Imperial Year 1178, 2nd of the Red Wolf Moon
Once again, Link woke up hearing the whispers of Princess Zelda's sweet voice, he has been hearing it every day before he wakes up since that fateful day when he defeated Calamity Ganon and Princess Zelda died in his arms due to her arduous battle.
It has been roughly six months since Link arrived in Fodlan, these past months he has been wandering around aimlessly through the continent. In six months he roamed throughout the Adrestian Empire and the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, he now stands in lands belonging to the Leicester Alliance.
Communicating with the people from Fodlan was not as hard a task for Link as one would think, as, to Link's surprise, the language used in Fodlan is extremely similar to the one used in Hyrule. Yes, there are some differences here and there, but nothing extremely major.
It is at this time that Link noticed that he is being followed by five mysterious figures. He has found that being attacked by bandits while travelling is a rather common occurrence here in Fodlan.
One of the bandits, who seemed to be the leader, came forward and said "Hey there pretty boy, that's a nice sword you got there. It's really dangerous around these parts, who knows, someone might take a liking to it, how about you give it to us for safekeeping?"
Mentally groaning of frustration, Link said nothing, and neither did his face show any emotion to what the leader just said. The bandit leader seemed irritated by Link's silence, so without wasting any more words he ordered his men to attack. It is at this time that Link could faintly hear a man shouting in the distance.
Facing the onslaught of four bandits, Link's face betrayed no panic. He silently waited for the four bandits to strike at him, only for a red shield to appear around his entire body. The bandits' strikes could not even dent the shield and the force of their strikes forced them to stagger back. Link took this opportunity to unsheath his trusty Master Sword and strike each of the bandits, in just a few seconds four lifeless bodies hit the floor. When the leader of the bandits witnessed this, he became paralyzed by fear.
By the Goddess he thought He just killed my four men in seconds! What kind of monster is he!
However, before he could think anything else he noticed that, unbeknownst to him, the blonde Hylian had already arrived within arms reach of him, he couldn't even let out a scream before his vision went dark, and a fifth lifeless body hit the ground.
After dealing with the bandits, Link prepared to continue on in his journey, but just as he was about to leave he heard a man's voice.
"Hey, kid, who taught you how to fight like that?" Asked the man, he had noticed the way Link handled himself in that fight. Not once during the entire encounter did Link's eyes show any panic, he was calm throughout, and neither did he show any compassion when he slaughtered that group of bandits. Frankly, the man felt pained at such a sight, what does somebody so young have to experience for him to be so unfeeling in battle? It reminded him of his own daughter when she fights
When Link turned around, he saw a man donned in orange clothing, with a shield strapped to his back and a lance in his hand. He didn't sense any hostility from this man so he decided to humour him.
"I don't know." Link answered plainly. It was the truth, Link had barely regained any of his memories before he left Hyrule and the Sheikah Slate, where the keys to all his memories lied.
"You don't know? What kind of answer is that?" Despite his words, the man showed no anger or frustration, but his eyes held a curious glint. "The name's Jeralt, what about you?
"Link"
"Well, Link, It's nice to meet you. If I may ask, where are you headed to?" Asked a still baffled Jeralt.
"I don't know." Another plain answer, which only baffled Jeralt even more.
"You don't know where you're going? Damn, you're a strange kid. Though I guess I shouldn't really say anything about it, in certain ways, you are exactly like my daughter"
Link found the comment strange, him and Jeralt met just moments ago, and he said that he's like his daughter?
"Well, enough of that," commented Jeralt, "I've got a proposition for you. You see, I run a group of mercenaries, we travel all over Fodlan to do different jobs. I saw how you handled that fight, never seen anyone dispatch a group of bandits that fast, you've got good skills with a blade, that's for sure, and you said you don't know where you're headed to, so how about joining us for some time? As a member of the group you will, of course, receive sufficient payment for your services.
Link felt confused at the request. We just met and he wants me to join them? He thought, Although, I don't sense any ill will from him, and I guess I've travelled alone for a long time now.
"Very well." He agreed, his face as emotionless as when he cut down those bandits.
"Haha, it's a deal then. Come one, let's go meet the others" Said a visibly excited Jeralt.
"I nearly forgot to ask you, Link. But what was that weird red shield that appeared around you when those bandits hit you? That most certainly wasn't magic, I know a spell when I see one." Asked Jeralt, who looked genuinely curious about Link's ability.
"A gift from a friend" Answered the young Hyland blandly, which only added to Jeralt's confusion.
As it turned out, just like the rest of Fodlan, Jeralt's mercenaries don't take too kindly to outsiders. Some even protested Jeralt's decision to invite Link to join them.
"You should have seen him, I just saw him cut down five bandits in seconds, he did it basically effortlessly." Jeralt said, but it didn't faze the mercenaries protesting.
It was a this moment that Link saw a young woman approaching him, she looked close to his age, with dark teal colored hair. And a face which showed no emotion whatsoever, Link wondered what the story behind this young girl was, to make her look like that.
"I heard about you from my father, Jeralt." She said, to which Link merely nodded.
"My name is Byleth, and yours?" She asked.
"Link"
Following which a strange silence ensued, it seemed that neither of them were very fond of talking.
"Well, welcome to the group. See you around." She said as she left Link's view.
A few months passed, and Jeralt was in awe of Link's skills with the sword, Link was probably the best swordsman he had ever seen. But he also felt curious about Link's other...abilities. Apart from the red shield he saw when they first met, he has seen Link bring forth lightning upon his enemies, conjure an updraft of wind to propel himself upwards, and even some weird healing art. He asked the mages in his group and none of them had ever seen anything like that. However, whenever Jeralt asked what those powers were he simply answered "A gift from a friend." Which left Jeralt completely baffled.
Not only that, but whenever they were in battle, when Link cuts down his enemies he ĺooks so...unfeeling. It greatly pained Jeralt, he knew his daughter was that way due to something the archbishop did, but he wondered what could have made such a young boy like that.
Although, something that greatly impressed Jeralt were Link's cooking skills, he could make a meal out of virtually anything, and it seems his daughter, Byleth grew to appreciate that. It seems to him that the pair have become good friends, although he could hardly tell due to their blank stares and monotone speech.
He was glad that he could bond with someone in his group, Jeralt's group still alienated him due to his obvious foreign origin.
On a certain night, the group was resting after a day of battle. Link and Byleth sat around a bonfire, eating whatever delicacy Link cooked up for the night, when all of a sudden another mercenary came to them.
"Hey, Link." He said, "uh, listen man, I just wanted to say thank you, you know, for saving my life today."
Link inwardly felt confused, but after a good look at the man's armor he remembered that he killed an enemy that was about to end the mercenary's life in that day's battle.
"It was nothing."
"No, it wasn't nothing, you saved my life, even after we excluded you from the group." The mercenary said, a look of guilt plastered across his face. "And also, I'm sorry, you know, for excluding you because you are a foreigner."
"It's nothing, don't worry about it." Said the Hylian, which made the mercenary sigh in relief.
"That's good, then. May I join you?"
It was then that Jeralt's mercenary group seemed to stop discriminating against Link, and Jeralt felt relief at finding that Link was finally beginning to be accepted.