A/N: I actually had this finished for a while. Debated whether I should add more, or save it for the next chapter, and finally realized that it was all simply an excuse to procrastinate. As always, comments are appreciated. I love hearing how you guys feel about this. Thank you.

Chapter Four: Kakariko Village

The fire was hot.

Link stayed as far away as he could from it while still allowing its light to illuminate him. A bead of sweat rolled down his neck, and Link could feel more forming on his forehead, which he was too tired to wipe away. He consoled himself with the fact that this was, at least, not Gerudo desert; though if he'd been there instead, Link would have been shivering in the darkness and welcoming the warmth of the campfire, not shunning it. Eldin province may be dry, but it was still no desert. In the middle of high summer, even at night it remained uncomfortably warm.

They had decided to make a fire anyway.

If Link had been traveling alone, he wouldn't have bothered to. He'd traveled through the province enough to know the hidden, safe spots—the tiny caves only the sharp sense of the wolf could have discovered. When Midna had been with him, there were times when he'd ask her to transform him into a wolf rather than bother to set up camp. What wouldn't think twice about attacking a lone man would think twice about attacking a wolf. But Link was no longer alone. And Midna was no longer with him. And in a group as large as theirs, a fire was necessary, not just for warmth, but for sight, and above all, safety.

The burning wood popped and crackled, and Link, no longer able to bear the heat, finally decided to stand up and walk to the edge of the camp. He doubted any creature of the dark would attack them here, and he was confident enough of his skills to feel that he could defend himself from any attack. Assuming of course, that the ones who were roaming the plain were organized enough to attack. Link doubted that too. Especially not after the slaughter at Darunia Town. Bokoblins and bulbins may not be as bright as humans, but the survival instinct was just as strong.

They'd come back eventually, but for now, the monsters would remain hidden.

Soft whispers drifted from the shadows. Link caught the flash of metal in the darkness, and then heard another quality to the voices, something that made him flash briefly in jealousy.

"So then she swung her hips toward my face, yeah? And when I reached to—"

"Cop a feel like the perv you are? Did she smack you afterward?"

Four separate snickers sounded from the darkness, weaving together to blend into a solid whole against the fifth voice, which had started spluttering after the comment. Link recognized the voices, identifying each of the voices belonging to the five soldiers who were on night watch duty. Or supposed to be. He stifled a smile. If Lord Corac found out… but Link had no intention of rousing the defense minister from his sleep to tell.

There was a pebble against his foot, and Link deliberately kicked it to announce his presence. In an instant, all the voices froze.

"… Who's there?"

In the darkness, Link could see all of them turning toward the direction where the pebble landed. He stifled a sigh. It wasn't where the pebble landed that was important: it was from where it had been kicked. He coughed.

The soldiers whirled around toward him.

"Ah… it's you, Hero," one of the soldiers said, relaxing slightly, but the fear and tension was still palpable. In fact, it had increased, not lessened. Link tried his best to ignore it.

"Good evening, Hode," Link said in as pleasant a tone as he could manage.

"Good evening, milord Hero," Hode replied, and Link could hear the nervous quality to the man's voice. The man was the boldest of all the soldiers though, and the most influential.

"I wanted to take a walk."

"Ah, well, seeing as it's you, milord Hero, that… that should be no problem," Hode said.

"Probably not," Link agreed easily. At such easy acknowledgment Hode fell silent, and Link cursed himself for reminding the man of the battle at Darunia Town. He struggled, trying to think of something to turn the situation around. "I was terrified the first time I fought," he said.

"Oh," Hode said weakly. "Well, them bokoblins are mighty scary."

Link resisted a smile. "My first enemy was a deku baba," he said, naming the ferocious plant that tended to dwell in dark, moist areas. While annoying and startling the first time anyone encountered them, the plants were easily killed, usually with a torch by the villagers, or with a simple swipe of a stick or scythe.

At this admission, Link sensed the rest of the soldiers gathering closer behind Hode.

"They're all right if you're wearing armor," Hode said.

"I was wearing ordinary clothes," Link said. "But carrying a wooden sword. And I was still terrified."

"What'd you do?" It was Fen.

"Hugged the walls as best I could and ran away," Link admitted. He was pleased to see the shock and surprise on all the men's faces.

"You ran away?" said yet another soldier in disbelief. Link saw that it was Pahmer.

"Yes."

"Oh."

"Didn't think the Hero'd run away from a silly deku baba," another soldier mumbled, only to be violently shushed by the others.

"I didn't run away the second time," Link said.

"Why not?"

"It was blocking the way."

"… You could have turned back," Rakins said.

"No, I couldn't," Link said, turning grave. "One of my friends had been captured and taken into the forest. There was no other path."

Silence then, but not fearful. Link could feel the men standing there quietly, slowly digesting Link's words.

"You didn't have a choice," Pahmer said thoughtfully.

"Yes, I did," Link said. "Everybody does. I could have turned back and asked someone else to do it."

"If'n you did that, you wouldn't be the Hero," Sal said, speaking up for the first time.

"Would you have given up over a deku baba?" Link asked.

"Well, over one of those? No, but…"

"Then what makes you so different from the Hero?"

Sal didn't answer.

Link didn't mention that soon after facing the deku babas he'd had to tangle with two bokoblins with nothing but a wooden sword. That wasn't important though. He could feel a connection starting to build between him and the soldiers, and Link desperately wanted, hoped that the message he was trying to send would reach them.

"I… I don' suppose you'd be willing to teach us a little sword work every now and then, milord Hero?" Hode suddenly asked.

The smile that bloomed on Link's face was genuine, the first one he'd made since the journey had started.

"I'd be happy to."

***

Brennan rolled over on his cot, his brows furrowed in thought. He hadn't been able to hear much of the conversation, but the emotions were read easily enough. So the boy was finally making friends. But not with him, Lord Brennan, or with Corac. That was…

Well, he'd doubted that the boy would make overtures to Corac, not after the way Corac had lost his temper when they'd been at Darunia Town. And the boy was probably still uncomfortable around Brennan, but that was all to the good as far as Brennan was concerned. He just hadn't thought that the boy would be ready to open up to anyone, especially not now. For the past month the boy had been completely withdrawn, so it seemed odd that Link would choose to begin making overtures, especially when the incident in Darunia Town was still fresh in all their minds. After the incident, things should have left the boy more isolated and withdrawn, not trying to make friends with the common soldiers.

Brennan suppressed a shudder as the memory of that battle swept through him. He did not want to admit that it had frightened him. Would not admit it. Nor would he admit that he'd fallen terribly short in his estimation of the boy, who was far more formidable than he'd expected. Normal men did not come out of a battle against thirty monsters unscathed. He'd seen the fear in all the peasants afterward. The soldiers had been nervous. They should still be. One did not forget what had happened in a hurry. Yet from the friendly voices in the dark, Brennan sensed that they'd quickly put that aside.

A memory niggled at him. The face, belonging to the large mayor of Ordon Village, surfaced in his mind.

"He is… was in training to be the next Mayor."

Such a statement meant nothing without context. At the time, Brennan had assumed it indicated competency and intelligence, which he'd seen plenty of evidence for throughout this journey. He had not thought that charisma was a part of that. Until now.

Charisma, coupled by intelligence and competency, not to mention physical prowess, was very, very dangerous.

Closing his eyes, Brennan turned over again, trying to sleep. He could not.

***

The forms of the rocks and cliff faces started to take a familiar shape around late afternoon. Link looked up, surprised by the twinge of happiness he felt when he saw the wooden bridge that indicated they were close to Kakariko Village. Until now, he had not realized how much he had missed the place.

"Kakariko Village is just over the bridge and between the two cliff faces," he said quietly to Lord Brennan, who had seemed unusually stiff and silent all day. The lord nodded, and motioned for two of the soldiers to ride on ahead.

"You're familiar with this village," Lord Brennan said.

"I came here often," Link said.

"Ah. Then the residences should recognize your face."

Link did not reply. It had been half a year ago when he had last come to Kakariko Village. Until the lords came to find him Link had not left Ordon at all. A lot of things could change during six months. Link hoped that more settlers have since gone to Kakariko Village.

"When I was in Kakariko, only three people truly lived there," Link said quietly.

Lord Brennan paled, but the odd wording in Link's reply encouraged him to continue talking.

"You say 'truly' lived there. What do you mean?"

"Four of those were children from my home village who'd been kidnapped by monsters," Link said.

"But they're safe now."

"Yes. They've gone home."

"Ah." Link watched the older man quietly, searching for a sign of a reaction. The lord suddenly chuckled. "Nothing you say about your travels is ever meant to be comforting, is it?"

Link waited, knowing Lord Brennan was going to say more.

"Then again, they wouldn't be," Lord Brennan said. Something glinted darkly in the man's light brown eyes. "You should be glad that your responsibilities are over."

There was something about the way the man said the last sentence that made Link feel a chill run down his spine. He turned his head back toward the road, silently thinking, but even as their route took them through the southern entrance past the heavy, iron wrought gates, he still couldn't quite pinpoint what it was.

He spotted a flutter of movement ahead of him. It was a child, rapidly scurrying off the boulders that must serve as a watch post, and running back toward the village.

"They're here!" Link could hear the child cry, shrill with excitement.

A moment later he felt Fen and Sal pass him by with the banners, going on ahead to prepare the villagers for their presence. For once Link did not dread the welcome, but he was pleasantly surprised to see a child. It couldn't have been Luda. Link would have recognized her, and Luda was a very self-possessed child, certainly not the type to run back home shrieking excitedly.

When they arrived at the village square, Link saw the child again, a little boy with smooth black hair, eagerly hopping up and down before a woman dressed in a heavy, brown skirt of soft animal hide. There were other people beside her: a heavyset man with the arms of a blacksmith, a pale woman with shrewd eyes and the reddest hair Link had ever seen. There were many more, and Link found his heart lifting to see the formerly dead village once again repopulated. The little boy was not the only child. Link spied a couple bright eyes amongst the eager adults, peeking behind skirts and trousers.

"Well, I shoulda known you'd be the one!" came a familiar drawl. He saw a glint of metal and Link felt his smile broadening at the sight of the pot-bellied man, the protective mask he always wore riding atop his head. "We heard they were parading the Hero around like a prized bull. Who'd be the hero, we wondered. Figured we of Kakariko would be the best people to judge whether their Hero's an imposter or not, and well…!" Barnes grinned.

"Do I pass your scrutiny?" Link said, unable to suppress his smile to properly deadpan the words.

Barnes laughed anyway.

"Full marks!" he said, holding out a thumb to the burst of laughter by the other villagers.

"Barnes!" It was a quiet yet forceful voice, full of exasperation at Barnes' obvious clowning.

Link turned in the voice's direction, his heart lighting when he saw whose voice it was. Accompanying Renado was Luda, who had grown since Link had last seen her. Her face gave the appearance of calm, but Link could see the flush in her cheeks. Renado was as grave as always. Before greeting Link, he turned to the two lords, bowing elegantly as only he could, looking regal despite the red dust staining his robe.

"As shaman of Kakariko Village, I greet you, Noble Lords of Hyrule."

"And we greet you also," Lord Brennan said, his face a friendly mask. "I am Lord Brennan of the South."

"I greet you as Defense Minister of Hyrule, Lord Corac," Lord Corac said.

"I see that we do not need to introduce the Hero to the people of Kakariko Village," Lord Brennan said heartily, looking for all the world like he was amused, but Link knew better.

"For the rest of Hyrule, the Hero may be a figure shrouded in myth, but for those of us who have witnessed his deeds first hand, he is very real," Renado replied, his face a cool facade.

"I look forward to hearing of them," Lord Brennan said.

"That I will do so gladly, once you and your men have settled. We have prepared a place for you, and good food and drink."

"That's good to hear."

Renado turned to Link. "I believe you know where your room is," he said.

"I do," Link said, smiling.

"There's a stable beside the inn now," Renado added. "Your mounts will be taken care of there. Luda, show them the way."

"Yes father."

The girl passed by Link, daring only the briefest of looks before taking the lead.

"Link," Renado said, just as Link was about to follow the lords and soldiers. The shaman gave him a genuine smile. "It is good to see you again."

"And I, you."

"Yes," the man murmured, his eyes darkening. "We have much to talk about, you and I."

"Lord Brennan and Lord Corac…"

"Among other things." The man looked at the figures disappearing into the inn. "But that can wait. First, you will eat, and rest. You will find that much has changed here."

"Not that much," one of the newer members of the village said softly. It was the woman with the heavy brown skirt, the little boy by her side clinging tightly to them, and giggling. "Those of us who chose to move to Kakariko Village are of a kind, you'll soon discover, and I don't refer merely to family."

"My younger sister, Cerana," Renado said. "She and her son were the first to move here."

"I'm glad to meet you," Link said.

"Have no worries Link, Hero of Hyrule. You are among friends here," Cerena said, her brown eyes suddenly dark with age that did not match her assuming youth.

"We will see you after you have settled," Renado said. Then he turned around and left, the rest of the villagers heading home, presumably to finish whatever preparations they had been making for Link's arrival.

Alone again, Link headed toward the inn, Epona following obediently behind him.