That morning, Link groggily rose from his bed. He briefly wondered whether he should go back to sleep and enjoy his day off, but eventually he decided against it. 'It's nice not being woken up by the sound of someone shouting up at me at far too early in the morning...' On a whim, he glanced out his window, up at the clear blue morning sky. His hawk flew lazy circles near the tops of the trees, birdsong could be heard from all around, and there was a pleasant breeze blowing in through the window. Link smiled to himself.
As he was pulling his head back in, he noticed three people standing below, patiently waiting for him to see them. He blinked. Beth, Talo, and Malo. 'Oh dear. What are they doing here?' When the children were sure Link saw them, Talo wildly flapped his arms as some kind of greeting.
"Hey, wake up, Link! It's morning already!" Link sighed. 'Well, at least they were polite enough to wait until after I woke up.' Before Talo could shout any more, he retreated back to the loft. Still somewhat drowsy, he walked down the first ladder, past his makeshift bookshelf and the lumpy chair he often fell asleep in, down the second ladder, past his small but functional kitchen, past his assortment of tools and cleaning equipment, and out the door. He sighed as he saw the clutter taking over some of his house. 'Guess I'll need to get some cleaning done when I can.'
Upon exiting, he glanced up into the sky again, and was glad to see his hawk still circling the trees. 'Call me crazy, but it almost looks like he's circling around the kids. Weird.' The three of them were huddled together whispering and giggling, until Link walked over to them. Beth noticed him walk over, which prompted Talo to turn around and greet him excitedly.
"Oh, Link! Didja hear?" Link winced at the volume of Talo's voice. 'I don't think I'll be able to hear for a bit with how loudly you're screaming in my ears, Talo.'
"They're selling a slingshot at the store right now! A SLINGSHOT!" Link flinched again at Talo's yelling. 'Talo, please. You don't need to shout, I'm right here.'
"I wonder how powerful it is... I... I need... I must try it..." Malo murmured to himself. Link shivered despite himself. 'Just don't make eye contact, Link. Pretend you can't hear him.' Beth huffed at the two younger boys.
"Talo, if you and Malo want it so badly, just buy it at my parents' shop!" Link shook his head, silently hoping Beth would get the message. 'Bad idea, Beth. Very very bad idea. Do you not remember what happened with the wooden sword - MY wooden sword - after Talo got it?' Beth seemed not to notice. Talo grumbled at her suggestion.
"Do you see any Rupees in my hand? I can't afford that thing! C'mon, Beth, can't you just loan it to us for a while?" Beth huffed and put her hands to her hips.
"You know I'd get in trouble for that! If you two want it, save up your allowances or something." Link sighed. 'Thank you, Beth, for at least sometimes keeping your head sewed on straight.' Malo sighed.
"But... our allowances are terrible... Aww, I wish I was born into a family with a slingshot instead of one with a waterwheel..." Link could only blankly stare at Malo.
"C'mon, Beth. We just want to LOOK at it a little! So can you get it? The slingshot? From the shop?"
"…Yeah, and if you can't do that, let's just trade families, OK?" Beth scowled at Talo.
"KNOCK IT OFF!" Even Link couldn't help but take a step back. 'Seems Sera's worries over the shop are getting to Beth too...' Absentmindedly, Link glanced into his wallet - and frowned when he saw not a single Rupee. He sighed. 'Right. Fado forgot to pay me again.' He pondered his situation, walking into the village as he did.
He was surprised to see Hanch staring up at the tree behind Fado's house. 'I always forget Fado lives here, he's always up at his ranch. Sometimes it seems like he sleeps there too.' Link walked over to Hanch, lightly tapping him on the shoulder.
"Well hey, 'morning, Link. Got a day off from work today, m'boy?" Link nodded. Hanch sighed tiredly.
"Not me. The wife's been hassling me... Today's the day to restock our store." Link, unsure of what to do, could only frown. 'Maybe the worries over the store are why she's been so hard on Hanch lately. Maybe, if I try and buy something from her store, it'll make things better for the three of them.' Hanch awkwardly shuffled for some time, before looking back up at the top of the tree. He pointed at something.
"Look! See? Up there in that tree..." Link peered up at where Hanch was pointing. 'Oh. A nest of Ordon bees. How long has that been there?'
"Yeah, some Ordon bees built themselves a fine nest up there, and I was thinking about knocking it down..." Link looked back at Hanch and raised an eyebrow. 'Why? It's not your house.'
"Our cat hasn't come home since yesterday, so the wife's in a bad mood. At the very least, I need to bring something home to her..." Hanch's voice had dropped to a whisper, as if he didn't want Sera to hear him. 'As if this family needs more stress to worry about.' He sighed. 'Well, I suppose I can try and keep an eye out for the cat.' With that thought, Link walked away and towards the small pumpkin patch. He noticed Jaggle standing on top of one of the raised circles of land.
"Yo, Link! Why don't you climb up those vines there?" Link raised an eyebrow at Jaggle. 'Is there something you want? Or are you just trying to teach me something I already know?' Deciding to humor the man, Link carefully made his way up the vines.
"Yo! There you are!" Link frowned. 'Jaggle, I'm not a child, you don't need to congratulate me like one. Now what do you want?'
"Check this out... You know Sera, at the general store? Well, isn't that her cat over there?" Link glanced over at where Jaggle was pointing. 'Hm, so it is. I'll see if I can bring him over to her.'
"He's just been sitting there next to my house, having a staring contest with the creek." Link smirked. 'No, Jaggle, I think he's trying to catch a fish.'
"You don't suppose he's thinking he can catch a fish, do you?" Jaggle laughed, but Link's smirk didn't leave his face. 'You'd be surprised.'
"A cat can't catch no fish!" Jaggle continued laughing. 'No, but a cat can catch a fish.' Jaggle's laughter continued for a time until it eventually fell away. Sighing, he continued.
"Anyway, that's not what I was meaning to tell you about. I want you to take a look at something..." Jaggle looked and pointed at a patch of grass growing on another raised circle of land. Link raised an eyebrow. 'Yeah, the reeds I use to call my hawk. What about them?'
"See that grass growing there on the edge of that rock? Haven't I seen you whistling with that stuff?" Link snorted. 'Probably.'
"I figured it was pretty rare to see it growing in a place like that, so I thought I'd let you know. I bet you could hop across those rocks, couldn't you?" Link huffed indignantly. 'Okay, first of all, those reeds have been growing there since I was as old as Colin or Talo. And second of all, stop talking to me like I'm a kid! I'm seventeen, why does everyone in this village insist upon talking to me like I'm seven?!' Link's silent frustration went unnoticed by Jaggle. Then he remembered Hanch's attempts to knock down the Ordon bee nest. 'I wonder if my hawk would be able to knock the nest down. Worth a try.' Link leapt across the gap between the two raised circles - 'And so effortlessly too, take that Jaggle!' and plucked a reed from the ground, playing a melody for his hawk. Like Epona, he had trained the hawk that the reed melody meant treats.
With a shrill cry, the hawk descended from the skies and gently landed on Link's bandaged wrist. He grinned and scratched its neck, which the hawk leaned into. 'Good boy. I'll be sure to give you some nice treats later.' Then he turned to face the nest of bees and pointed. In an instant and a flurry of feathers, the hawk leapt off of his wrist and flew at the nest. Link frowned worriedly when the hawk crashed into the nest rather than neatly catching it in its talons. 'I hope he's okay... I'll be sure to check on him later.' He watched as the nest tumbled down from the tree and crashed to the ground, splitting into pieces as startled bees buzzed away.
Link was about to jump down to pick up the pieces of the broken nest when he faintly heard the sound of squeaking. 'That's odd, I don't think I've heard that sound before. Where could it be coming from?' He glanced around, and saw what looked to be a small animal jumping up and down on top of the rock in the middle of the lake. Curious, he leapt across the islands to get a better look.
'Well I'll be. It's a monkey. And is that a baby basket in its hands?' He strained to get a better view. 'Yeah, that must be what it is. I'll bet that belongs to Uli.' For a moment he pondered how to retrieve the basket, before noticing the reeds below his feet. He chuckled. 'I suppose that's one way. Gives me an opportunity to make sure he's okay, too.' He plucked another reed and summoned the hawk, which once again landed on his wrist within moments. Link gently turned the hawk's head to face him, trying to see if there were any signs of injury or illness.
"Well, buddy, you don't seem hurt. You'll just have to be careful, won't you?" he whispered to the hawk. He again gently scratched the back of the hawk's neck, taking extra time to assure himself that the hawk was uninjured. 'You always seem to forgive me, even when you get hurt because of me.' With that, he pointed towards the monkey, and the ever-obedient hawk flew from his wrist towards the baby basket. The hawk effortlessly grabbed the basket in his talons, and then casually dropped it into Link's arms as he flew back. Carrying the basket over his head, Link leapt across the islands and back onto the ground. 'Now, let's take this back to Uli. Ah, that's convenient, she's there by the river.' When he had neared her, Uli turned around and saw the cradle.
"Oh, my.. Link! I have been looking for that cradle!" Link nodded. 'I know, that's why I brought it to you.'
"I made it when Colin was born, and I have cherished it all these years." Link laughed to himself. 'Aw, I should've brought it to him first instead, how would he have reacted?'
"My thanks to you!" Link grinned. 'You're welcome. Now, where should I put this cradle?' Uli paused, thinking about something.
"That reminds me… There is something I am supposed to give to you…" Link tilted his head to the side slightly.
"Do you think you could carry that cradle and come with me back to my house?" Link nodded. 'Sure. Just don't be upset if I run ahead of you.' Sure enough, Uli walked slowly towards the house she and Rusl lived in. Link sighed internally as he walked over to the house, easily outpacing her. 'I know you've got a baby on the way, Uli, but come on, I saw you run faster than this when you were pregnant with Colin.' Eventually, she reached the house herself.
"My thanks to you, Link." Evidently, the slight impatience that Link felt was visible on his face. "Yes, yes… I had nearly forgotten… I am supposed to give you this…" Link huffed. 'Uli are you stalling for time because you forgot where you put it.'
"All right… Here you go!" Uli handed Link a small wooden fishing rod, carefully hand-painted in bright colors. 'Ah, so this is the fishing rod Colin was making for me. He did a pretty good job.'
"It is a little… unpolished." Link shrugged. 'Colin's still a kid, I wasn't expecting something perfect.'
"Colin made it for you, under Rusl's instruction." Link nodded. 'I will certainly have to thank Colin the next time I see him.' Uli sat down on the raised porch of the house.
"When Colin grows up, I want him to be just like you." Link smiled. 'You're too kind, Uli.'
"He really is a sweet boy… He can just be a little… timid." Link frowned, just slightly. 'I mean, it doesn't help that Talo and Beth are always teasing and bothering him. Poor kid doesn't have anyone his age who doesn't torment him.'
Lost in thought, Link found himself wandering through the village. Glancing up at where Jaggle had been standing earlier, he remembered Jaggle's joke about Sera's cat. A smirk spread across Link's face. 'A cat can't catch a fish, huh? We'll see about that.' With that, he walked towards the back of Jaggle and Pergie's house.
Sera's cat was still sitting by the edge of the lake, intently staring into the water. Link smiled. 'Silly kitty, you're not going to catch anything by just staring at the water.' As Link walked closer, the cat ran away. Link shrugged. 'When I catch a fish, he'll come back.' He took out the fishing rod Colin had made for him and cast its line into the lake, just in time to hear Sera's cat meow and run up behind him.
It took some time, but eventually he caught a fish - nothing particularly special, just a little Greengill. Nonetheless, Link was proud of himself. As he began to take the fish off of the hook, the cat leapt forward and caught the fish in his mouth, running away (likely back to Sera's shop). Link could only watch, surprised at the cat's sudden boldness. 'Silly cat, if you'd just waited a second longer, I would've given you that fish.'
As he walked to Sera's shop to see what she thought of her cat catching a fish, he happened to see the beehive he'd had his hawk knock down earlier. 'Might as well go admire my handiwork, since it looks like the bees are gone by now.' There, on the ground, were five equally-sized chunks of what used to be a beehive. 'If I had a bottle on me, I could get some honey from here. Mmm, fresh Ordon honey..'
Looking up at where the beehive had been, Link noticed the vines. He wasn't sure why, but he suddenly felt the urge to climb up them. It was a rather long climb, compared to the ladder into his house, but when he reached the top branch he had a wonderful view of the entire village. 'Wow, why haven't I come up here before? This is incredible!' Then he noticed something - or, rather, two somethings - glinting in the branches in front of him. He blinked. 'Are those.. Rupees?' Taking a cautious step closer, he confirmed that not only were they Rupees, they were a blue and a yellow Rupee. 'How did these even get up here?'
Then another thought came to mind. 'If Fado isn't paying me, why don't I just pay myself? I doubt anyone in the village even knows these are up here, and I could use some Rupees. Especially a blue and a yellow - fifteen Rupees is a lot!' He carefully shuffled along the branches until he could reach out and grab them to shove into his wallet. Once the Rupees were safely in his wallet, Link cautiously slid backwards on the branch, doing everything he could to keep his body steady until at last he felt the solid wood of the tree on his back. He exhaled, not having realized his breath had been held since he started backing off of the branch.
With the Rupees taken care of, Link climbed back down the vines, glancing around at the village below as he did. He blinked when he noticed the glint of something shiny in the grass nearby the base of the tree. 'More Rupees? How are all these Rupees ending up over here? Are the kids running around and playing on this tree?' He pondered this as he climbed down to take a closer look. Sure enough, it was more Rupees, though this time it was only two greens. Link shrugged, and picked them up to slip into his wallet along with the blue and the yellow. 'Seventeen Rupees is a lot better than zero Rupees.'
He glanced around again, wondering just how many other Rupees might be hiding in plain sight. As he did, his gaze fell upon Sera's shop. 'Oh, right, I was going to check on Sera, to see what she thinks of her cat coming back.' He smirked to himself. 'Wonder what she thought about him bringing home a fish.' With that thought, he walked into the shop.
Sera sat at the table, beaming gleefully at her cat, who was lapping up some milk in a shallow bowl. Link smiled, reaching over to gently pet the cat, who purred in response and stopped drinking to enjoy the attention. Sera turned to face him, still smiling.
"Oh, my! Link! Good to see you!" Link nodded. 'Good to see you as well Sera. Seems you're glad to have your cat back.' Sera hummed to herself.
"Oh, you simply MUST hear this! My little kitty cat is so amazing!" Link grinned, with just the slightest hint of a smirk.
"Today, he caught a fish all by his little old self!" Link chuckled to himself, gently scratching the cat behind his ear. The cat happily leaned into the scratches, then rubbed on Link's hand.
"How do you think he caught it? Maybe he's a genius!" Link moved his hand to gently scratch the cat's chin. 'Maybe he had someone help him.' Sera turned to look back at the cat.
"Ohhh, just look… Isn't he so cute?" Link nodded. Sera turned to face Link, picking up a half-filled bottle of milk next to her on the counter.
"Say, m'dear, why don't you have some milk too! I'm in a good mood, so it's on the house today!" Link shrugged and accepted the bottle, carefully putting it into one of his pockets. The cat gently reached out a paw and tapped on Link's arm, earning another coo of affection from Sera and some more petting from Link. He stopped for a moment to pull the bottle back out, prompting more gentle paw-taps on his arm for some time until the cat decided to go back to drinking the milk. Link pointed at the bottle with a quizzical look on his face, and Sera shook her head.
"Oh, don't worry, you don't have to return the empty bottle, m'dear. You can reuse it - you know, put something else in it." Link nodded, putting the bottle back in his pocket. 'That's good to know.'
"So, what do you say, m'dear? Is there anything you want today?" Link shrugged. 'Well, there was that slingshot the kids were talking about.. Wouldn't hurt to at least see how much it costs.'
"Feel free to take a look!" She gestured at the items sitting on the shelf behind her - a ceramic jug of milk, a small jar of bee larvae, and the slingshot itself. Curiosity getting the better of him, Link pointed at the slingshot. Sera raised an eyebrow, to which Link shrugged and pointed at his wallet. She seemed to understand, though her skeptical expression remained.
"It's 30 Rupees, m'dear. Surely you don't want that - it's just a toy! Stings something AWFUL when you get hit by it, though." Link frowned. 'I'm… thirteen Rupees short.' He shook his head, gesturing again at his wallet. Sera nodded understandingly.
"Is there anything else you want to look at?" Link shook his head again, and Sera nodded.
"See you again soon!" Link nodded, gently petting the cat's head before leaving Sera's shop.
He sighed once he closed the door behind himself. 'Where am I going to find… was it thirteen? more Rupees?' He pondered this, then remembered the two he'd found in the grass nearby the tree. 'Maybe there's more Rupees hidden in the grass around the village?' He found himself aimlessly wandering the village for some time, brushing aside grass with his foot to look for anything sparkling up at him. Eventually, his wandering brought him to the ledge nearby Jaggle and Pergie's house, overlooking Mayor Bo's house. He glanced up, more out of boredom and exasperation than anything else, and was surprised to notice a reed growing on its roof. 'Huh. How did that get up there?' He climbed up the ladder, grateful for its sturdiness compared to the vines growing on the tree, and glanced around. Dead vines, or perhaps trees, grew along the thick wooden fence on the ledge, and to the right he noticed a stack of wooden crates. Carefully climbing up the crates onto the next ledge, he took some moments to look around from this new height. To his left was the roof of Mayor Bo's house, with a ladder leading to where he had seen the reed growing. He was surprised to also see a white Cucco calmly strutting around past the roof. 'How did you get up here?' To his right, the ledge slowly merged with the cliffs in the area.
Link climbed up the second ladder, glad that Mayor Bo had decided to fasten the ladder to the side of the roof with some nails. As he reached the top, he was surprised to see another Rupee, in particular another yellow Rupee. He eagerly grabbed it and slid it into his wallet. 'Only three more Rupees!' Then he stopped to ponder what he had just done. 'This.. was probably Bo's Rupee.' He brought it back out of his wallet. Guilt gnawed at him, for taking such a valuable thing from the man who had raised him since he was a child. He looked the Rupee over, turning it around in his hands. 'Should I give this back to him? He might not be missing it, but it's still probably his, unless the Cuccos have learned to carry Rupees of their own.' He glanced to his right, back in the direction of the Cucco, and was surprised to spot another yellow Rupee on the ledge above the Cucco. 'How do all of these Rupees keep ending up in such weird places?' Remembering the reed growing nearby, Link made a decision. 'I'll take that yellow, and give this one back to Bo.' Satisfied, Link slid Bo's Rupee into his pocket before grabbing a reed and calling down his hawk.
When the hawk landed on his wrist, Link again gently scratched the back of the hawk's neck. 'You've been very helpful today, boy. I'll make sure to give you some extra treats, you've earned it.' He then pointed to the yellow Rupee, which the hawk dutifully brought to him. The second yellow Rupee slid easily into his wallet. 'There, now I only need three more.'
Out of curiosity, he glanced down below himself at the lower section of Bo's roof. He didn't know what he expected to see, but two green Rupees certainly weren't on that list. He climbed back down the ladder and walked around to grab those two Rupees, which slid easily into his wallet. 'Only one more, and I can get that stupid slingshot.' He jumped down from Bo's roof, landing conveniently right next to him, startling the mayor in the process.
"Mornin', Link. Sounds like Fado's handlin' things at the ranch on his own today. When he's up there alone, I always figure some calamity or other's gonna happen…" Fado's voice trailed off as the sound of an angry goat galloping down from the ranch could suddenly be heard.
"Whoooooooaaa! A goat got loose! It's headin' for town! Somebody stop it!" Link sighed as he braced to catch the goat. 'This has been happening more and more frequently.' He grunted as he caught the goat's horns in his hands. 'He says I can take the day off, only for one of his goats to get loose.' The goat, laying in the dirt, was finally pacified. He exhaled. 'And to top it off, he keeps forgetting to pay me!'
"Aw... Fado did it again... These goats have been awful skittish lately... You always gotta be on your toes! Sorry 'bout that, Link. But thanks to you, that goat didn't get away!" Link nodded, as Bo sighed.
"The goats are gettin' loose, the monkeys are causin' trouble... It's tough bein' mayor!" Link nodded again, remembering many nights where Bo was kept up late with worry about the town. Bo ran a hand across the top of his head.
"You've heard 'bout 'em, right, Link? Those monkeys? Apparently they've been comin' into the village lately. If you see 'em causin' any trouble, can you teach 'em a lesson for me?" Link smirked to himself. 'Are we talking about monkeys, or children, Bo?' Bo stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"I've gotta wonder, what are wild monkeys doin' in town? Did the woods run out of food?" He was silent for some time. Then he shrugged.
"At any rate, if you see 'em causin' any trouble, could you teach 'em a lesson for me?" Link shrugged. 'I can certainly try.' He was about to turn around to leave, when he realized he'd forgotten to give Bo the Rupee. He reached into his pocket and pulled it out, handing it to Bo, who raised a confused eyebrow at Link.
"Eh? Naw, I don' need a Rupee - Hylia's sakes, if anything I should be payin' you for helpin' with Fado so much!" Bo laughed to himself. Link shook his head, pointing at Bo and then at the Rupee. Bo seemed to again misunderstand.
"Son, keep your Rupee, you've earnt it as far as I'm concerned." Link sighed internally, then pointed up at the roof and then at the Rupee. A particularly confused Bo idly scratched at the side of his head.
"What about my roof? It doesn't need fixin', does it?" Link sighed again, then cleared his throat. When he spoke, it came out as a slightly louder whisper.
"This was on your roof." Bo blinked, before awkwardly scratching at the back of his head.
"Oh, uh... Sorry, son, I couldn't quite hear you. Mind repeatin' that?" Link again sighed and again cleared his throat.
"This," he gestured at the Rupee in his still-outstretched hand, "was on your roof," he then pointed up at the top section of Bo's roof. Bo took a moment to respond, then finally his confusion turned to understanding.
"Ah, I see! Yeah, I must'a left that up there when I was fixin' my roof all those months ago! Must'a slipped right out my pocket and I didn' even notice!" He let out a deep, almost bellowing laugh.
"Well son, I appreciate you bringin' my Rupee back. I don' think I quite need it anymore though, truth be told." He smiled at Link, then gently pushed Link's outstretched hand closer to Link.
"Why don' you keep it? I think you'll put it to more use'n I will." With that he reached out and patted Link on the shoulder. Link raised an eyebrow at Bo, which the older man thankfully understood.
"Yea, I'm sure, don' worry about it. If I need another Rupee, I'll figure something out." Link kept his hand open for a couple seconds longer, until he was sure that Bo was serious. Then he slid the Rupee into his wallet with the others. 'That makes... 39 Rupees, isn't it? That's enough to get that stupid slingshot and have some Rupees left over.' With that, he turned and walked across the village and into Sera's shop.
Sera, still gleefully chipper, smiled at Link as he closed the door behind him. He smiled himself, when he noticed that her cat was now done drinking the milk and instead had curled up on the counter to take a nice nap.
"Welcome, m'dear!" Link nodded and waved to Sera, then gestured at the slingshot. Sera blinked in surprise, but went to bring it down from the shelf anyways.
"Are you sure, m'dear?" Link nodded, to which Sera chided him with a laugh.
"What are you doing buying a slingshot, you naughty thing? You're too old for toys!" Link shrugged, to which Sera sighed. "Will you at least let the kids play with it?" Link shrugged again. 'I don't know if I should be allowing Talo anywhere near a slingshot…' Sera looked at him for a moment, holding the slingshot, before she reluctantly put it onto the counter in front of Link. Then, from the space where the slingshot had been, she took down a small bag of what Link assumed to be pellets, and placed it next to the slingshot. He took out the Rupees from his wallet, carefully counting out enough to make 30, and placed them on the counter next to the slingshot. Sera took a moment to count the Rupees herself, then nodded and placed them into a container behind her while Link picked up the slingshot and the bag, carefully sliding them into a pocket. Sera turned around, looking as if she was trying to remember something, before her expression shifted.
"Oh, I should tell you, Link - if you happen to run out of pellets, you can also use pumpkin seeds." Link nodded. 'That's good to know.' Then he frowned slightly. 'Hopefully I don't have to destroy too many pumpkins.. Jaggle really doesn't like wasting food.' He gently petted Sera's cat a couple of times, careful not to wake him, and then with a wave he left her shop. With the slingshot paid for, Link wandered back up the path towards his house.
