different things that were personal to themselves.

Link's ears suddenly pricked up slightly, and he raised his head at the sound of a horse's thundering hooves and its whinny.

Seconds later Leon appeared on horseback, galloping up the slope that lead to the castle and pulling on the reins with his left hand, while putting a pair of binoculars away with his right. The horse stopped in front of Link and Leon looked at Link briefly, before looking to the king and announcing;

"They're coming."

"How far away?" the king asked

"Just getting onto Hyrule field, coming 'round the western side of the ranch," he answered

"Thank you, Leon," the king said curtly, then nodding to Link.

Link bowed his head to his monarch, his eyes glancing into Liam's, wishing him luck. He then turned back to face forward and slowly began to move Epona off, down the slope, the other warriors following him, Sheik taking up the rear.

A few minutes passed before the king made the next move, ordering Liam and the army to wait just outside the drawbridge. Leon headed back up to the castle, to check on the princess, Impa in tow.

Link, along with Maxi, Siegfried, Raphael, Yunsung and Sheik took the long way round to the Gerudo Valley, the horses in a fast canter. Link wanted to catch Ganondorf and the others before they got onto Hyrule field, so they couldn't distract the army. Knowing Ganondorf however, Link knew he would gloat, by staying behind in the fortress, leaving his army to massacre the Hylians, without a leader, therefore showing up the Hylians further, when they lost. And Link wasn't about to let that happen.

As the horses trotted down the slope, Link caught a movement in the corner of his eye and held up his hand to stop the others, dismounted and climbed behind a bush, using the dark green cloak to help camouflage himself. With the current time it was dark on the field and the Gerudos, not used to plant life, at least not green plant life, were unlikely to notice the difference. He watched as the Gerudo army, some on horseback, others by foot slowly travelled up the steep hill and stopped on the top, to form into ranks.

He slipped back to the others and motioned for them to dismount and follow him.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Forget what I said about the chapter updates. Chapter 9 is almost finished and should be ready to go up on Monday. I apologise if it isn't.