ubDuels and Dragons/b/u
By: Sonnet aka Talon
( E-mail me at Talonofday@yahoo.com, but not if you're going to give me sick advertisements! I DONT WANT THEM!! I'M ONLY 16! Just feedback, please.)
Disclaimer: I do not own Hyrule, Link, Epona, Zelda, or anything else from Shigeru Miamoto and Nintendo's genius video game: Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I wrote this story in dedication to them, since it's from the best video game of all time, created by them. The only things I own are North Hyrule, the Dragonlord, Raykel, and all other things not in the original video game (so don't use em' without asking me and putting that I thought them up). I also wrote this because I like reading, drawing, and recently writing fantasy (all talents are given to me by God, so all credit goes to him as well). I think Link is really cool - Good job, Miyamoto!
Note: This story is about 32 pages long. This story takes place after my first one: The Problem of the Swamp Fairies, so you may want to read that one first. By the way, this story is somewhere between PG and PG-13, there's no sexual themes or foul language, but there's violence and some blood. Enjoy!
buSection 1
Dragon Surprise/u/b
It was nearing sunset by the time Link arrived at Lon-Lon Ranch for his visit with Malon. He usually visited his friends often, but it was only the second time that week; it had been a very full week. It was Eightday (In the Hylian calendar, there are ten days) and six dragons had attacked Zelda that week! Link hardly had any time to do anything lately but help repair the damage the dragons had done to the castle. Dragons were attacking so often that Link wondered if more than one of them would be sent next time. Link didn't know where they were coming from, but knew if he didn't stop whoever was sending them, the evil person might send two or three, and Link wasn't so sure he could defeat two or three dragons at the same time. He supposed it depended on how big and strong they were...but he couldn't worry about that at the moment. He had decided earlier that day to have a nice carefree visit with his friend, Malon. In the gradually fading light, the ranch's wooden doorway-like entrance looked dark and peaceful. There were stone walls around this entrance to protect the ranch, but Link recalled the many times the ranch had been in danger despite these...
Link walked into the ranch and saw Malon standing in her usual spot, watching the horses. She turned and saw Link coming. Her hair was red as ever, and the sun was barely high enough to peek over the walls of the ranch and shine on it, making it look like fire. Her pink and white dress fluttered in a gentle breeze.
"Hi, Link!" Malon's face lit up with a pretty smile and she ran over to Link, giving him a quick hug. "How come you didn't come on Sixday? I was getting worried!" Malon interrupted Link just as he was about to answer her question."Oh, I know! It was the dragons, wasn't it?" Malon stopped talking and looked at the ground sadly.
"Yes, I had to repair damage they..." Link trailed off, noticing the look on Malon's face. "What's wrong, Malon?"
"Link..." Malon looked up at Link and he was surprised to see how extremely sad she looked. "Link, you may think that all this defeating dragon stuff is your job...but... what if you die, Link?!"
"What?" Link was caught off-guard by her words. "Well, it is my job, Malon...if I don't protect Zelda, the dragons will take her triforce and give it to whoever is sending them! You don't want a repeat of what Ganon did to Hyrule, do you? I know the dragons are being controlled...they all have glowing bands on their wrists which seem to hold a spell over them. Trust me Malon, the dragons' master will take the triforce if I don't get in his...or it's way!"
"I guess your right..." Malon said dejectedly, still looking very sad. Link sighed.
"Malon, look..." he walked up to her and hugged her, "I'm not going to die, alright? I can't afford to. If I do, then all the things that mean anything to me will be destroyed...so I can't let myself die, okay? I simply must defend Hyrule. It's what I was put here for." Malon looked up at him and smiled.
"I guess you're right..." she repeated, "I'm sorry for doubting you, Link." Malon's face was very close to Link's and he began to feel uncomfortable, so he released his embrace and stepped back. Malon started laughing.
"What?" Link looked at her suspiciously.
"It's just the way you said that...'it's iwhat/i I was iput/i here ifor/i'."
"I didn't say it like that!" Link said.
"Yes you did! And you looked so iserious/i." Malon made a funny version of a serious face.
"Hey! Don't you know how to be serious? Hmf! Well...uh...any chores I can help with? We don't have much daylight left."
"Nope! I'll just put the animals in their stalls and then we can relax for awhile."
Link helped Malon with the horses, cows, and cuccos (an animal similar to a chicken), and then they sat under a tree just outside the ranch and watched the sunset. Link enjoyed most of it, but as it became dark, Link's thoughts strayed to the fact that dragons had only attacked at night so far. With all the attacks, Link expected one would come tonight. iI really need to get some sleep/i...Link thought. Naturally, Link couldn't sleep well with the knowledge that a dragon could be coming, so he had gotten little rest that week, but now he realized how tired he was. Even with the threat of a dragon bothering him, Link's eyes grew heavy. As the sun's last rays disappeared behind the horizon, Link fell asleep.
Malon looked over at her friend, and discovered him dozing. iHow weird! Link never fell asleep like this before...but then he must not have gotten much sleep with the dragons and such./i Malon looked at her friend fondly. iMan, he's so cute! I can't believe he me gave me a hug! He usually takes 'em but never gave me one 'till today!/i Malon blushed with pleasure. iMaybe he likes me just like I like him! /iThen she regretfully yanked herself out of the clouds. iNaw../i.Malon remembered how he pulled away when she had looked up at him. iBut it's nice to have him for a friend./i Malon's thoughts were disturbed as she heard the animals in the ranch stalls go berserk, with squawking, neighing, and mooing.
Malon jumped up and ran into the ranch. She would have awakened Link, but knew how tired he was, and thought she could calm the animals herself. Probably one horse got bored and started fighting another, and when that happened, all of the animals got noisy. She could easily calm them down with carrots; she thought as she reached the stall door.i But what if its a.../i Malon stopped suddenly. The animals always went crazy when a dragon was getting close to the castle. iNo... It's too early for that! Dragons come late at night... but what if it is? /iJust as Malon turned to go and wake up Link, she heard a flapping sound and looked behind her in the sky. A dragon was coming straight for her! It was bigger than two cows and had evilly red eyes. Its dark blue scales gleamed in the moonlight and its black wings were far darker than the blackness of the night sky. Something orange shined on the dragon's left wrist, but what caught Malon's eyes were the dragon's long, white, teeth, displayed in a hungry grin. It terrified her. How?! She wondered, panicking. iI don't have the Triforce of Wisdom! That's the one Link said they were after, so why is a dragon after me?!/i Malon turned and ran from the dragon. It swooped down and picked her up, flying high off the ground.
"AAAAhhhhhhhhh!!!" Malon screamed bloody murder as the dragon took her into the air.
"Zzzzzz....hm? What the?!" Link awoke with a start when Malon's scream reached his ears. He jumped up and stared open-mouthed at the dragon which had flown above him, suspended in the sky with a wriggling Malon in its grip. "What on Earth?! PUT HER DOWN!" Link yelled furiously.
"bHahahahaah!/b" The dragon laughed in its sardonic, rough voice. "bPut her down? Why don't you make me, you pest? Fight me like the hero you think you are! Battle me, you coward!/b"
Link wondered why a dragon would attack him and Malon and not Zelda (however he was glad the dragon was attacking him and Malon rather than Zelda, she had only the soldiers to protect her at the moment, and sometimes they didn't do such a great job), and why it chose such an early time; but he ignored the dragon's comments and drew his bow and an arrow.
"bOooooo! A bent toothpick bow and a puny twig arrow! Whatever shall I d-/b" The creature was so involved in it's comeback that it paid no heed to Link, and it's words were cut off as a fire arrow (Link had turned his arrow to a fire one while the dragon was yapping) struck it's flapping left wing. The dragon roared, let go of Malon, and fell through the air, madly flapping its wings - trying to stay airborne. Link ran under Malon; and she fell, screaming extremely loud, right into his arms. The impact threw them to the ground, but neither of them was hurt. Malon got off Link and he got to his feet.
"Thanks, Link." Malon was saying, but Link was already running off to where the dragon had fallen. He drew his sword, determined this time to not kill the dragon, but to destroy the bracelet controlling it. All of the other times the battles had been too quick and fierce to do anything but fight, but now Link saw his chance.
The dragon got up, it's singed left wing drooping, and snarled at Link.
"bYes, fight me! Come right to your death, you foolish human/b!"
"What, do you want the Triforce of Courage and the Triforce of Wisdom now? Your master is getting greedy, isn't he?"
"bHow dare you talk about my master that way! He wants the Wisdom more than the Courage, the only reason I'm attacking you before Zelda is that he wants you dead! You always get in the way! I'll kill you!/b" iAha, a dragon finally mentioned its master!/i Thought Link, iSo they are being controlled! I knew it! /iHis thoughts were interrupted as deadly flames shot from the dragon's mouth, aiming to fry him. Link quickly raised his mirror shield, and the dragon's flames were deflected right back into the creature's face. This dragon was not a fire element dragon, so it was not immune to it's own attack. It roared in pain and collapsed, it's face so burnt it was black.
iIt can't possibly be that easy,/i Link knew, iEven if this dragon is small, it should be harder to beat than that!/i Link walked cautiously toward the dragon, thinking maybe it was unconscious and he could destroy the bracelet. He noticed the dragon was breathing as he got closer, so it had to be unconscious, right? Link was wrong. Malon screamed as the dragon got up suddenly and launched itself at Link. Link raised his shield, but the dragon grabbed it with one clawed hand, and pulling it away from Link, the dragon bit him, digging his teeth into Link's shoulder.
Link yelled in pain, but fortunately, the dragon's teeth didn't get very deep before Link drove his sword into the beast's chest. It let out a roar of agony, which ended in a gurgle of blood as it spilled from the creature's throat. It collapsed again, but this time it was no longer breathing. The light in the orange jewel set into the dragon's bracelet slowly faded into blackness. Link picked up his shield, and turned to Malon, with a worried look on his face.
"Malon, are you alright? Did it hurt you?" He ran over to her, completely ignoring his tore-up shoulder.
"Link, I'm fine, and you should be worrying about yourself! If your shoulder had been bitten any harder, I think your arm would fall off!" She looked at him seriously.
"What? I don't have time to be worrying about that! What if a dragon is attacking Zelda right now and that small one was sent to distract me? I have to go!"
"Small, Link?! Small like a dog is small to an ant!...Hey! Wait for me!" Link had called Epona and was mounting her. "Link, I want to come too!"
"Malon, you can't come; what if a dragon grabs you again? This dragon didn't leave you out of our fight, so why should another one? Then I'll have two girls to save! Just stay at your ranch - I don't think they'll come for you if I'm not around." He looked towards the castle. "Epona, take me to the castle, please. Quickly!" With that, Epona and Link raced off towards the castle as fast as possible.
"Be careful, Link..." Malon muttered to his disappearing back.
buSection 2
The Captain of the Royal Guard/u/b
Link rode Epona all the way to the castle gate, even though a few soldiers protested on the way. When he got there he jumped off Epona and ran to Zelda's room where he figured she was probably waiting for dinner about this time. He stopped in front of the door and knocked.
"Zelda! Are you being attacked by a dragon?" Zelda came to the door and opened it, giving Link a weird look. "Why do you think I'm being attac-" She stopped in the middle of her sentence. "Link, just look at your shoulder! What happened?" Link sighed in relief.
"Whew...I though they might have sent one after both of us..."
"You mean you were attacked by a dragon just now? Are you okay?!"
"I'm okay...sorry for bothering you. I'll just have the doctors check this...eh?? What's that noise?" Link and Zelda strained their ears, and faintly made out the sound of flapping wings. "Uh-oh...that doesn't sound too good." Link ran past Zelda and across her room (which was a really big, pretty room) to her window and saw a red dragon coming. It was a little bigger than the one that tried to kill Link, and it was flying strait for Zelda's window.
"Link, don't worry! My father posted archers on the castle walls above my room. They'll take care of that dragon!" Zelda ran out onto the balcony hanging outside her room (It was about forty feet above the ground, and to the right of it was the balcony hanging off of Link's room) and yelled up to the guards to shoot the dragon.
"We see it, your highness!" One yelled down to her. "It's about to come into our range!" The guards raised their bows, and aimed at the dragon. All twelve of them had been training for a month, so by now they all had very good aim. "FIRE" Shouted a guard (Link thought it sounded like the captain of the Royal Guard) and twelve swift, sharp arrows were flying towards the dragon. The dragon was not very fast, so even though it tried, it couldn't dodge the arrows. Every single one of them hit. The dragon went down with rage in it's eyes, staring straight at Zelda; screaming as well as it could with two arrows in it's neck, "bCURSE YOU! I will get the triforce for my master! Arggghhh/b!" Then the dragon hit the ground, dying on impact.
The guards on the wall cheered, and Link was relieved that he didn't have to fight a dragon with his bitten shoulder, which he noticed was bleeding on Zelda's balcony. "Yikes!" He put a hand over the bite. "Sorry about your floor, Zelda!"
"Just go and get that treated, okay? I don't care about my floor that much, and I don't think any more dragons are coming tonight."
"Okay..." Link looked up at the guards. "Hey! Nice aim, guys! I couldn't have done any better myself!"
"Of course not!" Yelled down Raykel, the captain of the Royal Guard, who didn't like Link taking his place as the princess's bodyguard (he would be the King's bodyguard, but the king had only his very most trusted five soldiers for that, and none of them wanted to be captain of the Royal Guard, so Raykel was). "My men can shoot a dragon's neck from three hundred yards away! You're lucky we were around, or the dragon would have eaten the rest of your shoulder!"
"Raykel! How dare you speak to my bodyguard that way!" Zelda warned, "If I ever hear you say something like that again, you'll lose your job! Link protects me better than you ever did! Where were you the first night a dragon attacked me? I bet you were sleeping!"
"No, your highness! I meant no disrespect, your majesty!" Raykel was good at sucking up to Zelda so he wouldn't get in trouble.
"Good!" Zelda still looked mad. "I know you're a skilled warrior, Raykel, but if you ever use your skill against Link and you're not in an official contest, I swear you'll lose more than just your job!"
"Y-Yes, your highness!" Now he wasn't sucking up, he was afraid.
"Relax, Zelda!" Link tried to calm her down, "No harm done...you don't have to scare the pants off the guy! Anyways, I'll see you at dinner, if this bite is treated by then."
"Alright, see you later, Link."
Link went to the infirmary and had some Arlia used on his shoulder, which worked just fine because the wound wasn't deep. The doctor said he got wounded so often that he should carry an enchanted Arlia bud with him all the time, so Link took one when he left to go eat dinner.
While Link was eating dinner with the Royal Family (which was a great honor given to very few, but they didn't mind having the Hero of Time eat with them at all. Raykel was very jealous) Link discussed the dragon attacks with Zelda quietly. They decided it was time that they started training together, because it was probably the only way they could learn to use the power of their triforces. Zelda asked her father if it was okay, and he said as long as Link didn't go too far and hurt her, she could train with him. She said that was ridiculous, and their training would start tomorrow morning, after she contacted Rauru, the Sage of Light, telepathically for advice.
Zelda also thought she would try contacting Impa through the link they had with each other from both being sages, even though the last time she tried, it didn't work. Zelda greatly missed Impa, who had gone on a mysterious trip without saying anything but 'Goodbye, I must leave now but I will be back so don't worry about me. Get Link to be your bodyguard and you'll be fine without me'. Zelda remembered how she used to train with Impa before Ganon had taken over. Since Impa left, Raykel had been her bodyguard until the dragon attack. Now she didn't trust the man at all.
The next morning, Raykel woke up, got dressed, and went up to the castle wall above Zelda's room to tell the guards they were off-duty until twelve that night, like usual (Raykel's men guarded the wall from six to twelve, and the second in charge (the one who would take Raykel's place if anything happened), Sohran, and his eleven men guarded from twelve to six; and in the daytime the wall wasn't guarded, because dragons hadn't come in the daytime). "Yes, sir!" said Sohran, saluting. "We'll see you tonight, sir!" Raykel watched as Sohran and his men left the wall. Sohran was a twenty-year-old man with blondish-brown short hair. He was optimistic, and very loyal to the king. He was considered to be the second best warrior in the Royal Guard, but Link wasn't in these calculations, since he had never been in a Warrior Contest, which was a contest held by the king every year. The contest was always held around this time of year, so every soldier was anticipating it. Almost all of Hyrule came to see it, and for five years in a row, Sohran had held second place, and Raykel had held first.
After relieving Sohran, Raykel went to have breakfast in the soldier's barracks. Raykel had put on his blue Royal Guard clothes and his Royal Guard armor, which shimmered in the sun like silver because it had been polished many times. The armor covered his chest, his back, his upper arms, and all of his legs. He had a bracer on his right wrist, and the rest of his arms were covered in thick leather. He also had a helmet, but he usually left it off. He was thirty-eight, and a tall man, way over six feet, and was strong, fast, and skilled. He had dark black hair, which he had grown to his shoulders, and a neat mustache. He was well-groomed all of the time, feeling the need to set an example to the other soldiers, and he was an excellent leader. Although he didn't know most of his soldiers very well, they respected his skills and followed his strong lead. There was only one soldier that Raykel liked more than the others, and that was his personal apprentice, Cosha. They didn't have a whole lot of time to train, though.
With a little help from Sohran, Raykel trained a group of twenty-five soldiers every two days in the courtyard, and trained the other group of twenty-five every other day (there were a total of fifty-eight Royal Guards. Hyrule Army officers trained the rest of Hyrule's soldiers, and there were about one hundred and seventy of them). They trained from seven to three.
After breakfast, Raykel took Group One to the courtyard for training (the courtyard was a very large, grassy area surrounded by castle walls. It could easily be big enough to train one or two hundred men at once) when Raykel got there, he saw the normal soldiers from the army training. But he saw something on the far side of the courtyard that he thought didn't look right. Were those two soldiers out of uniform? He looked closer and was surprised to see Link and Zelda training with each other! He would have yelled at Link for daring to train with a member of the Royal Family, but knew he shouldn't even talk to Link when Zelda was around. He knew he would get in trouble because the thirty-eight-year old man couldn't stand a fifteen-year-old taking his job, and he didn't think he could bear to say anything nice to Link.
For four hours Raykel trained with his men, trying to ignore Link and Zelda on the other side of the training area. iWhy didn't Zelda ever want to train with me?!/i He thought furiously, iI'm a much better leader than Link! Someday that little brat will get what's coming to him, and if Impa hasn't come home yet, Zelda will come running back to me!/i
At the end of four hours of vigorous training, which had gone quite well, Raykel told his men it was time to rest for half an hour. Raykel sat down, but noticed two of his men were quarreling.
"Hey! You stepped on my foot, you idiot!"
"No I didn't, you twit! Your delusional!"
"Get out of my face, you funky rabbit!"
"How dare you, you perverted skultulla!" It was like watching two one year olds.
"You two call yourselves Royal Guards?! Be quiet and sit down before I stick you both in an empty room together and make you stay there for an hour!!" Raykel yelled.
"Ahhh! No! Anything but that!" one cried.
"Calm down! It's not even funny to say things like that! We'll quit arguing, I swear!"
"Good. Keep it that way." Raykel said irritably.
Raykel had noticed that Zelda and Link rested every two hours for ten minutes, but they weren't resting right now, so Raykel watched them training on the other side of the army soldiers.
While he watched them, Raykel realized that the training was completely safe, because Link and Zelda couldn't hurt each other with the attacks they were using. Link was using his sword, which had light magic in it, so it couldn't hurt the pure-hearted Zelda. Zelda was using her light magic, which couldn't hurt the pure-hearted Link. That way, even if one of them made a mistake, they probably would be just fine. Despite that, it looked like they were training very hard, Zelda shooting blasts of magic at Link, Link dodging and slashing at Zelda, her blocking with a magic shield...It looked like they were both getting stronger and faster. iGet all the training you want, Link... /iRaykel thought darkly. iYou'll need it at this year's Warrior Contest!/i
buSection 3
The Annual Warrior Contest/u/b
"Whew, I think it's about time to quit, Link." Zelda, breathing hard, plopped herself down on the grass. She was glad that for once she could sit on the ground, because she wasn't wearing a dress. She was wearing some foresty-looking green and brown clothes, embroidered in some places with gold ivy-looking plants. Zelda always wore clothes similar to this when she did things with Link, because she knew activities with him would probably involve running, or something else you couldn't wear a dress in. That was one of the things she loved about spending time with him. Wearing a dress all the time got annoying. The king didn't like the idea of Zelda not looking like a proper princess, but ever since Zelda tore her dress when she went jumping on Epona with Link, the king agreed that she could wear other things.
"That was really fun, Zelda! I'm glad we'll be training tomorrow!" Link said, sitting next to her.
"Fun but tiring," Zelda agreed, "I think I have better aim after all that! It was definitely a good idea." The sun was almost down, so they watched the sunset together. One of Link's favorite things to do was watch sunsets with a friend, and didn't want it ruined like yesterday, so he was careful not to fall asleep this time.
"Do you think a dragon will come tonight?" Link questioned the princess.
"It's hard to say...but I would keep my sword by my bed if I were you."
"I always do, dragon or not. What would really be bad is if three dragons came! I don't think we could handle it!"
"Don't be so pessimistic! I don't think they're that mad at us yet. I sure hope they stop coming for awhile, because the Warrior Contest is coming up, and you need to get some sleep!"
"Who said I was entering it?" Link asked. He didn't think so fondly of the idea of trying to defeat his allies. Training was fun, but he had heard that competitions could really heat up at the Warrior Contest.
"Why not, Link? I don't think Raykel respects you much, so maybe he will if you beat him!"
"And what if he decides he hates my guts even more? I don't think I want to fight someone who hates me, unless I'm allowed to defend myself without worrying about injuring a companion. Ganon hated me, and I had to injure him. Raykel hates me...what if he forces me to do the same to him? Or what if I get caught up in the moment and force him to do the same to me? I don't like the idea..."
"Oh, Link! I don't think he'll be challenging enough to force you to hurt him. He isn't so great... I bet he'd turn his tail and run if a dragon ever came within thirty feet of him!" Zelda looked at Link with a smile. "And you defeated one without needing anyone else's help! C'mon... you can take him! I know for a fact that you're not scared."
"Of course not...but I'd have to hurt my friends! A lot of the soldiers who have and probably will enter the contest are very nice, and I'm sure Raykel is a cool guy, despite his dislike for me. Why should I fight in the contest? I have nothing to prove!"
"Sure you do! Raykel will keep putting you down if you don't put him in his place." Link thought on her words for a moment.
"You know, maybe your right. Perhaps if I show him how I fight, he wont treat me like a kid...who knows, maybe we'll become friends!"
"That's the spirit! And don't worry about receiving deadly injuries, because if a soldier gives another soldier a deadly blow on purpose he'll be disqualified, and Raykel would never give up his precious first place. If you ask me, Sohran's the better warrior. He's had second place ever since he was fifteen!"
"Wow, that's really good. I'd like to train with a guy like that!"
"Hey, your fifteen...maybe you could pick up the tradition of holding a place, except you'll probably get first, not second."
"Think so? We'll see...anyway, don't you think we should be going inside? It's getting dark, and your father will send a soldier out to give you a lecture again soon..."
"Okay... sheesh, I don't know why father still treats me like a baby, " Zelda said. "At dinner we can ask him when the contest will be."
"On iSixday/i, father? Don't you think it should be a bit later? That's only six days for the men to prepare! In the past you've given them months..." Zelda's father interrupted her complaining.
"Sweetie, I think that if we don't have the contest soon, dragons will destroy the courtyard it's held in! We were lucky the soldiers could take down the dragon last night, or who knows what damage it could have done!" The king thought a moment. "Although I am glad they have been doing more damage to the castle than the people living in and defending it, that may change - all the more reason to hold the contest early this year!" The king looked at Zelda for her reply, and she sighed.
"You are right, of course...it's just a pity that these irksome dragons are messing up an event that every person in Hyrule anticipates. The soldiers will just have to do their best with what little time they have, I suppose."
"Indeed. So, Link... are you entering this year?" The king looked over at Link, who was playing with his food more than eating it.
"Um..." Link glanced at Zelda. "Yes, I'm entering it, your highness."
"Excellent! I understand that there are soldiers who doubt your right to guard my daughter. I'm sure they'll see at the contest just how capable a warrior you are."
"Well, I'll do my best. I wouldn't want to disappoint you."
"Great! I'm sure this will be a contest to remember!" The king laughed merrily.
"Father loves his fighting contests..." Zelda said quietly to Link.
iBeautiful../i.Link growled to himself silently, inow I'm going to be REALLY embarrassed if I lose! This was going to fun, but now the entire Royal Family will be watching me! Talk about pressure...shoot, Malon and Saria will probably be there too!/i
Link made an irritated face and resumed playing with his food.
* * *
Link decided that the only way for him to prepare for the Warrior Contest was to continue training with Zelda, so he did. On every day from Tenday to Fiveday, Link trained with Zelda (mostly Zelda, but she had trained as Sheik once or twice). Every day the training became more intense and more fun. Link had no idea he would get so much enjoyment from fighting and improving with Zelda. But it wasn't just that, they talked and joked while they were training, and everyday they came a little closer to discovering how to use their triforces, thanks in part to Rauru's helpful advice. Whenever she contacted Rauru, Zelda also tried to contact Impa, but every single time she got no reply. Zelda was becoming quite distressed about this, and said to Link that if she failed to contact Impa a few more times, she would have her father send search parties all over Hyrule to look for her. Zelda also told Link that she had always watched the Warrior Contest with Impa, but Impa had never entered. Why, Zelda didn't know or care; she just wanted to see Impa again, and soon.
"Hey, if the soldiers don't find Impa in Hyrule, I'll look for her while I'm exploring North Hyrule, okay?" Link tried to console his friend. "If she's there, I'm sure she'll show herself to me if I come by her."
"Thanks, Link...I think about her every time I turn into Sheik, every time I think of the contest, every time I do anything she used to help me with... I really miss her. I'm glad I have you to keep me company." Zelda smiled over at Link.
"Ah, don't go corny on me again..." Zelda's reply was laughing.
"Hey, I'm not joking! You may be a 'loner warrior' kind of guy, but if I have no one to talk to, I get very bored."
"Loner, huh? Just because I'm alone a lot doesn't mean I enjoy it. I get lonely sometimes too, y'know? Navi and Saria were the only ones I could talk to before the Deku Tree told me I was destined to leave the Kokiri Forest...I'm definitely glad I left that place. It was nice and all, but so boring! When I wasn't arguing with Mido or hanging out with Saria there was nothing to do. Well, break's over! Lets get back to training, shall we? The contest is tomorrow." Link stood up and drew his sword.
"Thank goodness the dragons have left us alone this long! It's like we got just what we needed...pretty weird, huh? Lets get back to taking advantage of our good luck!" Zelda got up, and resumed training with Link. They both knew they were stronger than they had been before. Somehow, training between two triforce holders worked extremely well...or at least it seemed that way to both of them. While they had been training for the past six days, Zelda had continued convincing Link of how cool the Warrior Contest was, and now he was glad he had decided to enter it. In fact, he could hardly wait for tomorrow.
The day turned out to be another successful one in the training department, and Link finally retired to bed after dinner. At first he was anxious, anticipating the contest and wondering if a dragon would attack, but none did, and soon he fell into a deep sleep.
"Curses, and curses again!" shouted the Dragonlord. "Why won't you wretched creatures come?" He glared at the portal like a man glares at another before striking him.
"bCalm yourself, Master. I assure you, the portal simply needs time to recharge its magical powers!/b" A middle-sized (about the size of a one-story house) dragon tried to calm his master. The dragon had shimmering black scales with dark green horizontal stripes, with green highlights on it's snout, paws, feet, and tail. There were soft, green skin-spikes running along the dragon's back, face, and arms, and its underside was covered in armor-like, thick light-yellow scales. It had big, light-green wings and twisted ivory-colored horns. It was a magic-using dragon, and had a yellow jewel-like scale in its forehead.
"I know that, you scaled moron! I only summoned two dragons, so why does the bloody thing have to take more than a stinking half a week to recharge?!"
"bMaster, I would remind you that every time more than one dragon is summoned, the portal must rest...but after that rest, you can summon two dragons and it wont have to recharge. If you summon three, however, it will.../b"
"Shut UP, Dakos! Do you think I didn't know that? When my master helped me get this portal he explained everything to me - I don't need an overgrown lizard reminding me!"
"bYou're right, sire. Forgive me./b" The dragon turned away from the Dragonlord, offended and ashamed. "bI was wrong to assume that your memory isn't perfect./b"
Dakos tried to make it sound like he really meant what he was saying.
"That's more like it. The portal should be charged by tomorrow, and I will need you to carry me to Hyrule castle. And to trust you to carry me, I need your complete obedience."
"bOf course, Master. Wait...did you just say we were going to the castle? Master, isn't that too risky? They took down Oraal, the last dragon you sent, with arrows!/b"
"Relax, and try to listen to me this time. You are a very good flyer, so you can fly high, out of range."
"bBut sire...if were too high, than you wont be able to attack anything, so what's the point/b?"
"You thick-skulled dragon! Too high to attack? HAH! I have my long-range weapons."
"bBut so does Link! He can shoot his arrows farther than other soldiers, I'm sure. Won't he hit us/b?"
"No..because he will be distracted by the next dragon I'm going to summon. I'll need the queen's help with this one...it'll be a huge energy-element dragon! I probably won't even need to go with it...hehehe - we'll have the Triforce of Wisdom this time!"
"bA brilliant plan, Master...but how will you get the queen to help you? She's unwilling/b."
"I have my ways of convincing her. I'll do it right now, in fact." The Dragonlord turned from the portal and walked away from Dakos. The room Dakos was in was the Dragonlord's summoning room, and had little decoration. It was a huge room with walls, floor, and ceiling all made of black stone, like most of the rooms in the fortress. The only things worth mentioning in the room were some dragons carved into the walls, a soft chair by the portal, and the portal. The Dragon Summoning Portal was very large, and almost touched the ceiling of the enormous room. It was a big, coin-shaped, magical doorway though which only dragons could pass. Its rim was silvery-gray, and it had a big, orange jewel set into the top of it. It reminded Dakos of a giant mirror, since one could see himself if he looked into it's center. The center of the portal looked like a huge, rippling pool with a very shiny surface, but it was really a magic substance that summoned dragons instantly.
Dakos looked down on the floor and realized the Dragonlord had left his Summoning Staff. It was black, and had an orange jewel on top of it. As long as the Dragonlord possessed his staff and his headpiece, he could summon and control dragons. After getting the queen to put them under a spell, the Dragonlord put a bracelet onto their left wrist, and this bracelet allowed the Dragonlord to, with his staff, control the dragon completely. Without the bracelet on the dragon, he only had partial control. Dakos was the only dragon the Dragonlord hadn't put a bracelet on, since he was loyal as long as the Dragonlord held his queen. The Queen had had a bracelet put on her while she was sleeping, and now was mostly under the Dragonlord's control...but not entirely. She was a queen of dragons, so she would be hard to control. It would take some convincing to get her to put a spell on an energy-element dragon. Dakos sighed, wishing his queen was free, but if he tried anything, the Dragonlord had the power to destroy her. Dakos would gladly serve the Dragonlord if he promised his queen's safety. The Dragonlord had been treating his queen nice enough...giving her comfortable living quarters, and feeding her well, so Dakos was very loyal to the Dragonlord. Dakos picked up the magic staff in his teeth, and ran to give it to the Dragonlord before he reached the Queen.
* * *
The day of the Warrior Contest arrived. Link awoke before the sun had risen, to the sound of a knock on his door.
"Yes?" He called sleepily, getting out of bed. A voice came from behind the door.
"Time to get up, Link! The contest will start in a few hours!" Zelda came into the room.
"Ack! Zelda, I'm not dressed!"
"Oops!" Zelda blushed and she quickly turned around to face the door. "I'll come back when your done.."
"No, you can stay. Just...don't turn around before I tell you I'm dressed."
"Okay. Do you know the rules of the contest, Link?" Link was pulling on his tunic.
"Ah...not really, I guess."
"Alright - don't worry, they're simple enough to learn right now. Each match will take place in a square-shaped ring. The soldiers are supposed to stay inside the ring, but if you're thrown out, you have fifteen seconds to get back into it, or you'll lose. The match is fought until one of the two soldiers is knocked unconscious or gives up. And then the next two soldiers are up. There is no healing between rounds, so don't bring your Arlia. You can wear any armor you want, and pick one weapon of choice to fight with." Zelda explained. Link decided without thought that he would fight with the Silver Sword (his sword that looks like the Master Sword, which had been returned to the pedestal, but had a silver hilt rather than a purple-blue one. It was the one that Zelda had put light magic into, the one he had used while training with her).
"Armor, huh? Couldn't I just bring my shield?"
"Yes, if your not wearing armor, they'll allow you to bring a shield."
"Good...armor slows me down too much. I'm dressed now." Link started making his bed. He didn't think making beds was very necessary, but didn't want his room to look dirty in front of Zelda. He sat on his bed when he was done and Zelda joined him.
"What about magic?" Link inquired. "Can I bring my spells or anything?"
"Only one magic attack per man is allowed," Zelda replied "and you must declare which magic attack you'll use, if you have one, when you are given a number."
"Okay...um, what's the number for?"
"Sixteen soldiers have entered the contest this year, and each is given a number to decide which match he'll be in."
"Okay, I think I understand. When is the contest starting, exactly?"
"Two hours from sunrise."
"Well," Link saw light beginning to spill into his room from the balcony door. "I guess the sunrise is right now. Want to watch it?"
"Sure. Lets go." Zelda and Link went out onto the balcony hanging off of Link's room and watched the dawn emerge from the horizon in her elegant pink and orange dress. She let her light pour onto Hyrule like a pleasant flood. While they watched the sunrise, Zelda told Link the little she knew about Raykel and Sohran's fighting skills. She said there would probably be few soldiers with magic, but Sohran would be sure to have it. The dawn was beautiful in her glory, until the sun rose and disappeared behind a big, dark, gray cloud. It swallowed her brilliance, and only dim, gray light was left.
Link and Zelda went down to have breakfast, then they had an hour of free time before the contest started, so they went out to the courtyard. There were men drawing a large fighting-ring-sized square in the grass with blue paint, distinguishing where the soldiers would fight. They were setting up a stage-looking thing and two soft-looking chairs, too. They also had a large piece of paper with a weird fork-looking drawing which started from one line, the split into two, then four, then eight, then sixteen. At the ends of the sixteen lines were the numbers one through sixteen.
"That's a tournament fork," Zelda explained, "It will decide which soldier with what number will fight other soldiers."
"Okay," said Link, trying to store the information away and not forget. Link and Zelda moved away from the ground-painters and trained for half an hour to warm Link up. By that time, the people of Hyrule were beginning to come into the courtyard, and soon it became too crowded with people to train. There were Hylians, Zoras, Gorons, Gerudos, and even a few Kokiri. Just as Link and Zelda decided to separate, Link to the fighting ring, and Zelda to the seats where the Royal Family would watch the tournament, Saria came over to them.
"Hi, Saria!" Link greeted excitedly.
"How are you, Saria?" Zelda welcomed her more quietly.
"Hello!" Saria answered, standing before them. "I'm fine! How are you two?"
"Great," said Zelda.
"Fine." said Link. "It's been awhile since I visited you, sorry but it's been a very busy week, and so was the one before. It's a lame excuse.."
"No, it's fine, Link. I had a busy week, too. Some vines were trying to grow on the new Deku Tree and live off of him, and it took us awhile to get rid of them."
"Aw...I could have helped..."
"No, we did fine on our own, and you have enough to worry about anyway. Good luck in the tournament!" Saria said with a big smile, "I'll be rooting for you."
"And I, also." Link heard Malon's voice behind him and turned. "I'm sure you can beat the rest of the soldiers, Link!"
"Hi, Malon. Thanks, guys" Link said, and went off to stand by the fighting ring, where the other soldiers were gathering.
Saria and Malon followed Zelda, and stood by where she sat in her chair next to the king's. The two soft chairs were on a stage, for better viewing, and there was a shade-giving canopy that had been erected over the chairs on the stage, and Malon and Saria followed Zelda onto the stage, and they were all in the shade, in the perfect spot for watching the contest. By now the sun had emerged from the cloud that had covered it, and heat beamed down from it. There were some other huge, gray clouds in the sky that threatened rain, but none looked like they would cover the sun for a while, so the shade was very much appreciated. The King hadn't come out yet, and that meant the Contest was still a good twenty minutes from starting, so the three girls started chatting with each other.
Link stood around the paper with the tournament fork on it, with some other soldiers who were gathering. There was about ten of them so far, and Link spotted his friend, Bodac.
"Hey, Bodac!" Link walked up to the tall but slim brown-haired man. "Ready for the contest?"
"Well, to tell you the truth, I'm a little nervous. I've entered the contest twice before, and both times I fought well, but got eliminated in the first round! I hope it will be different this time."
"Me too...I think your a good fighter, so I don't see any reason why you would be eliminated in the first round."
"Well, the first year I entered, I fought and lost against Maco, who retired a while ago - and last year I fought Sohran of all people, and lost pretty quick. Shoot...I bet I'll be pitted against a skilled fighter first this year, too...it's like my fate or something!"
"Well, I wish you luck, anyway Bodac. Perhaps you will be pitted against a tough fighter, and beat him! You never know."
"I hope your right...hey, looks like Raykel, Sohran and Cosha are coming. You know...I bet I'll get put against one of them..."
"Oh, cut it out, you're so paranoid! You're not going to win any fights with that attitude! Just do your best."
"Okay..." Bodac shut up and turned away from Raykel and the men walking with him, to stare at the tournament fork nervously.
"Hi, Link." Sohran said, stopping in front of him. Raykel and Cosha walked past him with out even glancing at him. "I'm glad you're entering the contest this year...I always wanted to see how strong you were. All I know is that Ganondorf was very strong, and you defeated him, so you must be tough!"
"Well you held second place since you were fifteen, so you must be tough, too." Link responded, smiling. Sohran smiled back, and put a hand on Link's shoulder.
"Good luck, my friend. I hope you do as well as your skill deserves." Link wasn't sure if he understood what Sohran was trying to say, but recognized it as a compliment.
"Thanks...you too." Link simply stood there, and Sohran removed his hand.
"Well...here come the last three soldiers...the Warrior Contest will start soon. See ya in the ring, Link" Sohran said, and went to go talk with the arriving soldiers.
A few minutes later, some trumpets blew, announcing the arrival of the King. The crowd cleared a path for him as he came, with four horn-blowers and ten Royal Guards behind him in two neat lines. He walked over to the stage, climbed the steps, and stood in front of the big, soft chair meant for him. The ten Royal Guards and the four trumpet men spread out around the stage to protect the King, should the need arise.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" The King yelled as the crowd quieted down to hear him. "It's finally time for the eleventh annual Warrior Contest!" The people of Hyrule started cheering. One of the men helping with the contest held a bucket filled with little papers, and he walked up to the group of soldiers. "Fighters, it is time for you to draw your numbers. The contest will begin shortly." The king sat down, and watched what numbers the soldiers got. They were called over to the man with the bucket one by one. Soon Sohran was called up. He got number six, and declared he would be using a tornado magic attack. After him, Bodac was called. He drew nine. A few more soldiers were called, than Link. Link drew four, and declared he was going to use a spin attack. By looking at the tournament fork, he could see that it put him against a soldier named Paro first. Cosha and Raykel were called up. Cosha got thirteen, and Raykel got ten. Bodac moaned, realizing he would have to fight Raykel first.
"Just my luck..." he muttered. The two warriors who were in the first fight went to the ring, where the referee told them to stand at opposite sides. They were Corb, a soldier Link knew to be a nice man, and some other soldier who Link didn't know. The King stood up once more.
"Let the Warrior Contest begin!!!" He roared, and sat back down.
By: Sonnet aka Talon
( E-mail me at Talonofday@yahoo.com, but not if you're going to give me sick advertisements! I DONT WANT THEM!! I'M ONLY 16! Just feedback, please.)
Disclaimer: I do not own Hyrule, Link, Epona, Zelda, or anything else from Shigeru Miamoto and Nintendo's genius video game: Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I wrote this story in dedication to them, since it's from the best video game of all time, created by them. The only things I own are North Hyrule, the Dragonlord, Raykel, and all other things not in the original video game (so don't use em' without asking me and putting that I thought them up). I also wrote this because I like reading, drawing, and recently writing fantasy (all talents are given to me by God, so all credit goes to him as well). I think Link is really cool - Good job, Miyamoto!
Note: This story is about 32 pages long. This story takes place after my first one: The Problem of the Swamp Fairies, so you may want to read that one first. By the way, this story is somewhere between PG and PG-13, there's no sexual themes or foul language, but there's violence and some blood. Enjoy!
buSection 1
Dragon Surprise/u/b
It was nearing sunset by the time Link arrived at Lon-Lon Ranch for his visit with Malon. He usually visited his friends often, but it was only the second time that week; it had been a very full week. It was Eightday (In the Hylian calendar, there are ten days) and six dragons had attacked Zelda that week! Link hardly had any time to do anything lately but help repair the damage the dragons had done to the castle. Dragons were attacking so often that Link wondered if more than one of them would be sent next time. Link didn't know where they were coming from, but knew if he didn't stop whoever was sending them, the evil person might send two or three, and Link wasn't so sure he could defeat two or three dragons at the same time. He supposed it depended on how big and strong they were...but he couldn't worry about that at the moment. He had decided earlier that day to have a nice carefree visit with his friend, Malon. In the gradually fading light, the ranch's wooden doorway-like entrance looked dark and peaceful. There were stone walls around this entrance to protect the ranch, but Link recalled the many times the ranch had been in danger despite these...
Link walked into the ranch and saw Malon standing in her usual spot, watching the horses. She turned and saw Link coming. Her hair was red as ever, and the sun was barely high enough to peek over the walls of the ranch and shine on it, making it look like fire. Her pink and white dress fluttered in a gentle breeze.
"Hi, Link!" Malon's face lit up with a pretty smile and she ran over to Link, giving him a quick hug. "How come you didn't come on Sixday? I was getting worried!" Malon interrupted Link just as he was about to answer her question."Oh, I know! It was the dragons, wasn't it?" Malon stopped talking and looked at the ground sadly.
"Yes, I had to repair damage they..." Link trailed off, noticing the look on Malon's face. "What's wrong, Malon?"
"Link..." Malon looked up at Link and he was surprised to see how extremely sad she looked. "Link, you may think that all this defeating dragon stuff is your job...but... what if you die, Link?!"
"What?" Link was caught off-guard by her words. "Well, it is my job, Malon...if I don't protect Zelda, the dragons will take her triforce and give it to whoever is sending them! You don't want a repeat of what Ganon did to Hyrule, do you? I know the dragons are being controlled...they all have glowing bands on their wrists which seem to hold a spell over them. Trust me Malon, the dragons' master will take the triforce if I don't get in his...or it's way!"
"I guess your right..." Malon said dejectedly, still looking very sad. Link sighed.
"Malon, look..." he walked up to her and hugged her, "I'm not going to die, alright? I can't afford to. If I do, then all the things that mean anything to me will be destroyed...so I can't let myself die, okay? I simply must defend Hyrule. It's what I was put here for." Malon looked up at him and smiled.
"I guess you're right..." she repeated, "I'm sorry for doubting you, Link." Malon's face was very close to Link's and he began to feel uncomfortable, so he released his embrace and stepped back. Malon started laughing.
"What?" Link looked at her suspiciously.
"It's just the way you said that...'it's iwhat/i I was iput/i here ifor/i'."
"I didn't say it like that!" Link said.
"Yes you did! And you looked so iserious/i." Malon made a funny version of a serious face.
"Hey! Don't you know how to be serious? Hmf! Well...uh...any chores I can help with? We don't have much daylight left."
"Nope! I'll just put the animals in their stalls and then we can relax for awhile."
Link helped Malon with the horses, cows, and cuccos (an animal similar to a chicken), and then they sat under a tree just outside the ranch and watched the sunset. Link enjoyed most of it, but as it became dark, Link's thoughts strayed to the fact that dragons had only attacked at night so far. With all the attacks, Link expected one would come tonight. iI really need to get some sleep/i...Link thought. Naturally, Link couldn't sleep well with the knowledge that a dragon could be coming, so he had gotten little rest that week, but now he realized how tired he was. Even with the threat of a dragon bothering him, Link's eyes grew heavy. As the sun's last rays disappeared behind the horizon, Link fell asleep.
Malon looked over at her friend, and discovered him dozing. iHow weird! Link never fell asleep like this before...but then he must not have gotten much sleep with the dragons and such./i Malon looked at her friend fondly. iMan, he's so cute! I can't believe he me gave me a hug! He usually takes 'em but never gave me one 'till today!/i Malon blushed with pleasure. iMaybe he likes me just like I like him! /iThen she regretfully yanked herself out of the clouds. iNaw../i.Malon remembered how he pulled away when she had looked up at him. iBut it's nice to have him for a friend./i Malon's thoughts were disturbed as she heard the animals in the ranch stalls go berserk, with squawking, neighing, and mooing.
Malon jumped up and ran into the ranch. She would have awakened Link, but knew how tired he was, and thought she could calm the animals herself. Probably one horse got bored and started fighting another, and when that happened, all of the animals got noisy. She could easily calm them down with carrots; she thought as she reached the stall door.i But what if its a.../i Malon stopped suddenly. The animals always went crazy when a dragon was getting close to the castle. iNo... It's too early for that! Dragons come late at night... but what if it is? /iJust as Malon turned to go and wake up Link, she heard a flapping sound and looked behind her in the sky. A dragon was coming straight for her! It was bigger than two cows and had evilly red eyes. Its dark blue scales gleamed in the moonlight and its black wings were far darker than the blackness of the night sky. Something orange shined on the dragon's left wrist, but what caught Malon's eyes were the dragon's long, white, teeth, displayed in a hungry grin. It terrified her. How?! She wondered, panicking. iI don't have the Triforce of Wisdom! That's the one Link said they were after, so why is a dragon after me?!/i Malon turned and ran from the dragon. It swooped down and picked her up, flying high off the ground.
"AAAAhhhhhhhhh!!!" Malon screamed bloody murder as the dragon took her into the air.
"Zzzzzz....hm? What the?!" Link awoke with a start when Malon's scream reached his ears. He jumped up and stared open-mouthed at the dragon which had flown above him, suspended in the sky with a wriggling Malon in its grip. "What on Earth?! PUT HER DOWN!" Link yelled furiously.
"bHahahahaah!/b" The dragon laughed in its sardonic, rough voice. "bPut her down? Why don't you make me, you pest? Fight me like the hero you think you are! Battle me, you coward!/b"
Link wondered why a dragon would attack him and Malon and not Zelda (however he was glad the dragon was attacking him and Malon rather than Zelda, she had only the soldiers to protect her at the moment, and sometimes they didn't do such a great job), and why it chose such an early time; but he ignored the dragon's comments and drew his bow and an arrow.
"bOooooo! A bent toothpick bow and a puny twig arrow! Whatever shall I d-/b" The creature was so involved in it's comeback that it paid no heed to Link, and it's words were cut off as a fire arrow (Link had turned his arrow to a fire one while the dragon was yapping) struck it's flapping left wing. The dragon roared, let go of Malon, and fell through the air, madly flapping its wings - trying to stay airborne. Link ran under Malon; and she fell, screaming extremely loud, right into his arms. The impact threw them to the ground, but neither of them was hurt. Malon got off Link and he got to his feet.
"Thanks, Link." Malon was saying, but Link was already running off to where the dragon had fallen. He drew his sword, determined this time to not kill the dragon, but to destroy the bracelet controlling it. All of the other times the battles had been too quick and fierce to do anything but fight, but now Link saw his chance.
The dragon got up, it's singed left wing drooping, and snarled at Link.
"bYes, fight me! Come right to your death, you foolish human/b!"
"What, do you want the Triforce of Courage and the Triforce of Wisdom now? Your master is getting greedy, isn't he?"
"bHow dare you talk about my master that way! He wants the Wisdom more than the Courage, the only reason I'm attacking you before Zelda is that he wants you dead! You always get in the way! I'll kill you!/b" iAha, a dragon finally mentioned its master!/i Thought Link, iSo they are being controlled! I knew it! /iHis thoughts were interrupted as deadly flames shot from the dragon's mouth, aiming to fry him. Link quickly raised his mirror shield, and the dragon's flames were deflected right back into the creature's face. This dragon was not a fire element dragon, so it was not immune to it's own attack. It roared in pain and collapsed, it's face so burnt it was black.
iIt can't possibly be that easy,/i Link knew, iEven if this dragon is small, it should be harder to beat than that!/i Link walked cautiously toward the dragon, thinking maybe it was unconscious and he could destroy the bracelet. He noticed the dragon was breathing as he got closer, so it had to be unconscious, right? Link was wrong. Malon screamed as the dragon got up suddenly and launched itself at Link. Link raised his shield, but the dragon grabbed it with one clawed hand, and pulling it away from Link, the dragon bit him, digging his teeth into Link's shoulder.
Link yelled in pain, but fortunately, the dragon's teeth didn't get very deep before Link drove his sword into the beast's chest. It let out a roar of agony, which ended in a gurgle of blood as it spilled from the creature's throat. It collapsed again, but this time it was no longer breathing. The light in the orange jewel set into the dragon's bracelet slowly faded into blackness. Link picked up his shield, and turned to Malon, with a worried look on his face.
"Malon, are you alright? Did it hurt you?" He ran over to her, completely ignoring his tore-up shoulder.
"Link, I'm fine, and you should be worrying about yourself! If your shoulder had been bitten any harder, I think your arm would fall off!" She looked at him seriously.
"What? I don't have time to be worrying about that! What if a dragon is attacking Zelda right now and that small one was sent to distract me? I have to go!"
"Small, Link?! Small like a dog is small to an ant!...Hey! Wait for me!" Link had called Epona and was mounting her. "Link, I want to come too!"
"Malon, you can't come; what if a dragon grabs you again? This dragon didn't leave you out of our fight, so why should another one? Then I'll have two girls to save! Just stay at your ranch - I don't think they'll come for you if I'm not around." He looked towards the castle. "Epona, take me to the castle, please. Quickly!" With that, Epona and Link raced off towards the castle as fast as possible.
"Be careful, Link..." Malon muttered to his disappearing back.
buSection 2
The Captain of the Royal Guard/u/b
Link rode Epona all the way to the castle gate, even though a few soldiers protested on the way. When he got there he jumped off Epona and ran to Zelda's room where he figured she was probably waiting for dinner about this time. He stopped in front of the door and knocked.
"Zelda! Are you being attacked by a dragon?" Zelda came to the door and opened it, giving Link a weird look. "Why do you think I'm being attac-" She stopped in the middle of her sentence. "Link, just look at your shoulder! What happened?" Link sighed in relief.
"Whew...I though they might have sent one after both of us..."
"You mean you were attacked by a dragon just now? Are you okay?!"
"I'm okay...sorry for bothering you. I'll just have the doctors check this...eh?? What's that noise?" Link and Zelda strained their ears, and faintly made out the sound of flapping wings. "Uh-oh...that doesn't sound too good." Link ran past Zelda and across her room (which was a really big, pretty room) to her window and saw a red dragon coming. It was a little bigger than the one that tried to kill Link, and it was flying strait for Zelda's window.
"Link, don't worry! My father posted archers on the castle walls above my room. They'll take care of that dragon!" Zelda ran out onto the balcony hanging outside her room (It was about forty feet above the ground, and to the right of it was the balcony hanging off of Link's room) and yelled up to the guards to shoot the dragon.
"We see it, your highness!" One yelled down to her. "It's about to come into our range!" The guards raised their bows, and aimed at the dragon. All twelve of them had been training for a month, so by now they all had very good aim. "FIRE" Shouted a guard (Link thought it sounded like the captain of the Royal Guard) and twelve swift, sharp arrows were flying towards the dragon. The dragon was not very fast, so even though it tried, it couldn't dodge the arrows. Every single one of them hit. The dragon went down with rage in it's eyes, staring straight at Zelda; screaming as well as it could with two arrows in it's neck, "bCURSE YOU! I will get the triforce for my master! Arggghhh/b!" Then the dragon hit the ground, dying on impact.
The guards on the wall cheered, and Link was relieved that he didn't have to fight a dragon with his bitten shoulder, which he noticed was bleeding on Zelda's balcony. "Yikes!" He put a hand over the bite. "Sorry about your floor, Zelda!"
"Just go and get that treated, okay? I don't care about my floor that much, and I don't think any more dragons are coming tonight."
"Okay..." Link looked up at the guards. "Hey! Nice aim, guys! I couldn't have done any better myself!"
"Of course not!" Yelled down Raykel, the captain of the Royal Guard, who didn't like Link taking his place as the princess's bodyguard (he would be the King's bodyguard, but the king had only his very most trusted five soldiers for that, and none of them wanted to be captain of the Royal Guard, so Raykel was). "My men can shoot a dragon's neck from three hundred yards away! You're lucky we were around, or the dragon would have eaten the rest of your shoulder!"
"Raykel! How dare you speak to my bodyguard that way!" Zelda warned, "If I ever hear you say something like that again, you'll lose your job! Link protects me better than you ever did! Where were you the first night a dragon attacked me? I bet you were sleeping!"
"No, your highness! I meant no disrespect, your majesty!" Raykel was good at sucking up to Zelda so he wouldn't get in trouble.
"Good!" Zelda still looked mad. "I know you're a skilled warrior, Raykel, but if you ever use your skill against Link and you're not in an official contest, I swear you'll lose more than just your job!"
"Y-Yes, your highness!" Now he wasn't sucking up, he was afraid.
"Relax, Zelda!" Link tried to calm her down, "No harm done...you don't have to scare the pants off the guy! Anyways, I'll see you at dinner, if this bite is treated by then."
"Alright, see you later, Link."
Link went to the infirmary and had some Arlia used on his shoulder, which worked just fine because the wound wasn't deep. The doctor said he got wounded so often that he should carry an enchanted Arlia bud with him all the time, so Link took one when he left to go eat dinner.
While Link was eating dinner with the Royal Family (which was a great honor given to very few, but they didn't mind having the Hero of Time eat with them at all. Raykel was very jealous) Link discussed the dragon attacks with Zelda quietly. They decided it was time that they started training together, because it was probably the only way they could learn to use the power of their triforces. Zelda asked her father if it was okay, and he said as long as Link didn't go too far and hurt her, she could train with him. She said that was ridiculous, and their training would start tomorrow morning, after she contacted Rauru, the Sage of Light, telepathically for advice.
Zelda also thought she would try contacting Impa through the link they had with each other from both being sages, even though the last time she tried, it didn't work. Zelda greatly missed Impa, who had gone on a mysterious trip without saying anything but 'Goodbye, I must leave now but I will be back so don't worry about me. Get Link to be your bodyguard and you'll be fine without me'. Zelda remembered how she used to train with Impa before Ganon had taken over. Since Impa left, Raykel had been her bodyguard until the dragon attack. Now she didn't trust the man at all.
The next morning, Raykel woke up, got dressed, and went up to the castle wall above Zelda's room to tell the guards they were off-duty until twelve that night, like usual (Raykel's men guarded the wall from six to twelve, and the second in charge (the one who would take Raykel's place if anything happened), Sohran, and his eleven men guarded from twelve to six; and in the daytime the wall wasn't guarded, because dragons hadn't come in the daytime). "Yes, sir!" said Sohran, saluting. "We'll see you tonight, sir!" Raykel watched as Sohran and his men left the wall. Sohran was a twenty-year-old man with blondish-brown short hair. He was optimistic, and very loyal to the king. He was considered to be the second best warrior in the Royal Guard, but Link wasn't in these calculations, since he had never been in a Warrior Contest, which was a contest held by the king every year. The contest was always held around this time of year, so every soldier was anticipating it. Almost all of Hyrule came to see it, and for five years in a row, Sohran had held second place, and Raykel had held first.
After relieving Sohran, Raykel went to have breakfast in the soldier's barracks. Raykel had put on his blue Royal Guard clothes and his Royal Guard armor, which shimmered in the sun like silver because it had been polished many times. The armor covered his chest, his back, his upper arms, and all of his legs. He had a bracer on his right wrist, and the rest of his arms were covered in thick leather. He also had a helmet, but he usually left it off. He was thirty-eight, and a tall man, way over six feet, and was strong, fast, and skilled. He had dark black hair, which he had grown to his shoulders, and a neat mustache. He was well-groomed all of the time, feeling the need to set an example to the other soldiers, and he was an excellent leader. Although he didn't know most of his soldiers very well, they respected his skills and followed his strong lead. There was only one soldier that Raykel liked more than the others, and that was his personal apprentice, Cosha. They didn't have a whole lot of time to train, though.
With a little help from Sohran, Raykel trained a group of twenty-five soldiers every two days in the courtyard, and trained the other group of twenty-five every other day (there were a total of fifty-eight Royal Guards. Hyrule Army officers trained the rest of Hyrule's soldiers, and there were about one hundred and seventy of them). They trained from seven to three.
After breakfast, Raykel took Group One to the courtyard for training (the courtyard was a very large, grassy area surrounded by castle walls. It could easily be big enough to train one or two hundred men at once) when Raykel got there, he saw the normal soldiers from the army training. But he saw something on the far side of the courtyard that he thought didn't look right. Were those two soldiers out of uniform? He looked closer and was surprised to see Link and Zelda training with each other! He would have yelled at Link for daring to train with a member of the Royal Family, but knew he shouldn't even talk to Link when Zelda was around. He knew he would get in trouble because the thirty-eight-year old man couldn't stand a fifteen-year-old taking his job, and he didn't think he could bear to say anything nice to Link.
For four hours Raykel trained with his men, trying to ignore Link and Zelda on the other side of the training area. iWhy didn't Zelda ever want to train with me?!/i He thought furiously, iI'm a much better leader than Link! Someday that little brat will get what's coming to him, and if Impa hasn't come home yet, Zelda will come running back to me!/i
At the end of four hours of vigorous training, which had gone quite well, Raykel told his men it was time to rest for half an hour. Raykel sat down, but noticed two of his men were quarreling.
"Hey! You stepped on my foot, you idiot!"
"No I didn't, you twit! Your delusional!"
"Get out of my face, you funky rabbit!"
"How dare you, you perverted skultulla!" It was like watching two one year olds.
"You two call yourselves Royal Guards?! Be quiet and sit down before I stick you both in an empty room together and make you stay there for an hour!!" Raykel yelled.
"Ahhh! No! Anything but that!" one cried.
"Calm down! It's not even funny to say things like that! We'll quit arguing, I swear!"
"Good. Keep it that way." Raykel said irritably.
Raykel had noticed that Zelda and Link rested every two hours for ten minutes, but they weren't resting right now, so Raykel watched them training on the other side of the army soldiers.
While he watched them, Raykel realized that the training was completely safe, because Link and Zelda couldn't hurt each other with the attacks they were using. Link was using his sword, which had light magic in it, so it couldn't hurt the pure-hearted Zelda. Zelda was using her light magic, which couldn't hurt the pure-hearted Link. That way, even if one of them made a mistake, they probably would be just fine. Despite that, it looked like they were training very hard, Zelda shooting blasts of magic at Link, Link dodging and slashing at Zelda, her blocking with a magic shield...It looked like they were both getting stronger and faster. iGet all the training you want, Link... /iRaykel thought darkly. iYou'll need it at this year's Warrior Contest!/i
buSection 3
The Annual Warrior Contest/u/b
"Whew, I think it's about time to quit, Link." Zelda, breathing hard, plopped herself down on the grass. She was glad that for once she could sit on the ground, because she wasn't wearing a dress. She was wearing some foresty-looking green and brown clothes, embroidered in some places with gold ivy-looking plants. Zelda always wore clothes similar to this when she did things with Link, because she knew activities with him would probably involve running, or something else you couldn't wear a dress in. That was one of the things she loved about spending time with him. Wearing a dress all the time got annoying. The king didn't like the idea of Zelda not looking like a proper princess, but ever since Zelda tore her dress when she went jumping on Epona with Link, the king agreed that she could wear other things.
"That was really fun, Zelda! I'm glad we'll be training tomorrow!" Link said, sitting next to her.
"Fun but tiring," Zelda agreed, "I think I have better aim after all that! It was definitely a good idea." The sun was almost down, so they watched the sunset together. One of Link's favorite things to do was watch sunsets with a friend, and didn't want it ruined like yesterday, so he was careful not to fall asleep this time.
"Do you think a dragon will come tonight?" Link questioned the princess.
"It's hard to say...but I would keep my sword by my bed if I were you."
"I always do, dragon or not. What would really be bad is if three dragons came! I don't think we could handle it!"
"Don't be so pessimistic! I don't think they're that mad at us yet. I sure hope they stop coming for awhile, because the Warrior Contest is coming up, and you need to get some sleep!"
"Who said I was entering it?" Link asked. He didn't think so fondly of the idea of trying to defeat his allies. Training was fun, but he had heard that competitions could really heat up at the Warrior Contest.
"Why not, Link? I don't think Raykel respects you much, so maybe he will if you beat him!"
"And what if he decides he hates my guts even more? I don't think I want to fight someone who hates me, unless I'm allowed to defend myself without worrying about injuring a companion. Ganon hated me, and I had to injure him. Raykel hates me...what if he forces me to do the same to him? Or what if I get caught up in the moment and force him to do the same to me? I don't like the idea..."
"Oh, Link! I don't think he'll be challenging enough to force you to hurt him. He isn't so great... I bet he'd turn his tail and run if a dragon ever came within thirty feet of him!" Zelda looked at Link with a smile. "And you defeated one without needing anyone else's help! C'mon... you can take him! I know for a fact that you're not scared."
"Of course not...but I'd have to hurt my friends! A lot of the soldiers who have and probably will enter the contest are very nice, and I'm sure Raykel is a cool guy, despite his dislike for me. Why should I fight in the contest? I have nothing to prove!"
"Sure you do! Raykel will keep putting you down if you don't put him in his place." Link thought on her words for a moment.
"You know, maybe your right. Perhaps if I show him how I fight, he wont treat me like a kid...who knows, maybe we'll become friends!"
"That's the spirit! And don't worry about receiving deadly injuries, because if a soldier gives another soldier a deadly blow on purpose he'll be disqualified, and Raykel would never give up his precious first place. If you ask me, Sohran's the better warrior. He's had second place ever since he was fifteen!"
"Wow, that's really good. I'd like to train with a guy like that!"
"Hey, your fifteen...maybe you could pick up the tradition of holding a place, except you'll probably get first, not second."
"Think so? We'll see...anyway, don't you think we should be going inside? It's getting dark, and your father will send a soldier out to give you a lecture again soon..."
"Okay... sheesh, I don't know why father still treats me like a baby, " Zelda said. "At dinner we can ask him when the contest will be."
"On iSixday/i, father? Don't you think it should be a bit later? That's only six days for the men to prepare! In the past you've given them months..." Zelda's father interrupted her complaining.
"Sweetie, I think that if we don't have the contest soon, dragons will destroy the courtyard it's held in! We were lucky the soldiers could take down the dragon last night, or who knows what damage it could have done!" The king thought a moment. "Although I am glad they have been doing more damage to the castle than the people living in and defending it, that may change - all the more reason to hold the contest early this year!" The king looked at Zelda for her reply, and she sighed.
"You are right, of course...it's just a pity that these irksome dragons are messing up an event that every person in Hyrule anticipates. The soldiers will just have to do their best with what little time they have, I suppose."
"Indeed. So, Link... are you entering this year?" The king looked over at Link, who was playing with his food more than eating it.
"Um..." Link glanced at Zelda. "Yes, I'm entering it, your highness."
"Excellent! I understand that there are soldiers who doubt your right to guard my daughter. I'm sure they'll see at the contest just how capable a warrior you are."
"Well, I'll do my best. I wouldn't want to disappoint you."
"Great! I'm sure this will be a contest to remember!" The king laughed merrily.
"Father loves his fighting contests..." Zelda said quietly to Link.
iBeautiful../i.Link growled to himself silently, inow I'm going to be REALLY embarrassed if I lose! This was going to fun, but now the entire Royal Family will be watching me! Talk about pressure...shoot, Malon and Saria will probably be there too!/i
Link made an irritated face and resumed playing with his food.
* * *
Link decided that the only way for him to prepare for the Warrior Contest was to continue training with Zelda, so he did. On every day from Tenday to Fiveday, Link trained with Zelda (mostly Zelda, but she had trained as Sheik once or twice). Every day the training became more intense and more fun. Link had no idea he would get so much enjoyment from fighting and improving with Zelda. But it wasn't just that, they talked and joked while they were training, and everyday they came a little closer to discovering how to use their triforces, thanks in part to Rauru's helpful advice. Whenever she contacted Rauru, Zelda also tried to contact Impa, but every single time she got no reply. Zelda was becoming quite distressed about this, and said to Link that if she failed to contact Impa a few more times, she would have her father send search parties all over Hyrule to look for her. Zelda also told Link that she had always watched the Warrior Contest with Impa, but Impa had never entered. Why, Zelda didn't know or care; she just wanted to see Impa again, and soon.
"Hey, if the soldiers don't find Impa in Hyrule, I'll look for her while I'm exploring North Hyrule, okay?" Link tried to console his friend. "If she's there, I'm sure she'll show herself to me if I come by her."
"Thanks, Link...I think about her every time I turn into Sheik, every time I think of the contest, every time I do anything she used to help me with... I really miss her. I'm glad I have you to keep me company." Zelda smiled over at Link.
"Ah, don't go corny on me again..." Zelda's reply was laughing.
"Hey, I'm not joking! You may be a 'loner warrior' kind of guy, but if I have no one to talk to, I get very bored."
"Loner, huh? Just because I'm alone a lot doesn't mean I enjoy it. I get lonely sometimes too, y'know? Navi and Saria were the only ones I could talk to before the Deku Tree told me I was destined to leave the Kokiri Forest...I'm definitely glad I left that place. It was nice and all, but so boring! When I wasn't arguing with Mido or hanging out with Saria there was nothing to do. Well, break's over! Lets get back to training, shall we? The contest is tomorrow." Link stood up and drew his sword.
"Thank goodness the dragons have left us alone this long! It's like we got just what we needed...pretty weird, huh? Lets get back to taking advantage of our good luck!" Zelda got up, and resumed training with Link. They both knew they were stronger than they had been before. Somehow, training between two triforce holders worked extremely well...or at least it seemed that way to both of them. While they had been training for the past six days, Zelda had continued convincing Link of how cool the Warrior Contest was, and now he was glad he had decided to enter it. In fact, he could hardly wait for tomorrow.
The day turned out to be another successful one in the training department, and Link finally retired to bed after dinner. At first he was anxious, anticipating the contest and wondering if a dragon would attack, but none did, and soon he fell into a deep sleep.
"Curses, and curses again!" shouted the Dragonlord. "Why won't you wretched creatures come?" He glared at the portal like a man glares at another before striking him.
"bCalm yourself, Master. I assure you, the portal simply needs time to recharge its magical powers!/b" A middle-sized (about the size of a one-story house) dragon tried to calm his master. The dragon had shimmering black scales with dark green horizontal stripes, with green highlights on it's snout, paws, feet, and tail. There were soft, green skin-spikes running along the dragon's back, face, and arms, and its underside was covered in armor-like, thick light-yellow scales. It had big, light-green wings and twisted ivory-colored horns. It was a magic-using dragon, and had a yellow jewel-like scale in its forehead.
"I know that, you scaled moron! I only summoned two dragons, so why does the bloody thing have to take more than a stinking half a week to recharge?!"
"bMaster, I would remind you that every time more than one dragon is summoned, the portal must rest...but after that rest, you can summon two dragons and it wont have to recharge. If you summon three, however, it will.../b"
"Shut UP, Dakos! Do you think I didn't know that? When my master helped me get this portal he explained everything to me - I don't need an overgrown lizard reminding me!"
"bYou're right, sire. Forgive me./b" The dragon turned away from the Dragonlord, offended and ashamed. "bI was wrong to assume that your memory isn't perfect./b"
Dakos tried to make it sound like he really meant what he was saying.
"That's more like it. The portal should be charged by tomorrow, and I will need you to carry me to Hyrule castle. And to trust you to carry me, I need your complete obedience."
"bOf course, Master. Wait...did you just say we were going to the castle? Master, isn't that too risky? They took down Oraal, the last dragon you sent, with arrows!/b"
"Relax, and try to listen to me this time. You are a very good flyer, so you can fly high, out of range."
"bBut sire...if were too high, than you wont be able to attack anything, so what's the point/b?"
"You thick-skulled dragon! Too high to attack? HAH! I have my long-range weapons."
"bBut so does Link! He can shoot his arrows farther than other soldiers, I'm sure. Won't he hit us/b?"
"No..because he will be distracted by the next dragon I'm going to summon. I'll need the queen's help with this one...it'll be a huge energy-element dragon! I probably won't even need to go with it...hehehe - we'll have the Triforce of Wisdom this time!"
"bA brilliant plan, Master...but how will you get the queen to help you? She's unwilling/b."
"I have my ways of convincing her. I'll do it right now, in fact." The Dragonlord turned from the portal and walked away from Dakos. The room Dakos was in was the Dragonlord's summoning room, and had little decoration. It was a huge room with walls, floor, and ceiling all made of black stone, like most of the rooms in the fortress. The only things worth mentioning in the room were some dragons carved into the walls, a soft chair by the portal, and the portal. The Dragon Summoning Portal was very large, and almost touched the ceiling of the enormous room. It was a big, coin-shaped, magical doorway though which only dragons could pass. Its rim was silvery-gray, and it had a big, orange jewel set into the top of it. It reminded Dakos of a giant mirror, since one could see himself if he looked into it's center. The center of the portal looked like a huge, rippling pool with a very shiny surface, but it was really a magic substance that summoned dragons instantly.
Dakos looked down on the floor and realized the Dragonlord had left his Summoning Staff. It was black, and had an orange jewel on top of it. As long as the Dragonlord possessed his staff and his headpiece, he could summon and control dragons. After getting the queen to put them under a spell, the Dragonlord put a bracelet onto their left wrist, and this bracelet allowed the Dragonlord to, with his staff, control the dragon completely. Without the bracelet on the dragon, he only had partial control. Dakos was the only dragon the Dragonlord hadn't put a bracelet on, since he was loyal as long as the Dragonlord held his queen. The Queen had had a bracelet put on her while she was sleeping, and now was mostly under the Dragonlord's control...but not entirely. She was a queen of dragons, so she would be hard to control. It would take some convincing to get her to put a spell on an energy-element dragon. Dakos sighed, wishing his queen was free, but if he tried anything, the Dragonlord had the power to destroy her. Dakos would gladly serve the Dragonlord if he promised his queen's safety. The Dragonlord had been treating his queen nice enough...giving her comfortable living quarters, and feeding her well, so Dakos was very loyal to the Dragonlord. Dakos picked up the magic staff in his teeth, and ran to give it to the Dragonlord before he reached the Queen.
* * *
The day of the Warrior Contest arrived. Link awoke before the sun had risen, to the sound of a knock on his door.
"Yes?" He called sleepily, getting out of bed. A voice came from behind the door.
"Time to get up, Link! The contest will start in a few hours!" Zelda came into the room.
"Ack! Zelda, I'm not dressed!"
"Oops!" Zelda blushed and she quickly turned around to face the door. "I'll come back when your done.."
"No, you can stay. Just...don't turn around before I tell you I'm dressed."
"Okay. Do you know the rules of the contest, Link?" Link was pulling on his tunic.
"Ah...not really, I guess."
"Alright - don't worry, they're simple enough to learn right now. Each match will take place in a square-shaped ring. The soldiers are supposed to stay inside the ring, but if you're thrown out, you have fifteen seconds to get back into it, or you'll lose. The match is fought until one of the two soldiers is knocked unconscious or gives up. And then the next two soldiers are up. There is no healing between rounds, so don't bring your Arlia. You can wear any armor you want, and pick one weapon of choice to fight with." Zelda explained. Link decided without thought that he would fight with the Silver Sword (his sword that looks like the Master Sword, which had been returned to the pedestal, but had a silver hilt rather than a purple-blue one. It was the one that Zelda had put light magic into, the one he had used while training with her).
"Armor, huh? Couldn't I just bring my shield?"
"Yes, if your not wearing armor, they'll allow you to bring a shield."
"Good...armor slows me down too much. I'm dressed now." Link started making his bed. He didn't think making beds was very necessary, but didn't want his room to look dirty in front of Zelda. He sat on his bed when he was done and Zelda joined him.
"What about magic?" Link inquired. "Can I bring my spells or anything?"
"Only one magic attack per man is allowed," Zelda replied "and you must declare which magic attack you'll use, if you have one, when you are given a number."
"Okay...um, what's the number for?"
"Sixteen soldiers have entered the contest this year, and each is given a number to decide which match he'll be in."
"Okay, I think I understand. When is the contest starting, exactly?"
"Two hours from sunrise."
"Well," Link saw light beginning to spill into his room from the balcony door. "I guess the sunrise is right now. Want to watch it?"
"Sure. Lets go." Zelda and Link went out onto the balcony hanging off of Link's room and watched the dawn emerge from the horizon in her elegant pink and orange dress. She let her light pour onto Hyrule like a pleasant flood. While they watched the sunrise, Zelda told Link the little she knew about Raykel and Sohran's fighting skills. She said there would probably be few soldiers with magic, but Sohran would be sure to have it. The dawn was beautiful in her glory, until the sun rose and disappeared behind a big, dark, gray cloud. It swallowed her brilliance, and only dim, gray light was left.
Link and Zelda went down to have breakfast, then they had an hour of free time before the contest started, so they went out to the courtyard. There were men drawing a large fighting-ring-sized square in the grass with blue paint, distinguishing where the soldiers would fight. They were setting up a stage-looking thing and two soft-looking chairs, too. They also had a large piece of paper with a weird fork-looking drawing which started from one line, the split into two, then four, then eight, then sixteen. At the ends of the sixteen lines were the numbers one through sixteen.
"That's a tournament fork," Zelda explained, "It will decide which soldier with what number will fight other soldiers."
"Okay," said Link, trying to store the information away and not forget. Link and Zelda moved away from the ground-painters and trained for half an hour to warm Link up. By that time, the people of Hyrule were beginning to come into the courtyard, and soon it became too crowded with people to train. There were Hylians, Zoras, Gorons, Gerudos, and even a few Kokiri. Just as Link and Zelda decided to separate, Link to the fighting ring, and Zelda to the seats where the Royal Family would watch the tournament, Saria came over to them.
"Hi, Saria!" Link greeted excitedly.
"How are you, Saria?" Zelda welcomed her more quietly.
"Hello!" Saria answered, standing before them. "I'm fine! How are you two?"
"Great," said Zelda.
"Fine." said Link. "It's been awhile since I visited you, sorry but it's been a very busy week, and so was the one before. It's a lame excuse.."
"No, it's fine, Link. I had a busy week, too. Some vines were trying to grow on the new Deku Tree and live off of him, and it took us awhile to get rid of them."
"Aw...I could have helped..."
"No, we did fine on our own, and you have enough to worry about anyway. Good luck in the tournament!" Saria said with a big smile, "I'll be rooting for you."
"And I, also." Link heard Malon's voice behind him and turned. "I'm sure you can beat the rest of the soldiers, Link!"
"Hi, Malon. Thanks, guys" Link said, and went off to stand by the fighting ring, where the other soldiers were gathering.
Saria and Malon followed Zelda, and stood by where she sat in her chair next to the king's. The two soft chairs were on a stage, for better viewing, and there was a shade-giving canopy that had been erected over the chairs on the stage, and Malon and Saria followed Zelda onto the stage, and they were all in the shade, in the perfect spot for watching the contest. By now the sun had emerged from the cloud that had covered it, and heat beamed down from it. There were some other huge, gray clouds in the sky that threatened rain, but none looked like they would cover the sun for a while, so the shade was very much appreciated. The King hadn't come out yet, and that meant the Contest was still a good twenty minutes from starting, so the three girls started chatting with each other.
Link stood around the paper with the tournament fork on it, with some other soldiers who were gathering. There was about ten of them so far, and Link spotted his friend, Bodac.
"Hey, Bodac!" Link walked up to the tall but slim brown-haired man. "Ready for the contest?"
"Well, to tell you the truth, I'm a little nervous. I've entered the contest twice before, and both times I fought well, but got eliminated in the first round! I hope it will be different this time."
"Me too...I think your a good fighter, so I don't see any reason why you would be eliminated in the first round."
"Well, the first year I entered, I fought and lost against Maco, who retired a while ago - and last year I fought Sohran of all people, and lost pretty quick. Shoot...I bet I'll be pitted against a skilled fighter first this year, too...it's like my fate or something!"
"Well, I wish you luck, anyway Bodac. Perhaps you will be pitted against a tough fighter, and beat him! You never know."
"I hope your right...hey, looks like Raykel, Sohran and Cosha are coming. You know...I bet I'll get put against one of them..."
"Oh, cut it out, you're so paranoid! You're not going to win any fights with that attitude! Just do your best."
"Okay..." Bodac shut up and turned away from Raykel and the men walking with him, to stare at the tournament fork nervously.
"Hi, Link." Sohran said, stopping in front of him. Raykel and Cosha walked past him with out even glancing at him. "I'm glad you're entering the contest this year...I always wanted to see how strong you were. All I know is that Ganondorf was very strong, and you defeated him, so you must be tough!"
"Well you held second place since you were fifteen, so you must be tough, too." Link responded, smiling. Sohran smiled back, and put a hand on Link's shoulder.
"Good luck, my friend. I hope you do as well as your skill deserves." Link wasn't sure if he understood what Sohran was trying to say, but recognized it as a compliment.
"Thanks...you too." Link simply stood there, and Sohran removed his hand.
"Well...here come the last three soldiers...the Warrior Contest will start soon. See ya in the ring, Link" Sohran said, and went to go talk with the arriving soldiers.
A few minutes later, some trumpets blew, announcing the arrival of the King. The crowd cleared a path for him as he came, with four horn-blowers and ten Royal Guards behind him in two neat lines. He walked over to the stage, climbed the steps, and stood in front of the big, soft chair meant for him. The ten Royal Guards and the four trumpet men spread out around the stage to protect the King, should the need arise.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" The King yelled as the crowd quieted down to hear him. "It's finally time for the eleventh annual Warrior Contest!" The people of Hyrule started cheering. One of the men helping with the contest held a bucket filled with little papers, and he walked up to the group of soldiers. "Fighters, it is time for you to draw your numbers. The contest will begin shortly." The king sat down, and watched what numbers the soldiers got. They were called over to the man with the bucket one by one. Soon Sohran was called up. He got number six, and declared he would be using a tornado magic attack. After him, Bodac was called. He drew nine. A few more soldiers were called, than Link. Link drew four, and declared he was going to use a spin attack. By looking at the tournament fork, he could see that it put him against a soldier named Paro first. Cosha and Raykel were called up. Cosha got thirteen, and Raykel got ten. Bodac moaned, realizing he would have to fight Raykel first.
"Just my luck..." he muttered. The two warriors who were in the first fight went to the ring, where the referee told them to stand at opposite sides. They were Corb, a soldier Link knew to be a nice man, and some other soldier who Link didn't know. The King stood up once more.
"Let the Warrior Contest begin!!!" He roared, and sat back down.