Author's note: This is a novelization of Twilight Princess, but it is not 100% accurate to the game. There were a lot of plot holes and missing details in the original game, so some things that I made up for world building and filling in the blanks are not canon. If you are looking for a faithful retelling of the game, then there is a game script up on Zelda Dungeon. I ask that you give this story a chance first, though. I've at least tried to make this version of Hyrule fit in with canon.
BOOK ONE: INTO THE TWILIGHT
For once, the patrol had not been fruitful.
Link and his companion had gone through their usual route up through north Ordon and over the Floria River into Faron, but had found nothing. Not that he was complaining. After all, the fewer Bokoblins that were in the area, the better. The beasts liked to steal their crops and would sometimes kill their livestock, and the food they raised was the lifeblood of the Ordonian communities. There were lesser farming communes scattered here and there, but the one properly named Ordon had about two hundred and fifty people that relied on the things that they harvested in order to sell and trade with the towns and villages of Central Hyrule. Having anything stolen by hungry Bokoblins meant less of the goods that people needed, and so he would go on daily patrol near sunset.
He sat on his horse, a chestnut mare, and held his bow in his hand as he led the horse at a walk. Link was the only Hylian in Ordon, as far as he knew. Ordon was the homeland of regular humans and not the Hylians, but people didn't treat him any differently though; his long ears didn't stop them from giving him the same respect that they gave everyone else. Ordonians were hard-working but kind, willing to help others and lift them up if needed. They had no idea why a Hylian boy had arrived at their town one day, but he was welcome enough, and soon became part of their community. For that he was grateful.
Going on patrol was one of Link's duties, and the one he felt he was the best at. He was given a home, food and clothing, and occasionally rupees for the hard work he did. Despite the amount of people living in the town, not many of them knew how to fight. Link had arrived knowing how to shoot a bow and use a sword, and so mayor Bo had assigned him to go on patrol with Rusl once he was fifteen years old. He was now seventeen, nearing eighteen, and had killed his share of Bokoblins over the past few years.
Rusl was walking alongside the horse as he usually did. Epona was Link's horse, the horse he had arrived on when he came to Ordon years ago, and nobody else rode her. She was a large palomino mare, in fact looking like she shared a bloodline with some of the Hylian warhorses from farther north, but due to her size she easily could have been part draft horse. She was large for Link, who was a bit under five and a half feet tall, but his arms and legs were strong enough to pull himself up into the saddle. He had better be strong enough, after the amount of hard work he had done over the past five years. Hard work built muscle, and he was strong and well-built despite his slim frame.
Rusl was in his mid-thirties, a blonde man of medium height and medium build with faded blue eyes and a kind smile. His hair was a shade lighter than Link's own blonde hair, but his sideburns and neat mustache were dark. He wore the shorter sleeves and leggings typical of the hot and humid Ordon region, and had a baldric with a short sword strapped across his chest and over his shoulder. Occasionally the man would allow Link to use the sword, but Rusl decided that he was far better off using the bow while on Epona, and made a point to remind him whenever he complained. Link learned not to complain, as it got him nowhere.
They stopped on their way back from Faron as they crossed the plank bridge that spanned the Floria River. Rusl had stopped to gaze out over the river, and Link had left him behind, continuing to ride on. He reined in Epona and turned his head to look over the water, wondering what was worth stopping for. The sun had just set, and twilight was settling in to the western hills, staining the sky in shades of pink and purple. It was summer so the light would linger, but Link knew they shouldn't remain out in the woods after dark. He was hungry anyway, and wanted to go home. He had learned patience from Rusl, so he listened when the man spoke.
"Pretty tonight, isn't it?" the man said, pointing at the picturesque view.
"Yeah." Link replied. It was pretty, and he wouldn't mind sitting around staring at the sunset if he wasn't so hungry. As it was, Rusl had told him that he wanted to speak to him about something important while on patrol, and he hadn't done so yet.
"Link, tell me. Do you ever feel a kind of sadness when dusk falls?" He crossed his arms, looking out at the colors in the sky.
"I feel a kind of sadness when I'm late for dinner." Link said pointedly. He didn't want to be rude, but at the same time he had been out all day. There probably wasn't any time for him to go fishing for dinner, either. Another meal of bread and fruit, oh boy.
Rusl chuckled. "I'm hungry too, but I just thought of something I had heard of when looking at the sky. They say that twilight is the only time when our world intersects with another, the world of the dead. It's the only time we can sense those who have crossed over, and their lingering regrets. They miss our world, so it is said, and so twilight always has a certain feeling of loneliness about it."
"Interesting story, I guess. Maybe I can turn it into some kind of ghost story for the kids." It didn't feel lonely, looking at the twilight. In fact he didn't really feel anything, other than a little impatient, and of course hungry. "Rusl, as much as I'd like to stare at the pretty colors with you, I want to ask what was so important you wanted to talk to me about."
The man stopped looking at the sky and started walking across the rest of the bridge, and waved him along. "Come bring Epona to the spirit's spring for a drink, and I'll tell you."
The Spring of Ordona, simply known as "the spirit's spring" by the locals was a clear pond in the middle of the woods, up a worn path from the road. Rounded rocks that stuck up out of the water were carved with swirling patterns, likely from ancient Ordonians who had worshipped the spring in the past. The rocks were in three tiers, with the spring itself at the top tier, bubbling out and pouring water out via little waterfalls into the pond below. People had said that there was a god that lived in the spring and sometimes lights could be seen here, but Link didn't believe it. There was nothing magical of any kind in Ordon, unlike Hyrule proper. It was a non-magical place for non-magical people.
Link dismounted once they reached the spring. He brought Epona over to the clear water, and the horse lowered her head to drink. Then he turned to Rusl expectantly, waiting for him to bring up the subject he wanted to discuss. He was starting to lose patience, but trying not to let it show.
Rusl was able to read his expression well. He always did. "Since you're a bit impatient, I'll get right to it. I want you to be the one to bring the sword and shield I made to Hyrule Castle to give to the king." The smith had been working on the two pieces for weeks, and was supposed to bring them to the king himself. He had worked there once, and the king likely knew him. Yet he was asking Link to do it.
That wasn't what he was expecting. In fact he didn't know what he was expecting. "Me? Are you sure about that?"
"Uli is due soon, and I can't be leaving the town to run errands. At least not for this errand, when you would be a suitable replacement." It made sense. Rusl's wife was pregnant with their second child, and he wanted to be here. There had to be somebody else that he could ask, though. Link had plans. "I know your birthday is in a week, but you should be able to travel up to Castle Town and the castle itself and get back in that time. That would take you four, maybe five days. I know that Colin and Ilia have made gifts for you, so you should be back in time to receive them."
"I can do it if you want me to." Link said, even though he himself didn't want to. "But are you sure I should be out there? I mean…" he let it trail off. Link hadn't exactly came to Ordon in the best of circumstances.
"You'll be fine. You're an adult now, and the trouble that brought you here shouldn't find you again. Didn't you tell me that you wanted to see some of the world? This is an opportunity, Link. You shouldn't pass it up." Rusl clapped him on the shoulder. "Besides, I already told Bo that you'd do it, so you can't exactly back out now."
Of course he had told the mayor. That pretty much sealed the deal; Link would be going to Hyrule Castle to give to the king of the Hylians the sword. If he had any choice he'd still go, but he'd stick that sword up King Adelbert's nose. "Fine, I'll go. Tomorrow, right?"
Rusl nodded. "Tomorrow. You should be able to do some of your duties in the morning, then pack up and leave in the early afternoon."
Well, that settled that.
He led Epona back into town, past the path that went up the wooded hill where his house stood, and thought about having to give a gift to a king he hated. Why did the Ordonians want to pay tribute? Was this some kind of goodwill thing, some kind of diplomatic mission to keep up friendly relations? Ordonians traded with Hylians, wasn't that good enough? At least he'd be able to do something different for a change. While the simple rhythm of herding and then patrolling had been comforting, Link was starting to look for a bit more in life.
Rusl bid him goodnight when they reached the one intersection in village, and he walked towards his own home as Link continued on to the ranch on the far side of the town. The fields were dark and empty, the workers having gone home for the evening, and the scattered houses were lit up with lamplight. It would be completely dark by the time he took care of Epona and returned home, and hunger had already chewed a hole in his stomach. He grumbled under his breath about it, but there was nothing to be done. He led the mare up the hill to the large enclosed ranch that was nestled between a rise and one of the steep hills that bordered the valley that Ordon lay in. The ranch was dark, but the barn was lit by a pair of lanterns hanging near the door, and he grabbed one so he could see what he was doing. Fado had likely left them there for him, knowing that he would return in the evening.
Epona didn't seem to care that he was a little crabby as he worked to care for her and get her ready for the night. She pushed at him with her nose and lipped at him a bit, and he sighed. He knew what the horse wanted. He hummed a short simple song that the horse had been trained to respond to, and the mare contentedly leaned her head against his chest, almost pushing him over. He couldn't help but smile, despite his mood. Epona adored him, and he loved her dearly in return. This was his family's horse, one of the few links he had to them other than the song, and he cherished her.
As he predicted, it was completely dark when he walked back to his house on the outskirts of town. His night vision wasn't too bad, but he still didn't want to walk up the hill in the dark only to return to a completely dark house. Some of the lights in town were already going out, as some of the early risers were already in bed. He climbed the hill and reached his home, which was effectively a treehouse. It was a round house of Ordonian style, one single room, set onto the stump of a massive tree. It overlooked the town and he had a good view, but he lived away from everyone else. That was the mayor's intention, though. Link climbed the ladder to reach his door, and went into his house.
He fumbled around in the dark for a moment before he managed to light a lamp. His stove and oven were cold; he hadn't been home to light them and cook anything since morning. If it was lit he could eat some eggs, but then again he didn't feel like fussing with it. Link sighed and resigned himself to that meal of bread and peaches when there was a knock at his door.
He pulled it open, half-expecting the mayor to be there to talk to him about his trip tomorrow, or perhaps the propositions that he had offered Link of late. He didn't want to think of those propositions. Bo wasn't standing there, but his daughter was.
"Ilia?" He should have expected her to drop by, though. She hadn't seen him all day.
Ilia was a bit shorter than him, with close-cut pale blonde hair that curled around her heart-shaped face, and bright green eyes. She was also his best friend, so she fixed him with a bit of a look. "Why so surprised? It's not like I don't visit."
"Oh, sorry. I had other things on my mind. Come in." Link stepped back and noticed that she was holding a plate with a pot lid on it. She had brought him something, something that smelled good. He hoped his stomach wouldn't growl. At this point he was so hungry he could eat his front door, which he closed now that she was inside.
"I saw you walk by with Epona, you know." she said, crossing the room to place the plate down on his table. "You were out pretty late."
"Rusl needed to talk to me after patrol." Did he smell fish? It certainly smelled like fish. Maybe trout?
"Oh? About what?" She sat down in one of the chairs. Link had two chairs, but nobody really used the other one most of the time. Only Ilia and Rusl's family ever visited him, the lone Hylian who lived on the very edge of Ordon.
"I'll tell you in a minute. First, what did you bring me?"
Ilia lifted the pot lid, and it was indeed fish. Two herbed fish fillets and two plantain dumplings, with a knife and fork already on the plate. There was something wrapped in a napkin set on the side of the plate...bread, perhaps? "It's not hot anymore, but I thought I'd bring this to you, even if you've eaten already. Father's getting older, and he needs to eat less." She smirked at him prettily. Much of what she did was pretty. "I know you can always use the energy. You work so hard."
Link slid into the other chair and picked up the fork. "I haven't eaten, so you and your fish are a gift from the gods. All praise Ilia, bearer of fish."
She laughed as he started eating. Her laugh was attractive, and he liked hearing it. He liked a lot of the things she did, although he tried not to let on. "Well, I can't let you sit here and eat fruit all the time. You need to eat meat."
He swallowed a mouthful of fish. "If I had the time, I'd eat fish and cucco every day, but my two jobs keep me busy. It's not like I want to eat peaches or melons all the time." He peeked into the napkin, and saw that it was flatbread. Maybe he'd save that for tomorrow. He took it off the plate and set it aside on the table.
"I don't want you to eat that way, either." She set her elbows up on the table and rested her chin on her fists, watching him as he ate. "What if I started making meals for you?"
He looked at her with a mouthful of dumpling, and then shrugged. Link would like that quite a bit, actually. He would be able to eat properly, not to mention see Ilia more often. He had used to spend a lot more time with her, but it seemed like for the past year there was always work that kept the two of them apart. Something would need herding, or fixing, or lifting, or harvesting, or killing. His patrols with Rusl made sense, but the other jobs that suddenly had been given to him did not. It was as if Bo was trying to find ways to keep Link away from his daughter. Ilia hadn't seemed to notice Link's attraction to her, but the way that Bo looked at him indicated that he had an inkling of how Link felt. It wouldn't have been the first time he tried to keep them farther apart. It was how Link wound up in this house on the edge of town, after all.
She raised a thin blonde eyebrow. "That's not a very good response. Do you want me to do it or not?"
Link shoveled food into his mouth and nodded. While he wanted to talk to Ilia, eating was just too important right now.
"It wouldn't be any bother for me, you know." Ilia said, watching him eat with a light smile. If he had to guess, she was pleased that he was eating the food she had made. Well, he was just as pleased to eat it. "I'd be able to see you a bit more, too. I miss having you around, Link."
He looked into her green eyes and swallowed the food he was chewing. "I know. I miss talking with you." That was an understatement. Link had problems with his temper, and speaking to Ilia helped him remain calm. "It seems like there's always something I need to do now. If I had any guess, your father is trying to keep me busy."
Her smile faded. "I'm sure he is. It's just how it was a few years ago. I don't know why he's so worried about you and me, it's not like we get into trouble or are a bad influence on the town kids or anything." She had no idea, did she? He should probably talk to her about it soon, now that the two of them were grown up. It would be nice to start to court her, even in the formal sense that Ordonian tradition dictated, but Bo had his own ideas on what should be happening in regards to Ilia. He had talked to Link about those ideas, and they were quite frankly terrible. At least they were terrible from Link's point of view. "I have an idea." she said, interrupting his thoughts. "Why don't we take a ride on Epona tomorrow afternoon? You haven't taken me riding in a long time. I'm sure you can convince Fado to cover for you at the ranch."
That thought was appealing, of riding through the forested trails nearby with Ilia's arms around his waist. He knew what he was doing tomorrow afternoon, though. "I can't." She looked confused at his refusal, so he decided to tell her. "I'm supposed to be leaving town tomorrow afternoon. Rusl can't go to Hyrule Castle to bring that sword he made, so he's having me do it."
Her confusion turned into a scowl. "What? Why send you? Isn't there anyone else who can do it?"
"That's what I said, but Rusl wanted me. Probably because I have Epona." He pushed around the remaining fish on his plate with the fork idly. There wasn't much left. He had been eating rather quickly. "I couldn't refuse if I wanted to, I mean Uli is going to have that baby soon, and I can't really be selfish and tell Rusl that he has to go. Not only that, but he told your father. If the mayor knows I'm going, that means I'm going."
She slapped her hands down on the table angrily. "What were they thinking? Your birthday is in a week!" Ilia looked like she was going to say something else, then shook her head slightly, clearly thinking to herself. "I could probably talk to my father and see if some other arrangement can be made." she said after a moment.
"I already said I'd do it, so don't waste your energy." She fixed her eyes on him when he spoke, still slightly angry. "It's fine. It's not worth getting mad over. Sometimes things happen." He put the last of the fish into his mouth and pushed the empty plate back.
Her anger faded and was replaced with disappointment. "You're right. Maybe we can figure out some time for the two of us after you get back. How long will you be gone?"
Link swallowed the last of his meal. "Rusl estimates four or five days. The road there goes straight north out of Faron, so there shouldn't be any delays." Except if I decide to stab the king and get thrown in the dungeon, he thought. "We can think of something after then, all right?"
"I guess. It's a shame that you were picked. What about your duties around town?"
"Somebody will do them. The people who should be doing them in the first place, probably." That probably made him seem a bit petulant, but he didn't care. Things had been a little more frustrating now that he was kept away from Ilia.
"Probably." She folded her hands in front of her, glum about this sudden trip he had to take. "The children are going to miss you. Me too, you know." He didn't care so much if the town children missed him, but he was very interested in her missing him. Link had sometimes wondered if Ilia had feelings for him, just as he did for her. Sometimes when she stood closer to him she would blush prettily, or not meet his eyes in an awkward moment. Even if he had his suspicions, he didn't know how to broach the subject with her. Maybe he should just try pulling her into his arms and giving her a kiss and see how that went. She'd probably hit him. It might be worth it anyway.
"Look, Ilia…" he began, not sure where he was going with this. "We'll figure something out when I get back. We can go for that ride, or take a long walk, just you and me. No kids, no Mr. Mayor breathing down our necks. Then we can talk without worrying about what others think."
He thought he saw a little color in her cheeks. "What would we be talking about that would make people worry?"
"Um," he floundered. They were alone, for crying out loud. Why was this so difficult?
"There is something I've been meaning to talk to you about. It's a secret though, so we can't discuss it right now. I made you something, so I can give it to you and then we can talk about that. About your birthday." It seemed innocent enough, but there was something about the way that she sat that made her seem like she felt as awkward as him. She stood then, and reached for the plate in front of him. "Speaking of talking, I want to stay here and talk more, but father will start looking for me soon."
"Oh. All right." He watched her put the pot lid on the empty plate, disappointed that she was leaving already. He could tell that she was too. Why was it so hard for them to talk to one another? They seemed to be on the same wavelength. It wasn't that difficult for them to talk up until recently, now that the two of them were seventeen. "It's not all that late but I did a lot today, so I should sleep soon anyway. I have a busy day tomorrow." He stood and walked with her to the door.
She smiled at him when he opened the door for her, beautiful in the lamplight. "Goodnight. Don't leave without talking to me tomorrow, okay?"
"I won't. See you tomorrow." he said. At least she appeared as disappointed as he was when he looked at her face. He wasn't imagining that, right?
"See you tomorrow." She stepped out into the night and climbed down the ladder, balancing the plate on one hand as she did so. He watched her go and then shut the door, sighing. He was such a fool. Link had no problems talking with others, and in fact had some pleasant conversations with the rest of the town. People responded to him well when he smiled and talked to them, just like when Rusl did. Yet talking to Ilia of late had been like tip-toeing over broken glass. Maybe tomorrow. He was supposed to leave the town for the first time in over five years. That was kind of a big deal, so maybe he could try talking to her about the two of them, or at least drop a little hint about how he felt. Maybe. Or maybe he'd fumble for words again.
No point in worrying about it now. He decided that he should get ready for bed. There were still chores to do in the morning before he had to leave.
He awoke to something hitting his house. The first time he heard it, he wasn't sure exactly what had woke him up. The second time he was certain: somebody was throwing rocks at his house. Link sat up and grumpily looked up at the window just above his bed. If somebody wanted his attention, they could knock on the door like anyone else. He stood on the bed to look out his window, which was rounded and framed with curled wood that lacked any glass. All his windows were like that, as well as the others in Ordon. Only Bo had the luxury of glass windows in this little town. Most other people made do with mosquito netting. Link just got bit by mosquitoes.
What he saw wasn't somebody throwing rocks, but a boy holding something in his hand, looking up at the house. Link realized it was a slingshot, and the boy had already reloaded it with another stone and was starting to pull it back to fire again. This kid, why was he like this? And he was the better one of the two brothers.
"Talo!" Link shouted out the open window. "Cut that out!"
The seven-year-old lowered his slingshot and said something to the girl that he was with, which Link could faintly hear. "See, I told you it would work."
"It worked, but I'm not happy about it." he called down to the children. Where did he get a slingshot, anyway?
"But you're awake now." said Talo's round-faced little brother, Malo. He was small for his size despite being six, but had a clever mouth that Link did not like at all. Both of Jaggle and Pergie's kids were a bit obnoxious, not to mention out of control with little respect for others. Link liked children, but these two tended to push his patience. "You gonna get dressed or what?"
Link looked down at his bare chest and then glowered at Malo for a second. "Yeah, fine. Wait there." He leaned his arm out the window to point at them. "And don't you dare shoot anything else." He withdrew from the window and quickly made his bed. It had looked like it was mid-morning out there, so he had overslept despite going to bed early. By trying to sleep enough, he had wound up sleeping way too much. Eating heavy food like dumplings did that to him, though. He was lucky he didn't have weird dreams too. He climbed down from the loft that held his bed, which was situated above the door, and started getting ready for the day. Link considered eating a few peaches for breakfast, but Ilia was right: he needed to eat better. Maybe he would see what they were eating at Rusl's house. Uli was always happy to feed him.
Not too much later he was climbing down the ladder to meet with the three children that stood in the shade of one of the trees in his yard. The girl that was with Malo and Talo watched him as he approached. At least she was a reasonable kid, even if she seemed to have a girlhood crush on Link. Having a ten-year-old crush on you was far better than having somebody use a slingshot on your house. The girl was named Beth, and she was polite, heavily freckled and sometimes still wound up in trouble by hanging out with Jaggle's boys. She tucked her hands behind her back shyly. "Sorry about that, Link. I told him he could borrow it, but I didn't know that he would shoot your house with it."
So that's where Talo had gotten something like a slingshot. Even his parents knew not to give him anything even remotely dangerous. Talo could do serious damage with just a stick. "It's from your mother's shop, right?" Link asked. Beth's mother ran the general store in town, which mean that she resold the things that she traded with the merchant in north Faron. "Do you really think your mother would approve of you letting him handle her merchandise?"
Beth toed at the ground a bit with her sandal. "No...but I thought if I watched him, he'd be good and not break anything. It's not like he shot a rock through your window." At least she had the decency to look guilty.
"I had to do something, you overslept! Fado's kind of mad right now, since he had to do all the work himself this morning." Talo did have a point, although there were far better ways of waking somebody up. Fado probably wasn't all that angry though. If he was, oh well. By now, probably half the town knew that Link had to leave today anyway. A small village tended to gossip about every little thing.
"He'll be fine. I'll head to the ranch soon." He pointed at the slingshot in the boy's hands. "Give that back to Beth." he commanded.
"I didn't plan on using it to shoot at your house, I planned on using it to scare away monkeys." The monkeys again. They were a minor nuisance, but the children were taking them very seriously, especially Talo. Wild animals always stole crops, it was part of growing food. Birds, deer, boars, and of course baboons would eat fruit or vegetables from the fields, but usually there were enough humans around to scare them off. It did seem like the baboons were stealing for the sake of stealing, it didn't matter too much. The animals weren't like Bokoblins, who actually could and would hurt people.
Link crossed his arms sternly. "You shouldn't shoot animals with that, Talo. It's cruel."
"But they keep stealing pumpkins! And they've stolen some other stuff that isn't food." He held up the slingshot in his hand, which looked slightly grubby as usual. Talo was often dirty. "If I use this, I can help protect the village. I want to help you and Rusl, you know?"
"I appreciate that, but maybe you should tell an adult if you see any trouble. Come and ask me for help, okay?" He hoped that his tone and expression told Talo how important this was. Sometimes it was hard getting through to the child; he wasn't terribly bright.
"This is boring." Malo sat down and started poking at the dirt, not interested in anything now that his brother wasn't shooting rocks at the house anymore.
"I have to do something." Talo whined. "You won't teach me how to use a sword."
"And I won't for years. You're only seven. I didn't start training until I was ten."
"Ten? Who trained you?" The boy's question was innocent enough, but did not warrant a proper answer. That would mean talking about things that happened before he came to Ordon, and they were not appropriate to tell to children.
"A guy with a sword. Just cut out, all right? You're a kid, so animals eating crops isn't your problem."
Talo stomped his foot angrily. "That's not fair! I know I can help. I'll bet I can track down those monkeys and beat them all up. Then they'll leave!"
"No." Link said firmly. "You absolutely will not leave the village. You've been told this before: there are Bokoblins in the woods." He looked at Beth. "Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. If he gets in trouble, you'll get in trouble too." May as well ask the more reasonable child to keep an eye on the others.
She wilted a little under his blue-eyed stare. Beth probably thought that he was angry, even though he was only frustrated. "Okay."
"I'm going now. Run along and stay out of trouble, you three." He felt he was done scolding them and walked past, down the hill and towards the village. Fado probably would want a bit of help even if he was late, but first he decided to see if Uli had anything to eat.
Rusl was outside working near his forge, which was a little distance from the house for safety reasons. It was little more than an open-air shack with rolls of canvas tarp tied up to the roof, with tools hung from the legs of the structure for want of anywhere else to put them. His work station was likely a lot less impressive than his old one had been, as he had worked in Hyrule Castle before he came to Ordon. He never really went into detail about his time working there, other than the offhanded comment that he once did. Like Link, he had some things he wanted to keep to himself.
The smith was currently readying to pour molten metal into some kind of mold, although Link couldn't see what it was for. He watched from a respectful distance, not wanting to get too close. Rusl was wearing a sleeveless smock and a leather apron as he worked, the latter spotted with burn marks. There were a few scars here and there on his arms as well, where the thick blonde hair didn't grow anymore.
"Are you here to get the sword and shield?" Rusl asked, not looking up from what he was doing. He likely recognized the sounds of Link's footsteps and knew it was him as approached. Link was willing to wait, but it was mid-morning and he probably should start packing soon.
"Yeah." It wasn't exactly true, but he'd get the sword while he was here.
"Uli has it. Go on inside, Colin wants to talk to you anyway." He carefully used the tongs in his hands to set down the crucible that he had poured the metal from, still concentrating on his work. Link decided to leave him be.
He entered the house, which was smaller than his own. It had likely been fine for Rusl and Uli when they were newly married, but now that they were going to have their second child, it was going to get a bit crowded. Maybe he should offer to swap houses, it wasn't like he needed the space. Uli was sitting at the table and mending some article of clothing. Like Rusl, she was light-haired and blue-eyed. She was also heavily pregnant, in the final month, and looking rather large and ungainly. She looked up from what she was doing when Link entered the house and began to stand up, but he waved her down.
"No, don't get up for me. If you're comfortable, stay there." he said. Link didn't know that much about pregnancies, other that they were uncomfortable. Pushing the baby out at the end of it all seemed to be quite the ordeal, too. He was glad he was male.
"Good morning." said Rusl and Uli's son, who was carefully sweeping the floor, doing chores for his mother to make things easier. Colin was eight years old, and had the same blonde hair and blue eyes as his parents. He was also a bit on the meek side, and had a habit of letting others talk over him. He was a sweet boy though, and Link liked him far more than any of the other children. "I wanted to wake you up, but Talo wouldn't let me."
"No, Talo wanted to shoot rocks at my house with a slingshot." Link looked at Uli, who clicked her tongue upon hearing that. "He thinks he's going to go fight some monkeys. I told him no."
"Is he still obsessing over that?" Uli asked. "And shooting rocks at people's houses, too. What is Pergie doing with those boys?" This last question was said more softly, as if she was talking more to herself than Link.
"Who knows? I think I see her kids just as much as she does some days." He looked at Colin. "Was he mean to you again?"
"He said he'd thump me." Colin was slightly bigger than Talo, but still relented to the other boy constantly. "I didn't want to cause trouble so I left."
"Just be patient, Colin." Link told him. "I know you don't like to be picked on like that, but it can't last forever. Either Talo will grow up, or you'll grow bigger and stronger than him and he won't want to bully you anymore."
"That's easy for you to say, nobody tries to pick on you." the boy said sullenly. "You're not even all that big compared to the other adults, either."
"Hey now, I'm still growing." He was, too. Link had been something of a late bloomer. "But I'm nice to people, so people are nice to me."
"I think it's probably because you're brave. You go and fight off Bokoblins with dad, so nobody would dare pick on you." The boy clung to the broom in his hands, frustrated. "I want to be brave just like you. Then I won't have to worry about bullies."
Link had to chuckle at that, and he reached out to ruffle Colin's hair. "Everybody gets bullied at some point in their life, even me." Yes, and those kids will never bully him ever again. "Hang in there. You're a lot smarter than Talo, so he probably feels threatened by you. I'm not saying try to be friends with him, but at least try to get along with him." He would have told Colin to fight back, but that method wound Link in trouble when he was younger. Better to be smart than strong.
"Have you eaten?" Uli asked.
Thank you, Uli. He had hoped to hear those words from her. "Not yet. I came here to get the sword and shield, but if you're offering I'll eat whatever you have." Anything is better than a couple of peaches.
The woman pointed over to the hearth, where a pot on a hook was pushed to the side, away from the fire. "There's still barley porridge there from this morning, and we have a bit of sausage left. Go help yourself."
Link got himself a warm breakfast and told the two of them about yesterday's dull patrol. It wasn't like he really wanted to shoot anything, but sometimes riding the same route every afternoon got monotonous, and shooting at something was at least something interesting. As he sat and ate, Colin told him about all the things he had done today to help his mother out: sweeping, dishes, and he even made tea for her. She wouldn't let him cook yet, though. The boy seemed a little sore on that point, but Link agreed with Uli. Colin would likely burn himself.
He decided to clean his own dishes, since they had fed him after all. As he was drying his hands on a towel, he looked at the mark on the back of his left hand that in the shape of three triangles. It had been there for nearly eight years now, a perfect pattern of darker skin. His mother had seemed like she recognized it, and then lied and said that she didn't know what it was. It probably was something related to the Sheikah that she hadn't wanted to talk about at the time. Now he couldn't ask her anymore.
"Let's see this sword and shield." Link said, not worrying about his hand. Nobody else really seemed to worry about it, probably assuming it was a Hylian thing.
Colin got up from his chair and went over to the far side of the single couch that they had in the one-room house. He picked up a pair of bundles wrapped in cloth and brought them to the table. He set down the larger one first, and Link picked it up, unwrapping it. The shield was wooden, made of some kind of pale wood and colored with a light stain. There was a wood burn of merged goat horns in the center of the shield, the unofficial emblem of the Ordon region. It was inlaid with mother of pearl, with a few more patterns of wood burning around the edge. It was a nice-looking shield, although any kind of wooden shield would eventually splinter and crack in combat. This was purely an ornamental piece, despite it having hand straps on the back side.
However the sword was a live blade, sharp and strong. It made a steely scrape as he pulled it from its leather sheath, which was attached to a baldric of soft goat leather. Link hefted it in his hand and found the balance on it fairly good. The gift made sense to him, upon seeing it. This wasn't necessarily from the farming village of Ordon. This was a gift from Rusl the blacksmith, who used to work at the castle, and he wanted to remind the king of his skill. Was Rusl planning on taking his family back north? He was Ordon's only smith, but at the same time it seemed like someone of his skill level was wasted on the small town. If Rusl left, Link didn't know what he would do. The man's family had become Link's own, and Rusl was a bit like a stepfather. Would he go with them, if they went north? Was that one of the reasons Rusl picked him?
Link slid the sword partway back into its sheath and looked at his reflection in the polished blade. Blue eyes, messy blonde hair, pointed ears. Maybe the only Hylian in Ordon didn't belong here after all, and he ought to return to where the other Hylians lived. The only thing other than Rusl's family that made him want to stay was Ilia. He couldn't worry about what could only be a possibility right now, since he had work to do. He sighed at the thought of possibly moving north and fully sheathed the sword, carefully wrapping it and the shield in cloth again.
"He does good work." he said, not explaining the little sigh. "It's a shame it'll probably sit somewhere in a chest or on some dusty wall in Hyrule Castle."
"You don't know that." Uli said. "The king has many retainers. He may give the sword to one of them."
It really didn't matter what the king did with the sword in the end. Knowing how crazy he was, he probably would try using it as a walking stick or cut up his dinner with it. The whims of a mad king never made any sense, and everyone around him had to endure them. Link stood, tucking the sword and shield under his arm. "I'll take these and put them in my saddlebags. I may as well get Epona ready, too."
"Link." Colin said. "I know that it's a bit early, but I put your birthday gift in the stable, by Epona's stuff. It's a fishing rod. I know that you broke yours and have to keep borrowing Fado's, so I thought you could use a new one."
Link smiled. Colin was such a good kid. "That's a very thoughtful gift. Thank you. Did you want me to take it with on my trip north?"
The boy nodded. "Yeah. I heard there's a lot of little lakes and ponds in Central Hyrule, so maybe you can use it. It comes apart so you can carry it with you easy."
He probably wouldn't have the time to stop and go fishing, but he wasn't going to tell Colin that. "That's good, so I'll be sure to take it with me on Epona. I ought to get going. Thank you for the meal, and for the fishing rod."
"Have a safe trip, Link." Uli said. "We'll be waiting for you here when you get back." She extended her arms to him, and he leaned over to give her a one-armed hug, the other hand holding onto Rusl's handiwork. Uli kissed his cheek and spoke softly to him. "You're a man now, all grown up. I still can't believe it…" Her voice was a bit emotional.
He wasn't expecting this. Uli and Rusl had treated him like a son, so it kind of made sense that she would be emotional before he left the town. "Hey, I got here because you two brought me up right." he said quietly, near her ear. "I'd still be a mess without you." Link pulled back before she could say anything else. He didn't want to get emotional in front of Colin. "I'll be back in a few days. Don't have that baby while I'm gone, all right?"
Uli smiled at him. "I'll do my best."
Epona was gone.
Most of the other horses were in their stalls, shaggy draft horses that were used to pull plows and carts. Some of the goats had wandered into the large communal barn to stare at him with their rectangular pupils, their curved horns meeting in a perfect circle above their heads. He wasn't looking for goats, and he wasn't looking for a draft horse; he was looking for his horse, and she was missing along with her tack. Even the fishing pole that Colin had left wasn't there.
Link had his suspicions. Speaking to Fado confirmed them.
"Yeah, she was here." The much larger man was sitting along the side of the barn in the shade, watching the goats. It was supposed to be Link's job right now. "I didn't get in her way. When Ilia makes up her mind, nothing's gonna stop her."
Well, that much was true. "Did she say where she was taking Epona?"
Fado looked up him from where he sat on the ground, arms resting on his knees. His upper body and arms had become quite muscular in the past few years. Not too different than Link in that regard, except Fado was tall and barrel-chested to begin with. Fado was one of Link's few friends, and he only became that once Link stopped picking fistfights with him. It's funny how well you can get along with someone when you stop smashing your fist into their nose. "Yeah, she actually told me in case you dropped by. She's going to clean her up at the spring."
"Doesn't she realize that I'm just going to get the horse dirty when I'm riding?" Ilia really should realize that, after all she had watched Link brush the dirt from the horse's coat after the two of them would go riding together.
"Don't ask me, I'm just watching the goats." He looked back at the herd, which chewed at the grass and weeds that grew in the large enclosed ranch. "Since I took your shift today, you're gonna take one of mine after you get back." He didn't seem angry, unlike what Talo said, but he probably didn't want to be here right now.
"That's fair. All right, thanks Fado. I'll see you in a few days." He turned and started the long walk back to his house. What was Ilia thinking? Sometimes she would visit the horse by herself, both she and Fado had told him so, but she didn't take her out. Giving a horse a bath, of all things. It was a waste of time…
That was it. It was a waste of time. If she wasted his time, he wouldn't be able to leave right away.
"Of all the childish…" he muttered as he strode through town, sword and shield bundles tucked under his arm. It really was terribly childish. He was only a little under year older than she was, but sometimes it felt like he was a lot more mature than Ilia was. Whether that was due to Rusl and Uli's influence on him, or due to Ilia being the mayor's daughter and always getting her way, sometimes it seemed like there was a more considerable age gap between the two of them.
As it was, he hadn't planned on leaving quite yet. He still had other things to pack, so he brought the bundles up to his house and leaned them against the wall near his table. Should he pack right now? Link stood back from the table to look around the house. No, he should talk to Ilia first. It was going to be hard to pack if the horse carrying the bags wasn't with him anyway.
Link had gotten to the road from the path that lead to his house, when Jaggle ran past with a look of concern on his face, with Bo shortly behind. Bo was a portly man with a short mustache and bald head, in his late fifties. He had been some kind of adventurer when he was younger before settling down in Ordon, and those years had made his body tough. He still had bulky arms despite his belly.
"Link!" the mayor said, slowing to a halt.
"What happened?" Bo wouldn't be running if there was nothing wrong.
The older man opened his mouth to answer, and then watched as Colin ran past, following Jaggle as he ran into the woods of North Ordon. "Damn that boy, he should have stayed put and left this to us." He looked at Link with his small, squinted eyes. "He came and told us that Talo brought Malo and Beth into the woods to look for monkeys. Apparently Talo has some kind of weapon and thinks he can use it to fight."
Link was alarmed. He should have taken that slingshot away from Talo when he had the chance instead of just lecturing him about it. "I told him to not go into the woods!" He was suddenly angry at the foolishness of the boy. Of course Talo would go ahead with his stupid plan of fighting off the baboons. He had about as much common sense as a toddler. "Let me help. I can run faster than both of you, and I know Ilia has Epona at the spring. If I ride I can probably find them."
"No son, you have something important to do soon. You should get ready. Leave this to us. This isn't the first time Talo's gone somewhere he shouldn't." He didn't say anything else and started jogging down the path again into the woods, his large sandals slapping on the packed dirt.
Link watched him go, frowning. He had an opportunity to take that slingshot away, and he didn't take advantage of that. Of course telling Talo to do something and then leaving him alone meant that he wasn't going to do it. Why didn't he think of that? He was partially responsible for those kids running around the woods now. For all hew knew, they were halfway to Faron by now. He should do as Bo told him, and get ready. He ran a hand through his hair anxiously, unsure if it was better to listen or follow his instinct.
He was indecisive for only a moment. No, he wasn't going to do what he was told. If he had Epona, he could cover much more ground. He could also talk to Ilia and see if she knew anything. His mind made up, he ran into the woods of north Ordon.
It didn't take him long to reach the path that went up to the spring. As he ran up the worn earthen path, he could hear voices ahead. They became clearer as he burst into the clearing, panting a bit from the run.
"No I don't." Ilia was saying to Colin, who was also breathing heavily from his run here. She was holding a brush in her hand and standing near Epona, who turned her head to look at Link when he ran in. The two humans did the same. Ilia was barefoot as she stood in the spring, and when she turned to him he could see something bulky was tucked into the front of her shirt, something that was on a leather thong around her neck. What was that? It didn't look comfortable to wear under her clothes.
"Link!" Colin said. "Talo went into the woods with the others!"
"I know, I heard. I came to get Epona to help look, even though Bo told me not to." He shook his head, angry at himself. "I had the chance to get that damn slingshot away from him, and I didn't. Now he's gone and done something stupid."
"It's not your fault, Link." Ilia said, reaching out to lightly put a hand on his arm. He felt a little thrill at her touching him, despite being upset about the children. "You did tell him to stay out of the woods after they shot rocks at your house. Colin told me all about it."
"I guess." She wasn't wrong, but he still felt responsible. "Can I have my horse back now?"
Ilia looked up at the horse, and then down at Colin. She seemed to be considering something, and then gave a short sigh. "Yes. But please, before you leave for Hyrule, can you come back to talk to me for a few minutes? Just you." Oh, so that's why she had looked at Colin like that, she had something she wanted to discuss without anyone else around. He wanted to ask her about what, but she continued, patting Epona's neck. "I already put some supplies in her bags for you, some food and the fishing rod Colin made, so that's a few less things for you to pack." She dropped her hand, looking a bit distracted. "I guess I'll wait here until you come back. If I see the kids, I'll bring them straight home." There was something in her eyes that made him want to talk to her right now, a kind of warmth he had seen sometimes when they were alone. If only Colin wasn't here…
A loud rumble was heard then, making its way up the path to the spring. Link turned quickly to see a group of riders come into the clearing. They did not ride horses but were on massive gray boars, larger than any wild pig that Link had seen. The riders themselves were about the size of Bokoblins, green-skinned with short pointed horns sticking out from behind their temples. There wasn't much he could see of their faces since they all wore coverings over their noses and mouths, but their eyes were small and yellow. They held a number of weapons in their hands, mostly cudgels and bows.
Ilia screamed and Epona bolted in panic in response, running past the riders and towards the road. They paid the horse no mind, focusing on the three humans at the spring, circling around them. A rider shot an arrow at Link but he dodged to the side with quick reflexes he didn't know he had, and the arrow buried itself into the silt surrounding the spring. Ilia grabbed Colin by the hand and tried to run into the woods, dragging him along. One of the riders raised a bow at the young woman, drew and fired. The arrow planted itself into her back at her right shoulder, and she cried out in pain, stumbling into the shallow water at the edge of the spring.
Link cried out wordlessly at seeing her shot, his eyes widening in disbelief and fear. Colin cried out as well, completely terrified. It was then a much larger rider with much larger horns rode into the clearing. Unlike the others he did not cover his face, and he wore a few mismatched pieces of plate mail over his fat green body. His face was round without much of a chin, and the teeth in his mouth were uneven and discolored. He didn't even look at Link and dismounted next to Ilia, picking her up by her left arm to drag her back up into the saddle with him as she sobbed in terror and pain. Link could see the dark blood staining the back of her shirt.
The sight of her wounded ignited a fire of rage inside of him.
It didn't matter if he had no weapon or that he was outnumbered, all that mattered was that he attack the large green monster that held Ilia. He howled in fury and raised his fist, and then began to charge across the clearing, his feet kicking up water from the spring. Suddenly he felt a sharp pain on the back of his head. Lights danced at the edges of his vision, and he stumbled into the ankle-deep water, realizing that they had hit him with one of their cudgels. Colin screamed to his left, and he dizzily turned his head to see one of the riders carrying the boy off. Link staggered to his feet, the anger burning in his gut still fueling him. He met Ilia's eyes then and saw the fear there, and it drove him to keep fighting despite how his head was swimming.
He heard the big fat brute that held her laugh with a rough male voice, and he looked at the green creature. "Little man..." This monster could speak Hylian. He chuckled as Link tried to run towards him again and stumbled, dizzy. "You're dead."
The last thing Link saw was Ilia's terrified eyes on him, and he could hear his own skull crack as he was hit by one of the monsters behind him. There was a brief flash of pain, then the world went dark.
Author's note: My formatting changes are not saving here and I have to re-upload every chapter whenever I see a mistake. There will be more mistakes here that I cannot fix. Please if you can find this fic over on Ao3 and read it there. The formatting is far better.