Alright! Here's chapter two for you guys! ^^

Originally, I didn't think I was going to write about the entrance exam, simply because I wasn't sure if I would be able to make it long enough to do the whole thing justice while not rambling on and what-not...but since I had already mentioned the exam in the first chapter, I thought I'd better at least try to write about it. I'm pleased to say that it turned out much better than I had hoped. :)

Chapter 2

A Young Knight's Test

"Link! Link!" Zelda called for the blonde-haired boy. "Oh, where could he be?" she groaned, frustrated. "He's going to miss the entrance exam! Link!"

She kept searching for her friend, looking everywhere she could think of in Skyloft. She eventually found him sitting on a secluded little wooden bridge below the main island. He had a knife in his hand and appeared to be carving something out of wood, a solemn air surrounding him. Kind of frightened by the feel Link was giving off, Zelda slowly and quietly approached him, deciding that yelling at him for making her run around the entire island wouldn't be the wisest thing to do. As she got closer, she could make out what he was carving: a small figurine of a knight riding his Loftwing. It was by no means perfect, but for a 7-year-old boy, it was pretty good.

Link kept his eyes on his work, occasionally glancing up to see the knights practicing riding their Loftwings in the distance, reference for his carving.

"Wow, he really wants to be a knight," Zelda thought. "But, then why isn't he at the entrance exam?"

She walked closer, finally catching his attention. He glanced over with unemotional eyes, staring at his friend without surprise.

"Oh, hi Zelda," he said quietly, sounding quite sad.

"What's wrong?" she asked with concern, sitting down next to him.

"I don't know; I just lost my confidence," he murmured, looking wistfully at the knights and their Loftwings. "What if I don't make it? What if I'm not cut-out to be a knight? I don't want to look like a fool in front of Groose or anybody."

"Link," Zelda sighed," It's not going to be the end of the world if you fail the entrance exam. You could always try again next year."

"Yeah, but what if I fail then too?" he said exasperatedly. "What if I just can't do it?"

"Then you'll just have to find something else to do instead of being a knight. I don't think that'll be too hard. I mean," Zelda grabbed the hand clutching the carving and brought it up to his face," you're already so good at this!"

"Oh, it's just something I found out that I like to do recently…It's no big deal…" Link stated, flustered, rubbing the back of his head as a small blush graced his features. "You really think it's good?"

Zelda nodded her head vigorously, happy to see Link returning to his old self. Her smile vanished a moment later when Link voiced the thing that had been troubling him the most.

"If I fail the exam, what will happen to us?"

Zelda stared at her worried friend, trying to figure out exactly what he was asking.

"Nothing will. It's not like I'm going to stop being your friend because you're not a knight. We were friends before you took the test and we'll stay that way, no matter what!"

Finally, Link smiled, the unsure and worried aura around him dissipated.

"Thanks."

"Now come on!" Zelda exclaimed, standing up with his hand in hers. "We have to hurry or you'll be late for the test!"

The two kids started running towards the Knight Academy, hoping that the exam hadn't started yet. Soon the place of mention came into view, and they saw that there were two desks stationed outside the main doors, each table with one of the Academy's professors sitting behind it. The two didn't stop running until they were right in front of the desks.

"Well if it isn't Zelda and Link!" Instructor Horwell said happily as they approached him. "What are you two up to?"

"I'm here for the entrance exam," Link said once he had had a chance to regain some of his breath. He could almost feel Groose scowling at him from the table next door.

"You don't say?" Horwell asked genially. "Well I wish you luck."

He began asking Link various questions about the history of Skyloft, a knight's duties, and the like. As he answered the last question, Link felt he had a pretty good chance at becoming a knight after all.

"Well then," Headmaster Gaepora started, drawing all attention to him," now that the knowledge part of the exam is over, it is time to move on to the physical part."

"Ph-physical?" Link began feeling nervous yet again. He hadn't known that there would be a physical part to the exam.

"Eagus, if you would please," Zelda's father addressed the Knight Commander.

"Hello everyone," he said, stepping forward. "I am Knight Commander Eagus, and I will be training you all in the ways of combat should you become a knight.

"For the next part of the exam, you will be paired off for fencing matches so that we may observe your abilities."

At this point Link was really starting to panic. He had never held a sword in his life, let alone dueled with one. And did they expect them to bring their own swords? What would they do if he didn't have one? Would they just send him home right then and there for being unprepared? Not to mention the actual fighting part…When did someone win one of the matches? What were the rules on harming your opponent? It was almost too must for Link to bear, worrying about this all at once when he had already come this far.

The staff of the Academy went around handing out wooden practice swords and choosing partners for the entrants. Fledge was paired up with one of Groose's lackeys, Cawlin, Karane was paired up with Groose's other lackey, Stritch, and of course, luck of all luck, Link was paired up with Groose.

"I want to see nice, fair fighting," Eagus called out to everyone in a strong voice. "No foul play or injuring your partner intentionally. Such actions will most likely prevent you from entering knighthood. On the count of three, you will begin fencing. One, two, three!"

Link quickly jumped out of the way of Groose's attack, having little time to react since he had started on "two."

"You're going down, Puny," Groose growled in a low voice so only Link could hear. He suddenly thrust his sword at Link, forcing him to leap back yet again. Groose kept advancing, trying to land a hit while Link continued circling him and prancing out of harm's way. He knew that he'd have to take the offensive soon or this fight would continue on this way forever. Taking a chance, he swung his sword in a counterattack. There was a loud thunk as the boys' swords crashed against each other. Both staggered back a bit from the force of the collision, but Link recovered quicker than Groose and took the opportunity to slash at him while his guard was down. Groose took multiple steps back, holding his arm where Link's sword had tapped him, staring at his blonde adversary in shock and annoyance. Link looked at the sword in his hand, surprised as well.

"Did I really do that?" he quietly questioned himself. He had done it without thinking, almost as if he had done it out of instinct. He snapped himself out of it just in time to side-step out of the way as Groose violently swung his sword at Link's head.

Now starting to feel more comfortable with this, Link kept trying to dodge Groose's attacks, occasionally landing one of his own on his adversary's arms or legs when he saw an opening. Although, since he was still a beginner at sword play, he sometimes couldn't dodge Groose's strikes.

He never swung hard enough to actually hurt Groose, obeying the rules perfectly, but with each hit, Groose became more and more frustrated and aggressive. He took advantage when Link stepped back and tripped over a rock, stumbling for a second. He swung his sword at Link's ankles, hard, sweeping his feet out from underneath him. He landed roughly on the ground, the wind knocked out of him and his ankles hurting like crazy. When he looked up again, he saw Groose standing over him with a smirk on his face, his sword pointed right at Link's head.

"I said that's enough!" They heard Commander Eagus yell. "Didn't you hear me before?"

"Err…what?" Groose said stupidly.

"I told everyone to stop a minute ago, but you two kept fighting."

"Oh…" Groose mumbled, letting his sword hang limp at his side and scratching his head awkwardly. Link stood up silently, looking sheepish as well. The Knight Academy's staff then came around to each participant, collecting the practice swords from them and checking for injuries. The most anyone had was a bruise or two except for Link. He had multiple areas bruised and it still stung a bit for him to stand.

After they were done retrieving the swords and checking on everyone's health, the professors ushered everybody inside for the selection ceremony.

"Now, you all did very well today, but obviously only a select few of you may become knights," Headmaster Gaepora spoke to the kids in front of him. "Remember that this isn't the end of it if you don't become a knight. You can train up and try again next year.

"Now, without further ado, I will announce this year's new students at the Knight Academy." Link held his breath in anticipation. "Karane, Fledge, and Link, congratulations! You have been accepted! I would like to thank you for your determination in this noble field. You will not regret choosing this path—"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Groose interrupted, finally coming out of the stupor he had gone into upon learning that he didn't make it. "Why is he getting in?" He pointed accusingly at Link. "I won our match! So why does he get to be a knight?"

"Winning does not necessarily mean that you will be instantly accepted," the Headmaster patiently explained. "Link followed all the stated rules and scored well on the knowledge part of the exam. You did worse than Link on the knowledge part, but what really ruined your chances was the fact that you broke the rules and were attacking Link with pure aggression and no tact. You had better wise up and learn to play fair if you ever wish to become a knight."

Groose looked away, crossing his arms and scowling.

"Anyways," Gaepora continued," congratulations again to those who made it. As commemoration of your entrance into the Knight Academy, you will be presented with your very own certificates and symbols saying that you are now students of the Knight Academy."

Karane, Fledge, and Link were each handed a slip of ornate paper with their name on it, certifying their entrance into knighthood, and a piece of cloth with the Knight Academy's symbol on it.

"And with that, this ceremony is now over. New students will begin living and training here tomorrow, so be sure to take care of things by then. I look forward to teaching you the ways of the knight, and I'll see you three in class tomorrow," he smiled jovially at them, glad to see a trio of promising new students, one of which was the boy his daughter had notified him about the year previously.

People began filing out of the foyer, leaving Link standing there, still a little stunned that he had made it. Feeling the presence of someone else in the room, he turned his head to his left to see Zelda standing there, her head slightly tilted to one side, smiling at him proudly.

Those pieces of cloth with the Knight Academy's symbol them? I meant those to be like the red cloth thingy that Link has tied around his torso in his Skyloftian attire and the blue cloth Zelda has attached to her belt in her Skyloftian attire...problem I realized later was that 1) not all the knights wear a symbol and 2) the symbols on Zelda's and Link's attire are different from each other...meh. I guess, considering that, it's just some sort of extra thing that they have hung up in their closets? I don't really know... ^^;