A/N: Again, apologies, my dear readers. I'm trying to get back into the swing of things, now that vacation is over, the house is bought, and we have moved. (Yay, me!) So look forward to more updates in the future. For now I'll be posting as soon as I believe the chapter is finished, so check in often or follow this story!

I love you all, and happy reading~!

Time's Saga

First Life: Prince of Power

"Show them your power, Prince Link. Show them how mighty we of the desert have become. Hold nothing back. Not now, not ever."

Chapter 49: The Start of a Beautiful Friendship

Link found himself in the castle's training grounds on his third day. It was two hours after sunrise and his first impressions of the nobility from the first day still held true; Pampered, lazy, and so full of themselves that they couldn't be bothered to arrive on time. It irked him but he tried to not let it show. Flickering his eyes, Link again assessed the area.

Made for a more utilitarian purpose, the training grounds were barren of the normal glitter and glamour of the rest of the castle. It was large, roughly the same size as the training grounds back home, but space was eaten up by the added archery range on the north side. All four sides were enclosed in the typical grey rock. On the north side, the side upward from the starting archery line, the wall was solid with only a single patrolman standing guard. The rest of the three sides were open on three floors for viewing purposes. Out of the corner of his eye Link could see the shadows of watchers. He didn't know who they were. Perhaps they were just curious maids or footman who stopped for a break. Perhaps they were nosy noblewomen with little else to do but ogle the couple men sparring each other. Or maybe they were Sheikah dogs just waiting to judge his abilities.

Link immediately quashed that terrifying thought. The previous warnings of always being watched came back with a vengeance and he fidgeted uncomfortably. If he could just get started, he would feel better. Not that he hadn't already trained that morning, but those were just simple exercises meant to stretch and invigorate the body. He needed to move; release this tension he had been holding in since yesterday. A bitter, heavy lump formed in his throat again as he recalled that disastrous meeting with the Chancellor and the information that followed immediately after in the temple. Link tried not to think about it. He really did. It was dangerous, that much was abundantly clear, but he didn't like being kept out of the dark. Rubolson seemed to know what was going on, but she was tight-lipped and would give him that cold, dead-eyed look that warned him he should back away quickly. He didn't ask her again.

"Laggards," Babi muttered in Gerudo. She was on the other side of the short wall Prince Link was standing next to. Close enough to be considered an attentive guard, but out of the training grounds so she wouldn't be considered a threat to the nobles. It was the position other attendants and guards had taken, but none were casting as critical of an eye to the sparring matches like she was. Looped around her hips were her pair of scimitars. Anywhere else in the castle and they might have been offensive, but here, Link was more than happy to let her have them.

Tilting his head in her direction, Link gave her a small smile but didn't say anything in return. She might get away with saying something like that, mainly due to her most-definitely-earned position as a strict captain, but as a young dignitary, there would be hell to pay if he let something like that slip, even in a foreign tongue. He wholeheartedly agreed, though. The trio of boys that were loudly dragging their feet were none other than his training partners. And what a dismal group they made.

The middle one, and by far the loudest, was a familiar face. He was easy to spot in the crowd on the first night's banquet with his shock of bright red hair. His face was flat with rounded eyes, but he had a pudgy nose. He wasn't Gerudo, that much was certain. He didn't have the slim, athletic build of the women of the desert. If he was at all interested in training, he might be a perfect replica of a heroic knight, but for now he was just a ten-year-old child with all the time in the world. He said something that was apparently funny because he began laughing boisterously at his own joke. The two lackeys on either side joined in perfectly, like it was all rehearsed.

One was short, not significantly so, but the way he tried walking by constantly bouncing on his toes suggested he was trying to match his friends' height. The other one seemed to have hit his growth spurt already. He was a good few inches taller but hung his head low like an obedient puppy. There was nothing worth noting in either of them.

Nonchalantly, they entered the sandy arena and Link almost shook his head in disgrace. Obviously, not one of them thought to even glance around for any possible danger before heading into a combat zone, because their childish behavior still persisted. Hyrule clearly did things differently. That was the first, painful, lesson all desert warriors undertook on their first day and it would be repeated until it was sorely drilled into their thick skulls.

To be fair, Link wasn't on high alert, either. It was too taxing to be that aware of everything and he was already over-stressed. This was just an initiation, so there shouldn't be anything too explosive. And Babi was here. If he wasn't on high alert, she most definitely was.

"Make 'em eat sand, Prince Link!" Babi chuckled quietly as Link finally pushed away from the wall.

He gave a sigh as his response. It was too much trouble to explain to her how unlikely it would be to actually spar today. So silently he plodded along, his feet barely whispering over the sand. This earth was different from the lose red dirt that mainly made up the desert dunes. His feet didn't sink as far because of the excess water and clay mixed in. It was different, but it was the closest he had felt to home since coming to Hyrule.

He stopped on the other side of the shorter boy who was preoccupied with leaning in to hear his friend's hushed whispering. Link tried ignoring it, but his ears were just too good.

"Ok, ok, I heard this one not too long ago. What… do you call a stag with no eyes?"

The two companions gave each other a blank look, their shrugs indicating their thought process. The middle boy was pulling quiet the face by biting his bottom lip and his cheeks smushed up into his eyes. He guaffed into his hand until the tall one gave up.

"I don't know, Groose. What?"

Groose let out a hearty laugh and dropped his hands. "No eye-deer!" he crowed. He wrapped his arms around his belly and laughed some more.

Link didn't get it.

He stared at the giggling boys for several long seconds, trying to piece the Hylian words in his head. It still didn't make sense. He was debating if he should open his mouth and ask for an explanation when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Instantly, he snapped his head around.

A few precious seconds were wasted as his eyes grew double their size. But then his body snapped into action, and his world twirled once, then twice before landing on the balls of his feet. Instantly he crouched down and tried to make himself as small of a target as possible. Less than a second later, the bomb exploded.

There were cries of fear and confusion all coming from the three noble boys, but Link frowned. His ears were ringing from the sudden, sharp pain, but it wasn't nearly anything close to the bombs he was used to hearing from within the mines. There was a lot of sparking on the fuse when he first saw it, but now there was a thick cloud of smoke emanating from where he once stood.

A smoke bomb then.

Link allowed himself a rare smile. He sharpened his ears and like he expected, more cries came from within the cloud. These yelps consisted of a lot more pain than the previous ones, and Link guessed it was due to the meaty smack half a second before.

The smoke was starting to clear and Link started to unravel from his crouch. A quick glance to Babi assured him that everything was fine. She gave him a nod of approval but there was a frown on her face. Link guilty shrugged his shoulders. He should have done a better job than that, he knew. It's just that he was distracted by that ludicrous small talk. Oh well. He'd receive the lecture later.

Cautiously he began approaching the spot again. Facing away from him was a tall, muscular man. He was decked out in simple leather armor but he was imposing. In his right hand he held a simple wooden training sword that was slowly tapping against his side. Without even turning his head, he called out to Link.

"Stop right there."

Link was so used to following orders that he didn't even think twice about obeying a Hylian. Of course, it would have been suicidal to have done anything else. Link now recognized the figure. Former Knight Commander, William Eagus, was lording over the three wheezing weaklings.

"Fools," Eagus said lowly, but still his voice carried over the silent arena. Others in training had paused to watch the spectacle and the place was deathly silent. Uncaring about the audience, he went on lecturing. "How often must I remind you? As soon as you step onto the training grounds, both your mind and body must be prepared."

A heavy silence hung over the boys. Their whimpers had grown quieter as reality sunk in. Unfortunately, it seemed that it didn't sink deep enough. The red haired idiot mumbled something, then coughed.

"What was that?" Eagus planted the sword into the sand and brought his hand up to his ear mockingly. "Did I just hear an insulting remark about your superior officer?"

Link almost winced in pity. It didn't take much to imagine what would happen next. He'd witnessed it plenty of times before.

Fast as lightening, the blade was back in the man's hand and then cruely connected to Grooses's bottom. The boy yelped again and hurriedly rolled away. The other two simply quivered in fear. The bigger of the two had a long stream of snot running out his nose, but he was too afraid to wipe it away. The shorter one's face was a dictionary description of terror.

Eagus allowed the tense, silent seconds to continue stretching on. By that point, Groose had crawled a fair distance away and dared to look back. Link had to give credit where credit was due: Groose Gallagher was truly the biggest idiot he had ever known. After rubbing his chest for a minute, the red-headed child glared at the knight and was stupid enough to open his mouth for a second round of complaint. He was cut off mercilessly.

"YOU FOOL! DO YOU WISH TO DIE!?"

The bellow cracked across the training grounds and continued to echo in the alcoves above. Eagus continued his rant in a much calmer voice after that, but his unfettered urgency was still at the forefront of his speech.

"This was a mere smoke bomb, but what about next time? Are you really so ignorant as to believe you are safe? You fool! Being of nobility doesn't decrease your chance of death by any means. In fact, being of noble blood, you should aspire to be the greatest warriors of the kingdom. Which means coming to the training grounds fully prepared for battle. As soon as you cross the threshold, you are in enemy territory. You are in my territory. And I accept no slackers, regardless of lineage."

Eagus paused. It took Link a few seconds to realize the silence was bait. And for a moment it looked as if Groose was going to argue as an angry scowl darkened his features. Link heard the high pitch of breath being pulled past clenched teeth and he widened his eyes in surprise. Was the kid really going to do it?

But before his very eyes the noble did just the opposite. Groose rolled over to get his legs under him. But instead of standing he stayed at a kneeling position, with his right arm propped over his right knee.

His young voice quavered and broke, but still he shouted, "Yes, sir."

Quickly his two companions followed suit and scrambled to one knee. In a much less determined voice they echoed the sentiment.

Eagus gave no reaction. Link wavered for a moment, but then he too knelt down and rasped a quiet, "Yes, sir."

It was several long seconds before anything happened. Slowly, the knight lowered the arm holding the sword and it's tip faced the ground in a non-threatening way. Idly, Link realized that the sword never wavered even the slightest bit during the entire lesson.

"Good." Link still couldn't see his face but with with the man's complete change in tone it was easy to imagine a smile was there. "If you're finally ready to get this lesson started, stand where you are."

Without any further procrastination, they all stood at attention. The two closest to Eagus shuffled a bit, as they were uncomfortable with staring at nothing but leather armor. But the man moved away to pick up the shell of the bomb and simultaneously they relaxed.

Tossing and catching the shell with his free hand, Eagus began another lecture. "The bomb landed here, in front of all of you. It wasn't all that clever of a throw as it was within your line of sight the entire time. You should have avoided it, much like Prince Link did."

The man finally turned around to face the prince, and Link stood a little straighter. This man was a commander by virtue of his strength and not by name, as Link found out not too long ago. Of all the Hylians, William Eagus was the first Link truly respected because of his physical strength. Others like the King of Hyrule or Baron Ordona had their own characteristics worthy of note, but they couldn't match the former Knight Commander's physical presence. He was a beast, with broad shoulders and arms to match. And even though he was big for Hylian standards, he was quite stout when compared to the women of the desert. But his agility seemed to match theirs by every wit. In the end, Link decided, it would be a fair tie between Eagus and Rubolson.

"The minimum safe distance without shelter is twelve feet. Fifteen is better. Now, look at Prince Link. How far is that distance, Page Cawlin?"

A startled shriek came from the shortest boy. His unruly black hair bounced across his eyes as his whole body shuddered. Stumbling over his words, Cawlin gave his answer. "Um, ah, I think, aahhh, it's um, ssssseev- no, six feet... sir?"

"Ten. But just barely. Page Strich, in what position did Prince Link land?"

The tall boy swayed a bit when his name was called, but he answered immediately. Or at least Link thought so. His lips moved, but it was far too quiet for him to hear.

"An honest answer at least," Eagus continued like he had heard those unintelligible words. "And need I remind you to pay better attention next time?"

Strich opened his mouth in what Link thought was a protest, but Eagus threw back his head and laughed.

"How? It's quite simple! You don't get caught in the smoke! So are you going to pay better attention to your surroundings from now on?"

The boy's face had gone a bright red but he vigorously nodded his head. Judging from his wide eyes though, the kid knew how lacking his skills were.

"Prince Link, return to that position as a demonstration."

Immediately, he did. No questions asked, he returned to the squat. Balancing on the balls of his feet, he wrapped his arms across his face and neck as he lowered his chest to his knees. Link looked past his fingers to see a satisfied nod from the Knight Commander.

"Page Groose, what's significant about that position?"

The red-head looked a little peeved. Digging his toes into the sand, he mulled the question over. "I don't know. He looks silly sitting like that though."

It was ridiculous. Link had a fairly good idea of what he looked like in this position after having practiced with his age-mates for hours, so it didn't seem strange to him in the slightest. But hearing the honest, blatant, and bored truth from that young noble made his ears burn with fever. Silly? Was this really a silly move? Did he make a mistake?

"It may look silly," Eagus confirmed Link's fear, "But it's a good defensive move. There are three courses of action you should take when near a bomb. First, is to run away. Second, is to find shelter from either the explosion itself or the shrapnel it makes. Third, is to make your body as small of a target as possible. And there are two ways of doing that and you should use either based on your circumstances. The first is to lay face down with your head as far away from the bomb as possible. The second is to crouch down and become as small as possible. Prince Link, would you care to explain why you chose the second?"

Link took that as permission to rise from his position. Falling back into his soldier's stance, he barked out his answer with as little rasping as he could manage.

"Yes, sir. It's because I did not know what would happen next, sir."

Eagus gave him a critical look-over and seemed to wait another moment to make sure Link was done. He then nodded his head.

"Good. Pages Groose, Cawlin, Strich. Any one of you try to explain to me why Prince Link's course of action was appropriate in this scenario."

There were a lot of uncertain looks being exchanged between the boys. Their bickering silence extended longer than the Commander's patience and he gave a disgruntled growl. The boys all snapped to attention. Eventually Groose spoke up. He still had the haughty air of nobility but his words were honest.

"We don't know, sir."

Eagus gave the group a long, stern look. In turn, each of the boys lowered their heads and scowled. Suddenly, the man hefted the training sword to his shoulder and belted out a hearty laugh. Taking a step forward he then slapped Strich's shoulder in a friendly way.

"Aye, not to worry, lads! That's why you're here; To learn!" Backing off a little, he lowered his voice. While scratching his hairy chin, he mused, "If you knew everything already, then you'd be impossible to work with. Now that we know why you're here, let's get to it! Prince Link, if you would join us, please."

Link's lips quivered in delight. There wasn't much to be said of those in Hyrule Castle. Propriety and politics had sucked the life out of most people, leaving behind only boorish, grey authoritarians who's personalities perfectly matched the castle walls. Most, that is. Link was noticing a pattern. It seemed that those who spent significant time outside the castle had their own free will. A most appealing quality, for sure, in this prison of sycophants. Prince Link suspected he was going to enjoy training under Sir Eagus's tutelage, no matter how physically demanding it would be. Which is why he obeyed the request without any hesitation.

A puff of sand exploded around Groose's feet and he scowled as he rose to stand. Great, just great. He had even more grit wedged between his toes. As he walked back to the starting point he wiggled his toesies to make the itchy sensation go away.

This was ssstu-pid! Running and jumping and rolling around in the dirt like a pig? That's kids stuff. He was a page now, he should have been able to start swinging a sword around! He could even make do with a practice sword, like what's-his-eagle was holding, if he had to. But this dumb 'practice' was just… dumb.

Strich and Cawlin seemed to feel the same way by their disgruntled faces. Groose would have protested, if only for Cawlin's sake. Cripes, he was having a hard time making the long-jump distance, and Cawlin was several inches shorter. There was no way his buddy was going to make that!

A blur of black crossed his vision and Groose flinched in surprise. A second later there was a soft 'whump' of a body hitting the dirt. Groose's scowl stretched wider. Of course the Gerudo spawn made the jump. The twiggy little runt was practically flying over the training arena. It had to be that dark magic that came from the desert that made the poo-headed prince so agile.

Groose bit his lip, but still a snort of laughter escaped him. He'd have to tell Strich and Cawlin that one: Poo-headed. Ha! It fit the snotty little prince perfectly. The twerp hadn't said a single word to him or his buddies. Not that he wanted to hear that creepy voice, but it was just the polite thing to when you approach a gentleman's group. That's what Groose was always told, anyway.

With a huff, he made it back into the line right behind Strich. This was so boring. In another minute he'd have to make the jump again. He couldn't help rolling his eyes as the Knight Commander gave the lousy lout Link another compliment. Of course the peasant prince was the Kinght Commander's favorite. Birds of a feather, and all that. It just wasn't fair.

"Well done, Prince Link. That's four in a row. One last try for all of you, then it's back to another 20 minutes of jogging. Now, get to it!"

Strich flinched then took the few steps to the starting line. Getting in a crouch, he then swung his long arms for momentum. A second later he sprung from his position. All in all, he did a good job for the last jump. Groose would just have to do a little bit better.

That's what Lord Dunsith always reminded him of. You have to do better. Because if Groose couldn't do better…

With grunt he landed, but immediately pain shocked through his legs and he toppled over. Embarrassingly, his butt was sticking up in the air as he got a face full of filth. Spitting and hacking dirt, he sat up. A raspy cough made him snap his head around and narrow his eyes in suspicion.

That twerp was laughing at him!

Oh, Groose knew it was a laugh. It couldn't be anything else. Link-y-dink wasn't looking at him, but purposefully had his head turned with a hand covering his mouth. An innocent coughing fit, yeah, right! Groose knew when he was being made fun of. How dare he! As he slowly stood up, Groose clenched his teeth tightly.

That Gerudo scum would pay. Nobody made fun of the Great Groose! Nobody unimportant, that is. Groose wasn't entirely sure where the Prince stood in the pecking order around here. 'Prince' was an obviously important title, but it meant very little if it came from a land as barbaric as the desert. At least that what he heard all the adults say. So there was no way that Prince Link would be more important than him. There just was no way. Especially not after Lord Dunsith's proposal, for which he couldn't fathom why mum was still on the fence on accepting.

Whatever. The jerk was going to get his due. Groose smiled wickedly as he joined Strich by standing on the other side and watching the last two do their jumps. Oh, he was going to get what was due, and Groose was going to enjoy it.