Bruises

His slumber was deep and thankfully dreamless…until his mind flashed the image of the Yiga member leering above him with his hands around his throat. Startled awake, he slowly took a breath as his composure returned, "I've had this happen to me before…I'll be fine." He changed into his blue tunic since the green and red one needed to be washed. He'd have to do that later in the day. When he passed by the mirror on the vanity, he did a double take at his neck. There were bruises on either side from last night.

His fingers lightly brushed over the purple splotches, "Huh...I guess there'll be no question about what happened to me." He gasped after he'd gone over a tender spot, pulling his hand away as he winced, hissing, "Ack! Damn that hurts! Moreso, it makes me wonder how long it'll take for these to go away. I don't want other people's pity either."

Unimpressed with his state of being, he grabbed his sword, shield, ocarina, and mask, and left for the Dining Hall. He did his best to try to keep his eyes pitched to the floor, ignoring the unsettled eyes that he could feel trailing after him as walked there. When he sat at the table, he noticed there were more knights than usual, and, more importantly, a pot of oatmeal! He watched it just to make sure it was okay to take from, finally getting some for himself after another knight did.

He preferred to think otherwise, but he could feel their watchful gazes as he blew on the hot oats and ate the spoonful. His eyes widened as the food turn into something so thick it seemed impossible to swallow. His throat appeared to protest the mere idea of fulfilling its function. Though, similar to working while fatigued, he knew it was mind of matter and, with some work, squeezed it down. Not keen on further bringing more attention to himself, he couldn't help but lightly feel around his neck just in case the clan member did more damage than he remembered.

'I think getting oatmeal was just a bad idea. I mean, at least I'll make myself get used to swallowing things again, but still.' This process wasn't entirely new to him, but it had been a while to say the least. The last time he went through this, relative to when he happened into this land, was a year ago back in the other world. While his past experience and swordsmanship served him well, he too was bound to get caught off guard every once in a blue moon. He'd been slammed onto an ancient marble floor by a darknut and was on the verge of losing consciousness from the impact alone. Courage prevailed nevertheless.

Young Link spied a pitcher of milk and added a small amount to his oatmeal to thin it out. It made things at most fifteen percent easier, but it still took effort to get it down. After the oatmeal was gone, he drank a glass of milk and left. He quickly grew tired from the intrusive watchfulness and ached to go someplace where he could be alone that wasn't his room. The training arena was likely busy as always, not to mention he also had to pass by the knight's chambers in order to get there. The last thing he wanted was Link giving him puppy eyes at the sight of his neck. With that said, he still wasn't allowed to go down into the dungeons and the idea of going into town made him nauseous. 'I guess I'll go find a big tree and practice my swings in the shade.'

Finding the leafy cover he desired, he pulled out his ocarina and played a few songs. The Song of Healing took center stage since it mimicked his weary mind, though Zelda's Lullaby brought back fond memories, as did Saria's Song. Glancing up from the instrument, he watched a group of knights in the distance leave the castle, it reminding him of his purpose. Young Link practiced his moves, trying to leak in some of the newer ones he developed in the previous universe. There was one where he zipped around in the shape of the Triforce and used its light to obliterate the enemies caught within it. It was good for crowd control, but the monsters here don't seem to come in massive groups like they did in that realm…at least from what he could tell. He tried to recreate it, but it was to no avail. No Triforce appeared and no light shined and cut the grass or something.

Young Link smiled, talking to himself, "Well, I mean, I'm not surprised. I found myself doing a lot of kicking in that smash tournament and now it's a bit of a rarity since my opponents don't often come running at me and get right in my face." He decided to practice his aerials and flips with the shield equipped so that he didn't fumble a dodge or parry in the future. All the work made him forget about his bruises and planted the desire to watch Link in practice. His gut told him his luck should be high if he ran to the arena, and upon arrival he saw that he was just in time to watch Link dual against an older teammate.

"You want me to take it easy on ya?" He half-taunted, getting into position.

His opponent gave a hearty laugh, "Haha! Let's just say it takes a lot to put me out of commission." His response led to a bout of laughter from the other older members who watched.

Young Link sat in the stands, curiosity bringing him to the edge of his seat when the captain blew the whistle to start the match.

Link let his teammate come to him, perfectly deflecting his first slash with a shield bash, and rolling to the side. A smile beamed across his face when his opponent dodged away from his next attack. His eyes shined at the challenge.

"Thought you could get me that easy, ay?"

"No, but it weeds out whether this is going to be a good duel or not." He came forward with a flurry of slashes, intending to push the older knight back.

He didn't fall for it though. Instead, he did a short spin attack and jabbed back at Link, who blocked the first attack and backflipped away from the second. The descendant followed up with a couple of jabs, his opponent jumping back.

"C'mon Link, you're not gonna show off?" The older knight did a jump slash, Link rolling under it and putting his sword to his back.

"You mean like that?" The crowd of knights roared at the clever yet tricky move. Young Link was hooked too. He could keep this in mind for future one-on-one combat. When the older knight went to slash at him again, he did another backflip, but there was something different about it this time. Link, faster than light, sped forward and did a flurry rush of soft but aggressive-looking hits against the knight. Based on the reaction from the crowd, Young Link had the impression that only he saw everything slow down when it happened.

"That's amazing!" He couldn't contain his wonder, and neither could the other knights. The arena was filled with hoots and hollers. Link soundly won.

"No hard feelings, right?" Link held out his fist.

The older knight bumped it, "Hell no! That was a good fight!"

"I'm telling you Link! You're definitely going to be Hyrule's champion!" One of his teammates cheered as he walked back over to get a drink of water.

"Well, it's up to the King and Zelda, so we'll see."

An older knight came up from behind them, "It's actually up to the Master Sword. Only it chooses its worthy wielder, and whoever can do that will certainly be the champion."

The young hero's eyes shimmered at the thought of seeing the magnificent sword he wielded long ago. 'That's right! Of course the Master Sword exists here! Gosh, I wonder if it's changed at all. Ha, I wonder if it would let me pull it again…if that could happen…' He smirked to himself, 'Well I suppose there's a chance it wouldn't since Link is hands-down going to be the one to defeat this Calamity Ganon.' His cheering managed to attract Link's attention.

"Oh hey!" He walked over, looking up at him as he spoke.

"Duuuuuuude! That flurry rush was awesome! It's always fun to watch you fight. I usually learn something new every time, haha!"

"Aw I'm glad! How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Oh I'm better," His hand instinctively went to his neck at the question, though he winced as it was still tender, "I just hope these bruises don't stay for long. They kinda suck." He watched as Link's expression turned from lighthearted to serious upon noticing the dark purple splotches that dappled the skin.

The majority of the other knights noticed this as well. Their faces ranged from concerned to disgusted to sorrowful. "Dear Hylia!" Link climbed up into the stands from where he stood in the arena, personally tilting his head up to see for himself, "I've never seen them this bad before…"

On autopilot, the young hero took his hand away before it could accidentally touched one, "Really?"

He looked astonished, "Yes! How long was it before you were able to overpower him?"

He shrugged with a smile, "Pfft I don't know. Long enough for him to say 'why is this taking so long?' and proceed to shake me." The memory flashed in his mind again, causing his eyes diverting for a moment, "I…let's leave it there."

"Oh I'm sorry," His face turned empathetic, "I'll stop talking about it."

Young Link's eyebrows furrowed, "It's not that I don't like talking about it, it's the part where talking about it makes me remember that awful symbol on his mask, and how deep down I could tell he was in fact more scared of me than I him. How he was obviously acting on his own, probably against orders for all I know!" 'How I would have died had the Triforce not saved me!'

The knights were horrified, "If that doesn't warrant killing those clan members, I don't know what does!"

"Trying to choke a kid to death!? That's a new low!"

"He was acting alone too! What a coward knowing he was stepping out of line!"

Hearing their anger toward what happened to him made him feel a little better, but he knew, for Hyrule's sake, that it wasn't a good viewpoint. "Well, I hate to preach something I have a hard time following, but probably don't go around killing them until we're actually at war."

Link nodded, grimacing as he spoke, "Yes, that unfortunately would be best at the moment. Don't want the King on us, right? He'll give the word one day."

"Well it better be soon, scum like them shouldn't be able to do whatever the hell they want!" A brawny knight yelled.

"Yeah!" The rest hollered.

His descendant turned to him, "Do you wanna practice with us? You could have a go at one of the dummies over there…well, at one of the few that aren't destroyed."

He saw some of the younger knights wearily eyeing his throat, it made him a little self-conscious, "Naah, I've already done my share of practicing. Could you tell me where the stables are? I should check on my horse."

Link glanced in the direction of the knights, "Yeah sure, I could give you a ride if you want."

Young Link smirked, "That takes the fun out of exploring though! Really I'm surprised I haven't found it myself."

"Haha, whatever you say," He gave him directions and walked him to the gate.

The young hero was grateful that Link wanted to be there for him but some of the bruises and cuts he'd survived from his past adventures would make any of those knights question the morality of his past assailants. What happened was terrible, but he couldn't help but feel that it was exaggerated because he looked like a kid. Like before, he avoided making eye contact as he walked to the stables.

The royal stables were behind the castle since there was plenty of flat land. He spied a large white horse and their rider passing by as he went through the gate.

"Young one? Is that you?"

He looked up at hearing the voice. Zelda was the one riding the large stallion, "Oh hello! I'm not surprised to see that your horse is big and white." He pet its shoulder.

"I think him and I pair quite nicely. He's a bit stubborn though. His name is Storm." The horse glanced up in her direction at the call of his name.

Young Link chuckled, "So you'll be riding on horseback to Death Mountain?"

"Most definitely, a carriage couldn't survive the trip there." She held up a finger, "Hold on, it's rude of me to sit up here and try to talk to you. Let me come down.."

He realized, 'She couldn't see my neck from up there!' "Oh no, it's fine! You don't have t—"

She shrieked.

"—come down…" He sighed. It seemed like she was purposefully ignoring the horrid marks from before, really he's just short. "Can they not be the topic of conversation? I know they look really bad; I know they'll be gone in a few days. I'm fine, and I'm trying put it all behind me but it's hard to do when everyone keeps reminding me."

Zelda appeared to wipe away a tear, she nodded, "I'm sorry, you're right. I couldn't help it." She took a deep breath before carrying on, "Okay, well, I'm sure you know that Death Mountain is…well a mountain."

"Yeah, Link told me about how you guys need to drink a fire-proof potion since it's so hot up there."

"Precisely! That and the trail is very rocky. I was going to let you sit this one out since there's not much to see besides a lot of lava and rocks and…more rocks."

He nodded, "Am I going to get to see any other champions?"

"Of course! I was going to take you to the Gerudo Desert and to Rito Village where we'll find the last two before figuring out who can wield the Master Sword."

"Oh so they'll let me in even though I'm a guy?"

"Well I know they're less strict about children. I think they'll know you're special when they see you riding with me," She explained, "Oh and we'll need to find you something warm to wear when we go find the Rito champion, it's very cold in the Tabantha region."

"Alright great," He gestured to the stables, "Well I was going to check up on my horse. I'll let you be off to wherever you need to be."

Zelda hopped back up on Storm, "Have fun! Feel better soon!"

"Bye!" He watched as she cantered away, soon continuing into the stables to look for Grace. He whistled, hearing her whinny toward the middle of the long hallway of stables. Young Link jogged to her stall, his horse snorting when she came into view. "Grace! How've you been?"

The first thing she did was sniff at his right forearm, he guessed that she remembered that he was injured there from before. "I'm fine now girl, no need to worry." Besides checking on her, he wanted to practice some of his equestrian skills, if not develop some. He found her equipment and saddled her up before bringing her out to a large arena.

He was impressed to see there were jumps already set up and a couple of dummies as well. They practiced going over the jumps as well as her getting used to him swinging his sword while on her back. Jumping off was important as well. When noon broke, he rode her back to the Dining Hall to grab a sandwich before heading right back to the arena. 'I really like the way she rides!' He happily thought, 'She's like Epona without her spicy flair.'

At one point, he would have her canter around the arena while he stood on the saddle and tried to keep his balance. To be realistic, he had no idea if there was a use for it, but doing an aerial off it and landing with his sword drawn was a showy plus. Before he knew it, he was back to aching for new sights and wind blowing past his face by nightfall. "Ah, Grace," He said as he led her back to her stall, "If only I could take you and race out of Castle Town and into the field. I'd go wherever I wanted to and I'd find lots of tasty apples for the both of us."

The talk of horse treats sparked a memory in him, "Oh yeah! I need to find the horse that helped me the other day." He pulled out his ocarina and played Epona's Song, a loud whinny coming from toward the end of the stables. He pet Grace before sticking his hand in some horse feed and walking down to where the sound came from. Luckily it was still the same horse from before, "Hey buddy! Sorry it took so long for me to reward you." Young Link stuck his hand through the bars, the horse swiftly licking the feed from his hand and leaving it all sticky and wet.

He wiped it on the skirt of his tunic, making a face, "Ew. Kinda slobbery aren't ya? I guess you can't help it." Petting the horse's nose as a goodbye, he exited the stable and went back to his room in the castle. He took a bath and realized he never washed his tunics, 'Dang…I guess I'll do it in the morning then.' After he flipped into his bed, he was quick to fall asleep.