Apothecary

Chapter 8

After my second encounter with the wolf, the days began to pass in a blur.  A routine that revolved around my humble shop quickly established itself in the days that followed. Every few weeks, almost in shifts, the hero and the wolf would alternate between visiting and buying as much as he could carry, and limping inside with a bruised hind leg or some other minor injury. Link had also apparently gotten wind of my healing services and began seeking treatment during his visits as well. But I noticed that as his visitations grew more and more frequent the injuries he bore grew less and less urgent. It was only when he showed up literally seeking treatment for a paper cut that I began to think that something was up. 

My stock of medicines was quickly embellished by a myriad of gifts from the Hero. He often left notes along with the gifts on my doorstep, thanking me for recommending various potion lines or simply for the great customer service. But for the life of me, I couldn't see why he was being so favorable towards me. There was only one highly improbable reason that I could figure why, and I quickly dismissed that as being impossible.

But the lengths he went to to curry favor with me were astounding. Once, he left a crate of bottles containing winged beings, along with a helpful note explaining that they were Fairies, benevolent creatures that could heal any illness or revive you if you collapsed. Another time, he sent me an entire crate of Rare Chu Jelly after hearing me mention it in passing once. I couldn't fathom the time or energy spent gathering all of it--and for who? A random city girl who ran an apothecary for a living. I didn't get it. All the same, I was rather thankful for the surplus of goods, because as soon as word got out that mine was the most-frequented medicine shop, customers flocked to us in droves. Most days I had to call in Eliza to help assist customers, and Ethan was there to divert traffic flow. And as Eliza came in to help more and more, she started getting suspicious about Link and I. She started to gradually harass me about the hero's frequent visits. 

"So what did the Hero want this time, Y/N?" There was a teasing tone in her voice as she asked one week. 

"This time he wanted treatment for a paper cut."

"A paper cut??? Do you really think that was all he was after?"

"No, but I can't figure out what else he'd want."

"You can't?" I knew what she was thinking. "Girl, you are too naive. It's obvious he fancies you."

"You're one to talk." Now it was Eliza's turn to be taken aback. "You think Ethan's over here every other day because he really wants to help out with the shop?" She blushed. "And you know, that whole time we were talking after our run-in with Selthrus he was glancing over at you."

 She rolled her eyes. "Oh, stop it. What makes you think a soldier like him would notice a city girl like me, anyway?"

"Because you speak your mind, Liza. You're not afraid to stand up and lecture a soldier on why his fellows aren't cut out for the job. You don't act like just because they're in the army that they can just waltz over to any girl they want and ask her out. You have standards."

"The same can be said for you. You didn't immediately swoon over the purported 'Hero of Twilight' when he walked into your store, right?"

Ha! That's what you think. I agreed, but was happy that my internal monologue wasn't available to her. "You've got pretty high standards, but it looks like this guy's meeting them."

"Oh, please. I'm just happy for the extra business. And a distraction from normalcy for once."

"You can say that again, sister." Watching Ethan almost hover around Eliza, warding off any potentially flirty guards, was a sight to behold.

We both laughed, but secretly we were both anticipating the visits of our respective guys. And they did happen, so much so that we started actively shipping each other. Eliza would point to the myriad gifts on my doorstep and say he'd ask me any day, while I pointed out Ethan's sudden nervousness whenever he spoke to her, or the death glares given to any other young soldier attempting to flirt with her. One week when Ethan bought her a bouquet I was convinced that my ship had sailed.

But on my end, gradually Link's visits became less and less frequent. One week the wolf stumbled in with a nasty wound from a Skulltula, and I had to give him more of the spider antivenom. He also had several bruises and many open wounds, but from what I could not tell. It was a major operation, and he ended up staying three days rather than the usual overnight gig. Customers were growing impatient with our long closing by the time I lead the wolf out to the fields.

The next week Link popped up in a rather unexpected way. I was just tidying up the shop, since it was near closing time at around sunset. The twilight shined through my shut service window, and with my sweeping of the shop, and Eliza and Ethan's babbling, I hardly heard the door open. I had just finished sweeping, and was gathering up the medicinal plants on display when it happened. "Miss, I was wondering--" A voice piped up out of nowhere. I turned around, startled, and ended up dropping the herbs I was carrying. A familiar green tunic had appeared almost directly behind me. "LINK! Don't scare me like that, man!"

"Ahh, sorry about that, Y/N! I'll get that for you." He seemed cheerful in spite of startling me. He knelt down to pick them up, and that's when I saw it. The thin silver chain that hung around his neck.

It was my Nayru necklace.

What the-? "Excuse me, Link...wh--where did you get that necklace?"

"This? It's from a friend of mine."

"That's funny, because I could have sworn I left that necklace with...Sir, have you ever seen a—a dark wolf around the fields of Hyrule? Did you encounter one somehow?" Oh, goddesses, please don't let my lupine friend be dead.
"A dark wolf? Oh, yeah, he's....my hunting partner. Yeah. My hunting partner." That answer seemed oddly unsure of itself. I wasn't buying it, but I decided to change the subject.

"...So, are you here to buy something?"

"Yes, actually. I was wondering if you had any more of the green potion that protects against spider attacks."

Recalling no such potion up for sale, I apologized. "I'm sorry, but I'm not sure I've ever sold that potion before."

"You know, that potion that you gave me last week?" If this was an attempt at jogging my memory, it didn't work. "When I came in all bruised and bloody?"

This new statement earned him a confused look from me. "...You weren't here last week, Link."

He now looked equally confused. "Wasn't I?"

"You'd think I would remember the Hero of Twilight walking into my store in need of immediate medical attention...unless..." Something horrible dawned on me in that moment, and I turned to him with newfound suspicion. "Tell me again where you found that necklace, Link?"

"Di--did I say last week? I meant last month. Silly me, forgetting the times again...ahaha..." He rather noticeably changed the subject. "So, anyways, you don't seem to have it in stock? That's a shame...W-well, if you didn't have it I might as well leave, since that was all I was looking for...bye, Y/N!" The Hero of Twilight, reduced to a stuttering mess, rushed out of the store in a hurry. Guilt was written all over his face. There was no doubt about it, he was definitely hiding something.

And I had a sneaking suspicion that I'd figured out what.