AN: Welcome to the fic! ;) At the moment I'm projecting around 28 chapters and we're going to be following the events of the game in terms of the "plot." Obvs this is also inspired by the manga.
Chapters 1-9 are mostly world-building.
Chapters 10 onward are more plot and shipping focused.
If you're offended by the idea of co-existing gay, bisexual and/or other female love interests in a romantic setting then this is not the fic for you. My goal here is for all of the ships to be valid in their own way! ;)
Hope you enjoy!
Unconventional
Chapter 1 – Brave New Girl
"Excuse me!" Shouted the landlord, banging on the yellow door of her cozy rental property. The house in question was situated in the middle of a terrace, meaning that the neighbours were definitely privy to the fact that this was her fifth visit this month.
"Shad! SHAD! I know you're in there!"
From the backyard, one of the scholar's boots coupled by his checkered socks could be seen hanging from the top of a narrow laundry window.
He began to squeeze through the gap, hovering precariously above the ground before dropping down. Shad took a moment to fix his disheveled auburn hair and round glasses, looking rather messy. He then turned around, pulled a heavy bag of books through the window and closed it gently. The landlord hammered on the door once more.
"Three month's rent! THREE MONTHS! Sending me a copy of your latest book and a blurry pictograph of a Cuccoo isn't going to pay the bills! I need some kind of deposit! SHAD!"
"My lady, you shall have your rent with interest once I finish my next installment!" Shad called from behind the house before vaulting clumsily over the fence. Luckily for the scholar, he could lose himself in one of Hyrule Castle Town's main streets at a moment's notice. And there were a variety of ways of making it to Telma's Bar undetected.
The landlord growled, shoving a notice under the door.
"I'm sorry, where did you find her?" Telma asked a guard.
"In the moat, just outside of the city."
A city guardsman adorned with the crest of the Royal Family was supporting a slim, pale girl by her arm, who stood shoeless on the doorstep of a grey-bricked bar.
The building was tucked away near a worn staircase off of the main street and it emanated a warm glow from its windows. A small decorative sign hung beneath a protruding lantern, signifying that this was indeed Telma's Bar.
"I am sorry to ask such a thing but with the guards being… stretched thin at the moment…" the guard said, lowering his voice.
"You mean with all of the drama that's going on with the castle? Exactly how long has it been now and still no news for us regular folk?" Telma questioned, raising an eyebrow. She made a fairly intimidating figure in the doorway, her red dreadlocks pulled back and her face adorned with coloured jewels.
The guard made a noise as if to shush the proprietor.
"We have not released an official statement to the public, and yet here I am, sworn to my duty. I have seen the types of people who frequent your bar. I know that if anybody in the neighbourhood has the resources to help this girl faster than us, it's you." The guard continued, diplomatically.
"There is no question regarding this one's safety," Telma answered. "We'll get her warmed up and fed properly in no time, won't we, honey?" She leant closer to get a better look of the girl, past her morose exterior.
In response the girl looked up vacantly, unsure of whether she ought to be relieved. She had short, ash-blonde hair, which seemed uncharacteristically unkempt for such a clean cut. And her eyes were a striking colour of green, giving her a spritely appearance.
The bar proprietor gave a brief, withering look to the guard, who could only concede the feebleness of his authority in such times.
"Yes, well… better in our hands than yours. I'll see to it that she finds the support she needs. The poor dear could use a doctor," she sighed, upon evaluating the situation at hand. The pale girl sneezed quietly. "And I'll be in contact with one immediately. So, off you go. Back to running the city without word from your superiors."
The guardsman knew better than to stay and argue with the fiery woman. He regarded his charge with a final nod. "You're in good hands, here," he promised, before departing to the nearest street.
The girl opened her mouth to respond as Telma hurried her inside, hand on shoulder.
"W-Wait…!"
"The city's a mess, honey, but you're my top priority at the moment. Come sit by the fireplace and I'll find you some new clothes and something to eat."
"What's going on?!" The girl cried hoarsely. "Where am I?"
"You're in Hyrule Castle Town," the woman explained gently. "And you're safe with me. My name is Telma. I'm the owner of this bar."
Ashei always found herself scowling on her way into town. Just past the gates, the road grew chaotic with merchant carts, salesmen, farmers, priests, musicians and stable-hands. In her opinion, it was like trading all the opportunity and solitude of the wilderness for a pounding headache in a confined space.
Arriving at night was admittedly less busy on the road, however events at her place of lodging tended to be in full swing in the later hours, making it difficult to sleep.
"Whoa, there!" she called, easing her slate-coloured mare into a pace that matched the surrounding traffic.
"A fortune for you, miss! You will surely want to know what the goddesses have in store for you!" spruiked a strange man in a flashy robe.
Ashei glared at him incredulously. Even the wolves she encountered on her travels had the courtesy not to obstruct the road.
"You'd better move, unless you want that pretty dress covered in mud," she warned, forcing the charlatan out of her way.
The first time Ashei saw the impressive walls of the city, she wondered what it must be like to live in such a place where even the mountains had been cut down and artfully repurposed.
Her father had initially grown up in the town, served as an elite guard and moved to the wilds after choosing to settle down and have a family. The irony of returning to the city was not lost on her, albeit for a different purpose, though it was thanks to the old man's contacts that she had managed to carve out a reputation as a reliable warrior, hunter and agent.
While she was never drawn to mercenary work, Ashei was initially hired as a bodyguard and a tracker with uncanny intuition and sharpness.
However, between the great surges in monster activity and a series of troubling reports regarding the state of Hyrule Castle, Ashei's hands were full. After each meeting with her colleagues at Telma's Bar, the state of the world seemed to be hurling itself further toward something dark and uncharted.
Ashei gripped the reigns of her horse and clenched her jaw.
Hers was not a report that she was looking forward to sharing.
Shad opened the door to the bar and confidently announced his arrival, feeling more at home than anywhere in recent memory. The heat from the morning sun lingered on his shoulders as he placed his coat by the door.
"Telma, I am rather early today. I hope you will forgive the intrusion," he said, looking over at his old friend. Telma, who was almost always behind the bar, stood next to the fireplace with a quiet girl sitting in her most comfortable chair.
"Welcome Shad, I'll be with you in a bit, honey."
"Oh, who is she? A special visitor?" Shad ventured inquisitively, leaving his bag by his usual spot at the bar and wandering over to the two. Upon closer inspection he noticed that the girl was indeed wearing Ashei's spare nightclothes, which were usually stored in a wardrobe upstairs.
Each member of the Resistance had a space to keep their own personal supplies at the bar, however out of the three other men, Ashei left the least amount of items in Telma's care. Shad wondered what the steely warrior would make of this stranger wearing her clothes when she arrived.
"You could say that," Telma replied, with an unusually tentative smile.
The girl looked up at Shad, searching for some familiarity.
"Good morning, miss!" He beamed at her, offering a hand. "My name is Shad. And you are?"
"I… I…" The girl suddenly averted her gaze, concentrating on the ground.
"It's all right, honey," Telma intervened, lightly squeezing the girl's shoulder before regarding Shad. "I took this girl in from the city guard this morning. She hasn't said much and they found her freezing cold from the moat. I'm actually on my way out to fetch that doctor who lives around the corner, if you wouldn't mind looking after the bar."
"M-My name is… L… Li…" The girl stammered.
Shad felt a heat rise to his cheeks. "Oh, forgive my rudeness. It is quite alright. You should be focused on your recovery. Not to worry, Telma will find you the help that you need," he assured.
"Li… I can't… L…" She stared vacantly into the fire.
Telma had left the two, wandering over to the bar to fetch her belongings.
"L… I… I don't… I don't remember my name!" The girl cried suddenly with a frightened look in her eyes.
Shad found himself fumbling, trying to diffuse the tension he had suddenly released into the room. "I-I apologise," he stammered. "Y-You seem to be looking well, though! That is to say, you look well for a girl who has been through, w-well, I do not know what and I could not venture a guess, however – you appear to be… well…"
"Your name will come to you when you're feeling better. I'm sure of it. I'll be back soon," Telma smiled, on her way out of the bar. "Just relax and let this nice young man handle things until then. Shad, honey, there's some soup on the stove which should be ready for her by now."
"O-Oh, yes, certainly, Telma!" He called after her.
With the bar door closed, Shad turned his attention once more to the mysterious girl. Rather than making things worse, his new strategy was to simply refrain from prying and to look after her as best he could. "I… suppose you must be starving."
"… Yes… Shad, is it?"
Shad offered a small nervous smile and nod, dashing into the kitchen to fetch a bowl of soup. He returned, placing it gently on a small table and pulling it next to the girl. It suddenly occurred to him that a variety of soldiers from the previous war frequented this bar in the evenings. Perhaps this bar provided the daily distraction that they craved, he thought as he noticed a deck of cards spilled carelessly across a nearby table.
The scholar then wandered over to the bar and fetched one of his books from his satchel. He planned to read it quietly in the adjacent chair, should the need for anything arise.
"Shad… thank you. I am sorry if I've caused any trouble to Telma, or to you…" the girl continued, eating her soup quietly with a duck spoon.
"Absolutely not, if there is anybody in this town who would go out of their way for you, it would be her." Shad promised. "That guard was rather perceptive to bring you here."
The girl's face suddenly fell still. Shad leaned forward in response, maintaining a respectable distance while studying her reaction.
"This soup…" she said with a puzzled tone. "What… what is in this soup?"
Shad blinked.
"Is it not good? I apologise if that is the case. I will find you something else if you prefer, we have bread-"
"No," the girl continued. "It just tastes… like I've had it before. Like, I used to come here all of the time. But that can't be true, can it? I've never seen you before and none of you know who I am..."
"Well, it is true that this is my first time to make your acquaintance," he concurred. "I certainly would not have forgotten such a cute young lady." Shad immediately bit down on his tongue, fearing the wrath of the bar proprietress. What was wrong with him? He knew that this was hardly the time or place, yet he found the words pouring out of him.
To his relief, the girl simply stifled a laugh, amused.
"You're so weird."
"You would not be the first to declare so. And to elaborate on your point, at the moment the house specialty is a pumpkin soup," Shad offered in an embarrassing attempt to move on. "They are sourced from the Ordona region, in the south."
For a moment the girl had an animated look on her face, as though she had something to go on. But it dissipated into a frown. "… Ordona… huh. It's nice, anyway. Thank you, Shad."
"It's no use!" declared the doctor, adjusting his glasses. He projected a frail shadow against the tavern lighting. "I've never encountered memory loss of this scale. Something truly terrible must have happened to her to make her forget even her own name. Apart from the cold and a lack of food, everything else appears to be in working order."
The doctor then began to pack up a suitcase containing several examination instruments and a torch that he'd repeatedly shone in his patient's eyes.
Telma regarded him sceptically with her hands on her hips.
"So, what's the treatment plan? Is there anything that can be done?"
The doctor grumbled in response, still hunched over his work equipment. "Mental ailments are not my specialty. You asked me to examine her and I did what I could within the scope of my knowledge. You'll have to get a second opinion."
The girl sank in the chair with her eyes wide and her fingers parted over her face.
"Don't stress yourself, honey." Telma assured. "There will be others with the power to help you. In the meantime, I'll be here for anything that you need."
"Wait! Doctor!" Shad intervened as the doctor shambled towards the door. The older man turned up his nose at the scholar as he pushed past.
"I suppose you'll be paying off the rest of your tab the next time I see you in here!" Telma glowered as the door slammed shut.
An uneasy silence fell over the room as the girl sobbed.
"Where should I go?" she breathed. "Where do I live? My family, my friends… I've lost everything. I don't know… what should I do?"
Telma glanced over to the door once more, cognizant of the fact that the bar was about to receive its first slew of day customers. In fact, it was rather miraculous that only Shad had shown up so far.
"I have a proposal for you. How would you feel about staying here for now and working with me?" The proprietress winked. Shad could hardly contain the excitement in his eyes.
"Telma, that is a splendid idea!"
"I was just thinking that I could use some help and this stops me from having to hire somebody new. You'd be able to live upstairs, meals included of course. And it'll give us time to search for somebody who can help you get your memory back," she continued, warming up to the idea.
"B-But I don't know how to do anything. I don't want to get in the way. Please, I've imposed on you both so much," the girl replied, exasperated.
"The work is easy, and the fact that you're new to everything means that you'll be a great learner!"
It was difficult to resist Telma's positivity. The girl seemed to be in better spirits but shifted uncomfortably in her chair.
"Working in a bar means… being around plenty of people. If I don't know who I am, how can I be sure that my identity isn't going to cause any problems for you?"
The older woman laughed heartily before squeezing her hand.
"If someone comes in who knows about your past… I'll protect you if they try to hurt you."
Shad made an involuntary noise that was almost like an erratic laugh. He was definitely mindful of the crowbar Telma stashed under the bar, and of the time Telma had used it to single-handedly break up a bar fight between a group of unscrupulous 'adventurers.'
"You would take on all of this risk for me?" The girl asked quietly. "… I don't want to be rude but why would you do such a thing?"
Telma was quiet for just a moment before glancing over to a pictograph of a young man, which sat discreetly on the shelf above the fireplace. Shad raised an eyebrow at her expression.
"Because…" she sighed. "Terrible things have been happening here. There has certainly been an increase in these events lately, but the truth is they have always been here. The war is still so fresh in the minds of the people living here and even those who were young at the time still carry the scars. For some, it was a reminder that tragedy can shape our lives in not a moment's notice."
Shad and the mysterious girl listened attentively, though for the scholar it was one of the rare few times he had seen his friend so vulnerable.
"My departure from the past was borne of a desire to save our future. I might work in a bar but over the years, I've built a strong community here. What good is any of that if we can't help somebody who needs it?"
The girl looked up at Telma with an intense gaze.
"The silver lining to your predicament is that here, you have the opportunity to start again. You can be whoever you want to be, without judgement." Shad added kindly.
"It looks like… this would be the perfect place for me right now," said the girl with distinct relief washing over her face. Her green eyes had lost their sullen shadow. "If there's any way that… I can be of use and repay you both, then I'd be happy to do it."
"This is your home, if you'll have it," Telma promised.
"Thank you! I'll do my best to stay out of trouble."
"You're a good girl. I can tell, I have an eye for people." The redhead laughed.
"After prying the demons out of these men all day with the right ale." Came a cool voice from the other side of the room.
"Ashei!" Shad greeted.
"Who is this girl and why is she wearing my pajamas?" The obsidian-haired warrior tossed a leather bag into the corner, which made a sharp clang as it hit the floor.
Telma bent down to meet the girl's eyes. "Starting now, she'll have a new family, new friends… and a new name. What should we call you, honey? Something with 'Li,' which seemed important enough to remember?"
Ashei glanced quizzically between the scholar and the bar owner, clearly behind on whatever was happening at this moment with the stranger in her clothes.
"How about… Liza?" Telma extended with a wink.
"Yes… Yes! Please, call me Liza. I'll be the new barmaid at your tavern."