Aaron easily sidestepped out of the way of the sword from a thrusting Sarah. She recovered quickly and tried a horizontal slice on him, but he was much faster than she was and so easily knocked the blow away with his sword. The pair exchanged a few parries before Sarah made another attempt on the Knight. With a quick move, Aaron easily dodged her attack, disarmed her, and placed his sword across her neck while she was on her knees.
"Looks like I win again, Sarah," he said.
Disappointed, Sarah let out an audible sigh and pushed Aaron's blade away from her neck. "I will beat you. I swear… I will beat you."
"I sense a little bit of a competitive spirit in you," Aaron replied jokingly. "I'd hate to tell you, but it would take you many years to be even close to beating me. But if that little competitive drive of yours helps you learn and become a better swordsman, then keep it coming." He walked over to where her sword had landed and retrieved it. Still on her knees, Sarah finally forced herself to stand up again, taking the sword from Aaron's hand, and continued her training.
It was only a couple days before that Nick had agreed to let the women fight if they so desired, and already many of the women had taken up sword or bow. The desire to fight that lay so dormant in most women had been awakened with full force as they realized that the fate of their entire civilization was at stake. The remaining women that still wished to stay out of the fight were very busy as well. They were cooking meals, taking care of the soldiers, and even forging more weapons. Every single person in the entire refuge had something to do and it was quite hectic. There was never any down time from the noise and happenings. Instead, all the men and women took shifts to prepare for the battle. While some women slept, others were forging swords and arrows, while still others were cooking meals for the Knights and their new trainees. But no one complained. There was too much at stake to complain.
In the same large room, while Aaron and Sarah were dueling, Nick was teaching Celes how to shoot a bow and arrow. Although Nick preferred the sword to the bow, Celes wasn't strong enough to handle any of the swords. Despite his preference for swords, Nick still knew how to use a bow. You could never be too prepared for anything, he always thought.
"Now," Nick told Celes, "when firing a bow, make sure you stay perfectly still. Any sudden or slight movements can cause your shot to go completely off target. Take your bow," Celes took her bow off the nearby table, "and aim for the bulls-eye."
Celes nodded her understanding and grabbed an arrow from her quiver. She placed the arrow onto the bow's string and slowly pulled back. With total concentration, she aimed directly at the bulls-eye, about fifty feet away. She let the arrow fly, and it seemed as though her shot would be right on target. When the arrow finally came to a rest in the target, Celes sighed with disappointment. The arrow was below the bulls-eye.
"You made one mistake. Can you tell me what it was?"
Celes tried to retrace the steps she had taken to fire the arrow. She felt that she had done nothing wrong, and couldn't figure out why the arrow landed below the target. She looked at her husband and slowly shook her head.
"When you use a bow and arrow, you must take into account gravity. The further the target is from you, the higher above the actual bulls-eye you must aim," Nick instructed her as he picked up his own bow. Pulling back on the arrow, he aimed slightly above the bulls-eye and released his arrow. It flew true, right into the center of the bulls-eye. A smile spread across his face as he turned to his wife.
"Show off," she muttered under her breath.
"What was that?" Nick asked, not quite making out what she had said.
"Oh, nothing," she responded with a smile. "Let's just continue my training."
He smiled at her. "Very well, Celes. Let's continue." Then a thought struck him. "Celes?"
"Hmmm?" she replied.
"Have you seen the Princess anywhere?"
She thought about it for a few seconds before responding, "No, I haven't. In fact, I haven't seen her since we began preparing for battle."
Nick didn't like the answer he was given. Where is she? He put the thought aside and returned to training Celes.
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Zelda was training alone in a secluded area of the refuge. Besides herself and Evan, no one else was even close to where she was.
If they won't let me fight, and won't train me, then I will have to do so myself. I'll show them that I can protect myself. I'm sick of everyone protecting me. I want to protect them.
She raised her bow and aimed for the target. The arrow flew straight, but landed just to the right of the bulls-eye. Not bad. Especially without someone helping me. She grabbed another arrow from the quiver and fired a shot that landed to the left of the bulls-eye. I will get this. With the Goddesses as my witnesses, I will hit this bulls-eye. She fired arrow after arrow, hitting on all sides of the target, but never in the bulls-eye.
As she continued her attempts with the bow and arrow, Evan was playing by himself over in the corner of the room. He had with him a tiny sword. It was really more of a dagger than a sword, but for his size, it suited him just fine. Zelda didn't worry about him hurting himself with his sword anymore. He had been playing with it for almost a year now, emulating his father every time. The boy would sidestep, jump, slash, thrust, and slice his way through imaginary monsters that came at him from all sides. He was content in his own little world. He didn't know the severity of their current situation, and Zelda intended to keep it that way as long as possible.
Another arrow flew, and again it was wide of the bulls-eye. Zelda reached back into her quiver before realizing that she had spent all of her arrows. They all lay stuck in the target across the large room. Frustrated by her failure to hit a single bulls-eye, Zelda threw down the bow in a moment of anger. Evan stopped playing immediately and stared at his mother.
"Why did you do that, Mommy?" he asked innocently.
Zelda turned to look at her son. Her face was red with anger, but she kept herself calm in front of him. "Nothing, Evan. Mommy just needs to lie down for a little while." She walked to the other side of the room where she had set up a makeshift sleeping area for herself and Evan.
"But I'm not tired, Mommy," Evan whined.
Zelda laid herself down on the bed. "You can keep on playing, Evan. Mommy will watch you from over here for a while."
Evan's face lit up with joy instantly. He jumped back into his imaginary battle once more, slaying every monster that came his way. Zelda watched him dance around the room, pretending to be a legendary hero. So much of his father in him. And that's what I'm afraid of. Oh, Link. Why did you have to leave me? Her eyes began to water as memories of Link flooded her mind. She closed her eyes and tried to deal with the pain of losing her husband, but it offered little help. As Evan continued to play, Zelda fell fast asleep with thoughts of Link on her mind.
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He was flying over the fields that he once knew. Still standing where it shouldn't be, the tower loomed demonically in all directions. The land had become barren as the evil moved over it. His vision swooped down, as if doing a fly by of the tower. He passed the tower, making his way to the forest. He saw hordes of monsters preparing for a battle and, as he looked beyond the army of monsters, he could make out another army coming from the forest. The new army was aggressive, running as fast as they could through their opposition. His vision moved closer to the battle until he could see the faces of the new army. They were Hylians. The battle ensued, and he swore he could hear laughter coming from behind him. He turned to see who it was, even though he already knew. Standing there, floating in the air beside him, was Ganondorf. The Evil King stopped laughing, stared at his enemy, and charged with a menacing battle cry.
Link woke up with a start and in a cold sweat. Another dream, just like the ones he was getting right before his last battle with Ganondorf. Those dreams had unlocked the knowledge that he needed to try to stop him, but this dream didn't tell him anything. It was like someone wanted him to know the inevitable; without Link, Hyrule was doomed.
On the bed next to him, Ian was still sound asleep. Light from the moon came through the window and rested on his face. The soft snoring coming from him eased Link a little, but the dream made him realize how much of an impact his life had on the future. His mind argued that he needed to leave now and find his descendants, but his body was telling him otherwise. The walk through Purgatory was finally taking its toll on him, and he needed as much rest as he could before they set out in the morning. He laid back down on the inn's bed and tried to get some sleep.
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Ian woke up at the crack of dawn, but decided that Link could use a little more rest. Rather than waking him then, he would go out and get fresh supplies for their journey. He would wake Link when he returned. The middle-aged man got up out of bed and changed into his clothes. As he put them on, the stench that came from them burned his nose, although it really wasn't a surprise. He had been wearing the same clothes for a long time now, but in Purgatory, your clothes don't get dirty or stink. Back in the living world, however, things were different. He added clothes to the supplies list, clothes for himself and for Link.
He left the room quietly, paying close attention to any floorboards that creaked even the slightest bit. After everyone he accidentally stepped on, he would check to see if Link had woken. When he was finally in the inn hallway, he relaxed his body and made his way out of the inn.
The streets of Kakariko were bustling with people already. The cool, crisp morning air was a welcome thing around here. Ian stood in the doorway of the Old Towne Inn and watched the citizens of the town do their regular morning activities. Across the street, several people were out jogging and chatting about their lives. To his left, Ian could see a customer trying to get a merchant to lower his price on fresh fish. The smell of freshly made bread filled the air from the bakery down the street. And the sounds of small children, oddly up at this hour, could be heard around the corner.
Ian took a deep breath of the morning air and enjoyed it to its fullest before letting it out. He then took a step forward into the street.
"Move the hell outta my way, you old timer!" shouted a man running at full speed. Ian had no chance of getting out of the man's way. The two collided and fell onto the gravel. Rupees spilled out onto the street from a wallet that the man was carrying. Frantically, he quickly picked up as many as he could and threw them back into the bag. Ian sat up on the ground and wondered what was going on. The unknown man jumped up off the street and began to run in the same direction he was headed before.
"Stop! Thief! Someone stop that man!"
Ian turned in the direction of the call and realized that the man he had bumped into was nothing more than a thief. Determined to stop the robbery, Ian leaped up from the ground and ran after him. In top physical shape due to his time in Purgatory, Ian was quickly gaining on the wallet thief.
"Hey you! Stop right there!" Ian yelled up to the man.
The thief turned around to see who was trying to stop him. To his surprise, the middle-aged man he had bumped into was now only fifteen feet behind him. He tried to run faster, but his legs wouldn't obey him. Instead, he turned down the very next street. Unfortunately, the street was nothing more than a dead end alley. He stopped short of the wall that impeded his escape and turned around.
Ian was now at the end of the alley, facing the thief. Taking advantage of the situation, Ian called out to the man.
"That's far enough! Hand the money over, you slime! There's no escape for you!"
The thief looked around frantically for any way of escape, but found none except for the way he had come in. Ian called out again.
"There's nowhere to go. Now hand over the money and maybe I won't turn you in. What do you say? Do we have a deal?"
"No way in hell!" he cried back.
Ian was very disappointed. He always had faith that a person would do the right thing when it was necessary, but this man would not sway from his deed. Ian walked down the alley, toward the now quivering thief. Out of desperation, the man reached behind him and grabbed the small dagger that he had sheathed on the back of his belt.
"Don't come any closer, old man!" the thief yelled, trying to act like a dangerous man.
Ian wasn't buying it. Instead, he continued to move in on the thief, not knowing that the man was armed. Finally, the man pulled out his dagger and waved it threateningly at Ian, who froze where he was.
"Now, this is how it's gonna work, Gramps. I'm gonna walk outta here and keep the money and there ain't anythin' you can do 'bout it. Understand?" He began to walk toward Ian, dagger pointed straight at him. The thief stopped directly in front of Ian, dagger still pointed at him. "Sorry, old man. But you're gonna die." He drew back his dagger, ready to strike Ian down.
As he came forward with the fatal blow, Ian dropped to the ground, dodging the dagger effectively. He took the man's legs out from under him and the man came crashing down. Unable to hold onto it anymore, the dagger flew from the man's hand and hit the nearby wall. As Ian successfully subdued the thief, the merchant who was victimized came running down the alley.
"Thank you! Thank you! You saved my business!" the merchant exclaimed while shaking Ian's hand.
"No need for thanks. I just do what I feel is right," Ian responded. The village guards showed up and dragged the thief away.
"I would like to show you my gratitude! Is there anything I can sell you; at a far cheaper price, of course," the man offered Ian. "I have clothing, arrows, bread, water skins, and much more."
Ian could tell the man wanted to show how thankful he was. Plus, it would seem that the merchant had just what Ian needed, so he took him up on the offer. The two men walked back to the merchant's shop.
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Link awoke to the sound of the door opening and closing. He sat up in his bed as Ian made his way in.
"Where were you?"
Ian placed several large pouches on his bed. "Oh, just went for a little morning shopping," he said with a smile. He pulled out numerous items from each of the pouches. Among the items were quite a few bundles of arrows, two water skins, a few changes of clothing, and a couple loaves of bread.
"Seems that you did rather well. Where did you get all this?"
"Just from a merchant down the street. Now, get up and get ready. We need to get going."
Link nodded and jumped out of bed. He took one of the new sets of clothes that Ian had bought and put it on. It fit perfectly, like one of his tunics from back home. He wore a gray tunic with white tights. He strapped on the belt and put on his boots, but there was one thing that was missing.
"What? No hat?"
Ian looked up at the Hero. "Sorry, I didn't think of it. I'll stop by again and get you a hat on our way out." Link smiled.
The two men packed their bags and prepared themselves for another long trek. Once finished, they left the inn and began their journey to Lake Hylia. As they exited the town, Link looked up at the morning sun and judged that it was 8 o'clock.
"I hope we make it there by nightfall," he said to Ian.
Ian looked up at the sun and replied, "So do I, Link. So do I."
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She woke up abruptly, as if she had forgotten something important to do and slept right through it. After a quick glance around the room, she realized that she hadn't missed anything. Beside her, Evan was fast asleep. She didn't know when he finally wore himself out, but that really didn't matter. He looked so peaceful. She reached out with her hand and rubbed her son's head gently so as to not wake him. She sat there for several minutes, just thinking, thinking about Link and Evan.
"I see you're finally awake."
Zelda turned quickly to see who had found her little hideaway. Standing on the other side of the room near the only doorway was Nick. She didn't say a word, just turned her attention back to Evan. Nick walked around the room, stopping at the arrow-filled target.
"So this is where you've been," he ripped an arrow out of the target, "You know, I was starting to get worried. Thought maybe you decided to leave us and fight your own battle somewhere out there." Zelda continued to remain silent, not even turning around to look Nick in the face as he spoke. He resumed his walk around the room, throwing the arrow on a nearby table. "What is this? The silent treatment? What have I done to deserve this?"
Zelda finally acknowledged that he was speaking to her. "You won't let me fight."
"Is that what this is all about?" She nodded and Nick sighed. "Well, since you're the Princess, I can't really stop you, can I?" Zelda's eyes lit up and she faced Nick for the first time. "But, since you'll be in my army, I can tell you where you will fight. Since you've been practicing with the bow, you'll be placed in the archer line, which is thankfully in the back."
Zelda jumped out of her makeshift bed, ran to him, and gave him a hug. "Thank you, Nick."
"Sure thing, Princess. However, we still need to figure out what to do with Evan."
"I'll have one of the nursemaids look after him," she said as she once again faced her only son.
"Princess, promise me one thing. If it turns for the worse out there, leave the field, grab Evan, and run."
Zelda responded simply with a nod. Nick found some satisfaction in this. Although she was going to fight, he felt that he could still protect her by means of keeping her far from the actual battle. He turned and began walking out of the secluded room.
"Nick?" Zelda called from behind him. He stopped where he was and turned in his tracks. "Do you think… do you think that Link is watching us from above?"
"No," Nick answered. Zelda was caught completely off guard and looked at Nick with a disgusted face. Nick continued, "If I know Link, he's up there working on a plan that will save us all. Even in death he will find a way." He and Zelda smiled at the thought of Link still protected them. Farfetched as it seemed to them, Link always found a way to save the land of Hyrule, and neither of them doubted that he could do it again. Nick turned around and left the room.
Zelda was ecstatic. She would actually be allowed to fight. Never before in her life had she been involved in any battle. Sure, she had taken part in Link's fight against Ganondorf the first time around, but she had never partaken in a grand battle that would possibly determine the fate of the Hylians. With adrenaline pumping through her veins, she grabbed her bow and the arrow that Nick had placed on the table, and aimed at the target.
She fired.