Zelda explained the situation to Link's friends the morning of the last day of their stay, and the asked questions and general confusion forced the explanation to take an hour. Link lingered by the balcony's railing as she spoke, slowly realizing that she addressed

Ghirahim simply as 'demon' and referred to Linebeck only using the name 'Lancrester'. Whatever that meant. Midna was the only one with her name used, but the look Zelda would give her seemed... off.

Once done, Zelda ordered for Link to stand among them so she could address them all. "Now that you know of your possible quest..." She clasped her hands together. "I have arranged for the four of you to visit Kakariko village, and the four races' village as well. I have told Link to introduce himself but not his standing as the hero. He will prepare for the possibility of calamity, and it's in the rest of your best interests to adopt some helpful skills as well." Her eyes flicked over to Midna and Ghirahim, then to Link. "We've arranged for you to go with a small wagon, escorted by a Sheikah. You may have to share your wagon with a fifth member, as an artisan will with riding with you to Kakariko."

Once done, Zelda dismissed the group and ordered them to be at the northern city gate by noon. They rushed back to their room, Link reminding them that it was late in the morning. On the way back, Link jogged up to Linebeck. "What's 'Lancrester' mean?"

"It's my last name," Linebeck mumbled. "Although, it doesn't seem to matter since there's no recorded person in the last 200 years with the same last name."

Link nodded, then set his hands on his hips. "Do you think I have a last name? That you know of?"

"Nope," was the blunt answer. Link sighed and peered away.

It wasn't difficult to pack up their things and leave the castle, but a few moments were set aside for trying to hide stolen books and blueprints. Once sure that the stolen items wouldn't be found, they hurried out of the castle and through the streets. The sky above them was cloudy, but the weather prediction in Link's mind promise a clear night. He turned to Midna or Ghirahim. "How long would it take for us to walk to Kakariko?"

"A day or two," Ghirahim sighed. "It's pretty far. With a wagon pulled by a horse, it would be a day at the most." He stumbled out of the way of some passing Gorons. "Who do you think this 'artisan' is?"

"What would people in Kakariko want from an artisan?" Midna asked. "I mean, they could do anything."

"Do carpenters count as artisans...?" Linebeck mused, seemingly talking to himself.

"They do," Ghirahim sighed, "so your boyfriend could be the hypothetical artisan." He scowled at the engineer's elated reaction. "It's a possibility," he snapped.

The 'train of wagons' didn't look much like a few wagons connected in some way that Link had envisioned. Sure, it was a few wagon-like parts connected, but they were made more out of wood and metal.

A man was by the wagons, loading crates of varying sizes onto one of the wagons. Link didn't recognize him, but Linebeck obviously did, as proven by the noticeable brightening of his mood. "Damien?" Link asked. Linebeck nodded.

Ghirahim scowled. "Great." The scowled turned to a half-hearted frown. "At least it's someone we know. I've never met him, though."

"He's real nice," Midna said. "I wonder if he got some commissions from Kakariko?"

"Yeah, he actually gets a fair bit of orders from Kakariko." In the past few... weeks that Link had known Linebeck, he doubted he'd seen him looking so happy, as if he'd hadn't been awake for days on end. "I'll have to introduce him to you and Ghirahim," Linebeck mused, smiling at Link. "I bet you'll like him."

He jogged ahead of them, waving at the carpenter by the wagon. They ran up to each other, clearly excited, talking. While the other three walked over to him, Linebeck was helping Damien drag the crates onto the last wagon in the train. They were conversing animatedly with each other about what the castle was like when the group made it to them.

"What was Zelda like?" Damien asked, pausing in the middle of loading a small crate on. "Is she as beautiful as the rumors say? No one really sees her." He blinked and seemed to notice the others for the first time. "Oh! I haven't met you guys- Nice to see you again, Midna!"

Ghirahim offered up a bemused smile, and Link kept his impassive expression. Damien did have a similar hair color to Linebeck, albeit browner. His skin was tanned, but his shirt would shift to show paler skin. He was taller than only Link, by a few inches, and had light green eyes, just as Linebeck had said. "You're Damien?" Link asked, walking over to him.

"Yep! I take it you're Linebeck's little project, Link?" Damien tapped him on the head. "Damn. I can see why he lies about you being a robot. You look pretty realistic." He turned to Linebeck with a wide grin. "You repaired him?! Amazing work, though I doubt anything you make would ever be sub-par." Linebeck didn't turn away in time to hide his blush. Bellum looked less exasperated than Link would have expected.

"Nice to meet you," Link responded. He offered a small smile. "Linebeck talks about you sometimes. That shield that you made was amazing. It's got barely a scratch on it even after being in a few battles."

"Glad you liked it," Damien purred. "I spent quite a bit of time perfecting that thing." He looked over Link's shoulder and waved at Ghirahim. "Hi! You're Ghirahim, right?"

Ghirahim nodded. "Yes. Nice to meet you." He crossed his arms and seemed to look Damien over. "You look like you could hold your own in a fight. Do you know how to?"

Linebeck shot a venomous glare at Ghirahim, but Damien only shrugged. "I've fought off muggers, sure. We're leaving in a few minutes." He turned and hauled himself onto the wagon. "We'll all be in the wagon in front of this one," he said, pointing at it.

Link nodded and grabbed a handful of Ghirahim's cloak. "Cool, we'll check it out."

The wagons were simple, like any wagon Link expected to see, but however they moved was beyond him. He turned to Ghirahim. "How will these wagons move?"

"Mechanical horses," said Ghirahim. "I thought you'd know about those. They're robotic horses, created only to drag wagons across the junkyard and to outskirts villages. Normal horses can't traverse the junkyard, so a bunch of engineers got together to create them. This was before we woke up, so Linebeck had nothing to do with it as far as we know." Ghirahim turned and jumped into the wagon, a fairly sized space with benches, the wagon in front being similar in design and size, but with a few other crates inside.

"Damien seems nice," Link sighed. "And we can trust him if Linebeck lets him touch him," he added, watching Damien briefly tousle Linebeck's hair. Link leaned forward and looked through the other wagons. Two more were in front, and he caught a glimpse of what Ghirahim had called 'mechanical horses'. Based on what they looked like, the name was perfect.

Midna joined the two of them in their wagon after a few minutes, and Linebeck and Damien joined right after. "We're good to go," Midna chirped. "We just need to wait for that escort that Zelda told us about."

"It's a Sheikah, right?" sighed Ghirahim. "You'd think the queen would just let us go, considering our..." He trailed off, not-so-inconspicuously glancing at Damien. Link shifted and peered over at Linebeck, who rolled his eyes. Ghirahim cleared his throat. "Well, I haven't been to Kakariko."

"Neither have I," Midna sighed. Linebeck only shook his head.

"It's really nice," Damien said. "Pretty beautiful with all the trees and stuff."

"'All the trees and stuff'? Care to elaborate?" teased Linebeck, smiling at Damien. "You're a carpenter, I'm sure you know your trees."

"It's been a while," Damien sighed. "I think some were cherry blossoms, weeping willows, an apple tree or two. It's been a few months. I usually just send the merchandise off in a wagon, and then get back to work."

Linebeck frowned. "Why're you going with it this time, then? With Yiga attacks on the rise along with monster attacks, it's not too safe."

Damien shrugged. "Well, I heard you were going, too, so I had to." Ghirahim turned away from the two of them and made a gagging motion. Link and Midna both glared at him from across the wagon. "We don't have much time with each other, anyways, so this is a pretty good opportunity as well. We've barely had a proper date these past few months, and I'd definitely like to spend some time with you."

Ghirahim rolled his eyes and moved from his bench to Link and Midna's. "This is sappy as hell," he hissed, just barely audible.

Link glanced up at the sight of a flickering blur, and Bellum hovered inches from Ghirahim's face. The demon flinched for a moment but didn't seem to realize why. Bellum peered over at Link and whispered, "He's being a pain in the ass 'cuz he doesn't like the concept of love." Ghirahim waved his hand as if shooing away a fly, and it phased through Bellum a few times before the AI retreated back to Linebeck.

A knock was heard on at the end of the wagon, and they peered over. The Sheikah girl waved at them. "I'm your escort to Kakariko. We'll get going shortly." Midna waved to her, and the girl blinked. "Oh. Hello, Midna. Good to see you again."

Midna smiled bright. "And you! It's nice that our escort is someone we know. ...I never asked you your name! Goddesses, I forgot to do that. What's your name?"

The girl hesitated and mumbled under her breath. She waited a moment, then spoke louder. "...My name's Koko. My sister is Cottla, she trains in Kakariko, so you might meet her."

A quiet chorus of 'Nice to meet you, Koko' emanated from everyone else in the wagon, and Midna said, "I hope to meet your sister!" Koko timidly nodded and the stoic expression returned to her face. She ducked out a sight, and Link spotted her climbing into the first wagon a few moments later. She did something with the mechanical horses, and the wagons started to slowly move.

"How long should this take?" Link asked, peering out the side and watching the city go by. "We're going faster than we would be while walking. Are these used often?"

Ghirahim shook his head. "No, they take a few engineers to make and lots of money to fund. There's only about five that people own these mechanical horses, so this is practically an honor of some sort. Anyways. We'll probably get there really late, so we'll be on the road for a few hours. I'm already bored." He stood up and walked to the edge of the wagon, peering at the last wagon. A few bags that belonged to the group were set on top of Damien's crates. He jumped over to the wagon and started going through the bags.

Damien leaned back and regarded Midna and Link. "So. How was the tournament? I wasn't able to see it due to work, but I heard that the matches with Link were good."

The carpenter's gaze lingered on Link, and he felt a jolt as he realized as everyone else was looking at him. "U-uh... well it was pretty... intense? I've never actually met other robots, so it was weird to fight them. I'm happy to have won, thought. Meeting Zelda was interesting."

"We got attacked by some Yiga right after, and then attacked by a lone Yiga during the first night at the castle," Linebeck added, sounding a bit more excited about the topic than he needed. "We weren't hurt, but it was kinda weird. I'm thinking they might have it out for us. One of the Yiga had a black scarf, and the one at the castle..." Linebeck paused, trying to remember. "He had a red coat, and a small black scarf as well. I wonder what's with the black scarves."

Damien crossed his arms. "I heard that there's five different Yiga with black scarves, each with different weapons. They use a katana, an axe, bow, spear, and the last one simply just fights hand-to-hand. The rumor going around is that they're the five elite members of the Yiga, and the five leaders. You must've really done something impressive to catch their attention."

An uncomfortable glance was shared between Linebeck, Midna, and Link. Even Bellum looked uneasy. Only Ghirahim, digging around in their stuff, didn't seem to have heard. They shifted uncomfortably and didn't speak again once out of the city. Midna cleared her throat. "Well, I doubt we'd be attacked on the way with a Sheikah escorting us. They'd directly provoke the queen by doing that."

"That seems to be their intent," Ghirahim said, returning to the wagon with a book in hand.

"You were listening?" Link asked, frowning.

"I'm not deaf. I just didn't react or anything." Ghirahim flipped through the book, settling back onto the bench. He glanced back up at Damien. "How long are you going to stay at Kakariko?"

Damien shrugged. "Probably as long as you will. Do you mind if I stick with you? I've never been to the other races' villages, either, so it'd be cool to see them with you. I don't get a chance to leave the city too often... It'll be cool to get to travel to the non-Hylian villages. Have you guys been to those villages?"

A sheepish chorus of 'nope' and 'never' answered him, and Damien let out a nervous laugh. "Cool, we'll all be experiencing it for the first time at the same time. Reassuring!"

The city continued to grow smaller on the horizon as the day wore on, and Ghirahim isolated himself in the last wagon, reading. Link and Midna cleared out the second wagon to work on some very careful sparring, and Linebeck and Damien stayed in the third wagon to talk.

"I like you," Link plainly told Damien while they had reconvened for a short lunch of stolen castle food. He paused then, awkwardly added, "I mean I trust you. You seem like a really cool person."

"Same here," Ghirahim sighed. "Then again, I've never met anyone who could pull off an undercut as well as you do."

Damien chuckled. He reached back and felt at his ponytail. Link had to admit he hadn't noticed his hair at first, and the undercut would've been hidden if most of his hair wasn't pulled back in a short ponytail. "Yeah, I guess I look fine. Took me some time to decide on it, since I wasn't sure how it'd look. I guess it turned out alright. You don't look half bad, either. We're just a collection of weird haircuts, except Midna's probably the most normal. You don't look too odd, Link, but you're a robot, so you're the outlier."

"Yeah," Midna sighed, patting Link on the head. "You don't count. Still, the other three of us," She peered them with a humorous glint in her eyes. "Buncha weirdos."

Ghirahim scowled. "You don't appreciate true style, then."

Linebeck only shrugged. "Cool. We all know I could care less about my personal appearance."

Damien grinned. "My hair grows out pretty quickly. The undercut makes it easy to see when it gets long. Linebeck sometimes helps me with it when we see each other." He turned and looked over at Linebeck. "A random skill, but I appreciate it."

Lunch was over quickly, and a few innocuous stories about their time at the castle, leaving out the individual questioning and Link's new role, were shared. Koko didn't interact with them as she steered the wagons through the junkyard, and then the wasteland.

Link sat at the edge of the wagon once Midna decided they were done with sparring. He watched the wasteland slowly go by. He saw a few small collections of little houses, some trees and bushes, bokoblins and moblins wandering, animals living their lives. The further they got from the city and the junkyard, the greener the grass became, the more animal and plant life he saw. It was clear that whatever happened two-hundred-years ago eradicated life near the city, but was weaker the further from the city. An explosion, perhaps? Hopefully, his possible adventure as the 'hero' would reveal what happened back then.

"Here we are, Kakariko!"

Damien leaned out of the wagon, keeping himself from falling out by holding on to the edge. The last few hours of traveling showed Link the edge of Hyrule. It was green and beautiful. Lively with deer, boar, birds, and even monsters. Some small villages were seen, and Damien pointed out a ranch called 'Lon Lon Ranch'. It was apparently a main supplier of milk and livestock.

They reached Kakariko just as the sun was slowly setting. The edge of Hyrule contained rolling hills and forests. The rest of the group explained to Link that the Goron lived at the base of a mountain, the Zora lived in a forested land with rivers and lakes, the Rito in a colder frontier, the Gerudo in a desert. Most Hylian villages were in the plains and sparse forests. There were even rumors of a sea somewhere in the world, an idea pitched by Damien that excited Linebeck.

Koko eventually steered them along a road between small, grassy mountains, and a number of gates with banners and lanterns told them of civilization. Mountain goats and frogs in ponds greeted them by staring as they passed by, and Link fought back an amusing urge to wave at them.

They passed more gates, ten in all, and the tenth had a trio of Sheikah warriors standing on top of it. They only watched, barely moving as the wagons passed underneath them. At the front of the wagon, Link could see Koko wave to them.

The sky was dark once the narrow mountain pathway opened up to reveal Kakariko Village. It was peaceful looking, with small fields of pumpkins, carrots, rice and wheat, and apple trees. Cuccos wandered around in small enclosures, and both dogs and cats were visible among the people that went about their lives. Hanging lanterns at the edges of roofs and small torches at the sides of paths illuminated the village.

The wagon was stopped in the clearing at the village's entrance, and Koko greeted them as they hopped off. "There is an inn nearby. You can stay there for the night. In the morning, we can unload the carpenter's things, and your four can begin what you came here to do. I'll take you to the inn, if you'd like. I'll pay for the first night, but you can choose how you'll spend your nights."

She stood a fair bit away while the group agreed on the rooming. Ghirahim led the discussion, ending it before anyone else gave their ideas. "Link, Midna, and I can share a room with three beds, and Linebeck and Damien can get their own room."

Koko led them through the dim streets. A few residents of the village, most with white hair and red eyes, watched them go by, but none stared. The village was peaceful, and Link felt a sense of safety and calm descend over him. It was doubtful that the Yiga would try and attack the village of their rivals. They could spend a few days there, gathering information and introducing themselves. Link could even see if he could be mentored by some Sheikah trainer to become a better fighter.

The inn was fairly large, perhaps two stories tall and a few rooms wide. Koko pushed open the double doors for them, and the group walked in. Candles and small lanterns illuminated the room, and the innkeeper smiled upon seeing Koko. "Ah, Koko! It's been a while since you've come home! Your sister has been training with Cado, so she's been at his house with his other apprentices."

Koko warmly smiled. "Thank you. I'll go visit her tonight. For now, I'll pay for these fives' rooms." She stood back and allowed them to awkwardly ask for the rooms that they'd agreed upon. The price turned out to be around fifty rupees, and Koko easily payed for them.

She left them alone, and the group walked up the stairs while quietly conversing about their plans in the village. Most of the group decided that they could take advantage of the time to relax. Damien sighed, but grinned, and said, "Well, I'm going to be selling my merchandise while we're here and might work on some new stuff. I'll be stuck doing that for... maybe the first day or two."

"I'll stick with your tomorrow," Linebeck murmured, "Unless there's a tech lab or something, then I'm gone."

They split up into their rooms, and Link collapsed in his bed. "Why am I so tired?" he yawned. "I barely did anything today."

"Same," Midna muttered. A drowsy nod from Ghirahim was the demon's only answer. "I'm a light sleeper. The fact that we're next to Linebeck and Damien's room is a little worrying."

Link rubbed at his eyes. "Bellum wouldn't let them try anything for the sake of himself. Good night. Please don't wake me up."

"Nice room," Linebeck muttered, tossing his bag of tools onto the desk. "I'm probably not going to get any sleep, so the bed's all yours."

Damien nodded, pulling back the covers. "You should at least try. If you do manage to sleep, it'll make the rest of your time here much better."

"Ah, but you're here and we can finally have a proper date, so that'll make it great."

Damien snorted. "For a gruff guy who hates pretty much everything and everyone, you can be pretty sappy." He dug through his own bag and set some papers on the desk, flipping on the lamp. "Uh, what do I get when adding a negative to a negative?"

Linebeck frowned at the back of his head. "A positive, a negative with a negative will give you a positive. Why?"

"I'm reviewing some math so I can properly calculate our earnings tomorrow."

"What, you think we'll lose money?" asked Linebeck, shooting a smile back at him. "I thought you were good with math. I mean, gotta know some good geometry to be a carpenter."

With a weak laugh, Damien squeaked, "Well, yeah, but you're the engineer! Math is your job."

"I'm technically unemployed." Linebeck shrugged his coat off and hung it off the bedframe. "Need any more math help?"

"Nah, I'm good." Damien glanced over his shoulder, watching Linebeck roll up his sleeves. "Do your mechanical joints ever get rusty? Like, do you ever need to oil them?"

"Uh, they're not iron, but gunk and stuff geta stuck there and makes it hard to move. It's real annoying, but at least oil comes off as fairly cheap."

Damien nodded, humming to himself. He scrawled something down on his papers and left them where they were. "Uh, bit of a mood killer, but have you heard those rumors in the city?"

Linebeck shrugged. "I live outside the city, so I doubt it."

"Rumors are going around that people have been going missing," Damien murmured. The silence in the room was deafening at they stared at each other, allowing the words to settle in. "People are there one day, then, without a trace, they're gone. Lots of people say that it's the Yiga, but that's not their style. They're flashier, letting you know they were there."

"If it's not the Yiga, then who's doing it?" As Linebeck watched Damien, the carpenter seemed like he was going to speak, then hesitated. "What?"

Damien shook his head. "Nothing. What... what do you think of the Yiga? Do you think that they're as much as a threat that the queen makes them out to be?"

Linebeck grimaced. "Well, I worry about being honest since we're in a Sheikah town."

"We can go out onto the roof." Linebeck's skeptical expression brought a sigh to Damien's lips. "If we need an excuse not to get bothered, you can bring your stash."

"You're suggesting we get high on the roof of an inn. I'll meet you out there in a few minutes."

Damien laughed, and waited by the doom while Linebeck grabbed his stuff. The two of them silently found and made their way up the stairs onto the roof.

Linebeck flicked the lighter at the end of his middle finger on and off a few times. Damien timidly peered over the edge of the roof, then over at Linebeck. "So. Your opinion on the Yiga?"

"They seem... like they have a just goal in mind. I mean, they must know something we don't to have just a drive to fight against Zelda and the Sheikah. I personally don't trust the queen either, and that's not just because she refused to call me by anything other than my last name." Linebeck shook his head. "They might be worth looking into. Did you actually want to smoke?"

"When we're done talking. You have a good point. I'm... please, please do not tell this to anyone else. I'm personally more on the side of the Yiga. I don't trust the queen one bit." Damien yawned and peered over at Linebeck. "I'm worried that if that gets out, that I might be the next person to go missing."

Linebeck silently regarded Damien. "Let's talk about something more fun. Like tomorrow's plans."

Link fell asleep around midnight, long after the others. He laid in bed while Midna and Ghirahim checked their stuff but became restless. He hopped out of bed and paced the room, then stopped once Ghirahim snapped at him for being loud. Midna managed to convince him to stay in bed and read, and he agreed to read a story book they'd brought.

Once it hit midnight, Link fell asleep with the book half-open and on his chest. He drifted off and dreamt throughout the night.

He was alone in what looked like an empty town square. He could hear muffled speaking, a woman and three men. Looking down at himself, Link was once again wearing a green tunic. A baldric was visible, and he could feel both a sword and shield on his back. The town was simple, houses of wood and cobblestone surrounding him. Everything but the setting was the same as his last dream.

After a few moments of standing around, Link turned around and began to walk down a street. The four voices that he first heard greeted and called after him, and three pairs of footsteps followed after him. He strode down the street, seeing people with blurred out faces standing by their homes. A few waved to him, and all seemed glad to see him, despite his inability to see their faces.

The four behind him spoke more, but their voices were distorted and hard to pinpoint. It was like the other dream, clear to see but vague in the details. Link woke up with a jolt when he felt one of the people behind him clap him on the back. His eyes flew open, and he registered the bright light streaming through the windows a few moments later.

Link sat up and yawned, rubbing at his eyes. Midna peered over at him sitting at the desk. "Good morning. Ghirahim's out and doing some sword drills. Damien and Linebeck are out too, working on selling that furniture and stuff. It's around ten in the morning."

"Thanks," Link murmured. "I need to go see Linebeck. Where's he and Damien at right now? I... I need to talk to him." He hopped out of the bed and walked over to Midna.

She was looking through the Twili book, with a notepad at the side. "He's down by the town square, around the other shops. I can show you the way, if you'd like. I haven't checked out the village too much, so I think I'll do that to get a better look."

It was a bright, clear day. The sky even looked clearer than it usually did around the junkyard, more of a natural blue color. On the way to the main streets, Link asked, "Does the sky change further from the junkyard? That... doesn't make much sense in the terms of the size of the sky and the size of the world that I know of."

Midna shrugged, leading him down a cobble road with flowers between the rocks. Sheikah greeted them and showed a friendliness that the Sheikah in the city lacked. Link made a point of greeting them in return. The buildings were beautifully made, with sloped straw and wood roofs. From the time it took them to reach the middle of town, Link could assume that it was a small village, nestled in the mountain-like hills.

The town square was large and gave views to a number of what Link assumed to be small gardens and little training grounds. A few of the buildings around had signs that signified that they were shops. The musical noise of wooden chimes accompanied them as Link and Midna stood in the entrance to the town square for a moment.

Linebeck and Damien had set up by a fountain, the carpentry displayed in front of a simple table they milled around. Damien was talking, with Linebeck organizing some papers on the table. Link and Midna walked over, hearing whatever Damien had been talking about. "...So I'd say I'm doing good, with my dysphoria at an all-time low recently, and I haven't had to correct anyone in a long while. I'm still having a hard time growing any facial hair, but I guess that's normal for some men." He rubbed at his chin and glanced casually to the side, blinking upon seeing the two approaching them. "Hi. Need anything?"

Midna shook her head. "Nah, I don't need anything. Link wants to talk with Linebeck, though. Any sales yet?"

Damien faked a dramatic sigh and fanned himself. "Alas, no." He dropped the act and crossed his arms on the table. "We have a bit until the commissioners show up, and it's still a bit early. Want anything? We'll give you a discount on what you want."

Turning his humorous offer down, Midna left Link with the pair of them. He awkwardly shifted from one foot to another, then turned to Linebeck. "Can I talk to you? In secret, if you think we should?"

"Yeah, sure," Linebeck mused. "Just make it quick. I promised to help Damien all day today."

Link promised to make it brief, and they walked around to the other side of the fountain. Damien, on the other side, looked curious, but seemed courteous enough to not try and eavesdrop. "He seems really honest," Link murmured.

Linebeck laughed. "I guess. He lies when he needs to, though. He knows how to tweak a price in his favor, and also shares a few habits with me. But, yeah, he's more honest than I am in the long run. What did you need?" Bellum circled his head at a slow pace, not seeming to be paying attention.

Link sighed. "I had another dream last night." He quickly explained it to the attentive engineer, who actually asked him about small details in the dream. "I still couldn't figure out the voices behind me. I wonder if one of them is my creator."

"That would make sense. Both dreams seem to have taken place in a less... destroyed Hyrule. That more than proves that you're from 200 years ago. Your role and... what happened remain a mystery, but we're getting there." Linebeck sighed, crossing his arms. "Just keep all of this in mind. Visiting the rest of Hyrule might provide us with more answers. If you figure anything else out, tell me."

He rummaged around in his pockets, and Bellum floated over to Link. "We ran into a girl saying that she's Impa's older sister. She does a lot of technological work here in Kakariko. Linebeck and I might check her out later, but you might want to meet with her as she's one of the leaders of Kakariko, too. Her name's Purah, in the northeast part of town." Bellum peered back at Linebeck, who had found a cigarette and was lighting it. "It might rain again tonight. If you also want, Ghirahim is down training with some of the Sheikah. I have a feeling that Midna is heading that way, too."

Link quietly thanked the AI and Linebeck and jogged down the road, greeting Damien as he passed. He slowed to look around at the serene village, a stark contrast to the wasteland that he'd become used to in the past month and a half.

It took some searching but Link spotted Ghirahim talking with some Sheikah warriors. Most of them had bows, but others had smaller kodachi swords, identical to the ones the city Sheikah used. None of those in the city had bows, however. Link jogged over, standing by the short fence. Ghirahim was bragging about his track record in swordfights, holding out his saber and showing it off. Link waved at him, managing to catch his attention.

Ghirahim paused, lowering his sword. The Sheikah looked over at Link, who vaulted over the fence and sauntered over. "Can I join? Sorry if I'm interrupting."

The Sheikah looked him over. One of them nodded, and said, "The queen told us of you, Link. We'll gladly let you join. We'll teach you what you'd like."

Link halted, and Ghirahim looked confused as well. "I didn't know that Zelda had let you all know that we were coming."

"We have relations to those in the city, as half of our recruits end up with Impa and her soldiers. Zelda told us to assess your fighting ability and help you with what you want." The Sheikah man gestured to a rack of swords against the building. "Take whichever one you'd like, or you could request a different weapon."

Link nodded, smiling weakly. He had walked over expecting to only watch, but he strode over to the rack and peered at the swords, variations of katanas and other double-edged swords. He immediately took one of the simple steel broadswords and swung it around a few times. "This is okay, right?" The Sheikah nodded. "What do you need me to do?"

The Sheikah all regarded each other, and one of them stood forward. "I'll just spar with you, to get a good idea of your skills. Ghirahim here says that you are an impressive fighter." Off to the side, Ghirahim blinked in surprise, then turned away. "Neither of us should allow our blades to cut into one another, but, if that does happen, I should hope that it's an accident."

Link laughed weakly but cut himself off to slip into a fighting stance as the Sheikah did the same. The other Sheikah backed up, switching their attention between the challenging Sheikah woman and Link. They stared each other down before charging.

Ghirahim sighed and leaned aginst the fence, his elbows on the smooth wood. It was quickly obvious that Link was more skilled, but the Sheikah had speedy reflexes, fast enough to react and hop out of the way. However, Link was also easily dodging her careful attacks. With a heavy sigh, Ghirahim decided that he wasn't needed and jammed his saber back into its scabbard.

"He keeps getting into fights," Midna murmured, nearly making Ghirahim scream. He whipped around to face her smirk. "Jumpy? Sorry."

"Jerk," Ghirahim snapped, but he pacified quickly enough to lean against the fence again. The pair of them silently watched for a moment, and Ghirahim sighed. "He's supposed to meet with whoever runs this place and introduce himself. Should we have him tell them that he's a robot?"

Midna shrugged. "I say we leave that to Linebeck. Agreed?"

"Sure. Let's go ask him."

Linebeck seemed more focused on the burning end of his cigarette than Midna and Ghirahim as they explained to him why Link's status as a robot should be revealed to the Sheikah leaders. He turned it over in his fingers, nodding idly whenever he thought it appropriate. Once they finished, he glanced over at Damien, who was sorting the day's profits. "I'll be back in... maybe a few hours."

Damien nodded with a thin smile. Linebeck turned his attention back over to his exasperated friends and gestured for them to follow him. "C'mon, we can walk while we talk."

"Did you listen to us?" Ghirahim sighed. "You seemed real interested in your cigarette while we talked."

"Bellum got everything you said. That's good enough. But we should take some time to mull it over, telling the Sheikah leaders about Link being a robot." He took a short drag from his cigarette and slowly blew out the smoke, prompting Midna and Ghirahim to turn away. "I'm going to check out their local lab- two of their three leaders work there."

Ghirahim scowled. "At least give us some kind of answer right now. What if they want to meet him today? Those Sheikah that he's sparring with told us that the queen let them know he was coming."

"I'll mull it over, and I'll be able to talk to two of the leaders. I'll figure it out. Anything new from your book, Midna?"

She smiled weakly. "Yeah, actually, and I'm now a little bit worried."

"What?"

Midna cleared her throat. "Apparently, direct sunlight can kill a Twili. We're supposed to die in sunlight, and yet I've spent the better part of a year wandering around a wasteland with a general lack of clouds."

All three of them stopped in place, Linebeck and Ghirahim turned to face Midna. Ghirahim spoke first, talking slowly. "Do you think that means... you're not fully Twili? I mean, you line up with everything else, right?"

"Wait-" Linebeck crossed his arms. "You lost your memories. What if something in your past caused you to be immune to that? Otherwise it doesn't make much sense." A manic smile spread across his face. "I love this shit- damning answers just lead to more mysteries. Whatever. It's supposed to pour tonight. The two of you can mull this over with Link."

He offered them a wave and turned on heel to keep walking away Ghirahim and Midna sighed and turned back to find Link.