"Aww c'mon Link, you gotta let us try it out!" Talo pleaded as he and the other children gathered outside of Link's house. Link had always found himself popular among the children of Ordon, as Rusl's star pupil he carried with him a sort of competent importance that made him different from the other "grown-ups" of the village. The fact he was a bit closer in age to most of them than their parents gave him some of the charm of an older brother figure, and whether he had time or not, Link was often obliged to entertain the whims of the little ones by no more than his own gentle nature.
Today, as luck would have it, was one of those times, and while he had been excited to visit Rusl's house to see Ordona's gift to the Royal Family, he was now being delayed. He had no sooner left the ranch and made his way home than the children had practically mobbed him. Word had spread like wildfire in town that Rusl had chosen Link to succeed him as captain, and though the shift in leadership was meant to be made official following Link's journey to the capital, one could count on a single hand how many people didn't know by now.
Outside Link's house last night, Rusl had given him two gifts, both of which had excited the children to no end. Both one of Rusl's own old swords to arm him for his trip, as well as the cudgel that carried with it the authority of Ordona's Captain. More than one Link had seen Rusl give a firm rap to an unruly drunk with it, and now Rusl had said that the symbol of authority was being passed to him. Naturally Talo, ringleader of the town children, was hoping to take a few swings with both the sword and cudgel himself.
"No, I don't think that's such a good idea," Link smiled warmly at the gathered youths, trying his best to be a responsible adult despite the fact that his own more childish side wanted nothing more than to swing around the cudgel with gleeful delight.
"Awww, but please?!" Talo whined, "Come on, Link, you're the militia captain now, it's not like you'll get in any trouble if you just let us try it a little!"
"Yeah, and Rusl would have gone berserk if he'd caught us with it before, this is the only chance we're going to get," the youngest child, Malo, added.
"You'd better just let them have a go, Link," said Beth, trying to act like she wasn't interested, "They'll never stop bothering you until you do." Beth was the oldest of the village children, but only by a few years, even so she liked to pretend she was much older, and that she herself couldn't care less what her friends were up to. Of course, the act fell away whenever the boys actually got something they wanted, as she would join in the fun as quick as you could blink.
"No means no, I'm afraid," Link sighed as if the decision was an impressively difficult one, "and I shouldn't have to remind you scamps that I'm not captain just yet. Rusl is, at least until I come back from Castle Town."
Seeing the children's faces fall, Link felt his heart give way a little, and he smiled at them. "I'll tell you all what we can do, though…" he grinned at them. "Do you children remember that slingshot they got in the general store last month? The one Sera bought off of that toymaker who came to town?"
Now Talo perked up, and Link knew he had successfully gotten them to drop the cudgel issue. "Yeah! I was hoping we could borrow it sometime, but Beth here couldn't get her mother to lend it to us."
"It wasn't my fault," Beth protested, "I can't just make my mother give you free toys like it's a thing to do, we'd go out of business!"
"It's not like she's ever going to sell it," Malo murmured, "At the price she's asking nobody'll ever buy it…"
"Never?" Linked quirked an eyebrow coyly and Talo cheered, guessing his intentions.
"Are you serious? You bought it, you really bought it for us!?"
Now Link couldn't hold in his laughter any longer, and it bubbled up from his throat like a river, "Not yet, but I have been saving for it. Malo's right, nobody else was going to buy it, but Sera's got to turn a profit one way or another. If you come with me now we can go and give it a a whirl, what do you think?"
Secretly Link hoped that the children would be too preoccupied amusing themselves with the new toy to notice him slip off to visit Rusl, and the way the whole gaggle whooped and hollered their delight affirmed his suspicions, this was like a holiday come early to the little ones.
"Off we go!" he shouted aloud, and waved all of them ahead from his house at the edge of the woods down the road towards the main thoroughfare. He waited to make sure he could see all of the children ahead of him before setting off himself, checking his purse to ensure that there were rupees enough inside to afford Sera's asking price. It would set him back a litt,e that much was for certain, but he had a sneaking suspicion that once he was properly made Captain, he would no longer have any time to spare playing with the children. Rusl certainly didn't have any time to waste, and Link wanted to try to make his last few days before his journey special to the little ones. As hard as it would be for them to recognize, "big brother Link" was moving on, becoming a man, and a man had responsibilities that a mere boy didn't.
"Are you sure buying that slingshot is such a good idea?" a quiet little voice piped up at his side, and Link felt a slight tug on his sleeve. It was Colin, Rusl's son, and the most reserved of the children in the village. "What if one of them hurts himself?"
Colin was always the sort to worry about injuries or illness, a frail child in his infancy, and he was far too gentle a spirit to take joy from the sort of rough play Talo instigated. That said, he looked up to Link as much as any of them, and Link smiled down at him, reassuringly tousling his hair.
"Well that's why I'd like you to come along with," he told the boy, "To keep the rest of them out of trouble."
Colin met Link's gaze with solemn eyes. "Will I have to keep them out of trouble while you're gone too?" he asked apprehensively. Link knelt so that the two were face to face.
"you're the most responsible of your friends, buddy," he told him, "Out of everybody, I know I can trust you to keep them from harm's way, alright?"
Colin looked uncertain, and Link stood back up. "Besides, you'll never know what you can do until you try, right?"
The boy smiled nervously, and Link clapped a hand on his shoulder the same way that Rusl did to him. "Now come on, the others will be getting into all kinds of trouble without us."
They made their way down the main thoroughfare towards the stream that led down to the pond, and the Ordona River further down near the pastures. There, perched beside the pond in the haphazard tangle of homes that had made up the original Ordon Village, sat Sera's General Store. Link recalled how, in his youth, he had run and played along the foliage and stacks of lumber from when the town had expanded, clambering up and around all sorts of places he shouldn't have, and he almost wished for a minute that he could go back to those days. Children didn't have responsibilities, no expenses to pay or duties to fulfil…
He shook his head ruefully as he caught himself. This change was an honor, not a burden, and while it would come with its own sets of drawbacks, becoming Captain, being like Rusl, it was the very thing he had dreamed about as a child. It was funny, really, the way that his heart yearned for the simplicity of childhood just as in his childhood he had yearned to become a man.
"I suppose the grass truly is greener on the other side of the fence…" he muttered under his breath as he followed the raucous clamor of the children through the town to the general store, grinning like a loon at their unrestrained excitement. Link hoped truly and sincerely that this gift would keep them happy while he was away.
"Well good afternoon, Captain-to-be!" Sera greeted him as he stepped through the door to her shop and the little bell beside the threshold tinkled. "I suppose I've you to thank for this herd of wild animals you've let in here?"
The children were all yammering on at once about the slingshot and about how Link had promised to buy it, but a quick look and a becalming gesture quieted down the loudest of them.
"I'm afraid so. You will forgive me, I hope?" He gave Sera his most charming smile as he approached the counter, and her arch look melted away.
"Veery well, if only just this once," she chortled, "one of these days I'm going to find a way around that beguiling smile of yours, but not today I suppose. What can I do for you m'dear?"
"I thought I might peruse for a while, take a look at everything you've got in stock… it may be up to an hour before I can bring myself to leave," he made a show of looking the shelves behind Sera up and down, pretending to scrutinize every item she carried in house.
"Come on, Link, the slingshot!" Talo whined impatiently, earning himself another brief chortle from Link and Sera alike.
"Ah, so that's what you promised them, is it? I do hope you're not hoping for a discount. Future captain or not, I'd like to turn a profit for that thing. Goddesses only know how that toymaker swindled me into buying it off him in the first place…"
Link piled rupees onto the counter from his purse, letting Sera do the counting to make sure everything was there.
"This must have taken you some time to save up, dear," Sera chided him, "And you're certain you want to spend it on this toy? I can't imagine you getting much use out of it…"
"What can I say, these rascals talked me into it," Link shrugged, "and besides, if I'll be gone for a little while, they'll need something to keep them occupied until my return."
"Well it's awfully sweet of you, Link, honestly it's a shame we haven't got more good upstanding young men like you around town. A wonder some lucky girl hasn't snapped you up as a husband yet"
"All in good time, Sera!" Link waved her words away, "Don't make me grow up too fast now."
Sera slid the slingshot across the counter to Link, who handed it to Talo with a grandiose gesture.
"Aw yeah! Amazing!" Talo bellowed, forgetting he was indoors and his manners in his excitement. "Thanks Link, you're the best guy in the whole village!" he shouted, before dashing off with Beth in tow, and Malo waddling after. Colin trailed along behind, giving Link a little wave as he exited, and Link heaved a quiet sigh of relief as he waved back.
"Thank you, Sera," I needed that today. With everything going on I could really use a moment to slow down and wrap my head around everything that's happening."
"Pray don't mention it," Sera waved him off nonchalantly and turned from Link to busy herself with something else behind the counter. It seemed the conversation was at its end. Link gathered his wits and headed out, just stepping back into the sunshine in time to see the children scurrying off into the trees across the main thoroughfare. They would be playing with the old scarecrows near Link's house, he guessed, that was where they often went to frolic.
Turning the opposite way, Link made his way to Rusl's house, and was unsurprised to find the man not at home when he got there. His wife, Uli, however, was at home, resting on the front porch and weaving something from wicker. Her belly had swollen up with child over the last few months, and it was clear that Colin should be expecting a brother or sister very soon.
"Oh Link, there you are," she laid her weaving aside as she saw him approach, rising with some difficulty to meet him and wrapping Link up in a motherly embrace. "Rusl told me to expect you here this afternoon once you'd finished helping Fado at the ranch. I suppose the children have been keeping you all too busy, haven't they?"
"As always," Link replied ruefully.
"It's good of you to spend so much time with them," Uli told him, "All of them look up to you, you know. Oh, but pardon me, you must have come to see the gift Ordona would have you present to the Royal Family?"
"Yes," Link could barely conceal his excitement as he spoke, and he felt his heart racing as Uli led him inside the house and shut the door gingerly. What kind of gift would they have? What could Ordon possibly have to give? They were farmers, and it wasn't as if bushels of grain or fresh livestock was a present worthy of a Queen's coronation…
It lay across the table in the kitchen, sheathed in a decorative scabbard, but even across the room Link could recognize the superb craftsmanship of it. It was a blade in ancient Ordonian style, from back in the centuries when the provinces had not been united by the Royal Family. Broad-bladed, long and sturdy, it was designed to be held in both hands, a proper longsword fit for a king.
"By Nayru…" he breathed softly, all other thoughts fleeing his head as he strode across the room to get a closer look at it.
"What do you think?" Uli asked him. "Rusl and Jaggle have been working on it for months now in the forge, ensuring that everything is as it should be. My husband tells me that swords like this one were used in ancient times by the Ordonians of old.
"I used to read about them in books," Link breathed, "Before this valley was united into Hyrule, the provinces were warring tribes…"
He picked up the sword gingerly, feeling the weight and the balance of it. Even with the scabbard still on it was clear that this was a blade forged by a smith at the top of his craft. Jaggle had truly outdone himself.
"Rusl tells me that by using a symbol of out province's past, we pledge our future loyalty to Hyrule. I think there's something beautiful in that," Uli admitted, "Though I do wish he had chosen something without sharp edges. I keep worrying that Colin will get his hands on it or tell the other children about it…"
"Colin is a level-headed boy," Link reassured her, "he knows better than to…"
They were interrupted as Colin himself burst into the house, flinging the door open and standing upon the threshold, panting with exertion. Link tensed, stiffened, knew even before the words left the boy's lips what had happened.
"…Talo… into the woods… monkey took… the slingshot…" he gasped out.
Uli took a step towards her son to try and get something more coherent out of him, but Link would never know what words they exchanged. He had taken off down the road, sandals pounding against the dust, running as fast as he could back up the way towards his house What a fool he had been, leaving the children alone with the slingshot. Of course something like this would happen. Some of captain of the militia he was turning out to be…
When he arrived outside his house, he paused just long enough to grab the sword that Rusl had lended him, before dashing towards the trail that lead towards Faron Bridge. At the forest's edge stood Malo and Beth, staring apprehensively into the dim woodlands while they called out for Talo to return. Both children looked shamefaced when they saw Link.
"Link, I tried to stop him…" Beth started, but Link raised a hand to quiet her.
"Which way?" he asked, all trace of humor gone from his voice. Both children pointed at the leftmost fork, and before another word could be said Link was away. He had made a mistake, yes, but there was still time to put things to right.
"Hold on Talo," he whispered as he ran, "I'll bring you home."