Part II
CHAPTER 6: ALONE
A teenage boy sat in his room, sobbing quietly. His face was buried in his palms, letting his tears soak into his hands.
He had been crying for what it seemed like hours. The lump in his throat grew larger and larger the more he cried. He felt that he couldn't even stop.
Why was the world so cruel to him? Why did he have to go through these awful experiences? He always tried to be kind and a good person. He never did anything to hurt anyone. Why was his life being ruined right in front of his eyes?
He thought about this, turning his sorrow into anger. He became angry at the world. Angry at the people in his life.
He suddenly stopped crying, now boiling with rage. He was done being kind. He was done being good. That got him nowhere.
"Yes, my child. Come here."
The boy jumped at the sound of odd whispering. What was that?
The boy got up from his bed and inched closer to the sound of the whispering voice.
"Yes, come closer," the strange voice persuaded.
The boy inched closer, now face to face with his closet.
"Who's there?" he asked nervously. "Is someone in there?"
"Open the door," the voice demanded. "Come. I can show you how to change your life. How to live the way you've always wanted to. How to live without fear, without sorrow."
The boy walked a bit closer to his closet, feeling strangely attached to the odd voice. He opened his closet, revealing a large cloud of darkness hovering in the air.
"Come closer," the darkness demanded.
The boy willingly moved into the darkness, suddenly unable to control himself…
Six years after the dethroning of the King…
Birds sat in the trees of the forest, singing their morning song. It was beautifully calming, echoing across the forest.
Leaves crunched under the hooves of a deer. It bent down, pulling grass from the ground and chewing it in its mouth.
A twig in the distance snapped, causing the deer to immediately look up, sensing danger. It saw nothing in the distance, so it went back to eating the grass.
Suddenly, an arrow whipped past the trees and struck the deer right in the head, causing it to collapse to the ground. It was dead.
Dead leaves crunched as a tall, muscular man emerged out of hiding. He walked to the deer and inspected it, realizing that he had killed it.
He pulled his arrow out of the deer's head and put it back in his sack where the rest of his arrows were. He then slung his bow over his shoulder and picked up the deer's two front hooves. He then began to drag it away from where it was killed.
The man dragged it for about five minutes until he found his home. His house was small, seemingly holding only about two rooms. It was only a one story home.
The man stopped dragging the deer, finding his skinning tools of the side of his house. He began to skin and cut the deer so he could cook it and eat it for later.
After about a hour of preparing the deer, the man made a large fire outside and cooked the raw deer meat.
He walked inside his home, deciding to wait inside while the deer cooked over the fire.
His house was small and cozy. It held a small kitchen and a living room that were connected to each other. He also had a small bedroom with a bathroom tucked away in the corner of the house. The living room had a large, green couch and a fireplace in front of it. The kitchen had a small stove, marble countertops, and a small, circular table with only one chair. His house was made out of wood, defined as a log cabin.
The man sighed from exhaustion and sat on the couch in front of the fireplace. He had been hunting all day, and he finally caught something to eat.
He was very muscular, and stood at about six feet tall. He had two large scars on his face and neck, one running from his right cheekbone to his jawline, and another running from the left side of his jawline to his lower neck.
The man had lived alone for years. He rarely ever socialized with people outside, unless if he occasionally went to the nearby tavern to grab a few drinks. He quite frankly lived in the middle of nowhere. He lived in no particular place in Hyrule. He just lived in a forest, extremely isolated from people. The man had bought his house six years ago, with only a few rupees in his pocket. This was the best place he could afford. Although most people wouldn't prefer to live so isolated, the man actually liked it. He found it to be very peaceful. He didn't have to deal with judgement or hatred. He didn't have to worry what other people thought of him. He just lived a quiet, simple life, with no worries about the days ahead of him.
Suddenly, a barking noise came from inside the man's bedroom. A smile grew on his face.
"Hey there buddy!" the man said in a deep voice.
A gray dog, or rather, a wolf, came running out of the bedroom, excited to see the man. The wolf ran over and immediately started to jump on the man's legs.
The man collapsed from the weight of the wolf and hit the ground. He laughed loudly as the wolf continued to pounce on him, licking his face.
"Alright, alright, get off of me!" he said, chuckling. "You don't want to hurt your old man Link, do ya?"
The wolf reluctantly got off of him. Link then got back up to his feet, laughing a bit.
"You want some food?" he asked the dog.
The wolf barked in reply.
"I'll take that as a yes," Link said, chuckling under his breath.
He opened the entrance to his home, letting the wolf run out to the fire where the deer cooked. Link followed behind, making sure the wolf didn't run off.
The wolf then began to attempt to take the meat off of the fire, clawing at the deer meat.
"No, no!" Link exclaimed. "Don't do that! We need some of it to sell on the market!"
Link clicked his tongue and the wolf immediately stopped.
"Good boy," he said, sitting on a log nearby.
The wolf joined him and sat atop the log. They both sat in silence, watching to fire slowly cook the meat.
Link scooted closer to the wolf and threw his arm around him, scratching him behind the ears.
"You hungry?" Link asked the wolf.
He only whimpered in reply.
"I know, I know," he mumbled. "It'll only be a few more minutes."
They both sat there for about ten minutes, until Link decided that the deer meat was done cooking. He grabbed a bucket of water nearby and put out the fire with it.
He then started to take the deer meat off the stick he was cooking it on and placed some of it in the two bowls. He placed the leftover amount of the meat in a box full of ice chunks.
Link and the wolf then began to devour the meat, tearing the meat off the bone with their teeth. After they finished eating, the wolf walked over to the box with the leftover meat, ready to eat more.
"No, get away from there," Link demanded. He swatted his hand at the wolf, trying to get him to back off. The wolf whimpered and backed away from the box.
"Sorry bud, you can't have anymore," Link said. "We have to sell that stuff tomorrow."
The wolf flattened his pointy ears and stared at the ground, obviously a little upset. Link sighed and reached over to pat the wolf on his head.
"I'm sorry," he apologized, still patting the wolf's head. "I'll be gone tomorrow. You okay with staying here by yourself?"
The wolf barked.
"Good boy," Link said happily, scratching the wolf behind his ears. "Let's go inside."
"So, do you want the ribs? Or the legs?"
Link had his market set up in Castle Town, trying to scrape up some extra rupees so he could buy some fruits and vegetables. He could only eat so much meat.
Castle Town was insane, swarming with crowds of people. It was a Saturday, which was the busiest day there. The people selling their merchandise had to get to Castle Town early in the morning, or else they wouldn't even be able to find a spot to set up their market.
"I'll take the, uh, ribs please," a man said to Link, pointing at a large rack of ribs.
Link nodded and turned around to grab the rack of deer ribs behind him. He turned back around and placed the rack of ribs on top of the counter in front of him.
"That'll be thirty rupees, please."
The man dug through his pocket and pulled out thirty rupees, placing them on the table. Link swiped the rupees off the counter and placed them in a small pouch beside him.
"Thank you," Link said to the customer. "Have a nice day."
The man took his ribs from the counter and left.
Link looked around and sighed angrily. There was a massive line to his market. Although he liked making the extra money, he didn't feel like serving all of the greedy customers. He was going to run out of meat soon.
Link tightened the hood over his head, careful not to let it fall off. He wore a dark, black cloak and black pants, successfully concealing his identity. If anyone were ever to find out who he truly was, there could be some serious issues.
Most people in the kingdom thought he was dead. Others thought that he had ran away with another woman, and some even thought that he stole a large sum of the Queen's money and bought himself a large estate off the grid of Hyrule. Of course, none of these rumors were true.
Link shook his head rapidly, pushing the thought of his old life and the fact that he was practically the most wanted man in the kingdom away from his mind. He wasn't the most wanted in Hyrule because he had committed a crime, he was the most wanted because people just wondered where on Earth he could actually be.
"Next!" Link shouted, beckoning the next customer to come up to the front. A short, muscular man with a buzz cut walked up to the front. He had extremely tan skin, and had a small scar running through his right eyebrow. His hair was a dark black, shaved neatly on his head. He had extremely long eyelashes, along with light brown eyes.
"Hi, what would you like-"
Link froze. He immediately recognized the man, panic washing over him. Ralio?
"Hello, sir," Ralio greeted. "I would like two legs, please."
It seemed to Link that Ralio didn't recognize him at all. If Ralio actually recognized him, he would probably make a huge scene in the middle of Castle Town.
"Y-yes, of course," Link stammered, completely panicked. He turned around and nervously grabbed the meat.
Link turned back around and placed the meat on the counter, or rather, slammed it.
"That'll be thirty-five rupees," Link said rapidly, eager to get Ralio away from him.
"Of course," Ralio said. He pulled out a sack of rupees and poured them out on the counter.
"One, two, three…" Ralio counted. Link waited anxiously, sure he was about to have a panic attack.
After for what it felt like days, Ralio finally finished counting his rupees.
"…Thirty-five!" Ralio said happily. "Just enough!"
Ralio pushed his rupees towards Link and grabbed his meat from the counter. Link quickly swiped the rupees into his pouch.
"Have a good day!" Ralio said politely, smiling at Link. He walked away and caught up with another soldier, who Link also immediately recognized.
Link sighed with relief, his heart rate finally slowing down.
"Thank the gods that's over," he thought.
He began to think about what the castle was like now. Was it still the same without him? Was Ralio still general? If not, who took his place?
Link watched as Ralio walked away, talking to the soldier next to him. He wondered if he'd ever see his old friend ever again.
"That was him," Ralio said to the soldier next to him, still walking away from the meat market. "Without a doubt that was him."
The soldier next to him scoffed. "Yeah, right," he said, snickering. "I'd believe someone more if they said they saw the spirit of Faron himself."
"I swear, it was him!" Ralio argued. "He had this weird cloak around his face, like he was trying to hide his appearance from someone. He voice also sounded the exact same!"
"Oh, shut up," the soldier scoffed. "You're delusional."
Ralio rolled his eyes and shut his mouth, giving up trying to convince his friend. Then, a thought popped into his head.
"Barnes," Ralio said, tapping the soldier's shoulder. "I have an idea."
Barnes turned his head towards Ralio.
"I don't want to hear it," he said, rolling his eyes.
"No, no, listen to me," Ralio pleaded. "We could wait until the end of the day when everybody takes down their selling areas. Then, we could follow the guy-"
"You're kidding me," Barnes interrupted, slapping his hand to his forehead. "There is no possible way that I'm going with you on this little spy mission of yours-"
"Come on!" Ralio argued. "Think about it. What if it's actually him? What if I'm not wrong?"
Barnes paused to think about this. He put a finger to his chin, considering Ralio's words. What if it actually was Link?
"…I guess it couldn't hurt to try and see," Barnes said slowly.
Ralio pumped his fist in the air excitedly, ready to figure out who the strange man truly was.
Link walked back through the forest, dragging his sack of rupees behind him. He had done pretty well for the day, making around three-hundred rupees. That was definitely enough to leave tomorrow and buy some vegetables and fruits from Castle Town.
Although Link knew no person ever set foot in these woods, he felt that someone was watching him. He tightened his hood over his face, a little anxious.
Link began to walk quicker through the woods, honestly a little spooked by the fact that there could be someone watching him. Finally, around five minutes later, he arrived at his cozy home.
Link sighed with relief and took a quick look around his surroundings before he pulled off his hood. He was just being anxious, considering the fact that he had just been face-to-face with an old friend from the castle.
Suddenly, a twig snapped in the distance. Link whirled around in panic, scanning the forest rapidly.
Upon seeing nothing, Link slowly turned around. He began to walk back towards his house, shaking his head.
"You're just being anxious," he told himself under his breath. "Just calm down-"
"Hello there, Link. It's been a while."
Link quickly turned around, his eyes widening in shock.
"What the—Ralio?"
Sorry about this chapter. It's a bit boring, I know. There will be some filler chapters that you all may find a bit boring, but it'll get better soon, I promise. They are all just build-up to the actual plot of the book. Even Part I of this book is a build-up. Next chapter will be pretty long, but it's also going to be a filler. It's actually interesting though, unlike this chapter, so be ready!
Also, if you guys don't remember who Ralio is, he's the guy who was mentioned in the prologue of this story. He was the guy that Link appointed to become general in place of Link when he first became king.
Anyways, please review. You guys are killing it. I already have almost twenty reviews, which is super cool. I know I say to review literally every time I publish a chapter, but please let me know what you guys think. I like hearing everyone's opinions, no matter if they are good or bad.
Alright, I'm done talking. See you all soon!