-Link-

-Qin/Lorule border-

Time passed. Link's unit stationed itself outside the fortress-city of Xianyang, coordinated with local units to watch the border, made use of the local barracks to supply and rest, and helped ensure the peace. Link's unit acted independently from the city and moved quickly, keeping watch over a wide portion of the Lorule border. They could swiftly force small Lorule units to retreat, and as a result, they quickly built a reputation in the region for being the most active force around.

With Duke Hyou's army having moved south, larger Lorule armies dared to cross the border. One in particular outnumbered Link's patrols three-to-one, forcing the Qin back. Link's scouts saw the conflict, and the main unit rushed in to help. Being independent also meant that they had the self-authority to cross Lorule's border briefly enough to attack armies from behind.

Link planned to do just this, but to his surprise, the command structure of the Lorule unit was already cut down. Enemy soldiers everywhere were in disarray. The hill, with Lorule flags burning, was occupied by another Qin force.

"They actually managed to kill the enemy commander before us?" Kyo Gai asked. "Who are they?"

Hei excitedly pointed at the new army. "It's a cavalry unit! I've never seen so many horses!"

A soldier from the cavalry unit, an older gentleman, rode forward, eyed the flag of Qin they held, and barked, "You foot soldiers! State your affiliation!"

He said it with such strength that Link's peasant army tensed. One of the squad-leaders saluted nervously. "W-we are the special three-hundred-man Link unit affiliated with the Qin Xianyang garrison!" His composure faltered even more. "...May I ask who you are?"

"What?!" The older man yelled in shock.

Like him, the other cavalry soldiers were surprised. They whispered amongst themselves. "This is the Link unit? The one we heard of?"

Link growled and stepped to the front. "What's the matter?"

Out of the ranks of the cavalry rode a man Link recognized. Immediately, he felt his aggravation increase tenfold. Of course that annoying bastard was here, he thought.

The old man said, "We are the Ouhon unit, a special three-hundred-man unit also assigned to Xianyang."

Ouhon Mitagi rode forward. Link glared up at him. In turn, Ouhon looked down on him coldly. "I see... so this is your unit."

"A three-hundred-man special unit?!" Someone in Link's force gasped. "So they're just like us!"

Everyone grew silent at this remark. Link's scrappy infantry unit stared at Ouhon's cavalry with their polished armor and powerful spears. In turn, Ouhon's army on horseback stared down at them and their crummy, stolen equipment.

The Mitagi bursted in laughter.

"Wha?" Hei gasped. Kyo Gai gaped, and Den Yuu grimaced. Solitare narrowed her eyes under her hood. Link growled and shook in anger. The cavalry continued to laugh until tears poured from their eyes.

"What are you bastards laughing at!?" Link barked.

Ouhon smirked. He chuckled, "Please forgive their rudeness, but there is a reason for this. The unit we have heard so much of these days as the most active in this area with the highest number of victories... As an identical three-hundred-man unit, honestly, we were quite wary. But never would we have thought that you would turn out to be a unit of peasants like the rumors said! Everyone here is so shocked that they can hardly restrain themselves."

Behind Ouhon, the soldiers continued to laugh to the extent that they were falling off horses and begging for mercy.

"Quit laughing!" Link exclaimed. "So what if we're a militia?! At the end of the day, we are a three-hundred-man unit just like you!"

Ouhon frowned. He sighed, popped his neck, and seemed to look even further down on Link. "What gives you that idea? The Mitagi are elite even amongst the noble caste. All of us have undertaken martial training from our youth. From an age even earlier than when a farmer's son picks up the hoe, we have been drilled day and night to wield the sword and shield, to fight as both individuals and in teams, to ride horses, to shoot arrows, to run and never tire...and to kill."

While Link was stubborn and angered by the laughter, his unit wasn't as emboldened. Many looked amongst themselves and saw themselves as the dirty farmers they were playing war.

"Meanwhile," Ouhon continued, "we have men like you. Amateurs of war whose lives up until now have revolved around agriculture. I understand you are overjoyed that you have managed to accomplish a few things, but I am offended that you would consider yourselves to be the same level as us. I swear... I can't even begin to understand it. How Ouki even allowed a normal infantry troop like you to become a special unit was a huge mistake in the first place. Normal infantry like you are nothing more than the worker ants who need only to obey the order of their superiors.

"Naturally, I am not making light of you. When the time comes to raise a proper army of one-hundred thousand, most of it will be comprised of men like you. Without you to act as to the foundation, an army cannot exist, and Qin would fall. I am thankful you have lived this long, do not doubt that. However, misfortune only awaits you when you chase an unobtainable dream. Leave the independent unit roaming to us and go back to fulfilling your natural role." Ouhon's eyes darkened. "Though I think I know which fool it was that egged you on to this point."

Ouhon steered his horse around and motioned for his cavalry unit to leave.

"HOLD IT!" Link screamed, infuriated more every time the man opened his mouth. Link looked behind him and saw the despair in his men settle in.

Hei gulped. "Calm down, Link. They come from a distinguished famil-"

"LIKE I GIVE A SHIT!" Ouhon stopped and looked back at Link. Link continued. "You've been spouting nothing but bullshit since you opened your mouth! I don't give a damn about your noble caste, soldier caste, or Mitagi caste crap! Once the battle starts, none of it is worth shit! We've managed to come this far by defeating smug bastards like you with our own hands!"

"You cannot understand an ant analogy, can you?" Ouhon wondered.

"Ant what? Use words we can all understand!"

"I understood that," Hei whispered to Kyo. Kyo nodded and told him to be quiet.

"Very well," Ouhon said.

Ouhon kicked his horse forward into a trot and crossed the distance between both armies. He didn't raise his hand, and he didn't say a word as he passed by Link. Link was too confused by this sudden action to respond.

Ouhon stopped his horse just in front of Link's unit. He looked over them all. Then he breathed in, paused, and breathed out.

"ATTENTION!" Ouhon barked.

His voice brooked no argument and bore the full authority and weight of the Mitagi. At once, every soldier in Link's unit snapped into attention with their hands locked at their sides and their feet pressed together. He demanded such authority that even Kyo Gai found himself standing at attention, shocked by the weight of the man's voice.

"Now do you understand?" Ouhon asked.

Ouhon turned his horse around to leave, but Link put his spear out to block the horse. Link was calm, dangerously so. He shook in self-restraint. Before, his fury had been hot like Ganondorf. Now, he felt it was cold and decisive like Zelda. He glared at the older teen.

"I've reached my limit," Link whispered. "Get off your horse now and apologize. Otherwise, I'll drag you off myself."

Ouhon chuckled. "I think not. Incidentally, I have some words for you personally. You've been bragging about becoming a general, despite being just a lowly servant, and this has reached my ears. You should know that right now there are numerous war officers from noble families. Every one of them bears impeccable pedigree and talent." Ouhon knew that at this point Link wouldn't understand many of the words he used. "And with every one of us aiming for the seat of a general, there is an intense competition. Incidentally, there is not even the tiniest speck of room in that struggle for a roadside weed like you. At best, you will stop at a thousand-man commander. You have probably only come this far because you and the princess are... what word can you understand? Cozy."

"And that's my limit," Link whispered to himself as he snapped.

Link activated his Gift and charged at Ouhon. To his surprise, Ouhon brought his spear up and pointed at Link. Link tried to avoid it, but the spear seemed to twist, coil, and move like a snake to find him. In impossible time, the spear impaled his chest.

To the men around them, the movement was too fast to see, but they all saw the impaled victim afterwards.

"LINK!" Hei yelled.

"Don't." Solitare put a hand out to stop him.

"But-"

"It was a reverse thrust."

Link fell back. The spear of Naryu clattered onto the ground by him. There was no wound on him, but from the deep black mark now on his chest, he would have a massive bruise to deal with. Ouhon had spun his spear around to the blunt end and hit him with it. Link looked up in awe. This was now the second time Ouhon had kept up with his Gift.

"You have always been an eyesore," Ouhon drawled. "Your talent... or lack of... is wasted on your weapon." He spun his spear around to its proper position. "When it comes to people like you with more gusto than brains, one must clearly demonstrate the difference in strength to them... and the difference in status. Remember this well, Link. I am Ouhon Mitagi, son of Ouson Mitagi, heir to the Mitagi house. I am of the main branch. I will surpass Ouki Mitagi, of whom you seem to love so dearly, and reclaim our tarnished honor from that traitor."

With no more words to say, Ouhon Mitagi turned his horse, rejoined his unit, and departed.

Link gasped for breath. His chest was horribly bruised and he had no doubt a rib needed to be popped back into place. He turned over onto his hands and legs and with his face to the dirt, he screamed in frustration.

-That night-

Hei yelled and kicked over a barrel. "Who the hell is an ant!? That bastard!"

The atmosphere was particularly dim in the camp. Link hadn't said a word since the exchange with Ouhon. He only stared at the campfire.

"We couldn't argue with it," Link heard his men.

"With just one shout, that man made us salute him." Another replied.

Even the usually positive and relaxed Kyo Gai was down. He chuckled lowly, amazed by what happened. "We sure got shown. It's been a while since I got reminded of the difference between us peasants and the noble caste soldiers... The insurmountable wall between us is as great as Genyuu Pass."

The fire crackled on into the night. Still, Link said nothing as the men talked around him. Usually, the evening atmosphere was lively and fun, but tonight, everyone's shoulder was bowed.

One young man named Kou, the son of a lower scribe, sighed. "But y'know, he looked pretty cool."

Hei growled and put Kou into a headlock. "WHADDYA SAY YA LITTLE RUNT?!"

"Drop it, Hei," Link muttered.

Hei hesitated, but released the boy and returned to sitting on a log. It was the first thing Link had said all night.

"He's just being honest," Link said. "It's true. Those guys looked pretty cool with their shiny armor and big spears. Right, Kou?"

Kou hesitated at suddenly finding himself as the center of attention. "Y-yeah."

"Do you wanna be like them?" Link asked.

"Well, yeah. B-but! I'm just a peasant. We all are. We are in the peasant caste."

"So what?" Link asked. His voice rose and gained strength. "All you need to do is score something worthy of reputation, something to garner the attention of some noble, then you can become one of the soldier castes too!"

Kou chuckled and smiled. "Well, if you put it like that..."

Link rose to his feet. He looked down at the fire and scoffed. "We've come too far for you to start bringing up this stupid wall crap, Kyo. That's nothing but an excuse."

"Pardon?" Kyo asked.

"At the end of the day, all that happened was we got pressured. Here we are, losing our will to fight and press on just because someone landed a solid blow on us. That's all there is to it. This isn't a joke, either!" Link yelled loudly at the questioning stares he received. "I don't give a shit if Ouhon's a blood relative of General Ouki! There's no way we'll just stay quiet after that! It's our turn to hit them back! We're gonna make them pay for this humiliation!"

Link's men stood and roared as loudly as he did.

"B-but fighting allies is a crime," Kou whispered among the yelling men.

"Idiot, he's talking about taking credit before they can," Hei smirked. "I knew he wouldn't stay down for long."

Solitare and Kyo Gai stepped forward into the light of the fire with Link.

Kyo Gai asked, "How are we going to achieve that? Their unit is made up entirely of cavalry. We can't keep up with that kind of speed and power. We will need a plan."

"What's the one thing we have that they don't?" Link asked.

Solitare started to answer but stopped. She saw the bright glint in his eyes. Link wasn't asking to learn an answer, but because he already had a plan. She chuckled quietly as Kyo Gai had to think about it.

"It's something I saw a particularly annoying man of Ki do. We're a peasant army, that is our advantage here," Link answered. "Look around you: we are filthy. We were born in the dirt!" Link held in fist in front of him. "So let's use that."

-A Few Days Later-

A Qin unit fought with Lorule and was subsequently destroyed. A few stragglers fled, but the battlefield was a graveyard for most of the soldiers. Wolves and birds feasted on dead flesh for scraps. A new Lorule unit entered the valley shortly after in search of Qin to kill. The wolves scattered. Men looted their fellow fighters' bodies as they passed, stealing a rupee purse or picking up scattered weapons and gear.

The Lorule vanguard passed into Qin. The second part of the unit pitched its tents on the hill, overlooking their coming battlefield and grave.

A Qin unit marched to quell them, and the two fought.

It was at this time that the Lorule command found a second army around them, as many of the old corpses rose and collapsed onto Lorule soldiers.

Fearing the undead threat, the Lorule army waved flags to signal a retreat and fled.

During the retreat, Ouhon Mitagi's cavalry unit pierced through the Lorule frontline, slew the local officer, and continued quickly up the hill towards the command structure. Except they stopped as they reached the peak. The tents were torn, the flags were collapsed, the enemy tied up or dead, and all around, Link's unit stood in wait. It was Link's unit waving the flag of retreat for the Lorule.

"Nice of you to finally show up," Link said with a smirk from where he sat above the commander's tent. "Not bad for a bunch of peasants, eh?"