Chapter Two: Back Home

Rain was pitter-pattering upon the roof of the house as Brian stood in front of the door, gazing with fear upon his father, who looked angrier than Brian had ever seen him before. Brian knew that there would be consequences for what he had done, but still he was afraid to face him. After all, he still was a child, and had much growing up to do.

"Brian", boomed the voice of William, "Where have you been?".

"A...a...at the gr...gr...graveyard" replied the stuttering Brian, afraid of the punishment that awaited him.

"Your mother and I just got a message from your headmaster, saying you disappeared earlier. Do you have any idea how worried we were?", said William, condemnation in his voice.

"Yes, sir", replied Brian.

"Why did you do it?", questioned William.

"Because. I hated that place.", explained Brian. "I got picked on all the time, and I don't even want to become a carpenter. It sounded like it would be a nice career to do, you know, fix things, build things, and work with wood. But it stinks. It's so boring. I don't want to do it anymore.

"Do you think I wanted to be a blacksmith?", asked William. "I didn't. But I did it anyway because when I was your age there were few blacksmiths and it was a guaranteed trade. I still don't like it to this day, but I do it anyway to support my family. And that's the attitude you should have as well. Things are not always going to go your way. You can't always get to do what you want, or get what you want, and I'd like to think that your mother and I raised you to think the same."

"You're right," replied Brian. "So what are we going to do now?".

At this point William looked upon his son and began to feel sorry for him. After all, any kid in his situation would do the same, if not worse. To him, it was better than fighting and getting kicked out of the school. Still, he thought, he should be punished, if only to discourage things from happening again in the future and causing such stress for he and his wife. He could not think of suitable punishment because most of the time, Brian was away at school. He realized that having Brian stay at school would be punishment enough.

"Son, here's what we're going to do", said William. "You are going to go to bed for the rest of the night, and at the rooster's crow, we are going to start out and go back to your school. As for your punishment for running away, I think that going back to your school will be punishment enough. However, you must also learn to deal with your problems. Try and become their friends. Do that, and your time at school will fly by".

Brian and William walked across the house to Brian's bedroom, not a word between them. Brian was tired, but William had a pensive look upon his face. Outside the rain lessened and lessened, and finally stopped. Once they arrived at the bedroom, William watched Brian hop into bed, and then came over to talk to him once more.

"Good night, Brian. Sleep well, for tomorrow will be an early day".

"Dad, I can't exactly sleep after what I saw tonight".

"Why is that?"

"Well, when I was in the graveyard I saw a gravestone that bore the name 'Link'. I looked further upon it and saw that his birth was the exact same of the Link that you told me bed time stories when I was younger. It even had a strange symbol on it".

At this point Brian climbed out of bed and drew the strange symbol he saw in the ground with his finger. William had pulled a wooden chair close to the bed and sat on it. William looked upon the symbol drawn by Brian, and then looked outside, to the now starry night sky, and paused a moment, thinking to himself. He finally stopped looking, and turned his head to look upon his son.

"Son, in light of what happened tonight and what caused it, I think it's time I stopped sugar-coating the 'Link Stories'. It's time that you knew the truth of what happened to Hyrule's greatest warrior. Maybe after you hear this, you will find some inspiration to do better when it comes to interacting with your peers. Anyhow, where to begin, where to begin. Well, let's start at the beginning of what is known about the one called Link, his childhood."