The name's Linebeck; or if you want to be more precise, Linebeck the Fifth. I own a trading post created by my grandfather. At first, it was a small thing, rarely visited except by train conductors and fellow treasure hunters. After a long while though, its popularity grew until it became a place to gather by many. The trading post is not only a trading post now, but also a general store. Gramps would be proud.

The store has gotten quite big. I've sent out help wanted ads, but nobody came for hire. As a last resort for workers, I've bought a ticket for the more under-developed section of Neo Hyrule, a place where horrid crimes happen daily. Why? Because that's where I'll find the hardest workers. Once I find them, I'll give them the address of the store, and I'll have a good employment in no time!


I arrive at the train station, already filled with countless people waiting to begin the afternoon. As I stand by the entrance, waiting for my train number to be called, a familiar voice calls to me.

""Ey, Linebeck! What'cha doing all 'ta way ou' here?" Ah, Starn. Now there's a fellow with a way of life! He sails all the way around the world, delivering parcels and gathering new products for stores back home. His heavy accent is something that takes quite a while to get used to, but he's a good man with even better stories to be told.

"I'm heading to the Western Segment to look for workers. You?" I reply, walking over to the large fellow. We've been friends for many years, ever since the day he came over to deliver new fruit from another country. I was just a lad, and so was he. He came by regularly, and I took that time to get to know him until our friendship bloomed. He's been with me through it all; from the death of my father to the birth of my sister, Rae. Rae is a fine woman, just ten years or so younger than me. She has brown locks that fall to the middle of her back, and knows how to spar very well. I do wonder where she's off to now.

"''Ta Western Segment? Do 'ya know what happens t'ere?" He exclaims.

"I do. That's where I'm going to find the best workers. I plan to post ads there."

"'Ow old?"

I pause for a moment, not recently giving this question a thought before. An older man would do great work, but he'd beg and beg for more money over time. A child would do less work, but wouldn't have any troubles with money. A predicament that I wish would just solve itself.

"I don't know, Starn. A child would be the most proficient, not begging for anything like older men. Of course, then he would have to be an older child. Perhaps thirteen or so."

"Ah. Well 'ya better git goin', eh? See 'ya 'round." He goes over to another waiting spot, talking with some other men, most likely business talk. Soon my train number is called, and I rush towards the correct station.

"Number fifteen! Train number fifteen ready for boarding!" The announcer says as a group of people follow me to the train. We stand in a line, waiting for one of the personnel to check our tickets. He gets to me, punches my ticket and I head inside to sit in the second car. It seems my seat is already taken when I finally find my designated spot.

"Excuse me, ma'am? I do believe that is my seat." She looks up at me, realizes her mistake, and blushes hard.

"Oh, I'm sorry sir. I must have read my ticket wrong. Sorry to trouble you!" She quickly stands and gives me a tiny bow. This woman seems to be young, perhaps seventeen. Her fiery locks catch me by surprise, and her blushing just accents it even more. This young one must have many boys knocking at her doorstep!

"It's all right, ma'am, just a simple mistake. Good day to you." I bow too, and she streaks out of the area. I sit in the seat and wait for the train to start. I would've brought something to read, but I'm not going to take any chances in the Western Segment with valuables. Instead I merely wait as the train stirs to life and chugs down the tracks, thoughts bubbling every second. Where should I look for workers? Hm… I think maybe the metal works area should prove to be a good spot. How old should they be? Right, somewhere around the teenage group... Boys, obviously. There's still something I need to settle…

In the middle of my thoughts, the train slows to a stop as passengers gather their things to get off. Not having anything to gather myself, I saunter about the cars until I find the exit. Walking out, I find myself in the place I needed to be; the Western Segment. Why this place turned into the crime littered area it is today, I will never know. The streets are covered in gunk, and the entire length of the place is rampant with yelling fellows. I make my way to the metal works area when I see a strange building jutting out in the alley-way. Curious, I tip-toe inside the building and then I am greeted by a beady-eyed man sitting at a counter.

"Hello. I see you've noticed our establishment so far back in the alley. You just had to come inside and see, right?" This man must be physic.

"Well, yes. I've come to ask if you have any men, preferably boys, who are willing to work at a trading post."

The beady-eyed man cocks his head as he leans over the counter. "Trading post? You aren't that Linebeck fellow, are you?"

"I am."

He stands and goes through the little door-like gate and glides over to me. "Well, have a look around. I'm sure you'll find some very nice boys that fit what you need!" He laughs a laugh that sends a chill up my spine. The way he said those words made me wonder just what kind of place this is. Without time to think, he pulls me through the red room of the entry way and down some metal stairs to a very dark, cave-like area dimly illuminated by lonely ceiling lamps and torches on the walls. This place is like a dungeon, and I don't like it. What on Earth are young men doing down here?

"Sorry for the darkness here. We need it to do our work."

I turn to him and ask, "What do the men do down here?"

"Some work by loading up carts and shipping them for the trains to carry. Others make such carts. We also have other jobs down here, but I don't think you're very much interested in those."

"I might be."

"Heh heh. Let's just say that these boys can do a very good job. How old do they or does he need to be?

His speech confused me. Not just the wording, but how I never got any answers, just more questions. I'm starting to think that this place is more than a simple cart factory.

"Somewhere around the ages of thirteen and fourteen," I answer blandly.

"There's only one boy here who's that age. Is that all right?"

"Yes, it's fine." I guess I can just use one helper. The shop isn't that big, anyway.

"Good. Let me fetch him." He scurried away into the dark, and a loud voice echoed throughput the basement.

"Thirty-five, report to the front! I repeat, thirty-five, to the front!"

What is going on here? First he avoids telling me a second purpose of this place, and now everyone has a number, not a name. I feel that I should just up and run away, never returning again. To forget everything I've seen here though would be a crime on my part. Then two figures appeared from the shadows: the same beady-eyed man, and a young boy. The young boy was just covered in grime from his head to his toes. His outfit consisted of an old and browned dark-green V-neck long-sleeve shirt, ratty worker's jeans, and brown leather boots that were over the pants. His hair seemed to be blond, but now it was tangled and blackened. He was a mess, yet his eyes shone through the dark like a beacon. Those eyes told me things; things about hardships that a child should never have to go through. I've decided. I was going to get this boy out of here, no matter the cost. Literally.

The boy never looked up from the ground; as if he didn't want lose sight of it. The beady-eyed man gripped his shoulder hard and asked me, "How much are you going to pay? He's a fine one, so he will come at a fine price."

I instantly tore my wallet from my coat pocket, and replied, "Two-thousand."

The beady-eyed fellow locked eyes with me, as if he knew I had more money to spare.

"Two-thousand and five-hundred." So this is a haggling game, eh? I'll join in.

"Two-thousand and two-hundred."

"Hmph. Listen, if you give me Two-thousand and three-hundred, we have a deal."

"Fine. Here." Did I just purchase a human being? I hand him my money and he shoves the boy into me. It seems that he actually wanted to get rid of him, judging by his actions. "By the way, he's pretty much mute. He doesn't like to talk, and rarely does, so there's no use in trying to start up a conversation. But why bother, anyway? He follows orders well, and does anything he's told." He backs away to the darkness again, giving a money-hungry grin. "If you want to see any of the other boys here, you know where to look. Have a good time now." Another chill shoots up my spine. I do have a worker now, but the way he just stares at me is giving second thoughts. Where will he go now? How long has he been here? Why did I even come here? Did some divine force beckon me to find this child and guide him out of this… whatever it is?

Breaking my thoughts, the boy tugs at my jet-black trench coat, possibly urging we should get out of this establishment. Before we leave, I figure that I should introduce myself. I kneel down to his height and rest my hands on my knees.

"Well, this isn't the greatest introduction, but I'm Linebeck the Fifth, the current owner of my family's trading post."

The boy didn't move, but instead he just continued to stare at me.

"I came here to look for someone to work at my store, and instead stumbled across the building we're in now. I was going to leave once I saw the inside of this place and go look somewhere else, until…"

The boy still didn't move, but I think he got what I was trying to say. I stand and motion towards the stairs. I feel as though we are being watched, and I bet we are. He nods and follows me silently up the stairs. Suddenly a booming voice echoes throughout the building.

"What are you doing? You can't take my property home with you! Get back here!"

The boy runs in front of me as we ascend the stairwell, the voice getting harder to hear as we race to the outside world. I open the door and find myself in the alley again. He shields his eyes from the light as if it blinded him. "Thank goodness we got out of there! What in the world is going on down there?" I say, and then glance down at the boy as he covers his eyes. How long has it been since he's seen the outside world?

"Too bright? It's okay. I bought a round-trip ticket for myself, but I still need to buy one for you to get ourselves home. We better hurry to the station if we want to board on time!" I chuckle to myself, but the boy still doesn't do anything but keep that blank face. We begin walking, not saying a word. The beady-eyed man was right; the boy isn't one to care for a conversation. The regular chatter of birds and people keep us company as we head towards the station.

It seems we've arrived on time, as people are still lining up to purchase tickets. Making sure the boy was still next to me, I went into a line. The boy gripped my right arm, probably to make sure he didn't get lost or separated. I glanced down and smiled warmly, but the boy thought it meant something else. His face adopted terror and he started to shake.

"What's wrong? There's no need to be scared," I whisper, and he calms down a bit. I'll be sure not to smile in front of him for a while. I purchase his ticket and approve my own. We head to the train from before and go inside, it being mostly empty. The boy sits in opposite of me, clutching the seat tightly. He looks out the window a few times and watches the people go by.

"Is this your first time on a train?" I say, trying to maybe get some information out of him. He shakes his head, signifying a solid no. "Well then."

The ride isn't that long, just two hours or so. The boy still finds the time to fall asleep and lies down on the long seat. I would've sat him up so he wouldn't damage the seat, but for some reason I felt I shouldn't do so. I let him rest peacefully, the tip of his thumb in his lips. If he didn't look like a drowned rat right now, I'd say that this was fairly sweet. I smiled at him again, and waited out the rest of the trip looking out the window.


We arrive at the station that was near the store. I stand and gently rouse the boy from his slumber.

"We're here. You need to wake up now," I say as he opens his eyes. He looks around, as if trying to locate something, and then gets up from the seat. He follows me out of the train and down to the ground, still never changing his expression. Something is definitely wrong with this boy, and I need to find out what exactly it is.

"It's just a short walk from here to the store. C'mon now," I say to him. He obediently follows me as we make our way to the shop. I'm going to have to get used to the boy's way of "conversing." Then I realize that I need something to call him by. Thirty-five will never do! Then I think of my sister's dream-friend. Ever since she was young, she always told me of an imaginary boy that she would talk to. Of course she abandoned the thing a long time ago, but the name still stuck with us.

"…I need something to call you. I can't keep calling you boy for the rest of your time here!"

He just looks up at me and holds up his hands, holding up three fingers in his one hand and five in the other.

"No, I will not refer to you as a number. Would you like me to give you a better name than that?"

He cocked his head a little in confusion, but then he gave out a tiny smile that was easy to over-look.

"Good. How do you like the name Kael? I think it suits you very well."

He only nodded.

We finally arrive at the shop and step inside. The first time I ever hear his voice is through a gasp of bewilderment. He poked around the place, from the store, to the trading counter, and to the small living space in the back. It seems that he's never been inside a real house before, either.

"I'm guessing that you like the place already."

Kael turns to look at me, a smile in place of his blank stare.

"You're going to be living and working here for a while, so I'm glad that you like it." I drift over to where he was standing, gazing at the many tiny treasures on the shelves behind the counter. "Now, don't think me rude or strange, but you need to get yourself cleaned up. The shower is in the back, a door leads to it in the bedroom. You'll find towels in there as well."

Kael furrowed his brow.

"Do you know how to use one?"

He shakes his head in response.

"All right then, get in there and I'll teach you."

Again, my words caused him to remember something bad and he began shaking again. He quickly gets himself into a ball on the floor, and I kneel down beside him.

"Are you okay, Kael?"

He started to whimper, and I put an arm around him.

"There's nothing to be scared of. You're not in that place anymore, you're safe."

He blinks as tears form, some falling on his face. He pushes himself into me, and I hold him as he shakes. This child has had something done to him in the past that is making him do this. I will find out what, even if that means making him speak.

His shaking bout over, he pulls away from me, rubbing his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt.

"There there," I say, patting him on the back. He stands and without looking at me, he goes into the bedroom. I follow him and open the door to the bathroom. It had a simple shower, washbasin and chamber pot, and that was it. He went in and stood in front of the shower, pointing to it.

"Yes, that's it," I say as I go in, pointing to certain levers, "This one is to make the water hotter, and this one cooler. You turn both towards the middle to turn it off, while you only turn the red one to make it start. Got it?"

As always, he nods. I don't know if he actually gets it, though. I lay out a towel for him and turn to exit.

"Remember to use the soap –the little bar in there- and wrap yourself in the towel before you come out. I will have clothes laying out for you in the bedroom." I leave the room, close the door, and stand in the bedroom to see if Kael knows what he is doing. A few seconds later, I hear the water going and a quick gasp. I knock on the door and ask, "Are you all right in there?"

No answer. I would go in there myself, but after the events of today, I think twice about that idea. I get to work, getting clothes on the bed. I don't have any smallish clothing, but I believe that one of my white button-down shirts and a pair of pants would work. I don't want him wearing those old clothes I found him in anymore. My ensemble isn't the greatest either: a black trench-coat over a long-sleeve white button-down shirt, dark blue pants and leather boots. A trench-coat is a regular thing in our family.

I hear the knobs squeak as the water turns off. I hurry out of the bedroom before Kael sees me in there, closing the door behind me so he can dress.


Later, he comes out of the bedroom looking clean as a whistle in clothes a little too big for him. I can finally see his hair, a bright blond that bounces slightly as he walks. With his outfit now, he seems to be a much shorter twin, except for the coat. Kael notices this too and lets out a tiny giggle. I'm glad that he still knows how to laugh.

I take a better look, and notice something strange. Kael looks oddly familiar to the boy that Gramps used to talk about. This boy was a train conductor as well as a knight. He would come to the trading post most many a time to get train parts as well as just to talk. They became good friends. Sadly, he died young, doing the thing he liked most. The boy's train derailed and flipped over, killing him instantly. He was only sixteen years old. When Gramps was around, he would show me pictographs of the boy and sometimes them together. The boy wore a dark-green tunic over a green under-shirt, a long green hat, leggings, and leather boots. That was the style for the Hylian knights. Gramps told me his name only once, but I remembered it somehow. It was a strange name, only given to young heroes. Of course, that was the legend. His name was Link.

"It is funny, eh? Anyway, I'm sorry for the size of the clothes. It's all I have. I'll be sure to buy you something better soon."

I'll be a little low on money for a bit, since today is a Saturday. Weekends are breaks for me, so the store won't be open until Monday. I might as well show him how this place works.

"Speaking of clothes, I need to teach you how to work certain parts of the shop," I say as I'm looking at the clock. "…On second thought, I'll show you tomorrow. It's getting late. You can sleep in those clothes tonight. You can either sleep on the couch or in the bed."

Kael turned and noiselessly headed towards the couch and laid down on it. The beady-eyed man was right again, he was very obedient. I walked into the bedroom and removed a blanket or two and a pillow for Kael and walked back out. I handed him his things and he put the pillow down on the couch. I began to go back to the bedroom, telling Kael to have a good night. Behind me, I could hear the pitter-patter of tiny feet.

"Kael, what are you doing?" I question in a somewhat annoyed tone. He simply looks up at me, then goes to the bedroom with the things I gave him before.

"Fine, you can sleep in the bed with me for tonight." At these words, he immediately stopped and turned to stare at me again. Thank goodness he did not shake.

"You don't have to if you don't want to. Do you?" He simply nodded again and climbed into the bed, placing his pillow down and his blanket over himself. He burrowed into it to the point where I could only see the top of his head. I have to admit, he's quite a strange one. Maybe I can get some information out of him tonight…

"Kael?" I say with a shaky voice.

He whips his head around to look at me.

"I know that you don't like to talk, but I really feel that I need to know just what is going on with you, and where exactly you came from."

Just as I expected, he shook his head violently, a strong "no". I sigh as I get into the bed, with Kael watching me intensively. He tends to watch everything I do now. I pull up the blankets to my lower chest and wish Kael a good-night again as I turn off the lantern on the nightstand.

I lay there, knowing that Kael is not asleep just yet. Instead, he keeps his head towards mine, as if waiting for something to happen. His eyes still shone like they did earlier today. I hope that someday he will open up to me and talk. I really need to know just what is going on in his mind.

He shifts sides and now his back faces me. I let myself fall into the warmth of sleep.


Morning arrives and I am the first to wake. Kael was bunched up in the blankets. I got up from the bed and watched his bundle of blankets rise and fall as he breathed in and out. I quietly went over to the dresser and pulled out fresh clothes, then took them into the bathroom to change. I locked the door, just in case.

After dressing, I come out and see that the bed is made, all neat and tidy. Kael didn't have to do this, but it was nice of him to do so. I find him sitting on the couch, doing nothing except playing with one of the buttons on his shirt.

"Good morning, Kael," I greet him. "Did you sleep well?" As expected, I got a quick nod from him as he jumped from the seat and came over to me. He looked like he expected an evaluation from me or something.

"What is it?" I ask him. His bottom lip trembles, as if he was about to cry out.

"Th… th… th-thank y-you," Kael forces out, his eyes wide at the feeling of speech. His voice was scratchy and hoarse, most likely due to the fact that he hasn't spoken in a long time.

Did he just speak? I think that he knows that I'm a safe person that won't hurt him in any way like his "owner" must have.

I smile and say, "You're welcome."