#gathoscorner

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The sun was high in the sky, beaming light and warmth over the peaceful Castle Town and its inhabitants. If one were to head up to pay a visit the royal family that day, they might have heard the faint sound of wooden weapons clashing against each other, accompanied only occasionally by sounds of frustration and haughty chuckling coming from the palace courtyard. Upon closer investigation, you would find the cause to be the princess and the new errand boy, engaged in the most intense battle one could have with toy weapons.

The young princess swung again, trying to remember her footwork as she attempted attack after attack with her wooden training sword. Her opponent was hardly even paying attention as he effortlessly blocked each of her stabs and swings in succession. A loud yawn escaped his lips before curling into a teasing smirk.

“Come on Zelda! Is that really the best you got? I thought Impa was teaching you!”

The princess couldn’t deny a change in the boy since he had left to find his friend. Before he went away he was less confident, though still brave, and a little more respectful to her position. Now he had returned - and he was more arrogant than ever.

Zelda’s brow furrowed deeper with each retort the boy made. Silently she was thinking of a thousand things to snap back in response as she kept trying to find a break in his defences. He had promised to help her with her own sword training, but it was becoming more apparent how novice she really was, compared to this warrior child.

Link continued meeting her sword with practiced technique, each move or strike he made almost telling a story. Daring tales about how each technique was learnt, and why it was needed then. Skills of violence don’t usually get taught kindly, after all. But all signs of a troubled past were gone for the moment, as Link grinned and laughed and sparred with Zelda. She was  inwardly fuming at how badly she was doing compared to him, and he definitely was making sure she knew it.

“Don’t feel bad Zel, your guards weren’t much of a challenge either.”

Link chuckled, swiping her attacks to the side before pointing his wooden sword straight at her heart. Zelda huffed, her face turning pink. She almost couldn’t believe his cheek. Those men had trained for years to reach their ranks, and yet this boy had bested them easily on his return. He hadn’t let anyone around here forget it either. Yet, she still had to maintain her composure. She was royalty after all, so she couldn’t just go yelling insults back at people-

“You’re not doing all that badly for a pampered little princess, though. Especially loving the special gear you have for this.” Link smirked, motioning to her arm and shoulder guards with that same teasing look.

It was shortly after that he received a sharp bonk on the head from the wooden sword hurled his way.

“WELL AT LEAST I’M NOT COMPLETELY COVERED IN GREEN! THE FROGS WOULD PROBABLY CONFUSE YOU FOR ONE OF THEIR OWN!”

The princess suddenly snapped back as the little hero rubbed his head, a bewildered look on his face. Zelda quickly realised what she’d done and covered her mouth with her hands with a small gasp. There was a strange moment of silence between the two of them as they stared at each other, one almost confused and one ashamed at their outburst.

Suddenly Link was doubled over, laughing loudly enough to scare away a Redead. He’d wanted to see how far he could push the young noble before she’d crack and shove him back. These royal types were so careful about being tolerant and not offending anyone, so the boy found it fun to annoy the princess into loosening up around him. Zelda stood, shocked, and watched Link laugh with a cautious look on her face. When Links breathless guffawing finally died down, he stooped to pick up the toy weapon where it had landed at his feet. He offered it to his friend, this time wearing a smile more genuine and bereft of any unkind taunts.

Zelda gingerly took her training sword back and shyly returned his smile, her face still covered with cautious embarrassment, and perhaps just a touch of amusement.

Link grinned, “Let’s try that again, Zelda. I’ll go… a tiny bit easier on you. And remember to keep an eye on what your opponent is doing, so you can find a way through their technique more quickly, alright?”

The princess nodded, and from there the rest of the afternoon had the two friends training in earnest. Zelda found Link to quite a good teacher when he wasn’t behaving like a childish jerk, and Link only teased his friend occasionally while he taught her some of the tricks he had picked up.