…and found the surrounding area far more dangerous than he had remembered. Either by the act of expelling them from the fortress, or from complete lack of attention upon entering, Link found the forest outside filled with enemies.
The entrance rested a little higher up from the rest of the forest as the forest floor sloped back down into the Valley of the Forest, giving Link an outstanding view of everything in his way. Deku Baba’s grew in patches of grass that hid their roots. Chus sunk in and out of the ground, preying on small woodland creatures. Bokoblins ventured aimlessly around the open glade around the fortress, though few wandered close to the road that led to the Valley itself.
On the road, Link saw Bruce guiding Wind. The horse was finally brave enough to travel into dangerous territoty such as this. Derek sat slumped in the saddle, gripping the horn for support. The Knight’s party sat in the shade where the trees came back in and covered the path. They sat up in surprise as Bruce came closer.
Link smiled as Bruce’s voice floated through the air, retelling his adventures in the Deku Fortress. He thought he heard his own name once or twice in the story. He wouldn't want to ruin this moment for the senior cadet. It could very well get him certified at last.
The group of Knights began to move back towards home. If anything noticed them, it did well to stay away from the well-defended party. Link followed behind, wanting to give the group its berth to avoid conflict.
As he walked back under the shade of the trees, something stopped him. “You were very brave, Link.”
Link stopped to look at Head Master Kaepora. He stood beside his horse, patting it as he went on, “Bruce didn’t speak the whole tale, but I presume you allowed that omission of the truth. I can tell you saved him more than once in there.” He laughed. “I’m not surprised, though. I suppose letting Bruce keep all his credit will save you some trouble. You look less of the hero, even if you were more of it. Any uproar of a new Hero will fade and you may travel unnoticed.”
Kaepora pulled out his sword. “But I still know the truth of the matter. Give me your blade, Link. You will need something sharper for what you’re about to face.”
Drawing his sword for its sheath, Link handed over his blunt weapon to the Head Master. Kaepora set his own iron blade in Link’s hands. “I hope it serves you well. It certainly has done me good in its time.”
He pulled something out of his robes as Link tested his new weapon. “And this. It’s a map of Hyrule as recorded by the Knights we have stationed across these lands. I’m sure you can fill in any blanks along your adventure.”
“That I can do.”
The Knight’s party was almost out of range. The two looked down the path. Kaepora said, “Unfortunately, that’s all I can give you for now. If you ever want to practice your skills again, I’ll be at the Academy, trying to put some discipline into these new cadets.”
The Head Master swung into his saddle. He waved. “Safe travels, Link. I pray for success in your travels. The Goddesses bles your journey.” He spurred his horse into a canter, and took off to catch up with the other Knights.
Link gripped the blade in his hand. It was heavier than his own, but it was sharper and stronger. Monsters would find it much harder to attack him with this blade in his hand.
Sheathing it, Link followed behind the Knights towards Eveningale. The sun was already rising when Link reached the edge of the village. He wondered how long he had been in the temple, and figured that it couldn’t have been any less than a day, considering that the Knights had never caught up with them. Now, a day after his adventure had begun, he was getting ready to leave again.
He was beginning to regret not stopping in the Valley when a firm hand gripped his shoulder. In his tired state, Link nearly jumped out of his own skin. Bruce laughed. “You look exhausted.”
“We do not have time for you, Bruce.”
Link noted that Endeavor’s voice was sounding a little drained from exhaustion as well. Bruce replied, “I’m sure. You’ve got this whole world saving adventure. But I’ve got this idea that I thought you’d like to know about, or know that I’m thinking about it. I’m not quite sure how it’s going to work out, but I want to use that arena back in the fortress for something.”
“You are keeping us from our business for a half completed idea?”
“I suppose I am,” Bruce finished. “Well, when I get it worked out, I’ll send you a letter. I guess I was just trying to tell you about it because I thought it could be useful for you. After all…” He quickly covered his vacant expression with a grin, replacing the fact that he was trying to show some gratitude to Link for saving his life, and then not saying anything about it. “You need to get on that quest of yours, don’t you?”
“Thank you.”
Link shook his head at Endeavor. He waved to the young knight and continued north towards the Hyrule Field. Castle Town was a nearly a day’s walk from here. It would be a long day, and he hoped for a warm bed before the day was over.
Stopping outside the Eveningale train stop, Link looked back over his shoulder towards home. He didn’t know when he would see it again. It could be years from now for all he knew.
“You have a long way to travel today, Link. Do not worry about the future just yet. I have enchanted the Hero’s Shrine and left a bedroll for you there. It may not be an inn, but it is somewhere to sleep for the night. Do not try to go any further than the Shrine today, and be sure to remember your map.”
Link pulled out the brown parchment from his pack. Hylian runes were sketched in across the map by all sorts of hands, some more legible than others. But all places of importance were marked well enough for Link to find. Link located the Shrine, waited for the next train to pass before crossing the tracks and went on his way.
Hero’s Shrine sat in the northeastern portion of Hyrule Field. From its crown a traveler could see to the edges of Port City and Kakariko Village, and even the walls of Castle Town.
It was a little strange for Link walking up into the Shrine. In a sense, it was dedicated to him.
“It is not simply dedicated to your past lives. The Crown has insisted on burying your previous forms here.”
That set everything on an even more awkward level. Link stepped onto the white platform and picked up the bedroll that sat in the Shrine, and the flask and bread that sat next to it. He felt stiff, not sure how to treat this location anymore.
“I would not worry about the dead, Link. You are reborn, and those past bodies do not last long after its replacement. This is no more a tomb than the your village.”
Link laid out the bedroll before he went on to enjoy his small meal, pushing the thought of dead bodies out of his mind. The bread was a simple loaf of wheat bread, but the flask was filled with mead that woke Link back up a bit. He set the flask down after a few sips, wishing for some water instead. He didn't seem to have much of a taste for alcohol.
The sunset over Hyrule Field as he finished. Monsters began creeping out. Link watched skeletons and their dogs pull themselves from the ground with hollow, red eyes that flashed across the landscape. Keeses and black-feathered guays perched in trees, watching dark skinned bokoblins patrolling the Field, and possibly something sweeter.
“Those are bulblins, Link. They are stronger than the bokoblins by a considerable amount. They have only been seen at night though. Out here at least. The Demon Lord is not ready to risk his more powerful minions in the daylight.”
Pulling out his whetstone, Link studied the green-skinned creatures as he sharpened his new sword. Most of them toted around heavy wooden clubs, a few having crude bows in their hands. They all covered their skin with tattered rags and crude leather, leaving Link only wondering where they could have gotten the material. He decided to leave it to his imagination after a while.
As the moon began to rise, Link looked across Hyrule Field, comparing everything to his map. A red glow stood out even this far from the peak of Death Mountain, the relatively-active volcano rumbling off on the horizon. Mountains dotted the horizon on to the north, and if Link listened carefully, he could hear Zora River tumbling down its banks.
Reluctantly, Link turned his gaze south, down passed the distant coast, and boggy border of Grim’s Vale, towards his home. He could see the outline of the Deku Forest appear just on the horizon, no taller than bushes from this distance.
An arid wind drew his attention to the west. He couldn’t see it from here, but he knew the entrance to Gerudo Desert rest beyond that horizon line. He wondered if his adventure would take him there.
The moon hung high at its peak before Link decided to sleep. The air was cold with only an occasional eastbound wind to keep it from being freezing. It was late summer after all. Link slept better than he had in months, even on the hard surface of the Shrine.
As the sun cracked over the horizon, a pair of travelers woke Link. He glanced off to see the pair of riders, cadets most likely, racing across Hyrule Field, coming closer to the Shrine. Link folded his bedroll and stuffed it beneath his shield as he finished off the rest of the bread and took another swig of mead to help wake himself up.
The two riders halted beside the steps to the Shrine, dismounting. If they saw Link, they didn’t stop to say anything to him. The two went on babbling to each other about how they were going to become the greatest knights in all of Hyrule and how the Hero would guide them in their quest. Link left these ideas to their imagination.
Link noticed a third horse behind the two knights. It was a Hylian draft horse, built for plowing, not riding. It was loaded with luggage and gear, a young woman with red hair sitting in the saddle.
Stopping next to the horse, Link waited to see what the girl was doing. She turned around, finding a strange man in green watching her. The girl jumped back, startling her horse as she tumbled out of the saddle. Link gripped the reins his hands, and patted the horse on the nose to calm it down.
The young woman came storming around after she found her footing. She demanded, “Who are you?”
Link replied calmly, “I was concerned. It’s hardly passed dawn, and there are dark things out.”
“Do you think I can’t handle myself?” the woman retorted, swinging a punch at Link.
Normally, Link would let her blow land, to let her feel more confident about herself. But in the middle of Hyrule Field, overconfidence wouldn’t help her. It would kill her, more than likely. Instead, he caught the punch and quickly let her arm go, saying, “I believe you can handle yourself, but not against anything. Not yet at least.”
The woman was taken aback. The two cadets noticed them, and shouted, “Oh, not you again. Go home, already! You’d never make it as a knight!”
She turned around and shouted back, “We’ll see about that when I tan your sorry hides!”
One of the cadets spotted Link. He said, “You’re a knight. What do you think about her?”
Link looked at the woman. He felt a bit awkward as he sized her up. Her red hair was cut short, framing her freckled face and blue eyes. She had a farmer’s tan and the hands of a ranch worker. She was short, but there was definite muscle definition in her frame.
Then, he glanced at the two cadets. They were lordlings, and probably hadn’t worked a day in their life. They weren’t fat, but they weren’t fit. The first six months were going to be pure agony for them. He responded, “I think she’d last longer than either you. She’d excel through basic training while you two are struggling through it.”
Their faces paled before turned bright red. The woman shouted, “You hear that? Grasshopper here thinks I’m the better fighter.” She laughed as she put her hands on her hips in success.
The two cadets waved it off, and remounted. They quickly rode off, too embarrassed to admit. The young turned back to Link, saying, “Thanks for that.” She extended her hand, “I’m Rixa.”
“Um…,” Link muttered as he shook her hand. He was right about her being strong, her firm grip confirming his judgment.
“Well, I need to get off to training, Grasshopper, so I can show those two buffoons up,” Rixa said. “But you’ve done me a favor today. My dad works on Lon Lon Ranch. If you ever need a horse, be sure to stop by. I’ll send him a letter to tell him about you. Pick a horse, and I'll call your favor repaid.”
Rixa swung into her saddle, and spurred her horse. She waved. “See ya, Grasshopper!”
Link stood there for a moment in wonder. He wasn’t really sure what had just happened. He put a hand to his head, wondering if the mead was affecting him.
“No, the mead has no effect on you. It would take a lot more than one flask of mead to make you drunk, Link. Not to mention you didn't even finish it. Now hurry up!”
Adjusting his path, Link pressed on across the remaining distance to Castle Town. The walls loomed above him as he approached, Zora River crashing far below. The drawbridge was lowered over the gap. As Link crossed the wooden door, Yore darted around his head.
“Castle Town is built on an island, Link, and protected by powerful magic. The easiest way in is across this drawbridge. All other access if heavily guarded by soldiers of the Crown and is too narrow for an army to come in through without being picked off by the defenders.”
Looking up, Link saw why the walls had to be so high. Otherwise the iron gate behind its drawbridge wouldn’t be hidden when it was raised, and exposed to nature. He would hate to have to replace that. He looked back ahead of himself and walked passed the metal bars and into Castle Town itself…