"Thanks for help earlier...and with the pirates, too, of course." Erune smiled. She sat at the head of her table, where the boys had seated themselves. She had her eyes trained on Green, but the others were sneaking looks her way as they took spoonfuls of the soup she had offered them.

When the pirates had attacked, and when they had to stop the older woman at the station, there had not been time to take note of her. But now...

She was petite, just over five feet. Her light hair was long and soft, and her eyes were deep brown. Even her plain dress did not detract from the picture. She rivaled Princess Zelda herself.

She looks as cute...Blue shifted in his seat uncomfortably.

...As a doll. Red moved a little farther in his own. His eyes were like those of a puppy.

All at once, Erune trained her eyes on Green, who looked flushed. Even Vio, sitting next to him, coughed curtly.

"Are you quadruplets?"

"Nah.." Green waved his hand with a half-hearted grin. "It's a long story even we can't explain." The other three sat still in insincere tranquility.

Erune did not look convinced, but she smiled anyway. "I don't want to pry."

There was an awkward silence, and then Erune spoke up again. "So...is it true about what happened to the other knights?"

Green's gaze faltered. "Yeah. An evil force stole them away. We four are all that's left." He could not help it as an image of his father, Captain Alpha, flashed before his eyes. He prayed that the older man was alright. He prayed that the last conversation between the two of them would not have to be an argument over teamwork.

It was Vio who spoke up next. "And you say the children here have gone missing, too?"

Erune nodded. "It was just a few at first...one boy, one girl. Some others disappeared when the pirates attacked. By the time you got here, there were eighteen missing altogether."

Red turned pale. "Could it be the same evil force that attacked Hyrule Castle? The same monster?"

"What else could it be, you idiot?" Blue scowled. "We have the missing knights and the kids, so that means we've got two cases in one to crack. And we're gonna solve whatever this is."

Red beamed. "That's my Blue!"

Vio soothed out the wrinkles in his purple tunic. "No sweat."

Green smiled at Erune. "You can depend on us. Any time."

But the mission did not start smoothly.

The boys agreed to split up and search the town, under the pretense that they would cover more ground that way. But each was convinced that with enough digging, he alone would uncover the mystery. And maybe earn more gratitude still from Erune.

Blue and Red walked along one of the alleyways near the outskirts of the town. Blue moved ahead, grumbling. He had questioned every person he found, but the stories were all more or less the same.

"Millie went after dark and never came home."

"Bobbi went to play with some friends. They haven't come back."

"Timon went near the castle. That's all I know."

"Please do something!"

Even in his current state, Blue was lucid enough to push Red out of the way of an oil lampost he was about to walk into.

"Ack!" Red recovered. "Thanks, Blue! I owe you one!"

"You shouldn't go around with your head in the clouds, least of all over some girl."

Red frowned, then paused. Then he swerved.

"Hey!" Blue snarled as Red grabbed him by the back of his shirt, but then looked down. He had almost tripped over a broken manhole cover.

"Huh...that was close."

"Come on, Blue!" Red chuckled. "Don't tell me you were thinking about Erune, too!"

"I...I wasn't!"

As Blue and Red walked and bantered, they missed Vio, who had just walked out of the library. He had two things in his hands; a book detailing each resident of the town and a map of Hyrule. Folding the book under his arm for now, the boy opened the map and scanned it. His eyes zeroed first upon the sigil for Hyrule Castle Town. The map detailed the forests, mountains, and rivers of Hyrule let his gaze travel to the northern section. That had the sigil for the Palace of Winds.

Vio's brow furrowed. It was a desolate, remote fortress that had been uninhabited for years. If there was any place Vaati would choose as a refuge, this would be it.

Erune sat outside her house in the old wooden rocking chair. She had the doll Rosie in her hands, and she smiled softly as she looked down upon it. She had counted on passerby ignoring her as they walked by. She had not counted on a young man's voice cutting through her bliss.

"Hey, there!"

Erune was startled, and she looked up. She relaxed. It was the green-clad hero who had spoken to her. He gestured.

"Have you found a clue?"

She shook her head and smiled. "No, this is mine...I mean, it was my mother's."

Green looked confused.

"Doesn't that make it yours now?"

Erune hesitated. "Not quite."

Afraid that he would make the wrong impression, Green took a defensive stance. "I don't really know too much about dolls. I'm a guy, and I joined the knights three years ago. I was fourteen."

"Shouldn't guys be able to have fun, too?"

Green pulled off his best attempt at a suave smile. "I'm more of a law-and-duty man."

Erune wanted to smile. But she frowned as she looked down at the doll. "I was thinking of giving Rosie here away."

Green paused.

"Maybe to some little kid..." Erune took a deep breath, remembering the missing children. "...or maybe some sanctuary. I'm a little sad, but I'm too old to play with dolls now."

"But isn't Rosie important to you?" Erune looked up again.

"If it's from your mother..." Green put a hand on Erune's shoulder. "...well, then it's be a momento you'll regret losing."

Erune was quiet for a while, but then she blushed and nodded. "Thank you."

The tender moment did not last. Link moved his head back just in time to dodge a thrown object at him. As Erune yelped, the object fell to the ground. It was a small wooden boomerang, painted yellow.

Link knew he could rely on his instincts to evade sudden attacks, but even he was not prepared for what he saw when he looked to the side.

It was a small boy with a flushed face and runny eyes. It was clear that he was the one who threw the boomerang.

"My sister's been gone all day!" He shouted. "And you've still got time to fool around with some girl? You knights are so useless!" He ran away, obviously not wanting to spend more energy on a single further word.

Erune looked back up at Link, who closed his eyes and squeezed the bridge of his nose.

Nightfall was upon the town in another few hours.

Erune found herself outside again. The boys had gathered themselves at the house, promising to search for the children again when the sun came back up. She had decided to let them stay the night in exchange.

Placing Rosie on the rocking chair, Erune moved furtively in the dark and peered through a window. Green was standing in the corner, looking tired. The other three swordsmen were arguing over which cots to use, and the one in blue was particularly insistent on taking the star-patterned one. She chuckled, unable to ignore how handsome each boy was and how they acted like brothers amongst themselves.

Just as she started to daydream about her Link, the one in green, she heard an odd sound to the side. She turned.

There was a small figure in a hooded robe beside the chair. It was holding Rosie and staring at it with confusion.

"Hello there!" Erune called out as she approached the figure. "Are you okay? Are you lost? Are..."

As soon as she got close enough, the figure flipped the hood back. It was not a child, or human at all. The head was colored a deep amber, with a long snout and a few green leaves poking out through the top. As Erune stared in shock, the figure's yellow eyes turned red.

"Aahhh!"

The four Links stopped their bickering, looking at the door. The voice was unmistakable.

And so they all began to rush forward, swords at the ready.

"Erune!"

A shorter chapter sandwiched between the first few and the Dark World section, but I'm thinking it should work well enough. I hope to give the Deku Scrubs a little more of a role in the story as Shadow's minions.