Sparring
Young Link spent the next few days honing his other abilities. That included using a bow and practicing his dodging skills. The bow that rito warrior gave him proved to be incredibly useful. It could shoot really far and keep the arrow straight too.
Dodging was an interesting skill to practice, mainly because he found it hard to ask someone to attack him for a while so he could try to avoid them. 'That, and I really need to practice doing that with more than a swordsman. I know there are some that use a two-handed weapon and spears too.'
He took a seat in the shade, cooling off from some target practice, "Man, now I just need targets that move," he panted, "How would I get something like that without asking for help, though?" He was beginning to contemplate it when he heard someone enter the arena.
The young hero looked in the direction he heard them enter from, "Hello?" He called out, "Who is it?"
It was a prepubescent boy with brown hair and a short sword strapped around his waist, "Oh hey, you look like the person I was looking for." His voice was prone to crack, poor guy.
He pointed at himself, "Me?" Young Link stood, keeping the sun out of his face, "Who needs me?"
The guy cocked his head, now looking unsure, "Your name is 'Young Link', right? One of the knights wanted to meet you outside their quarters."
His eyebrows raised, "Oh that must be Link, thanks for getting me." He started gathering his stuff. 'Weird, he hasn't left yet.'
"A-are you sure it's Link? Er...not just any other knight?"
The Hero of Time looked over his shoulder at him, "I don't know what you're getting at, but yeah, it's probably him." He looked around, "I mean, is that a big deal?"
"N-no," he stammered. He headed back to the entrance, "It's nothing. See ya."
'Damn, someone's jealous. I know Link's cool and whatever, but he's just a guy. Well,' he humored himself, 'he's the hero but no one really knows that except me haha.' Young Link headed to the Guards' Chamber and went inside, 'Geez this mustiness is always a slap in the face...gross.' He found Link sitting in his cot reading a book, "You needed me?"
His descendant put down the novel, "Oh hey, that sparring thing is today."
He gestured in the direction of the arena, "Then.. why aren't you there? That sounds like something you should show up early to." Link's playfully annoyed expression made him grin.
"Listen , it starts when I get there. It's fine." He got up and they went outside, "Anyways, I take it you've never seen our knight academy?"
"I didn't know you guys had one. I thought it was like: you wanna be a knight? Cool, train enough, pass a test, boom, knight."
Link smiled, "Heh, if only. It's actually a program you have to enroll in. The youngest that can start is ten, your age essentially, you go through various classes alongside training, and then you become a knight."
He nodded, "I get it. So like reading and math stuff right?"
"'Can't have a knight that can't read his orders nor calculate his time', is what an old teacher said to me once. On that note, reading is way more fun than numbers."
"I'm glad we can agree," Young Link giggled, "Money-wise, big number good, small number bad." They smirked at each other.
The Hyrulian Knight Academy was a massive building, it was practically a mini castle in the shape of a boarding house. There were indoor and outdoor arenas, a mess hall, and stables that held horses that were specifically meant for younger riders.
"Whoa! This is huge!" He could see the mass of boys heading toward an indoor arena with their instructors at the front.
"You'd be surprised to hear that it's mostly to hold all the new members. A lot of them end up quitting."
Young Link shrugged, they were going through an alternative entrance, "Better that than a bunch of kids who don't want to be a knight."
The indoor arena was spacious. All of the wooden dummies looked to be moved aside for the occasion. The floor was essentially just soft sand, and for good reason. The back corner of the arena had a series of different wooden versions of weapons to choose from, and, from what he could tell, there was one medical person back there too.
The trainees sorted themselves by class and stood in groups waiting to be ordered. Link put a hand on his shoulder and the two of them walked to the center of the clearing. As they passed some of the kids, Young Link watched their faces change as they went by, 'Hold on...wait a sec,' his mind was processing why they were reacting that way. It took a sneer from a younger kid for him to realize, 'Oh no ...they see Link as their idol! AND I'M WALKING WITH HIM! ' He tried his best to keep an indifferent expression.
Link addressed the group, "Knights in training!"
"Sir!" They answered back in a solute.
"While your real test might not be today, we all know practice is important! Sparring, in my opinion, is some of the best practice you'll get. You'll stick to your class groups of course to keep everything fair, but, with that said, I have someone to introduce."
Young Link could feel all their envious eyes on him, 'Dear goddesses…'
"This is Link. Yes, we share the same name, no, we're not related. However, it's pronounced differently in his language, if you don't mind saying it for them." His descendant looked at him.
'How dare he have such a lighthearted look in his eyes, he's throwing me into a crowd of spiteful kids and he doesn't even know!' "Uh..it sounds a lot like svingz , but I don't mind just L."
"L it is! Anyways, he'll be joining you all today starting in the lowest class. Remember to be respectful to your sparring mates and to not take it personally! When you get done make sure to tell your partner something they can improve on. Warm up a bit and we'll get started in ten minutes."
"Sir yes sir!" They started to spread out more, but a few of them still had their eyes glued on Link.
His descendant sighed with a smile, "Ah, it's nice to be back here. It's been so long."
The young hero tried to keep his scowl light, "I can understand the nostalgia and everything, but these trainees look kinda jealous."
"Jealous?"
"You'll see." He caught sight of his left hand, "In that regard, I would've asked earlier if I knew, but could I get a glove to cover my mark up?" He whispered, pulling him close so he could hear.
Link's eyes glanced at it. He kept his voice quiet, "Oh right. You'll need a wooden sword too. Drop your equipment here and I'll hold onto it."
He did as he was told, making sure to not make eye contact with any of the trainees. 'It's interesting observing them,' he thought as he stretched his arms, 'The younger ones are warming up like crazy, and the older groups are doing more standing and talking, especially the eldest group.'
A few minutes passed before Link was handing him a heavily used, wooden sword, "I think this size will work," He said as he gave him the brown, worn, fingerless gloves, "This was the size I used when I was your age."
He put it on, flexing his fingers to see how it felt, "Good pick, this should work fine. The sword won't break on me, right?"
Right when the arena went quiet, Link, conveniently for the silence, laughed, "Pfft, well don't go fighting them like you do with monsters, okay? Have fun." He gave the young hero a small push toward the group.
He tried to keep his gate relaxed as he strode over to the youngest class, "Um, hi," he greeted, "Who wants t—"
"Me!" An eager boy said, raising his sword. He happily walked up to him, "I'm Noah."
'This one doesn't seem too bad.' "Nice to meet you. Also, heads up, I'm left-handed. I know that throws people off, so I wanted to let you know."
The other kids spread out in a circle around them as they gave each other some space. The instructor for that class gave the signal for them to start.
Noah came at him fast, 'Beginner mistake, bud.' Before they could collide, Young Link swung his sword upward, launching Noah's out of his hand.
"Ow.." he shook the pain from his hand and looked to his instructor, "Does this mean it's over? That was really fast."
It was a younger guy than the other instructors. His expression wore a tint of surprise. He shook his head, "No, let's try that again."
The young hero handed him his wooden sword back, he'd gone to get it. "It's best to size up your opponent before running head on, okay?"
Noah nodded, "R-right. Thanks." Some of the other kids who were watching went off to spar on their own.
This time Young Link was the first to strike. Noah was taking too long on his end, so he made the first move. It was a basic horizontal slash, mainly to see if he'd dodge it.
He blocked it with his shield and jabbed forward, making the young hero backflip out of the way and causing a reaction from the others who were watching.
Noah ignored the oohs and aahs and pushed forward with a series of slashes, Young Link dodging the majority of them and rolling behind him. He intentionally got his opponent's nerves up by repetitively jabbing at him and nearly missing.
Riled up, he went for a jump slash, but Young Link tripped him in the air, causing him to land on his side and look up to a sword in his face. "Nice match!" He said, helping Noah up.
His instructor looked surprised but pleased, "This was a much better round. L, I'm not sure what the point of dodging his attacks were, but it's good that you kept your ground and didn't trip over yourself. That backflip was also impressive. As for Noah, that last attack might have proven to be overzealous. Make sure you think about which attacks are going to leave you open to others."
'It was mainly to practice, which was a lot of fun! However, I won't do that again so I can put up more of a fight to help them out.'
"Dan, I think you should go next," he said, motioning for him to come over.
This one was a bit taller than the younger hero, he gave off a more aggressive aura too, "I need to go against this guy? I'll practically step on him!"
Young Link had to keep himself from smiling, "Hey, I mean, whatever you say."
The instructor gave them both a look, motioning for them to start when they were ready.
Dan stomped forward with slashes heavy enough to put a dent in your shield.
'A bit strong huh? We'll see how long that lasts him.' "Careful attacking like that," he said as he blocked one and stabbed at him, "You'll get tired pretty quick."
"Yeah right! Like you would know!" He jumped away from the jab and rushed forward, effectively pushing him back.
Young Link hopped to the side, Dan meeting him with more heavy-handed slashes. 'You know, I might as well show off and kind of humiliate this guy. I bet he's older than me and that's why he's acting cocky.' He spotted an opening and hit him with his shield, stunning him briefly. He leaped into the air to do a helm splitter and deliberately missed, cleanly landing behind him and lightly kicking him to the ground.
Dan was met with a wooden sword hovering above his navel when he flipped around. He let out a yelp at the sight of it and scooted back.
He jokingly laughed, not seeing the shock on everyone's faces, "I gotcha!" Young Link offered him a hand, "Again, you might not want to swing your sword so heavily. Maybe you wouldn't have been stunned if you saved more of your energy."
"What the hell was that!?" Dan smacked his hand away, "You could have killed me!"
"Pfft, no, I missed on purpose. Even then, I would only use that on monsters."
Link walked up to the instructor's side, his eyes were sparkling, "Ooohh, that's a good move!"
The instructor gave him a look, Dan being in awe of his idol and Young Link hiding a smirk.
He coughed, "Ahem, right. That wasn't a bad fight, but L was correct, you won't last longer than five minutes on the battlefield if you swing like that. Your technique needs some work too." He looked to Young Link, "Again, nice move, save that for monsters, though. I think we should move you up a class. You're still looking for a challenge right?"
'Ah, he knows me too well. I also can appreciate the compliment.' "Sure am! No offense to you guys, though. You'll get there."
Link showed him to the second class, "I believe one of you here is left-handed, or am I wrong?"
A kid who was an inch or two taller than Young Link walked forward, he held his wooden sword in his left hand, "T-That would be me.."
His descendant clapped his hands together, "Great! We'll start with you then."
The older instructor for that class quickly joined Link's side. He almost looked embarrassed to not have already been there, "I'd just like to add in a quick word for Link. Be careful with who you pair him up with, okay? He's pretty young."
Link waved his comment away, "He mortally wounded a Yiga Bladesman. He'll be fine." The other trainees all gave him a semi-nervous look.
Young Link was astonished, 'Oh geez, he's bringing that up.' He scratched his head, "Hey don't worry about what he says, I'm not going to mortally wound anyone here. That's for the battlefield." Some of them were shocked that he discredited something that the almighty Link said.
The knight shrugged, "Anyways, good luck to both opponents. Take your positions."
The young hero stood a ways away from the other, 'He's only a little bit taller than me so I should be fine. He..looks nervous?' Before he could add another thought, his feet were getting swiped at, resulting in him backflipping away and automatically attacking back with a stab followed by an aggressive forward slash. 'Oops! I almost hit him! It does feel nice to spar with someone with the same dominant hand, though.'
The kid blinked in disbelief at the quick reaction time, but nevertheless continued forward with a few diagonal slashes and a weak spin attack.
Young Link rolled toward him as he completed the move, 'Yeesh, that could've been better. It's in its awkward stage at the moment.' "You might wanna work on that one," he said as he popped up and used quick jabs to push him away.
He dodged and rolled his eyes, "Whatever. It's not like there aren't tricks that I'm good at!" He parried into a roll, which would lead into him coming behind him and jumping up into a spin attack.
It would have been smart if the young hero didn't recognize the move. This resulted in Young Link cutting him off with a hard shield-bash to the face as he came up out of the roll and it effectively knocking him to the floor, 'Crap! I meant to hit him in the chest!' "Dear goddesses!" He went to his side, "Are you okay!?"
Instead of taking the aid, his opponent foolishly tried to elbow him in the face, Young Link catching his arm and quickly flipping him over with his arm behind his back. He laughed, "Okay that was good, but now my feelings are a little hurt." He got off of him and dusted the sand from the skirt of his tunic.
"Y'knooow...I think I'm good right here," His speech was a tad slurred, "What happened to the ceiling? Where'd it go?"
Link motioned for the medical guy in the back to come forward, "Oops, I think you gave him a concussion. I know you didn't mean to hit him in the face, though."
Young Link looked to the instructor, "Yeah sorry about that, he was a bit slower coming up than I expected. Am I finished for today? I don't want to hurt anyone else."
He looked between his student and Link, "Mm, I think one more match should be enough for you or at least take a breather after this one."
Link folded his arms with a determined look on his face, catching the class' attention, "Who's the top of the class here? You're not exactly putting up a fight, kid."
A few kids came forward, they all had that thin layer of hair on their top lip, signifying that they were some of the eldest in their class.
"I mean, one of you is up for a fight. Which one is it?"
The tallest of them quietly raised his hand, "I wouldn't mind."
Young Link saw that his descendant was waiting for an answer, "Uh sure. I could always use practice against someone who's quite a bit taller than me."
"Can I make a bet?"
The instructor made a face at his student, "What kind of bet is it, Jack?"
"Let's just say I haven't mopped the mess hall yet, and if I beat this kid, maybe he can do it for me."
The Hero of Time frowned, "Um, that would be a better bet if I actually went here, but I don't."
Link smirked, "Oh yeah? How about, if you beat him you can get out of cleaning it this one time, but if you lose..ho ho that hall is yours to clean all week ." He took a step forward, "And I know how long that hall takes to clean."
'I don't care as long as I'm not cleaning floors I don't walk on,' He didn't want any part of this.
Jack thought about it, "Fine, but I'm gonna enjoy sleeping rather than cleaning."
They got into position. Young Link could feel his left hand slightly tingle, it made him want to itch it, "Actually hold on a sec, my hand is bothering me." He could see them all slouch in his peripherals. He scratched his left hand and shook it out, 'Chill out under there. This guy is gonna put up a fight, but this isn't like taking down a moblin.'
As he got back into position, Jack's wooden sword nearly grazed his left arm, causing Young Link to side hop and roll away, "Heh, you're speedy. I can appreciate that."
"I figured I'd put up a challenge." He aggressively came after him.
'So it's like this huh? Just wait until we switch roles..' Young Link stood his ground, blocking and dodging where he could, 'If I were going to play dirty, I would've kicked sand in his face already and turned the tides.'
"Are you gonna hit back or what?" he taunted, going for his feet.
He jumped over his sword, "I don't mind being patient." As Jack was getting ready to do another attack, he came at him with a diagonal spin attack, scraping his left shoulder. "See? Now it's my turn." Young Link admittedly put in more effort than he should have as he wailed on Jack's defenses. His sporadic movement threw the older guy off. He was going in for another quick slash when he got kicked square in the chest, sending him backward.
The young hero smiled, even as he wheezed and got back on his feet. 'I like where this is going,' He thought as he saw Jack putting more into his movements. He evaded an attack that took his cap off, the air felt cool on the back of his head.
Jack sneered, "It looks like you're getting tired kiddo."
"Oh really? I can't agree." Young Link had the sense that his wooden sword was taking quite a beating, 'I'll be surprised if this doesn't break soon...wait, I can use this to my advantage.' He deliberately put himself in the way of more of Jack's attacks, making sure to pay attention to the sound it made when their swords clashed.
After letting his opponent get confident, they were in a deadlock. The young hero knew he was faster than Jack, so he pushed forward with his blade and hit his downward slash on the other's shield, sending the other half of the blade across the room.
Jack's eye gleamed as he went in for the kill with a jump attack, but witnessing his expression change was an even better experience when Young Link guarded with his shield and, with tremendous effort, sent him and the inertia he built slamming onto the floor. He, like Dan, was at the mercy of a blade at his navel.
His eyes were wide as he gawked at the splintering practice sword that neared his exposed belly. He put his hands up, a nervous laughter surfacing, "Heh heh, alright alright. I'm done now. You win."
Link's commentary filled the quiet room, "Ooh, scary ." He looked to the instructor, "Whaddya think? Not too bad for either of them, really. Oh, except you don't want to actually break your weapon in battle, even as a last resort."
Young Link tossed the broken sword aside, "I wouldn't dream of it, but thanks."
The instructor spoke, his tone was indifferent but wise, "I'm impressed he beat one of my top students, I think any teacher would say that, but I'm expressing concern when I say that maybe he ought to end his battles more valiantly than holding his opponents to the threat of cutting them open, especially from navel to neck."
He felt himself nodding to what was said, "I see what you mean," he offered Jack a hand, "But then what is a valiant way to end a fight?" He helped his former opponent up.
The instructor motioned to his descendant, "I believe you know what I mean. Show him."
'Okay that's either my nerves, the triforce, or the possibility that this glove is just itchy after being sweated in. Why is it happening though? I know he's not going to hurt me.'
Link chuckled, "Why do you look like that? We're not gonna spar or anything. Just get on your back and act like you've been beat."
He sighed, trying to calm down as he did what he was told, "I dunno, just nerves—I mean, aarg! You scum! You beat me fair and square and I'm mad!" He smiled, but it didn't last long. Within seconds of finishing his sentence Link's real sword was at his neck...and he caught it!? His left hand stung but it wouldn't let go.
The knight was astonished, speechless even, as were those who were watching. He was trying to pull his sword away, albeit lightly so he didn't make it worse, "Dude...let go."
Young Link suddenly gained control over his left hand again, immediately releasing the tip of the sword from his grip. He shook his hand, it really didn't even hurt anymore, "Sorry I have no idea what that was. I was just messing around, but then the next thing I knew I grabbed it. Also damn...that's sharp." 'I want to take this off to see what I've done to my dumb hand but I also don't want people to see my prophecy triangles.' He sighed, standing and continuing the original conversation, "Anyway, the difference between it being decent is whether you imply a quick death or not? Because I would've been out like a light if he continued."
The instructor looked concerned for him, "When you put it that way, I want to say no, but the bottom line is yes. Think about it like this: if we were at war with whomever, and we're perceived as the good guys, do the good guys rip open their enemies and let them bleed to death or at least swiftly end their life?"
The mention of bleeding to death reminded him of when he was low on energy and pretty beaten up. A werewolf came out of the bushes and roughed him up more. Needless to say, he only had the energy to let it bleed to death rather than cut through its thick fur and meaty neck. He quickly snapped out of the memory, "You make a good point. I'll keep it in mind and put it to practice."
"Good. Link, go get his hand looked at."
Once they were outside, his descendant crouched down to get a look at his hand, "I want to say I'm amazed that you caught my sword and had the strength to keep me from taking it back, but at the same time that's unsettling—"
"'For someone my age,' I know. My hand quite frankly acted on its own. I couldn't get it to let go until you told me to." He pulled off the glove, the both of them looking at the result.
They witnessed the skin come back together where he'd grabbed the sword.
"Oh wow. I didn't know it worked like that," Young Link commented, when the last of them closed, he stretched his fingers. There was no pain.
Link was silent as if he needed a few moments to process this. He sat up straighter when he was done, "I...don't know what to say."
"Er, you can take longer to think about it. I guess that was pretty weird. Though for reference, I'm not all that phased since red potions basically work the same way."
"Huh..I guess we should head back then."
"Hey, taking longer to think about it doesn't mean not addressing it at all!" 'I just need to know if this is going to have some lasting effect or something. I don't want you acting weird around me.'
He blinked, "I guess I'm mixed between saying that's cool and taking into consideration all the extra context that comes with. Like all of your stories and everything you've ever said in general."
Young Link squinted his eyes, "Eh, it's really not that intertwined, y'know? Plus, besides that, you know to keep this between us, right?"
"Huh?" Link looked up from having his eyes on the hand, "Oh yeah definitely, I know." They both stood and started heading back toward the castle, "Really though, why were you looking at me that way when I was going to demonstrate that thing?"
"Was it that bad? What did I look like?"
He shrugged, "I think threatened but with a side of 'I'm gonna kill you' is the best way to describe it. It was the same when you went from joking around to grabbing my sword."
"Oh, my bad." He scratched his head, "I'll admit that beforehand I did feel kinda threatened. My hand itched like crazy."
"I didn't think that was a face you could make either, and you seemed serious about it too. Even I felt like I was crossing a line. You made me think you were about to do something unexpected," He looked down at him, "So with that said, what would be the difference if me and you sparred then? I want it to be in good practice, not 'I'm gonna kill you.'"
He perked up at the sound of that, "That means I get to? In that case, I know that I'll know the difference. I think I reacted that way because the teacher told you to do that. That and you are a formidable foe after all."
Link looked ahead, "Mm, I'm still gonna think about it."
"Dammit!"