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NOTE: (31/08/2021) I will at some point be rewriting all of this. The initial quality of writing is quite poor, but should you keep reading, I hope you'll see said quality increase over time!

==Taken from the Journal of Aphea Heroth==

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Gods above I am sick of this blasted tundra. You'd think I would be used to the cold winds by now, but here we are. It's been what... About four months since I was posted to the Hebra region? If I'm lucky my squadron and I will be assigned elsewhere soon, maybe I'll send a letter to speed up that process. It's not like I have anything against the Rito here, they're a nice enough bunch and they've done their best to accommodate us in our little outpost. But it's just so damn boring here. Nothing but putting the grunts through their drills and maybe hoping a stray moblin walks too close.

==

Where to begin? Today has changed a lot of things, looks like I'll be holding off sending that letter just yet. I was taking a walk through the woodlands, just to check everything was in order when a little, terrified Rito child came exploding out of a bush and crashed right into my leg. Didn't take long to figure out what was going on, the poor thing was being chased by one of those wretched moblins. The beast went down easy enough, though I'd certainly lost some of my edge from weeks of doing bugger all. The real oddity though? Was the child himself, I always thought the Rito flew everywhere, and I have certainly never seen a child this far from the village alone before. He was reluctant to say anything at first, he had tears streaming down his face and was shaking like a leaf. But once he calmed down, I was able to coax out his name;

Rook.

I figured he was a bit too shaken to make the walk home, so I sat on the grass and did my best to keep him calm. Mostly, I wanted to know what he was doing all the way out here on his own. He was still reluctant to tell me anything, and whenever I asked, he'd furrow his little brow and tense up. He only opened up when I told him he owed me for saving his life. In hindsight, that might have been a bit cruel of me, but it did get results. He told me that he didn't know how to fly, or shoot a bow and that he was too scared of heights to learn. He told me how whenever the flight instructor would hold lessons for the other chicks, he'd run away into the woods. I could tell right away that it was something he didn't want to share, and I feel bad for forcing him to. I could see him fighting back the urge to cry again, but that was when something changed.

I saw him clench his little hands into fists, he turned and looked me dead in the eyes. What he said next, I'll never forget: "I want to use a sword, like you." I admit, I was taken aback. Seeing that sudden change from a cowering, crying child, to ferocious determination was.. Well, I'm still not sure what to say. The boy stood up and asked me directly if I would teach him. At the time, I had little intention of doing so. It was beyond my pay grade to teach civilians how to fight, let alone a little boy. But, I told him I would think about it, and come up with an answer by tomorrow night so long as he didn't get into any more trouble. That seemed to satisfy him, as he sat quietly for a while before telling me it was time to go back, I asked if he wanted me to escort him, but he'd already vanished before I'd even stood up.

I'm still not sure if I'm going to take him under my wing, I doubt his parents would be very pleased. Perhaps I ought to pay the village a visit? It's always a good idea to learn more about potential recruits after all.

==

I have to say. I was surprised by the warm welcome I received when I approached the village. Although, I suppose it makes sense when their economy is based on trade and tourism, or perhaps they were intimidated by a heavily armoured woman stomping across the bridge. Who knows? I decided to ask after that little boy from before if only to make sure his parents knew what happened. The villagers told me that Rook lived with a family friend, while not an orphan, his parents were merchants and spent a large amount of time away from the village. Quite sad when you think about it.

I've always found Rito homesteads to be... Interesting. They're so open with minimal shelter from the elements, but they do possess a natural beauty to them. I paid a visit to Rook's caretakers, who expressed fervent gratitude for saving his life. They offered me some food and invited me to rest, so I did. I am on break today so I had plenty of time to kill. They told me how frustrated they were with Rook's fear of heights, and expressed worry about his future if he never learned to fly. I was just about to ask where he was when the boy came running into the room and hid under the table, trembling like a leaf. Shortly after, another Rito came charging in, who I later found out to be the village flight instructor. He claimed that during the flight training, Rook had refused to make the jump, standing paralyzed on the edge of the flight platform. Only moving when the instructor threatened to throw him off.

Even now, just thinking about it, it makes me bristle. Of course, I'm in no position to really judge. I've used similar tactics to whip my soldiers into form. But that's the difference. They're soldiers. Adults. This was a little boy, no more than seven summers old. When the instructor moved to grab Rook from under the table, I put myself between them. I might have overstretched my authority a bit, but I laid into him in my best military voice. It was very satisfying, I have to say. After a few minutes, the boy calmed right down. He seemed genuinely happy to see me, which isn't something I'm used to. Poor thing probably thinks I just saved his life again. His caretakers seemed to approve of my intervention too. They told me that the flight instructor is ordinarily far more patient, but has since lost it with Rook.

I knew I had to make a choice there and then. So I gently presented the idea of personally teaching the boy in the art of the sword instead, they seemed unsure at first, but when they saw how Rook's eyes lit up at the idea, they seemed receptive. After all, they knew the alternative would be him being thrown off the flight platform. I told them I would come again tomorrow to take Rook to the outpost and see what he can do.

So there it is. I have a squire now. A small, feathery squire.

==

I had to try my best not to laugh when I went to the village the next day. Rook's caretakers told me the boy was so excited he couldn't sleep. We'll see if that lasts once he actually starts training. Crossing the bridge out of the village took a while, eventually I opted to carry him over. He resisted the whole way across, stubborn little bastard.

I can't say I was surprised with the odd looks from the squadron when I returned to the outpost with a small child in tow, but they seemed pretty receptive after I explained the situation. This was probably the most exciting thing to happen in these last four months.

I took the boy out to the training field, I wasn't quite prepared to give him a training sword just yet. Children have a habit of hurting themselves after all, so instead, I opted to find him a nice sturdy branch. He wasn't disappointed at all, to my surprise. I told him to try and hit me as hard as he could with the stick, it's a common way to find out how much work a new recruit needs to do, he hesitated at first. Probably didn't want to hurt me. Not that he could, when he eventually did try to whack my leg, the recoil made him topple right back over. I could see tears welling up in his eyes, whether he hurt himself, or his ego, I don't know. What did shock me was when he gave me that same fierce look of determination from before. It was right there, and right then, I vowed to myself I would turn this little boy into the best damn swordsman in Hyrule.

Looks like I'll be staying here in Hebra for a while.

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