Summary: An introduction to the story. Link spends a day in the army.
Words: 1259
Game: Child Timeline (between MM and TP)
Hello! This is actually the second revision of this post... the original dialogue wasn't very fluid, and I changed some things up to make it more understandable. It's not perfect, but I hope you enjoy, and as always, feel free to leave feedback! - Me
The ground squelches beneath hundreds of boots. Softened by rain, puddles dilute the fresh Hyrulean soil into a muddy soup. The field, once bright and beautiful from the perfect blue skies overhead and flourishing grass underfoot, is cast dark with chaos as a battle descends upon the land. Soldiers clad in silver and iron fight tooth and nail against an army of invaders.
"The Hero of Time", Link thought to himself, "what a joke." His sword swung through the air, landing a fatal blow. Hay sprayed through the air within the training grounds. Some landed in his now unkempt blond hair, uncut for many months. He turned to his training captain, Agus, green eyes landing upon the dark clouds in the distance rather than the man.
"I should be fighting." He says to the captain, still eyes diverted. The captain says nothing. A wave of despair washes through the kingdom almost daily; the shockwaves of the Civil War 19 years ago still rattling through the realm. Perhaps Link was the most prevalent of all those effects. Just looking at him gave an uneasy feeling; as if he had lived this life before. He was so young; but cocky and entrusted with a false sense of self-assurance, and tactical wisdom of those who've braved several adventures. Had he not been 19, he would've been a captain with these senses. But, alas, all the great King of Hyrule could do for the boy that warned of treason was let him freely enroll in the army per his choice.
The kingdom was in economic ruin; the worth of rupees declining so much they might as well be better as decoration. The kingdom at war, in turmoil, depression waving through the air more common than anything. Shining through this state of darkness, the boy, Link, dressed head to toe in a soldier's armor, that he barely fits, yearning to fight for a better tomorrow. A captain's favorite. He had hoped.
His captain, a short, bulky man, hair grey and worn by the years, was dressed still in his common clothes despite the time. The sun had risen towards noon, obscured partly by the ominous clouds. He ran a hand through his greasy hair, a burp belting from his barely shaven face. He takes a sip of coffee, clearly still cold, as he had likely made it hours ago and gone back to bed. Link had not moved his eyes from their attention to the clouds; despite currently holding conversation with his captain. He looked entranced, disturbed, maybe? Like he had seen these clouds before. Didn't like them.
Suddenly, just at the end of his statement, Link was swept back into attention to Agus's speech. "What say you?" The captain asked, Link unaware of the context. "I expect you understand, anyways."
"I... yes, I do." Link stated, but it sounded more like a question with his cadence. Perhaps the captain was allowing him to go out, to fight, like he had said earlier? "So may I go?- to fight, I mean- in the battle."
Agus looked at Link with a puzzled view. "What? No? Why would I ever let a child out to do that?? I said you can tend to the horses..."
A frown spread across Link's face, surprised and dismayed, as he muttered a response. "yes, of course. I'll.. do that."
Link walked off, his sandals softly padding against the comfortable ground. Lightning struck in the distance, in the battle, and he stopped for a moment. He continued on to the stables. Link, for 3 months now, ever since he turned 19, has been stationed in Lon Lon Ranch- a improvised training camp & military base since the second Civil War started- tending to the horses and trying to woo Agus into letting him fight. He yearned to be revered as the Hero of Time he was, the Hero no one knew of. A great swordsman, a perfect archer, the savior of Hyrule. But to everyone else, especially Agus, he was just the kid tending to the horses.
It had reminded him of his childhood, really. The boy without the fairy. Of course, it had been so long since he had left the forest, he doubted any of the children would even remember him by now. He remembered all of them. He remembered everything. The anxiety of leaving the forest. The Great Deku Tree. Mido. Saria. The forest temple. Ganon's reign. Rauru. Navi. The redeads. What lay beneath the well of his home. Skull Kid.
Snap!
Suddenly he awoke- he had been sitting by Epona's pen for Goddess knows how long. He looked to the window, wondering the time. The sun was halfway through the afternoon, the soft solar light casting a glow upon his face. He hadn't even noticed by now the cause of his awakening sound, too distracted by the thoughts of his memories of his childhood.
Malon yelled, sneaking up on Link threw the barn. Her creeping caused the snap, stepping on a weak floorboard in the aged building.
Link leapt in shock, reaching to his side to unsheathe a sword that was no longer there, the one he had left in the training grounds. Malon took little notice to his reach for defense.
"Fairy Boy! They've got you in the stables again?" She cheerfully asks, jabbing playfully at Link's side.
"Well.. yeah.." Link responds, his moody tone noticeable.
"What's wrong?" She asked, noticing something was off.
"The battle. I should be out there!" Link erupts, his passion for this slipping out after his first sentence.
Malon laughs, "Agus still won't let you out?", her hands finding their ways to her hips as she leans down to reach Link's height. Only a few inches taller, but she still finds a way to emphasize it.
Link pushes her back playfully, but with a repressed sense of annoyance. "It's so weird! They let 18, 19, anything past 20 on the battlefield all the time! But never me? Agus has got to hate me or something, there's no other way."
"You know how these captains are.. they get attached. They're bound to. With all the kids signing up so young-" Malon is swiftly cut off by Link's rebuttal.
"Kids? They're the same age as us."
"You know what I meant."
Link goes silent.
Malon goes quieter than before. "...You're still a kid. No matter what you've gone through."
Link, whose emerald eyes are now diverted to the floor, has his head down. "I think I should get back to work."
Malon steps back, having been upright a minute or so now, recognizing the mood of the situation. She figures it's better to leave than push back. "I'll go.. As well. Sorry, Link."
"Mhm." Link nods, reaching for a nearby pail of water to refill the many pen's troughs of water. Malon leaves just as fast and stealthy as she arrived; but it doesn't matter, as by now Link is deep in thought.
"Fairy boy." Link thinks to himself. The water sloshes through the container as it is dumped in, supplying the horses of the camp with fair hydration. He cleans the stable and horses, along with feeding them, for about 2 hours, before finding his duties to be done. He heads to his tent, in what was once a central plain of grass inside the horse track before this ranch became a military base. Taking off his armor, which he had worn all day, prepared for battle with no real promise of it, he crawls into his bed.
"A puppet that can no longer be used is mere garbage. This puppet's role has just ended..." — Majora's Mask.
Things have been rough lately, so yeah, here is something quite dark...
(Also the next drawing is going to be super fluffy!)
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