Well, as you probably already know, I don't own a single thing. All I really own is a cat, and it pees on me every once in a while. Well, I guess I do own Ecks and Seymour and Marshall and Celia and stuff... Yeah, I do own them. Nothing else though...
Oh, and rated T for Seymour's loose mouth. Well, he uses mild (whoa, almost wrote milk there) swears a lot (ahem, damn, shit, hell, ass).
In every world, in every place, there are people of various types. Centuries ago, our great nation was home to five different and proud peoples: the Hylians, the Zoras, the Gorons, the Sheikah, and the Gerudo. The Hylians were the dominant race, as their king ruled the lands. The Zoras commanded the seas and the lakes, the rivers and the streams. All mountains were patrolled by the Gorons. The shadows were kept in order by the Sheikah. The shifting sands of the deserts were controlled by the Gerudo.
All of these peoples have either gone extinct, or dwindled in size exponentially. The Hylians are still alive, although most of them have been replaced by the new dominant race: humans. The distinct quality of a Hylian are their long, pointed ears. This is the main difference between a human and a Hylian. For reasons unknown, they became scarce.
As for the Zoras, they still live in Lake Hylia, but they no longer venture out into the rivers, fearing that the poachers will slay them to sell their valuable scales on the black markets. They have closed their once prosperous diamond and sapphire mines, scared that they will be robbed in the night. The once playful and fun-loving Zoras are now living in an all too real nightmare.
The Goron settlement is located mainly on Death Mountain nowadays. In earlier times, each mountain held many villages containing the rock creatures. After a dodongo raid, their food source was destroyed, leaving many to starve. The once proud and boisterous people of the Goron tribe now have few to call "brother."
The Sheikah were the first to be wiped out. In the Hyrulean Civil War, most of the Shadow People had given their lives to protect the royal family. Two were left to live through the Imprisoning War, and one still remains in history as the first Sage of the Shadow. The other's fate remains unknown to this very date.
Ever since the Hyrulean Civil War, the Gerudo had been hated. Since the Imprisoning War, even more so. They tried to protect themselves by destroying bridges and pathways that led to their fortress. Despite their efforts, warriors rampaged through the deserts, slaying the clever and beautiful Gerudo women.
Has the loss of our five original races changed our country? Are humans actually so different from Hylians? Should more be done to preserve those who still remain? These questions and more are raised daily by people at bars, in school, around town, and even in their own homes. None, however, are able to answer them with a true knowledge on the subject. No records are available to the public, meaning that none can research whether or not the early races would be beneficial in today's society.
"Well?" asks a young man. His eyes are hopeful. The man across from him looks stern, his expression serious. He sets down the paper in which he was reading from and stares intensely at the boy before him.
"It's good," he begins. The boy looks hopeful, happy. "But," the man continues, "it lacks star power. You lack star power, Collins. No one wants to talk to a boy who doesn't know that his work is worth it! I mean, look at yourself! You're starin' at me like a sad puppy!"
Link Collins, the young man, stares at his feet. "I'm sorry, sir."
"Now, don't take it so hard. I'll run it. But, next time, give me something with edge. Something that says, 'Look at me! I'm Link Collins and I am worth it!'" The man sitting at the desk looks into space as if he sees the next edition of The Castle Town Register.
Link nods appreciatively, then backs out of his boss's office. He takes a deep breath and gives a small thumbs-up to the secretary. Slowly, he slumps over to his cramped office. His friend, Seymour Capes, is waiting for him there.
"Well? How'd it go?" the red-haired reporter asks, almost spilling his coffee.
"Fine," answers Link, smoothing back his dirty blond hair. "He'll run it, but he's not... 'wowed' by it."
"Damn it, Link! That's what he says every damn time!" Seymour slams his cup down in frustration. "I mean, what is it with you? You get this great story, and every time you write it, it comes out wishy-washy! You don't have a stamp, a signature! For God's sake, Link, I mean, Frank could have written that!"
Link sits down in his chair, feeling slightly depressed. "Well, I'm not sure what to do. I get the words in my head, and.... poof! They disappear as soon as I put my hands on the keyboard."
"What you need," hisses the redhead, "is a kick-ass story. Ahem, I repeat, a kick-ass story, not a kiss-ass story. You want to blow the socks off old Ecksty, not smooch his backside. You hear me?"
"Yeah... but how am I supposed to get a good story? Ecks only gives the really good stories to the really good journalists," points out Link. He stares at his friend like he's and idiot. Seymour does the same.
"Yes, but, my friend, you have forgotten all about the April Drawing."
"The... April Drawing..." Link slaps himself in the forehead. "Duh! Why didn't I think of this before?!" The April Drawing was when each reporter for The Castle Town Register took a drawing for who got which story. In recent years, however, the April Drawing had evolved from a simple name in a hat to a game of tricks and cheating.
"Yeah, and I heard Ecks is going to put a good one in there... 'Inside the Royal Family.' How sweet would that be? Not only would you get high street cred for getting such a huge story, but you would get connections to the royal family!"
Link appears doubtful again, "Yeah, but how am I supposed to get my name into the drawing for that story, anyway? Everyone knows that Masterson always gets it."
"Then we have to master the Masterson," Seymour bursts into laughter at his pun. Link sighs and rolls his eyes. "Look, Masterson just replaces all the names in the hat with his own."
"No, he doesn't. Ecks pulls all the names from the same hat, moron."
"Fine, well, I don't know how he does it. I bet he just pays off Ecks."
"Probably."
"Well, in that case..."
"No."
"How much is in your savings?"
"No."
"Come on!"
"No!"
Seymour squints at his friend. He takes a sip of his coffee before leaving the crowded closet of an office. Link runs his hands through his hair again. He feels hopeless. His colleague, Marshall, appears in the doorway. He holds two coffees in his hands.
"Want one?" he offers, "They're fresh."
"You know I don't drink coffee," says Link in an annoyed tone. He had told Marshall again and again that he disliked the bitter taste of coffee.
"Your loss," Marshall decides, and continues down the hall, offering his extra coffee to anyone who would take it.
Hours later, the paper's offices close, and Link stands outside the doors, waiting for his bus. Seymour lingers with him. "Watch Marshall get the big story," jokes Seymour. The two men chuckle.
"Hey," begins Link, "are we allowed to trade after the April Drawing?"
"Sure. I traded with Celia after it one year. Remember? It was the year I drew the interview with the head of Tims, that make-up company? I traded her for the bit on school buses or something."
"Oh," the young journalist's hope has returned. If Masterson failed to claim the big story for himself again, perhaps Link could persuade whoever got it to trade. "Let's hope Marshall gets it, then."
Seymour stares at his friend quizzically.
"Marshall will do anything for something to take his coffee. And, Marshall would do anything for me to take his coffee. Well, today he didn't try anything, but he has for the past six months. Anyway... if he gets it, I'm sure I can pull it from him."
"Aha!" Seymour exclaims. He pumps his fist in the air. "Good work, my friend, very good work." The bus pulls up and they both get on.
The day of the April Drawing finally comes. The staff gathers in the lounge, all eager to see who gets what story. Ecks stands up front, next to the whiteboard. The names of the available stories are written in black marker. Masterson stands next to him, grinning as if he's already won.
Link observes the board.
Inside the Royal Family
Interview with Carmen Diamorn
The Restaurant Conspiracy
Phil Capman's Murder
Shifting Sands: Inside Gerudo Fortress
The Gorman Brothers
"Up first, 'Inside the Royal Family,'" announces Ecks. He holds out a hat, ready to pick a name. Clumsily, he drops it as soon as he puts his hand in, the names splattering across the floor. Masterson panics and rushes to collect them. It is too late. "Masterson, Masterson, Masterson..." Ecks reads from the papers on the ground. He turns to the reporter. "Can you explain this?"
"Um, er..." stammers Masterson.
"Looks like he's finally cracked. After all those years of perfect deceit..." whispers Seymour to Link. They nod and laugh.
"No, don't explain," fumes the boss, "get out. That's right. Out. As in, you're fired. Sacked. We are no longer in need of your assistance. God, you think you know someone..."
Masterson frowns and walks out of the door. The room is silent. Ecks collects the names and puts them in the hat. He places it on the table and sighs. Leaning back to stretch, he spots a hat identical to the one he had just held stuffed behind a filing cabinet.
Slowly, he approaches it. He looks inside to see the rest of the names. Ecks pulls it out and chuckles slightly. "I gotta hand it to him," he says. "That boy's got more cleverness than I do." The drawing continues. Out of respect for the mishap, the boss leaves "Inside the Royal Family" for last.
"There are two names left, and two stories left. Natalie Forest and Link Collins... 'The Gorman Brothers' and 'Inside the Royal Family.'" Ecks stuffs a hand into the hat. "And... 'The Gorman Brothers' goes to.... Natalie Forest!" The room cheers. "Meaning, 'Inside the Royal Family' goes to Link Collins!"
Link feels limp. The room goes black. He does not faint, for he can still hear the cheers of the crowd and Seymour's proud chatter in his ears. His time had come.
"Do me proud, boy," Ecks pats Link on the back.
"I can't believe it!" squeals Seymour like a little school girl. Link rolls his eyes.
"I can't believe Marshall got 'Interview with Carmen Diamorn."
"Yeah... you know he'll love it, though."
"He will."
Ecks meets the boys at Link's office. "From now on, you will check in here, then walk to the castle at nine. Here's your pass." He thrusts a badge at the journalist. "At six, you will return here. During your time there, you will interview servants, workers, et cetra. You will follow people around, you know... then, you will meet with the royal family themselves and do a piece on them. The whole thing should take you a while to do. The deadline is June 15th, got it?"
Link nods, understanding.
"Oh, and this begins tomorrow. Remember, nine o' clock. Don't be late."
Link nods again, feeling the pressure fall onto his shoulders.