I own neither Fire Emblem of Legend of Zelda. Don't get on MY case if you forget that D:
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"And you see, Link, catching venison isn't really a sport, it is survival. If a creature such as the deer must loose its life to us, we should honor it by using everything it can give us. Nothing should be left unused, or it is an insult to the goddesses themselves."
The blonde nodded, slinging his bow over his shoulder. He was sure this was the last time for a while he would be able to go hunting with his best friend and adopted father, Rusl, and he wanted to make the most of this lesson. In a week's time, the Ordon swordsman would be heading to Castle Town, to a ceremony in Hyrule's capital. Mayor Bo was being extra particular about preparations for the swordsman, and had asked Rusl to help teach his student the finer ways of protection and surviving.
Rusl smiled at his companion, heaving the dead deer over his shoulder. "Well, let's be heading back now. Tonight, we eat meat! And then you can be off to bed, alright?"
"I think the village children will want a story first," the blonde replied. "They always do."
The elder man shrugged. "Ah, they don't come into Faron Woods like we do, Link. They love hearing about it." He paused, turning to look at the blonde. "You know, they respect you. Don't disappoint them needlessly, or they'll stop trusting you."
"I know," Link replied. "Hey—I'll catch up with you in a moment, okay, Rusl? I wanna go to the Spring and wash some of the scratches off." When the elder man nodded and walked back towards Ordon, Link pushed deeper into the Faron Woods, brushing spider webs and tree branches aside as he trekked. The Spring was one of his favorite places, and had a certain mystique about it that Ordon Spring did not. Perhaps one reason was it was not nearly as visited, and felt more inviting than the one nearer his peaceful home.
The soft trickling of water gave away the Spring, and Link wadded into the shallow waters, savoring the lukewarm feel on his skin. He flopped backwards, splashing into the spring, kicking his sandals off and sighing. Droplets of the liquid splashed into his slightly parted lips, tasting sweet and refreshing.
His bright blue eyes slid shut, savoring the mesmerizing powers of the ancient waterhole, and he drifted into thought. Seven days, and he would be the sole protector of Ordon, even if only for four days at most. He was exhausted from the extra amounts of training and lack of sleep, but he couldn't have been happier.
I wonder what Talo and Malo are going to do to torment me while I'm the front line, Link thought, blissfully ignorant of his surroundings. He could feel sleep creeping towards him, wanting to claim him, when something snapped, and he sat up sharply, alert.
The branches near the edge of the Spring shuddered, and someone cried out. Link leaned forward slightly as the shrubs shifted, and a figure stumbled into the water, without warning. "Ow!" the figure moaned. "My ankle…my ankle! Shit, it's…it's twisted… Ow! Ow!" The person's knees suddenly gave out, and they fell face-first into the Spring, unconscious.
"Oi!" Link scrambled onto his feet, and rushed over to the figure—a boy, by the looks of it—and grabbed him by the shoulders, pulling him out of the water so he could breath. The boy spluttered, moaned, and then slipped into a shallow silence.
Link paused to examine the person. He looked to be only a year younger than himself, with pale features and a toned frame. Hair the color of flames poured from the boy's skull, framing his face and round ears. He was dressed rather oddly: a blue and gold tunic covered his torso, while cream pants his legs. Worn navy boots protected his feet and shins, thin bands of metal wrapped around the ankle. A black undershirt covered his arms where the blue and gold armored shoulder pads and breastplate did not. Draped around his neck was a slightly tattered blue and red cape, and a thick metal circlet wound its way around his forehead, keeping those red locks out of his eyes. His hands were clad in fingerless blue and grey gloves, one on his stomach and the other brushing the gold and blue scabbard at his waist. Exposed from the sheathe was an intricate golden hilt, decorated with sapphires and rubies alike. The leather handgrip was a dark green, and the gem set in the center of the hilt was a dark, blood-red.
This boy was most certainly not Hylian, Link deduced. But he needs help. He's barely breathing. The blonde scooped the unconscious swordsman up, being careful to not shift either of his ankles. The boy had said something about one of the joints being wounded, after all, and Link wasn't entirely positive the Spring water could help.
The Hylian set his jaw, and jogged as fast as he dared into the forest, and towards his home village.
*
"Is he awake?"
"Let me by, Beth!"
"Talo, stop shoving!"
He blinked wearily. His eyelids felt like they weighed a ton, and it took all the strength he had just to keep his eyes open. Dark blue eyes drifted down to his chest curiously. He had been stripped of all most all of his garments, and now laid on what appeared to be a bed in his black undershirt and cream pants. Even the circlet had been removed, and his bright red hair fell into his face.
"Hey…Hey! Mom, he's awake!" He glanced over to see a young boy run to the other side of the room, and drag a pregnant woman to his side. "Mom, look! He's awake!"
The woman looked down on him with kind brown eyes and a smile. "Good morning, dear," she said warmly. "Your fever broke, thank goodness, are you alright?"
He tried to sit up, but a hand pushed him back down. "No way!" snapped a young girl. "You were really really sick! If Link hadn't saved you, Uli says you might have died!"
"U…Uli?" he echoed hoarsely. "Who…is Uli?" He didn't try to sit up again, more from lack of strength than will. "W-who…are you...people?"
The woman rested a hand on his forehead. "You're much cooler," she said. "I'm Uli, by the way, and these are the younger children in Ordon Village: my son, Colin, Beth, Talo, and Malo. Link and Ilia went to get more water, and the Mayor and my husband are outside, but they'll probably come to see you soon."
The boy called Talo stepped forward, pushing past Uli and taking her position next to him. "What's your name?" he asked, sounding almost excited.
He opened his mouth to answer, but choked off as the door opened, and a portly man stormed inside. "This is the person Link brought back from the woods?" he asked. "Interesting, I've never seen someone with such a color of hair."
The portly man stepped closer. "I'm Bo, the Mayor of Ordon Village." He gestured to the younger, more built man that had followed him in. "This is Rusl, the village militia. I must ask, why were you running through the Faron Woods, dressed for war, armed and wounded? Are you from Castle Town?"
"C-Castle Town?" the red-haired youth echoed. "No…I d-don't know…I…I can't remember." He bowed his head shamefully. "I can't remember anything."
"Anything?" Bo looked at him skeptically. "Absolutely nothing?" When the boy shook his head, the Mayor scoffed. "Sounds like he might have suffered some head trauma…what's your name, boy?"
"I don't know."
Bo looked at him, slightly dumbstruck. "You don't know?"
"No, sir. I…I can't remember anything!" Tears began to brim on the boy's eyelids. "I don't remember who I am, or how I got here! I can't…anything!"
Uli sat down on the bed, and gathered the boy into her arms, cradling him as he cried into her shoulder. "Shh," she murmured. "It's alright. No one is mad at you, dear…" She rubbed his back rhythmically, comforting the teenager as his sobs eventually became nothing more than hiccups. "No one will harm you."
"Uli…" Rusl said, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Is he alright, physically?"
Uli pulled the youth away, and gently laid him back down, checking his face and ankle. "It appears so," she said. "Thank goodness Link knows where to find those spirits that heal so well. He's totally fine…physically."
"I wanna go home," the red-haired boy whimpered. "I d-don't know where I live…but I wanna go…I…" Beth jumped to the rescue before he could break down again, grabbing his hand and squeezing it reassuringly.
"Is he awake?" All heads turned as two more people walked into the room. One was a thin, attractive female, around his own age—what was that again? Fifteen? Sixteen?—and the other slightly older, a male with slightly overgrown blonde hair and sky-blue eyes. It was the latter than had spoken, and he continued to do so. "Oh, he is. Is he alright?"
The boy call Colin shook his head. "No, Link, he says he can't remember a thing. Not even his own name, or where he comes from, or how he got to Ordon."
The older female, the one the red-haired boy assumed was called Ilia, set her jug of water down and joined Beth at his bedside. "Can you remember anything?" she prompted gently. "Anything at all?"
The red-haired youth screwed his eyes shut, focusing as hard as he could. Everything was a misty swirl in his mind; nothing made sense, and the only things he could remember were the names he had been told in the last fifteen minutes. A name…a name you don't know...
'NO! R…No, stop! NOOOOO!'
"Ah!" The boy flinched as the scream cut through the fog, shattering the murky calmness of his mind. He wildly tried to hone in on the yell, but it was too late; everything was black and white, where only now was real.
Something brushed his arm, and he opened his eyes to see the blonde man called Link hovering next to Ilia. "Did you remember something?" he asked.
The boy closed his eyes again, breathing deeply. Someone had screamed... R? Could his name…? "I…I th-think…I think my name starts with an 'R'," he said quietly.
Beth released his hand, and looked to the other three young children. "Maybe we can name a bunch of 'R' names, and you might recognize one of them!" she said. "That way, we'll know what to call you!"
"Red!"
"Ryan!"
"Rachel?"
Smack.
"Race!"
"Reed!"
"Rex! Ray!"
"Roy?"
"Rutabaga!"
"That's it…"
Talo blinked. "Oh goddesses, man, you're not telling me you're named after a vegetable!"
The red-haired boy sat up slowly, and this time, no one stopped him. "No…b-before that…it…it sounded familiar."
Colin flushed. "…Roy? Is…is that your name?"
Silence filled the air as the boy struggled to think, biting his lip. Roy…that did sound familiar. It…
'NOOOOO! Roy! ROY!!'
"My name…" the boy whispered. "I…it's Roy. My name…is Roy."
*
Link sat on top of Mayor Bo's house, next to Ilia and Colin, as the rest of the town mingled about Uli's and Rusl's home. "So…we picked up a kid suffering from memory loss?" the blonde asked.
Ilia nodded. "Yes…that seems to be the case. It's fortunate he remembered his name; it's easier to call him 'Roy' than 'that red-haired kid'. It is a step towards completely remembering what happened to him."
The blonde nodded. There was definitely something odd about the boy, his hair being the oddest. No one in the village had ever seen locks so vibrant of red. And Link hadn't even seen it in the sun yet. "What do you think really happened to him?" he asked suddenly.
Colin's frown deepened slightly as he looked towards his home again. "I don't know…" he said softly. "He was mumbling in his sleep…he sounded terrified. Whatever happened to him…it's left a permanent impression.
"Whatever happened, it nearly killed him."
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Royliekins? Amnesia? What really happened? ;O Stay tuned to find out, peoples!
This is my first time writing as Roy or Link seriously…please forgive me if the latter is OOC. Roy has an excuse, so ha.
Please review ;O
-Muse