More Obstacles
He equipped his two masks, ocarina, and sword and happily left his room. 'It's not like it's bad to live here, but I've gotta stretch these legs! To be honest, if they'd let me explore the dungeons and some of the places under the castle, I probably wouldn't be so eager to leave, heh heh.'
Young Link sought out the princess to tell her of his plans, she was the one who brung him into the castle after all. He looked for her on the east side of the castle, she seemed to be there more often than not. 'Hmm, where is she?' He wondered as he crossed the bridge that led to her study. "I sure wish a growth spurt would hit me," He muttered as his hand came up to about his chest to turn the doorknob, but to his surprise the door flung open, making him stumble backwards. "Huh!?"
It was the King, and he looked really upset.
The young hero immediately stood up straight and quickly bowed, "Uh, good morning, your Majesty. Is everything alright?"
"I do wish I could say as such, young one," He sighed, keeping a stern face, "My daughter is nowhere to be found this morning."
"Maybe she's out on one of her excursions?"
"Perhaps. What are you doing up here?"
His tone sounded suspicious which made him a little nervous, "Ah, I was going to ask if I could explore more of this land. The room and life here is great, but I haven't seen the town or anything that's past that besides the arena."
The King heartily chuckled to Young Link's relief, "After hearing that, I'm sure that's why my daughter left so bright and early. I grant you the ability to leave the castle, and if you run into her, please tell her to at least leave a note before she goes."
"Can do, your Majesty. Have a nice day," He somewhat awkwardly waved goodbye and left. 'Now I just need to find Link and ask him about it again. He can't say no twice, right?' he thought as he made his way to the Guards' Chamber, 'In fact, I wonder how my descendant is doing. I haven't seen him in a couple of weeks.'
When he arrived, there were already other guards in full uniform hanging around the entrance. 'Aw dammit, I can't tell who's who when they're all wearing their helmets!' "Link? " The young hero sheepishly called out, "Is Link here? "
An older, rougher looking guard came up to him. He looked to be in his thirties, "Why hello there young one, you've wandered pretty far from where the other boys usually play."
"Oh, I'm not..I don't—" he quickly sighed, gathering his words, "I'm looking for Link. Have you seen him?"
"He's still getting ready, the damn sleepyhead!" He laughed, putting a hand on his hip. "You'll find him in there."
He nodded his thanks, and went into the chamber, a wave of must and a plethora of naked bodies smacking his senses. 'Dear Gods, this better be quick…' None of the men in there took care to notice that he came in and were mostly talking amongst themselves. 'Why must I still be at chest-height? Please, please let me grow a couple of inches!' His eyes widened when he found Link stumbling around for his wrist guards. "Link!" He ran over to him, "How can you wake up and be around all these naked guys all the time!? They're friggin' gross!"
Link looked to be in stupor as he shook his head and rubbed his eyes, "W-Wha? I can't understand you, bud."
Young Link shuddered, "It's not important. Anyways, my Hylian has gotten better. Do you remember me asking about my ears?"
"Mmmm...no, I don't. I am proud of you getting better, though," he yawned, putting on a shirt, "You've come a long way."
He rolled his eyes, getting up on Link's cot and poking at his blue earrings, "Y'know, getting my ears pierced? Finally having earrings just like all my other..um...brothers?" 'I don't think that was the right word.'
"Oh right," The sudden invasion of space succeeded at making him more awake. Link referenced the armor he had yet to put on, "Well, as you can see, I'm still getting dressed, and I have duty this morning."
"Aw c'mon, you'll slack when it's Zelda but not for me? My feelings are hurt now," his pointed ears drooped, he was sarcastically crestfallen.
Link chuckled, his cheeks getting red at the mention of her, "Hey now, that's not fair! I have an actual job to do. You've got an abundance of free time."
"Fiiiinnne," He exaggeratedly sighed, trying to keep himself from smiling, "I'm for once allowed to leave the castle, so I'll go check out the town. I'm going to be looking for you come noon, though!" Young Link hopped off the cot, waved, and left, not noticing that the other guards were eyeing him.
The air was certainly refreshing once he stepped out of there. It was a beautiful day. There was a warm breeze to go with the comfortable temperature. When Young Link reached Castle Town, the livelihood made the corners of his lips rise. There were fresh produce shops, a butcher, even flowers and mushrooms were sold. 'Wow, you can buy almost anything here!'
As he strolled around, he passed an old, short woman with a cane. She looked to be packing up her stand for the day. "Would you like some help, ma'am?"
"Oh why yes, how sweet of you." Her tone was sweet and elderly. She turned to face him.
A shiver went up his spine as her face came into view, there was something very familiar and haunting about the way she looked. He wasn't sure what it was, but it made him sweat. She had an ashy-brown skin tone, and was fickle in frame, but what stood out the most was her large, slightly pointed nose. There were only a few other things to pack along with a large crystal ball, "Oh, are you a fortune teller?"
"Yes, my dear, I am. Would you care for a fortune before I leave?"
He gulped, "N-No, but thank you. This is really heavy."
The woman cackled, "The heavier the better as I've heard!"
Young Link sat the massive orb in the cart that the donkey was pulling, "Where are you headed? If you don't mind my asking. It's pretty early to be closing up."
"Ah, I've got an important meeting with the King himself."
"Oh wow, I sure hope he has a good fortune, then. Have a nice day." He nodded his goodbye and briskly walked away. 'That woman kinda gave me the creeps. She just looked weirdly familiar. I can't think of when I would've seen that face before.' He huffed a sigh, straightening back up, 'I think there's an exit just south of here. Maybe I can see just a bit more than the town…' He continued to make his way toward the large gates. To his surprise he was stopped before the pavement turned to grass.
There were two guards outside the gate, one of which was holding up his hand, "Sorry kiddo, we can't let you out unless you've got an adult with you."
"Really? I've got a sword to protect myself, though," He took it off his back to show he wasn't making it up.
The other guard spoke, "How do we know you didn't take your father's sword and are trying to leave with it? Usually kids your age just show off to your friends, but this is a first."
"What if I don't have any parents and hardly know anyone here?"
They both chuckled, "You're really something else laying down your pride like that. Go on, get back to your friends. I bet they dared you say all that too."
He did as they said, not wanting to cause any trouble. As he turned back, he heard a group of children laughing.
"How stupid can you be trying to leave with your daddy's sword like that?" An older looking boy said, resulting in more laughter.
"Excuse me?"
"Yeah, everyone knows you can't leave Castle Town without an adult, dummy!" Another said.
'You've seriously got to be kidding me right now,' Young Link put on a fake smile, shrugging, "It's worth a try isn't it? Don't you guys ever feel like seeing more than here?"
A younger girl spoke up, "No! Not after the stories that mommy tells me! It's scary out there!"
"Piper you've always been a wuss," The older boy said, rolling his eyes.
"Aw shuddup!" She whined, "You always get scared when she talks about the monsters!" The other kids laughed at this, her brother giving her a threatening look.
He was interested in the monsters, "Monsters? Like what?"
"Man you must live under a rock. Don't your parents ever tell you about the one-horned monsters?"
"Or giant blobs that can eat you up?"
"Or one-eyed flying bats that suck your blood?!"
"Um, no. You don't see or hear about that stuff when you live in the castle."
Piper's eyes gleamed, "Huh? You live in the castle? I didn't know Zelda had a baby!" She grabbed his hand, "You have to marry me right now, prince!"
'If this doesn't remind me of Princess Ruto, nothing ever will.'
Her older brother sighed, "Pipes there's no way the princess had a baby. She hasn't even been married."
She yanked her hand away, "I take it back!"
"So what are you doing in the castle then?" One of them asked.
"Yeah, why do you live there if you're not royalty?"
"Maybe he's like a butler in training." The group burst into laughter.
Young Link shook his head, 'Ugh, I don't think I like kids.'
"Link? What are you doing here?" A familiar voice said, causing the children to gasp and bow.
He turned around, "Zelda?" It was her, he sighed in relief. She was wearing her excursion clothes, or adventure clothes as he liked to think. He ran to her side, "Oh princess thank goodness you're here! You need to save me from these kids," he hissed.
She quietly giggled, "Yes, of course. Carry on children, him and I have important business to attend to." They all scattered back into town.
"You're a lifesaver," he sighed in relief, "I forgot how annoying children can be."
Her face was bright, "Goodness, your Hylian has gotten really good! Also that's interesting considering that you're so young."
"It's a long story." He followed as she continued to walk, "Either way, I was looking for you and I ran into your dad. He said to leave a note before you go next time."
The news made her face scrunch in annoyance, "One of these days my father is going to realize that I'm not a little girl anymore and that my work takes me out of the castle more than he would like. He needs to understand that I don't need to leave a note stating where I'm going and when I'll be back!"
"I get what you mean, but you are really important."
"I don't need you to tell me that, thank you." She realized she snapped, "Sorry. I'm not in a great mood."
"It's okay. Anyways, I was going to ask if I could get out of here for a while. I really like the room and everything, but I'm used to being able to leave whenever I want and go wherever I need to. Since I've never been here before, I would like to see more than the castle and the town, y'know?"
Her face was concerned when she looked down at him, "But we haven't found your parents yet."
"I don't have parents."
Zelda's expression quickly changed, "O-oh, I'm so sorry."
"It's easier when you've never seen them, it's okay. Is there a way I can get a horse? That would make the travel a lot easier." He didn't want to linger on the subject for too long.
"Will you be okay, though? I'd hate to send you into danger and get you killed. It's safe in the castle."
"Don't you remember me in the training arena? Did I not look capable at the time?"
"I thought you were showing off, sorry." She crouched down, taking one of his hands, "How about this? I can write you a note to give to the commander of the royal guard so that you can join a few of the expedition parties. If you can prove yourself there, I'll feel better about letting you loose from the castle."
He couldn't help himself from looking disappointed, 'I guess I didn't know what I was expecting. Of course it's like this.'
"I understand that's not what you wanted to hear, and you likely feel that you're way more capable than others think, I would know, but this is a very vast land with monsters and other dangers all over it. I think this is the best way considering we both get something we want, right?"
"You're right." The hero could tell his response slightly surprised her as she stood back up, "I'll be sure to give the commander no reason to doubt me! Let me know when you have the note ready. Maybe I can start today."
The princess chuckled, "Well that's certainly a good mindset. Let's walk back to the castle together if you're done being in town."
"That would be nice, thanks."