Disclaimer: Legend of Zelda is the property of Nintendo and Shigeru Miyamoto-Sensei.
The Legend of Zelda
Mask of Twilight
Chapter Four
Chapter Four
Link approached the first booth he came to and perused its wares. It was a shop filled with musical goods. Link found a quill and some staff paper and figured he would try to write a song for the ocarina that Alria had given him. He found the shop owner and handed him the merchandise he wished to purchase.
"Find everything you were looking for, Sir?" asked the merchant, Link nodded. "Ah yes that'll be twenty rupees. If you don't mind me asking, what instrument you play?" the merchant said. Link handed him the money and pulled out the gift from Alria. "Oh! Is that a goat horn ocarina? Fine craft, that. Ordon horns make the best sound. Would you play for me?" requested the owner. Link hesitated, he had played his father's ocarina before, but that was years ago, before the accident that left him an orphan. He knew the tune by heart as he often hummed it while brushing Epona. He lifted the instrument and gave breathe to it. The ocarina sung forth its melody; its crisp, clear notes gave proof to the skilled hand that had made it.
Link finished the tune, and looked at the merchant, who swallowed, then said, "Wonderful, the song reminds me of the open pastures. But there is a sadness, almost a sense of longing, as if something was lost that could never be reclaimed." Link thanked the man and exited the shop to wander to the next attraction. He particularly liked a booth that housed a shooting range for slingshots. Link noticed how similar the slingshots' design was to the ones he had been taught to make to ward of the crows and other small animals in the pastures, though these were made of a stronger material. He made his way to the front of the line and thought that he would give it a shot, amusing himself with the pun as he paid the small fee range owner. Link grasped the slingshot and tugged at the string to familiarize himself with its pull.
"Alright, three shots to hit all three targets. Do that and you get to keep the slingshot. Here you go," the attendant said as he handed Link the three shots. Link paused to take in his task. He put a shot into the cup, aimed and released. The seed made a loud crack as it hit the counter. "Ah he missed…" the attendant said. Link stopped him and shook his head, he pointed down range and the attendant's gaze followed Link's finger. After striking the table the seed had split in two and sailed directly through the center of the left and right target. "What?" the attendant exclaimed, incredulous. Link then grabbed a second seed and loosed it straight through the last target. "No way! No way!" the attendant said and made to take the slingshot from Link.
The crowd booed him, and a man jeered "Give'm the prize. He won."
"Alright, alright, Calm the mob will ya. Boy the slingshot is yours, but the bag of ammo…" the attendant glanced to the crowd, "If you can hit the bell on that tower, it's yours too." Link looked at the bell, adjusted his stance, and felt the wind. He stretched the string, and slowly let it go back. He put the last seed in the cup and stretched the string one more time. He lifted the slingshot and aimed a little to the right. He held it for a moment, then loosed the shot. The seed left the cup, hurling slightly to the right. The crowd inhaled deeply as the shot neared the bell; the wind picked up and curved the path of the shot and as if to add insult to injury nailed the royal symbol dead in the center triangle. The attendant was silent for a moment, "I… Here, take it," he said as he handed the ammo pouch to Link, "Don't come back… and don't teach anyone how you did that either," he added.
Link turned and left the booth, a few in the crowd guffawed as he passed, and Link was certain that a couple of the ladies were staring when he wasn't looking. Link managed to disentangle himself from his new fans and continued to roam the market square. He passed a castle shaped shop which seemed to selling insects. Link peered inside and saw a peculiar old woman, whose gaudy jewelry appeared to be made from golden colored insects inlaid in resin. Link listened to her babble on to her customers about the insects she was selling as pets and how they were all descendants from the ones in her jewelry. The jewelry in turn had been passed down to her from her great grandmother. Link's attention slipped from the old lady to a disturbance further down the alley next to the building. He came closer and noticed it to be a group of three youths surrounding someone on the ground. He drew even closer and noticed the teens were pinning down a young Zora. Link drew his newly won slingshot and loosed a shot onto the nearest of the three.
"Oi!" the leader of the gang exclaimed," Somefink just 'it me." They turned to see Link armed with his slingshot and the youth cursed under his breath and yelled, "Fancy this mates, we finally get a catch and this wanker in green thinks he can jump in and stop us." The biggest of the youths pulled out a knife, to which Link responded with a sharp glance and slid his left hand to the hilt of his sword. "Alright, alright," the leader said, motioning to sheath the knife, "We'll back off, but you owe us big, Mr. Green." They turned to leave, the big one giving the Zora one last kick before joining the others.
Link approached the Zora and held out a hand. The proffered hand was taken by the scaled hand of the Zora and he allowed Link to help him sit up. "Too close for comfort," he said to himself, his voice was permeated by sub vocal croak. He stood up, dusted off his intricately embroidered garment, then held out his hand, and said, "I am Ralix, nephew to the king of Zora's Domain,"
Link took the hand at the wrist and with a stiff shake and said, "My name is Link, Hero of the Ordonian people."
"Well met Hero, I see your actions stand true to your title," Prince Ralix said
"So it would appear," Link responded. They looked between one another then laughed. "Come," said Ralix, "I'll buy you a drink at this pub I know. An old place called Telma's." Link nodded and motioned for Ralix to lead the way. They weaved their way through the crowded main street to the entrance of the pub in the branching ally. They entered to the smell of malt beverages and roasting pork. "Hey Lemi!" shouted Ralix. The young woman behind the counter turned at the sound of her name with a flip of her wavy blonde hair. Link suddenly felt as if the air had been knocked out of him and couldn't help but notice Lemi's voluptuous form. He got the feeling that was the idea.
"RalRal!" Lemi exclaimed, "I didn't know you were in town. Business or pleasure?"
"Business I'm afraid," Ralix said, "But I've got till tomorrow before the council. So I figured I'd drop in."
"Knew I'd be offended if you didn't," Lemi commented in mock scolding. Ralix laughed and made his way over to the bar to hug Lemi, who noticed Link walking behind him. "Oh, Hello, Who's this strapping lad?" Lemi asked. "This is Link, he saved from a band of thugs," Ralix said.
"Ah, Brave too, Where ya from?" Lemi said. Link looked at Ralix for a second, then Lemi said, "Don't be shy. At the risk of being cliché, I don't bite." Then with a wink, she added, "Well… That's not entirely true." She giggled at Link's reddening face.
"Alright, Lemi enough flirting. I think our mute friend here can't take any more," Ralix said, "Two of the usual, please."
