Chapter Text
But I can see a way to a new horizon
Squinting through the clouds till it burns my eyes and
Every other star is a sun that's rising
And every other word, I'm apologizing
But I just want to know is this where you want to go?
You and me aglow in the cosmos
- When You Know You Know, The Beths
This was, admittedly, not Link’s brightest idea.
He had considered doing something like this for a few years now, off and on, but he had never actually gone through with it before. There had always been something else that came up, or he thought of a new problem with it.
There were still plenty of problems, but Link was a little too full of spite to care, at the moment.
He knew every single guard patrol route by heart, at this point, so it was laughably easy to sneak down the hallways of the palace without drawing attention to himself. The small side door out to the palace gardens was unlocked, as usual, and he slipped through it, pulling it closed behind him.
Out in the moonlight, he could move a little faster, but he kept an eye out for patrols. These routes he didn’t know quite as well.
The old oak tree by the back wall of the palace had served as a climbing tree during many summers when he was younger, and Link still remembered where to put his feet to pull himself quickly up to the level of the wall. From there, it was easy enough to jump onto the stone and loop his borrowed coil of rope around the crenelations.
Link paused, just before throwing the rope down on the far side of the wall.
This was stupid. And dangerous. He was going into unfamiliar territory, at night, alone. But he had put on the least ostentatious tunic he owned, there would be no better time, and he was thoroughly sick of his father’s shit.
He threw the rope down and started to climb.
When he reached the ground, Link pushed the bit of rope that was coiled on the grass under a bush to make his exit route less conspicuous, then hurried away from the wall, grinning despite himself. He’d made it out.
Time for the dangerous part: exploring.
Castle Town was big. Link knew that much. He’d been in it before, on king-sanctioned and supervised outings, or during official celebrations. But he’d never had the chance to just look around before, or go into any building he wanted, assuming it was still open. It was almost overwhelming, as he weaved past buildings into the city itself.
There were still people out in the streets, despite the hour, bustling around or talking quietly. Lanterns flickered at regular intervals, casting pools of golden light around the cobblestones, and Link even heard a few horses off in the distance.
He took all of it in, trying not to seem out of place. This was even better than he’d hoped! It was so different from the palace - even now, in the middle of the night, there was life here.
… He wanted to buy something.
A silly thought, but he’d never really bought anything before. Most of what he had, his parents bought, and when they were out in the town, a guard would buy things for him rather than let him do it himself.
Link had made sure he had a few rupees in his pocket before he left. He took a breath and started looking around for somewhere to spend them.
There was a small bakery on the corner of a street, and when Link walked by, he saw a little sign in the window saying they were open, and lamplight flickered invitingly inside. Perfect. He pushed the door open, and tried not to startle too badly when he heard the soft chime of a bell announcing his entry.
“Welcome in!” The person behind the counter said, offering him a warm smile and wiping their hands off on a towel as they turned away from the dough they’d been kneading. There was flour smudged across the front of their apron. “What can I get for you?”
“Oh.” Link hadn’t actually thought that far ahead. “Um.”
They seemed to pick up on his discomfort. “Are you looking for something sweet or savoury?”
“Sweet,” Link decided, because this was his money to spend however the hell he wanted to. Then, probably a little too late to be polite, he added “Please.”
With a smile, they gestured to a case of pastries, fewer left than it looked like there usually were. “Chocolate? Fruit? Cinnamon-sugar?”
Link drifted over to look at his options. They all looked good - less elaborate than anything he could get in the palace kitchens, of course, but that’s not why he was here. After a moment of thought, he pointed to a spirally-looking pastry coated in sugar. “Can I have one of those?”
“Good choice! That’ll be five rupees.” The bakery worker picked it out of the case with a set of tongs, then slipped it into a small paper bag, placing it on the counter.
… Link suddenly realized he did not, in fact, have any rupees that small.
Well, you were supposed to leave tips when you bought things, right? He took a red rupee out of his pocket and pushed it across the counter. “Here, I don’t need change.”
Their eyebrows rose. “That’s very kind of you! Have a wonderful night!” They took the bag back for a second, and added a few smaller pastry balls that looked like they had been dipped in chocolate. “There you go.”
“Thank you,” Link said as he took the bag, feeling weirdly proud of himself. He did it! He bought a pastry all by himself, with no bodyguards hovering, no parents watching. Mission success.
He left the bakery and took a curious bite of the chocolate-covered pastries as he walked. They were good, thin shells of pastry full of cream, and he suddenly wished he had given the baker more for them. He could certainly afford it.
Link wandered the streets for a while, nibbling at the pastry he’d bought and looking around. While there was life and activity even at night, Castle Town didn’t really have much going on. That was alright, though, Link didn’t really mind. He was just enjoying the feeling of freedom.
Or at least he was, until someone pulled him into an alleyway and slammed him against a wall.
“You look a little too rich for these parts, kid,” the man holding him said with a sneer. “How about you give us all the rupees you’ve got on you, and we might let you go on your way without hurting you.”
Link felt like he couldn’t breathe. He’d tried so hard to look like he belonged. “W-What do you mean?”
“Rich and stupid,” another man said with a cruel laugh.
“I am not, ” Link snapped, because his mouth had always worked faster than his head. “Just because you’re too dumb to know which kids on the street have their allowance in their pocket -”
He was cut off by the man holding him pulling him away from the wall just enough to slam him against it again.
“Turn out your pockets,” he all but snarled, “right now.”
Link really didn’t want to. He didn’t want these motherfuckers to get any satisfaction from him. “... And if I say no?”
The second man cracked his knuckles. “We’ll convince you.”
Link felt a sudden shock, and the man holding him gasped, dropping him uncomfortably to the cobblestones. Then, there was a hand over his eyes, just barely blocking out a flash of light, and someone was dragging him to his feet and pulling him along.
Well, it was better than getting beaten up for having a smart mouth. He went with it, holding onto the new person tightly with one hand and his bag of pastries with the other.
Someone was yelling behind them, and Link was sharply yanked around a curve, the person pulling him along just a blur of green clothes and dark hair. They pressed him against the wall with one arm, flattening themself along it as well. “Stay quiet.”
“Okay,” Link whispered, staying as still as he could.
He could see the men who had been trying to get his money running past the tiny alley they were hiding in, and then turned to his rescuer just in time to see the boy roll his eyes. “Be more careful next time, don’t let those assholes have the satisfaction.” He turned around and started walking down the alley away from Link.
“Hey, wait!” Link said on impulse. “Uh, thanks, I guess. For getting me out of there.”
The boy shrugged. “Those guys suck. I didn’t do it for you.”
Link glanced down at the bag in his hand. He still had some of the chocolate-covered pastries left. “... Do you like pastries?”
The stranger stopped walking, and turned back slightly, looking hopefully at the bag. “...Yeah.”
“Here.” Link kept one of the pastries for himself, then handed the rest over.
The boy’s eyes widened, and he grabbed one from the bag, holding it carefully in his hand and glancing uncertainly up at Link.
“No idea what they’re called, but they’ve got cream in them,” Link said with a shrug, taking a bite of his own.
Nodding, the boy stuck his hand back in the bag, taking another of the small cream ones and passing the bag back. He held the pastry up and smelled it, then smiled for the first time since Link had met him. “Thank you.”
“Hey, I was probably about to make things a lot worse for myself. It’s the least I can do.”
After hesitating for a second, the boy asked, “What were you doing down here in clothes that fancy? At night, too.”
Shit.
“... My parents are really strict,” Link said, and it wasn’t even a lie. “So this is really the only time I can be out here.”
The boy shook his head. “Too risky. If you have too little money on you, you could get seriously hurt, but too much and your parents might be getting a ransom note. Get worse clothes.”
Link sighed. “... Yeah, that’s a good idea. Do… do you know where I can get worse clothes?”
Hesitating again, the boy finally said, “I usually get ‘em from a clothesline, but if you do that then you have to leave some money hidden by it.”
“You mean just… steal it? Or. Buy without permission, I guess.” Link was startled by that, for some reason.
The boy shrugged. “Basically.”
Honestly, that probably was his best bet. He still had another red rupee, that would be enough, right? “Okay. I can do that, probably.”
“I can show you a good place,” The boy said, starting to walk again. “I haven’t taken from there in like, half a year so I think they’re less likely to catch us. Plus, they probably need the money."
“... Twenty’s enough, right?” Link asked as he hurried after him, just to make sure.
“For an old tunic, yeah. From this place, maybe a tunic and leggings.”
Link nodded a few times, trying to keep straight in his head how much things cost. He had never had to worry about that before. “Got it.”
The boy looked back to make sure he was following. “You should be careful on the way. Or- here.” He shrugged off his overtunic and handed it to Link, adding in a warning tone, “I’m gonna want that back.”
“Yeah, of course,” Link agreed, taking the overtunic and quickly putting it on. He was pretty sure he had never worn anything this low quality in his life. And now he was about to go steal something just as worn out.
It was kind of exciting.
Mostly going through alleys and quiet residential streets, pausing at some corners, the boy led him to a tall stone wall, and gestured for him to wait, taking the offered rupee, then clambered up it on holds so small Link had barely been able to distinguish them from the rest of the rough stone. Once he was perched on top of the wall, he waved and disappeared down the other side.
Link waited, fidgeting with the hem of his borrowed tunic. He hated just standing there, feeling useless, but the boy hadn’t thought he could climb the wall and steal anything without getting caught, and Link wasn’t too proud to admit he was right.
… He really hoped the boy was going to come back. It would really suck if he just got robbed by the guy he shared his pastries with.
After a few minutes, there was movement on top of the wall, and the boy dropped down to join him. “Here.” He handed Link a tunic, in a red so faded it was basically a washed-out pink, and a pair of ratty brown leggings. “Sorry about the color.”
Link had never owned anything pink before. It felt a little like rebellion. “Don’t worry about it.”
The boy shrugged. “It’ll be harder to sneak around in something light-colored, but the others were too big.”
“Guess I’ll just have to get better at sneaking to make up for it,” Link said, grinning. Then, on an impulse, he added “Thanks for this. I’m Legend, by the way.”
… He may have been thinking about that alias for a few months, daydreaming about doing exactly what he was doing right now. But this kid didn’t need to know that.
The boy paused, then finally decided, “You can call me Hyrule. Most people do.”
Interesting name, but Link wasn’t going to question it. “Nice to meet you, Hyrule.”
Hyrule raised his eyebrows, with a slight smile. “Nice to meet you too, Legend.”
“Are you making fun of me?” Link demanded, smiling back despite himself.
Hyrule looked a bit wary, but played along. “Maybe. What if I am? I got you clothes and saved you. We’re even.”
No one had made fun of Link in a very long time. He liked it. This was fun. “And I gave you pastries.”
“And gave that family money.” Hyrule gestured at the wall behind him. “Two favors. Even.”
Link paused for a second. “Helping them counts as a favor for you?”
Hyrule shrugged. “You did it ‘cause I asked.”
“... I guess that’s fair,” Link agreed. “Fine. Even.”
Hyrule smiled at him for the second time. Then, he continued, still grinning, “You headed home for the night, or do I need to keep escorting you around?”
Link felt a flare of irrational anger, and before he could stop himself, he snapped “I don’t need an escort.”
Hyrule raised his eyebrows, smile falling off his face. “Fine with me.” Turning away, he started walking down the street. After a few feet, he took Link’s pastry bag out of his pocket- carefully held so it was visible- and shoved half of the remaining pastry in his mouth. Link hadn’t even noticed it was missing.
“Oh fuck you,” Link hissed, turning and walking back the way they’d come.