Chapter 4

A fun-filled little day

Their laughter filled the shop as Esmerelda, or “Elda” as Link had christened her, tried, without much success, to break the rupees that were trailing along, as though they were shuffling along amiably and teasing the blonde haired girl. She pouted, and attempted another shot with Link’s slingshot, but her shot went wide, and smacked the shopkeeper in the bottom.

“Out! Out! I say!” the shopkeeper roared in pain, and his mispronunciation of “Out” made it sound like he was saying “Ouch!”

At this, both children giggled, filled with mirth as the man rubbed his bottom. When he spotted the two kids still inside his shot, he quickly ushered them out. Esmerelda fell over Link’s feet, and the two of them tumbled down the steps of the shop together, laughing gleefully. Link landed on the bottom, cushioning Esmerelda’s fall, and she giggled again as he panted, winded a little.

Link, having had so much fun, had now forgotten, at least for the time, about his broken Ocarina. Waiting for Esmerelda to get off him, he dusted himself off and got to his feet.

“Where should we go next?” he asked.

“You pick!”

“You pick!” meant another blindfolding, spinning around in a circle, and pointing in a random direction. The shop closest to where the person was pointing was the one they visited.

Link spun around, getting dizzier with each revolution. Finally, he stopped and found himself pointing at the Happy Mask Shop. Esmerelda grabbed his arm and nearly pulled it off as she dragged him inside.

Laughing as he pried himself off her, he looked for the shopkeeper, who was crouched in front of a shelf, replacing something that seemed to have fallen off. Then the man turned around, and Link caught the whiff of old, dead skin, and an unfeeling, smiling face the coldly regarded him. Link felt the man’s ominous and malevolent presence, and caught a flash of purple hidden behind the man’s back.

“Uhh...” Link began, feeling himself tense. Trying to relax, and shake the feeling of evil the man emanated, Link continued. “I’d like to buy a mask...”

“You would? Well...now, my masks, they need happy owners who want to wear them for a long time...do you think you could find those kind of people?”

Link didn’t really listen to what the man was saying; all of it was just some gibberish, and he didn’t want to listen to what he was saying, he just wanted to get out of here and have some fun!

“Sure! I can find those kind of people!” Link propped himself onto the counter, and pointed at a Keaton mask. “Could I have one of them...and...”

“That girl there, the one you came with, wants a mask. This one will fit her well.” the man whispered, still smiling. Link stared, confused at the man, then disregarded the weird comment. After getting Esmerelda to pay for the mask (because he had no money) they left the shop.

“You look funny with that mask!” he teased, pointing at her.

“I can barely see!” she retorted, laughing lightly. “The eyeholes are too small!”

“Let me see what I can do...” Link grabbed the edge of the mask, and pulled downward, off of Esmerelda’s face-

-and was met with two gleaming sapphire eyes that stared, confused, back at him.

“Huh?” Link asked, astonished at the baby-blue eyes that reflected his own. “Your eyes...”

“Oh, just a trick of the light!” Esmerelda grinned, in a manner that seemed overly cheerful, and very forced. She rubbed her eyes, and sure enough, when she opened them again, they were emerald green.

“Give me the mask back!” she grinned, and snatched it away from Link, laughing as he tried to grab it back unsuccessfully.

“I want a shot!” Link giggled. “C’mon, c’mon! Lemme wear it!”

And so, for the first time since he’d left the forest, Link had fun.


It was nightfall, when Esmerelda managed to find a small place for both of them to buy some food from the street vendors. Amongst the beggars and poorer merchants, they sat down and ate together, while Esmerelda explained to Link what was happening in Hyrule town.

“There’ve been uprisings amongst a lot of the people...” she murmured, looking sad. “There’s a lot of poor people, not many people who even have homes, and just a few people who are really rich. Like the ministers, and...”

Esmerelda gritted her teeth as she looked around, then shaking her head muttered, “I told father to do something, but he just...”

“What’s wrong?” Link asked.

“Huh? Oh, nothing. Don’t worry.” Again, Esmerelda’s forced cheerfulness appeared, and she hurriedly continued on; the scene escaped Link’s mind as she continued.

“So, a lot of people have complained...” Esmerelda said wistfully. “They wrote to the King saying that he should do something, but he never did. So they complained, and then their homes have been seized. Now they live on the street...unhappy, angry and...the King is totally ignorant of their situation. He doesn’t seem to care about the people anymore; the whole of Hyrule is falling into squalor. I’ve heard...rumours, of...a revolution...” Esmerelda sighed, looking worried.

“What’s a revolution?” Link asked.

“It’s a kind of...rebellion amongst the people...” Esmerelda replied.

“What’s a rebellion?”

Esmerelda sighed, giggling quietly to herself. “They want to kill the King and elect someone else to take his place. And they might be plotting with a man...called Ganondorf Dragmire...”

“Who’s that?” Link asked. Suddenly, awoken from her slumber (which, mind had lasted throughout the day, for faeries require a lot of sleep) Navi appeared.

Oh great. Precursor of doom, Link thought.

“Hey!” she screamed. “I need sleep!” She flew out of Link’s hat, and straight into Esmerelda’s face. In a few moments, the two of them were entangled as Navi had somehow got into Esmerelda’s hair.

“What’s this?” Esmerelda asked, bemused to no end, as she cupped her hands around the shining ball of light. Beside them, the other beggars and merchants hushed them, annoyed, and then went back to their work.

“My name’s Navi!” Navi was screeching, drawing more frustrated glances. Esmerelda and Link quickly retreated into a darker, more secluded corner, trying to shush Navi as they did. “I’m a fairy, and ya better believe, fool- oh. Sorry. Bad dream.”

Link palmed his forehead in his hands, then whispered to Navi hurriedly.

“Navi, please, you’ve got to be quieter! You’re drawing too much attention!”

Navi’s only response was to grumble, then she flew back into Link’s hat.

Link sighed, thinking to himself what a pain Navi could be. She was always bothering him at bad times, and had just ruined a great moment with Esmerelda.

Actually, he thought to himself, where is Esme’?

“Link!” a cry was heard from down the alley. Link turned to find two red-headed women dragging Esmerelda away. Dashing madly toward them, Link drew his sword and shield, and jumped sideways around the corner, where the two women had somehow lost Esmerelda, who was running into the darkness. As they were about to pursue her, Link, in mid-jump, threw his sword toward one of them. It stabbed through her thigh, and she fell to the ground, kneeling as she grunted in pain.

“Why you little-” the second woman cursed, drawing a set of scimitars. Dancing in an elaborate attack pattern, she cartwheeled toward Link, dodging his shield, as he swept it in an encompassing arc, and slashed toward his exposed neck. Link fell onto his back, breaking his fall with his shield, and kicked the woman’s feet from underneath her. Drawing his slingshot, he shot her in the head, knocking her unconscious, just as the second woman recovered from her wound. She flung the sword back at him; Link rolled away and watched as she too, drew two scimitars and charged at him.

Yanking his embedded sword from the wall, Link parried away her first strike, and kicked her in the stomach before she could manage a second. She stumbled and wobbled as her feet struggled to position her; Link could see her wound was obviously troubling her.

“Please, let’s not fight...” Link murmured. “You’re really badly wounded, and if you try to push yourself, you’re only going to injure yourself more...”

Yet even as he said this, he knew that his plea for mercy, both on himself, and for her was unheard. With an unholy growl of a trapped beast, she threw himself at him, scimitars raised above her head, ready to slice through him. Link extended his sword arm, readying himself to stab through the blind spot in her defence, readying himself for the splash of warm, Hylian blood that would flow from the wound onto his hand, and his face, and down the blade, and-

“No!” Link’s resolute cry rung through the air, and, twisting his hand, he shoved the hilt into her stomach. She doubled over in surprise and shock, then, as the wind flowed out of her diaphragm, she crumpled to the floor.

Released from his trancelike state, Link suddenly remembered Esmerelda and her fleeing down the alley. Pulling his hat off, he tapped Navi, in order to awaken her.

“Navi! I need light!” he whispered. He was greeted with a huff and Navi’s usual grumbling, as she shone brighter, bathing the alley in radiance. Quickly, he ran down the alley, calling for Esmerelda.

That whole night, he spent searching. The whole of the morning, too. By the late morning, he had given up hope; he had found no trace of Esmerelda, and he hadn’t seen anyone who looked remotely like her. No-one could even remembered her face or had seen a resemblance in anyone they’d seen-to them she was another face in the day-to-day bustle of market life.

No-one remembered her. No one cared. She had vanished.


A far nicer chapter, if I do say so myself. Do enjoy and review. This chappie hasn't been published yet! :D I wanna complete child arc before I start publishing again...:D