Link mulled over Riju's mysterious confrontation the next morning. It seemed she knew a lot more than he realized – about Ganondorf and about what they had been up to the last few weeks. And, apparently, she knew something about his love life that he didn't. He tapped his pen against his blank notebook and let his chin rest in his hand. Girls talked to each other – he knew that much. So, it wasn't strange that Riju would know something he didn't. But to bring up the subject and not give him all the details – what was the point? He didn't get it. He wanted to blow it off as plain old gossip, but still, it nagged at him. Who was it that Riju was talking about?

Link glanced at Paya in the back of the room. There was mention that Paya liked him; Riju wasn't the first to hint at it. But besides when they were at the shrine together, they hardly spoke. She was so shy in the first place. When he thought more about it, he supposed she did seem extra shy around him, as Zelda had pointed out earlier. But did he really need to bother with it? He didn't see how it was a problem. So what if she liked him? He definitely wasn't leading her on. There was no way she would think he liked her back.

He sighed lightly and turned back around. His eyes moved briefly over Mipha who sat beside him, watching him. He hesitated on her for a moment before turning his gaze back to the board. He squinted at the math problems, then turned to his blank notebook. With all the school he had been missing lately, he would be lucky if he passed his junior year. And there was just a couple weeks left. He supposed it would be unrealistic for Ganondorf's forces to give him a break until summer. He smiled to himself.

"What's so funny?" Mipha whispered.

Link shook his head. "I might as well drop out of high school now and make saving Hyrule my full time job."

Mipha grinned and rolled her eyes. "I bet I could get you up to a C," she said. "That'll at least get you to senior year."

He moved his gaze to meet Mipha's. She smiled warmly at him. He didn't even notice the bell ring until the other students stood and shuffled about around them. Mipha's smile disappeared for a moment.

"What's wrong?"

Link shook his head, closed his notebook, and stood. Riju was right about one thing – he was hiding his feelings. But they definitely weren't for Paya.

Link winced and looked up from the floor where he lay on his back. Impa stood over him angrily. She had been completely merciless on him the last few days, and the more he lost to her, the angrier she became.

"You're an idiot," she hissed. "A complete moron. We'll all die no thanks to you."

Link pushed himself back onto his feet, then leaned forward to get in her face. "I didn't exactly sign up for this, you know," he shouted. "It's not my fault you guys picked the worst possible guy in the world."

"Oh, if only we had a choice," Impa sneered. "Hylia sacrificed herself when this forsaken curse was placed on Hyrule, leaving the fate of Hyrule in her chosen hero. She did pretty well up until this point, giving us an absolutely incapable dumbass."

"Look, you old hag," Link snapped. "If you're so unhappy with your options, go find yourself a new damn hero." He spun on his heels and marched away. He kicked at the Master Sword as he walked by where it leaned against the wall, and it fell to the floor clattering loudly. Zelda stood in the doorway, alerted by their yelling, and she stepped in front of Link as he tried to make his escape.

"Where are you going?" she hissed at him.

"I quit," he said simply.

"You can't quit!" Zelda sneered. "You're being a child."

"I'm being a child?" Link said. "She's the one beating the shit out of me.

"Maybe if you weren't so incapable," Impa started, "you'd be able to defend yourself for once."

"I can defend myself," Link muttered.

"You were gutted by a damn sword!"

Link hesitated. As the days passed, he was more and more convinced that he, the Hero of Hyrule, would fail in his task. He was so convinced, in fact, that he had come to accept it as truth. He would die trying to save the world, and there was no amount of luck that would be able to change it. And once he came to that realization, he stopped caring about everything else. What did it matter, anyway? School, life, love – it all seemed so meaningless in the end.

"Link!"

Link spun around, glaring at Impa, still standing in the middle of the room. She had seemed to regain her composure slightly and she beckoned him forward with a finger. Link hesitated a moment before making his way to her.

"What?" he sneered.

Impa pressed two fingers against his chest and looked up at him. Her smile was unsettling. "You think I'm tough?" she said. "Why don't you try telling this guy you want to quit?" She pushed his chest with strength Link would not have expected from her and he stumbled backwards. As he stumbled, the room seemed to melt away. The ceiling dripped down the walls, revealing a dark, starless sky, and after what felt like an eternity, he fell against the ground. Strands of grass tickled his skin as he looked around quickly. Except for the grass beneath him and a dark sky, there was literally nothing around him. Nothing but unsettling blank space. He looked before him and found himself staring up into a skeletal figure clad in armor with a sword in his grasp.

"Get up."

The voice must have come from the skeleton soldier. It was the only explanation. It sounded deep and hollow and it almost echoed through the eerie space around them.

Link pushed himself to his feet, holding his gaze on the figure. Once he was on his feet, the figure tossed the sword to him. He pulled another out from on his back and held it out before him. Link caught the weapon clumsily, taking his gaze off the soldier for only a brief moment.

"Fight me."

Link furrowed his brows together. "What? What is this? Who are you?"

The soldier lunged at Link and Link was just barely able to dodge the blow, jumping to the side.

"You're pathetic," the soldier hissed at him. "You are no descendant of mine."

Link blinked at the soldier. "What?"

The soldier let the tip of his blade rest against the ground. He folded his hands on the hilt and leaned against it slightly. "Hyrule doesn't stand a chance if you won't fight for it."

"I'm doing everything I can," Link hissed.

"You're not!" The soldier picked up his sword and lunged at Link once more. This time, Link blocked the blow with his own sword. He struggled under the weight of his ancestor, his body shaking as he strained to push back. After a moment locked in this stance, the soldier pushed back violently and Link stumbled and fell to the ground. The soldier moved over him, peering down at Link.

"You are not fighting with everything you have," he said. As he spoke, apparitions of his friends appeared around them. Link could see through the images, and they seemed to move about with ghostly attributes. Their images swayed as if blown by a gentle breeze. He watched as one by one, his friends were slain before his eyes. They fell to the ground where they promptly vanished, leaving only a strange smoke in their wake.

"They will all die because of you," the soldier said fiercely.

"No," Link muttered angrily. "No. I won't let them!"

"Then fight!" The soldier swung his sword through the air towards the dying images of his friends, but Link lurched to his feet, throwing himself forward against the soldier. But his ancestor was quicker and stronger, and he rolled beneath Link and threw him off. Link slid across the ground, but returned to his feet quickly, taking his sword in hand and holding it before him.

"Come at me!"

Link threw himself at his target once more, but the soldier blocked Link with one arm, blocking his blow and sweeping him aside with ease.

"No!" he scolded. "You cannot win like that. Let your anger fuel you, but never blind you."

Link wiped at the blood that dripped down the corner of his mouth. He grunted in response as he took his stance once more.

"Again!"

Link stepped forward, but as he did, the soldier stepped backwards. He forced his breathing to slow as he tried to recall everything Impa had been trying to teach him over the last few months. She frequently hounded at him to watch his stance and not to let his guard down. As the soldier moved, he moved, keeping the distance between them as he tried to plan his best method of attack.

But the soldier lunged at him, leaving Link little time to think. He blocked the blow with his sword and pressed back forcefully. After a moment, he swung his sword around, dislodging the soldier and giving him the opening he needed. But he waited too long, and the soldier jumped back out of his sword's reach. Without hesitation, he moved forward again, thrusting the sword towards Link, but this time Link was quick enough to dodge the attack, and even quicker to jump to the offensive, finally landing the blow he had been working for.

The soldier stepped back, the sword dislodging from his skeletal body. "Fighting has become a forgotten skill," he said. "Society relies too heavily on modern weaponry; weaponry that will not stand a chance against Ganondorf's power. Hand to hand combat is not simply throwing yourself at your opponent. It's about catching him when he is weak and exposed. It is about giving yourself an opportunity, and not giving your opponent a chance to strike you." He raised his sword once more and let it come down hard against Link's as Link blocked the blow. The soldier leaned forward.

"If you cannot find it in yourself to fight for Hyrule, find something or someone to fight for." He pushed back strongly and Link stumbled backwards, but quickly regained his footing.

"I understand, Link," he said, his voice softer, if that were at all possible. "Like you, I was called forward to leave the life I knew, to put my life on the line for this world. I would be lying to you if I said I didn't wish it were different. None of us signed up for this, as you so delicately put it. But it is our duty – it is in our destiny – to save this place we call home. To keep the people we love safe. It is because of me that Hyrule lives on, and it will be because of you that Hyrule will continue to live on."

His ancestor replaced the sword to its sheath behind his back and stepped towards Link. He pressed two boney fingers against his chest, like Impa had done, and spoke. "Do you accept the task that has been given to you by our Goddess Hylia? Will you fight with everything you have to keep our land safe from the darkness that threatens it? To keep the people you love safe?"

Link held his gaze on his ancestor. His answered flowed freely from his lips, strong and confident, ignoring the shame he felt for not taking the situation so seriously. "Yes."

"Take up the Master Sword," his ancestor said. "And fight. Win. Live." He paused for a moment before adding, "And tell Impa to stop interrupting my sleep." And with that, he pushed against Link's chest, and the strange, empty world melted away. The walls of the shrine quickly reformed around him and the next thing he knew, he was blinking up to the ceiling. Zelda's worried face came into view above him.

"Are you alright?" Her brows knit together. She moved away as he pushed himself upright and found Impa watching with a sly smile across the room.

"What the fuck was that?" Zelda asked, looking between Link and Impa.

"Did you have a nice time?" Impa asked.

Link narrowed his eyes at her. "He asked me to tell you to stop waking him up."

Impa's smile grew and seemed more genuine. She tilted her head slightly at Link for a moment before turning her gaze up. "You sleep too much." She shrugged to herself and turned her back on them, replacing the bokken she held against the wall. "I'll see you tomorrow." It wasn't a question, for she knew Link would return. She disappeared through the door and out of the room.

Link got to his feet and absentmindedly dusted off his pants, but there was no sign of his brief battle in that strange world. His lip no longer bled, either. He dabbed at it quickly with a finger, double checking, as Zelda spoke.

"What the hell did she do to you?"

Link shrugged. "Sent me into another dimension or some shit."

Zelda narrowed her eyes at him. She couldn't tell if he were being serious or not. "Why?" she asked slowly.

"To let my dead ancestors beat the shit out of me." He turned his back to her and made his way out of the shrine. Zelda trotted after him.

"I can't tell if you're being serious," she said. "But the way things have been going, it wouldn't be the craziest sounding thing to happen."

"I'm sure the crazy won't end there," he said.