The night was cold but calm. The fire in the common room was blazing, and many of the monastery younglings were wrapped up in blankets around the hearth, and the monks themselves on the chairs surrounding. All the attention was on a figure in the middle of the room, just to the side of the hearth. He was a tall man, with an aura of age that surpassed any in the room, even if his features would not place him older than 20. He had silver hair, and blue eyes, but the most noticeable feature of his face was the two red triangles that reached from below his eyes to his cheekbone. A clan symbol, he had passed them off as, but many thought they had a deeper meaning. His clothes were simple, designed for travel and a life on the roads, covered by a brown monk's robe.
"Come on, Brother Grey, tell us a story" a braver youngling spoke up to the Brother, begging for a story. For they had just had a feast on the return of the brother, who roamed the countrylands for stories and tales to relegate to the younglings.
"Okay, Okay, just settle down. Now, this is an old story, yet one that I can confirm to be truthful. You know that the goddesses were not always that, that they were once just normal people, just like you or me" he said this, looking around at the crowd, the enraptured faces handing on to his every work, even the older monks. "Well, this is a tale of them as people, way back in the ages of the yesteryear, the bygone era that provided us with a homeland and safety, with goddesses willing to protect us. This is a story of the origin of the Goddesses, when the land was recovering from a great war. The Kingdom of Arcadia had defeated the southern alliance, and to assure no more war, demanded that all rich or royal children of the age of 14 summers were to be sent to the Castle Arcadia, in the middle of Arcadian territory, to learn about the lands and to assure no more war."
"Our story begins as the last of three sisters, Farore, enters this system. Her other sisters had been causing a ruckus, and she was the easiest target for some to relieve stress and feelings of inferiority created by her elder sisters, Din and Nayru."
"Hand over all your rupees" Farore was confused. She had just arrived at the Castle, after many amazing stories from her sisters when they were home for the Yuletide, and had instantly been taken aside to this back alley, and assaulted by these burly boys. Both appeared to be experienced in combat, and as such, her limited martial prowess would be of little help here. They had tied her hands behind her back, so her magics could not help her either. Her worrying and the thug's rather dumb threatening were quelled with the sudden and unexplained presence of a sword at the neck of the lead thug. The intervening person was rather tall, and was cloaked with a plain brown robe. His presence suggested that you should listen to him. And the thugs did.
"Scram, and you will not become mincemeat." Whilst the descriptor was lost on the thugs, the intent was well delivered and struck the very core instinct of flight. After the thugs had left, the new man offered his hand to assist Farore to stand.
"Thank you for that, I was in a bit of a bind. May I ask the name of my gallant saviour?"
The man looked at her for a moment, and then replied. "I am Link Greywords. You look like Nayru, and so I think you must be Farore. It is a pleasure to meet you, but we best be getting to the registrar."
The two left the alleyway, and headed to the entry hall. The hall was deck out in luxury, clearly designed to impress the incoming youths, but also guarded with soldiers, fitted out in full plate mail, to reassure the parents that their heirs would be safe under the guard of Castle Arcadia. Farore's looks of awe and wonder were interrupted by a sharp tap on her shoulder. Link was gesturing to a corridor, off to the side of the hall, that most people their age were going down. The two of them went down this corridor, to a small assembly hall. Seeing a free space, with only one person in the row, Link led Farore to the chairs. A Burley man stopped them as they were about to sit down.
"This row is reserved for those of the first rank, only" there was a strong emphasis on only. Farore was confused as to what was meant by first rank, but by the clothes of those in the row, she assumed that it was the elite of the elite.
"Farore, come sit down already. It is good to see you here, but standing and gawking gives a bad first impression." Her sister, Nayru, was one of the people in the row. The guard stopped and let her pass. He continued to stare at Link, almost daring him to make a move. However, Link was not concentrating at the guard, rather over his shoulder. All attention had been drawn, as the guard turned around. Behind the guard was a regal woman, dressed in finery and brilliance. Her hair was a golden blond, her eyes dazzling emeralds that seemed to pierce your soul. However, the feature that all seemed to focus on automatically was the simple gold crown on her hair. This would mean nothing to severe, but the crown had a simple crystal in the centre. The assembled rich and important teens all bowed, almost synchronised, as the Crown Princess Arcadia entered the room.
Polite chatter filled the room, wondering of the connection between the Crown Princess and the seemingly plain teenager. When the hood was lowered, even more sound filled the room. The man was handsome. His Silver hair was down to his shoulders, shimmering in the sunlight. His blue eyes contrasted well, and his face seemed regal. But the most obvious feature was two triangles on his face. They were red, and reached to the middle of his cheek. Many of the present teens had been to the south during their childhood, and recognised the triangles as a mark of the highest clan of the Southern Alliance. Those who were in the know revealed to their friends that the length of the triangle indicated the standing in the clan, and that the length did not go longer than those that they could see. The general populace automatically framed these people as nerds, but did not dispute the information.
The chatter was quelled as a man, rather solidly set, but dressed in the robes of a scholar, entered and made his way to the podium.
"Alright, now. Everyone here is the richest, or most important of their area. This is ignored in here, however. Everyone here is the same level. Everyone is here to learn. And so, you will be placed in rooms in this wing. You are not to leave this wing, unless you are on holiday. You will have roommates. This is not up for negotiation. Tomorrow, you can choose what course you will be following, whether your interests lie in the martial or philosophical. Dismissed"
The clatter of teens left the room, passing a series of lists in alphabetical order, indicating where the people will be staying. Curiously absent from the list were the crescent sisters and the new child, Link.