A/N I noticed I've been mostly writing in Rusl's POV as of late. Those of you that have read my other fanfic, Restless Spirits, probably noticed too. Don't worry, RS won't stay in his POV. This fanfic is gonna focus mainly on Rusl and Uli's POVs though, maybe Bo's too. It also appears that I mostly write TP fanfics, which is true, but I do have more diversity so no worries. I'll get around to it. My followers voted on this fanfic to be written before my others which include Captivity (yes, another TP fanfic), Life on the Run (LoZ AU), and Melancholy (BotW. The name will be changed). That's the order they'll be written in. I have another idea for a LoZ fanfic (OoT) so be prepared for that sometime in summer. I also write for other fandoms, but theyre pretty dead so I'm not sure if I'll post them. Anyway, enjoy this one. I hope you guys find it interesting. (Yes yes I know, RS followers are probably tired of Rusl being on the hunt)

Chapter 1

Spring is a beautiful season. Full of budding life, melting snow, and forests full of vibrant greens. With a scrutinous eye, Rusl found that nature had surprised him again with its beauty. Of course, it wasn't there to stay. The summer heat would taper down on the bright colours, bringing in the warmer tones of autumn, and finally the grey-blues and dazzling white of winter. The natural gorgeousness of the world always managed to catch his attention. Even the animals he hunted for food managed to catch his eye, whether it be their sleek coats, velvet antlers, or bright long feathers. The beauty of the woods and the need for food was what brought him out into the stunning world that day.

Rusl's well worn bow was grasped tightly in his hand, a chipped arrow always on the string, ready to be pulled back. Patience was required when on the hunt, even deep within the woods where it was teeming with life. He had to be patient and very quiet to be able to hit his prey. Despite waking early in the morning to hunt, it took quite some time before he even saw hide or head of a worthy animal to kill. He spotted one. The buck was young, velvet-like fuzz coated its stubby antlers and white speckles graced its hide.

Bow raised, arrow notched, he breathed in as he pulled back the string and took aim. When he was about to let it loose, the animal spooked and ran off, likely back to its herd. Rusl immediately became alert, he hadn't scared it off. He could tell that something else did. He stood carefully. So very carefully and quiet. If it was a predator he would have to defend himself. Apprehension tickled his heart and lungs. He kept the arrow on his string. Heart in his throat he gingerly stepped into the clearing, his ears tuned for any noise he wasn't making.

Behind him a bush rustled and snapped. Rusl swiveled around, bow drawn and aimed at the noise within a heartbeat, his dexterity with weapons bled through as bright as the sun. He remained still despite the pounding in his ears and the itch in his fingers to let go. If it was a threat he had to make sure he didn't miss or there might not be a second chance. No other sounds came from the bush so he lowered his bow a bit. The string went back to its normal state, allowing his fingers and arms to rest.

It appeared to just be a false alarm on his part before he noticed a pair of eyes peering out at him from the bush. Racing once again, Rusl's heart pounded in his ears. Yet, he realized that the eyes were a startling blue. The owner of them saw that they had been discovered and disappeared. Fierce snaps and frenzied rustling of leaves in the bush followed the disappearance. Surprisingly, the sounds did not fade. They were stuck, and it definitely seemed that it was not an animal.

Pushing back the boughs of the bush, Rusl first saw a small booted foot stuck within the rabbit snare he had placed there. Startled at the discovery he pushed the bush apart to see a frightened young boy scrambling in his futlie attempts to escape.

"Woah, I'm not going to hurt you! You're okay, hold still!" To say that he was surprised would be a massive understatement. A small child was the last thing he had expected to catch so deep within the woods.

The child did not appear to either hear him or chose not to listen as he continued his frantic attempts to shake his leg free and get away. Not knowing how to console the frightened boy, Rusl removed his hunting knife from his belt. The wild look he recieved from the other did not escape his notice. In one quick swipe the rope snare was cut off of the struggling limb. Not even a second had passed before the once frantically struggling child was already scrambling away from his rescuer. He did not get far.

With a loud cry the poor thing collapsed to the forest floor, clutching the foot that had not been in the trap. In all honesty, Rusl did not know how to react to this situation at all. He had no children of his own, he and his wife were still newlyweds. The man had no experience at all with anyone below 10 and he was still very, very stunned to discover a random boy in the middle of nowhere. Hundreds of questions about this strange occurence rushed through his addled brain. Yet, despite his own confusion and uncertainty he had jumped up when the child cried out, the noise snapping him out of it.

Acting without thought he crouched down next to the still terrified boy to examine his foot. It was caked in mud, the only boot he had was on the other foot. Despite the mud Rusl could see that there were thorns all over it, red was mixed in with the mud everywhere. Another factor that shocked him was the size of the foot and ankle, while it should've been small like the other one it was large and puffy, obviously extremely swollen.

Ignoring the quick, frightened breathing of the younger, he asked the first questions on his mind.

"What happened to you? Where are your parents?"

No response.

Rusl looked up from the horrid sight of the mangled appendage and into the boy's face. His eyes widened. This wasn't just a normal child. This was a /Hylian/. Pointed ears, slanted eyes, sharp features. There was no mistaking it. It would be surprising to see another /grown human/ where he was. But a Hylian? A young Hylian?! That was /far/ beyond surprising.

"By the Goddesses! You're a Hylian! What in the world are you doing out here?! Where are your parents?! Why are you all the way in the middle of nowhere?!"

All Rusl recieved in response was a whimper and the boy's face being hidden by his arms. The child was scared of him. Of /him/. That day was getting more and more interesting. He was struggling to process it all. A honey-blonde, /Hylian/, child was in the middle of the woods with a possibly broken foot and he was absolutely terrified of the person that had helped him. It was so bizarre to poor Rusl, it was utterly unbelievable, the odds impossible if anything!

The wounded boy continued to cower. By the looks of it, he appeared to be much younger than 10 years of age, but older than 3 or 4. He was small, making him look more like 3 or 4, but Rusl doubted the poor thing was that young. Trying a different approach, he asked the questions again, but in a much softer and gentler tone. It would do no good to further terrify the boy.

The older man was rewarded with the child lowering his arms. The wavering, hoarse voice of the boy surprised him. He had not expected the small Hylian to sound like that. Unfortunately, Rusl couldn't understand him. Barely at all. No, it wasn't the roughness of the voice, but rather what he said. It was almost unfamiliar to him. Luckily the time he had spent in service taught him that there were many types of Hylians. The most unusual being the ones that lived far west, just barely within the borders, they were the farthest away from Central Hyrule. They spoke a different type of Hylian, an older, more prestigious kind. That's what the child spoke, mixed with broken Central Hylian. Could the whole situation get anymore strange?

"Oh, Din. I don't know what you are saying. Can you even understand me?" He had to find a way to get /some/ answers at least. "Er, if you do understand me, do this." He nodded his head in demonstration. Sweet Nayru he hoped the boy could understand. He wouldn't be able to help him if he was too scared to cooperate.

A thousand thanks went to the Goddesses as the boy nodded hesitantly. Rusl let out a sigh of relief. "Do you know where your parents are? Do this if you don't." He shook his head to show the younger what to do. The sooner the swordsman found the parents, the better.

No response. Back to square one.

Rusl groaned internally. Perhaps he didn't get his question. The boy was still trembling, eyes never focusing on one thing. Before he asked another one the older man glanced at the sky through the thick layers of tree branches. It was growing later than he thought. He had to get the boy somewhere safe so he could help him.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I promise. You have to trust me, alright? I can help you if you let me, we need to get somewhere safe first. My village is nice, they won't hurt you either. Will you let me take you there?"

No response. Rusl was about to give up on communicating with the boy when he nodded.

"Great. Do you think you can walk?" If he couldn't, Rusl could carry him, though it would be difficult.

The boy nodded quickly, a glint of anxiety flashed in the blue irises. It appeared that he didn't want to be carried anyway.

"Here, let me clean up your foot first. It's going to hurt a bit, got it?"

This time apprehension followed the nod. Though the boy couldn't communicate verbally, he spoke just as much with his eyes than anything. Sympathy lanced through Rusl's heart, the little thing was so vulnerable and scared, he could see the constant fear within them. He pulled out his water skin and took off the fabric tied around his head, dousing it in water. Once it was soaked he offered the skin to the child. The boy reached for it carefully at first then snatched it away as though afraid Rusl would change his mind. Greedily, he gulped down as much water as he could without choking before handing the skin back. He then eyed the wet fabric, tense at the thought of the approaching pain.

With as much gentleness as he could muster, Rusl started to wipe away the abundant amount of bloodied mud and thorns. He tried to ignore the pained, scrunched up expression the Hylian was making. He felt truly sorry for him, it did not seem fun at all. He poured a little bit more water on the fabric to rinse it off then continued until he could see the full glory of the swollen, cut up foot. He really wished the child could tell him what happened, but so far only yes or no questions would have to do. Carefully, he cleaned up the kid's hands as well, there were cuts on them too. He then proceeded to tie the mostly clean fabric onto the foot, it would help at least a little in preventing more pain. Despite the overall craziness of the situation, Rusl wanted to do what he could to help. It was just how he was as a person.

"All done. You ready?"

Another nod followed by an attempt to stand. Note: attempt. If Rusl wasn't there to catch him he would have fallen. "You may not like it, but it looks like I'm going to have to carry you."

Little eyebrows furrowed and the classic child pout appeared on the younger's face. He let out an anxious sigh before finally accepting his fate with a nod. Rusl readjusted his bow so the wood faced his front and wouldn't dig into his "passenger". Patting his own back, the swordsman made sure he was low enough for the boy to jump on. The Hylian hesitated at first, he was quite an anxious little one. Once they were both secure, Rusl stood, extremely surprised at how light the other was. He was nothing but bones! It was no struggle at all to carry him along the path and back to the village.

"Before we get back to my village, I need your name. Mine's Rusl and I have a wife named Uli." Attempted levity floated in his tone. He could feel the racing heart and fast breathing of the boy hanging on his back. He was trying to lighten the mood a bit, get him to relax.

"...Link."

"Ah, so that's your name?"

An affirmative grunt was his answer.

"It's a nice name, that's for sure."

Silence followed shortly after. The only sounds being the warm quick breaths on Rusl's neck and the crunching of an assortment of underbrush, leaves, and twigs. The day was passing quickly, the sun kissing the boughs of the trees above their heads. Picking up the pace he prayed that they would arrive on time before dark. Hopefully Uli would forgive him for missing dinner and returning with no game. Hopefully.

At last Rusl walked through the ever-open front gates of the village, the moon was barely showing it's platinum head through dark storm clouds. The boy, Link, was asleep on his back. The only thing keeping him from sliding off was the man's tight grip on the small arms. The younger appeared to be quite exhausted. Rusl himself was feeling quite knackered as well, more than ready to relieve his shoulders and spine then roll into bed.

The only lantern that was lit in the village was the one within the humble home he shared with his beautiful wife. His wife! For Farore's sake he hadn't even thought about how she would react! Especially whether or not she would be alright having a dirty kid sleeping in their home! He was in for an earful of lectures, he just knew it. He and Uli hadn't even thought about having kids and there he was bringing one home without any warning. At least the little Hylian wouldn't be staying for long if he could help it. That brought a little bit of solace.

With his hands preoccupied in his duty of holding Link up, he knocked on the wooden door with his foot. He was trying to avoid waking his passenger as well. Almost immediately the door swung open, revealing a cross looking blonde woman, her arms folded and mouth open to make a remark. Whatever she was going to chew Rusl out for died on her lips. She saw the bony arms her husband had grasped in his hands and strung over his shoulders. She ushered him inside swiftly, her eyes on the limp boy being laid on their bed.

"Rusl..." again words failed her, she was stunned. Even more so to see the obviously pointy ears on the child's head.

"I'll explain in a minute. I just need to check him over for any more injuries." He had little time to check. The boy didn't trust him enough to be poked and prodded by the older man for injuries. He had to do it then.

With as much gentleness as he could procure in his tired state, Rusl searched carefully for further injuries. The only obvious one was the Hylian's badly sprained ankle. At least it wasn't broken. Many other cuts and bruises covered him, but none appeared serious. Once the swordsman was certain there were no other bad injuries he wrapped the bad ankle properly.

Once Rusl was done attending to Link he turned to his wife. He expression spoke of confusion, concern, and the obvious demand for an explanation. She was not pleased, but her concern overrode everything else. Rusl started to explain what happened, pausing to answer a few of her questions. "His name is Link. Yes, Link. No, I don't know where his parents are.", "Yes, he appears to be alright. Just a sprained ankle and a variety of cuts and bruises. Overall he's fine, though it seems he's terrified of people.", "He doesn't speak Central Hylian, but he understands it pretty well.", "I'm pretty sure he's from the far west region of Hylia." "Yes.", "No", "Yes, yes." The list of questions went on, a lot of the answers Rusl didn't know.

Finally Uli went silent, allowing Rusl to rest. His muscles cried out whenever he moved and his stomach voiced its abuse. He scrounged up what meager scraps of food he had left in his pack, then sat down in his chair to eat. While he did so he kept his attention focused on his wife and Link from the corner of his eye.

The scruffy kid probably went through a lot to end up in the woods alone. The thought was... depressing to say in the least. Had his parents abandoned him? Did he run away? Maybe they had abused him? Too many questions lay unanswered. Either way, Rusl had found him lost and all by himself and covered in cuts, bruises, and scrapes. The whole situation was baffling, even why the swordsman felt to bring him home was a mystery to himself. He felt impressed to take care of the boy when he found them. The feeling came almost out of nowhere then.

Tiredness pulled at Rusl, making his face feel stretched low and his appendages heavy. He was hardly even aware of how tired he was. Sleep beckoned to him, not even letting him think about getting somewhere more comfortable than his chair. He had finished his food and with nothing keeping him awake he dozed off in the chair. He was far too tired to really care.

When Uli turned to ask her husband another question, she discovered that he was fast asleep. A small smile graced her features. Oh, that man. He always seemed to get into things way over his head. This situation was no exception. He had worn himself out over it already. She gently placed a blanket around him then glanced to the boy in the only bed they had. Her eyes were drawn once again to the skinny appearance of the Hylian. She grabbed 3 blankets, all of which she placed on him. They didn't have much, but he had less. It was only right to do what they could for him.

The process of tidying took no time at all. Rusl's gear was placed in the back, the water skin hung by the door, and the fire tended to. Before long, Uli lay in a makeshift bed of her own clothes and few extra pillows on the floor. She had one blanket drawn around her. Despite her uncomfortable position and her slight frustration with her husband, she couldn't bring herself to complain in he slightest. Rusl was an honorable man and she trusted him to do the right thing. Honour is not found in the slaughtering of others. He had done that as a soldier, the memories haunted him continuously. No, this was honour, true and firm in its own goodness.

To say she was proud didn't do it justice. Not in he slightest.

A/N Credit to artist of he cover. Yes, I know the fanfic cover image isn't working out super well and stuff. I'm going to hopefully get around to drawing a cover for it. I'm still getting used to digital so whether or not I do it on paper or on my tablet I'm not sure. This fic isn't going to be super long, the next one (Captivity) may be around ten or more chapters. This one is probably going to be around 5. If you guys want it to be longer just review or PM me. Thanks for reading this! Have a good day! (Also sorry for taking so long, I was gonna update with RS, but I never got around to actually finishing it). Next chapter will be longer too, RS will hopefully be as well. I always try to keep them short, but I know some of you like them long.