Link felt vindicated in his decision to eat breakfast outside when he noticed his friend's car roll to a stop in front of his house.
The front seat window nearest him rolled down, and Shannon leant out slightly. "Get in, loser, we're going to Castle Town."
Link rolled his eyes and got out of his chair, hurriedly finishing his sandwich so he wouldn't get crumbs on the car seat.
He strapped himself in, and waved hello to Uria, who was in the driver's seat. The gerudo made a noise of acknowledgement but focused on the road. Shannon leant over to look into the back seats.
"So, ready for the festival?" she asked. Link nodded, raising his backpack, which contained his wallet, phone, and a bottle of water. "Good. Luto and Lena called and said their parents are driving them and they'll meet us there, so we don't have any stops to make unless we run out of gas."
"We won't," Uria said, "I filled up the car yesterday."
"Good thinking. Link, have you decided ahead of time where you want your birthday lunch or are you going to decide when we're actually hungry?" Shannon asked.
"Two," Link said. "I'm going to use my nose to track down a place to eat."
"Might be a bit of a flawed decision, that, there's going to be a lot of snack booths to distract you," Uria pointed out.
"When has my nose ever led you wrong?" he asked in a mock-appalled voice. His friends laughed.
Link had to say, Castle Town's decoration for the Farore's Day festival wasn't too much different from back home in Hateno. The biggest difference was just how much there was, with green bunting and flower baskets everywhere.
Another difference was the booths, some of them selling trinkets, some food, some being games of some sort.
"I saw a Bombchu Bowling booth!" Shannon said excitedly. "I wonder how much it costs, I've never done it before."
"I see Luto!" Uria suddenly exclaimed, drawing their attention. She pointed to where a small group of people was surrounding a stone platform with a pedestal, Luto being one of them. The zora must have heard Uria, because he turned around slightly, and waved as they approached.
"Where's Lena?" Link asked. Luto pointed at the pedestal with a grin.
"It's obviously a fake," Luto said amusedly, watching his twin sister try and draw the Master Sword from the pedestal, "but that doesn't mean it's not fun to try, does it? Make it fun for the younger kids who think it's real, and all."
The Master Sword and it's pedestal wasn't a festival-only addition – nobody was entirely sure how old it was, but it had been there since before Link's parents were born. The internet said it had been installed a long time ago for a Hylia Day celebration, and the town council never removed it, but the records were missing, so nobody knows exactly how old the thing was.
Lena gave up and walked off the platform, letting someone else try, and waved to her friends. "Hey guys." She turned to Luto. "I think it's bolted, it shifted a little bit but didn't come out at all."
Luto nudged Link with his shoulder. "You should try it, Link."
Link shook his head. "Nah. Maybe later, when there aren't so many people around."
"Link, it's not supposed to come out, not being able to draw it won't exactly make you look stupid," Shannon pointed out.
"Trying it in the first place will make me look stupid. Especially in this," Link gestured at his outfit for the day. Uria blinked, and Shannon did a double-take.
"I hadn't even noticed, you're wearing a tunic? A real old-styled one?" she asked.
"In this day and age?" Lena added. Link shrugged.
"It's comfy. But I'm not about to go look like an idiot in front of a crowd by trying to draw the master sword in a green tunic."
"Fine, but you're doing it later," Luto said. "And you're posing for a photo, too."
Link rolled his eyes, then felt Uria prod him and turned to see her pointing at a games booth.
"That one's doing sword-fighting," she said, grinning when Link's eyes widened. Shannon brushed past them both.
"Awesome! If it's between customers, though, I call dibs on not-Link."
"Really?" Shannon asked deadpan as a shopkeeper handed Link a pointy green sock-hat in exchange for a handful of rupees. Link just shrugged and put on the hat.
"It completes my ensemble," he said, gesturing to himself. Shannon shook her head.
"Like you need to look more like the hero of legend."
There was a faint snap noise and Link turned to see Uria lowering her phone, examining the picture she'd just taken.
"I'm sending this to your parents," Uria said. Link blinked.
"Uh… did you get my good side?"
"Probably," Uria replied.
Luto collapsed onto a nearby empty bench dramatically. "Leave me, I'll just slow you down."
Lena rolled her eyes, joining her brother on the bench and getting out her water bottle. "What time is it?" she asked, taking a few gulps of water. Link checked his phone.
"Around noon. Might be time for lunch soon."
"Lunch sounds good," Luto said enthusiastically.
Later in the day, there was a lull in the crowds as people went off to eat, leaving the stone pedestal containing the Master Sword mostly unwatched. Link walked up to it awkwardly.
"Okay, so don't actually pull on it yet, so I can get a good picture," Luto said. "Just make it look like you're about to pull so that it looks nice and dramatic."
Link obliged, wrapping both his hands around the sword's hilt to get a firm grip. The sword looked like it was glowing in the afternoon sun.
He heard a click from Luto's phone, and was about to let go, but Shannon interrupted him.
"No, nuh uh! You still need to try and draw it!" she insisted. Link sighed, and tightened his grip, ignoring the fact that Uria seemed to be recording this.
He tugged, hard, and nearly stumbled when something gave. He stared at the blade in confusion, then righted himself and pulled a little more carefully.
The blade came out of the pedestal with a shick.
Link stared. His friends stared too. The area was strangely silent for a moment.
"What the shit," Uria said, lowering her phone. Link shrugged, stunned, and adjusted his grip so he was holding the sword in one hand.
"…Do we need to call someone, if this happens?" Lena asked, sharing a look with Luto. "I don't think you can just walk home with that, right?"
"Hold on a sec," Shannon muttered, her phone already in her hands. "What… to… do if… you draw… the… master sword…"
"Should I go to the police station, or something, before we get arrested for vandalism?" Uria wondered.
"Actually that sounds like a good idea," Link said, still staring at the sword in his hands. "Just… let's try and be discrete so nobody thinks we're trying to steal a public feature."