NOTES: Hey everybody! Thanks to a very positive response, I've decided to expand on the one-off that I made a while back. This first chapter, and several more in the future, will take place before the events of More Than Partners, while later chapters will take place in the future. I'll be sure to leave notes in the chapters right before, and right after the events of the one-off so you won't have to struggle to figure out when the timeline shifts. I hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I'm enjoying writing it.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh, I'm so tired. Can we pleeeeeeeease stop already? Like, I don't mean to complain, but we've been marching for at LEAST six hours now," you groaned as you pulled yourself up onto the top of a tall rock and lay down on the large, flat surface. After bathing in the sunlight for a moment, you sit up and take a long drink from your Bokoblin waterskin. Wiping the dripping sweat from your brow, you appreciate the small break in your long journey as you watch your partner survey the lands from the edge of the platform.

"Link, you're a great guy, and I love adventuring with you, but your stamina is crazy! We've been making our way through the forest all day and you barely look tired. How do you do it, man?"

Link raised his hand to his forehead to block the sunlight hitting his eyes as he scanned the valley in front of him. He stood proudly with a strong, wide stance that kept him firmly rooted to the ground. His presence resembled that of an Oak: tall, powerful, and ready to handle anything thrown its way.

You gazed at him with an annoyed look as he remained silent.

"Hey, jackass, I'm talking to you," you said as you chucked a pebble at him.

The small rock, however, did not faze the determined adventurer. It simply slammed into his tunic with a soft 'thud' and skittered its way across the ground before coming to a stop. The wind howled quietly as you watched the rock come to a halt.

You decided to stand up and join him to see what he was so focused on. As you walked up beside him, you took a good long look into the valley below.

About one hundred meters out, there was a sharp drop off from the dense forest the two of you had been exploring for most of the day that led to a large, grassy field. The long blades gently waved as the setting sun painted them yellow. A small lake stirred softly as ducks and fish swam through its cool waters.

Unsure of what to focus on, you looked to Link to try and see exactly what area of the large field he was scouting, but after checking multiple times, you could see nothing of real interest.

"Um, what exactly are we looking for here? Is it the ducks," you asked, staring forward. "I think it's the ducks," you said softly after a few moments of silence pass.

Suddenly and without breaking his gaze, Link's hand shot up and signed for you to look where he was pointing.

You looked as intently as you possibly could, doing your best to line your sight up with his finger.

"I um, I see a stick? Standing up in the field," you said, with very little confidence.

"Good," Link signed. "And what do you think it means?"

"Well, it probably didn't end up like that on its own, so I guess someone's been there before?"

"Excellent. Can you tell me who exactly went through there, though?"

"Not a chance. A lot of people carry sticks around when they're walking. Especially if they're going for long hikes, but I don't know why they would just leave it sticking out there in the middle of a field."

Link smiled and pulled you next to him. "Look closer, do you see that ribbon hanging off the end of that stick," he signed. "It's blue with a white stripe down the middle. That's a pattern used by traders up to the north. And the direction the stick is leaning shows which direction they're headed. As you can see, this trader was headed to the northwest."

"Oh, wow. So what does that mean for us?"

"Well, the man we're looking for, Pikle, was sent out to pick up some furs that traders from the north usually carry. It's not a perfect lead, but it would make sense to think that he followed this post and is to our northwest somewhere in the mountains."

"Oh, great! So we're getting closer!"

"I hope so. There's a small chance he went out to go hunt for the pelts himself, but from what his family told us, he isn't really much of a fighter."

"Yeah, he looked like a pretty scrawny guy in the picture they showed us."

Link let out a small chuckle and signed, "Hey, don't underestimate someone based on how big they are. I've faced plenty of tough enemies who were a fraction of my size."

"That's cause you're a dork who can't fight off a few ChuChus without slipping and busting your ass."

"That was ONE TIME," Link signed very intensely as his cheeks turned a light shade of red.

You let out a small giggle. "I'll never let you live it down, though. What's our next move, by the way? I hope it's taking a rest because GOD I'm exhausted."

Link looked to the sky and noticed it turning a mix of red, purple, and blue. "We should probably wait here until early morning," he signed. "A lot of creatures like to come out during the night, which normally isn't too bad, but if we try and cross that field, we'll be completely open on all sides. We'll also be more susceptible to arrow attacks. We'll leave at daybreak, and by the time we make it to the mountains, we should be in the shadows, so the heat won't be a problem while we climb."

"Amazing. Exactly what I like to hear, or see, I guess," you say excitedly as you begin unloading your backpack and setting up a tent for the two of you.

Link walks over and pats your back before beginning to help you get your camp site ready.

"So how long did it take you to get so good at adventuring? I mean, you're a legendary hero and all. You don't really earn that kind of reputation overnight," you asked Link as you sat on the floor, facing him and sipping on a cup of tea.

"I've been training since I was a little kid," Link signed, sitting with his back against one of the tent's support beams. "When I was ten, I could wield a sword, by thirteen I was lugging around a shield, and by sixteen I was scaling the sides of mountains."

"Holy shit. That sounds pretty rough."

"I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. It was tough, but the things I've seen and the things I've done really make up for it. It's been a truly unique experience. For as long as I can remember, my parents told me that the spirit of a brave warrior lingered inside of me, and I know now what they meant. I don't know if I'll really be as amazing as they said I would, but I can sure as hell try."

"Well, I mean, you were personally tasked with guarding princess Zelda back in the day. I feel like that's pretty amazing."

Link laughed awkwardly as he rubbed his temples. "Yes," he signed, "I was. But I also failed. I wouldn't really call that amazing. Anybody can fail; a truly amazing warrior would have kept her safe."

"Give yourself some credit man. At least you lost to like, the ultimate evil in the entire universe. I mean, do you really think anyone could have beat him by themselves?"

"I don't know, honestly. I feel like if I had just... been a little better, I could have beaten him."

The two of you looked off to the side as the chirping of crickets filled the air.

"What was it like one hundred years ago? Like, what was life like before Ganon," you asked.

"Things were, different," Link signed slowly. "It was peaceful. You didn't have to leave the house with a weapon on your back, and children would play in the forests without any care. I wasn't very old before his presence started changing the world, but I do remember, very clearly, a general sense of harmony in the world. People's problems were minor, and guards weren't posted at every street corner like they were near the end. I remember there was this one guard, Talia, who I'd talk to every day before running off into the forest to explore. She would sneak me some food from the mess hall so I'd have a snack while I was out. I loved talking to her. I feel like she would have been a great mother because she really loved kids. I wonder why she joined the guard in the first place. The rigid and tough lifestyle didn't really fit her personality well, but I never asked. You don't really think about that kind of stuff when you're a kid, you know? I remember one day on my way out, she stopped me and said I wasn't able to go exploring. She wouldn't tell me why, just that she wasn't supposed to let anyone through and that I should go home and play instead. Kept telling me that maybe tomorrow would be different. We continued that routine for a few weeks until one day she told me she was going to have to go away for a bit on a 'really important mission'. She gave me a tight hug and said she'd see me again in about a week and that she'd make sure to bring a nice snack for me to munch on. I eagerly awaited her return, but I never saw her again after that. Some mean guy with a beard took her spot, and he wasn't too happy about dealing with some young punk every day, so I stopped trying to go out. A few days later, my uncle was teaching me how to swing a sword and well, you know the rest. It's funny how quickly life changes when evil starts to infect the world. It's subtle at first; you barely even notice anything is different. The new policies put in place by the military are more inconvenienced than anything and you jokingly complain to your friend about how long it took you to get there with all the new checkpoints throughout town, and that the government must not have anything better to do than make you late for your appointments. But then, things become more serious. People look worried all the time; the military is omnipresent, and people stop leaving their houses unless they have to. Marketplaces are almost deserted as people quickly make their purchases and run back home. Kids aren't playing and laughing, streets are empty, and the city is silent. The sense of dread is so thick you could cut it with a knife. Everybody is always so tense. Personally, I prefer how things are now as opposed to right before the attack. Now, society has had time to get used to the way things are. Yeah, we're still constantly on edge, but we've learned how to live with it, and we've began doing the things that disappear with war again. People are laughing, they're exploring, they've found some joy in life. It gives me hope that maybe Ganon can still be defeated, and maybe things can go back to the way they were, but I don't know."

After a brief pause, Link turned and noticed you staring at him with a very sober expression.

"Sorry to bring the mood down, I guess I got a little deep there, huh," he signed.

"No, it's fine. I'm… it's interesting hearing about how you feel and think, especially about all this. If anyone, it's really affected your life the most. I'm really sorry to hear about your friends and, well, everyone, I suppose."

"It's fine. There's nothing that's going to change how things turned out. What's important is what's happening now, and how we can make a better future.

"I guess so…"

Link slightly opened the slit in the front of the tent to take a peek at the dark night sky.

"It's getting late, we should get some rest. You know I'm gonna kick your ass out of bed early tomorrow, right?"

"I'm looking forward to it," you replied with the most sarcastic tone you could muster.

Link opened the door to the small oil lantern that had been illuminating the tent and blew it out.

"Good night," you said, slipping into your bedroll.

You lay there for a few moments thinking about Link and how dramatically his life must have changed from that one-hundred-year rest. An entirely new civilization was formed while he was gone. Everything he used to know about the world around him had changed, and you could tell it changed him too. He seemed much wiser and more mature than most people his age, but you didn't really know whether it was a good thing or not. You felt like his entire childhood was robbed form him, and although he says he doesn't mind it, you couldn't help but think he's got some hard feelings about it that he just doesn't want to share.

Your last thoughts before you drifted to sleep were that of a world you never knew: a world without Ganon.