I am so, so, SO very sorry I haven't updated in such a long time! And that I haven't been reviewing all your wonderful stories! I'm sorry if you thought I've lost interest…but I haven't! The reason is that I've been grounded for the last three weeks of summer…bummer huh? Lol. Well…here I am. So please read my story and review…but even if you don't…I'll still review all the stories that have updated while I was gone.

Oh…and for all you awesome(well...bad ones too) reviewers…

kitana5055: I'm so happy you liked it! XD and Gale is(well…he was) thirteen…now just do the math based on the chappy title. XP

Sapphire the wind wolf: LOL! XD a crush? (mysterious voice): maybe… C:

Lemurian-Girl: Thanx for reviewing! And I'm gonna try to add some nice romance scenes…but they probably won't be that fluffy…yet…

DarkGerudo: YAY! You reviewed! XD oh…I'm sorry…I hope you feel better soon…and please do review me again. :)

Bitch: erm…well…why do you hate me? What did I do that made you do that:'(


- Chapter 7-

"HA! YA! HAAH!" Kitara thrust the long wooden pole she held in her hand up vertically and into a graceful yet fatal horizontal swipe. She froze in her position then calmly stood up and stole a glace at her tutor.

"Your getting better every day, Kiva," Gale gave her a look of admiration that went by unnoticed by her. He threw her a pirate like sword which she caught easily and held up his own in a fighting stance. "Ready to duel?" he asked as if it were a typical chore.

"I've beaten you before," The teenaged princess answered as she too took to her fighting stance. Their gaze locked as they slowly began to circle, careful to stay opposite of each other.

As always, Kitara made the first move lunging at Gale with lightening quickness, aiming to strike at his abdomen. He easily deflected her weapon with his own, pushing her back. "Ugh!" the girl grunted as she stopped herself, allowing the fingers of her free hand to graze the ground.

"You're too impatient, Kiva!"

Throwing her fiery red hair out of her face she growled, her forest green eyes glinted in the sun. Again she charged at him, but this time their weapons locked.

Gale being bigger and stronger had the advantage. The princess strained to keep her ground. "Remember, Kiva…you must use your opponent's strength against them." He lectured her as he pushed harder causing her to gasp slightly under his weight.

The princess smirked, "Just as you say!" With that Kitara slid her sword out of the lock and in a quick movement appeared behind Gale, causing him to fall forward. He caught himself with his sword. Dust flew up as he swung around, taking his sword with him, attempting to strike the younger girl.

Kitara's sword flashed in front in front of her face not a moment too soon, barely defending its bearer. "Ugh!" she grunted as the force pushed her a good few yards back, putting distance between the two.

They charged toward one another; their weapons clashed over and over. Anyone who watched them would surely be shortly blinded due to the constant flashes of sunlight reflected on the swords. After a few minutes they were caught into another lock. Kitara's eyes glared into Gale's golden ones with fire.

"You're too tense; you're trying too hard to win."

"And-that's a bad thing?" she rasped with exhaustion, her opponent's sword drawing close to her face.

"Loosen up, but stay…ALERT!" his voice croaked at the last word as he pushed her to the ground with one last shove.

Kitara hit the dust with a thud, her breath knocked out of her. She dropped her sword and opened her eyes to see Gale's pointed at her throat. He smiled, "I win." Lowering his weapon he offered his hand to her.

The princess only stared at it with pain in her eyes. She couldn't move and struggled breathe. Her chest jerked taking in short painful gasps of air.

"Are you alright?" he asked retracting his hand.

Kitara nodded as she slowly began to sit up. "I'm-fine-" she replied between gasps. When she recovered all her oxygen, Gale smirked, "You fight like a Hylian."

Standing up, she snorted. "What'd you expect?"

His answer was simple but meaningful. "Better," he stated, smiling warmly.

The princess sighed. "Whatever. Let's get on to archery…," she smiled definitely,

"Now that's something I can beat you at." This was true. Kitara had keen eyesight and rarely ever missed her target.

A few minutes later she and Gale stood fifty paces away from a target. They raised their bows simultaneously, pulled back, and shot. Both arrows whizzed through the air without hesitation and punctured the bull's eye with a crack.

"Bull's eye," Gale said smugly.

Kitara grinned in return. "Don't get cocky," she smirked and raised a second arrow, letting it fly. The arrow hit its target with yet another bull's eye.

The elder one lifted his bow, slowly pulled the string, and let go. The arrow missed the center by mere inches. The girl again smirked, marking herself another bull's eye.

They repeated this process a few more times before Kitara declared herself the winner. Gale smiled panting due to the hot sun. "Great," he said staring at the setting sun, "That's enough for today, Kiva."

Wiping the sweat off her forehead, Kitara looked at him, "Okay…but watch this first." She placed four arrows on her bow and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath. Opening them, Kitara raised her bow and eyed the four targets many yards away. Again she allowed her eyes to close, and took another breath of air.

Her eyes suddenly shot open, as did her hand. The arrows cut through the air like a knife and the next second all of them struck their target - bull's eyed. Kitara lowered her bow and looked at Gale, who was gaping at her. She only smiled and tossed her bow aside for another day.

"How did you do that? Not even I can do that, and I've been doing this for far longer than you have," Gale crossed his arms and gave her a confused look.

She also crossed her arms and frowned. "You don't know me as well as you think you do. Besides," she shrugged, "my aim is much better than yours."

"Kiva!"

Kitara looked past Gale and waved. "Coming!" Then turning her attention back to her friend she said, "It's my shift. See ya." She winked at him and did a small wave.

Kitara ran into her room in the 'hideout' and quickly put on her purple uniform. She looked into the mirror and stared at herself. The young princess of Hyrule had gotten rather tan in the past three years. The scar across her face was a silent witness to that day…three years ago. Her fiery red hair had grown out again to be longer than its original length and had the sun's bright rays had streaked multiple highlights on it. Her eyes were still green…yet something was different about them. Sighing at her pointed ears; she grabbed her scythe and ran out the 'hideout' to fulfill her shift as a guard.
-

Pat pat pat pat pat, click. Pat pat pat pat pat, click. Kitara sighed loudly as she paced back and forth in the light of the moon.

"What's wrong Kiva?" an older girl behind her giggled. "Are you bored? Come on, you're a teen now."

The Hylian girl smiled wryly. "Heh…maybe, but I can still act like a little girl can't I?" She pretended to pout and looked up at the moon. "At least my shift is almost over."

The other laughed. "You Hylians complain too much."

"It comes naturally," Kitara shrugged and smiled. After a few more minutes of pacing back and forth, another girl came to replace her. They nodded at one another and Kitara left her to her duty.

-

"…ahh…" The runaway princess sighed contentedly as she took out her hair, letting it fall loose on her back. She fell back on the thin mattress that served her as a bed and stared at the ceiling.

A moment later she jumped up and listened to the night. Only the sounds of the guards' feet and occasional hooting of an owl reach her ears. Smirking she changed into a more comfortable garb and grasped many daggers she kept by her mirror. She tip toed outside and fleet fully ran to her destination.

A curious stalker silently followed. Who could be out at this time of night…?


Erm…was it too bad? Well, please do review and tell me your honest thoughts! Oh yes…and if you see any typos or mistakes, I'd be so very happy if you'll inform me:) I'll try to get the next chapter on soon…but with school already started, it might be kinda hard… XP

So…yeah…I really like this chapter….and I think the next one will be even better! XD Hopefully!