Change of fate : A The Legend of Zelda Story

Chapter 2 : Trading goods

The old man was conducting a cart transporting a few people in it. The horse dragging it was going at a decent pace for some, a bit slow for others. The cart was heading towards the south. The old man was making his living by proposing to transport travellers of all kinds and to drop them where they wanted against a modest amount of rupees depending on the location.

Among these people, a young man with a quarter of his hair missing was sitting, holding right next to him four rectangular boxes from various sizes. One of them had a blue-colored bird chirping against the fence, two of them were containing one hare each and the last one, much larger than the others, was holding back a fox trying to get his fangs through the fence in the vain hope to get the other captured preys.

Horrigan was keeping his trapped animals close to him, too scared to let them go. The Hylians next to him were keeping their distance with him, scared of the wild animals. Horrigan checked one last time his belongings before arriving at the market. He had his bag, trapped animals, hunting knife and his most used tool; a small axe attached at his belt. The latter of these tools made the people nicknaming him Hatchet.

The cart started to roll on a less hilled road. Not so far away, we could see the walls surrounding the town. The horse sped up, knowing from the routine it would get a moment of rest once it traversed the opened gate. Tall towers were guarded by wardens wearing longbows and crossbows. The old man guided his horse on the right, towards the public barn.

Once arrived, the horse stopped near a bunch of wheat and started to graze on it. Meanwhile, the passengers got out of the cart, one by one. Horrigan was the last one to get out. He grabbed the two hares's cages and placed them under his right arm. He then got the bird's cage and held it with his right hand. With an effort, he lifted the fox's cage and placed it on his left shoulder, with his left hand supporting it to not let it balance.

Horrigan went to the marketplace. He still remembered the first time he went to that same market with those two squirrels. Some of the local merchants mocked him for bringing animals in the hope of getting some rupees from them. He did managed to get a small price for his capture and used the money to get some bait for his traps.

Every month, he would get back to the market with another prey or two and each time, someone would be interested to buy them. Eventually, the locals got used to the comings and goings of Horrigan and began to consider him as a regular. That being said, He would never really interract with the others more than necessary.

Finally, he arrived. A dozen of merchants had their stands placed in rows, trying to attract visitors in order to earn a living. Horrigan placed himself in a empty space, let go his boxes in front of him and sat behind them, his legs crossed and his bag on the ground. Unlike the other traders who were waving their arms in search of customers, the Woodkid tried a different approach by casually being here and wait for someone without spending too much energy.

After a couple of minutes, a rich-looking individual arrived in front of the wooden boxes, bent over and stared at the animals. Horrigan kept his smile, sometimes cracking because of the tension. He always got nervous when someone was examinating his merch. After all, he was still lacking the confidence of a true trader.

Rich-looking man : That's a good fox y'got there, pal! What would you say if I rent it for a match?

Horrigan : W-what? A match?

Rich-looking man : Yes! You see, I come from the town from the west and we organize pit fights where we can gamble on which animals manage to survive against the others. If you would like to, I'd be happy to rent your fox and bring it with me for... Well you know what I mean right? I'd even give you rupees back in case it dies, I'm honest!