The Scales That Bind

Chapter 1: Into a Far Foreign Land

Link flipped through what remained of a tattered notebook as he walked alongside the austere wagon that rolled alongside him, two soldiers sitting at its fore, chattering amongst themselves as they guided the horses along the winding pathway of Zorana, oftentimes not even having a road to guide them. Link stopped at one of the small pages as he looked up to notice Zora's Domain in the distance, hurriedly sliding the book into his pocket as he looked over his shoulder, making sure nobody happened to be following them.

"Pretty uneventful, eh, sir?" one of the riders asked, leaning down toward Link, who's eyes turned upward to him.

He nodded, "Can't complain."

The rider gave a jovial laugh as he swung his body back up into his seat, jabbing his co-pilot with an elbow and leaning toward him, speaking quietly, "Heh heh, he talks to me, Jarrol! I'd say he knows who's truly leading this expedition into Zorana!"

He gave a playfully snickering laugh as he reoriented himself, gaily leaning his head back and forth, proudly showing off his pride at actually being addressed by the 'soldier without words'. His counterpart, Jarrol, merely remained fixated on the invoice, his eyes never ceasing their scrutiny of the thick parchment, even during one of his cousin's lively jabs at his status as 'co-pilot'.

Jarrol did eventually speak up, drolly, "Or he just understands who the King tasked with this run."

"Bah!" his cousin, Lall, exclaimed, forgetting their bodyguard was barely a few feet away, "Who wouldn't want a word with the premiere shipping captain of Hyrule? Look- Look at me!"

He leaned toward Jarrol, turning his face up and touching his chin, "If this doesn't look like the face of one who gives good audience, why, I wouldn't know what this world is coming to!"

Jarrol cracked an uncharacteristic, sneering grin, "Reminds me of a face that's only good for receiving a swift kick, cousin."

Lall scoffed, rolling his eyes as he returned to his seat, "Ev'ryone's a critic. I'll tell you, I've got a wife at home, and I assure you, it wasn't due to my swift feet that caught her heart. She saw me from across that bar, and boom, she'd been caught, with nothing more for me to do than reel her in."

"Or," Jarrol shrugged, dropping his hands into his lap as he shot his cousin a wry stare, "Perhaps she was merely wondering what an old brute such as yourself was doing in a bar frequented by young people."

Lall eyed him back with a critiquing sort of stare, holding onto an expression of anger before cracking a grin and laughing, throwing his body backward over the back-end of their seat, a boisterously jovial chortle breaking into the atmosphere as his body shook happily. He finally reached an arm around his cousin, pulling him close and offering an approving pat on his arm.

"You're too much sometimes, cousin!" he nearly shouted, "It's that sort of humor that compelled me to bring you on as my second!"

Knowing he'd only cracked but three jokes in the time he'd even been with his cousin, as he'd counted, Jarrol unenthusiastically leaned away, trying to escape Lall's grasp, "Good thing I'm good at book-keeping too. You still don't realize how dangerously close you were riding that line that crosses into bankruptcy, do you?"

"Bah, life's too short, Jarrol. You let those things work their way out- otherwise, you merely waste-"

Jarrol sighed, "If by 'work their way out' you mean your poor sister came running to my side in order to procure my services, then yes, things seemed to have worked their way out. Not even considering that I turned down quite a lucrative position within the Court simply on the words of that poor girl you insist on worrying with your spending."