Mina leaned back and stretched, enjoying the sun's setting rays. Sitting on the dock and watching the sun disappear into the ocean had become something of a tradition over the week or so that she had been in Lurelin. She found it incredibly relaxing, and it helped keep her from thinking too much about home or her missing friends or—

'No, don't you get started, Mina. Just relax and enjoy the evening.' She could hear Erim calling for dinner, and she smiled. The woman had taken Mina under her motherly wing since her arrival. Her husband, off on a fishing trip, had told Mina before he left that Erim was the one who really ran the village. She was quiet, but when she spoke, everybody listened. Her friendly, no-nonsense attitude put her squarely in charge whenever there were problems that warranted the attention of the entire village, never mind what the elder was doing at the time. To top it all off, she had apparently been an excellent dancer in her youth.

"Ashido! Dinner's ready!"

Mina licked her lips. Erim was also an excellent cook. "I'll be there in just a minute," she yelled back. She wanted to enjoy the evening sun just a little more before going in for food.

As she looked out over the ocean, she noticed an odd shape and shielded her eyes, squinting against the sunlight as she tried to get a better look. Whatever it was, it was long and low and seemed to be cutting through the waves toward the beach. 'Probably a boat of some kind.' She watched it for a few moments before turning and seeing one of the villagers heading up from the docks. "Azal! Could you come here for a moment?"

The man changed his course without breaking stride, slowly strolling up to her. "Sure thing, Miss Ashido. Whatchu need?"

She couldn't help but chuckle. Azal was one of the young fishermen who seemed to be enamored with her "exotic nature." Anytime she needed anything, she had but to ask and Azal's mop of unruly dark hair would bob over to help, almost like a helpful dog. It was flattering, but she wasn't looking forward to telling him 'no.'

Azal cocked his head to the side. "Wha's so funny?"

"Nothing. You just reminded me of something." Mina turned around and pointed at the shape, which she could now definitely tell was a boat. "I just saw that boat coming in and wasn't sure if anyone else was out."

"Boat?" Azal's grin melted, his mouth tightening in a line as he peered out across the water. "Migh' be raiders. Keep an eye on it while I git me glass."

'Raiders?' Mina wanted to ask, but was afraid of the answer she might get. Instead, she just nodded and continued to watch the mysterious boat. She couldn't see how such a small ship could be a threat, unless it was like one of those submarines in old war movies. She eyed the waterline nervously, but it didn't seem like there was anything under there. 'Oh, where's Tsuyu when I need her?'

The thudding of footsteps behind her alerted her to Azal's return. The man skidded to a stop next to her, his eyes focused on the oncoming ship as he raised his telescope. Mina watched him study it for a minute before the tension became too much for her. "Well? Are they raiders?" she demanded.

The few moments of silence that followed her question nearly drove her crazy. She was about to pounce on the man and demand answers when he chuckled and lowered his telescope. "'Fraid no', miss. It's th' merchant."

'Merchant? What merchant?'

Before she could ask, Azal turned to face her fully. "Ev'ryone'll want t'trade with 'im. Why don' you run an' git ev'ryone t'gether, and I'll git th' dock ready."

Mina hesitated for a moment, still curious about the merchant, but decided to do as she had been asked. She spun on her heel and jogged back up the beach, slowing only to poke her head inside of Erim's door. "Erim! Azal sent me. There's a merchant's boat pulling in."

The woman looked up from the small table where she was laying out several plates. "Oh? Did he say which trader it was?" she asked.

Mina shook her head. "No. He just said it was 'the merchant.' Whoever it is has a long, low boat though."

Erim stared at her for a moment before grinning. "Oh, it's that one. I've been having the kids get things together for him. Why don't you sit down and eat, and I'll send them to go tell the others."

Mina opened her mouth to protest, but was interrupted by her stomach's gurgling. "Well, I guess I could use some food," she said, entering the building more fully. "Do you need any help getting things ready?"

"No, I just need to bring the food out now. I figured you might want a change, so we slaughtered one of the chickens today. I think you'll like it."

If the wonderful smells coming from the building's small kitchen meant anything, then Mina would probably have to agree. Mina took a seat at the table as Erim left the room before returning moments later with some sort of cooked chicken and vegetables. She could feel her mouth beginning to water as she looked at it and the rice that her host placed down moments later. 'If it takes too long for the kids to get here, I might go nuts.'

Almost as if her thoughts had summoned them, Erim's two children dashed into the house and buzzed around her, and Mina couldn't help but laugh. Kalph and Esial, about seven and three respectively, were always energetic, but never so much as when they were eating or skipping stones. The two had learned to love food early in life, and with their mom's cooking, Mina couldn't blame them.

"Settle down, you two. We'll eat in just a minute," Erim said before handing several wooden utensils to her daughter. "Esial, could you be a big girl for a moment and finish setting the table?"

"Yup! I big girl!"

Erim chuckled as the small child toddled around toward the table before turning toward her son. "Before we eat, Kalph, I need you to run a quick errand for me."

Mina watched as the life seemingly drained out of the boy. "But Mama, I'm hungry!"

"I know, but this will only take a few moments." Erim took her son by the hand and led him over to the door of the house, where she pointed at something that Mina couldn't see, but presumed was the merchant's boat. "You see that boat? That's Mr. Beedle's boat. I need you to run and tell Elder Mazas that he's coming in. You're a lot faster than Miss Ashido or I."

"Really?" Kalph looked up at his mother, his earlier reluctance replaced with excitement.

"Really. And if you go fast and make sure that the elder organizes the others, we'll go down and look at what he has. Maybe there'll be something for you and your sister."

"Oh wow! I'll go. I'm fast; you'll see!"

The boy took off running, scattering sand as he dashed up the hill toward the elder's house. Mina chuckled as Erim turned around and sighed theatrically. "Hylia knows that he'll be a handful when he's older."

"He's a good kid."

"That he is, and I couldn't ask for a better one." Erim stepped over to the table and smiled at her youngest's haphazard attempts to set the table. "Well done, child. Now, shall we eat?"

"'Ken!" Esial declared, clambering into her chair and reaching for some of the roasted bird.

Her mother gently caught her hand. "Not yet. Let's thank the Goddess for her bounty, and then we can eat."

The little girl pouted, but sat back down. Her mother smiled at her and at Mina before clasping her hands together and gazing toward the sky. "Oh great Goddess, we are thankful for the bounty you have bestowed upon us…"

Mina listened to the grace quietly. She still found it a bit weird that the people of this world apparently worshiped honest-to-goodness goddesses, but she tried to take it in stride. She actually thought that it was kind of sweet, though she appreciated that Erim hadn't asked her to give grace.

"…until the Golden Goddesses return." Erim paused and looked at the door to the house. Within moments, Kalph appeared, out of breath. "Did you deliver the message, Kalph?"

The boy nodded. "Yes, Mama. Elder said he'd let people know. Can we go down to meet the merchant?"

"After dinner. We just gave thanks for the meal, so come and eat."

Kalph dashed over to the table and bounced in his chair while his mother got food for Esial. Mina chuckled to herself as she reached out to scoop some food onto his plate. "Here, I'll get this for you. What have you two been up to?"

She chuckled again as Kalph's eyes went big. "We were up playing by that weird building. We tried to figure out how to open it, but it's locked pretty tight. So we pretended we were protecting it from monsters. I got to be the legendary hero!"

"Oh, that's pretty cool. You know, where I come from, we have a lot of different heroes, but a couple stand out as being truly legendary. I'm lucky to have one as one of my teachers."

Mina hadn't thought that the little boys could go any wider, but he proved her wrong. "Wow, really? What's he like? Does he save people like our legendary hero?"

"Totally! He's so awesome. He always beats the bad guys, and whenever he's always smiling when he saves people. That way, they know that everything will be okay."

"Woooow!"

Erim laughed at her son's enthusiasm. "Let Miss Ashido eat, Kalph. We can talk about heroes afterward."

"Oh, I don't mind," Mina said, though she was secretly a little relieved. While she knew a lot about All Might, she didn't feel like she could do any description justice. That said, after having met Midori, she didn't think anyone would be able to accurately describe him. She could feel the emotions she'd been repressing start to well up with the thought of her green friend, and quickly tried to think of something else. Her eyes landed on the chicken. She speared a small piece and, as she bit into it, felt her eyes go wide from the delicious savory flavor that somehow reminded her of seashells.

The four ate their meal in relative silence, the only sound the clicking of wooden utensils against wooden plates and the constant sound of the ocean. As they were finishing, Mina heard the sound of voices approaching the hut. When she glanced through the kitchen window, she spotted a group of villagers heading down to the beach.

Mina quickly stood up and scooped up her plate before glancing at the others. It seemed like they were done, so Mina started to gather their plates as well. "I'll get these cleaned up. That way, you three can go down to the beach."

Her host glanced up at her and seemed to think for a moment before nodding. "Thank you. There's a bucket of water in the kitchen. If you would just scrape the food off and rinse the plates with the water, I'll worry about cleaning them afterwards."

"Okay, I can do that." She took their plates into the kitchen and found the bucket pretty quickly. She didn't mind doing the work; Erim had been a great host and Mina tried to help however she could.

As she rinsed the plates, she thought back to what Kalph had said about a legendary hero. From what she had seen and learned from Erim, there weren't many people left after the Calamity a hundred years ago, whatever that had been. They didn't have a group of heroes who stopped crime or protected innocent people from bad guys. But apparently they had had one hero at some point. She'd have to ask her host for more information. She racked the last plate and grinned. If she could learn something about this hero, she might be able to impress Midori the next time she saw him.

Whenever that was. Her grin slipped, and she sighed as she wiped away the tears of frustration that had sprung to her eyes. "It just isn't faaair. This is worse than Mr. Aizawa forcing us to do extra work during summer camp."

She just had to resign herself to the fact that she didn't know when, or if, she would see her friends again. She was pretty sure that whatever had brought her to his world had probably dumped them here somewhere as well, but she had no way of knowing where. For all she knew, they could be clear on the other side of the globe from her.

A soft tug on her shirt caught her attention. She scrubbed the tears from her eyes again before turning to find Esial looking up at her. The toddler tilted her head to the side, concern in her eyes. "Miss 'Shido sad?"

Mina tried to force a laugh, but it came out as more of a cough. "Yeah, I'm a little sad. I miss my friends and family, and I don't know if I'll ever see them again."

Esial's eyes widened slightly and she ran out of the room, only to return moments later holding something in her hand, which she promptly held out to Mina. Mina took it and realized it was the little girl's red stuffed fish person that she carried around all over the place. Esial gently pushed it into Mina's chest. "This Mr. Zo'a. He help me feel better when I sad."

Tears welled up in Mina's eyes once more as she crouched down and embraced the little girl. "Th-thank you, Esial. I think he'll help me, too."

The little girl returned the hug as best she could, squeezing Mina for all she was worth. After a few moments, her grip loosened, and Mina let her go. Esial looked up at her, a radiant smile lighting up her tanned face. "Let's see merchant!"

Mina gave a watery chuckle and nodded. The toddler dashed out of the room past her mother, who was standing in the door. Mina just nodded after Esial and said, "She's such a sweetie."

The woman stepped over and wrapped her in a hug. "That she is, and you are too." After a moment, Erim stepped back and smiled. "Let's head down to the beach. You don't want to keep that little girl waiting, do you?"

"Nope." Mina wiped her eyes again and chuckled as a thought struck her. "It's a good thing my classmates aren't here. A couple of the stronger ones would totally make fun of me and tell me that heroes don't cry, especially in front of the people they're supposed to protect."

"That's fish slop." Erim slowly guided Mina out of the house. "Just because you're a hero or a hero in training doesn't mean that you don't have feelings. Life is hard, and sometimes, you just can't see the sun on a rainy day, no matter how thick or thin the cloud layer might be. On top of that, while you may have this great responsibility to help and save others, you and your friends are still kids, Ashido. Don't be in too big of a hurry to grow up, or you'll find that you've missed the ebbing tide."

Mina smiled. "Ocean metaphors?"

"I am a fisherman's wife."

The two chuckled and walked back down the path to the beach. The docks and shore surrounding them were significantly more crowded than when Mina had left, though nowhere near as crowded as any beach on Earth, thankfully. In the time that she'd been gone, the merchant's ship had been moored to the docks. Torches had been lit and now dotted the dock and shore, flames fluttering in the evening breeze. One of the villagers spotted them and respectfully stepped to the side. "Th' kiddos are all up at th' edge of th' dock, Erim. The merchant's showin' 'em somethin'."

Erim nodded her thanks and slowly worked her way through the crowd. Mina stayed close behind her, clutching the fish-man doll to her side. She didn't want to make Esial sad by losing it. As they got to the front of the crowd, they saw the kids all sitting or standing on the dock with a few adults for supervision, watching a man that Mina took to be the merchant show off some kind of toy. He made it do something, and the children laughed, clapping happily.

After a few more deft movements that produced more laughter, the man whisked the toy away and stood up to face the crowd. He tugged his scarf around and straightened his crop top before saying, "Hello, people of Lurelin! Beedle comes bearing news and goods from the rest of Hyrule."

'He refers to himself in third person?' Mina blinked, surprised at how well she could hear the man. Though he hadn't shouted, his voice had sounded like he was standing right next to each other even though he was six or seven meters away. She thought it might have just been her, but she was quickly disabused of that thought as a man behind her called out, "What news have ye, Merchant Beedle?"

The man—Beedle—replied, "Some good, and some not so good. Monsters have grown bolder, waylaying groups of travelers and disrupting trade, and some of the stable outposts have seen increased Guardian activity. A few of the Sheikah have reported that Ganon's Malice seems to have thickened around Castle Town, and many believe that the beast stirs in captivity, that the Princess might be weakening—or has already been consumed."

Murmurs swept through the crowd as the people dissected this bit of apparently grim news. Mina leaned over to Erim and murmured, "Who is Ganon?"

"He—or it, rather—is the being that destroyed the kingdom of Hyrule a hundred years ago," Erim replied quietly, eyes focused on the merchant. "Princess Zelda managed to use her power to contain the beast before we could all be destroyed and hasn't been seen since. If Ganon's power is growing again, then something bad is coming."

Beedle seemed to be perfectly aware of the impact his words had had. He sat on the prow of his ship and listened to the discussions that had erupted at his announcement. After a few minutes, he stood once again and held his hands in the air. Slowly, the mutterings and voices died away until the only sounds were from the breeze and breaking tide. "While things appear bleak, there is some good news," the man said, slowly scanning the crowd. His gaze met Mina's, and Mina thought his eyes widened.

Just as quickly as the look had come, it was gone again, and he continued scanning the crowd, making Mina wonder if she had seen what she had thought. "Yes, there is good news," he continued. "The Hateno Militia has been preparing and working with the Sheikah scientists, Robbie and Purah, and they believe that they are prepared for anything Ganon throws at them.

"While that is good news, I am happy to say that Beedle has even better news. A short while ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Zelda's Champion. He has returned to Hyrule as was promised, and is even now traveling with his companions to Kakariko Town to consult with the Sheikah elder Impah on how to right the wrongs of a hundred years ago!"

Noise erupted around Mina at this announcement. People argued with each other and yelled at Beedle, asking for more information. The kids just looked confused. Some of the smaller ones had been frightened by the sudden outburst and ran back to their parents. Esial collided with her mother's legs and clung to her skirt, with Kalph following close behind.

Erim looked at Mina and rolled her eyes before kneeling and saying something to Esial. The little girl detached herself from her mother and latched on to Mina while her mother marched over to the side of the ship. Mina brushed the little girl's hair for a moment before giving her Mr. Zora, which she hugged just as tightly as she was holding on to Mina. Ahead, Erim spoke with the merchant for a moment, who nodded and disappeared inside his cabin while she clambered up the side of the ship. Within moments, the man reappeared with a pair of pans, which Erim promptly took and crashed together.

Mina winced at the sound, which had been amplified the same way Beedle's voice had been earlier. 'It probably has something to do with the water.' The noise level dropped drastically around her, people stopping mid-conversation as Erim struck the two pans together again. When most of the arguing had died down, Mina's host lowered the pans. "Honestly, you people arguing and counting your fish before the net's reeled in. Let the man finish!"

Erim handed the pans back to Beedle and climbed back off of the ship. Beedle cleared his throat and said, "Thank you, ma'am. I was able to pick out some of your questions, and I'm afraid I do not have many answers for you. Zelda's Champion himself did not seem to know what course of action he would pursue, or where he would concentrate his efforts. I will relay that information on Beedle's next visit when I have learned more."

Beedle looked back over his shoulder at the horizon before addressing the crowd again. "Beedle knows that you wish to peruse the wares I have brought, but I need time to get set up and to take care of some things. Come back in a little while."

The sun disappeared below the horizon as the crowd grumbled in response, but the grumbling seemed to be good natured this time around. The people around Mina began to disperse, one or two calling out thanks to the merchant while the rest spoke with one another in hushed voices. Mina couldn't blame them. From what she understood, this Beedle had dropped a totally huge bombshell on them.

So Hyrule had a champion. Or Champion, rather; they way Beedle had said it had made it seem like an important title of some kind. Maybe it was something like a hero? Mina just hoped that he would be able to do something about this icky Ganon thing, for the sake of the villagers. She looked up as Erim rejoined them and grinned. "Erim, that was so cool how you just took control like that!"

"It wasn't anything I haven't done before," the woman laughed. "Thanks for watching the kiddos for me. Shall we head back to the house? Kalph and Esial can tell us about the things that the merchant showed them."

The kids eyes lit up, and Mina laughed. "I think that's a yes."

The four of them turned and started back up the path. Kalph saw a couple of the other village boys and ran ahead, promising his mom that he would be back in a bit. She just waved him away as the three continued at a leisurely stroll toward the house. They didn't get far before someone yelled at them from the beach.

"Excuse me! Could I speak with you for a moment, miss?"

Mina turned back around to the source of the voice and watched the merchant jog up to them. "Sure thing, merchant guy. Didn't you say you had things to do?"

The man nodded. "Indeed, Beedle has many tasks, and this is one of them. Are you, by any chance, Ashido Mina?"

Mina froze for a moment before nodding. "Y-yes, that's me. How on earth do you know my name?!"

"I had thought as much. You were listening as I told everyone about the Hylian Champion Link and his companions?"

"Yes, but I don't know what that has to do with your magical knowledge of my name!"

"Patience, Miss Ashido." The man fished around for a moment in a cute pouch strapped to his waist before pulling out a piece of paper covered in handwriting. "One of his companions gave me your description and asked me to watch for you. I believe you might know him, a boy with green hair named—"

"Midori!" Mina shrieked. She grabbed the man's arms and shook him in her excitement. "How is he doing? Where is he? Does he know where the others are?"

Beedle laughed and gently extracted himself from Mina's grip. "He's doing just fine. He's traveling with the Hylian Champion and his mentor to Kakariko at the moment, though I do believe that they will be making their way from there to Hateno Town on the coast. If you would like, I can take you there, provided that you help out around the ship."

The offer brought Mina up short, and she weighed the options in her mind. On the one hand, that was awfully nice of the merchant, but on the other hand, that was awfully nice of the man. "You're not offering so you can do creepy stuff, right? 'Cause I'll melt your boat if that's what you're planning."

The man hastily shook his head. "Not at all. Beedle's only interest is in, well, beetles."

'I… don't want to think about that.'

Erim stepped up beside Mina. "Ashido, I think I can vouch for Beedle. He may be a traveler, but he has helped us find missing people in the past, and we've not had anything but good dealings with him." She paused, and then spun and pointed a finger at Beedle. "And if anything were to happen to you, there isn't a place in this world that Hylia could hide him from me."

Beedle swallowed and nodded. "Have no fear. I will deliver her safely to Hateno. We'll leave in two days, maybe sooner depending on how sales go, which should put you there in another two days. A little ahead of your friend, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem."

"Well then, consider yourself hired!" Mina bounced up and down. She knew that she was grinning like a maniac, but she didn't care. 'Midori's okay! Midori's okay! And it sounds like he's with All Might!'

She turned and hugged Erim tightly before pulling away. "Thank you so much for your help. You've honestly been kind of like a surrogate mom while I've been here."

"Well dear, you kind of needed one. Let's get your things sorted tonight so you don't have to scramble to get them together in the wee hours of the morning while the tide goes out."

Mina felt a familiar tug on her shirt and looked down at Esial. The girl was watching her solemnly. "You find fwiend?"

'I want my children to be as cute as this little one.' Aloud, Mina said, "Yeah, Mr. Beedle knows where he is. So I'll be leaving in a couple of days."

The little girl nodded and held out her fish. "Mr. Zo'a wants to go with you. He keep you safe and happy."

"Are you sure?" When Esial nodded, Mina hesitantly took the fish man. "Thank you. I'll make sure that he's safe."

Esial nodded and yawned. Erim picked the little girl up and said, "That was a very big girl thing to do. For now, we should go home. You can discuss things with Mr. Beedle tomorrow. For now, you'll need to get some sleep, especially if you're going to learn how to be a merchant tomorrow."

Mina nodded and turned to the face of the nervously beaming merchant. "Thank you so much. I'll find a way to pay you back, I promise."

Thanks to Boo Boo the Fool on Discord for editing this chapter. He asked some questions that kept me dancing on my toes looking up the answers, haha.

But yeah, got the chapter finished! This was originally supposed to be a chapter with a few different perspectives, but it ended up being a Mina chapter. We'll peek in at the others next chapter, and then we'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming. As always, thanks for reading and your comments/kudos/likes, and I hope you enjoyed it!