Alaina

Good grief, I haven't updated this in almost a year! I didn't think it was that long but sadly it was. I just had that infamous writer's block and I was busy with other things too. But anyway, here is the much delayed Chapter 9!!

Chapter 9

"Saria? Are you in here?" Aiden bellowed, his voice echoing throughout the large, circular room. Alaina looked around with interest, and when she saw identical paintings surrounding her, she realized that this was the boss room of the temple, where Link had battled Phantom Ganon two decades ago.

"Over here," a childish voice answered, the voice hoarse.

Aiden and Alaina walked over to the source. A green-haired girl was sitting in the middle of the room with a green orb floating in front of her. She was wearing a sleeveless green jumpsuit with a darker green shirt underneath. She glanced up at the sound of the footsteps, and when she saw Alaina, her eyes brightened up.

"Alaina," she greeted her happily, rising. It was a slightly comical sight, the taller and seemingly older Alaina hugging the much shorter girl who was physically no older then ten, but in any other way was much, much older. Alaina remembered Saria telling her actual age once, but she was too preoccupied to remember now. "It's been so long!"

"It has," Alaina seemed to realize once she actually thought about it. At a passing thought, five years didn't really seem like a long time, but upon remembering how young she looked and acted at thirteen, it really was a long time. She then took notice of Saria's weaker condition. As a spirit, she physically didn't change at all, but Alaina could still see the dark circles under her eyes, the paler skin, and her small body sagging from exhaustion. The Triforce of Wisdom can probably make me see these things, Alaina thought to herself. But she didn't need the Triforce to hear the tiredness in Saria's voice. She turned to the green orb. "What is that?"

"It's my magic that's protecting these woods," Saria explained. "Almost all of it is in there. I only have a little bit left in me in case of emergencies." She smiled at Alaina's worried face. "I know I sound awful, but I'm fine." Her voice lowered to a mumble. "Well, at least as fine as I can be under these circumstances." She started pacing around the room. "The Goddesses came to you I assume?"

"That's why I'm back," Alaina shrugged.

Saria stopped pacing and studied Alaina and Aiden, who were standing next to each other. "The two other holders of the Triforce. I always knew it would be you two," she murmured, slightly laughing at herself.

"Saria?" Alaina asked with panic. She had never seen her like this, and it was scary. She thought Lila's transformation was bad enough, but Saria was worse. It was if she had absolutely no hope in her, even with the promise of her and Aiden. She looked like she was out of her mind.

"Alaina, I'm pretty much at the end of my rope," Saria said, as if she was sensing her thoughts. "If I wasn't some damned Sage pretty much destined to live forever, I'd probably be dead right now." She forced herself to laugh. "You two, go. You don't need to listen to me mope around. There are more important things to discuss. Oh wait, and Alaina, come here." Alaina timidly walked over to Saria, and watched with shock as green waves came out of Saria's palms and into Alaina. She collapsed, exhausted.

"What did you do?!" Alaina cried, bending down to help her back up.

Saria looked at her with her eyes half-closed, her breathing coming in rapid gasps. "I just…gave some of my…magic…to you, so you can walk around…the protected property safely…without that disguise," she struggled to say.

"You didn't have to!" Alaina exclaimed, but nevertheless changing back into herself. "You said the rest of your magic was for emergencies. This barely qualifies as one!"

"It's okay," Saria reassured her. "It didn't take…that much at all. I just don't have the energy…to transfer…even a little…magic…easily anymore." She laid down on the hard ground. "I just need to rest." She weakly lifted her hand up and pointed her finger to the door. "You can go now."

Alaina and Aiden reluctantly obeyed, and as they went out through the door, Alaina looked back just to make sure Saria wouldn't disappear out of thin air or something like that. She was still on the ground, her chest rising steadily in a deep sleep.

--

"I can't believe all I have left to wear are stupid dresses," Alaina grumbled as she stepped out of a room, wearing one of Aiden's long-sleeved shirts, which came down to her knees and had a rope tied around her waist to make it fit better, and a pair of worn boots.

"At least you didn't have to practice for five years for your fighting to be better," Aiden remarked. "I still can't believe you can get that good without lifting a sword since you got to Catalia."

"Trust me, I was pretty much dead by the time you cut the bandages from my face," Alaina confessed. "It's not like I'm some superhero who could do anything during their first try."

Aiden laughed. "I feel a lot better then," he remarked.

The brighter mood was cut short when a solemn Joes entered the room. "Alaina, I contacted some men scattered throughout Hyrule, and they were able to get here or send someone else so we can have a meeting. Now since you're back, we want to discuss what we're going to do."

"Right now?" Alaina wondered.

Joes pointed to another door. "Yes, on the second floor," he answered.

Alaina nodded, her mood now taking on a more regal tone. "Lead the way, please," she commanded simply. Joes half-smiled at her seriousness of the responsibility that was suddenly hurled at her, and turned to walk. Alaina followed behind him, and Aiden brought up the rear.

They walked up the stairs, and when they reached the door of the room they would be in, Joes grasped the handle to open it, but Alaina hesitated, taking a small step backward. She jumped slightly when she felt a hand on her back, but calmed down when she remembered who it was.

"You okay?" Aiden whispered.

Alaina fingered the locket around her neck, and the nervousness that was building up inside her instantly disappeared. She turned her head to face Aiden. "I'm fine," she replied softly. She turned back to Joes, and he opened the door. They all started to step inside.

She was stunned when she saw about fifteen men seated around a circular table, but pleased to see that she recognized many of them. Some were knights that had served in the Hyrulean Army, a few were guards that stood post at the castle, and the last few were even politicians that visited the castle a few times over the years to discuss business with Link and Zelda. Joes stepped aside to sit down in an empty seat, and when she was in their sight, they all sprang up and bowed. She blushed slightly, knowing fully well she must've looked ridiculous in her less-than-royal outfit, and her chopped hair was tangled. But she refused to lose her nonchalant composure (all these years of watching Zelda deal with similar affairs paid off), and sat down in another empty seat next to Joes. Aiden stood behind her against a wall next to Lila, who Alaina just realized was there as well.

The men sat down while one still stood. "Princess," he addressed her warmly. "It's good to have you back."

"Thank you," she said gratefully. "But please, just call me Alaina. I'm not much of a princess right now."

"But to us here," the man argued, waving his hand around to represent them all, "and all of the others who are in places throughout this kingdom, you still are."

"All right," Alaina relented, and the man sat down. "Please, if you all don't mind, can somebody just tell me all of the important things that I've missed since the invasion?"

As if by a natural reflex, all the men simultaneously turned to Joes. He cleared his throat and turned to Alaina. "I didn't have the chance to tell you before. For each camp throughout Hyrule, the group of men have formed a rebellion. Like I told you before, Emery here," he pointed to a man to the right of him, who smiled at Alaina in recognition, "is in the village. The Village Rebellion. All of us who are in the forest are the Forest Rebellion. There are other camps in Death Mountain, Lake Hylia, Zora's River, and throughout Gerudo Valley. There are a few in two of those locations, actually…" At this sentence, another man spoke.

"There's one in the Gerudo Fortress, and another in the Desert Colossus," he said. "And one is in Dodongo's Cavern up in the mountains and one…in the crater."

"The crater?" Alaina gasped with disgust.

"Red tunics are given to each prisoner so they can withhold the heat, but it's still one of the worst you could be brought to," he answered.

Alaina covered her face with her hand and shook her head. "This is awful," she stated angrily. "Something has to be done now!"

"And it will, because you're here now," Joes reassured her. He turned to the men. "She and Aiden have the other two pieces of the Triforce."

This caused extreme pandemonium as all of the men bolted from their seats to see Alaina and Aiden's hands. When Alaina failed to be able to calm them, she whistled, so shrill the men stopped in their tracks.

"Gentlemen," she told them sharply. "Sit down, and Aiden and I will show you briefly." They quietly obeyed, and there wasn't as much as a murmur as they sat in their respective seats. Alaina stood up and Aiden came up next to her, and they quickly unwrapped their bandages and held up their palms. The men started to create another scene as they saw the dark gray Triforce on each hand, but when they rewrapped their hands, they fell silent once more.

"Aiden and I have our own mission in order to defeat Ganondorf," Alaina announced. "But before that, we will help to overthrow the camps and free the prisoners. Now since I know about these rebellions, I think I have a plan." She paused to see if they would let her continue, and they nodded urgently. "I think that we should have invasions all at once," she stated. "Because if we focused on one and then went to another, the other camps will obviously hear about it before we get to them, and they'd have time to prepare. I could probably send a signal in Hyrule Field up into the sky so we could all see it, and then we could start the invasions." She looked around at each man. "What do you think?"

"With careful planning, I think it could work," Emery spoke up. "But Your Highness, there isn't enough of us to pull off something this big. It wouldn't work out."

"I know," Alaina agreed with a smile. "Which is where Catalia comes in. As you all probably know, I had to flee there for my safety. I stayed in the village of Nighta, where I befriended a man my age named Milo, who is planning to go to the capital to become a Catalian knight. However, before I left, he promised that if I needed him at all, he would come here in an instant. I'm going to take advantage of that offer. I want to send somebody back to Catalia to retrieve him, and then even go to the capital to see if any of their soldiers are interested in helping us. I know for sure that the Catalians are selfless people, and I'm also sure that we can get many of them to help us."

"Also," Joes spoke up. "I have friends in Hilia, which, by the way, we all remember signed a treaty with us so that they are now our allies. I had told them that we would contact them when the time was right, and they said that their king would be more than willing to send over soldiers and supplies when we were ready."

"That's perfect then!" Alaina beamed, unable to control her joy. "I'm not saying that this plan has a 100 guarantee, but I am saying that we have a shot at this. A big shot." She turned to Joes. "Do you think you could travel to Hilia to get recruits?"

"Of course," Joes answered.

Alaina looked across from her at Miles, the knight that brought her to Catalia. "Can you go to Catalia?" she asked him.

"Definitely," he responded, giving her a proud smile.

She stood up, and they all did the same. "Perfect," she declared. "We will all meet here again once Joes and Miles come back." Then her voice changed to a softer, more subdued tone. "Please, all of you, be careful. I pray that you all make it back safely, and especially that no harm will come to you, and hopefully anybody else, at the camps. You are dismissed."

The men bowed their heads as they exited past her, and soon the room was empty except for Joes, Aiden, Lila, and Alaina. But Lila left abruptly a few seconds later.

"I'm going to bed," she said shortly, starting to leave without waiting for a response.

"Okay, well, don't let the bedbugs bite!" Aiden called out to her, smirking to himself.

Without warning, a small rock sailed into the room and pelted Aiden on the side of his head. "OW!" he yelled, glaring at the open doorway.

Joes turned to Alaina. "That went great," he praised, placing his hand on her shoulder. "I'm so proud of you. You handled all of this well."

Alaina smiled at him. "It's what Mom and Dad would've wanted," she said with emotion. "To take things one step at a time…"

"…And keep fighting until the end," Joes finished, grinning. "Which is what we'll do." He glanced at Aiden, who was rubbing his head, muttering swear words, and looked back at Alaina. "I should be heading off now. Hilia's a pretty good distance away." He sighed with relief. "At least it's south of Hyrule so I only need to go through the rest of the forest. Make sure you're careful, honey."

"I will," she agreed. "Good luck."

He suddenly hugged her. "It's great to have you back," he said. "Make sure my son doesn't do anything stupid, whether it's teasing Lila or somehow attracting Ganondorf." He shuddered at the thought. "Well, anyway, good bye sweetheart." He walked to Aiden. "See you later, son."

"Good luck Dad," Aiden replied. Joes gave him a pat on the back and walked off. Then Aiden turned to Alaina. "You were amazing," he told her sincerely.

"Thanks, Aiden," she said.

"But Alaina, this will work right? I mean, you and I have a mission too, you know. We can't be too distracted," he continued with dead seriousness in his voice.

"I know," Alaina sighed. "That's why it better work."

Sorry if it was a little short. R&R!