A Shed of Hope

Chapter One: Link

I set down the hammer and wipe sweat off my brow. I set the horse’s foot down and check to see if the horse is comfortable with its new shoes. Getting to my feet, I take the horse’s reins and lead it to the front of the shop. Branden, a middle-aged man with a bald head, green eyes, and a heavy build, stands in front of the door to the stables, where I spend most of my time fixing swords and shields or putting on horse shoes. Branden’s talking to the owner of the horse I just finished putting a horse shoe on.  Both, Branden and the customer, a man with shaggy brown hair and beard, look up as I approach.

            “Here you are,” I say as I hand the man the reins.

            “That will be one hundred rupees,” Branden adds.

            The man digs in his pocket and pulls out a bag full of green, blue, red, and orange rupees. He pulls out an orange rupee and hands it to Branden.

            “Thank you,” Branden replies as he turns and enters a small room he calls his office.

            As the man starts to turn away, I pat his horse’s neck and say, “you might want to check her hooves tomorrow to make sure she's comfortable in them.”

            The man nods at me and says, “Thanks for the tip.”

            “Anytime,” I reply before turning away.

I make my way back to the stables and start up a small fire under the late afternoon sky. The fire makes the area around me ten times warmer, but I could care less as I take up a broken sword and my hammer from the ground. I start warming up both the broken end of the sword and the part attached to the hilt. I spend the next couple hours hammering away at the sword, forging it anew and making it whole once again. It’s not until the sun starts to set that Branden comes out of his office and confronts me.

“Hey, Link,” he says, getting my attention.

I look up at him, flinging my sweat-coated bangs out of my face with my dirty hand.

“I'm closing up the shop,” he says, jerking his head towards his office. “Just make sure to lock the stable doors once you're done.”

“Okay,” I reply absently, looking back down at the sword I'm fixing.               

I hear his footsteps vanish as he walks away and pick up the sword again. I look at the jagged ends of the blade where the tip was broken off. I've always wondered what it would be like to be one of the soldiers of Hyrule, to go off into battle and fight until I can't fight anymore. I wonder what it would be like to go off alone on a journey to save the world, just like the heroes of legend, to go off and fight until I'm on the brink of death.

It’s not until now that I realize that the sun has gone down. The fire light illuminates my face in the darkness, casting shadows around me. I don’t hear any more sounds coming from the market, the sounds that normally stay until late in the night. I pick up the finished sword and set it against the wall of the stable. I know I should go home and get some rest, but I don’t think I could sleep, not tonight anyway. I get to my feet and pick my hammer up off the ground. Crossing the stables, I hang the hammer on a hook on the wall and fumble for the keys that hang on a hook nearby.