I try to look confident as I am teleported to the stage. My first brawl in the whole tournament. I'm facing another newcomer. What was his name again?

Oh, Grizzly. That's his name.

The stage I'm on seems pretty basic. I think it's the same one I saw Mario and Kirby fight on. On the other end of the stage is my opponent, Grizzly. From what I can see, he's a brunet, and his weapon is a... Pencil?

3!

I jump as the loud voice starts to count down, unsheathing my sword.

2!

Grizzly uses his pencil to draw something into the air before it morphes into some type of wand.

1!

GO!

I immediately rush towards him, ready to strike.

But Grizzly waves his hand holding the wand a bit aggressively, some type of blue projectile being shot towards me. It makes contact, throwing me back a little.

Regaining my balance, I look up to see a sword in his hand, lunging at me. I roll in the opposite direction, doding the attack. I swing my sword at him, hitting him and making him fall forward.

I look around me, spotting a piece of food behind me. I rush over to it and eat it quickly, assuming I need any health I could get.

I immediately feel a strike on my back, which knocks me away. Not a good idea to look away, huh?

Getting up, I whip out my bow and arrow and quickly aim it towards him and fire.

Grizzly gets hit back a little, but what caught his eyes was a Bom-Omb. He picks it up and hurls it at me.

I try to jump away, but it manages to hit me, knocking me off of the stage. I hook onto the edge, but before I could get back up, something painful hits me, causing me to let go and drop like a rock.

GAME!

I find myself on my bottom back at the teleporters.

I lost. Awesome.

Grizzly walks past me, looking unaffected by the fact that he just beat me that quick.

"Good match!" I call after him.

He didn't look back.

...

"Eyes on me." Link catches my attention back from the item I was going for.

I asked Link if he could help me train for future brawls. After that loss with Grizzly, I knew I never wanted to be in a match that quick and lose.

The training room is a huge- and I mean huge- room. One part has these punching bag things with eyes so brawlers could practice on them. The rest of the room is divided by white lines, and in those spaces are where brawlers can practice with each other.

Link charges at me, taking a swing at me.

Remebering what he had said about a situation about this earlier, I use the bubble shield quickly to roll past him. I take a hit at his back, making him stumble forward.

The blond looks back at me, smiling and giving me a thumbs up. He's not much of a talker, especially when he's in battle.

I grin at the approval, basking in the glory. My gaze wanders, and I notice someone hitting at the punching bags.

Oh, it's Grizzly. Now he's wielding what looks like a battle axe that someone with his skinny build could hold.

I guess I was distracted too long, because soon enough I feel something hit my side, knocking me back a little. An arrow.

Link is smirking, seeming to be happy with himself as he casually flips the bow around in his hand.

I couldn't help but smile at him. Unsheathing my sword, I throw myself at him, swinging at him.

Thinking quick, he takes out his own sword again and parries my hit.

...

After finishing up with Link and thanking him for helping me, I decide to congratulate Grizzly. Seeing as he is resting now anyway.

I walk over to him, smiling at him once I got there.

OK. Don't stutter. You have the Triforce of Courage for a reason.

"H-Hi!"

Nailed it.

"Hi." Grizzly replies, his tone indifferent.

"I just wanted to-to say congrats for winning back there." I explain, trying to keep my voice from shying away.

"Thanks." His tone is dull, holding little emotion.

"My name's Jasmine, by the way."

"I know."

Silence fills the air around us. He's just... Dull. Like he doesn't want to talk to me.

"I'll... See you later then." I mumble awkwardly before walking away.

Maybe he's just shy like me? Or he just doesn't like me?

...I'll find out.

...

-LLB