A/N: ... WHY did I start a new story again? Oh yeah, because my friend and I played Super Smash Brothers Brawl today, and I felt compelled suddenly to bgin writing an SSBB FanFic despite all the other current projects I'm working on. That, and I always didn't exactly like how Zelda was portrayed- as a weak, damsel in distress, almost no better than Princess Peach! So I decided that this was also an opprotunity to do just that for a change.

And yes, this will have a lot of LoZ elements.

So, disclaimer, I don't own SSBB or LoZ, I wish I did.

Royal Brawler

Chapter 1: Runaway

Branches crackled, small rocks slipped and twigs snapped as the horse ran over them, disturbing nature in its wake. Atop that horse was a girl of seventeen, sweat beading on her cloak-covered forehead.

This girl was the Princess Zelda of Hyrule. It had been a few years since the events concerning the Ocarina of Time, and since then she had started taking fighting lessons to make sure the same thing didn't happen to her again. Zelda began to become a warrior at heart, but this didn't go well with her duties as a Princess.

"Your Highness, you must at least try to act like a lady!" said her maid, Elise, irritably. "You will not attract suitors if you continue this… this… this fighting!"

Zelda had found constant remarks like this increasing, and she had begun to be very annoyed by this. So finally, she couldn't take it anymore. She had to abandon her duties as a Princess. Zelda knew they'd go into a state of panic, but at the moment, she didn't care.

All that mattered was Link, the Hero of Time. He had gone some time ago, having received an invitation to fight in a famous rink- the Smash Arena.

The Smash Arena was a famous rink where the best of the best fighters in the world all came together and competed to see who could be called the best. Many spectators traveled just to see the competitors Brawl, despite the heavy price. To get in- Zelda tried not to think about how hard it would be to become a Brawler. All she knew was that the Smash Arena was her destination, and it was now her ambition to forget her troubles and be named a Brawler.

However, Zelda didn't leave completely unknown- she had left her handmaiden, Impa, with her location should she ever need her. Impa had protested at first, but Zelda had managed to convince her that Impa would do just fine without her and would hopefully be of help to Hyrule while Zelda was away for the time being.

Branches continued to lash out at her through the night, and Zelda's vision was beginning to fog up due to lack of sleep. Zelda felt her eyelids beginning to droop…

Zelda wasn't sure what made her snap awake suddenly, but she did, suddenly alert. She had to keep going, she wanted to get to the Smash Arena soon, get a good head start so that the guards and knights would have a hard time finding her. Zelda knew that the moment her maid discovered that her bedchamber was empty, that all of Hyrule would be sounded and suddenly on a mad alert for the lost Princess.

But once she thought of it, it would be wiser of her to get some rest, wouldn't it? It couldn't hurt, to just relax and fall asleep…

No. Zelda wouldn't have it, she had to keep going.

So for what seemed like eternity, Princess Zelda continued to ride on, wishing to find the Smash Arena and her friend Link soon.

A smile began to crawl on Zelda's face when her horse arrived at a small town at the dead of night. Her horse began to slow down to a trot and kicked dust in it's wake.

Zelda could barely see a misty outline of the town due to the time of day, but from what she could see even now, it was small, with numerous square-shaped buildings and a dusty road. Several buildings looked as if they were about to fall apart with one small cough from a fly, yet she could see a person or two wandering about, actually living here.

Zelda's blue eyes wandered aimlessly around the small, cramped town. Eventually she stumbled across a building and, if she squinted hard, Zelda could barely make out a rectangle sign reading, INN.

Zelda smiled lightly in relief as she swung her legs over and hopped down. Sure, she needed to get as far away from Hyrule as possible, but she had made great progress throughout the night. And dawn was beginning to edge its way closer and closer- she could feel it.

Zelda tethered the midnight-black horse to a pole and stroked the horse's mane afterwards. Zelda had to name it soon- the horse was deserving of it.

The Princess of Destiny thought about this for a moment, then smiled. "Twilight," she whispered softly.

The horse's head perked at the name, as if approving it.

Zelda's smile widened slightly. So Twilight was the horse's name.

She stroked Twilight's mane a little more. "Don't worry, I'll be back soon," soothed Zelda as if Twilight were crying. "Just try to get some sleep, okay?"

Twilight almost seemed like he was nodding, and immediately after that Twilight's eyelids dripped. Zelda could see Twilight's muscles relaxing as he slowly crumpled to the ground, exhausted.

Zelda watched Twilight with compassion. Twilight had done a great job tonight- he deserved the rest.

Zelda made sure that her black glove was firmly covering her Triforce Mark and pulled her hood over her head even more sharply, smoothing some auburn behind her shoulders even more. She could take no chances tonight.

Zelda heard the damp, wood door creak as she slowly pushed it open, alerting the attention of an innkeeper, faintly rousing. Zelda was greeted with the smell of rotten old wood.

Zelda rolled her back straight as she walked towards the innkeeper with quick steps. As she walked through the musty room, desperately trying to avoid the smell, her hand dug around in a rather large purple pouch for a moment before emerging with a few Rupees. Zelda wondered if the innkeeper would take them.

Zelda dumped the Rupees on the desk that supported the innkeeper's elbows. Judging from the way the lower half of the innkeeper's jaw drooped, this was more than normally expected.

Zelda dismissed this, though- the innkeeper probably needed it more than she did.

"A small room for one, please," Zelda requested. "For one night."

Still dazed by the money, the innkeeper meekly nodded before cupping the Rupees in his hand and pocketing them. In exchange, the innkeeper offered Zelda a small key that read Room 17 in cruelly inscribed letters.

After looking around the small inn for a moment, Zelda unlocked the room that had been offered to her- it looked like the rest of the inn, with a musty smell, peeling carpeting, a large mirror, two king-sized beds, a dresser, a book and a washbasin.

Zelda scrunched her nose upwards as she flipped her hood off her head and took a brief look in the mirror. Staring back at her was a tall, beautiful Princess of seventeen, with long, majestic auburn hair flowing down to her back, adorned with two small braids on either side of her face. Her forehead was below a gold tiara with a sapphire embedded in them, and her long, pointed ears stuck out wildly. Black gloves unveiled white, silk long ones that stretched past her elbow. She was wearing a long, flowing dress, the skirt white with a tapestry-shaped sash hanging down on it, bearing the Triforce Mark. The torso was colored a rich purple, and her shoulders were covered with golden armguards. A rich, golden necklace hung down at her neck and a sword, designed to be ceremonial but efficient enough in battle, hung at her side.

Zelda smiled at her appearance as she threw down her cloak. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply from her diaphragm, then swung her long arms around her body, and in turn felt hot energy gathering around her- magic. Zelda's ears twitched slightly when she heard a faint chime-like sound, then she felt the energy seep away.

Zelda opened her eyes, and the auburn Princess was no longer standing before her. Replacing her was a slim body in a light blue suit, patched up and bandaged in numerous places. At the chest was placed the Shiekah Symbol- a red eye with a teardrop hanging from it. Her fingers were wrapped around in various linen pieces, and a wrap was placed strategically around her mouth. Cold, blood-red eyes stared almost hauntingly back at her, and long blonde hair was braided. Bangs seeped out from under a linen headpiece.

Sheik.

Under the wrap, a smile curled slowly on Sheik's face. Sheik would use this ego when entering the Smash Arena- she knew they already weren't so keen to let a girl in, let alone a Princess. So the best she could do was disguise as Sheik, an alter-ego of hers that had come very useful while in hiding from Ganondorf for several years.

Despite herself, Sheik shivered when thinking about Ganondorf, the King of Evil. He had been merciless, at first disguising himself and playing along in the Hylian Court. But Sheik, as Zelda, had received dreams about Ganondorf's true intentions to take over Hyrule, and had been able to see through his ploy. But when she attempted to tell her father about this, he would not believe her. The only one Zelda had been able to trust in was in Link, a Kokiri boy she had happened to meet.

Eventually, Ganondorf had shown his true colors, killed the King of Hyrule, and had taken over her country. Because of this, with Impa's help, Zelda had taken on the ego of Sheik and dove undercover. For seven years she had been able to hide from Ganondorf's grasp while Link, apparently the Hero of Time, had slept dormant.

When Link finally awakened, Sheik had accompanied him to free the other Sages, eventually revealing her identity as Zelda to him. But not a moment after, Ganondorf had captured Zelda and whisked her away to his castle. Fortunately, Link had arrived, battled Ganondorf, freed Zelda and saved Hyrule from evil. To stop this all from happening, Zelda had used the Ocarina of Time afterwards to send Link back to his original time and make up for his seven lost years.

But Zelda had decided that she didn't want to be helpless again. So she had taken herself up to fighting while Link was away, which led up to this whole situation.

Sheik closed her eyes, swung her arms around again, and felt that same energy enclosing around her as it had for her earlier. When it faded, she saw Zelda portrayed in the mirror once more.

Zelda then quickly crossed to her bed, adorning the cloak on again and pulling the hood over her head- just in case. Zelda felt herself enveloped in the warmth of the blankets, smiling as she thought about what it would be like at the Smash Arena- and at the prospect of seeing Link again.

Slowly Zelda closed her eyes and quickly found herself surrendering to sleep.