Chapter One: Training

Link hovered somewhere between fantasy and reality. He was not yet awake, but he was not quite asleep either. Rather, he existed somewhere in the middle, observing his surrounding yet being completely oblivious to them. He heard the sound of running water, like the flow of a river; his bed felt unusually rock hard. He vaguely heard something like talking. A swift kick to his ribs jerked him awake.

The Hylain bolted upright, grabbing the nearest thing he could find in self-defense – a medium-sized rock. He glared into a pair of warm hazel eyes. "Boy, if you have reflexes that fast you should not be such a heavy sleeper," Rusl said, smirking.

Link groaned, rubbing his sore side. His smoky, cobalt blue eyes surveyed his surroundings. He was in a cave near the Ordona Spring; he had heard the water in his sleep, but for some reason had chosen to ignore it. How did he get here?

Rusl smiled, clearly amused by Link's confusion. "How did I get out here?" the Hylian finally asked.

"How do you think, boy? I carried you out here after you wouldn't wake up."

"All by yourself?" Link asked, not believing.

"Aryll was a great help," Rusl said with a shrug.

Link sighed. Of course his little sister would help Rusl abduct him from his own house. "Why?"

"Why would Aryll help? I don't know." Rusl grinned.

"Why am I out here?"

"Don't play daft boy. You know full well why."

"I told you I planned on enjoying my day off for once."

"Do I look like I care, boy? You want to be a better swordsman, right?"

Link glared at him. "Fine, Rusl."

"Good, now come with me," Rusl said, staring to walk out of the cave.

"What about breakfast?"

Rusl glanced over his shoulder. "You should have woken up earlier." Link groaned.

--

Link pressed his back flat against a tree trunk, concealed in the thick foliage. Rusl had the Hylian working on using his surroundings to his advantage. Right now, Link was working on staying hidden.

The middle-aged swordsman came into view. Link held his breath, remaining absolutely still. His cobalt blue eyes tracked Rusl's movements carefully. He moved slightly to place his hand on the hilt of his dull, metal practice sword. Hopefully the rustle sounded only like a squirrel moving in the trees.

Rusl bent down to pick on a smooth stone. "Boy, you'll have to better than that," Rusl said, throwing the stone straight towards Link. The Hylian ducked to avoid the rock, giving away his position in the process. Link quickly descended the tree, parrying Rusl's attack.

Rusl forced Link back towards a tree. "What is the point of this training? Think, boy." Link tripped backwards over a tree root, landing hard on his back. He grabbed a handful of dirt, and threw it into Rusl's face. The swordsman backed off, rubbing his eyes. "You're learning," he muttered.

Link moved in, taking advantage of Rusl's disadvantage. The swordsman quickly recovered though, and parried Link's attacks. Once again he began maneuvering Link towards the trees. Link tried to stay in the clearing, but found it increasingly harder. However, he soon began gaining ground; the Hylian began forcing Rusl back towards a tree. He thrust his sword forward. Rusl sidestepped and looked amused as Link's sword got stuck in the tree. He swung his own sword at Link. The Hylian leapt out of the range of Rusl's attack, but was now weaponless. Rusl pressed forward, increasing the distant between Link and the Hylian's sword.

"Stand your ground and fight me," Rusl said, preventing Link from retrieving his weapon.

"I don't have a weapon."

"Improvise." Rusl's sword came flying down toward Link's head. The Hylian rolled out of the way, picking up a large branch to use as a makeshift weapon. He parried Rusl's next attack, but the sword slicked into the branch. A normal sword would have swept clean through the wood, but the dulled practice blade Rusl wielded only took a chunk out. "come on boy you can do better than that. Put some effort into it."

Link gritted his teeth and swung the branch in his hands. Rusl easily parried the attack, knocking Link's makeshift weapon out of his hands easily. His dull practice blade struck Link hard in the collar bone. The Hylian cried in pain, stumbling backwards.

"I think that's enough torture for today. You are going to have to learn how to manipulate your surroundings better, Link." Link just glared at Rusl as he moved. "Don't blame me for your bruises, boy. You'll have to get better if you with to avoid more bruises."

Link sighed. "I know, Rusl. You don't have to remind me."

"Hey cheer up; you're better than a lot of soldiers I've met. At least you understood the gist oof this exercise. You'll just need more training."

"You're done?" a disappointed voice asked.

"Sorry Darin," Link said with a smile. "Should've woken up earlier."

The boy who entered the clearing was about Link's age. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and muscular with short brown hair and brown eyes. Darin glowered at Link. "I have been up since dawn, which is much earlier than you were. I saw Rusl and Aryll drag you outside still asleep. My mother has had Caleb and me cleaning up the house for Artur. He's the youngest one of us and Mother makes the biggest deal out of him.

"You should be proud of your brother," Rusl said. "It is an honor to study in Hyrule Castle Town."

"I know, I know," Darin said. "Sure, I'm glad for Artur; I just think my morther is making too big a deal about his return home."

Rusl smiled. "Well it will be nice to see Artur again. Ordon is not as interesting with only two of the triplets here. But I suppose once Artur arrives, the three of you and Link will once again casue trouble. Artur was always the 'brains' of your operations."

"Come on Rusl, we're way too old for such childish pranks," Link said.

"You four were the biggest troublemakers in the village," Rusl said. "Don't tell me you've changed."

Darin and Link just smiled.

Rusl sighed. "When is Artur supposed to arrive?"

"Probably less than an hour. I came here hoping to join the end of your practice. But now you're done."

"I'm sure your mother doesn't want you to get all sweaty before you go to meet your brother."

Darin shrugged. "I don't think she'll mind… that much."

"I think she will," a voice replied. A boy who closely resembled Darin, but less muscular with longer hair and beech-leaf green eyes came up behind Rusl. "Darin, Mother wants us home right now."

"At least I was doing something productive, Caleb."

"So was I."

"Flirting with Ilia."

Caleb turned a bright shade of red. "I was just having a pleasant conversation with her."

"Right. You were both blushing, and avoided eye contact at all costs."

"Intriguing," Rusl said. "Does Bo know that you like Ilia?"

"Why are you automatically assuming that I like her?"

"I think you make it obvious," Link said with a grin.

Caleb sighed. "Alright, I like her. No, Bo does not know. End of story. Happy?"

"Caleb, Bo is going to kill you."

"Thanks for the encouragement, Darin. Thanks a lot."

"The two of you better get back before your mother kills you," Rusl said.

"Yeah, yeah," Darin replied.

Caleb looked out over Ordona Spring. "What is that?" he asked.

Link turned around as a golden light crashed into him. He felt a powerful source of energy course through him. He vaguely heard Darin and Caleb calling his name in shock. His dusky blue eyes closed, and he crumpled to the ground unconscious.

--

Author's note: Okay, hope everyone liked the story. Now for the description of the new characters.

Link: Okay we all know who Link is. Link is a goat herder from Ordon who is skilled in sword craft and horsemanship. He studies under the village smith, Rusl and is extremely helpful. The kids in the village adore him and he is their unspoken leader. His father died before Aryll was born, and his mother died shortly after Aryll was born so the villagers helped raise the two children.

Rusl: The village smith in the village of Ordon. Rusl briefly served as a soldier in Hyrule Castle, but after an injury to his leg, he decided to retire his career as a fighter early, and moved back to his childhood home where he married Uli. They have one son, Colin, and Uli is about four or five months pregnant with their second child.

Darin: the "strong" triplet. Darin is cocky, stubborn, but loyal. He is a childhood friend of Link, and also the triplet with the lowest intelligence. (He's not stupid, but Caleb and Artur are smarter than him.) He also scoffs the idea of female fighters (which will cause problems in the beginning.) He is Rusl's apprentice in both sword and blacksmithing.

Caleb: the "handsome" triplet. Caleb is an unquestionable flirt, and the most handsome of the three triplets. (they are not identical triplets, but do strongly resemble each other.) Caleb is fast, well-balanced and unmatched in archery (at least in Ordon.) He is one of Link's childhood friends.

Artur: the "smart" triplet. Artur was a frail child who often suffered from the shortness of breath. (Okay, so basically he has asthma, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't called asthma back then, so we will call it 'shortness of breath.' He still has occasional attacks.) Because of this, he chose to become a scholar instead of a warrior. As smart as he is, Artur is also easily frightened, and definitely not a leader.