Before the Wild

Hateno

Hateno Village

"We're here." Link waved to the village guards as he and Zelda passed under the arch that marked the entrance to Hateno Village. He smirked as those same guards gasped and bowed as they recognized his companion, honored to have such an esteemed guest as the Princess of Hyrule come by unannounced. Zelda, however, was ignorant of their gesture, having her attention devoted to the village before her. It was her first time in the lands past Fort Hateno, and every minute in it thrilled her.

For the last three of their ten-hour trip from Salidin Park to the present, Link had been bombarded with questions ranging from "Did you spend time here?" to "Can we stop? I want to check this out!" Link had to deny her the privilege to stray from the course but promised that one day he'll lead her on an expedition of the eastern Necluda region. That, fortunately, satisfied her temporarily, because once they entered the village, they started up again.

"No, Princess."

"Please Link? What's the rush?"

"You're the one rushing. We have time for you to explore the village, but first, we go to my home." They turned right at a lamppost, leading to a path off the main road. It went between a trio of houses and to a wooden bridge. Beyond the bridge was, as the sign in front read, the home of Link and his family.

Zelda didn't expect a miniature Hyrule Castle, but the home was quite beautiful. It reminded her of her social standing compared to Link's, but it didn't faze her feelings in the slightest. He wasn't a peasant like most of his village...not that it was an issue, Hateno was a lovely place so far. It...just didn't matter how low on the social rankings the Hero was, one day he'll be more famous than most nobles just by recognition. He might outlive them in song and stories, and maybe in life.

Her mind departed from the previous one as Link stopped Epona at the end of the bridge, unsaddling her and taking both horses by the reins. He looked up to Zelda, smirking mischievously. "You might want to get down quickly."

Zelda didn't see a reason why he would say that, of course, she would get down, but the smile made her cautious. "Why?"

"Any moment now, your biggest fan shall be bursting through-"

"PRINCESS ZELDA!" A dart of blonde and blue zipped from the door of the humble abode towards Zelda, and had the Princess not received formal training in steeling herself for the unexpected, said dart might have toppled them both over. Instead, Zelda was able to hold herself up as the little Hylian collided and grabbed her waist, screaming like the monsters known as Redeads are said to do. Zelda, used to the attention of younger children but unaware of what to do in this situation, turned to Link. The Hero chuckled as he released the reins of Gaepora and Epona and pulled the young child off of the princess. Zelda smiled as Link knelt down beside the innocent and confused green-eyed girl wearing a blue dress with red and black flowers across it.

"Aryll, that's not the way you greet a princess."

"But you said she was cool and improper!"

"Uh..." Link looked up to Zelda, who curiously raised her eyebrow at this new development.

"Improper, Link? Is that what you said?" Zelda folded her arms as Link rose to his full height, now embarrassed by his sister's words. But before he could speak, Zelda turned to Aryll, smiling sweetly. "Tell you what, let's move to that tree over there and while Link takes care of my horses, you can tell me what else did my appointed knight say about me?"

Aryll must have waited a long time to bust her brother out, because she moved back to Zelda, taking her hand in hers and lead her to the large tree to the left of the bridge. Link sighed as he heard some of the words Aryll claimed he said about Zelda and took the reins of both horses as he headed for the makeshift stable.