Chapter 2: The Power of the Mind
Link and Mishcana sat in the training room together. Mishcana was oiling her bow and polishing it leisurely. Its surface was gradually beginning to brighten. Link held his gilded sword cautiously. With precise moves he rubbed the edge with a whetstone sharpening its edge. He had grabbed his polish kit when Mishcana stared at him irritably. "Well, aren't you going to go?" Her voice was annoyed and to the point. "Huh?" He answered looking liked he'd been awakened from a dream as she spoke to him. "Zelda's been yelling for you for the past five minutes; it's getting on my nerves. Shouldn't you go find out what she wants?" Link shook his head, "Mishcana, I don't hear anything. What are you talking about?" Mishcana sighed, "She's very loud; I can't believe you can't hear her." Puzzled, Link looked around the room. "You sure its your ears doing the hearing?" he asked suspiciously. "Eh? Now that you mention it. . . No. I'm not sure. But I do hear her and she very . . . insistent. And noisy." Link closed his eyes and concentrated. His mind was like a door being opened. In the back of his mind he could hear the princess's calls for him. Mishcana was right; the princess was loud, but, he smiled to himself, just talking in her sleep. Suddenly his eyes refocused on Mishcana. "Wait, wait. You're serious; you can hear her?" Now frightened, Mishcana nodded. Link smiled softly, "She's asleep." He explained, a grin spreading on his face. "She has a tendency to project like that when she's dreaming. It's nothing to worry about. I'm just surprised you can hear her; only Impa and I can hear her unless she concentrates on a specific person. I usually just tune it out." He stood there fondly smiling his eyes unfocused as he listened. Clang! Thump. The bow and sword struck the ground at the same time. Red rose to their cheeks. Mishcana stood there blinking and looking away from Link while he covered his face with his hand. "Ummm." He coughed, still looking away from her, "I should probably teach you how to tune her out." Mishcana nodded, still unable to look at Link. Bending low she picked up her bow and set it on the table "Umm, err . . . Want to start now? She's still talking you know."
Link sat down facing Mishcana and nodded. "Alright. Look at me." His face was still red but so was hers. Their eyes held each other a moment. His voice echoed through her head, 'Mishcana? Can you hear me, too?' Mishcana nodded, "How do you do that?" His eyes closed a moment as he concentrated. They opened and gazed deep into her own eyes again. 'You just concentrate on what you want to say, and then project it at the person. It's rather difficult.' He smiled, and began talking with his voice again. "I have a lot of trouble with that." His cheeks flushed red again and his gaze shifted downwards. "Zelda's been trying to teach me for months, but I'm still not very good." He sighed then looked towards her again. "Learning how to use it is essential for being able to ignore it. Try sending something to me."
His piercing gaze held hers. Fear filled her. She looked back at him, her hands trembling. Darkness surrounded her as she closed her eyes and concentrated. In the back of her mind Zelda's voice still echoed murmuring now about her father, not long deceased. Slowly she formed the words in her head and then opened her eyes to see his reaction. "Hmm." He said, appearing quite puzzled, "The sword and the shield hang on the wall over there. That's what you said, isn't?" Mishcana nodded, and smile creeping onto her face, "Yes! I couldn't think of anything to say." She blinked again; Zelda was crying. "Poor Zelda." She murmured to herself. Link nodded in agreement as his gaze had become unfocused again. He startled and blushed deeply, "We really shouldn't be listening to this. All right. From where her voice is coming from, imagine a door. Then, imagine it shutting. Her voice should stop after that." Mishcana nodded as the voice faded away. "It worked!" she stated happily.
Link smiled proudly at his young protégé. It was true that they were likely close in age and yet he felt indefinitely older than her. Nevertheless, it seemed she had a certain form of maturity that the Zelda in this time lacked. He was sure that was a result of her harsh years under Gannon. He bent over and picked up his sword and her bow. A soft blush came to her face as she took it back from him. Bashfully she set it upon her desk and brought out her sword. "Want to go practice yesterday's techniques?" she asked quickly. He nodded hastily in agreement and sheathed his sword. Swiftly the two vacated the area to the other side of the room and began.
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