"Nabi?"

Link frowned, staring at the lantern on the table in front of him. The boy sighed, leaning onto the tabletop with his elbows as he continued to watch the unchanging object before him. Nabi hadn't said anything, hadn't come out, hadn't done anything since they had left the mask-man's cabin. He had explained to her that the Rito wouldn't hurt her, but that didn't seem to get any reaction. Why was she hiding in the lantern still? She had been upset, he wanted to talk to her about it but she just ignored him. Was she all right?

"Your friend hasn't come back?" Medli asked as she entered the cabin, setting down a basket of vegetables.

"She didn't go anywhere, but she won't talk to me…" Link sighed. "I wonder if I made her angry? Or maybe she's just upset about the mirror."

"She wanted to see what she looked like, right?" Medli tilted her head, eying the shield set against the wall. "I can't imagine how frustrating it must be to not know who you are, maybe she just needs time to calm down."

The boy sighed again, getting to his feet and heading for the entrance, his face furrowed in a deep frown.

"I need to clear my head a little, is it okay if I walk around?"

"Of course," Medli nodded. "Just don't leave the village, okay? It might be dangerous, father says we'll help you however we can but-"

"It's okay, you don't need to explain." He forced a little smile for her. "Thank you, I'll be careful."

A lot had happened since they had returned, yet somehow it felt like nothing had progressed at all. Tebali had declared that he and the Rito would side with him, would aid him however they could, but they still had no concrete plan in mind as of yet. Link had told Tebali he wanted to try to convince the other tribes, but the Chieftain had voiced his concerns on the matter, saying it would be dangerous to go alone. For now, Tebali was speaking with his people, trying to decide their course of action. Link had been left to himself for the most part; himself, the silent Nabi, Medli, and the crushing revelation that he had received from the mask-man.

He was the goddess' chosen hero.

It still didn't feel real, it didn't make sense. If he was the Hero, why did that man in the castle have the sword? If he was the Hero, why was he marked a villain? Why were his people under fire?

Why was his mom killed?

His throat tightened and he came to a halt, his fists clenched tightly at his sides. Why his mom? The blue eyes stung with tears, his shoulders trembling.

Things had always been...strained, with his mother, really. He had loved her, and he knew she loved him, but things were still always difficult between them. She had been pressuring him since as long as he could remember, every little thing, criticizing him. She told him he was too soft, told him he was being weak, told him every little thing he did wrong or less than perfect, constantly. It was unbearable at times, he tried so hard to make her happy, tried so hard to impress her, but nothing was ever enough. She was so hard on him, with training, with behavior, with his studies, with…everything; he knew it was because she worried for him, because she wanted him to do well, but…

Now he could never talk to her, now he could never work it out with her, now he could never really come to an understanding. It felt like needles stuck into his heart, twisting, choking him. Would she have even let him? He had tried to talk to her before, but she just never….never wanted to talk. Was that his fault? No, he was sure it wasn't, but that didn't mean it was her fault either, did it? They were both just doing the best they could and her stubbornness might have made things harder, sure, but-…but he still loved her, he still missed her, he still wanted her to be with him.

Yet at the same time, there was still a small sense of relief to be away from her. How horrible could he be? How horrible could he be to feel that way, to be even the least bit happy that she wasn't there dogging his every action? Constantly scolding him? Even those thoughts were horrible, now that he thought of it. His mother wasn't a bad person, she was just…difficult. That didn't mean she didn't love him, it didn't mean he didn't love her…but it hurt, it hurt to think about, it hurt to even know about. It hurt- He choked, wiping the tears off his cheeks, sniffling. How pathetic, she would think so little of him right now, she would criticize him for crying, but…he still just wanted to hug her one more time.

"Oh, hey! It's you! The boy from the outpost!"

The boy nearly fell over in his surprise, quickly trying to regain his composure when he was suddenly slapped forcefully on the back.

"Great to see you, kiddo! Nice new duds! Where did you- oh, hey, are you okay?!"

He finally managed to get a good look at his 'attacker', the green-clad girl from the village he had been to previously. She looked startled a bit, quickly flailing about.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?! Are you hurt?! I'm so sorry I didn't mean to scare you- are you in trouble?! Are-?!"

"I'm- I'm fine! " he shook his head. "I just- I was thinking about something, I didn't mean to upset you. It was Linkle, right? What are you doing here?"

"Well I could ask you the same thing, kiddo, I thought you were looking for your family?" she tilted her head to the side, bemused looking. "Did they come through here? I haven't seen any merchants."

"I…um…"

"Well hey, I guess it's none of my business," Linkle shrugged, smiling a little. "Just so long as no other mean drunks are going around bothering you, right? Then you might need saving again, by yours truly, the hero!"

The hero. Link tensed. That brought him back to his earlier thought process, the sinking feeling in his chest. Being a king alone had always been so much pressure to think of living up to, and now the goddesses' chosen hero? He couldn't even protect his own people, how was he going to protect the entire land?

"Um, kiddo?" Linkle frowned. "Are you okay? You look like you're going to be sick."

"I'm fine," he lied. "Thanks for worrying about me, but I'm okay."

She didn't look convinced, but chipperly changed the subject anyway.

"Okay! So, is the inn here nice? I heard that they have beds made with Rito down that're super soft! Do they like, shed or something? I hope they don't pluck their own feathers just to make beds, that sounds like it'd hurt."

"Oh, I don't know how they make them, but they are very comfortable."

She seemed contented to jabber on about topics about the village as he headed back toward Medli's hut. Why was she following him? She sure loved to talk, but she was nice at least.

"So anyway I'm looking forward to getting a Rito-made bow, they're supposed to be really really good! I'm a crackshot as it is so with a Rito bow I'll be unstoppable, especially with my friends!"

Friends? She had- oh…right…the cuccoos…

"They're good little birdies," she said. "My family used to have a whole ranch of them. So…um…"

She went quiet, that was odd. He looked back at her and she glanced around warily before leaning down to his level, raising her hand to her mouth to whisper to him.

"So you're um, really a Gerudo right?"

Link flinched, drawing back from her and reaching for his scimitar.

"Oh hey, hey! Calm down, it's okay!" Linkle threw her hands up, waving them frantically. "I know you're not like everyone's saying! You're a good kid!"

He hesitated, slowly lowering his hand from his weapon.

"I just…kinda wanted to ask you something, if you are," she poked her fingers together, her expression uncharacteristically solemn. "If that's okay."

"…What is it?" he asked.

"Well, another ranch we'd work with had a Gerudo lady and her daughter living there, and I heard that the Gerudo king saved the daughter…I didn't know Malon too well, but she's such a good girl, I just wanted to know if she's okay."

"Oh," Link relaxed, if she was a friend of Malon's she should be all right. "Malon, yes, she's with my aunts and sisters in the desert. She's somewhere safe."

Linkle's face lit up, her relief was palpable.

"Oh, thank goodness! I thought-…" her face fell again. "Well, I was worried."

There was something weird about her expression, the look in her eyes, something more than that was bothering her, she almost looked guilty.

"Link?"

Medli was approaching them, curiously eying the Hylian girl before turning back to the boy.

"Father and the council want to talk to you."

The boy did his best to compose himself before being brought before Tebali and his council, running over in his head what he planned to say and when, how to react if they acted certain ways, but he was still significantly nervous when he came before them. There was a large, rounder Rito sitting at the head chair, the elder, he assumed. A few other Rito, mainly hunters by the looks of them, were clustered around with Tebali.

"Young King," Tebali spoke. "The Rito people are prepared to lend you our support provided certain conditions are met."

Conditions, all right, this was part of negotiations, he could handle this.

"What are your terms, Chief?" he asked as he was trained to.

"Firstly that we have the aid of your tribe in return if we ever are in need of it."

"Done." He nodded.

Tebali nodded back in acknowledgement.

"When circumstances allow, we would like a favorable trade agreement."

"Done." He answered again.

"Lastly…" the Rito sighed. "While we are prepared to aid you we cannot give you our full support against the Hylians unless you successfully rally the other tribes to your cause."

That, however, was the hard part.

"I understand," he said.

That had been his plan to begin with, really, but convincing them on his own, in time would prove to be a challenge without aid.

"We're willing to assist you in traveling to Death Mountain," Tebali continued. "We can't go by a certain point, the heat is too intense for our people, but we can get you to the base of the mountain."

Well, it was better than nothing.

"We'll escort him the rest of the way." Came a voice.

Link nearly jumped in surprise but forced himself to remain composed, instead turning to the speaker. A Sheikah had appeared behind him, two others flanking her sides. Tebali had already grabbed his bow and the lead Sheikah dropped to a knee.

"Our apologies for our sudden appearance," she said. "We did not mean to intrude, Chief Tebali."

"Paya?" the Rito lowered his bow.

"Yes, sir," she nodded. "I come on behalf of my aunt, our chieftain. She sent us to assist the young king however possible in his quest. The Sheikah pledge him our support, by the behest of Princess Zelda."

Zelda? He nearly sighed in relief. So she was okay still, and still believed in him. That made him feel so much better for some reason, more than it should have anyway. It almost made him feel warm.

"If the Hylian princess has sided with him, why does he need our support at all?" a Rito man huffed.

"You idiot," another snapped. "The princess has no real power over the kingdom, aside from the Sheikah, it seems."

"You would doubt the significance of that?" Paya eyed them. "The princess carries the essence of the goddess Hylia, the blessings of the triforce, you have come to accept this boy's identity, have you not? Would you side against the goddesses?"

"No," came a soft but deep voice, the elderly Rito seated at the head of the room. "To rally against the goddesses is folly, the princess' blessing is to be valued."

"As the elder says," Tebali nodded. "We'll make preparations to depart, if that is agreeable, young king?"

Link smiled.

"More than agreeable, thank you."

Sorry it's short after all this time but I think I have an idea what I'm doing again, and I hope you like it. And yes, that Paya, she seems serious here but her true, dorky nature will be shining through soon enough. I hope to update much, much sooner than this, so please let me know if you enjoyed.