A/N: And now the part I'm sure everyone's been waiting for: the actual plot of Twilight Princess is officially beginning here! Also, I didn't acknowledge it last time because I wanted to see what initial responses would be, but I've been trying to write Link using sign as well as speaking out loud. I have a plan and it'll make sense soon guys, I promise. Not in this chapter, but soon!

One more thing! I'm introducing a twist at the beginning of this chapter! It won't affect this story overmuch, since it's pretty much all taking place in Hyrule, but it does establish something fun about the Earth that Claire came from, and opens up another concept I'm excited to play around with... More info in the end note :)

Late Addition: So, uh. How bout that COVID-19? Please be safe out there, new and old readers! Wash your hands, wear a mask when you go out, and stay home if you can! I don't know all of you, but I know I care about every single one of you, and I want us all to make it through this pandemic. Just stay calm and keep yourself safe, for the love of god get yourself vaccinated, and we'll get through this.

"Whoa, so he could fly?!" Beth's delighted exclamation echoed in the spring, and Claire tried not to visibly wince; after all, she'd been just as captivated with the idea of a flying hero crossing the sky.

...You know, once the Scary Alien Invasion part was done with.

It was a calm afternoon, for a day Claire was trying not to think of as 'two days before Doomsday'. The morning was for games, but Claire had been brought along when the kids eventually retreated to the shade of the spirit spring as the sun rose higher in the sky. They'd been playing a combination of capture the flag and hide-and-seek, but the late summer sun still heated the valley quickly.

Claire was certainly a willing prisoner, regaling the kids with all the stories she could think of - with some creative liberties, since she was still trying to figure out how to tell any of them the full truth about Earth (though it was fun to convince the kids there was a man in Claire's world who dressed up like a bat at night to fight criminals). Some stories were reworkings of things like Star Wars, or the Hunger Games. But not all of Superman's escapades dealt with alien invasions, there were some down-to-earth stories from folks he'd saved in the past few years that would do just fine in a world like Hyrule. The kids are going to need a story that reminds them to hope, when all this mess really starts... What better symbol than the man with the word 'hope' on his chest? I mean, Link, of course, but he doesn't need to be the only one.

The village kids didn't need convincing when it came to the existence of a man who fell from the stars, a man who could fly. They were enamored, and Claire couldn't help herself. After spending so many years in Port Anderton, a population which largely hated Superman, it was water after a drought. So maybe she slipped so far as 'not revealing too much about Earth'.

So maybe the idea of showing off a little to people who didn't revile the alien hero was too tempting to pass up, just this once.

"I-I got to meet him last year. I have a picture, do you... do you want to see?" The picture. On her phone. Which she had just resolved not to show the kids. Of course, given the opportunity to see something new, let alone a picture of this mythical hero Claire had painted in their heads? They swarmed. "Okay, okay, easy! First thing's first, can you all promise me to keep this quiet? I'm still... figuring everything out. It's gotta be a secret for a bit longer until I know the right words to say. Can you do that?"

"We promise!" Beth nearly squealed, bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement.

"Yeah! We won't tell anyone!" Talo nodded eagerly beside her, crowding closer with his brother on the other side. Taking in a deep, fortifying breath, Claire reached into her bag to take out the phone and battery.

"O-Okay... This is called a cell phone. It takes pictures, plays music, and you use it to talk to people. Well, usually. It wouldn't work here. The picture's in here, I just have to... turn it on..." It'd been weeks, would the battery even have a charge anymore? Before she could really panic, Claire saw the screen light up and start running its startup animation. The kids were oohing and ahhing appropriately at the alien device as it powered on.. "I can't really explain how it works, I'm sorry. There are a lot of things I didn't learn about in-depth, this is one of them. But... Here, I can show you the picture of Superman."

Claire looked as put-together as she could be in those two pictures, given who was hugging her. Superman was a head taller than her with plenty of wiggle room to spare, but the memory that lingered with Claire wasn't the height, or even the hug from the Man of Steel himself. It was the pinch in his brow, the grief in his eyes when she told him about the foster brother she'd lost during the invasion. The gentleness of his 'I'm sorry', coming from a man who could melt steel with his eyes!

This isn't the time, don't get distracted!

Claire turned the phone around to show the kids, bracing for any potential reactions as she revealed far more about her world than she'd planned to. The backdrop was the newly-opened Heroes Park, the back end of the memorial and the rest of Metropolis in the distance. The memorial, where Claire had painstakingly tracked down Logan's name to leave her flowers not ten minutes earlier. She hadn't expected to see him, let alone get his attention, so the awe she felt in the kids' reactions was familiar to her.

Even Malo audibly gasped at the vibrant red of Superman's cape, of the crest emblazoned on his deep blue suit. Beth, bless her, went bright pink as she studied the picture. "He looks so strong," she observed without shame.

"Yeah, he was the strongest person in my world. His people were, I mean." Black Zero was evidence enough of that... "He's the only one there, now, but his people were way stronger than any human or animal on Earth."

"That's awesome!" Colin exclaimed.

"Can you show us more stuff?" Talo asked, though he was still staring intently at the picture.

Was it tempting? Definitely. Was it a good idea? Absolutely not. Then again... Maybe Claire had gotten careless, too. Lost in the excitement of thank god they don't think I'm crazy to really think about the decision, or pay proper attention to the rest of the world.

"Um... sure!"

"Actually..." The voice was a shot of ice down the wayward teenager's back; feeling very much like a deer caught in the headlights, Claire slowly made a quarter-turn to face Uli, who had certainly seen her phone and the picture on it. Depending on how long she'd been there, she may have even heard Claire explain what all her phone could do. "...It's time for everyone to go back to the village, your parents want you all home to eat. Colin, you as well, my son," Uli finally spoke, and Claire almost startled physically with how the woman's even tone threw her off; they could have been playing a game with rocks and sticks, for how little Uli's face betrayed her reaction.

The kids all said goodbye to Claire (Colin even surprised her with a shy hug before he scurried away), until it was just her and Uli following slowly at the rear. Tucking the phone away as surreptitiously as she could, Claire waited for the inevitable questions that would surely follow this literally-otherworldly discovery.

The denizens of Hyrule continued to surprise her, however.

"...As curious as I may be, Claire, your secrets are your own to keep unless you choose to share them," Uli finally broke the silence, and this time Claire did stumble— just barely catching herself before she would've faceplanted. That can't be all there is to it, there's got to be a catch. Uli pushed on, heedless of the disarray in the teen's mind. "Whatever I did or didn't see in the spring today, you've earned my trust."

"...Thank you," Claire let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding, almost sagging with the weighty mixture of guilt and relief at the sentiment. She knew she didn't deserve that trust, especially given what was coming... what, the day after tomorrow? Gods, it had snuck up on her quickly. The castle will probably be attacked soon, if not already... gods damn it all, what if I had just run away? Run to Castle Town as quickly as I could?

"Please understand; trusting someone with my child, with children I love like my own... that trust cannot be misplaced," Uli insisted, something urgent behind the words, and Claire forced herself to meet the woman's gaze.

Confiding in Uli... telling her the whole truth of who she was and where she came from... would that be enough to balance the scales against what she had to withhold? Hadn't she just been wishing for someone to talk to about all this? Why couldn't it be the woman who fostered Link?

"...Okay. I-I... I want to tell you the truth about who I am. You can choose to believe me, or don't. I'm leaving for Castle Town in another day, so it won't matter right now, but... I'd really like to come back and visit once I've, um, once I've settled in. If I'm welcome, I mean." Claire saw Uli open her mouth, surely with reassuring words like of course you'd be welcome, but continued before she could interject. "I need you to wait to make that decision until you know the truth. It's... gonna sound a little bit crazy."

Uli's lips thinned, apprehension and concern warring in her eyes. "... As you say. We can discuss it tonight, after your training with Rusl and Link," she acquiesced, and they continued walking in silence. Colin and Rusl were none the wiser to any of the tension Claire felt was almost tangible as they ate, and Uli was acting perfectly pleasant. Like she'd seen and heard nothing out of the ordinary today.

So it might have left her off her game — on top of the growing ball of lead in her stomach at the idea of sparring with Link to begin with! That had been a hell of a bombshell for Rusl to drop on her without warning; she hadn't been avoiding Link, not exactly, but she didn't actually mind that they'd only had a handful of interactions in the few weeks she'd been in the village. Claire was still trying to convince herself that he was a real person, let alone someone she would be spending the vast majority of the foreseeable future with.

...All the same, she could've controlled her reaction a little better.

'You want me to what?!' she'd just managed to eke out, when Rusl first asked her. The man had said something about monsters and protection on the road, and Claire agreed, but she barely processed a single word he said after the initial ask.

"...Are you sure you feel up to participating tonight? You seem distracted," Rusl said as Claire narrowly avoided stumbling through another dip in the path to the spring.

"Yeah, I'm okay." Of course, that was a lie; she felt too jittery to appreciate properly venturing out of Ordon for the first time, no matter how lush the Faron province was. Too many things had happened today, and something in the atmosphere made her feel unnerved. If nothing else, maybe she could channel all that nervous energy into training.

"I hope so, because I'd like to make a quick assessment if you're amenable. Just to see how you've been instructed. We can work up to the training swords afterward, if there's time," Rusl hummed, satisfied, when they reached the spring.

Running through her own warmup was a bit odd with a spectator, especially given who was spectating, but Claire settled into a rhythm easily enough that she almost forgot Link was there until it was time for Rusl to join in.

The man only ended up asking her for clarification on some of her forms; not questioning her understanding or instruction, but wanting to understand the basis behind it — "if you don't have a shield or something to defend yourself, you've got to protect your head as best you can", and "you start with your opposite foot forward so you're leading with your dominant foot when you strike" — before taking over with further instruction of his own.

Before long they had all worked up a sweat, and Claire managed to shuffle out of her undershirt beneath her tunic, slipping it into her little adventure pouch with a wince as she worked her muscles. Doing all this with other people tested her limits in a way Claire wasn't used to after training in solitude for the past two weeks, but she liked it.

Gods, why isn't it this easy to talk with Link all the time? Here they could banter with all the sass Claire had been known for back home and not bat an eye, even despite her earlier misgivings about whether she could handle that kind of proximity. This would've been so much easier if I wasn't a massive nerd, good grief. Link could've just been some handsome, elf-eared farm boy in my mind instead of the damn future Hero of Hyrule...

Things went a little sideways during a third round with Rusl, though; the whole point of the move she was trying to show Link was 'what you do if someone (or something) tries to grab you from behind'. In practice, though, the act sent a jolt of terror down Claire's spine, and she reacted before she could blink.

From one moment to the next, Claire went from standing upright with Rusl behind her to knelt in the dirt with a knee braced on the man's chest.

"Oh my— shit!" the teen yelped, scrambling back to let Rusl free as soon as she realized what she'd done. "Rusl, I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean to-" she stammered helplessly, floundering. But Rusl was laughing!

"I'm not hurt, Claire. I'm impressed by your reflexes," he praised, halfway sitting up from the ground as he took a moment to catch his breath. "I'm not as young as I once was, however, so perhaps we should end this here for today."

"I'm alright with that, I'm already gonna be feeling this tomorrow," Claire readily agreed, taking a seat next to the spring. Link ended up occupying space in the feet between the two.

Claire half-listened to their conversation as it meandered into familiar dialogue from the Twilight Princess intro, Rusl talking about the world of spirits and how the worlds intersect in the hour of dusk. All pretty words, ones Claire could almost quote from memory if she liked. Yet she couldn't follow the conversation to save her life, too caught up in what would happen to think about what was happening. Instead she worked the feeling back into her feet and let the lukewarm springwater rejuvenate her as it washed over her toes.

Marvel at perfection, for it is fleeting... If I follow that to its natural conclusion, would Ganon be the one who 'brought sin to heaven and doom upon all the world'?

"...tell the mayor you're interested in taking my place, it shouldn't be an issue," Claire tuned back in as Rusl finished the ask, catching Link's eye for a moment as he looked between them.

"I guess we'll be getting to know each other better soon," Link said. Claire didn't miss the subtle look Rusl leveled at the back of his head, but she didn't know what to make of it, so she discarded it.

"I-I'm looking forward to it," Claire smiled despite the anxious crack behind the words. Despite everything telling her that she was embarrassing herself the longer she talked to him, she was determined to leave a better impression with him than their last interactions must have. "We haven't talked much since I came here, I'm sure we'll come up with something."

"Yeah, it'll be fun." The conversation petered out from there as they made their way back to the village, but the silence was comfortable rather than suffocatingly awkward.

Claire would have lingered by Ordona's spring in the hopes of getting any further direction from the light spirit if she didn't have an appointment to keep. Not to mention there's no indication that I'd actually get an answer, it didn't work the last twelve times...

It didn't matter, because Uli was waiting for her back at the house. She was sitting on the porch when Claire returned, fiddling with Colin's cradle as she attempted to refurbish it for Baby Two.

"I hope you didn't have to wait long," Claire offered, taking a seat next to the woman.

"No, no need to worry. I don't mind sitting out here while I can. I won't be able to once winter sets in, not with this one," Uli dissuaded gently, one hand on the swell of her baby bump. Beyond that she waited patiently. Claire was the person who'd offered to tell Uli who she was, so she had to say something... any day now... say something!

"I-I almost don't know where to start with this, but... two weeks ago, I believed Hyrule was a complete work of fiction. I lived in a town called Port Anderton with my adopted sister Julie and our parents, Markus and Daniel. And... yeah, maybe it wasn't perfect. I didn't have a lot of friends, it wasn't the most accepting town, but it was the only home I'd ever really settled into before I came here. I didn't— I didn't ask to come to Hyrule. Like I said, Hyrule didn't exist to me before... I was walking home with stuff to make dinner, and then I woke up in the spirit spring." The words were like a dam bursting, impossible to stop once she let them out. "Ordona spoke to me that first night. They said this world needs my help, and... something about answers I'm 'not ready' for yet? And then they said the goddesses haven't... left me unprepared for the trials ahead," she strained for the memory, but she was sure that was a close approximation. "But that doesn't tell me why it's me, so I still don't know why I'm the unlucky bastard who got dragged into all this," Claire huffed around a hitching breath.

"I take it this isn't common knowledge," Uli said after a lengthy pause, and Claire shook her head.

"I told Rusl and Mayor Bo where I came from, I don't know if any of the other parents know. The kids saw my phone, so I'm sure they can figure I'm not from this world. I've told nobody else," she recalled quickly. Link, Fado, Ilia, they would have no idea — unless Bo confided in his daughter.

"Thank you for trusting me with the truth, Claire," Uli was so sincere, it felt like barbed wire twisting around Claire's heart. Because it wasn't the full truth, was it? She was withholding the most important truth from every single one of them. In just a few days, their world is going to change forever...

"Don't worry about it. I've been... going crazy thinking about telling somebody, just so I could talk about it. I'm kind of glad you caught me showing off to the kids," Claire laughed weakly, rubbing the back of her neck — ugh, she needed a bath.

"...thank you again for confiding in me, Claire. We'd best head inside. There's a bowl of soup for you inside, everyone else has already eaten." And that was that, apparently. Claire took a moment to refocus, Uli's non-reactions continuing to throw her for a loop, before heading inside as well.

Claire didn't sleep until late, walking herself in circular arguments about what exactly she was supposed to do. Tomorrow was Link's 'day off', and then Ordon would be attacked the day after that— assuming the timeline progressed as Claire knew it. This would be the first test, she supposed, of just how accurate her foreknowledge could be. Sleep was fitful and fleeting, but she supposed the nice thing about that was that she wouldn't have nightmares if she couldn't sleep long enough to have one.

Evidently she wasn't the only one having trouble resting, though, as she heard someone quietly make their way out of the house just before dawn. Maybe she could take a moment to commiserate with someone else who could feel this... whatever was looming in the air, pre-attack. Decision made, Claire forced herself to stand and padded outside when the sky began to change.

Rusl took one look at her when he came out, the defeated slump of her shoulders and the dark circles under her eyes, and sent her right back to bed.

"You look like you'd tip over in a strong wind," he accused when Claire argued, though exasperation and amusement played in his tone equally as he herded her off the porch and back into the house.

"Wake me if anything comes up," she said sternly —as much as she could manage in all her five foot nothing glory— knowing Talo was going to run into the woods today.

...If nothing else, Claire could find out if she had the stomach for killing monsters: she sincerely doubted that they would turn black and explode into nothing like they did in the game. Unless it's somehow a byproduct of Ganon's magic? Guess I'll have to wait and see...

Claire dozed off and on through the morning as Uli puttered about the house, nightmares driven away by either the soft daylight when it began creeping across the floor, or the woman's soothing presence if the teen became restless or distressed. She combed her fingers through Claire's brunette locks, loose from their braid.

She probably should have reacted when the calming hand, intentional or not, pushed her hair back to expose her ears. Her very non-human ears, which she'd gone out of her way to conceal her whole life. She should have been concerned about the lengthy pause before the soothing motions continued, but Claire couldn't muster up the energy to remember why that might be a shock.

Nothing truly disturbed her until well into the afternoon as far as she would tell, and the disturbance was Colin coming through the door, calling for his father.

"Dad, hey. Dad? Talo, he— um, there was this monkey, and-and he chased after it. I think Link went after him, they ran into the woods, but it's, um... it's been a little while," the boy stammered, and after a beat of silence Claire nearly fell to the floor in her haste to get up off the couch. Time to really see Faron now, huh...

"Claire, wait!" Rusl's worried shout followed her out the door as she stumbled out of the house, barely making the effort to strap her bag in place or tie her boots.

"I know where I'm going, and I can catch up with Link faster if I go now! I'll be back," Claire shot back over her shoulder before taking off at a brisk run across the meager village. She passed Malo and Beth near the spirit spring, awaiting Link's return, and directed them back to the village as she pushed forward. The juddering rope bridge made Claire's heart clench beneath her ribs, but she made herself keep running.

Link crosses this bridge dozens of times in the game, obviously it's safe! Count the beats of the footsteps, don't think about the planks that wobble, or any parts of the rope that are starting to fray, and... Sweet land!

Claire resolutely ignored the tremor in her muscles, not from exertion, as she pushed herself further into Faron. Past the spring, past the remains of a few deku babas, and through the dark tunnel that let out in North Faron. There was a dense fog obscuring most of the ground - not the noxious purple mist Claire knew to avoid from her Twilight Princess playthroughs; not yet, thank God.

"Cost versus benefits of going into there armed?" she mumbled to herself, drawing one of the beautiful daggers from her bag. No way am I ready to dual-wield yet... "What if I'm caught with weapons on hand, though?"

That made the decision far easier. With a moment to steel herself, Claire braved the mist unarmed. She needn't have worried, however — aside from batting away a few pesky Keese, the monsters in the area looked like they'd been cleared out already.

Until they... weren't. Where Claire figured there would be a straight shot to the opposite tunnel that led to the forest temple, instead there were still Bokoblins guarding a locked gate! The teen lurched to a stop, desperately hoping she hadn't been seen or heard.

A sharp skree! gutted those hopes before they could take root, and Claire groaned miserably when another swooping Keese drew the Bokoblins' attention to her. Before she could do more than take a fighting stance, the pest's claws and hooked tail were tearing into her hair — she couldn't hold back a pained yelp as the Keese pulled her off balance and into a tangle of ivy by the roots.

One of the Bokoblins was raising its club, the pair of them nearly upon her. It was all Claire could do to fling the little bug-eyed vampire away and haul herself up and oh gods he's swinging!

Claire just barely managed to roll to one side as the sharp club whooshed through the air where she'd just stood, briefly lodging in the soft dirt of the bog — much to the creature's displeasure. It raged and screamed its putrid breath in her face, and Claire tried not to gag as she forced herself into action.

Taking the opportunity the creature had so kindly given her, Claire swept its legs out from under it with one foot while snagging a decently-sized rock with her hand. As the Bokoblin crashed to the ground with an enraged screech, she whipped the rock at its companion's head. Her aim was off, the rock glancing off the creature's shoulder, but it bought her a second to deliver a swift kick to its jaw.

I don't have to hold back, this is a fight for my life, Claire thought — too used to pulling her punches in sparring matches, or roughhousing with Julie. But now she put all her strength into a full-force kick.

Somehow she wasn't expecting the sickening crack when its head snapped backward with the force of the blow, or for the Bokoblin to crumble to the ground slack-jawed and lifeless following the obvious sound of its bones breaking. It choked and gurgled pitifully for several long seconds, and Claire was paralyzed as she watched it die.

A hand seized her shoulder and pushed, and Claire yelped in surprise as she realized the other Bokoblin was upon her — would've clubbed her in the head, in fact, if not for a familiar ranch hand diving into the fray. It was Link pushing her to the ground as he cut down the second Bokoblin with his wooden sword.

It looked so familiar and so jarringly-alien all at once. The future Hero's movements were obviously born of years of training, but he was still... Rough around the edges, in combat. Because he's not a video game character, he's a person. Young and inexperienced, just like you. Claire forced herself to remember that, mostly still trying to scoop her brains back into her head after watching Link fight.

"What are you doing out here?" he asked, barely turning as he kept an eye on the downed monsters, though he extended a hand to help Claire to her feet.

"The plan was to help you find Talo," she huffed, embarrassed as she took his hand. "Have you caught up to him yet?"

"No. I just got the gate key from another one back that way," Link pointed back the way he came from. That... probably makes more sense than a treasure chest in the middle of the woods, Claire decided. "I'm worried the monsters took him deeper into the woods."

"We should hurry, then," Claire said, trying to shake off the pit in her stomach. You killed a monster, what's your problem? Move along, or you'll get left behind.

No Bokoblins guarded the tunnel into the northern woods, but it was full of Keese, and Deku Babas, and massive rats — all dealt with swiftly, all due credit to Link. As they approached the exit, the boy raised a hand to indicate they should stop before they fully left the tunnel.

"Can you hear them?" he asked lowly, and Claire strained her ears, though she didn't have to listen hard to catch what he was hearing; Bokoblin voices, speaking in their guttural tongue. She nodded, trying to pick out anything recognizable, even a repetition of a syllable or sound. It all just sounded like snarling and gurgling.

"Any idea what they're saying?"

"They don't have much of a language, but I can make out one word: child," Link said, a dark twist to his lips. Claire felt a chill in her bones; that promised nothing good, but the hard edge to her companion's eyes promised the monsters' swift end regardless.

"We should hurry," she said. Her reservations must have shown on her face, because Link softened, giving her a crooked little smile.

"You'll be alright. They're not smart, and you can fight them. I saw you do it, earlier."

"Yeah, and then you saved my ass when I froze up like a moron immediately after," Claire mumbled under her breath, forgetting Link's hearing was just as acute as hers, if not more so.

"Don't sell yourself short. You can do this. Here... If you think it'll help, take this." Seemingly before she could blink, Link had passed her the slingshot and pellets. "Come on, I'll go for the one on the left. On my signal."

Without even thinking about it, Claire made an 'okay' sign with one hand. She didn't understand what flashed in Link's eyes; it was gone too quickly to catalogue, and with the sun nearing the treeline, they had bigger concerns.

Link waited until the Bokoblins were facing away, drew his wooden sword, gave Claire a quick nod, and charged. Not giving herself any time to think about it, she ran after him. The slingshot proved to be easier to aim than free throwing, and there was something satisfying about the Bokoblin's affronted screeching as she pelted it in the back of the head.

Go for the neck, it seemed to break easily last time. Claire shuddered at her own thoughts, but it was now or never. With a sharp cry, she roundhouse kicked at its neck with all she had — crunch. The Bokoblin crumpled to the ground, its head lying at an unnatural angle in the dirt, and showed no signs of getting back up.

"Nice work," Link complimented, having dealt with the other one. Claire gave him a shaky grin, until she caught something in her peripheral vision.

Aren't there supposed to be three Bokoblins at this part?

"Down!"

Link's eyes widened, but he reacted quickly: he dove into a somersault, the Bokoblin's club slicing through the air where he'd been standing a moment earlier. Claire snatched the end of the weapon when the creature overbalanced, planted her feet and yanked. It stumbled forward in just such a way that Link, already back on his feet, could run it through before it even knew it was doomed.

"Woo! Hey, lady! That was super! Now buy something!" a certain shop-running, afro-headed starling squawked from across the way.

"...See, you're a natural," Link said wryly in the silence that followed. Claire couldn't help but scoff at the notion, but took the thanks for what it was.

"Let's find Talo and get him home. Something about the forest feels... Wrong." The feeling of whatever was in the air was unexpectedly weighty, filling the atmosphere with a choking, claustrophobic sense of unease.

"I thought it was just me," Link murmured at her side as they walked northward. She shook her head.

"More and more these last few weeks, I've gotten this awful feeling that something horrible is coming, and it's only gotten worse. There's something..." Dark, she didn't manage to say, as she finally heard a screeching monkey and small, hiccuping sobs. "...Talo's up ahead, quick," she whispered urgently instead, and they picked up the pace toward the forest temple.

The walls of the winding root that made the path were too high for Claire to look over, but she didn't need to see to know where Talo was, or that he and his new friend were being guarded by two Bokoblins. Truthfully, she hardly needed her prior knowledge for that — the Bokoblins were loud, and not simply standing guard over their prey. No, they were snarling and hissing in each other's sunken, leathery faces. Perfect, they won't even notice us until it's too late.

Two Bokoblins later, Claire saw something she couldn't quite make sense of. She'd expected to see Link smash the wooden cage with his sword, or something to that effect; instead, he simply pried the wooden bars free of their shoddy ties with a noisy snap and a burst of plant fibers. The top of the cage was tossed away without another thought as the monkey squeaked happily amid Talo's triumphant cheers.

Claire didn't miss how he quickly smudged away dirty tear tracks while Link double checked the Bokoblins were truly dead, and the monkey scampered off after checking to ensure the little human was alright. Claire knelt down to check the boy over for herself, quickly cataloguing a few roughly hand-shaped bruises on his arms, a few scrapes here or there. Nothing major that she could see.

"What were you thinking, running off like that on your own? What if we'd come too late?" she asked, keeping her voice level. She really was only asking. Talo still flinched like she'd screamed it at him. "...Look, it's not my job to lecture you, kiddo, so I won't. But you've got to be more careful," she urged, leaning over until she could meet his downturned eyes.

"Okay, I'll try..." he mumbled. The boy perked up considerably when Link rejoined them, though. "That was awesome how you guys killed those monsters, Link!"

Link gave the boy a half smile, ruffling his hair. "Sure it was, but let's not make a habit of chasing monkeys into the woods," he said, only a hint of admonishment in the words. Talo winced, nodding sheepishly.

"Yeah, I-I think I'm ready to go home," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Seconded, let's get out of here."

The rescue had taken longer than they'd thought, a handful of stars already beginning to peek through the sunset-tinted sky above their heads when they were crossing the bog. Talo didn't speak up again until the south Faron gate was in sight, at the far end of the tunnel they were crossing.

"Gee, uh... y'know, Link. If you and Claire hadn't'a showed up, me and that monkey would'a been eaten, probably... She even tried to save me, y'know? She came back for me, 'n we got captured together..." the boy still couldn't quite meet either of their gazes, but he already looked much better off than when they'd first rescued him. "You, um, you're not gonna mention this to my dad, are you? He always says the forest is super dangerous... so, you really can't tell him, okay? You've gotta promise!"

True to form, Talo was off running back toward Ordon before Claire or Link could respond. They shared a look, shrugging.

"Hopefully he's learned his father's right," Claire hummed noncommittally.

"Ah! There you two are!" Rusl's voice broke through the little clearing, approaching from the northern road that led to Hyrule field. "I thought I might find you somewhere nearby. You found Talo, then?" The question was directed at Claire, but she saw the play of confusion and amusement cross Link's face as he realized what had happened.

"I never did get to ask how you knew what happened to Talo," he realized.

"Colin came and woke me up looking for Rusl," Claire supplied. To Rusl, she asked, "Those monkeys that have been coming into the village... is that common around here?"

"Not until recently," Rusl admitted. "The woods have been strange lately, there aren't usually so many monsters out and about. I hope it's no indication of what's to come, but I feel as though something dark is on the horizon for Hyrule..."

It took everything Claire had not to outwardly react to the words beyond polite concern; obviously worse things were coming! But these were country folk in an already-complacent Hyrule. The fact that anyone noticed at all before they were set upon by monsters was impressive.

"Come now, it's nearly dark. We ought to be back in Ordon," Rusl patted Link's shoulder, tugging gently until he walked at his side. Claire was just ahead, only partly listening. "Tomorrow the two of you set off for Hyrule proper. I think it'll be good for you to see more of the country with someone your age," he rumbled thoughtfully. "I wish you luck and a peaceful journey, son. If you're truly lucky, you may even get to meet Princess Zelda!" he laughed at the notion. Why and how would a farmhand from Ordon get to meet the future queen, right?

What a silly idea...

A/N: Wowie, this took awhile! I'm sorry again, folks! This pandemic really just sapped my creative energy... But! Now that I've powered through this and at least gotten mostly through the Twilight Princess intro, yes: Claire's from a DC Earth (one I've affectionately nicknamed Earth-214 — if you know, you know ^_−)