Link stood across from Kallil, eyeing him as he moved from side to side, practice sword at the ready.

"Kallil are you ever going to-" Link was cut off as Kallil charged forward, going in for a stabbing motion, Link swiftly moved to the side, knocking Kallil's sword away with his, he then kicked Kallil's ankle, knocking his foot out from under him, dropping to one knee Kallil looked up to find Link's practice sword, the point of which was only a few inches from his forehead.

"Ugh" Kallil groaned as he got to his feet, Kallil was a talented archer, but his sword skills, well, needed work. "Maybe you can go easy on me next time? You know you're twice the swordsman I am." Kallil admitted, rubbing his bruised knee.

"If I go easy on you how would you ever get any better?" Link asked with a quick smile. The two readied themselves, getting into a fighting stance, Link looked over to where Oreck was, the training fields in Castle Town were far larger, and more advanced then the ones in Lanayru Province, but Link could still pick out Oreck. Looking at Oreck's opponent, Link could tell by his stance he that had been there for a while longer than they had, thus going through the rigorous training Castle Town Guardsmen had to endure, much earlier than them.

Oreck swung downward, his opponent faded back, then faked to his left side, Oreck went for the bait and swung at him, his opponent wrapped his sword arm around Oreck's, his sword's point at his neck, he then slid his foot behind Oreck's, sweeping it out from under him, Oreck fell to the ground, his opponent tapping him on the forehead with his practice blade, saying "My point".

Link tried to hold back a laugh as Oreck got back on his feet, swearing his head off all the while, while his opponent looked on, just as amused as Link, and any other Guardsmen who was close enough to hear. Link suddenly felt a light tap against the side of his head, he turned to see Kallil, practice blade extended, touching Link's head.

"I...I...MY POINT" shouted Kallil, attracting the attention of the other guardsmen and instructors around them. Kallil began to go into another ecstatic outburst when Link interrupted him, "C'mon Kallil, that clearly didn't count." "What? Why?" stammered out Kallil. "Because I was-" began Link as he was cut off.

"Because you were distracted?" He looked behind him to see a Castle Town Guard, quite a bit older than them, his extremely ornate armor, as opposed to the normal Castle Town Guard armor, had a near blinding shine to it, it was complete with knee, shoulder, and elbow guards, and his helmet was tall, and topped with a Kargorok feather, meaning he was a higher up in the Guard.

"The point is his, being distracted is no excuse, in battle if you get distracted, you die, if Castle Town comes under siege in your tenure here, make sure to maintain focus."

He began to walk away as Link called after him, "Excuse me sir, but may inquire as to what your name may be?"

The Ornately armored figure turned around, "I am Joran Viscen, Captain of the Hyrule Castle Town Guard, every guard you see here, reports to me." Captain Viscen walked away briskly.

"Kind of abrasive, is he not?" Link asked Kallil.

"Maybe...but that's still my point."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Link replied. "Let's see if you can do it again, while the antics of Oreck aren't grabbing my attention."

Right before Kallil and Link began their next round, they heard the horn blare, signaling that it was time for them to switch opponents, Link and Kallil wished each other luck with their next sparring partner and moved down the line, Link was surprised to find himself face to face with Oreck's former partner.

"I saw you take down my friend Oreck" Link remarked to his new partner.

"Are you threatening me?" he asked, squinting his eyes at Link.

"No, not at all, Oreck needs to be put in his place every now and then!" Link said with a laugh.

"Very well...I'll put you in yours too."

Link waited for some type of smile or laugh, but none came as his opponent narrowed his eyes and suddenly made his move, swinging left, faking to the right, then swooping his sword down, nearly catching Link on the head, Link blocked all of his blows expertly, Link swung diagonally upwards to the right, keeping his midsection blocked, his opponent caught his sword with his own, pushing it upwards, kicking Link's unguarded stomach, Link lowered his sword and rolled to the side, coming to a halt on one knee, holding up his practice blade to block a downward strike. Link placed both of his feet underneath him while he intercepted the strike, he pushed up with all the force he had, leaping straight into his opponent, knocking him back a few paces, Link charged him, his opponent's slashes came extremely fast, with Link matching the speed. The two forced each other back and forth, by this time, the other occupants of the training grounds had paused and were watching, paying no mind to this, the Guards looked on too, even Captain Viscen seemed to be interested in watching.

"Did you know Link was that good?" Oreck asked Kallil.

"Not that good" Kallil replied, quite stunned.

Link pressed his blade against his opponent's, forcing him back a couple steps, his opponent suddenly spun over to Links right side, with Link barely managing to block the downward strike. Link was in full fight mode, this battle; though just practice seemed so real in his head, he felt a vague burning sensation on the back of his hand, but he paid no mind to this, he hadn't had a fight like this since his last time fighting...Link's thoughts ground to a sudden halt, he kept up his defenses against his opponent's attacks, but was almost lost in thought. His last time fighting who? Link was able to recall every training fight he had, he pondered if it was maybe a training session against Master Elgon he was remembering, but no, this fight he was recalling was life and death, no matter who he was fighting against it never felt like life or death. The burning sensation on his hand increased, with Link starting to notice it, this fighting prowess, it was beyond his already impressive skills, it was something else, something from deep inside, something repressed by his own subconscious mind, as if he broke a small hole in a dam something poured out, just one thing actually, a name, Ganondorf. Link recognized the name from tales about old Hyrule he heard from his mother and in school, but for some reason, it triggered a type of fury within him, he couldn't figure out why, but it lit a fire that was now raging out of control in his mind. Link let loose yell that caught everyone in the grounds off guard, he spun around, the force of the spin knocking away the sword of his blocking opponent, Link dove into his partner knocking his opponent's sword to the side with strength he wasn't aware he had. The name Ganondorf was being repeated over and over in his mind, with Link pushing himself even harder every time it crossed his mind, he let loose a quick series of stabs his opponent barely kept up with, his opponent as he noticed was barely slowing, still staying on top of him, delivering blow after blow and block after block. Link smiled, he has been yearning for a fight like this for as long as he could remember, he jumped into the air, sword at the ready, as he began to come down, he saw his opponent getting ready to strike in return, when suddenly a spear was thrust in between them catching both of their swords. Link and his opponent hopped back, regarding Captain Viscen, who was standing off to the side, pulling his spear out from the space between the two.

"That's quite enough." He said plainly, looking at the two younger men.

Link's opponent spoke up, "Come on Joran, it was just getting fun."

"Did he just call the Captain by his first name? Link thought.

It all clicked at once, partially due to the strange awareness Link gained during the fight, he looked at his partner, "You're Royalty, aren't you?" he asked.

Captain Viscen started towards Link in order to pull him away, but the young man standing across from Link waved him away, "Calm down Joran, someone was going to figure out eventually, I have to wonder though, what makes you think I'm royalty, and not just a noble, maybe?

Link looked at him calmly, "You're fighting skills are far beyond those of any other recruit here, you obviously have a private trainer, and have had for a while, but many younger nobles could have that, it's also your hair and eyes, that type of blue is different from normal, they almost glow, that's a royal trait, if I'm not mistaken." Link looked at the dumbfounded guards around him, and his confused friends off to the side.

There was a short silence before his opponent approached him, Link stared at him curiously, he suddenly extended his hand, saying "You have sharp eyes, Sir, I am Prince Audrik Nohansen Hyrule, son of King Daltus Nohansen Hyrule and Queen Lyara Nohansen Hyrule.

Link shook his hand, he had to resist asking if the Prince had a sister, it was a hard thing to resist, but he managed to do it, only saying, "I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, my Grace." Link bowed, with all the other recruits doing so, realizing the they were in the presence of a Royal.

Prince Audrik sighed and began shouting "No, no, no! you don't have to, I'm here to learn to how to defend my home, just like all of you, I'm here to be one of you!" the crowd started clapping, with the prince massaging the bridge of his nose as he looked down, eyes closed, "You don't have to do that either." He said. He turned to Link suddenly saying, "Your skills are impressive, I wouldn't mind if we resumed our fight sometime, what is your name?"

"Link" he answered.

"Nice to meet you Link, when I'm ready for a rematch, I'll have one of my guards come fetch you, and this time Joran won't interrupt us." he said as he shot Captain Viscen a glance.

"I was just trying to keep you safe my lord." Viscen stated, in his defense.

"It was a practice sword, I'm sure I was already safe, no matter how hard Mr. Link would strike." he replied "I shall take my leave now, have a good day Mr. Link." The Prince looked out at the other recruits, "And good day to you all too." he added as he walked back towards the Castle, accompanied by two guards.

Link wanted to call after him, maybe follow, ever since that moment during his fight with the Prince, it almost sounded insane, but memories from a different life began to fill his head, and he was almost sure the Princess in his dreams was real, and he'd find her, but not yet, he didn't want to arouse suspicion by inquiring as to her whereabouts or, the thought he dreaded, existence, in front of everyone, straight to the Prince himself. Link stayed silent, walking over to Oreck and Kallil. the two of them immediately erupted.

"How did you do that?!"

"When did you learn to fight like that?!"

They then quieted down, and in a way Link could see the two were slightly jealous, with Kallil asking quietly.

"So..you're friends with the Prince now, eh?"

Oreck took a step towards Link, "How did you know Royals have eyes like that? We were never taught anything about them back in the village!".

Link looked at his friends, trying to think up a response, "My father told me, he had seen them during his military service, said he couldn't forget how their eyes looked." This was a half truth, he had told Link this as a child, but never mentioned the color of their eyes, or the way they seemed to glow, this was all part of Link's dreams, the Princess in his dreams had eyes just like those.

It was then that a Guard sounded the horn atop the wall, all of the recruits turned to look at him, "It's time for your first field mission, assemble outside of the Western Gate, you'll be briefed there!"

Oreck and Kallil looked ecstatic, "An actual field mission for Castle Town!" exclaimed Oreck, Kallil didn't say anything, but Link could see just how excited he was. The trio ran to catch up with the stream of recruits heading toward Western Hyrule Field.

As soon as they made it outside, they were greeted by a quite unsettling sight.

oOo

And that wraps up chapter two! I hope you're having a good read so far!

Thank you to Guest for the review! It's awesome!

As always, thank you for reading!

Best of Luck,

-Prometheus17