Hello everyone, I'mNoOneSpecial has finally gone back to writing "Raising Link."

Woah… it's been more than a year already? So sorry about that… but I'm seriously running out on ideas for this story… two, three chapters more I think and then I'll put this thing up for adaption.

Right, enough with that, I kept you guys waiting long enough!

"So… how do you plan to make a hero out of Link?" wanted Ciela to know, "He's a sweet kid and all but he's also a crybaby and a scaredy-cat. Honestly, if the Great Fairy of Time hadn't told me that he is destined to be the next hero, I'd never had believed it!"

Cia frowned.

It had been about a week since Ciela moved in… and since day one the little glowbug has been getting on her nerves; not to mention in her way!

"Stop spoiling him! You are pampering him too much! Do you want him to grow up into a momma's boy?! Give him some space! Get your hands off him, he's not a teddy bear, you know?! Are you his mommy or what?! Stop fussing about him so much! Let him do it! He's injured not crippled!"

…the list goes on and on…

'…and I thought Lana was causing me trouble…' though Cia with a headache, 'Curse you Great Deku Tree… curse you Great Fairy of Time… why did you sent me this little pest!'

And now, said bossy little pest had called for a late-night meeting (Link was asleep by the way.)

"He's not a scaredy-cat!" hissed out Cia protectively of her little Link, "He saw his village set aflame… he saw his friends and neighbors struck down and taken prisoners by raiders… and he had to run for his life from an army of moblins!"

"Ciela has a point though," cut in Lana, "Link really is just a peaceful innocent kid… he has no interest in becoming a knight or something like that like other boys. One'd think he'd be perfectly happy raising horses or something like that."

Cia glared at her little sister for her betrayal.

"I guess we'll have to tell him everything."

The room went deadly silent after Ciela's announcement.

"We won't!" stated Cia with deadly finality, "Not yet; Link is too youn-"

"How else are we going to get him to train then?" countered Ciela, "You saw him, he doesn't play with the wooden sword we made for him. Instead, he keeps playing that panflute you made for him… at this rate he'll grow up into a bard instead of a hero!"

Cia smiled; her cute little Link had been so happy with the gift.

"Ciela is right…" said then Lana, "We really have to tell Link; who he is and what his destiny is."

Cia's good mood immediately vanished. But then she sighed.

"Very well… but let us wait at least until he has fully recovered from his ordeal and injuries. Both physical AND mental…"

Neither Ciela nor Lana spoke against her, so Cia decided that her proposal was accepted.

"So…" began Ciela again after a short while, "Who is going to teach Link how to fight with a sword? He has to use the Master Sword to defeat Ganondorf, but neither of you are swordswomen, are you?"

Both the guardians of time shook their heads.

"So who's gonna teach him?"

Neither had an answer so silence reigned.

"I guess we will have to take Link ou-"

"NO, Lana!" immediately cut Cia Lana off, "Link stays HERE! It is NOT safe outside for him!"

"Then who's gonna teach him?!" countered Lana.

Cia held her head and sighed.

'I really hate to do this…'

"His shadow."

For a good moment neither Ciela nor Lana spoke. Ciela because she was not too sure she knew what Cia had meant by having Link's shadow teaching Link to fight. Lana however-

"Cia, no! You can't!" stated Lana worriedly, "You can't put up Link against his shadow! He'll kill him!"

"What's this shadow you two keep taking about?"

"A long time ago, Cia was corrupted by the demon king's malice," began Lana to explain, "Back then, she also gained dark powers of magic. One such power was the power to call forth shadow… clones. Dark spectres that look just like people but lack any emotion. They are essentially puppets made from dark magic."

Ciela made a gesture as though to shrug.

"So? How are they related to our problem? Can you make one of them teach Link how to fight with a sword?"

"Not really but…" began Cia to explain, "Using Link's shadow as a base, I can make a shadow clone just like him. He will look just like Link. He will be the exact same height as Link. He will be just as strong as Link. And just as fast as well."

Again, Ciela made to shrug.

"That means he will not know how to fight properly as well, just like Link. So what's the point in all this?"

"He is the ideal training partner," answered Cia, "He is not too weak, nor is he too strong. There is no point in fighting someone who is clearly weaker than yourself… you learn nothing from it. Neither is there any sense in fighting an opponent that is clearly your superior, as you are sure to lose-"

"Right now we don't want Link to win or lose," cut in Ciela, "We just want him to learn! What is he going to learn, fighting a clone just as unskilled as he himself is?"

Cia sighed.

"He will just have to learn himself… without any instructio-"

"How is that going to work?!" cut in Ciela irritably, "Not only will that take forever; there is also no guarantee that by the end Link will become passable as a fighter! You said it yourself; Ganondorf is a warlord! A trained fighter, a trained killer!"

"True that…" admitted Cia, "But Link will be fighting his shadow. True, today, his shadow will fight poorly, since just like Link he lacks any instruction or formal training in swordsmanship…"

"But!" emphasized Cia, "Link's shadow will fight Link at his best!"

"What do you mean?!"

"These shadow clones don't just fight like their originals… they fight like their originals at their best! At their best of their skill, at the best of their strength, at the best of their speed… at the best of their capacities… seeing himself fight… fighting himself… Link should learn how to fight by leaps and bounds.

…he will learn tricks he himself did not realize he could do… he will learn to keep himself properly guarded… he will learn his weaknesses… he will learn how to counter them… at the end of his training he will be invincible!" finished Cia.

"He'll die you mean!" threw Lana back at her! "These shadow clones know no compassion; they know no mercy! He'll kill Link for sure!"

"Do you honestly think I'll let him?!" shot back Cia! "I have control over the clones I create! In the first place, I won't make one that is too merciless! And of course I'll be there to watch and stop the fight when necessary!"

A loud silence followed her words.

"…besides… I wasn't planning to make him fight without any protective gear!" added Cia.

"What protective gear?" asked Ciela.

Cia sighed, "A small kid sized helmet… better more than one, of several sizes for when he grows up… some light armor… maybe leather… again several suits… shields of course… and of course wasters!"

"Do you have that stuff here?" asked Ciela again.

"…no…" admitted Cia uncomfortably, "…I was planning to send out Lana to buy them…"

That brought up Lana short!

'She better hadn't been planning to use that as an excuse to get some alone time with Link while I was out!'

"Sounds good," Ciela seemed to nod approvingly, "Yeah, you do that!"

"Well…" started Lana begrudgingly, "Since Ciela is here now… I guess I won't mind going out once in a while…"

The poisonous look Cia gave her, answered Lana's question.

"Anything else we need?"

"Well…" began Cia in an annoyed voice, "I was thinking that until Link gets his hands on the Master Sword and everything… we should work on making him some magical equipment…"

"You mean an enchanted blade?" wanted Ciela to know.

"Not just the sword," responded Cia, "The shield as well… and some enchanted chainmail as well I think… one he can wear beneath his clothes…"

Ciela seemed to look approvingly.

Lana though…

"Can we make them though?" she asked skeptically, "I suppose we could learn how to enchant weapons… but what about the arms themselves? Who'll make them?"

"I don't know yet…" admitted Cia, "Goron smiths probably… the best of course…" she trailed off.

"We'll draw the plans, then you go see them and ask them to make the sword and everything according to our specifications… we will do the enchanting part here."

Lana nodded.

"So that takes care of Link's training and all his equipment…" summed up Ciela, "What else have you planned?"

"Magical training," responded Cia, "The past heroes may not have been mages, but some were able to use magic… at the very least every one was able to use magical artifacts, which is impossible if you cannot at least provide the magic to fuel them…"

"What kind of magicks are you going to teach him?" wanted Ciela to know.

"I'm not sure yet…" admitted Cia.

"We haven't tested Link yet for his magical affinity," explained Lana, "Once we have done that, and also tested just how strong he is as a mage, we can decide on what to actually teach him… but if he is like the heroes before him… then he should have an affinity for wind and earth…"

"That reminds me; let's also test and see if Link is a body manipulation mage."

"'Body manipulation mage?'" parroted Ciela Cia, "What sort of mage is that?! I've never heard of something like that."

"That's not too surprising… they are rather rare…" answered Lana, "More often than not, they have very little affinity for the elements… and thus their talent goes unnoticed…"

"Their magic, you see, is not too compatible with foreign bodies" began Cia to explain, "as such they have a hard time using their magic to affect their surroundings… you could say, their magic wants to stay within the body of the caster and does not like entering other things…"

"Sounds impractical," observed Ciela.

"That's what most magic users thought so as well…" answered Cia, "It was only a few who had an idea of how to properly use this kind of magic."

"How so?"

"Body manipulation magic is perfectly suited for body enhancement…" explained Cia, "Most mages cannot use their magic on their own bodies; depending on their magical affinity, attempting to do so is outright dangerous! The magic powers of a body manipulation mage though are relatively safe for this purpose."

"So you say their magic allows them to cast magic on themselves?" asked Ciela.

"Indeed…" responded Cia.

"How will that help Link though?" asked Lana, somewhat confused.

"Well… Link is supposed to be an adventurer… a fighter, a hero… and for those purposes body manipulation magic is actually very handy… Most body manipulation mages who have undergone no magical training, more often than not they even think they have no magical talent, end up becoming powerful warriors… By unconsciously, and instinctively drawing upon their magic powers and using it upon their bodies, they become able to do feats that normal men cannot do… some were at times significantly stronger than their physique should allow… other at times run faster than they should have been able to… others recovered from wounds which would have killed most…"

"That sounds perfect for Link," commented Lana, "…considering the kind of monsters and enemies Link will be up against, increasing his strength would be a huge help!"

"Not to mention the ability to heal his wounds at will!" agreed Ciela, "That one sounds super useful! What else could he do if he has this kind of magic?"

"Shapeshifting," answered Cia, "In fact, it is because I recalled the heroes of time and twilight that I came to suspect this…"

"The heroes of time and twilight were shapeshifters?" wanted Ciela to know.

"Yes they were," answered Lana, "But both had magical items to help them; enchanted masks for the hero of time and a shard of black magic for the hero of twilight…"

Then she turned to her older sister Cia.

"Do you really think Link will be able to do the same? Even without such artifacts?"

"Perhaps both the hero of time and twilight needed their artifacts to transform because neither of them was ever properly trained in magic…" responded Cia, "…one way or another, we will see once we test Link for his magical affinities…"

"Neither of us is skilled in this kind of magic though," pointed out Lana.

"Then we will just have to learn," replied Cia.

"So, we have decided when to tell Link, when to begin train him, and what to teach him…" summed up everything Ciela, "We have also decided on how to prepare him equipment-wise… now, who will tell him and how?"

A moment of silence reigned.

"I will tell him," declared Cia at last, "Once he is ready to know… I will take him to the 'forbidden' garden… and there I will tell him everything…"

So…?

How did you guys like this chapter? Worth the wait?

The body manipulation magic is a term I came up with myself (no idea if anyone else already came up with this term) basically this is all magic that changes/affects the body of the caster; shapeshifting being one of the more advanced magicks. Seeing that Link in the games can do superhuman feats despite his rather small and normal stature, well, I'd say this makes a good explanation for all those.

Well… what do you think of the idea of Link learning to fight by fighting his shadow (i.e. Dark Link) over and over again for several years? Since in this story Link isn't 'allowed' to get out of the Temple of Souls and neither Cia nor Lana can use a sword (to my knowledge at least) I had to come up with something…

Besides… I remember playing Oot… and Dark Link was a whole lot harder for me than Ganondorf himself!

Also: What do you think the 'forbidden' garden is, that Cia mentioned?

Please review and comment. All forms of reviews, comments and criticisms are very welcomed and appreciated.
If you do not have the time to leave behind such, a numerical ratings from 0-10 will suffice just as well.

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