Family

Chapter 5

Rain soaked the teenager's heads as they rushed down the small pathways of Kakariko Village, heading for the wooden stairs ahead that were barely visible in the heavy downpour. Each one of them held a crate within their arms, the gardening tools within causing quite the racket as the group of children ran. Despite the heavy storm that had raged on for the majority of the previous night, it appeared that the sky was not done leaking quite yet.

'For Hylia's sake,' Bella mused, the young girl exhausted and prepared to sleep like the dead once she had dinner. 'With the headache I've had all day from that dream last night and after chasing and failing to catch that stranger today, this is the last thing I need.'

Yes, after pursuing that thief to no avail only to return to her siblings millions of questions and realizing that she would have to force Will and Lily to take a bath tonight, during all the while dealing with sleep deprivation, the brunette certainly didn't think her day could get much worse, especially when the rain started rolling in.

However, she was about to get proven completely and utterly wrong once she walked through the very front door they were currently headed toward.

Over the noise of the falling rain, Will and Lily's many giggles could be heard as they ran up the soaking wooden boards. The two quite enjoyed this weather, and would likely spend hours in it were it not for Paya and Bella begging them to retreat indoors. However, that did not stop them in any way from enjoying it as water droplets made their way down the teenager's smiling faces.

Eventually, they made their way up the many steps and onto the house's front porch, darting for the large double doors that would finally give them shelter from this relentless downpour.

"Oh, Goddesses!" Paya exclaimed as they passed the threshold, causing Bella to turn and look at her close friend over her shoulder. Will and Lily quickly made their way through the door and into the warm room, still chatting and giggling over Hylia-knew-what, setting their crates atop the table to their left.

"My hair is going to take forever to dry! I wouldn't be surprised if we all caught colds with how chilly it is out there!"

Giving out a short, breathy laugh at Paya's antics, Bella followed her siblings lead and placed her crate next to theirs atop the tabletop, arms sighing in relief once she was rid of the heavy load. Back turned to the rest of the room, the girl began shifting through the contents of the crate, wanting to ensure nothing had fallen out in their mad dash to Impa's house.

"I'm sure we'll be fine," the Hylian girl stated, happy to be within a warm home and out of the rain. "At least it gave us an excuse not to hear Steen's speech on how swift carrots are 'the only vegetable you'll ever need', right? Hey, do you happen to have an extra trowel in your crate? I'm worried I dropped mine."

The brunette continued searching through her crate, waiting for Paya to answer her question. However, as a few seconds passed, no sound whatsoever came out of Paya's lips. In fact, when Bella stopped her search through the crate, she realized that the atmosphere was completely silent except for the muted sound of rain outside and the soft crackles given by the many lanterns that illuminated the room. Even her siblings' enthusiastic chatter had come to a stop at one point.

Turning her head to the right, Bella watched as Paya stood completely still next to her two siblings. Will and Lily, mouths slightly agape and eyes as wide as saucers, stood motionless staring at the other end of the room, opposite of the door they had just entered and currently what Bella had her back facing.

Paya, on the other hand, looked less surprised and more like she had been mortified while eating a spicy pepper. Shaking hands covered her mouth and nose in a futile attempt to cover her suddenly ruby-red face, wide eyes peeking over trembling fingers as she stared in the exact same direction as Will and Lily.

Now incredibly worried for her sibling's state, and more so for whatever caused it, the brunette turned around at an almost-violent speed, searching the now-visible back of the room with a wide gaze.

Looking at them all from beneath her large, circular traditional hat with an almost-sleepy gaze as per usual, Impa sat atop her pile of cushions with a lazy and cozy air about her as she had likely been all day. Not a single thing was out of place within the room, the shelves along the walls in perfect order, the Ancient Heirloom resting atop its perch, and the painting behind the elderly woman hanging as pristine as always. Overall, everything within the room was neat and tidy, as it always had been.

Well, except for one thing. Or, perhaps, one individual.

Standing before the elder, having been deep in a conversation with her before a certain group of people had barged through the front door, was a familiar young man.

Body and clothes still covered in mud, some of which having dripped onto the carpet beneath him, Link's head was slightly tilted to the side as he examined the newcomers one at a time, giving Lily, Will and Paya a quick once over to satisfy his ever-growing curiosity. His blonde hair was tousled atop his head, giving him a very wild appearance despite the calm look on his face; a look that, once meeting Bella's gaze, became slightly tinged with shock and perhaps even fear.

Then again, who could blame him for feeling such a way when said girl stared right back at Link with absolute surprise and confusion, that of which slowly turned into annoyance, anger and utter disbelief.

Cheeks rapidly growing a faint shade of red as she unconsciously took a step toward the stranger within her home, the brunette pointed an accusing finger at Link as she began stuttering, at a complete loss of words.

"W-w-wha... I... Y-you!" She fumbled, taking another two steps toward the young hero as he slowly lifted up his hands in mock surrender, taking a small step back to put more distance between the two of them.

Impa, Paya, Will and Lily watched in complete confusion as the eldest sister stumbled through her words, frustration apparently making the girl unable to speak, as she marched right up to Link until she was almost close enough to poke him with the finger pointed right at his chest.

"You... You...," She sputtered out, cheeks as red as an apple.

Link looked back at her, surprise and even fear coating his azure eyes that stared right back at Bella's. He mentally braced himself, waiting for a string of curses to come flying at him, preparing for the worse.

At that moment, Bella seemed to have finally gathered her thoughts together enough to properly bad-mouth this stranger. Having heard Dorian swear plenty of times beforehand, she was completely rehearsed in all types of vulgar names, and totally planned on using such on this intruder and burglar. So, quickly thinking of a crude and filthy curse, the youth opened her mouth and spat it out.

"You pumpkin thief!"

That was not what Bella had expected herself to say. And judging by the look on Link's face, that wasn't what he had expected to come out of her mouth either. Face still flushed red and amber eyes flaring, she honestly looked a little ridiculous considering that she had said such a childish insult, like she was a baby deer attempting to look menacing.

And with that thought in mind, Link's resolve totally broke, causing him to be completely unaccountable for his following actions. Without any self-control, Bella still glaring daggers at him, Link laughed.