I've seen several postTP stories, but I found that a preTP story would be interesting. But I haven't seen any. Link's background, from what little there was, seemed very interesting to me. So, this idea came to me. There won't be any big plot. So, I guess you could consider this a bunch of oneshots. There will be a mix of fluff and drama, but mostly it'll be fluff. I'll try to keep it in order, so once I get to when TP actually starts, there won't be anymore chapters. I also won't update this too often, as Thousand Year Hero is my first priority.
This chapter I don't think is very good. The first two sections I wrote late at night, between midnight and two. Then I was distracted near the end.
A Boy Named Link
In the southern forest of the kingdom of Hyrule lay the small farming village of Ordon. Only a few families lived and worked in the village, but they were a hard working group of people; many started to help with simple chores at the young age of five. The villagers were close and considered each other to be one big family instead of individual ones. Though the village was well off and very hospitable, it was secluded from the rest of Hyrule. Few residents left the village and surrounding forest. The people even lacked the distinguishing long, pointed ears of the Hylians, instead owning small, rounded ones.
All the people lacked pointed ears except for one family.
The family was a new addition to Ordon, moving from Hyrule's capitol, Castle Town. The family consisted of a wife and husband who were expecting their first child to arrive soon. There were only a few weeks left until the due date when the couple arrived at the village.
Though the wife, Amena, was heavy with the child, she still possessed a simple beauty that made the other women of the village slightly envious. Her dark blonde hair flowed down her back, stopping halfway, though she normally kept it up in a bun. Her clear blue eyes shone with kindness to all and her gentle personality made her well liked throughout the small village.
The Ordonians were polite enough not to ask what had brought the couple to move away from the busy city and go to the quiet village. They knew the husband, Brion, was friends with the young blacksmith Rusl, though they knew no more than that. Nevertheless, they quickly accepted the couple into their village and helped Amena all they could until the child came.
Brion and Rusl stood in Rusl's workshop, making new horseshoes for the few horses at Ordon's ranch. It was mid-morning, the two men sweating slightly from the raging fire in the room. Rusl was doing most of the work, being a few years older and more experienced than Brion. He did his best to teach his younger friend the skills necessary to be a blacksmith, though Brion was not the most talented blacksmith in Hyrule. But he was a hard worker and persistent.
That morning, Rusl noticed something was bothering his friend. He was distracted and often looked out the workshop's window. Rusl sighed. "Worried about Amena?"
Brion looked over at the older man, running a hand through his light brown hair. "A little. She's due any day now. What if something goes wrong? What if she has a miscarriage or something is wrong with the baby? Or what if she doesn't…" He trailed off, not wanting to think about the possibility of his wife not making it through childbirth.
"Brion, calm down. Everything will be fine," Rusl said, trying to comfort his panicking friend. "Uli is with her. She'll get Shannon if something happens." Shannon was the wife of the mayor, Bo, and had a daughter who was a few months old.
This did little to comfort Brion, but he sighed and shook his head, knowing his friend was right. "Sorry, Rusl. I don't know why I'm even acting like this."
"You're a first time father. I'm sure that when Uli and I have our first child I'll be in the same state as you are now, and you'll be the one telling me to calm down." Brion smiled and gave a soft chuckle. "Good, you're smiling. Now, instead of thinking about any complications, let's think of the joys of having a child."
"Of course. At least he'll have a playmate his own age."
"Oh?" Rusl raised an eyebrow. "You've decided that you want a boy? What if you get a girl instead?"
"Well, I don't care if it is a boy or girl, though Amena said she had a strong feeling it would be a boy."
"In that case, maybe he and Ilia will get married when they grow up."
"Let's get through the actual birth before we start thinking about marriage, all right?"
Rusl chuckled. "Let's just hope he's not as clumsy at farm work as you are."
"Hey! I'm not that bad!"
Before Rusl could reply, his wife, Uli, burst through the door, out of breath. She had her hand on her chest, trying to catch her breath. Rusl ran over to his wife, Brion close behind.
"Uli! What's wrong?" Rusl looked at Brion, the two exchanging worried looks. "Did something happen to Amena?"
Uli nodded her head a little before replying. "She's gone into labor," she said in between breaths. "I need to find Shannon."
"She should be at home. I'll go with you. Brion, stay put and don't panic." Rusl looked at Brion, giving him a strict look. He and Uli left before Brion could protest.
Hours had passed since Uli had burst into the workshop. Brion paced at the base of the tall treehouse he and his wife lived in. Bo and Rusl stood with him, watching as the young man panicked.
"Brion, calm down," Bo said, taking a hold on Brion's shoulders, stopping him. "You're going to kill the grass!"
"Brion, think about our conversation this morning. What did I say?"
Brion sighed. "Everything will be fine. But it's been nearly twelve hours! She went into labor in the morning and now the sun's setting. Is that normal?"
Bo chuckled, earning a glare from Brion. "Yes, it is. Shannon went through the same thing."
The men's conversation was interrupted by Amena's scream. Brion looked up at the balcony and dashed for the ladder. Rusl and Bo grabbed his arms, preventing him to move any farther. The young man struggled, but to no avail. The two older men were stronger and held on tightly to the panicking man.
"You have to calm down! You won't help her by rushing in there!"
Brion stopped struggling at these words, trying to catch his breath. Bo and Rusl loosened their grip on the young man, but they didn't let go incase of another outburst. Amena's screams continued, seeming to be never ending to her husband. He continued to look up at the balcony, worry never leaving his eyes.
The mayor and blacksmith of Ordon looked at each other, both wishing they could comfort their friend. But they knew the only thing that would accomplish that was if he could see his wife, safe and out of pain.
The screams that filled the air abruptly stopped, causing the two older men to look up. At this moment, Brion broke loose from their grip and sped up the ladder. Bo and Rusl acted quickly and followed him up and into the small house. Uli sat next to the bed on the left wall, holding Amena's limp hand. Shannon stood at the end of the bed, holding something bloody and was reaching down for a cloth. Amena herself looked exhausted. She was breathing hard and her hair was matted against her face, wet with sweat. Her eyes were closed, but they opened a bit when she sensed her husband's presence by her side.
Brion looked down worriedly, but his worry left as his wife smiled and looked over at Shannon. The thing she was holding was his baby. Their baby. It was wrapped in a blanket, still a bit bloody, but still cleaner now that Shannon had wiped the majority off. The older woman looked at the couple and smiled.
"Congratulations. You have a son." The two looked at each other and smiled. Shannon walked over to them and handed the baby to Brion. He looked down at his newborn son. From the small tuffs of hair growing on the boy's head, Brion could tell he would have the same blond hair as his mother. The boy opened his eyes and a clear blue gaze stared at his father's mud colored one.
"I think he's going to take after you," Brion said after a moment had passed. He handed his wife the baby. She looked into the boy's face, him looking up curiously at the woman now holding him. She gave a chuckle.
"You know, most babies are born with blue eyes and sometimes even blond hair! He could just as easily take after you," Amena said tiredly, not looking away from the infant.
"So, have you two thought up a name for him?" The two looked up at the small group that was watching them. Shannon had her arms crossed and a smile on her face, waiting for an answer. The couple looked at each other, small frowns on both their faces. The baby began grabbing his mother's hair while she looked at her husband. She finally turned back to answer.
"Well, no, we haven't-" Amena stopped, looking down at her son. Something about him had grabbed her attention while he played with her hair. She gently grabbed her son's small left hand. There, on the back of his hand, was the familiar triangle symbol that was spread all across Hyrule. It was placed on her son like a birthmark, and right then she knew what to name him.
"Amena? Are you all right?" She looked up as Brion placed his hand on her shoulder. She nodded.
"Yes. And I know what to name our son now, too."
"You do?" Brion looked at her curiously, wondering how she could figure out a name mere seconds after she was about to say she didn't have a clue. "Well, what is it?"
"Link," she simply stated. The four Ordonians glanced at each other. They had never heard of the name 'Link' before, but they would ask later, if at all. Brion also was a bit confused of the choice, but he simple smiled.
"Well, if that's what you want, then Link it is." The infant made giggle-like noise, as if he were agreeing on the choice. His parents chuckled. "I guess he likes it."
"Well, now that that's settled, can I go finish cleaning him now?" They looked up to see Shannon looking down at them, a commanding gaze now on her face. She pointed to Amena. "You need some rest. Brion, you can sleep at our home tonight. She needs to rest with no distractions to fully recover." She grabbed Link from his mother's grasp. "I'll take him down to the spirit spring. Now, everyone, out! Let this woman be."
No one could protest Shannon's strict tone and all immediately obeyed.
A week had passed since Link's birth. Amena was once again up and about in the village. However, the villagers still insisted that she do little work, as she now had an infant to look after and had yet to lose all the weight from her pregnancy. The woman would constantly protest, claiming she could work just as hard as well as take care of her son, but always she would lose the argument and end up with Shannon, doing simple chores such as laundry.
Link and Shannon's daughter, Ilia, would always be with them. Ilia was born about four months before Brion and Amena arrived in Ordon and had begun to crawl when they did arrive. Though she did not understand who or what Link was, she was often found sitting next to his basket, looking at him with wide, green eyes. If the boy would fall asleep, Ilia would proceed to poke him, trying to see what he was and why he wasn't interested in her as well. It was when the infant girl did this that the two mothers would interfere, pulling her away from the basket and onto Shannon's lap. This was where she currently was, Shannon taking a small break to hold her daughter and Amena happily cleaning a blanket.
Shannon looked over at the basket were Link lay, slightly sighing as she gathered up the courage to ask a question that had been bothering her for the past week. "Amena, I don't mean to be rude or anything, so don't take this the wrong way, but why did you name your son Link? It's not exactly a common name."
Amena stopped washing the blanket, taking it out of the stream and placing it in an empty bucket. She then looked at Shannon, but had no look of anger. Instead, she had on a smile and seemed pleased to be asked. "Actually, Link was the name of my grandfather. I asked him a similar question when I was little."
"Oh?" The older woman raised an eyebrow, secretly glad that she was finally learning something about the young woman from the city. "And what did he say?"
"He explained that he was named after a legendary hero."
"You mean, the ancient hero? The same one?"
Amena bit her lower lip, thinking. She finally answered after a moment. "To me, the ancient hero is called the Hero of Time. That's what my grandfather told me. A boy named Link dressed in green traveled through time, saving Hyrule from an evil tyrant."
Shannon cocked her head a bit. "I've never heard of any time traveling in the legend. Are you sure he was talking about the same one?"
"I'm really not sure if he was. I've always assumed he was, but the story always held my interest. After I saw my son's birthmark, I remembered that story and, well, you know the rest."
"Birthmark? What birthmark?"
"Oh! You haven't seen it?" Amena gently picked up her son from the basket, being careful to not wake him. She took his left hand, allowing the older woman to look at it. Shannon furrowed her brow, not quite sure what to make of the triangle on the boy's hand. "It looks exactly like the Triforce. According to my grandfather, someone born with this mark will have a great destiny. He said the Hero of Time also had one."
Ilia began to struggle in her mother's arms, wanting down. Shannon held on tightly to her daughter. "That's an interesting legend. So, what do you think this little guy will do? Save a few damsels? Maybe slay a dragon or two?"
Both women laughed. Amena hugged her son, kissing his forehead. "I just hope he grows up happy. I don't really want him to grow up to be a warrior, but if it would make him happy, then so be it."
Shannon smiled. Link was lucky to have such a wonderful mother. She was sure he would turn out just as caring. She looked to the side for a moment, thinking, then decided to settle her curiosity. "Do you mind if I ask you another question?"
Amena smiled. "Of course not!"
"What brought you and your husband, barely adults, to Ordon? You lived in the city and then decide to move to such a secluded area. It just doesn't seem, well, uh, I don't know, normal, I guess?"
Amena chuckled. "I was wondering when someone would ask that. Brion may have lived in Castle Town his entire life, but I'm just a country girl. When I moved into Brion's home, I just felt trapped. It was too crowded. After we found out I was pregnant, we decided it would be best to raise a child out of the city. My family's ranch was out of the question. It was losing quite a lot of money when I married and my parents sold it and moved to Kakariko. Brion told me about Rusl and the village he came from and we decided that Ordon would be the best."
Shannon nodded, finally letting go of Ilia. The girl crawled over to Amena and Link and looked up. Link let out a yawn and opened his blue eyes. He looked around, focusing on his mother for a moment. He then let out a yelp when Ilia grabbed a hold to the boy's pointed ears, tears building up in his eyes.
"Ilia!" Shannon quickly grabbed her daughter, pulling her away from the now-bawling Link. Amena laughed, and Shannon soon joined in.
"I think we'll have our hands full with these two."
Soooo, yeah...
Oh, by the way, later chapters will have LinkxIlia fluff. So, don't be surprised and POed at me for letting Ilia be liked.