Constable Link of the Watch

by Light Onthemayo

Life at Homicide certainly brought some excitement to Link Fieldview's career in the City Watch of Hyrule. However, that does not mean that he did not have his share of fun before he joined the division. Come join Link in his time as a provisional constable of the Watch, chasing suspects through the streets in this series of shorts detailing his first two years in the Watch.

Chapter One: Patrol, Day One

…

Link Fieldview admired himself in the mirror in the station lavatory. Not that it was a particularly pleasing thing to do, being in the washroom at the seventh East District station, but, after a week of basic training, it was nice to have this moment to himself. Unfortunately, there had been a few aspects to the job that he had not foreseen. The thick mop of blond hair he had sported for a long time had been shaved almost completely off, leaving his scalp covered in dark blond stubble. It had been done to him and two other recruits he had met while he had been in-training at the probationary house in the Central District. "Probationary house" though it was called, it was little more than a shack on the edge of the district which housed new recruits and offered only a few liberties while providing a short physical training regimen and review of laws and codes of conduct (part of which Link was familiar with through his work with the Ordon sheriff). If that had been how the largest police force in the kingdom trained its officers, Link could only wonder if he would have even received training had he joined the Subordo District Police (not that he had ever been enticed) or the Ordon Sheriff's Office.

In regards to the hair, though, he would simply let it grow back out. While the Watch did not have regulations regarding hairstyle, shaving a recruit's head was a standard procedure.

The uniform of the City Watch of Hyrule was a cotton jacket and matching work trousers. Link had opted for the alternate jacket, which had deeper pockets at the expense of being a little heavier. Unfortunately, the jacket was a little big on him, the ends of the sleeves covering half of his palms whenever he put his hands down. The shirt he had to wear underneath the jacket had to be one of his own. Coming from relatively humble origins, this meant a plain white shirt. It was not a professional look, but he resolved to cover it up by buttoning the jacket. His first pay would have to go toward a better, cleaner shirt.

Perhaps his only pride in his appearance was the shield pinned to his right breast. The upper point was dominated by a silhouette of Hyrule Castle overlooking what was likely meant to be a rendering of Hyrulia's skyline. Center to the badge was the mythical Triforce, believed to have been the source of power of the Hyrule Royal Family throughout the ages. Underneath, cradling the Triforce, was a pair of wings over a smaller, shield-shaped body and what were probably meant to be the feet of some bird, the species of which historians had been arguing for centuries. Underneath the skyline were raised letters proudly declaring "City Watch of Hyrule". If Link looked on the back, he would find his name stamped in a large blank space.

Giving his head a regretful rub, he looked himself over once more before deciding to step out.

The staff room at the district station was only large enough to accommodate the commanders' and staff officers' desks and a pair of long tables that served the patrol officers and detectives assigned there. A small kitchenette stood off to one side, and Link had seen signs that it had not been used recently. The patrol officers were already either seated at the tables or standing against the nearby wall, waiting for their shift commander, Chief Inspector Carbry Long, to begin. Link quickly moved to stand at an empty spot along the wall.

The old, overweight man stepped to the head of one table and began calling names. Link actually felt a pang of excitement when the commander called, "Fieldview."

"Here, sir!" Link said perhaps a little too loudly. Then he looked around in confusion at the other officers turning to glance at him.

Chief Inspector Long let the looks linger before clearing his throat. "Folks, this is Provisional-Constable Link Fieldview," he said. "New recruit from Ordon. It's his first time here in the East District, so let's keep an eye on him." This elicited nods of agreement and a few grunts. "Sergeant Buchanan, Fieldview will be assigned to you today."

"Yessir," replied a man seated at the table further from the wall. Link traced the voice to a wiry man maybe a decade older than Link with stubble over his jaw and a head of healthy, chestnut hair. He caught Link's look and flashed a half-smile at him.

"Folks, we've had a couple calls pop up about burglars hanging around the less-crowded areas of the district, mostly in this area," Long continued. "We know they're more active at night, but District Command thinks that they are operating in the daytime, too, considering their marks in the day. I know it's too early to bust them at anything, but be sure to report anything suspicious to the nightshift." He paused to change the pages in his hand. "Aaaand, as usual, we're receiving reports of pickpocketing all over the district from the nobles. Command still can't connect what's going on, so, per usual, we have no evidence of a major theft ring targeting the nobility." The final statement contained an air of sarcasm and exhaustion that caused a few of the nearby officers to chuckle in response. Link took it to mean that this was an ongoing thing. "Corporal Thames, we have reports of stalking in your patrol area. Where are you with that?"

"I think I might know what's going on, sir," spoke up a female officer further up the wall from Link. "There's a couple new homeless faces living in some of the back alleys on my route. They're harmless, but I've seen them following people around looking for… well, anything, really. They don't look very pretty, so I'm inclined to think that the complainers are just being paranoid about being followed."

"If you see them today, you might want to fill them in on this," Long said. "I have no doubt that they're harmless, but people still get uneasy about being followed. At least ask them if they can be a little more discreet."

"I'll try, sir," Thames replied with a nod.

"Constable Berg," Long said. "We received complains about your performance on traffic duty yesterday. What happened?"

There was a long sigh from the back of the closer table. "Sorry, sir," a man spoke up. "I had to pause for an itch, and… some… signs got confused."

Long shook his head. "We don't need yet another accident because you were preoccupied with scratching your balls," he said. The nearby officers chuckled again.

"My wife gave me some itch powder," Berg said.

"Make sure you use it this time," Long said. "Other than that, it's just a normal day in the district, folks. Be careful out there. Dismissed." Long then moved back toward his desk as his officers began to file their way through the front doors.

"Hey. Fieldview." Link, as he rounded the table, heard Buchanan calling for him from where he had stood up from his seat. Link had to slide between officers to approach him. "Got your legs today?"

Link frowned at him. "Sir?" he asked.

Buchanan shook his head. "Don't 'sir' me, Constable, you won't like me being formal like that." He held out a hand. "Just call me 'Sergeant Buck'. Most people around here do."

"Oh," Link replied. He took Buchanan's hand, and the two shared a grin. "Got it, Sergeant Buck."

"I was asking if you got your legs today," Buchanan said. "It's a long patrol route down Old Stable Road."

Link shrugged and said, "I think I can manage it."

"You look young enough," Buchanan said. He indicated the door as the last few officers trickled out. "Shall we?"

…

"Divinity alive, what is that smell?!"

Buchanan led Link southeast toward the edge of the district. Here, Link discovered the delight of Stable Road. He immediately understood where the name came from; the wide road was lined with stables and what appeared to be carriage companies. Having lived in Subordo for most of his life, Link was used to the smell of dung in the air; winds shifting in certain ways would often send the smell over the village from the surrounding farmland. However, there was another, more pungent smell in the air that Link had noticed even before they set foot on the street.

"Butcher Row," Buchanan said as he pointed north. Link followed his gesture, but he could not see much other than more of Stable Road in that direction. "This road is used mostly for trading or selling livestock, so the road is always covered in shit. Then there's Butcher Row further that way. I don't know if there was another name for it at any point; all of the street signs went missing a long time ago. It's all butcher shops that way, and the stench just wafts down this way for most of the day."

"Ugh…" Link grunted. "Don't tell me that's part of the patrol area, too…"

"It's our first stop," Buchanan said, not bothering to hide his glee at Link's reaction.

"Oh, great…"

Link had no illusions that his first assignment would be glorious or gratifying. However, he had to admit that the last thing he wanted to do was have to patrol through a bunch of butcher shops and take in the stench of death and rotten, discarded meat. About the only nice aspect about the area as they turned onto Butcher Row was that the butcher shops did everything behind the shop out of sight of the street. Not that listening to it was any better; Link was a little disturbed by the sound of animals followed by what he perceived to be the sound of an axe falling every few minutes. The sounds and smells made him nauseous, and he hoped that Butcher Row was not a long street.

Perhaps taking pity on the provisional constable, Buchanan took Link to the end of Butcher Row and rounded a few streets further north where the smell was not as powerful. It gave Link the opportunity to throw up in a storm drain, seemingly to the amusement of both his supervisor and a few passers-by. Buchanan gave him a few minutes to compose himself, and then they returned to Stable Road after a quick walk through a nearby block of apartment buildings. While Link could feel his nausea come back as they stepped into the rotten wind, he was glad that they were now traveling away from Butcher Row.

Once Link had adjusted to the permanent stench of Stable Road, he started chatting with Buchanan. Buchanan was a career sergeant, maintaining his rank and post mostly because of how easy foot patrol was. Certain areas of the East District were low crime areas, and Buchanan was glad to be patrolling Stable Road because, other than some thefts and a shooting incident on occasion, it was a very quiet route. He learned that many of the stables, especially those further from Butcher Row, were remises hired by the local nobility for travel to other provinces. Link could see the wealth of the businesses frequented by the nobles as they continued on their route, especially in some of the richly-decorated remises on the road as well as the well-kept business offices and stables that lined the road. As they went along, Buchanan made sure to point out police phones at any of the nearby corners. Link tried to make mental notes of the phones until he realized that their spacing placed them at every fifth corner and alternated between this street and the next street over.

"So," Buchanan said after falling silent for a moment. "What's a Ordon country boy like you doing up here in the city?"

Link gave Buchanan a surprised look. "You can tell I'm from Ordon?" he asked.

"It's the accent," Buchanan replied, pointing to his own throat. "Here in the East District, you hear a bunch of rural Hylian, and you start recognizing accents. Just listening to you talk, I've been wondering why a young man from down south wanted to be in the Watch."

"The Watch is the largest police force in the kingdom," Link replied. "Seemed like a good-payin' job."

"Yeah, I'm sure it does. But not many country boys come up to the city just to join. And I've got a feeling you aren't going to stick around here in the East District if you can help it."

"What gives you that impression?"

Sergeant Buck shrugged his shoulders. "A hunch. Deep in my guts, mostly. Nooo… I think you want to be somewhere else. This district assignment, you can't really do anything about. It's just going through the motions."

"Well, it's not like I'm afraid of the normal routine," Link pointed out. "But, yeah, I don't plan on stayin' long. Once I get past my probation, I'm gonna request the detectives' exam."

Buchanan gave a chuckle. "That's some ambition. Which division are you looking at?"

"Homicide."

At this, Sergeant Buchanan gave a long whistle. "That's a tough division. I've heard it can be pretty hard on a constable. You've got to have a strong stomach and a cool head in there, or else they send you to a happy home."

Link shrugged. "I think I can take it. They wouldn't let me work anything serious down in Ordon, but I think I can investigate a murder."

"You handled cases in Ordon? And you got in as a Provo-Constable?"

"Well, didn't exactly work for the sheriff's office," Link admitted. "I butted in on a few investigations, gave them some input… They used me for small things like petty theft and break-ins; they weren't stupid enough to let me look at anything like a shootin' or murder."

"That's some heavy crime, Constable. Sure you're up to the challenge?"

Link nodded. "I honestly believe I can do it. The stuff I used to look at was easy because I know Ordon, but bigger cases, the real felonies, they always come with a treasure chest full of evidence."

"Sounds like you should've stayed in school if you wanted to get in as a detective."

"I researched the regs; I can make detective faster going through standard training instead of four more years of education."

Sergeant Buchanan chuckled and shook his head in disbelief. "Sure don't feel like waiting, do you?"

"Wasn't part of the plan."

As they continued down the road, Link noticed that the smell was much less prominent. Or, at least, he may have at least gotten used to it. Buchanan decided to further explain that the remises had a protected place on Old Stable Road due to their owners, being reasonably wealthy commoners, had spent a few decades maintaining their occupation almost to perfection. The rich-looking remises were suited for long travel, and their owners and drivers knew how to keep up with repairs and polishing. The businesses had been so well-kept that they were doomed to fall apart if bought out by anyone else, which had meant the nobles at one point. Nobles did not rent from other nobles nor was a noble likely to understand the necessities of running a remise unless they kept the original owner and staff (and, even then, the business would only fail a little slower). Link mostly grinned at the information because Buchanan sounded like he would enjoy rubbing such a course in the nobles' faces if he could.

The buildings, being lower and further apart from one another to accommodate a stable or driveway for remises, eventually opened to a few grass fields. Link had seen nobles walking up and down the street since they had come so far south, but foot traffic on the opposite side of the street from them seemed thicker with fine dress and snoot. He recalled Chief Inspector Long's comments earlier about pickpockets being prominent in the area, and it occurred to him that this kind of foot traffic would certainly lend to that type of petty crime. However, it was hard to notice anyone slinking about. Link had observed a few pickpockets in Ordon, but the trends he could remember were not something that were easily seen from the opposite side of the street, especially one with heavy bovine traffic. And, of course, there was the large livestock using the road.

"Thief!" Link's and Buchanan's heads immediately snapped back over their shoulders in response to a man's cry. A man wearing a rich, black suit was pointing toward the corner of a building. "He stole my watch!" There stood what appeared to be a young man dressed in a baggy coat and head covered by a brown flat cap. The young man immediately whirled around to see Link and Buchanan staring at him. Then he bolted down the nearby alley.

Link immediately began running across the street. "Watch out! Constable!" Buchanan shouted just as a cow lurched to one side to avoid Link. Buchanan produced a silver whistle and blew out a loud, high-pitched note that pierced the general sound of chattering foot traffic. This sound caused the animals on the road to freeze, forcing Link to dodge past a wagon full of straw before ducking into the alley. Buchanan started across the road after them, but he quickly realized that he would never catch up with Link and instead opted to make contact with the man who had shouted.

The boy Link was chasing had paused at the far end of the alley, giving Link a bit of time to catch up. This apparently had not been part of his plan, as he quickly returned to running upon realizing that Link was in pursuit. Link, if nothing else, was a very good runner, and he suspected that this boy's chosen trade would put him to the test. Both of them had the disadvantage of having heavy jackets on, but Link's was closed and was not as much of a drag as the boy's, which was half-open and reached down past his knees. The boy seemed to realize this and had to slow in order to grab the bottom of the coat in order to unbutton the last two buttons so that the coat would flutter in his wake. It was not much difference; he would not run in a straight line.

A sharp turn took both of them out into the street, Link angling earlier in order to try closing the gap while getting out of traffic faster. He missed having a head-on collision with a bicycle and slipped around a remise he was about to slam into the side of. The boy made it to the opposite corner and paused to glance around at Link. Of course, since Link was still coming, he released a frustrated grunt and dashed up the sidewalk.

"Sala sala bin!" The boy called up the road. Well, maybe not a "boy" unless he happened to have an unnaturally high voice. Link watched as he struggled to take off the coat, half-expecting him to ditch it. But he held onto the coat, bundling it into the crook of his arm. Then he turned down an alley with Link lagging just behind.

And Link noticed someone standing in a doorway behind one of the buildings. As he passed, the escaping boy threw the jacket at a tall, lanky man who quickly spun and slammed the door before Link had a chance to get a good look at him. He had an inkling that he might have some trouble; if the thief had stashed any stolen items in that coat, they were as good as gone. Link did not know the area, so he was unlikely to remember which alley they had run through.

Then again, the girl might be willing to give up her accomplice if he caught her.

And Link was certain he was chasing a girl because, now that the baggy coat had been shed, he had a better look at her figure even if she was still running from him. She wore some sort of skin-tight top of a black fabric Link was unsure about and denim trousers which accented her wider hips. If this was not a girl, this must have been the girliest boy Link had ever chased.

She ducked around a corner, but Link continued the chase. He watched as she kept glancing across the road, sometimes having to slow to quickly crane her neck to look at the other side around the carts and wagons on the road, and he suspected that she was about to cross the road again. He watched her suddenly rip the cap off her head, taking her short mop of black hair with it. This allowed a thick ribbon of a burgundy-colored ponytail to trail behind her. She took a sudden left to cross the street between traffic, and Link nearly ploughed into a cyclist changing directions to follow. He nearly missed her pitching her hat and wig to a young woman standing behind a stoop near the mouth of another alley. The woman caught it and immediately disappeared out of sight into a below-street entrance, Link could only assume. He could not believe the coordination; he was actually dealing with accomplices. He needed to catch her before one of them made her disappear next. He did not like how this chase was shaping up; he was beginning to wonder how the situation was going to end if he caught the girl.

She exited the alley and, to Link's surprise, paused as if to question which direction she should go. Link quickly called out to her, "City Watch! Hold it right there!" Naturally, she quickly decided which direction she should go, but Link had not expected her to stop. He could tell that she was trying to remember her route; there was no way she could coordinate with accomplices without having a predetermined path to run if she was caught. By shouting at her, he had forced her to make a quick choice. With any luck, she would make the wrong choice.

She dashed left, and Link, having gained some ground when she stopped, was nearly on her heels. However, he discovered that she had a little more stamina than him, as he was starting to slow. She turned and crossed a relatively empty street, and Link turned to follow. She continued down the sidewalk on the opposite side before quickly cutting into an alley on the right.

Her mistake, which she was immediately conscious of about ten paces into the dead-end alley. She paused midway when she realized that there were no gaps in the buildings to slide into.

"Whew!" Link hollered behind her, causing her to turn around with a start. He doubled over to catch his breath for a moment, but he was careful not to let her feet leave his sight in case she decided to try running past him. "First day on the job… and I gotta chase… a runner. Must be… my lucky day."

The girl, tan skin glistening with sweat, stared at Link for a moment. Then she struck upon an idea. "You… must be… from down south…" she huffed in response.

"The accent, right?" Link asked, gesturing at his throat.

"Well… you… would have to be," she answered. "I always heard… men from down south… were pretty strong… I didn't… didn't think… you'd be so… fast, too…"

Link let out a weak chuckle. "You're… not… the first girl… I had to chase…"

"Oh? Do you… like chasing girls?"

Link blinked in confusion and looked up at her in response to the sultry tone she had unexpectedly taken. She stood before him with her hands behind her back (which helped accent a modest chest heaving up and down while she caught her breath) and a curious, doe-eyed expression on her face. He stood up straight and responded, "It's happened."

"Did you… ever catch them?"

"None of them… escaped me yet."

She looked down in shame. "No wonder you caught me…"

"I'd say I caught you because it's my job," Link said, wiping sweat from his forehead. "What do you think you're doing, stealing from someone in the middle of the day?"

"I-I didn't steal anything!" she cried. "If-if I did, it's only because I need the money to eat! I'm all alone out here; I don't have any family!"

Link frowned at her. "You're an orphan?"

She nodded and looked down in shame again. "For two years now. My family died in a house fire."

Link shook his head. "Well… you have my sympathies, really. But I can't let you just walk away with someone else's property."

"I don't have it!" For emphasis, she turned out the pockets of her trousers to show that they were empty but for a small scrap of paper. "I didn't take it! You have the wrong person!"

"I chased you all the way here from Stable Road," Link pointed out. "You ditched your disguise as we ran. Don't tell me you left it with that coat."

She shook her head adamantly. "I didn't take it!"

Link held up a hand and beckoned her closer. "I'll have to investigate that."

She clasped her hands over her chest. "Are you… going to touch me?"

Link's face turned red and dumbfounded, his hand frozen mid-gesture. This conversation was starting to make him feel awkward. "We-well, I, uh… I-I guess I need to search you."

"Are… your hands as strong as your legs?"

"I, uh…"

"Can… you promise to be gentle?" she asked as she stepped closer.

"It's-it's not like I have to be that thorough…"

She stepped closer again. "Then… it might feel nice."

Link stepped forward to close the gap further. Then he said to her, "Could you… could you turn around? S-standard procedure."

"Certainly," she said as she spun to show him her back. "Shall I raise my hands, too?"

"N-no, just keep them down at your sides," Link replied as he stepped up behind her. "This is… already awkward enough."

The girl waited in anticipation. The moment he tried touching her, she would wheel around and punch him in the face. It would give her an opening, and she would be able to run out of the alley and—

Something ensnared her left wrist. She quickly spun around. "Hey, what are you doing!?" she cried at him.

"Arresting you," Link replied. Color drained from her face. Gone was the awkward, bashful country boy she had been flirting with, a smug grin spread across his face. She watched, stunned with horror, as he latched the other manacle to his right wrist. "This is why I like leather manacles; you can't hear them going on." He chuckled to himself. "And that supply sergeant thought I was being stupid…"

She looked down at her wrist. He had belted the manacle tight to her so she could not slip out. "But… But…" she stammered.

"Oh, don't get me wrong; it isn't like I don't got hormones," Link told her. "But, uh… blatantly lyin' to me is a huge passion killer."

"Lie to you? H-how…?"

"Well, let's start from the beginning. You say you're all alone out here? I seen you throw both your coat and your wig at people as we ran. They immediate turned and hid while I was chasin' you. You aren't aimlessly runnin' away; you have a path you were following. Y'know, up until you forgot your route. I'll go back to them later. And, quite frankly, your body is… far too shapely to be a starving orphan on the street. If you haven't had a decent meal in a while, you'd've never gotten past the first two blocks. The orphan part?" He shrugged. "Maybe I can believe, but that doesn't make you helpless. I'm an orphan myself."

She gave an annoyed groan and covered her eyes with a free hand. "This can't be serious…"

"It is," Link told her, his grin getting wider. "I don't expect you're gonna lead me back to where you ditched the watch, are you?"

She removed her hand from her face and gave him a look of blatantly fake innocence. "What watch, Officer?"

Link shrugged. "That's fine," he told her. "We'll just walk on back to the scene of the crime; my sergeant will have a wagon waiting." They began walking, and Link used his unbound hand to gesture as he said, "No, walk ahead of me a bit so I can keep an eye on you."

"You don't think this is going to be that easy, do you?" the girl asked as they stepped out of the alley.

"We'll see."

Link may not have known the streets very well, but he was able to backtrack part of their path and then simply walked in what he believed was the direction of Stable Road. His prisoner hardly spoke a word to him, and he had a sense that she was fuming both at being caught and at her failure to seduce him. He had to admit he thought the flirting was a little funny. He had chased down older women before, and none of them had had the nerve to behave the same way as she had. Of course, Link had had the benefit of police presence at the time, so flirting with a young teenage boy would only get them into further trouble. He had to guess that this girl was about the same age as him. He commended himself for keeping a clear head, but if he had to deal with any other young ladies like her, he would have to make sure to keep his hormones in check.

They stepped out onto Stable Road and traveled north. As expected, Sergeant Buchanan had summoned a transport carriage while his whistle had attracted another pair of patrol officers. They were standing in front of a field across the street from where the crime had occurred, so Link had to take her to the other side.

Once they were close enough, the first thing out of the well-dressed noble's mouth was, "And what the hell is this supposed to be?"

"Sir?" Sergeant Buchanan asked in confusion.

"Your constable has a girl with him," the noble said. "The kid who robbed me was clearly a boy."

"She was disguised, sir," Link spoke up. "She ditched her stuff while I was c—"

"Am I talking to you?" the noble asked Link. Link gave a stunned look. "I don't speak with incompetence, boy. I know who robbed me. I know if someone's wearing a disguise or not. This…" He pointed a finger up and down at the girl. "… this scrawny adventuress is not the brat that took my watch."

"Sir, I assure you sh—"

"Did you at least recover my watch?"

Link felt the last of his smugness release. "No, sir, not yet."

"And I am not surprised," the noble said. "Sergeant, I have had five watches stolen from me on this road, and I am beginning to despise the whole affair. If your officers cannot provide some adequate protection on these streets, I will hire some. I do not intend to suffer your ineptitude much longer."

"Sir, if you would j—"

"Sergeant, if this child addresses me one more time," the nobleman said, one finger pointing at Link, "I want him arrested for annoying me."

"You'll have to forgive Constable Fieldview, my lord," Sergeant Buck told him. "He just arrived from training; he's only a provisional constable."

"So, he has yet to learn his place," the nobleman reasoned in a snide tone. Link forced himself to keep his arms at his sides lest he throw up a vulgar gesture at him. "You had better see to it that he is taught how to respect his superiors; I will hold you personally responsible for this."

"Certainly, my lord," Sergeant Buck said. The nobleman gave a loud huff and stormed away in the opposite direction. Buck turned to the other officer and started waving them off. "Okay, boys, as you were. The fun here's over."

"But Sergeant—" Link began as the officers dispersed.

"Constable, I suggest you release this young lady," Buchanan told him. "I think we've inconvenienced her enough for today. Besides, we can't do anything if he doesn't want to charge her." He nodded across the road. "I'll be in that sandwich shop while you say goodbye. I have a feeling you don't want me around for that."

Link and the girl turned and watched Buchanan cross the road and step into a small shop. Then the girl turned to him, a smug grin on her face. "So," she said. "How's that ego of yours now?"

"Feeling a little deflated, to be honest," he replied in a resigned tone, glancing up the road to see that the nobleman had disappeared into the foot traffic. "I can't believe how much of an idiot that guy is."

The girl shrugged and told him, "Don't let it get you down, Constable. You didn't have much of a chance to begin with."

Link pondered her for a moment. "You already knew he was like that. You targeted him."

"Can you prove that?"

Link cracked a half-grin. "No, but you know that, too. The nobles aren't being paranoid; there is a theft ring targeting them. But I can't prove that, either."

"I couldn't really say, either," she said as she swung her hips from side to side, her eyes glancing up into the air. "After all, I'm not the thief he was looking for." She held up her manacle (pulling up Link's arm as well) and pointed at it. "Are you going to take this off now?"

Link's eyebrows raised. "Really?" he asked. "I thought being manacled to me was exciting for you. I'm actually pretty comfortable with it myself."

She gave an insincere laugh and said, "You're cute, but you're also annoying."

"Well, I don't think you've really gotten to know me that well," Link told her. "If you let me keep you around for a bit, I can show you I can be more than just cute and annoying."

She frowned and began undoing the buckle on her manacle. "Okay, now you're just making fun of me."

"But you called me cute," Link said. "And I think I'm in love."

She released her manacle and rubbed her wrist. "I really don't want to agree with that noble ass, but you are a child."

"Oh, but where are you going?" Link asked as she started down the sidewalk.

"I'm going to get my stuff back!" she snapped at him.

"I didn't get to frisk you yet!" he hollered.

She stopped when she spotted an adult couple coming the opposite direction cast confused looks at her. She spun around and shouted at him, "If you ever touch me again, your dick is going to become an innie." She then glared at the couple and continued on her way.

As the couple approached Link, he leaned over and asked, "Can you blame me?" While the woman turned up her nose, the man could not help grinning at him.