Nintendo created all the characters and places and stuff. I just made the story up. The cover was done by Zeliga of DeviantART.

Chapter One – A Night's Work

An owl's hoot disturbed the silence of the castle guard. The armoured soldiers marched along the stone walls, their tired eyes peering through windows in the brick for any intruders trying to cross the rapid water that was flowing through the moat into town. The night had been quiet and relatively peaceful even the stars twinkled like little nightlights in the clear skies above. The peace was only to be disturbed by an orange glow coming close to a giant drawbridge that was raised up for the night, through the dark and abandoned streets, clear of the townspeople.

"Halt!" a guard shouted pushing his hand out at the carrier of the orange glow "What business do you have in the field at this hour?"

The carrier of the glow said nothing; they only placed a small iron lantern on the cobblestone in remark.

"I ask again, state your business!" the guard growled coming towards the stranger. The stranger was a boy, no older that fifteen, hidden in a cape; the only thing showing through it was a small pointed chin and a pair of hands, the left of which was gloved in leather. The boy did not say a single word; his shadowed eyes just stared at the drawbridge as several guards aimed their crossbows at him, the boy could hear ever click of the safety on their weapons, yet he smiled.

The guard reached for the hood of his cape and attempted to pull it back but the boy gripped his wrist tightly so that the leather of his glove made a sound. The very action both shocking and angering the guard as the boy's hidden eyes continued to face the drawbridge. The boy pushed back slightly, releasing the man from his grasp and picked up his lantern before starting to walk forward again, seemingly unaware of the danger he had put himself in.

"Shoot him!" the guard squealed. The boy halted and lifted his arm up so that the arrow stuck into it, the guard stood up and pointed his spear at the boy as not one drop of crimson stained the cobblestone. The boy even pulled the arrow out of his arm before turning around and retreating into the shadows of the nearby streets "It's him again!"

The boy let out a startled gasp and started running, arrows stabbing through the cobblestones as he crossed them, he dashed around the back of a building as the sound of feet began to echo through the empty streets and lowered the sleeves of his cape to tut at the block of wood hidden on his right arm. It had saved him from the pain of the point and he was thankful for it. Torches were lit and the mood of the town changed from the sleepy shelter he had come out to, to about as safe as walking on lava. He let out a groan and edged across the brick wall that his back was against till his hands touched some leaves, blowing his lantern out, he quickly climbed up and crawled across the red roof tiles to the chimney. Lanterns and torches filled the streets like an orange river along with spears and other sharp things that would hurt when touched so the cover of darkness was no longer his friend and there was no way he was throwing himself into meaningless danger like that. He removed his hood to show a pair of sea blue eyes and blond hair that was close to brown and was tied up in a leather band, underneath his cape was a long bow, the string crossing his shirt, and a tanned quiver with arrows on his back; each arrow with a red feather on the end; with this, he had a small pouch on his left hip that was shut with an old button. He carefully removed the bow from under his cape and pulled a small coil of rope from his back; tying the end of the rope around the arrow, he crouched down on the tiles to shoot the arrow at a building across the town, managing to hit his target, another chimney, and pull the rope tight before it touched the ground, he tied the other end around the chimney with a loose knot.

He swung himself up and began to pull himself along the rope as silent as the wind, praying that no one would look up, being unable to protect himself in his position.
After reaching the roof, he tugged the arrow out of the chimney and pulled at the rope to let the knot come away on the other chimney and land on the cobblestone. As he did so he felt something tug on the other side; a familiar weight; one that he smiled at. Gripping with her teeth on the end of the rope was a dark chocolate coloured dog with the pinkest of noses; really just a puppy. On her back was a green bag that was tied up with rope. He scratched her behind the ears and tapped his shoulder. The little dog jumped up and lay down to let him tie the coil of rope he had pulled around her to keep her tied onto his back.

The boy rubbed his fingers across the underside of his boots to let a small knife blade come out at the toes and stabbed them into the walls, climbing up the wall like a spider.
He looked left and right before jumping over the side of the wall into the moat below, the water being pelted with arrows as he swum through the bars that blocked of the rough waters from the main river.

Safe.

The boy surfaced with a throaty gasp in the river, his limbs tired with fighting the current. He hauled himself onto land and untied the soaked puppy from his back before lying down; the puppy pawed his arm and yapped in his face to get him to play, but the boy sliced the air with his hand to silence her. The pup obeyed. He let out a light chuckle and patted his shoulder to let her snuggle for a hug for a moment. He had found the pup only a couple of months ago in a ditch with her drowned siblings but she was growing fast with a beautiful coat and hyper personality, though she was still very young, the pup rarely acted like one on the job, understanding hers perfectly and staying in the zone till it was done.

He had given her a name. Pippa.

Pippa wagged her long tail and licked his cheek with a rough pink tongue that told him she had been in the rubbish bins again. Though he had given her a bath which made her look twice as big, the loyalty she showed meant that she would be by his side no matter what happened.

The sun would be rising soon and they needed to be out of sight. Now. The boy jumped up and picked up Pippa in one hand before whistling with the other. He began to break into a run as a chestnut horse came galloping out of the shadows, coming to the call of her master. He slipped Pippa into a small pouch just her size by the reigns before jumping on himself. Pippa loved riding up here, she could see for miles and the speed they went made her cheeks blow up like balloons. She barked at her master, he stroked her behind the ears and flicked the reigns, disappearing in a cloud of dust from the angered town.

The boy slowed down the horse and walked through a gate. A small village that he had grown up in greeted him. The morning sun had not alarmed anyone to wake yet, but the sky was still turning pink and yellow. The boy stroked the mare and patted his shoulder for the pup to jump on; she missed and landed in his arms, putting her small paws onto his chest.

If dogs could smile. She would be.

The boy gently placed her in the grass and began to unload the horse as a wooden door without a window opened in a brick building in front of him. A girl stood in the doorway, no older than him, in a white dress with a simple orange flower in the middle, her hair was brown and tied into a ponytail down her back; she wore no shoes but her feet were clean.

"Link! You're back!" the girl shrieked jumping down the brick steps and running into the boy's arms, he smiled, Pippa growled with jealousy. Link still said nothing but let out a contented sigh. "Did you get it?"

He nodded and reached a hand into his cape. Bringing out a small grey bag out that was tied tight with dark string through the loops within it. He offered it to the girl

"Mother will be pleased you got back safely. She worries." the girl mumbled

Link swallowed hard

"Mother's okay. She will be with the spores, you did get them right?" the girl giggled giving him a light punch on the shoulder that made him grimace; but he nodded anyway. "Why are you wet?"

Link rolled his eyes and opened his mouth as if to speak, yet said nothing.

"You can tell me later. We need to take some this time." the girl spoke giving him the same eyes Pippa was giving him on the ground.

Link nodded once and picked up Pippa on the floor. She licked his face and pawed his chest as he let out a yawn. She whined with concern for her master as he took his cargo and her inside the house the child had run into.

Inside was closed off by shutters; that only let through pencil thin rays of morning sunshine. Link put the pup down and let her dive into a well-earned bowl of wet food, her face getting covered in the remains of meat from last night's meal to the point of her hind legs lifting from the floor till she was doing a handstand in her bowl.
Link untied the bag from her back and placed them on the table. Then he turned on his heel and thumped his head against the wall to his side. He hated stealing. Loathed it with a great passion, but he could not afford the rupees for the medicine they so desperately needed.

He was tired of putting himself in danger that could have him killed but he could not think to even look his mother in the eyes if he had failed her. After all, he had done this for two years. He had taught himself how to shoot; as the man of the house, his father, was nowhere to be found. Though, he had been left the bow and a few red feathered arrows before he vanished from their lives forever, even so they were true to their targets for their age.

That was why he had left them with him.

Link let a tired tear trickle down his face. Mother was getting sicker by the day; he was not sure how long he could keep his family smiling. It scared him. His sister, Rosie; looked after their mother night and day while he was out. Getting any rupees he could earn by working in the day or stealing at night. Thankfully Rosie had no idea how he got the medicine; he could not bear the thought of her innocent life being exposed to his criminal one.

After all, he was only fifteen.

Link shook his head and unpacked the cargo in the small cupboards. The scratched glass bottles that held the dark mushroom spores he had stolen and placed a small loaf of crusty, stale bread next to it with another bottle of milk. He closed the cupboard door and dipped his hands in his pockets with a sigh.

A single green rupee.

That was not nearly enough for food for later in the week. He would have to steal again.
Pippa barked and put her paws on his feet. Link crouched down and scratched her behind the ears. She barked again with a concerned whine and dashed outside through a hole in a lower cupboard that served as an entrance and exit for her.

Link rolled his eyes and walked into an even smaller room. Greeted with a rag that served as a moth covered door; the patterns within it were old and worn now, unable to be depicted from each other. He pushed the rag out of the way and sat down on his knees on the floor; his eyes facing the flickering candles that lit the room.

"Link?" a voice asked as a hand came into his room. Link did not move. He kept his hands on his knees and his gaze lowered. "It's alright, son."

Link looked up for a moment to see the fragile body in front of him, wrapped in old, dusty sheets on a bed made of rotting wood and straw. Hidden within the sheets was a woman, no older than forty, yet had the wrinkly skin of a person in their late-eighties; her dark blue eyes were like vast oceans and her toothless mouth was rolling around in her skull as she tried to swallow the tiny rough leaves that Rosie was dropping into her mouth.

"Here, Link." Rosie mumbled offering the grey bag that was still full of leaves to him. He dipped a hand in and swallowed the leaves with Rosie, both grimacing at the taste. The taste was peculiar; one where you either loved it or hated it, it was different to everyone, but swallowing more than one at a time made the tastes merge together and taste like you were eating socks that had been worn for a whole year without washing. Link clicked his fingers. "I'm fine, Link. You don't have to check."

Link glared at her and clicked them again, raising an eyebrow as he did so.

"Rosie, Link gets concerned about us too." the woman in the bed moaned folding her shaking arms. Rosie rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out, the leaves had stained it bright red. Link nodded and stuck his own out

"Yours is red too. I told you." Rosie snorted; they both turned their gaze to their mother, who had jokingly stuck her tongue out too. They held back their grimaces. Her tongue had been stained brown by the leaves; her tongue so rough it looked like tiny mushrooms were growing on it. Rosie jumped up and broke into the cupboard, reaching for the jar of mushroom spores; she offered them to their mother by pouring some into a shallow dish so not to waste a speck.

Link's eyes travelled to an empty bucket that sat in the corner and stood up, his mother half guessing where he was going. Link was very much like his late father, loving the outdoors. He threw a shawl over his shoulder and picked up a basket of clothes.

"Link!" his mother snapped clicking her fingers, Link flattened his ears and turned on his heel. "You have been awake all day and all night. You should sleep first."

Link shook his head with a yawn and tapped the basket with his fingers, lifting his eyebrows and widening his eyes

His mother sighed out loud, knowing she was not going to win against the provider of the household.

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A little earlier than I planned but hey, I think it's a good start, this is a stand alone story compared to the others I've wrote recently, upload days will be on Saturdays (29th March onwards), I just felt like uploading today for some unexplainable reason. Plus, I love to hear your comments and stuff. Yay! Also fans of my previous stories, thanks for sticking around! I couldn't do this without you guys, though I don't always get to reply to your comments, I read them all! :D
So what do you think? I've taken on the challenge of making Link completely silent, which is REALLY hard, oh well, to late to change it now and I always like a challenge. What do you think of Pippa? She's of my own creation and I think she's a good little character.