Well. Go on. Read it, you know you want to.

5

Sorrow of the Resistance. Sparring. Never Give In.

Link was walking around town with Ashlyn, on assignment. They were supposed to check on some of the other safe houses. After showing him several of them, Ashlyn and Link were passing near the central square.

''What's going on?'' Link asked, noticing something going on in the square.

There was many soldiers gathered. One stood out, the man seemed to be important. He had dirty blond hair and was wearing polished armor with a cape. Ashlyn saw and pulled Link back.

''Oh, shit. Oh, Goddesses,'' she said.

''Wha... Who is that?'' Link asked, confused.

''That's the Captain of the Guard, Rusl. A real badass. Oh, you do not want to cross that man. That is the one person I would not fight. I would run the hell away.''

''Ah.'' Link was amazed. Ashlyn was a tough girl. She would fight a Goron if one insulted her, probably. She was a fighter, and a good one. The fact that the Captain of the Guard made her nervous was unsettling.

''I wonder what's going on...'' Ashlyn went into the square.

After a few minutes, she came back, looking distressed.

''What's the matter?'' Link asked, concerned. He had only know her for a few days but she didn't seem like the type to get upset often. Seeing the look on her face was worrying.

''...One of the people from one of the other safe houses was caught... They executed him. You didn't know him, but his name was Eric. I didn't know him, either, but he was Resistance...'' Her voice was soft and pained.

Link didn't know what to say. He wasn't really used to dealing with upset people, particularly females. And seeing Ashlyn upset was shocking. But it didn't matter. In a moment, she was back to her usual self, or at least she looked like it.

''Come on. We have to tell Risbon and warn everyone,'' she said.

They returned to the Amalgam. The atmosphere in the building was different. When they entered the main room, the look on Risbon's face told them that he already knew that one of his men was dead. He was sitting on his usual couch, Yost sitting next to him.

Tancred was sitting in a chair, Lux and Glurak were sitting on another couch.

''Boss...'' Ashlyn said.

''I know,'' Risbon said. His voice was filled with resignation. ''Now, all of you take the day off. Since today was an execution, the soldiers will be everywhere. Just stay inside.''

Everyone nodded. Ashlyn sat down. Link sat next to her, a bit uncertain.

Risbon looked at Link and sighed. ''This may seem a bit grim and maybe uncaring, but... We've sort of gotten used to this, unfortunately. People get caught and executed. But despite that, we don't give up.''

''Right. We knew the risks when we joined,'' Tancred said as he stood up. He and Yost left to go to the sparring room.

''We will not give up,'' Lux stated.

''We don't take vengance for the deaths of our comrades. It isn't right and it just creates more problems. We don't hold it against the soldiers,'' Risbon said.

''A noble thing. My father said that revenge is not the answer,'' Link said.

''Well said.''

Lux stood up. ''I am going back to the magic room.''

Glurak also stood up, following Lux out of the main room.

''Impressive. Going to study some more,'' Ashlyn said. She didn't sound sarcastic or mocking.

''It'll take his mind off of all of this,'' Risbon murmured.

''Link, I'm going to go to spar with Yost and Tancred,'' Ashlyn said. She made her way through the room.

Link decided to come with her, seeing as he wanted to do something. The sparring room was decently big. Yost was there along with Tancred. Ashlyn and Tancred were about to spar.

Tancred drew his sword. Ashlyn did as well, settling into a fighting stance. The two of them collided in a dance of blades, their swords clashing and coming apart. Both of them were quite good.

They fought for some time, until they both stopped, panting.

''...Another draw,'' Tancred said, breathing heavily.

''Yeah... That was fun...'' Ashlyn panted.

''Does this usually happen?'' Link asked Yost.

The arms master nodded. ''Uh huh. If Tancred used magic, he might win. But he likes fair play.''

''But sometimes, no matter how much we want it to be, fighting isn't fair,'' Ashlyn said. She turned to Tancred. ''I wish you'd use your magic.''

''Next time, then,'' Tacred said.

Ashlyn nodded. ''Very well.''

Yost walked over. ''Well, I don't want to be left out. Tancred, will you be my opponent?''

Even though he had just been sparring, Tancred nodded. ''Of course.''

The two of them drew their swords while Link and Ashlyn watched.

''This should be good,'' she said.

Although Tancred was very good, Yost was certainly better. They fought for at least ten minutes before Yost disarmed Tancred.

''Once again, you are the victor,'' Tancred said. He didn't sound upset, rather, he sounded as if he knew that he would lose and was fine with it.

Yost shrugged. ''Well, I'm sure you'll win one of these days. You are certainly skilled.''

Ashlyn grinned. ''Yost isn't our arms master for nothing. Most people lose to him in a few minutes.''

''My brother is a match for me,'' Yost said modestly.

''True. Risbon and Yost always have draws, since they're evenly matched. I bet the Captain of the Guard would give him a hard time, though,'' Ashlyn said.

''The Captain of the Guard is certainly a worthy opponent. I have not fought him before but I am sure it would be a tough fight. He is supposedly the best swordsman in Hyrule, after all. And he's only in his twenties,'' Yost said.

''If he comes after you, I think you're out of luck,'' Tancred said.

Ashlyn nodded. ''If Captain Rusl is after you, you're dead. I mean, you'll be hanging in the city square. He is utterly strong for someone so young.''

''But neither of you two are bad,'' Yost pointed out.

''No, of course not,'' Ashlyn said, her tough attitude returning.

''From what I have heard, you are pretty good,'' Yost said to Link.

''Uh...'' Link started but trailed off.

''Yeah, the boy's good, I'll say that. At first, I didn't really think he'd be... I was wondering what the boss was thinking, letting him join,'' Ashlyn agreed.

''She's like that with every new recruit, though. Hard on them, I mean,'' Tancred said.

''So I've noticed,'' Link said dryly. He directed a pointed look at Ashlyn. She had poked fun at him many a time in the couple of days he had been in the Resistance. He didn't hold it against her, since she was just naturally blunt and came off as rude sometimes.

''Well, it is nice to hear her praise someone,'' Yost said, smiling.

Ashlyn shrugged. ''What? It's true, Link is pretty good.''

They spent quite some time in the sparring room. Eventually, Risbon came in.

''Hey, aren't you all going to eat?'' he asked, sounding amused.

Link, Ashlyn, Tancred and Yost left the room. They made it through the furniture maze and into the dinning room. Ashlyn sat down in a chair, looking eagerly at the arranged food.

Risbon had vacated his usual spot at the head of the table and instead sat where Yost normally sat. His brother sat next to him. Link sat next to Tancred, who was across from Yost. Ashlyn sat on Tancred's other side, across from Risbon. Lux settled in next to Link, Glurak next to his friend.

''Today we lost a member of out group. But we will not give in, will we?'' Risbon asked, addressing everyone before they ate.

''Hell no!'' Ashlyn said loudly.

''No!'' everyone else said.

Risbon smiled. ''That is the spirit of the Resistance. And with that, on with the eating.''

Ashlyn did not need to be told twice. She reached out and grabbed a steak and two cucco legs. Link took a smaller steak and some mashed potatoes. Yost was eating cucco legs, along with Risbon, Tancred, Lux and Glurak.

After everyone ate and bathed, they went to their rooms.

''Night, everyone. And Lux, don't stay up late reading, huh, bookworm?'' Ashlyn said jokingly. She seemed to tease Lux often.

''Really! I do not stay up late reading!'' Lux said indignantly.

''I'm just going to bed,'' Tancred said, trying to not to laugh.

''Good night,'' Risbon said to everyone. He opened his door.

''You too,'' Link replied.

Lux, Tancred, Glurak, Ashlyn and Link started down the hall. Lux and Tancred went into their rooms, followed by Glurak as he reached his, further down the hall. Link and Ashlyn walked on.

''Why are the doors so unevenly spaced down the hall?'' Link asked.

Ashlyn shrugged. ''It's the Amalgam, nothing is normal about this building.''

Link certainly agreed. The cobbled together building was definitely strange. But it was interesting.

''Night,'' she said in her normally blunt manner. She went into her bedchamber.

Link went to his door near the end of the hall and stepped inside, closing it behind him. He changed into his nightgown and got into bed.

As kind of a shout out to Twilight Princess, I named the Guard Captain Rusl (although this one isn't the one from Twilight Princess). Also, Telea is kinda based on Telma. Heh, I love Ashlyn's ''Hell no!'' line. I also like her interactions with everyone else. Reminds me of how my friends and I tease each other. Oh, and when the characters swear, they won't drop the F bomb, because that didn't exist in the Middle Ages. Next chapter is going to have a lot of action. Oh yeah.