A/N: Idea belongs to my friend, JonasGirl80. Check out the original fic, The Master School of Gifted Arts, and comment. Thanks!
….
Weak winter sunlight streamed through the open window, barely warming the cold room. The hero of time stretched and rose from his bed. Scowling, he went to close the drapes over the window, making the room darker. Since he'd gotten back from his adventure four months ago, he'd grown a bit lazy, and the village life was slow enough already to him.
link lied back down on his bed, thinking about what he'd have to do today.
'First,' he thought, ' I'll go buy some milk and cheese from Sara's shop for breakfast. Then I'll go fishing for lunch, and maybe hang out those kids. After that I'll go take Epona for a walk around Hyrule field and feed her something nice. Then I'll help Fado with the goats. Then...'
The hero sighed. Then he'd go home, go to bed and repeat. It was the same routine EVERY SINGLE DAY. He was close to his breaking point.
Sighing once more, Link got out of his bed and went to his closet. He pulled out an outfit he'd bought from a clothes store in Castle Town; black pants and a slightly starchy white long sleeve shirt. He quickly put them on and shoved his feet into his brown boots. on any other day, he wouldn't have, but since it was cold and windy outside, he put on his signature Hero's hat.
Link couldn't make himself wear the clothes he once had in Ordon. They didn't feel right anymore. To him, NOTHING in Ordon felt right anymore, but he sucked it up and climbed down his ladder. He opened the door of his tree house and jumped down, and on his way to the gates to the village, he patted Epona's nose, getting an affectionate snort from his beloved horse.
Once inside the village, Link went straight to Sara's shop. His stomach was rumbling in hunger.
"Good Mornin', m'dear!" Sara greeted him as he walked inside. Link smiled and nodded politely. Sara's cat was eating a fresh fish on the countertop, and Link wondered for the umpteenth time if the cat was part of that little organization of cats in front of a certain house in Castle Town.
"So what'll it be m'dear? I don't suppose you came just to chat," Sara said, leaning over the counter. Link walked up.
"D-do you have any seese, I mean cheese?" Link asked quietly, cursing himself over his speech problems that had come after he'd taken a jaw breaking blow from a monster on his adventure. He'd recovered, but now he was always stuttering, mixing words up, and just saying them wrong. So, he tried, usually successfully, to not talk unless he needed to.
Sara chuckled.
"Yes I do m'dear. Would you like some milk to go with it?" she asked so he wouldn't have to. A grateful link nodded and handed her an empty bottle.
"Fifteen rupees, m'dear," Sara said, and went to the back to get the cheese. Then she reached for the milk on the shelf behind the counter and poured Link a glass full. Sara wrapped the cheese in a preservative cloth and put the cork on the bottle. Link's breakfast.
The Hero took out his wallet, which had about four or five hundred rupees in it. He handed Sara fifteen, and grabbed his breakfast.
"Th-thanks, Sara," he stuttered with a smile.
"Have a good day, boy!" she said as she petted her cat.
Outside, Link sat on a rock close to the shop. he unfolded the cloth holding the cheese, picked it up, and took a few bites. Ordon cheese, to him, was one of the best tasting things in all of Hyrule, no matter how often he ate it. He saved a bit of the cheese so he could add it to a soup Yeto, the yetti from Snowpeak, had taught him to make.
He quickly drank the milk and then walked over to the lake to rinse it out. Link was still a bit hungry, but he'd learned to deal with it. he put his bottle into his magic carrying bag.
Then, the Ordonian children came running towards him, enormous smiles plastered on their faces. Talo had his hands behind his back.
"Link! Link!" they cried. Link smiled. These kids were always able to cheer him up, not that he was sad or upset now. The four children came to an abrupt stop in front of the Hero.
"Link, we got a present for you!" Beth said excitedly.
"Ok, what is it then?" he asked. Malo shook his head.
"Close your eyes, and put out your hands," he said.
Link obeyed. Then he felt something drop into his hands.
"Open your eyes!" shouted one of the children.
He opened them to find a dagger about eight or nine inch long in his hands, inside of a small scabbard. Link unsheathed it to find gleaming silver blade, with a black-and-gold, leather wrapped handle. On the bottom of the handle was a small triforce that rose up almost like a button. The names of all three of the Hylian goddesses were etched into the blade in small, thin letters.
"Whoa, guys. Tis, THIS, sorry, must've cost a fortune!" Link said, still admiring it.
"Well, first, the craftsman said that it was not for sale. but then we begged and begged, and he asked us who we were getting it for. When we told him it was for you, he gave it to us for only ten rupees!" Talo exclaimed. That made Link a little uncertain, but he dropped the dagger in his bag of holding anyway.
"Thanks, guys," Link said, smiling again. The children ran off to play together, but Colin stayed behind.
"Link?" he asked, staring at his feet.
"Hm?" link said, a word he couldn't mess up.
"Um, well, when we were about to leave the shop, I realized that I left a small box of sweets I'd bought for my family on the counter. I went back by myself to pick it up, but then I heard the craftsman muttering to himself, saying that 'the dagger will finally be in the right hands,' and that 'the goddesses would be happy with him.' I got a little scared, but I decided I should let you know. but, the man was very kind and old," Colin ran off without bothering to get a reply. Link was a bit stunned, but decided to let it pass and walked over to the lake.
Smirking for no reason at himself, Link pulled a fishing rod out of his bag, and cast the line into the water. The rod had a coral earring for a hook, a gift from the prince of Zoras, Ralis.
After waiting a moment, Link felt a tug on the line. He quickly began reeling it in and soon found that he'd caught a fourteen inch Ordonian catfish. He smiled. He could probably have lunch AND dinner off of this fish. After putting the large fish in a bottle full of water, he went over to a pumpkin patch. He picked up a decent sized pumpkin, and started towards his house. He climbed up the ladder and walked to the pot of boiling water. Link pulled a bucket off a drawer and began skinning, de-boning, and de-gutting the fish, letting the unwanted parts drop into the bucket. Then he cut the fish up, and put the pieces in the pot. Link scrapped the seeds and goop from the pumpkin, sliced it up, and dropped that in too. Finally, the Hero cut up the delicious Ordon cheese and added it to the soup. He began stirring it and adding a few spices he had around his kitchen that were requiered to make the soup. When he was finished stirring, he left the soup to boil and cook and went back outside.
Link mounted Epona and snapped the reins. They headed towards Hyrule Field for their daily walk.
No matter how many times Link came for a walk in the field, he always expected a monster of some type to be wandering around or try to attack him. Head down, the hero let his horse move about. As the two were about to leave the field, Link suddenly heard, " Mr. Link! WAAAAIT!" The hero cringed as the mailman walked up to him in his outragiously short shorts.
"I have a letter for you sir! TWO letters, in fact!" The mailman pulled two envelopes from his bag and handed them to Link, who managed a smile. The mailman saluted and took off.
Both of the envelopes had an air of importance around them; one was stamped with the Triforce, obviously from Zelda. The other was stamped with a symbol he didn't reconize; a circle with with a plus sign cutting through it on the left side. He decided to read the letter with the odd stamp first. He unfolded it and read,
'Dear Mr. Link,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been invited to attend the Master School of Gifted Arts. Here, you will be trained along with several other students, all at a variety of ages. You will have a several different classes, each revolving around a particular skill. This is a dorm school, so please remember that you are required to stay here at all times Monday to Friday. You may stay on Saturday and Sunday at the school and it's world, or you can return to your home in Hyrule. If you wish to join the school, on a scholarship, please go to Hyrule Field at seven p.m. tomorrow and wait for your escort. Thank you, and we hope to see you soon.
High Master Hand
Mr. C. Razy'
Link's eyes widened. Finally, a chance to get rid of this boring life! He was so excited that he nearly forgot about the other letter from the princess. He felt stupid; a letter from her was probably three times as important as the one for the school. He quickly opened it and pulled the letter out and read,
'Link,
I've recieved a letter about a school, and I wish to join. It has requested that I go to Hyrule Field at seven pm tomorrow, and I would very much like it if you would accompany me, in case anything goes wrong. Once I have left, please tell no one, and leave as if nothing has happened. Or, in the case you have been invited as well, please do accept. I have become tired of palace life, and will leave the role of ruler of Hyrule to my younger brother. I do hope to see you tomorrow.
Princess Zelda'
Her signature was at the bottom under her name. Now Link knew he was definatley going. Excited, he snapped the reins and rode home.
Inside of his house in the trees, Link rummaged through his closet and pulled out the Hero's Clothes and a couple other outfits he'd bought from Castle Town. He stuffed the clothes in a duffel bag. Then, he shoved the Hylian Shield into his magic bag of holding, and put the bag inside the duffle bag.
Sword, he thought. I need a sword.
He'd taken the Master Sword back to it's rightful place. He looked at the Ordon Sword hanging on the wall, bent and misshapen from it's many battles. The hero shook his head. He pulled out the dagger the kids had given him. It was about six inches long, but he could make it work.
Link carefully placed it in the bag, then went to pull something out from under his pillow; a shard from the Mirror. He'd kept it as a memory of his friend. He placed it inside a pocket on the bag, then zipped it up. He was ready for tomorrow evening's departure. Only one more thing to do. Tell the other villagers.
"Y-yeah, I've...I've decided to go," Link stuttered to the shocked villagers.
"Go? But you just came back!" exclaimed Colin.
"That's just it! It...it's just too slow here...I want back my life of exzitment," Link replied, not bothering to correct himself.
"No!" Ilia yelled. "You're not leaving me- I mean us- again! If you leave, I'm coming with you!" Ilia said, her arms crossed. Link sighed and tried not to roll his eyes.
"Ilia, I'm only seven-teen. I've got my entire life ahead of me, and I don't want to spend ALL of it here. I know that you like me, but I'm not looking for a relationship right now, and your not really my type. No offense, but you'd probably only drag my dreams down," Link didn't look at any of the others while he spoke.
He walked over to Colin, kneeled down on one knee, and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Will you take care of Epona while I'm gone?" the hero asked. Colin nodded his eyes full of tears. Link smiled and walked over to Talo. He pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to the boy. It was his slingshot.
"I'm telling you now Talo; SHARE. With your brother, Colin, and B-Beth, ok?" Talo nodded, though he still looked sad. Then he pulled a purple rupee from his wallet and handed it to Beth.
"Buy something nice from Castle Town, ok?" Beth, who was crying, nodded.
Then Link faced all of the villagers.
"Don't be too upset; I'll come back every other w-weekend!" It seemed to cheer them up a bit.
HYRULE FIELD-7 P.M.
Link was in his Hero's Clothes, bag in his hand, a quiver of arrows strapped to his back. A look of excitment was slightly evident on his face. Zelda had a bag with her as well, and was in her usual attire, minus the crown.
"So you were invited too?" Zelda asked, attempting to start a conversation.
Link nodded.
"I-I wonder why we were invited," Link said, then looked to the sky. Judging by the position of the sun, it was a little past seven; the escort should've been there by now.
"I don't even know what this school is for, but it seems interesting. The letter said we could come back every weekend, but I don't plan to," Zelda said simply.
"I don't want to either, but I don't want to make the kids in my village sad," Link murmured. Suddenly, the space in front of them began to shine. A red door appeared out of thin air. The door opened, and a boy with blue hair and clothes that the Hylians had never seen before, stepped out. He was about ten years old.
After looking around, the boy smiled, flashing white teeth, and extended a hand.
"Hi," he said. "I'm Ike, from the Master School of Gifted Arts. I'm here to pick you up." Link and Zelda ackwardly shook his hand.
"Just follow me. We'll be there soon, just hold a sec," Ike muttered, walking back to the door.
"What's a sec?" Zelda whispered to Link.
"I-It's short for a second," Link said, and walked over to where Ike was beckoning them.
The blue haired boy opened the door and pushed Link and Zelda through it and then went himself.
In just a second, Link was in an entirely different place. Before him stood a massive building, with an enormous fenced in field behing it. A flag on a pole was whipping in the wind, and starnge symbol on it; a circle with a plus sign cut out of it towards the left side. All in all, it was probably one of the best places Link had ever seen.
Behind him, was some kind of black road, with white and yellow lines on it. Link decided not to ask. Trees were abundant; they were everywhere, and there was even a forest, Link could see, behind the building.
"Welcome to the Master School of Gifted Arts. Come on, I'll take you to meet the principle," Ike said, and started up the stairs to the building, Link and Zelda not far behind.
....
"AAAIIEE!" Link screamed when he saw the huge gloved hands. They had no owner and were just floating. The hero stared wide eyed in shock.
The left hand groaned.
"Jesus, why do they always SCREAM?" The right hand smacked the left.
"Crazy! Most people aren't accustomed to seeing floating talking hands!" After scolding the left some more and forcing him to his room, the right hand turned to a frightened Link and Zelda, and a chuckling Ike.
"Ahem. Well then...Please excuse Crazy's behavior; he is, well, crazy. And Ike, thanks for picking these two up. You have all classes off tomorrow."
"Yes! I'll get to miss that guns test! Whoo!" Ike's fists shot into the air, and the younger teen walked off. The hand chuckled.
"I am Head Master Hand, principle of this school. Now, how old are you?"
"S-seventeen," Link stuttered.
"I am sixteen." Zelda said.
"Hmph. Well, that's certainly too old to start learning, isn't it? Can't fill a full cup, can we? I guess I'll just have to give you a backwards push," Master Hand muttered. Then he pointed at Link and Zelda with his pointer and middle fingers.
ZZZAAPP! A silver Ray emmited from each finger, hitting the Hylians.
For just a second, Link felt a burning sensation, and then he lost about a foot of his height.
"What just happened?!" exclaimed Link, staring at his small hands.
"I simply made you the right age for learning. Now here are your schedules," the floating hand handed a piece of paper to both of the gaping teens, now mere children. The teacher shooed them off.
His first day; a new school, a new place. Anything could happen.