The castle hyrule was regularly patrolled by guards and had at least a dozen sentries posted on various towers around the castle grounds always alert as to stop any attempts at breaking in, Thanks to the castles positioning, with its back against the Death mountain range, and its front facing the massive hylian field, the castle was virtually immune to attack, any army marching on it would be seen with plenty of time to form a primary defense.
As link neared the castle walls he was completely alert, he found it nearly impossible to drop his guard actually, though this would be troublesome to many, a man in links position didn't mind it at all. Upon entering the castle grounds link surveyed the patrols and with as satisfied shrug made his approach to the castle.
A lone archer on one of the many nests was carefully keeping watch over the area when he spotted a dark form moving quickly down the path, without another thought he took aim and fired, his arrow soared true to its mark, and the archer, with a satisfied grin set his bow down, only to notice a few seconds later that the mysterious figure had not dropped, or even ran to cover.
As link continued up the path he suddenly turned and caught the arrow out of mid-air, and remained still, waiting for the inevitable platoon of guards to approach him.
Within moments Links thoughts were confirmed when at least 2 dozen guards came running towards him from all directions, weapons drawn and ready to strike down this intruder. Upon surrounding him the leader of the group stepped forward and in a firm commanding voice spoke "Halt, Who goes there. The castle is closed to all after sundown. Lay down on the ground with your hands on your back so we may take you into the dungeon until sunrise."
"Guard master James. It has been a long time; it is good to see you again" link spoke in a mild tone.
"Who are you, state your name at once" James replied coldly
"It is I, Link."
"Master Link? Is it really you? It has been so long. We were not expecting your return. Many have thought you dead" James beamed.
"I have been through much, but I thought it time to return home. I wish to gain passage to the castle, I am aware of the hour, but I thought you may be able to grant me passage anyways?" link replied
"Of course master link, for you; anything. You're as good as royalty here, you know that." James said respectfully.
"Thank you James" link said as he followed the guard master down the path and into the castle walls.
"The princess will be most ecstatic at your return, you may find her in the library, she has been spending many hours in their over the last few years, researching all sorts of different spells and legends, I must say she has become a powerful sorceress" James said as he pointed bowed to link.
"Please James, you have no need to bow to me, you're my friend, not my servant. And again, I thank you, your hospitality is very refreshing" link said as he left towards the library.
Even though he spent many years in its halls as a youth, link was still amazed at the size of the castle; it took him almost half an hour before he could find the library, but the sight that he beheld upon entering more than made up for the wait.
Standing in the doorway to the library link waited patiently until Zelda noticed him, upon turning away from the bookshelf she had been staring intently towards she saw link in the threshold of the library and in a startled confusion screamed at his presence. Once she realized who was standing in the doorway, she sprung forward and embraced link in a crushing hug.
"Link… Is it really you? You've been gone so long… I missed you so much" Zelda said as tears began to form in her eyes
"I tried to return as quickly as possible, but I was held up. I missed you to my love, but I am home now, and we can be together now"
"You must tell me everything, come with me" Zelda said as she took links hand and guided him to her room. Once they were in her room Zelda looked at link and again said "Please, Tell me everything, what held you up these last 3 years?"
"Not right now milady, In the morning I shall explain everything, But the hour is late, and it has been many nights since I have slept"
"I love you link… Please don't leave again"
"I love you to Zelda, hopefully I will never again have to leave you" Even as the words came out of his mouth, link was falling asleep, and embracing Zelda, the two young lovers fell asleep on the plush bed with the fire crackling in the fireplace at the end of the bed.
The next morning Zelda awoke to an empty bed, and momentarily worried that she had merely dreamt the previous night's events, it was only after noticing links equipment, minus his sword and shield that the smile returned to her face and she quickly dressed to go find her lover.
Upon dressing, Zelda began to make her way to the breakfast table, only to hear the siren go off, signaling that the city was under attack. Quickening her pace the young princess began to run towards the conference room her father and link were surly already in.
Sure enough, upon arriving, she found her father and link discussing links arrival in the night, the threesome was soon joined by the captain of the guards, and he began to speak.
"We never had a chance to prepare your highness, the gerudo king used powerful magic and cloaked his armies approach to the city, they dropped their cloak a few moments ago, and… milord they could be at the city within half an hour… and we cannot possibly summon up the strength to defeat them with that time"
"Well then what shall we do? The gerudo are merciless, and their scum king would not have brought such a force if he would allow a truce." The king said in a calm voice, but his worry was clear to link.
"I shall go. I shall need no back up. I will take care of the army, and bring the evil king to his last breath." Link stood from his seat and spoke with confidence, "As the hero of time, It is my duty to defend us"
"Hero of time or not it is suicide! You cannot hope to defeat an entire army, AND THEN follow it by slaying the most powerful evil force this world knows!" Zelda screamed as tears began to fall from her eyes
"Have faith my love, I am… much more than I was when we last met, I am capable of this task" with that link turned to the king "milord, I am our only hope, I shall defend this city, and all the lives within it." With that, link turned and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him. Zelda immediately ran to the door to stop him, but when she reopened it he was already gone.
Before exiting the castle link stopped at the armory and strapped two broad swords to either hip, he saw no need in unleashing the master sword until he faced off with the evil king. Also, just before leaving the armory, he placed several common throwing knives into his tunic, and left the room.
After exiting the castle grounds, Link began to walk through the crowd of panicking citizens with a determined glare on his face, as soon as they saw him, many recognized him as the hero of time they had not seen in several years, but none the less, they all dropped to a knee and bowed to him, despite what link would tell them, a very high percentage of the country saw link as greater than royalty, many even regarded him as a religious idol, like some sort of savior. After this, link was worried he would never be able to dispel such rumors.
After stepping out onto the field of hyrule, and in the way of Ganondorf's army and the castle city Link surveyed the situation, looking over the army about 300 yards away, he could hear them erupt in laughter, link shrugged it off and notched an arrow, with expert precision let it fly, and bury into the head of one of the gerudo warriors. Upon seeing their sister die, the army screamed and charged the single warrior. Notching another arrow, link took aim and spoke softly.
"Bring it on"
R&R