Shadow Temple Chapter 1 Fan Fiction

'Wood for sale!' The young merchant called out. 'Firewood for only 50 rupees! 50 rupees for 100 logs! 100 for 200!' She had to shout at the top of her lungs to be heard over the roar of the market. Other merchants were advertising their goods or bargaining with buyers. Even though it was raining, quite heavily too, buyers and sellers still came to Hyrule Market to haggle for items on sale. Rain, hail or shine, nothing would stop Market Day. Basically, every day was Market Day, but different merchants came on different days. Market Day was just a day where all the merchants came together and put on special sales. A lot more people came on this day, so you always knew business was going to be good. But for Sayomi Hiroshi, business was evading her on this particular day. She didn't know whether it was the rain or the charm and appeal of the other sellers, but she had gotten a grand total of no customers. Or maybe it was the fact that the Hylians lacked the need for wood. 'Wood for sale!' she called out once more. 'Special price, only 50 rupees for 100 logs! One day only!' It was useless. All the screaming in the world wouldn't get this tough crowd buying. 'Stupid, pathetic people. Thinking that they're too good for my wood.' Sayomi grumbled. She was tired and sore from standing up all day and her small thatch covering had a leak so rain dripped steadily onto her back, soaking her. She was not in a good mood. She sat down on the damp ground, already too wet to care, and rested her arm on a log. Placing her chin in her hand, she watched the different coloured fabrics moving in front of her as people rushed to different stalls and shops. She thought she had gotten a good place to set up her stall. It was right next to the Bomchu Alley and the Archery shop. But no-one took any notice of the 19 year-old girl sitting amongst a pile of logs. Suddenly, two pairs of leather boots appeared in front of her. Someone cleared their throat and she looked up. Standing in front of her was a young man with spikey, black hair and green eyes. His clothes were dripping wet and he was slightly shivering. 'Can I help you?' Sayomi asked, standing up.
'Um, yeah. Uh, how much are you selling the wood for?' The man asked. His voice was soft and it took a few seconds before Sayomi realized what he was saying. 'Oh! Yeah, I'm selling at 50 rupees for 100 logs.' She said.
'Perfect. I'll take 2000 logs please.'
'Of course! That'll be-wait. 2000?' Sayomi repeated, surprised.
'Um, y-yeah.' The young man seemed nervous and shuffled his feet. He kept crossing and uncrossing his arms and it was really starting to annoy her. She just wanted to grab his arms and keep him still. 'That'll be 1000 rupees.' She said, crossing her own arms. She was a bit suspicious. Did this man really have the money to pay for this? But sure enough, he pulled out a large brown sack and started rummaging around. 'Would you like it delivered or-'
'I'll take them thanks.' He interrupted, handing out the rupees. She took them and started to count. There were 10 yellow rupees. 1000 all up. 'Are you sure you want to take them by yourself? I could deliver them if you wanted.' She said, placing the rupees in her empty money bag. 'No, no.' It's fine. I need them now anyway.' He replied.
'Well, do you have a horse or at least something to help you carry them?'
'Uh,' he said, scratching the back of his head. 'Not really.'
'It's settled then. I'll come with you and get my horse to carry it for you.' Sayomi said, about to call for her horse, Plum. 'You really don't need to-'he was cut off by a piercing whistle from Sayomi. A faint whinny answered it and people jumped out of the way as a spotted mare galloped up to the wood stand. Sayomi grabbed its halter after patting its mane and led it around to the back where an old, wooden cart waited. She stopped and patted the bay's mane. Hooking up the cart to the horse, she turned to the young man. 'If you could, can you please help me get the logs into the cart?' The man nodded and rushed to help. After they had finished loading the cart with exactly 2000 logs, they got ready to leave. A cold wind blew freezing rain on them and Sayomi's already drenched hair slapped across her face, getting in her mouth and eyes. She sputtered and tried to push her blond hair out of her face. The man tried to hold back a laugh but let loose a small snicker. She glared at him and looked away, shoulders shaking with silent laughter. She grabbed her horses' reins and began to walk out of the market with the man following behind. The rain had lessened to a drizzle and some of the clouds had thinned, allowing blue sky to peek through. The horses' hooves clattered over the wooden drawbridge and stepped onto Hyrule Field. Sayomi took a deep breath and smiled. She loved the smell of rain on grass. 'Um, thanks for the help. I really appreciate it you know.' The young man said behind her. 'Oh it's no problem at all!' she smiled at him over her shoulder. 'It would have been extremely hard for you to have carried it alone, especially in this weather.' She stopped suddenly, making Plum snort in annoyance and the cart creak. 'By the way, where are we taking these to?' She asked, turning to look at him.
'Oh, right. To Death Valley, over there.' He said, pointing towards the tiny village at the foot of Death Mountain. 'Sure but it's going to be hard bringing the horse and cart up those steps so we'll have to make a few trips back and forth. What do you need these for anyway? Must be something big if you need this much.' She said.
'That's ok. And I work on a building site up there and we're running out of wood so my Boss sent me to get more wood.'
'By yourself?'
'Um, yeah. I guess they couldn't really spare anyone else and I don't do much up there anyway.'
Sayomi frowned and kept walking. 'Wow…rough.'
'Why rough?' The young man asked, confused.
'Well, it kind sounds like he's trying to get rid of you. But that's just my opinion.'
'I wouldn't be surprised, if that's true. Knowing him…' he trailed off.
They continued on in silence for a while, neither saying anything. The still falling rain was cold and made Sayomi shiver. She pressed closer to Plum, trying to get some warmth from the horse's body. Plum nickered softly and nudged her palm, her hot breath warming Sayomi's hand. Plum was doing so well. She wasn't used to pulling this much weight in this weather. Sayomi usually got help with sales from her Uncle Shin and his mare, Buttercup, so Plum never really had to carry this much wood. They came to the small, stone bridge that led over the river in front of Death Valley. The river led straight from Zora's Fountain down to Hyrule Castle and was pure with clear, sparkling water. They crossed the bridge quickly and headed for the wide staircase that went up to Death Valley. 'Well, here we are.' Sayomi announced, stopping. She walked around to the back of the cart and started lifting out some logs. The man helped her and took five logs before heading towards the staircase. Sayomi herself could only carry three and struggled after him. This was going to be a long day.
She followed him up the steps until they came to the entrance of the small village. He headed straight in without pausing but Sayomi took the time to catch her breath and take in the sight before her. Two large fences, measuring about three meters high, stood in front of her. There was a large gap between the two fences for people to walk through and a large sign between the two fences, proudly saying 'Welcome to Death Valley.' A bit cheery for such a frightening name. The village was named so because it was situated right at the foot of Death Mountain. The only creatures who lived up in Death Mountain were the Gorons, said to be the holders of the Spiritual Stone of Fire. Past the fences was the main village. There was so much construction going on she didn't know how she was going to find her customers site. Houses were being built everywhere and there were half built buildings dotted around the place. There was only about two or three houses that were whole. At the very back of the village, there was a very tall construction taking place. Sayomi wondered if it was going to be a clock tower of some sorts. There was also quite a lot of stairs in the village. Ahead of her, to the left, there was a large staircase going up the side of a large rise, connecting the lower village with the upper village. There were stairs leading up to houses that seemed like they were built right into the mountain, and there were stairs leading up to smaller rises with some houses that were being built. She really hopped that she didn't have to walk up any more stairs to get to the right construction site. Sayomi staggered into the village, trying to find the young man. She couldn't see him amidst the crowd of builders and villagers and she started to panic. She was in a strange, unfamiliar village, was carrying a heavy stack of logs and had lost her customer. 'You could always just go back to the cart and wait for him to come back for the rest of the wood.' She said to herself. She tried to head back the way she came but the throng of people pushed her back, into the middle of the village. She stopped trying to fight them as she was afraid that she would drop the wood, and resolved to find an un-crowded place of the village to wait for the young man. Spotting an empty bit of land on a rise, she pushed her way towards it. Breaking out of the crowd, she climbed a few stairs and then sat down, exhausted. Leaving the logs in her lap, she leaned back on her hands and sat back to watch the people work. From what people had told her, Sayomi assumed that the small town would be almost deserted and quiet. She had heard strange stories about this place that made people become suspicious and not go near the town. But these stories just made Sayomi curious and now seeing the village with her own eyes, she realized most of these rumours were false. The town was bustling with activity. Builders shouted orders to one another and villagers hurried around, going into shops and houses or stopping outside to chat with friends. She thought that this looked like a lovely, lively place to live and started to think that she might also want to live here. Once all the construction was done anyway. She started to relax and day dream, completely forgetting why she was here in the first place. She could have drifted off if it wasn't for someone grabbing her shoulder. She jumped and made the logs roll off in all directions. She twisted around and looked up at the person who disturbed her. A pair of bright green eyes stared back at her. She leapt up and dusted herself off. 'Where have you been?' She accused, glaring at the young man. 'I've been looking for you everywhere! How could you leave me alone in a strange place like this?'
He looked a bit sheepish and scratched the back of his head.
'Sorry, I kind of got carried away and just went on ahead. I apologise.' He said, looking at the ground.
'Hpmh,' she said, crossing her arms. 'This is gonna cost you extra you know.'
'What?!' he said, looking up.
She sighed and shook her head. 'No. I'm not that mean. I was joking so c'mon. Let's take this wood to where it needs to go.' She replied, picking up the run-away logs. Before she could pick up the last one, the man grabbed it and started walking away. 'Come on. We have wood to deliver.' He called over his shoulder. She ran up beside him, cradling the wood in her arms. 'I could have carried that you know.' She grumbled.
'I know, but I'll get into trouble with my boss for not helping a lady.' He replied, leading them towards the large construction she had saw earlier.
'Sounds like a gentleman.' She said.
'I should hope so,' the man laughed. 'He's got a fiancé after all.'
'Really?' she said, looking up as they passed the construction and continued on into a small alley way lined by two large fences. 'What exactly are they building back there?' Sayomi asked the young man.
'Don't know,' he replied. 'I think it's like a windmill or something.'
Huh, so not a clock tower, Sayomi thought. As they continued on, the path slowly curved around to the right and then opened up to a wide graveyard. Workmen and carpenters were scattered around the area, giving orders, talking to one another, comparing different material or digging and hammering away at the construction site at the back of the graveyard. Sayomi stepped out next to what looked to be a run-down grave-keepers' hut. 'Isn't this kinda disrespectful? You know, digging up a graveyard?' she whispered to the young man beside her. He either ignored her or didn't hear her and waved to someone with his free hand. 'Hey! Blake!' he shouted. A short builder came jogging up to him.
'Hey Aki! More wood?' The man called Blake asked, looking at the log in his hands. 'What? That it? How much did you order ya nut?' he accused. Aki didn't say anything but stepped aside and waved his hand toward Sayomi. Blake looked at her and then at the logs. '2 more logs. Great. That's definitely gonna help us build this thing.' He said, voice heavy with sarcasm. Aki rolled his eyes. 'This is…' he said, looking at Sayomi. 'Oh, I'm Sayomi.' She said, giving Blake an awkward smile. 'She's the provider of the wood. She has a lot more logs back in her cart. We need some men to come help get the rest.' He explained. Understanding dawned on Blake's face. 'Ahh, ok. Where's the cart and how many men do you need?'
'Just outside the town and that depends on whether you want here now or now.'
Blake nodded and turned to the construction site.
'Oi! Hiro, Jun and Kieth, c'mere! He shouted at three workers. They hurried over and listened as Blake explained what he wanted them to do. 'Yes sir!' They said in unison, turning toward Sayomi and Aki. Aki handed his log to Blake and motioned for Sayomi to do the same. She gave Blake her logs but he struggled under the weight and dropped a few. 'Oh! I'm sorry!' she exclaimed, trying to help but he waved her away.
'No, no don't worry about me, you go and help the others.' He said, setting down the logs on the ground. She nodded and turned to follow Aki but Blake caught her arm. 'Um, hey. I've just been wondering. What's your last name?' he asked her. She blinked and stared at him for a while.
'Oh, right, um. It's Hiroshi.' She replied. 'Why do you want to know?'
He ignored her question and began muttering under his breath, wringing his hands and looking around nervously. 'Hey, are you ok?' Sayomi asked, reaching out to touch his arm. Suddenly, his hand shot out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her close. Her face was just inches from his and he glared at her. 'You better watch your back missy.' He whispered, tightening his grip on her arm and making her wince. 'Not everyone here is what they seem. Don't trust everyone you meet.'
'Does that apply to you too?' Sayomi asked, staring him straight in the eye.
'Maybe, but the main point is that this place ain't safe for people like you. You'd do well not to come here again.' He said, taking a step back and letting go of her arm. None of the other workers seemed to have seen what had just happened. She rubbed her wrist and started to walk away. 'You're in danger as long as you're in this town little girl!' Blake called after her. She ignored him and kept walking. 'Creepy old man.'