[ZGen] [Act/Fan]Visions of a boy [T]

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone who clicked the link to this thread. I'm happy that it has caught your interest, and am even happier if you have enjoyed the story as far as it has gotten.
I would also like to note that not only did I create the story, but I created the artwork and character designs that you will see over time as well.

Again, thank you for taking the time to stop by! It's much appreciated!

(( EDIT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gupxe...aynext_from=TL This is the song that started all of this, really. It is where I got the title idea from, and the music itself gives me inspiration to write. ))

Visions of a boy
Preface



Hyrule was once a nation ruled by the strong and beautiful princess Zelda. She was highly acclaimed for her wisdom and benevolence, but died with the stories of her sacrifices and charitable nature not long after she had been buried, shrugged off as nothing but fanciful childhood myth. The Hylians, though a long coveted bloodline, began to favor courting humans. Even Gerudo women, after a time, did the same due to family lines beginning to merge and leaving very few families to marry without marrying first and second cousins. Over the years Hylian blood thinned into nothing, the Gerudo not far behind. Thanks to their stricter traditions, the Gerudo are still prevalent in the warmer climates of the kingdom, such as the vast desert named after their proud people. However, the other races were soon forgotten, the Zora, Sheikah and Goron tribes pushed far into the wilderness to protect themselves from the humans. The Zora lived in the colder mountain rivers and the deepest reaches of the great lake Hylia, moving their great castle to higher and less traveled ground.
Only in recent years did the Gorons have to worry about the ambitious Hyruleans, their base now moved solely into Death Mountain. They had to abandon their caves to avoid running into the easily scared human race who were now mining the resources of those caves the Gorons once called home. Of course, the Sheikah were always the most mysterious race of them all, so it is uncertain where they had gone exactly, but they no longer haunted the halls of the castle as they did many years back. The last Sheikah to grace the castle left after the death of Queen Zelda, the first's youngest daughter Alina, who passed away from a troubling illness that even the Sheikah could not curtail. Humans unknowingly stole the home of these creatures, oblivious to the damage they had done upon a once rich culture of their kingdom. While the Hylians may have had a better understanding of the world around them all those years ago, humans were quick to dismiss these creatures as a fantasy. The story of the hero, Link, was the greatest bedtime story of all. For one little boy, it was almost something to be proud of to be named after a hero, even if it was a fantasy.

In the year of 1805, while the Hyruleans did not keep an eye on their vast and fair genealogy that would have shown more than half were of that now mythical Hylian blood, they did know how to keep track of recent lineage as well as the date and time. The world was modernizing, but only just. Men still plowed the fields, but had built greater technology to help them in their needs elsewhere. Richer, higher class folk could afford to have a plumbing system installed into their homes. Electricity was becoming more common place, though still slightly scarce to lower income families, and health care was no longer a deeply guarded secret. Though for bad fevers, it was still felt best to rid the body of toxins by letting blood. Another, much more controversial invention had also been created in recent years; the motor cart. The cart, while able to go faster than a well bred riding horse, still had quite a few kinks to work out. These problems included loud and obnoxious back-firing that spooked horses, engines catching fire or overheating, and getting stuck in inconvenient places. People still preferred their carriages and horses over such odd contraptions, however enticing they may have been. A firing weapon had also been invented, but the aim and ammunition used for it were shoddy and expensive, so people still favored bow and arrow as well as sling. Even if when the gun hit, it could plow through plate armor like it was nothing. There had also been rumor that some old crackpot was trying to create a flying contraption. The inhabitants of Hyrule simply laughed at this concept, no matter how many sketches the old man said he had to prove himself.

Despite the entire bustling world around him, the rumors and inventions and fashions of the upper crust, the quiet young boy known only by the name of Link was unfazed. What would a boy like himself care if a rich woman was interested in marrying a banker so he could buy her another expensive gaudy bead embellished gown for her cocktail parties and formal dances? He was more interested in the time he spent with his uncle Jarib on their farm, helping sew the fields and take care of their cattle. Many years ago, about the time he was five, his father died from drowning in the river trying to save a stubborn bull. The bull had been eating the grass close by the bank and stood on some of the muddy turf before slipping head first into the water, making a horrible ruckus.
Link's father found him, lassoed a rope around a horn and tried to tug the dumb beast out of the water. The bull got agitated even as it was drowning and tugged back, his father falling into the water. After trying to struggle his way up to the surface, the unfortunate man was stepped on by the bull and pinned to the river bottom by his chest. It was a while before his body was found. Link hadn't found him, of course, but his mother. The bull had also died, but had floated toward the bank and was slowed to a stop by the grit and mud. The man was found with his arm laced around the rope floating face down on the water's surface bloated and blue. Link's mother had been driven into depression and spoke very little, ate next to nothing and ignored her only son completely. She stared into space at all times, her eyes filled with a sadness and horror. Soon she was taken away into the city to live in the insane asylum. Once, being a bubbly socialite. Now, a muttering fool as far as examiners could tell, locked inside her own mind and never appearing to want to leave or let go of that horrible thought still imprinted on her oddly guilty conscience. "If I had only been there..." was all she would ever mutter for the rest of her days. About the time Link turned seven he was left in the care of his uncle, who had been brought in as his mother had noticeably lost contact with the world she once loved so dearly.

Strangely, Link did not seem to understand what circumstances she was under and expected her to return with a big grin on her face, ready to tell him all sorts of wonderful stories about where she had been all that time. However, as the reader will expect, she never would return. In these vital years of the young boy's life, Jarib took a stand to make sure that even without his parents to guide him, he would still have somebody close enough in relation to him who cared, that he could make something noteworthy of himself. His own ideas of being 'noteworthy' were basically in the sense of Link making his parents proud, maintaining the farm and forming it into the largest and most prominent of the kingdom someday. Jarib saw him as just a small boy, but wished to be seen as a good friend, an equal with his nephew in his heart underneath all of his harsh discipline.

Chapter One





The sun had already begun to fall over the rolling hills and scattered trees of the valley in which a small farm had settled many years ago; a family farm under the name of Deku Burrow. It only sat twenty miles or so away from neighbors in Lon Lon Ranch, who specialized only in bovine byproducts and little else. Deku Burrow on the other hand, had its fingers more in produce rather than its small dabble in livestock these days. The small farm raised cows, though the quality of the milk paled in comparison to Lon Lon's and was noted by the kingdom's subjects rather quickly when they sent out their first novice shipment to the public years back. Besides that, they also raised sheep and pigs. Because of their small size and limited hands around the farm, Deku Burrow could only hope to be second fiddle to some bigger-named farming family. Though, second fiddle was still a hard reach for them with most of the competition putting out much better products that would only be mentioned in passing as 'family secret'.

It was possibly because Lon Lon was the closest farm, but it also helped that it was the one that outsold everyone in milk sales. Deku Burrow and Lon Lon Ranch had long held a growing rivalry between their businesses for a number of years. However, this rivalry had died down a bit since Link's mother and father were no longer in charge anymore, giving Lon Lon Ranch a sense of security that somehow made their product all the more desirable to the public. The milk was said to add years to the life of the drinker, improve stamina, and even heal small wounds. The Deku Burrow - or namely Jarib - did not buy into this, and was the one to put his foot down to not accept defeat, despite the obvious fact that they would never be as good as their rivals. Being young, Link didn't understand it, but knew he was supposed to dislike Lon Lon and their products once Jarib finally let it stew long enough.

A few weeks from today, Link would turn the exciting age of thirteen years old, and as his uncle put it, "One year closer to getting a bit of hair on that chin."

In Hyrule it was said that a boy of thirteen was considered a man in his own right, but the tow-haired boy liked to think himself already there. For what boy in the city stayed awake from dawn until twilight working in the fields, as well as cook the supper, clean the house, and care for the animals? He was fairly modest, but wanted to be seen as a man just as any other boy would. Even if he wasn't able to do everything a grown man could with his still underdeveloped body and inexperienced mind, he felt it a rite of passage to sit around with the adults and joke like they did after a good harvest, mug in hand and chair leaned back. Alas, two more weeks he would have to wait for that time to finally come. It would soon be fall weather, the pumpkins would be carried off and made into pies and their seeds baked, and the fall festival would soon haunt the whole of the kingdom with streamers and singers of the old bar songs as people rolled out their crisp cider ales that had been keeping in cellars for the past year or more. Link could almost taste the cinnamon and nutmeg on his tongue thinking about the delicious cakes he would no doubt get to try, possibly with a side of chocolate custard?

While thinking about it made his stomach grumble, his day dreaming would have to cease. They were finishing up work early today because there had been word of a storm rolling through.

"Link! Give me a hand with this bunch!" Jarib hollered as he tried to wrangle the sheep into the barn, having trouble with a small hand full of the ewe who didn't want to follow the directions of him or the horse he rode. Link was helping one of the horses into its stall as he was called for and hurried it into the wooden enclosure before rushing out to meet the robust middle-aged man calling for him.

"Hya! Ewe! Ya!" Link shouted, running at the few young sheep that still didn't want to comply with the rest of the small herd. At the sound of shouting they moved in the opposite direction of it and toward Jarib, who coerced the young sheep toward the barn with the others who had already entered to be locked away safely. The livestock was much easier to direct and that made it much easier to make sure everything was ready for them to enter the barn once they put away the more unruly sheep into their indoor pens.

Jarib seemed worried that the plants would wilt if they got too much water, even with irrigation ditches in their favor; he still carried a pessimistic view and grumbled about all of their hard work going to waste this year. However, he remembered for a short burst of time that he wasn't simply talking to himself all that time and reached out to his nephew for a moment.
"Eh.. good work today." The older man muttered as he wrapped an arm around the smaller, younger boy's narrow shoulders. Link lifted his head and looked up at his uncle, but before he could respond with any sort of work of encouragement, the older man was already back on the path to negativity. The preteen sighed and looked ahead again, his eyes locked longingly on their home, wanting to escape his uncle's groaning. He loved the man, but he couldn't stand him when he became openly negative.

Eventually they rallied the pigs, sheep, cows, and the few work horses into the barn for proper cover and ample feed and set back to the house over the long grassy field that lead to their admittedly interesting abode. It was gathering a bit of golden foliage around the outside of its mammoth towering canopy, leaves scattered the rooftop just beneath the fluttering leaves and the swaying younger and thinner branches. The house itself was placed just beneath the large tree many, many years back and found protection from it, despite the scare of lightening now and then during the years it sat, it was at their advantage that they lay in a sloping valley surrounded by much higher peaks and taller trees.

They came in and lit the few kerosene lamps scattered around their lower living space. The kitchen and merged dining room were aglow with a warm orange light that flickered calmly to and fro along the off-white earthy walls. They that had been fleshed out and painted to resemble not a small dirty burrow like the ancestors of Jarib and Link intended, but something slightly more modern and homey. The floors at the ground level were compacted dirt and cobblestone for the most part, only certain parts of the lower level were covered in carpet and wood flooring. Usually the rooms that Link's mother liked to frequent with house guests, though they had not seen the same amount of care that Link's father would put into them to make his mother happy. Link didn't know how to go about doing it, and Jarib didn't have the slightest idea who would see to the floors besides the two of them anymore and didn't feel it was really worth the bother to keep a fancy floor like that tidy.

The kitchen, while rather dirty as far as the floor went, was fairly clean when it came to the wooden counter tops, the fireplace, the dishes and old silverware. Link was the one of the two men who was expected to cook and clean in it, though tonight he had lucked out when they had not finished the stew meant for dinner that was still over the low fire in the cooking kettle. It was very common for families on the farm to have six meals a day instead of only three, as they worked off a lot more energy and were up much earlier and went to bed later than their 'easy living' city counterparts. Link ladled out a few heaping spoonfuls of the rabbit and vegetable stew for his uncle and saw there was just enough for him before handing off the already full bowl to his waiting relative. However, as he inspected the inside he knew that after getting himself a good helping, there would be none left. Not only that, but he'd have to do a good deal of scrubbing on that pot down by the river before the storm finally came around and ruined his chance to avoid the application of large amounts of elbow grease.

"I don't know how well we'll fare this year. I just wish that red color on the clouds could have waited for nightfall instead. The rain is liable to come down harder than last week and those clouds certainly aren't waving the olive branch, are they?" Jarib shoveled his supper into his gaping mouth until it was all gone except for the residue along the sides he could not get. It took him a good while to eat all of what he had in between his worried comments, but he failed to realize that Link had heard his concerns hours and hours beforehand. All the same jibe or mechanical nod on the young boy's part after his uncle glanced over at him for his say. Supper went over rather quickly despite the constant negative comments from his uncle about rain, how the goddesses are laughing at them, and how that blasted Lon Lon ranch was going to outdo them again this year.

"Don't you forget about those dishes and tomorrow's breakfast. I think we're going to need something good in our bellies if we're to get over what will happen tonight." Jarib grumbled, ruffling Link's dark blond hair before he turned to Link's parent’s old bedroom where he now resided. Link stayed up in the upper part of the tree where it had been carved out for guests. His old room he once had when he was but a small boy was now full of his parent's old things that they would obviously never need. Neither man had the heart to get rid of the things without feeling they were doing the couple an injustice for removing or selling their possessions.

Link nodded curtly as his uncle disappeared around a corner, just narrowly missing one of the house's strong wooden beams in the enveloping darkness before he vanished. The young boy took a while to kill the fire in the hearth and remove the large blackened kettle from its spot in it, setting it aside for a moment as he gathered up things that needed cleaning along with a bar of soap which he plopped onto the top of the small pile of dishes now inside the pot. As he left the house with the kettle and shimmied across the knee high grass towards the glittering indicator of the river, he could see the clouds that his uncle had spoke of all day. Swirling menacingly toward the house in dark foreboding colors, a bit of low rumbling thunder thrown in for good measure as Link finally made it to the river and began to set up as usual. He was glad that he had pulled the kettle when it was still fairly warm, as it would help him a good deal in removing the rubbish from the bottom when the time came. As he pulled out the other bowls and utensils and carried the kettle with him to shallower, more easily accessible water, he could hear something strange on the wind. As he started to lower the kettle into the water, he stopped short, his blue eyes squinting against the dimming light and the shapes of trees and bushes that were harder to make out in that accursed afterglow of the sun.

If he didn't know better, he could have sworn that the sound he was hearing was moaning, like somebody was in pain, but then again, with the wind picking up he wasn't entirely sure what he was hearing that hadn't been created by trees and other instruments of malevolent winds. He waited a while to hear the moan again, but dismissed it again as the wind before plunging the pot into the water and filling it half way before turning back to go to the safety of the bank again so he could begin scrubbing. "Mm...”

Yet again, the young boy stopped himself and looked out across the waters, towards the forest lying on the other side a good way from him. Nervously, he asked something that would hopefully only get an answer from the wind.

"...H,hello?"

His voice was small and weak when he spoke and he felt his body begin to tense as he waited for something to happen. It stayed deathly quiet aside from the wind that had been picking up, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he was not alone by the river. Feeling unsafe in the water suddenly, he retreated to the bank finally and set the kettle aside, slowly pulling out his slingshot from the back pocket of his trousers as he waited for some kind of movement again. For a while, there was nothing, but slowly as his eyes began to fully adjust to the darkness gathering around him, he could see something very faint in the water.

The mass in the shallows was not a rock, but something weirdly smooth and slightly bluish in color, yet it appeared human to him for a moment. With the slingshot pulled back and ready to fire, he advanced on it warily. As he neared it he could feel his heart pounding in his chest, doing all he could to keep it from leaping into his throat as he got closer and could see the figure more clearly even in the dull sunlight. He was unable to tell what it was exactly, but knew for certain that it wasn't human, despite it having similar features to him. Its head was much larger in proportion to its body; it had fins and webbed fingers, flippers, and gills. On closer inspection, he could see the thing was injured on its right outermost part of its thigh, if it was indeed called that.

He watched it silently for a moment, until it stirred a bit and groaned in pain again. Link getting startled and firing the pebble at it in a knee jerk reaction, thankfully it missed the creature and made a dull 'plunk' in the shallow water beside the bank. After a moment of inspecting it further, he slowly moved down toward it and nudged it, only getting a few mutters out of it, its voice sounding rather feminine, "Mama..." she groaned and clutched the wet sandy earth beneath one of her opened webbed hands, frowning.

Feeling a strange sense of pity for the weird creature, he picked her up from the muddy bank and brought her in with him to the house, knowing it would be unkind to leave anybody out in a storm like the one coming. As he brought her across the lawn the wind had already picked up at an alarming rate and the little rain that had come along stung his face like little darts before he staggered in, trying to carry her through the back door that lead from the kitchen and finally toward the stairs that led up into his room. It was only until he had taken her up the stairs and let her lay on his cot that he remembered the pot and dishes down by the river.

Chapter Two
The Zora Child






By the time Link had clamored down the stairs again and made it to the back door, rain was already pouring down in sheets and it was impossible to see through not only that, but the darkness. He only wished he could have had a lantern he could take outside just far enough to get his things before it could fill with water because of the slots at the top. Defeated, he left the cooking supplies out in the torrent of rain and just hoped that it would somehow all clean itself if it didn't get swept away. Of course, both were wishful thinking. The river would no doubt flood itself, and all of those lightweight things like the bowls and the lye soap would be taken down stream to who knew where. He'd possibly never see the kettle again, but that was the least of his worries.

Link only hoped that he wouldn't get the switch for losing the kettle, especially when he wouldn't tell his uncle why they were left out in the storm. After all, he couldn't tell his uncle the truth about what he found, could he? How could Jarib believe something so crazy? What would he do if he saw her with his own eyes? Would he kill her? Cast her out while she was still injured? Say she was only a fish and try to eat her? Or, what if by tomorrow that strange blue humanoid creature tried to kill and eat him?

He felt uneasy just thinking about returning back to his bedroom with that thing laying up there. Of course, there were very few places he could rest to be ready for tomorrows clean-up without having a barrage of questions thrown at him as to why he was sleeping on the kitchen floor, so he was left with little choice. Eventually he worked up the courage to return to his bedroom, grab one of the two pillows on his bed that didn't already have the weird creature's damp head laying on it and made himself a makeshift bed beside his doorway, thinking that if the creature tried to get out, he would know. Then again, if his uncle tried to get in, he could stop him if he was awake enough before he could crack the door open to peer inside.

During the night he was kept awake by the uncomfortable wooden floor, the random settling of the house, the thunder and lightning just outside his window, and of course his own thoughts as he stared worriedly at his occupied cot as if the creature would get up at any moment and throttle him. By the time Link finally settled down enough to close his eyes, it felt as if he had only blinked before he could hear his uncle holler from downstairs for him. From the sounds of it, Jarib still hadn't noticed the lack of a kettle in the kitchen. This gave Link a shred of hope, but he was still so exhausted from keeping himself up all night he wasn't sure if he could pull off searching for everything he left out before Jarib started asking questions. Not only that, but he wasn't sure if he could appear normal after practically staying up all night as well as having a big secret. He'd never been good at lying, and even worse at keeping a secret.

He waited for a moment to smooth out his hair the best he could without his currently missing brush and straighten his trousers and shirt before giving a guilty glance back towards the bed where the blue fleshed creature still lay. The wound on its leg looked pretty painful, but there was no flowing blood, it looked like it had all clotted like a human wound normally would, but even for a fish thing, looked funny to him. Finally he rushed himself down the stairs after pulling on his dirty socks and worn leather boots and met his uncle at the bottom, who still didn't seem to notice the missing piece to their kitchen. Link was thankful that his mind was yet again elsewhere, and even more predictable than usual.

"Well, I haven't had a look at the damage, but I expect that whole season of work we did just went down the john." He grumbled as he rubbed his temple and started into the kitchen area to have him a seat. "I could really use something warm to eat. How about it? What all do we have held up in that pantry?"

Link had already left out the back door before the last part of his uncle's question was uttered, running across the slippery wet grass and actually falling a few times before he could fully catch himself. He was in a panic. Not because he'd get switched pretty good for losing those things, but because he knew he couldn't come up with a story good enough as to why he'd left everything out in last night's storm. He felt like he had only ran a few seconds before he ended at the spot he had found her, seeing that miraculously, the kettle was still somewhat grounded between the shore and the water, though it was teetering on the brink and could go either way within a second. The bowls and soap were gone from what he could see, and it was still too dark to check for the forks and spoons in the tall grass.

In a leap of faith, he made for the flooded river and jumped knee deep into it’s now fairly muddy contents. It was cold and the feeling that he hadn't planned this at all as his now water logged boots trudged along the murky bottom sunk in quickly, but his mission was clear; he had to retrieve the kettle before it was too late. As he approached it, he could see his movements, along with the river's, was turning and tossing the kettle out of his favor by the second. Not only that, but his sudden rush out of the house caught his uncle's attention and he could hear him calling for him.

"Link! What in Nayru's name has gotten into you?" The voice was still somewhat faint, but his uncle could cover more ground than himself with his longer legs and strides. It was only a matter of time. In his panic, he looked back at the kettle and watched it wobble, then made a mad dive for it as his uncle's voice got closer to him with a resounding splash, doggy paddling and kicking his legs wildly as he inched closer to it. To say he was a novice at swimming was an understatement, lack of practice made him hate himself and his slow advance on the pot as it teased him, wobbling away slightly as he got closer. He finally got close enough to reach it and grab at the handle, and as he did he felt a rough callused hand grab the back of his collar and pull him upward from the water as he clung to the kettle. Subtlety also not one of his strong points, he stared back at the confused and slightly irritated man for a moment, then smiled weakly.

"I suppose there is an actual explanation for all this? Namely why you're taking a leisurely swim at the crack of dawn with our cooking pot?"

Thinking quickly, Link shrugged while trying to act innocent, "Err...I was trying to clean it and it fell in just now?" Wishing he hadn't paused as he did or sound like he was asking Jarib if he bought it or not, he stared up at his uncle for only a few, painfully long seconds before he was set down on the grass. Sighing and shaking his head disapprovingly, his uncle rested a hand on his hip and reached out one of his large hands for the kettle.

"You've lost your brains, boy. Get inside and change before you make yourself ill."

Taking this advice and reason to rush off again, Link made his way back to the house after handing over the pot to Jarib, who simply watched him run off again and trip over himself with disbelief and peaking curiosity. Not long after, he came back inside after his scatterbrained nephew holding a couple forks he found in the grass, looking all the more dumbfounded as to what Link could have possibly been doing out there.

As he came in through the doorway and set down the kettle beside the door, he could hear something very distracting coming from upstairs. Was Link telling himself to calm down? And was that screaming? He didn't give himself a second later to think it over and leapt up the stairway to his only nephew's door and rapped on it as he struck a demanding tone.

"Link! I want you to open this door!" He shouted, feeling himself slipping into a panic.
Was this a delayed reaction to his mother somehow? He sounded and acted like he was cracking under some enormous pressure. What was it?

"Get away from me!" Another unfamiliar voice shrieked at the top of its lungs.

"Stop! You're hurting yourself!" Link yelled back before there was a clatter on the ground like the other person in the room had fallen down. Not being able to tolerate having himself on the other side of the door looking like some fool, he opened it wide and quick before Link had a chance to barricade it. The chair he tried to put up against it was set up wrong so it flew and clattered a few feet away from Jarib as he stepped in and took a quick glance over the scene.
Link, looking positively horrified and as if his pupils would never return to their original size, stared awe struck at his uncle's face, which was red and forbidding by now. The next thing Jarib set his eyes on was something that had him asking himself an avalanche of questions, only one broke through the barrier of his thoughts to make it out of his mouth, his expression still hard aside from being quite astounded by the find in his nephews very own bedroom.

"A... Zora?"

Both children looked up at him, though the young Zora girl was crying quietly as she grasped her right leg and stared at the older man fearfully, "Please, let me go!"

Jarib looked back at Link for some sort of explanation, but didn't think he was going to get one that would answer everything he wanted to ask, "I'm going to assume she's the reason you had the forks and the kettle hanging around outside?"

Link nodded slowly, looking like he was getting ready to hear what punishment would befall him now that the cat was out of the bag, so to speak.

"As much as I think you might need it to put some sense into that thick head of yours, I'm not going to tan you this time."

The blonde boy let out a sigh of relief, but was struck with another stern stare from his uncle that made him second guess his sigh.

"However, that doesn't mean you're off the hook. We're in a very serious situation." He didn't wait for Link to ask why and walked from the opening of the door over to the young girl and knelt down as she tried to back away.

"I've heard of Zoras before, and not only from those little bed time stories. Two days ago I heard from that loud mouth Ingo that the valley has been getting visits not long ago from some suspicious persons. They look like they’re something out of a T.Tingle novel, thugs, to put it plainly."

The girl looked more afraid, if that was at all possible, and began to shake more visibly than before, "And from the looks of her, she knows what men I'm talking about."

"Please, sir... You aren't going to turn me over to them, are you?"

"That all depends, really. Why could they possibly be coming after you, aside from the fact you have got to be the only Zora seen by humans for the last hundred years?"

She stayed silent then, looking worried and unsure of herself as her odd green eyes shifted back and forth between the two humans, she carefully sat up and turned her body slightly to reveal the shallow wound on her thigh.

"If you can help me, I'll tell you anything you wish to know."

Link watched his uncle actually consider this, then with a nod of agreement the older man left the room, waving his nephew to follow. Reluctantly, he did as he was told and trotted down the stairs after him, coming down to the bottom step as his uncle had already turned out the kitchen door and into the sitting room. From there he found the hallway leading to his room and entered, leaving the door ajar as he made it to his bedside and started to sift through his small stash of medical supplies. Being as a farmer, he had to be ready for brakes, sprains, dislocated joints, and cuts. Having a young nephew helped him practice when Link got a little too foolhardy and ended up hurting himself.

As Link entered, he immediately looked at his uncle sideways when he was simply given bandages and a splint. Link stood there for a moment looking down at them, unraveling the roll of bandages a bit to examine them, as if waiting for something magical to glitter and make sense of this whole situation.

"She's got herself a sprained ankle. I know she's blue all over, but unless Zoras are built to have one swollen ankle and marks that look like bruises in the same area, I'm pretty sure that is what she has. The cut doesn't look too bad, either. It may need a little more attention and some leeches, but I think it'll be okay...” Jarib still looked as if he were thinking of something, but Link didn't know if he wanted to hear it or not. The few thoughts that came out of his mouth in the last twenty four hours were nothing pleasant. As he made up his mind to leave his uncle and head back to his room, he barely made it through the doorway before he heard it, "I don't think it would be wise to let her just leave like she wants. Obviously, with the ankle and all, but maybe we could turn this around somehow... Create something beneficial for ourselves."

The boy gave his uncle a critical look, which was caught his eye and made him realize what he was saying out loud. He shook his head and waved a hand at him, "Head on up, I'll be there in a moment. I need to see if we have any of that ice block left to chip."

After Link got to his bedroom door, he could hear the girl crying again, but knew she probably didn't think they'd be back so soon. Not knowing how to handle the situation, he simply opened up the door and let himself in again, setting the supplies down in front of him as he sat on his trunk at the foot of the bed. She was sitting down on the floor at the side of the cot, so she had to look up at him as she wiped her eyes and acted as if nothing had just happened.

"What are those?" she asked quietly, pointing to what he had brought up with him.

"Oh... Uncle Jarib thinks you have a sprained ankle so-"

She looked quizzical, as she very well might have, seeing as her next question revealed what little she knew about injuries in general, "I have a sprained ankle?"

Thankfully, he didn't have to answer this ridiculously silly question, because his uncle had already come back with a small bowl of slightly cloudy ice water from the kettle that was left by the door and what seemed to be left of the block of ice from the store in their pantry. Also in his possession was a little wet brown rag soaking in it.

"I hope you don't mind if we move you to the bed, I'm not one for having to kneel down that low and strain my back." he set what he had brought up in Link's lap and gave him little time to grab and balance it before kneeling down with a bit of a grunt, knees crackling slightly as he helped her up to the cot and straightened himself back out after he was done.

"Okay, how about we go about it like this; I'll fix you up if you tell us your story along the way. Sound fair enough?" The Zora looked apprehensive, but agreed anyway out of hope that they'd stick to their word. As she leaned back on the bed a bit Jarib carefully lifted her right leg to examine it further in case he'd missed something from before. "Well, you can start. I'm already going." He looked up at her sideways, and then held out a hand to Link for the bowl.

"Oh..." She didn't seem ready to speak about it, or perhaps didn't know where to start.

This was about the time Link chimed in, "What's your name?"

"M, my name? Oh, I guess I haven't said it, have I?" Looking embarrassed, she suddenly found the will to speak and continue on beyond formalities, despite parts where she had to stop herself as Jarib dabbed and set up her ankle for the splint.

"My name is Rula, and those men you were talking about earlier most likely are the ones that attacked my people in the mountains. We never saw them coming, they just appeared like phantoms and didn't stop until they reached the king and queen. Nearly the whole guard was obliterated in the strike before any of us knew up from down. Ah! Be careful!" She snipped, but decided that maybe she shouldn't snap at the man who was helping her and settled down again.

"They were lead by an odd looking man with a flaming red beard and a large, unsettling smile. I couldn't see his entire face from where I was hiding, because he was cloaked. It was hard to hear what was said, but all I know is one minute they're talking and it was getting louder and louder, he says something about a jewel and the king tells him he's looking in the wrong place. Then the man became absolutely livid and demanded their heads. So his men...” she didn't look like she wanted to finish that sentence, and Link thought this was probably the reason she had cried earlier in private. The more she tried to push herself away from the thought, the more it got a hold of her and she couldn't bear the pain it seared into her heart. Her voice shook as she tried to make herself speak, face contorting and her eyes filling with brimming tears, "And.. and then they heard me. I barely made it out of the throne room before they caught up to me. I tripped over a guard's staff and one of them grabbed my leg before I could make it to the waterfall. He stabbed me but I think I must have twisted enough to miss most of it before I kicked him in the face and got away. It was only a leap from the waterfall. The only advantage I had was that they didn't seem to know how to swim. Though, I think I must have hit my head on something hard on the way down." She sat quietly as she watched uncle Jarib finish up, looking down at her bandaged and set leg.

"..And we know the rest from there, I think." He replied, looking almost sympathetic towards Rula, which was something new for Link to lay eyes on.

"If your story is true, you don't have to worry. Link and I will look after you for now. If those men come around here, they'll get a taste of what they like to dish out." He grumbled, looking off at one of the walls with a piercing gaze before letting the thoughts in his head recede.

"But, for now let's think about breakfast, all right?" Though Rula seemed unconvinced one human man could fend off the men she had experienced near the throne room, she seemed interested in this 'breakfast' he spoke of and accepted the invitation.
Link, of course, still had to cook it.

Chapter 3
Runaway Zora



They did not ask the girl any more about herself or where she came from, and this was probably because any time Link wanted to sit alone with her to ask, his uncle Jarib would miraculously appear and send him off to do something else. The farm had not been hit as badly as Jarib had predicted, but it still required work. Random assortments of plants needed to be pulled as to not spread to the others and ruin what they had left of their crops. The fall festival was only weeks away and the crops that had held strong showed promise in fetching quite a few rupees and giving Deku Burrow a good turnout for all of their hard labor.

Rula spent most of her time resting in Link’s bed, and Link was told he must sleep on the floor as part of his punishment for keeping secrets. It probably also had to do with the fact that they did not have more cots. Both beds they had were too small to hold two people comfortably. The only person Link could possibly fit onto one with was Rula, and Jarib would not take that type of lodging lightly under his roof. While beds were scarce, conversations were fairly abundant in comparison to the usual quietness surrounding Deku Burrow. Link normally would not get time alone with Rula to ask her personal details about the attack, but would make a point to ask as much as possible before she would ignore him and fall to sleep. One question she would not answer was why she was in the throne room during the attack. He could not get that bit of information from her no matter how hard he tried. He strained to keep his mouth shut in the matter after the first time he had asked, but could not bring himself to let the answer flutter through his grasp so easily. For the hundredth time, when he was escorting her to the riverside so she could rest in the water a moment, he asked. “Rula, may I ask you another question?”

The girl he spoke with acted like she had not heard him, but made it obvious she had as she sighed heavily and turned her head in his direction when she knew he would continue until he was quite sure she acknowledged him. Her odd formation of what he assumed to be something like hair whipped around, the small tail fin at the back of her head waving to show her irritation like feline might with its tail when encountering a particularly annoying human. “What is it you want to know? I am getting quite tired of all of these silly questions.” He became embarrassed when she answered him like she had, and thought that he might try and sneak the question he really wanted to ask in another. For a moment he thought of how he would do it and opened his mouth when she had finally turned her head away again. Link heard his voice falter as it came out at the beginning.

“Well, I have been- been wondering… How did you end-? “

“How did I end up in the throne room?” Rula finished, knowing what he was going to try and ask from the very suspicious start of his sentence. She should have known, seeing that was the only thing he liked to ask her when he ran out of other things to say. The Zora child could not blame him for his curiosity that surrounded this strange situation; she knew it was very rude to speak so hostilely with such a gracious host, but could not help with feeling angry about her situation. The king and queen of the Zoras were dead, thuggish men were looking high and low for her, and all she was allowed to do was sit and wait for the inevitable.

She looked back at Link, who simply stared back at her waiting for some sort of answer. Sighing and bowing her head a little in a silent form of shame, Rula closed her eyes and felt her heart sink as she answered, “I am being followed... Because I stole the gem that man wants.”

Link stared back incredulously at the Zora’s features while she reached behind her and untied something from her tendrils at the back of her head. Even as she pulled the glittering blue stone out and dangled it in front of him on its thin silver chain he could not believe what he heard or had seen. He had never known this girl before now, but still found it hard to swallow when she came clean so easily over such a serious offence. She had stolen from the very people that ruled over her, then watched as they died and ran to save her own skin. The blond boy shook his head slowly, frowning. “That is not true.”

“It is true, Link...” Rula replied slowly, trying to let her words calmly sink in before she spoke again. “I do not expect you to like me now that you know what I carry, but it is no life for a Zora to be held back from the water- from freedom!” She stared into his eyes imploringly as he looked away in disgust.

“Why should we let you go after having a hand in such an evil thing? Would it not be fitting to have you held here like the villain you are?” His face was straightened, but his blue eyes still showed a grain of pity. Rula saw it, though she still thought she knew where this conversation was headed. Her eyes closed and she held the gem to her chest as her face faltered with a weary frown. “…I will help you ‘escape’, but do not expect me to lie to my uncle for you. It is enough weight on my conscience that I am sneaking under his nose.”

It hit her like a shockwave, but instead of showing her joy, she nodded slowly as she looked up at the boy who did not seem too keen on the idea of looking her in the eye as he had before knowing her secret. “I want to leave late tonight, while he is still in bed and can’t stop me.” She muttered. The only noise working against her quiet voice was the gentle sloshing of the river water at the bank, but Link heard her clear as day. He had already begun to regret his hasty promise as he brought her back inside.


----------


That evening after everything that could be harvested, cleaned up, and cooked was taken care of, Jarib called the children to the dinner table. That whole afternoon the pair worked together to slip away important things like old maps, a few sets of clothing, and a bit of food that could keep for a while such as wax coated apples and raw oats.

As Rula and link sat down at the table, neither could make full eye contact with Jarib. The man was so preoccupied with cooking and setting the table that he –luckily- had not noticed their suspicious behavior. The middle aged man looked into the kettle he was working with and ladled a bit of the garlic bread soup he had made out of it for a quick taste. He tried to not make a face in front of the children, but failed as he turned away and added in a muffled gag. Link thought he might have to fake a stomach ache to get out of consuming his uncle’s concoction. There was a reason why Link was the one who usually made the meals.

“Well, I think it may be ready to eat…” Jarib coughed as he tried to take another taste after adding in a bit more chopped garlic, obviously having put in too much.

“Link my boy; help me with the bowls if you would be so kind...”

Link knew that somehow this was payback for sneaking around his uncle all day. He still felt it was a tad harsher than the punishment probably should have. From his uncle’s reaction, if he did eat it, he probably would be sick. As he walked over to Rula as Jarib’s back was turned with two full bowls of horrifically crafted garlic bread soup, he could see the fear in her eyes as it was set in front of her. She watched a slow murky bubble rise to the top and pop sickeningly in the mixture, but instead of pushing it away, she sat straight and tried to straighten her face as the middle aged man turned around and smiled at the both of them.

”I think I did a pretty good job, myself.” he lied as he walked over to the table and sat down his own bowl. It was not nearly as full as either of the children’s who sat across from him, which made the both of them second guess being so generous in their portions just to make him happy. Before they were subjected to what slowly bubbled and spat in their bowls, a knock came to the door. Jarib turned and stared out the front room window, seeing a few shadowy looking men looking back in at him as they waited idly by the shut door. His face fell and he pushed his helping of supper away from him, whatever little appetite he had for his soup had vanished completely, and his voice dropped as he tried not to seem to suspicious.

“I want the both of you to head up stairs and hide.”

“But, uncle-“

“Do as I say.” The man spoke through thinned lips, staring toward the front doorway as Rula and Link ducked underneath the table to hide from being seen too easily. Jarib got up from his chair as one of them men knocked again, this time a little louder than before as if he was not sure he had gotten the man’s attention. Link, however, thought that the reason for the knocking becoming more forceful was because the men were becoming more desperate. Either way it did not look good.

Link pushed Rula gingerly up the steps, who hobbled slightly to avoid putting full contact on her ankle as they ascended the carved staircase. The boy stopped a moment as he heard the doorway opening, the sound of his uncle and the men talking made him wish he could see what was happening. Rula paused along with him as they listened to what little they could.

“Lovely evening, If I do say so myself!” One of the men interjected gaily into the already stagnating conversation. The man who had been speaking formalities before him seemed to be more distracted with such an odd house, rather than the farmer he spoke with at the door.
“It would be best if you ignored my associate for a moment. You have quite an, um, interesting abode. It is not every day you see a turf house with an actual tree growing on top of it.” There was a silence, though Link and Rula deduced that Jarib had spoken, and much more quietly than what was usual.
“Now, we mean no harm to you! We were simply traveling by when we saw smoke coming out of the ground near a tree. Well, it was much to our surprise when we found this warm little nook of yours instead of a forest fire like we had dreaded.”

“Well now that you have seen my home and know full well it is not on fire, you can kindly leave the premises!” Link’s uncle huffed.

“My! Is this how you treat all of your house guests?”

“From the looks of the place, it doesn’t seem likely he gets any.” A raspy, weasel-like voice answered, indulging itself in a chuckle.

“I certainly have no need for guests like you!” Jarib growled. The sound of a struggle began as he tried to close the front door and the men tried to force it open from the other side. Link felt his heart pump quicker than ever and his legs begin to work again as he started up the steps, pulling Rula along, who had appeared to be frozen as the shouting and shoving started downstairs. The most chilling words of all came not soon after they rushed through the door to Link’s room and closed the door behind them.

“Find the girl! I don’t care if we have to smoke her out!” A man shrieked as something heavy fell downstairs and made a loud booming noise, the whole house vibrating.

Link and Rula got everything together that they possibly could. They grabbed the bag and stuffed what little they had left when they were called to dinner not fifteen minutes before.

“Do you think we could make it out the back way?" Rula asked quietly, but found a new feeling of panic when Link walked over to the door, about to open it to get a better idea of what was going on below.

“No! Get away from there!” Jarib shouted.

“Something is up the stairs, eh?” One of the men shouted back, the others laughing as one of them stomped up the stairs.

“Could it be a sweet little present for all of our trouble?” The man advancing up the steps jeered. Link ran over to Rula as she picked up the bag and slung it over her shoulder, whispering as he pulled her over to the window.

“We have to get out of here!”

“How? The stairs are blocked!” She whispered back, her eyes widening as the footsteps drew nearer. In a rush of either great bravery or sheer stupidity, Link grabbed the Zora around the waist with his arm and made for the back window of the tall tree house window. Rula gasped as he pushed the round window open and tried to fight back, but stopped once she heard the bedroom door opening. The last thing she saw as Link forced the both of them out of the window and out into the open air was a thin, greasy looking man with tiny watery eyes and long unkempt brown hair paired a five-o-clock shadow. His sweaty, red, wrinkled face turned because of movement by the window and he took in a large bit of air as he wailed and tried to leap across the room before they could get away.

Link and Rula were already halfway down the tree, clinging to it for dear life. Link’s head shot upward as he heard the wailing from above before the man made it to the window and leaned out with his messy, stringy hair falling around his thin, rodent-like face. He was not nearly as daring as the children and simply called for the other men’s attention.

“I found her! I found her! She's getting away!” The man screeched as he stared down his long, pointy nose as them as they descended the enormous trunk of the tree.

When they reached the bottom Link could feel his hands were scratched up pretty badly, but forced himself not to look to see how severely as they hit the ground. He heard Rula gasp in pain as her already partially injured ankle was stressed more than it had been in the entirety of that short week, but forced the both of them to press on as he helped carry most of her weight for her as they went as fast as they could toward the fields.

“They are headed toward the field!” The man screamed in excitement, leaving the window to meet with the others so he could help run them down.

The sky was already growing dark, the men who were inside were fighting one another to get through the door, and the children continued toward the fields, despite having their course ratted out within seconds. They made it to the edge of the fields by the time the men where about half way to the same destination and disappeared in the veil of thick cornstalks. As soon as they entered into the field of corn the shouting of the men seemed somehow more distant to the both of them. The only thing they could hear clearly now were their own gasping breaths and the crunching of the leaves that protruded from the large stalks as they stepped on them down the aisles. The two were becoming blinder by the minute as the sun died down over the mountains, which was a blessing in disguise. While they ran blindly through the towering corn, they both came up upon an unexpected surprise.

“Oomph!”

The splash was not too loud, but caught them off guard for a moment as they picked themselves up and realized what they were lying in.

“An irrigation ditch…” Link whispered, his eyes scanning what he could see of it in the dimness. “We need to get off land… They can catch up to us too easily as long as we are relying on our feet.”

Rula followed him without fighting. Even if she could, she did not want to be alone. Not now. The blond boy directed her along the irrigation ditch and tried to explain quietly.

“We are going to ride the river. My uncle has a raft used to cross it when we make trips to the forest, but it should work just fine.” They made it to the mouth of the ditch and stood between it and the river as Link squinted for any sign of the raft. It took a few moments, but he spotted it only about fifty feet downstream. The both of them rushed for it as quietly as they could manage. Link helped Rula onto the wooden raft first before hopping on after pushing it from the bank and nearly falling into the cold water in the process. They huddled together on the raft and crouched as low as they could against it, their eyes eventually adjusting to the dark. Off in the distance as they continued downstream, Rula could see faint lights from lanterns and faraway voices shouting angrily.

For a few minutes they were frightened so much from the rusting of bushes and branches that they were unable to move, but eventually the world around them became quiet. Aside from chirruping crickets, water lapping at the raft, a few hooting owls, and rabbits rushing through the thickets, everything was as still and safe as it could get given the situation. Link’s heart was beginning to beat at a normal speed and he sat up to get a better look of their surroundings. Rula was beside herself after the initial panic wore off and crumpled up in the fetal position, sobbing quietly. He watched her for a while and felt odd having to sit there while she cried, but knew there was nothing he could do.
-------------------

After what felt like days in darkness, Link spotted another light up ahead. Feeling paranoid, he flattened his body against the raft and nudged Rula to get her attention. She stirred from her short lived sleep and saw the light as well, continuing to lie on her side as she stared silently ahead. Finally, they floated close enough to see that the light came from a nearby barn. The boy sat up and frowned as he let it sink in just where they were.

“Somebody left a lantern in the cattle barn.”

Rula watched him sit up and soon enough did the same, looking over his shoulder to get a better look. “Where are we?” The Zora asked innocently.

“Lon Lon Ranch.” he muttered, trying to help the raft along so they could press beyond the short dock up ahead where a finely crafted wooden row boat sat. Rula looked ahead at the boat, and then downward at what she could see of their sad, rustic contraption they sat on.

“I would like to stop for a minute.” she muttered to the young boy beside her as she started to steer them near the dock. It only took link a short moment to understand what she was going after.

“Rula stop!” He hissed under his breath. She arched a brow and glanced back at him, “You might not mind stealing from people, but I am not that kind of person!”

“Funny, you seemed like that type of person when you were helping me hide things away for my escape.”

“That was different! Those were my things as well as my uncle’s!”

“Oh? Then why were you so scared he would find you taking provisions and running around behind his back?”

“I… That-"

“That is precisely my point. You are a thief, a sneak just like me. Stop riding that high horse of yours and help me pull this raft in for a minute.”

They paddled to the shore and pulled the raft alongside the small dock. Rula looked over to the nearby barn that still had the lamp light burning and began to hobble toward it. Link followed reluctantly behind her and his stomach tightened and his mind swam with everything that was wrong with what they were doing.

“We need to turn back, Rula. What if somebody is still in there? What if they rat us out to those men and try to hold us here?”

“I doubt it. We would have heard somebody by now thanks to your bellyaching.” She looked a little irritated as they came closer to the light, the features of her face were revealed in it.

“It appears that you have no choice but to stick with me now that they have seen you. Therefore, we are going to need more food.”

Link hated that she was right and forced himself to follow her up to the wooden doorway. He was directed by the slightly shorter Zora to look inside through a knot in the wood that she could not quite reach.

“Nobody is in there.” he whispered just loud enough for her to hear.

“Then what are we waiting out here for?” she asked impatiently, though it may have been her nerves getting the better of her as she quickly let herself in through the door. The small cattle barn was what Link was expecting. Dim, smelly, and bits of hay scattered all over the dirt floor. What brought their attention to this location in the first place -the lamp- was hanging from a nail in a post and glowing faintly like a dying sunset. Link walked up to it and pulled it down, turning up the light just a bit more with its toggle as Rula started to venture forward into the darker parts of the barn without much trouble. The boy held out the lantern in front of him, looking along the stalls as he went.
Most of the cows were fast asleep, and much to his surprise another animal stood awake and watched them. It was a young filly with a palomino coat.

As Rula continued through the dark looking for bits of food they could take, Link stopped at the foal’s stall and set the lantern down by his feet as it watched him with its large brown eyes inquisitively. He reached out a hand and let it smell him; its small nostrils flared and blew out warm air on his hand. It then lifted its head and licked at his face. The boy giggled and stroked the filly’s wiry tresses as it continued to sniff him, both becoming a bit startled as Rula walked up and asked in an abrupt, irritated tone.

“Are you finished? I cannot do this all by myself.”

Link turned his head and frowned, one of his hands still stroking the horses’ neck. “I guess so…”He muttered, shifting his gaze to look at the filly again and getting his nose lightly nipped by it. His face brightened a little, but one look at Rula told him it was time to leave the horse and got on with what they came here for. Sighing heavily, he picked up the lantern again and looked regretfully back at the loveable foal, which stuck its head out over the side of the stall and watched him sadly with its big, watery eyes.

“Stop moping.” Rula grumbled, “What you like about that smelly thing, I will never know.”

They reached the back of the barn and finally found a large fifty pound burlap bag fill of oats. Rula started to shovel as much as she could into a glass bottle commonly used for cow’s milk, which gave Link an idea. He explained what he was going to do to the Zora, but she simply looked disgusted by the idea of milking a cow by massaging the nasty, rubbery looking utters and left the chore to Link.

He grabbed an empty bucket and stool and started over for the nearest stall, but was stopped once he heard somebody opening the barn door again. Feeling trapped and in a panic, he dropped the bucket and stool and rushed back to Rula, trying to tell her to kill the lantern. He was stopped cold when a familiar voice caught his ear.

“Link?”

He turned slowly as if doing so would make her disappear, like nothing had ever happened, but was confronted by an annoyed red headed girl. She had stomped her way over to him in the same amount of time it took for him to turn around as slowly as he had.

“H-hello Malon.”

“Hello?” She hissed under her breath. “I come out to MY barn so I can grab MY lantern, and who do I find?” He stared back at her as though any courage he had left from that night had been completely sapped out of him. “What in the goddess’s names are you doing here? Have you lost your wits?”

Malon was introduced quite swiftly to Rula, who walked out of the shadow holding the bag that now had a few extra commodities inside.

“You may think you have gotten the upper hand, but there is two of us and only one of you.”

Awestruck, Malon back-tracked a little as she stared at the creature she had only seen in children’s books, her ears not catching a word the girl had just said, “A Zora!” She breathed, a hand reaching up and covering her mouth as it gaped open.

“I… Cannot explain everything you want to know, but we really need your help.” Link spoke.

Both Link and Rula stared at Malon as she ran the idea through her head, or appeared to from the look in her eyes. At length, she spoke, “I… I will help you. I have no idea why I am doing this…” Her voice trailed off as she looked at the two, and then nodded curtly.

“What do you need?” Malon muttered. Rula looked to Link, who directed Malon to a nearby cow. After a bit of time milking and bottling, the Zora girl grabbed their attention as they both sat in the stall with the cow, Malon staring at the ground beneath it with a worried expression, looking like she was about to open her mouth to speak before the girl appeared.
“Hate to interrupt this time of reflection, but we need to get out of here.”

“Right…”Link muttered, getting to his feet and brushing himself off before leaving the stall. Rula was already heading for the door at this point. Malon left the stall as well and managed to grab a hold of the back of Link’s shirt. The blonde boy turned and furrowed his brow curiously.

“I wish I knew what trouble you were in. It feels weird just letting you leave without any explanation.” She whispered, frowning. “I have never disliked you…” The redhead muttered, “…Just so you know.” Thinking she was finished he tried to turn, but was stopped again as the shorter girl wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly for a short moment.

“Take care of yourself, okay?”

He did not know how to feel about the hug, but thought it best not to look back at her. He was not sure if she was crying, but knew he had endured enough of Rula sobbing already.

“Okay.” he replied, feeling her let go before he headed off to the doorway, where Rula was waiting for him.

“That took you long enough.” The Zora mumbled as she opened the door ajar and peeked out.

“It looks clear.”

In a few minutes they were creeping out of the barn again. The both of them would never know that Ingo and Talon where only minutes away from discovering them in the barn, had they waited any longer.

After making it to the dock, Link convinced Rula that the raft would work just fine and they set out again. Rula was more tired than she had expected and fell asleep only a few minutes after reentering the river current, but Link stayed awake a good deal longer. He let the events of that day play through his mind for a while and continued to stop at the point where Malon hugged him. He could not make heads or tails of it, and decided it was best to leave the subject alone. He was not entirely sure if he would ever see the redhead again, after all. In the time it took them to float down the river to Lon Lon Ranch from Deku burrow, it had already hit three in the morning and the residents of the rival farm were already starting their day.

Now, it appeared very clear that it was near either five or six in the morning after they had left Lon Lon Ranch. Link was feeling the effects even as the sun began to gleam just over the snowy mountains and through thick foliage of large trees. Link’s eyes seemed to droop lower and lower until he could not keep himself awake any longer, both children soon lying fast asleep on the raft. Their course was unknown, but they had not a care in the world as they rested that early summer morning.

You clearly have a talent for writing. I thoroughly enjoyed your story so far and can't wait for the next chapter.

I do have a couple suggestions, though. First be sure to always maintain a balance between dialogue and narration. The preface, for example, was almost exclusively narration; which was fine for most of the chapter as you filled in the background but as you moved into the first chapter you missed some really good opportunities to show your characters interacting with each other as opposed to simply narrating what was going on. You did, however, improve in this area as the story continued and for the most part chapter 3 had a decent balance of narration and dialogue.

My second suggestion is that every time someone new speaks, what that person is saying should be the start of a new paragraph. For example:

Malon was introduced quite swiftly to Rula, who walked out of the shadow holding the bag that now had a few extra commodities inside. “You may think you have gotten the upper hand, but there is two of us and only one of you.” Awestruck, Malon back-tracked a little as she stared at the creature she had only seen in children’s books, her ears not catching a word the girl had just said, “A Zora!” She breathed, a hand reaching up and covering her mouth as it gaped open.
“I… Cannot explain everything you want to know, but we really need your help.” Link spoke.

It should instead look something like this.

Malon was introduced quite swiftly to Rula, who walked out of the shadow holding the bag that now had a few extra commodities inside.

“You may think you have gotten the upper hand, but there is two of us and only one of you.”

Awestruck, Malon back-tracked a little as she stared at the creature she had only seen in children’s books, her ears not catching a word the girl had just said, “A Zora!” She breathed, a hand reaching up and covering her mouth as it gaped open.

“I… Cannot explain everything you want to know, but we really need your help.” Link spoke.

This helps your reader more easily understand who is talking and you can save the bold function to emphasize important words or phrases. Now I'm no English major, but I do believe it is ok to leave a quote in the middle of a paragraph as long as the entire paragraph is about the character who is speaking.

You do have the talent for writing, keep up the good work.

EDIT: I'm sorry I left this out before, but I very much enjoyed the drawings at the beginning of each chapter. You're a talented artist as well as a writer.

Thank you very much :3 I've been waiting for somebody to come along and help me out a little, since this is the first story/fan fiction I've ever written. I'm pretty much a novice at this stuff, so it's really very appreciated.

I'll go through and edit the spacing and try to fix up some of the narration/dialog.

Thanks again!

EDIT: I tried to add a little more interaction between Jarib and Link in the first chapter and did a little more with the spacing. I also took away the bold font except for when his mother spoke in the prologue.

I don't know how well I did on everything, but I'd love some feedback.