Link slowly woke to the sound of morning birds ringing in the clearing. He screwed his eyes shut, hoping against hope he could will himself back into unconsciousness, but to no avail. However; it didn't take long before he remembered something very important about last night, and his eyes shot open when he realized just where he was. Sure enough, when he opened his eyes he was met with Paya, arms and legs wrapped around him in the sleeping bag and her face only inches from his. Link tried to lean back a little to see more, but saw her eyebrows furrow in discontent and felt her arms squeeze him back into her body before going back to normal. Paya was holding him so tight that he knew he wouldn't be getting out of here peacefully.

But Link didn't mind all too much. He smiled lazily as he watched her sleep, taking the time to enjoy what he had while he still had it. Paya's shoulders gently rose and fell with each breath, her breathing barely audible to him over the birds. Strands of snowy hair hung over her face, and Link's hand moved from her side to gently tuck them behind her ear, being careful not to rouse her. Paya's head rested on his arm, her cheek squished against it and her lips ever so slightly parted. He flexed his bicep for fun, watching her head bob up and down. He must have done it a little bit too hard, Link thought, because Paya groaned in annoyance and squeezed her legs together around his as she stretched. Link hoped he hadn't fully woken her up, but her eyes starting to gently flutter open let him know she wasn't going back to sleep. But, he thought, that could also be more than enough fun. So he put on the most devious smile he could muster and waited until she fully opened her eyes, seeing her eyes lock with his in sleepy confusion.

"Sleep well?"

Link watched with devilish pride as her eyes widened in realization, but was disappointed when her arms quickly shot back to her sides and her legs let go of his.

"Aww, come on Paya," he jokingly pouted, "I was enjoying our little moment."

Paya was reeling. She could hardly believe she had managed to get herself into this situation. How could she possibly end up in a bag sandwiched against the hero of Hyrule the very first time they went on a trip? But it was mostly the way they had slept, arms and legs intertwined in a sleeping bag, that brought heat to her cheeks. She was trying her hardest to keep herself calm, and the devious looks Link was giving her were definitely not helping.

"You done yet?"

"J-Just give me a minute!"

"Hehe, yes ma'am."

Link still had his arms around her, and he moved one to start tapping his fingers up and down the side of her body, idly waiting for her 'minute' to go by. Her breathing got more and more controlled, and he could see the worry and shock slowly leave her eyes. Once he felt she had calmed down enough, he spoke.

"Good?"

"Y-Yeah."

"Good. Now, can we talk about how you totally coerced me into sleeping with you?"

Paya narrowed her eyes and blew a face full of air at Link, who laughed at the childish response.

"What, it's true! it wasn't that bad, was it?"

Paya flipped around, giving Link the cold shoulder and an indignant huff. Link leaned forward, putting a hand on her shoulder and leaning into her ear.

"Waaas it?"

"Hush."

"Why would I? I mean it's not like I was the one who suggested it."

"..."

Link let himself fall onto his back, resting his head on his hands and closing his eyes, smiling to himself.

"Imagine if I'd been so bold as to order you to get in a sleeping bag with me, then when you got in started whispering in your ear all sweet-like, and then right after that started totally straddling you and squeezi-"

"Oh my goodness will you shut up!"

Paya flipped around to face him again, her cheeks in her all too common scarlet blush, her hand gripping his shoulder and her head resting on his chest. She was giving Link what was probably the deadliest glare she could muster, and Link was loving every second of it. Something about Paya just seemed so utterly harmless and innocent that the thought of her being mad at him was oddly funny, and the look she was giving him was pure gold to his eyes. Link couldn't stop the laughter bubbling out from him, and that only made Paya's eyebrows scrunch up more and her 'scowl' deepen. But Paya couldn't stop the corners of her mouth from turning upwards, the irresistible pull of his laughter beckoning her to join in. She focused everything she had on not allowing herself to join Link in laughing herself silly, determined not to give in to the temptation. But Paya was suddenly taken out of her little tug of war when she felt his arms wrap around her. He was looking down at her, smiling, with a look in his eyes she'd never seen before but she wanted to see again.

"Y'know, you're too cute for your own good."

Paya heard those words and expected to feel embarrassed or even a little scared, anything that would reduce her to a stuttering, blushing girl that would hide her face and wait for whatever it was to go away. But her usual shyness hardly even seemed to matter. As she looked up into his eyes, all she felt was warmth. Not from the bag, or even from his body against hers, but from inside. It just felt right, being this close with him, like she'd found the answer to a question she never thought existed. Paya pulled herself up until her head was even with Link's, and gently moved her leg to hook around his again. She moved her arm to wrap around his chest, and locked eyes with his, smiling happily.

"Do we have to get up soon, Link?"

Link stared at her, framed by her snowy hair and cast in the orange glow of the sunrise, looking at him with softness in her eyes and a light blush on her cheeks, and found himself speechless. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer, closing the small gap that remained between them. His leg went back between hers, and he gently ran his hand up and down her back. The two laid there, wrapped in each other's arms and gazing into each other's eyes, not daring to move. Eventually a smile grew onto Link's face, and he laughed to himself under his breath.

"I don't think I could get up if I tried."

Neither of them really knew how much time passed, only that after a while Paya's face was buried in Link's neck and the two of them stayed like that for a long while. The both of them closed their eyes, content to let time pass by them as they laid together. They didn't move much, only the odd squeeze or scratch, and one request from Paya for Link to scratch a spot on her back she couldn't reach. But eventually, the bag started to get a bit too heated to be comfortable in the now fully risen sun. They started fidgeting uncomfortably, and eventually they opened their eyes and looked at each other, both knowing that their time was up and that they really did need to be going. It was Link that moved first, ruefully snaking his way out of the bag as Paya waited her turn. Once he stood up, Link hopped a little in place and breathed deeply, trying to get himself fully awake again. He'd almost fallen back asleep in her arms.

Paya got out of the bag and bent down to pick it up, getting halfway through rolling it up before she remembered that it wasn't really necessary. She walked over to where they kept their things and put everything that belonged in the slate inside the device. After putting on her shoes, she lightly tossed the slate to Link, who'd also gotten his shoes on from where he'd thrown them. He tapped the slate until he stood there in his light armor, sword on his hip and smile on his face. And with that, they were ready to go.

They made their way back to the road and walked along in silence, both simply at whatever was around them. Paya stared at the mountain in the distance, never having seen this side now that they'd traveled so far from home. The road was even less eventful than the previous day, not even a spare traveler or merchant walked their way. But that was fine, Paya thought. It had already been quite the day.

Eventually they reached the beginning of another forest, and Paya vaguely remembered something Impa had told her about this meaning they were close to Hateno. They made their way around the curves in the path, Paya enjoying the small animals she saw scurry up the trees and Link happily pouncing on a few lizards he apparently needed for some recipe. But when they heard a more substantial snap of a twig, it was Link that held his hand out to stop Paya where she stood.

"What's wrong?"

"Unwanted attention."

They heard more shuffling and movement before they saw what Link was hoping they wouldn't encounter at all on this trip: enemies. A pair of bokoblins stood at the side of the path, snarling and laughing gutturally at the helpless humans who'd stumbled into their neck of the woods. Paya had never seen such a horrible looking creature, the pig snout and hunched stature looking like it came out of some child's nightmare. Link drew his sword and waited for them to make their move, noting that one of them had a club and shield while the other had a large branch they intended to use as a spear.

The two bokoblins let out a squeal and charged at the two, obviously planning to simply clobber the two travelers into unconsciousness. Link rushed forward to meet them, catching them off guard. They were used to chasing after frightened people, not actually fighting them. The one clumsy held up his shield to block Link's opening attack, but repeated blows eventually broke his guard. Link was lining up a decisive blow when he jumped back, narrowly avoiding the blunt end of the other's spear aimed at his skull. The two stood closer together now, the bokoblin with the shield in front of the one with a spear, advancing towards Link. Link charged at them head on, jumping to the side to avoid the spear and continuing to run past the shield bokoblin. With one quick blow to the neck, he skewered the spear bokoblin and let it unceremoniously crumple to the ground. The other whipped around in time to get a mean blow to the face, and it too fell. Link sheathed his sword and walked back over to Paya, who'd ran a ways back to hide behind a tree.

"It's fine, they're gone."

"S-Sure?"

"Yep."

Paya came out slowly, seeing Link wiping his sword off in the grass before replacing it in it's sheathe.

"Those were just small fries, nothing to be worried about. Cmon, we should get moving."

The two returned to the road, Paya giving the bokoblins a wide berth when they walked by. She was surprised at how little she was scared of them during the fight, but she could do without looking at their ugly mugs. She'd went to hide, but watched with fascination as Link cut them down so easily. Paya had to admit the creatures themselves were scary looking, but when they charged Link with sticks she'd felt that they weren't actually that big of a threat. Especially to her hero.

"You alright Paya?"

"Oh, y-yeah I'm fine. They weren't really that scary."

Link laughed at that.

"Now that's what I like to hear. They kinda rely on their looks to do most of the work, 'cause not many people will actually try and fight them once they see what they're against. Most just run away without even trying, but if they did they'd find that their intelligence rivals that of a squirrel. They'll hit you something fierce, but they've got no actual skill when it comes to fighting."

"Thanks for the lesson," Paya laughed.

"Anytime."

It wasn't long before they finally saw what must be the gates to Hateno village. Walking through, they were met with the quaint sight of bustling streets and clay houses. Many people were milling about outside, either talking amongst themselves or walking somewhere else. Kids played in the streets and parents watched, criers advertised their goods and old men sat on their porches. All in all, it was the most normal looking village they'd ever seen.

Link's eyes locked onto an arms shop, and grabbed Paya's hand to drag her over. Opening the door, he was immediately met with a beautiful looking set of full armor. Running over in excitement, he started meticulously scanning every detail of the armor, inspecting the gaps in the plate where only mail covered. He was happy to see that the armor didn't look cheaply constructed at all, the mail being a full hauberk underneath the plate and the metal looking polished and strong. The detail work was solid, and all the connection points were well protected. All in all, a beautiful piece.

Paya rolled her eyes at his almost childlike excitement, walking around the store and checking out what else was there. She saw some lighter armor akin to what Link wore now, as well as some swords on display in a rack. She was about to pass them all over when one caught her eye. A curved sword, conspicuously Shieka in design. She recognized that the guards in Kakariko had something very similar, but this one looked different. The usually blank black sheathe was instead a stark white, with thin black lines forming flowers and patters down it's entire length. Paya picked it up, looking closer at the shiny surface and how much work must have gone into making just the sheathe. She drew the sword and was surprised at the blade. It was jet black, with only the sharp edge being blank steel and the rest coated in some kind of material. But looking closer, she realized that the edge wasn't blank, but had many little black lines making a sweeping, circular pattern on the edge that looked like waves in the old paintings around her house. Link came up behind her and looked at what she was holding, whistling at the sight.

"Damn, now that's a blade. Actually looks more like some work of art, I'd probably hang it on a wall before I use it against something. I'd hate to mess it up."

"You needn't worry about that."

They both turned around to look at the newcomer, who was standing a few feet away, staring intently at what they held.

"It wasn't normally made. You could hit the edge with a sledgehammer and it wouldn't dull even a bit. It's weird like that."

Link and Paya stared silently at the person in front of them, who suddenly looked up like she just remembered something.

"Oh! Right, um, I'm the shopkeeper."

"U-Um, sorry, I'll put it back," Paya said, sheathing the sword and putting it back where she found it.

"No, it's quite fine really. Can't expect someone to buy a weapon without holding it after all. So, can I help you two?"

Link stepped forward.

"Well we don't really need any help, we were just looking around. But you said that sword was weird, what do you mean by that?"

The shopkeeper held out her hand, and Link picked the sword off the rack and handed it to her. She swiftly drew it, quickly giving it a few test swings before holding it with both hands by the blade.

"It's made with a special type of steel, a mix between normal metal and the black stuff that you see on pretty much anything ancient Shieka. That's why the blade's weird like that, the Shieka metal has some strange properties. Nobody has ever been able to work with it, hell most anything wont even make a dent in the stuff. But somehow, somebody managed to forge a blade with it. They couldn't work with a lot, and the person who sold it to me said that even with the small amount of metal in here it took months to coax it into shape, but eventually they succeeded. Apparently it was never used, because it was the blacksmith's son who sold it to me. It had been made forever ago, kept on a shelf, and when the blacksmith died his son decided to get rid of it. And here we are."

She handed the blade back to Link, who took a close look at the edge again. He knew pretty much nothing about smithing, but just looking at it gave him the impression of the disgusting amount of work that had gone into it. He ran his thumb down the black sides and wondered if they was also some of the Shieka metal in there.

"Now that's a sword. But, I'm not sure I'm gonna jump for it. I would, I definitely would, but I've got a blade somewhere waiting for me. I'd hate for this thing to be gathering dust again."

"Must be some sword then."

"...You could say that."

"So, will you be needing anything else?"

"Well, sure, can you tell me anything about that armor over there?"

"Oh, those pieces? Well..."

Link and the shopkeeper walked over to the armor, talking about some kind of steel specifications, something that Paya didn't understand in the slightest. She walked back over to the sword and held it again, drawing it slightly and looking again at the black metal blade. There wasn't much of anything from the old Shieka in Kakariko, just the shrine on the hill and the family heirloom in her home. But those were all old, remnants of a past slowly degrading with age. This sword felt new, crisp, bold even. Like something from ten thousand years ago had jumped into her hands, fresh as the day it was made. Something about it entranced her, and she wondered why she was so enamored with a blade.

"You're a Sheika, right?"

Paya turned around to find the shopkeep looking at her, hand on her hip. Paya gave her a nod, and the shopkeep held out her hand again. Paya gave her the sword and she drew it, then flipped it around and held it by the flat of the blade. The hilt was turned towards Paya.

"Go ahead, hold it."

"W-What, really? I don't know, I've never really held a real sword before."

"Go ahead, it doesn't bite on that end."

Paya held out her right hand and wrapped it around the handle, firmly holding it and slowly taking it out of the shopkeepers grasp. She was surprised at the weight, she always thought swords were heavier. Paya decided not to give it a swing, but did move it around in the air. Something about the way it felt balanced in her grip was kinda fun to her, it looked so striking but it felt like something half the size.

"Surprised?"

"K-Kinda."

"I get a feeling that a lot of you young girls think swords are just pieces of metal that men hit things with, but they're so much more than that. An axe or a hammer relies more on strength and stance to kill, but a sword requires much more finesse. It's a blade, but that's all, it's light and it wouldn't do much if you just swung it blindly at someone who knows what they're doing. It takes technique, it takes dexterity, it takes a certain amount of mental strength and restraint to use to the fullest. Especially something like that, a light blade with the balance at the hilt, maximum control but little raw power. Something like that would best be used by an experienced but smaller user, as a more top heavy blade would still be better for somebody with pure muscle."

The shopkeeper stared at the sword Paya was holding, and Paya thought she looked a little odd. Then she blinked and turned back to Paya.

"Sorry about that, swords are kinda my thing."

"N-No problem."

"So, do you like it?"

"Well, yes, it feels nice to just hold. I don't really know anything about fighting, but I feel like anybody would think this is a magnificent sword."

The shopkeeper nodded silently.

"You know, I didn't even have to buy it off the blacksmith's son. He just gave it to me. I said that he wanted to get rid if it, but really it was one of the last requests of his father. Not specifically to give it to me, but to put the sword somewhere it could be found. He didn't know what he meant by that, so he took it here and asked me to put it on display."

"Hm."

"So, I thought about it."

"About what?"

The shopkeeper smiled at her.

"I want you to have it."

Paya's eyes widened.

"W-What? I-I couldn't, I mean I don't even fight, a-and-"

The shopkeeper held up her hand to silence her.

"It doesn't really matter. I've held onto that thing forever not really knowing why, hell some people made some killer offers on it and I still said it wasn't for sale. It just didn't feel right, thinking of some random guy walking out of here with it and leaving me with some rupees. It always felt like it was more than just another sword to sell. But seeing you hold it there, something just seems to fit. Like when you lay down in a bed after a long day and just think; yes. Correct."

She shook her head.

"I dunno if I'm going crazy or what, but I just really want you to have it. Although I can't imagine a cutie like you being the world's deadliest warrior or anything."

"A-Are you sure?"

"Positive. And anyway, the guy's son said that he talked about it being for some Shieka leader or something, and not many Shieka come through those doors, so it's whatever."

The shopkeeper handed her the sheathe and Paya put the blade in. The shopkeeper turned and walked back towards where Link was trying on a metal helmet, leaving Paya to hold the sword she apparently now owned. She didn't know what do do with it, not like she had a belt to carry a sword on, so she just held it in both hands while she looked again at the patterns adorning the sides. Link finished his business, not buying the armor yet but saying he would come back, and Paya walked over to the door where he was waiting.

"Uh, Paya, you're shoplifting."

Paya looked up at him.

"O-Oh, uhm, well..."

"It's hers now."

Link turned to look at the shopkeeper.

"Wait, really?"

The shopkeeper nodded, and Link turned back to Paya, who was smiling at him.

"That's awesome Paya, next thing you know you'll be fighting right along side me!"

"I d-don't know about that..."

They left the store, Paya waving goodbye to the shopkeeper, and walked down the main road of the village. Link offered to put the sword in the Sheika slate, but she refused. She wanted to hold it a little while longer.

The rest of their day was busy, but fun. After walking around for a long while, looking at stores and restaurants and the one odd dyeworks, the two of them asked around for the tech lab Impa had told them about. Climbing the hill at the back of the village, they came to stand in front of a little hut with a blue flame burning out front. After a very confusing meeting with what appeared to be a six year old girl, Link got the upgrades that he set out here for, albeit at the cost of some materials he didn't know he'd be letting go of. She showed him how to use the camera, then told him to get out of her lab immediately. Apparently they were trying to do some experiments with the Shieka aging tech and they needed peace and quiet. Before they knew it, the sun was barely hanging above the horizon, casting the village in an orange glow. They made their way back down to the village and got a bite to eat on the go, some kind of fried dough that Link loved the second he bit into it. Eventually they sat down on a bench to rest their feet and to let Link finish the last bits.

"Hey Link?"

"Mmmhm?"

"Where are we gonna sleep?"

Link swallowed and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Dunno, was probably gonna see if there was a hotel or somethin."

"Y-Yeah, that's what I thought, but I didn't see one."

"Well then we just gotta look."

Link stood up and Paya followed, and they started to walk around the town looking for an inn or hotel. They heard that there was a big one near the center of town, so they immediately started walking towards the area. On their way, they saw a very old looking man making his way home, heavily leaning on his cane and talking to himself under his breath. His back was hunched, and he walked with a bad limp in his right leg. He was going in the same direction they were, albeit at about a fifth of the speed. They walked past him and the old man looked up, and after a moment his eyes widened in shock.

"Wait!"

Link and Paya stopped and turned halfway to the old man, waiting for him to say what he wanted.

"Young man, let me see your face."

Link gave Paya a quizzical look, but sure enough walked over to the guy and let himself be inspected. After a moment, a smile broke out on the old man's face.

"It's you! By jove, it really is you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Link, it's been so long."

"Wait, what? How do you know my name?"

The old man chuckled, then coughed rather violently. After a moment of rattles breathing, he looked back up at Link.

"I'm a hundred and twelve years old, yesterday."

Link didn't put the pieces together for a moment, but then realized what this meant.

"Wait, you're saying you-"

"Yes, Link, I knew you before the calamity."