I have to admit I'm quite glad to be getting into the real meat of the story. As fun as the chapters were to write I couldn't help but feel myself already get excited to write the later parts of the story. It does feel like I've got a while to go before its complete and I'm already planning other stories too. Focus was never my biggest strength.

This chapter got a little too big so I've split it into two.

Anyways I better just get on with the chapter.

Chapter 10- The Trial

Bryne sat near the campfire watching the flames glow of the shining length of his blade as he sharpened it. Alfonzo sat across the flames and sat absentmindedly staring into the dark.

The other Knight had kept his noble appearance up but Bryne on the other hand had welcomed the return of the wild gladly. A thick black beard had grown upon his face and he didn't hate it. Specks of gray had hemmed it when he had looked in his reflection earlier, they had not been a cause of the heavily falling snow around them but he was not concerned by his advancing age.

Bryne looked up to the towering figures of the Hybra Mountains. He could almost feel the unease emanating from Alfonzo.

"He will return," Bryne's voice was filled with certainty

"Lynels Bryne, not just one but Lynels, I feel we have gone too far, as far as he's already come," the Knight glared at him from across the flames.

"To think you're now the one doubting the boy. I am certain now, he has overcome me in skill and his mind is far sharper than mine ever was."

"I can't take all this waiting around, we should go out and help him, how many of us died when we were taken into the Tabantha Tundra and we were not alone," Alfonzo muttered.

"No we cannot, the boy is ready. You remember the beast we fought but four days ago?" Bryne asked.

"How could I forget?"

Link's feet slid across the snowy ground as he placed one hand in the white blanket to steady himself. The air around him seemed to freeze in his burning lungs but its purity brought energy into his racing heart.

"Link watch out!" His father's voice called to him from the other side of the clearing.

Link rolled to the side with ease as a tree trunk slammed into the rock face to his side. Splinters of wood and mud sprayed over him as he pulled an arm defensively over his face.

The Hinox was not happy and let out a deafening shriek. According to its father it was faster than most of the beasts and rather than their usual fat belly this one hulked with muscles all over. Yet despite its speed it certainly did not make up for it in size. As it thumped towards him the ground itself seemed to shrink away, rumbling with distain as each foot pressed into the ground.

Over on the other side Alfonzo and Bryne eyed the monster cautiously. Even before despite their slow speed it was important to stay out of the grasp of a Hinox, just one mistake and you were a dead man. Yet with this one's speed it would be twice the risk.

Link grit his teeth and rushed forwards, darting between the stumps and rocks of the clearing. As the Hinox grabbed at him with both arms he leapt over them, whist slashing beneath him with his sword. Landing beneath his belly he knew it would be but a few seconds before he would be crushed beneath its huge mass. Link slid between its legs and as its body came crashing down into a sitting position he swung his sword in a circular motion eliciting a howl from the beast.

Link rushed forwards to his father.

"It's still not going down," Alfonzo yelled. "We've been at it for what feels like an hour and it still doesn't tire."

The creature was indeed getting up once again leaning heavily on its arms.

"We'll have to keep going then," Bryne let out his roughed breath.

Link spat the vile taste that had formed in his mouth out in a disgusting slob. "I have an idea keep him occupied and move him towards the cliff face."

They had been tracking the creature for days now at the request of the chief of the Rito. It was to be their last quest on the Trial and the hardest by far.

The two knights stepped forwards weapons at the ready. The Hinox threw a hand forward and with a thrust from Alfonzo's claymore a fountain of black blood erupted from its hand. Bryne moved swiftly to its side throwing rocks and pebbles at it exposed eye.

The creature turned to him and shrieked out once more as it bounded towards him. He was pinned now between the Hinox and the rocky cliff face.

"Bryne!" Alfonzo called from behind the beast.

God's Link if you're going to do something please do it now

With a loud crash a boulder thumped into the giants head spraying shards of rocks everywhere. Bryne ducked away shielding his exposed areas and dived behind a tree.

The monster came down heavy with a sickening crack. Bryne looked up in time.

Link dived from the cliff face with little concern for his own life. It was as though time itself slowed around him as he flew through the air with the bow he had acquired from the village in hand. It was almost too graceful for the short time he had been practicing with the weapon. Then with shocking accuracy Link loosed four arrows in rapid succession, which found their home deep into the eye of the Hinox.

As he landed softly on the hide of its belly it began to shrink back turning into the dark matter all monsters seemed to retreat to.

He looked up to his father and as Bryne looked into his eyes he knew he was ready for the final stage.

"He will return,"

Alfonzo shuddered, but through his absence of speech it was clear that he agreed. The night was awfully quiet, as the tundra often was. It felt as though there was an absence of life in the air. The gentle glow of the fire only created a small perimeter around the camp, before being suddenly swallowed by the darkness.

The camp had been golden in the past few days. Him and Alfonzo had spent good time together and had shared their chronicle of tales reaching back to when they were just boys in the academy. Those were different times and now the trial was rare to perform most saw it as barbarian but Link had needed it.

Those first few weeks he had sat there in silence just listening to their conversations, likely attempting to deal with grief. Soon however he was also close to the flames chatting excitedly about the various tales of the Knights' younger days. He had not told them to the boy, the reality of the stories was far worse then the ones they told in stories Grandpa used to tell him. There were no secret blades or magical princesses, just steel and blood, and a lot of it.

Of course the trial had yielded its own small book of stories. They had freed the elder of Lurelin village from a curse, killed of the invasion of Octorocks in the Lanaru wetlands and of course taken on the Moldgua which had gotten too close to Kara Kara Bazaar. He smiled seal surfing around the beast had been almost too fun.

The Rito chieftain had certainly been generous in their defeat of the Hinox and Bryne had been almost too glad to slip into that Rito feathered bed, he had been almost too reluctant to get out of it. But they had one last trial to go through, the Trial of Snow and Blood. He had lost many good friends the day he had finished it to become a Knight.

The thumping of hooves immediately caused both their ears to prick up suddenly, like a couple of deers being discovered by the torch of a wandering hunter.

Link casually rolled casually into the camp on the back of his new horse which had named Ciela, a rather strange name for a horse.

Bryne grimaced preparing to see the worst the valley often contained several Lynels and he would've had to avoid hits from them all.

However, he was shocked to see that Link was completely unscathed and as he dismounted he dropped onto the floor several Lynel hooves and horns tied together with a length of string. He moved over to the cooking pot, took a helping of stew and sat down eating it rather nonchalantly.

Alfonzo looked to Bryne in shock, who himself likely had an equally pale face.

"Link are you…?" Bryne began.

Link looked up as though he had only just noticed the two. "Oh yeah, I did it. I'm probably going to get some sleep now it was a little tiring."

"Of course," Bryne breathed as the other Knight began to smirk across the flames. Trust Link to treat the most deadly trial of all time as some walk around a farm.

The flames seemed to burn a little brighter as conversation once again filled the camp.

Zelda sat on her bed her three maids hurrying about her. The Princesses desperate dedication to praying had not gone unnoticed by her father despite the results. He had allowed her maids of her age once again. Though the conversation with them was a little dry it was far better than being cooped up in a temple with no one all day. She did still long for Purah and Robbie's company despite the fact that now there was little to do with them.

"I can't believe I'm actually invited to it, me a ceremony and a feast," Astrid breathed. She was by far the most outgoing of the bunch and had immediately broken all royal etiquette within the first hour with Zelda. It was why the Princess had already grown quite fond of her. "There be the most magnificent food, wine…and Knights."

The other girls giggled slightly at the maid's excitement.

"Don't forget the squire's they'll be there too, have you seen them train in the yard. Ugh Goddess help me," Neri, the other maid, murmured.

"Hmph, I much prefer men with a bit more experience," Astrid said taking Zelda's dress from the cupboard and unfurling it before her.

"Well yeah we all know about your excursion to the barn with Sir Beckle,"

Zelda gasped, "I didn't know that... Astrid he has a wife."

"Well I didn't know at the time, he certainly seemed eager, plus we're all going to be sixteen soon. I heard Sir Brant is quite fond of you Sari" the girl replied.

The final maid, Sari, was easily the most quiet of the three, she reminded Zelda of Mipha quite a bit. However, she was the only one of the maids not from noble blood, she had apparently been taken in by a royal when her rancher family was killed in a bandit raid. Zelda's heart went out for the girl and liked her the most out of the three, it felt almost like she was talking to Link again.

No stupid, we don't think about him anymore

Sari had now turned quite pink to the pleasure of the other two girls. "I-I don't know what you're talking about, he doesn't like me," the shy maid stated.

Astrid rolled her eyes, "Sure you're really convincing us there, you even know what the event's about Sari?"

"I…no," the girl looked down in shame as she tugged nervously at her brown locks and Zelda's heart squeezed a little for her.

"Sari has been helping me prepare for the event, I must've completely forgotten to tell her what it was about," she said with some shock, the girl could be so quiet and obviously hadn't asked, it had just slipped her mind to explain it. "I'm so sorry Sari."

"No please princess don't," the girl looked even more embarrassed that Zelda would even dare apologize to her.

Zelda smiled genuinely at her and squeezed her hand and immediately she loosened up as much as clay to water. Sari smiled back happily at her.

"Thank you," she breathed.

"Why don't you explain it Astrid?" Zelda asked as Sari began to brush the knots out of Zelda's hair again.

"Sir Bryne and Sir Alfonzo are returning from the trial with the mystery Knight…" she exclaimed puffing up her chest to imitate the stern men. The other girls laughed at her. "He's the first Knight in over ten years to take the Great Trial and as such he is to be knighted with the proper ceremony, which is just a fancy way of saying a huge party."

"I have a friend in Lurelin, says the Knights came into her village at some point to cure a curse," Neri said as the other girls quickly became captivated with her. "He strolled into their inn with a thick hood over his face and then when he withdrew it…"

The other girls stared at her as Neri savoured the moment of suspense. "He is apparently more handsome then anything she's seen in her life."

Astrid nodded along. "I heard that too from a girl who works at the stables in Hebra, he is apparently quite the heart throb. It's all most of the maids in the castle can talk about." She paused a villainous grin spreading her face. "It's kind of like what Zelda is to the squires."

Zelda could only smile as the other maids cried out in fake outrage.

"He's rather brave too," Sari said quietly before immediately turning red. "I mean…he's done all of that and he's only fifteen years of age."

"It's tradition for there to be a dance I can't wait, it'll be like I've stepped into one of the stories," Astrid murmured dreamily.

"Will you dance with one of the squires Princess?" Neri was tilting her head at the princess.

"Of course" Zelda said to a chorus of gleeful squeals. "Though I'd rather like to see just how good this new Knights footwork is."

The room erupted in chatter.

"You're a fool Bryne of course it's him we need to get him to the sword as soon as the ceremony is over," Alfonzo's hands slammed onto the table. "You saw how he moves, how he fights how he thinks. You said for yourself the boys a damned prodigy."

The King silenced the man with a hand but, leaned forwards in his chair. "I agree I see no point in waiting any longer if this boy is clearly the one chosen by the sword."

"I will not allow it, he is my son," Bryne spat back across the table. "He's my only son."

"While we wait by Ganon laughs at us, we are wasting time," Alfonzo had tried to lower his voice but soon it was back up reverberating through the room.

"There's more to being a Knight other than being able to wield a sword and far more to being a hero." Bryne muttered

"The kid doesn't even need a sword, he could kill Ganon with a blade of grass," Alfonzo exclaimed.

The King sighed, "Bryne is right there is more to being a Knight than just fighting, the boy is still young. However, I will sleep easier at night knowing that we are at least making progress in something."

"Your daughter has always-"

The King cut in delivering a sharp glance in Bryne's way. "Besides the blade will call for the boy that is how the legend goes."

"Waiting it is then!" Alfonzo stormed out of the chambers.

The King's eyes were on him immediately. "Bryne…when I heard about Nyssa," the King said almost the second the door closed.

"Don't worry, what's done is done," Bryne said trying to sound as convincing as possible. Her name still stung slightly, the idea that he would never feel her touch again was foreign to him.

"I'm sorry, I know how you feel," that was all the King had to say but it was enough.

"Anyways it looks like we have a ceremony to attend to,"

"Father I can't do it, help me I'm freaking out right now," Link paced the room back and forward as a bemused smile crossed Bryne's face. "There are going to be so many of them and they're all there for me…I haven't even done that much."

Bryne eyes rolled back so hard he could probably see his brain. "No you haven't done much. Only kill the most fearsome beasts in all of Hyrule and in just two years become a legend all around, in the most renowned test of skill that has not been attempted for over ten years, on your own."

"Exactly…" Link's face was doubtful. "That's nothing right? You've heard how they talk about me, I can hear it outside my bloody door. They think of me as some hero."

Bryne fell back on the lush bed the kid had been given for the night. He remembered it well though it hadn't been his for the ceremony he had it was just as soft as he remembered. He also recalled what he did in the bed that night…

"You'll hate it you know," he chuckled. "I did, just try to enjoy it. You'll be given all the food you can eat and will likely have the choice of all the maids to woo too. Which with your charm I'm sure you'll do fine with."

"Father…"

"What!"

"This is serious… I've never even seen this many people in one place let alone have them all staring at me. You had like twenty other people with you it was fine." Bryne had never in his life seen so many words be hurled from his mouth in such quick succession. The child was fifteen and was probably in that same place most were in their teens, a mess of thoughts, most of them extremely unknightly.

"Please most of them are there for the free food and booze, the attention will be on you for a few seconds before they move onto the next most interesting thing. That's how the nobility is," Bryne knew all too well the difficulties of mixing with the highborn. "Just don't agree to being anyone's bodyguard or to train their galling children. All you need to do is smile."

"You never smiled,"

"That was when I stopped caring which you clearly do at the moment. It's very liberating believe me." Bryne scratched his beard, it had become habit now and he had grown rather too fond of the mess of hair to cut it off.

"You're not being very helpful you know…" Link moaned.

"It's not difficult Link and it's only an evening," Bryne said looking down at his nails checking to see if there was any dirt, perhaps blood.

"I know, I just, I…" Link paused looking outside the window cautiously. "I wish she was here you know."

Bryne looked up in an instant to meet his son's eyes.

"So do I"

Bryne would not get up to embrace his son like he would've all those years ago and Link understood why. He would have to learn on his own to deal with those feelings. But for Link a look from his father was more than enough to let him know that it was all going to be okay.