Link slumped against the chair. "So… they got nowhere."

"Correct.

"And the King was opposed?"

"Correct."

"Oh."

Once again Link had lost hours hiding and searching for the princess. It had tried him, but this news had drained him. Fate seemed to enjoy punching him in the guts. He hated fate. Fate is terrible, in his mind.

"Now what?"

Impa down looked to Zelda to make sure she was asleep. "The debate will continue until they come to a conclusion. In the mean time, word will spread among the people. The king wants to see what they think on the matter."

"I see." Link nodded. "Anything else?"

"No."

"Right. I'll take my leave then." He stood. "Good night Impa."

She smiled. "Good night young man."

He left the chamber and stumbled into his room before he registered he had moved anywhere. He lay in his bed, but found himself unable to rest. Perfectly understandable, he reasoned. You have a thousand and one thoughts racing through your mind right now. You have to keep waiting for your path to appear. He rolled over. But why is it taking so long?

He sat up and removed his sword from under his pillow, trying to make the bed more comfortable. Unfortunately, that just make him more restless.

A thought tugged at his mind. Perhaps… I could speed up this process. There had to be a way, he knew it. People can always be influenced, not easily, but they could be. Hmm.

The people would just learn about it tomorrow. He had to act when they were still confused about the situation. I can talk to them, spin the wheel my way.

He smiled, formulating a plan in his head.

I'll have to take a trip to the town tomorrow.

By the time the sun had reached its zenith, the town was abuzz the the sounds of debate. News had quickly spread of what was being proposed. Some were opposed. Some found it favourable.

Many were confused. Brilliant.

Link was learning against the mask shop, watching the world go by. The shop had only been open a couple of months when the owner had vanished. Vandals had ransacked the place, and over a few short months the windows were smashed and the walls graffitied. Multiple groups had attempted to claim the building, though they always gave up before work could begin. Something about strange dreams.

He had decided that, due to his presence at Hyrule Castle over the past week, it would be best if he didn't wear his Kokiri garb, something that irritated him to no end. He could have taken the form of Damani or Mikau, but Gorons enjoy pointless violence and Zora could care less. Ultimately, he decided just being Hylian would be best. He wore a white shirt, which were admirably a bit too big, and plain trousers. Without his cap, his head felt bare, as if every breeze could tear off his hair. Still, as long as the king didn't hear about this excursion, and it made a difference, he was happy to have an itchy neck.

"Ridiculous." A passing man said to his friends. "We're supposed to be a step above barbarians, not down at their level." For all intents and purposes, this was an opportunity.

"What are you talking about?" He asked innocently. "Is it the knights training?"

The man pursed his lips. "Yes, boy, though technically they would be Pages or Squires. But we've gone beyond evil needs like that."

Link shrugged meekly. "I don't think its evil."

"Of course you wouldn't. You're too young."

Too young.

"But if the kingdom needs protection, knights trained longer would be better then none."

The man scoffed. "And why would we need protection?"

Link paused, feigning deep thought. "Well, after the Interloper War some kingdoms could think that Hyrule has been weakened. See it as the right time to bully us."

One of the mans friends "Interlopers? How- never mind. The only group that has an issue with Hyrule are those goddess forsaken Gerudo, and their not strong enough to be a threat."

The man chuckled. "But their strong in other places, am I right?"

The group burst into laughter. "And theres enough of them to go around."

Link seethed. "Ganondorf was ambitious and cruel." He caught himself before he continued, calming down. "He isn't a Gerudo."

"Don't be small minded. He's the man in charge, but has to have some people that support him."

"Wait." One of them muttered. "Why are we arguing with a kid? We dont need to justify our selves to him."

The first man nodded. "Right. Piss off kid. You're ruining our mood." And with a huff and a snicker, they stoled down the street making no attempt to hide that they were, in fact, still talking about Link. A woman approached Link. "I'm sorry, are you ok?" She asked. "Did those men do anything?"

He shock his head. "Just said mean things. They were saying that hurdle is going backwards and we're turning into barbarians."

She shook her head. "They're just upset about the idea of sending children to fight our battles."

"But thats not what's being said! It's training kids so they're ready as adults!"

"Young man, I think it's best if you leave this matter to the adults."

Maybe he should have used the Zora mask.

Link brought his hands to his face. "For Din's sake you're idiots!"

The woman recoiled. "What?"

Link froze, realising he had let his mask slip. "I- ah, meant that- I um." He curse under his breath. "What I mean is that you old people think that we're stupid because you've been around longer then us. But if you just listen, we actually know stuff."

The woman huffed. "Shouldn't you be looking for your parents?"

"No, I have no family and I'm looking for a better life." He shrugged. "Pitiful huh."

"Oh." She softened. "I didn't understand. I'm sorry. Now I understand why you're so fixed on this."

"You are? Thats nice. But I shouldn't stick around strangers." Link said, desperate to leave before he left a lasting impression. And with that, he ran down the alleyway as quickly as possible, which was surprisingly fast for someone wearing itchy pants.

This is going to be harder then I hoped.

He tried to be subtler after that. Interjecting into conversations as he passed, saying what he thought and leaving, agreeing with people that supported the idea, and plain out arguing. He was a tedious process, and he never lingered more then a couple of minutes, but he when he returned to the castle that evening, he felt satisfied. He spent the rest of the day playing with Zelda and dodging questions from Impa. He had decided against further excursions, and prayed to the golden Goddesses that it was enough.

It was.

Why did this take so long? Why is it a mess? Because I don't plan ahead. I have no idea how I got here and I'm trying to find a street sign I recognise.

Happy Easter to all you idiots. Sorry this is taking so long to get to the fun stuff. Trust me, I have plot twists and foreshadowing and princess bride references I need to get to. I'm so sorry. I hope within the next few chapters I can jumpstart the conflict. The problem is I can't just dive right in and hit the ground running. I'll break my legs if I do that. Then you'll all go on without me.

At least one more chapter. At most three. I promise.