Tales from Hyrule Chapter 5

I do not own anything owned by Nintendo or any other, I only own products of my own mind.

I wake slowly. My body has to struggle to pull my mind from the realm of dreams. Even as my mind wakes up, the dream fades from my mind so all I can remember is that it had something to do with my betrothed and a bed. Which as I think about it, sounds like a really good dream.

The sun was only just starting to rise as I pulled myself from the embrace of Malon and grabbed my bag and moved into a small bathroom. One of the perks of being betrothed to one of the princesses of Hyrule and being the Royal Champion means I get a bag kind of like what Link has. Nearly bottomless and able to stretch to allow some fairly large things to be placed inside. I mostly use it to store the thousand things I might need on any given assignment. So it's easy to find a good outfit that I can train in. Light pants and a tight shirt that will almost certainly find its way onto the ground, since I have to keep up my appearances. My mentor told me, if you can't look good while training then why bother. He may have been joking but I like to live my life like a joke, so why not.

I dress and walk out into the main room to see Malon dressing. I turn my back and give her privacy to finish.

"You know, you did sleep with me, so you don't have to act so embarrassed. And if this embarrasses you, then you might want to leave, because it's going to get much worse from her on out."

"Bah. I'm I knight of Hyrule. I can be as confusing and infuriating as I want to. Besides, it doesn't matter what I do, it's still going to end up like that so why bother trying to change that. Besides its much, much, much more fun to embrace it."

She shakes her head as we walk down to the eating hall where everyone gathers. Long rows of tables are set out and a raised section seats what looks to be senior Gerudo. Though I see quite a few older Gerudo sitting about, it seems seating here is just based on where the individual feels like sitting. Breakfast consists of water and a porridge. Some kind of grain, maybe wheat or barley. I can't tell, its tasteless to me. But its food and I know I'm going to need as much of it as I can. So I eat the whole thing and wash it down with as much water as possible. Because, the food is very salty, which is smart in a desert because if it's not, then you will die due to lack of salt.

I sit in silence and listen to the chatter all around me. People ignore me and carry on with conversations I can't hardly understand. I know enough Gerudo to swear, that's about it. But it's a fairly song like language, which makes it pleasant to listen to. But it would be much more entertaining if I understood even half of what was being said.

After a few minutes I turn to Malon and start asking question. Fairly innocent questions at first that eventually grew much more pointed as I tried to figure out what this whole training thing was going to entail. She was remarkably tight lipped about it though. Which made me feel fairly curious, or well more curious than I already was.

We are sitting there talking for about half an hour before she stops me in mid-sentence and gets up with a number of others and walks out. With no clue what's going on, I follow her. Ultimately ending up in a courtyard. And although its early morning, the desert heat is already starting to show itself, which would make it unpleasant for any who wasn't used to it. Like me, I spent a lot of time among the heat when I was young. And I kept my natural love for warmth to this day.

An older woman is there, and every girl goes and grabs a wooden practice, staff, or well that's what they felt like to me. So naturally I grab one as well. Then they move into a group with equal spacing and start to swing and dodge in a rhythm. I take a few moments to familiarize myself with the pattern and then start doing the same thing with them. They change forms a few more times and then the woman starts calling out commands. Which don't take long to figure out because they mostly mean stuff like strike and block. We go like this in the hot sun for at least three hours. Until a break is called. By that point I have settled into a steady rhythm. So only pausing for a short time to drink some water I go back to practicing. Letting my mind slip away as I fight. At some point I had shed my shirt as It had become drenched in sweat, so I guess that my muscles were fairly prominent. By the time I refocused I realized I was not even following a rhythm anymore and I was actually moving around the courtyard fighting the air and adding my own flair into ever sequence I went through. I even put my mind into it and went for a few more minutes before stopping. I turn to see every eye on me. And the older woman constantly watching and appraising my every move.

I guess I had impressed some people. Which was surprising since it wasn't that spectacular. If I was fighting an opponent, then maybe I could understand. But the way I had been doing it wasn't that impressive.

I guess the instructor thought the same thing because in near perfect Hylian she said. "you and I shall spar now. Prove your skill." And then she grabbed a stave and moved into the middle of the space. And with an invitation like that, how could I say no. so I moved to my proper spot and got into the ready position. And waited for her to make the first move.

Apparently she was doing the same. So it took some time before I guess she got impatient and attacked. And with that first move I started to win. My mind analyzed her attack and how she moved and recovered. And changed my style to combat hers. Which prompted her to go on the run. I followed and kept her on her toes working her into a corner. When she saw she was in a corner she struck out with a desperate attack, which against a lesser opponent would have worked. But I back flipped and then rand forward kicked off the wall and landed on top of her. She could have deflected me, if she was not overextended and out of position. The outcome was that I took her to the ground and placed my hand to her throat. Then removed it and stood.

She lies there for a moment and then lifts herself up and laughs. "I like you. Most of the students wouldn't ever do anything like that, you though, you stand tall like a king."

"Kind of you to say, yet I am no king. Just a good fighter."

"And yet faced with a fighting style you do not understand, and a weapon you have trained little with, you still managed to best me, a master of nearly every fighting style there is."

"I just know how to fight, while many see a two dimensional battlefield I see one with three dimensions. I just use the third one to my advantage. In battle no one expects you to leap off of a tree behind them, so they don't have any way of combating that."

"Your words ring true, I may have to look at this, perhaps I may not be the best as I believe. It is no matter. Students you are dismissed. Prepare for the journey. My friend, you shall come with me. You have yet to choose a weapon, so we must grant you a weapon to use."

I follow her into a large room filled with all sorts of weapons. Swords and axes sit beside glaives and halberds, while crossbows and long bows sit in their own sections. My eyes are drawn to a smaller section set off to one side where a bunch of much nicer weapons sit. And one weapon in particular. A long, yet light blade, double edged and pointed. And the metal shows signs of being folded in on itself while it was forged, which makes some of the strongest steel blades around. And its paired with a shorter heavy and thick blade, same metal and to my eyes, a perfect balance to the light speedy style of the first blade.

"Ah I thought you would be drawn to those blades. They have a story attached to them. When I was young, I was out patrolling and I came upon a man who had been savaged by antlions. He spoke to me only of his blades, telling me to take them and give them to the one who will wield them perfectly. Then asked for my sword so he may die with steel in his hands. I believe you are the one who these blades are meant for. Ake them and carry them with you. And now, follow me, I think I might have some leather armor that might fit you, most Gerudo don't wear armor, but you look like you would be much better off with some good armor on your back." She then proceeds to fit me into some armor and load me up with a pack of supplies.

We then head out with the other students on a hunt. Apparently it was tradition to search in the wastes for a white antlion and slay it and present its head to their leader and receive a blessing before the trial. As we head out to hunt a massive sandstorm sweeps in and obscures vision. I hear then calling for everyone to return but I had a mission. No storm would ever stop me. So I headed off into the sand, leaving behind the others, my mind made up about what I was to do.

AN

So, who is enjoying the story so far? And I wonder what will happen, though by the time you read this I probably will have it already planned out, but if you all want to offer any guesses, then by all means.

And while I do feel the end was a tad bit rushed, I really didn't know how I wanted it to go. I knew where it was starting and where it would end, I just wasn't sure how I would actually get it from point a to point b. But I guess this will have to do. So tell me what you guys thought and if I made any glaring spelling mistakes.

But other than that, I guess I will see you guys in the next chapter

Cheers

Kinnix Wolf