"Why am I so cold? Madame? Hello?" I thought as my hands... wait… "I have hands?!" the thought quickly rushed through my head as I found myself bolting upright and, finally, opening my eyes. The faint sound of rain splashing on stone echoed through the tunnels of stone that surrounded me as I tried to gather my thoughts. My head began to hurt and stomach suddenly had a dull pain.
"Mistress… What did I do to deserve this!?" I screamed to the clouds above me, hoping she could hear me, or… at least I thought I screamed.
My focus returned from being lost in memory after a moment, returning to the mirror in front of me as I examined my appearance. My hair was grey like moonstone, not from age but not for any other discernable reason either. My gaze traveled from my hair to my eyes, they were a deep brown with flecks of blue. However, the most prominent features of my appearance was by far the blue mark of Nayru, Goddess of Wisdom, on my forehead and the large white gem in the middle of my chest. shook my head before I pulled on a worn tan tunic and pants, making sure that my gem was covered before searching for my headband to cover the mark.
"Cajen," the sudden sound of my name made me jump out of my skin before turning in the direction of the noise."Your headband," said an elderly woman that held out a strip of crimson and silver fabric. I nodded and smiled gratefully to her and reached for the soft fabric, she retracted it and said,"Sign,"
I sighed a bit, one of the only sounds I could actually seem to produce before signing out,"Thank you, Esomi,"
"Good boy," she smiled with a toothless grin as she handed me the headband in a surprisingly steady hand. Her skin was almost as dark as the wood of her cane and just barely wrinklier, her hair was a barely lighter grey than mine and her eyes never opened far enough for me to see their color. Her clothing was simple and the same color as mine but was newer. She insisted on making the clothes herself, and was still working on something new for me but her age slowed her,"The Zoran that visited sent a letter saying he'll need a few dozen arrows by the end of the week, get to it," she said, gesturing towards the window.
"Alright," I signed in reply.
It was ironic to me that I excelled at working in the forge but was so slight compared to other blacksmiths around Hyrule. I tied up the headband to cover the marking on my forehead. My hair was long enough to droop over the band in some places, but not enough to cover the symbol. I gathered up the required materials to create the arrows before heading out to the forge. The air was calm today, and gratefully so, Kakariko's roads were primarily dirt and it made it difficult to see if the wind was blowing.
The forge sat there, sleeping and hungry before I threw a few logs and other combustible materials into the pit before grabbing a flint. I sparked him to life with the strike of a stone and made him roar with the bellows before heating the metal for the arrowheads. The glowing red of the iron and heat of the forge were so strangely comfortable to me but I didn't question why it was.
"Excuse me sir," the new voice caught my attention, and I turned to view a tall woman carrying a long spear. Her skin was dark and she wore the clothes of someone who spent their time in a desert.
I signed out,"May I help you?"
She seemed to understand partially,"Can you mend the blade of this?" she showed the spearhead to me, the damage was evident and the blade edge was dull.
"What brings you out of the sand?" I signed, detaching the blade from the shaft, heating the blade a little before trying to mend the steel.
"I'm searching for an artifact that our king requires," she said laying on the ground as she waited,"Nayru's bow," The words made me drop my hammer.