Disclaimer: No own.
Chapter One
Maraud slowly looked over his creations with almost a bored but amused expression, as if they were nothing but easily disposable machines made for only one purpose - to be observed. The three Links were all looking around the room, confused and disoriented. A flicker of confusion flitted across Maraud's face.
Why are there only three of them? he thought, puzzled by his own question. The orange Link in front of him mimicked the look on Maraud's face happily, as if it were a game. Maraud's scowl deepened, as well as the little Link's.
"You stop that right now!" He spoke angrily.
"You stop that right now!" The little Link repeated, shaking a finger at the man in black.
Maraud stopped in his tracks in surprise. No one ever stood up to him; the king of thieves and the master of cunning and trickery. Maraud narrowed his eyes at the offending Link of orange (as the little one did the same cheerfully). He had half a mind to kill him right now, for his impending bratty playfulness...
He took a deep breath, composing himself. No… you need all of them for your plan to work, he calmly told himself. He forced himself to show nothing but an expressionless mask, until the orange Link quickly grew bored and lost interest in copying Maraud's expressions.
There was silence as the Links tried to make sense of their dark, damp surroundings, while Maraud studied their movements and actions carefully, all down to the last detail. What a sad, sorry bunch of little beasts, he thought. They looked like they weren't cut out for the type of thing he was planning in store for them… but who knew? Maybe they had a secret, monstrous side to them. He would just have to train them. Patience was key.
Finally, the yellow Link shifted uncomfortably, looking Maraud straight in the eyes. "Hey, old man, who're you, and what's this place? What're we doing here?"
Maraud smiled, but it was a smug type of smile, one that hid secrets that were deadly. "Ah, what a question." He grinned, showing fanged teeth. "Lucky for you, you're about to find out."
The indigo-clad Link's eyes dilated in instant fear of the man, while yellow one merely raised an eyebrow in question and the orange one continued to look around the room in derpy curiosity. Maraud narrowed his eyes in concentration at the indigo Link, who looked away. The indigo one was probably the shy, emotional one, he thought. And the yellow one the more prankster type, a troublemaker. The orange one, however, seemed to be the derpiest, almost child-like, always happy. Maraud sighed. Maybe these three were going to be more of a problem than he thought.
"Come, little ones," Maraud finally spoke up. "Shall we introduce you to your home?"
"Daddy, my feet hurt," the orange Link complained.
Maraud coughed. "'Daddy'?"
"Well, you said that we were your children so you must be our Daddy, right?"
"Maybe? And how would you know?"
"I don't know. I like the word 'daddy'."
Maraud sighed and urged the children to keep walking.
After a while of walking, he felt a tug on the hem of his cloak. It was the orange one again.
He huffed. He would need to knock some maturity into that one later.
"Daddy, my feet still hurt."
Maraud stopped and turned around, raising a slick, black eyebrow. "And just what would you like me to do about it?"
"You're not a very good daddy," the orange Link sniffled.
"Um, sorry to interrupt, but what are our names?" The indigo Link asked quietly.
Maraud smiled and glanced at the orange one in a way that he hoped said, See? This is how to be mature. You could learn from him.
His point did not get across.
"Daddy, I wanna name us! I wanna name us! Can I? Can I? Can I?" Link the orange said, jumping up and down.
Did his feet really hurt? Didn't seem like it.
Maraud turned to the orange Link with a stern expression. "Very well. Select your own names, children. Do not come crying to me if they're highly idiotic." He turned and continued walking briskly down the earthen hallway they were in.
The orange one, oblivious to the insult, clapped his hands together in ecstasy, while scampering after Maraud. "YAY! Let's see…" The little Link scrutinized himself and his fellow Links for a few seconds… and then, five seconds later, brightened. "Oh! I got it! How about.. I'm Orange, 'cause I wear orange, and you're Yellow -" he pointed at the yellow one "- and you can be Indigo!" He finished with a flourish towards the indigo-colored one. Turning to Maraud, he beamed. "Daddy, I know my colors, so I'm the smart one."
Maraud rolled his eyes, surprised but too stubborn to show it. Wasn't that almost exactly how one of the real Links picked their names? What was his name… Red? Maraud shook his head and kept going. Of course it would be the same. They're all Links, he reminded himself.
"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard." Yellow rolled his eyes. "C'mon, Oran -" The yellow one stopped mid-sentence and then slapped himself. "GREAT! Now you've got me saying it!"
"Well… it's certainly not practical, but I suppose it works alright…" the shy Link said quietly.
"Are you kidding me? You're both lunatics or something," the yellow one sped up to stride alongside his "father."
"But it does work! Right? So can we use them?" The orange-clad Link pleaded, bouncing up alongside the yellow boy. "Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease?!"
"NO! Leave me alone!" The yellow one cried at the small, sunset-colored boy.
The orange's boy's eyes widened in shock and his lip began to quiver. He slumped, stopped, and plopped down onto the earthen ground. His head fell into his hands, and his shoulders started shaking. His quiet whimpering made both the yellow-clad Link and Maraud himself turn to him - not in pity, but surprise and frustration. Unlike the others, the indigo Link crouched beside the poor weeping Link with a comforting hand placed gently on his shoulder.
"The names you chose are wonderful," Indigo offered. "Of course we can always use them."
Orange jumped up immediately with sudden renewed energy, as if he had never been crying in the first place. "Oh, okay! I almost thought you didn't like them!"
"Yeah, almost," Yellow scoffed.
Ignoring or not registering his jab, Orange said, "But ya know, Indigo has too many syllables."
"It does?" Indigo asked.
"Uh-huh!" Orange nodded vigorously. "We should give you a nickname! How about…" Orange trailed off, seemingly into deep thought.
"Oh, maybe Indi?" Yellow said sarcastically, stifling a laugh.
"Yeah! Gee, Yellow, I didn't know you were such a good nickname-creator! So Indigo will be Indi! Yay!"
Yellow rolled his eyes, but he looked slightly ashamed for having made Orange cry.
Indi gave him a reassuring glance that said, It's okay, everything's resolved, and then quickly looked away.
"Yeah… sorry," Yellow murmured, but Orange wasn't paying attention, already having been absorbed in something else.
"Good to see you three have made up," Maraud replied impatiently. "However, I fear I must break it up." Maraud stopped in front of an old, weathered oak door, and opened it to reveal a small stone bedchamber. "Here are your rooms."
Pushing the three Links inside, he closed the door behind them, locking it with a click.
"Training begins tomorrow." Maraud's heavy footfalls left the three Links in shock and fear, dreading what dawn would bring.
Nike: This chapter of pure happiness was brought to you by your sponsors, The Legendary Olympians.
Katniss: I'm so happy! I helped a lot in this chapter! ^w^ I feel like an official member now.
Nike: Yeah! And by a lot, she means a lot. (A.K.A. the majority of this chappie. xD)
Katniss: OMG NIKE STAHP I BE SO EMBARASSED
Dargon: YEAH! So Yellow did most of this… XD And Nike and I edited (Nike: And wrote some.) And Indi wrote the prologue. Basically we did nothing (or, I did nothing. XD).
Indi: Are you kidding me, Dargon?! STAHP BEING SO MODEST- IT'S KILLING ME!
Dargon: WAIT, WHAT?! BUT IT'S TRUE!
Katniss: *crawls in a hole and dies*
Nike: Too much modesty is deadly.