Disclaimer: I own Zelda and all it's affiliates...in my dreams. However in this reality, I only own the OCs of this story

"Book of Spirit

Chapter Three:

Washing the Slate

It had been two months since the troupe of nine had departed from Haven's harbor and as Robin stared up at the bunk above him, he could not help but look for a distraction, but it would seem no one was quite interesting enough to watch. Aries was polishing his sword once again on a nearby chair, as his brother, at least Robin assumed from below, delved into another thick tome which he had brought along. Ethan, as usual, was staring at himself in the mirror, searching for blemishes as he lounged across the bed he had claimed when the seer left. Beside him, Tobias lay, deep into another one of his power naps and Wyatt…

Robin was startled as Sir Wyatt stormed into the room, "Damn, that kid pisses me off!"

"Lose another argument to the seer?" Ethan asked as he combed back his dark hair.

"Hmph, just because the pampered Princess is on his side, that boy acts as though he were Nayru herself," the man fumed as he climbed into his bunk with a resounding thud, "If the Royal brat was not there to defend his magic rear, I would show him a thing or two."

"But what about his magic?" Robin asked, remembering when he had arrived in the great hall without their noticing.

Sir Wyatt shot the knight, whom was currently playing with his own pointed ear, a quick glare, then continued on his rant as though nothing had been said, "I tell you, if the Princess was not watching, I would take that little seer down, and the captain's brat too."

Robin glanced evident grins on Aries and Ethan's faces at the sound of these words, knowing well the disdain that the others felt towards the younger knight, yet in all their months of ranting, not a one had bothered giving an actual reason why. In his boredom, Robin's rolled toward the thin wooden door as his fellow knights continued on in their rants. Stretching his body to the point that his belt shifted past his navel, the blond shifted himself to the floor, careful not to disturb his darker bedmate.

"Where are you off to?" Ethan asked as Wyatt continued in his ramblings.

"I am bored," and without another word, he left.

The man walked down the narrow hall just as he did everything else, with his eyes slowly shifting from one scene to the next. Through the doors, his long ears pick up on many muffled conversations from the nearby rooms and through these, he had gotten to know his neighbors over the previous two months.

It would seem that Sharp Voiced Lady's children had been misbehaving once again, this time having apparently tortured the cat which they had forgotten to feed a few days before. Across the hall, Come Hither was entertaining Gentleman Caller once again, and apparently her husband, More Clueless Than I, would be negotiating trades on the upper deck all afternoon. A few steps later Cranky Old Man was telling his grandson about how different things were when he was a child. How they didn't have fancy ships and had to ride across the seas on Zoras for ten months if they wanted to worship sacred relics. Next door, Overly Suspicious Woman was telling her husband, Probably Not Listening, about some blond haired man whom she always saw wandering around. Apparently, she thought he might be listening in on her conversations.

As Robin began looking around to see if he could spot the mysterious blond haired man, he spotted another blond entirely, "Sir Robin, have you seen Theo?"

"I am sorry Princess, I have not," Robin replied, being on his best behavior.

"Well, if you do come across him, would you do me a favor and tell him that I will be waiting in our chambers?"

"Gladly, what shall I tell him it is concerning?" The Princess's face seemed to flush as she contemplated the question.

"Oh, you need not concern yourself with such things, he should know what it is concerning," her voice seemed to lower as she spoke this, her blue eyes staring at the ground to her right.

"Do not worry, I shall find him," the knight reassured the royal, and then turned to walk away, forgetting to show his respects until he was almost to the stairs.

As he walked about the deck, Robin wondered why the seer did not already know that the Princess was searching for him, but was soon distracted by a calico cat which someone had brought along. "Kitty!"

It would seem that the cat was not quite as welcoming as the twenty one year old, soon to be twenty two year old, man and quickly turned to run in the other direction, trying her best to ignore the pleas of "Wait Kitty!" and "Kitty come back!".

Out of breath and having lost track of Kitty, Robin retired to sitting down on a nearby crate and listen in on the conversations of others, the nagging feeling that he had forgotten something still fresh in the back of his mind.

"Mommy, how much longer do we have to stay this boat? It smells like Zoras." "I find the food on this ship shallow and pedantic." "Yes, quite." "Ouch!Erol,youdon'thavetohitmesohard." "My apologies." "Mommy. Have you seen my Kitty?"

Something in the mess of voices seemed familiar to Robin. 'Now what was it?' the knight thought, looking over the small groups whom were standing on deck. On the opposite side, Erol and the seer seemed to be training as they did every day. Though the other knights were aware of this, the subject was somewhat taboo as it would quite effectively invalidate the majority of their claims, 'Maybe he can tell me what I forgot.'

Determinedly, the knight walked across the wooden floor and approached the men whom were currently in a deadly war of wooden sticks, which the seer was carrying clumsily. Out of the corner of his eye, Theo spotted the slow moving figure and ceased his training, "One moment Erol," he spoke, holding up his hand as he returned to the normal flow of time. "Let me guess, Zelda needs me."

"Robin's eyes widened as he remembered the message he was supposed to deliver, "Yes…Yes, that is why I have come. The Princess wishes to speak with you."

"See Erol, I told you that if we gave her a few days in her old clothes she would come around. And you were going to wash her clothes yourself," the seer eyed his friend, his normal calm voice replaced with a panting that comes from hours of exercise. "Oh and Robin, could you do me one favor while I'm gone? Could you help Erol out with his training? Afterall, I'd suspect you would make a better opponent then me." Without bothering to wait for an answer, Theo cast his spell and the knight seemed to move at nearly twice his regular speed.

"So what do you say?" a slow voiced Erol asked, holding out a wooden stick.

"Let's see what you can do," Robin smirked as he grasped the rod by its false hilt. Thinking himself generous, Robin held back on his first strike, a horizontal slice, only to find that his opponent had jumped above the arc and a dull pain struck at his forehead. 'He is fast,' robin thought as he raised his weapon to defend.

"You do realize I don't have to help you," Theo spoke from atop the stairs, looking down at the cowering princess.

"Are you sure no one will recognize me?" Zelda asked, her face aflame as, for the second time in her life, the girl found herself dressed as 'street trash' and she prepared herself to do her the job of her servants.

"To tell the truth, I do not care," the sixteen year old spoke, his silhouette then disappearing from the doorway.

The woman could feel the fury bubbling to the surface as she stood in the doorway and with one deep breathe she contained herself, just as her training had taught her to do. But still, she could not help but wonder how even after three months together, he could still be so cold. After all, if anyone had a right to be rude, it was her, she was the one who had to share a small room with two men, she was the one who was stuck on a ship filled with commoners, at least by her standards, and now she was expected to wash her own clothing. 'Breathe, just breathe,' Zelda thought then hurried up the stairs for even if he was not the warmest person, at least the seer was familiar and she did not wish to be alone.

"I was beginning to wonder if you had backed out," Theo grinned as the girl came out into the light. It was the first time he had seen her clearly in his clothes, which he had not told her were more worn then her own. Her wavy blond locks were tied back behind her head and an attempt to remove the make-up plastered on her face was made, "Follow me."

He lead her to the rear of the ship, past the billowing white sails and the tables for tea, to where a mass of mother's or their servants waited their vats of water, scrubbing out their family's stains. It was mid-afternoon and so most had already left to hang their clothes and catch the last few beams of sunlight that the day had to offer. Together the two approached the nearest tub, the water still dark from the loads that had been washed that day, "This is absolutely disgusting, surely there must be a better alternative."

"Well, if you had asked for my help earlier, there would have been," Theo spoke, his voice devoid of spite. After sitting down at the tub, the seer removed the small bag from his waist and one by one removed his clothing, and then tossed each into the vat.

As she watched the seer scrub away at the wash board, she attempted to do the same, slowly lowering her chemises into the cloudy water one at a time, then pinching a floating undergarment between her well groomed nails and tossing it onto her own washboard. With her arm extended as far as it would go, she mopped the cloth up and down the board until an unexpected hand grasped her own.

"No, you have to do it like this," Theo spoke as he pressed her palm flat against the board, moving his hand with her own, "See, it's not so bad."

"Awe, don't you remember being that age?" a nearby woman asked her neighbor as she watched the two adolescents.

"Ah, yes. They make such a cute couple."

"Aren't these Erol's?" Zelda asked, accidently pulling out a slightly larger pair of braies.

"I figured we would be up here awhile."

Over three hours had passed before the seer reappeared before the knights. "Theo, I was wondering when you would return. Sir Robin has proven himself quiet an opponent, he may very well be giving you a run for your rupees."

"Iamreallynotthatgreat.Evenathalfspeed, SirErolgavemequiteafewbruisesand…." The knight trailed off as he noticed the blond haired girl cupping her eyes behind the seer, "Who is that you have there? She's pretty cute."

"Yes Theo, where have you been hiding this…" Erol paused midsentence as he suddenly recognized the pony-tailed stranger, and took bended knee, "Your Highness, my deepest apologies."

"Princess, whatareyoudoinginthoseclothes?"

"I would prefer not to go into the details." Zelda once again spoke low to the oddly fast speaking knight.

"So, Robin, you enjoyed your workout?" Theo asked, removing his spell.

"Surely you jest, after spending two months cramped inside my chambers, of course I did."

"Good, then we shall see you again tomorrow at noon."

Day after day, the two knights trained and within two weeks, the older knight had moved into the spare bed in the Princess's chambers. By day, they would train, and by night they would listen to Erol's Ocarina play and stories Robin had heard in the hall, and this was the way it remained, at least for two months.

"So it turns out that Gentleman Caller is actually More Clueless Than I's evil identical twin brother," Robin told the other blonds from atop his bed.

"Oh my," Zelda gasped at this news, having grown strangely mesmerized by the lives of people she had never met.

"And that's not all; it would seem that Come Hither is pregnant…." Robin paused for dramatic effect, watching the widened blue eyes of his roommates, "And she does not know who the real father is."

"Will More Clueless then I discover his wife's secret affair? Will Come Hither reveal the true identity of her child's father? Will Gentleman Caller take responsibility if it is his own? Will any of us ever meet these people? Find out next week."

"How do you know what we shall find out next week?" Robin asked, staring down at Theo.

"Well, I am a seer," he spoke then stood up from his bed, "Erol, I believe it is time for training."

"Already?" Robin asked from atop his bunk.

"Do not worry Robin; I have no need of your assistance today. This is a different type of training," this was all that Theo would say before he disappeared from the room until Erol met him on deck.

"So what is this training you want me to do?"

"Sit down," Theo instructed from his cross-legged position on the ground. He watched as the young knight did the same then held out his hands, the right palm up and the left down, "Now place your hands in mine."

"Of course," upon placing his hands into the sorcerer's, a strange pulse went up his left arm, dying before reaching his shoulder, "What was that?"

"Just a little magic, this week I shall teach you how to channel it through your body and back into mine, next week, I shall show you how to start a spark of your own, and the last two weeks, we shall practice."

"I am deeply sorry, but I have no magic, I am but a humble knight," Erol spoke, removing his hands from those of his charge.

"Of course you do, every living being has magic inside of them, the secret is learning how to draw it out. I am not telling you that it will be much, for were that true you would certainly know it by now, but perhaps it shall be enough to give that swing attack of yours an edge," Theo grinned as he looked into Erol's blue eyes, "So what do you say, shall we continue?"

"Of course."

Erol was playing his ocarina when he heard the news, after five months at sea; they had at last reached the old continent, more specifically Dooya Harbor in the kingdom of Tem. "We have arrived," Theo told them only moments before the door had opened.

"Your Highness, we have reached Dooya," Sir Wyatt announced, the other four knights standing behind him.

"Thank you for informing me," the Princess spoke, allowing the knight his moment in the sun.

It was a full hour before the nine Hylians had gathered their things and waded through the crowds. Upon touching solid ground, they looked around at the marketplace surrounding them. It was filled with signs in ten different languages and people darker than most in Hyrule outside those of the desert. Other than those key differences however, the only thing that differed from the marketplace Theo had grown up in was the size. There were still the same merchants attempting to take advantage of those with plenty of spend, and customers taking advantages of those merchants with bleeding hearts who would not be seen again the next month.

"Finally, dry land. I am heading to the pub," Sir Ethan proclaimed, eying one nearby where an attractive young woman had just entered.

"Yes, that sounds good. Let's go!" Wyatt agreed, leading the way for his fellow knights.

"I suppose that means it is up to us to find our lodgings," Theo spoke to his two remaining companions, his guardian and the Princess.

"Yes, I am quite eager to at last bathe, I have grown tired of dousing myself in perfume," The Princess agreed, thinking of the now half empty bottles she and the men had gone through.

Slowly, the trio made their way through the crowds, careful not to dirty the Princess's gown, until at last they came upon an Inn, "We wish to rent nine beds for the evening."

"You are in luck, it would seem that we have only eleven remaining," the man spoke, his accent subtle but still distinctly different from that of the last Innkeeper they had dealt with.

"Thank you very much," Theo told the man then tossed him a small bag of rupees in exchange for three room keys. As the seer turned to walk up the stairs and inspect the rooms, he noticed a small slip of paper hanging on the wall, the symbols drawn upon it clearly mystical, or at last drawn to appear so, "Tell me, what is this?"

"Oh, I see you have spotted the seal. A few months ago, this harbor was plagued by Poes, attacking people in the street and moaning at all hours, all very bad for business. The whole town was in a panic as business was driven away by the monsters, until one day some Gypsies came," he told them, then spat on the ground, "Disgusting people, but one among them claimed he could rid us of the menace. He sold us these seals and the monsters have been gone ever since."

"Can you tell me anything more about these gypsies?" the seer asked, strangely intrigued.

"I do not know much, but I believe they called themselves, 'The Gerudo.'""

"The Gerudo?"

Wow, I finished this chapter fast. Anywho I hoped you all enjoyed it and continue reading Because it's about to get good.