A/N: I really want to apologize for taking so long to upload this chapter. I had it basically done for about a week and a half, but things have been so crazy that I didn't have any time to proofread and edit. I know in the past I said I'd try to get a chapter up every week, and I'll still try my best to do that, but once every other week might be a more realistic prediction. Next, in case any of you were really confused when you read my last chapter, I uploaded two at the same time, not realizing how confusing that could be. So if you were lost you might want to go back and read chapter 6. Lastly, I want to thank everyone who is reading, and I hope you enjoy this chapter. I really struggled with this one, and it still doesn't feel very good to me, but let me know what you think.
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We rode until we were clear of all the trees that surrounded the Kokiri Forest. Sheik once again summoned his black horse from nowhere. How does someone train a horse to be that sneaky? I could barely keep Trenton, a human, from clearing the area of wildlife with all the noise he makes.

"Are you ready to begin?" Sheik asked after he dismounted.

"Uh, I guess. I don't know, this all seems so strange to me."

"Of course," he replied, nodding his head slightly. "It is called hard work. I understand why it might be a foreign concept to you."

Bam! Straight to the gut. "How do you want to start?" I asked through gritted teeth, trying to let his insult roll off my back.

He reached crossed arms past his shoulders and drew two thin blades from the sheaths forming an "x" across his back. "I need to gain a better understanding of your skill levels. Last time we fought, I was focused on defeating you, instead of learning your exact skill level and style, so we will start with another match."

He had to be kidding. "And this time you're using two blades as well as going on the offensive after you already beat me with neither? How is that fair?" I asked.

"Yes, I am sure Ganondorf and the demons he summoned are very concerned with fighting fairly," he replied dryly. "I am using my preferred style of attack this time. You, of course, should use your shield."

"Umm, I don't have a shield."

He blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"My last one kind of, well, burned up," I said sheepishly, rubbing the back of my neck with my hand.

He stared blankly at me for a few seconds like he couldn't believe I was serious. Then he sighed and said, "Then we will have to pick one up at the next town. However, I advise next time you refrain from using your shield as kindling."

"Hey, it wasn't my fault! A suicidal keese lit itself on fire and launched itself at me. That kind of gives a whole new meaning to bat-shit insane."

He chose not to respond to that and instead turned to Trenton and Landon who were talking amongst themselves. "Could either of you lend a shield to Link?"

Trenton shook his head. "Sorry, but with the monster-filled land, shields go for a premium. We're lucky if we can afford the essentials, let alone a luxury like that."

"Fine then we will simply have to do without."

"So you'll only use one of your swords?" I said, relieved.

"Do not be foolish. I came prepared to fight. If it is not your habit to do likewise, you will have to learn to adapt to your disadvantage," he said. Then with no warning, he leapt towards me while swinging down with one of his swords. I barely had time to draw my own blade to clumsily block him from striking me down.

I glared at him as my sword pushed against his own. He wanted to play like that? Fine, I was more than willing. With all the crap I had taken from him in the last couple of hours, I didn't care how much better he was than me, I would hit him with all I had.

With a surge of energy, I pushed against him, causing him to stumble a few steps back. Perhaps a small thing, but it was a victory to me. Before he could attack again, I took a hard step feinting to my left. He took the bait and prepped both of his swords to block against the all-out attack he was expecting. I had him! I spun and slashed my sword parallel to the ground at his back. Impossibly fast, he dropped flat on his back, and my sword soared harmlessly above him. Before I could take advantage of his vulnerable position, he rolled back on his head and jumped to his feet in a defensive stance.

"I almost had you there," I said, trying to hide my awe.

"When 'almost' means something more than a broken promise, I might actually be impressed," he countered.

His arrogance made me seethe. I came at him again, this time trying a fury of attacks to drive him back. He parried each strike with one of his blades. I struck downwards, but he brought up both his blades and caught my sword. My attack left my body completely open (I guess this is why I needed a shield) which didn't escape his notice. One leg came up, and his foot struck me hard in the chest, knocking me to the ground. I groaned as the cool steel of one of his blades met the skin on my neck.

"Did you learn what you needed?" I asked angrily. The rational part of my brain was trying to tell me that he was just doing what he was sent to do, but the other part hated him anyway and, if I'm being honest, I wasn't used to losing like that.

"Yes," he said as he sheathed both his blades. He reached an arm down to help me up. I refused his hand. I stood on my own effort and asked, "Which was?" I wanted him to admit he was just trying to make me look foolish or show me he was better than me.

"I learned you need a shield as soon as possible," His eyebrows came down and he looked slightly disappointed. "And that I can teach you little on that front. We have very different styles, and I have not had enough time to learn the intricacies of any but my own. Along with a shield, I will have to find you a swordsmanship teacher as soon as possible."

A spark of hope rose inside me. "Wait, weren't you supposed to be my teacher? Does this mean you won't be traveling with us after you find a replacement?" Who hopefully won't be nearly as obnoxious, I thought.

"Do you truly believe that learning a few new sword fighting techniques is all you need to become the hero of legend? To defeat Ganondorf?"

"I, uh. . ." I trailed off. I guess I hadn't given it a whole lot of thought since it seemed like such an impossibility. If I were being honest, I was a little more interested in becoming good enough to beat Sheik.

"Do not be foolish. There are many physical aspects that I can, and will, help you with, but a certain mentality and presence is also required. I have to transform you into a real hero in every regard, not just a man who can hold his own in a one-on-one sword fight."

"Well, if you've mastered all these areas, why don't you just claim the title of the hero?" I asked, frustration and disappointment coursing through my body.

His eyes narrowed. "Because that is not my place. We each have a role to play in the war that will soon start afresh, and mine is to assist the princess and yourself. You were the one chosen by the goddesses to hold the blade that frees this land, not me. I have accepted my role, however distasteful it is to me. It is time you do the same."

His speeches had a way of making me feel so small, but like everything that happened was my fault at the same time. "Fine, let's just move on."

So we moved on to archery ("underwhelming"), knife throwing ("horrific"), and hand-to-hand fighting ("atrocious"). Then he wanted to test my physical ability. I did push-ups, pull-ups, sprints, endurance running, stretches, balance tests, etc. Towards the end, I honestly thought he was messing with me and just making up random exercises for his own amusement.

When he finally ran out of tests, he looked consumed by his thoughts. He nodded, as if confirming something to himself, and then made his way over to his horse. He jumped up onto the saddle and motioned for us to do the same. We gathered our things and took off, heading towards the closest town.

Sheik, not wanting to appear even slightly normal, kept at least twenty feet behind the rest of us at all times. It was strange, but it was fine by me as my dislike for the guy seemed to grow stronger over time. Trenton, who was a little more diplomatic than me, actually held back his horse and tried to engage him in conversation, but Sheik just gave him an annoyed look and said, "I cannot talk right now. I am busy."

I laughed when he told us what happened, but it was really odd. Assuming Sheik didn't need to focus all his attention on not falling off his horse, he was either ridiculously antisocial, or he really hated Trenton. Or both.

We rode until it started to get dark. Trenton, Landon, and I set up camp and made dinner while Sheik disappeared. I thought I wouldn't hear from him again until morning, but right before I was about to try to sleep, he appeared.

"Tomorrow will start your real training. Be ready to begin at dawn. Steel yourself, It will not be easy on you."

"I can't wait," I said sarcastically. "Anything in particular I can do to 'steel myself'?"

"Be prepared for the worst." He started to walk away, but then hesitated and added, "And you might not want to eat breakfast."

Landon laughed as Sheik left us. Maybe he sleeps in the trees? "Here I thought breakfast was the most important meal of the day."

I chuckled. "Nah, I think he's just trying to mess with me again. I may have promised to follow his training, but that doesn't mean I have to do whatever he whims. I'm sure I'll be just fine if I eat first."

-break-

I shouldn't have eaten first. That was all I could think as every bit of food that had been in my stomach expelled itself violently. Well that and how much I hated Sheik.

"Hey, stop dawdling. We need to get back to work."

Well speak of the devil. Possibly literally. I had a new theory that Sheik was evil incarnate whose only goal was to make me miserable. His idea of a training program so far was to make me run until I puked. "I'm just a bit busy at the moment," I called back between heaves.

"Stop making excuses and get back over here," he replied without an ounce of sympathy.

"I'm pretty sure this a sign from my body that I need to take a break," I replied when there was not single thing left in my stomach.

"No, it is a sign that you should listen to my advice. And also that you are far from the levels of physical endurance you need to reach. You still have five more sets of wind sprints left. If you don't complete them soon, the number will increase."

Did I mention how much I hated him? I slowly got up, worried that the movement would cause me to dry-heave. When I was steady, I walked back towards him, trying to balance my nauseousness with my desire to not run any more than I already had to.

The rest of the morning was kind of a blur. I blacked out for a couple seconds during one of his strength exercises, which got me a five minute break and advice to act like a man. At that point though, insults didn't matter. I would have let Sheik call me by girl names the whole time if it meant I could take any kind of break.

When he finally said I was finished, I collapsed to the ground with my face in the grass. I never wanted to move ever again.

"Was that really necessary?" Trenton asked Sheik angrily. Sheik had made the twins watch from a distance and promise not to say anything during my training.

"Yes."

"Really? Because to me it looked like you could have killed him if you had gone much longer. I understand he needs to train, but-"

"No, you don't understand," Sheik said, cutting him off. "The fate of this entire land rests on his shoulders. He cannot afford to simply be good or even great. He has to be the best. So I will continue to train him like this because he can take it. Because he has to."

There was a pause as they glared at each other. Or at least I thought they glared at each other. My face was planted in the grass, and I had no desire to move it, so I could only guess. Though much as I liked Trenton, I was pretty sure Sheik would win that one. He had those demon eyes that matched the rest of his demon self.

"The two of you can make a fire. I will go catch a rabbit, so Link can get some meat in his stomach."

"Mmrfph," I said into the dirt to try and tell them I wasn't hungry. My stomach was still constricted from Sheik's insane idea of a workout, and I just wanted to lie where I was forever. They couldn't understand me, though I doubt they would have listened to me anyways.

Sometime later, I had no idea how long, Landon sat next to me and set a cup of soup near my head. The smell made my stomach growl, and I realized I was suddenly starving. I sat up too quickly; black spots danced across my vision and all of my muscles protested, but I didn't care because I needed food. My portion was gone in seconds, but Sheik brought me over some more.

"Thanks," I said after I gulped that down too. "So are we just going to stay here until I recover?"

"Actually, now is a good time to discuss that," Sheik replied. "I thought we could send these two," he pointed at the twins (did he seriously still not know their names, or could he simply not be bothered to use them?), "ahead to get supplies and find some work. I will stay behind with you, and we will make our way a little more slowly."

I gave a half-nod, too tired to argue. Landon didn't share my fatigue, however, and said, "Wait, a minute. Link may have some weird kind of faith in you, but I don't trust you. You just randomly show up, dressed like a thief, with wild claims about Link being Hyrule's supposed savior, yet all you've done from the moment we met is abuse and belittle him. You must be a new kind of insane if you think we're going to leave you alone with him."

Sheik's eyes narrowed. "Princess Zelda has entrusted me with Link's wellbeing. I would not jeopardize my relationship with her by letting any harm come to him. I am currently tolerating you and your brother's presence because I think the two of you could be of value in the future. The minute I think either of you is more of a liability than you are worth, you will no longer be permitted to travel with the goddesses' chosen hero. You would do well to remember that."

Landon's face was getting redder with every word Sheik said. "Shouldn't that be up to Link?" he asked, forcing himself to match Sheik's steely coolness.

"Not necessarily. But sure, why don't you ask him who he would choose if he could only continue with one of us."

Landon scoffed. "Wow, you think much of yourself. Tell him Link," he said as he turned to me.

Why did I have to be involved in their petty dispute? All I wanted to do was rest. "Well. . ." I started, not really sure how to answer him honestly.

Landon's grin fell from his face and was replaced by a look of utter betrayal. "Oh. Here I thought you'd pick the friends you've been traveling with for a year over the psychopathic stranger, but I guess I overestimated how much we mean to you."

"It's not like that. It's just. . ."

"No I get it. Now that you're the hero, you're too good for us. Fine. We'll go ahead and get the stupid supplies. Have fun with your new best friend. Let's go, Trenton."

I tried to stop him, but he refused to listen to anything else I had to say. I turned to Trenton for help, but he just gave me a 'what are you gonna do?' look and followed his brother. Before they left Sheik tossed Trenton a small leather pouch and a list of items he wanted, along with a place we could meet up.

"Well, that's just great," I said as I watched them leave.

Sheik began cleaning the mess left from lunch, but responded, "Yes. It is the outcome I desired."

I just shook my head. Man, I really messed up. It was going to take a lot of effort to get back on good terms with him. Oh well, nothing I could do right now. "How did you know I wouldn't agree with Landon?" I asked.

"I may not understand how deep your relationship with them is, but I hoped your desire to make things right was stronger. Great as you may think they are, they cannot help you in that regard like I can. Knowing that you are aware of this and that you are not a liar, even to make someone feel better, left me fairly confident you would respond in my favor to that ultimatum."

I took his words in for a minute. "But what if my friendship with them was more important to me than the mission you brought to me?"

"Well if that were the case, I would be wasting my time. I would rather discover that now."