"Your total comes to 12 rupees, ma'am."
Link was incredibly depressed after missing the recruiter that morning, and being back at the Super Item Mart didn't help matters. Especially after he caught his uncle in the office sleeping-- again. He felt as if things couldn't get any worse. He'd go to the guard house to talk to someone, but he didn't get off work until after their office hours ended. He knew it wasn't his last shot-- by far-- but it was a blow to his masculine ego.
Until something happened.
The owner of the Super Item Mart, Jed, walked in the store and called Link over to him. Knowing Jed could go over his uncle's head anytime he wanted, he felt no fear leaving the register to talk.
"Yes sir?" Link asked.
Jed smiled. He was a nice man-- always willing to go out of his way to make life better for his employees. "Link, I need you to go to Kakariko City to deliver this message for me."
Link's face lit up with delight. It was a chance to not only get away from his uncle for a while, but to get out of the big city that always seemed to keep him lost in its maze of bounding skyscrapers and subways. But then he got quizzical, "Couldn't you just send the message over the network?"
Jed smiled again. "Not this message. And I can't tell you about it." He reached into his pocket and pulled out 10 rupees, handed it to Link and said, "Go. Be quick and give this letter to no one but Groya, the owner of the north Super Item Shop. No one else, hear me? I'll take care of your uncle."
With a skip in his step and not stopping to ask another question, Link tossed off his smock on the swinging door of the manager's booth and darted out the front door of the establishment. He ran across the street toward the train platform, ignoring the oncoming traffic (which was honking at him loudly), tossed a couple of rupees into the toll, jumped the turnstile and ran onto the train.
He'd gotten to the outskirts of the massive metropolis of Castle City when he decided to get off the train and walk the "old road" along the Hylian River to Kakariko City. No one took it anymore, not since transportation was so readily available to get anyone across the realm in a relatively short time. Getting off the train, Link pushed the message into his back jeans pocket and hit the road in a quick, peppy stride. Besides, he needed to clear his head and this seemed to be the perfect time to do it.
Link had been walking for a little while, when he looked up and saw a swarm of keese flying through the sky. Dusk. It was getting dark, and when it got dark, it got dangerous. He hastened his step, able to see Kakariko City on the horizon, praying to the goddesses nothing went wrong.
Getting ever darker, Link realized what a stupid mistake he'd made. It was dumb of him to go walking the old road so close to dark.
From behind a large rock, two mobilns jumped out, sending Link into a terror.
Shaking violently, Link was unable to move in the presence of two monsters twice his height and size.
"Who we have here, Dunke?" the first moblin asked his friend.
"Look like elvaan. Take rupee?" the friend asked the first.
"Sound like plan to me!" the first said, pulling a large scythe from a sheath on his side.
It swiped at Link quickly, but caught nothing more than part of the coat he was wearing. Link dodged, rolling on the ground, edging himself back from the two mobilns, terrified this might be his end.
The two of them were backing Link up to the edge of the angry, churning river, cutting off any means of escape.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, an arrow flew through the first moblin's skull, protruding out through the other side. Blood spattered on Link's face, chilling him to the bone. The moblin fell to the ground, dead. The second moblin turned to look for the intruder, but as he turned, an armored man came down upon him, slicing him in two from head to rear.
"Well blimey, mate. Got ye'self in quite a pickle, eh?" said the armored man. Link knew by the armor this man was part of the Royal Guard-- a sergeant, so far as he could tell.
"Th… thanks," Link said in a complimentary tone. "If you hadn't shown up, I might have been their dinner."
The guard smiled, wiped the blood from his sword in the grass, then sheathed it. "Well boy-o, that'll learn ya not ta be goin' on the old road at night, eh?"
He extended his hand to help Link from the ground, pulling him to a bipedal state. "Name's Morup. Sergeant Morup. Third Battalion, Second Division, Her Majesty's Royal Guard Forces, esquire."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Link," he responded. "And again, thanks."
"No problem, mate. Just be avoidin' those bloody moblins in the future, eh?" Sergeant Morup said, preparing to walk away from Link, content on only an introduction and a hearty thanks for doing his duty.
"W… wait!" Link cried.
Morup turned and laughed loudly. "Bollocks, boy-o! Need some hand-holdin' the rest of the way to Kakariko?"
"N… no," Link responded. "I… missed the recruiter today-- to join the guards and all. I kind of… wanted to join after I graduated from school. Is it… I mean… at all, well, possible to talk to someone at the guard shack about joining?"
Sergeant Morup rubbed his face and said, "Not quite sure. I guess ye could inquire with Captain Tellah when he starts his shift in the evenings, back in Castle City."
"Thanks," Link said, getting back some motivation for his goal.
"Aye then. Goddesses save the queen," Morup started. "On my way. Fancy to meet you, Linken."
Correcting him, Link said, "It's Link."
Morup waved as he walked away, not even looking back to the young man he'd just saved
---
When Link reached the outskirts of Kakariko City, he quickly hopped the first tram he found, thankful to get out of the open-- and away from any danger coming his way. "Super Item Shop, please," he said, climbing into the tram.
The computer voiced whined, "There are three in Kakariko City. Please make a selection."
Link had to think for a moment. "Err, the north Super Item Shop."
"Thank you. We shall reach your destination shortly," the computer whined as the vehicle climbed high into the air and zoomed quickly to the other side of the large city.
It wasn't often Link had a chance to leave Castle City. Although he'd been to Kakariko City fewer times than to the Domain-- where his mother often served-- and to Gerudo Valley (his dad had temporarily worked as store manager there when the Gerudo went to war with the neighboring Bedouin tribe, deep in the desert). But he knew where he was going, mainly with Death Mountain smoldering in the distance, acting as a constant landmark to his destination.
He relished the ride, reflecting on his indiscretion earlier in the evening. Although he knew, thinking to himself, if he'd just taken the train there and back, he would have been home by this time. But it was his evening-- and one that he'd certainly never forget.
The tram descended deep into the corridor of buildings. Link looked out the window and saw the trashy, gaudy lights of the Super Item Mart and his soul died a little, reminding him of his dismal life.
"Seven rupees, please," the tram computer said.
Link tossed the faire into the receptacle. The door opened and he stepped out into the cool spring night, eyed the tear in his coat, checked the message in his back pocket and walked into the store.
It looked exactly the same as his store back in Castle City, but seemed a little calmer. Link thought it was probably because this store didn't have his uncle in it.
He walked up to the manager's booth and said to the attendant, "I'm here to deliver a message to Groya from Jeb at the Castle City store."
The manager on duty picked up the receiver and said, "Groya to the front. Groya to the front." It echoed over the speaker system in the store.
Link waited in anticipation. A few minutes passed, but still no Groya. Then the receiver rang. The manager picked it up and said, "Front?" Then, "Uh huh," followed by another "uh huh." He ended the call and said to Link, "Groya wants you to go to the back."
Knowing exactly where to go-- because all the stores were exactly the same-- Link walked to the back, through the employee doors and toward the office. "Sir?" Link asked, knocking on the partially opened office door.
A skinny, waifish man, completely effeminate, turned in his chair and faced Link. "Can I help you, dearie?"
Link was a little taken aback when he saw the owner wearing a female wig and full-faced makeup. "Uhh," he started, "This is from Jeb, in Castle City." He handed Groya the letter, noting the man's freshly painted fingernails. He snatched away his hand in one deft, homophobic move.
Groya opened the letter and eyed it for a moment. He put on his glasses and began reading. Then he pulled off his wig and rubbed his face. "Oh no," he said apprehensively.
"Sir?" Link questioned.
Looking up from the letter, with obvious discontent on his face, Groya said to Link, "Nothing, nothing. You'd better get home. It's getting late."
Link nodded and turned to the door. He walked out of the office, then realized he might need to ask if there would be a message back to Jeb, so he turned around.
Before he could get into the office, he heard Groya whisper, "The wizard is back. My goddesses. The wizard is really back."
Link decided not to go back in after hearing this last comment. Other than legends and the fiction shows he watched on the picto-tube in his spare time, he had no clue what a wizard was-- let alone there being a real one.
He dwelled on Groya's comment as he marched out of the store, anxious to get home, knowing he was in for it when he got back. It bothered him. "A wizard?" he thought to himself.
Looking around the foreign city, he had to find a train back. Finding a city map, he found the location of the train and headed in that direction.
It didn't take long to realize the north side wasn't the friendly side of town. Worried about his surroundings, he zipped his coat, stuck his hands in his pocket and tried to look as inconspicuous as possible-- even though an old man was exposing himself just down the block from where he stood. It still didn't leave him, though. "The wizard is back."
---
Thankfully getting off the train at the station closest to his house in Castle City, Link knew what was coming when he got inside. Opening the door, he saw his uncle passed out in his chair, beer bottles broken around him, complete with a dirty magazine in his lap. "Must have been one heck of a night," Link laughed to himself.
Link was pleased he avoided that one. He tiptoed to the desk, quietly closed the screen on the picto-comp and took the device to his bedroom.
Logging into the network, Link began checking his messages. Before he could start reading, he got an invitation to chat.
"Zelda," he mouthed, seeing the invite. He accepted, and laughed at her username, as he always did.
PinkPrincess1: Where were you this afternoon? When Lola and I left the mall, we stopped by the mart to look for you.
Herooflegend: I had to take a trip to Kakariko. Work related.
Herooflegend: Got attacked by some moblins, too.
PinkPrincess1: Oh no! Are you hurt?
Herooflegend: Nah. One of the guards helped me out. He was awesome.
PinkPrincess1: That's great! What was his name?
Herooflegend: Morup, I think.
PinkPrincess1: Hmm. I don't know him, but I'll be sure he gets a commendation.
Herooflegend: Hey now, don't do that on my account. He just happened to be in the right place at the right time.
PinkPrincess1: Nonsense! I don't know what I'd do if my Link got fried into bacon.
PinkPrincess1: Oh, and don't forget, Mother invited you, Tetra and Mako to dinner tomorrow night for a graduation celebration dinner.
Herooflegend: But isn't the queen out of the country-- in Clock Town?
PinkPrincess1: Yeah, but she still wants you there. She sends her regrets.
Herooflegend: Do I still have to come to the royal ball after the graduation ceremony?
PinkPrincess1: Umm, yeah. Of course you do.
Link sighed, then tapped anxiously on the picto-comp, obviously frustrated because he was most assuredly not the dancing type.
He was anxious to finish the conversation and get started on his homework. Plus he was getting tired. It was late and he'd been up early.
Herooflegend: Listen Zelda, I'd love to stick around and chat, but I'm trying to knock out this assignment before I crash. See you tomorrow?
PinkPrincess1: Yeah, no problem. Just make sure you don't have to copy my ancient Hylian homework again. You keep falling so far behind with your conjugations.
Link knew dead languages weren't his strong suit. He was better at the practical things, like math and sciences-- subjects he felt would serve him better in his service to the royal family.
Herooflegend: Heh. No problem. Goodnight princess.
PinkPrincess1: Nite hero.
---
After finishing reading his messages, he opened the word processor, headed his paper, then stopped. He puzzled and puzzled, then typed on the screen, "The wizard is back." But he had no clue what it meant.
He could hear his uncle snoring from the front of the house, mixed with random coughing and some barking. The man had to be having a weird dream. Link smirked to himself. But the noises from his house meant nothing to him, especially in light of the very cryptic message he'd heard in Kakariko.
"The wizard is back."