I snuck in the west gate and hung an immediate right as to avoid going through the center of town. It might be late, but both guards and the occasional stray townsperson can be found bustling through the area no matter how late it gets. And found is something I didn't want to be. Not yet at least.
From there, I kept to the shadows until I reached Telma's bar. I peeked in the doorway to find it empty of patrons. The only one's there were Telma, some girl, and an unconscious Zora boy. I determined it was safe to go in and did just that, gaining the attention of the girl who was sitting by the Zora boy.
"For the last time, I said we're clos—" Telma says, cutting herself off when she saw it was only me. She stopped and smiled, crossing her arms across her chest and tilting her head to the side. Telma was the only other person in Castle Town that had red hair. I've always guessed that that's the reason she's always been so tolerant of me. Maybe the townspeople were weary of her odd hair color too.
"Well isn't this a pleasant surprise. For a while I thought those guards had finally chased you off for good — especially when it started raining, a few days ago and you didn't show up. Where have you been, honey?" Telma asks, going over to the bar and pouring me a drink of water.
For the next few hours, I told Telma and the strange girl everything I could remember from the second I left, excluding the parts where I was a wolf, Link being the chosen hero, and the thing that happened at the spirit spring, of course. I even told them about my arguement with Link earlier tonight. They listened to every word, along with the occasional comment from Telma.
When I was done telling them my story, Telma just sighed, mumbling to herself something along the lines of "quite the boy, I'm guessing.." along with a shake of her head.
She then filled me in on the girl who was apparently suffering a bit of amnesia and couldn't even remember her own name and the Zora boy who collapsed in the road just earlier. They planned to have the doctor over first thing in the morning to check him out. The girl had yet to leave his side.
"Well, it's getting to be late. Little miss, you can sleep in my back room with me tonight if you'd like. Rheikah, the same offer as every time you come to my bar still stands." Telma says, offering the door to the back room for anyone who wanted to use it.
"No thanks, I'd like to stay with him tonight, in case he wakes up. Thank you though." The girls says. She then turns back to the boy and props her head up on her fist to watch him some more.
"Alright. Rheikah?" Telma asks. Every time I come to her bar, she offers to let me stay in her back room, but every time I settle with sleeping on the small ledge above the bar. Why? Because it offers an easier escape if I sleep in too late. Over the years, I've tied rope between the ledges and mastered walking across them. I also don't want to take Telma's offer because I'm scared it would lead to me growing attatched to the woman, and so far in my life, I haven't had much luck with people I've grown attatched too.
"I'm good with my usual spot. Thanks for all the help, Telma." I say, climbing up on the counter. The woman rolls her eyes and mumbles another comment under breath before bidding us goodnight and going into the back room. I jump up from the counter, grabbing onto the rope connecting this ledge to the one over the door. From there, I pulled myself up and onto the rope before walking across to the ledge above the bar.
There, I opened a crate to retrieve a blanket and sat against the wall, thinking to myself before I fell asleep. Unfortunately, my sleep didn't last very long. It wasn't often I found myself unable to sleep, but when it happened, it usually meant something was bothering me—even if I didn't know what it was.
My last conversation with Link played through my head, and I actually started to regret leaving him. He was only trying to help. Then I had another concerning thought. What if that was the last time I saw him? I shook off the idea. Of course I'd see him again, even if I had to track him down myself, I would see Link again. After all, I had said we were in this together now.
With that thought, I finally fell asleep.
The next morning, I woke up to the sound of someone coming into the bar. I quietly yawned and put my blanket back in the crate. I looked down over the ledge to see that the bar was still quite empty. The only occupants were a group of Castle Town knights and the doctor that had promised to come look at the Zora boy. Judging by the limited bit of light coming into the bar through the windows, I'd say it was still early morning. Very early.
I sat quietly on my ledge while the doctor checked out the Zora child, though, it seemed as if he had no idea what he was doing or supposed to be doing. The doctor began to get frustrated.
"So can you help him?" the girl asks and the doctor grabs his stuff in an angry huff.
"Of course not!" He says, just as the door opens once again to let in another patron. "This is a Zora child! This is beyond my expertise! Hmmmph!" the doctor then turns and stomps towards the door, running into the person that had just walked in on his way out. A person I then recognized to be Link. I nearly gasped at the sight of him.
The doctor looked Link over as if he were a mere peasant and continued on out of the bar. The girl, who I'm getting a bit tired of calling 'the girl', ran from her place beside the Zora boy after the doctor to try to stop him.
"Doctor, wait! If something isn't done, this child will..." She trailed off, knowing he was gone and not coming back. I frowned at her depleted form, not missing the way Link stared at her. She looked up at him for a moment before turning and walking back to the Zora boy. Link looked like he was about to say something, but then stopped, confused as to why the girl practically ignored him.
She slumped down on the stool next to Telma, now more worried than ever about the wellbeing of the child.
"Well this isn't good. A human doctor won't do, huh." Telma stood with her arms crossed as she thought to herself. Then she perked up with a sudden idea.
"That old coot reminded me, though... I've heard of a shamen in Kakariko Village, in the Eldin lands, who's tended to Gorons and Zoras." She says and the nameless girl immediately perks up. From what I remember of Kakariko Village, I assume she means Renado.
"Is that true? Perhaps if we take him there..." The girl says, and Telma simply smiles at the happy look on her face. Across the room, one of the knights from before clears their throat.
"Inadvisable! Too dangerous! But we can't turn a blind eye to a pretty girl in need, either. Yes, we'd better escort you! Am I right, boys?!" The lead knight asks and all the knights raise their spears, shaking them and yelling in agreeance. Telma smiles.
"Well isn't that nice. To reach Kakariko, we've got to cross two plains that are each infested with dangerous beasts." She says, the noise from the knights dying down as she says this. She turns away from the crowd of men to reassure the girl.
"We'll be safe now." Just as she turns back to the crowd, only one knight remained, standing scared of whatever beasts Telma was referring to. When he saw that all of his friends had left, he too tip-toed out of the bar as to not have to escort anyone through any beasts. Telma was beyond angry at this.
"Cowards! Don't EVER show your faces here again!" She yells after them before her eyes landed on Link.
"Oh my. Looks like we've got one young swordsman left." She says smiling at Link whose eyes as far as I know have yet to leave the blonde girl with amnesia. Link forced himself to look at Telma.
"I'll gladly take you to Kakariko if you'd like.." Link says and Telma smiles.
"And not only that, but it looks this brave young man will escort us, so get ready to go honey. Pronto!" She says and the girl smiles, running to go get what she needed to leave. Link watched her go and, I hate to say it, but I didn't like the way he kept staring at her. She was only human and nothing special as far as I knew. So why couldn't he keep those stupid blue eyes of his off of her? Telma stepped closer to Link.
"You know that girl, don't you?" Telma asks and Link nods. He knows her...
"It's a real shame... She can't even remember her own name right now. Bless her heart. She found this poor boy collapsed in the road, so she did all she could to save him. More courage in that girl than in all the soldiers of Hyrule, for sure!" Telma says and Link nearly chuckles nodding in agreeance.
"You lend your strength to her, you hear me?" She asks and Link nods again.
"Of course" Telma then crosses her arms again with a smirk, gazing down at Link with a different look.
"Now," She says, "tell me about your little trip you took with Rheikah.."
Link was taken aback by the sudden statement and a bright blush covered his cheeks. It was funny to watch, and I knew Telma knew I was awake and watching. That's something I'll always appreciate about her— she knows how to pick out information she needs and use it to her advantage, whether it be to make you feel better or do something for her.
"I-I I don't — I mean I didn't know you knew her a-and whatever she told you... Have you seen her since last night? I wanted to find her before I left town so I could apologize." Link says, looking down at the floor. Telma uncrossed her arms and put a hand on her hip.
"Not since last night, no. Sorry, honey" She says and Link sighs.
"Is there someone I can leave a message with? A family member or something?" he asks. Telma shakes her head.
"Oh, honey, I'm the closest thing Rheikah has to family. And if you want to apologize, why not just tell her yourself?" She asks and Link looks up at her, confused. She sighs.
"Rhei, do you mind coming down for a bit? A nice boy is here for you." She says loud enough for me to hear it clearly and Link to get more confused. On that note, I jumped from my spot above the bar, landing on the ground a small distance away from Telma and Link.
"I'll leave you both to it. You can meet us outside when you're ready to go" She says and leaves us. As soon as the door closed behind her, things got a bit awkward. At least, it was for me anyway.
I could feel Link's gaze on me but I refused to look up at him yet. He cleared his throat and I looked up, finding his blue eyes almost instantly.
"Look, Rheikah, I'm sorry about what I did. I shouldn't have restrained you so much, I just didn't want anything to happen to you." Link says. I gave him a light smile.
"Don't be. I may have overreacted a bit and, if I'm being honest, I probably needed your restraints. I have a habit of acting like things aren't as bad as they really are. So...truce?" I ask, holding out a hand for him to shake. Link smiles, taking my hand and shaking it.
"Truce." He says. We both stood there, smiling at each other, both of our hands still holding onto the other. I cleared my throat and gently pulled my hand away from his.
"Alright then. Now, what do you say we get that Zora boy to a doctor?" I ask before walking out of the bar and towards the gate, not waiting for his answer.
Telma and the blonde girl were waiting for us outside, at the bottom of the steps I usually hid my bow and arrows at. They were looking out at the bridge in the distance, and I noticed something that looked small from a distance patrolling the bridge, riding up and down the area. I heard Link come up behind me and we walked down the stone steps together, him somehow getting a few steps in front of me.
I sat on the bottom step while they discussed which way we'd have to go due to bridges being out. To make things worse, the way we have to go is the bridge being guarded by a giant bulbin. Despite the obvious obstacles, we loaded the Zora boy onto a wagon anyway. The girl decided to ride in the back with him while Telma steered. I rode the wagon, up front with Telma so that I had a clear shot with my bow if needed and Link rode Epona.
Before we left for Kakariko, nameless looked out the wagon window at Link and almost nervously thanked him for his help and asked for his name.
"It's Link..." He says and she stares at him for a moment, almost as if the name struck a cord with her.
"...Link?! I will never in all my life forget your kindness, Link." She says and he looked somewhat disappointed. I looked him over, raising an eyebrow at his behavior. I know he knows her, but what exactly is she to him?
Link must have noticed the look I gave him because he mouthed "later" to me before shifting his gaze down, then back to nameless.
"Little lady, I think you best save your thanks until we're safe in Kakariko." Telma says, "This swordsman of ours has great eyes, honey. They're proud and wild like a feral beast. We need a beast right now, to keep the true ones at bay. If we make it to Kakariko safely, we'll just thank him then, OK?" Link looked at Telma as she said this, smiling when she sent a kiss and a wink his way. From beside her, I smiled also at how he reacted to her flirtatious manner—something I'd gotten used to over the years.
He looked at me almost expectingly so I rolled my eyes, blowing him a small kiss of my own. Before I could watch his response to my unusual display, Telma had already cracked the reins over the horse, moving the wagon ahead.
When we got to the bridge, Telma stopped the wagon for Link to go ahead of us and take care of the Bulbin that was guarding it. I knew he could do it, just as he had before when we were saving Colin. The only difference between now and then is the increased amount of protection on the Bulbin. It now had two large shields—one on each arm to protect its sides.
After two missed attempts at trying to hit its sides to no avail, it became clear a frontal approach was necessary to bring him down. I hopped off the wagon, earning some advisory words from Telma in the process and stood at the end of the bridge as Link and the Bulbin raced at each other once again. I readied my bow and notched an arrow, aiming carefully as to not hurt Link.
I released the string and let the arrow go whistling through the air and narrowly missing Link, traveling straight into the Bulbin's chest. It didn't do much, but it knocked him enough to cause him to lose control of his boar for a few moments. Just before he hit the side of the bridge, the bulbin caught ahold of his reins and steered away, pulling my arrow out his chest and throwing it aside.
Link must have seen his response too because seconds later he was riding Epona down the bridge with an arrow notched onto the bow he recieved from the Goron mines. His first one missed the Bulbin my just a few inches—and my head by nearly half that—but his second attempt hit perfectly and the Bulbin lost control again.
This time, its boar ran a little too close to the side of the bridge before he could gain control again and it stopped suddenly causing the Bulbin to go flying over the edge, dropping its gate keys behind him as he did. Link got the keys and I got back on the wagon and our journey continued.
In the first part we had to travel through, we were being shot at by archer bulbins with flaming arrows. The first few, we avoided quite well with both me and Link taking a couple out with arrows. Then, one hit us. The fire from the arrow caught on the wagon top and began to spread. We had no water to put it out and if it got too hot, the girl and the Zora boy would die.
I climbed into the back with them and tried to find something to pat out the flames with, finding nothing. Telma was still racing down the road at an accelerated speed and I couldn't see Link anywhere. The fire got bigger and smoke began to fill the back area. Nameless screamed despite me trying to calm her down.
Suddenly, a series of gusts enveloped the wagon and the fire was out, smoke and all. When I looked out to see the source of the wind, I found Link.
"Are you okay?" He asks and I nod once before climbing back up front with Telma, Link following around the wagon on Epona. We had made it to the gate.
Link jumped off Epona and unlocked the gate, pushing it open for us then following us out.
In the next part, we had bulbins riding on boars chasing after us with archers riding on the back and a bird. The bird just seemed like a nuisance at first but just as we were about to reach the final stretch to Kakariko, it dropped a bomb, startling the horse pulling the wagon. Telma pulled the horse back around only for the same thing to happen again.
When she pulled around again, I stood on the wagon seat and aimed at the bird, shooting it just before it could drop another bomb. As if the bomb wasn't bad enough, a boar somehow got around Link and knocked the wagon, pushing me off balance. Before I could fall, Telma grabbed the end of my tunic, her hold being the only thing keeping me from falling. She looked over a few times before winking at me and pushing me off the side of the wagon.
I fell from the wagon, expecting to hit the ground hard and be trampled by boars, but instead I hit something else. I closed my eyes tightly and hoped for the best before finally hitting something — Link. Link caught me in his lap and held me close to him while he slowed Epona to a light gallop for the rest of the short distance into Kakariko.
When we finally got into the small village, Telma and Nameless took the Zora boy to Renado —who had him moved to a building in town — while Link helped me out of his lap and safely onto firm ground. He got off Epona right after and immediately started checking to make sure I was okay.
"Link! I'm fine!" I say, pushing his hands away from me and holding them by his sides.
"You saved me." I smile. He smiled back the way he usually did and I couldn't help but notice the way his blonde hair shined in the early morning light, as the sun finally began to show itself over the trees. His bright blue eyes were...well, stunning and it was really hard not to stare.
"Of course I saved you. We're in this together" He says. It didn't take long for me to realize that I was still holding Link's hands and drop them, awkwardly clearing my throat afterwards.
"Come on. We should go check on the Zora boy. And I'm sure Colin would love to see you again..." I say, heading towards the building they took the boy to. A few seconds passed before I heard him follow me before coming up to walk beside me into the building.