Thank you to Ignitious and huntersaren for favouriting this story!

Cia's eyes fluttered open and her vision was filled with bright greens and blues. It took her a moment to adjust, as she was used to the dim hues of the Temple and the Valley she had left behind. She sat up, looking around, and a feeling of unease washed over her. She was sat in a lush meadow under a bright blue sky, warmly illuminated by the bright sunlight that filtered down through the canopy of the tree above.

When she broke out into a wheezing cough, she became fully conscious of what was happening. This wasn't her body. She was watching through the mind of that girl she kept seeing. Cia was acutely aware of the fact that the girl had no idea where she was, but no thoughts at the front of the girl's mind gave any indication as to how she got there, either.

'Goddess, please don't let me die here!' She thought throughout her coughing. Cia, however, was unaffected by the girl's physical ailment, and took the opportunity to scan the area. She doesn't sound healthy at all. Eventually her coughing became weaker and was interlaced with small wines. Cia could feel the tears as they made tracks down her cheeks. She felt a small stab of sympathy, but it soon faded. This won't be the first time I've seen someone choke to death, and I doubt it'll be the last.

The girl managed to stabilise her breathing, and it was replaced by quiet sobbing. Cia didn't even pick up on any thoughts of hers as to why she was crying, either. How irritating. The girl sniffled and lowered her head, giving Cia a good look at what she was wearing. She was wearing pale blue and white robes that would have looked rather lavish had they not been well dusted with soot. She's a sorceress... How odd. I didn't think I was able to watch from the minds of those able to do magic. One of the girl's tears fell onto her hand, and she quickly wiped it away, smudging the black dusting that covered her. Was she in a fire?

After more sniffling and no doubt more smudging of the ash on her face, she stopped crying. She sat back against the tree with a small sigh. 'Everything... Everyone... It's all gone. I'm... alone.' She thought. She drew her knees up to her chest and cradled them. Yes... Sounds like she was in a devastating fire. Cia thought.

'Why did I run so far?' She thought. 'If I had stayed closer, maybe I would have had the energy to go back and see if anything was left...' Images of charred buildings and bodies flashed through her mind, and she shuddered. 'On second thought... Maybe it's best I don't see it in daylight.' Cia continued to listen to the girl mentally babble to herself, indecisive about whether she should continue walking or go home to see what she could find. Just as she began to grow irritable at the girl's indecisiveness, a thought caught her attention. 'What's that? Is that the sound of a horse?'

The girl looked up into the distance, and there indeed was a horse, heading generally in her direction. She looked behind her. Smoke billowed into the sky far off into the distance, and she guessed the horse rider was on his way to investigate. 'They'll help me, won't they?' She pulled herself to her feet, using the tree to support herself. The horse was veering off to the left, obviously making a beeline for the smoke, but its rider must have seen her as she stood up and changed course. She was relieved. 'Thank the Goddesses'

She stood where she was, waiting. As he got closer, the man on the horse shouted out to her. "You there! This is private land! You should-" He obviously got close enough to see her condition, and his yelling ended abruptly. When he was within a few feet of her, he yanked on the reigns, but he vaulted from the horses back before the mare had even pulled to a halt. "Ma'am? Are you all right?"

Cia felt the girl's relief wash over her, but she ignored it. She was more interested in her own feelings - feelings that came to her the moment she recognised his face. It's him!

He was tall and well built, obviously a tough guy, but the expression on his face was that of pure panicked worry. "Are you from that town?" He pressed before she was able to get a word in, and he glanced at the smoke on the horizon.

She nodded. "I am. I-" She was cut off by another bout of coughing, and he instantly took her by the shoulders with gentle hands.

"You're in no condition to stand in the middle of a field and talk. Come on, I'll take you back to my village." He whistled to his horse, who had stopped to graze a little way behind the tree. She came trotting up, her hooves making soft thuds against the grass. "Here, I'll help you up." He gave her a leg up into the saddle, then patted the horse's neck. "Her name is Epona, and she's quite the lovely lady. She may be big, but there's nothing to worry about." He took her reigns and began leading Epona back the way he had come.

"Thank you, this is so very kind."

"I'm just doing what should be done. My name is Link, what's yours?" He smiled over his shoulder.

"Um, I'm Lana." She murmured. "Sorry to be a bother."

He shook his head. "It's not trouble at all, don't worry, I'm just glad you're okay."

'He's so nice' Lana thought. He is indeed, Cia agreed. He looked back over his shoulder, flicking his hair away from his face in the process. 'Looks like he could do with a hair-cut.' Cia would have snorted if she could've. He needs no such thing.

"If you're up to it, could you tell me what happened to your town?" He gave her a gentle smile.

Lana cleared her throat with a small cough. "I don't know much. I think somebody attacked and set the buildings on fire. Some people... Some of them definitely didn't burn to death."

He looked horrified. "Who would do that? Your town had one of Hyrule's biggest libraries!" He looked away. "Did... Did anyone else escape?"

Lana's mind was filled with images of people burning. The images were so fleeting that the people weren't named, but Cia could tell from the sinking feeling that overcame her that they were people she knew and cared about. "I... I don't think they did."

"Oh..." Link cast her a quick sympathetic look that made Cia's heart wince. He didn't look back again for a few moments, but when he did, he was smiling again. "When we get back, you can have a nice warm bath and I'll find you something to eat. Some of the men from my village were also going to your village to find out what happened, they should be back by evening. They'll bring news about what happened to everyone else."

Lana thanked him, then fell silent. She's in shock, she thinks this is just a dream. Cia mused. She'll soon realise it's better than a dream, I'm sure...

Lana was unable to focus on the rest of the journey, which made it difficult for Cia to work out what was going on. They met three other horsemen on the way, and Link stopped to explain the situation to them. They gave Lana their condolences alongside their sympathetic looks, but not a single word of what they said to her really registered in her mind. Cia willed her to snap out of it and pay attention to Link, but no such luck.

Lana's mind remained practically dead until the hot water touched her skin. She was startled by it, but she quickly adjusted to the temperature and sunk into the tub. While she watched the water grow grey and murky from the dusting of ash on her, she took account of her surroundings. 'This tub is so small... This must be one of the small farm villages near the town. I guess they don't have sorcerers, either, so this water would have been heated over a fire... I must thank Link for the trouble later.' She used the jug Link had given her to wash away the soot from her face and her hair, watching the shade of the water gradually grow darker and darker. Her mind began to wander again until her stomach growled. 'That's right, I didn't eat dinner last night. I wonder what time it is now?' She continued to run water through her hair, but as long as it was, it took many rinses for it to come out vaguely clean. It took so long that the warmth of the water had seeped through the metal of the tub and left Lana shivering. 'I'm sure I'm still filthy,' she thought. 'But I don't want to stay in here any longer.'

She climbed out of the basin and shivered. She tried to ring and much water out of her hair as she could manage before taking the clothes Link had handed to her from the chair in the corner. She pulled them on; despite the fact they were simply farmers clothes and nothing like the fine fabrics she was used to, she smiled with gratitude. 'They're warm, at least.' They were a little on the baggy side, but they weren't too bad a fit.

She stood in the room for a while, too nervous to go back out of the room. After all, it dawned on her now that she was in the house of a complete stranger. 'Only until I get better, then I'll leave' she thought. Cia cursed at her mentally. 'I have magic to protect myself with, too.'

Lana took a deep breath and made her way to the door, taking the wooden plank from its hooks that barred the door shut and gently pulling it open. "Link?" She had emerged into a larger room that had a fireplace in the corner and several counter tops, and on the other side, a table with two chairs. On the same wall as the door to the bathroom was a ladder leading up to the next floor and a door that seemed to be a pantry of some nature. Opposite the ladder was the door that lead outside. It was a small house, typical of a farming village. The woodwork was quite messy, but most of it was hidden with colourfully dyed rugs and pictures that hung from the walls.

Lana's attention was diverted from her observations when Link climbed down the ladder into the kitchen. "Are you feeling better?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Here, um," He gestured over to the table, which Lana now realised was laid out with several platters of food. "Are you hungry?"

She nodded. "Thank you, again..." She muttered. He smiled, then pulled out a chair for her. She sat, and he took a bread roll from one of the plates, cut it in half, and spread butter inside. He then placed it her plate and sat down opposite her, picking up another roll for himself.

She took a hesitant bite, but put it down again when Link nervously cleared his throat. "So, uh, because your town will be... for the most part, uninhabitable... I'd like you to... You're welcome to stay here." She didn't reply for a moment, and he grew flustered. "My mother works at the stables, and she has a bed there, too. She's happy for you to take her room for now. It has a lock and everything."

Cia listened to Lana as she mentally debated with herself, not wanting to impose, but knowing she had nowhere else to go. Link grew restless as she remained silent. How selfish of you. "All right..." She finally muttered. "I'll stay... Until the smoke has cleared from home, at least. Then I'll be out of your way."

Link'e eyes brightened and his face lit up with a smile. "It's no trouble at all, you can stay as long as you like." He picked some more food from the plates in front of them, putting some on his plate and some on Lana's, inviting her to eat as much as she wanted with a wave of his hand and a smile. "Since you'll be staying here for a few days, I figured you'd be far more comfortable if you knew more about the place, and, well, me, so... As you know, I'm Link, I work in the fields in the village. I sometimes help my mother at the stables, too." He pointed to a picture that hung next to the table. It was a homely picture, featuring Link with Epona to one side, and a humble looking couple on the other. "That's her with my father. You'll probably meet her soon, but my father... Well, he works for the Royal Guard in Hyrule Castle Town, and I don't know when he'll next be visiting." He stared at the picture for a moment longer, then turned back to Lana. "I really want to join the Guard, too, but my mother needs me here. One day I'd at least like to go to Hyrule Castle Town. Even just to visit." He paused for a moment. "Hey, your town was home to Hyrule's school of sorcery, wasn't it? Did you ever visit Castle Town? Although I suppose only the sorcerers did..."

Lana's head was spinning from his babbling. "I did. One year before graduation, every class would visit the Royal Family. I visited last year." Lana replied. When his eyes grew wide she smiled meekly. "Yes, I... I am a sorceress." Lana expected to see fear in his eyes, as she had heard that most farmers believed sorcerers were their enemies.

"Maybe we can visit together, you'll be able to show me around!" He grinned, and Lana couldn't help feeling a warm affection for him. Cia, however, wasn't sure if she was jealous or thankful.