Hey everyone! Thank you the amazing feedback so far! It really helps me out! This and the next chapter wont have much in the way of Majora or Fierce Deity, but I want to establish something else for the story I plan to tell! Anyways, enjoy! I'm off to school!
-Joost

The Fierce God Given Life
Chapter 5: Will You Be Ok? – Part 1

The light was brought down upon the soldiers. Reduced to merely heads, the king's lackeys began to bicker. Several quips between the two were causing Tatl to get a headache.

"Grrrr! Don't look at me—I was once called the best swordsman in all of Ikana!" The big one growled. This battle against Link has fallen into a battle of who could get louder than the other.

"The greatest swordsman in all of Ikana? You?" The slim one remarked. He was about to set off the other, Tatl knew it. She had enough arguments with Tael to see where this was delving into.

"Feeeeeeeeble." He finished.

The bigger head looked around in frustration. "… Draw your weapon!"

There was a silence, until it was broken by the slim skull. "Huh?"

"I'm telling you to draw your sword!" The big one hollered.

"…" The slim one just floated in silence again until saying a similar word.

"How?"

The two skulls then just resorted to making guttural yells at each other for a second, somehow. Then they were interrupted by the head of the king, Igos du Ikana.

"Will you stop!?" The king's voice boomed as his undead lackeys immediately turned towards him in fear. "What fools!"

"Haven't you begun to understand?" The king continued, now even waiting for a chance to be interrupted by the floating buffoons before him. "The kingdom being ruined and us left in this state… Isn't it petty, little battles like this that have caused it?"

With that, the two bumbling soldiers vanished in a whirl of blue fire. The king then turned his attention to the One Who Brought the Light.

"Believing in your friends and embracing that belief by forgiving failure…" The king stated. "These feelings have vanished from our hearts."

Those words resonated with the Hero of Time. Before the king began again, Link realized that those feelings had also vanished from his own heart. Ever since that fateful day he was awoken from a terrible nightmare in Kokiri Forest.

Epona galloped as fast as she could. Blood was dripping down her side, but it wasn't hers. The body of Link, still alive, lay on her back, but he was running out of time. Passed out, his arm hung limp on the side of his horse.

When Epona finally got to the East gate, she jumped the small gap and into Clock Town. A town guard heard the clopping of hooves and was almost run down by Epona has she bolted into town.

The sight of a horse with no saddle, loudly neighing, carrying a bloodied, unconscious child on its back was cause for massive shock for everyone in the vicinity. Gasps were exchanged as several more guards were alerted. One took the boy and held him in his arms, as Epona neighed and moved her head, leading the guard's attention towards the Stock Pot Inn.

Without anything to go off of, the guard rushed to the Inn. Thankfully, it was hardly as packed as it was a few hours before. The only people in the lobby were Anju, Kafei, Cremia, and Romani. Once they saw the guard and who was in his hands, they all gasped.

Anju was first to react, prompting Kafei to rush to the guard and take the boy in his arms. Anju had left and returned with a blanket which she wrapped Link in.

Romani was still in riddled with shock as she looked at her friend. She had something in her hand when the guard entered, but it had been dropped on the floor when she saw the state of Link.

The guard left the Inn with urgency, joining his comrades to help calm the crowd outside and see to it that Epona is taken care of.

Anju quickly took the boy in her arms to the employee room. "Get the tub ready!" She ordered her husband, and Kafei rushed to start the water. Romani followed close behind, Cremia unable to keep up on the stairs.

"Is Grasshopper going to be ok!?" She nearly hollered, not caring if she could be heard from outside the building or not.

"Romani! Romani!" Cremia called after her little sister. She cursed how nimble Romani was and finally caught up with her. "Hang on!"

"Sister! Wh- "Romani stuttered, unable to find her words. As Kafei ran back to the employee room to tell his wife the water was warm, Romani caught another glimpse of Link through the door. "What happened to Grasshopper!?"

Cremia had never seen her little sister so distraught. She did her best to calm Romani down, who was on the brink of tears.

Anju had gotten Link's gear and tunic off, and he was wrapped tightly in the now red-stained blanket. She held him close as she jogged to the bathroom, trying to make sure Link was alright. Just before going to the tub, she told Kafei to rush to the shop to buy a red potion, which Kafei was already out the door by the time she got to her destination.

Link was still unconscious, his blood making a trail of red from everywhere he had been carried. It wasn't until Anju unwrapped him to wash him did she see what the extent of his injuries were. She gasped in horror at the scars. The bites and scratches on his face. A long gash lining his left shoulder and all the way down to his elbow.

Anju looked back at the door to the Inn, silently pleading for her husband to return with the medicine.

She looked back at the boy and saw the worst injury of them all. A wide, open wound in his chest facing her. Surely an injury like that would kill a boy his size. Anju examined Link's arms, tearing her focus away from the scars and surveying his bruises. His legs were similarly damaged, one of them bending the wrong way ever so slightly, making the fractured bone obvious.

Anju could only imagine what did this to him. Kafei already told her the tale of how he and Link ventured through the thief's hideout to reclaim the Moon's mask. Eventually she broke out of her trance and started washing Link down, cleaning him of all the blood. When Kafei finally returned, bottle in hand, she sighed in relief. Getting Link to drink the contents was easy, and Kafei, without being told, went to get bandages.

Cremia meanwhile was back down in the lobby with her sister, cradling her and talking in a soft, soothing voice. "Shhh… Link is going to be perfectly fine. I promise."

The sisters held each other, Cremia, while she held a calm demeanor, was still shaken at what she saw of Link.

Kafei got back to his wife with the bandages, and Anju was able to wrap Link's wounds up in a just a few minutes. Once she was done, Link's body fully cleaned, she carefully took the child into her arms and brought him back to the employee's only room. There she laid him on the bed and covered him with a new blanket. All they could do now was wait, the magic needing time to repair his body.

The newlyweds' nerves were finally calmed as they saw Link's breathing steadied. When he inhaled and exhaled, there was no longer any strained effort from the sleeping boy, the first good sign. Kafei left to tell the ranch sisters as Anju sat on the bed, never leaving Link's side, caressing his cheek and feeling one of the scars on his face with her index finger.

"Alright… He's doing good now. He'll be perfectly fine." Kafei's words were met with relief from the two in the lobby.

"B-But… What… What happened to him!" Romani started; her voice was still weary. "Who did that to Grasshopper?!"

Cremia did her best to keep Romani's voice down, but the little girl was restless. She kept thinking back to earlier in the morning, staring at the object she dropped on the floor earlier. How one little thing she noticed at the ranch led her and her big sister right to Clock Town, eventually to Link, while on the brink of death, needing their help when Epona galloped into town. She felt somewhat responsible for what happened.

It was only a few hours before, back on Romani Ranch. The sun still shining in the sky, Romani was sitting at the kitchen table. She had no clue what to do. All her chores for the day were already done, and her best friend had left for Clock Town only about an hour before.

Cremia was just across the room, putting away the supplies she picked up from Clock Town.

"Ugh! Romani's bored!" The ranch girl said from her seat. Her sister took once glimpse at her and turned back around.

"You have plenty to do, Romani. Just because Link's not here doesn't mean to have to act all grumpy." Cremia truly couldn't complain. While she and her sister had many things to do on the ranch, there was hardly any variety. Other than tending the cows, mule, or Grog's cuccos, there weren't a big assortment of things to pass the time around. All except for the dog races, but Romani had entered them a million times by now.

Romani just grumbled in the meanest way she could sound, which wasn't very much. Crossing her arms and slumping down in her chair, an odd yellow object beside the hay in the corner caught her eye.

Getting up, Romani walked over to the item and picked it up. It was Link's Keaton mask! She figured he must have left it there while they were playing around with the masks in his bag a few hours before.

"Sister!" She called, Cremia looking over to her after a second. "This is Grasshoppers mask! He left it here!"

Romani waved the item in the air, and she decided to follow her statement by asking her big sister a question. "Should we go to Clock Town to return it to him?"

Cremia took a look at the item, then gazed at the clock. It wasn't even noon yet. She weighed her options and decided to return Link his belonging he left behind. He would just be at the Inn in town. Grog would be more than happy to watch over the ranch for a little while.

"Alright, we'll return it to him. I just need to ask Grog a favor." Cremia put the last of her things way in the cupboard and went outside. Romani stayed back with Link's Keaton mask, holding the item with both hands.

She smiled at it. She had heard of the mystical Keaton before in books, and she found the mask quite cute.

Soon enough, the pair set off on their carriage. Romani was eager to see her best friend again, holding his mask tightly as the ride went along. When they arrived at the North gate of Clock Town, the guard took a post by their carriage to make sure it wouldn't be stolen.

The sisters walked through the crowd, the celebrations still going strong. A few intoxicated carpenters make dog noises at Cremia as she walked by, but she paid them no mind. She was unfortunately used to behavior from men when she was in town.

Reaching the Stock Pot in, Romani was too eager to wait for Cremia to open to door. As soon as she saw an opening, she raced inside and waited at the front desk. Cremia soon followed, and Anju greeted them a minute later.

"Hey there! What brings you here?" Anju asked, a big smile on her face.

"Hey Anju. We're here to give this back to Link. He stayed over at the ranch last night, and he left it here before he came back here. He told us he was going to stay here a few nights." Cremia stated. She didn't think anything of the circumstances of why they were here until Anju's smile faded.

"Oh… Link… isn't here." Anju told Cremia. "He was here a few hours ago, but he left to go somewhere."

Cremia started to worry, only slightly. "Hmmm, well… would he be back?"

"I'm pretty sure." Kafei said, entering the lobby from upstairs. He put his hands in his pockets as he sat himself on the edge of the reception desk. "Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear. But… yeah, we offered him a room for a few nights."

Romani was puzzled. If Link wasn't at the ranch, nor was he here, where could he be? Looking back down at the Keaton mask in her hands, she resolved to stay and wait. Surely Link wouldn't be long, right?

"Sister, lets wait for Grasshopper!" Romani said eagerly. Even though she didn't understand why the grownups were acting so bleak, her ecstatic way of telling her sister her request brought the mood up.

Cremia though it over for a moment, until complying. "Sure, we have time."

She smiled and took her little sister's hand, sitting down on the bench in the lobby. Little did they know, they'd be waiting until dusk.

Romani zoned back in and freed herself from her sister's hug. Picking up the Keaton mask that was on the floor, she hugged it tight and sat back down. She had confidence in her little hero.

Anju left the employee room to tell everyone in the lobby how Link was doing. Her hands were still shaky, but she managed to find her composure.

"Link is doing just fine, now. He just needs his rest." Anju said, descending the stairs and into the Inn lobby. Everyone else in the room was relieved, most of all Kafei.

Cremia looked at the clock nearby the desk. She realized just how late it was and decided to try and head home.

"Romani?" Cremia asked, looking to her sister next to her.

"Yes sister?" Romani replied, still holding Link's mask in her arms.

"I think we should head home now. We can visit Link to see how he's doing tomorrow." She held Romani's hand and looked into her eyes. Romani wanted to protest badly, but when she really thought about everything that had happened so far, she figured it wouldn't be bad to return tomorrow, hopefully when Link was in better condition.

"…Alright, sister." Said Romani. She stood up, and Keaton mask still in her arms, left without another word.

The couple watched the sisters leave, then looked at each other.

"What now?" Kafei asked his partner, who was looking down in shame.

"I thought something was wrong. The way he… left without saying anything… earlier today." Anju started. Kafei recognized the way his wife was talking, recalling back to the days when the two were teenagers.

"Hey, it's not your fault. We were pretty caught up in things, remember?" Kafei consoled his wife, giving her a shoulder to lean on, which she gladly accepted.

"We aren't parents. We just got married, after all. It's not like we have experience with this kind of thing!" He joked, but his comment was only met with a scowl from his partner. He tried again, more serious this time. "We'll help Link, don't worry. We can get some experience!"

Kafei cared about Link. If it wasn't for him, he and Anju wouldn't be together. He owed the young boy a lot, and his more serious tone proved that he cared to Anju.

Anju, seeing the responsibility in her husband, finally grew a smile. It was a weak one, but Kafei took it as a win and the two went back upstairs.