Reasons to Leaf Town

We see a family eating breakfast and Groose does not see a Korok.

Hateno Village was a lovely place, and her grandfather's home was a favorite place to stay for Hazelda. She liked the apple trees, the weapon racks, the pictures on the walls. She, and all three of her siblings had a love of Grandpa Gustaf's cooking. The home was similarly appreciated by aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was hard to say whether she looked forward more to the food, or the weapons shed. While Ana liked cartography and drawing, Hazel's hobbies were weapons and knitting. Daltus seemed to adore anything with research. Jess just seemed to like doing whatever her older siblings were doing. The news pouring in about the state of things with monsters and Yiga unsettled Hazel but here, in this house, she felt safe. Logically, she knew they would probably be leaving soon and using some hair dye. The three Zelda sisters were going to have their blonde hair dyed blonde. It was the fashion trend and then they would not need to worry as much about their roots showing. People didn't look for real blonde hair where there was obviously fake blonde hair. She wasn't looking forward to that. Purple or brown would be better-looking in her opinion and she had other plans if Gustaf didn't change his mind.

"Ambi and Ana should be done with that window order in Tarrey today, right?" Gustaf asked Leon. Leon nodded. The air was laden with the smells of nature, the sizzle of a griddle, and a blessed peace. If Daltus and Jezeldabel were there, it would not have been so quiet and Hazel savored it. Tarrey was a large client base for the successful glass works. Ambi had gone to supervise an installation of stained glass with Ana. "I also need to talk to you after breakfast, Hazel," King Gustaf said more gravely.

It probably is about the Triforce or the Legendary Hero sightings, Hazel thought to herself. She wanted to meet this Link. Father and daughter watched the grandfather flit about the kitchen in his usual carefree manner. Little things betrayed his unease. Gustaf's eyes kept flickering away from the food which would normally occupy his full attention. Bags were packed to leave at a moment's notice and he didn't say if or when it would be time to leave.

The food barely escaped burning. Gustaf gleefully placed stacks of pancakes on seven plates. Two plates went on the windowsill; Gustaf liked to know that the Sheikah guard would get some opportunity to eat. Hazel happily began to put syrup and butter on her own food. As she was set to dig in and have a nice chat without little kids present, they heard Jess and Daltus arguing their way across the bridge.

"It does not!"

"Does too!" was being repeated in a loop that seemed to require arbitration. Hazel opened the door as her father chewed on a bite.

Hazel looked at them and decided to go against her better judgement. "What are you two fighting over?"

"Dal says the Like-Like looks kinda like a stack of pancakes but it doesn't really look like pancakes and he's stupid." Jess said. Gustaf shrugged and lifted his fork to his mouth. Leon swallowed the mouthful he'd already taken, but did not go on. Hazel hit her head on the door frame repeatedly.

The spectators at the bottom of the cliff were mildly concerned about Cawlin's well-being and mentality, but this did not stop them from taking care of the horses a bit. "So you've never seen Cawlin before yesterday?" Groose asked as he fed a carrot to the horse.

"I think maybe I've seen him in passing somewhere or maybe a relative of his? Something about his face rings a bell." Linkle resisted the urge to play with the pouch. Going through someone's bag was poor etiquette, even when the bag broke the laws of nature.

"It's surprising he didn't run right back to town when he saw those Bokoblins. He has been looking over his shoulder the entire trip."

"Some of the weapons he's got would be useful for Legendary Hero stuff. Maybe he'll give us a discount since we rescued him?" Linkle said as the scraping sounds of climbing were heard overhead.

They looked up to watch and Groose could not help asking peevishly, "Hey, what took you so long? Oh yeah, a measly blue rupee. Seriously. I can't wait to get to the Lost Woods and get this over with, I'm missing out on..." Groose continued to rant at the grinning Cawlin. He seemed unfazed by the tirade.

Groose looked at Linkle sharply when she gasped and pointed at Cawlin. "OH WOW! Is that what I think it is?!"

"Huh?" Groose said, confused. He could not see anything more than what he expected. "What is it?!" Groose uneasily looked around the area. Had they both gone mad? Wait, that was the wrong question. Was it more serious than he thought and was the crazy contagious? Groose fervently hoped not, but the conversation did not help.

"I've never seen a Korok up close before!" Linkle's face was wearing a similar grin to Cawlin. Cawlin seemed to be pantomiming taking something off his back and holding it in front of him.

"Meet Rown! These guys are Groose and Linkle. They seem pretty heroic to me! I went up there for a rupee and found this little guy! Great, right?!" He this said happily, as if he was introducing Groose to the wonders of a particularly personable puff of air.

"Hi Rown!"

"Who? What?" Groose wondered what to do as Cawlin placed the invisible cucco on the ground and pointed at his pouch.

"Can I have my bag back?" Cawlin said. Both of Groose's companions turned to look at the nothing Cawlin had put down on the ground. "It's okay, I won't let the horse eat you buddy. It probably wouldn't want to eat you anyway." The corners on Linkle's mouth dropped a little.

"Who's Ravio?" Linkle said to Cawlin.

"I, uh... That's my real name?" Not-Cawlin said carefully. "Look, it's safer to call me Cawlin, you never know who might be listening. Can't be too careful, ya know." Groose shifted his stance to be ready to draw at a moment's notice; this was confirmation the guy was hiding stuff.

"Look, whatever you two are talking to, stop messing with me!" Groose barked. Cawlin raised his hands in a submissive gesture and nodded his head at a lack of noteworthy objects Groose could see.

"I'm not messing with you, there's a Korok right there."

"Is Ravio wanted for some crime or what?" Linkle asked the bare dirt.

"I didn't do anything!"

"Why would the Yiga Clan wanna kill him if they found him?" Linkle said again with surprise after listening to the vacant space.

"The Yiga would want to kill this scaredy-cat? What did he do, write 'The Many Deaths of Ganon?'" Groose was surprised, Ravio just seemed like someone who would keep a low profile. The topic of the conversation muttered something quietly to the air next to him.

Linkle said, "Oh? A gift of friendship?"

Groose jumped when a small drop-shaped object appeared. It hovered in the air at about knee height. Ravio groaned, "You cannot be serious. Really Rown? You don't want that Linkle, trust me.," he said as Groose's speech dissolved into incoherence.

Groose's brain was still readjusting to the fact that Linkle and Not-Cawlin really could see Koroks when they left. This was going to take a lot of thought processing. Linkle's Legendary Hero status was looking more and more likely. Could Sparrot have been right? Groose was dying to know what Sparrot said to Ravio to make him so terrified in Tarrey Town. When asked, Ravio just kind of went pale and asked if it could wait until they were safely in the forest. Asking about the fortune seemed to be the wrong move to get Ravio talking. He clammed up the rest of the way to the new crossroad stables.

Note: All this consideration of where commas are and are not necessary is reminding me of the phonetic punctuation with Victor Borge. My brain reads stuff so much differently when there is a "Hey Groose" vs "Hey, Groose" and "Hey. Groose." in terms of pacing and tone. I figure if the ability to see Koroks was anything but rare, people would act a lot differently in the games. Punctuation and plot holes patched with some help from the Local Minstrel and Dragon Falls.