Link's eyebrows raced for his hairline while his jaw scooted in the opposite direction, dumb for the moment. How could a person be so big?
"Yep, I, uh, sure am," stuttered the large man. He had his arms raised above his head in surrender to the sharp, pointy blade held by the wild thing in front of him. "I'll put my hands down now," he posed cautiously, and lowered his arms. Link realized it was this fact that made the man look so tall, and the muscley appendages looked less threatening at his sides. He was twice as tall as Link and easily three times wider, and in such strange garb! If everyone were this large, he might reconsider living amongst giants.
Likewise, the man could not understand the puzzle of this short, wild-haired, chalk-painted person holding a spear and nervously glancing at a tiny blue spark with wings. Link steadied his breathing, watching this guy's brow furrow as he worked out what he was seeing. Something about that last detail popped some breaker in his mind, and the largest person Link had seen thus far exploded into a horrifying gale of laughter.
"Hawhaw, yer a kid from the forest, ain't ya?" He guffawed, doubling over and shaking his head. "Y'all have been in legends for years but I never-I didn't think I'd find one!" Then he straightened, his selectively furry face sobering. "What are ya doing out here? I saw yer fire from o'er yonder, and thought I'd take a peek. Rare to see anyone way out on the edge of the plains, let alone a wayfarin' youngster!" He shook with laughter again, as though it were some grand joke.
Link's grip on his spear loosened and his hunter-trained muscles raised him slowly to uprightness. He was not in on this joke, but that was hardly unsettling. He was used to jokes who butt ends involved his ignorance. The strength of his ordeals surged through Link as he watched the stranger finish with his laughing jag.
"Hoo, am I gonna make some ripples when we get back," He sighed contentedly and wiped tears from his eyes.
"Hold it," Navi barked and sped to the air between the giant and her companion. "You said we. And what do you mean, 'find one?' Who are you?"
"And y'all speak Hylian!" The man clapped a meaty paw to his forehead. "I thought, well, everyone does, but you can only speak to plants or animals. And where's the rest of the tribe?" He looked about, as though the rest of the Kokiri might be hiding in the grass.
Link and Navi exchanged one long look, wondering from where those "facts" came.
Screwing up his courage, Link finally said, "It's just me."
The man swiveled his gaze back to the boy painted with white zigzags and coal-rimmed eyes. "Well. Ain't that a drag. Yer the only one left?"
"What? No, I'm-I guess, I am the only one who has left," Link said, unsure how to explain that no Kokiri had any desire to leave their forest, that the idea was unnecessary, even. Everything they needed for life and happiness occurred within the leafy borders. The outside was big and unknown; the trees did not welcome strangers easily. He knew that firsthand. Dispelling the penumbra of homesickness, he told the man, "I had to leave. I am not a Kokiri."
"What he means," Navi interjected at the man's immediate confusion. "He lived in Kokiri Forest as one of the Children, but because he was born of a Hylian woman, he was required to leave. His mother exchanged her life for his, as a bargain with the Deku Tree, who sent me on a quest of my own. I accompany him at the moment."
Both Link and the tall man gaped at the fairy. Why hadn't he thought of some way to explain his appearance to people? It made his stomach flip to realize he had no such tale prepared.
"So yer out here all alone?" the man questioned, eyebrows scrunched in sympathetic bewilderment, though a smile crept up beneath the fringe of hair above his lip. "Well, then ya gotta come back to the camp with me! Everyone's probably wondering where I am by now, and by golly, you've gotta have some stories to tell!" The man threw his shoulders back and smiled widely. "I'm Talon of the Lon Clan," he said proudly, jabbing a thumb at his chest. A moment of expectant silence went by, and Talon chuckled again. "And your name?"
"I'm Link, and this is Navi," said the boy, touching his own chest with two fingers and motioning with his right palm towards his friend.
"Pleased to meet you, Link," Talon inclined his head in greeting. "And you, Navi. Thank you for explaining."
"Of course. How far is your camp? Will we need a torch?"
Unexpectedly, Link's windpipe snapped shut and a moment of panic swirled in his belly. He sought Navi's face and wished his breath would work so he could tell her-
"What? Are you hurt, boy?" Talon stepped closer, extended a hand as if soothing a beast, but Link jumped away, tangling his legs in the shaft of his spear and crashed to the ground in a jumbled pile. He was scrambling to get on his feet again when Navi was suddenly there in front of him.
"Calm down. What's wrong?" she asked commandingly.
"I-we can't go, I don't-But Navi, my boot!" he blurted and faltered, glancing between her and Talon like a rabbit in a sinew noose.
Navi sighed and gently shushed him. "Just wrap your foot in leather. I know. I know it's scary." She hovered close. "Think about how big he is compared to me."
"But this is more than anyone in Kokiri ever offered!" Link ejaculated. Navi pulled away from him, nodding slowly as she understood his panicky hesitance.
"These are different people. You're going to be weird to everyone, Link. And everyone reacts to weird things differently, right?" The fairy drew close and saw his erratically rising chest begin to move regularly again. "I'm sorry we didn't talk about what we would do when we found people. I just didn't think of it. But maybe this is the best introduction we could ask for. Talon's friendly, and I believe he's sincere. We should see what your people are like."
Link wanted to find some reason to deny the request, but his people were the reason he was out here in the middle of nowhere. Gathering his will, Link expelled a deep breath and lightly hopped to his feet. He was nervous, but he and every other hunter got nervous before a big hunt or ceremony. It would pass, he knew, when the deed was undertaken.
"I'll break down my site," Link said, addressing neither Talon nor Navi. He worked quickly and silent, pulling on a blown-out boot and wrap it with a wide strip of hide, shoved his few possessions into the pack basket and turned his waterbag upside down over his fire, extinguishing the liability in the grass. He was glad to see Talon had taken a burning brand from his hearth to light their way. With his supplies resting over his spine, Link and Navi followed the giant man's torch into the night.
A/N: Goodness me, I can't believe how tough travel chapters are to write. Stupid Hyrule Field, so big and empty...And no, I haven't forgotten the trademark peahats and stalchildren. I'm just waiting for a more opportune moment.
