1.1 Chapter One
Link's eyes opened with a start. It took him a moment to realize that he was sweating and breathing faster than usual. Epona awoke and made irritated snorts at the interruption of her sleep. Link sat up in his sleeping bag and sighed. His hand ran through his blond hair and wiped the sweat that formed on his forehead. He buried his face in his hands and muttered, "Not again."
Navi heard him and yawned, stretching her wings out before she flew in front of him and hovered above his head. "Hey kid," she said wearily, "What's going on?" Link hesitated before answering her back. "Nothing," he finally replied, "Navi, you look tired; your glow is getting dim." Navi made another yawn and went back to sleep inside the linen of his cap. Epona, satisfied with the situation, rested her neck and closed her eyes. "And remember," Navi said sluggishly, her voice muffled through the folds of the cap, "You've got training to do tomorrow so go and get some…" Her voice was interrupted by a light snore.
Link lay down with his arms supporting the back of his head. The stars were bright across their dark blue mantle, scattered in endless places within the deepest reaches of space and eternity. He tried to admire them, but an irritating thought about the boy in black kept returning to him. Link knew him, knew him ever since he was a child in the Kokiri Forest. It was as if they had been lifelong brothers in his dreams but always…
Link muttered to himself, "Just go to sleep. I can see it now in the Hyrulean Herald; 'Young deliverer of Hyrule's tranquility: Wets his bed in nightmares.'" He sighed haggardly, and sank back into the covers of his sleeping bag. Sleep came to him slowly, and by the first pale pink light from the mountains he was sleeping soundly.
* * *
"…Ninety-nine Lon Lon Ranch milk on the wall, ninety – nine Lon Lon Ranch milk! You take one down, pass it around, ninety – eight Lon Lon Ranch milk on the wall. Ninety-eight…" Navi trailed off with her singing to ease off the boredom. Link smiled at her from Epona's back and shook his head. The roan mare snorted and twitched her ears impatiently and tried to nip at the fairy that was bobbing right out of her reach.
Link patted her on the neck soothingly and quickened her pace to ease the mild temperament. Navi had pushed them out of Hyrule's close borders to wear off the glory of the Hero of Time nearly a year ago. Now was the time for the entire country to rebuild itself after Ganon's terror, and both Navi and Link agreed that the identity of the unknown hero should remain a secret between them and the Sages until then. Yet the young warrior's heart was restless, and day and night the Hylian and non-human companions set off as wanderers, stopping at a area only to train and for other necessities. Link took in the scenery around him, and wondered where in the empty view of land Navi had promised him was the training spot she had chosen to shut out any unwanted interference.
He joined Navi's chorus and sang. "Eighty - six Lon Lon Ranch milk on the wall, eighty – six Lon Lon Ranch milk," his tenor rich voice contrasted with the fairy's high pitched and energetic singing. Epona shook her head and neighed as if to say, "I'm with the dullest pair in the universe; someone, please, help me!"
They reached twenty-four Lon Lon Ranch milk bottles when Navi told Link to stop. He hesitated and scrutinized the area around him. It was merely a broad field, deserted for mile unseen save the few trees scattered around a river that bubbled and trickled down the horizon to his right. "Navi," he asked uncertainly, "You sure this is the right place?"
Navi darted in front of him and looked from left to right. "Yup," she said with a bob to indicate a nod, "This is it." Link's eyebrows raised skeptically. '*This* is the place where we're going to train for the next month?' He had hoped she would bring him to a combat center where he'll be introduced to human foes and different weaponry. His swordsman-ship could use a little sharpening and he wouldn't mind studying a bit of martial arts to help his finesse and to defend himself unarmed.
"We're not in Hyrule anymore, are we?" he asked. "No, I think we've landed somewhere further southeast from Hyrule," she answered, "We could get a map later from a nearby town, you've got over thousands of Rupees in that huge wallet of yours."
Link scanned the area. Surely Navi wouldn't bring them into the middle of nowhere without a good reason. He tried to come up with several theories of what would happen once Epona lay a hoof into the territory.
"You sure the trees don't suddenly turn into Stalfos or that the lake is filled with Bigoctos?" he asked hopefully. "Nope," Navi responded. "What about the sky?" he suggested, "Anything with that?" "Nope." "The trees show a passage to a secret underground dungeon?" "Nope."
"The river's poisoned?"
"Nope."
"There's an army of Iron Knuckles headed this way?"
"Nope."
"A band of thieves nearby?"
"Nope."
"There's -"
"Shut the fuck up already!" Navi screeched, "This Din-damned pile of shit has nothing more than a few fucking trees and a fucking little river! Now if you don't want to get use to this fucking place and start training, then fucking shit you're just gonna' fucking have to!"
She cleared up her throat and added calmly, "Now, I think it's best if you start out with more evasive maneuvers and start thinking up of some good techniques while you're at it. Is that clear?" Link gulped slowly and nodded. Epona's eyes bulged and took a step back away from the fairy.
Link dismounted and landed gently on the ground. He stretched his legs in relief from the uncomfortable feel of the saddle. 'Din-damnit that's sore,' he miserably, 'I'll have to get a cushion over that thing.' He took off Epona's saddle and bridle, along with the Fairy's Pouch that contained most of his weaponry and other items, and set it to the ground. With gentle pat, he sent the mare off to do as she wished. Navi wandered off nearby, stating that she'd be inspecting from afar.
Link sighed and hid all their belongings near a grassy knoll by the river and let the heavy steel plated shield slide from his shoulder with a thump. He walked over to a decaying tree that stood alone among the field. Unsheathing his sword with masterful ease, he positioned himself for an imaginary foe to attack. The tree's form slowly shifted into one of a Stalfos within his mind, and the skeletal thing went for a deep undercut. Link sprang to avoid, and brought down the Master Sword to its center. The blade cut deep within the wood, and he imagined it to be a block from the Stalfo's saber.
Over and over he fought the enemy, using new twists and turns of the sword hilt to imitate breaking the iron mail armor in the case of such predicament. This continued on for over a half an hour, when Link felt himself breathless as he stared down at his defeated enemy, who mostly lay in splinters strewn across the earth. A stabbed trunk holding out a bare branch was all that left of the decaying tree.
"Hey, nice job," Navi congratulated him as she flew over. He smiled, and the branch of the tree fell in defeat. "Thanks." "I think we'd better call a break before you tire yourself out." Link nodded in agreement and sheathed his sword. He picked up his Fairy's Pouch and they went to a spot near the river.
Link sat down and reached in the Fairy's Pouch. The pouch was about the size of any other old bag, but he drove his whole entire arm into it and groped around. He took out his Fairy Ocarina, the one in which Saria had given him as a kid and in which he had stored all these years. Link reached in again and pulled out a bottle of Romani's Ranch Chateau Romani.
"Oh!" Navi shouted in delight, "Let me have some!" Link uncorked the bottle held it out for Navi to drink. The fairy hovered near the lip; the center ball of light dipped in it. The milk dropped considerably and Link cringed. It costs two hundred Rupees to get a bottle, and he was lucky enough to get one from Cremia as a present for his journey when he passed by the ranch a month ago. That made him cringe again. Milk that old was sure to spoil. Link prayed for his own well being that Navi wouldn't fall ill get mad at him for it. For such a small thing, the fairy had an amazingly quick temper.
She finally stopped drinking and let out a loud, satisfied sigh. "Hic!" Navi burped and fluttered drunkenly in the air. "Boy that-hic!-was good! Hic-cu!" she assured in a half intoxicating voice. Link's eyebrows rose in suspicion and he sniffed at the milk. His eyes widened in surprise and he dumped the remaining contents of the bottle into the ground behind his back.
"Navi?" he asked with a worried tone, "You okay?" Navi didn't answer and attempted to fly around, but instead bobbed aimlessly from side to side and crash-landed into the grass. Link bent over and scooped up the fairy with his hands. "Navi?" he shook her slightly, a worried look crossed over his face. "Navi, say something!"
The fairy's white glow began to turn slightly purple. She lay in his hands and laughed drunkenly. "Did you know you have pretty eyes?" she rambled. Navi suddenly darted to the fallen tree branch, her color now bright yellow. "Look, Link!" she yelled to him, "It's lunging Deku Baba! Kill it before it springs back up again!"
"Navi," Link answered, "That's just a branch." "Nonsense!" the fairy retorted, "It's a Deku Baba! And boy, is this one lazy, it's not even getting up to attack! Oh well, get it before it does!" "Navi!" Link yelled in frustration, "I'm telling you, it's a tree branch! Now stop that or you're gonna hurt yourself!"
She burped again and staggeringly flew over to Epona. "Now what makes you think I'm gonna'-hic! -Hurt myself?" "Damn," Link muttered. 'Spoiled milk makes a fairy drunk? Or is it because it's Chateau Romani milk?' Navi was flying from side to side in front of Epona's face. The mare reared and backed away.
"Come on-hic! -Epona!" Navi challenged, "Put 'em up! Come on, Hic! Let's see what you're made of!" The fairy's sudden boldness startled her; Epona reared and clawed her hooves dangerously into the air.
"Shit!" Link cursed, "Stupid fairy!" He caught Epona by her mane and ran a hand down her neck. Navi gave out an earth-shaking belch and floated down in wavers to the grass. "Easy, girl," Link whispered into Epona's ear soothingly, "Come on." Slowly he led the horse to a distance by the river. They passed by a tree when Epona snorted and reared.
"Whoa, whoa!" Link yelled in surprise. Epona was in hysterics. With a running start she rammed her head against the tree, her momentum nearly tearing it from its roots. "Epona!" Link shouted and tried to restrain her, "Calm down! What's gotten into you?"
Navi shook herself out of her drunken state from the commotion and regained some sense. "What's going on?" she asked and nearly dodged a pair of clawing hooves. "I don't know!" Link replied exasperatedly, "She just suddenly turned all crazy and started head butting that tree for no reason!" The fairy contemplated the situation and hovered to the tree while Link struggled to rein Epona and held her back. "Horses spook easily, something here must have scared her."
She flew closer to the leaves and inspected the areas between the branches. A hand lashed at her and a voice scolded, "Shoo! Go away, you stupid firefly!" Navi turned red with rage. "Firefly? Why I oughta'… Link! There's someone up here! Might be some low-life, insulting thief, let Epona have at it!" She muttered under her breath in self-satisfaction, "Teach you to call me a firefly…"
Link released Epona, the liberation of the opposing force allowing her to charge into the tree harder than before. A voice yelled in surprise, and someone fell into Link's arms. They crashed into the ground and lay sprawled on the floor. Link rubbed his head and cursed under his breath. The person on his lap recovered from the fall with a slight moan. Suddenly, it placed a tight death lock on his neck, choking out his life.
*Hey, everyone! That was just the first chapter you read, and in my opinion it went kind of slow. Sorry about that, I'm bad at introductions: ( And yes, in this fanfic Navi is a bit hot-headed and a frequent user of profanity. She and Epona are a bit for a comedy relief, as is Link's laid back behavior at times. But keep on reading, there's more to see! Later.
Link's eyes opened with a start. It took him a moment to realize that he was sweating and breathing faster than usual. Epona awoke and made irritated snorts at the interruption of her sleep. Link sat up in his sleeping bag and sighed. His hand ran through his blond hair and wiped the sweat that formed on his forehead. He buried his face in his hands and muttered, "Not again."
Navi heard him and yawned, stretching her wings out before she flew in front of him and hovered above his head. "Hey kid," she said wearily, "What's going on?" Link hesitated before answering her back. "Nothing," he finally replied, "Navi, you look tired; your glow is getting dim." Navi made another yawn and went back to sleep inside the linen of his cap. Epona, satisfied with the situation, rested her neck and closed her eyes. "And remember," Navi said sluggishly, her voice muffled through the folds of the cap, "You've got training to do tomorrow so go and get some…" Her voice was interrupted by a light snore.
Link lay down with his arms supporting the back of his head. The stars were bright across their dark blue mantle, scattered in endless places within the deepest reaches of space and eternity. He tried to admire them, but an irritating thought about the boy in black kept returning to him. Link knew him, knew him ever since he was a child in the Kokiri Forest. It was as if they had been lifelong brothers in his dreams but always…
Link muttered to himself, "Just go to sleep. I can see it now in the Hyrulean Herald; 'Young deliverer of Hyrule's tranquility: Wets his bed in nightmares.'" He sighed haggardly, and sank back into the covers of his sleeping bag. Sleep came to him slowly, and by the first pale pink light from the mountains he was sleeping soundly.
* * *
"…Ninety-nine Lon Lon Ranch milk on the wall, ninety – nine Lon Lon Ranch milk! You take one down, pass it around, ninety – eight Lon Lon Ranch milk on the wall. Ninety-eight…" Navi trailed off with her singing to ease off the boredom. Link smiled at her from Epona's back and shook his head. The roan mare snorted and twitched her ears impatiently and tried to nip at the fairy that was bobbing right out of her reach.
Link patted her on the neck soothingly and quickened her pace to ease the mild temperament. Navi had pushed them out of Hyrule's close borders to wear off the glory of the Hero of Time nearly a year ago. Now was the time for the entire country to rebuild itself after Ganon's terror, and both Navi and Link agreed that the identity of the unknown hero should remain a secret between them and the Sages until then. Yet the young warrior's heart was restless, and day and night the Hylian and non-human companions set off as wanderers, stopping at a area only to train and for other necessities. Link took in the scenery around him, and wondered where in the empty view of land Navi had promised him was the training spot she had chosen to shut out any unwanted interference.
He joined Navi's chorus and sang. "Eighty - six Lon Lon Ranch milk on the wall, eighty – six Lon Lon Ranch milk," his tenor rich voice contrasted with the fairy's high pitched and energetic singing. Epona shook her head and neighed as if to say, "I'm with the dullest pair in the universe; someone, please, help me!"
They reached twenty-four Lon Lon Ranch milk bottles when Navi told Link to stop. He hesitated and scrutinized the area around him. It was merely a broad field, deserted for mile unseen save the few trees scattered around a river that bubbled and trickled down the horizon to his right. "Navi," he asked uncertainly, "You sure this is the right place?"
Navi darted in front of him and looked from left to right. "Yup," she said with a bob to indicate a nod, "This is it." Link's eyebrows raised skeptically. '*This* is the place where we're going to train for the next month?' He had hoped she would bring him to a combat center where he'll be introduced to human foes and different weaponry. His swordsman-ship could use a little sharpening and he wouldn't mind studying a bit of martial arts to help his finesse and to defend himself unarmed.
"We're not in Hyrule anymore, are we?" he asked. "No, I think we've landed somewhere further southeast from Hyrule," she answered, "We could get a map later from a nearby town, you've got over thousands of Rupees in that huge wallet of yours."
Link scanned the area. Surely Navi wouldn't bring them into the middle of nowhere without a good reason. He tried to come up with several theories of what would happen once Epona lay a hoof into the territory.
"You sure the trees don't suddenly turn into Stalfos or that the lake is filled with Bigoctos?" he asked hopefully. "Nope," Navi responded. "What about the sky?" he suggested, "Anything with that?" "Nope." "The trees show a passage to a secret underground dungeon?" "Nope."
"The river's poisoned?"
"Nope."
"There's an army of Iron Knuckles headed this way?"
"Nope."
"A band of thieves nearby?"
"Nope."
"There's -"
"Shut the fuck up already!" Navi screeched, "This Din-damned pile of shit has nothing more than a few fucking trees and a fucking little river! Now if you don't want to get use to this fucking place and start training, then fucking shit you're just gonna' fucking have to!"
She cleared up her throat and added calmly, "Now, I think it's best if you start out with more evasive maneuvers and start thinking up of some good techniques while you're at it. Is that clear?" Link gulped slowly and nodded. Epona's eyes bulged and took a step back away from the fairy.
Link dismounted and landed gently on the ground. He stretched his legs in relief from the uncomfortable feel of the saddle. 'Din-damnit that's sore,' he miserably, 'I'll have to get a cushion over that thing.' He took off Epona's saddle and bridle, along with the Fairy's Pouch that contained most of his weaponry and other items, and set it to the ground. With gentle pat, he sent the mare off to do as she wished. Navi wandered off nearby, stating that she'd be inspecting from afar.
Link sighed and hid all their belongings near a grassy knoll by the river and let the heavy steel plated shield slide from his shoulder with a thump. He walked over to a decaying tree that stood alone among the field. Unsheathing his sword with masterful ease, he positioned himself for an imaginary foe to attack. The tree's form slowly shifted into one of a Stalfos within his mind, and the skeletal thing went for a deep undercut. Link sprang to avoid, and brought down the Master Sword to its center. The blade cut deep within the wood, and he imagined it to be a block from the Stalfo's saber.
Over and over he fought the enemy, using new twists and turns of the sword hilt to imitate breaking the iron mail armor in the case of such predicament. This continued on for over a half an hour, when Link felt himself breathless as he stared down at his defeated enemy, who mostly lay in splinters strewn across the earth. A stabbed trunk holding out a bare branch was all that left of the decaying tree.
"Hey, nice job," Navi congratulated him as she flew over. He smiled, and the branch of the tree fell in defeat. "Thanks." "I think we'd better call a break before you tire yourself out." Link nodded in agreement and sheathed his sword. He picked up his Fairy's Pouch and they went to a spot near the river.
Link sat down and reached in the Fairy's Pouch. The pouch was about the size of any other old bag, but he drove his whole entire arm into it and groped around. He took out his Fairy Ocarina, the one in which Saria had given him as a kid and in which he had stored all these years. Link reached in again and pulled out a bottle of Romani's Ranch Chateau Romani.
"Oh!" Navi shouted in delight, "Let me have some!" Link uncorked the bottle held it out for Navi to drink. The fairy hovered near the lip; the center ball of light dipped in it. The milk dropped considerably and Link cringed. It costs two hundred Rupees to get a bottle, and he was lucky enough to get one from Cremia as a present for his journey when he passed by the ranch a month ago. That made him cringe again. Milk that old was sure to spoil. Link prayed for his own well being that Navi wouldn't fall ill get mad at him for it. For such a small thing, the fairy had an amazingly quick temper.
She finally stopped drinking and let out a loud, satisfied sigh. "Hic!" Navi burped and fluttered drunkenly in the air. "Boy that-hic!-was good! Hic-cu!" she assured in a half intoxicating voice. Link's eyebrows rose in suspicion and he sniffed at the milk. His eyes widened in surprise and he dumped the remaining contents of the bottle into the ground behind his back.
"Navi?" he asked with a worried tone, "You okay?" Navi didn't answer and attempted to fly around, but instead bobbed aimlessly from side to side and crash-landed into the grass. Link bent over and scooped up the fairy with his hands. "Navi?" he shook her slightly, a worried look crossed over his face. "Navi, say something!"
The fairy's white glow began to turn slightly purple. She lay in his hands and laughed drunkenly. "Did you know you have pretty eyes?" she rambled. Navi suddenly darted to the fallen tree branch, her color now bright yellow. "Look, Link!" she yelled to him, "It's lunging Deku Baba! Kill it before it springs back up again!"
"Navi," Link answered, "That's just a branch." "Nonsense!" the fairy retorted, "It's a Deku Baba! And boy, is this one lazy, it's not even getting up to attack! Oh well, get it before it does!" "Navi!" Link yelled in frustration, "I'm telling you, it's a tree branch! Now stop that or you're gonna hurt yourself!"
She burped again and staggeringly flew over to Epona. "Now what makes you think I'm gonna'-hic! -Hurt myself?" "Damn," Link muttered. 'Spoiled milk makes a fairy drunk? Or is it because it's Chateau Romani milk?' Navi was flying from side to side in front of Epona's face. The mare reared and backed away.
"Come on-hic! -Epona!" Navi challenged, "Put 'em up! Come on, Hic! Let's see what you're made of!" The fairy's sudden boldness startled her; Epona reared and clawed her hooves dangerously into the air.
"Shit!" Link cursed, "Stupid fairy!" He caught Epona by her mane and ran a hand down her neck. Navi gave out an earth-shaking belch and floated down in wavers to the grass. "Easy, girl," Link whispered into Epona's ear soothingly, "Come on." Slowly he led the horse to a distance by the river. They passed by a tree when Epona snorted and reared.
"Whoa, whoa!" Link yelled in surprise. Epona was in hysterics. With a running start she rammed her head against the tree, her momentum nearly tearing it from its roots. "Epona!" Link shouted and tried to restrain her, "Calm down! What's gotten into you?"
Navi shook herself out of her drunken state from the commotion and regained some sense. "What's going on?" she asked and nearly dodged a pair of clawing hooves. "I don't know!" Link replied exasperatedly, "She just suddenly turned all crazy and started head butting that tree for no reason!" The fairy contemplated the situation and hovered to the tree while Link struggled to rein Epona and held her back. "Horses spook easily, something here must have scared her."
She flew closer to the leaves and inspected the areas between the branches. A hand lashed at her and a voice scolded, "Shoo! Go away, you stupid firefly!" Navi turned red with rage. "Firefly? Why I oughta'… Link! There's someone up here! Might be some low-life, insulting thief, let Epona have at it!" She muttered under her breath in self-satisfaction, "Teach you to call me a firefly…"
Link released Epona, the liberation of the opposing force allowing her to charge into the tree harder than before. A voice yelled in surprise, and someone fell into Link's arms. They crashed into the ground and lay sprawled on the floor. Link rubbed his head and cursed under his breath. The person on his lap recovered from the fall with a slight moan. Suddenly, it placed a tight death lock on his neck, choking out his life.
*Hey, everyone! That was just the first chapter you read, and in my opinion it went kind of slow. Sorry about that, I'm bad at introductions: ( And yes, in this fanfic Navi is a bit hot-headed and a frequent user of profanity. She and Epona are a bit for a comedy relief, as is Link's laid back behavior at times. But keep on reading, there's more to see! Later.