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Its late afternoon by the time Rusl finished hunting. He didn’t get much, just a rabbit since he missed his shot at a deer earlier. It’s a shame, really, Uli won’t be impressed when he presents to her only a single rabbit before he proposes to her even if he garnishes it with herbs and spices before cooking it. She won’t reject him – she’s too kind for that, which Rusl loves about her – but she’ll be disappointed and Rusl doesn’t want to disappoint her. He’ll try again tomorrow. Maybe that deer will come back.
A wolf howls in the distance. Rusl quickens his steps to at least get to Ordon Spring before the wolf smells the rabbit blood on him and thinks he’s dinner. He could shoot the wolf with the arrows he has left, but wolves travel in packs and it’s never only one.
Strange, though, Rusl think as he looks at the sun still high in the sky. Wolves start their hunt at dusk and it’s still a few hours until then.
The howls get louder the closer Rusl gets to town. He doubts a wolf is hanging around there, too many people for a start, but maybe it’s in Ordon Spring. In which case it’s Rusl’s civil duty to either kill or chase it out. Mayor Bo’s daughter, Ilia, loves splashing about in the water there and tends to sneak off. How her little legs can carry her so fast no one knows but if a wolf is at the Spring then it could hurt her.
When Rusl arrives at the Spring’s entrance he hides behind the trees to listen. A child’s laughter echoes from the Spring, but it doesn’t sound like Ilia. A bark, too loud to be a dog, also comes from the Spring. A child is in there. A child is in there with a wolf.
Rusl bursts into the Spring with an arrow notched in his bow. A young boy, so muddy that Rusl can’t make out his hair colour, is playing in the water, splashing a golden wolf.
Yeah, no. Rusl must have heatstroke or something. Wolves aren’t golden and they certainly don’t play with small children in scared springs.
Rusl lets loose his arrow, but the golden wolf rushes at him, its claws and teeth sharp, scaring him into missing. It stops at the entrance to the Spring and seemingly glares at him before growling and running away. Well, at least it’s gone. Rusl turns back to the boy to see if he’s alright. He’s just had an encounter with a wolf, he should be hurt.
The arrow had landed in the shallows of the water, which the boy had picked up and is currently holding it like it’s a sword at Rusl.
Well, at least he’s okay.
“Hey, er, whatever your name is. Are you okay?” Rusl crouches down so as to not be seen as too frightening for the child.
The boy doesn’t back down, holding the arrow out at Rusl. He’s not running away, though, so at least he’s not scared.
Rusl puts down own his bow and sword and moves away from them. The boy moves around and kicks the weapons into the Spring. Darn it, they’re going to rust. Luckily, the boy then throws the arrow away and glares intensely at Rusl, unmoving. Rusl is briefly reminded of the wolf before seizing the opportunity to check the boy properly.
He’s underfed, not horribly so but Uli would surely force food down his throat if she saw him. Otherwise, the boy is healthy and surprisingly uninjured all things considering. Rusl isn’t sure what to do with him. He can’t stay here, that’s for certain, and he doesn’t know where the boy came from. Maybe from that village that was sacked a few weeks ago by a group of raiders. Rusl doesn’t know much about it, only what he’s heard from Mayor Bo. Apparently he got their horses from there...
Mayor Bo! He’ll know what to do with the boy!
“I don’t know who you are, but I know someone who can help you. Will you come with me to them?”
The boy puts a thoughtful expression on his face and Rusl holds his breath for a few seconds before the boy nods. Rusl puts his hand out to the boy, waiting for him to grasp it. He’s unsure, but takes Rusl’s hand although his gaze is still defiant and wary.
It’s a short walk to the village, thankfully. Rusl does his best to keep out of everyone’s sight but still garnishes a few odd looks. As he gets closer to Mayor Bo’s house he realises it has horrible noises coming from it, which makes Rusl glance at the boy in case it scares him, but it doesn’t. Rusl is beginning to think nothing will scare this boy.
He knocks on the door and Mayor Bo answers it rather quickly. He’s frazzled but appears sane considering the noise.
“Ah, Rusl, pardon the noise. Ilia bought an ocarina from some traders a couple days ago and hasn’t stopped playing it since! It’s really beginning to get on my nerves.”
Rusl chuckles, but secretly hopes that when Uli and he have children they’d be easier to handle than Ilia.
“It’s alright, Bo. I don’t mind the noise, and neither does our guest here.” He motions down to the boy still holding his hand.
Bo follows Rusl’s gesture to the boy, locking eyes with him. His eyes grow with shock and he looks back at Rusl, then at the boy again, before going back to Rusl.
“What, who? Who’s this? You don’t have a child!”
“I found him in Ordon Spring,” Rusl answered, conveniently leaving out any mention of the wolf. “Alone. Didn’t know what to do with him so I was hoping you have some ideas.”
Bo looks around, noticing the growing interest from the other villagers taking precious seconds out of their day to stare at them, before motioning at Rusl to come inside and close the door. The boy, thankfully, doesn’t question it when Rusl leads him into a strange house filled with strange noises, which Rusl is now wondering why he’s so thankful.
The noise Ilia is making is worse inside than outside and Rusl silently questions how Bo hasn’t gone insane yet. Bo motions for Rusl and the boy to sit down on the couch.
“So, Ordon Spring, huh? If he was alone then he probably doesn’t have anyone, especially considering the state of him.” He crouches down and makes eye contact with the boy. “What’s your name, son?”
Rusl feels bad that he never asked for the boy’s name, but in his defence he was more concerned about getting them both away from the wolf infested woods.
He feels slightly better when the boy doesn’t answer Bo. He simply continues to stare at him, only slightly less intense than before. There’s silence for a good few minutes before the sound of footsteps grab the attention of all three of them. Ilia comes into the room, holding an ocarina in her hand. She doesn’t appear happy.
“Dad, this thing is broken. I can’t play it. Why did you let me…buy…it…”
She stares at the boy, the boy stares at her.
“Um…hello. I’m Ilia. Pleased to meet you,” Ilia nervously says, smiling and waving at the boy.
The boy smiles and waves back, but doesn’t say his name. Bo notices the somewhat friendly stance the boy had taken with Ilia and suggests that he go play with her. The boy takes the opportunity and wanders hesitantly towards Ilia, who disregards the boy’s dirty state and grasps his hand, pulling him away chatting about her new ocarina in a somewhat nervous yet excited manner.
Bo turns back to Rusl. “That’ll take care of both of them for a while. Now, what to do with the boy. You found him in Ordon Spring, yes?” Rusl quickly tells Bo about finding the boy in the Spring, still leaving out the golden wolf.
Bo nods after Rusl finishes his story and looks thoughtfully at nothing. “I could send a letter to Castle Town about him. They’ll probably put him in blacksmithing or something, but it’s better than nothing. He’ll have to stay somewhere until then, though. Don’t know where. Only two bedrooms here and he’s not sharing with Ilia.”
Rusl adopts Bo’s thoughtful look. “We can put him in the treehouse.” He notices Bo’s look of disbelief and so clarifies. “I mean, it’s sturdy, nobody’s using it. It’s waterproof and there’s enough room for a bed, chest, everything.” He looks meaningfully at Bo. “It’s better than nothing.”
Beautiful music fills the room, shocking Rusl and Bo out of their conversation. It’s like nothing Rusl has ever heard before and sounds melodic, mesmerising, memorable. He and Bo turn to follow the music before noticing that it’s the boy who’s making it on the ocarina. His eyes are closed and he’s swaying to the music. Ilia looks almost enthralled with the tune and is swaying alongside him. She notices Rusl and Bo looking at them both before smiling.
“Link. He says his name is Link.”