Chapter Fifteen

Shad

Traveling with the Resistance had been stressful, but it had not been nearly as stressful as traveling on his own. He had never been athletic, never been a fighter, never been a traveler. He was not cut out for it. But he had to be. He could not let his friends down, not when they had already lost so much, not when Hyrule was already collapsing in on itself. He had to be strong for them. He had to be brave. He had to succeed.

The road was rough, even rougher than when they had come down it only a few days prior. At least there had been fellow travelers then. Now, there was nothing, no one. He sighed and readjusted his bag, which seemed much heavier than he had ever remembered it being, and continued down the road.

He tensed when he saw smoke in the distance, hoping it was a campfire surrounded by friendly travelers, and not a Gerudo encampment. He stood no chance against them on his own, he knew that. They had been lucky when they had been ambushed. By no means should his group have survived, and yet they did. But he had been surrounded by fighters. Alone, he was useless, all but helpless. "Greetings!" he heard a man shout, watched as he stood in front of the fire. He breathed a sigh of relief. Not Gerudo, he thought to himself. Thank Hylia.

"Greetings," Shad responded and approached the man with his hands held high, revealing no weapons. Of course he had not been foolish enough to travel unarmed. He carried a dagger at his hip, though he knew it would be all but useless against Gerudo scimitars and spears. Still, he felt safer with it on his person. At the very least, he would be able to use it to hunt if he ran out of food, or rather when. He took in the man's appearance, he was portly but not quite fat, easily middle-aged, and sported a fine mustache.

"What is a young man like yourself doing traveling at night?" the man questioned. He was suspicious, Shad gathered, but he did not fault the man for it. He glanced around the camp, noting two other men, one young, Shad's age or younger even, and one in his late twenties, perhaps early thirties, surrounding the fire, a wagon behind them. "And by the looks of it headed toward Castle Town," he continued, his frown deepening. "Have you not heard? Some Thief King took it over, killed our Princess and some ranch hand that stood up to him as well from what I've heard."

Our princess, Shad heard the man's voice echo in his head, never feeling more relieved to hear two simple words. They had been loyal to Princess Zelda. Perhaps they would be of use to the Resistance as well. "I am a scholar," he spoke, addressing the man, keeping his tone as calm and even as he could, despite the anxieties and apprehensions he still held. "I was returning home from an expedition to the Forest Temple and lost track of the time."

"I can't say I know much about temples or scholars," the man said. "But I can't have a young man wandering off on his own at night. Sit with us."

"I couldn't intrude," Shad tried to argue, but the man held up a hand to stop him.

"Nonsense. Any decent man would offer the same," the man gestured for Shad to follow. He sighed and trailed behind, and sat by the fire when he saw the man do the same. "The name's Daras," he introduced himself. "Innkeeper by trade. This here's Karik," he nodded toward the youngest of the three. "Apprentice blacksmith. And that's Jorrun," he nodded toward the remaining man. "Tailor by trade. We met in the market a few span back, decided it was safer traveling together than on our own. "

"We were damn right too," Karik spoke. "These women are everywhere. Never seen anything like it, burning settlements to the ground and taking everything they can. At this rate, there'll be nothing left by the next full moon."

Daras smiled apologetically at Shad before turning to the two men. "Now, let's not talk of such things. Not with a guest," he turned back to the scholar. "What did you say your name was again?"

"Miko," Shad lied as best as he could. "Scholar," he added, keeping a pleasant expression on his face.

"And where did you say you were headed?" Daras asked politely, offering Shad a flask. He gratefully drank from it before handing it back. "The Forest Temple, was it?"

"Away from the Forest Temple," Shad corrected. "Place is covered in monsters. I've never seen anything like it."

"Must be related to this thief king," Jorrun leaned back on his elbows. "Things have been all wrong since the castle fell. There's evil in the air, I can feel it." He was silent a moment and looked Shad over. "If you're headed for Castle Town, don't," he finally spoke.

"Noted," Shad sighed deeply and glanced into the fire. He had not planned on heading there, at least not immediately, but he knew he would be forced to travel to the capitol eventually. It held the largest population, at least the largest human and Hylian population. The Gorons and Zora would no doubt be too busy defending their homes to worry about helping the Resistance. If Ganondorf was truly as evil as the stories and legends all said, they had their work cut out for them.

"At any rate, you're welcome to our fire tonight," Daras stretched and leaned back. "No sense going any further tonight. A little lad like you'd be killed before dawn."

Shad rolled his eyes but gratefully lay by the fire, doubting any further conversation would be happening that night. He would have to be quick though, if he wanted to gain their trust, to get them on his side. Goddesses knew they would need all the help they could get.