"So you got in trouble with the dean?" Yunobo asked as they took up their practice blades. "Yeah," Link said, looking around The Grove to make sure no one was eavesdropping, "He caught us trying to sneak back in after being late to class." "Wait, why were you late?" Yunobo swished his sword through the air. Link shifted his feet. "Just lost track of time I guess." the big goron glanced at him. "Just lost track of time?" "Yeah." "Doing what?" "Um, exploring?" Yunobo forwned, obviously not buying it, and Link grimaced inside. He wasn't trying to keep secrets from his friend, but if Yunobo found out about his and zelda's plans, Link seriously doubted he could keep his mouth shut. "Students," Rauru called from across The Grove, "Come line up in front of me please." several older kids stood with him. Link glanced at Yunobo, curious, but also grateful for the excuse to end the conversation. Yunobo shruggged, and they started towards the intructor, swords held loosly. "As many of you know," Rauru said, once all the trainees had gathered, "Over half of your training time has elapsed. Which means in less than two weeks I will select the ten cadets who have preformed the best, and grant them the title of Ringer, along with a place on the team. "In light of that fact, this training session will happen in the pressence of our current team of Ringers. Everybody please welcome the Hylia Academy Battle-Ring team." Link felt his mouth drop slightly as he glanced at the students standng behind Raru. They were holding practice with the acting team? Talk about pressure. Each of the ringers were much bigger than Link, with muscles bulging from their sleeveless uniforms and confidence practically glowing from their stances. A couple of the boys smiled and waved, but Link just swallowed. "They will train and mingle with you today," Rauru continued, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips, "sparing and giving advice. Treat them with respect, or you may find yourself on your back with a dislocated joint." "He's joking, right?" Teba whispered to Link. He shrugged. "I hope so." "Disperse and begin your drills," Rauru called, "We will continue with practice blades. The senior Ringers will mingle among you." Link glanced at Yunobo as the group began to dissipate. "I thought there was only supposed to be thirteen ringers per team." The big goron said. Teba shook his head. "Nah, only thirteen ringers are allowed to participate per battle. But the team can be as big as you want. I think the instructor just left that part out to make us sweat a bit. My guess would be that he wants to see how we handle pressure." Link frowned as they walked to an empty section of The Grove. "But if there's no limit on how big the team can get, how come he's only letting ten people join the team?" Teba raised an eyebrow. "Because he wants the team to be the best it can be. I mean come on, if just anyone could join, then we'd get people with zero skill and tons of excuses polluting our team." He gestured to a pair of zora across the field, and Link winced. Both the boys were waving their swords around like they were trying to fight the wind instead of each other. As he watched, one even lost his grip on his weapon, sending the blade flying several feet away. "You see what I mean?" Teba asked, laughing, "Rauru's just looking out for the team." Link nodded. He saw the reason behind only selecting the top ten cadets, but the revelation only made his stomach churn. Now he knew that if he didn't get selected, it wasn't because there weren't enough spots, it was becasue Rauru didn't want him 'polluting' the team. "Well, I'm going to go try and sweet-talk one of those Riners Rauru brought." Teba said, "See if I can't get in good with the veterans." "Why would you want to so that?" Link asked, and Teba grinned. "Because I want to make the team." The rito answered, before flapping over to where two of the Ringers were talking. Link shook his head. "Ok, you want to just get started?" He asked. Yunobo nodded. "Yeah. Let's start with the basic drills to get warmed up, and then we can spar." "Sounds like a plan." Link said, turnnig to his practice dummy and runnig through the movements Rauru had drilled them on. His sword clacked against the leather of the dummy, and after a few hits he fell into the familiar rythem of the steps. Neck, shoulders, ribs, thigh; straw flew with each hit, forcing Link to blink to keep the dust out of his eyes. After a couple minutes he stepped back, panting to catch his breathe. Someone scoffed behind him, and Link turned to see one of the Ringers standing a couple paces away, a sneer twisitng his handsome features. "Hi." Link said, forwning. "What are you doing here?" The boy asked, crossing his arms in front of him. Link's frown deepened.
"What do you mean?" He asked. "I mean, what are you doing training for battle ring?" The Ringer gestured to him. "We don't need any small town boys slowing us down, and you clearly don't have the skills to compete on our level, so what are you doing here?" Yunobo turned from his dummy, and Link pressed his lips together. "I'm trianing to get better." He said, and the Ringer bark laughed. "Well train harder kid, because all you're doing right now is emabrassing our team." "Come on, Cliff, give the kid a break." A tall rito with striking white feathers shook his head as he strode over. "Give the kid a break." Cliff muttered to himself, "Are you serious? Do you really want someone like this on the team? We're competing in Battle-Ring, not running a daycare." "No one starts out professional. Why don't you go critique another group? I think you've done everything you can for this one." Link glanced at Cliff as the tall boy scowled and rolled his eyes. "We can spar to resolve it." The rito offered with a grin. "It's always good to give cadets an idea of what a fight looks like right?" Cliff seemed to wiegh the idea of a spar before scowling. "Fine, you want to baby-sit him? Be my guest." He turned and stalked off to a group of cadets practicing with staffs. "Sorry about Cliff," the rito said, "He's a bit of an idiot." Link chuckled. "No kidding, what's his problem?" "Who knows? I choose to believe he's just a shrat." The rito held out his wing. "I'm Quinn." Link grasped his forearm. "Link." "Nice to meet you Link." He turned to Yunobo, "And who's the big guy?" Yunobo introduced himself and Quinn grinned. "Wait, you're not the guy who blew up a dummy's head on day one right?" Yunobo blushed, and Quinn cracked up. "Rauru told us about that! Man you're going to be a menace in the ring." Yunobo grinned sheepishly, and Link chuckled. "Don't worry," Quinn said, turning back to him, "We'll make you a beast too." He walked to where Link's sword lay skewered in the grass and scooped it up. "To start, you're form was way off, that's probably what got Cliff all whinny in the first place." He handed the blade to Link, who accepted the weapon, swishing it through the air. "How come he backed off when you challenged him to a shapr?" He asked, and Quinn cracked a smile. "Because he knows I'd kick his butt. Cliff talks big, and he's pretty skilled, but I've beat him every time we've sparred." Link stared at the wooden sword for a second. "Can you teach me to do that?" He asked. Quinn laughed. "It'll take you longer than one session, I might be better than Cliff, but the guys a monster. He's one of the best Ringers in the league." "So help me become the best." Link ammended. Quin stared at him for a second before grinning. "Alright kid, I like the fire. Lesson number one..." In the space of two seconds he lashed out, kicking Link's feet out from under him and catching him by the front of his shirt. Link struggled to regain his balance, but Quinn kept a tight grip on his tunic, holding him inches above the ground. "Don't underestimate your superiors." Quinn dropped him, and Link collapsed to the ground. He coughed as his ribs groaned in pain. The rito knelt and helpped him to his feet. Link glared at him, holding his stomach. "You could've just said that." He complained. Quinn waved a hand. "Nah, it wouldn't have gotten the point across as well. Plus, if you want to be a Ringer, you can't be afraid to get hit." Link sucked in a slow breath, nodding. "Ok fine then." Quinn clapped him on the shoulder. "Good. You ready for the real lesson number one?" "Is it me getting punched in the face?" "Not this time." "Then yeah let's do it."
