Chapter Text
Link was sweatier than he had ever been before in his life. He’d been prepared for the land outside the forest to be colder than he was used to, not how hot it would be out in the open fields, with nothing between him and the sun. Navi made him take breaks to drink water often, and kept misting the back of his neck to keep him cool. The bag of dirt was heavy, which didn’t help his fatigue, either. Navi knew how long it could take her to fly across Hyrule field, but she admittedly wasn’t sure how long it would take Link to walk . Longer than they’d thought, apparently. Link thought about taking off his cloak, but he also didn’t want to stop to rearrange himself.
After a few hours of walking, Link heard an unfamiliar noise. A jumble of rumbling, clopping, and wooden rattling, behind him. “To the side of the road, Link,” Navi prompted him, and Link trotted away from the middle of the lane onto the grass. He looked back, and saw coming his way a large wagon, on large wheels, being pulled by a large horse, and steered by a large man. Link stopped, staring at the giant, majestic animal in awe. Its head was easily the size of Link’s torso, its powerful, muscular legs alone as tall as him. Its dark brown coat shone in the sunlight, and its gray mane and tail flicked side to side as it walked, the fluff around its hooves swishing with every huge step. It was way, way cooler than the fish. Probably the coolest thing in the entire world.
Navi ducked under Link’s cloak as the man tugged on the horse’s reins and brought the wagon to a stop. He smiled down at Link, and a kid sitting in the back of the wagon with the rattly wooden crates poked her head over the side. Wow, humans really do look like kokiri , Link thought. If that kid’s dress was green instead of pale yellow, she could absolutely pass for a kokiri. Her skin was a darker shade of brown than Link’s, and she had dark red hair. The man looked like if a kokiri got huge and then sort of turned into a raisin. He had brown hair, but less on the top of his head than on his upper lip, which was weird. His skin was lighter than the kid’s, unevenly tanned and spotty from the sun, and he had distinct lines at the corners of his eyes. “Hey, kiddo,” the man said with a deep voice that sounded like it was used to laughing, “Need a ride somewhere?”
“I’m going to Castle Town,” Link replied. The man nodded with a friendly smile.
“So’re we! Why don’t’cha hop in, give yer feet a rest? We’ll take ya the rest of the way.”
“Okay, thanks!” Link climbed onto the seat next to the man, who helped him up, lifting the bag of dirt in easily. Link settled in with the bag on his lap, relieved to give his arms a break from lugging it and his legs a break from walking. The man made a clicking noise with his mouth, flicking the reins to tell the horse to start moving again. Link looked curiously at the stubbly hairs all over the man’s cheeks and chin, and the fuzzy-looking hair all over his arms. Was that a grown-up thing, or a Hyrule thing? “You’re a grown up, right?” Link asked the man, who let out a loud bark of laughter.
“Haw! Yeah, kid, I sure am a grown-up! Why do you ask?”
“I’ve never seen one before,” Link said. A human one, anyway-- he did already meet those zora, but they were smaller and looked more different . “It’s my first day in Hyrule.”
“They don’t got adults where you’re from?” The kid leaned forward, somehow managing to keep her balance with the cart’s clunky movements. Both she and the man had twangy accents.
Link ignored Navi poking him in the side. “Nope.”
“What about your parents?”
“My dad was a tree.” An old tree, but not the same thing. The kid looked at him dubiously.
“How can your dad be a tree? That’s crazy! Were you adopted?”
“No, I’m a kokiri.” Navi pinched him. “Ow, Navi!”
The kid’s eyes widened. “I know what that is! So you’re a fairy boy? Where’s your fairy?”
“Here,” Navi sighed, coming out from under Link’s cloak. Link gave her a little smile. It was nice of Navi to pretend like she was his fairy -- he didn’t know how to explain the whole ‘no fairy’ thing to an outsider.
“Oh, hi!” The kid beamed. “So what’s your name, fairy boy?”
“I’m Link. This is Navi.”
“My name is Malon. This is my dad, and as you can see, he ain’t a tree, he’s a human.”
“Talon Lon,” the man introduced himself, holding a hand out to Link. Link looked at it for a second, trying to figure out what he did that for, then gave Talon a low-five. The man chuckled. “We’re fair familiar with fairies, don’t worry. There’s minish all over our ranch—“
“Tons! I’ve seen them!” Malon cut in excitedly.
“That’s what humans call the picori,” Navi whispered in Link’s ear.
“That’s awesome,” Link said. “They don’t like it in Kokiri Forest— we’re too likely to accidentally step on them, apparently.”
“And my dad’s even met a great fairy, too!” Malon turned to Talon, “Dad, tell him the great fairy story!”
Talon shrugged. “I don’t wanna bore our little passengers,” he drawled. Link shook his head.
“No, I like stories, and I’ve never met a great fairy before! I wanna hear-- please,” he sheepishly tacked on when Navi quietly reminded him. Talon gave another low chuckle, the sound blending in with the wheels trundling along in the grooves in the dirt road.
“Well, alright.” He began, “It was when I was a much younger man-- I was more adventurous back then. I was out riding around the northwest fields o’ Hyrule, ‘tween Castle Town and Death Mountain, when I saw a small cave entrance in the cliffside I’d never seen before. Now, this was a road I knew like the back o’ my hand, so I knew fer certain that cave wasn’t there before, even though there was moss and flowers and all growing out of it, lookin’ fer all the world like it’d always been there.”
Link listened intently, and so did Malon, even though she obviously already knew the story. Link knew of great fairies, and Navi had told him plenty of stories of them, but he was still curious. Talon went on, “It had me thinking, ya know, about the stories my granma’d tell me about fairy fountains, how if yer lucky enough to find one, then the great fairy would give ya a blessing. Fairy queens, my granma used to call ‘em. So, I ventured on in. There was a long tunnel, leafy vines with glowing gold berries all hangin’ down from the ceiling, and these huge pink flowers I’d never seen before growing all over, makin’ the whole tunnel smell sweet. An’ deeper inside, I found it-- less of a fountain and more a spring, I’d say, flowing with the most clearest, sparklin’ blue water I ever saw, in the middle of a beautiful, wild garden. There were even fruit trees growin’ there,” Talon laughed and slapped his knee, the wonder of it still clear in his mind even years later. “Imagine that! Fruit trees, growin’ in a cave! That was when the great fairy appeared--”
“Was she pretty?” Malon interjected, and Talon gave an indulgent smile that implied her asking this question was just part of how the story was told.
“Prettier than you can imagine,” he said. “She came out of the fountain with a great big splash o’ water, and she was ginormous . As tall as three people, with these shimmery wings like rainbow-coloured mirrors, and long, pink hair, and she had a crown made o’ leaves and a beautiful gown made o’ flower petals. When she looked at me an’ smiled, I thought I was dreaming-- but then she sprinkled this glittery fairy dust all over me and it made me sneeze like nobody’s business, so I knew it was real.”
Malon giggled, and Link leaned forward. “Did she give you a blessing?”
“Sure did! I was in such a daze, I was speechless-- didn’t even think to ask for one! The great fairy said I seemed like a charmin’ fella, and that I oughta have a charm to reflect that. She turned the Lon family crest into a charm itself, and now it keeps things it’s stamped on cool. Our bottles an’ crates o’ milk, fer one, which has been great fer business since, and our house too. It’s a real boon in the summer time, I tell ya!”
“It sounds like you met a great garden fairy,” Navi said. “I don’t think I’d know her personally.”
“That fountain disappeared not long after,” Talon gave a rueful smile. “Fairy fountains almost never stay in one place fer long.”
Malon propped her elbow on the edge of the cart, leaning her cheek against her hand, sighing wistfully. “I hope I get to meet a great fairy someday,” she said with a dreamy smile. “I’d ask her to grant my wish.”
Link looked at her over his shoulder. “What’s your wish?” Next to him, he heard Talon sigh.
“To marry a handsome prince!” Malon grinned. Talon rubbed his temples with an exasperated groan. Just when Link was about to ask what that meant, Navi tugged his earlobe, directing his attention ahead of them. Link looked forward and gasped. Looming just up ahead was Castle Town, its towering gray stone walls stretching far across the horizon, tall pillars and turrets reaching up even higher towards the sky. The great big gate and drawbridge were like a huge yawning mouth. Poking out over the top of the massive wall were clusters of peaked, red-tiled roofs, and just barely visible in the distance rising tall over all the rest of it, was Hyrule castle.
“Whoa…” Link’s jaw hung open as they got closer. The moat around the wall was as wide as that river and probably deeper, and he could now make out more adults, holding spears and wearing metal clothes-- armour, Link recalled. Those were soldiers.
“Nearly there,” Talon said. Navi gave Link a nudge, and whispered in his ear.
“Link, when there’s lots of people around, I’ll be hiding in your hat. There could be trouble if someone unfriendly sees me, or found out you have a fairy with you. But I’ll still be right here with you, okay?” Link nodded, and Navi said, “Oh, and be sure to say thank you to the Lons for giving us a ride, okay?”
Link nodded again, and Navi wiggled her way into Link’s hat. Link looked between Talon, and the giant bag of dirt still in his lap. “You’re farmers, right?” Link asked.
“Yes indeed,” Talon said. “Our cows give the finest milk in Hyrule, and our horses are the fastest you’ll find this side of Gerudo Valley, guaranteed!”
“Do you want this bag of dirt?” Link patted the top of the bag. “For thanks for letting me ride in your cart? It’s special, really healthy dirt. I got it from some river zora, but I don’t actually need it.”
Talon hummed, stroking his bristly moustache as he considered the bag. “You know what, kid? Hang on to that dirt. Castle Town folk have a hard time keepin’ their gardens healthy, on account of all the minish migrating elsewhere years ago. If you sold that fancy dirt, you could make a lot of money!”
Link blinked. “Money? I don’t need money, that’s a grown-up thing. Do you want me to sell the dirt and then give you the money?”
“Money isn’t just a grown up thing,” Malon grumbled, startlingly different from her previously sunny attitude. “You’re in the world of grown ups, now, fairy boy. Money is everything .”
“Oh.” Link tightened his hold on the bag. Talon reached back and patted Malon on the head, skewing her wide-brimmed leather hat. “Maybe I will need money, then.”
“Don’t worry none about owing us fer the ride,” Talon concluded. “Yer good company, kid, and we’re glad to’ve met ya! Malon, could you-- yeah, smart girl, thanks-- here.” Malon had fished out from one of the crates a bottle of fresh milk and passed it to her dad, who gave it to Link. It was a glass bottle, with a little blue cow’s face in a horseshoe painted on the front. “That’ll be real refreshin’ on a warm day like today. If you ever feel like visitin’ us out on the ranch, yer more than welcome.”
“Thanks so much!” Link yanked the bottle open and gulped the milk down. It was nice and cool, with a different taste and texture than water, and it was the first time Link ever tried milk but he already fully believed Talon was telling the truth about it being the most delicious milk in Hyrule.
As he drank, Malon perked up, her bout of glumness vanished. “You could meet our other horses, and our cows! And I could show you where all the different minish live!”
“That would be great,” Link said, wiping away the smear of milk on his mouth with the back of his hand. “I’m on a big important quest right now, but maybe once it’s over I’ll visit on my way back to the forest.”
“What kind of quest?” Malon asked while Link shoved the now-empty bottle into his pack.
“It’s kind of hard to explain,” Link said, because he didn’t fully understand it yet, himself. “Are all your horses as big as this one?”
Malon snorted. “‘Course not! Big Oak here’s a draft horse, that’s why he’s extra big and strong. Our other horses are still big, but not that big.”
“How big are your cows?”
“They don’t have cows in fairyland, either?” Malon laughed, and Link huffed in indignation.
“I’m from the Kokiri Forest, inside the Lost Woods, not ‘fairyland’,” he replied hotly. “And no, we don’t. I’m curious!”
“‘Course, my apologies, Sir fairy boy,” Malon humorously tipped her hat at him, still smiling. “Cows aren’t nearly as big as horses, but still bigger than you or me.”
They were crossing the drawbridge, by then. Talon slowed the cart as they came up to the gate, not quite stopping as they crawled past the two soldiers. One of them nodded to Talon, raising his hand in greeting.
“Business as usual, Lon?” The soldier said. Link couldn’t see his eyes under his helmet.
Talon nodded back. “Business as usual,” he repeated with a small, polite smile. Link wondered why Talon smiled differently at the soldier than how he smiled at him or Malon. They passed through the gate, and finally were in Castle Town.
Instantly, Link was blown away by the sheer amount of people everywhere, and the incredible amount of noise they made. Almost everyone was an adult-- though a few kids ran around, weaving between their legs-- and it seemed like they were all either yelling or running somewhere. There were people leading horses or donkeys hitched to smaller carts along the crowded road, people who looked like they were in a hurry, and ladies standing at the side of the road talking loudly to each other with either big baskets of laundry, food or rolls of fabric balanced on their hips, or babies. There were more soldiers, and people carrying buckets of water on poles over their shoulders. There was hardly anything green, everything was made of stone-- the road, and the tall buildings pressed tight together in long rows on both sides of the street. All the noise bounced off the high stone walls, making everything feel even louder. Talon stopped the wagon right before entering the fray. “Suppose this is where we part ways, fer now,” the man said. “Fare well, little Kokiri Link-- and good luck on yer quest!”
Link hopped down from the wagon, weighed down by the bag of dirt. “Thanks,” he said. Malon waved at him from the wagonbed.
“Bye bye, fairy boy! See you again sometime!”
Link waved back as the Lons rode away, disappearing into the crowd. Link craned his neck to look around, scooting away from the middle of the road. From up close, it was easy to see the age in the weathered stone bricks, especially on the big city wall. Squinting against the sun, Link observed the lineup of old, crumbling statues on top of the wall. Only three statues were still mostly intact-- the two knights at either end, and one of the two owl statues, with its head twisted around to look back upon Castle Town. The other only had the bottom of its torso left. The only thing showing that there used to be another two entire statues in the middle were the square bases, the rest of them were completely gone.
Turning the other way, Link looked at the looming shape of Hyrule Castle in the distance. He was going to have to get all the way across Castle Town just to get there, and even from far away the castle looked so huge. It was probably bigger inside than the whole Kokiri Forest, the city probably more than twice that. How was he supposed to find Princess Zelda in such a ginormous place? Link wished he could have Navi on his shoulder to guide him, but feeling her weight nestled in the curls on the back of his head, tucked inside his hat was comfort enough. Link took a deep breath, hoisted the bag of dirt up in his arms, and ventured forth into Castle Town.
He didn’t get very far, at first. He couldn’t go more than a few steps without someone bumping into him, and he kept almost dropping the bag of dirt, and people kept shouting at him for going too slow and to get out of the way and didn’t even say sorry for knocking into him, and the afternoon sun was so bright and hot and there was no shade anywhere, no trees or shrubs, and everything was so loud . After what felt like hours but must have only been a few minutes, he didn’t seem any closer to reaching the castle, and everyone was so much bigger than him it was hard to see where he was going. He tried asking people for directions, but they all ignored him, and it started feeling more and more impossible to talk. Link felt small, like he wanted to cry. He ducked into the nearest gap between two big brick houses, only as wide as his own shoulders twice, scurrying all the way to the shadowy end. He sat down on the hard cobblestone, sniffling and wiping his eyes. He wasn’t feeling so sure about this whole adventure thing anymore.
Navi emerged from his hat, landing on his shoulder opposite the open end of the alley. “Feeling a little overwhelmed?” She asked quietly. Link nodded, his cheeks hot from embarrassment. Navi gave his ear a little pat. “That’s okay, I was overwhelmed the first time I saw such a big place, too. It can be scary to be so much smaller than everything else! But you’ll be alright, once you get used to it.”
Link nodded again. Navi fluttered down to land on the bag of dirt in his lap. “Let’s make our first priority unloading this,” the fairy continued. “It’s a little unwieldy, isn’t it! And, Mr. Lon did say we could get some good rupees for it, which will be useful. If you need more food than what you packed, for example, you’d have to buy it with rupees.”
“Food isn’t free, here?” Link mumbled. “That’s weird.”
“It is,” Navi agreed. “But now, why don’t you have a snack and some water. Once you feel better, we’ll head further into town-- I have a couple ideas on how to get this nice dirt off our hands.”
Link did as he was told, eating some of the food from his pack and taking a long drink of water from his leaf-canteen. It did make him feel a bit better. At Navi’s direction, Link re-entered the throng of moving people and wove his way stubbornly up the street. The deeper they went, Link noticed how the city started to change around them bit by bit. The houses got bigger, and less worn down. The street opened wider until there was enough space for carts to go in both directions with room to walk on the sides, then even wider, so there was also room for market stalls to line the road. The houses started to have more windows, and fewer missing roof tiles, and became more spaced out. Though it was still busy, there weren’t quite as many people, who also got fancier, and walked slower, until Link became the one passing them in a hurry. Their clothes were cleaner, and more elaborate and colourful. All the Kokiri wore green-- at first Link assumed all humans wore brown and beige, but he saw people in dark blue tunics, magenta dresses, and white leggings that didn’t even have any stains on them.
The street opened up into a bustling square, a large rectangular plaza with a big fountain in the middle, and more streets branching off in four directions. A huge crowd of people in fancy clothes clamoured in front of a low stage that was set up right in front of the fountain. Link circled around the crowd, trying to get a better look at what held their attention so enthusiastically. There was an adult man on the stage in a funny, puffy outfit, on his head a giant hat stuck with an even bigger feather, and the widest, roundest shorts over his crisp white leggings Link had ever seen. He presented a large jug that was painted white with swirly blue, and two small handles on either side, and shouted a number. People from the crowd started shouting higher numbers and he repeated it back until someone else shouted an even higher one. The man looked like he was having a lot of fun.
‘ What a weird game ,’ Link thought. He wondered if maybe the jug was full of berries and the people were trying to guess how many were inside.
“An auction,” Navi whispered in his ear. “This is perfect. Let’s see if we’re allowed to enter the soil.”
“It’s not a berry-guessing game?” Link mumbled back.
“An auction is when people bid on rare and valuable things,” Navi quietly explained. “Bidding means calling out competing prices that they’re willing to pay for it. Once someone gives a price that no one else can beat, they win the thing, in exchange for the rupees they bid.”
“Ohh,” Link understood. Well, he didn’t get it , but he understood what was happening. Finally, someone called out the highest number, and the presenter counted down the seconds that no one else shouted a bid. When he got to zero, he yelled ‘sold!’ and the jug was carried off stage and a white-blue feather was brought out. Immediately, people started frantically shouting out their numbers before the presenter could even finish explaining what it was.
Off to the side from the stage, Link spotted some more funnily-dressed people fussing over a large collection of random stuff. He started picking his way around the edge of the crowd towards them, while a commotion started somewhere in the middle-- two of the loudest bidders arguing and shoving each other, jostling the entire congregation. Unintelligible shouts floated up from the mass of people as they started trading blows. Link skirted farther around the horde, frowning and shaking his head in part disbelief, part disapproval. The Kokiri were taught better than to start fights over toys-- the way these grown ups were acting, it was like they had never been kids at all! Link didn’t understand them one bit, and he still couldn’t really wrap his head around the concept of good soil being a rare thing, but, if some fancy grown-ups would get into a fistfight over who gets to pay more rupees for some random feather, then maybe they’d go crazy over some dirt, too. And if that worked to Link’s advantage, well, he wouldn’t complain!
The fight got back under control before escalating to a full-out brawl, and the feather was sold off by the time Link reached the auction-runners. The presenter also came down from the stage, wiping sweat from his face with a lacy handkerchief. The presenter and the other people in charge all looked similar, Link noticed. From this close, he could see they all had the same shock of bright red hair, redder than Link thought was possible, and so bright it almost glowed. And, even though they all had similar funny, fancy clothes, with poofy sleeves and ruffly cuffs, bright green leggings and very orange vests, the presenter’s outfit was noticeably more over-the-top, like his was a costume.
At first, they just ignored Link, muttering quickly to each other and fussing over their stuff, even though he was standing right there. He stood up a little straighter, clearing his throat. “‘Hem… excuse me!”
The presenter noticed him first. A huge, toothy grin stretched across his face, squinting his eyes, and he leaned down to be face-to-face with Link. “Why hello, young man!” He cheered, “How may we be of service?”
“Um,” Link lifted the bag of dirt higher. “I want to enter my fancy dirt in the auction.”
“Ah!” The presenter’s eyes widened, flicking over to the other auction people behind him, and he started sweating again. He was a little overdressed for the weather, Link mused. The older-looking man from amongst the auction-ers bustled over to them, nudging the presenter out of the way.
“I will take care of this,” the man said. “The show must go on, my boy!”
For a second, the presenter got a weird, upset look on his face, like he was trying to hold in a fart, but it was quickly replaced with the too-big smile once more. He ran back onstage with the next item-- a shiny, gold disc with a rounded, skull-ish engraving-- and the older man looked down at Link. He, too, was smiling, but it looked tight, and felt unpleasant. “Now, what was it you needed, little boy?”
“I want to enter this fancy dirt in the auction,” Link repeated. “It’s special, very healthy dirt, from the river Zora. And the bag is enchanted, so there’s even more dirt than there looks like.”
The man somehow managed to both smile and frown at the same time. “I’m sorry, little boy,” he said through pursed lips, “this is a closed event. Only items registered in our private collection are being shown here today.”
“Oh.” Link looked down at the heavy bag. “Um. Please?”
The man shook his head, still doing that weird frown-smile. Link sighed, disappointed. Just as he was about to turn and walk away, Navi wriggled out of his hat and settled close on his shoulder, ‘ ahem ’-ing much more confidently than Link did.
“Pardon me, sir,” Navi said huffily up at the man, who looked both like he was intrigued by her appearance and also like he didn’t care. “But don’t I know you from somewhere?”
“I am quite certain we have never met, miss fairy,” the man said.
“That’s odd,” Navi replied. “I’m sure I’ve seen your face before. I’ve been all over Hyrule, you see, and seen many things and met many people, and I can assure you, sir, I never forget a face.” The man’s expression became more like a smile than a frown, yet also looked unhappier than when it was more frowny. Navi continued, “That’s the thing about fairies, you see, sir -- we live a very long time, and have excellent memories. And what’s more, is, we are very small, of course, so often people don’t notice when we’re there… and those are the times when we see the most interesting things. Oh, the stories this little old fairy could tell…”
“Navi tells great stories,” Link piped up, not sure what she was getting at but wanting to help, anyway.
The man let out a high, wheezy laugh, adjusting his frilly collar. “Oh, I’m sure there’s no need for any storytelling right now,” he tittered. “Say, I think I’m feeling rather generous today! After all, good soil is hard to come by in this town. I’ll offer you a thousand rupees for the bag.”
Link’s eyes widened. That was a lot! But before he could nod yes, Navi let out a sharp tsk . “That won’t be necessary, sir, we wouldn’t expect you to pull from your own funds on our behalf! Just add our soil to the register, and we’ll collect the winning bid-- minus your finder’s fee, of course.”
“Ahah, yes, of course,” the man grinned angrily. “Simply, ah, place the bag right here, and we’ll carry on with the program…”
Link waited for the all-clear from Navi before doing as the man said, dumping the giant bag down with the rest of the random, fancy junk with a tired grunt. He went and settled down on a nearby wooden bench to see what happened next. Once they were out of earshot from everyone else, Link whispered to Navi, “How come we said no to the thousand rupees?”
“It wouldn’t have been a bad amount of rupees, to be sure,” Navi muttered back, “but if we sold it to him upfront, he would have gotten all the profits from auctioning it, which will surely be much more than however much he’d offer.”
Link frowned. “So he was going to scam us?”
Navi tutted. “Well, they are auctioneers, that’s the business.”
“Huh.” Link watched in mild interest as the gold disc was sold off. It went for way, way more than a thousand rupees. Navi was on to something, there. “Did you actually recognize that guy?”
“Not him exactly,” Navi muttered, “but I know of his family. They’ve been treasure-mongers, auctioneers and art collectors for a long, long time, and don’t always come by their valuables honestly. I knew there was a good chance there were things he didn’t want the magistrate knowing about.”
Link was about to ask what kind of magic a magistrate does, when the bag of dirt was brought out on stage, carried by two helpers. The presenter presented it enthusiastically, quickly describing its origin and quality, with a few extra embellished details Link hadn’t actually told them, but not so embellished that anyone could say the presenter was lying. He started the bidding at seven hundred rupees, and the crowd practically went rabid straight away, shouting out numbers that quickly climbed higher and higher, far higher than the auctioneer’s initial offer of one thousand. By the time the dirt was sold, Link’s eyes were bugged out of his head, trying and failing to properly picture the number of rupees it had gone for as a giant mountain of berries.
In a daze, he collected his winnings from the older auctioneer who looked extremely constipated. It was all in silver, gold, and red rupees, and even as he kept stuffing it all into his pockets and his pack, more just kept coming, until Link started to worry it would be as much to carry as the dirt was. Luckily he was able to stash it out of sight-- and more importantly, out of hand-- and he gave the copper-haired auctioneers a cheerful grin and wave as he skipped away.
Link had only made it to the edge of the plaza when another kid appeared as if out of thin air in his path. The kid was pale, with somewhat shadowy eye-bags that looked out of place on such a young face. Tousled blond fringe stuck out over his forehead from under his blue cap, which was shaped similarly to Link’s only shorter and with a round end rather than pointy. His clothes were clean, but only medium-fancy, and hung slightly off his lean shoulders, as if he was expected to grow into them. His eyes were an even icier blue than Fado’s, and his small, naughty smile reminded Link of Skullkid, a little, that I-know-something-you-don’t type of smirk.
“Hi,” the kid said. He had a different accent than Malon did-- it reminded Link of Navi’s ‘tea party’ voice. “Nice ‘get rich quick’ scheme with the dirt. That was pretty funny to watch.”
“It wasn’t really a scheme,” Link answered guilelessly, “the dirt was just heavy and I needed to get rid of it.”
The kid chuckled, leaning back with his arms crossed casually behind his head. He was only a little taller than Link (really, only a little!) and looked his age, but he seemed cool and smart in an un-kid-like way. “Fair enough. Are you new to Castle Town?” Link nodded, and the kid continued excitedly, “I know the city really well! If you’d like, I could show you around, we could hang out! I mean, maybe? You seem like you’re by yourself, I’m by myself, too, so…?”
“You have no one to play with?”
The kid shrugged, cheeks turning slightly pink. “I guess you could say that…”
Link looked at him in surprise, pointing at his own chest, “And you want to play with me?”
The kid shuffled in place, shoving his hands in his pockets, trying to go back to looking all aloof but was clearly a little embarrassed. He nodded.
Link thought about it. He was on a really important quest, and probably shouldn’t take any more detours, but… he did just offload the bag of dirt, and he already made it this far, so really, he had all day to go to the castle and find Princess Zelda. Besides, the Great Deku Tree always said that if they saw someone playing all alone, the right thing to do was to ask to join them and try to make them feel included. Concluding that it was what a hero would do and that he had plenty of time to spare, Link gave the kid a bright, friendly smile. “Okay, sure! We can play together! My name is Link, what’s yours?”
“I’m Ze--” the kid cleared his throat, his eyes widening. “Er, Ze…d… Zed.”
“Nice to meet you, Zed!” Link stuck his hand out like Talon did earlier, and when Zed pulled his own hand from his pocket and extended it, Link gave his palm a good-natured, hearty slap. “What game should we play first?”
Zed startled at the low-five, then started to smile again. “Oh! Uh, I was just going to go see if I could throw rocks over the top of the inner wall from the bottom. Does that count as a game?”
Link gave him a thumbs up. “Throwing stuff is one of the best kinds of games! Let’s do it. Which way do we go?”
“This way,” Zed steered him away from the plaza towards the east side of town. “If you get it over the top and hear a clang , you get a bonus point!”
Their carefree laughter echoed off the paved lane as Link decided to start an impromptu game of tag on the way there. The two boys dashed and dodged their way through the bustling Castle Town streets, and as the sun crawled across the blue sky, the shadow cast by the tall spires of Hyrule Castle swept over the city.