~Chapter 1~
Part 2
All in all, it was a great feast. Of course, Iyumi and Martice had supervised its making so it was bound from the start to be good.
Now was the final part before Link departed; presents. Everybody looked forward to presents, even if they weren't the ones receiving them. It was fun to see what everybody else had worked so hard to find or make, for nowadays, all presents had to be obtained that way. Naturally, the presents given to a villager on his or her sixteenth birthday were often much more beautiful and amazing than on any other occasion.
Usually, each family presented one gift to the receiver, but sometimes, the children try to make another, especially if they have a good relationship with the person. As a result, Link almost always got more presents on his birthdays than anyone else.
This particular event was to take place in Link's house. Lumuro and Shinrin had succeeded in convincing him to sit up at the top of the stairs, and have everybody climb to give him what they brought. Link didn't really care to do so, but he figured that he might as well let Lumuro and Shinrin have their way, as they wouldn't be seeing him for a week. This actually seemed to be a large amount of time for the villagers, as nobody had left in thirteen years, except on occasional two-day missions.
Mike had pushed his way to the front of the line, and Iyumi had grudgingly followed. Mike and Iyumi disagreed on many things, but were still very close, and always worked together on gifts, especially for Link.
Mike rushed up the stairs, and Iyumi followed slowly and steadily behind him carrying the present behind her back.
"Hurry up, Iyumi!" Mike shouted when he got to the top.
"I'll get there when I do," replied Iyumi calmly.
Mike groaned impatiently. Iyumi began to intentionally walk slower.
When at last she got there, she pulled out what she had brought from behind her back.
It was a fishing rod. The handle was of dark wood and very well made. It had three green stripes towards the middle. The end was decorated with shiny green gems that suspiciously resembled rupees.
"Do ya like it?" asked Mike excitedly.
Link did like it; it was very well made and pretty, but he had no idea what he would do with it.
"I like it, however..." he began.
"Oh, there's something wrong, isn't there?" Mike interrupted. "I tried to tell Iyumi that there wasn't much in the way of fishing ponds in Eldin, but she wouldn't listen."
"Yes, and I told Mike that fishing rods can be used by much more than just fishing," Iyumi added shewdly.
"I suggested a whip," stated Martica from the bottom of the stairs.
"Now, don't go giving him ideas," joked Shinrin. Everybody laughed, for they all knew that Link was much too nice to actually attack someone. Though there was no denying that it would make a great whip.
"Thanks, Mike. And Iyumi," Link said, as he put the rod to his left.
Mike skipped back down the stairs, and his sister followed him at her usual pace.
Next up was Martica. She walked up in the same manner as Iyumi; sedate and slow. Upon arriving at the top, she pulled out a large bag from her belt that was full of something. She dropped it in front of Link.
"Open it," she ordered in a friendly voice.
Link did so, looked inside, and couldn't believe his eyes.
"What is it?" asked Laura, tip toeing to see over those in front of her.
Link reached into the bag and pulled out a handful of yellow and blue rupees. This handful had barely made a dent in the large pile inside the bag. The villagers looked to the bag, and then to Martica in amazement. Martica looked pleased with herself.
"Where on earth did you get all that money?" gasped Lumuro.
"There's this old store in the abandoned district, and the shopkeeper died in the epidemic fifteen years ago. Nobody knew of her secret rupee stash hidden in the back of the store. What I gave Link is barely a fraction of what she had," Martica said smugly.
The abandoned district was an area in Aturea through a tunnel in the cliff wall surrounding the village. It used to be lively, and in old times, the majority of the town lived there, but when the plague hit, most died, and so that area was abandoned, and everybody remaining had moved to the main part.
Nowadays, nobody dared go into the abandoned district, for it was beleived to be haunted. It just had a feeling of death and spirits and evil surrounding it that none of the villagers desired to experience. Martica was the only one fearless enough, and who had the time to actually go there.
"Thanks a lot!" said Link enthusiastically.
"If you're going on a journey, you'll need money. And I'm sure this is much more than you saved up from cutting grass," Martica said.
That was true. There wasn't altogether much money in Aturea. Link had saved up about fifty rupees over ten years of cutting grass. It was considered a lot for an Aturean, but the bag contained hundreds.
Link put the rupees back in the bag and set it by his fishing rod. Martica descended the stairs, and it was Shinrin and Yuka that came up next.
"We give you this shield," Shinrin said, as his wife held it up for Link to see. It was fairly big. The outer edge was silver, but the decoration inside the border had a blue background and many other yellow and red designs depicting the Hyrule royal crest.
"This is a Hylian shield," Yuka said. "It is very strong and doesn't burn. It was very hard to find one, but we did!"
"And we decided to give it to you," Shinrin finished.
Link took the shield in his right hand and examined it. He hadn't really used one before, as during training he had been taught to block attacks with his sword. However, it certainly wouldn't hurt to have a shield. He set it over in his pile.
He thanked Shinrin and Yuka, and they bowed and walked back downstairs. Jaryd and Cecyllia came up next.
Cecyllia pulled out a handmade blanket, and Jaryd handed him bottle full of a red substance.
"This blanket may be useful for if you decide to camp outside," said Cecyllia. "Besides which, I made it, so you can always think of home when you use it."
Link took the blanket. It was green with reddish-purple and white designs; the colors of Aturea.
"This is red potion," explained Jaryd. Link couldn't tell if he was happy or upset. Somewhere in between. "I got it on one of my journeys to Death Mountain. It restores life at any moment, even when you are about to die. Well, if you ARE dead, it obviously doesn't work, though, so if you are dying, remember to drink it."
"Thanks for the thought, Jaryd," Link said, as he set aside the two new items.
Next in line were Mikoto and Takita. They presented to Link a full map of Hyrule.
"Don't worry, we unearthed it in my house. Tingle didn't draw it as far as we know," Mikoto had assured him.
Tingle was this really strange guy who dressed in all green, and floated around Hyrule by means of a red balloon with two objectives in mind:
1) to draw the best maps ever, and
2)to search for fairies.
His maps were amazing, but he charged outrageous prices, and frankly, that combined with his obsession with fairies, choice of clothes and transportation, as well as his name scared off just about any potential customers. Some hated guts. Some just wanted to put as much distance between themselves and Tingle. However, the Atureans enjoyed finding projectiles wherever possible and sniping Tingle's balloon. As a result, it did a great job of keeping him away from Aturea.
"Though we warn you, Link. This map is a bit old, as we had to blow dust off it. It may not be completely up to date and accurate, but who knows? The world hasn't changed considerably for the past two hundred years," said Takita.
"I had planned to just go to Kakariko and back. I probably need only a map of this province," replied Link, looking it over.
"Not necessarily. The point of the journey is to meet outside people and explore the world outside of the village. You can go anywhere you want. Heck, you can go all the way to Snowpeak or Ordon if it makes you happy. The only rule is that you return in a week," Mikoto explained.
Link hadn't known that before. Travelling more would certainly be great, but he didn't know how much he could get done in only a week.
"Do you like it," asked Takita.
"It's good," Link answered. "Thanks for telling me about being able to go other places. I wouldn't have known otherwise."
Shinrin could be heard at the bottom muttering, "Well, they sure didn't tell me anything! Not until I got back, that is. I had spent the majority of the week lounging around when I could have been travelling."
It was now Laura's turn. She pulled a black notebook out of her pack, and handed it to Link.
"What is it?" he asked, holding up in front of his face, staring at it.
"A quest log! Shinrin, Jaryd, and Dad and old man Mikoto have them too. Write in it at least once a day during your travels, about what you've seen and done on your adventures. Then when you return, let us read it, or read it out loud," Laura explained. "Dad reads me his all the time. It's really interesting. I can't wait to find out what you do, especially if you do leave Kakariko."
Laura smiled.
"Thanks very much, Laura," thanked Link, patting Laura on the head, and putting the notebook in his growing present stash.
Next up were Laura's parents, Lumuro and Tammera.
They had a sword for Link.
"We have been spending the past few months forging it, specially for you," Lumuro said. "It is brand new, and as you know, my wife is a renowned metal smith. A while ago, I had her leave on journeys to search for rare and powerful metals to use in this sword."
It was indeed beautiful. The hilt was decorated with gold and blue abstract picture, mostly swirls. The blade was a bright silver. Link stood up and stepped back a couple of feet. He did some practice swings. It was amazingly light, and Link wondered if it was weak. Not so. He swung it in an arc at the guard rail of the balcony, effortlessly cutting a huge chunk off the top. It was solid, hard wood; Link's previous sword had been unable to do it.
"What do you think," Tamm asked.
"This.. is amazing," Link answered. "I love it." Despite Link's quiet and polite personality, he had a high appreciation for good weapons.
Lumuro looked very pleased by Link's reaction, and Tamm was even more so.
The final present was from Maurene.
He showed to Link a slingshot. Considering that Maurene was only six years old, it was very well made.
Maurene's only comment had been, "Shoot down Tingle for me, 'k?"
The present ceremony concluded several hours before dusk, but the Atureans kept finding Link jobs to do to prevent him from leaving until the last possible minute. When he thought he finally had a break, Laura and Maurene jumped him and forced him to play hide and seek with them. He was debating over whether to play or to gently decline, when Jaryd came and loomed over him, informing him that he, of course, was going to. So, he ended up agreeing.
This round, Link had chosen to hide in a crate under the second floor pathway. It was a good place to hide from Jaryd, as he had a tendency to look up rather than down. However, this turned out to be a mistake on Link's part for a completely different reason. Shinrin had just so happened to be moving the crates in that alley when he uncovered Link.
"What are you hiding from?" Shinrin asked.
"Jaryd."
"Why? Are you playing a game?"
Link nodded.
"Ah, okay. I was going to ask you a favor..."
"What is it, Shinrin?"
"Well, I don't know... After all, I'd hate to interrupt your game, and it's your sixteenth birthday and all..."
Link looked down. He could tell that Shinrin was trying to convince him indirectly. All the villagers knew that Link couldn't turn down an opportunity to help someone.
"That's fine. What do you need done?"
"Just some help feeding the cuccos. You see, I'm currently tied up a bit moving all these supplies to the caverns. It won't take long at all, and if you are all playing hide and seek, I doubt I'll find any of the others. The sooner I get this done, the better. Those cuccos are getting irritable."
Was Shinrin out of his freaking mind? Put Link in a cage with a flock of hungry cuccos? Why not get one of the other adults to do his dirty work?
"Sure, I'll do it," Link muttered, standing up and climbing out of the box.
"That's great, come on," replied Shinrin, almost relieved. Was this another plot to keep Link from departing? Or was this just subtle revenge for Link beating him? Shinrin could be a real jerk sometimes....
Shinrin lead him out of the alley and across the main road. They headed for Shinrin's backyard.
Against the cliff wall was a high chainlink pen, full of the chicken-like animals called cuccos. Shinrin and Yuka owned nine.
As Shinrin went to the west side to unlock the cage for Link, the cuccos gathered at the southeast end where he was standing. All nine stared at him, unblinking, with distinct bloodlust.
Link slowly took off his new sword and lay it on the ground. He had discovered at an early age that attempting slice up attacking cuccos only made them angrier. These were very invincible and agile chickens.
The cuccos of Aturea had a vendetta against Link. They were already known for being ill-disposed, and when Link was ten, he took his first rotation for feeding them. Shinrin had warned him that he might be pecked at a little, but when he actually entered the cage, the birds took an instant dislike to him and swarmed.
In an act of defense, he had whipped out his practice sword and tried to swat them away. This had only made matters worse. The chickens were impossibly fast, and easily dodged the blade. He had successfully landed a hit on a few, only for the sword to bounce back like rubber. The cuccos attempted to tear him to shreds with their beaks and feet, and luckily, Shinrin intervened by putting himself between Link and the animals. They would not attack Shinrin, who they recognized as their primary caregiver. He pulled Link out of the pen and gave him to Jaryd and Iyumi, who, after having a good laugh, started aiding him.
In fact, Cecyllia and Yuka were the only ones who didn't find it at all amusing. Cecyllia was worried sick over whether Link was alright, and Yuka felt guilty because it her pets had done it. However, the rest of the village, especially the children dismissed it. "This is Link we're talking about," they said. "He won't be killed by a flock of insane chickens." Link had a reputation for healing quickly, and for getting less severe injuries.
He laughed if off later, as well, but he secretly swore to avoid such a task if ever it were to come up again. He had, for the most part, succeeded; this was only the third time in six years that anybody had even requested he do it. One of those times, Lumuro had conveniently walked along, and told him it was time for practice. No such fortune would hit this time, though. He was no longer an apprentice. The village wanted him to stay for as long as possible, and they had no intention of interfering.
"The food is over here, Link!" called Shinrin from his back door. "I left it unlocked. Tell me when you're done." Then he closed the door.
Link walked over to the big cubical container of the cucco feed, and scooped a couple of cup fulls into a smaller bag, and dragged the bag into the cage. The cuccos did not attack immediately. They just watched him, until he dumped all the contents of the sack into their bowls.
"Aha! Link! I found you!" shouted a voice. It was Jaryd, he was running towards the pen pointing towards Link.
"No, be qui----!" Link began, then, the cuccos, as if set off by Jaryd's sudden yell, jumped up in unison. Squawking, they flew in a straight line for Link. He ran for it, throwing his new sheild over his head, and the bag over his shoulder. He heard a few taps on the shield before throwing open the door and diving out, kicking it shut behind him. He put the bag back in its place by the back wall, and walking out, heard Jaryd clapping.
"Now THAT was epic! Anyway, you're it. I found you first. That was a really stupid hiding spot if I do say so myself. With the cuccos' hatred of you and all...."
Link did not answer. Instead, he began walking around to Shinrin's front door.
"Don't worry," Jaryd laughed. "Let me guess, Shinrin found you first and asked you to do it, right? To be honest, I think he puts those animals on drugs. Like, puts something in their food. On my travels, all the cuccos I've met are dumb, without any personality. But Shinrin's are........."
Link opened Shinrin's front door, and went inside. Shinrin came down the stairs.
"I am going to have to agree with Jaryd. That WAS epic. I'll just go and lock them up, and you can return to your game."
"No, that's okay. I think I might be...."
"Oh, you're not going back? Would you like to help me clean out the cuccos' pen, then?"
"NO."
"Alright then, better go out there and help your brother find the rest of the kids."
"It's getting dark..."
"So?"
"I need to leave sometime today."
"I know, but you still have time to spare."
Shinrin was completely missing the point. Were they planning to keep him there until midnight?
"I noticed you were working hard moving those crates," Link observed.
"I was doing inventory. I left the papers in my house," answered Shinrin without faltering.
"Ten minutes would have really made a dent."
"I have trouble getting back to a chore once I shift my attention."
"Right. Sure."
Jaryd walked in throught the open door. "Hey, are you gonna help me or not?"
"Fine," Link said. Shinrin gave a short wave as the brothers walked outside.
It was twilight before the other villagers allowed Link to so much as suggest beginning his journey again. Link packed a few days worth of food as well as all of his presents, and made to depart the village an hour after sunset.
However, the four children headed him off at the village entrance tunnel for a final good bye.
"So, you're leaving at last, are you?" said Iyumi, being the first to step from the shadows.
"Yes, I suppose I am," Link replied.
"Does it make you nervous?" questioned Maurene, jumping out.
"Not fair, I want to go too!" shouted Mike.
"Oh, you'll go in four years, just wait your turn, Mike," snapped Iyumi at her brother.
"Be glad you get to go at all," said Laura sourly, being the last to step out. Laura was a bit of a tomboy, and a very tough little girl. She had wanted to be a warrior, but because there was nobody to be her master, and Maurene got preference for being a boy, she couldn't. Link believed that she studied and practiced on her own in secret. It wasn't against the rules or traditions to learn from books or observation. And Laura was very smart.
"What do you mean, Laura?" asked Iyumi. "Isn't Link old enough to train you now?"
"Yeah, but I figured.... since you're older..." Laura said, sounding slightly embarrassed.
Iyumi laughed a little. "Oh, I'm not interested. Cooking is good for me. I don't like violence. I admit that beating Mike once in a while would be fun. I'm too old to begin, anyway."
"Then so am I. I thought you couldn't be any older than six."
"It doesn't really matter with the adult shortage now. Maybe you wouldn't be considered an adult until eighteen, then."
Laura looked at Link, now with a gleam of excitement in her eyes. "Really?"
"Yeah, probably," he answered.
Laura gave a little jump, then straightened up, obviously trying to look more warrior-like.
"So, um, why are you all here?" asked Link.
"We couldn't let you escape without saying bye," said Laura.
"I already have said good bye!"
"Ah, but we wanted to be the last to do so before you left."
"I'm coming back!"
"A week is a long time, nii-chan. Especially for us kids."
"I suppose so..."
"Anyway, we wish you a safe journey. Do come back alive, okay?" said Iyumi, in a kinder, but sadder voice.
"Well, don't jinx me! Actually, I'm more worried about you. How will you do against that cloud?" Link replied.
"Don't worry! I'll protect the village," Mike declared, stepping forward and waving his sword in the air.
Laura walked up to him, stood on her tiptoes, and knocked him on the head.
"If the safety of our village truly depended on you, we'd be in trouble," Laura stated sarcastically. "Don't worry, we've got my dad and Shinrin to protect us... should Mike fail."
"Besides, maybe the forces of evil won't find our village," Iyumi added.
"That would be nice," Laura agreed.
"See you," said Link, ending the conversation, because the sky was getting very dark. He waved towards the four children as we began walking towards the exit.
"Please don't die, Link! You're too cool!" shouter Mike after him. He heard a clunk, which meant that Laura had probably hit him on the head again.
Link walked a few steps, before he heard footsteps coming after him. Suddenly, Laura was standing in front of him, panting.
"Wait, Link. I almost forgot." she pulled out of her pocket a silver chain. On the chain was a jewel, a charm of sorts. The gem was a deep red, somewhat purpleish. The jewel itself was a sphere, pretty much, but the gold decoration around it was what caught his eye. The gold formed a circle around the gem, and there was a needle of gold impaling the gem perpendicular to the circle. At the top was the part from which it was hung.
"This is the Aturea Garnet charm," Laura stated. "It is a symbol of leadership in our village. I think all the villages and tribes in Hyrule have similar stones. Dad forgot to give it to you at present time, so he gave it to me to give it to you, and, well, I forgot until now. Usually there's a ceremony for handing over chiefship, but dad thought that he'd give it to you for your journey, and have the ceremony when you come back.
"It's believed to have magical properties, and he thinks it might protect you or help you in the outside world. With that cloud looming near, and all. So... yeah... take it."
Link took the gem from Laura. He wondered if she was lying. He had never seen anything of the sort before, and Lumuro had never showed it to him. But Laura was a very honest person. Besides, the garnet was pretty. He tied the chain around the hilt of his sword, letting the charm hang.
Laura sighed in relief. "So, once again, bye,"
As she took off running home, Link continued through the tunnel that connected Aturea to Hyrule field, and once he got to the exit, he paused for a moment to enjoy the view. It wasn't too terribly different than in Aturea, but it was still outside. Then, he took his first step out of Aturea and into the world beyond.
Conclusion: Chapter 1
Don't worry, I wrote this one a long time ago. Both the writing and the story get better later on.
DISCLAIMER: The Legend of Zelda and its characters belong to Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo. The OCs and the general storyline belong to Kamataki Raitsu. This is a fanfic; it is not to be sold, or reposted under any circumstances.
