Hello everybody! Here's a new chapter a little over a week since the last one was published. Sorry for the wait. School's starting to pick up, and the work is kind of piling behind me. I'm somewhat caught up with it, but it's rather hard to do when the subject's boring as sin and not fun to learn about. Oh well, can't do much about it. At least I managed to finish this chapter in-between work and homework. With that said, sorry if parts sound choppy or rushed. It's not exactly my greatest chapter considering all of the distractions I had to go through. So sorry again if this isn't up to par with what I've already written. And if the title for this chapter sucks, sorry again.

SoulC: Boy, you sure know how to read the pacing for stories, do you? I'm honestly thinking of introducing the action like one or two chapters from now. You, my friend, are a very good analyzer of stories. I rarely see that, and it's a breath of fresh air to see at least a semi-serious reviewer such as you on here. Thanks for your review and comments.

OrangeStreakedStar: Thanks for your review. I really tried to make all the characters interesting and easy to connect to on some level. And with Connor, I honestly don't know what I'm going to do with him. Except for small bits of the next chapter, I haven't really planned ahead for what will happen beyond this current chapter. Still, I'm glad that I made Connor well enough that you don't want him dying in some way or another.

Skittycreamstar: Thanks for your review. I understand that the popular culture has Link's triforce on his left hand. However, my interpretation of it is that the mark will often appear on the wielder's dominant hand. However, it can appear on the off hand when the hands of the wielders are placed side by side. In the last chapter's case, Zelda's and Link's hands were right next to each other when they appeared, and it popped up on the hands closest to the other. I know it's a bad explanation, but that's what I believe about the marks. But yeah, a good attention to detail there.

Chapter 6: Back Home

After his brief meeting with Zelda, Xagrun made his way to the castle garden. He was still suspicious about the princess's reason for being in the servants' commons, but he was in no position to act against her based on his suspicions. That was why he found himself in the garden, to clear his mind and figure out his next step to power.

"… …I know you're here," he called out to the empty land around him. No sooner when he said that, his shadowy attendant who had been absent appeared from behind a nearby large rose bush. He was still dressed in his usual secretive fashion, although he had his hood off and exposed his mess of short black hair. "I failed to see you at your post this morning. Care to explain where you were?"

"I was conducting some research," the cloaked man simply replied. "I've noticed that we have run into a roadblock of sorts and thought it best to see what I can do. However, I've caught wind that you met with Princess Zelda not too long ago. I feel it pointless to ask, but how did the impromptu meeting go?"

"She's still as stubborn as ever. However, I've noticed that she has been acting strangely as of late. I just saw her wandering around in one of the servants' rooms having a conversation with her vassal. I don't know what she was doing, but I know it was more than that. I don't know if she was really somehow communicating with someone else. It's clear to me, though, that she's planning something."

"Hmm, then perhaps we should try speeding things along. We may be running down her options, but I wouldn't dare wait for her to give birth to a plan that can put a stop to us. Does she still show resistance even after your little show last night?"

"She cares about her people, but clearly not enough to give us control over the kingdom. I don't think anything short of total annihilation of her towns would make her concede before me. And don't say it; I know that the council won't take to the idea even while under the spell of complacency you put on them."

"Well, I never expected her to resist us for so long," the secretive man murmured as he began pacing. "At this rate, I feel we'll have worn out our welcome before that treaty is signed. If we don't have it, then we'll have no reason to keep close watch over the princess and her piece of the Golden Power. I'd like to avoid going to war as much as possible and have her become a prisoner, but I fear it might come to that."

"For once, I agree with you," Xagrun admitted with a frustrated sigh. "It'll be too messy if we do that. Still, she's not going to leave us much choice. Is there anything else we haven't tried yet that might work?"

"...I believe there is but one more method that we've yet to exhaust, my prince. If you would, think for a moment about everything that we've done thus far in attempts to take control. We've managed to garner some influence over the council through my magic and have them believing our intentions will do good for Hyrule. We also were able to fool their muddled minds into signing the peace treaty. It's just unfortunate that Princess Zelda couldn't be convinced, and she proves even now to continually go against us on this. Every action we've done to persuade her have roots to some mode of violence. Clearly, this isn't a route we should be taking with her. She proves to fight us back at every turn, but I wonder if even she will be able to resist our next move?" the man asked, his tone carrying a hint of deviousness.

"If not by show of force, then how am I supposed to make the princess relinquish her control to me?" The prince had a look of confusion as he tried to think of a tactic that did not revolve around the use of violence. "My kingdom does what I tell them to do through it; I'm sure it'll work here if I have but a little more time!"

"Unfortunately, time isn't what we have. If you think on it for but a moment, I'm sure you'll see how another mode of attack might prove just as swift if not more so. If not, then allow me to spell it out for you. What I'm proposing you do is to… …"

-Meanwhile-

Link's trip back to Faron Village was as uneventful as his trip to Hyrule Castle. Just as it was when he first left, his return trip proved rather easy. Xagrun's guards were still harassing all people coming by with wagons yet generally ignoring those entering on their own. Being that he only had the bag of money from Zelda hanging on his belt, the soldiers never gave him a second glance. Instead, they were busy harassing yet another supply wagon trying to get in the village with relief supplies.

It was about midafternoon when he finally returned to his farm. It was just as he had left it, intact with no signs of the soldiers' "personal" touches. The chickens were busy clucking away in their coop, and the crops were growing healthily. All the repair jobs that needed to be done were caused from the passage of time. Even the fact that Connor was outside doing his chores proved that everything was normal.

…Wait a minute! the teen thought as he did a double take. He then said as he approached the wooden fence, "Well, isn't this a first?" Connor immediately looked up from his work on the crops and ran up to him. "You're actually doing your chores without me telling you to. Who are you and what did you do with Connor?"

"Hey, what else do you want me to do?" the boy argued as he leaned against the fence. "I was bored while you were gone. I had to do something. And I figured you were going to yell at me for doing nothing when you came back, so I thought I'd try avoiding it."

"That's a pretty bad reason for wanting to do your chores, you know? Oh well, at least it's better than you doing nothing. But seriously, thanks for taking care of some things while I was gone. So did anything interesting happen while I was gone?"

"Eh, it was about the same as it is every other day. But forget about all that. I want to know about what happened at Hyrule Castle!" Connor exclaimed with an eager smile. "So how was it? Does it look cooler up close? Were you able to get inside? I mean, you did leave this morning and it's only early afternoon. I'm thinking you didn't since you were only gone for a few hours."

Instead of answering, Link merely hopped over the fence and ruffled his brother's dark brown hair before heading to the house. At the same time, he had on a knowing smile that did not go unnoticed by his little brother.

"You did go into the castle, didn't you? Come on; that's the only reason why you're smiling like that. Tell me what it was like! Was it all rich and fancy-looking? Do the guards inside dress differently than the ones who patrol our village? Did you get to see someone about our money?"

"Whoa, slow down!" the blond exclaimed with a bemused look as he sat down. While he was expecting to be asked these kind of questions, the speed at which they were coming caught him off guard. "One question at a time, Connor! Yes, it was kind of fancy, but I only got to see where the castle staff hangs out which still looked great in its own right. No, the guards there look pretty much the same as those who regularly come to patrol and pick up our produce for the castle. And yes, I was able to talk to somebody about our money. However, I doubt that you'll be able to guess who it was."

"Come on, Link; you know I hate guessing. Just tell me already!"

"Alright then, brace yourself. Not only did I managed to get an audience with a member of the Royal Council; I got to meet with Princess Zelda herself!"

"What?! Get out of here!" Connor quickly scoffed at the idea. "There's no way you got to see her! She's way too busy and all the way up there to be talking with people like us," he said while stretching an arm above his head for visual effect. "Be serious with me now. Who did you talk to?"

"I already told you. But if you don't believe me, then take a look at what she gave us." Link unhooked the bag of rupees from his belt and tossed it to his brother who caught it with an audible grunt. "I don't think other members of the royal council would have that much to give out in one go."

Already shocked at the weight of the bag, the young boy eagerly opened to bag to see what was inside it. His eyes bulged as he stuck his hand in and pulled out some rupees, most of which were of differing colors. He then quickly dumped the rest onto the table and began sorting them out by color to see how much there was altogether.

"…You've got to be kidding me!" he whispered after adding them all up. Link was still at his seat looking at the pile trying to make a mental count of it all. "There's like a little over five hundred rupees in here! You really were being serious when you said you spoke with the princess, huh?"

"Uh, yeah," the blond dumbly replied as he recovered from the sudden windfall. "She didn't say how much she gave me, but I didn't think it'd be that much! Even after I take what we lost, that's still over three hundred. What am I supposed to do with all that?"

"We'll worry about that later. Let's just be happy we've got such a lucky break. And that's not to mention that you actually got to meet the princess in person," the other added with an even wider smile. "So tell me!"

Link merely raised a confused eyebrow at the sudden statement.

"Tell me about Princess Zelda. What's she like in person? Is she like all the other guys in the Royal Council?"

"N-No, she's nothing like the councilmembers. She actually listened to what I had to say instead of just pretending to hear and then forget about it later. Even though she's a member of the Royal Family, she doesn't have that kind of heavy pretentiousness about her. It's like she's willing to try and connect with me on some level. Then again, I guess that wasn't hard seeing how she also doesn't like Prince Xagrun."

"Wow, she actually said that to you? And here I thought that royalty was supposed to sound all neutral and whatnot. And how about her looks? Is she as pretty as the castle guards that come here say?"

"Well, I'd say the guards did a good job with their description of her," Link replied as he tried to recall Zelda's features. "Like they say, she has long blond hair that goes perfectly with her blue eyes. I guess you could say she looks kind of like me minus being a guy and having all these muscles."

"Oh boy, that's one image I didn't want popping into my head," Connor teased as he made a faux disgusted face. His older brother reached across the table and punched him in the arm as a result. "But yeah, she does sound like a nice girl. It's too bad she doesn't really make any public appearances except for special occasions. And what about Xagrun? Is she trying to find some way to deal with the guy? I think you said that she's like us and doesn't like him all that much."

"…She didn't really say much on it." The teen hesitated for a moment as he suddenly remembered the discussion she had with Zelda about the desert prince. "All she told me was that she had some plan to get rid of him. Something about having found a warrior able to get him out of Hyrule. She was kind of vague about it, so I'm not too sure."

"Aw, that sucks. At least we know she's on our side with this! I guess not everyone in the castle isn't just ignoring what that idiot's doing to us."

"Link, Connor; are you there?" Malon's voice suddenly called out.

"Is she back already?" Link murmured under his breath as he got up and walked outside. Sure enough, the girl was standing on the other side of the fence with Epona pulling behind her what seemed to be a wagon full of supplies. Malon herself was dressed differently than when he first saw her at the castle gates. She now had on a leather cloak befitting one who was getting ready to go somewhere.

"Hi, Malon," the blond greeted as he approached her. Connor was following behind him and gave an energetic wave. What're you doing with all that stuff?"

"Well, I'm just here to say goodbye," the girl replied. "My dad's planning on moving out by the end of the day, so I'll be pretty busy packing when I go home."

"You're leaving?" Connor asked. Why didn't you tell us about it earlier?"

"Actually, our move wasn't supposed to happen until the end of the month. There were some things we wanted to take care of first. But because of what happened last night, dad decided to push the move up to today. We've lost a lot of money from that, so it pushed his plans forward so we can start fresh sooner. That's why Epona's pulling the wagon full of stuff; we're getting ready to leave."

"I guess then that your protests at the castle didn't go that well then?"

"How did you know about that, Link?" she asked with a suspicious eyebrow raised. "Were you spying on me?"

"N-no, it's not like that! It's just that I went there myself and saw you there. I just didn't have much of a chance to talk to you then since the crowd was pretty thick."

"Hmm, and is that why you're dressed in your father's old military uniform?" Malon had an amused smile on her face as she scanned the other from head to toe as she took in the sight of the traditional Hylian garb that the Royal Guard wore. "Were you thinking that you'll have a better time getting into the castle if you wore it?"

"Believe it or not, it actually worked!" Connor began explaining excitedly. "He didn't really tell me how he got in, but he did. And here's the cool part; he actually got to meet with Princess Zelda herself!"

"Now that can't be true! Getting into the castle is one thing, but being able to hold an audience with the princess herself is another story!"

"But it's true, and he has proof of it!" The young boy quickly ran back into the house and came out a few seconds later with the bag of rupees. "This is what the princess gave him as apology for what Xagrun did to us. Take a look and see how much is in there; you'll never guess how much she gave him!"

"… …Why, this is…!" The girl nearly dropped the bag in shock after peering at its contents. "There're colors that I've rarely ever seen in this bag. I dare to ask how much there is altogether in here!"

"Over five hundred rupees. I already counted it."

"My goodness! Only the Royal Family would have that much money readily available to give out. You really did meet with Princess Zelda, didn't you?"

"I'm still having a hard time believing it myself, but I did," Link replied as Connor took the bag back from her. His eyes then suddenly lit up as though he came up with an idea. "Even though she gave the money to me as her way of saying sorry, it's still way too much for me to keep. That's why…I've decided to give half of it to you and your family, Malon."

"What?!" Malon exclaimed, her hands flying to her mouth in shock. "I-I couldn't possibly take that much money from you! Not only is it yours, but the princess personally handed it all to you."

"That's true, but she also said I could do with it as I saw fit. That means I can help you out after what happened last night."

"Yeah, that's a great idea!" Connor happily agreed as he ran back into the house. Almost a minute later, he came back out with two bags. He then handed one to the girl before saying, "I already split it in half. It should be enough to get back what Xagrun stole from you while also having a little extra to work with."

"B-but are you sure about it?" she asked, still surprised at what she was being offered. "I mean, we might not see each other again after today. There's no way I could possibly pay you back."

"Malon, this isn't a loan," the blond explained before taking the bag from Connor and placing it into Malon's. "This is a gift from me and Connor to you and your dad. After all that you both did to help us over the past few years, this is the least we can do. If anything, it should be us trying to pay you back for that."

For a few moments, she merely stood quiet as she held onto the bag that was given to her. It was not until later that she decided to accept their gift and carefully placed it in the wagon.

"Thank you so much, you two! You don't know how much of a help this will be for me and my dad."

"Aw, it was nothing!" the young boy replied with a big grin.

"You and your dad have a safe trip to wherever it is you're going," Link cautioned as Malon was preparing to continue on her way. He had since hopped over the fence and gave Epona one more friendly pet before she left. "If he tries to come back to return the money, tell him that it's a going away gift. And if that doesn't work, then say that the princess gave it to me to do with it how I want."

"Don't worry; I'll convince him about it if he gets stubborn. Thank you again for the gift." She then got beside her horse and began guiding it down the path to her farm. "Goodbye, you two! I hope I'll get to see you again."

"Same here, and safe travels to you!" Connor replied back.

"…Well, at least someone in this town's managing to get away from Xagrun's oppression better with more than they had before being robbed," Link replied after watching Malon slowly disappear down the road. "I just hope she and her dad don't run into any problems while out on the road."

"Oh, I'm sure they'll be fine," the young boy assured him as he began fiddling with the other bag filled with their half of the rupees. "Don't forget that Epona's with them. She's not going to let anybody get in their way anytime soon."

"Yeah, just like that time you thought it'd be funny to hop onto the horse's back without her knowing," the blond reminded as he began walking to the crop field.

"Hey, I was just trying to have a little fun! How was I supposed to know she was going to buck around and throw me off? She nearly broke my arm that time! And you weren't helping by just standing around laughing at me!"

"Well, it served you right for trying to spook her. Now come on; put the money away and I'll help you finish the rest of today's chores."

With a low grumble at the mention of more chores, Connor went back into the house and got himself ready for more work. In the meantime, Link picked up a nearby pitchfork and began tilling the soil, all while thinking about Malon's departure and what Princess Zelda told him.

And that's pretty much it. Sorry again if the ending isn't that great. As I said, too many distractions came around and kind of dulled down what could've admittedly been better. Still, it's better than nothing. I honestly think I can't do this any better under the personal conditions I'm in now. But yeah, I got to go and do homework now. Thanks for reading, and don't forget to leave a review before you go away. Until the next update to this or any of my other stories everybody!