A/N: Hello fellow fanfic lovers! At least, I assume you're fanfic lovers because if you hate them, well, you're on the wrong site. Either way, welcome to chapter two! :D

Due to my lack of creativity, I have no special "guest" to do my disclaimer today but it anyone has any suggestions, it would be much appreciated. But for now, I'll do it myself.

I do not own Legend of Zelda, or anything related to it.

The midday sun shone brightly overhead warming Link's skin as he and Epona made their way to Castle Town. It was a relatively hot summer day but the occasional breeze, which counteracted the rays of heat from above kept the air moderately pleasant. Link closed his eyes as another gust of wind came rolling through the fields, enjoying the feel of it against his face and the melodic sound that came as it rustled through the grass. It was always calming out here. Even when it had been crawling with bulbins, the fields offered a source of solace and tranquility. It seemed to span on forever, leaving one with only their thoughts for miles on end. During his travels, it had given Link plenty of time to think through his situation and learn to accept his new role.

Of all the things he'd missed these past two months while in Ordon, Hyrule Field was definitely his top third. It was outranked – goddesses only know why he'd ranked them- only by the pure adrenaline that came with a fight, especially a tough fight, and his traveling companion who he refused to think about. He was already having a tough time trying to keep her out of his head before he left, but in this vast expanse of memory-inducing space where he had nothing to do but think, he may as well have been fighting off Twilight beasts with a wooden sword. He shook his head, trying to erase these thoughts and focus on the journey. Although he was positive Epona could get them to their destination, it was still technically his job to lead her in the right direction. Besides, his mare was very in tune with his emotions and seemed to be able to tell when her master became lost in his thoughts. Link didn't like the idea of leaving Epona alone to complete this task; it wouldn't be fair to her.

Epona whinnied, tossing her head about as is she knew he'd been thinking about her. Link patted her side.

"How're you doing girl?"

The mare snorted in response. He realized that she was probably getting tired. This had been the most exercise she'd had in a while and it was wearing on her. Not to mention they'd been traveling since early this morning and they could both use a break.

Link led her to a stream not that far ahead and hopped off the saddle. His horse drank the fresh water gratefully before turning around to graze on some grass. Link, too, took a large drink of water and decided to search in his pack for some lunch.

The first thing he spotted was the letter he'd received from Zelda. He dug it out and read it again. I believe I have made an important discovery concerning the Twilight. As he glazed over those words, he wondered what, exactly, Zelda had meant. Had she discovered something about the Twilight's past, something that had been overlooked for years? Or perhaps she had found another way into that world. His heart swelled at the thought.

A voice called from across the field, breaking through his reverie. "Hey, you in the green! Look out!"

Link was just about to look toward the voice when he heard the unmistakable pounding of hooves from a bullbo coming up close behind him. Mentally cursing himself for not noticing it before, he quickly rolled out of its path just as it trampled over the spot he'd been only seconds before. He watched as the beast and its two riders continued to thunder down the river bank toward the only other Hylian Link had seen for miles. It was hard to make out any of their details from this distance, but based on the voice he'd heard a moment ago it was safe to assume that it was a girl.

She didn't move as the pig raced right at her, standing as if braced for impact. Why hadn't she moved? Had she not expected it to come after her? Link yelled at her to get out of the way as he dug out his bow and arrows from his pack, not having enough time to get there himself and push her to safety. Still she continued to stare down the pig which was quickly closing in. Link only had one shot to keep this girl from being crushed. He let go of the arrow and it flew across the fields, finally lodging itself right in the beast's neck.

It squealed in pain as it fell to the ground, nearly skidding into the girl's feet. Link admired his shooting for a second before pocketing the bow and trading it for his sword. The pig may have been down, but its riders were still alive and out for blood. He hadn't made it half the distance when the first bulblin picked itself up off the ground and went for the defenseless girl. He bit his lip and ran faster, hoping he'd be able to get there before she could get hurt.

But instead of freezing up like Link had expected, she took a fighting stance and was ready when the bulblin swung at her, ducking so that he just missed her head. At the same time she'd reached up, grabbing the weapon's handle and in one fluid motion managed to kick out and trip her opponent, causing him to lose his grip on the weapon as she pulled it out of his hand. Without skipping a beat, she lifted the spiked club and brought it back down on his head.

The whole sequence had happened so quickly that Link found himself gaping. That is, until an arrow whizzed past his head. He turned to face the other bulblin who'd just managed to detangle itself from under the bullbo's corpse. After deflecting a few more arrows, he finished it off with a few swings of his sword before turned to the girl.

She definitely wasn't what he'd expected. She wasn't much shorter than him, but she was tiny, as though she hadn't eaten in a while. This was a rather safe assumption as her clothes seemed to be made up of old, ragged articles she'd hastily thrown together. What really caught his eye, however, was her skin. It wasn't, well, natural. While one side was a lightly tanned peach, her other side was colored a bluish-grey, a color which he'd never before seen on a Hylian before, nonetheless half of one. Yet, there was something familiar about this girl, something he couldn't quite place even though he was sure he'd never seen her before.

He must've been staring a bit too long because she now shot him a weird look. "Y'know, you have some rather impressive fighting skills," the girl said, her face not at all matching her tone.

Link suspiciously raised an eyebrow as he opened his mouth to thank her- being the ever polite boy that he way- but she quickly cut him off.

"Unfortunately," she continued, now glaring at him. "You'll always be a second rate fighter unless you learn to pay as much attention to your surroundings as you have my skin." With that, she disposed of the stolen club and turned indignantly in the other direction.

Link flinched, remembering his lessons as a child about how rude it was to stare, plus he felt stupid for being so distracted earlier. He kind of deserved that comment, after all, how was she to know it was he who saved the entire kingdom from certain doom 6 months ago- certainly not something a "second-rate fighter" was capable of- and the way he gaped at her probably made him look like a complete fool. Besides, he'd learned from Midna not to argue with agitated women, as it would always end badly. "I'm sorry," he said. "It's just that…"

She whirled back around, cutting him off again. "No, I get it. You have to get a good look at the freak show." Her hands moved agitatedly to her hips as she worked up the iciest look she could manage.

"No, no!" Link said quickly. "It's not that! It's just…" What was it, exactly? He would like to think that he wasn't ignorantly looking at her discolored skin, wondering how exactly something like that happened, but he was. He really should've thought before opening his mouth. The girl looked agitated by his hesitation; as if she wanted to say Wrap it up, bub. I have better things to do than listen to you stumble out excuses. He spewed out the first thing that came to mind. "Where did you learn to fight? You're very talented. And I've seen things a lot weirder than you, trust me."

She rolled her eyes. "Gee, thanks." She said, voice dripping with venom.

Nice one, Link. Realizing that trying to justify his actions wasn't working- he never was very good with words- he decided to try something else. "Are you hungry?" He asked. "I was just looking for some lunch when the bulbin's came by." He watched her face distort in thought. She did her best to keep the anger plastered on, but he could see the internal struggle she was having between her pride and the possibility of a free meal. In the end, hunger won.

"Fine." She crossed her arms, still trying to act defiant, and strode over to the stream where Link's belongings still sat. The hero did his best to hold back a laugh. Women, always so stubborn.

The two plopped themselves down in the grass, Link digging in his bag while the girl, still putting on her act, looked anywhere but at him. After some digging, he'd managed to procure a loaf of bread and a wheel of Ordon goat cheese. He broke off a piece of each and handed it to her silently. It wasn't much, but she seemed to gobble it down like it was the best thing in the world. Link raised an eyebrow; afraid she might swallow too fast and choke.

She shoved the last bit in her mouth, and noticed the weird look he was giving her. She mumbled her thanks as she chewed, all trace of bitterness gone. Ah, the miracles food could work. Again, the hero almost laughed. "No problem." He said, taking a bite of his own. "My name's Link by the way."

She nodded in acknowledgement. "Sora."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sora." He said politely. The two sat in silence for a while as Link continued to chew his meal, the only sound coming from the grass being ground up by Epona's teeth. So he decided to speak again. "That really was impressive, what you did before. You're very…" He paused, searching for the right word. "Graceful. Kind of like a dancer. Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"I… don't remember." She said quietly, looking out at the sky.

"Don't remember?" He asked, genuinely confused. How does one forget something like that?

She shrugged, still not looking at him. "Yeah. There are a lot of things I don't remember, actually. It's not big deal."

"Like what?"

Her head turned sharply, eyebrows furrowed together. "What good would that information do you?" She asked defensively.

Link held his hands up in the universal sign of whoa, calm down, wondering what he did to set her off this time. "Just curious."

Sora let out an exasperated sigh, but seemed to accept the answer. She no longer looked on edge. Her gaze went back to wandering and she didn't bother to respond for a while. "Like the first several years of my life." She shook her head. "But I don't want to bother you with this story."

The hero shrugged. "I don't mind. Go ahead."

She looked at him, surprise evident on her face. Her teeth dug into her bottom lip as she contemplated letting her guard down. Link understood her hesitation. He wasn't the most talkative person himself, but it couldn't be easy for anyone to explain their life's story to a complete stranger. Epona seemed to whinny in encouragement and the girl sighed.

"It was about six years ago." She began, searching Link's face for any sign of judgment. When she saw none, she felt it was safe to continue. "Someone had apparently found me passed out in the desert; I'd been out there wandering for some reason. So they brought me back to Castle Town and took me to the doctor. I woke up a few days later and couldn't remember a thing." She shook her head and looked at her left hand. "Not how I got there, where I came from, not even where I got this stupid…" Her hands clenched into fists, and she returned her gaze back to her listener, letting out another sigh. "Nothing but my name… Ever since then, well, I've had to fend for myself while trying to figure this out but…."

She didn't need to say the rest, he already knew. He nodded, letting the story sink in. "I understand," he said comfortingly. "A similar thing happened to me, only I was much younger and my village pitched into help raise me. They'd found me wandering alone in Ordon Forest and once the trauma had passed, well…" he cracked a half-smile. "I couldn't remember anything either."

Sora couldn't help but smile back. The two had been through similar experiences, and being able to share those experiences made them feel like they weren't alone. They sat in silence for a few minutes before she finally decided to stand up, stretching. "Thank you," she said. "For the meal, for listening. I'm glad I got to talk to you about this. You're the first person who actually cared to hear it."

Link followed her example, wiping bread crumbs off his lap as he stood. "It was my pleasure." He assured her, and Epona snorted as if in agreement. He then thought of something. "Do you want a ride to Castle Town?" He offered. "That is where you're going, right? I'm heading there myself."

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"Of course. Epona won't mind, will you girl?" The mare whinnied in permission. "See?" Sora nodded hesitantly and allowed Link to help her on the back of the saddle. Once he'd positioned himself in front, he clicked his tongue and the three rode off toward their destination.

Yay! Plot development! Well, sort of….If you squint….

Reviews are always much appreciated! Until next time, this is betweenlightanddark reminding you not to put vanilla pudding in the television!