Link jogged into the courtyard, kicking up dust as he came to a stop and drawing the attention of everyone else.

"Well!" Oulson called out. "Decided to join us, did you?"

Link waved his hand. "Sorry."

Diddy smirked. "What, we're not good enough for you?" Link didn't respond, instead heading to grab his training armour, sword, and shield from the barracks. "I'm not liking your silence, Link." Link returned, tightening his armour around his arms. "You think you're better than us?"

"I never said that." Link glanced up, placing his helmet on his head. "Though I might need someone else to spar with."

The other trainees erupted into laughter, which only died down when Captain Graves entered the courtyard, making them all stand to attention.

"Link." He nodded. "Good of you to join us."

"Yes, yes." Link rolled his eyes, fitting his shield onto his right arm. "I've already heard it from the others."

"Yes sir."

Link pursed his lips. "Right, sorry sir."

"Apology accepted." He gestured to Diddy. "Now, get in position." The pair of them moved into position, standing in the centre of the courtyard, several meters apart, weapons at the ready. Diddy held his sword and shield close, while Link held his shield forwards, sword high. "Ready?" Graves moved his gaze between the two. "Begin."

Link remained calm, shifting his weight from foot to foot, watching his opponent. Diddy, in turn, moved nervously, not wanting to make the first move against Link. Seeing Diddy's apprehension , Link began to move forward, slowly closing the distance. Diddy saw this, and began circling around him. Link didn't falter, continuing at the same, slow pace. When the distance was finally closed, Link brought his sword down, forcing Diddy on the defensive as he brought his shield up to protect himself, the force of Link's attack forced him back a step. He recovered quickly, pushing back against Link, who darted back and prepared to attack again. Diddy stabbed at Link experimentally, prodding at hiss defences, but Link tapped them away with the flat of his blade before jumping back and returning to his defensive stance. Diddy licked his lips nervously. Every time he tried something new, Link would always counter it. He needed something that would be unthought of, something even Link couldn't-

Link slashed his blade towards Diddy fast, and Diddy raised his blade in response, but Link was strong, bashing Diddy's weapon to the side, and before he could recover, Link swept his blade to Diddy's helmet and, with a flick of his wrist, flipped the helmet off Diddy's head. Diddy was paralysed, with a sword by his neck, and Link was completely calm.

"That's enough." Graves announced, and Link dropped his sword.

"You're giving me too much control Diddy." Link said, sheathing his sword. "You let me do whatever I wanted."

"Yeah, yeah." Diddy muttered as he collects his helmet.

Link turned to Captain Graves. "I told you. I know how they all fight. They can't challenge me enough."

Graves shook his head. "You all spar with fully trained knights as often as I can arrange them. This here between you guys is to hone your skills, make them sharper against each other."

"I'm sharp enough."

Graves raised an eyebrow. "And that's incredibly selfish Link. This isn't all about you being the best, this is about making all of you effect knights and an effective unit." He nodded to the other trainees. "And you're cutting yourself out of said unit."

Link glanced around to the others, finding Diddy and Oulson glaring at him while Eshie simply shook her head. Graves was right, of course, he was isolating himself, and he wasn't helping them get better. But he needed to focus on bettering himself, even if they hated him for it. As long as he was able to protect those close to him, he'd gladly endure the exile.

"Oh come on!"

Everyone turned to the path into the courtyard, and Link let out a small grin when he saw an angry Malon, panting and scarlet hair falling over her freckled face, her pure blue eyes glaring directly at him.

She jabbed her finger at him. "I told you to wait until I got here!"

Link shrugged, hiding a smirk. "Sorry, but I told you there were no promises."

"Fairy boy," She said, blowing the hair out of her face. "take that sword, and shove it up your ass."

Malon was well liked among the other trainees for multiple reasons, the main one being the farm girls bright smile that infected everywhere she went, someone that could take care of all their horses and teach them to do the same, and the fact that she was the only person that could easily keep up with Link, something that they could all appreciate. Of course, there were certain attributes appreciated by the boys… as long as Link wasn't around.

"Link." Graves called out, drawing his attention back to the others. "Get back to training."

"Captain, come on." Link whined. "I'm not going to learn anything."

"I don't care." He replied, unmoved. "Diddy needs to get better, and you can help him with that."

"Gra- Captain, please. Let me train on something I'm not as good at. My swordsmanship is fine, my tactics and horseback combat is less so."

"Use a stick."

Link turned back to Malon, frowning. "What?"

"Use a stick." She repeated, shrugging as she sat on a wooden box. "If you're so good with the sword and you want to help them train, don't use a sword. It's a pretty simple solution."

Before Link could respond, Graves called out. "I see no issue with this." He shrugged. "I need you to help further the training of the others, but if you're so good with your sword…" He trailed off and chuckled. "That's a very good idea, young lady. Thank you." She gave a small curtsy in response. "Ok then Link." He decided. "Get a training spear and get back out there with Diddy."

Link shot Malon a look, rolling his eyes, as he moved over to the rack of wooden weapons and picked up a spear, leaning his sword against the rack.

"And your shield." Graves grunted.

Link frowned but complied, unstrapping his shield and placing it next his sword and returning to the others. "Happy?"

"Yes."

"Ecstatic." Malon grinned, earning her a glare.

"Alright, at the ready." Graves announced, and Diddy took up a defensive stance once again, with Link shifting his grip down the spear defensively, with enough space at each end of the weapon to strike with, along with space between his grip in case he needed to block an attack. He was at a disadvantage, so he was taking every precaution. "Begin."

Link didn't wait this time, charging at Diddy, pushing his right hand forwards to swing the butt of the spear at Diddy, who raised his shield and bashed it away. Link used the force of his defence to bring the wooden point down at him to maintain the offensive, but Diddy batted the attack away with a flick of his sword, followed by a stab at Link's chest. Without a shield to defend himself, Link was forced back, twisting the shaft in order to deflect the blade, which scraped against his shoulder. He moved back and moved the spear to his left hand and, using his superior range, took several fast jabs at Diddy, who dodged to his left in order to prioritise his shield. Moving swiftly, Link darted to the same side, swinging his spear around and nicking the edge of Diddy's shield, making him stumble. Before Link could properly capitalise on the opportunity, Diddy dropped to the ground and took a swipe at Link's legs. He hissed in surprise, forced to jump over the attack to prevent having his feet knocked out from under him, but it opened him up to Diddy, who pounced at Link with his shield, throwing him down, rolling back several feet. Link staggered to his feet and prepared for an onslaught, but it never came. He frowned and looked at Diddy, who was eyeing him in a defensive stance.

Link sighed. "Damnit Diddy. You have to take the initiative."

Diddy didn't respond, shifting his weight nervously. Link shook his head, disappointed, and stood up, taking up his stance once again. Once he was ready, he darted to Diddy's right, looking for an opening on his sword side, and when he saw one he stabbed at Diddy's side, forcing him to twist his sword to deflect it. Rather than letting the spear guide his movement, he followed it's movement, twisting his body to swing the spear in a large arc, spinning the weapon and slamming it into Diddy's shield, forcing him to stumble. Link refused to give him the chance to recover, flicking the pommel of his weapon up and behind Diddy's shield, pushing it away from Diddy's chest, leaving him completely exposed. Diddy went to strike at Link with his sword, but Link pulled his weapon back, hitting Diddy's sword away and bringing the point of his spear level with Diddy's chest. With a wolf-like snarl, Link surged forward, slamming the wooden tip of the spear into Diddy, driving him into the ground, leaving him on the ground with Link standing over him, panting, spear tip hovering over his heart.

Graves nodded. "Alright, that's enough."

Link let the spear fall to his side and offered a hand to Diddy, helping him up. Link removed his helmet and wiped the sweat from his hair, taking deep breaths. He grinned at Diddy. "You almost got me there. Good job."

Diddy blinked. "Thanks."

"Link's right." Graves walked over to them. "You gained the advantage, however you failed to capitalise on it. If you had, I believe you would have won." He scratched at his goatee. "We'll have to work on your confidence in future." He turned to Link. "Thank you. I wouldn't have noticed Diddy's flaw if wasn't for you."

"Hey, no problem sir."

"I think I'll keep you with that spear for a little longer. Just when training when the others."

Link deflated. "Yes sir."

Graves grunted, satisfied. "Now then. Diddy, Oulson, I want you two to get back to training. Link, once they're done, you'll go against Eshie."

Link rested over the spear on his shoulder and walked over to Malon's box, swatting her arm as he leaned against the wall. "I suppose you enjoyed that?" He said, placing his helmet on the box next to her.

"Hmm." She shrugged. "Wasn't bad, I suppose."

Link raised an eyebrow. "Really? And, how, may I ask, would it have been better?"

"Oh, I don't know." She replied, grabbing his helmet. "Why do need all this armour?"

"Hey, just because we're not using real weapons doesn't mean getting hit in the ribs won't hurt." He tapped the spear. "Swing this too hard, I could probably crack someones rib. With armour? It's a bruise at worst."

"Whatever." She smirked, slipping the helmet over her head. "Geez, this thing's awful! It's so heavy and loose."

"It's not fitted to your head, of course it's not tight enough."

She tilted the helmet. "Are you saying you've got a big head?"

Link sighed, hiding a smile. "I gave you that one, didn't I?"

"Yep." A moment passed between them as they watched Oulson and Diddy trade blows. "Hey, you wanna arm wrestle?"

Link thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Ok." He saw no harm in messing with a friend. "If I win," He said as he removed his gauntlets, raising an eyebrow. "I get to kiss you, agreed?" Malon responded with a hearty laugh.

"Sure, though you'll have to earn it."

He didn't expect to win. While he had been training his body to fight, Malon had been working on the farm land around the Castle Town, helping at the stables and with her father's business. All those years of lifting crates and barrels of hay and made her far stronger than any trainee, and she had the arms to prove it. He could beat her in anything to do with a weapon or finesse, but in an arm wrestle, he really didn't stand much of a change. He just wanted to mess with her.

"And if I win," She said with a sly grin as she hopped of the box, "you'll have to kiss Lady Impa or Zelda."

Link swallowed. With the idea of how the leader of the Sheikah would respond to either of those in his mind, he now had an incentive to win. "OK."

They settled the elbows of their left arms on the box and grabbed each other's hand. Malon let him use his dominant hand, not out of kindness, but to make her victory all the sweeter. They locked eyes, Link giving a determined frown while Malon flashed him a cocky grin.

"You ready?" She asked, and Link nodded. "Alright then. Three, two, one…" She grinned. "Now!"

Link pushed against Malon's arm with all his might, his arm trembling and he failed to make her budge. He could she that it wasn't effortless for her, noticing how her usually plump lips had disappeared into her mouth from concentration. They stayed at the centre until Malon raised an eyebrow and began, very slowly to lose ground. He knew it was a taunt, to give him the illusion of victory only to tear it away. But if she got cocky, let him get close enough, then maybe, just maybe, he could make one final push to force her arm down. He felt sweat form on his face as he focused, waiting for the moment when he thought he could win. Malon's arm was forced closer and closer to the box, her face a mask. Finally, when her arm was a mere inch off the box, Link poured all his strength into a final push, the sudden action moving her arm all of half an inch, and then no more. Link grunted.

"So close." She whispered. "Better luck next time, Fairy Boy." Within seconds, their arms returning to their original position before Malon slammed Link's arm against the box, making him cry out in surprise.

"And the winner is Malon!" She jumped onto the box and swung her feet over to Link's side. "I'd say you made it interesting and fun, but I'd be lying about the first half."

Link shook his arm. "You, if it was anything else, I would have beaten you."

"Probably." She admitted. "But you agreed to it. And all needed to beat you is this." She emphasised the last sentence by rolling up her sleeve and slapping her bicep. "Can't get this in the barracks."

Link shrugged. "Oh well. I didn't lose anything."

"Yet." Malon grinned. "You still have your end of the bargain, remember." Link groaned. He'd hoped she'd forget, but of course she hadn't. "So, which will it be?" She asked. "The princess or her ruthless bodyguard?"

"I don't know, maybe I should go kiss a bombchu instead? It'd be quicker."

"Aw, don't worry." Malon patted his head mockingly. "I'm sure you'll only be mostly dead."

Link went to reply, but saw Graves call him over. It was time for him and Eshie to train. He put on his helmet and gauntlets and picked up his spear. "You know what, Malon? I don't know what I did to end up with a friend like you."

"Is that a compliment?"

"Sure, why not?" He shot her a grin before walking over to Graves. He did treasure what he had with Malon, but she had a funny way of showing friendship. As for the bet… He would cross that bridge when he came to it. He doubted it would be long before he met up with the Princess, and she'd probably find the whole thing hilarious. Impa wouldn't, but she didn't have much of a sense of humour anyway. Oh well.

He took up a stance and prepared for the next bout.

This was up sooner than expected. Not bad.

So something I noticed about my own writing was what is called a 'Critical Research Failure,' at least in my own eyes. Turns out kings are referred to as "Your Majesty," while I have been using "Your Highness," which is for lower level royalty and such. Oops. Pretend I didn't, Ok? Won't happen again.

Also Malon is ripped.