Author's Note: To those confused by the layout of the castle, I'm operating under the assumption that the Hyrule of Ocarina of Time is more like the Hyrule of Twilight Princess than the game would suggest. Hyrule Castle is already the castle from TP, as is the town surrounding it. The people found there, are of course the same people as OoT The countryside is the same as TP, with Lon Lon Ranch falling somewhere in the middle. Hyrule Castle is slightly farther north than it is in TP and there are no fissures in between the three provinces.

Chapter 1:

Old Friends

Saria perused the marketplace, wondering what to buy. She knew that Link was still in the Lost Woods and that the best place to wait for him was probably her home, but she had already left. There was no reason to go back to the forest right now. Besides, he'd go straight to see the princess if…no, when, he found his fairy. She refused to believe that he wasn't going to come back. He had to.

This line of thought wasn't exactly having a positive effect on her demeanor. She was pretty sure she was scowling at an apple like it was her mortal enemy.

The sound of chimes jingled faintly in her ears and she smiled again. Chimes always reminded her of the fairies' laughter in the forest. Things would be okay. She placed a hand over her heart.

"Friends forever."

As she wandered among the various merchants and hawkers, she found herself drawn to a shady stall set up in a corner of the market. There was only one thing on sale, but its big sad eyes were enough to draw the girl in.

She seems familiar somehow, Ganondorf thought idly as he watched the girl approaching his hastily erected booth. He dismissed the notion. All that green must have been reminding him of that Kokiri boy who'd gotten him convicted those four long years ago. Maybe this girl was a Kokiri herself. If one could leave the forest, why couldn't another?

"How much is he?" the girl asked, staring at the dragon sympathetically.

"Five hundred, but for a child…"

The question: How much did he really want to be rid of this thing when he could still make a profit?

The answer: Obviously he had to leave before the guards discovered him; His bright red hair would stand out even with his hood up and his jewelry removed.

"Sir, are you alright?"

"Fine. My apologies," he rumbled, trying to hide his aggravation. How dare this…this child ask about his wellbeing? A little girl concerned about the king of the desert! Preposterous! He swallowed his pride just long enough to answer her in a manner befitting a monarch. "I must have been lost in thought. I suppose I can lower it to three. I'm certain even a girl your age can afford that, can you not?"

"Um, yes, sir?" she said uncertainly, pulling out her wallet.

The dragon was eyeing her eagerly, seeming to cheer up dramatically just by being in her presence. He couldn't blame the creature; it wasn't as though he had made a point of getting the fire-breathing little pest to like him.

Over what felt like much longer than a few seconds, she finally fished the necessary number of rupees out of the cloth pouch and placed them on the plank he had used for the countertop.

"Thank you, sir."

He didn't respond. He merely snatched up the handful of money with a gloved hand and pocketed it. He handed the makeshift cage to her and stood up. His product sold, it was time for him to leave. He had a pair of witches to meet with.

"That guy was kind of weird," Saria wondered aloud.

'You don't know the half of it!' thought the dragon, grinning.

"Well, anyway, I guess I should take you back home. I hope I still have enough money for food."

"I hope so too; I like food. Say, do you think you could let me out of this cage? It's getting kind of cramped," said the dragon.

Saria stared at the serpentine creature blankly for a moment, her mouth hanging open ever so slightly. Then the implication hit her.

"JEEPERS CREEPERS! You can talk!?" she squealed with alarm.

"I can tell jokes too," he added, his voice raising a few octaves with excitement, "What cat should you never trust?"

"Uhh…" Saria squeaked, still dumbfounded.

"A cheetah!" the dragon exclaimed. "Yeah, I know, it's not that funny, but I when I said that I told jokes, I also realized that a lot of my jokes would only be funny to other dragons," he hung his head sheepishly, "Sorry."

"Uh, it's okay. I'm just…surprised, that's all."

"Oh. Well good," he paused for a moment, "So can you open the cage please?"

"Um, right—yes, I'll do that," Saria agreed, looking for the latch. She didn't have much success.

"It's on the bottom," the dragon said helpfully. Saria nodded. That explained why he hadn't been able to get out by himself at least.

She was about to let him out and ask him if he had a name, but didn't manage to voice the question before she saw someone else walk across the thoroughfare ahead of her; specifically, someone she had missed enough that she left the forest to look for him. She hadn't seen him in four years now, but there was no mistaking his attire, or the glow of the fairy flying along beside him.

She broke into a run.

"So, where do you propose we start?" asked Zelda as she walked beside Link.

In order to avoid drawing too much attention to herself, she had chosen to leave the castle in the guise of Shiek. Of course, Shiekah warriors weren't exactly common either, but this way people would just pretend not to notice them. Though they appeared to be alone, Impa was shadowing them, ready to react the moment a potential threat presented itself. Zelda preferred it this way; it was far better than the alternative of being escorted everywhere why a whole regiment of guardsmen.

"Well, if we're going to be hunting down Ganondorf, we should try and come up with a plan before we start searching for people to join us," Navi proposed helpfully.

Link slowly nodded his head. "I agree. I don't want to get anyone involved if I can avoid it."

"While I appreciate the sentiment, and commend your sense of duty and honor, I don't think that will be possible," Shiek argued. "We need as many capable warriors as we can find. I already am hesitant to trust such a dangerous task to the royal army."

"Right…" Link grimly remembered the day of Ganondorf's capture. He had killed an entire battalion of elite knights before be was subdued, and he managed to severely injure several other soldiers between the time he was apprehended and the time they finally got him to a prison cell. "So you want people with special abilities?"

"Yes, that would be my first choice. Unfortunately, I need Darunia and Princess Ruto to defend Death Mountain and Zora's Domain respectively, so I had to strike their names from our list of capital assets."

"Who else can we ask? Nabooru will likely side with Ganondorf, and quite frankly, I'd be hesitant to bring Ruto along anyway. The Sages aren't awakened in this world, and Darunia's really the only capable fighter among them aside from—" He paused, realizing he was being ridiculous, "Wait, what about Impa?"

Shiek smiled deviously behind her mask.

"If I leave for any extended period of time, I will need her to remain here with a cover story. Our current fiction is that I'll have come down with a contagious disease that Shiekah happen to be immune to. Thus she will be busy treating me."

"How long do you think that'll fool everyone?" Link asked.

"The people trust me, though I am loathe to abuse it. Regardless, it should work for a fair amount of time."

"There's a tribe of sorcerers living to the north. We might be able to recruit some of them."

"Sounds good. Have you met any of them before?"

She shook her head.

"I'm afraid not," she said, "Think of it as me establishing relations."

They continued their walk through the marketplace. An odd man in a heavy cloak was dismantling his booth despite it only being early in the afternoon. He didn't appear to have any product on him though, so it made sense enough. Further down the road, two different booths were selling apples at one rupee each. Link picked one up just to examine it. He leaned over to have a closer look at one of the stalls as he considered buying one… wait; did the apples at the other stall look tastier? Actually, maybe not… He couldn't decide.

"Trouble choosing?" Navi asked with some amusement. "They cost almost nothing. Why not just buy one from each stall?"

"Because I can't eat more than one apple at a time."

"I would eat the other one," Shiek grinned coyly.

"Gosh, the princess eating an apple without cutting it up first?" Link gasped with false wonderment.

"How scandalous!" Navi teased.

"You seem to be forgetting that I don't look very much like a princess at the present time. As it is, I could instead buy a pike from the smithy and jab the both of you with it. Not very dignified, but immensely satisfying, I'm sure."

This not-so-vague threat put a swift end to the forest folks' teasing, and they continued following the disguised princess as she walked about town.

"So, where are we headed now?" Navi asked.

"I thought I'd look out at the fields beyond the castle."

Suddenly a voice broke out from the crowd.

"Link! Hey, Link! Over here!"

The boy in question turned around at the sound of his name, but wasn't immediately sure who had called him.

"Who are—" he was about to ask who had spoken, when he saw her.

For a moment, he wasn't sure if what he was seeing was real. He blinked, but the girl in front of him didn't vanish.

"Link? What's wrong?" the girl looked down at herself self-consciously, "Have—I haven't changed that much, have I?"

"S-Saria?"

She grinned, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Whew, for a moment there, I thought you didn't recognize me."

"But how did you—You left the forest? Why did you do that?! You could have died!"

"Well, I will, I guess. Eventually. When I left Kokiri Forest I sort of changed. I'll still probably live longer than the average Hylian though. Oh, and I haven't grown at all in centuries, but I'm more than a foot taller than I used to be!"

"You wouldn't have had to leave if I just came back sooner," Link mumbled gloomily.

"Oh, don't worry about it. There's a lot of fun things to do here that I could never have done in the forest. Like, I can try on clothes at that shop over there," she pointed to a classy-looking boutique just down the thoroughfare. "And look, I'm still growing, but I can already fill out a dress now that I have these."

She adjusted her bra slightly, drawing Link's attention to her bust. It wasn't like she had grown a lot in that area, but it was more than he had ever expected to see on her. And she actually seemed proud of them. Link just about fainted on the spot, barely managing to catch himself on Shiek's shoulder.

"Link? Are you okay?" Saria asked, worry creeping back into her voice.

"No… no, I'm not…" Link murmured, "You've changed so much, and it's all my fault."

"No it's not, you goof! I chose to come looking for you on my own, and besides, I've been a little curious about what was outside the forest for a while now."

Link only looked more downcast.

"You don't have to worry, Link. This was my choice, and my choice alone, I promise. Can't you just be happy to see me? I've been waiting to see you again for a really long time."

They were interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat, and Navi's attention was drawn to the cage Saria was carrying.

"Hold on a second, isn't that…?"

"Pardon me, but I'd really like to get out of this cage," said the dragon.

"Yep, it's him," Navi whispered in Link's ear. "He's a little older than he was last time, but there's no doubt about it."

"Ohmygosh!" Saria gasped, "I completely forgot about you! I'm so sorry!"

Before she had a chance to remedy the situation, Link darted over to her and opened the cage himself, not needing any instructions to find the latch on the bottom. It fell to the ground with a dull clang.

"How did you…?" Saria trailed off.

"Well, I've seen a cage very similar to the one he was in, you know, on my first journey, so I knew how to open this one too. That's all."

"Ohhh," she breathed.

"This isn't quite the same as last time," Link said, "but it's nice to meet you."

The dragon flew out, seeming to slither through the air.

"How'd you know how to get that thing open? And what do you mean by last time?" he asked.

"Link!" Navi whispered into his ear, "You can't tell him!"

"Why would I do that? That would be horrible of me," Link replied quietly. "How could I tell him that I— that…"

"Hello? It's rude to exclude!" the dragon complained, before a wide grin spread across his face, "I've always wanted to say that!"

"Oh! Err, sorry about that," he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

The dragon folded his arms and tilted his head ever so slightly.

"I guess it doesn't really matter that much," he decided. "Anyway, nice to meet you. My name's Volvagia. What's yours?"

"I'm Link."

"Link, huh? That's a funny name."

He nearly replied in agreement before realizing exactly what had been said.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"Just what I said," Volvagia answered, "I mean, your name's a noun."

"Ahem!"

Link stood up straight, a learned reaction he and many other Kokiri had picked up whenever Saria cleared her throat like that.

"Is that supposed to be a problem, little dragon?" she asked sternly.

"What did I do?" asked Volvagia, flinching under Saria's tone.

"You were making fun of someone. That isn't nice."

"I was— Huh? I'm really sorry! I didn't mean it. I was just saying what I thought."

"It's okay," Link said with a smile, "I think we're all making a bigger deal out of this than we have to."

He felt relieved despite himself. He should have known that Saria wouldn't have changed too much. She still acted like a mother to those less mature than her.

"Well then, shall we be moving along?" Shiek asked.

Link nodded.

"Where are you guys going?" asked Saria.

"Just for a walk to the city gates."

"Do you think I could come with you?"

"Sure," Link nodded again.

Hyrule Field looked very tranquil from atop the castle walls. Link followed the dirt and cobblestone path with his eyes and saw a pair of wagons making their way toward Castle Town. They would probably arrive within the hour.

At the sound of heavy hoofbeats, his attention was drawn back to the castle gates, where a large black horse was trotting across the bridge. Its rider was wearing a dark cloak unsuitable for the weather.

"Isn't that the man who sold you to me?" Saria asked.

Volvagia bobbed his head, seemingly his version of a nod.

"He was frightening. And that cloak must be pretty uncomfortable. Your kind tends not to like the heat very much, and black fabric retains heat, doesn't it?"

Shiek answered in the affirmative, but Link didn't hear what was said, he was too focused on watching the horse and its rider as they began heading west,

"Link, is something wrong?" Shiek asked.

He shook his head, "No, I'm fine. It's just… I think I've seen that horse somewhere before."

He had. He was sure of it, but he couldn't quite recall where. He wasn't familiar with a lot of horses so he figured that he shouldn't find it too hard to remember. First there was Epona, of course, and the livestock on Lon Lon Ranch. They had a few black horses, but they weren't quite as large. Then there was that white horse belonging to the royal family, the one he had first seen in his nightmares and ultimately on the day that she escaped Castletown with Zelda. That only left one. But… No, it had to be. He had never seen it without its armor, but there was no question.

"That was Ganondorf's horse," he said uneasily.

Shiek blinked, the only indication that she was surprised. She hadn't paid a great deal of attention to the horse and its rider, but now that she thought about it, it didn't surprise her. They had watched Ganondorf brazenly leaving the castle. A wanted criminal had walked into her city, done gods know what, and left without the patrolling guardsmen so much as sparing him a suspicious glance. If she was honest with herself, she had to admit that nothing could have been done. She didn't want to send another battalion to their deaths, much less her town guard.

"I dunno what he was doing after Green Girl got me away from him, but he was just trying to get rid of me for a profit. He didn't cause any real damage as far as I could tell."

"Do you think this means that we also bought him from Ganondorf the first time around?" Link whispered so that only Navi could hear.

"Maybe. I don't think there's any way to be sure of that anymore. He wouldn't know what he did in an alternate chain of events, so asking him would be pointless… and dangerous."

They didn't have any time to continue this topic, as there was a loud crunching noise that grated against their ears and then the sound of something being reeled toward them. Suddenly, a burly man flipped up onto the battlement with them. He was wearing a thick green scarf that covered his mouth and nose, and his long hair was tied up into a thin, wavy ponytail. Frightening, large red bags framed his otherwise tranquil green eyes, as though he forced himself to stay awake for days at a time on a regular basis.

The man's most prominent characteristic however, was the huge gauntlet that was replacing his lower left arm. It was twice the size of his other hand, jet-black, and the digits were almost talon-like.

Link, Zelda, Saria and Volvagia stared at him warily, or in the dragon's case, just curiously.

"His arm is probably mechanical," whispered Navi, who had flown out of Link's pocket, "Be careful."

"So, you're the the target?" said the man, "I was expecting more of someone with such a high bounty. You're nothing but a boy at most!"

"I'm more than I appear to be," Link said carefully, "You can probably say the same about yourself. Let's avoid any unnecessary violence."

"Oh, what a pity, I guess you'll have to postpone your plans," the man said grimly.

The strange man held out his huge gauntlet-encased arm at Link. It was clearly a threat, but Link couldn't help but feel he had handled worse. Those two gargantuan insects in Termina for example. And this strange character couldn't be half the threat either Ganondorf or Majora had posed. It occurred to him that Ganondorf might have sent this man after him, but that wouldn't make any sense. He hadn't even met the Ganondorf of this time. And of course, the chances of anything from Termina showing up in Hyrule were astronomical. That and he had learned the truth behind Majora from the spirit of the Fierce Deity.

The disturbing mask was the personification of rage and loneliness of an ancient beast. The creature had gone mad with the sheer helplessness of its situation. All it had wanted was a friend, and instead, all the people that it ever met tried to kill it because of its frightening appearance. It was no wonder that it had identified with Skull Kid, even if it ultimately discarded its thrall.

"Such a disappointment," said the bounty hunter, jarring Link from his thoughts. "My client must be a fool to give a child such significance."

"And who might your employer be, exactly?" Shiek asked.

The man hid a sneer beneath his scarf.

"That would violate merchant-customer confidentiality," he said, "I can't very well do that. I can tell you my name. It's Byrne. No need to remember it. I have little doubt that you'll all be dead before it's of any use to you."

"I'll float around at a safe distance and see if I can find a weakness," Navi whispered in Link's ear.

"Good. Thanks Navi," said Link, turning to face his attacker.

He lunged at Link, swinging his clawed gauntlet in vicious swipes. Link easily dodged and parried most of the attacks but several met their mark, leaving gashes in several places on his body. Then, the man jumped into the air, flipped over Link's head, and before he had a chance to react, thrust his claws through his left shoulder, eliciting a sharp cry from Link and nearly making him drop his sword. He vaguely registered that Saria was calling out to him. She sounded very worried. For her sake, he couldn't let this thug beat him.

He made to charge at Byrne but was forced to stop short as the mercenary matched his movements and attacked a split second earlier. He barely reacted in time and the heavy gauntlet collided with his shield with a jarring impact, its claws dragging along the metal and sending up a trail of sparks. Having no other visible equipment, Byrne had evidently left himself open by putting all his strength into that attack, and Link was quick to stab his sword at the mercenary's chest. It came as a complete surprise when he overstepped and lost his balance. Byrne had swiveled out of the way as though his center of gravity was in his arm, not his body, leaving Link's sword extended in midair, allowing for the gigantic metal claw to close around his arm.

With a sharp tug, Byrne heaved him into the air and slammed him back to the floor, ripping his arm out of its socket. Link screamed as his shoulder was dislocated.

"Flesh arms. Such a hassle, am I wrong?" Byrne taunted.

"Yes, I agree," quipped Shiek, having snuck behind him. "A shame that this metal replacement doesn't extend over your shoulder though."

Zelda silently berated herself both for wasting time and for letting her opponent know where she was, but still managed to sink a pair of kunai into Byrne's exposed shoulder. She kicked off his back and danced back to a safer distance. The mercenary reached behind his back with his flesh arm and yanked the knives out of his shoulder with a pained grunt. Then he threw them back at her with perfect form and accuracy.

Shiek gasped, vanishing in a puff of smoke, reappearing a few meters behind him.

"You intend to thwart me with such simple parlor tricks?"

"Parlor tricks?! These are secret artes known only—"

"—To the Shiekah tribe?" Byrne interrupted, the sneer in his voice rather than on his face. And then he vanished just as she had, emerging in front of her and using his left arm to grab her by the collar, lifting her off her feet.

"What?! But how could you…?"

Byrne raised his gauntlet, leveling it at her belly.

"I'm through playing ignorant. I know exactly what this boy is and what he's supposedly done. The Hero of Time. That's an impressive sounding title, though he's done little to suggest he's worthy of it considering how easily I incapacitated him. Even so, I suppose he must be special for you to associate with him."

"Let her go!" Link roared, he charged at Byrne, his sword held awkwardly in his right hand. Byrne turned around, drew his left arm back, and as he thrust it forward, the clawed hand shot out at Link, practically skewering him. He looked at the gauntlet again. It had separated into five separate parts linked together by a long, thick wire.

"Link!" Saria shrieked.

"How do you know of that title? The princess hasn't exactly made a point of spreading the story. And what does it matter if I choose to associate with him? I am merely a servant of the royal family."

The mercenary glared at her, derision clear in his red-rimmed eyes.

"Please, just spare me your little ruse, Princess."

Zelda gasped behind her mask, but quickly composed herself again. She dropped the act, letting her disguise fall.

"How do you know all this?"

"Be realistic, girl, I'm sure you must suspect by now."

She did suspect. It was plainly seen: He knew their techniques, he had knowledge that no one else could have.

Byrne tightened his grip on her throat.

"You… You're a Shiekah?" Zelda choked out.

"Half-Shiekah. As you can see, I don't have the unique red eyes of the tribe. My brand was on the back of my left hand before my arm was cut off in your father's war on the Gerudo fifteen years ago."

"Why would you…dishonor…your people…by selling your skills as…as a common…brigand?"

"Dishonor? I only did what was necessary in order to survive. Serving the royal family would have led to my death, so I defected. I might serve you again for a price, but only until the money runs out."

"Then name it!" she shouted.

"…What?"

"How much…will it cost for you to…betray…Ganondorf? I don't care how much he's…paying you… you mustn't kill Link!"

Byrne's eyes suggested that he now wore a lopsided grin underneath his scarf.

"You are a clever one, Princess, I'll not deny you that. You're catching on, and you even know who I work for. Ten thousand. That's twice the amount I'm being paid to kill this boy."

"You'll have it! Let us go!"

For a moment, she thought he would just kill her on the spot. Then slowly, he set her back on her feet.

"I still think you'd have been smarter not to interfere. Have my payment ready for me. I'll accept a bank note, and be sure to have it on hand by tomorrow evening or I'll make another attempt on his life. Is this boy truly that important?"

"More than you may realize," Zelda said, breathing heavily. "And you couldn't win next time. You caught Link off guard with your strange abilities, but he knows what to expect now."

"You have a lot of confidence in your friend. Are you sure it isn't misplaced?" Byrne asked.

Link nodded, cradling his left arm.

"I'm a fast learner. You just went all out really quickly. That, and I wasn't expecting your arm to extend like that. My mistake, I guess."

"You'll have your rupees. I promise you that. Be prepared to earn them as well. I could use the assistance of a man with your skills. We plan to recapture Ganondorf and you're clearly a very capable warrior.

"I'll give it some thought. Are you prepared to pay another large sum?"

Zelda rubbed the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger.

"Money is truly everything to you, isn't it?" she grumbled.

"I wouldn't say that," said Byrne. "I would merely say that rupees are better negotiators than people."

"So in other words, money is truly everything to you."

"I don't need to take smack talk from a brat like you. Have the money ready the next time we meet. And we will meet again soon, that's a guarantee."

"I've already told you that you'll have it," Zelda rubbed her eyes with her thumb and forefinger. "Now I suggest you leave before we both lose our patience."

"A sound idea. Don't bother looking for me. I'll find you."

He left by way of the stairs instead of flipping back over the wall. Zelda didn't doubt that he could avoid any guardsmen he came across.

"Well, you crushed him with witty repartee," said Volvagia cheerfully.

"I wouldn't say that. But I'm glad he's gone for the time being. He seems like a difficult man to negotiate with. He seems not to have very much respect for authority."

Navi bobbed from side to side in the air in disagreement.

"No, that's not it. I think it's that he resents being told what to do by people that he perceives as children."

"You may be right," Zelda said with a faint nod.

"Who was that guy?" asked Saria.

"I don't have a clue," said Navi, "But I have a strange feeling that we haven't seen the last of him. And he was a Shiekah. I overheard what he and Zelda were saying."

"One thing's for sure though," said Link, clutching his left arm "He knew what he was doing."

Saria began fussing over his injuries, and Zelda smiled wistfully. To have friends was such a privilege. She hoped that she could have friends someday. Real friends, not just servants in a castle, or people who felt obligated to make her happy.

"Come along then. We'll have that injury looked at."

"Do I have to?" Link whined.

"Yes, unless you want to spend weeks recovering," insisted Navi.

"No! I hate it!"

"Drink the stupid red potion!"

"No! It's gross and I know what goes into it!"

Saria tilted her head to the side curiously.

"Huh? I never learned what the ingredients are for making potions. What's in them?"

"The main ingredient is Chu jelly," Link rasped, as though the very thought was making him sick."

Saria scratched her head thoughtfully. Then the full impact of what he said hit her.

"Wait, you mean from those slimy ChuChus!? Eww!" she wrung her hands in disgust.

"Hey! Don't validate him!" shouted Navi. Grabbing the bottle in both arms, she lugged the glass jar up to Link's face and forced the potion down his throat.

"AAUGH! You traitors!" he screamed, trying to spit it out. Pointless because he'd already swallowed it.

Watching from the sidelines, Zelda giggled at the scene. It was like watching a mother forcing her child to take medicine, or at least, she assumed as much. She and Impa had a few similar arguments when she was younger. She still didn't like drinking potions if she hurt herself.

"Look, it's done! Stop complaining! You'll be able to take the bandage off by tomorrow morning, so it's fine!" fussed Navi.

"Yeah, I know…" Link mumbled.

He sat on the edge of his bed looking sullen.

"Let's all get some sleep," Zelda announced, "We're all going to the Valley of Seers to meet with the sorcerers who live there first thing in the morning."

Link nodded.

"I'm coming too," piped Saria.

"I'll leave that up to Link," said Zelda.

"You can come with us," Link agreed. "Just… promise that if things get too dangerous, you'll run and get out of danger. I don't want my friends getting hurt."

Saria deflated upon hearing this, but nodded.

"Fine…" she whined petulantly.

"Excellent. Now that's settled, I'll be leaving for a while, I need to consult with Impa," she suddenly remembered the mercenary, and sighed, "And withdraw a noteworthy sum from the castle treasury."

Author's Note: Byrne the renegade Shiekah. Similar enough to the original character, but different enough to fit in the era of the Hero of Time. I'd be interested in knowing what you think of this reimagining of his character. I did use him to replace my disastrously lousy OC from the first story after all. I kind of need him to work.

For those only in this because they hope to see some romance, yes, I do intend to have some greenshipping in this story, but Link and Saria's relationship is not going to be the focus of this fic as it was in the previous one. I just like seeing childhood friends end up together. (I feel so bad for Malon though. I really like her too.)

As for when you can expect another chapter…

I have no idea, so definitely more than a year on this one. Sorry folks.