~ Disclaimer ~ I…don't…own…Zelda! OK, I confessed. I don't own any of those character either. That means, no suing rights on me!

Link: Are we there yet?

No

Link: Are you writing yet?

-_- What kind of question is that?

Link: OK, get busy cause you had a vacation!

That was so not my fault! The computer would not let me on the site!

Link: Yeah, yeah. That's what they all say…

At any rate, now I am back. So sit back and relax cause here I go. *Yes, I'm afraid I have to dedicate this chapter to CrysSton16 once again. No one is reviewing any more T_T. It was fun while it lasted I guess…

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~ What Kind of People are They? ~

As Link rode alongside the wagon, Crystal was talking to her grandfather about wears and costs. She wanted to make serious profit for the rugs and tapestries. Gramps reassured her while the black wolf panted lightly and looked around with acute interest in every sight, sound, and smell to behold.

Upon reaching the busy marketplace, Link dismounted Epona and sent her away knowing he need just whistle and she would return. Epona shook her mane and started trotting away from the noisy place.

They made their way to the gate of the town to find two guards with swords at their sides and spears in their hands halt them. They looked critically at the Wolfos then at Link himself. "What is that Wolfos doing here and who is this foreigner?"

Crystal stood in her seat and jumped down to the side before looking at the two guards "This is my pet." She placed her hand on the wolf's head, "I bought him from Katie and he belongs to me." Then she stared into the wolf's eyes as she continued speaking to the guards, "Don't worry, he's tame and he will behave. Won't you, Shekro?"

Her grandfather rolled his eyes while Link looked curiously at Crystal.

"'Shekro'? Since when did it have-"

Crystal clamped her hand over Link's mouth and said, "I never mentioned my pet's name to my friend. Link, his name is Shekro. Got it?" Link nodded a bit nervously. He never did like lying.

The two guards glanced at each other. They knew about Crystal as she had accompanied her grandfather many times before. These two guards in particular could recall her carrying a chicken egg, convinced it was the egg of a miniature dragon. She could be trusted despite her eccentricities.

"Oh, and this is my new friend Link. He comes from the peaceful land of Hyrule. A very nice place and he came here to help me find my poor pet. I tried to stop those Gray Wolfos from getting Shekro. If it weren't for Link here, I don't know what would have happened!" She gave them an upset look just as they seemed to sway in their resolution of keeping him out.

Crystal decided to push the issue, "I owe this boy. At the very least you two can help me by letting us into the fair marketplace of Dondoran?" She looked almost pleadingly at them until they lifted their spears from the X it formed before them.

"Keep the foreigner out of trouble and keep that wolf by your wagon and you'll be fine. Move along." They let them through but stared at Link as though to dare him to cause trouble. Link kept his eyes on Crystal, having seen a new, persuading side of her.

Slowly but surly, the four made their way through the cobble stone street to an empty corner where they could set everything up. Link wondered how they would go about it when, after unhitching the wagon from their tired horse, they turned the two-wheeled wagon around to where the back of it faced the streets. Then from within the wagon, as the black Wolfos leaped to the side to get out of the way, Crystal brought forth four bricks to set under the corners of the wagon.

After setting them up, her grandpa reached beside the mats of rugs and pulled up a large post to set on the side where they hung the tapestries for display. Link watched in interest as, in less that five minutes, they were ready for buyers to see the display.

"Come on!" Crystal seized Link's hand and began her happy trot through the marketplace. Her grandfather waved goodbye and told them both to behave. "Where are we going?" Link asked as he caught up with her fast jog. "We're heading to the sword smith. Grandpa knows where cause I always go there!" She wore a large grin as they made it off the cobblestone and across a large arena type area.

To one side, Link could see several different shops all hammering, tapping, and firing their wares. To the other side, he could see people dressed in fancy clothing all wearing sleek swords at their sides as well as a few other people like himself wearing a real sword and practicing against each other. They looked kind of young but Link could not object as he himself started off very young. They were probably apprentices. He wondered if Crystal was one of them.

Crystal trotted up to one of the open forges with a wave of her arm. The owner spied her and gave a hail of greeting. He was a huge man with smile wrinkles by his eyes and cinders covering his face and large hands. Link felt he could get to like the large man. He reminded Link of a Goron but without the hard poundings and stone-like skin. "Hello, Crys. I was wondering when you were going to get here today."

She panted lightly and paused for breath before smiling up at him and saying, "I came as soon as I could. There was a bit of a problem at the gate but nothing serious. Made anything new for me?" He guffawed to where his entire belly and barrel chest shook with each laugh and his eyes squinted until they became two lined over his cherry red and ash smeared face. Link could not hold in his own chuckles as the man's merriment rubbed off onto him. "Well, it seems the ol' dagger-carrying men in tin cans need to be taught a lesson. But you already gave them one. Or did you sneak him in?" The smith nodded toward Link.

Crystal laughed out loud, "No, I didn't need to sneak Link here inside. I just talked my way in. Now, about those knives…"

"Fine, fine. I spent all night on these, so happy early birthday." He brought forth a black case and opened it as Crystal peered eagerly into it. Her eyes were shining with excitement and for a moment, Link thought she would take flight when he too saw the beautiful, twin blades.

They were simply hand knives but crafted with two very thin vine-like lines running down the sides of the blades but ending before touching the tip. The handle of them was a black leather hold with a gold end to the slightly curved, narrow hilt. It was also branded in the leather near the end of the hilts with the letter "C".

"Oh, they're absolutely beautiful!" She almost squeaked in delight as she gingerly stroked the side of one of the blades. "They are perfect in detail and everything but what are they?" Link finally piped up. Crystal turned to him, her spirit only slightly dampened, but with one blade perfectly fitted into both of her fists. Link slightly stepped away as the two blades resembled wolf fangs in their cunningly designed purpose, to kill.

"They are daggers, silly." Crystal said to him and tossed one of them into the air, letting it do a complete flip, and catching the handle of it once again. "They are perfect. Thank you so much, Roland!" The smith held her back before she could embrace him. He looked at her nice tunic and shirt as she settled down and into her usual self once again. With a trademark grin, Roland said casually, "So, you haven't been out of your house for long now, have ya? No grass stains, horse-sweat, tree sap mark or anything! Not even a dirt smudge to mark that pretty face of yours. You would put that there Katie to shame!"

"Roland, never compare me to her! Darn, now you went and put out my good mood!" Crystal gave her rare but ever so cute pout as she glared darkly at Roland. Her eyes seemed like the dark sky before a heavy, dreary rainfall. Roland shrugged, "It was supposed to be a compliment. I am sorry about it." Crystal underwent a sudden mood swing and her eyes brightened like blue diamonds as a broad grin crossed her lips. She laughed and heartily slapped his shoulder, "No problem. I can just picture that practice scarecrow with her face on it!" Crystal clenched her fists until her knuckles whitened.

Link suddenly got an acute feeling as though they were being watched by someone not wanting to be seen. He looked to Crystal with worry in his eyes, "I think we're being followed." She calmed down some more and put the daggers into their case which Roland held and wrapped up with a tie as though it were an unopened gift.

"What do you mean, Link? I can't sense anyone watching. Unless…" Crystal turned to the side of the shop where a tree stood. Several leaves and thick branches hid the intruder. "You can come down now, Annie."

"Annie?" Link repeated to himself. A tall but young figure of a man jumped down from his perch in the tree. On a second glance, as the young man strolled leisurely into the daylight, Link noticed he was not that tall after all. Probably three inches taller than he himself.

The cape adorning his shoulders and going down his back to the ankles of his boots made him look taller than he was. The young man had black hair but with an almost blue tinge to it. It was cut short, shorter than Link's but it was obviously thick and full. He wore metal shoulder plates with the cape attached underneath them.

A long, narrow sword was easily seen at his waist but to Link's surprise, the boy didn't carry a shield on him. His tunic was blue, trimmed at the bottom with a stripe of gold as were the sleeves of the tunic and an odd badge was sewed into the fabric over the boy's heart.

He wore the same kind of pants as Crystal but blue. An even darker blue that his tunic, almost black. It also tucked into boot but his were like Link's in that they went up to the middle of his shin rather than up to his knees. Finally, his boots were black leather with an odd metal piece over the top ankles of both of them.

"My name is Andrake, not Annie. Who are you?" The boy addressed Link. His voice was a heavy tenor but heavy only for the irritated correction. Crystal grinned, "Annie, this is Link. He's a new sword-wielder and I bet he's a heck of a lot better than you'll ever be!"

"Oh, you underestimate me once again, my dear little Crysie."

Crystal's face turned bright red as Andrake stared hard at Link. "Do NOT call me that name!" Link stared him back in the eyes as their competitive spirits crashed. Crystal noticed she was being completely ignored and looked at the two boys.

She jumped in between them before they could draw their swords. "Hey, don't start a fight in the marketplace, Andrake! You'll get all of us in trouble!" Roland looked at the two boys, pausing in his work as the metal heated in the red coals. "Well, you should not have brought this foreigner into this land, Crys. You may have caused Gramps a whole lot of trouble just by that. Anyway, I was just leaving. See you later, Roland." Roland waved goodbye with his hammer and began tapping the dents out of a piece of armor as Andrake got ready for a sprint.

With a gust of wind, Andrake had begun to run. Link thought he could run fast but this Andrake put him to shame. Link doubted even Epona could catch Andrake and soon, the boy was in the marketplace.

Crystal laughed as she looked at Link. "Don't worry. He's just showing off right now. I bet we'll see him again very soon. When we see…Katie." She clenched her fist again at the name and bit back a few choice words that would've accompany it.

Link shook his head, wondering what kind of people he had been delivered into before following her to collect her daggers and get back to the marketplace for some shopping.

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Yay! I'm done once again. I can sleep now! Thus, I'll keep my closing short.

So, I didn't get to Katie this time. _ I don't like her so I'm going to be evil with her.

Until next time!