"I'm sorry!"
"Not sorry enough!"
The young rito cried out in pain as the Hylian man kicked him down onto the floor.
"You're a waste." The man spat as the rito tried to crawl away, "You're nothing but a waste. I don't know why we bother feeding you. All you do is shit and screw up."
"What's all that noise?" A Hylian woman asked.
"Waste here likes to screw up, honey." The man told her, "Why don't we just shove him in the oven and have chicken tonight?"
"You can't train a dog in a day." The wife told him, "You have to beat the lessons into his brain until the idiot learns. Speaking of which, where is that dumbass?"
"He was right here!" the husband shouted, "Where'd that waste of egg and sperm go? He couldn't have gotten far."
"Better find him. This aint a lottery we're running. People'll only pay if they know they'll get him."
Not too far away, the young rito climbed out an open window.
"Get back here!" the man screamed when he saw the rito run for his life.
"Run after him!" the wife shrieked at her husband, "We've already got a buyer who's real interested in a real young'n."
"I knew we should have just shoved him in the oven." The man sighed as he ran for the door, "We could have sold all the good meat for more than what we'll get out of him alive."
By the time the man ran out the door, the rito boy had already ran past a house and down an alley.
"I'll break those damn legs of those!" the man shouted when he spotted the rito child. A few minutes later, he had caught up to the child.
"You're lucky we found a buyer." He told the terrified rito, "Lucky for me, he doesn't mind if I break a leg or two as long as you're still cute."
"Put the child down."
The man turned around to find an angry, redheaded woman staring at him.
"Who do you think you are?" the man demanded.
"You don't recognize me?" the woman asked, "When I was a little girl, you tried to sell me to a pervert."
"Now he gets this'un." The man told her, "Now get moving before I start thinking of becoming a pimp and making you my first whore."
"Wrong answer." The woman growled as she pulled out her sword from the sheath on her back, "I would have accepted 'I'm sorry', 'please, take him', and possibly 'please don't kill me'."
"This doesn't concern you!" he shouted.
"Years of hell concerns me." She countered, "Years of daily beatings as I waited for you to sell me to some pimp, sweatshop, or pedophile concerns me. You have two options. You can give him to me and get sent to jail or I can kill you."
"You don't scare me. I've fought many unskilled swordsmen with only my bare hands. I can handle you."
"Now I don't give a shit about that bird."
"Now yer learn'n." the man told her.
"Now I just want to hear you scream." She told him, "I want to hear you scream and cry and beg. I want you to beg for death. I want you to beg for the pain to end. Give him to me or learn just what awaits you after your death."
"There's only one woman who'll make my life a living heck." He told her, "And I got drunk and married her in a crossbow wedding."
"I guess she wouldn't marry you without a crossbow jammed into her back."
"You'll regret saying that."
"And you'll regret your career choice." She told him, "Now's your last chance. Give him to me."
"It'll be a shame to kill you." He spat, "My wife's think'n 'bout experiment'n. Your alleged people's into that, right? Two girls get naked and, well, I don't have to tell you the details. I tell you what. Surrender and you can be her love slave."
"I'm not into turkey-vultures." She growled as she approached him, "I'm into young guys, not crusty old ladies who were there when water was invented. Plus, I don't want to have to scrape off all that crust just to be able to feel her pruny skin. I won't mind scraping shit off of my shoe after I kick your ass hard enough to knock out teeth."
She swung her sword towards his head, causing him to drop the child as he ducked. The woman immediately swung the sword down, partially severing his arm.
"You talk tough for a piece of shit." She growled, "I know where you live and the authorities will soon know too. Better hope your wife's strong enough to survive a woman's prison. I hear lesbianism is real popular for life-termers."
"Eat shit." The man growled.
"No thanks." She said, "You don't look very tasty."
The woman looked around and found the rito hiding behind a crate.
"That's not a very good hiding place." She asked the rito as she grabbed him, "Let's take you home. Where do you live?"
"I… I don't know." He told her.
"Where are your parents?"
"I don't know. I don't remember them."
"Do you know where any of your relatives are?"
"No."
"You can stay with me." She told him, "But first, I need to make sure that bad man never hurts you again."
She approached the bleeding Hylian.
"What do you want?" the Hylian asked.
"Something I've dreamed of doing for a long time."
Before the Hylian could react, she sliced off his head and kicked it towards his house.
"The best part is he'll live long enough to hit the ground." She said before leaving with the rito. It wasn't long before they reached the local police building.
"I'd like to provide some information." She told the guard at the desk, "I know where the infamous kidnapping couple are hiding out."
"Where would that be?" the guard asked.
"I can lead you there; it's not far." She told him, "I saw the husband chasing this boy."
"Is this true?" the guard asked the boy.
"Yes." He told the guard, "The bad man was chasing me and telling me he was going to break my legs. This lady rescued me."
"Wait here." The guard told them, "I'll get a few guards. Just show them where the couple are and they'll do the rest."
"That's the thing." The woman told him, "After the man threatened the child, I sort of, kind of killed him."
"Care to explain?"
"I was once kidnapped by them." The woman explained, "After years of abuse, I escaped. Recently, I was able to overcome the trauma enough to come back here and get them arrested. I found their hideout when I saw the husband run out after this poor boy. After the man brought back some painful memories and threatened to harm this boy, I lost it and killed him."
"I understand. Please wait here for the guards."
A few minutes later, the guard returned with the promised guards.
"It's this way." She told them. After a few minutes of walking, they found the house.
"It's the two story." She told them, "They were waiting for a buyer for the kid."
"I have a visual confirmation of the wife." One of the guards told her, "Thank you for your cooperation. Give the guard at the station your address and we'll have your reward mailed to you after we have the criminals behind bars. One of the other guards here will return the kid to his parents."
"The kid's staying with me." The woman told the guard.
"I think I understand. You got over your fears of the couple after they kidnapped him."
"Kinda. He's sort of my adopted son."
"Now you don't have to worry about them taking him again, citizen."
"Thank you. Come, child. There's a nice warm bed waiting for you at home."