5. Hylian Gas Station
This chapter has a bit of a tribute to a good friend of mine so please no flaming, also i feel I may need to start including a speech type guide in these lol, let me know what you think.
Warmth...
Warmth spun around Link's body as he hung in the air, slowly he began to open his eyes to a dusky violet sky and wisps of wavering blue and gold light drifted up into the air seemingly becoming the stars themselves. As more of his senses were regained he noticed the familiar sensation of water cradling his body though it was warm and his body seemed to tingle. Once he finally felt his motor function return to him he began to sit up but gasped and hissed in pain grabbing his side as his muscles sang out in a chorus of agony creating a sharp ringing noise in his ears.
"Ahh son of a bitch that hurts!" His voice rang out across the water echoing off the the tall stone walls of the spring bleached white from minerals and sunlight. Link's breath hitched in his throat struggling to breath as he oriented himself without letting go of his side.
*Young hero... Thou hath awoken...* Instantly Link's body was on edge as he reached back to grab his blade but found it gone, in fact his pack, sword and shield were missing. As his eyes looked around through the gold and blue pillars of light he found them on the edge of the spring and that's when he recognized where he was, This was Ordon's Sacred Spring, supposedly home to the area's guardian. Before he could force his body to obey him an off-green twister spun before his face halting his rush to obtain his gear while Link easily recognized the Gale Boomerang within the twister he couldn't understand why she was stopping him.
*At ease... You have no enemy here...* The voice seemed to echo through him rather than come from any direction at all. Though the golden glow seemed to increase while the blue faded away and it brought Link's attention deeper into the fountain as a sphere of golden light wrapped in bands of light appeared hovering in place looking like it was a grand throne created by the way the spring and stones had come to be. Slowly the whistling of wind coming from the boomerang faded and it came to rest on the surface of the water by his knees. While his body was still beyond pissed at Link, he was now in a position to stand up right as he faced the sphere.
*My sincerest apologies that this spring doth not have the power it once did... Hopefully it doth grant thee some succor though...* As the guardian spoke it brought back Link's memories of the battle he had fought against the StalDuke and the pain that had reverberated through his body from striking the steel of the ghost's possessed body. Idly spreading out his fingers before pulling them back into a fist once more, the pain had mostly vanished though he figured the rest of his body was screaming from pushing himself to the brink.
"I... Thank you" What more could the blonde say as his eyes drifted down tot he water feeling somewhat guilty for reacting to the guardian as if it were an enemy.
*Nonsense... You restored balance to both Faron and myself... Our realms are no longer twisted thanks to your actions young hero...* The voice seemed almost humored at the thought of what Link had accomplished but being called a hero didn't sit well in his mind.
"I'd prefer you not call me that, I haven't done anything heroic, the temple was in my way so I tried to find a way around or through it." After Link spoke, an idle silence hung in the air as the guardian contemplated what he had said.
*Very well... Continue on your journey to find your brother and may the light guide your way...* The guardian's parting words were echoed with a soft surge from the spring as the sphere sank into the water and the golden light would slowly bleed away into the fountain rejuvenating Link's body. Although as Ordona faded away he couldn't help hearing something in the way the voice spoke, as if it was trying not to crack a smile while it spoke.
Not that it had a mouth, or a face, or a body...
It had to be in his head.
After a few seconds of testing and stretching his body Link was sure that he could continue and his muscles wouldn't attempt to rebel from his control. Turning back towards the shore where his things were, it had seemed the Gale Boomerang had somehow already drifted over to his things which couldn't help but make him smile, like he had someone with him on the journey as he collected and repositioned his things on his body once more. Heading to the gate into the springs that was supposed to connect to the road he was previously on Link noticed the glint of metal from the road and reached back to grab his blade before a familiar voice permeated the dawn air.
"Link? Is that you?" Almost instantly Link dropped his arm and breathed a sigh, as he saw the same warrior from the village approaching him with a lantern. "What happened out here? Villagers reported seeing a surge of light in the sky and I was sent to investigate. The good news is the doorway is gone and the road is back to normal but we have no idea how, do you?"
"Ah, hey Wilhelm," Link breathed out relieved before suddenly realizing he had remembered the man's name out of hand. "I think I did... You know what never mind you wouldn't believe it sounds like a nightmare."
"If you say so..." Wilhelm replied quietly looking over Link noticing the slight damage to his clothes. "Have you been trying to find your way through since you left yesterday?"
"Yesterday? Crap I gotta go!" Link's voice jumped at the realization the sky above him was the dawn and not the dusk, if he moved fast enough he could probably still get moving before anyone could catch up to him and drag him back to Kokiri. However just as he cleared the gate and turned to book it toward the bridge that was just before the Oil Tycoon/Grill Master's shop a massive shadow loomed over him as a massive white horse whinnied standing on it's back legs, as it came down stamping it's hooves Link could feel the small tremor it created under its weight as a familiar voice punctuated the air.
"Where do you think you're going young man?" The harsh voice of his previous teacher sent a shiver up Link's spine as he looked up at Sorin who rode atop the strongest horse their village had raised. His eyes were strict and harsh as he stared through Link's soul while his figure was clad in pieces of plate armor, mainly greaves and gauntlets.
"Well... You see what happened was-" With that Link turned and bolted from his master rushing down the road ahead of him cursing the boundary against the Faron Woods that left him without cover as he glanced behind him in time to see his master notch an arrow before firing at Link's leg aiming to stop him and not kill. Before the whistle even reached him Link jumped toward the wall narrowly missing the arrow as it sank into the ground, only steping twice onto the wall before jumping back onto the path before he heard the rumble of hooves striking the ground behind him. Somehow it urged him to run faster as he moved even further snaking around the curves of the path until he caught site of the bridge ahead.
"It's a straight shot Link you won't be able to dodge here!" Sorin's voice echoed behind him as his feet hit the wood changing the sound of his footfalls although he took a second to orient himself as the pressure of each step changed with the rope bridge. The whinny of the horse behind him as the horse skidded to a halt at the edge of the bridge couldn't help but make Link smirk as he pushed to the other side. Once his feet hit earth once more he turned to look at his master in time to see an arrow not even 5 feet from sinking into his left knee. Time seemed to slow as he watched the arrow slowly inching towards its target, it couldn't end like this, he wouldn't let his adventure be ended by an arrow to the knee dammit!
At that moment he would hear the arrow make impact, but it was in the ground behind him and slightly to the right, in truth Link had teleported again, barely a foot to the left to dodge the arrow. As Link stood in shock he looked from the arrow to his master who stared at him in a daze for a few moments before sighing and letting his arms fall before waving. That gesture was his sign of giving his blessing to continue, the ability to dodge that shot with a barely a breath's worth of time. A Small smile came to Link's lips as he would nod and turn following the path onward until it branched leading to the left, into Faron Woods, and to the right, to Hyrule Fields and his destination.
Just as Link passed the intersection he felt the familiar pang in his stomach, not of pain but as hunger. He hadn't eaten for close to twenty-four hours now plus the exercise of the manor and his mad dash burned off a lot of his energy but that shouldn't be much of an issue, Link knew there was a small place up ahead that sold food and lantern oil to travelers. After a couple more bends in the path the clearing came into view as the building sat in the alcove to the right of the area while a large fire pit and eating area was on the left side.
"Coro's Stop and Fuel" was a family owned and passed down business from what Link understood from his few stops here to gather lantern fuel for the village. As Link reached the bar-styled counter a man with a large afro and equally large hairnet appeared out of thin air before him offering a bow of courtesy before taking out a pen and holding his hand open under it.
"Welcome to Coro's Stop and Fuel, we offer high quality lantern fuel and tasty snacks for any and all who may happen upon our fine establishment, how may I help you today sir?" The man offered a lazy smile as he stood ready to write the order, despite his professional attitude and timely appearance he looked like he had just woken up from a nap.
"Um... Honestly anything that will give me energy I haven't ate since yesterday and I ran... a lot." Link answered almost pathetically as the man gave him an understanding smile and put the pen away before heading into the building where Link could hear the sound of fire and what sounded like bubbling but he didn't question it as he patiently waited. After roughly fifteen minutes, the man returned with a plate and a large slab of fish but it was brown and looked like it was covered in bits of bread.
"One Fried Ordonian Catfish Special, specially designed to get back your stamina and energy." The man grinned before offering Link a glass of mulled wine and a few utensils before heading back inside. While it looked strange, and smelled strange, it couldn't be that bad if he was selling it. With a shrug he used the fork he had been given to break off a piece of the fish before taking a cautious bite. It was amazing, strange but amazing. Like a starving cat, Link scarfed down the rest of the fish in no time flat until he felt full again, sighing contentedly he would take a few drinks of the mulled wine before finding a rooting through his pouch paying 20 rupees for the excellent meal. The man happily took the money and bowed to Link as he got to his feet before waving good-bye and heading down the road leading out to the southern Hyrule Fields.
"Oh Hylia, that fish was amazing!" The young blonde grinned as he continued along the beaten path seeing the trees start to clear up ahead. "You know I think I can run the rest of the way!"
Link crouched slightly, just enough to get the strength to push off with a good start, it didn't take long for him to break the treeline and emerge out onto the vast fields where the massive walls and castle loomed high in the distance before him, with a grin Link picked up the pace heading straight ahead like an arrow until he heard his stomach rebel against him. The feeling was like nothing he had ever felt before as he fell to his knees hurling up what had been his meal but it felt like acid as it burned his throat, he couldn't get air fast enough as he struggled to stand.
"Th-that bastard fed me p-poison..." Before he could even take a step Link fell back onto the grass feeling a hollow pit in his stomach as his energy drained from him slowly bringing him to blackness as he reached up trying to grasp at the castle with his shaking hand before his vision cut out.
The familiar thud of his head on a shaky wooden surface brought Link out of his coma making his vision swim as he tried to look around, he smelled the hay before he realized he was laying in it, groaning he would slowly sit up holding the edge of the cart to steady himself.
"Oh, you're awake! Good I thought you had died from eating a poison mushroom or something of the sort." A surprised but manly voice came from the driver of the cart up front who had apparently picked Link up as he laid dead on the side of the road. The cart also held a few large burlap sacks as a cold mass fell on his thigh drawing his gaze to the water skin.
"There's some peppermint and ginseng back there from Lake Hylia you can chew on some to try and help your stomach if you want, there's water in there too." Moving almost automatically, Link would roll toward the sacks searching through them till he found the ginseng and placed it in his mouth idly gnawing on the tapered end drawing out the moisture within gradually. Once his stomach stopped feeling like it was eating itself he sat up and blinked his eyes hard trying to make his vision stop being blue. After a few moments he moved to sit against the edge of the cart beside the driver taking a drink from the water skin the man had tossed him.
"Thanks for picking me up sir," As Link glanced around the area he couldn't tell where he was and with the sun hanging in the center of the sky he couldn't tell what direction either. As the young man continued to look around he came to look at his would be savior. The man had a bright farmer's tan alluding more to his profession as if the contents of the cart didn't already say it as well, his hair was black and cut short, slicked back by sweat, his eyes were bright and relaxed as he just focused on the way ahead. He seemed easily older than Link by at least five to ten years and he was built like he had done his work his whole life. While Link looked further his gaze followed the leather reigns that hooked into the harness of a massive Ordonian Stallion that pulled the cart like it was nothing.
"Are you a farm hand too?" The man's deep voice drew Link's eyes back to him having seen the way the blonde was watching the horse.
"Uh yeah, kinda, I'm from Kokiri so we work with Ordon a lot," In truth it was more some sense of relief from seeing something so familiar when he had no idea where he was. "By any chance are we heading to Castle Town? I'm on my way there looking for my brother."
"Sorry to say there champ but Castle Town is on strict lock down only essentials are getting in and out, the order came down about four days ago give or take," The man's relaxed air seemed to dissipate after Link brought up Castle Town which probably meant he had a lot of business he was losing out on. However Link must have betrayed some sort of emotion because the man just smiled and patted his shoulder. "I have a ranch at Kakariko gorge and a friend that may be able to help you get in."
"Oh... um thanks..." Link answered almost numbly after hearing that it was going to be even harder to reach his brother now and by how nice this man was being to him.
"You already said thank you, say things too much and they lose their meaning ya'know?" The man's words made Link smile a bit as he watched along the road taking int the wide expanses of land and the deep gashes carved into it by the legendary water system that came from the Zora's Domain. As the light began to dip slightly in the direction they were heading the stallion rounded the corner bringing the farm into view along with a long add on of stables complete with a pin for his livestock to wander around in. The majority of the area was carved flat like an alcove on the side of a mountain while an incredibly sturdy bridge stood across the open area leading to what looked like a cave in a rock wall on the other side of the gap between the land. "By the way my name is Talio, I'm a specialized breeder, me and my family run our farm."
"Specialized breeder?" The words seemed like they shouldn't seem so out of place but he felt they were in the way the man stated so, most breeders would just say they were dog breeder or the like.
"Heh yeah, I help breed horses with special characteristics for the kingdom, usually they're just interested in more sturdy or speedy breeds like our big boy up here," Talio's spirits seemed to pick up a bit as he spoke about his craft while they closed in on his home while he reached up patting the stallion's flank. "Although lately we've been getting some really strange requests from the castle but they've bore some interesting little fillies."
"Daddy!" Before Link could ask what Talio meant a young girl came running up to the cart after the man had parked it beside the farm, she was barely taller than Link's knees as he slipped down to the ground after Talio who scooped up his daughter with a huge grin on his face, it was then at that moment that Link realized he didn't feel sick any more, hungry still but not sick. Although the next words he heard made him blink a few times in disbelief. "Daddy who is the grasshopper?"
"Grass... hopper..." The words seemed to bounce in Links head not sure if he heard it right leaving the blonde utterly dumbfounded as Talio burst out laughing.
"Don't give it much thought she names everything she sees," The farmer explained to link with a massive grin on his face while his daughter peeked over his broad shoulders staring at him with piercing blue eyes while her cream toned face was framed by her red hair. If Link didn't know better he could have sworn she looked like his mother, from where he stood he could see a woman with similar features watching from the doorway into the house beside the stables. "Why don't you head inside sweety? Daddy and his friend are gonna feed the horses before going in."
"Hmmmmmmm... Otay, if you say so!" The young girl smiled wide before slipping back to the ground before running to her mother. As the two went inside Link couldn't help at the sight of the happy family before Talio went over to the back of the cart and lifted a number of bails of hay that seemed more than human before motioning for Link to follow him, acting on instinct Link moved over picking up two as well struggling to keep up with the built man. Talio lead him into the barn stacking the bails before breaking down a fresh one and leading Link to the stables where the excited neighs of multiple horses could be heard and as Link followed the breeder he couldn't help but be impressed. Ordonian steeds; the sturdy breed hailing from the valleys built for war and travel, Gerudan Runners; lithe agile and an expert on any terrain, and even Zoran Caprics; a unique breed of fish-horse hybrids from the northern seas.
"Wow, these are amazing..." Link couldn't help but stare at the wide range of equines, the Zora Caprics in particular he had only seen drawings of and now here they were in their own lake-like enclosure and glittering scales.
"Heh glad you appreciate 'em but this is just the start let me show you the breeds the kingdom commissioned." Talio slapped him on the back as he left food for each stall before leading Link through a gate at the end where six stalls were separated from the rest.
"Although keep in mind my daughter names them all so don't hold that against me," the man grinned as he rubbed the back of his head and lead Link to the first stall. Inside was a young pony coated in orange fur with a mane like gold, it's eyes seemed to sparkle like light through the leaves as it stood and walked over to them at the gate, nearly every step Link could feel as fresh grass was left in its wake. As soon as it reached the men Talio retrieved a red apple from his clothing before handing it to her. "This here is Apple Jack, she loves apples and we had named her Jackie but Roma liked Apple Jack better. We bred her from the Ordonian species and both her and her parents were fed special oats infused with earth magic by a mage from the Castle's council, the result being a great amount of strength and nature stimulation."
As the orange filly laid upon its freshly grown bed to eat Talio lead him to the next stall where a pink toned pony was... skipping? Through out its pin without a care in the world. "Roma calls this one Pinkie, she just happened one day when I let Roma try to feed a few Gerudan Runners for fun, she seems to never run out of energy."
While it sounded interesting it also seemed like a horse that would be incredibly hard to break. Moving on to the next stall Link froze in place as he stared at the pony within, it was slightly smaller than the previous two and had a soft yellow color through out its coat with a pink mane, but its most striking feature was the presence of wings upon it's back. "This little filly is Fluttershy, as you guessed she is incredibly shy and so far only trusts Roma, we bred the little girl from a Gerudan and Capric both fed wind infused straw which seemed to change the Caprics water-aligned properties."
While Talio didn't make any motion to call over the bonafied pegasus he set his hand on the top of the gate and lightly brushed his hand along it like he was petting her before leading Link to the fourth stall. Inside was a similar yet polar opposite horse, with similar wings but a soft blue coat, the pony zoomed around in its stall flying like a bird leaving a trail like a rainbow behind it. To keep it contained it seemed to be attached to a rope in the center of the room after a short amount of time it came to a stop simply trotting on the ground and Link could see its mane was a multitude of colors like a rainbow. "Heh, Roma named this little speed demon Rainbow Dash, bred similar to Fluttershy but with an equal mix of lightning infused herbs for her health."
In the next next stall laid a single white horse and while it didn't seem too out of the ordinary at first, when Talio clicked his tongue and called it over he could see that its mane was a deep purple hue and a long white horn. "You bred a unicorn..."
"Heh pretty much, we got this girl from a pair of Ordonians fed a range of equally balanced magical aspects." As the pony reached the gate and nudged Talio's hand Link could easily see her coat shimmering as if it were made of diamonds. "The balance of magic has concentrated in her horn while also making her coat so unique, Roma named her Rarity after I explained what a diamond was."
Link would lightly touch the horses head stroking it a few times before Talio moved to lead him to the sixth gate. Within seemed to be an ordinary black pony, well mostly ordinary beside the navy mane the young stallion wore. "This little guy Roma named Magus, apparently she feels he has an amazing potential for magic though nothing significant has occurred yet. We bred him from a pair of Caprics with a large amount of balanced magics so hopefully he'll grow into his potential and become something truly amazing."
"I'm sure you're right, you're the breeder after all," While Link couldn't see anything particularly significant the way Talio spoke about the young stallion made him have faith in the pony as well. After a few moments of watching the stallion Talio turned to head back the way they came to lock up the stables, however as Link followed after him he heard a sharp snap and was taken to the ground in an instant flurry of blue and rainbows.
"Dashie get off him you hyperactive filly!" Talio barked as the pony nuzzled Link and he couldn't help but feel some kind of connection with the pegasus as the sound of wind whistled around him before the pony hoped and hovered back over the gate into its pin laying down content. "I'm sorry bout that, she's usually hyper but she doesn't take well to outsiders."
"It-It's okay just knocked the air out of me." Once the rope had been retied Talio was at Link's side like a flash pulling the weak boy to his feet like he was a rag doll.
"We should probably get some food in you before you starve eh?" With a cautious hand on Link's shoulder he lead him out to his home although with the lack of energy, Link's night felt like a blur of food and hay as he selflessly elected to sleep in the barn for the night curling up in the warm bundles finally allowing his body some semblance of rest since the start of his journey.