Hello, peeps. I've had an idea for this for a while now, and just now was I able to get it out in writing. I know, I do have another story to finish. I've got kind of a writer's block with that one but I assure you that I am still working on it. It will be updated.

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this one. This is not a canon story, nor should it be taken as one. I did this just for fun and practice with writing and creating a diversity of characters. There isn't much development in this chapter, but hopefully it will get better.

The story is set before Ocarina of Time, and after Minish Cap and Skyward Sword.

Ugh I need to make my chapters longer. Please, R&R too! I need all the critique I can get!

"Link! Are you finished with the dumplings?" A woman's voice called from upstairs. The blonde-haired boy lifted his head from the frying pans above the stove, and called back to her from his place in the kitchen. "Almost, Miss Akane!" He replied.

The servant boy stirred the dumplings one last time before he lifted the pot off the stove with care, and took it up the stairs where his master was waiting for him. She quickly took it from his hands, "Thank you. What have you for the desserts?" She asked him. He smiled, "Apple pie, miss. Your favorite."

"That sounds wonderful. I hope the guests love it as much as I do. You can go and clean up now, thank you for your hard work."

"As do I."

Link turned around and headed back down the stairs and back into his little kitchen. Finally, he thought. He almost thought they would never stop requesting more food. Rich people were always demanding. The boy took the pie out from in the cupboards and spread a bit of cream over it, covering its golden crust underneath. He carried the pan of beautiful apple pie up the stairs once more, and handed it to Miss Akane, the owner of the house of which he worked. Akane was a young rich woman, who inherited her late father's cattle-raising business in the simple village of Kakariko. She was unmarried, but a very capable woman and very well respected in the community. She hired the boy out of charity. Being a little orphan, he had no home to go to, but when she heard of his cooking abilities and hard-working personality, she let him work in her kitchens as a cook and in return, gave him food and shelter. He was very grateful, and she was very good to him, but didn't always enjoy the work.

In the past few days, he had been especially slow. He felt that he had been suffering from some sort of insomnia. It was unusual for him, a teenaged-boy who could usually sleep like a rock and not get up for hours, if anyone had let him. Yet, something kept him awake deep into the night. He wasn't sure what it was, but he felt like he could hear people's agonizing screams echoing in the back of his mind. Though it was quite subtle, he knew those screams weren't just his imagination. They sounded so real.

Of course, he asked Miss Akane if she had been hearing people late at night as well, but she told him she hadn't heard a sound, apart from the late-night mooing of cows and winnies stressed out of horses. Hearing this, he was beginning to think he was going mad. Link tried as best as he could to ignore the midnight screams.

One morning, he prepared breakfast for Miss Akane.

"Thank you." She said as she took a sip of the warm, slightly steaming tea. She took a look at the morning paper, writing and small, black-and-white illustrations were scribbled all over it, giving a picture of the weekly news, and happenings throughout the land of Hyrule. Link peered at it from over her shoulder.

"Hmm." She mumbled. Link raised a curious eyebrow.

"The kidnappings are happening more than ever." She sighed, "Those good-for-nothing Extremists…"

"Extremists?" Link asked.

"A group of religious people who think that fundamentalism is the right way to go. Only… I think these people worship demons rather than the goddesses… They've been kidnapping people for some reason and using religion to justify what they've done." She explained, setting the paper down on the table. "Nayru knows when they'll come ransacking our little town next."

The boy blinked. He had never heard of this before. This was probably so because he had not any social life outside of Kakariko Village. And even then, he barely talked to many people within the town because he was usually working. Hopefully, the Extremists would not come for anyone in Kakariko.

He decided to push that concern out of his mind.

Akane spoke again, snapping Link from his thoughts. "Hey… what would you say if… I decided to pay you some money for your work? I'm tired of feeling guilty for not giving you enough."

Link was taken aback by this. Although Akane was usually a very kind and caring woman, never before had she been so gracious to him. "No, no! You really don't have to. I've got everything I need already!"

Akane chuckled, "You deserve extra pay, and you've always worked hard. Please don't turn it down, you might need a little money someday." She turned her brown eyes to face his deep blue ones with a pleading look. Link couldn't take her money, he thought. With a sigh, he realized that he couldn't argue with her either.

"Three rupees an hour? It's not much."

"Alright…"

"Good! We'll start tomorrow, then."

Still, Link felt like he did not deserve any rupees at all. He was thankful for what he had, and he didn't want to take her money.

Random conversations popped up and faded out throughout the day. When Link wasn't very busy, Akane would usually be the one to start a conversation. It was quite obvious that she was a lonely woman, seeing as how she was the only one living in the big house that she inherited besides Link and a few other servants, like nurses and cleaners. She would never really admit that she yearned for a husband, or someone to share things with. Sometimes it felt like Link filled the void for her by being a good listener and having someone to talk to.

As the long, quiet days dragged on, Link couldn't help but to feel bored by everything. There wasn't much that was quite exciting around the peaceful town of Kakariko, other than the occasional rockslides from the somewhat active volcano, Death Mountain. But the small village was far out of reach for anything to cause damage.

At least feeding the feral cats made the days a little bit brighter.

The dark figure sat by a fire, warming his hands while his body was wrapped underneath a black cloak. The twilight spread across the vast field, leaving only the horizon visible under starlight. The figure, who was only a child, pulled out a shining dagger from the sheath on his waist belt, examining it closely. It seemed to give off an odd aura. It felt almost… irritating to him. He scowled, "Why don't you ever do as I ask? You're so useless."

Of course, weapons didn't usually respond.

He scoffed, throwing it on the ground. It was the only thing he had, and yet, he had no idea of its purpose. The child had been suffering from amnesia, and the only thing he found in his possession was this particular dagger. The dagger could cleanly cut, and was dangerously sharp, but some kind of magical enchantment or spell kept it from bringing death to whatever it pierced.

The child picked up the dagger and put it in a sheath under his cloak as he pulled the hood from over his head, showing thin, silvery-white hair that was pulled back in a short ponytail, leaving only a fringe of hair on his forehead, darkened skin, and dark red eyes. He wiped the sweat from his brow with his sleeve. He was a Sheikah, all alone is Hyrule field.

The sounds of drumming hooves reached his ears. He jolted upright, eyes wide open and worriedly scanning the field. After a moment of the sounds of approaching people on horses grew louder and closer, he stood up and quickly stomped on the small fire he'd made for himself, eventually putting it out. Now with no light upon the dark field, the young boy fled behind a nearby bush to keep hidden from the approaching horsemen. As soon as they came into view, one of the riders gave out a loud "whoa," that signaled their equine mounts to stop their galloping.

"Look, sir," A woman's voice remarked, "It's the remains of a campfire. Someone must have rested here only moments ago."

The child pressed himself lower to the ground, to further prevent himself from being seen by these strangers. He knew very well that Hyrule Field at night was very dangerous, and monsters and bandits roamed free to cause trouble for any poor soul who chose to wander alone. He could not risk being spotted.

He then heard the sound of feet landing on the ground; possibly someone dismounting a horse. The child lifted his head, getting a small glimpse of the band and saw a tall, dark figure examining the small, recently abandoned campsite. The figure kicked the ashes where the fire was and bright embers flew in the air. It was still smoking too. "They can't have gone far yet." The figure said in a low, calm tone. "They'll probably just get eaten by Stalchildren. Let's just set up camp here."

"Sir?" The woman spoke up, "Don't you think we should catch them first?"

"Like I said, Lamia," He grew a bit irritated, "They will most likely be caught by monsters before we could even find them. Now water the horses and we will rest here for tonight. We should arrive in Kakariko late tomorrow."

The child ducked his head down, noticing the other horsemen were dismounting as well, but still tried to listen in on their conversations, hoping that they would not be suspicious of him.

"Please, no more kidnapping people. I'm tired of violence…" A young girl's voice pleaded. She sounded very pathetic and fatigued.

The man chuckled, "Well that's too bad." He said mockingly, "We still have yet to find your little husband, your highness."

"I do not know who you are talking about. I don't have a husband."

The man ignored her retort and just sneered.

After a brief moment of silence, the girl spoke again, "Please tell me what you are planning."

Wait, the child thought, did he just say 'your highness'?

His eyes widened at the realization that he was spying on the most secretive and dangerous group of people in Hyrule, and its princess taken captive. For weeks, she had been missing from her safe haven in the castle, and people all over the country made it their soul duty to find her. It was only recently when it was revealed that she had been nabbed by an extremist religious group whose intentions were not clear.

The boy backed away slowly, hoping to sneak off to find the nearest town to give news of the location of Hyrule's missing princess, and possibly warn them of the group that planned to terrorize and kidnap people from their homes. When he was out of earshot of the band, he ran into the depths of the forest's edge, toward the quiet village of Kakariko.