Hey everyone! Here's the next epilogue chapter! Only one more to go before it's time for a possible sequel! Although, it may be a little while until the next epilogue, as I currently have a broken ankle, and it's hard to keep my foot elevated while at the computer. Hopefully I'll manage! Anyways, please enjoy!
-Joost

The Fierce God Given Life
Epilogue 2: Decommissioned

Another Two Months Later…

Link awoke with a nudge from Epona. Sitting up in the snow, the boy in beige sniffled before looking back at his loyal steed. For the past several days she had been so restless in her stable. Link hoped to ease her spirits by sleeping outdoors by her side, but he overestimated his power to withstand the cold of the snow that now blanketed most of Clock Town.

Epona was, gladly, feeling better with the comfort of her friend. Link, on the other hand, now felt terrible. How was he supposed to hang out with Romani now? Their milk shipment was today. Slowly walking back home, he shivered and sneezed the entire way back.

Link wasn't greeted at the door, much to his dismay. He tried to head upstairs to his room, but gave up after the first five steps, slumping onto the stairs in defeat.

"Link?" Kafei said as he left the employee's only room, surprised to see his son laying face-first on the stairs. The boy just groaned in response, not moving an inch.

"Oh goddesses… What happened to you?" Kafei asked, inspecting Link as he neared him. He noticed the clumps of snow stuck to his tunic and he helped the young man sit up.

"I wanted to…" Link's words were slow, and they got interrupted by a sudden sneeze. "T-Try and calm Epona down…"

"Out in the cold?!" Kafei nearly shouted. He was met with a nod from his surrogate son and his worry grew tenfold. Running back upstairs, he returned a minute later with a blanket to wrap Link in.

"Anju! We have a problem!" Kafei called. It didn't take long for the innkeeper to emerge from the employee's only room.

"What is it?" Anju asked, descending the stairs. Her question was almost immediately answered once she took one look at her son.

"Link?! What on earth happened to you?" Anju wrapped her arms around the boy and brought him close for some much-needed warmth. She took a look at his hands. The tips of his fingers were a deep red. Frostbite. Luckily, it wasn't too severe.

"We need to get some warm water for him. Go down and fill a bowl with some moderately warm water. Not hot, it could hurt his hands more, got it?" Anju ordered her husband. As she took Link upstairs to his bedroom, Kafei left for the kitchen.

Anju managed to get Link to his bedroom, and she removed all his wet clothes, wrapping another blanket across his chest to keep his decency for him. Link was hardly conscious now, a sign of moderate hypothermia. Anju was never so fast lighting the fireplace. The room gradually warmed up and Link slowly grew more comfortable. His pulse hadn't slowed at all, relieving the innkeeper.

Kafei entered the room with the bowl on warm water. Anju took it and gently placed Link's frostbitten hand into it. Now they could only wait and see how he recovered. After a few minutes by his side, Anju left to make him some tea. A warm drink could help him get over his hypothermia alongside everything else they had done.

"How did he end up like this?" Anju finally asked after she made sure Link drank the warm beverage. He wasn't awake enough to do it himself.

"He said he slept outside in Epona's stable to keep her company…" Kafei muttered.

"He did?!" Anju accidentally rose her voice slightly, causing Link to shift in the bed. Anju's next sentence was a whisper. "I thought he was in his room all night."

"Me too." Kafei brought Anju in for a hug.

Meanwhile, Cremia and Romani just entered East Clock Town with their latest milk shipment. They wore newly bought fur coats. A little expensive, but Link was generous enough to give them a few rupees extra to pay. It took a long time of convincing for Cremia to finally agree that she didn't need to pay him back.

The youngest of the ranch sisters was puzzled at the absence of a certain boy in beige. He was usually waiting right by the Milk Bar when they arrived. Today, he was nowhere to be seen. He never missed helping with the milk deliveries.

Unfortunately, the sisters had to work without Link this time. It wasn't difficult, but it felt odd to not have the extra pair of hands alongside them.

"Sister, maybe we should save Grasshopper some milk!" Romani said as the two left the bar with their payment.

"Why's that?" Cremia asked.

"Grasshopper never misses a delivery! Maybe he's under the weather…" Romani looked at the sky. The clouds were heavy. Perhaps it would snow again during the afternoon.

"Hmmm… Alright, I guess we can. Wait out here." Cremia walked back into the Milk Bar. She returned to her sister with a bottle of standard milk, free of charge. Mr. Barten was kind enough to let her have a bottle for free, but she doubted she'd be able to get away with that again.

Walking to the Stock Pot Inn, the pair waited for either Anju or Kafei to greet them. They had to wait for a few minutes until Romani, out of boredom, rung the service bell on the desk. Another few seconds passed until Kafei rushed downstairs to get to the desk. He greeted the ranch sisters with a forced smile.

"Hey guys!" Kafei said, his usual cheeriness tampered. Cremia immediately noticed the difference in his voice.

"Hello Kafei. We came by to see Link. He didn't join us with our delivery like usual." Cremia explained. Kafei's eyes went wide. He totally forgot today was their milk delivery.

"Oh! I'm so sorry. Link had stayed outside in the cold last night. He's upstairs right now." Kafei's words felt like a small knife to Romani. Before either adult could react, she dashed up the stairs and to Link's bedroom.

"Romani, wait!" Cremia yelped, trying to get up the stairs. She always cursed herself for not being as quick as her little sister. She was met with Romani struggling to get the door across from her open.

"Hang on, I'll get it." Kafei joined the two at the top of the stairs and opened the door for them. As soon as Romani saw Link in the bed, asleep, she rushed to his side.

"Oh!" Anju was startled at the presence of the little ranch girl.

"What happened to him?!" Romani demanded. Before she could take Link's hand, which so happened to be the one still resting in the bowl of warm water, Anju stopped her.

"He has hypothermia, and his right hand has frostbite…" Anju said, gesturing towards Link's hand and the red tips of his fingers. Romani had heard of frostbite before and made sure to let Link's hand rest, but she never heard of the former problem.

Judging by the confusion across Romani's face, Anju figured she had no clue what it was either. "Hypothermia is when the body loses heat faster than it can make it."

"He seems to be doing fine, but he needs his rest." Kafei added. He felt Link's forehead. Still a little cold, but far better than it was earlier. His shivering had also stopped.

"Romani's staying with him!"

Cremia was startled. "Now wait a minute, Romani."

"Nope! Grasshopper always protected us! Now it's Romani's turn to protect him!" The little ranch girl was determined to do this. For a long time, she always felt like she had to do something for Link. To repay him for all he did for her. Perhaps this could be it.

After a minute of thinking, Cremia asked her friend a favor. "Anju, do you think Romani could stay the night here?"

"Well… um. Let me think." Anju mumbled.

"I really need to get back to the ranch. Our horse doesn't do well in the cold." Cremia looked over at the clock on the wall. It was already after noon. Anju eventually caved in and nodded with agreement.

After a quick embrace with Anju, Cremia walked to Romani. "Alright, you get to stay with Link for the night. But no funny business! Nothing like when he stayed over at the ranch for my birthday, you hear?"

"Wait, what happened at the ranch?" Kafei asked, puzzled. Cremia's eyes went wide like his did before.

"I'll… tell you later." Cremia stuttered. With that, she left the inn to head home.

For a while, Romani wouldn't leave Link's side. Every single time he shifted his position her eyes shot to him like a hawk. Anju admired how much she adored Link. It reminded her of how she was with Kafei as children.

"Say, Romani?" Anju asked as she swapped out the bowl of water with some more that was warmer. Romani's eyes didn't break off from Link.

"Yes?" She responded.

"I was thinking… Would you like to be a nurse?" Anju asked with a smile across her face. The question caused Romani to get lost in thought for a minute.

"No… Romani think's she wants to be a guard for Clock Town." Romani said plainly. Anju physically reacted to her statement.

"A guard?"

"Yeah, Romani wants to be a guard!" The little ranch girl finally turned her gaze from her best friend to Anju. The look in her eyes told Anju she was serious. "Grasshopper always protects us, so Romani wants to protect him… along with the rest of the town."

Hearing the noble ambition in Romani's voice, Anju's frown turned to a smile. The ranch girl was a lot like Link now that she thought about it. Before she was able to say anything else, a small grunt came from the bed.

Both ladies set their eyes on the source of the noise. Link had slowly opened his eyes. His vision took a minute to adjust, but when he saw the two redheads, he softly chuckled.

"Mhmm… I must still be dreaming." Link smirked and he closed his eyes again. His speech wasn't slurred anymore, thank goodness. His assumption about still dreaming was proven wrong when Romani smothered his face with a hug.

"You're ok!" Romani squeaked. Her arms were shockingly strong, and Link had to give her a pat on the back to signal that he couldn't breathe. Now he was finally sitting up, but one look at his own hand told him he had to keep it in the bowl it was in.

"We were so worried about you!" Anju said, kissing her son on the forehead.

"Sorry I had slept outside…" Link said meekly. All he wanted was to make sure Epona was alright.

"It's okay if you wanted to keep Epona company, but your need to put your health first!" Anju berated. Link looked between his mother and girlfriend. He knew they cared, and if he had to put himself first to make sure they were happy, he would have to do it.

"Alright, I promise." Link replied, laying back down.

"Oh hey, you're awake!" Kafei said as he came through the door with a warm, wet towel. Before Link could ask what the towel was for, Kafei placed it on his forehead. He was able to understand the point by then.

"I didn't mean to worry anyone…" Link mumbled. His feelings mirrored when he was brought to town covered in blood after his first rematch against Gomess. He felt small and foolish.

"It's alright, bud. We're happy you're doing fine now." Kafei ruffled Link's hair, a common habit nowadays.

Link knew a thing or two about frostbite. His hand would need more time to heal. One look at his family finally got him to crack a smile. He elected to lay himself back down and let his loved ones take care of him for the rest of the afternoon.