She Bears A Triforce

Okay lemme just say again I love all those who reviewed my story up until this point. YOU PEOPLE RULE! I just hope you all know that. Well here it is, the long-awaited Chapter 4. Sorry for the long wait, remember to blame my evil sadistic teachers that feel the need to all give tests ON THE LAST WEEK BEFORE FINALS! *Ahem* you know, I feel better now that that's out of my system.

Recommendations: This is just here cause I can't figure out how to do the recommended reading thingy, if anyone knows, please post it in a review and I shall thank you personally in my Author's Notes kind of stuff. I plan to do this for all who review once I have chp 5 written and up and running.
Anyways, here are the titles I recommend: Twisted Futurity and Summoning Battousai. All credit for these two stories goes to the appropriate authors, NOT TO ME! Just so we’re clear on that. Thanks again and enjoy


Chapter 4

As generally quiet as it was, the young man could already tell this was not going to be an easy morning. If the constantly inflaming pulse behind his eyes and up into the forehead was any indication, he’d probably spend most of the day in bed, at least until the sun began to set in the west. On any other morning, especially after a night like that, he’d have wondered how he had gotten to bed in one piece. But as much as it hurt to think just now, he figured it was probably Aurea doing him a good turn; he’d have to remember to repay the favor at some point. There was a slight movement to his right, and feeling like he’d most likely end up regretting it, Link cracked one eye open. What he saw was not distinguishable at first, so he blinked once or twice to clear his vision. When it became apparent that a set of big green eyes was staring at him, rather closely, he scrambled back trying to gain some breathing space. And the morning was again greeted with a loud THUD of a male body on the hard wood floor of Room 3.

A string of swears and curses, not at all fit for print, issued forth from Link’s mouth, while one arm lay haphazardly over his eyes.

“Good morning to you too sunshine.” Aurea’s amused, though still sarcastic, voice could have been at the other end of the Inn and it would still make his head pound.

“Ngh! Turn off the lights!” The young man groaned from the floor.

“The lights aren’t on.” Came the female’s voice, more gently now.

“Then close the curtains!” He grumbled.

“It’s still night outside.” Aurea replied, sitting up and looking out the window at the dark-gray world beyond. She looked back down at the adorably pathetic site literally laid out before her. “How do you feel?” she asked more gently still.

“Like I got flattened.” He mumbled irritably.

“You hungry?” she asked, standing up from the bed, stepping over him and stretching a bit. “I’ll go make breakfast in a minute.”

“Fuck breakfast; fuck everything.” He groaned again, and the silence that followed this oration told him she was probably staring at him.

“You’ve got a mouth on you don’t you?” She nearly laughed.

“What’s so damn funny?” He ground out.

“No more alcohol for you.” She said more seriously now, and Link removed his arm to peek one eye open again. “You’re crabby after you drink.” She stated coolly.

“I think my bottle was tampered with.” He said as he gingerly got to his feet, testing his sore limbs against an infinitely more pained head.

“Yeah, that wouldn’t surprise me.” Aurea muttered, not really intending him to hear her. But he did.

“Why’s that?” He asked through a yawn.

“Don’t ask,” Link stared at her. “Trust me on this, you don’t wanna know.”
That reminded him of something he’d been thinking about while he was out the previous day. There was much and more besides that could be found in the market place of Hyrule Castle. And rumors, therefore, spread like the plague, and grew wilder with each person who relayed them. Link’s azure gaze settled on Aurea as she continued to braid her long hair into a tight rope. It was probably just best to come out and say it, he figured.

“They’re talking about you in the Market Place.” She looked up at him with a perplexed expression.

“Who’s doing what now?”

“Nearly everyone in the Market Place was talking about you yesterday.” Link told her, trying his best to stand his ground in this respect. But there was doubt that doing so while she was giving him that look was difficult.

“Do I want to know why?” she asked slowly, her hands paused in the action of tying up the end of her braid.

“Let’s think,” He replied in mock puzzlement. “Could it be because, you sing, you dance, you cook, you have the mark of the Triforce on your hand, and you’re the weirdest thing to happen to Hyrule since anyone can remember?” She was frowning, and not in the thoughtful way.

“As opposed to sleeping in a temple for seven years while the world goes to hell around you?” She retorted, bitterly. Aurea was irritated, to say the least and frankly didn’t give a damn that Link was looking at her with pure shock. It wasn’t like she wanted to be here in the first place; something had just happened and even though she wasn’t responsible for it, she still had to cope with it one way or another.
Link could not believe his ears. She had not just said that. It wasn’t possible that she could know what had happened all those years ago. The only people who did know were he, the Princess, and the other six sages. And Aurea did not qualify as any of them.

So how in the hell does she know?! He wondered, still dazed.

For a long time there was a thick silence, then… “So, what exactly are they saying about me? Anything I couldn’t guess?” Aurea asked, not looking at him.

Again that awkward-as-hell silence before he answered. “Some think you’re Ganondorf’s daughter come to seek revenge or something.” He muttered as he sat on the edge of the bed next to her.

“Ha! That’s rich.” She snorted, actually smirking. ”And do they also think I’m the living incarnation of a Goddess? Or maybe I’m the leader of some obscure cult.” She went on, not immediately noticing that Link was again staring at her dumbfounded.

“You already knew?”

She looked at him, her mirth dying instantly. “Oh Gods, don’t TELL me that!”

“What?” He was forever confused by her reactions, or her phrasings, if not everything else about her. “You just said-.”

“I know what I just said, but I didn’t actually MEAN any of it!” She groaned miserable. “Do they really think I’m all those things?”

“Different groups think different things.” He paused to choose his words carefully as he answered. “But all together they think those things. Some are still certain that you’re Gerudo.”

“Morons; I’m surrounded by morons.” She muttered with the heels of her hands against her forehead, her fingers gripping her long hair by the roots. Aurea jumped slightly when she felt his arm around her back with his hand resting on her shoulder, giving her a gentle hug, or squeeze or something.

“Sit up.” He said removing his arm from her and getting up off the bed.

She did so, not caring to start an argument. “Then what?”

“Stand up.” Link replied tugging his boots on and plucking his cap off the bedpost.

Aurea made a rough sound in the back of her throat. “Sit up, stand up, throw up.” She grumbled as she finished with her hair.

“You’re not going to be sick.” He said calmly.

“Not if I faint first.” That last remark made him look around at her with concern. To him, she still looked alright, although a tad paler than she should have.

“Do you usually?” he asked, almost ready to catch her if she did fall over.

“After having a pint of blood drawn every two months for the past year and a half, I still have yet to pass out, don’t worry.” She said flatly, though the slight upward curve of her lips told Link he was not in any danger from her sarcastic wrath. Rather, it looked to him as though she were trying to smile when she really didn’t feel like doing so. In later years, Link would look back on this and laugh heartily, but at the time he would laugh for a few minutes in the present too. Since her back was now to him, her hand on the doorknob, he took the opportunity to catch her off-guard and danced his fingers over her ribs. He was repaid with a shrill squeal of the kind of laughter that is a reflex, then a hard nudge in the side from her elbow. “Oh it’s on now!” Aurea growled playfully. Within minutes the two of them were laughing hysterically, each trying to make the other fall over laughing. But it was clear that Link had the advantage and managed to pin Aurea to the floor, if only for a few minutes.

“You yield?” He asked, catching his breath from laughing so much. But at that precise moment, she had somehow twisted her wrists out of his hands and seized him by both long pointed ears.

“Hell no.” she giggled as his eyes crossed then straightened themselves out again. While he was busy trying to right himself, Aurea’s fingers encountered something she hadn’t noticed before. In each of his earlobes hung a tiny silvery hoop. “You have pierced ears?” She said in wonder, though it wasn’t really a question.

“Yeah. Could you let go?” he asked, while trying to lean away a bit.

“If you could get off me.” She retorted, trying to shift to where she was able to breathe. “You’re kinda heavy and crushing my ribs.”

Link coughed and grumbled an apology of some sort. “Please let go.” Aurea still had a firm grip on his ears.

“I will when you sit up.”

“I can’t move when you’re pulling my ears off!” The throbbing was back in his head again and bothering him to the point where his eyes slid painfully closed.

“Okay, okay, this is what we’re gonna do.” Link only listened to her because as things currently stood, he had no choice. “On the count of three, I let you go, and you get off me okay?”

“Whatever.” He said in a complaining voice

“One…Two…THREE!” They both backed off and Link was on his feet so fast that he nearly fell over again. “Don’t you try that again putzo.” Aurea said a little testily, though one look at her would’ve told anyone that she’d found the situation quite hysterical. Then again, most people in Hyrule didn’t know what she knew, they couldn’t. The young male hylian was muttering something about pain, but his exact words were unclear because he was grumbling so furiously. “Oh quit whining already.” Aurea said through an exasperated sigh. “Remember you started it.” Link had noticed the change in her voice, it was more serious now, even subdued. But although he wanted to, he knew there was no point in asking her what was wrong. It was probably best to let her come to him, always assuming she ever would.


Less than ten minutes later, he was sitting at the small table in the kitchen, watching Aurea as she cooked breakfast, and trying not to look as though he were constantly staring a little too low. It was difficult trying to convince himself that the pinkness he could feel in his cheeks was due solely to the heat from the stove. It was even harder trying to remember when exactly he had gone to bed with her, and furthermore, if anything had happened. But on these details, his memory was a total blank. The only good thing about this was that he couldn’t remember that damned dream that he knew he probably had. In fact that was the only benefit for getting completely sloshed every now and again, was that if he dreamed of his lost princess, he didn’t recall it the next morning; though that was usually due to the fact that he would be nursing an ungodly hangover. Link heaved a sigh as his gaze dropped to a burn mark on the table, probably where a candle had burned too low. How many nights had he been torn apart from the inside by that accursed vision? Every night for the past two years, it was hard to believe it had been that long ago. To him, it felt more like it had happened maybe a few weeks, or a month ago at the most. With his still tender forehead in his hand, his fingers gripping his messy blond hair, Link let his other fist clench tightly as it rested on the surface of the table.
Damn it all, IT’S NOT FAIR! He though bitterly, still angry at the sick irony of it all. After surviving for seven years as a sheikah, while he slept through it all in the temple of time; after risking life and limb to help him survive the sickest obstacles Ganondorf had placed in his path at every turn; after losing her once when she finally told him the truth; after that last battle permanently seared into his memory; after sending both of themselves back to the way things should have been, then growing up with the life they should have had, what had finally been her end? After getting past everything that can bite, sting, burn, zap, poison, stab, shoot, and rip her to shreds, she does of a-! A pair of fingers snapped under his nose and brought him sharply out of his thoughts. Link looked up, not aware that he was still glaring hard until he saw the look on the singing chef’s face. Feeling guilty, his head bowed again, and his eyes refused to meet hers.

“You feeling okay?” she asked, and the concern made him feel all the worse.

“Hangover.” He mumbled, and would have kicked himself for sounding so childish. At least, he though he sounded childish. A plate of food came into view and he stared at it for a moment, the looked up at Aurea quizzically.

“French Toast.” She said, meaning that as an answer to his unasked question. Link merely blinked and looked at it again. The stuff did look like it was toast, but since he didn’t know what “French” meant he wasn’t sure what to make of it. As far as he could tell, it looked like someone had sliced up some bread and seared it in a frying pan, though with exactly what was none to clear to him. “Try it, it’s good.” Aurea encouraged as she turned back to the stove. There was a sound of sizzling as another few pieces hit the hot frying pan and Link heaved another sigh. Her cooking hadn’t killed him yet, he saw no reason why it would now. Yet again he was in a state of smooth rich bliss as he chewed and swallowed the first bite. If he hadn’t known better, he might’ve thought that she added something suspicious to put people in that mood whenever they ate her food. Then again, if she did so, he wasn’t about to complain, at least not now. “Feeling better?” he heard her ask as she sat down with a plate of her own breakfast.

Link nodded. “Much better.” He said before stuffing another piece in his mouth. Aurea was trying to keep her giggles from escaping her throat.

“You’re gonna be sick if you wolf it down like that.” She said, and Link actually smiled a bit fiendishly.

“Yes mother.” Now that made her laugh, and he had to hold his breath while he swallowed, so as not to choke.

“Don’t you take that tone with me young man!” she chuckled in a falsely maternal tone of voice. Link had to hold his head while he laughed at that, his shoulders shaking from mirth. That sense of humor they shared would be enough to cheer up the reception at a funeral. And that was kind of odd considering how serious she could be in contrast, and it was clear to him, which she preferred.

“What are you up to later?” He found himself asking, and wondered exactly what had induced this question. Oh Goddesses, what am I doing?

He didn’t notice Aurea’s thoughtful expression. “After the breakfast rush, I have some chores to do, band then the lunch rush. Other than that I have the afternoon off, why?” She asked as she let her eyes settle back on him curiously.

“I was just thinking.” He stopped himself a moment to consider all possible consequences of his actions. Would she slap him silly, jump up and down like a maniac, or just look at him like he had lobsters coming out of his ears? Link took a breath, preparing for the worst. “Do you know how to use a bow?” There was utter silence for a moment before a wide grin split the mask of surprise and confusion on her face.

“Me using a bow, that’s rich!” she laughed so hard that she wheezed.

“Why’s that?”

“Are you kidding? I’d be more of a danger to myself than anything else!” she still went on laughing, but for the life of him, Link couldn’t understand what was so funny.

“I could teach you.” That made her stop laughing abruptly, but only for a few seconds.

“Now I know you’re insane.” She said shaking her head. “There is no way I’ll ever try to pick up a bow, not gonna happen.”
Link was giving her a look that suggested he was thinking something along the lines of, “Oh really, you think so?”


Some time around the early afternoon Aurea was still wondering how she had let the elf talk her into something so mad. She didn’t even know if she had the necessary amount of Rupees to buy a bow, let alone any arrows. The stash of tips she’d been saving from dinners and her performances hard accumulated, but she still hadn’t counted any of it; she really hadn’t had the time with everything else going on. So now here she was, sitting in her room separating the gems and counting them up. It took longer than she had thought, but it was worth it, especially when she came to the total value. In the course of something like two and a half weeks, she had earned a total of 759 Rupees, more than enough for a bow and some arrows as long as she didn’t break them all on the first try. Just as she gathered them back into a bag, not her backpack, there came a knock on the door. Aurea hesitated for a moment.

“Just a moment.” She called over her shoulder. Quickly stuffing the bag and its contents into the space under her bed and behind her backpack. Brushing the dist from her jeans, she stood and opened the door, surprised to see the barkeeper there.

“Busy this afternoon?” he asked none too courteously she though.

“Yes.” She said shortly. “Why?”

“The Emperor has requested to see you.” Aurea blinked and looked clueless.

“Say that again?” She said stiffly

“The Emperor has requested to see you.” The barkeeper repeated irritably.

“Wait I thought Hyrule had a royal family. You know a King, a Queen, a princess.” She said still looking confused, and now definitely suspicious.

“We used to.” The barkeeper sighed, and shook his head. “But that changed two years ago.” Aurea was almost started to see the man looking depressed.

“Why happened?” She asked, feeling the old need to know resurfacing. But this time there was something else along with it, a
growing sense of dread. Something wasn’t right about all this.

“Well, the king died several years ago, and for a time the council ruled. Nobody was really very happy about it, but the princess was still just a little girl, so what could be done?” He shrugged and shifted his weight from foot to foot, clearly uncomfortable with the discussion. “About two years ago she came of age to claim her place as the rightful ruler of this kingdom. But…” The elderly barkeep pulled an overlarge hanky from his back pocket and blew his nose with a sound like an elephant. “Sorry,” He said gruffly, which might’ve been hiding a choked sound of pain. “But it’s that sad. Not even a month after she became the official ruler, she died.” He shook his head again, his old eyes on the aging wooden floor.

Aurea was staring at him with eyes as wide as coins. Zelda’s DEAD? How could it be possible? Clearing her throat, because it seemed to have developed a hard lump in it, she asked, “How did she die?” She asked, and the image of Link crying in his sleep came unbidden to the surface of her mind’s eye.

“A fever.” He sounded choky again. “Nobody saw it coming. She never had a serious illness in her life before that.” The elephantine sound of the barkeeper blowing his nose bounced off the wooden walls again. Normally, she would have still been too socked at this little comment, but for some reason, it seemed to stick out in her mind.

"Never? Not even as a kid?”

“Nope. She was made to rule.” He said and sounded as if he had lost a daughter of his own. “She knew how to live the right life.” He lamented. It was a few minutes before he was composed again. “So,” He cleared his throat. “You going to get going then?”

“What?” Aurea had been in deep thought for those few empty minutes and was brought back to reality with an unpleasant bump.

“To see the Emperor like he asked?” The barkeeper elaborated.

“Oh, uh…” Thinking fast, the obvious excuse came to her. “Not today. I’ve just got too much to do.” She shooed him out before he could make any kind of protest and fished the moneybag back out from under the bed. It was probably safest to just leave the rest of her stuff here for now, since nobody here would really know what to do with any of it, and would therefore leave it alone. In a dash fit to win a hundred-meter sprint, she was down the stairs and out the back door. Once outside, she thanked her lucky stars she’d chosen the back exit, because for some reason, there were what appeared to be guards in armor and carrying tall spears waiting at the front entrance of the Inn. Feeling the need to put distance between herself and them, she was gone in a matter of seconds, if even that much.


Link was waiting as patiently as possible, which wasn’t very, and wondering what in the world could be taking her so long. After much persuasion on his part, they had agreed to meet at a small potion shop near the gates that lay between the Market Place and Hyrule Field. Link had logically figured that this would be the easiest place to meet since everyone would be so busy with whatever they were doing that the two would go unnoticed. Also it would be pretty easy for each of them to spot the other. Hardly anyone in the Market Place wore quite so much green as he, and he couldn’t think of any hylian female that would wear pants like she did. The only real problem this purposed was that in order to find her, he had to keep his gaze somewhat low, which consequently got him smacked around more than once. So with a slight throbbing in his cheek rather than his head, the young blond focused his ocean-colored gaze on the direction in which he knew the Inn lay. But he was nothing short of astonished at what happened next. Someone brushed up against his side, and his attention was diverted for a moment. Then he looked again at the person. It was Aurea, right there looking up at him with a flushed face, and out of breath, unless his ears were deceiving him. Even so, she looked a little strange, stranger than usual that is. Beneath the flushed color of her cheeks, she seemed a good deal paler than was healthy.

“Aurea what-?” she didn’t say anything, but just shushed him and pulled him over to a more secluded corner, between a stone wall and the rough edges of a wooden building next to it. For some reason he couldn’t figure out, she put her right hand to the back of his head, embedding it in his hair and brought his face very close to hers. If they weren’t cheek-to-cheek, then it was close enough. Link could feel the heat rise up in his face and hear the blood rushing in his ears. He put his hands firmly on her shoulders, not sure if he was going to push her away or draw her closer. But he was spared the decision by her voice, very quiet in his right ear.

“Just keep quiet and listen to me.” She hissed. “I’ve got something to tell you that’ll make every hair on your head stand up.” And at the sound of definite fear in her voice, all thoughts of potential romance fled his mind.
They stayed that way, in that exact position while people came and went, occasionally glancing their way, but only shaking their heads and either smiling or frowning with disapproval. It was a good thing Link’s face was hidden from view, given how they were standing, because his own eyes wend as wide as plates and nearly all the color drained from his face. She had told him everything. Everything that had happened in his absence since this morning, she told him. She had been at least partially right; the prickling sensation on the back of his neck told him so, or maybe that was the feeling of her fingernails; he was too occupied with her words to notice the difference between the two just now.

“You’re sure the Emperor sent for you?” He replied and let his hands lips to her upper arms now, as a pair of middle-aged men walked past with their eyes directed none too subtly on Aurea’s figure.

“There were guards waiting at the front to the Inn, wearing armor and carrying spears.” She hissed again, and Link found it difficult to repress a shudder at the feeling, serious though the situation had become. “How many people send that with a message?” Link cast his eyes around quickly to make sure nobody was paying attention, then turned Aurea around and gave a gentle shove in one direction. “What are y-?”

“Quiet.” He said in a low, though sharp voice. “Just keep moving.” On any other day, Aurea would have stopped, put her hands on her hips and made him tell her what the hell was going on. But since her nerves were already a little too ragged, she complied without any complaint.

A half hour later, Aurea was beginning to wonder if Link was giving her the silent treatment.

How juvenile. She thought as she watched him select a bow from the wall of the weapon’s tent they were in. It was odd to watch him string it with ease and test the string, pulling it back, almost to his ear. It was even stranger to see all this and be thinking the way she was just now. His face had not lost that stern, maybe even furious look it held as he handed over the necessary amount from the bow and several good arrows. When that was done, he unstrung the bow and slung it over his back, grabbing her by the hand and practically dragging her out as they left. This was stupid. Aurea hated being treated like some wayward, disobedient child, and his persistent, angry silence was getting on her nerves, which were close to the snapping point. When she finally caught sight of four round targets set up against a stone wall, she ripped her hand out of his and smacked him hard on the shoulder to get his attention. It worked. Link looked back at her, his blue eyes still blazing like the sunlight off the purest glacial snow. “You wanna tell me what your problem is?” she growled, daring him to challenger her. “You’ve been moody ever since I told you what was going on and acting like I’ve killed a puppy or something. So tell me, what the hell’s the matter?” Her cheeks were flushed again, whether from fury or embarrassment, Link couldn’t tell, but he knew which it probably was given her little eruption. That stern look was still on his face, and for a moment, Aurea felt a chill run the length of her spine. It was really kind of scary seeing someone usually so calm, if not friendly, looking like he might just take your head off by merely glancing at you. But then, to her enormous relief, he sighed and handed her the new bow, muttering something about “bad memories.” Aurea couldn’t believe herself. How in the name of all things sacred could she forget Link waking her up only the previous night, while he cried in his sleep about Zelda? GAH! I’m such a bitch. She though, and wanted to say something, to apologize for being so harsh.

“String your bow.” Link said calmly, if distantly, as he did so with his own.

“Uh…” She didn’t have a clue how to do it, and Link had already strung his so fast that she missed anything that might’ve been useful. Link looked up from testing the string of his bow and stared at her with perplexity.

“Don’t you know how?” he asked then received a wry look from her.

“I told you I didn’t know anything about archery.” She said exasperatedly. But a smirk finally broke through the hardened mask
he had put on all that time.

“No, you said you’d be a danger to yourself.” He corrected and laughed a bit when she pouted with one eyebrow arched in irritation. With a sigh, and still smiling, he unstrung his bow and showed her how to bend the frame properly, and make sure the string was hooked into the groove correctly. Aurea couldn’t see for the life of her how having one end of it between her lower legs was supposed to give her any kind of leverage in this situation. Nevertheless, she gave it a try. A sharp TWANG and a THUD later, she found herself lying belly-down on the ground, wondering yet again how she’d ever let herself get talked into this. The blond man next to her was standing with his weight on one foot and his right hand supporting his left elbow while his left hand rested a little too tightly over his mouth.

“Don’t you say a word.” Aurea snapped as she tried and failed to get up, since her legs were still tangled in the bow and its string. After another two attempts with the same results as the first, she got it right and checked to make sure the string was in the groove and nothing was amiss. Still smirked, Link handed her an arrow.

“Know what to do?” He asked, and she gave him an Oh-please-I’m-not-that-stupid look. He watched her string the arrow, correcting here and there. Everything form her stance to her drawback was awful, the sign of a true beginner. When she let the arrow fly, it fell short of the target by about ten feet. Link could only roll his eyes, since she would have probably noticed anything else. Even when he had first tried this, he had not been that bad, she really had no clue what she was doing. He came up behind her and placed his arms over hers, startling her for a second; he could tell by the little “Eep!” that escaped her, and the way she went stiff as a board. Correcting her stance, her placement of hands, and grip was easy enough. Once that had been done, he stepped back and handed her another arrow, instructing her to try again. This time was better; at least she hit the target. But her aim needed a good deal of work, because she only hit the outermost rim of the thing. “Try aiming.” He remarked jokingly, and the smirk on his face widened when she gave him that you’re-not-helping kind of smile. She took much longer this time, but when she finally released the strong, the arrow sailed neatly into the outermost rim of the bull’s-eye this time. “Better.” Link said approvingly. “But you took too long.”

“Oh give me a break.” Aurea sighed irritably. “Everything takes time; I’m not going to master this overnight.” She pointed out as she picked up another arrow to try again. Link stood next to her just shaking his head and trying none to hard to refrain from looking smug. This was one thing he could definitely do that she couldn’t, and it seemed sort of funny. Just then, something had apparently tickled her nose, because she sneezed, and accidentally let the arrow fly in the process. There was a satisfying THOCK as the arrow hit the target again. The young hylian blinked once, then twice. He walked over to the target and stared for a second. Aurea had hit a dead-center bull’s eye, and hanging limply from her arrow was his hat. Link could hear her trying not to snort in laughter behind him as he pulled both his arrow and his hat from the target. After removing the other arrows and walking back over to his pupil, he carefully pulled his hat off the offending dart. Aurea was finding it damn near impossibly not to giggle as she watched the Hero of Time examine the two new holes in the end of his green cap by passing a finger through them.

“I think that’s enough for one day.” Link said slowly as if still lost in his own bewildered thoughts.

“Oh c’mon, I think I’m getting the hang of it.” Aurea couldn’t resist it any longer and laughed at the expression on his face. Still snickering, she notched another arrow into place took aim and let it fly. It hit on the bull’s eye this time, but not the very center. “If I ever end up splitting one of these with another, I’m gonna take it home and frame it.” She laughed, while Link still stared at his hat in shock. He liked his hat too damn it.


Eventually the afternoon had worn itself out into a sunset and the two made their way back to the Inn.

“You staying for dinner?” Aurea asked him as she carried her bow across her shoulder, the same way he did. Link only nodded at first, until she snapped her fingers under his nose as she had done that morning at breakfast.

“Hunh?” he said absently.
Aurea smiled a bit. “You staying here tonight?” She asked; they had just now reached the Inn. Link heaved a sigh.

“Yeah, I better.” After all, it was better than trying to fend off the living dead stuff that crept up in the middle of the night, especially since he didn’t have Navi around as a source of light anymore. When her mission was done, she had gone back to, what was now all that was left of the Great Deku Tree, the Deku Sprout.

“What would you like for dinner?” He was surprised when he heard Aurea ask him this. But nevertheless his hunger had easily won out with a loud rumbly growl that would’ve shamed a thunderstorm.

“What kinds of potatoes are there tonight?” He asked, then paused and added, “And what about some mushrooms?”

“Why don’t I just grill you a heifer while I’m at it?” And that made them both laugh.

“Oh yes, do!” That made them laugh even harder.


I should like to say here: Thanks again to all who reviewed. And a special thanks to my archery buddy Alison who has proven an invaluable source of inspiration throughout this grand mess we (That is, me and the voices in my head) call a fan fiction. Just giving credit where credit is due. Thanks for reading! ONE MORE THING: Any and all copyrited material thay anyone spots in here is not mine and a I take no credit for it; I only take credit for myself and my invented character(s) (HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES! *Ducks as a bunch of apples are sent flying at her* Actually, those apples are rather rotten. Does anybody read these things anymore? Say yes in your next review if you do)