Chapter Text
The Doctor danced around the TARDIS console, all spindly limbs and that grinning, impossibly youthful face of his, slender hands pulling levers and pressing buttons as he sends his time ship through the vortex to their next destination. As the TARDIS made her signature sound that meant to many a new adventure and to one that that daft man had left the darned breaks on again, the Doctor held on tight and prepared for landing.
Once the TARDIS had landed, the Doctor grinned as he brushed his floppy brown hair aside from out of his face, fixing his bow tie and straightening his tweed blazer. The Time Lord rushed to the doors and stuck his head outside. Green grass blew softly in the warm breeze under a bright blue sky. If the Doctor hadn't known better, he'd say this was the Earth he knew so well, but there was something distinctly Not Earth about this place that he couldn't quite place his finger on.
In the distance stood the stone walls of a town with a large castle in the center, with a draw bridge over a mote serving as the entrance. The Doctor stepped fully of of the TARDIS, locking the door behind him. He began making his way towards the town.
Once he was over the bridge and had entered the town, he smiled at the sight of bustling people, in clothes similar to that of Earth's medieval era, and human appearances too, besides one obvious difference: pointed ears. The Doctor was vaguely aware of the strange looks he was receiving by the townsfolk, who seemed friendly enough but wary of the obvious stranger in odd clothes. The Doctor couldn't blame them, of course. These people probably don't have many alien visitors, and definitely hadn't the technology to visit other worlds themselves.
~
Link sat against the wall of a building, eating an apple. His blue eyes observed the people around him, world-weary despite his young age. He'd saved the world twice, and was not about to go blindly trusting everything like the naive child he once was. Granted, he was still only eleven years old, but he knew enough about evil to understand that it could come from anywhere.
So one really couldn't blame him when he started following a strange young man wearing clothes he'd never seen before.
Link followed the man until he stopped suddenly, turning to look directly at Link. Link's eyes went wide, thinking he'd be either scolded or attacked, but instead the man just smiled at him. Not the sinister kind he was used to, but a warm, sincere grin that almost made Link smile back. He didn't, though. The man cautiously made his way towards Link.
"'Ello!" He said. His eyes seemed to linger on the sword strapped to Link's back. Link noticed something about those eyes. They seemed... Old.
Link stared at him.
The man seemed a bit uncomfortable under the gaze of the boy, but not discouraged. "I'm the Doctor. I don't suppose you could tell me why you've been following me?" he asked.
Link's face flushed pink, and he shrugged.
"Just curious then? I don't blame you. I am quite interesting! ...I think. "
Link scrunched up his nose. This Doctor person was definitely strange.
"Not much of a talker, eh? That's alright. I mean, I personally like to talk, but it isn't for everyone," he said.
The Doctor, meanwhile, was curious as to why a child was carrying a sword and shield. Perhaps this world is or once was more dangerous than it appeared.
Right as the Doctor was thinking that, a large hand grabbed his shoulder and pinned him against to wall of the alley they stood in with breathtaking strength. The Doctor's startled gaze looked up to see a very tall man with pure white eyes and colorful markings on his face.
"Who are you?" Asked the enormous man in a deep and dangerously calm voice.
"Erm... I'm the Doctor. Pleased to meet you...?" Said the Time Lord. The man seemed to stare into the Doctor's soul for a moment, before turning to look down at the child.
"Little one, do you feel this man is a threat to you in any way?" He asked. Link shook his head. "Very well," said the white-eyed man, releasing the painful pressure from the Doctor's shoulder. He glanced back down at the Time Lord. "I am Oni. This," he said, gesturing to the child, "is Link. You seem to be not of this world. I won't hurt you as long as you hurt no no one. Clear?"
The Doctor nodded.
Link breathed a sigh of relief. Oni, also known in legends as 'The Fierce Deity', could be very violent if he wished. He was, after all, the being contained in the mask Link had put on when he fought Majora. However, Oni had become somewhat of a guardian for Link since then, and seemed only to want to protect him. So he stuck by Link's side, usually inside his mask as to not scare people off.
He didn't exactly TRUST this Doctor person, but he didn't want Oni to hurt him. The man seemed kind of frail, and he had only been kind so far.
Link thought that the Doctor could be an interesting friend.