She woke with a start, and the first thing she saw was the sky. Those messy blue streaks that shone through the clouds. She squinted her russet eyes and rolled over. There was earth beneath her hands, wet and brown, pierced with grass.
The girl tried to stand, but a searing pain in her back stopped her. She cried out in agony, her voice hoarse. Wounds on her face and arms broke open, and blood trickled down her face. She coughed into the ferns and they speckled with drops of scarlet. Her vision darkened around the edges, and she scowled.
She wasn't going to let it end like this.
Pushing herself to her feet, she limped shakily towards the sun. It gradually rose until it was out of her eyes. She coughed again, this time into her hand. It, too, came out warm, red and sticky. She didn't wonder how she got in this state. She didn't wonder if she would ever find a refuge of sorts.
She just tried to focus on putting one shattered foot in front of the other.
His eyes blinked open involuntarily when the sun began to stream from the skylight. His mouth opened in a large yawn, and he stretched his arms above his head. He tipped off balance and fell off the bed, landing on his back on the rickety wooden floor.
His face was inches away from a twenty-foot drop to the main floor of his tree-house. The boy pushed himself up and staggered back. He really should get a rail or something.
He began to climb down the ladder, still half-asleep, when a shrill voice startled him and caused him to lose his footing.
"Link!" the voice of a small boy sounded from just outside his door, and he landed on his back again with a dull thump.
"Link, get up!"
The teen rolled over and pushed himself to his feet. He walked out the door and paused to see who was calling him. Looking down from his thirty-foot perch, he saw Talo and Malo, two brothers in the village that were always begging Link to do something for them. Link climbed down the ladder until he reached the ground.
"Link, you promised you'd show us your sword today!" Talo, the older brother, exclaimed excitedly. He was maybe half Link's height with scruffy brown hair and a knack for getting into trouble. His younger brother, who was four years old—half Talo's age—nodded sagely. Link sighed.
"The blacksmith says he's done with it!" Talo spoke loudly, as he usually did, "Now, go get it!"
Links rolled his eyes and began to trudge towards the village. It was only a five-minute's walk away, and it was very rural. He always sighed in pleasure at the view he got whenever he came up the tree-covered rise and peered down on the hamlet, and today was no different.
Ordon village, the only one in Ordona Province, was small and rustic. All of the buildings were far apart and made of wood. There was a long, gently curving dirt road that split off to go towards the large lake on the right. Great, mossy stones rose from the lake, and a calm river flowed through the village to greet the pond. An enormous waterwheel was on the delta between the river and lake, and that was where a chore-obsesses woman called Pergie, and her husband, Jaggle—who was the village smith—lived. There were only maybe five buildings, the biggest being the Mayor's, which was just past the fork in the main road. The main road ended in a wooden gate that led to a huge meadow, Ordon Ranch, where goats grazed. Link was the goatherd, and the man he worked for was a big, burly man called Fado that treated him like a son. The whole province was surrounded by huge mountains, and Ordon Village was in the middle of a deep valley.
"Hurry up, Link!" Talo shoved him from behind, and he stumbled down the hill. Gradually regaining his footing, Link settled for a steady trot towards the waterwheel. He ran over the two small bridges and weaved through the pumpkins in the patch just to the left of the second one.
"Link!" Jaggle exclaimed, "Just in time! Your sword's done, and I'm tying to put together another little something for you!" He laughed heartily. He was quite a large man, but he was mostly muscle, not fat, which came from being a smith and carpenter.
Link smiled and nodded before giving him a questioning look.
"It's in the house," the ironsmith answered, and gestured toward the door of the waterwheel.
Link nodded once and walked inside. It was a cozy, homey structure with cobblestone walls and dirt floors. The rafters and wooden support beams were showing, and the floor was strewn with sacks of flour and grain. There was a stove and counter, a pantry, and a furnace all set against the walls, and a rickety wooden ladder led to the loft where the family slept.
"Hi, Link," a soft shy voice from the teen's right, and he felt a small tug on his sleeve. Link looked down to see Colin, the son of a man called Rusl. He was a small boy, about Talo's age, with light blonde hair, pale skin, and a slight figure, and he could often be found in the waterwheel with Talo and Malo. He looked up at his role model with large, drooping blue eyes, an gave a small smile. Link smiled back. Colin was his favorite of the village boys. Talo might try to seem tough, and Malo might not get into much trouble, but Link knew that, hidden somewhere in Colin's soul was a secret courage that maybe even he didn't know about yet.
"Your sword's over here," he walked slowly to a large pile of heavy flour bags, and struggled to move one. After watching the boy push with all his might to no avail, Link walked over and lifted it like it was nothing, tossing it to the side. Colin looked on admiringly.
"Mr. Jaggle hid it here so no one would steal it," he panted, still sweating slightly from trying to push the sack. Link gingerly picked up his sleek iron broadsword, admiring its edge and turning it to reflect the light.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Colin sighed, "Jaggle makes the best swords in Hyrule." Link immediately nodded. "Did he tell you he was putting together a surprise?" the small boy asked. Link nodded an affirmative.
"He won't let anyone see it until he's done, not even Pergie." Colin smiled a bit, "It must be pretty special." Link hesitated a little before agreeing again. Last time Talo and Malo's father had tried to make something "special", it had ended up exploding. And now he was giving something to Link?
"Link!" Talo's voice shrieked at him from outside, "Link, are you done?"
The boy sighed, pushing his shaggy blonde hair out of his eyes, and turned to leave. Colin followed.
"Wow!" Exclaimed the rambunctious eight-year-old, "It's so cool! What is it's name?"
Link squinted at the blade for a moment before shrugging.
"What?" Talo hissed, frustrated, "every good sword needs a name!"
Link was saved from having to answer by the call of a young girl.
"Wow!"
A girl only maybe a few yeas older than Talo ran up to the group of boys, "Link, that's so cool!"
"Go away, Beth," Talo sneered, "that's already been said. Plus, This is men's talk, not girls'."
Link rolled his eyes and started to sheathe his sword when a smoother voice floated towards him.
"It was pretty nice, Link."
Ilia, Mayor Bo's daughter was walking up to him. Link smiled softly, a slight pink tinge blossoming in his cheeks. He shrugged modestly.
"Ooh! Ooh, Link!" Talo jumped up and down excitedly, "show us some sword moves!" Link blinked and tilted his head slightly to one side.
"Okay…" Talo thought for a bit, "start with… the stabby move!"
Link stood and sighed before jabbing at a log nearby.
"Wow!" Beth gasped, "now do the swirly one!"
Link spun and demolished the wooden plank. Beth promptly swooned. Ilia laughed softly and smiled, her deep sapphire eyes gazing into Link's sky blue ones.
The sudden scream of a villager interrupted.
"Help!" the voice cried out, distant and faded. "Help!" It began to get louder. Link turned away to face the direction it was coming from. A tall, muscular man—Fado, it became clear as he drew closer—was sprinting down the road, something draped across his arms.
"Help!" He cried again, "where's the healer?" Link darted over to see the problem.
"What is it, Fado?" Pergie stepped out of the waterwheel home, a dust rag in her hand.
"A girl!" he panted, giving the body he was carrying to Jaggle. "I found her sprawled on the ground just off the edge of town, near the spring! Is she alive?"
Pergie pushed two fingers to the girl's neck. Almost immediately, the girl grabbed her hand in a white-knuckled, viselike grip. Her breathing and expression didn't change, and her eyes remained closed. Her bright auburn hair was messy and blown back, and her clothes were scratched and torn. There were scars and bruises all over her body, and a strange, but faint, geometric tattoo started on her left hand, crawled up her arm, and ended on the end of her long, pointed left ear.
Who was this girl?
"Jaggle!" Pergie yelped, and he pried the girl's finger's from his wife's arm. She backed away, pale as snow, and ushered the children inside.
"Fado," she looked to the man, "get Uli. She'll be able to help this girl."
"But Uli—she's nursing!" the goat tender exclaimed, "Rusl would kill me if I brought this girl to his house. And the stranger—"
"—is in need of more help than I can offer." Pergie lowered her head. "Uli is the best healer in the village. Unless you want to take the girl all the way to Kakariko Village…?"
Fado shook his head. "She'd be dead by then. I'll take her to Uli."
Pergie nodded. "Colin, go to your mother with Fado. Help her tend to the girl." The boy nodded, sensing the seriousness of the situation.
Link looked at the woman curiously.
"Link," she smiled, "the best you can do right now is get on with you life and try to ignore this." Link gave a desperate glance at the dying girl.
"I know," Pergie placed her hands on his shoulders and turned him towards the ranch, "but there's nothing you can do." She gave him a little shove, and he stumbled off to work. He glanced despairingly in the direction of the girl as Fado carried her to Uli's little cottage, Colin following close behind. Beth ran off to tell Sera, her mother, who ran the village shop, and Ilia was dashing off to her father, the mayor.
Link sighed. There was nothing he could do but wait.