Link

The boy woke up with a start. He rarely remembered his dreams, if he had any, but this one felt different. Almost real. The boy shook himself awake, dragging himself from his bedroll. The sun shone through the holes in his ruin of a house. His home was little more than an oversized box of stone, the walls partially collapsed and overgrown with vegetation. At one wall stood an old stone stove. At another sat a small wooden chest, softened by its age and exposure to the elements. There was practically no decoration outside of what nature has placed. The boy could not complain. Not that there was anyone he could complain to anyway. There was something he found calming about the trees hovering above his home. Whether it was from watching whatever animals scurried along their branches, or just his occasional pastime of climbing them, he just felt at ease among the trees. He checked the corner of the house's only remaining room where he stacked firewood. He never bothered to fix the walls when they began to fall apart. He saw no use for so many rooms when he could just as easily perform each of his regular tasks without walls in the way. To his disappointment, the boy found little firewood in his stack, which meant he would have to go out into the forest and collect some more. He went to the wooden chest and opened it to reveal his few possessions. From within, he drew out his slingshot, his wooden sword and his only clothing that were not yet reduced to rags. It comprised of dirty brown trousers, a green tunic and a matching green hat that more closely resembled an empty sack than anything. Of what little he owned; this hat was possibly his single most precious belonging. He put it on, only for it to immediately slide downwards and rest on his pointed ears. Although it was clearly far too large for him, he did not mind. It was made for his father, after all.

Clad in green tunic, the boy wandered the forest, collecting whatever fruits and other foodstuffs he happened across. Although he struggled to carry all that he found bundled in his arms, he continued to venture further onwards. He was determined to see the castle while he was out. Although he rarely strayed far from his crumbling home, the boy sometimes walked to where the forest ended. From the tree line, across the plain beyond the forest, he could easily see a huge town dominating the surrounding land. The boy could see little of the town thanks to the great stone walls surrounding it, save for a few rooftops of the tallest buildings. But it was not quite these that caught his attention. It was the castle in the middle of it all. Huge and imposing, it reminded the boy of the ruins he often found, and sometimes explored, dotted around the forest. But this castle was certainly no ruin. It was clearly whole and practically pristine, at least he imagined it was, and from its own walls came a banner bearing a symbol. To the boy, this crest looked like the shape of a bird drawn around three triangles positioned to form a single triangle. The boy never dared approach this town. All he knew was in the forest. He never felt any need to explore a place so alien, especially without knowing of anything he was lacking back at home. But something felt different today. This time, his curiosity overcame any cautious misgivings he had about going near such a place. Even as he carefully placed down his bounty and stepped out into the field, he could not quite figure out what was so different about this occasion. Without any thought as to how far he would go, the boy began his trek towards the town.

The boy was not sure how far he had gone before he saw her. He hid behind a nearby rock as soon as he realised someone was near. From his hiding place, he could see a young girl seemingly about his age. She had blonde shoulder-length hair and bright green eyes. She wore a regal blue dress and carried an open notebook under her arm. The girl's attention was grabbed by a nearby blue flower, her eyes widening in wonder as she approached it. Lowering to her knees, the girl observed the flower for a moment before opening her notebook. The boy watched as she drew a quill from her sleeve and started scribbling strange markings onto the paper, occasionally glancing back at the flower as if to check something. The boy peered out from behind the rock, curious about who this girl was. She was smiling unconsciously as she scribbled, clearly enjoying whatever she was doing. Her smile quickly vanished, and she stopped her scrawling. The boy froze. The girl turned around and screamed upon setting eyes on him, startling him. She quickly stood up and began to run.
"Wait!" The boy called out. He could not explain it, but the girl's fear bothered him greatly. All he wanted at this moment was to apologise, to avoid any ill feeling towards him from her. Neither of them got far before something erupted from the ground in front of them. A Deku Baba. A vicious carnivorous plant that preyed on anything that dared move within its reach. The girl stumbled back as the Deku Baba slowly opened its mouth, sap dripping from its fangs. The girl only stood there, rooted to the spot in terror. Before the monstrous plant could reach its meal, the boy shoved the girl to the side and cried out as the Deku Baba's jaws clamped around his arm. He reached behind himself and drew out his wooden sword. He proceeded to start hacking at the plant's stem, shouting with every strike, but its teeth remained dug into his flesh. He heard something moving to his right, like leaves rustling. When he looked over, he saw that the girl was still there, staring in awe. Behind her, another Deku Baba slowly leered towards her. The boy opened his mouth to shout a warning, but only cried out as the plant twisted its grip on his arm. Hearing and seeing his pain, the girl snapped out of her stupor and dashed forward to help him, narrowly avoiding the second Deku Baba's jaws clamping shut. She grabbed the first plant's upper mandible and started pulling upwards. Gritting his teeth, the boy opted to drive the point of his weapon into the side of the Deku Baba's jaw. At last, unable to maintain its grip, it relinquished its hold and the boy jumped backwards. He grabbed the girl by the forearm and led her far out of reach from the Deku Babas. They only stopped once neither of them could hear the snapping jaws from either plant, rooted to the spot and resigning to give up and await other unsuspecting wanderers.

"Are you okay?" The boy asked. He gripped his injured arm in an attempt to dull the pain. The girl simply stared at it. It was lined with deep bleeding teeth marks and had turned red from the pressure applied by the Deku Baba's bite.
"Never mind me!" the girl finally found her voice. "Look at your arm!" She drew out a small handkerchief and began to clean the boy's arm as well as she could.
"I'll be fine." The boy told her, perfectly calm. "I've been bitten plenty before. Not by those plants though. They're pretty easy to go around." The girl gave up on her efforts, having soaked her handkerchief red.
"You need help with this." She exclaimed, seemingly ignoring his reassurance. "I can't do much now. You might need stitches; you could get an infection." Although she was completely unscathed, she seemed far more breathless than he did. "Why-why would you do that? We've never met, why would you do that for me?" The boy remained silent for a moment, pondering the question. In hindsight, he could not remember if he actually had any thought in his head during the moment. Only that the moment he saw her in danger, his immediate first instinct was to get her out, regardless of what happened to him. That never happened with anything he ever encountered. Then again, he never really met another person in so long.
"I don't know." He finally answered. "It sort of just…happened." There was a pause between the two as the girl properly looked at her saviour. He wore a roughly made green tunic and floppy hat. He was skinny, had blue eyes and a scruffy mess of hair she could not decide was dark blonde or light brown. He almost seemed, in her eyes, feral.
"What's your name?" She asked. The boy took a moment before answering. He couldn't remember ever being asked that question. What even is a name? Maybe he has some idea?
"Link." He finally answered. "I think my name's Link." The girl blinked at him, incredulous.
"You think?"
"I never really used it. I remember that's what my father called me. Is that what a name is?" The girl's expression softened. Not only did this boy seem feral, but simple. How could he not be completely certain of his own name? And yet he saved her, an act which almost cost him an arm, without a moment of hesitation. She managed a smile.
"Thank you for saving me, Link." She started. "My name is Zelda, Princess of Hyrule."
"What of what?" Link asked, frowning. Zelda's gratitude quickly gave way to surprise.
"Hyrule?" She started. "That's the name of this land. And I am the princess. As in, my parents are the sovereign rulers of it?" She waited a short time for Link to process this information.
"I don't really know much about it." He admitted. "I'm from the forest."
"Really?" Zelda asked, fascinated. "What about your family? Your parents?"
"I never knew my mother." Link told her. "And my father died a while ago. It's just me."
"Zelda?" A woman's voice drew their attention towards a group of armoured figures. They were clad from head to toe in silver armour bearing ornate markings, the most obvious of which was the triangle symbol emblazoned on the chest plates. From this group emerged a blonde-haired woman adorned in a regal dress similar to Zelda's.
"Mother!" Zelda ran to the woman, who dropped to one knee, and the two embraced tightly.
"I couldn't find you!" The woman exclaimed. "When I heard you scream…I couldn't see where you went!"
"Mother, I'm fine." Zelda reassured her. "But Link" she gestured towards him. "He's hurt. He saved me but he needs a doctor." The Woman looked at Link, then his arm.
"What did this?" she asked, her voice maintaining its original concern. Link said nothing. He kept his gaze fixed on the armoured figures observing him.
"Some sort of plant." Zelda explained. "A Deku Baba, I think it looked like. It tried to eat me, but he pushed me out the way." Zelda's mother examined Link's arm.
"Where are your parents?" She asked. Again, Link said nothing. This time however, his silence was enough of a response. Giving him a sympathetic look, Zelda's mother turned to one of the knights.
"This boy is coming back to the castle with us." She demanded. "He is to receive medical attention and be rewarded for his valiant actions." The knight said nothing, but merely nodded. He gestured towards the others, who proceeded to group around their three charges. They started walking and Link found himself going with them.
"Thank you." Zelda's mother whispered to Link. "I cannot thank you enough." He looked up and saw her warm smile towards him. In his peripheral vision, he noticed Zelda was giving him the same expression. He could not help but smile back, then look away and scratch the back of his head nervously.