Link decided against asking for time off from training the soldiers. He had only had one session with them, it wouldn't be fair to Princess Zelda for him to quit now. After the day with Telma in her bar, he found himself still avoiding the princess. Finally, he cracked down and knew he had to talk to her. For crying out loud, he had faced horrible beasts that had put him close to death, he could at least talk to her.
Still, he was nervous as he went into the dining hall for supper. Princess Zelda was seated at the head of the table, and she smiled when he entered. He winced. Her entire being physically brightened. Well, at least they were alone. Usually there was someone there to discuss things over the table with her. Link sat stiffly on her left side, and immediately a salad was brought in and placed in front of him. He vaguely wondered how the servants knew that he had entered the dining hall.
He took a deep breath and looked over at Zelda. She glanced up from her salad and smiled again. "Link, it is so nice to see you. I haven't seen you in days!" She laughed.
He looked down, unsure of how to respond. He stalled off talking until the main course, a creamy pumpkin soup. The taste reminded him of the chicken pumpkin soup he used to make in the winters at home. He remembered days on the ranch and a pang of homesickness hit him. He smiled faintly, realizing how much he missed everyone there. It gave him the courage to tell Zelda what was on his mind.
He began slowly first. He explained that what he had done was inappropriate, and that he shouldn't have. After he kept with the 'lack of propriety' bit, he finally came out with the truth. He told her that he had only been so forward because he was lonely and missed Midna, but it wasn't right what he had done. He took a deep breath, and dealt the final blows. He didn't love her, not like she loved him. He cared for her as a friend, but not more. As an afterthought he added that he should move out of the castle, but he would continue to train the soldiers.
Princess Zelda sat in silence through it all, listening quietly, each word he said hurting her more and more, and it showed on her face. No matter how many apologies Link said, he knew it wasn't enough. The shame filled him. How could he have been so cruel to her? To have done this, and let it go on. He could only imagine the pain he had caused her. She believed he loved her, and then suddenly he was telling her that he hadn't meant it. He winced visibly. In this moment, strangely, he thought of Ilia, and how he had broken her heart as well.
"Very well Link." This was all Zelda said before standing and leaving in a flourish of elegant fabrics.
Link left that night. He gathered up his things and left without a goodbye to Zelda. It was only after he left the castle grounds that he realized he had no place to stay that night. He debated on asking Telma or Pergie and Jaggle, but ultimately decided against it. He wanted to be alone, and didn't want to bother any of them. It took a minute to find a place to stay, but he ended up taking all of his stuff and sleeping with it just outside Castle Town, at the back entrance. He'd spent the last year sleeping outside, and many nights on the ranch when the goats wouldn't calm down. He had a theory that he liked being out of doors more often than in them.
He looked up at the stars, and remembered nights like this with Midna. Some nights she would spent in his shadow, but other nights she would come out and sit at his side or by his feet, and they would just talk. They would discuss what their next move was, whether or not to help this person or how to get this particular item. He smiled at the memories when they were in dungeons, when they would have to spend the nights in there. Midna would grumble excessively when they took turns taking watch, because you never knew what would come at you. She usually liked to take most of the night, only waking Link up for a few hours, and then she would sleep in his shadow during the day. He fell asleep with the smile still on his face.
The next morning was cold. Link blinked open his eyes as the sunlight pierced through his eyelids. He sat up and stretched, his back felt a little stiff, but he'd spent many nights on the ground, he would get used to it again. Although, it was rather hard to go back after spending several weeks on a bed stuffed with downy feathers and felt like sleeping on a cloud.
He got up quickly, and gathered up his stuff. It didn't take long, Midna had embellished all of his pouches with a bit of Shadow magic, so that it all shrunk down into small sizes. She had it in herself as well, that was how she had been able to hide his shield and sword and many other items when he was in wolf form while continuing to look like she wasn't carrying anything. It also explained why the Shadow Realm looked to bare when he had visited there.
He touched the inside of the pouch for a minute, and it tingled his finger as he felt the magic. It reminded him of her of course. He quickly finished packing his stuff and looked inside his wallet. He had about 500 rupees left. Not exactly his highest amount of money, but he hadn't really been gathering any as of late. It would buy him food for the next few weeks, but he would have to start looking for money now to prepare for after he ran out. Who knows how long he would be in town for.
After everything was packed he set out for breakfast. He didn't really want to encounter Telma that morning and tell her that things didn't go how he had planned, so that left very little options. He looked through his bottles and saw that he had some cold soup from Uli, way back when she had packed him a lunch when he came to Castle Town.
He gave it a sniff. It smelled okay, not spoiled or anything. He gave it a little lick, and it tasted okay too. He wasn't an expert on spoiled food, but how bad could it be? He'd made soup like this before and it had lasted weeks then, and he didn't have too many options. If all else failed one of his other bottles had some of the red healing potion in it anyway.
He drank the soup as he walked, making his way to where the soldiers were training. Purlo was there again, an arrogant smirk on his face. Link could have groaned with annoyance. Of course, Purlo still planned on challenging him. He still was in no mood to put up with him, even less so now, but he would not lose what little respect he had gotten out of the soldiers now.
"Well well well, didn't think you were going to show up." Purlo snickered.
"So, are we in agreement that we will all fight you at once? Prove your strength to us, Captain." He sneered.
Link nodded, and then pointed to Talo and Colin. "What? Naw! We're not going to miss out on all the fun!" Talo protested immediately.
"What?" Purlo asked him.
"Link doesn't want us to fight him." Colin explained.
Purlo narrowed his eyes at Link. "Scared of children eh?" He smirked. Link met his gaze with his piercing blue eyes, and a flicker of fear flashed through the other man. He swallowed and nodded, his eyes narrowed. "Right then, you two boys can go sit over there and watch I guess." He said.
"We don't take orders from you." Colin stated flatly. He and Talo turned to Link expectantly.
Link sent them to the sparring tent to practice the basic moves he'd gone over last time. He then turned to face Purlo, who had a wicked and excited grin on his face.
Link tossed aside his metal sword in exchange for one of the wooden ones he had made. They were far softer and wouldn't cause nearly as much damage as his usual blade would have. He held out his shield and his sword, bouncing back and forth in his defensive stance, ready to take them on.
He nodded once to Purlo, and the match began. The former game master was the first to attack. Link easily deflected him with his shield and struck him with his sword. He collapsed immediately. Not dead, only winded for a moment. Then the others began their attacks. They had some better knowledge than Purlo, but they were still sluggish. Link spent a little longer on the first soldier who attacked, figuring out where the weaknesses in his armor was, before finishing him and applying the same tactics to the other men.
He got hit a few times sure, but not enough to slow him down. Its known that when you have Hylian blood, not just a mere human's, that when you triumph in a major, major battle you receive a heart, or in much longer, traditional terms, a heart shaped vessel that holds a kind of magic inside it, one that can embellish magical properties on yourself that gives you more energy and ability to fight off wounds. You can collect fragments of the heart containers in which this energy magic is stored, but that takes longer and much more searching to build the full vessel. Of course, you lose this magic the more you are attacked, but also gain it back in smaller battles or occasionally by stealing it from the life of another living object, like a plant, or sometimes it is stored by others in a pot. But it's the huge, epic battles that give you the proper container to carry the magic. Without it, you can't do a thing to yourself.
Link received many heart containers over the past year, so he was hardly slowed down as he fought bitterly with these men. One after another was brought down, again and again once more, until finally they all stood off to the side, exhausted and bruised in more ways than one. Link sat back, his breath coming out in pants, and took out the red potion that would refill his heart containers. He drank it all in one swig, and sighed as he finished it, feeling much better.
He looked over the other men, who wouldn't meet his eye for much more than a second. "You see?" A voice called from afar. Princess Zelda sauntered up to the group. "Link meets the qualifications on what is required to teach you. I will not have any more quarrels like this. It was a waste of a good training day and now I expect you to work twice as hard to make up for it. Not another cross word will be said against your commander." She looked directly at Purlo. "Do I make myself clear?"
He grinned at her and bowed deeply. "Perfectly, Your Highness." Zelda nodded once at him, her expression furious. She turned away, s warning glace on her face, without so much as a look in Link's direction. He vaguely wondered how long she had been watching him before she spoke up.
He watched her go, feeling guilty once again. Unfortunately, Purlo never missed a beat. "Got a royal defender there do ya?" He drawled at Link. When he didn't respond, Purlo jibed more. "Wonder how you became such good friends with the princess in the first place. I heard you were a village man or something like that. Tell me, how does a young lad such as yourself who is of such a…lower class than the royal family, become so well acquainted with Princess Zelda?" He looked at him suggestively, and Link only glared back.
"Link knows her as a friend! You're just jealous because Link saved-" Talo had begun to shout at Purlo, to tell him that it was Link who rid the land of the Twili, but a look from the great hero silenced his tongue. Link didn't want them to know about what he had done. He wanted their respect for what he could teach them, not from some embellished tales.
"Saved? Saved who?" Purlo questioned the young boy. Talo looked at him nervously, and then back at Link, unsure of what to say.
"That's none of your business!" Colin jumped in to help Talo. He glared at the arrogant game maker. " If Princess Zelda wanted you to know, a man of such… lower class, don't you think she would have said something when she was here?" He asked, daring to challenge Purlo.
"Oh yeah little man?" Purlo narrowed his gaze at him. "Think your so tough do ya? Care to put it to the test? How about a duel?" He challenged.
Link stepped between them, locking eyes with the larger one. He shook his head firmly, refusing it. He pointed to the town, clearly telling Purlo to leave.
"Puh." He scoffed. "Typical. Can't handle a little competition so you used your authority to force me away. What a coward." He shuffled off, hopefully for good.
"Right!" Talo shouted, "Anyone else got a problem with Link?" The soldiers looked at their feet.
Link sighed and called it quits. He send the men away, and began to trudge back to the castle, escorting Talo and Colin back home, when he heard it.
It was a faint, little voice, but he recognized it immediately, coming from inside his own mind.
"Did you miss me? Hee hee hee!"