Neighboring Lands

A Hero And Their Horse, A Tail as Old as time; And A Large Mess For The Stable

As I jumped from Hero to hero, timeline to timeline, I grew more and more homesick. I longed to reunite with the champions, Zelda, Link, Damian...my friends, and their families. Impa, Purha, and Robbie; hell I would even take going back to one of the other Hyrule's that I tried to settle down in, I want familiarity, I want a home, I want happiness and I want a family. I missed them all so much. Some of these heroes I went on multiple adventures with, yet never let them grow too close to who I really am; never informing them of my life, my past, or my experiences. I was there temporarily, that was all...yet I couldn't help the attachment I developed to them. As similar as they all were...they were all so different, I grew to care for them as friends...as a family..a younger sibling in some cases. But each time I grew comfortable, I was ripped away far faster. Each time I left another version of Link and Zelda, I grew empty once more. Still, I kept befriending them to fill the void in my heart, to get some semblance of normality to feel like I belonged somewhere and deserved to be happy, to have a family...it never worked fully and it never lasted.

The next time I arrive in has me landing in a pile of horse feces, head first. With a start, my body is able to move sooner than the rest, as my vision and hearing are instantly there; the vile smell must have startled my body into reacting. Booming laughter greets me as I look to my left seeing a new Link, a very handsome one at that, wearing a long blue scarf; laughing at me as he clutches his stomach. My eyes burn as I tear up from the embarrassment or the smell, not sure what the cause is fully. I bristle and scream out for him not to laugh at me as I pull myself from the pile and try to brush myself off, violently gagging at the whole ordeal. He calms himself some, enough to ask if I am fine, before helping me out of the horse pin.

"Embarrassed but in one piece...can I wash up somewhere?"

"I'll take you back to camp, you need to be questioned anyways. You just appeared behind our lines, you could be the enemy: EVEN IF I have seen bugs more threatening than you." Although his words show distrust, his body language is anything but. He seems relaxed, almost happy as he leans against the horse pen, watching my pathetic form trying to brush manure off of my rag-covered body.

"Enemy lines?" I question.

"We are in the middle of a war."

"A war? Is it Ganon and his monsters?" I tilt my head as he starts to lead me into their camp.

Link throws his arms behind his head in a lackadaisical manner and peers down at me, quirking an eyebrow. "Ganon? As in Ganondorf? So you know of him."

"In a way, yes. My name's (y/n) by the way."

Links laughter rings out, letting a few soldiers who look our way and pinch their noses as we pass due to the smell. "The hero of Legend? Seriously? You don't look so heroic dressed in rags and covers in horse dung."

I narrow my eyes at him, then raise a dung-covered hand to him in a threatening manner. "I have a weapon and I am not afraid to use it on you."

Link takes a few rushed side steps away from me and snorts, "we'll get you all cleaned up soon." He leads me deeper into the castle grounds, and into the guard barracks.

After a long questioning session with Impa and proving that I am, in fact, an incarnation of a hero from legend; I am finally led to a bathroom to bathe, fresh clothes set out for me. My current clothing is old and worn, with many holes and patches throughout the Champion's tunic and travelers' pants. My boots are in the worst condition, not even qualifying as useful anymore. Accepting defeat, I change into the red tunic, and slip on the white pants, before putting on a fresh pair of socks and dark tan boots that stop two inches over my knees. I strap my holsters and belt back on as I go to meet with the Princess and Link; to start our mission and hopefully get back to my time sooner; along the way, I stop one of the maids and ask her to clean my rags and return them to me. She looks at me confused, yet relents and agrees; later that night I find them folded on the bed I was given to rest in, when not out on the battlefield. With shaky and delicate hands I fold them up as small as I can and slip them into my pouch, right next to my vail-clad circle. After brushing out my hair, I head out of the room I was provided in the barracks; the other twenty beds seem to be unoccupied at the moment.