Chapter 18.
Earning Money.

There was a commotion in town.
For several weeks, a monster had terrorised the fishermen and travellers.
And a brave man had ridden in, Lizalfos in tow, to claim the recognition and reward for heroically battling the beast.

With the creature strung upside down for all to see, he spoke of his battle.
It was with wide mesmerised eyes that everyone listened to his tale.
Fighting the beast barehanded was a feat never before heard of.
No one would be so bold.

Cash in hand, he went off to enjoy himself. Rounds of beer for himself and the ladies who favoured brave men, as well as other delights from the bakery.

All the while, a few houses down, Link had been talking to a few merchants about how to make money.
The only thing of value he had was his sword and ocarina. Neither of which he was willing to part with.
He owes his life to one, and the ocarina is a treasure for him.

"If you're looking for work… The inn has a fire burning all night. So you could probably chop wood for them."

"That's not a bad idea." Navi agreed from inside his hat. "Say thank you, Link."

"Thank you." Link said with a cheerful smile before walking back towards the inn.

Asking the very first person he saw in there was met with dismissal, same with the second and third and fourth.
Eventually, a man behind the counter asked him why he was bothering everyone.
Once Link said he wanted to chop wood for money, the man led him through to the back.
There, Link was taken to a woodshed, filled corner to corner with logs.

"Now, it might be hard go'n for you. But I'll give you a Rupee for every five logs you split." Axe in hand, he demonstrated how to cut them into quarters.

"okay." Link raised the axe as shown and got splitting.

After a moment of watching, the barman was satisfied that his instructions were clear and so left the boy alone.
Navi did the only thing she could, keep count.

"You know, Link 'fifty-six' this is probably going to help you."

"Yeah," Link gasped, placing the next log into position. "I can't wait for a cake!"

"That's not what I meant, 'fifty-seven' I meant, your sword arm is probably getting stronger, right? Just think how strong you'll be after a thousand chops!"

"Strong enough to fight off any monster!" Link grinned.

"Who are you talking to?" Asked a woman, standing by the door behind the Inn. She had brown shoulder-length hair, fair skin and soft eyes.
But she had a look of shock when the boy turned around.

"Oh, I was just talking to my fairy." Link answered, smiling up at the roof of the woodshed where his little friend was sitting.
Navi rolled her eyes, reminding him that grownups can't hear her.
"Oh, I mean… Hi, My name is Link." He greeted.

"Link… You're from the forest? The lost woods?" The look of surprise on the boy's face was everything she needed to know the answer.
Her face was full of emotion, yet when her eyes fell on his fairy, her demeanour softened. "And who's this little one?" She asked, holding her hands up to the fairy.

Navi was hesitant. Children are scary, but this is the first time an adult had shown her interest.

"uh, that's Navi." Link answered, putting his axe down.

"I had a fairy when I was little too." The woman answered. "My brother and I," She gave a gentle smile to Navi. "It's okay, I won't hurt you."

This revelation was a shock to the travelling pair. After all, it took Link until he was ten to meet Navi.
"You had a fairy?" Link asked on Navi's behalf.

"Yes, her name was Dawn. She had the brightest yellow glow, poor thing couldn't see too well at night."
Seeing the boy and fairy's confusion, the woman quickly lifted her shirt to let them see.
"See? I'm smooth there, nothing at all."

"Anju, what the heck are you doing?" Asked the barman.

"N-Nothing." The woman was mortified, "we should speak later." She said, before rushing off inside to finish her work.
Leaving the boy and fairy a little bewildered.

"What just happened?"

"I have no idea…" Navi's mouth was ajar as she tried to make sense of what she just saw. "what number were we at?"

"um…" Link looked at the pile of kindling he'd already split. "Let's say fifty."

"We were higher than that. Say fifty-five." Navi returned to sitting on the roof overlooking Link while he continued working.

By the time Link had split a hundred logs his back and arm were killing him.
"Take a break, Link." Navi encouraged, offering him three whole blueberries.
It wasn't much to a young man hard at work, but it was literally the most she could carry in her arms.

"Thanks, Navi," Link gulped them down, but they only reminded them that he hadn't eaten since losing his apple the night before.

"Hey Link? Why does your bag stink so bad?" Navi was holding her nose as he opened it. His wet shirt was bundled in, Link didn't want to look.

"Let me get money from the man, then we can eat something."

"Okay." Navi waited for Link to dawn his hat once more before crawling inside.
Since the bar area is so crowded, she didn't want to get swatted away like at the castle.

The Barman inspected Link's work and afforded him the twenty rupees he'd earned as well as a bowl of oatmeal.

"Thank you." At first, Link didn't know what to make of the bowl of goop as he went and sat out on the very stump he'd been chopping on. Although the meal at Maron's was much tastier, he did find the oatmeal rather filling.
Navi had already snacked on berries, so Link had the whole bowl to fill up on.

"I'll be right back, wait for me." Navi darted off from his hat and flew away.
She'd return with two more berries and plopped them into his bowl.
"You chop more wood if you like, I'll get you more berries." She suggested.

"It's okay, you don't have to."

"Please let me do something." Navi was determined to be helpful if she could. In the forest, she was destined to help him pick berries anyway.

The compromise reached between the two was that after Link is done eating the oatmeal, he'd chop more wood. In the meantime, Navi would continue to gather and drop berries into the bowl for him to eat once he was due for another break.

Link chopped another hundred logs by the time Navi's back-and-forth adventure had left her wings and arms tired.
"Thank you, Navi," Link pulled out the fattest juiciest berry and handed it back to her. "You earned it."

Navi sighed happily as she bit the dark flesh and sucked the juice out.
Link ate his berries by the handful until he was truly full.
It would have been good if the oatmeal and berries had been mixed, but that can be a lesson learned for next time.

Another twenty rupees added to the funds and Link felt ready to continue on the road.
"Where should we go?"

"I dunno, pick a path?"
As Link picked his bag up, Navi flew to land on his shoulder.
"Aw that smell is terrible!" She objected. The smell was the single most offensive thing she'd ever encountered. "What have you got in there?"

"Nothing…" Link pouted, feeling embarrassed about his blunder.

Navi just remembered that he's not had a bath in a few days.
"Seriously, we need to find you a river."

"I'm not going into the river, that Lizalfos might kill me," Link replied, catching the attention of a man walking by.

"Oh, were you troubled by that thing too? Don't worry lad, Groose took care of it." He said with a thumbs up on his way by.

Link didn't stop as he watched the man go, but he asked Navi what a Groose was.
"I think Groose is a person." Navi flew ahead, just to distance herself from the smell. But it actually got worse. "Hey, Look!"

Link ran up and turned to see a lizard monster stretched out over a frame, suspended by its arms and legs. The tail drooping along the ground.

Link was in shock as he looked at the dead creature.
"it died?" His hands were shaking.
The Mosstraps are just plants and the Skulltulas prey on helpless fairies. But the lizard creature was an accident.

"What do you think, young man?" Asked the village mayor with a chuffed smile.

Startled by the strange man's sudden appearance, Link's cheerful energy was replaced by defensiveness.
"But I didn't mean to kill it!" Link cried, "It attacked me!" His concerns grew as the man's smile faded.

"Don't be silly," The man looked around for other children, wondering if perhaps the strange boy was playing a game. "What are you talking about?"

After a brief talk, the Mayor asked if Link was being honest or just trying to get the reward money.
"It's a terrible crime to take credit for things you didn't do."

"What reward money?" Link asked. "I was just down by the river and it attacked me."

"Do you have any proof you killed it?" He looked over the scaly hide. The man who had claimed the reward bragged about killing it bare-handed, and as implausible as it may be, the creature does seem undamaged.

Link sheepishly opened his bag and pulled out his wet tunic. Wrapped inside was the creature's tongue, still stuck to the fabric like tar.
The culprit of the foul odour that had been following Link all day.

The Mayor grabbed the creature's jaws and pulled them open, seeing for himself that the tongue was indeed missing.
"Stay right here, lad…" He demanded as he stormed off to the inn.

"Do you think I'm in trouble?" Link asked.

"Maybe we should run, he looked mad about something." Navi was worried for him. Bad luck just seems to follow the boy no matter where he goes.

Eventually, a crowd of people started approaching, the mayor followed by the renowned hero and his fans.
Everyone was staring at Link, and they all looked upset and angry.

"Is this the boy?" Asked the man who'd been bathing in glory. "Reminds me of myself. I always wanted to be the hero too. It takes a lot of humility to be a hero, and you'll never get there by lying."

Link's brow narrowed.

"The boy has the creature's tongue stuck to his shirt!" The mayor barked. "Explain yourself, Groose!"

Groose looked at the tacky shirt.
"He could have cut the tongue out after it was strung up. Was the Lizalfos watched every moment from then and now?"

The mayor had to admit that the excitement of seeing it strung to a post did wear off soon. People have lives to get back to.
It is indeed possible that the boy cut the tongue off after it was dead.

"You see, but don't be too hard on him. We all made things up as children. Humility comes with age," He turned to Link with a grin. "This boy may grow to be like me someday."

"Hold on!" Called the brown-haired maid from the inn. "Link has been working at the Inn all day chopping wood! When would he have had the time to do this?"

"Really?" Groose asked. "You believe a child could have killed this creature to be more likely than the idea that he snuck out here at some point to cut a piece of it off?" He turned to Link, hands on his hips. He kept his voice cheerful, but his eyes were threatening. "Go on then, explain your heroic tale."

Navi was sick of this man already. She could tell Link didn't like him either.
"I didn't see much of what happened, so you'll need to do this yourself." She gave him a sure smile. "You were cooking by the fire, then burned your hand."

Link nodded. Then turning to Groose, the mayor, and everyone else.
He spoke about how the creature crawled out of the river, which annoyed Groose because it was the same river he named in his retelling of the kill.

"It's the talk of the town, everyone knows where I fought the beast." He turned to everyone. "Look at the facts. All he has is word of mouth. I have the dead creature. He may have stolen a piece of it when we weren't looking. But other than that, he has nothing to prove he ever saw the beast while it was alive."

"No, that's wrong!" Navi yelled. But no one heard. "Link! Tell them the creature ate your apple!"

"oh, the creature ate my apple!" He was confused, wondering how that would help him prove anything.

"Please, even if we gutted the creature. I'm sure it's eaten lots of apples."

Again, Navi fed Link details to share. Each word was whispered into his ear by the voice on his shoulder.
"The apple was cooked?"

"Whatever…" Groose rolled his eyes. But caught sight of someone moving to his prized kill. "Hey! What are you doing!"

The mayor grabbed a knife and slit the Lizalfos from neck to tail, guts spilt out.
"I was a warrior myself," He said as he found and cut out the stomach. Inside were some half-digested fish, squirrels and rabbits, but one almost intact baked apple. "What say you, Groose?" The mayor also noticed a slit in the apple. "Young man, hand me your sword."

Link watched the old man gently place the apple on the tip of the sword. It fited like a glove.
"This is how you cook your food?" he asked with a grin. "Reminds me of me when I was in the wilds." His grin turned to a frown as he approached Groose. "The boy's sword fits the apple, meaning it was alive when he last saw it, and on top of that, he has the creature's tongue. Everything he says makes sense and there's physical evidence to back it up. Indeed, you may have delivered the body. But did you make the kill, or did you find it already dead from blood loss? Because the apple isn't much digested, meaning the creature must have died very soon after encountering this boy."

Groose, who'd had an answer for everything was suddenly silent, appealing for witnesses. But of course, no one saw him make the kill.

The patrons of the inn and farmers were lapping up his story but those at the bar, who'd encountered such beasts before were sceptical about the details of his battle.
Things didn't add up, but who'd argue with the man who delivered the body?

"This is nonsense. I'm leaving!" Groose began to storm off.

But the Innkeeper called out.
"You've still to pay your tab."

Stopping in place, face red with anger, Groose threw a purse of rupees on the ground by the Mayor's feet.
It was less than a quarter of the reward money, but it was enough to pay off the tab.

Link and Navi had started to back away once things got heated.
The arguing among grown-ups was the distraction they needed to escape.

But Anju, the barmaid tried to stop them.
"Don't run away!" Her plea reached the ears of the Mayor and the Innkeeper.

Being in the focus of everyone's sights once again put fear into both the boy and fairy.

"Where are you running to?" Asked the Mayor.

"Look at him. He thinks he's in trouble." Anju stated, before talking to the boy at eye level. "Link, no one is angry. Well, Groose probably hates your guts, but that's only because you showed him up for being a fraud."

"Indeed." The mayor approached. "I'm afraid it's not in the town's funds to imburse you properly, but you can have the rest of this."
After paying Groose's dept to the Inn, Link was awarded a coin pouch with an additional hundred rupees.

Link didn't know what to do. He'd never handled that much money in his life.
"Where are the cakes?"

The mayor laughed. Every aspiring hero at Link's age imagined every triumph being a celebration with cake and festivities. But he had to find someone who'll have get gutted Lizalfos moved before the town stunk up.
The novelty was truly gone, but the tale of the boy who slayed it will live on.
"What's your name again, young man?"

"My name is Link!" He called out, eyes not leaving the contents of the purse.

"And where are you from?"

"He's from Kokiri forest," Anju answered, guiding Link and his fairy away. "We have lots to talk about~"

Anju took Link back to the Inn where he was delighted to find cakes were on sale.
Navi was nervous, but Anju made it clear to everyone that the fairy was Not to be bothered.
"If you hurt her, you'll have to answer to the boy that killed a Lizalfos!" She warned, tapping her nose and gathering a laugh from everyone.

Link tore a glazed cake while Navi flaked off and ate the icing from the half on the table.
"The tarts were better," Navi said, but the sweetness was still delightful.

Occasionally, to an almost annoying degree, Link would have to retell how he bested the creature.
It was amusing to all that the ten-year-old had more humility than the poser.
If anything, he felt uncomfortable with all the praise.

Eventually, it was Anju's break and she sat with him with a flask of well water in hand.
"So, I want to ask you something Link. Have you only just left the forest? For the first time?"
At first, he shook his head, which made Anju smile. But when he clarified that he left only a few days ago, that took her smile away. Even more so when she learned that he was in fact only ten.
"right…" Anju thought hard for a moment. "hmm… Okay, so. This is Navi?"

The blue fairy nodded. Anju could see her trying to talk, but sadly, she couldn't hear.
"I wish I could speak with you too, little Navi."

"She asked why you know so much about us?" Link listened for a little longer. "And why you don't have a belly button?"

Anju laughed.
"I'm a Kokiri." She laughed, flicking her hair. "My hair got darker over time, but my brother and I were raised in the forest with all the other children." Anju gave a sad smile, remembering those days.

"Navi wants to know why you look so," Link stared at his frantic fairy, who was shaking her hands. "not big, tall?" The fairy buried her face in her hands.

Anju laughed again.
"Well. I'm sure you know when we leave the forest, we die." Anju gestured to her grown-up body. "This is me dying, so many years have passed I've stopped counting." She could see the confusion on their faces. "When we stay in the forest, we look like children forever. When we leave, we start to grow up."

"Why would you want to leave?" Link asked with a nervous tone on behalf of his fairy.

"Dawn was like a mother to me," Anju said, choking on her voice. "I could stay young forever, but she couldn't. I woke up one morning for my bath but, she didn't."

Link and Navi were quietly staring at each other. The silence only broke when Anju whimpered, fighting tears as she relived a memory as though it happened yesterday.
"My brother lost his fairy a few years earlier. He made the decision like so many of us to leave the forest. But, he waited for me. Then we left together, hoping to find our fairies again." Anju shook her head. "Instead, we were found. Two stray and desperate kids in a foreign land. We were raised like normal kids. Well… apart from one thing…" She tapped her clothed tummy. "No one believed we could speak to fairies, and wild ones don't take chances with strange kids."

At a loss, Link and Navi didn't know what to say.

"I'm sorry, it's not a pleasant story but. I was just curious why a boy with a fairy would choose to leave."

"For fun." Link muttered. "I didn't get along with everyone in the forest, so Navi and I wanted to explore."

"I bet," Anju said with a smile. "Well. If you choose to leave town, you'll want to get better supplies. Your bag is soiled with that tongue, and I wouldn't eat any of the food inside now."

"How would I get better supplies?"

"With the money in your pocket." Anju laughed, remembering her first few weeks out of the woods. "You should definitely get a map, and a proper knapsack.

"Yes. The one you have is no good. Too smelly." Navi agreed.

Anju helped Link plan his next destination.
Kokiri-made tools are good for the forest, but for what Link wants to do, he'll need to better outfit himself.

"Why are you helping me?" Link asked while Anju was walking between the stalls with him.

"In the forest, I was a caretaker for the little ones." She said with a smile, living proof that old habits die hard. "I like helping out, don't you?"

Link nodded, but Anju sensed there was something more. When she asked what was troubling him, Link lowered his head.
"Usually, when I try to help, I get it wrong... And people hate me for it."

"Well, some things can't be done by yourself. That's why we have friends."

"yeah…" He smiled at Navi.

"How long have you two been together?"

"Eh… Maybe, five days? Six?"

Anju's eyes went wide.
"You got her late, then?"

Link was worried. A lot of teasing and bullying found him due to not having a fairy. Anju is nice, but will this change it?

"Well, that just means the Deku tree wanted to find the perfect match for you." Anju smiled, loving the look on the fairy's face.

"I'm perfect~!" Navi beamed, sticking her tongue out with glee.

Under Anju's guidance, Link was equipped with much better tools and clothes that would suit him even in harsher weather.
The map he had was a little confusing, even for Navi. Despite being able to fly, she'd never seen the land from so up high before.

"This is the lost woods, that's where you started," Anju explained, trying to give him some context to read the map. "You came over this field, followed the river, and that brought you here. Normally, you'd pair this with a compass to find your way. But Navi will always be able to sense her way home so, you'll need to work together."

"Easy." Navi grinned, floating over by the other maps on sale. "hey, look!"

When Link came over, he noticed as she did that every individual map of Hyrule is different from the last.
Cities were in different places, lakes had moved, and there seemed to be no rhyme or reason for the changes.
"Don't worry about that." Said the cartographer.

"Are some of the maps wrong, or are they-"

"I said don't worry about it!"

"We should go." Anju led Link and Navi away as fast as she could before things got too confusing. One thing people hate more than monsters, is the uninitiated asking why the map of Hyrule has to be changed and updated every decade or so.

But none of that matters.
As Link was now equipped for the journey ahead, wherever it may take him.

While Anju got back to work, Link and Navi spent time studying their map.
Being a well-travelled fairy, Navi was having fun seeing how all the places she'd been to connected.
Sometimes she'd even walk on the map and pretend she was marching with Link.
"See here, I think this is Zora's Domain. It's where the fish people live." Tracing her foot down the river that leads to their current town, Navi asked if Link wanted to go there first.

Link retraced Navi's steps. It looked like there was another town along the way if they veered off a little.
"How long do you think that will take?"

"Hmm…" Looking at the map, Navi stepped on where the Lost Woods ended, then walked three paces to their current place before continuing along to Zora's Domain. "Three steps… One, two, three. One two… Eh, A day and a half?"

Link pointed to where the first day should end.
"We'll find a place to sleep somewhere here then, what's this?"

"Um… I don't know… Ask Anju."

Getting the maid's attention, Anju told him that it was a stable and rest house for trailers.
"Oh, so you're going to see the Zora? I hear it's beautiful there. Believe it or not, they play decent music." She smiled. "Oh, and maybe you could see if they know anything about why the river is drying up. We'd be most thankful."

"That's actually why we're going." Link declared as he rolled up the map. "The river we take our baths in is almost gone, so Navi and I went looking for the Beaver Dam."

"The what?" Anju paid it no mind as she gently took the map from him to fold properly. "Stay on the road and watch out for monsters. Here you go." She handed it back so small that he could tuck it away neatly.

"Thank you, Anju. Ready to go, Navi?"

"Ready!" Navi fluttered up and crawled into his hat.

"I wish you both well on your travels."

With new gear, spare Rupees, and a better understanding of where they're heading. Link and Navi set off from the small village and began their venture to Zora's Domain.

It wouldn't be long into their travels, however. Before Link first meets a Zora in the scales.

Author's note: Why does the map of Hyrule have to change every-

Nintendo: SHUT THE F*** UP!

Author: All I'm saying is, it makes it really hard when the most detailed maps in the Series, is so geographically different from the map I think of while structuring Link's journey in this story.

Navi: Perhaps a compromise? Let's say everything in Ocarina of Time is true. And we fit Breath of the Wild, and Tears of the Kindom's landmarks around these discrepancies.

Author: Navi... Are you going to be infiltrating my Author's notes? I already have someone like that in Dragon Born Records. It gets old really fast.

Navi: :3