A/N: Sorry this took so long, I was waiting on a beta who I am starting to think doesn't want to beta for me anymore... anyway, hope you enjoy!

* Chapter 2 *

"I said he's fine, just exhausted. Give him a few moments rest and he'll be right as rain." Link heard as he awoke in the medical ward. He saw the dingy gray canvas that told him he was in a tent, and felt the hard cot beneath him. He realized he was in the medical tent of the competition. Link looked right and saw that there were three beds between him and the entrance. There he knew that the entrance had a sub-room between the healing area and outside. He had assumed that the head healer was out there talking to Alaira. Link looked to his left and saw a healer pumping magic into his broken arm. The healer hadn't noticed that Link had awoken and continued her work until the bones started to reassemble in his arm. "AAAAAAAAHHHHH" Link screamed as the bones reformed and the skin contorted far past natural boundaries. His arm felt as hot as the lava from Death Mountain and pain sharper than the fabled Master Sword. The healer instantly stopped and looked Link in the eyes.

"You weren't supposed to be awake yet!" she exclaimed. "I'm so sorry! If I knew you weren't out I would have used a different method! I'm sorry!" she went on. Link had already calmed down and was moving his arm in wonder. He then realized that he had just screamed louder than he could recall in his life. Link quickly looked over at the entrance to the medical ward. He saw Alaira attempting to fight her way past the head healer's boundary spell as the healer next to him continued apologizing. Oh, Goddess, she's going to burn this tent to the ground if she can't get in here, Link chuckled to himself. Link looked at the distraught woman on his left and grabbed her hand reassuringly. She smiled at him then he let go and looked back over to the entrance. Link pointed at the doorway where Alaira was shouting obscenities and promising to brutally maim whomever had made Link scream like that. He gestured toward Alaira and looked back at the healer. She quickly stood up and walked over to the entrance. The healer spoke to the head healer and pointed from Alaira to Link and finally the head healer dropped the spell and let Alaira through.

Alaira rushed to Link's side leaving the healer in her wake. "Are you okay? I saw him break your arm! And you still won! How did you pull that off?"

Link stared blankly at her for a moment, smiled and stretched his left arm up and back.

Alaira laughed, "So your arm was fine the whole time? That was just a tactic you were using?"

Link gave her a quizzical look then pointed to the healer that fixed his arm. Alaira laughed again and punched his shoulder.

"Obviously I was kidding because that would be ridiculous," Alaira chuckled avoiding eye contact, and obviously lying. She looked up at him again and shouted, "Oh yeah! You beat the reigning champion! You've become the guy to beat! Everybody wants to be paired with you in the next round! Speaking of which the pairings should be up here soon!" Alaira shouted once again bouncing like a chuchu hit with a stick. Link looked at the healer who had caught back up in time to see Alaira punch his shoulder.

"Link is okay to leave, just try not to break that arm again. It was hard enough putting it back together this time. I can't guarantee that next time a healer would be able to find all the little pieces to put it back together..." She said. Alaira grabbed Link's hand and nearly yanked him off the cot and out the tent. Link barely had time to grab his sword as they made their exit.

They arrived at the pairing board before the second round was announced. Alaira sat on the ground just left of the pairing board and motioned for Link to take a seat next to her. Link sat on her left and looked at her expectantly.

"What?" Alaira asked noticing the look on Link's face.

Link just added a hint of a smile and brought his head slightly lower.

"Oh the competition and how I did. Riiight… Well first off the guy's name was Cleatus, so you should have known that I wouldn't have any trouble with him. He sort of beat himself. He started off thinking this was going to be an easy fight because I'm a girl, but I showed him!" She boasted raising her fist in emphasis. "So I did win and am moving on to the next round." As soon as she finished the pairing man returned to the board with the names of the contestants. "Ooo, I got Ankle Shanker!" Alaira exclaimed unable to contain her excitement. "And you got… Giant Slayer. I can't remember, is his name Giant Slayer because he killed a giant or because he is a giant who kills people?" Alaira asked.

"It depends on who you ask." Came an unknown voice. "But actually neither are true, I'm called Giant Slayer because I thought it was a cool name when I was first entering competitions." Giant Slayer answered while staring at the pairing board. "Oh, so I get to fight the man who beat the champion! This should be fun!" Giant Slayer said as he turned to walk to his arena. "Good luck in your match." He called over his shoulder at Alaira.

"Did you see the size of that guy? He had to be like seven feet tall. He was taller than King Daphnes himself! How did that guy not win last year?" Alaira shouted as she raised her hands to her face in disbelief.

He was pretty big, Link thought to himself, but big tends to be synonymous with slow.

"This doesn't look like an easy round Link," Alaira said as she shifted nervously, "I mean that Cletus guy, that's really fun to say, Cletus, you should try it," she looked at Link expectantly.

Link stared back unamused.

"Hey, you can't blame a girl for trying! Anyway, that Cletus guy had no idea what he was doing. I don't know whether to be pumped to be fighting someone with an actual name or nervous…"

Link's face broke into a reassuring smile.

"That's easy for you to say, well not exactly say but… signify? You really need to work on your communication skills… any way that's easy for you to say but you just beat the reigning champion. No one has beaten a reigning champion in the first round in hundreds of years!" Alaira ranted.

She continued as Link gently placed his hand on hers, and stared into her eyes. He smiled reassuringly once again and gave an indiscernible nod and Alaira stopped rambling.

She sighed, "You know I hate it when you do that right? But that doesn't mean you're not right. Getting nervous and blabbering won't help me prepare. Speaking of preparing, what happened to your shield? I just noticed that you don't have it."

Link chuckled a little bit as he made a crushing motion with his hands.

"YOU CRUSHED IT? HOW COULD THAT HAVE HELPED YOU? INTIMIDATION!?" she exclaimed in surprise. Then more quietly she said, "I hate to break it to you Link, but you aren't that intimidating. You're barely bigger than I am. And did you not notice that the guy you were fighting probably could have done the same thing with one hand?"

Link's expression was a mix between bewilderment, amusement, and annoyance. He raised his left hand to his face, much to Alaira's dismay, wiped his eyes with his middle finger and thumb, and took a deep breath while pinching the bridge of his nose. He then pointed at Goron-Crusher's name that was on the ground next to the pairing board with the rest of the round one losers.

"Ohhh… That makes more sense…" Alaira stated as the pieces clicked in her mind. "You're probably going to want another one before the next round, aren't you?" She asked. Link nodded to the affirmative.

Getting Link a new shield went by without incident, mostly because the armorer wanted Alaira out of there as quickly as possible. This was good because no sooner had the duo left the armory tent as the gong was struck calling all fighters to their stations. Alaira bid Link good luck as he walked toward his arena. He looked back, smiled, and waved. Alaira knew he was wishing her luck as well as she went to hers. She was a bit irritated with the fact that Link wouldn't even talk to her. She thought, I can see not talking to everyone else, but I'm his best friend. I nearly died for the stupid boy, and I still can't get him to say, "Hi" for me. Her anger built just as it did before every fight. She got to her arena and immediately started punching at the scarecrow set up for hand to hand practice. "Stupid Link and his stupid not talking thing," she whispered to herself as she beat into the wooden core of the de-hayed scarecrow.

"It's dead, you can stop now!" Laughed Ankle Shanker. Alaira was beet red as she turned to see the small man sharpening his twin daggers. He didn't wear armor just a thin shirt and pants, most likely for the purpose of speed. "And if you fight half as hard as you were beating that pole, this might not be as quick as I expected!" Ankle Shanker complemented.

"Well, it'll be short, the only incorrect prediction you made was the winner," Alaira retorted with more confidence than she felt. She looked over Ankle Shanker, who was laughing from his seat at the grindstone, as she put her sword and shield back over her back. The man was actually shorter than her, with bright red hair. He probably only weighed about one hundred pounds when wet, but those daggers looked about as deadly as the fangs of wolfos. Ankle Shanker laughed again and returned to his sharpening.

Meanwhile Link was hopping in place to warm up before his second fight. A small crowd gathered as he practiced with his sword to ensure that the healing process didn't throw him off his game. Thankfully he was entirely unimpeded by his sword arm much to the crowd's pleasure.

"Wow, a lefty!" Giant Slayer remarked from across the arena. He was covered in plate mail much like Goron-Lifter's, and was polishing his spear. "You don't see that every day! And you're the one who beat the champion right? I mean that's probably why all those people are cheering for the newcomer right?" he went on, "The ex-champion was a good fighter, but quite the buffoon if I remember correctly. He actually beat me in the semi-finals his first year. I spent a week with the healers getting patched up after that fight. So how did you get him?"

Link smiled politely and nodded at the man.

"Kid, I asked a question. This is the part where you are supposed to answer it." Giant Slayer stopped polishing the tip of his spear.

Link smiled again and shrugged a little bit.

"Fine. Act like that. That's going to get you nowhere in life, kid." Giant Slayer turned away from the teenager as he returned to his spear.

Link looked at the man apologetically and went back to practicing. Seconds later the second gong rang.

The crowd booed as Giant Slayer walked to the center of the arena spear at the ready. Link followed suit, sword drawn and shield in a defensive position. Giant Slayer stood ready as he and Link circled each other just watching for an opening. After a few moments of this, Link dashed in with a slash aimed at the man's neck. Giant Slayer easily deflected the blow with the shaft of his weapon. The wooden shaft notched after the blow and that gave Link an idea. He swung once more at the man to receive a block from a different part of the shaft. This time, Giant Slayer swung the base of the spear at Link's legs knocking him down. The once cheering crowed fell silent when Link didn't rise up right away. On his back, Link stayed and waited acting as though he had hit his head and was knocked out. Giant Slayer moved toward him and moved to put his spear to Link's throat for the pin. Link quickly pulled his sword over his body as he rolled knocking the spear off to the side notching it in a third place as the crowd cheered louder than they had at the beginning. Link was on his feet before Giant Slayer had regained his balance, so Link ran over to him and attempted to knock him over by throwing his body at the larger man. Link bounced off of Giant slayer's armor doing little more than making him stumble. The larger man regained his balance at the same time Link did, and the duo circled each other once again. Finally Link had had enough of the worthless circling. He made like he was going to throw his shield at the man the same way he did Goron-Lifter. As the man went to block his midsection with the shaft of his spear, Link grabbed his sword with both hands and jumped at the man. Giant Slayer didn't have time to dodge, so he lifted the shaft of his spear over his head to deflect the blow. The sword cut clear through the wooden shaft right where the first blow had hit. The blade continued and bit into the large man's armor above the shoulder. The blow was strong enough to greatly dent the metal, so much so that Giant Slayer's shoulder was actually broken. The crowd that had quintupled in size since the beginning of the short match cheered as the man cried out in pain, and dropped both halves of the broken spear. Giant Slayer howled once again as he reached for his shoulder with his left hand. His right hand hung useless by his side. Link placed his blade to the man's throat. Giant Slayer looked to his broken spear, then to his shoulder, and finally to Link. "It looks like I yield," he said simply, then he turned and walked toward the healing tent. Link quickly dashed out of the arena and toward Alaira's match. The crowd attempted to block his way while congratulating him, but Link was very quick and small, so he dashed through.

Alaira stepped into the arena as the second gong sounded. Ankle Shanker waited at the ready and bowed to her. He literally bowed. She stifled a laugh and returned the bow, but before she could start to lift her head, Ankle Shanker was on her. He tackled her to the ground and she landed on her back with Ankle Shanker on top of her. "Huh, maybe I was wrong about this being a tough match," Ankle Shanker taunted as he pulled his daggers out of their leather sheathes on his side. "I already have you pinned!" he continued. And just like that Alaira snapped. Her arms that had been pinned to her sides tightened and she pulled the left one free with a quick tug. This knocked Ankle Shanker off balance. He placed his left hand on the right side of Alaira's head. Alaira wasted no time in throwing her newly freed fist into the side of Ankle Shanker's face. The man fell off of her, and she used the momentum of the swing to bring herself to her feet. She wasted no time stepping on Ankle-Shanker's left wrist forcing him to drop the dagger.

"Who's got who pinned now?" Alaira gloated as she unsheathed her blade and moved to put it to the small man's throat. Ankle Shanker lived up to his name as he quickly rolled to his left and brought up his second dagger. The blade cut through her heel with a squelch. Alaira fell to her knee, which freed the quick man as he pulled the blood soaked dagger out of her foot. Enraged, Alaira grabbed Ankle Shanker's second dagger and threw it from the arena. Thankfully the crowd that had started to gather was small enough that there was no one in the vicinity to be hit by the blade.

Ankle Shanker was livid, "My dagger!" he yelled as he dashed at her with his other. Alaira quickly rolled to the left and stood up. She winced from the pressure on her foot.

I've been hobbled. It looks like relying on my speed is out of the question. Maybe instead of focusing on hitting the tops of the arms and the inner legs, I should just swing where ever as hard as I can. This should make up for my new lack of speed, right? She asked herself half waiting for a response. Receiving none, she limped toward the man who had tripped after missing her. Alaira waited for Ankle Shanker to stand up then hit him with the center of her shield knocking him off balance. She then went in for a blow to his right side. The little man recovered just in time to deflect the blow with his dagger and step on Alaira's left foot. The gash in her leg flared up and she let out an audible gasp. Ankle Shanker ginned smugly until he was hit in the face with the top of Alaira's shield. Ankle Shanker twisted as he went down face first.

Link had just joined the small crowd watching Alaira's match along with his following of new fans. He saw Ankle Shanker fall to Alaira's shield bash and cheered in excitement. Link's followers followed suit.

Alaira looked up confused to see a huge crowd had gathered at the northern edge of the arena. She smiled when she saw Link at the forefront of it. "I should have known!" she whispered as she made her way over to Ankle Shanker. Alaira tread very carefully as she approached the fallen man. She swapped her sword over to her right hand and her shield to the left in case the man she was fighting was pulling another of his tricks. Once she stepped close enough, Ankle Shanker rolled to stab her left ankle once again, but his blade met her shield as she dropped her left side down to protect her leg. But as she dropped, she brought her sword to cut at Ankle Shanker's leg. Her blade connected with the man's right leg at the calf. A spray of crimson splashed onto the muddy ground. The crowd led by Link cheered once more as the man screamed obscenities while rolling to get up.

"Being hobbled's no fun is it?" Alaira yelled at the angry Ankle Shanker. The man stood up and winced as he put pressure on his right leg. He then dashed at Alaira. Alaira wasn't expecting Ankle Shanker to be so quick especially with his injury, and was tackled to the ground while the crowd booed and hissed. Ankle Shanker wasted no time as he slashed at her right arm. He hit her in the wrist until she dropped her sword and her arm resembled ground meat. Alaira wriggled and writhed until her shield arm was free, and quickly swung at Ankle Shanker's head. The man rolled quickly and grabbed Alaira's sword in the process. He threw it out of the arena just as Alaira had his dagger. The sword flew toward the crowd that had gathered, much to the disdain of the King.

Link saw the sword as it rushed toward a tipsy looking spectator who was totally unaware as to what was going on. Link quickly threw himself in front of the blade catching it with his right shoulder. He looked to Alaira and gave her a smile and one of his famous indistinguishable nods that she hated so much. The crowd screamed when they noticed the blood soaked Link run through with the blade of Alaira's sword. Link tried to stay at the arena, but a large group of spectators in the crowd lifted the boy and carried him back to the healing tent. The last thing Link saw before he was forced into the tent was the King standing up and walking toward the arena.

Alaira stood there horrified as she watched her blade enter Link's shoulder. She watched as Link smiled, nodded, and then was carried away.

"Aww, did I hurt your boyfriend?" Ankle Shanker spat angrily. Alaira lost it right there. She rushed at Ankle Shanker faster than she had ever dashed before. She tackled the little man and pinned his right arm down with her shield. She punched the man repeatedly with her right hand until his face resembled her wrist. Ankle Shanker had attempted to yield after the fifth or sixth punch, but Alaira was so filled with rage that she either couldn't hear him or wouldn't. It took the King himself lifting Alaira off of the passed out Ankle Shanker for her to realize what she had been doing. She turned to King Daphnes and wrapped him in a hug and started to cry.

"Don't worry child," King Daphnes said calmly as a mix of Alaira's and Ankle Shanker's blood stained his red cape, "he will survive his injuries." Alaira took a few deep breaths, then realized what she was doing. She quickly stepped back to distance herself from the King.

She bowed and said quickly, "I beg your pardon, Your Majesty, for I have acted in a way that is disrespectful to your authority."

"I'll have none of that!" King Daphnes said kindly. "You just watched someone very close to you come to harm due to the animosity and anger of another. And just after nearly beat the perpetrator to death."

"That is correct, Your Excellency, and I accept whatever punishment—" Alaira was cutoff,

"Punishment? For what? Protecting the innocent? I watched the warrior throw the sword from my pedestal and I saw your face drop as it hit the boy. I came over to stop the fight, but it was over before I got here. Now go see your friend. As I said, he is fine, but I'm sure you'd rather see for yourself than take an old man's word for it," King Daphnes said a smile in his eyes.

"Your Grace—" Alaira tried to argue.

"Would you defy the direct order of your king?" He asked sweetly. Alaira knew she was defeated. She turned and limped to the healing tent.

She thought, Great that insufferable healer is going to stop me from seeing Link again isn't she? But when she got to the tent the nurse rushed to make a place for her. "I'm here to see Link. Is he in the same bed as last time?" She asked as she brushed her way past the head healer. She walked into the back and as soon as she saw Link, she fell to the floor. She vaguely felt her stomach get wet and then a couple pairs of hands lift her from the ground.