Shunned Hero

A Link X Midna fanfiction

Disclaimer: I do not own any of Legend of Zelda, all rights go to Nintendo.

Chapter 1: Cast Away by the World

It had been some time after the incident with the light spirit and Zant in Lake Hylia, and Link had already acquired the Master Sword. He had gotten a letter from Telma saying he should stop by her tavern. He was on his way to the castle town with Midna floating near his head, and of course, to Midna's annoyance, he had decided to walk.

"For the hundredth time, why are we walking?!" Midna screamed into his ear.

"Oh come on, Midna, don't you find a nice walk in the warm sun relaxing?" he flashed his always beaming smile at her.

"No . . . I . . . don't."

"Well just be patient, we're almost there. See look, we can see it now." he pointed at the large castle looming into view with an equally large town around it.

It only took an hour more to reach the drawbridge of the town and to cross it. Midna hid in Link's shadow once they entered the town. Before they went to Telma's bar, Link stopped at a café in the center of the town for something to eat. Then he stopped at Agatha's to give her one of her golden bugs. Afterwards, he walked around for at least an hour around the market stands before Midna spoke up.

"Hey . . . why are we stalling? Aren't we going to Telma's?"

"Y-yeah in a little bit." he said shakily.

"Wait a minute, are you . . . scared of something?" Midna said in disbelief.

He shrugged. "Hey what can I say, the woman scares me."

"Some hero." she scoffed.

Just then, a kid ran up to Link with a panicky expression and waving his arms frantically at him.

"Link! Link! Come quick! There's a bad guy in the town!" the kid said in a blur of words. From the beginning of Link's quest, people all throughout Hyrule saw Link as the "something's wrong, get him to help" guy. From stopping robbers to helping old ladies carry their groceries Link helped without a second thought, to Midna's protests.

"Whoa kid slow down. Tell me what's going on."

"There's a guy in the center of town with a kid on top of one of the balconies. He's got a knife and he's kidnaped a little girl!"

"Let me guess," Midna started from Link's shadow, "We're going to be good samaritans and go save the kid, right?" the sarcasm in her voice was clearly obvious.

Link chose to ignore her and started running to the plaza at the center of town. When he got there, there was a big crowd outside one of the buildings. Link pushed his way through the crowd and looked up to see a man in his late 30's with black, unkept hair, grizzled face, and a smile and a look in his eyes that let everyone know he was a lunatic. He had a knife at a girl's throat, and she looked no older than 10 years old.

Link took little time to get up to the fifth story balcony, and he was soon standing only about 5 yards away from the madman. The man turned to Link and laughed a hysterical laugh.

"Ooh, if it isn't Hyrule's savior. Come to stop the bad guy have you, eeh hee." the man mocked.

"Release the girl . . . now." Link demanded in a cold voice.

"Oho, but I don't want to, you see I've got plans, yes plans, for this little girl. I'm going to rape this girl slowly, then I might cut her up a bit, and finally I'll dump her body over this railing, and what's better I'll do it in front of everyone here! Eeh hee hee!"

Link had never felt the urge to kill something so much in his entire life. He drew his sword slowly, emphasizing the sound of steel dragging against leather. His intent was conveyed to the man through his eyes.

"Ooh, you plan to kill me do you? Hehe, that could be a problem. I wonder what you'd do if I decided to dump her off right . . . now!"as he said it he pushed the girl so she would go over the railing. Link acted in a split second, he tackled the man off the edge and went with him. He quickly reached the girl in the air and pulled her close to his body. He knew he didn't have time to use his clawshot with the speed of his and the girl's fall, so he had no choice but to let himself take the force of the fall. He hit the ground hard, breaking a lot of bones and losing consciousness immediately.

"LINK!" he heard Midna's voice call out to him. Slowly, he opened his eyes to see Midna frantically shaking his body. When she noticed his eyes were open, she pressed her hand to his cheek, but the next second she lightly punched him.

"You idiot! Why did you have to jump off a five-story balcony?! You could've died!" she yelled at him.

"Is . . . the girl safe?"

Midna let out a sigh. "Yes Mr. Hero, she seems fine, just unconscious from shock."

Link looked over and saw the girl lying not far from his own body. She had a few bruises, but he could tell she was breathing regularly. He also saw the psychotic man, who was definitely dead. During the fall he flipped and landed on his head, killing him instantly and leaving a nasty mess.

Link struggled to stand up, but with help from Midna he was able to. As far as he could tell, most of his ribs were broken, along with having a dislocated shoulder and possibly a broken leg.

"What . . . is that?" Link heard someone say. He looked up to see everyone staring at him, or more specifically, at Midna. In all the chaos, Midna had come out of his shadow when he fell and was now in the open for everyone to see.

"Hey! It looks kind of like one of those monsters' that have been terrorizing Hyrule!" yelled on of them.

"Yeah it does!" yelled another.

"No!" Link yelled while trying to move his arm up to cover Midna. "She's . . . she's different. She isn't like that!"

"Wait a minute, why does Link act like he knows it?" one of them asked.

"Stop saying it! Her name's Midna!" Link exclaimed to the crowd, but his voice was lost over the crowd's increasing volume.

"He's defending it!"

"He's in league with it!"

"He's tricked us all!"

"Let's get 'em both!"

The crowd had turned into a mob, and now started forward, but before they could reach them, Midna teleported Link and herself out of there and to the spring in Ordon woods. Once there, Link drank a blue potion to heal and rest.

"That . . . went well." Midna commented.

"Yeah . . . "

"So what now?" she asked.

"Well, it's getting close to dark, so we should rest for the evening. My place isn't far from here so we can go there." he suggested. Midna nodded her agreement.

He stood up to get moving to his house when Midna's voice behind him made him stop. "Link." he turned to face her, "hmm?" he noticed here cheeks were a slight shade of pink. She took a breath before continuing. "Just . . . thank you . . . for defending me like that."

He gave her a smile. "Anytime, Midna."

*The next day*

Rumors had spread like wildfire throughout the castle town and quickly branched off into all of Hyrule. Soon, all of Hyrule thought Link was helping the enemy and had betrayed everyone. Then again, news spread fast with a mailman whose legs have the power of two horses and never tires.

When Link stepped out of his house the next morning, he was greeted by the sight of many of the citizens at the bottom of the ladder leading to his home. Some looked angry, some were in disbelief, and some were in confusion. Although, he noted, Rusl was not in the crowd.

He climbed down the ladder to face them. The first to break the silence was Jaggle (Talo and Malo's father).

"Is it true, Link? Are you helping the monsters?" he asked.

"No, it isn't like that. I'm trying to save Hyrule." Link said in his defense.

"We want to believe you, but . . . " Uli said. "We heard you were seen with one of the monsters, and that you were defending it." Pergie (Talo and Malo's mother) finished.

"Midna's not a monster!" Link blurted out.

"So you admit being seen with one, and helping the monsters!" Jaggle yelled.

"I've been getting letters from our children in Kakariko Village, and they described the monsters. How can you associate with them?" Beth's father asked in his meek voice.

"She's helping me to save Hyrule!" Link argued.

"Like we're going to believe that! They tried to hurt our babies! I don't feel safe with anyone who collaborates with those beasts!" Sera (Beth's mother) yelled in a fit of rage.

"Calm down, calm down people." Mayor Bo interjected before it got heated. "Now, Link," he let out an exasperated sigh before continuing, "I hate to do this so I'll take a vote. Say 'Aye' if Link should be expelled from the village, at least until this matter is resolved."

"Aye!" Everyone said with the exception of Uli, Mayor Bo, and Fado.

"Fine then. Link, I demand you leave this village until trust and safety can be assured, I'm sorry."

Link couldn't believe what was happening. He was now expelled from the village he grew up in, by many of the people he saw as friends and role models as a child. He could sense Midna was about to come out of his shadow to say something so he slightly shook his head, hoping she got the message. Without another word he whistled for Epona and set out to leave the village. He couldn't help a look back at his hometown in sadness.

When they were safely away from the village, Midna appeared next to him with her fists and jaw clenched.

"Those arrogant jerks! How could they just throw you out like that?! I should go back there and give them a piece of my mind." she snarled.

"Don't worry about it, Midna. They didn't mean any of it, really they're nice people. They're just worried about everything that's been going on lately. Besides, the village could be in danger with me around, seeing as Zant wants me dead." he gave her an attempt of a smile, but she could see through to the sadness hidden behind it.

"Yeah, whatever. Anyway, why did you not want me to appear? I could've helped to explain."

He shook his head. "No, that would've only added to their fear and confusion. It doesn't matter though, everything will be back to normal once we defeat Zant." Midna couldn't help but think he was saying to assure himself more than her.

They continued through Hyrule field in a comfortable silence for a little while until Midna needed to know something.

"Link, you . . . you defended me again."

He looked at her in confusion at the sudden comment. "Yeah, I did."

"Why . . . why do you keep defending me? I'm just . . . just an ugly imp who has gotten you into trouble over and over again."

He gave a short laugh and then his face and tone grew serious, and he looked her in the eyes. "You sell yourself too short, Midna. Why wouldn't I defend you? You've become a great and precious friend to me and I'm glad to have met you. Underneath your tough exterior you're kind and caring, and in times when I feel like giving up, your sarcastic and headstrong attitude keeps me going whether you know it or not. As for trouble, you've gotten me out of trouble more than you've gotten me into it. And as for the 'ugly imp' comment, I think you're kind of . . . cute . . . in your own unique way." his serious face faded into one of his usual grins by the end. She averted her gaze from his and turned her head so he wouldn't see her blush.

"Now, let's go save Hyrule shall we." he turned his sights forward and continued heading for Kakariko Village for supplies and to see his friends.

He rode into the village on a slow trot, and could sense a fear and hostility in the air. Some of the people closed their shutters at the sight of him at the village's entrance.

Suddenly the doors to Renado's house burst open. Standing there was Talo who looked angered. Behind him was Malo, who was passive as always, Beth, Renado, and Colin, who looked worried about the argument to come. Talo was the first to say something.

"How . . . could you . . . show yourself here?!" his voiced was layered in contempt.

"Talo . . . " Link wasn't sure how to explain so he would understand.

"No! Those monsters . . . how can you side with them?!" he stormed back into the house. Beth, who was trying to hold back tears, ran after him. Malo kept his gaze on the ground and walked back inside.

Renado looked in the direction they left. "Do not worry about them, Link. They may not fully understand, as I may not either. However, you have my word I'll look after them. Though, perhaps, it is best for the time being you keep your distance from them, Talo especially." with that, Renado went back into the house as well.

Link saw Ilia, through the window, staring at the events outside. She averted her eyes when she saw him looking.

"Link," his attention was brought back to Colin. "I want you to know I don't think you're bad." Colin closed the house door behind him.

Link turned Epona back the way they came and kept his head down while trying to stifle tears of his own. He felt a comforting hand on his shoulder he knew to be Midna's, but didn't turn his head. He didn't want her to see him crying. He left Kakariko Village at a slow pace, and a heavy heart.
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First chapter of my new story up! Whew! I really love the idea of this story, because I've always really liked the idea of an infamous hero, one who is isn't liked by the people but continues to fight for them regardless. I think Link would do that even if nobody wanted him to. I don't think he would just stop because the people didn't appreciate it. Plus, Link X Midna is just awesome so it works. Well anyway, the second chapter will probably be up soon so yeah. Read X Review.