Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda. If I did, the ending for Ocarina of Time wouldn't be so sad.
"Speech"
'Thought'
Having just survived the perilous water temple and facing (probably dodging as well) the woman who was his self-proclaimed fiancée, Link was feeling really good about himself. But there was also something else that he felt that wasn't as good.
Hunger.
Luckily for him, the fishing pond near Lake Hylia was rumored to have some very tasty fish if cooked right. Or so they did about seven years ago.
"Hey, listen Link. Shouldn't we be searching for somebody who knows about one of the temples?" Questioned Navi as she followed him.
"Aw come on Navi, I can't save Hyrule on an empty stomach." Retorted the blonde casually, and calmly for that matter.
She really couldn't argue with that logic. It sure was hard moving up and down through that last dungeon, so this hero would need his fill to get through the rest of the journey.
The fishing spot was, as one would expect, quiet and modest. At the counter was the only other person available.
"Why hello there." Greeted the man happily.
"Hey, this is the fishing spot, right?" Asked Link as he walked up to the counter.
"Yup, that's right. You get to fish for as long as you want, and keep the fish too." Explained the employee.
Link's mouth was watering at the thought of whatever fish he could catch. And taking it to the Death Mountain Crater would bake it instantly, so the teen could hardly wait.
"But the fee is about twenty rupees, so..."
"That's no problem with me." Link happily pulled out a red rupee and placed it on the counter.
After a quick inspection to make sure that the currency was authentic, Link was handed the fishing rod. He chose to pass up the explanation because it was easy in real life.
"Ok, here we go!" Exclaimed the elf as he tossed the line back and into the water.
However, as the hook got further out, he noticed that there was some weird white thing attached to it.
'That wasn't there before.' Thought Link. But it only took him a few seconds to realize what it was. He sheepishly grinned as he turned around to see that the clerk was missing his hat.
"Hey, that's not funny." Exclaimed the frustrated man.
The hero of time quickly reeled the hat back and squeezed the water out of it. "Sorry about that sir."
"Well, since you were nice enough to hand it back to me, you can keep fishing. But do so on the other side."
Link took the advice and continued fishing from the other side of the pond.
Although the teenager was used to time passage by this point in his journey, he most certainly didn't like going through it the conventional way. And neither did his fairy for that matter.
"This is so boring." Groaned Navi as she bobbed up and down.
"Hey come on Navi. Fishing is all about patience." From there, Link started an explanation about the romance of sport.
While his 'explanation' was going on. Navi noticed that the line was starting to straighten out. Rather quickly actually.
"-And more than that-"
"Your line is moving"
"What?"
"Hey, you've got a bite!" Exclaimed Navi.
Link jumped up from his seated position and began to pull the fishing rod hard to bring that sucker in. He was used to lifting heavy things, so this fish proved no challenge to the hero.
Joy lit up the blonde's face as he had caught dinner. The first thought on his mind was to get to Death Mountain to bake this morsel, but...
'I should probably get it weighed first.'
Following through with that thought, Link carried his still alive fish to the counter. The clerk quickly placed it in a tank which, through methods of physics, weighed the fish to be about six pounds.
"Only six? That's below average." Remarked the clerk.
"What's the average weight?" Asked Link curiously.
"That'd be about ten pounds. Do you want to throw this one back and keep fishing?"
An overconfident smirk painted itself onto Link's face. Navi saw this smirk and it made her feel very nervous.
Before the iconic words of annoyance could be said, Link grabbed the fish and threw it back. He grabbed the fishing rod and ran back. The blue fairy sighed before following.
'This is going to be a long day.'
And if there was ever a time that Navi was right, it was now. Link's ambition to get a whopper was almost beyond comprehension. Attempting so many different positions, the hero caught many fish.
But each and every time, they were no more than 9 pounds. Day began to shift into dusk, and like a metaphor Navi's patience was growing thin, very thin.
"Crap, another 8 pounder." Sighed Link as he held up the fish.
'Please, please make him knock pride to the curb and take the fish.' Prayed Navi to the goddesses of the triforce.
And much to her dismay, he tossed the fish back into the water.
"Oh, come on Link!" Yelled the fairy. "You're wasting time and you're even more hungry now than when you started! Just get a small fish so we can go!"
After bursting out like that, Navi actually shrunk away. She expected to be scolded for yelling like that. But Link remained vigilant and patient by the water side.
"Navi, I know that you want to go. I want to go to. But I can't until I've reached the average."
"But why? Why are you so obsessed with this?"
"Because if I can't do something so simple, how can I save all of Hyrule from Ganondorf!?"
That explanation rang with the fairy. This boy was destined to shoulder the fate of a kingdom, of course he would need to conquer whatever task lied ahead of him. And from there, she began to silently support him.
Suddenly, the rod began to tug. And with a great yank, Link pulled out a big trout from the water.
"Wow, that looks big!" Exclaimed Link.
"Yeah, great job Link!" Cheered Navi.
Being hopeful of his catch, Link took it over to the counter for weighing. And astonishingly, the trout weighed in at about sixteen pounds.
"Sixteen pounds, that's above average!" The boy's face was fully enthused for his accomplishment.
"Good job boy, but I should warn you that that is far from the best record." Said the clerk.
"Really? What's the record?"
"If I remember correctly, it was a thirty pounder."
Link's jaw literally fell and hit the ground with tremendous force. He then grabbed the counter while his face became comically distorted.
"Thirty pounds!? Who caught a fish like that!?"
Elsewhere in Hyrule...
Zelda knew that stealth was crucial in her part to save Hyrule. So when as Sheik, she tried to be careful about eating.
Right as she was about to eat a chunk of the cooked trout, her nose exploded with a sneeze.
'Am I not making myself scarce enough?' Wondered the princess as she looked around.
In the end, Navi convinced Link to take the trout he caught for dinner before he would pass out from exhaustion.
Thanks for reading this story, I hope you liked it. This was just a little something that I wanted to write while I was working on ORAS Journey. Please leave a review if you've something to say about it.