Yesterday he'd given the jewel back to the woman. She'd smiled and thanked him with all her heart. Now he was wandering around Castle Town Plaza, in his own world. He had a day off from the Academy, he used it to brush off his training techniques. He was getting pretty good at the sword spin, but he often got dizzy so he kept practising and practising. Everyone said he was a natural at fighting, but sometimes he didn't know if that was good or not. His life had changed a lot since he'd been small. He regretted all of it, telling himself that he could have saved the first man and that he could have rescued the little girl. It was too late now though, he had to put it behind him, but it was hard. He was always lingering on the past and not really thinking about the future. He did think about it sometimes, about how he was going to become a worthy knight, worthy of protecting Hyrule and its Princess. Princess Zelda... He'd seen her a few times, when she was testing the older pupils of the Academy. One day, when he was old enough and he advanced into the next class, she would test him. Her Royal Highness was also gifted with a sword. She'd learnt how to fight when she was very young, so she had been qualified as good enough to be able to train the 'Soon To Be Knights'. She was the same age as him, but she seemed very mature, too mature for her age. He rarely saw her smile. She looked like she had missed out on her childhood...

He came round to the Market Place in Hyrule. He often sold food for people and then brought them the money. Today, he was just going to shop and view the different items for himself. It felt good not having the burden of a lot of thoughts and problems on his shoulders. Villagers often came to talk to him if they had any worries. They trusted Link more than they trusted the actual qualified Knights. He felt honoured by their attention, but sometimes, he wished that he could be left alone for a few minutes. Today was that day. He could do whatever he wanted to, and no one could stop him. Unless an emergency Academy lesson was called, then he would have to attend.

His eyes glimmered as he spotted a fresh green pear, he'd been looking for a perfect one for a long long time. Another task he'd accepted. He looked at the price and sighed, it cost too much for him. But he couldn't just disappoint the villager who had been looking for one ever since his mother's death.

"Excuse me, Sir, is there anyway you could make that pear cheaper?" Link had walked over to the stall and had kindly asked the man whether or not he could lower the price.

"No can do I'm afraid, this is high quality pear." The shopkeeper saw Link's frown and quickly thought of a deal. "Tell you what, you get the woman from the stall over there to come talk to me and I'll give you that pear for free." Link beamed at the deal, he shook hands with the man and went over to the neighbouring stall. This one was made of newly cut brass and sold different kinds of sand. These pouches of sand were surely very expensive. The woman behind the stall had dark brown hair and brown eyes. She looked very comfortable with what she was doing. She was explaining every functionality of the Blue Sand. Link waited until the customer was gone before leaning over the counter and calling for her attention.

"Excuse me ma'am, do you mind going over to see the kind Sir who is selling a variety of fruit and vegetables? He wants to talk to you." The woman frowned and told the boy that she had no interest as to what the man had to say, that he was in love with her but she did not feel the same way. Link frowned and told her it was okay. The woman called him back right before he was out of earshot,

"Wait! Why didn't he come over to ask me himself?" Link answered her and told her about the deal he'd made with the man about the pear and it being too expensive. The woman with the brown eyes felt bad for him so she gave him all the money for the pear. Link smiled and told her that he was very grateful for her generosity. He walked back over to the man and gave him the money. He sighed and gave the pear to the eager young man.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't get her to come over... I really am." The old man smiled at him and replied in a sad voice,

"Don't worry yourself none about that. We're just two old ants who always bicker about everything. I'll get her to come and talk to me one day." The old man smiled at the young youth as he thanked him again and walked away.

Link felt rather awful for the old shopkeeper, he hadn't managed to keep with the deal. He wanted to help but he thought better. The old man would surely manage to whoo the woman into his loving arms.

Link walked over to a little house on the far side of Hyrule Field. The man who'd ordered the pear was a renown hunter, always on the demand for new animals and new products. He rather liked Link, but was going a bit crazy after the passing of his dear old mother. Sometimes, when Link stayed with him to keep him company, he'd start wailing about how he'd seen his mother being stabbed before his very eyes, which wasn't the case. His mother had died of an illness a few months ago in her bed. He hadn't gotten over it, but he was slowly losing consciousness over his actions. Instead of stabbing the rabbit that was lying on the ground, he'd stab the grass around him, before cursing at his mother's murderer.

He reached the door and shook the doorknob, alerting the man that he was here. He rarely had any visitors so it always took him awhile to answer the door. The house was made of polished bricks and windows with no glass. The slots had been made to put the windows in, but the man had preferred to keep it like that. He said he wanted nature to come in whenever it felt like it.

When he'd finally answered the door, he looked up at Link, who was taller than him, and gave him a hug. Something he always did.

"Aah! Link! You're here! You've come to see your friend, haven't you?" The man beamed at his only friend, who stood only centimetres away."Actually... I've come to give you the pear you badly wanted." Link took it out of his satchel and handed it to the man. When the man had grasped it, he smiled and started laughing like a maniac whilst jumping around and turning in circles.

"Thank you Link! You've made this wrinkly old hunter proud! Thank you" He gave Link another warm hug before going deep into his house, still laughing and jumping around before telling Link he could leave.

Link silently left and walked back to Castle Town. It was getting late and he needed a good rest before the Academy started up again the next day. He walked back to his house, right before he got to the door, someone came and grabbed him by the shirt.

"Link! Come on! The Princess is making an announcement!" Link trudged along until he could properly get back onto his feet. He ran alongside Fado who had grabbed him by the sleeve and tugged him along behind him. They got to the Central Square and saw Princess Zelda standing on the steps leading to the castle, she was escorted by two knights who seemed very serious about their job.

Princess Zelda looked around at the villagers and noticed the new arrivals, one had gone back to get his friend. She found his friend quite handsome, with his blonde hair and blue eyes. She got lost in thought before she was gently nudged in the hip by one of her knights. She cleared her throat and began talking in a loud, clear voice.

"People of Hyrule, I thank you for freeing your busy schedules to hear this important announcement." She quickly glanced at Link before averting her gaze back to the waiting crowd. "I have planned a Royal Ball for all the villagers of Hyrule, celebrating the fact that all the knights have come back victorious from a war with the Dark Forces. This Ball is also a training assignment for a select few young soon to be knights. They shall be given the job of securing the perimeter and guarding the ballroom itself. Anyone can attend and bring their own food as well." The Princess kept giving out more information and details about this event. A Royal Ball was quite rare and it was even less likely that the villagers of Hyrule would be given the pleasure of attending. Link badly wanted to be chosen to protect the Ball because it would give him the chance to prove that he could move on to the next class. The next thing the Princess announced were the names of the boys and men who would be picked to protect the Ball. She took out a parchment and started reading out the names. He knew all of them and generally felt happy for them. Link had lost all hope when she got to the bottom of the list when she called out his name,

"Link, who will be guarding the ballroom itself." She rolled up the parchment and told the knights to come up so that everybody could see them. She watched Link come up before the crowd burst into a series of applause, to encourage them. After a few moments, the crowd calmed down and the Princess told them that that was all and they could go back to their usual lives.

Zelda hesitated before walking up to Link before he could disappear out of sight. She touched him gently on the shoulder before speaking,

"Excuse me, do you think you could follow me to somewhere more private? I need to talk to you."