Chapter Thirteen

Ashei

She had expected Ordon Village to be small. Still, she had not expected it to be quite that small. She had assumed Rusl had been talking of his friends when he had told her who would fight and who would stay, not of the village in its entirety. The numbers would not work in their favor. No, they would need more than themselves, a rancher, an out-of-shape mayor, a shop-keeper's husband, and a pumpkin farmer could offer, especially when most of the villagers were already preoccupied with worries of their missing children, children Ashei could not risk going after with the current circumstances.

"I don't like this, Mayor," she heard one of the villagers, the short pumpkin farmer, say. "Being led by a woman? She should be married, raising kids by now, not leading a rebellion."

Her eyes flashed and she approached the pair, arms crossed, carrying herself with pride. Rusl had warned her that the villagers tend to keep to more traditional roles and values, but she had not expected them to be so vocal about it, especially in the current circumstances. "This woman," she began. "Has held a sword in her hand since she was five, yeah?" She smirked slightly when she saw his shocked expression. "And you are not being forced to go. You can come with me and learn to fight from a woman, or you can stay here and die when they inevitably burn the village to the ground." She watched as the man muttered out an apology before she turned to the mayor. "Gather everyone. We need to discuss what is going to happen in the next several days."

The Mayor nodded. "I'll have them meet in my house," he spoke before walking off to gather the others. Ashei shook her head and headed in that direction. If she had years, months even, to train her team, they would at least stand a chance. They did not have that luxury, though. Each day they trained, each day they remained off grid, Ganondorf grew stronger, and his forces became closer to cornering them.

She sighed and watched as everyone filtered into the house, and knew the going would be slow for quite some time, especially given Rusl's wife's condition. "We leave at nightfall," she declared once everyone had arrived.

"And what about the children?" the pumpkin farmer's wife questioned. "How will they know where to find us?"

"The children are safe under the care of Kakariko Village's shaman," Ashei was grateful that the Mayor had spoken up. "He is a good friend of mine, and I know he will protect them, even with his life if it comes to that."

"Our main focus needs to be on reclaiming this kingdom," Ashei said. "Ganondorf is ruthless and will stop at nothing to defeat us. His forces will be here any day now to burn this village to the ground for no reason other than the fact Link grew up here." She sighed when she saw several of their face's fall, when she heard a sob catch in one of the women's throats.

"And why should we be fighting your battles?" the shopkeeper questioned. "Why do we care what happens in Hyrule if we leave the kingdom?"

"Ganondorf will not stop with Hyrule," Ashei shook her head. "He will not stop until everything is destroyed or under his command, whichever happens first. None of us are safe so long as he sits on that throne." She let her words sink in a moment before continuing. "Even with all of you, we do not have nearly enough people to defeat him and his Gerudo warriors."

"Please," the pumpkin farmer rolled his eyes. "Everyone knows what remain of the Gerudo are just some women."

"Women who have trained to fight every day of their lives," Ashei said in a cool, even tone. "Women skilled in archery, swordplay, mounted combat, spear usage, throwing weapons, and hand-to-hand combat. For generations, they were feared by even the bravest soldiers. Even the Sheikah held a healthy respect for them." She took a deep breath before speaking again. "Like it or not, you are all involved now. You became involved the second the Gods decided to choose one of your own as their Chosen Hero. You became further involved when he fell at the hands of the Demon King."

"You expect us to believe those children's stories?" the man questioned.

"Jaggle," Rusl finally spoke. "Enough. Do not tell us what is real and what is not when we have seen it with our own eyes. These women are dangerous, their leader doubly so. Ashei has proven herself as a strong leader, and we can all benefit from what she has to say."

"Thank you," Ashei sighed in exasperation. "As I was saying. We need more fighters, and we are not going to find them outside of the kingdom proper. The surrounding kingdoms are leagues away, and we could not reach them in what little time we have to prepare. We need someone to go back into Hyrule to recruit."

"I could do it," the rancher volunteered, raising his hand. Ashei smiled slightly, glad to see that at least one of the villagers had his wits about him. "I blend in well enough. Not to mention no one really distrusts a goat rancher."

"That may be," she replied gently. "But being from this village already marks you as suspicious. People will assume you are trying to avenge your friend before you can get any words out. Even if you were to lie, the accent would give you away. Besides, I need you to learn to fight." She turned to face Shad, who was leaned against a wall, jotting down what she hoped had been notes of the conversation. He had been one of the first friends she had made since coming to the kingdom from Snowpeak. He was young, around Link's age, but intelligent and non-threatening.

"Me?" he blinked and turned to face her. "Are you sure that's wise?"

"I mean no offense," Ashei spoke, and meant her words. "Right now, you are our weakest fighter. No one would question a scholar traveling the land." He sighed and nodded, pushed his glasses up and motioned for her to continue speaking. "Go. Find those who hate the King as much as we do, those who have lost loved ones in the Twilight Invasion. When you are certain, and only when you are certain, tell them who you are and how to find us. Understood?"

"Understood," he nodded and pocketed the book he had been writing in.

"The rest of us will continue south come nightfall," she concluded and sat down.

"There is nothing south of here," the shopkeeper said, shaking her head.

"There are no civilizations immediately south of here," Ashei corrected. "Which is exactly what we are looking for. No civilization means more wilderness, which means more cover for us. If we continue south for long enough, we should find a safe enough location to prepare our strike on the castle." She was silent a moment, taking in the faces of those present, noting the fear and apprehension on many of them. "I cannot guarantee all of you will survive," she said. "But if we do not do this, I can guarantee none of you will survive." She sighed deeply and stood. "You have until nightfall to decide if you are with us."