-Mitagi Estate, Link-

Link could not sleep. He could barely keep his eyes closed. He was used to being anxious, but the knowledge that he would be trained by the greatest general in Qin's history threatened to make him lose his mind! How could anyone sit still in such situations!? Link did push ups until his arms collapsed, ran up and down the long hallway making the boards rattle until his neighbour threatened to beat him senseless, swung Midna (still in the sheath) until his sweaty grip loosened and it flew through the paper thin wall and hit his neighbour in the shins.

The following morning Ouki's messenger showed up to find Link was exhausted, had no sleep, and waa covered in bruises.

"What happened to you?" The messenger asked.

"He fell down some stairs." The neighbour grumbled.

"I fell down some stairs." Link guiltily agreed, with a wide smile.

The messenger looked at them, confused. There were no stairs there. "No matter," he decided. "Lord Ouki requests your presence."

"Sweet! Let's go!" Link exclaimed. All of his energy briefly returned, his angry neighbour forgotten, and he ran down the way the messenger had come.

Ouki and his blond friend were waiting with a set of three horses. Ouki's horse was large, and brown. The blond's horse was small and spotted. The third horse was by far the smallest, little more than a golden-brown pony.

"Lord Ouki, may I present Lord Link." The messenger politely motioned to the boy.

Link may have felt the urge to puff out his chest. He could get used to being called a lord.

Ouki chuckled, "Don't let it get to your head, brat. He was being polite." He motioned to the horse. "I presume you know how to ride?"

"Pft, of course!" Link scoffed. "Who doesn't?"

Link walked up to the pony as he spoke. He immediately whispered, "Please, for the love of Naryu behave! Please, oh please, oh please! I'll give you a bushel of carrots if you do!"

The ponies ears perked up at the word 'carrot'. Link started to climb on. Technically he knew how to ride. He had ridden farm animals plenty of times. The problem came after where he would always be kicked off. His track record with animals was just short of abysmal.

Link closed his eyes as soon as he sat on the stirrup, waiting to be thrown off and embarrassed in front of his idol. A moment passed. Another. Link risked opening one eye... and he was still on!

"Yes!" Link raised his hands and cheered in victory.

"I thought you said you knew how to ride?" Ouki mocked him childishly.

"Shut it!" Realizing his mistake in tone, Link quickly added, "My Lord, Sir!"

Ouki merely laughed rather than be offended. "Cheeky brat!" His eyes widened maliciously and his smile turned predatory. Ice shot down Link's spine. "I look forward to taming you."

Link gulped. He was in for it now.

The dangerous tone lifted as quick as it appeared. "So! Let us go! I have special training in mind for you, oh friend of the Princess!"

"Yeaaah..." Link cheered far weaker than before. He felt his mouth may have screwed him over this time. Was he being given special training just because he told the man to shut it? Link feared so.

Ouki, the Englishman, and Link rode out into the country. They passed military tents and groups of soldiers training. Hundreds of men ran together while singing military songs, hundreds more shot arrows into targets, hundreds more wrestled in sand, hundreds more fought with sword or shield or spear or axe on foot, and yet hundreds more fought on horseback. With each group, Link thought they were the ones he was being escorted to. Surely he would learn the bow? No, they passed by. Surely the sword and shield or spear? He had a sword and had some experience, but once again this proved to not be it. He was convinced he would be thrown in the group of horsemen, he was on a small horse after all! The horse was small and he was small, but he would give it his all! But still, no. They passed all these groups and rode out into the country.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Link said absolutely nothing, nervously expecting anything and everything as possibilities! They rode through a mountain pass nearby. Surely it was mountain climbing! A chance to work on his muscles and to learn to scale walls! But no, they rode on until the morning sun passed into midday.

The blond man looked at Ouki with concerned curiosity. Normally Ouki was boisterous, loud, and confident. But today Ouki was anything but. To anyone else Ouki's strong back could be seen as unwavering as he lead them onward. But he saw the conflict in him from years of friendship and understanding. Ouki was silent on the outside only because he was filled with noise on the inside.

The blond man sighed. He did not know what words his lord had with the Sheikah, but he could easily read that it was by no means good. He looked over at the boy. The boy was energetic, excited, and yet not ignorant of the work training entailed. Rather, the Englishman saw determination and raw will. The kind of student a teacher loved.

He pitied the boy.

They rode alongside the cliffs edge where it dropped valleys extended for forever and Ouki slowed their pace. In the distance below at the foot of the cliffs was a village.

"Where's that" Link broke the silence.

"It is a village with no name. It exists illegally. It is little more than a bandit camp." Ouki replied. He stopped his horse at a creek that ended in a waterfall. The waterfall fell to a lake that ran as a river beside the village. The others followed suit. Ouki walked up to the edge of the cliff and gazed down. He called for Link to come.

"A bandit camp? So near? Impossible!" Link walked beside him. "You are so powerful you can wipe them out without a second thought!"

"True that..." Ouki smirked. It wavered slightly. "But my attention is on the borders. My eyes are on all of Qin. I am the pillar holding our nation up proudly against all others, but with a focus on what is far it is easy to not see what is near... and evil always finds a way to fester in the cracks."

"Then? You will do nothing? You won't stop them?"

"They are smart enough to stay low and quiet and not draw my attention." Ouki replied. "So they are not a priority worthy of my attention. I have heard of no caravans being robbed of mine, so I imagine they wish to live quietly. Would you destroy them for that?"

"I..." Link stopped. The tone in Ouki had changed. This was a serious question. "No. If they behave, then who knows? They might join Qin someday."

Ouki nodded. "Link." Ouki asked. "Why do you want to become a soldier?"

"I-"

"Not a general. A soldier." Ouki reminded him. "There is a difference."

Link hesitated. It was easy to say it was in his blood, but that answer had changed since he met Zelda and his eyes were opened. Now he understood loyalty, at least a little bit, and wanted to do what he could to help his friends the only way he knew how. Both his home village, and the capital. "I... want... to help people. I-I want to prove myself... to do my part. I thought my dream to be a general was just that: a dream. But... then I had a friend who was a slave one day, and became a king the next and saved all of Qin."

Link tightened his grip on Midna, the sword that he had named after her, which had been left to him from her hand. "She gave me this sword to protect the kingdom. I would be spitting on her to toss it aside."

Ouki looked at the sword and believed him to be referring to Zelda.

"If a slave can be king... then who is to say a slave cannot be a general? If she can do so much then..." Link left the rest unsaid.

Ouki closed his eyes. "Who is to say a servant cannot be a general?..." Ouki mumbled quietly, his thoughts distant.

"Well... slave. But close enough." Link said awkwardly.

Ouki's eyes snapped back to Link, as if just remembering the boy was there. His gaze darkened and Link hesitated, thinking he had said something wrong and was on the verge of apologizing, but did not know for what. Ouki's behavior baffled him.

The Englishman turned around.

"For what it is worth..." Ouki said. "I am sorry."

"For wha-"

Ouki interrupted, "When you arrive in the next realm, tell them I sent you. And then apologize on my behalf for the inconvenience."

Before Link could respond, Ouki kicked him off the side of the cliff.

Ouki stood in silence. His gaze inward and filled with self-loathing. After a long moment he turned and straddled his horse. The Englishman followed suit, his heart torn for the open turmoil his master was in and knowing no word could comfort what he had done. This was not the general's way. He reveled in bloodshed, in war, but assassination, and the murder of one so young, was against him.

They rode a bit further. There a group of Sheikah showed themselves, weapons drawn. "Where is he?" They questioned.

"It is done." Ouki said. "This ambush is unnecessary."

"So he is dead then?"

"You are free to look for the body at the bottom of the cliff. The body sank to the bottom of the lake."

The Sheikah looked between themselves and the leader asked, "So the body did not wash down the river?"

"No." Ouki said. "He wore heavy items that weighed him down. He sunk."

Seeing that Ouki was not lieing, the leader said, "The Sheikah thank you. I know this matter was not proper, but it was necessary."

"Mhmm." Ouki hummed.