How A Princess Fights.

Burning Dilemmas.

"Halt! How goes there?" The large Goron warrior bellowed down to the two travelers.

"We must speak with your Cheif." Link sated clearly, avoiding the question entirely.

Zelda pulled her forest green cloak closer to her and kept her cowl low. Though the extreme heat from Death Mountain was already unbearable, she did not know how the Gorons would react to the two most wanted criminals. All she could hope was that the Gorons hadn't sided with Ganondorf.

The Guard looked down at them and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, "Why do you need to speak to our Cheif?"

"Please, just take us to him." Link asked again.

***

Impa slowly opened one of her eyes.

She scanned the room to make sure the coast was clear. Naked girls littered the room, all curled up defensively. They slept soundly.

She could hear Ganondorf's mighty snoring coming from atop the bed and Impa knew it was her chance to strike. She couldn't kill him, only the person who wields the Tri-piece of courage can kill Ganondorf.

Slowly, silently, Impa sat up. The moon was low in the sky outside the window and she knew that meant she didn't have long before the castle would be brimming with activity and Ganondorf would wake up.

As silent as a fox, Impa navigated her way around all the sleeping girls and towards the pile of scrolls that sat on the King's desk. She looked back every few seconds to make sure the beast was still asleep.

Picking up the nearest one, Impa stuffed the parchment into what was left of her rag clothes and made her way back towards the bed.

Carefully, she sat down on the floor and resumed her sleep.

***

The Guard pushed aside the huge rock that acted as the door to the Cheif's office. The two travelers walked in slowly. Zelda made sure her cowl was low over her face, she couldn't risk being seen until she knew for certain what she was dealing with.

"I am Ruduk," the mighty Goron beat his bare chest proudly, "Cheif of the Gorons!"

He glared down at the two mysterious figures. He eyed the cloaked lady, she seemed determined to hide her face. The green warrior however, stood in front of her and to the side. He glared back at the Goron Cheif with eyes full of protectiveness.

"Where do your loyalties lay?" Link spoke softly so as not to be overheard.

"What do you mean?" Ruduk scratched his head and cocked an eyebrow at the green clad warrior.

"Do you side with King Ganondorf or the true Royal Family?" Link crossed his arms and cocked an eyebrow at the mighty Goron.

"Well... Um... Us Gorons have always been faithful to the Royal Family but- but Ganondorf-" he stuttered, quite unsure on how to answer the question.

If these travelers were loyal to Ganondorf and he told them he didn't support him, he would likely be executed for treason. But if these travelers were loyal to the Royal Family like he was and he told them he trusted Ganondorf, they might try and kill him.

"Ganondorf is the false King." The cloaked woman deadpanned as the Cheif tried to avoid the question.

Ruduk looked at the stranger, clad in a forest green cloak and took his time in answering her, "He is the false King. You will find no loyalty to him here. May I ask who you are, Goro?"

The woman moved forward and sighed before dropping the cowl of her cloak. She smoothed out her rich brown hair over her shoulders and looked up at the speechless Goron Cheif.

"I am Princess Zelda," she bowed her head respectfully before looking up at the huge Goron sternly, "daughter of King Gaepora Hyrule and the rightful ruler of Hyrule."

***

"By order of the King, the village of Kakariko is to be burned down. It's resistants will surrender or die. All Sheikah warriors will be incarcerated at Hyrule Castle and all Sheikah technology will be destroyed. Long live King Ganondorf." Impa put the small scroll down with a grave expression.

Pike slapped a hand over his mouth in shock. Arthur took the scroll from her hands and read it again, not wanting it to be true. Hable looked around the small group with a face of utter despair.

"What are we going to do?" Siren finally spoke up, breaking the silence.

"Burn the scroll?" Arthur shrugged, holding up the parchment.

"No, Ganondorf will notice if an order like like isn't carried out." Impa snatched the scroll back.

"But- but we can't just let all those people die- they're your people!" Pike squeaked.

"I know..." Impa growled.

"Can we maybe evacuate the whole village?" Hable suggested.

"Where would they go? And again, don't you think Ganondorf would notice if no one was taken prisoner or the fact that there would be no bodies?" Siren walked over to her window and dropped down on the windowsill.

"There are hundreds of miles of catacombs under Hyrule Castle..." Pike tried to reason.

"Yeah, cause the best way to hide people from the King is to put them right under the most heavily armed fortress in Hyrule." Hable rolled his eyes as he spoke sarcastically.

Siren looked off into the dark night and marveled at the stars. Though they seemed somehow dull that night, they still twinkled and lit up the sky. In all her time as commander of the Gerudo infantry, Siren had always been the one to plan an attack like this. Not once had her King asked her to save a village. Now that Ganondorf was no longer who she trusted in, she was tasked with saving a village.

"Pike's right." She finally turned to the others, "Every person in Hyrule knows the catacombs beneath the castle run for miles... But only a few know how to get in and out from the outside..."

The others, excluding Pike, looked at her as though she was crazy.

"Zelda is the only one who knows the entire layout of the catacombs..." Impa put in.

"What about the whole 'Ganondorf will know something's up cause there is no prisoners or bodies' thing?" Arthur looked around the group.

"They are Sheikah." Impa deadpanned, "The elders and loyal warriors will gladly give their lives and stay behind if it means the survival of the Sheikah Tribe."