The name flowed from his mouth as naturally as Hyrule Castle City's rubbish and sewage flowed into the Hylian River: Link. It was a forgettable name. Half the paupers in all Hyrule and their wretched pet rats were named Link. And pretty much all the thieves of Hyrule were called Link for that reason.

But the name Topah. It thundered in his mind. It echoed around inside his head. Did he know someone named Topah? He tried hard to search back through his memories as far as it went, but aside from his only memory of his time in the forest, all he could recall were events up to a year ago and all the other names and faces he could conjure were just people who wanted him dead. No, but he remembered hearing other people use this name around his presence… long ago… how long ago? Link silently questioned and pondered as he walked to the end of the alleyway.

"Wait one moment," he halted just before entering the volatile, chaotic crowd. Another Fundamentalist protest had gathered steam, bottlenecking the traffic completely. In the middle of the crowd, a religious loony stood on a platform and wore a golden, monk's robe while preaching about the evils of the heretical Gerudo and their culture. Also poking above the heads were the occasional pitchfork, army issued spear, and torch. Well, so long as Link made no unnatural movements, no one would pay him any mind anyway.

Pointing across the way, he instructed the fairy, "You should not follow me through the traffic. Wait for me in that small gap between the tower and hostel."

Link dove into the cesspool of people and swam through the bodies like a seasoned pedestrian. There was no crowd so congested that Link could not slip through unhindered. It took him several years to master, but once he had learned the patterns and the behavior of the organic crowd, navigating through became as easy as swimming through water. This inhuman ability was one of only a few reasons why he enjoyed being a child.

Link emerged from the dense crowd and into another small space between the Desert Oasis and the Cloud Palace: the Gerudo run brothel next to the Gerudo run hostel respectively. The fairy caught up to him on the other side.

"Ew, what are we doing here next to this filthy place?" she asked with evident disgust.

Link smirked and teased, "You seem familiar with brothels. Curious?"

The fairy chirped back fiercely, "I have no interest in bump-bump! I hope you don't either child!"

"What in Ganon's name is 'bump-bump'?"

"I, uh, you know, the thing when... I'm sure you know what it is." He did. "Are we really going inside?"

"Kind of. You'll see in a bit." He threw off his bloodied tunic and stripped down, baring his naked body to the fairy. She gasped very loudly. "What?" he asked, "Don't tell me you've never seen a boy's junk before."

"No …" she squeaked softly. Link crouched over to the hotel's designated trash pile. He flipped over a rotting, wooden board and smiled when he saw that his work bag was still there. He crouched over and began changing into the black attire that was prevalent throughout the criminal world. "Your scars..." she asked.

"Oh," Link looked down. Of course that's why she gasped. That's why anybody gasped when he or she saw his face. He had never self-conscious of his damaged body until now. The long, gigantic scar that stretched from his left collar to his mid chest, his permanent sparked the near death experience. Even though this memory took place over four years ago, and Link knew this with certain confidence, the images flashed in his mind as vividly as they once occurred.

Bodyguard. Mercenary. Discharged knight. Sir Mithen, or was it Sir Buono? The name of the man who gave Link the scar on his chest was forgotten, but his past professions remained in Link's memory. The meaty man wore silver armor and a helmet bearing the signature shape of a ram's head, the symbol of the Eldin mercenary group called Din's Shield. He was strong. So strong that his killing blow cleaved through Link's rusted weapon at the time and straight into his flesh. Why did Link know all these details by heart after four years? Because somewhere out there existed a man with a bushy moustache and a gap between his two front teeth, who fought under the banner of Din's shield and would not hesitate to kill Link a second time.

Why he left Link to die alone in the alley will never be answered. Link was thankful he lived for another day. That was success. The nasty shape of the scar was a result of the wound's corruption. After laying there for who knows how long, the squalid, vile air and a lack of medication guaranteed the wound to fester quickly.

Miraculously, Link seemed to be immune to the lethal effects of corruption, whereas untreated corruption in the smallest of cuts could swiftly take the lives of the best the Royal Guards. That was not to say that the recovery was painless. The wound was sensitive for the next season, and the resulting scar looked like a monstrous, furry leech that made his chest a permanent residence.

There were dozens of other scars that criss crossed all over Link's torso, testaments to his ability to survive any life-threatening scenario, each with a memory as vivid as the one he had just revisited. He took one last good look at his damaged body before slipping on his short sleeved, work tunic.

It was more tattered and worn than the cream colored tunic, but the black color hid the blood stains better. He slipped on his oversized black pants and fastened his belt, where he holstered his five collected knives, to keep his pants hoisted. Even though his black cloak seemed inappropriate to wear in the summer heat, it also served as a blanket in the cooler evening, so he fastened that too around his person. Lastly, Link tied a piece of cloth over his nose and mouth to cover his face full of scars.

"Link! You didn't answer my question!" reminded the fairy.

But Link was more concerned with his next task of scaling the circular spire. From his vantage point, the window near the top of several storied brothel was not visible. "Not now, when we're safe, I'll answer all your questions." said Link, though in the back of his mind, he knew they may never be safe.

Link walked further into the putrid alleyway and climbed up several boxes stacked against the wall of the Cloud Palace. He reached for the open, second story window above him. Instead of going through the window and entering the hostel, he jumped up and gripped the top edge of the window opening. He was then able to pull himself up to the window on the next floor. As soon as his hands found a solid grip on the bottom of the third floor window, he could hear the sounds of a Gerudo whore sheathing the lucky man who paid for her time.

The fairy shrieked as soon as she saw the couple's love making, "Eek!" The sudden shriek jolted Link, sparking a blood rush through his veins and causing him to stumble and almost fall backward. The skinny, bearded man and his Gerudo whore both stopped and saw the masked, cloaked criminal awkwardly standing on the window.

"Get outta here!" yelled the naked patron at Link, who was already scaling his way up to the rooftop. As soon as he climbed, he had to take a minute to let his blood rush subside and let his rapid breathing slow down.

But not before he yelled at the fairy, "Why in Nayru's name did you scream?"

"I'm sorry," she truly sounded apologetic, but her humility was not enough to make Link calm down. His ultimate downfall was not to be at the hands of some fearsome warrior, instead it was very likely going to be attributed to the carelessness of the stupid fairy.

"Just remember that I can sell you for five silver rupees!"

"You wouldn't!"

She was right, for now. Link had his own questions for the fairy. After they were answered, maybe…

"For now. Just stay quiet."

"Why is everyone telling me to -" Link's sharp eyes threatened the fairy into the silence he desired.

Up ahead, there was a short chimney with a thick rope that connected the corner of the chimney to the curved exterior of the Desert Oasis. Not wanting to risk getting startled and falling from at least four stories high, Link took a precaution, "Wait for me by the bell." He pointed upwards to a small plank with a small bell attached at the end.

The fairy did as was told without question. When Link felt that the fairy was sufficiently far away, he placed his foot on the cable. No matter how many times Link had crossed this wire, he would always feel the initial blood rush from the first wobble. All he had to do was allow his heart some time to relax and then loosen his body's muscles before taking the next step. There was a slight wind that made the wire a little unstable. It was not the ideal weather condition to cross the wire, but enough experience could carry him across. Placing one foot in front of the other, he slowly and carefully moved across the rope. The closer he got to the middle, the wobblier the rope became. But after he passed the middle, balancing became easier.

The next step after crossing the rope was to grip the protruding rocks on the spire. Rocks were strategically placed along the wall and led him across the spire until his body was facing the opposite side of the main road, at which point the protruding rocks led him straight up the tower. The higher the altitude, the fiercer the wind became. As he scaled up the wall, his eyes were fixated on the end of a rope, which was attached to the plank near the top of the spire where Link instructed the fairy to wait. The end of the rope reached exactly where the rocks stopped protruding from wall.

Once the rope was within reach, Link let go of his right grip and pulled on the end, ringing the bell attached to the other end. He looked up and waited for one of the Ganondorf sisters to peer out and acknowledge the visitor. Half a minute later, a distant girl with blood red hair and dark skin looked down. From where Link was hanging, it was difficult to distinguish the features that were unique to this sister. But both made eye contact, giving him the permission he desired to begin climbing up the rope.

This was the hardest step in Link's opinion. Climbing up four stories was exhausting as it was. After rigorous, rock climbing, scaling the rope would deter all but only a select few. Certain death awaited anyone who failed. It was what made this destination an ideal place to lay low, metaphorically speaking of course. Link began to feel his arms become strained and his breathing increase in depth. With each pull upward, the weight of his body felt like it was increasing.

But he finally reached the top and climbed onto the horizontal post. And just as he instructed, the fairy was waiting for him at the top, next to the window which served as the entrance to Sanctuary.

Link entered the room. The highest floor of the Desert Oasis had a comfortable breeze that perpetually blew in one window and out the other. It had no furniture due to the impracticality of moving heavy objects to this area, but it had seat cushions and rugs that covered the rough, stony floor. The Gerudo were proud of their weaving, and the beautiful tapestries hanging all around the walls were made in tribute to many aspects of their desert born culture.

He had never paid too much attention to the stories that the tapestries told, but much of it had to do with Gerudo history. Link had no interest in history or fairytales, whatever the case. His only concern was the Gerudo sitting on the stony bench, a protrusion of the circular wall that wrapped along the perimeter, across from him.

She had the olive skin and long, straight, blood red hair tied back into a ponytail, blood red killer lips, and the long, beak-like nose just like all of her sisters. What distinguished her from the rest was her blue left eye and red right eye. Link acknowledged her, "Minja". Her eyes lifted to acknowledge him back, and then returned her attention back to her smooth hands as they guided a whetstone slowly across her thin, curved blade.

Thankfully, Link never had the pleasure of being on the wrong side of a Gerudo scimitar, the fabled sister to death herself. The blade had probably claimed more than enough heads and limbs to populate two villages. It was said that the Gerudo blacksmiths used to behead prisoners in one swing to test their workmanship before entrusting their craft to their warrior sisters. Needless to say, the story, true or not, significantly inflated the price of their metal work past the point of what Link could dream to afford.

A large and somewhat bulbous contraption with a metal, pointed spear tip was attached to the pommel of the sword. Upon closer inspection, he saw a coil of thin flax coiled in the center of the metal contraption. The ropeshot, or the poor man's hookshot, was a coveted tool in the criminal underworld, and its notorious price was the cause of many a tale of cunning thievery. Link almost salivated thinking about how much this tool (or weapon) could sell for on the criminal market.

"Little Cica," the wind carried her soft voice delicately and condescendingly, as usual, "I feel like you never come by to see us anymore!"

"Given the difficult nature of reaching Sanctuary, I try to avoid it as best as I can."

"Mmm, my little Cica must've been a bad boy to seek Sanctuary!" said Minja in her native tongue of mockery. Everytime her smile curled just a little more from digging into Link's nerves, which did not make looking unamused any easier. "What crime sent you running frightened? Surely for more than just a stolen sword!"

Link fired sarcasm right back at her, "How dare you accuse me of such a petty crime! I am an honest citizen doing honest work!"

Minja let a chuckle escape from her mouth, "Oh Cica, you fib like an honest citizen." Link hated that name more than anything. Any name that identified his person made Link unhappy, even if that name was the Gerudo word for scar. The more he heard the name, the further his face scrunched into displeasure. Minja's crooked smile intensified, "Aww, don't look so angry, it takes away from your cute boyish charms!" Despite being a seasoned killer of several years, Link did not have the fearsome reputation of the Gerudo bounty hunter or her sister, and he avoided looking like a cold blooded killer for that matter. Anonymity was what kept the boy alive in the hungry city.

She placed the whetstone aside and examined her polished blade. The look of satisfaction beamed from her face, and then she stood up to sheathe the blade in her sand-colored scabbard, which was nothing more than an oblong, metallic ring to hold the blade in place and a flap that covered the blade. Thin, silver coins resting on top of a red cloth covering her bosom hung from the top of her strapless top, a band that wrapped around her torso. Red baggy pants covered her bottom and flowed gently with the warm breeze.

"Well, you know the rules," said Minja as she walked past him, "No fires." Link nodded. "And no fighting." Link nodded again. Both were rules that would keep him alive.

"Give my regards to Kinja," replied Link out of courtesy. The Gerudo stepped off of the window and instantly caught the rope, ringing the bell that would alarm Link of anyone that attempted to enter.

Knowing that all the right tools were set in place, he sat on the ledge that overlooked east. Buildings of varying heights stretched off into the distance before the city's walls cut them off. Past the walls, the only thing in sight was the steep ascent up Death Mountain. Link was still glad he could derive enjoyment from the breathtaking view, far away from any person who could ruin the moment, present company excluded.

He inhaled a deep breath of crisp, high altitude air. He was lucky to be alive. And he felt unlucky to be alive. Until the next sunrise, he could take his life for granted. He exhaled and stared out into the distance. The warmth of the summer sun felt comforting on his exposed, skin. It was certainly more refreshing that dwelling in the claustrophobic spaces he was used to.

The stupid fairy floated beside him, "From up here, the city looks so peaceful." She wasn't wrong. The view was always spectacular so long as you couldn't see what was going on at ground level.

He chuckled at the irony, "From up here, yeah."

"Do fights and killings go on all the time down below?" she asked him.

"Everywhere, someone's being killed."

"Why?"

"What do you mean, why? Lots of reasons why."

"Then list them, one by one. We have all night…"

If only Link had never promised the Protector, then he could just hurl himself off the ledge and never have to spend an eternity answering this question. Link just wanted to ask his questions about his past, not lecture about every single thing that drove people to senseful violence. But, something told him that she needed the knowledge of the city more than he needed knowledge of his past. His past, whatever it was, made no difference on his present.

"Well, from the direction, we're looking at, we can see where all the misery comes from," he extended his index finger forward to the eastern terraced cliffs of Castle City. Dozens of layers cut into the cliff formed a jagged stairway to the top of the cliff, where three manors with spires reaching for the heavens, garrisoned with soldiers armed to their fingernails, sat on the top like an ironic beacon of morality. "Over there," Link pointed to the top, "Those are the Dukes, and they are at the top of the food chain. They collect money from those guys over there, the Counts." His finger moved down to the terrace just below of five equally impressive looking manors.

Together, they made up the eight great families of Hyrule: Nohansen, June, Springbock, Pilt, Viskard, Ingo, Quela, and Heisenstock. "The Counts then collect money from everyone else beneath them. And anyone who doesn't give money to the Counts or the Dukes gives money to the Crown."

The fairy took some time to prepare for her next question. As she contemplated, Link began recalling as many of the details of the vision he experienced. The forest. The long, blonde hair. The girl. The fight. He feared that if he and the fairy conversed about current events for too long, he might forget everything.

She sighed, afraid of asking the next question, "What is money?"

"Oh boy, it's," how was he to explain currency, something he was not all too familiar with either? Money was one of those things that was so hard to explain because it was so ingrained with everyone's life. "it's how we pay for everything."

"Er, what does 'pay' mean?"

"Holy Hero, how do you normally get stuff?"

"Well, back in the forest we traded something of ours if it belonged to someone else, and we were allowed to take whatever we wanted if it belonged to the forest."

"Well, that sounds like a nice, magical fairytale land. Here, it doesn't work like that. Paying means trading things or services for these colorful jewels called rupees." There was no better way to explain it that way.

"And the rupees allow you to trade for other things?"

"Yeah, exactly like that."

"Then how do you get food?"

"With rupees."

"And clothing too?"

"Yep." If she didn't get the idea by now, Link was going to give up all hope.

"Okay, so how do you get rupees?"

"You get a job. But to do that, you gotta have an apprenticeship, and to have an apprenticeship, you gotta be fifteen years old."

"But, how do YOU get rupees?" she asked, referencing the boy.

"I already told you, I kill people." Link expected some sort of response, but his cold-hearted words were only met with silence. "I'm astonished you have accepted my line of work!" replied Link to the fairy's silence.

"No, I have not accepted it!" the fairy sternly spoke, "But I know Kokiri, like children of all races, are products of their environment. I want to know what kind of place created a monster like you."

A monster like me, the words bounced around his head and rang in his temple loudly. And finally he let out a loud, forced laugh. "You think I'm a monster?" he stopped abruptly and locked eyes with the fairy, "You haven't seen the men I've been paid to kill."

"Um," she hesitated for a second, "Are these people even worse than you?"

"Well, I wouldn't go as far as to say 'worse', they just got caught," it was the only distinction between a bounty hunter and his prey. In reality, the bounty hunter was just a murderer-for-hire on the Queen's payroll, "And then my job is to kill them or catch them."

"Are there many people that get paid to kill others?" she asked next.

Link sighed, "Too many people. Killing is a well paid profession. Anybody in an army is paid to kill. There are thousands of city watchman that are paid to patrol the outskirts of Hyrule to kill bandits and the city streets to kill city thugs. That's probably the most legal killing profession. Then there are the conscripts that lords hire. The nobles of this city are allowed to use their standing armies to exact justice on anyone who has wronged their family." The idea of murdering someone legally sounded increasingly oxymoronic the more he tried to explain, despite his intimate familiarity with the concept.

"Why are so many people paid to kill?" asked the fairy.

"Because people are willing to pay rupees to see others die."

The next question followed logically, "But why?"

Link pointed his finger to the top of the cliff again, "So they can live over there."

"But why is living there so important? Why can't everyone just get along?"

He let out a deep sigh. He was so used to the idea that people struggled and killed for domination over others that this was simply a given to him, an unfortunate fact of life. How was he to explain a concept that was born in the minds of every Hylian citizen? And then he had to relate that concept to someone who never lived outside the forest.

"I don't know, I didn't make these stupid rules, okay? I was just born into it, learned the rules, and tried to survive as best as I could for as long as I can remember." Or so I thought until now, he reminded himself in his head. "In Hyrule Castle Dump, there are two types of people that live here. Those who fight to survive. And those who fight so they can live at the top."

"It's a lot to take in all in one day, but I think I'm starting to understand now," said the fairy, to which Link responded with a relieved breath. "So which type of person are you?"

"I'm the root of all evil," he chuckled at his own jest. Judging by her silent response, Link quickly concluded that the fairy did not understand the joke or took that sentence way too seriously. "I'm joking."

She let out a fake laugh, "Ha. Ha ha."

Chuckling at her innocence, he held his ripped tunic out to her, "Do you really think I look like that kind of person that can fight to live on the top? Look at my clothing. This tunic is damn near ruined," stained in the blood of over a hundred people, a detail he deliberately left out for the fairy's sensitive ears. Even the black fabric mask he wore over his face had holes and rips. "The weapons I got here were either stolen from jobs or looted from the dead."

"That's… wrong."

"It's not if you're fighting to survive!" he retorted back with more yelling force than he would have liked. But the permanent laryngitis in his throat took a heavy toll from that sentence, and suddenly he began to cough uncontrollably to alleviate the painful irritation. Inhaling a large amount of smoke from the previous night did not help either. He covered his mouth as he coughed, but that was to cough the blood into the stained fabric of his glove. No need to alarm his new... acquaintance.

Suddenly, the fairy asked, "Are you okay?"

The concern took Link completely by surprise, "Um, yeah." He cleared his throat. "My throat's been damaged for a while. Fighting and killing people takes a toll on you over the years. I don't know if you're ready to handle any of it."

"Not yet." Her quivering, curious response piqued his interest. "You're a survivor. And I know that I could never understand your struggles or what you have to do in order to survive in this place. But what I can't understand is... if you were adapted to this harsh world and all the killing…"

A tear fell from her eye. "Then why did you save me?"