Chapter 2: The Strangers

Ayri groaned as the first crack of light hit her eyes.

She was flat on her back in the small cot. She kicked the blanket away and stared down at herself. She still had her jerkin, but her left pant leg was rolled up to her thigh. Her calf tightly wrapped in a crude leather bandage. She shifted to see that her cloak, bow, and dagger were laying upon a low wooden table.

She grimaced as she forced herself into a sitting position. She was ashamed of herself for almost being laid low by Bokoblins, but she knew that she was lucky that someone was around to help. With some effort, she swung her legs over the side of the cot and stood up from it. She clasped her cloak around her neck, put her dagger at her left hip, and found the quiver beneath the bow. She slung the quiver on her right hip, and picked up the bow. She did not hear anyone, but the silence did not necessarily mean she was alone.

"Hello?" Ayri asked aloud. Her voice was still cracked, and she doubted she would get any response. Suddenly, something came to her nose. She sniffed the air. Her stomach rumbled, reminding her of her basic needs. The abrupt smell of cooked meat and fruit, as well as the slight taste of smoke on her lips, became unbearable to her. The girl looked to the side to see an open exit, with only the rusty hinges indicating that there had been a door at all. She walked straight towards it, and found herself walking in on her savior as he was undressing himself.

She stopped suddenly, and the startled stranger looked up as he dropped his tunic. They were barely five feet apart from each other.

"Oh, I'm...sorry..." Despite herself, Ayri's face flushed.

The young man was bare from the waist up. His frame was lean, with tight muscles beneath his unblemished skin. His blonde hair was pulled back into a small topknot, leaving several locks across his forehead. She noticed for the first time that there was a hint of green in his blue eyes...

"What's your name?"

The girl recovered, nodding her head curtly.

"Ayri."

"Ayri...Ayri..."

The strange youngster suddenly remembered his current state. He practically stumbled over himself as he swiped the tunic from the floor and dropped it over himself. The flush in his face matched Ayri's.

"I...I'm just glad you're alright."

"You saved me from those Bokoblins." Ayri said, her face returning to it's typical stoic state.

"I saw them shooting, and..."

"That was foolish."

"Ah?" The youngster looked confused.

"It's not good to throw yourself into danger."

"Well, you were about to get shot again!" The youngster frowned. "I had to do something!"

"I know...I...I know." Ayri shook her head. She was not used to situations like this. There was an awkward pause. Then the youngster forced a smile on his face.

"My-my name's Link, by the way."

"Link?" Ayri looked at him closely.

"What?"

She was sure she heard that name before...

"Oh, no. Sorry. Just thinking."

The boy looked back at her, and with equal awkwardness. "Um...do you want to eat breakfast?"

Ayri's stomach growled. She could not help it.

"...Sure."

Link was only halfway finished with his bowl of soup. For her part, Ayri had already all but devoured the contents of her own. The meat had been a little stringy and the diced apples just a touch singed, but there was no point in caring. Etiquette was barely a factor for her, even in regards to the host that sat across the old table.

One could infer that the old man was at least sixty years of age, but he was easily a couple head taller than either Link or Ayri, even when seated. His face was weatherbeaten and his beard was bushy, but his black eyes did not lose their sparkle. His muscles rippled under the dark tunic he wore. His hands were broad, but moved deftly as he alternated between scooping up spoonfuls of soup and showing off the small vial in his free hand. Curiously, he still wore his hood despite being indoors.

"You might not think much of them, but you should not play around with Bokoblins." His voice was deep, but with an undercurrent of wryness.

I know.

That was what Ayri wanted to say out loud, but she held her tongue.

"They may not be geniuses, but they surely are not fools." The old man put down the vial down on the table and pulled something else from his pocket. It was an arrowhead, freshly cut from the stem, no doubt the one that had caused Ayri's near-demise. "This is their usual tool for hunting their prey. One short arrowhead, dipped in poison. It might never go further than the length of your fingernail, but as long as the bloodstream is hit, there is nothing the poison will not fell. Squirrel, bear, boar, it does not matter...but as the poison only taints the bloodstream, the meat itself is safe to eat."

"Why don't they use that on people?" Ayri could not stop herself from asking. "They were trying to hunt a deer when they found me."

"They are too stupid." The old man grinned.

Ayri paused. She had never heard that casual utterance in this context. "Too stupid?"

"The Bokoblins hunt for food, but are senseless against humans." The old man said. "For humans, the usual kind of death is arrow after arrow."

Ayri opened her mouth, and then closed it. That much was true. How could she have forgotten her studies?

"So..." Link cut in. "The antidote you gave uh..Ayri here...it really works?"

"The old man picked up the vial again. "It's a little something I came up with when I was bored. The Bokoblins leave behind a lot more carcasses than you think, and as morbid as it might sound, that leaves room for learning. A little reverse-engineering, so to speak, and you have the antidote. I..."

The old man looked around. His eyes gazed on the walls, but it was impossible to not picture him turning his line of sight at the vast empty plains beyond them.

"I...I haven't had anyone to share it with until now." He abruptly went back to his bowl of soup. After a few gulps, he let out a deep breath. "Now, I don't expect you to tell me the details, but...how did you end up in the field?"

Ayri did not have an easy answer. She stared at the old man, and then at Link. Even a Yiga raider, the one variety of the three tiers that specialized in exploration, was required to uphold a certain kind of confidentiality.

"I heard tales of some treasure up here." She said plainly. "I thought I might be able find it somewhere or other."

The old man nodded. "I see. You were lucky enough for Link here to stumble upon you."

Ayri's face did not change, but her heart thumped. She felt tense.

"How long have you been out there?"

Ayri thought quickly. "I came up a couple days ago. I was resting, and then the Bokoblins shot me while they were hunting. I never found any clues about the treasure."

The old man paused, then shook his head. "The only thing close to a treasure is what the lad's carrying."

Link blinked, then gave a swift nod. He reached by his side and pulled out the black rectangle. Ayri's heart almost skipped a beat. Was that the...

"The Sheikah Slate." The old man said, as if on cue.

"The Sheikah...?" Ayri repeated unsteadily.

"It's something from the old civilization. Can't do much of anything now, though."

Ayri forced herself to silence. But if what this old man said was true, this was indeed the Sheikah Slate, the tool of the Hylian Champion. And that meant the sworn of the Yiga Clan was very near...

She took a quick look at the callow youth sitting next to her.

Could...could Link be...

If it weren't for her years of training in self-restraint, Ayri would have laughed aloud. Of course, he was not the Hylian Champion. How could she even think of that?

"That reminds me..."

The old man tapped his forehead and addressed Link.

"You haven't forgotten about your errand at the shrine, have you?"

"Shrine...?"

Ayri almost lost her composure. She had seen one of them before. On the far end of the Great Plateau, she had spotted a strange, dome-shaped monument. It had looked similar to the pictures she had seen in her youth.

"Oh, yes!" Link smiled awkwardly. "The shrine you said was on Mount...Hylia, right?"

The old man chuckled. "That's the one. I can give you a map."

"Thanks, but...if the mountain is what you said it is, I'll also need something warm."

"I have some spare tunics in my closet. You can pick out what you want."

"Thank you!" Link stood up. He left the table and went through the nearby doorway.

The old man looked at Ayri.

"And you, young miss?"

For a split second, Ayri lost her facade of calm.

"Who are you, old man?"

The old man's eyes lost their hint of levity. "I'll spare you my life story. I'm just an old fool who has lived here alone, for quite some time now."

He pointed at her.

"If I were you, I'd be more concerned about what's going to happen to you next."

"Next...?"

"Do you have anywhere else to go?"

Of course, Ayri could always seek out her Yiga compatriots, but she would not say such a thing out loud. And she could not leave the Sheikah Slate the young man carried go unattended.

Ayri stayed outside the hut. The stone walls were cracked and the straw roof was starting to come apart, but the structure had held up well over the years. She was surprised to find that the place had a well-sized vegetable were no other buildings or structures in the vicinity, though she knew that a few hundred yards away was the enormous castle, the stronghold of the cursed Royal Family that lived ages past.

She waited until Link pushed the wooden door aside and stepped out. He wore his yellow shawl from earlier, but he now wore a heavy green greatcoat, worn leather pants, and sturdy boots. He also wore a baldric over his shoulder, allowing a pouch to hang at his side. Not noticing her, he pulled the Sheikah Slate from the pouch. The rectangular object had the same shape and color that was pictured on tapestries and statues of the Hylian Champion, no doubt.

"Where did you find that?"

Link jumped a little, but calmed down. He noted the ice in Ayri's words.

"I...I just found it in a cave." Link jerked his head towards the low cliffs in the distance. "The old man told me it was called a...Sheikah Slate. But there's no point in having it as it is now. I can't figure out how to work it."

"I see." Ayri's expression did not change. She looked the boy up and down. Really? Did he really expect her to believe he found it that easily? That he stumbled upon one of the most valuable relics in the land by pure chance?

"Well, I have to get going." Link began to walk past Ayri. "Bye."

"Wait."

Link stopped, and turned back to look at her.

"I want to come with you."

"Why?"

"You might have been able to yell at Bokoblins," Ayri said. "But you will not be so lucky against everything else out there. You'll need protection."

"From Bokoblins?"

"Not only them. And..." Ayri paused. What she was going to say next was not technically a lie.

"I suppose that after what you did, I owe you a favor. If you really have to go up there for the shrine, I'll make sure you come back here in one piece." She gripped her bow with one hand and her sheathed dagger with the other.

"But your leg..."

"Never mind that. If you've never been to Mount Hylia before, you won't have any success without help."

Link's brow furrowed, but he shrugged.

""Well...thanks." He paused. "Shall we go?"

Ayri nodded, and they started to make their way to the nearby cliff.

"Um...this is kind of awkward, but..."

"Yes?"

"Ayri is a pretty name."

Ayri felt her cheeks flush again. But her mind was still rational. If the Sheikah Slate was lost, then surely the Hylian Champion would be looking for it. And that would lead him straight to her.

And the Yiga would revel in newfound glory.

I am so embarrassed I didn't realize this earlier, but I had to fix a couple properties for the story description. Oh well.