Second:
The shock of the unexpected battle, and the loss of the princess hung heavy in the air. The knights had quickly recovered, except those that had been seriously injured, and helped clean the damaged courtyard... Well, that's mostly true. All except three men. Well, two men and a boy that is.
"So the kidnapper... Was yourself?" Link's father, was confused. He had dealt with many a strange thing with his being captain of the Hyrulean army, but what his son was saying now... Was seemingly impossible. "And Cole, could've guessed."
His son sighed from his spot on a bit of rubble from the side of the castle. "Not me... Exactly... He said he was my shadow. But, never mind that! What are we going to do about finding Zelda?!"
Link was becoming distressed, anyone could see that... Especially his father. And, although aware of this, he simply sighed, knowing his son was simply worried about the princess. "We will figure that out, Link. But for now, did the princess say anything else?"
Valensuela, who had been standing next to the captain, nodded. "Anything that could point to where that monster took her?"
Link shook his head mournfully."She only said something about, umm..." Link's bad at remembering things. "Something about maidens and elements, I think." He paused thinking.
At that moment, two servants walked behind the conversing knights."I wish I could rescue the princess, then maybe I'd get a kiss!"
The other laughed scornfully. "Yeah, right! She'd probably think you're a monster too! With your looks that is! She needs a strong man like me to find her!" They both laughed and walked off.
Light bulb moment for Link. Oh, the brilliance of idiots.
"THAT'S IIIIIT!" Link grinned as he jumped from his seat and stood, facing his superiors. "She said to both save and find the maidens from the other providences. And then find the other elements. Don't know what that means, but the other providences have leaders with daughters. Maybe we have to find them!" Before either of the other two elders could answer, however, a strong voice rang through the wrecked courtyard. "Hoho! I'm afraid it will not be a 'we' but rather an 'I', young hero with the devious shadow."
They're heads shot up to the gates of the grand castle. A large owl, with a huge beak and intelligent eyes with long eyebrows that lifted of the creature's head, sat idly on the stone wall, constantly turning its head side to side.
"Who are you?" Valensuela inquired, reaching for his sword as he did.
The large bird tilted it's head questioningly, though it was hard to tell from the other twists and turns. "Who am I? Huh! For answer, I say that I am Kaepora Gaebora. And I take it that you, young man, are the hero Link?"
The threesome blinked in surprise and the boy in question asked, "How do you...?"
"Know your name?" The owl continued, with a small chuckle. Wait, owls can chuckle? "Hoho, why that pretty little girl of yours told me all about you my boy."
Link blinked in surprise...again and stared at the bird in astonishment. "Zelda did? What did she say?"
"Hoho, wouldn't you like to know? She did say, what I can tell you that is, that you, alone, have to be the one to save the maidens."
"And what is this about 'the other elements'? Who or what are the elements?" Valensuela asked, over the shock of the giant talking bird.
Kaepora Gaebora flipped his head completely upside down, revealing a totally different face. "That... Is for another time. For now though, Link do you have the sword the princess gave to you?"
The boy blinked in surprise, un-strapping the replica from his back and held it towards the owl. "Right here, why?"
The owl smiled. Wait... Oh, I'm not gonna ask... "Hoho, so she didn't tell you hmm? Well, my boy, that sword you hold in your hand, is the real Four Sword."
...What...
The boy stared down at his sword, not able to believe what the wise creature had said. "T-the real one? Then the one that shadowy guy took was a fake?"
The owl flipped it's head right-side up, and spoke. "Indeed. The princess had a vision in which she was stolen the powers of darkness, she was smart to give that to you for safe keeping."
"So," Link's father started, crossing his arms over his broad chest. "What did you mean that Link must do this alone? Why not let a more experienced knight take his place?"
The boy blinked at his father in surprise. Never once in his life had his father tried to send someone in Link's stead, so why now?
"Because," the bird began. "He is the one chosen by the elements, and the goddesses. He and three others that is."
Valensuela raised an eyebrow. "Three others? And who might they be? And, what are these 'elements'?"
All eyes turned to the owl again.
He in turn, puffed up his feathers and shook himself free of the loose ones. "That...the princess did not reveal to me. Though I can say if Link goes on this quest to save her majesty, he will learn more of the elements and make several worthy allies along the way."
Link nodded, as if making a decision. "Then I'll do it. If it means saving Zelda, I'd do anything."
Kaepora Gaebora nodded his head. "Then I would advise you to make haste to the Eldin region, and make certain the ruler's daughter is unharmed by the darkness. But I do have one question. Do you need me to repeat that?"
"Umm," Link said, glancing at his superiors; who looked very confused themselves. "No?"
"Then I will bid you luck."
With that, the two faced bird flew off into the sky. The only evidence he had ever been there, was four lone feathers lying at the feet of the threesome standing in the damaged courtyard.
A father is the one who teaches his son to fight; he is the one who teaches his daughter to dance. A father is the one who gives his daughter away to the man, and he is the one who watches son go make his own life. Link's father, however, did not want his son to leave. The loss of his wife had almost made the man crack. Though the very thing that many a man would have been driven mad by, raising a child, had given the man clarity.
Link had become the light at the end of the tunnel, the apple of his eye, the center of his life, and now his son had to leave...and he may never come back. He watched as the boy with the odd mark on his cheek hoisted a pack filled with a light amount of rations along with some water onto his back. A bedroll was strapped to the main body of the pack with rope holding it to the top, the Four Sword's hilt glinting underneath the mass of cloth. A tough shield was also fitted to the back of the pack, for any baddies the hero might encounter.
The graying haired man was brought out of his thoughts as his son spoke. "Out of curiosity, where is Kakariko village exactly?"
If this wasn't a serious fanfic, the captain probably would have dead-panned. Link had always had a horrible sense of direction, making him some-what hard to work with... Okay, really hard to work with.
Instead of telling the boy where, the fatherly man handed his son a yellowed piece of parchment with colored ink sprawling across the surface. The green-clad boy blinked in surprise. "A map?"
His father nodded. "It served me well when I was your age, I'm sure it will do the same for you."
His son nodded, folding the map and tucking it into his bag. "Thank you, Father."
Silence.
The boy was the first to break the uneasy silence. "I guess I'll be off then."
As he started to turn toward the gates, his father intervened. "Link."
As the boy turned to face his captain, he was met by his father's vast arms around him. "Be safe," he said, no louder than a whisper.
The boy, in turn, hugged his father back, closing his eyes as he did. "I will."(1)
Hyrule field was a vast plain of short-cut grass, well padded down dirt roads, various streams and ponds, and clumps of trees grew here and there along it's body. The best thing about this field, was the fact that it was connected to every providence in Hyrule.
Link walked across the plains holding the map his father gave him in front of him. He need only follow the path towards the large mountain billowing smoke in the distance, which was somewhat obvious and Link wondered how he could not have noticed it before. Kakariko village apparently sat at the foot of Death Mountain and was led by an older man, Renado, along with his daughter, Luda. Its main produce was wool, apparently, and the gorons of Death Mountain sent iron and other metals down from their mines to the villages and towns. The goron chief apparently had a young daughter who, or so Link had heard from his father, would one day inherit the entirety of the mountain.
'If that Shadowy guy is capturing the maidens from all the providences, then the gorons might be in danger.' Link thought as he walked towards the mountain looming ahead of him.
A sudden scream ripped the boy with the green hat out of his thoughts. "YOU MAY WANT TO MOOOVE!"
Link turned in time to be run over by a ball of fluffy wool and fur as a large herd of sheep ran over the boy. Imagine being crashed into by a six-foot wave; then, add rock hard hooves and scratchy wool. Bingo. As Link sat up from his crumbled spot on the ground, the person that yelled at Link ran past him with a black and white dog at his heels.
"Go get 'em, Nala!" The dog barked, a slight yipping sound, and ran after the herd of fluffy creatures.
It was impressive work.
Dodging in and out among trampling hooves, turning the herd this way and that; the sheepdog, Nala, pushed the sheep back towards the mountain now behind Link. The herd, plus the dog, kept running into the opening of what appeared to be a canyon.
"Are you okay?"
Link was pulled out of his thoughts yet again as the shepherd stepped toward him. "Yeah, thanks."
The figure helped the boy up and Link saw that, by the size of his hand, he could not be much older than Link himself. The hand that gripped his was gloved with soft leather; brown boots reached mid-calf and a red tunic, that looked strangely like Link's, was slightly covered by a woolen patch on his right shoulder. Heh, only thing missing was the hat. The boy's sunny blonde hair covered his pointed ears and catbird-egg-blue(2) eyes looked at Link in surprise.
...What...part two...
"Wh-who are you?!" the red clad boy stuttered, staring at Link. "Wh-why do you look like me?"
His voice was higher than Link's, more girly and sing-song...that is, opposed to Link's own not-yet-mature voice.
"I was going ask you that myself," Link said, standing fully up and looking at the other boy. 'He really does look just like me.' he thought, waiting for his look-alike's answer.
"M-me?" the boy said, shifting from foot to foot. "I'm...Red, you?"
"Link," Link replied. "Umm, this is random, do you know where Kakariko Village is?"
The boy beamed at his green-clad lookalike, attitude changing in a split second. "Sure! I live there, come on I'll show you the way!" Red bounded towards the large opening in the rock where the animals had run through, and up a narrow path leading to a busy village.
Unbeknownst to the two look-alikes, a shadowed figure lurked in the shade of a large twisting oak. A smile crept across a pale face, revealing fang-like teeth. It disappeared and as it did, a dark cloud covered the village that the wind and fire heroes both sought and lived in.
A/N: it feels rushed... meh, if you get confused just say. Read/Enjoy
(1) Father and son scene I couldn't help but add. X3
(2) Robin's eggs are NOT blue... Well, American robins' (Turdus migratorius) eggs are, but not European robins (Erithacus rubecula). Gray Catbirds (Dumetella carolinensis) have teal/blue eggs like Red's eyes.
Sooo, yeah. mostly an explanatory chapter... and enter character: Red!
