Sorry for the hiatus, guys! But now, the next chapter:
Rusl led all six teens plus Radarr to the clearing where, he explained, all children in the village trained. It seemed kind of like a bowl almost, with earth 'walls' rising up around them, and directly across the clearing from the entrance was not only an exit, but the ladder to a treehouse. "That is where Link was living," Rusl said. Trees lined the ridge above them, and among them, one of the many training tools had its home. Targets were strategically placed around the clearing, hung from the trees. There were also three straw dummies with red and white bullseye's painted on their chest. In the clearing, there was also a horse stall of sorts with barely even a wooden roof to cover it.
Aerrow immediately took a swing at one of the dummies with his sword and hit it hard enough to splinter the straw, though it barely moved. Piper made a down-slash towards another one of the dummies, and nearly fell when she didn't hit it like she meant to; slipping off its head, and onto its left shoulder, rather than 'cleaving' its head in two.
Finn took a moment and loaded his crossbow, with a grimace, and shot at one of the targets. He hit it, but only barely. His head hung. Radarr stood for a moment, not really knowing what to do, but went up to Piper and tugged on her pant leg. She bent down to him, and with many extravagant motions, she finally understood that he'd like to train with her.
"Radarr, why don't you train with Stork and teach him some of your moves," she said, gently declining. The pet thing looked dejected, but went to do as Piper had suggested. Needless to say, he had a lot to teach the Merb, and not being able to communicate with words made it much harder. Tina just stood, eagerly watching the training, and longingly looking at the weapons they were using.
Aerrow was slowly tweaking his style until he really started to damage the dummy, and Rusl went over to give him a few pointers, before moving on to Finn. He skipped Piper and went to help Stork. Tina found this a little strange, as she could see things Piper could use help with, and so went to help her, by constantly pointing out things to remember. Piper welcomed this help with open arms; even the technique she used. Before long, Piper had made the constant reminders into habit, which, while surprising Tina, also pleased the both of them.
*-*-*
After this, I went to help Aerrow, as he needed it badly. He was leaving his whole left side open, since, as I could see, he'd been fighting with two blades for years. I studied the blades at his side, and less than a second after wondering if he could use them anyway, saw that they were far to dull to do much damage to anything. I looked around the clearing and inwardly groaned when I finally spotted Rusl, working with Stork. I needed to be able to work with them, and I couldn't with the old warrior right there. I nearly sighed, but went over to Aerrow anyway and tried to help him. Needless to say, he needed more than just pointers. He was the kind of person who needed to do, not be told how. I'd need to help him by fighting him if he was going to train properly, and be able to protect himself. But, what I was able to do now wasn't enough, and I went back to Piper, but found that she didn't need my help any more.
I looked over to Finn, and he was frustratedly shooting a target full of arrows. That's when Link arrived. He frowned at the activity just outside his house, but lightened up and began to show Aerrow the proper way to fight with an actual sword. I then watched as he showed Finn how to use a longbow – more powerful and accurate over long distances, even if it was a little finicky to load until you got the hang of it. Finn still didn't like the fact that he didn't have his auto-load anymore, but there wasn't much he could do, and he found learning something completely different than what he'd been using easier, rather than re-learning what he already knew, which, especially for me, made tons of sense. After all, the only real reason I knew how to do so much was because I had different 'brains', as I said later. When I have to learn something completely different than what I already know, then I make a new 'brain', but when I learn something similar to what I already know, then I make a copy of the 'brain' it's similar to, but then, that makes learning harder because there are things I have to relearn, or delete and remake what was already there. It makes sense when you think about it.
It was these thoughts that ran through my mind as I watched. There wasn't exactly anything for me to do now that Link was here. It surprised me that he was here, since Renado had said that he'd be here tomorrow. After a few more minutes of just standing around, I went over to some thick grass and sat down to watch the proceedings of training.
Before long, I was bored, and sighed. Aerrow heard this and looked over, smiling empathetically. It was at this point that Rusl said, "We should go get some food now." Everyone stopped what they were doing and followed him gratefully back to the center of the village. There was nothing to eat yet, but while many of the men expected it, Piper and I joined the other ladies in the water-wheel house and helped prepare the bread, as well as carrying the dried meat and butter out to everyone outside.
"Don't touch this food until everyone else is out," I heard Piper hiss to Finn and Aerrow. "We're still guests, remember." Just a few more minutes, and everyone in the village, the six Storm Hawks and I were sitting on the packed dirt ground just outside the water-wheel house, and we all had enough room, and more, for the food that was presented. Good food it was, and I sat back, leaning on my elbows, ready for sleep. It seemed like everyone else was too, though the sun had only just set, and I was expecting many of us to be up late.
Aerrow sat to my right, with his squadron to his right. Link was on my left, and the rest of the villagers to his. On the other side of the circle, and to my right a little bit, Piper and Pergie, the lady who owned the water wheel house sat beside each other. A few of the men conversed across the circle, but the world was otherwise quiet. I closed my eyes and listened, and before long, I was asleep.
*-*-*
Aerrow had been talking with Rusl and another man, Fado, who owned the ranch just beyond the village, about their different life styles. While Aerrow was a born traveler, the men were village men; not willing to leave their life home easily. Aerrow was told a little about what it was like to own a farm, and he in turn told them a little bit about his life, and the forces he'd been up against back in Atmos. Fado and Rusl were blown away by his stories, which lasted long into the night. The moon was high in the sky before Aerrow paused and noticed that both Tina and Piper slept, while Junko, Finn and Link were discussing various weapons, and how their manual weapons could be modified to make them better, even without the now useless crystals. Nearly everything they came up with would take supplies that they didn't have with them, and would need to go to Hyrule Castle Town for them. After realizing this, the others also noticed how the girls slept, and while Aerrow gently picked up Tina, the lighter and smaller of the two, the older Link got Piper. With quiet murmuring and lots of gestures, the boys were led to beds inside the water-wheel house where the girls were laid. Tina stirred a little, nearly waking up, and Piper's eyes flickered a little, but they remained asleep.
