In this chapter I borrowed a small element from Pearlynn's story Quiet, love. So go read their story yourself to find out what that element is!

Chapter Three

A Strange Happening in the Night

That night, as I laid in my bunk in the Athena cabin, I was unable to rest. I had this vague nagging feeling that something was wrong. After ten minutes of this, I quietly grabbed the Master Sword, but not my shield, and slipped out of the cabin without waking anyone. Fi quietly hummed a greeting in my mind. I crept through the silent camp, with the Sheikah slate's sensor set to the harpies so I would know if they were nearby so I could get avoid either getting eaten…or having to explain why I'd killed the harpies who were foolish enough to attack me, and therefore in turn explaining why I was breaking curfew.

As I inched my way along, I silently lamented the fact that I didn't have the Sheikah made stealth set I had in my last life. That thing would have made this so much easier. I eventually made my way to the forest's edge and stopped crouched just a little behind a large boulder which was just beyond the tree line by the shore.

I suspiciously looked around the boulder at the dark woods, my senses telling me my feeling of unease was coming from there. I saw nothing, which proved nothing, because of just how terrible our night vision was. Then the hair on my neck prickled, I was being watched I was certain of it. But not by anything physical, somehow, I got a feeling like this was more along the lines of a presence. That it had no form, it was just…here.

Not only that, but it was angry. Its gaze felt hot with rage and hatred, a hatred I also somehow sensed was specifically directed at me, not just because I was here or a person, but because it hated me particularly. This felt…familiar…from where or when I didn't know.

"Fi?" I asked, voice low.

"Yes, Master?" She replied, also keeping her voice quiet as she appears beside me.

"Are we alone here? Is there anything else nearby?" I inquire.

"There are no enemies within a radius of 2,000 feet Master. There are several small animals within that radius, but no threats detected." She answers.

That really freaked me out, whatever presence was staring at me was detectable to me, but completely invisible to Fi.

"Master, you are becoming uneasy, your pulse and respirations have increased. What is wrong, there is nothing threatening nearby." She observed and followed up with a question.

"I sense a presence, one that I shouldn't get on the wrong side of. It's just within the trees, but it's not a physical entity, an incorporeal one. I should go actually, it's getting angrier the more I stay here." I say beginning to withdraw from the area.

I slowly backed away from the forest and the feeling diminished. Fi followed me, looking slightly confused, then disappeared after a few moments. The feeling of eyes on me did not leave until I had withdrawn about several hundred feet. Then just like that, it was gone, like it had never even been there. I quickly made my way back to the Athena cabin.

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The next morning, I was tired from lack of sleep. As I sat hunched at the Athena table as people gradually trickled in, a hand gently landed on my shoulder.

"Here, have some of this, you look like you need it more than I do." Zelda's voice cooed in my ear as she placed her cup of tea in front of me.

"Thank you." I muttered as I blearily took the cup and took a sip, the taste was definitely something one would have to get used to, but I forced myself to drink it all for her. If she thought it would help, it probably would.

"There, now it'll get you energized properly." She soothed as I turned to face her.

Her eyebrows pinched together when she saw my expression, not just tiredness but lingering concern from the night before.

"Link? Is something the matter?" She inquired, concerned.

"Can I…tell you later?" I asked, "Like after we're done with our classes?"

"Well I guess…" she trailed off.

"Thanks." I simply said.

She nodded, gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before she walked off to the Apollo table.

"Hmm, she truly is quite special, don't you think?" Lexa teased, leaning to whisper in my ear.

"Ah go embarrass someone else, will you?" I grumbled waspishly, the tea not having kicked in yet, "Like Austin, go annoy him and leave me out of it."

Lexa's expression went from teasing to concern at my response, her eyebrow quirking up. This didn't go unnoticed by me.

"What?" I snapped, then regretted it, but in my tiredness, wasn't quite willing to apologize yet.

"Link, I know something's bothering you. If you tell me what it is, maybe I can help." She reasoned.

I sighed, the tea finally starting to wake me up. I waited a moment, then said, "Sorry, I didn't sleep very well, there was…point is I'm fine now" finishing as I mustered all my self-control and put on my stoic expression that only a few people (like as in essentially just Zelda) were permitted to see me without.

She looked at me suspiciously then dropped the matter. By the time I got to the arena to wait for my cadets to arrive, I reflected on the night prior. That presence, I knew I had felt it before. It wasn't Ganon or Ganondorf, no it was almost like…no I told myself before my mind could even think the other name. The prophecy, revealed now five years prior, was clearly taking its time to occur. There had been no definitive signs of any kind ever since the talus incident my first summer here.

Even that being the case, I had since made my real identity public on my third summer here when it was realized that we were indeed living in a time of destiny. It could not be denied that the time of the prophecy was approaching. Like it or not, the presence I felt confirmed that notion. I wondered how long we had, months? Years? Although there was no real way to know for sure, part of the reason I'd been chosen to be the teacher for the swordsmanship class was not just my amazing skills from being the legendary hero, but also because Chiron reasoned that with the prophecy looming, it was urgent that everyone, especially new campers were as prepared and ready as possible for whatever might come.

I accepted without question, remembering how grossly unprepared Hyrule was for the Great Calamity. We were caught off guard, the very technology we were relying on was turned against us and the kingdom was decimated and its people nearly wiped out. I wouldn't let that happen again as long as I lived.

As my cadets began to file in, I had one last thought, 'I'll fight to my last breath to protect this land and everyone in it, and I will do it all without question for Zelda.'

"Good morning class!" I greeted my cadets with a smile.

"Morning, Sir!" They all greeted back.

"First thing we're going to do today is that I'm going to teach you the first special skill I will pass on to you. If you get it the first time, great! But even if you don't, it just means that you need a little more practice." I told them. "This move is called the ending blow, when your foe is on the ground, you leap into the air and onto your foe and drive your sword in, using your weight as you fall to stab it in further than your muscles alone could."

I demonstrated the move on the ground, then had them try to copy it. One by one each of my cadets then executed a perfect ending blow. This wasn't entirely surprising as this was the first thing taught to me by the hero's shade. Although the following skill required a shield, that would have to wait until my cadets were confident with using just a sword.

Once the last cadet had demonstrated the move, I congratulated them and told them they were ready for the next skill, "Excellent! You're ready to learn the next important skill I have to teach you."

"What's it called?" One of them asked.

"It's called the back slice; you do it by dropping into a roll while coming around an opponent, then once you're behind them jumping up mid-roll, causing your sword to be moved with you in devastating slash." I explained.

"Here, I'll demonstrate, back up and give me a little room." I said, trying to warn them without wording it in a way that would scare them out the next few years of their lives.

They shuffled back about ten feet, watching closely. I closed my eyes, took a breath, and began the move. I rushed forward, dropped to the ground in a roll, turning as I did so, and then springing up with my sword out. My blade whistled through the air as I spun. My cadets all gawked at me, amazement on their faces.

"Alright, who wants to try it first?" I asked.

For the rest of the class, my students each attempted the move, getting covered in sand in doing so. I was proud to see that they each got the hang of the move. They were truly learning quickly, but there were harder skills ahead. Additionally, not every skill taught to me by the hero's shade could be passed to them. For example, at least a couple were specific to the Master Sword, like the Great Spin. Obviously, I couldn't teach them those skills as they couldn't wield the Master Sword.

When I let my cadets go at the end of class, they were all dusty and covered with sand, just as I was, but seemed happy enough. I followed them out, ready to go meet up with Zelda wherever she was. This however proved to be unneeded as she was waiting for me as I walked out.

She looked at my sandy cadets, then at my sand covered garb, eyebrow raised, and said, "Nayru's love! What were you all doing in there today? Rolling around in the sand?" She teased.

"Oh, I was just teaching them the back slice, it necessitates a roll." I said, unaffected by her tease.

"Hmm, you seem fully awake now I'll say." She mused, looking at me with a quizzical expression.

I sighed, then began to tell her what happened, "Last night I couldn't sleep, so I slipped out of my cabin and walked down to the part of the forest's edge near the shoreline."

She cut in as soon as I finished my sentence, stopping in her tracks as she spoke, "You what?! You left your cabin in the middle of the night?" She asked, her voice sharp, angry but obviously based in worry.

I winced, feeling a stab of guilt pierce my heart, I had worried my most important person. "Yes, but there's more than that." I paused, "While I was there, I felt something Zelda."

Her look of angry concern changed to one of much more sympathetic concern as she took one of my hands in hers and gave it a squeeze.

"What was it?" She asked.

"I felt like I was being watched, but not by anything corporeal. I'm sorry if I'm not making sense with this, but it was like there was just a presence. Not only that but I got an impression of what it was thinking." I answered.

"And what was that?" She asked, now looking afraid.

"I got a sense of hatred off it, not a hatred for me as a person or for being there. A hatred for me, me specifically." I replied.

She gave me another sharp look as she grabbed my chin with one hand and holding my face so it was pointing directly at her and with her other hand pointed at me in a very scolding way as she spoke, "Don't you ever do that again! You hear me? Never do that again!" She reprimanded me, her voice angry but her face told me all I needed to know. She looked absolutely frightened. I had truly scared her, made her fear for my safety.

I dropped my gaze, unable to look at her anymore, that guilt growing and filling my heart. I truly was terrible, What I had done was reckless, I knew that all along but didn't consider how she would respond to it. I deserved her anger and scolding. What if I had been seriously injured or worse? What would that do to her? It would nearly destroy her that's what. Goddesses it hurt knowing I had scared her.

She clearly noticed my expression, because just a few moments later she had both of her hands on my face, palms on my cheeks and thumbs rubbing my cheekbones. Her voice, now warm and soothing chased away my self-deprecating thoughts. She pressed a kiss to each of my cheeks before speaking softly, "It's OK Link, I'm not mad at you. I just worry for you so much, I've seen you die in my arms once and I never want to go through that again. When you get hurt it reminds me of that night."

"I'm very sorry I made you worry Zelda." I said with sincerity. "Even though I was careful not to get caught, I see your point and I promise I'll never do that again."

She nodded, relieved, her face melting into a soft smile. She pressed her lips to mine and whispered that she forgave me. I raised my arms to rest around her shoulders and gave her a quick kiss back. I silently cursed propriety for making me have to do this. Why? I asked myself, why must society be this way?

The moment those words went through my mind, a thought popped up unbidden. 'Wait a minute', I thought. 'Propriety mandating professionalism, ways around it? Hmm I know one but…would she want that? I mean yes, we both do but when? Later in life? How much so? Will it be alright if I do it just perfectly? Hmm I wonder if…wait what are the colors of the golden goddesses again? Farore is symbolized with green, Nayru with blue, and Din with…what is it again? Oh, right I remember, it's red. How could I use the colors though? Oh, maybe some gems, like a ruby and a sapphire and an emerald maybe?'

"Link…?" Zelda trailed off as she looked at my blank look.

I jerked myself out of my racing thoughts, "I'm fine!" I said quickly, "I was just thinking something, that's all!"

Zelda gave me an odd look, before slightly shaking her head and shrugging.

"If you say so." She said as she turned and started walking off, me a little behind her.

Since she wasn't looking at me, she didn't notice how I was looking at her with an expression I had never had before in this life of mine. It was a look of intense consideration, the kind of consideration of one who has begun to come to a realization that something he really, truly desires, may not be so out of reach at all.