Chapter Text
The cobbler’s shop Warriors took them to had no window or stoop, just a door set into the side of a block of buildings with a neatly painted sign hung on it, featuring a few words and the silhouette of a shoe. Hyrule wouldn’t have picked it out as a shop at all, much less one that Warriors apparently revered so much.
The morning officially settled into afternoon as Warriors stepped up to the door and knocked twice. The sharp sound echoed off the building behind them, bouncing back and forth once or twice until it disappeared. Hyrule felt Legend’s tension through his arm—ironically, Legend had more than him—and squeezed once before pulling away to hide himself just a little better behind Warriors.
Several locks clunked out of place behind the door, and it opened a few inches, stopped by a chain. Half of a face appeared in those gloomy few inches. Large brown eyes peered out, held in place by a wrinkled old face and protected by a pair of spectacles.
“I’m very sorry,” the face said immediately, “but—oh, my lord! And…” The eyes caught on Warriors first, then moved to Legend, then stared at Hyrule. Something very strange emanated from this man and his shop, but Hyrule didn’t flinch, just stared back. It didn’t feel like bad strange. Just… unusual. Not Hylian. Warriors wouldn’t come here if it were dangerous.
“Yes, hello, Caspian. It’s nice to see you again,” Warriors said with his customary winning grin.
“Ah… good to see you, too, sir…” The door closed for a moment, then opened again immediately, this time all the way.
The cobbler stood just a little taller than Hyrule. He wore a leather apron smeared with patches of darker and lighter dye, weighed down by a multitude of confusing, heavy tools poking from the pockets. Despite his obvious advanced age and the wrinkles upon wrinkles, he had a full head of white hair and a strong build.
He stood back to usher them in. “Inside, inside, please and thank you. I was beginning to think you’d never come back, my lord, your boots have been complete for quite some time, now.”
“Just Link, please, Caspian,” Warriors said, and Hyrule got the impression that he’d said that a lot to this man.
“Of course, of course.” The cobbler nodded deeply to him as he stepped inside.
“I’ve been away on an unexpected mission, and am going to leave again very soon, I apologize for the lack of communication. These are my colleagues. This is Legend.”
Caspian gave Legend a polite nod as he followed Warriors inside, not commenting about the name or the pants.
“And this is Hyrule.”
No nod greeted Hyrule. Instead, he heard a line of poetry, or a song, or something.
“‘And what doth appear before my wondering eyes, but a fair folk, in so cunning a disguise?’”
Hyrule froze just before stepping over the threshold. His ears filled with adrenaline-fueled buzzing. Legend whipped around, meeting his eyes with concealed panic.
That’s what felt off about this man and this shop. The magic of Warriors’s world—methodical, subtle, almost machine-like in its constant efforts to heal broken things—paid extra attention to this place. The cobbler knew things. He could see things.
“What?” Warriors broke the spell. He stood next to Legend, shaded by the roof, and looked both confused and worried. “He’s not fae, Caspian.”
“Of course not. My apologies. You are welcome here, Hyrule.” He didn’t sound completely convinced that Warriors had the right of it, but he pulled back again anyway.
Hyrule wet his lips. “I’m not, you know, it’s just my magic that’s… fairy-like.”
“I see,” said the cobbler, and Hyrule knew that he did, in fact, see. But neither of them pressed.
Legend shot him a look, clearly asking if he wanted out, but Hyrule shook his head.
He stepped out of the sun and past the door. “Thank you.”
When Caspian closed the door and herded them all past the entryway and into the shop proper, the awkward air dissipated entirely. A large, paned window looking out onto the street let a lot of light into the room. A workbench scattered with scraps of leather and cloth lay under the window, several wooden models of feet lined a shelf beside it, and more shelves lining the walls had rows and rows of organized shoes, more than Hyrule had ever seen in one place.
Magic didn’t gather around one specific thing in here. Instead, it suffused the air and hummed in time with the elegant little cuckoo clock on the wall. Plenty of it existed here, but it didn’t do much besides existing.
“Well, what can I do for you gentlemen?” The cobbler’s demeanor cleared with the change of scenery, too. He smiled brightly.
Warriors took the lead, thankfully. “I’m here to pick up those boots I ordered. And… to order another pair exactly like them, though once again, I can’t be sure when I’ll be able to pick them up.”
“Ah, yes, of course.” Caspian turned to a shelf to pull out a brand-new pair of boots that looked exactly like the ones Warriors currently wore, save for the—“Good heavens, child, what have you been doing?” He blinked in astonishment at the pair of shoes on Warriors’s feet.
“Ah…” Warriors picked up his feet to look at them. Scratches marred the once-lustrous leather, and more than one rip had been repaired with mismatched thread, by either himself or by a bribed Legend. The soles looked thin, and Hyrule remembered seeing a rather fat nail sticking out of one of the heels at one point. The boots looked rather beaten up. “Fighting a lot of monsters.”
“Clearly. If you give me a few days, I can reinforce these.” He held up the new pair.
Warriors winced. “I don’t know if we have a few days. It’s been… unpredictable.”
“I understand. Then hopefully these will do.” Caspian’s eyes looked past Warriors as if seeing something the rest of them could only guess at, then he handed the pair over with the care people usually only afforded to infants.
“Now…” The cobbler stood back. He eyed Legend. “Your shoes are enchanted, young man, you don’t need anything from me.”
“No, I really don’t.”
Hyrule tried not to fidget as Caspian turned those large brown eyes back on him. “And you need… something,” the old man said. “What is it?”
Hyrule knew, now. The old man had Sight. He Saw beyond the world to the magic and the emotions that lay under it. The thought simultaneously comforted and unnerved him.
“Don’t scare him, Caspian,” Warriors begged.
“I won’t. He’s determined to see this through. So what is it you need?”
Pointing that out almost made Hyrule want to prove him wrong and get out of there. “Just… I’m not going to wear them all the time. Hardly ever, actually. But something for snow would… probably be useful.”
Caspian’s eyebrows rose. “You’ve gone without shoes in the snow? And you let him?” He looked over with a frown at Warriors, who raised his hands in surrender.
“He can be very stubborn. But he’s here, so what do you have?”
“And you can’t order something custom?” Caspian repeated.
Warriors shook his head. “I’m afraid not.”
“Then let’s see what I have. Would you come stand over here?” He gestured to Hyrule.
The next few minutes stayed running-free only because Hyrule kept tuning into the ticking of the clock to distract himself. At the cobbler’s instruction, he stood on a flat board with thin lines carved into it at various angles, evidently some kind of measuring tool. It felt a bit awkward to stand there as an old man looked very closely at his feet and wrote things down.
“What were your plans after this?” Legend asked, breaking the silence.
“Floretta’s Bakery, and then I was hoping to visit the fairy fountain by the castle.”
Legend scoffed. “Fairy fountain? Why? We just bought more potions than a dead herd of cows could swallow.”
“Dead cows can’t… swallow,” Warriors said, more confused than irritated. Hyrule smiled a little.
“I never said they could.”
“You just did!”
Once again, the familiar noise of Warriors and Legend bickering calmed Hyrule down—he could hear them, they hadn’t left. It helped that the cobbler didn’t seem to be bothered by the argument, which quickly moved on to the two of them criticizing each other’s clothing choices.
Caspian got Hyrule to pull on a pair of socks and lined up several pairs of boots for him to try on. The other two continued to argue, which helped Hyrule feel less like everyone stared at him as he stood up with shoes on.
It felt really weird. There was no other way to say it. Just… weird. At least that time he’d tried on Legend’s shoes, his toes had room to move. These felt too small, but when he pointed it out quietly, Caspian shook his head and said they were a fairly good fit. The softening in Warriors’s eyes as he watched, and the very slight echo of the same emotion in Legend’s cooled his anxiety somewhat.
He ended up with a compromise pair—Caspian still moaned about how they were too big, but Hyrule didn’t know if he’d be able to handle anything smaller. He took the shoes and socks off just as soon as he was allowed.
“He’ll keep growing,” Warriors said, and yeah, good point.
“Maybe,” Legend grumbled. He also had a good point.
Caspian smiled and stood up, holding the chosen pair of shoes. “These aren’t exactly snow boots, I’m sorry to say, but they are waterproofed and relatively temperature-resistant. They should also be fairly easy to carry and put on when you need them.” He squished them in his hands to demonstrate. They folded pretty well, so they wouldn’t take up a whole lot of room in Hyrule’s bag. He appreciated that.
“Excellent, Caspian, you always do wonderful work. Thank you so much.” Warriors moved to pay him, and Hyrule took the shoes to shove into the bottom of his bag, jostling a few emergency potions and the jar of sugar. Hm. He’d have to restock on that.
“Thank you again,” Warriors said after everything had been paid for correctly.
Caspian escorted them back to the door. “I’m pleased to be able to help a group as distinguished as yourselves. Remember that you can’t work with a dull blade.”
Hyrule raised an eyebrow. Distinguished?
“…Right.”
“And you, young man, should take care where your curiosity leads you.”
Legend had on his most unimpressed face. “Cool.”
Caspian didn’t seem to mind the absolute non-reaction, and turned those eyes to Hyrule, who felt uncomfortably Seen. “Be cautious whom you trust.”
Well, didn’t that sound creepy from a man with Sight.
“I am,” Hyrule assured him, putting effort into not further shredding his tunic. And he was careful about who he trusted.
“That’s good,” Caspian said mildly. “I’ll see you again, my lord.”
The door to the cobbler shut, leaving three Heroes standing in the street as the afternoon climbed to a zenith.
“Um…” Hyrule said, breaking the silence. “Thanks, Wars.”
Warriors sighed and nodded. “I apologize if that was strange. I always seem to forget just how…”
“Crazy?” Legend suggested. “Kooky? Off his rocker?”
“Odd,” Warriors finished with a dirty look, “he can be. Anyway, I believe we’re due for a stop at the bakery.”
Hyrule shook his head as if he needed to get water out of his ears. He tried a smile, feeling fake. “Yes please.”
As he forced a smile, and as they walked back out into the busy, bright, colorful street, the mood lightened once again. His smile turned genuine, especially once he tasted the fairy-dust cake from Floretta’s Bakery.
Back at the castle, only Four and Sky had returned. They chattered, going through medical supplies that Hyrule recognized from earlier that day. Huh. So that guy followed through.
Hyrule put the boxes of cookies he carried on the massive table holding the salves, potions, bandages, shields, swords, and even a few spears, all of it waiting for Wild to return and shove it all in his slate.
“I’m going to go visit the fairy fountain,” Warriors told Hyrule a few minutes later, talking under the return of Wind and Time. The noise level in the room grew as they dropped their purchases on the table with everything else. “Do you want to come with me?”
Though he knew it would look a little suspicious, and though he really did want to go, Hyrule shook his head. “Thanks, but no.” He’d brushed up against his nature too many times today, and while he trusted Wars, he wanted more time to think about it. He’d end up telling him. Eventually. Not today.
Warriors’s eyebrows rose. He waited a beat for an excuse or a reason, but Hyrule didn’t give one.
“Well, maybe later,” Warriors said after the silence. He stood up with the sound of armor and leather rubbing against each other and stepped away, new boots making a distinct sound against the wooden floor.
After a moment of hesitation, Hyrule jumped up to follow him. “Hold on, Wars.”
He stopped.
Looking away, Hyrule continued. “Thank you. It means a lot that you’d… care and notice enough to do that for me. I’ll go with you one of these days. I promise that.”
“You don’t need to,” Warriors told him. “Go, or promise.” He put an odd emphasis on the word ‘promise.’ So he’d taken something away from Caspian’s little line of poetry, after all.
Hyrule shook his head. “I’m not… I know I don’t have to.” He didn’t add anything else.
“I have a friend to visit, but I’ll be back soon.” Warriors gave him a smile. “Don’t eat all the cookies yet.”
“I’ll try.” Hyrule let him go, and sat down next to Wind to listen to him regale them with stories about their shopping trip.
BONUS DELETED SCENE
The cobbler sighed. “More homeless vagrants, Link?”
“I have a house, thank you very much!” Legend snapped.
“And yet, you can’t afford pants.”
“And I’m not homeless,” Hyrule added.
It was Warriors who snorted at that. “Remind me again where you live?”
Hyrule scowled, knowing his game. “Hyrule.”