A/N: Well, here's to the start of my first LoZ story here on FF. I hope y'all like it. This story does have OCs in it, and may eventually have a Link/OC pairing or an OC/OC pairing. For now however, I leave you to the story and encourage you to give me some feedback here whether it be good, bad, or ugly.
Disclaimer: I don't own LoZ, any of its characters of ideas, only the OCs and my fragments of plot.
"I'm scared..."
He couldn't believe how small the voice was, or how weak. Then again, being stabbed wasn't the thing to liven a person. She lay behind him, cringing as steel rang on steel, crying in time with the schlick of his blade into the heart of a monster. The creature hissed its last breath and crumpled, purple blood draining into the dirt. Two more materialized from the thick shadows.
"Just hang on," Link gritted between his teeth, parrying the monsters' strokes.
Sweat rolled down his face, into his eyes mingled with blood from a cut on his forehead, and blurred his vision. The girl whimpered behind him, her breaths heavy as he could only imagine the waves of pain that must have been wracking her small body. The monsters tried charging him, but were dispatched with a swift spin attack. Cut deeply across the belly, the monsters staggered backward, their innards falling out in steaming heaps and tripping them as their lives poured out. Link turned, breathing heavily, and advanced on the pitiful creature.
"They're dead now," he tried to comfort her, kneeling. "It's okay."
The girl breathed a deep sigh and unraveled herself from the protective ball she had curled into. Blood still oozed from the center of her right shoulder, but the hero hoped the wound was not deep. Link didn't pay much attention to her face as he picked her up, though from the struggling sniffles he heard from the girl, her cheeks would be tear streaked terribly.
"W-Who are you?" the girl asked, pulling her head away from his chest.
He looked down into her big, troubled eyes. "My name's Link."
The surroundings were warm, almost stifling. The sweet smell of dried herbs and a wood fire worked their way into the girl's troubled senses. She felt surprisingly good. Her limbs ached, but it was a dull pain, like the light throb of her head. She shifted, and slowly opened her eyes. There was a pull, and a sharp pain shot through her arm and shoulder. The girl hissed softly and used her left arm to push up.
She was in a small, stuffy, hospital like room. Herbs hung on wallhooks, strange pots sat on shelves, and a steaming cauldron hung over a fire in the hearth. A small girl sat in a chair on one side of the room, and she stood when she saw the wounded woman and rushed over.
"You're awake at last," the girl smiled, checking the bandages that were wrapped tightly around her patient's arm. "Wait here, I'll fetch my father."
Before the woman could get a word in edgewise, the girl was out the door. Several minutes later the girl re-entered, followed by a tall, older man with a stern, patriarchal countenance. They locked eyes for a moment before the woman lowered hers in respect.
"How are you feeling today?" The man asked, kneeling beside her cot.
"Bet-ter," her voice cracked, "better than before, sir."
As the man unwound the bandages and inspected the healing wound, he explained to her. "A friend of this village brought you here last night, after saving you from monsters in the field. I am Renado. My daughter, Luda, and I have been taking care of you."
The woman nodded, remembering a mysterious warrior coming to her rescue. She looked up at Renado, seeking more answers, answers to questions she knew not how to voice. The man's kind eyes settled her anxiety.
"What is your name, child?" Renado asked as he wound the bandage tightly around her shoulder as it was before.
The girl hesitated, until a voice seemed to whisper in her ear, Arcadia. "Arcadia," the name was familiar as it rolled off her tongue, but it didn't seem right. Still, she looked confidently up at Renado and repeated the word.
"Welcome to Kakariko Village, Arcadia. Luda, fetch our guest something to eat."
The girl ran off to do her father's bidding.
"Is... Link still in the village?" Arcadia hoped she remembered his name correctly, and was rewarded with a small nod.
"He passed the night here. When Luda returns, I will send her to find him for you."
Luda returned quickly, bearing a tray. She gave Arcadia a large bowl of a spicy smelling stew, and a loaf of thick bread. On a bedside table she placed a glass of milk. When her father ordered her to find the hero, Luda left the room without a word. Arcadia watched the girl leave, then stared at the food in her lap, waiting permission to eat. When there was no word spoken, she looked up, only to find that Renado was staring out of the only window in the room. Arcadia took a tentative mouthful of stew and closed her eyes in wonder. The taste exploded on her tongue; thick, heady chunks of meat, herbs akin to cilantro and garlic, the tang of citrus, and the burn of hot peppers mixed together to create a South-Westerner's dream. The bread was warm and soft, and soaked the stew up quickly to create a soggy, delicious mess. When the fire of the peppers started to burn more than warm her tongue, she took a deep draught of the rich milk. Dinner was never so glorious as this one meal.
The door opened. Renado turned and greeted the young man who entered. The newcomer was a head shorter than the medicine man, and more lithely built. He was lean muscle and willowy, with a young face. His golden hair was short, kept out of his way by a long green hat. Arcadia put her bowl and bread to the side and stood on trembling legs.
"You're Link?" she asked in her small voice.
"I am."
"Arcadia," she greeted, stretching out a hand. "I owe you my life for savin' me."
Link shook her hand firmly and smiled, but shook his head modestly at her proclamation.
"I seem to remember you putting up a bit of a fight yourself, before they stabbed you," Link stated, nodding at the long, sheathed knife that sat piled with her clothes from the day before.
Arcadia saw the knife and frowned deeply, lowering her gaze in shame. "Didn't do much. I lost that fight before it started."
"It's dangerous out there at night."
The girl kept her eyes lowered and retrieved her bowl of stew, stirring the chunks around with her spoon. Long strands of hair the same shade of gold as his own fell beside her face and down her back. Her face might once have been round and pretty to some degree. But her cheeks now were hollow and sunburnt, peeling over her cheekbones. Her button nose was bright red, though it contrasted little with the pink of her face. She raised her eyes. They were a cloudy grey-blue and shining with an insatiable hunger, standing out harshly from the warm hue of her face. Her face, and indeed the slight proportions of her body, betrayed privation.
"You aren't from around here, are you?" Link asked, pulling up a chair near Arcadia's cot. Renado had excused himself long before.
Arcadia thought hard, furrowing her brow. "I reckon not..."
"Can I ask where you're from?" Link had a sneaking suspicion that the girl couldn't hardly remember who she was, much less where she was from.
She was hesitating, fidgeting with the spoon in her left hand. "I'm supposed to know..." her voice now was brittle.
In the back of her mind she knew the place, but not its name. It was an unreachable destination, across vast seas, through space, or even through the gates of hell. Link frowned, afraid his prediction was true. Deep creases appeared on Arcadia's forehead and around her eyes as she shook her head with slow sorrow. Link was unsure of how to comfort the stranger.
"You should rest for the day," he finally said. "Finish eating and rest. Tomorrow I'll take you to Hyrule Castle."
Arcadia's head shot up, her eyes wide. "Castle?"
Link smiled and nodded, though in the back of his mind he wondered how she could have missed the towering structure. "It's about a full days' ride away from here. I have to report those monsters to Princess Zelda."
So the creatures weren't commonplace. But the hero before her had handled them with the ease of a master.
"It's a long story," Link explained. "But there haven't been monsters in Hyrule for two years. The fact that they're starting to appear now means that something bad must have happened. Someone is trying to take control. We have to prepare for the defense of the kingdom."
He let the girl digest that information, and could feel himself transforming already- fixing himself into the mindset of the Hero of the Twilight. He looked at Arcadia. Though she had been carrying a weapon she was useless against the bokoblins, and they were to be the least of the kingdom's worries. Her best bet would be to stay in the castle, or else find her way to the far reaches of the kingdom, where the war would be less fierce.
"Try to remember everything you can before then, alright?" Link asked. She looked up and held his gaze.
"I'll do my best." Link stood and crossed over to the door. "Will you come back here later?" she asked before he left the room.
With the door half-open, Link looked back at the girl. "We'll see."
The door closed with a soft tap, and Arcadia was alone again. She stood shakily, ignoring her steadily growing headache and the sharp pain in her shoulder. She took a glance out the window. Kakariko was a dusty little town, with one lane splitting it in half. On either side of the wide road was a menagerie of shops and homes. Few people were on the street in the heat of day. On the far side of town there was a spring that shone bright in the sunlight. With nothing more to watch but the heat waves rising form various buildings or rocks, Arcadia turned back into the room and returned to her cot. The stew was cold now, and the milk lukewarm. They sat heavily in her stomach.
Link made his way to where Epona was being kept. The huge beast greeted him warmly, trotting quickly over with her nostrils flaring. Epona nuzzled Link's chest, making him scratch her neck and comb through her mane as she searched his person for sweets. Link revealed an apple he had saved from his breakfast and let the mare take a large chunk out of it, pulling the rest away. While her jaws worked the fruit into a mass of pulp, the hero checked the strength of her muscles, the healthy shine of her eyes and coat. The mare wasn't so young anymore, but she was still strong and healthy. She could carry him faithfully for another journey.
"This'll be the last, my friend," Link promised, looking into Epona's warm honey eyes.
The mare breathed warm, sweet breaths into his face, tickling his cheeks and nose with the hairs of her muzzle. Link laughed heartily and relinquished the rest of his apple to his friend. Crunching behind him, Epona followed Link into her small stable while the youth checked her tack. Her ears perked as he grabbed her saddle, but he didn't move to settle the heavy leather throne on her back. Rather, Link slung the saddle over the corral rails, and returned to the stable for the bridle, saddle bags, and blanket. The well-crafted leather winked at the lad in the noon sun. Pulling a kerchief from a pocket Link set about shining the tack, checking its wear as he did. When the objects gleamed like polished copper, he stood back and eyed the tough-woven saddle blanket. It was heavy with dirt, and burrs clung around the edges. Epona snorted in what could have been taken easily for either amusement or disdain as she watched her young master take a hefty limb to the blanket, relieving it of its load.
Link heard footsteps and looked up to see Renado crossing over to him. The medicine man smiled a bit at the boy, who's features were caked in a thin layer of dust. Link ran a hand through his hair, loosening the dirt, and lightly dropped the thick stick he'd previously been beating against the saddle blanket.
"Preparing, young hero?"
"Yes, have to make sure the old girl will hold out," Link smiled and nodded back to Epona, who cropped idly at a clump of grasses nearby.
"She will service you well. What of yourself? Are you well equipped?" Renado asked.
Link briefly touched the hilt of his sword protruding from his left shoulder and nodded solemnly.
"It will be a long journey," Renado predicted, looking far past the ties of Kakariko to a place only he could see. "Luda will see that you are well enough provisioned to the castle, so that you do not go hungry tomorrow
"Thanks, Renado," Link smiled, heartily shaking the wise man's hand. "You're a good friend."
Renado mirrored Link's expression, then turned to look down the lane.
"I send you my best wishes, Link. May I ask your help with our wounded ally?" Link wondered why his friend needed any help with the girl, but followed anyway.
Arcadia had thought herself to sleep, trying to piece together fragments of pictures, snatches of voices. She came up largely empty-handed from her efforts, sporting only an overwhelming headache. She now walked sun-dappled paths in a dreamworld, a woman singing incoherently somewhere voice blocked out the quiet sound of the door shutting. The feeling of the earth beneath her bare feet and the sun shining down on her face and shoulders obscured the feeling of her bandages being unwound. Through the hazy dream her sleeping self strode aimlessly through, she suddenly felt a debilitating jolt. Her eyes snapped open, and a high, guttural shriek ripped out of her throat. The initial feeling lessened just barely, and there was a pause, during which the terrible burn festered in her now throbbing shoulder. Then the white-hot flash occurred again.
"Sweet mother ha' mercy!" she screamed, eyes wide but vision blurred with tears and spotty with pain.
She could vaguely make out the large form of Renado standing over her right side. Through the smoldering agony, she felt a weight pressing down on her, and saw the slighter shadow of Link. The young man was holding her bodily to the cot as the previously discovered instrument of torture prodded her shoulder again, and again, and again. Arcadia's screeches were cut into choking gasps reminiscent of sharp hiccups, then were further divided into short and silent intakes. Finally they gave out, though her chest still heaved and her lips still, trembling, weaved silent words of woe.
Link looked down with pity at the creature. "What did you do?"
"The wound was developing an infection. With any luck that salve will kill it before it can spread," Renado replied, applying a salve to the reddened gash.
"What was it?" Link asked, waving a hand in front of the girl's unmoving eyes. She gave a tiny, shuddering moan.
Renado didn't answer, continuing his administrations. He looked impassively at the tears streaming down his patient's face. He knew that the treatment was painful. It was supposed to be, and so he had little comfort to give. Link lifted himself gingerly from the girl's shoulder. She closed her eyes, willing the stray tears to stop, and shifted herself so that the medicine man could rewrap her shoulder with little difficulty. Her thin cheeks were flushed with pain and the embarrassment of screaming so pitifully.
When Renado left, Link remained, pulling up a chair like he did before and waiting for the shocked girl to come to her senses. She stared blankly at the closed door, perhaps devising a plan against Renado for the harsh wake up. Link gave a tiny chuckle at the thought. Arcadia started briefly at the sound, then huffed.
"Well... That was..." She huffed again and turned to look at Link.
"Sorry about that. But Renado said that would keep it from getting infected," Link gave an apologetic grin.
The girl was silent, staring almost cross-eyed to see the spot on her shoulder where the bandages were thickest. Her nose twitched.
"Were you able to remember anything?" Link asked after a long silence.
"No names, no faces. Mostly shapes, and landscapes. Sometimes a voice... Nothing much, I don't suppose."
Link frowned. "That's a shame." He thought briefly. "What about before the bokoblins attacked? Do you remember anything?"
Arcadia fiddled with her middle finger, then looked down as if something was missing. "I remember the sun spinning. Two days. Then I was able to move again. I didn't know where to go. The heat played tricks on me."
Link frowned. Something wasn't right. "What about the monsters?"
"Those first two days, nothing disturbed me. On the third, they lingered just out of range... Those big blue ones attacked on the fourth. There were birds too, but they showed little interest..."
Link's frown deepened. Bokoblins weren't typically intelligent enough to keep themselves from charging a helpless victim when they saw one. That they would sit in wait for a day before attacking was disturbing. Arcadia gave no more information, sitting silent and still now. She wouldn't give him anything else, he knew.
"Somethin's troubling you."
Her voice was almost inaudible, but when Link looked up to see if his ears had deceived him, her hungry eyes were boring into his own. Link pondered voicing his worries on the sudden spike of bokoblin intelligence, but didn't want to worry the fragile girl unnecessarily.
"It's a bit... uncharacteristic... for the bokoblins to not attack immediately," he simply explained.
Arcadia pondered for a moment. "Guess I'm lucky they waited then."
Link wondered if she had always been so quiet, or if her silence was a side effect of her recent experiences. She offered no more conversation, so he stood.
"I should let you rest. It'll be an early start in the morning."
Arcadia rose and shook his hand in farewell.
"Luda should bring you travelling clothes soon. She's also packing food for tomorrow- it'll be a full day's ride to the castle, after all."
"I'll be ready."