THERE'S ALWAYS SOMEONE LOOKING OUT FOR YOU by Matthew Rose
Chapter 1:
The Hebra Mountains, a frozen wasteland that most people have no hope of simply passing through, without the proper precaution, of course. But for a young Rito Warrior, it is simply another Tuesday. The Rito Warrior, named Tulin, is practicing his craft in the Flight Range. After having helped the one known as Link help defeat the dreaded Demon King, Ganondorf, and bring peace back to the land of Hyrule, rather than want to be celebrated as a hero, he has taken a modest approach and has gone back to his duties of helping his father, Teba, protect their beloved home of Rito Village, from any future plights that may occur. He must keep up with his training, just because the Demon King is gone, doesn't mean this peace will last, there will always be someone willing to take his place and threaten Hyrule once again.
Tulin has successfully fired at twenty out of the twenty bullseyes scattered all around the range in the span of eighteen seconds. While most would obnoxiously boast at a feat like that, he has a slight look of disappointment on his face. "Damn... only eighteen seconds." He says to himself wiping sweat from his crown. "...Welp, we can only improve from there." He says in a jovial tone.
As he gets ready for another practice session, determination burning in his sapphire blue eyes, he looks down for a brief moment and then turns his head to see something he was not expecting to see... it was a young Hylian boy, all by himself. As Tulin continues to looks down at boy, who himself hasn't noticed the young Rito boy watching him, he is trying to comprehend several things about this image; How did he get into the flight range, how is he not shivering to death, why is he all alone, and why would a little kid be in the Hebra Mountains, of all places. He sees that the boy seems very focused, as if he's on a serious quest; for what, he couldn't even imagine. This kid looked no older than six, and yet, here he is in the frozen wilds of Hyrule... all alone.
Tulin, clearly concerned, flies down to meet the strange boy. "Hey, you!" He calls out to him as descends. The boy is completely frightened by Tulin's entrance, jumping almost five feet in the air. "Yah!" The boy yelps. He then notices the much taller boy standing in front of him, and cowers in fear. "P-please don't hurt me!" Tulin tries to calm him down. "Woah woah, hey hey hey, it's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you..." He tries to reassure the boy, who is still covering his head, scared of this new stranger. "...I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." The boy, still scared, slowly looks up at the older boy, Tulin gives him an assuring smile. "Hi there, buddy. My name's Tulin, ...what's yours?" He asks making sure to be as friendly as possible to the younger boy.
"The boy, on the other hand, was stunned, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. This stranger was not only a kid like him, but he wasn't even human, or at least he thought, it might be a costume of some sort. He must have traveled really far to see this. Having calmed down a bit, he then bluntly asks the Rito boy: "...A-Are you a bird...?" Tulin tilts his head, slightly bemused by that question. Noticing this, the boy looks a little scared, hoping he didn't hurt his feelings... But Tulin giggles lightly. "Well, you could say that, I suppose. To be more specific, I'm a Rito... and a proud Rito Warrior, at that." He jokes while making a silly superhero pose.
The boy just stands there, still confused. Tulin realizing the boy is serious. "Haven't you ever seen a Rito before...?" He asks him earnestly. The boy shakes his head. "I see... Where are you from?" The boy points behind him to the south. Tulin then sees where he's pointing, and realizes that he must've come from the other side of the mountains, a completely different area of Hyrule. Something that he never gave any thought to, as where he lives, Ritos, Hylians, Gorons and Zoras are all homogenized into one solid land. For all he knew, there was no sign of life anywhere beyond there. Which only further begs the question, how did this small boy find himself in one of Hyrule's most perilous areas?
"So, what's your name?" Tulin asks. "M-my name is..." The boy turns a little red. "...Mutobu." Tulin gives a sincere smile. "That's a nice name, Mutobu." He looks a little sheepish and gives him a bow. "T-thank you, Mr. Tulin."
""Mr. Tulin...?"" Tulin says, he can't help giggling at how serious the kid is. "No need to be so formal, just call me 'Tulin'." the boy gives him another bow and says: "Sorry, Mr.- I mean, Tulin." Tulin laughs again. "So, what are you doing out here...?"
"I'm looking for Winterwing Butterflies." Tulin is a little amused by his blunt answer. "Well, you won't find any over here, they are more around Tabantha near my village. I can take you there if you want." Tulin offers hoping the boy will take it.
"Oh no, that's okay. I'll be fine." He assures the Rito boy, who's none too happy about his choice, but puts up a smile anyway. "W-Well okay then. By the way, where are your parents?" The boy is confused and scratches his head. "...Aren't you with your mother, or your father?" He asks again truly concerned. The boy simply says: "They asked me to leave." Tulin looks at him again, skepticism written all over his face. "...They... asked you to leave?" The boy, smiling, simply replies: "Yep." Tulin can't believe what he is hearing. "...What do you mean they asked you to leave...?" Trying to comprehend this whole scenario is starting to become a challenge for Tulin. "They said it was time for my bug-collecting adventure, so they asked me to leave." He explains, but still not making any lick of sense in the blue eyes of Tulin."...Your mother and father... said it was time... for your "bug-collecting adventure...?"" He asks slowly, at the same time, making sure he's not a Yiga in disguise. The boy proudly shakes his head "Yep."
"Well, you definitely shouldn't be out here by yourself, this place isn't very safe for little kids." The boy then asks pointing his little finger towards the Rito: "But aren't you a little kid?" Tulin, turns a slightly red. "W-wha... I'm not a little kid! I'll have you know, I'm thirteen-years-old, practically a grown-up!" Tulin then pouts a little kid. The boy giggles, "You sure act like one."
"Look, we're not talking about me, the point is I need to know what a little Hylian is doing all by himself in these big scary mountains." Tulin then asks seriously. "A little... what?" Tulin repeats himself; "Hylian. You're a Hylian, aren't you?
The boy then replies like a little kid, "No... I is a human." Tulin looks confused again. "...What's a human...? There is only Hylians here, they have hair like you, t-they have noses like you, and they have long pointy ears like-" Tulin cuts himself off as he just notices that the boys ears are an odd round shape he's never seen before. "Hey, what's with your ears?" All of a sudden, the quiet boy becomes agitated and covers his ears, "There ain't nothin' wrong with my ears, don't say that! I'm not listening." Tulin is shocked by the boy getting defensive so suddenly. "Woah, hey, I wasn't trying to make fun of you..." But the boy won't hear it. "You were too! I thought you were nice, but you're just like everybody else! I'm going now, I don't wanna talk to you no more... "M-Mr. Tulin!"" The boy then storms off, but Tulin tries to stop him, "Hey, wait! You need to get somewhere safe-" But the boy has run off still covering his ears, with tears developing in his eyes.
Tulin just stands there, completely flabbergasted. He is conflicted, but decides that if he wants to be left alone, then he'll respect that. It was just then that Tulin had realized what direction that kid was heading towards...
Meanwhile, the boy is still fuming at yet another "bully" picking on him, not noticing that he's wandering into the territory of unfriendly, and quite ferocious looking faces...
The boy is just now noticing that something is wrong, and he doesn't feel safe. He spots a bizarre-looking 'man' wandering around and decides to ask for directions. "Excuse me, Mr... can you help me?" The little boy tugs on what he thinks is a shirt, but it turns out to be a long reptilian tail...
End of Chapter 1...