A/N: Hello! Just wanted to let all my readers know that I do not own LoZ characters. I only own my OCs and such. I also have to point out that this story is heavily based on the Legend of Zelda: Demon Road fan comic. Please enjoy! :D I'm also sorry for not updating any of my stories. I'm working on it, I promise you!
On a crisp autumn day, Hyrule castle towered over its modestly-sized town. The place bustled with people from all over the land of Hyrule. The market to the south of the town gushed with colour and conversation while the east held a small carnival. Practically all the town's inhabitants were out, relishing what seemed to be the last few days of autumn. Children laughed, mothers gossiped, and market men merrily bellowed in hopes of attracting customers; stray dogs chased stray cats; and friendly soldiers made their rounds of the town. In other words, all was well.
Seven years had passed since Ganondorf's twilight was heroically chased away by princess Zelda and the hero chosen by the gods. Seven years later, our hero lives a peaceful life.
Link walked into the eastern entrance of Castle Town, Epona's reins in his hand as he ambled along the cobblestone beside her. Familiar faces greeted him warmly, and he returned their amiability with an equally as kind greeting. Some eyed him shyly as he made his way down the street, dressed in his casual Ordonian clothes. He wore a grey cotton sweater over his white shirt, his ash brown hair cut at the nape of his neck while his bangs fell just above his striking blue eyes. In seven years, he had made a definite transition from a young 18 year old boy to a fully developed young man. He had grown a few inches, his shoulders had broadened and his jaw had taken a very nicely defined shape. He filled out his clothes flatteringly, and even the hair on his arms had mildly darkened, a sign of mature adulthood. He was the spitting image of a veteran hero.
Link and Epona turned down the road to reach the lively market, squeezing past stands and shoppers. A few kids stopped to gawk at the mammoth-sized horse as they passed, clearly intimidated. One of the braver ones came up to tentatively poke Epona's side. As if playing along, Epona snorted loudly, causing the kids to run off, screaming and giggling. Thoroughly amused, Link mentally thanked the spirits for letting him enjoy such simple, yet blissful, moments. In those seven years of Ganondorf-less life, he had never taken peace for granted. Everything was finally back to normal.
Reaching his destination, a small market stand, he secured his horse's reins to a pole and greeted Lucien, his Ordonian friend and stand owner. Lucien and Link had started a small business in Castle Town's market, taking advantage of the market's phenomenal reputation. Though they were predominantly known for their goat milk, they sold Ordon's agricultural goods in the fall and spring and occasionally came to sell their blacksmith's products on the off seasons. Lucien took care of the management while Link came to restock their merchandise two or three times a week. They managed a comfortable income of rupees for Ordon's farmers, blacksmiths and themselves.
Lucien spoke with a customer as Link began to unload the sacks and poaches of goods off of Epona, setting them on the ground. He set a few cases of bottled goat milk on the empty spot on their stand table and restocked the rest of the merchandise. He found there was no need to rush, so it took him about 20 minutes to unload and arrange everything. Just as Link finished wiping him brow and arranging his last handful of herbs, Lucien tossed him a red apple. Link caught it with ease, his reflexes still intact.
Link raised his azure his eyes to see Lucien leaning nonchalantly against the tent pole, taking a bite out of his own apple as he watched Link with smiling eyes.
"How was your trip? I imagine it was long. You need the sugar as much as Epona does." Lucien eyed the apple in Link's hand.
Link smiled at his friend, and bounced the apple in his hand a few times before taking a generous bite. "It wasn't so bad. The exercise did us some good, and we didn't run into any trouble which is rather surprising." Link replied as he pulled his leather messenger bag over his head and set it on the table. He leaned back on the edge of the table, crossing one of his arms as he gratefully ate his apple.
"That is surprising. Folk's are saying a lot of moblins have been out and about in Hyrule field causing ruckus. Nothing too dangerous," Lucien ran a hand through his rust coloured hair, his brown eyes sparkling and alive, a trait shared among Ordonians. "Just theft and nasty taunts."
Link shrugged, his apple cracking loudly under his teeth. "Nope, I didn't meet any on the road. Thankfully."
"I think they probably know better than to mess with the blue eyed beast." Lucien chortled, his eyes crinkling.
Link rolled his eyes, smiling. "You make me sound like a monster."
"Oh, excuse me," Lucien held out his hand innocently. A wide smirk stretched across his face. "Hero chosen by the gods."
Link laughed and mocked a hiss of annoyance as he half-crossed his leg over the other, his right ankle above his left knee. "Let's just stick to Link." Lucien flashed him a grin, and the brown haired man continued. "How's your wife?"
"She's well. Our baby has four more months before we can welcome him or her to the family. Serra is glowing with health so I'm not worried at all. I know she'll give birth to a beautiful, healthy child." The red head beamed, a look of wonder on his freckled face.
Link quietly admired his friend's enthusiasm as he rambled on about his new home in Castle Town with Serra, his wife, and how they were preparing for their child's arrival. The subject slightly irked him for the sole reason of acceptance. He couldn't stomach the fact that he and everyone around him was growing up. Maybe it was the fact that he had had such an enormous amount of responsibility strapped to his back at the tender age of 17 that he hadn't had to time to grow up properly. And now his entire friend circle was nearing its maturity peak. It almost felt as if he had woken up one day, and all of his friends were wed and happy parents.
"I remember you swearing off marriage when we were nine or ten. You kept saying you were going to be a knight, and that females were but a nuisance." Link mocked lightheartedly, laughing at the memory.
Lucien grimaced. "They still are. A wife is like a second mother! I have a damned curfew!" He exclaimed comically as he held out his apple core for Epona to devour. Link watched him feed his horse, a smile on his lips at Lucien's statement. Then he noticed Lucien's eyes soften considerably as his friend watched the remnants of his apple disappear from his hand. Lucien's lips tugged into a genuine smile. "But a good wife is the best thing a man can have. To know you're sharing your life with the woman you love is... thrilling." The stand owner paused, taking a moment to lose himself in his thoughts.
Link watched, curious and a tad jealous. Link wasn't completely foreign to the feelings of love or desire, and he had had his share of women. Heck, Link was a handsome man, and he knew women appreciated his good looks. He could essentially ensnare whichever female he wanted. But he was never secure in his relationships. Though he was content with a tranquil life, he craved to find insight and adventure in a woman. A need for enthrallment was embedded in his genes. The problem was that he didn't know exactly what he was looking for — he just knew that he needed something else, someone refreshing.
"What about you? Don't you have your eye on Illia?" Lucien pulled Link out of his musing, genuine concern in his tone.
Link looked down at the half eaten apple in his hand. "No, Illia is just a friend to me. We've been through a lot together, but I can't bring myself to settle down with her. I'm not right for her," Link brought his head back up only to avoid Lucien's gaze again. He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks darkening. "This may sound cheesy, but I'm waiting to find the right one. My soulmate, you could say."
Lucien stared at Link, his mouth agape. Link stole small glances at his friend, feeling his face become hot. He continued to gawk before Link pursed his thin lips together. "What?!"
The redhead's laughter exploded, and he slapped his knee a couple times as he buckled down. Meanwhile, Link sizzled in embarrassment. Lucien continued to laugh for a few moments, to the point of tears.
"You're right! That was really cheesy!" Lucien squeaked in between his convulsions of laughter.
Link grumbled an insult, standing up from his spot and turning around to avoid further embarrassment as he began to take a frustrated bite of his crisp apple. Now facing the market street, Link settled for people-watching as Lucien forced his laughter to a semi-stop to serve a customer.
The brown-haired man leaned forwards on the wooden table, his elbows supporting his weight. He chewed his apple casually, examining the market people. His sharp eyes scanning over the crowd, he realized that the people themselves hadn't changed much in 7 years. They remained spirited, peppy townsfolk with a good sense of community.
As he sunk his pearly whites into the last bit of his juicy treat, he spotted a dark figure across the way. The figure was cloaked, and roughly half the size of him. To make it even more suspicious, the person had put their hood up. The individual reminded Link of a shadow; quasi unnoticeable unless you really looked for it.
After a few minutes of observation, much to Link's prediction, he spotted the cloaked figure slipping his hand into the pocket of an unsuspecting customer of another stand. Although the motion of pick-pocketing itself had been mastered by the executor, Link could spot that barely perceivable twitch of the arm from a mile away. After the crime was committed, the pickpocket hurriedly made his way north of the market, an unnatural casualness in his swift stride.
Link exhaled loudly through his nose as a sting of obligation pulsed in his gut. He pushed himself up from the table, bit the remaining piece of apple off the core and tossed it towards Epona's hooves. His eyes never left the shadow-like figure rushing away as Link dismissively excused himself from his stand, Lucien willing him to come back soon.
He waded through the densely packed crowd with ease and grace, keeping up with the small figure but never exceeding a brisk walk. He followed the hooded person past the market, into town square, around the enormous fountain and then down a slightly less crowded street, heading west.
Link made note of the small alley coming up in the next 5 meters to his direct right. The former hero increased his speed to approach his target and took advantage of his now close proximity to firmly grab the back of the pickpocket's cloak. He then took a sharp turn into the alley, pulling the criminal along with him and earning a surprised squeak from his target.
The individual was so light that Link had actually picked the small one up by the back of his cloak, much like how one would pick up a puppy by the scruff. In the process, their hood had slipped off and revealed a young boy - no more than 12 years old.
Link's eyes locked with the boy's frightened ones. He almost felt guilty for manhandling the child, but he reminded himself that what the kid did was wrong. To further add on to Link's indifference, he noticed the boy's overall appearance: he was clean, groomed and well dressed - the opposite of a street beggar. Why was a modest child stealing?
Link put the kid down to his feet but kept his iron grip on the back of his expensive cloak. The child gulped as his polished boots gave a soft thump. "Why are you stealing?" Link asked bluntly, his voice stoic.
"I'm not." The black haired boy responded, his voice quivering.
"Oh? Then how did you get those rupees you have in your pocket?"
"I didn't steal them! I simply took back what was mine!" The boy cried, his brows narrowing. "That man took those from me, and I followed him to the market to get them back."
Link gave the boy a long, hard look. He then let go of the kid and crossed his arms over his chest. "How many rupees?"
The child rubbed the sore spot on his neck from being yanked as he gave Link a quizzical look. He seemed to have regained his composure, a look of rebellion in his deep maroon eyes. "150." He replied simply.
Link sighed. "I may be old fashioned, but back when I was your age, my wallet never had more than 50 rupees. Are you royalty? Why are you carrying around so much money?"
"Why are you asking me these questions?!" The younger one exclaimed, frustrated.
"I won't let you leave this alley until you answer me. I can't tell if you're lying or truthful about your theft."
"It wasn't theft! I told you," his eyes flickered angrily as he spoke evenly. "That man stole the money from me. I'm in town to buy medicine from the doctor's place, and I left my mule outside the town. As soon as I looked the other way, that guy had stolen my stuff! So I took it back. There. Can I go now?"
"Medicine? Are you ill?" Link questioned, disregarding the child's main concern.
The boy grumbled loudly. "No! It's for someone."
Link gave the boy another one of his long, thoughtful squints before moving. "I don't believe you."
"I don't have all day! I don't care if you believe me or not! Find someone else to bug, you nosy moron! Good day!" The kid snapped and turned towards the exit, stomping off. Link swiftly took hold of his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.
"Allow me to escort you to the doctor's, and then I'll see if I believe you." Link casually offered from behind him, a polite smile on his lips. Through his calm and kind facade, Link had given the kid a rather tight squeeze in his shoulder to punctuate his offer.
The boy glared over his shoulder at the blue eyed man before shrugging his hand off of his shoulder and mumbling an agreement. "Manipulative cow-head..." The fair-skinned boy muttered to himself as they walked out of the alley.
They made their way to the Castle Town's doctor's office in silence, Link trailing behind the 12 year old. Link was greeted by a few people as they walked down the street, causing the kid to become curious, even against his will.
"You're a popular one." He remarked as they walked down the dirt road.
A small smile curved itself to the side of Link's mouth. He eyed some stray cats as he replied. "Not popular, just appreciated."
"What'd you do? Save a cat from a tree?" The kid scoffed.
"I saved everyone from being stuck in eternal twilight. But I did pull the cat-saving act of heroism in another town, though. Good call." Link replied, his snarky-ness a little more subdued than the kid's.
The boy looked at Link with a questioning frown before turning back around, taking his reply as a joke. "You're odd."
Link stared at the boy's back. From what he had said, the ex hero concluded that the boy must have not known of him. After all, he would've been 5 at the time. Link felt a little refreshed from the boy's attitude. He smiled to himself. "What's your name?"
"You don't need to know."
"Is it Finn?"
The boy suddenly turned around, wide eyed. "W-wh-! How did you-?!"
"The name-tag sewed to your shirt is sticking out. I must say, your mother did a fine lettering job." Link pointed a long finger at the boy's back, a grin on his face.
Finn's face flushed such a deep shade of red that you could've concerned yourself over the rush of blood. He turned around immediately, bringing his hand back to stuff the tag back into his shirt as he broke out into a speed walk. Link gave the kid's back a lopsided beam.
A few minutes later, the duo came to a stop in front of two very old doors. The building itself was a few meters away from Castle Town's western entrance, and it was situated just across a narrow road. Finn took hold of the door handle and pulled it open, Link following him inside.
A small rectangular room welcomed them, a bookshelf pushed against the left wall and a few wooden chairs were scattered here and there. There were more rooms past this one, but they were all separated by a quick setup of white cloth supported by wooden poles. The room smelt of wax and strong disinfectant. Other chemicals mixed into the smell, but the odours were all foreign to Link. He had been here before, yet he didn't remember it to be so grimy.
Finn made his way down the short hallway made of walls of cloth and wood, and turned into the doctor's office, Link once again following the boy. The doctor, a tiny old man, was hunched over a table, his hands fiddling with bottles.
"Excuse us, doctor." Finn spoke out, his voice even and polite. The elfin doctor glanced up from his work, spectacles the size of fists upon his face.
"Oh, Finn!" He exclaimed with a worn croak. He spun on his stool and pushed himself off, walking towards the two. "I wasn't expecting you so soon."
"We didn't think we'd need to pick up the medicine so soon either," From his spot behind the curtain-like wall, Link noticed that Finn was an inch taller than the old man. Finn continued. "He's only getting worse. At night, he sweats buckets before breaking out into violent chills. His chest pains and cough worsen day by day. On top of it all, red and splotchy rashes appear out of nowhere and sometimes turn into blisters."
"Hmm..." The doctor mused, calmly processing the information. Link raised an eyebrow, eyeing Finn. Although his curiosity itched him, he did not ask anything. "Very alarming. Nodules, ulcers and skin lesions are next in line if you don't give him the prescription."
Finn's lower lip frowned in distress. "Then please give me the prescription, doctor Borville! I'll get it to him as soon as possible!"
Borville nodded, unruffled. "Of course, child. Come with me." He made his way to the doorway, past Finn. As he turned, he noticed the older man behind Finn. "Look at all these familiar faces! Hello, Ordon boy."
Link nodded at the doctor, good-naturedly. "It's been a while."
Not questioning him any further, Borville walked to another room. Finn began following, walking in sync with Link. "You're from Ordon?"
"Yes," Looking down at Finn, he bounced back a question. "Where are you from?"
The twelve year old hesitated. "I'm not... from anywhere. I live in a troupe. We travel from region to region, stopping in villages and cities to perform," The dark haired boy explained. "We live in our carts and wagons. They're kind of like portable homes."
They followed the doctor into a slightly bigger room with bottles, books, tools and boxes strewn across the tables. Borville willed them to wait while he looked for a container to store the medicine in.
Link settled himself into a wooden chair, his arm draped onto the back of the chair proper. "Is someone in your troupe sick?"
Finn fumbled through his cloak pockets, pulling out a small leather sack. He sighed heavily. "Why do you need to know?"
Link put on a pleasant smile. "Remember that I'm not leaving you alone until I'm convinced you had a good reason to steal."
"Oh, for the love of..." Finn grumbled, exasperated. "No, he's not in our troupe. We found him collapsed on the outskirts of Gerudo desert. We've been taking care of him for at least two weeks but he hasn't gotten any better. He barely eats or talks, and we think he's suffering from amnesia as well. He doesn't remember where he's from or who he is."
"And from the sounds of it, he's also suffering from a sickness found in the Gerudo region: Cocci," Dr. Borville added on as he came back to the two with a small wooden box in each hand. "If the spores from a soil-dwelling fungus called Coccidioides immitis is inhaled into the lungs, the infection begins. A lot of Gerudo folks suffer from it due to the sudden outbreak of spores in the desert region. The sickness is not contagious, but it is fatal if nothing is done. Those with weak immune systems have trouble fighting it off."
Link pondered on the information just offered to him. Ever since he had stopped adventuring around Hyrule, he was no longer aware of the happenings around the land. He almost felt guilty. Being involved in the solutions of global problems was in his nature and now he was out of the loop.
The doctor turned to Finn and set the boxes in his hands, briefly going over instructions for each separate box. Finn handed him the sack of rupees, glancing at Link as he did so. Borville thanked him and bid farewell to the both of them before going back to the previous room. The two males stayed in the room, Finn curiously peering into each box while Link watched him, dazed.
"Finn," Link brought the boy out of his stare. "Where is your troupe now?"
"West of Lake Hylia."
"That's half a day's ride from here... Did you come alone?"
"I was dropped off with another trouper and was supposed to go home with him, but he rode to Kakariko to pick up spring water. He told me I would be fine going home by myself if I left early morning." The maroon eyed boy carefully placed the boxes of medicine in his inner cloak pockets as he spoke. Finn sighed. "But my mule was stolen, as I said before. It'll take me a day to walk back."
"Walking - no - even riding during the night is dangerous due to all the moblins out and about. And it's already late afternoon, kid. Waiting an entire night and a full day before delivering the prescription would not be wise either..." Link continued, pursing his lips as he looked around the room, thinking.
"So you believe me now?" Finn smirked.
Link brought his gaze back onto the boy and chuckled. "Yes, I apologize. Let me make it up to you," he spoke as he stood up from his chair. "I'll bring you back to your troupe."