✓ | A Change of Heart | An OoT story

~Kakariko Village~

Link woke up long before the ranch was close to waking. He started his way for Kakariko with Navi asleep under his hat. He walked along the path, looking around him and taking in more of Hyrule. It was all the same things he'd seen before, but it was still amazing.

The sun rose over Death Mountain and lit up the fields. Navi yawned, but the fabric of Link's hat muffled it. She yelped, then peeked out.

"Link?" she asked.

"Hm?"

She let out a sigh and relaxed.

"Did you get any sleep?"

"Yeah, I just didn't want to be a bother for them when they woke up. Besides, we're almost to Kakariko and it's just barely morning."

Navi flew out from under Link's hat and followed behind.

"Do you still have Princess Zelda's letter?"

"It's still in my pocket, I checked this morning. I wonder what we need it for?"

"I guess we'll find out!"

Link stopped at the bottom of a set of stairs, which supposedly led up to Kakariko. He took a deep breath before starting up them. Navi flew ahead to check the village out.

When Link finally made it to the top, he found Navi looking at what sat past a gate. He stepped up next to her, but stopped in awe. They watched as villagers were waking up and starting their morning routines. Link looked over at a soldier who watched him.

"Excuse me? Is this Kakariko?" Link asked.

"Yes, this is Kakariko. Impa founded this village hoping it will someday be as lively as Castle Town. To the north, you can find the path leading to Death Mountain. But you can only go up with the King's permission, so I suggest you leave the guard there alone."

"Oh, thank you."

The guard nodded, and Link walked past the gate.

"Should we try the gate to Death Mountain first?" Navi asked.

"We could do that, or we could look around?"

Navi landed on Link's shoulder as she thought to herself.

"I guess we could, just don't take too long!"

Link smiled widely, then took off. Navi clung to Link's tunic as he raced forward. He climbed up a set of stairs and came to a well. He looked down in the water, noticing a ladder leading down.

"Hey Navi, there's a ladder here! What do you think it's for?"

"Maybe to find water if the well runs out? Oh, look over there!"

Navi pointed to a woman standing by a fenced area. She muttered to herself as she paced back and forth. Link walked up to her and cleared his throat.

"Are you all right, Miss?" he asked.

"Oh no, I'm not. My Cuccos flew away! I've tried to round them up, but they keep running away..."

"I could help you!"

The woman's face lit up.

"Please do! Bring them back and leave them in their pen."

Link nodded, then took off. It didn't take long before Link had rounded up all the chickens.

"Thank you so much! It would have taken much longer if you hadn't helped me. I'm allergic to Cuccos, and I get goosebumps when I touch them. It makes it so I need help to get them back. Here, I can give you this bottle as your reward. You can use it to hold things, and you can use it more than once, too! Just take good care of it."