"So, this is the one who defeat the Giagohma? Looks familiar…" The withered old man with a rather large moustache squinted at the young man, as if trying to read a fine print. "Must be my frail old mind playing tricks again. Now I am Aepora, the leader of this village. What is your name?"
The young man stammered, not knowing how to reply. Kuli jumped up and down behind him, her hand raised. Meryll grabbed her daughters hand and spoke up. "He doesn't have a name."
"Eh? What kind of hero of the story doesn't have a name?"
"Excuse me sir, but I'm no hero. I'm just a desert kid who ran away from the sand to see what else the world has to offer. Hardly a start to any great story if you ask me." It was longest the young man had spoken. Kuli, her mother, and the other villagers looked a little startled. No one honestly thought the young man knew how to speak in complete sentences, what with all the stuttering he normally did.
"Sounds like an interesting start to say the least." The old man replied. "About your aversion to being a hero, I have a feeling that will change with time. Now, come with me."
The young man hesitated. He had put his trust in Kuli and Meryll easily enough, and the rest of the villagers seemed friendly, but this old man seemed to rub him the wrong way. Maybe it was his voice or his demeanor, just something about him gave the boy the urge to ignore him. Either way, he felt like he was in for a very long and one-sided conversation. Older people loved to talk. Meryll nudged him forward and the young man reluctantly followed.
Aepora walked very slowly towards a rather large cabin. This structure rested in a more condense part of trees, well away from the little meadow where most of the villagers spent their time. The old man entered the dwelling and headed straight for a shelf lined with books. The young man stood just outside the door, not too eager to enter the dark room. Aepora shuffled back and forth, dusting off the spines of books until at last he found what he was looking for. He lifted a rather large book off the shelf and carried it to a nearby table. It landed with a puff of dust. It creaked open.
"Hmmm, now let's see, come here boy were going to find you a name." Aepora motioned for the young man to join him. This idea piqued his interest. He walked to the table in two long strides and looked over the old man's shoulder at the writing on the ancient pages. The young man had learned to read some while he was living the Gerudo, but the symbols on these pages were unlike anything he'd ever seen. "Now, which do you like?"
"Uh, I don't know what any of this means." He answered.
"Well I don't expect you too, foolish boy. This is an ancient language said to come from the sky dwellers! Hardly something your desert ladies would know anything about." Aepora stroked his moustache and flipped through some of the pages. "You see, this book is full of legends. Legends of this land that date back generations." He flipped further into the book.
"Wait, this writing looks different…" the boy commented.
"Aren't you a smart one. Yes this part is different because it's from a different time." Aepora stroked his mustache again, pausing for effect. "You can't expect the world to burn to a crisp, time and time again and keep the same language, now can you? Now, I want you to pick a word. Pick any word that pleases your eye and that shall be your name."
"Pleases my eye? Shouldn't a name be pleasing to the ear?"
"Technically yes, but that is not always the truth-"
"But what if I pick wrong?" The boy cut off the old man. "This book is full of stories, which means there are tons more than just names. What if I pick a word that means- I don't know- fish or something…?"
"Then we will all call you Fish and laugh at you from a distance. Now, stop stalling boy and pick!" Aepora shoved the young man, his thighs hitting the table with enough force to cause a bruise. The young man rubbed his legs, throwing a bit of a pout in the elder's direction. Aepora responded with an all-knowing, smug look and the young man took that a hint. He wasn't getting out of this building without playing along. Much as he found it ridiculous, the young man indulged the older one and began leafing thought the hefty pages. Firm in his doubt, whatever word he chose as his name would only be uttered in this village and this one alone. When the sun rose next morning, he and Epona would be well on their way to freedom. True freedom, not a life dedicated to the protection of others. In no way did he feel capable of keeping anyone safe. He was no hero.
All the foreign letters began to blur and became one jumbled mess of symbols that held no significance other than the space it took up on the page. Sensing Aepora's looming presence just over his shoulder, the young man began to slow his pace of turning the pages and attempted to appear interested. For no reason whatsoever, the young man suddenly stopped. Surprised at his own actions, he tilted his head slightly. His brow slowly rested in a crease as his eyes searched for some sort of sign. Why did he stop? Was this what the old man expected?
His fierce eyes poured over each ancient symbol, desperately trying to see a reason why. Why he felt a great answer was waiting on this page. After an hour-long minute had passed, the frustrated young man pointed to one word on the page, "That one. I don't care anymore."
"So you've decided?" Aepora asked.
"Yes. That's what I said, that one." He stabbed the page harder with his index finger. "Just call me Fish…"
"I can if you want another nickname, but do you want to know your real name?"
"It can't be any worse…" he sighed.
"Link."
"Wha- what?"
"Your name. Link. It's a pretty good choice, considering all the bad ones you could have chosen. Just one more line down the page and we would have been calling you Pig." Aepora chuckled to himself, but the young man just stared down at the long dry ink. A feeling spread over him, one he had never fully understood.
"Li- Link." The word felt comfortable on his tongue, like he'd been saying it all his life. "My name is Link." The young man smiled as that feeling became real. He was his own person. Not a runt picked up in the sand by Gerudo, not the lousy shot who only really talked to horses. He was Link, the traveler and occasional monster slayer. He had a name and with it, a new beginning.
"So, Link," Aepora clapped his hand on the younger man's back. "What do think of your new name?"
"I think- well, I think it suits me." He smiled, feeling ridiculously giddy.
"We shall see."