The Company You Keep (BotW Link x Reader)

The Arrival

You and Link have been riding for hours now. The moon is high above your heads, and all you want to do is get some rest. You suddenly remember the job Link tasked you with, earlier in the day. 

"Hey Link, have you ever told me your horse's name?" you ask randomly.

"Actually, no, I don't think that I did. His name is Cocoa Bean, but I just call him Cocoa since it's easier," Link answers.

You chuckle a bit at the name.

"Everything has to be connected to food with you, huh?" you joke.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you are a sucker for food. You have this strange desire for it."

"Maybe that's true. But you already knew that, didn't you? That's how you weaseled your way onto this trip, isn't it?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Only I know the answer to that."

Link shoots you a small grin, which surprises you. It's so strange. He is like a completely different person at night. You are happy to have a decent moment with him, without either of you getting snappy with the other. 

A few more hours pass and the moon is starting to dip behind the mountain peaks. You can start to see the sunrise as well, which excites you. 

"There it is. The stable is right up there," Link says pointing ahead.

You are instantly filled with relief at the sight of the large tent with an enormous horse head, made out of cloth, on top of it. 

"Finally!" you exclaim.

Your optimism quickly fades when you see that you have to cross an extremely long bridge, that is being held up by trees. If you were to fall off, it would be a long plummet into the lake underneath. You come to the realization that heights are not your friend.

"Don't worry. I've gone over this bridge a ton of times. It doesn't look safe but it is, for the most part," Link says, somewhat reassuring you.

You just want to get off the horse so you continue forward. As you approach the stable, you are greeted by a delicious aroma. It makes your mouth water, as you realize that you haven't eaten in a number of hours. Once you finally reach the tent, both you and Link dismount your horses and he goes over to see what is cooking. You shake your head softly. 

"Link, can we please register my horse first?" you call out to him.

"Oh right! Yeah, of course."

He leads you to the counter where you can register your horse. He briefly talks to the man there, explaining that this is your first horse. The man, now addressing you, tells you everything you need to know about riding the horse. He asks for rupees so that he can give you the saddle and bridle. Fortunately, Link is still around, so he hands the man 20 rupees. The last step is for you to name your new horse.

"So what will it be ma'am?" the stable owner asks.

"I was thinking Vanilla would be good," you answer proudly.

"Alrighty then. Your horse is now registered. I'm assuming you don't want to board the horse here. Just don't forget that they aren't magical. Don't push your horse too hard."

"I won't. Thank you very much!"

With a saddle on your newly registered horse, you are almost excited to continue riding. You walk with Link over to the fire, to warm up and figure out what to do for food.

"Why did you pick the name Vanilla?" he questions.

"Well, your horse's name is Cocoa, and he is dark brown, and mine is a creamy color, so I just thought it would be kind of cool for them to have opposite names, that still go together. They can be sort of like a pair. Chocolate and Vanilla," you explain.

"Makes sense, I guess," he comments.

While the two of you are sitting by the fire, a strange-looking man, carrying a large number of items on his back, emerges from inside the tent. Link instantly recognizes him and walks over to the man. 

"Beedle, how are you?" Link says

"I'm doing alright. Do you have any beetles for me today?" the man named Beedle asks.

"No, sorry, not today. Got anything to sell?"

"Of course anything for you Link."

Link comes back a few minutes later with different bugs, meats, and arrows in his arms. He hands you two slices of meat for you to cook, while he packs up the rest of the stuff he bought. You reach in your bag and grab some spices as well as different types of mushrooms you found. In a few minutes, the food is ready, and both of you dig in without hesitation.

"So, where are we right now Link?" you question, after finishing your food.

"We are in the Faron region right now. This is the Lakeside stable. And that up there," he points to a glowing blue tower, "is the Faron Tower."

"Why is it glowing blue?"

"I went up there and unlocked the map for this region on my Sheikah Slate. Before I went up there it was yellow."

"What's a Sheikah Slate?"

"Oh, it's this thing."

He takes the device that was hanging on his hip and shows you what it does. He shows you the map of Hyrule and his next destination, Kakariko Village. 

"Where did you get it?" you ask hoping that the question isn't too personal.

"Enough questions for today. I think we should retire for what's left of the night. There are some beds inside that we can use." Link responds.

Feeling a little upset with yourself for asking the question, you get up from your spot and follow Link into the tent. He pays for two regular beds at the counter as you scope out which one looks the comfiest. As soon as you are comfortable, you fall fast asleep. You definitely miss your bed in the village. Sleeping on the ground is not comfortable in the slightest.

You wake up to the birds loudly chirping in the jungle-like area. You stretch and rub the sleep out of your eyes. 

"It's about time you woke up," Link comments.

"If you wanted me up earlier, you could have woken me up yourself," you retort.

"No, I thought it would be better for you to rest. We have a lot of traveling to do, and you are going to need your strength for killing bokoblins," he explains and tosses you a meat skewer "Eat that quickly. We have to go."

You listen to him, grateful to not have to cook for the blonde. While you are eating, you finishing packing up all your stuff and loading it onto Vanilla.

"Ready to go?" Link questions

"Yup" you reply, getting onto your horse.

The two of you start heading toward Kakariko Village. It is the first village you will see other than your own, and the place where Link will be dropping you off so that he can continue on his journey. At the thought of Link leaving you behind, you feel a strange tug at your heart. You want to be able to travel and explore at your own pace without Link constantly try to hurry you around, but you like having company. Even if that company doesn't like talking much. You know there is little that you can do to change this though. It is what the two of you agreed on, so it must be done. You just hope that you're ready for it.

~~~~~~~~~~~

~ I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

~ I just want to give a shout out to @fruitcake59 for the wonderful idea to name the MC's horse Vanilla! It worked out well!

~ With everything that has been going on this week, I decided to publish this chapter early. I'm planning on publishing another chapter tomorrow so keep an eye out for that. I'm pretty happy with the way the story is progressing. Things will only get better. 

~ If you know anyone who might be interested in this story, I'd really really appreciate it if you spread the word! I really love writing and I want to share my work with others!

~ Thank you!