The next morning (after a rude awakening by Ralin) I went to the lake, where Daltus was waiting for me. After Aren had delivered a message and had been sent off with another one the prince turned to me.
"Now it's time for you to learn how to use that sword."
He picked up a sword that had, unnoticed by me, been resting against the rock face. When I saw that there was only one sword I reluctantly drew the Master Sword.
"You're not going to try to actually hurt me, are you?" I asked.
Daltus winked. "Not at first."
He began teaching me the basics of swordplay, such as how to hold the sword correctly (I had to use both hands), how to block, and how to swing without getting thrown off balance. Once I had those down we started having mock fights. At first it was over in about ten seconds. By the end of the day, though, I could hold my own for almost a minute before I was disarmed.
"You're doing excellent." Daltus said when we finally stopped, "It would take most people weeks to learn what you have."
I shrugged, too tired to reply. I don't know if he saw it as humility or not, because he just grinned.
"Tomorrow we get to the fun stuff."
"Whoopee." I sighed before grinning. "Of course, that's assuming I'm not too stiff to get out of bed."
"Oh, we'll get you out of bed one way or another."
"That's what I'm afraid of." I muttered as we left.
The next morning I tried to sit up and immediately understood the meaning of the saying "stiff as a board." My entire body hurt, especially my right arm. After a bit of grumbling I managed to stagger out of my room. Ralin was standing there, grinning.
"Aren't we a little bag of sunshine today." he said.
"Shut up." I replied, glaring at him.
"The prince wants to see you at the surface." Ralin walked off, snickering.
I took my time getting to the lake, trying to work some of the stiffness out. By the time I got there I could walk more like a sixteen year old than an eighty year old. The prince also seemed amused, but he was wise enough to say nothing. After a few warm-ups we started our mock fights and continued working until the sun set. This routine continued for about a week and a half. When I could manage to disarm Daltus repeatedly in less than two minutes he said, "I think you've learned enough."
"Great." I said, rolling my shoulder in the hopes that it wouldn't get too stiff, "What little adventure do you have planned for me next?"
The prince grinned a little. "I'll tell you tomorrow." he replied, "You can take the rest of the day off."
He left, and I glanced at the late afternoon sun. 'The rest of the day' didn't amount to much, but right now I'd take whatever rest I could. Rather than going back into the caves, I sat down by the lake, looking at the chunks of ice that floated around. Zora's Domain had been frozen over at one point, but they'd gotten thawed out by Princess Zelda's hero. The ice in the lake had remained, though. I'd been told they'd gotten smaller, but not by much. Everyone figured that they would vanish once Gannondorf was taken care of. If he was taken care of, that is. The fact that the entire fate of Hyrule seemed to rest on me didn't help bolster anyone's confidence, especially mine.
When the sun had set I went inside, found some food, and went to bed. The next morning I ate a quick breakfast and went to the surface. No one was there, so I was content to wait. It was quiet; the sun had just barely made it over the small cliff that was on the opposite side of the lake, and everyone who was awake was down below in the caves. I just stood there, enjoying the peace and quiet while ignoring the multitude of questions I knew I would have to face later.
A loud caw interrupted the stillness. Aren was circling overhead. I held out my arm, and he glided down to land on it.
"You're early." I said.
Aren gave me a so-what? look. I grinned and gave him some dried fish before stroking his head. He closed his eyes, enjoying it just like he had almost since he had hatched.
"A couple of early birds, I see."
I turned to see Daltus come from the tunnel entrance. He smiled as he stopped next to me. "How are you doing this morning?"
"I'm doing well. What about you?"
"About the same. I didn't sleep well last night, but that's nothing unusual."
Aren cawed and shook his leg, preventing me from asking why Daltus hadn't slept well. The prince chuckled and untied the message. His grin faded when he read it.
"They're having a hard time in Kakariko." he said, "The guards are getting stricter. I wonder if Gannondorf knows about the Master Sword."
"I hope not." I said quietly. The guards had been strict when I had left. Hearing that they were getting even more so worried me. Was my family safe? Were they being careful enough? I was torn between wanting to run home to make sure everything was OK and wanting to find the nearest guard and punch him in the face.
"They said it wasn't anything to worry about, though." Daltus said as he tucked the message into his pocket. "But it does mean that we have to move quickly."
He wrote a reply and tied it to Aren's leg. As the crow flew off he motioned for me to follow him. We went to what Daltus referred to as his command post, which was the room with two chairs and a table where he seemed to spend most of his time when he wasn't teaching me how to use a sword. After he had closed the door he turned to me with a serious expression on his face.
"You know that we have to move fast if we want any chance of defeating Gannondorf. But I know that right now neither of us are strong enough. You need to get the power of the Sages."
"How?" I really had no clue how I was going to get the power of even one Sage, much less however many there were.
"You need to travel to the Temple of Time. At the back is the room where the Master Sword once stood. In there you need to pray and ask for the Sages' help. If you are indeed the chosen one, they will lend you their power."
"The Temple of Time? But that's..."
"In what once was Castle Town, almost right next to Gannondorf's tower. I believe that his evil hasn't corrupted the Temple, at least not wholly. It will be dangerous, but there is no other way if we are to succeed."
I took a moment to digest this information. "Do you know what I might have to face?"
"No, I'm afraid not. But I do have something that might help you." He pulled a bottle from his pocket and handed it to me. Inside was a pinkish-white ball of light with wings. A fairy, one of the ones that would heal you if you got badly injured.
"Where did you find it?"
He winked. "That's a secret."
I inwardly sighed as I tucked the fairy into my pocket. "All right then. If I make it back will you tell me how you know all these things?"
A slight smile tugged at his lips. "When you come back I'll tell you."
"OK. Let's get this show on the road."
After that it was the same deal as last time. We waited by the entrance until a Zora up top threw a spear and took out the guard. The prince opened the way, and I leaped out and started creeping down river. I was getting abnormally good at dodging guards in broad daylight, though I did have to wonder why I kept leaving during the daytime. Was it really that urgent? Or maybe Daltus thought that I could just fight the guards off this time around. Either way, I used up a considerable chunk of whatever luck I had left and managed to get past the guards and into Hyrule Field without getting caught. Now I just had to make it into the heart of enemy territory and back alive.

Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far! It's made me so happy I'm going to change my update schedule to three times a week. So if I forget, feel free to remind me.