A/N: Heyo, people. So um... this is actually an intro to another story I'm doing with my sister, but that one's a giant weird crossover f idk wtf is going on kind of thing. So I decided I might as well try to put the intro thing up as a one shot seeing as we may not put the whole story online as not many people would read it. It's mainly for our own entertainment...
This is my first attempt at Zelda fanfiction, so also my first attempt at all of these characters. I hope you enjoy it.
Cleaning the Ice Rod was a rather delicate process. The magical staff was very sensitive, and simply dropping it could result in finding yourself with a new indoor ice rink. It was very easy for Ravio to set it off unintentionally if he was startled, something that happened a lot back in Lorule. (You get jumpy when your next door neighbor won't hesitate to kill you if you cross their path.)
Ravio carefully swept the polishing rag over the top of the staff, being extra cautious; the last time he had cleaned the thing, he'd set it off, and the merchant wasn't so sure if Sheerow would be as forgiving a second time. Said bird-thing was hovering nearby, watching cautiously and seeming prepared to move at a moment's notice. A good thing, too, seeing as the hero of Hyrule picked that precious moment to barge into the shop, slamming the door open.
Ravio let out a yelp, as did Sheerow as the bird-thing barely dodged a blast of ice magic. He quickly flew away from Ravio's side and towards the back of the room, ruffling his feathers and squawking out what could have only been his version of profanities. The merchant, clutching the Ice Rod guiltily in both hands, cast a sheepish apology towards his tiny business partner, which Sheerow ignored, instead stomping behind the bed frame against the wall.
Link, who had been awoken from his daze induced by a trek back home with only his thoughts to occupy him, looked towards Ravio with a startled expression, unsure of what had just occurred. Ravio, ever the salesman, turned to the other with enthusiasm that spawned from seemingly nowhere.
"Welcome back, Mr. Hero!" he greeted, gently placing the Ice Rod on the counter beside him. Said hero blinked tiredly in response. Ravio paused to take in his appearance. Link stood, slumped, with his hand loosely gripping the Master Sword. His tunic and hair were dripping with water, and probably sweat as well. In all honesty, the boy looked as if he would give his entire house just to get a nap. (But he'd already given that up, so whoops.)
Ravio chuckled a little nervously. "You alright there, buddy? You look 'bout ready to keel over."
"Tired…" Link responded, stepping further into the house/shop/whatever i don't even know anymore and closing the door behind him.
"Eh?" The merchant watched him slowly make his way to the counter. "But it's not even midday!" he exclaimed, straining his neck to see out the window. As Link set his sword on the counter, the merchant proceeded to do his lil freak out dance idk how to explain it. "C'mon, Mr. Hero! You can't be tired! You've got a whole day ahead of you! A day full of sword fighting, and monster slaying, and dungeon exploring, and kingdom saving, and a bunch of other really important hero things!"
As Ravio danced about, striking poses and miming his words, Link stared blankly at him, blinking slowly and yawning more than once. Suddenly, Ravio ceased his dancing and bolted towards his landlord, interrupting one of the other's yawns. The merchant grabbed the Master Sword by the hilt and shoved it into Link's hand.
"What are you even doing here? You've gotta save Lorule! You've gotta stop Hilda!" the merchant cried frantically. He grabbed the stunned Link by the shoulders and steered him to the door. He opened the door and ushered the hero out with a final phrase of encouragement and a promise to Link that he could come back at sunset.
The merchant closed the door securely and turned to lean against it with a sigh, looking up at the ceiling. Sheerow, who had popped his head out from behind the bed frame, flew up onto a counter and watched the other. It took him a moment, but Ravio eventually dragged his eyes to his tiny business partner. Sheerow looked expectant, as if he knew something that Ravio had missed.
"What?" Ravio questioned, confused. Sheerow made a motion of rolling his eyes and took flight to swoop towards his robed partner. Ravio was about to query as to what the bird-thing meant, but he was interrupted by a timid knock at the door. Confused by yet another thing, Ravio turned around and opened the door a crack to peak outside at the knocker. There, looking just as tired as before, stood Link.
Ravio let out a squawk and frowned. "What are you still doing here, Mr. Hero? You've gotta get going if you wanna find all those paintings! Go on now, buddy! I won't let you in until sundown!" With that, he closed the door and held it shut by the handle.
"What if I want to buy something?" came the tired rely from the other side of the door.
"Do you want to buy something?" Ravio queried skeptically. When Link failed to respond, he continued. "If you're not gonna buy anything, I'm afraid you'll have to leave. I don't tolerate loitering!"
"This is my house." Link sounded exasperated.
"When the shop's closed it is," the other responded. "But between 10 AM and 8 PM, it's my shop."
He heard a loud sigh from the other side of the door. "Ravio, come on," Link moaned. "I just want to take a quick nap."
"Nu-uh," he responded, shaking his head, "You've got the whole day ahead of you, Mr. Hero, and I'm not gonna let you waste it away in bed!"
There was a long moment of silence in which Ravio shifted awkwardly and exchanged a glance with Sheerow.
"Mr. Hero? You still there?"
After a few more moments of silence, Ravio heard a dull thunk against the door.
"...Mr. Hero?" After receiving no reply, the merchant slowly pulled open the door. Link, who had been leaning his head against the door, fell forward, landing on top of Ravio with a cry of shock. "You're not gonna leave, are you?" the merchant questioned. Link shook his head in response.
A few minutes later, Link was situated in a makeshift bed of blankets and pillows in the side of the shop. Ravio sat cross legged atop a nearby counter, watching Sheerow as he played with the merchant's long scarf.
Link looked up at the merchant sleepily. "Ravio," he spoke, drawing the bunny masked merchant's attention to him. "Earlier," he started, speaking slowly. "When you were trying to get me to leave, you said I had to stop Hilda…"
Ravio tensed. Had he really said that? "Whaaat?" Ravio asked slowly with a grin, laughing nervously. "You musta heard me wrong there. I said you gotta stop Yuga. That's what I said. Eheheh…" He shifted awkwardly, scratching the side of his bunny cowl.
Link blinked, furrowing his brow. "But-"
"Hey, Mr. Hero!" Ravio suddenly cut him off, jumping off the counter and holding up a finger. "Y'know what would be real great? If people made energy potions! So then you'd be able to keep going without sleeping as much!" Ravio paused. "Hey, that could be a great product! I could make a fortune off of that!"
As Link blinked in surprise from his spot on the floor, Ravio bolted over to the door with an excited Sheerow at his heel. "I'd better go see if anyone has something like that! Don't want to spend a month working on a product that's already been made!" Ravio pulled the door open and waved at Link. "You rest up Mr. Hero, I'll be back soon!" With that, he exited the house and began the short trek to Kakariko Village, leaving a tired and befuddled Link behind.
A/N: Yeah, it doesn't really have an ending. It just kinda stops. That's where Ravio would go to Kakariko and find a thingy that pulls him into the crossover world thing, and you guys don't care about that, so yeah. I'm pretty sure this story as a one shot could use more expansion, not just in adding more afterwards, but just making it longer and more um... heart warming? Idk... Add more dialogue and stuff. I do need to fix up the ending a bit, and seeing as I don't need a reason to get Ravio over to Kakariko village in the one shot, I might just get rid of the energy drink part.
Thoughts? Any improvement tips? Review are nice! They help me feel accomplished.