Breath of the Wild: Link and Friends

Chapter 25

    Kenton was bored. But he always was bored. He lived at the Woodland Stable. He'd grown up there, raised by his grandfather, Ashe. He had a little sister, Shamae. But nothing ever happened here.
   The only thing Kenton ever did with his time was read and shoot arrows over and over and over again. Naturally, he was good at it. Grandpa Ashe had even gotten him a nice bow because of how good he got. The knights bow was pretty strong but Kenton really wanted something with more range. He had a book on the bows from around Hyrule and the Rito made the best of them. (Convenient that Link will go there next huh?) The Rito also had the best archers. Kenton's favorite was the Champion Revali. He fought the Calamity 100 years ago, but had fallen in combat. But if you were gonna go, it better be doing something cool.
   Kenton really wanted to travel to the Tabantha Region where the Rito were and learn from them, if they would teach him. He hoped that the skill he'd developed already would convince them to teach him what he didn't know or couldn't do. It would be a dream.
   But Kenton wasn't really supposed to leave the stable. He had his sister to take care of and his Grandpa had implored him not to go. It made sense as Central Hyrule was extremely dangerous with Guardians running around, but it didn't make Kenton any happier. At least being chased by a Guardian would get the adrenaline going.
   Kenton sighed, sitting on top of the stable. Yes, the top. He was sitting on the horse's head because he didn't have anything better to do. He had long since figured out how to get up there and it had a good vantage point. Today he'd been watching the volcano and that giant mechanical lizard that was crawling all around it. Or it had. He'd been watching when it went into Death Mountain and when it climbed back out again.
   He'd been watching when it shot a red beam—that it was still shooting—at Hyrule Castle. It was the most exciting thing that had happened since the other red beam shot at the castle last week. Something was happening and Kenton was beyond curious at this point. He had barely restrained himself from running up the mountain.
   It wasn't everyday something like that happened. Too bad. (Yeah, yeah, he's a little thrill seeker)
   Kenton just wished he could do something. Meet someone. Anything to get away from the monotony of his life. Honestly, he was close to just leaving the stable. He wouldn't go to far at first. Go on a short adventure. Perhaps to that big tower nearby or the Great Hyrule Forest. Or he could head into Central Hyrule, which would be interesting at the very least. Crenel Hill had monsters all over it, but not Guardians, so he could do that without too much danger, right? Grandpa Ashe wouldn't notice and Shamae waited by those barrels all day, wanting them to fly. He'd be back before they knew it. It was later in the day anyway. He—
   "Kenton! Kenton come down!" Shamae called. "Grandpa is looking for you!"
   Kenton sighed and put his bow on his back—he always had it with him—and climbed down the horse head of the stable, and then jumped down to the ground.
   "What does he need, sis?" Kenton asked.
   "I dunno, go ask him," his little sister replied.
   "Right." Kenton walked off to go find his Grandpa. He found him standing on the other side of the stable and he walked up to him.
   "Ah, Kenton, there you are. I was wondering where you went," Ashe said.
   "I was just on top of the stable like I usually am, gramps," Kenton said. "What did you need?"
   "I don't know of you noticed, but those Divine Beasts have been stopping. That elephant one and now that lizard as of today. You can see that bird one in the distance. Something big is going on," Grandpa said, sitting down by the cooking pot.
   "I did notice that. What about it? Am I allowed to leave and go see?" Kenton asked eagerly.
   "Calm down, child, not so fast. You know, my father was alive during the time of the Great Calamity and—"
   "I know I know. He was a Royal Guard," Kenton sighed.
   "Yes, and though he didn't know them, he frequently saw and was around the Champions of Hyrule and Princess Zelda. I—"
   "Does this have a point Grandfather?" Kenton interrupted.
   "Always so impatient. And reckless. Just like your mother. Yes, Kenton, it does. It means that we will soon no longer have to deal with the Calamity and the dangerous world. When Ganon is defeated, you can travel as you have always wanted to," Ashe said.
   Kenton froze. "You mean it? I can leave once Ganon is defeated?"
   "Yes. You may go once the Calamity is gone, Kenton."
   Kenton whooped. He whipped out his bow, notched an arrow and shot it straight up into the air and waited. The arrow came back down and Kenton caught it before it hit the ground. (Flex on 'em) He'd practiced. He dashed away, out the back of the stable towards Pico Pond.
   "YESS!! Finally! I can leave this place, soon!" Kenton exclaimed to himself. "Do something with my life!"
   Kenton kicked off his shoes and threw his bow to the ground and flopped back into the sand. He about rolled in the water but he refrained.
   "Uh, Kenton, what're you doing?" Shamae asked, walking up.
   "Laying in the sand," he replied, looking at her.
   "Why?"
   "Cause I'll finally be able to leave soon."
   "Leave? Like, leave the stable and go somewhere else?" Shamae asked, eyes wide.
   "Yeah. I'd take you with me, but I don't know if you'd be safe. I wanna travel, but I'd come for visits, 'Mae, don't worry," Kenton told her, sitting up.
   "I know, you wanna go see the bird people and get their bows and stuff."
   "The Rito, but yes. I would like to go see their village. Stay there even. It's my dream."
   "As long as I come with you if you stay there, ok?" 'Mae said.
   Kenton smiled. "Ok."
   Shamae smiled too and ran off. Kenton stood and brushed and shook all the sand off. He grabbed his boots and bow with his quiver and walked back to the stable and set them inside. It was getting dark and he'd already practiced shooting in the dark. There was little he hadn't done with his bow. He tried shooting multiple arrows but it didn't really work with his bow. Kenton has always meant to get around to using a sword but he'd never felt the same excitement with one as with a bow. That would probably come back to bite him someday.
   Kenton shrugged to himself and grabbed some food from Kish who kept some for the people who lived at the stable and went out to go say hi to Breen. She was a little older than him but she was also his best friend.
   "Hey Breen, guess what?" Kenton said as he walked up to where she was taking care of the stable's horses.
   "What?" Breen asked.
   "You know those big Beasts shooting at the castle? Well, Gramps says that means the Calamity will be defeated soon and it'll be safe enough for me to travel!" Kenton said happily.
   "That's great! How soon is soon?"
   Kenton paused. "I don't know. Soon might not be all that soon for an old man. But, I'll finally be able to go to Tabantha and see the Rito!"
   "Yeah, but that could be months from now," Breen noted.
   "Why you gotta bring me down like that?" Kenton whined.
   "Reality Kenton. It'll bring you down regardless. At least it wasn't the hard way," Breen said.
   "Maybe. You know, I could take care of myself out there. Be a lone traveler. Not many monsters hide on the road, and I've got my bow that I hardly ever miss anything with. I could just leave."
   "What would you, or more likely me, tell Ashe? And Shamae?" Breen asked.
   "Um, I don't know. That I went to travel and that I'd visit?" Kenton suggested. 
   "Yeah, that'd go over well."
   "You're not helping. Why do I talk to you?"
    "Cuz you don't have any other friends."
    "That's because no one ever canes here except for the same old traders. And I don't really want to talk to Beetle because of how obsessed he is with beetles," Kenton said, folding his arms.
   "I'll give you that. Why don't you go to one of the Hylian towns? The ones in Necluda?" Breen asked.
   "You mean, like, Kakariko Village? The Sheikah one? How would I get there without a horse? Besides, I want to go to the Rito and learn from them."
   "You can't be so picky, Kenton. That's not how it works. You get what you get. Now, go to bed. Or do something else."
   "Right, right. I'll stop bothering you." Kenton left her and eventually went to bed.
   The next morning, Kenton woke up restless. He couldn't sit still and even sitting on top of the stable didn't help. It wasn't super early—he slept in often—but he needed something to do or he would go crazy.
   After a while, maybe a little before noon, Kenton grabbed his bow and left the stable without anyone noticing. He dashed down the road and across the bridge and into the hills. The ground was rougher so he slowed down a little and went up to one of those big hollow stumps. He peeked in and saw a wizzrobe. It was a red one.
   I can take that. It's just one, Kenton thought. He aimed his bow and shot the thing in the face, which made it drop. He walked into the stump and shot it again
but Kenton was then surrounded.
   A whole bunch of fire chuchus had popped up around Kenton. He yelled, aiming at them. He got a couple but his yelling apparently drew some bokoblins as 3 rushed in. Kenton yelled louder as they all closed in on him. He kept shooting but he missed, because he was trying to dodge multiple attacks, and the wizzrobe started dancing.
   Kenton suddenly heard other fighting, and he looked to see four people fighting. He didn't have time to get a good look at them, but he kept shooting at the enemies. It was over pretty quick and Kenton sunk to the ground, gasping for breath. He opened his eyes to see his four rescuers. There were two boys and two girls. A blonde boy, a girl and a boy with fiery red hair—the girl's hair was waist length—and another girl. She had a dark tan and black hair. She was very pretty and had a kind smile on her face.
   "Wow. Thanks a bunch. Your arrival was timely. Remind me never to do that again. Who are you?" Kenton asked.
   "Travelers," the blonde boy answered.
   "Right, but I meant who are you? Like, your names?" Kenton clarified.
   The dark haired girl stepped up. "Well, I'm Zalie, that's Link, Elyza, and Elijah." She pointed to each one as she went.
   "Thanks then, Zalie, Link, and you obvious siblings," Kenton said, getting to his feet. He shook their hands.
   "Who are you, might we ask?" the one named Elyza questioned. The others looked curiously at him.
   He replied, "Me? Just a lone traveler. But you wanted my name, huh? Well, my name is Kenton."
   "Do you mind if we ask why you were taking on so many enemies?" the red haired boy asked. Elijah? Kenton hasn't been paying too much attention. He'd been looking at that Zalie.
   Kenton shook himself. "Uh, well, it was only one when I started. The others surprised me."
   "Are you ok?" Zalie asked. She looked at him, obviously checking for visible injury.
   "I'm ok thanks to you guys. What are you doing here?" Kenton asked.
   "Just passing by when we heard you. We were going to the Woodland Stable," the blonde boy said. His name was...Link?
   "What a coincidence. I live there. Mind if I come with you? Help you out or something?"
   "Sure thing, c'mon," Zalie said. She waved for him to follow them so he joined them as they went back to the stable.