CHAPTER 2 - Stranger in Kakariko

The rider kept getting closer and closer. Link knew Goldmoon could only go so fast. There had to be some way to stop this crazy rider. There must be some way to escape.

The rider and his horse moved up beside Link and Goldmoon. The rider latched his foot around the back of Link's foot and used it to send Link flying from Goldmoon's saddle. Link didn't have a chance to get up because the rider jumped off his horse and on top of him.

The rider's hood had fallen back. Tangled, blue streaked golden hair hung in the rider's face and purple eyes glowed in the darkness.

"Well lookie what we have here. It's the Prince of Hyrule." Sora said.

"Sora? What're you doing here?" Link asked.

"I could ask you the same question. In fact I will." Sora said, sitting up."

What brings you out here, Prince Link?"

"I had to get away from there. I'm not going back ever. And don't call me Prince Link!" Link snapped.

"Whatever ya say, Highness." Sora said. Link sighed.

  Link stood, brushing himself off. Sora had jumped smoothly back into her horse's saddle. Link wondered how her was gonna get back on Goldmoon. He sighed and tried to struggle into the saddle. Sora laughed at him as he fell and landed on his butt in the dirt. Link sighed and finally managed to climb into the saddle.

"So, where ya going to, Highness?" Sora asked.

"I don't see how that's any of your business." Link replied.

"Your just sour 'cause me and Stalker here were able to ride you down." Sora commented, grinning merrily.

"Stalker, huh?" Link grumbled. "Sounds like the perfect name for yourself."

"Hey this world is full of fun! And I intend to do it all!" Sora exclaimed.

"I'm riding to Karkariko Village. Wanna come?"

"Karkariko? Well, I guess." Link said uncertainly.

"Don't come if you don't want to. You ain't doing me any favors." Sora muttered.

Sora urged Stalker into a trot. He had long strides and Link had to canter Goldmoon just to keep up. Sora's obviously wasn't in any rush to get anywhere, because she sat back lazily in the saddle. They trotted over the bridge slowly, with Link and Goldmoon right on their heels. Sora didn't say anything until she reached the steps of Karkariko Village.

"Well, you can follow me, or go it alone." Sora said.

"You'd really just leave me?" Link asked.

"In a second." Sora replied.

 Link sighed. Having no responsibilities must make you mean. But could it really be worse then Lady Oliana? Link truly doubted that. At least he was away now. He didn't have to be around them. Didn't have to watch them trying to impress him. Didn't have to listen to their whiny voices.

 This Karkariko place couldn't be all bad. It had become very big, almost bigger then Hyrule Castle Market Town, from what he'd heard. He heard that the Town had grown fairly prosperous in the time when Grandfather Link had been trying to find the six sages. And even though he had been sent back in time and hardly anybody remembered, he'd still saved Hyrule.

Karkariko was a big. That was the first thing Link noticed. There were a lot of people wandering around. Aside from a potion shop, a weapons shop, and shooting range, and a windmill, there was a well, many houses, Link guessed more then had been here when Grandfather had Saved Hyrule.

 The center of the town was now a market, much like that in Hyrule Castle Town. The houses were many and tightly packed together. A few cuccos, some horses and a scattered cow or two could be heard. Link hadn't even realized that morning had come. It had been such a long night. Then, Sora finally spoke.

"Overwhelmed?" Sora asked.

"A little." Link replied.

  Sora just nodded. She was looking around, as if she might find a lost sibling. What Link knew was the Skulltula house, was off to one side. His grandfather had also saved the Family Skulltula from a dreaded curse. Link sighed. He wanted to do things like his Grandfather had. But what could he do? He was just a 15-year-old runaway prince. Princes didn't do heroic things. They stayed at the castle, got married, and eventually took the thrown.

  Link walked along beside Sora, deep in thought. Sora picked up two apples from a stand, tossed the stand owner some rupees and handed Link one of the apples. He gladly accepted it, because he was starved. He took a bite.

"Wow! What kind of apples are these?" Link asked.

"They're from another country. I'm not sure which though." Sora said absently.

 Link sighed. Another country, huh? It would be fun to go to another country. Maybe since he wouldn't be a prince in another country, he could be a hero. But still, where would he get the money to go to another country? And he didn't know how to protect himself very well. Sure, he could fight with a sword and use a bow and arrow. But he'd never learned hand to hand combat. So he really couldn't defend himself too well.

  Link looked over the stands in the market place. There was hooded figure standing by one of the stands. Link watched the figure for awhile. It seemed strange&ldots;someone just standing there like that. Then Sora grabbed his wrist and led him off in a different direction.

  Sora led him to a part of Karkariko that was from the old city. It was a narrow path, near the windmill. Sora had dropped his wrist and was walking along, eyes watching the sky. Link didn't bother asking where they were going. And Sora looked as though she was in no mood to tell him either.

  At the end of the path was a graveyard. It was bigger then it must've been years ago. There was a little boy playing among the graves. Link looked around. In the back of the graveyard was what he guessed was the Shadow Temple. Impa was the sage of the Shadow Temple. Link didn't know Impa but Cara was her niece.

"What did we come here for?" Link asked.

"I thought you might like to see. There's some interesting people buried here." Sora replied.

  Link walked around, looking at the graves. He knew a lot of Sheikah were buried here. One grave belonged to Dampé the Gravedigger. Another five graves belonged to the carpenters who'd helped build the town. One huge grave in the back, near the Shadow Temple, belonged to the members of the royal family. Link shivered, thinking how awful it would be to be buried down there with all those other people.

  One row of graves was children. A lot of small children had been killed in the years of Ganondorf's reign. Link thought it was sad that children had to die for no reason whatsoever. He looked over the graves. He noticed that one belonged to a Kokiri. That made him even sadder, because the Kokiri had raised his Grandfather.

  Link noticed Sora motioning to him for them to leave. Link followed her slowly out of the graveyard and back towards the loud, busy town. He could hear some sort of commotion coming from the market. Sora frowned and picked up a run. Link ran behind her. They reached the market to see a large crowd gathered around one of the stands.

"She's a thief!" Someone cried. "I saw her steal with my own eyes!"

  There was a scared looking girl standing in the middle of the crowd. She had long, raven black hair and dark blue eyes. She looked very frightened by all the commotion. Sora just stood, arms crossed, watching the whole scene. Link wondered why she didn't do anything to help the poor girl.

"Hey! Leave her alone!" Link shouted.

"She stole some of my apples!" An old, ugly looking woman said.

"I did not!" The girl cried.

"Yes you did, girly!" The woman said, glaring at her.

"If she says she didn't do it, then she didn't do it!" Link exclaimed.

"You stay out of this, boy! You should learn to respect your elders." The old hag said, poking him with her cane.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Laverne." An old man spoke up. "That there be his majesty, the Prince of Hyrule."

The old woman turned to stare at Link. Even with his hair slightly tousled and his cheeks a bit flushed, he still looked like the prince. The old woman stumbled backward, trying to curtsey. The girl giggled and Sora grinned.

"My&ldots;most h-humble apologies, Your Highness." The old woman said.

"Just leave the girl alone." Link said.

  The crowd backed off. Sora glared at a few onlookers and they immediately moved away. Link turned to the girl. She was staring down at the ground shyly. Her hair fell over her face, but even Link could see how beautiful she was. Link looked down at her, trying to get her to loosen up a bit. Sora finally spat and nudged the girl.

"Don't be shy." Sora said. "He's no prince. He's a scoundrel."

"Sora, I think your making matters worse." Link warned.

"Oh no, I mean, I didn't mean to disturb you Your Majesty." The girl said.

"You didn't disturb me at all." Link smiled. "And please, call me Link."

"And I'm Sora. What's your name?" Sora asked.

"Faylore." The girl replied.

  Sora frowned. The name sounded like Fae Lore. Sora knew a lot of Fae Lore. The Fae were supposed to be a magical race of Hyrule that was hidden away. They were supposed to be dark and evil. And very beautiful as well. It was said though that the Fae had red hair and striking purple eyes. Sora had always wondered if she might be Fae. She only assumed she was part Sheikah because Sheikahs raised her and that's what they had told her.

  Well this girl, according to lore, couldn't be Fae. But that didn't make Sora feel any better. She felt something&ldots;in the air. Something she had felt before. It was a feeling that made her sick to her stomach. She couldn't really describe it except to say, it felt unsafe. Then she looked at Link and Faylore and was snapped out of her thoughts. They were staring at each other quite obviously. Sora sighed and waved a hand in front of Link's face. He pushed her hand away.

  Sora sighed again. This was going to take some work. She would have to pry Link away from this girl. But then, why do that? It was a way to get the boy off her back. Sure, she had promised him harp lessons. And she said he could come with her. But she really hated company, except for her animals. And she really didn't want to drag around a spoiled Prince.

"Link. Earth to Link." Sora said.

"What?" Link snapped. Then he blushed.

"If you want to come with me, we'd better be on our way. I wanna make it to Goron City some time this year." Sora crossed her arms and glared at him.

"Oh I'm going up to Goron City! May I come with you?" Faylore asked.

"Sure!" Link said before Sora could even get her mouth opened.

  Sora groaned inwardly. Now she had two tagalongs. Even worse, they obviously liked each other. Sora did not want lovebirds following her. She knew all about romance; she'd certainly seen enough of it. If Link says one line of bad poetry, Sora thought, I'll throw him off the mountain. She smiled at this thought. It was kind of funny. And having some human company might be nice. After all with all with all the animals she talked to, she was wondering if she was going crazy.

"Well let's get going then!" Sora exclaimed.

  Sora turned and headed for Death Mountain Trail. Link offered Faylore his arm and she blushed. Link blushed too. Oh gag me with a bombchu! Sora thought. The people who raised her had always said if she rolled her eyes too much, they would get stuck that way. Sora sure hoped that wasn't true because she had a feeling she would be rolling her eyes a lot on this journey.

"The sky is beautiful." Faylore murmured.

"So are you." Link said. They both blushed.

  Up ahead, Sora began to sing softly under her breath. It sounded to her friends that she was just singing a normal song. But she wasn't. Instead she was singing of throwing Link off the mountain and if Faylore started to cry, throwing her too. The tune lifted her spirits and she added a beat to it. She changed the lyrics to a song she knew about Gorons and marched along.

  Behind her, Link and Faylore began to sing along. Sora was amazed by Link's voice. It was like gold! Faylore didn't sound as good but they still sounded good together. The Goron song was not meant to be sung in three-part harmony but it sounded right to Sora. She sang a little louder and soon, Link and Faylore were marching beside her. They all sang at the top of their lungs. When the finally stopped singing, they were laughing.

  Sora held her stomach and slid almost all they way to the ground. Link leaned up against a boulder laughing and Faylore was trying hard not to look silly and failing. The song was very funny and one of Sora's favorites. She suddenly couldn't stop laughing though. The song wasn't that funny but for some reason she was having a laughing fit, and so were Link and Faylore. Sora landed in the dirt and Link was down on his knees. Faylore was up against the wall, laughing even harder then Sora. Tears slid down her cheeks and she fell forward. She put a hand out to keep from falling in the dirt.

  Sora wondered if they could indeed stop laughing. It wasn't just the song, but the way it had been sung, marching up Death Mountain Trail, singing loudly on their way to see Gorons. It was odd, how they were suddenly getting along. But then, music brought everyone together didn't it? It made even the snottiest court ladies calm and elegant like they should be. Then Sora began to laugh harder at the thought of Lady Oliana getting along with anyone.

  Faylore was the first one to stop laughing. She stood and straightened her dress. Link stood up, still laughing a bit. Sora had stopped laughing but she couldn't get up. Her ribs ached and her muscles felt like jelly. Link finally had to lift her to her feet and she leaned against the mountain wall to keep from falling.

"I believe&ldots;I think we&ldots;we're finally&ldots;getting along." Sora gasped.

"It's the music." Faylore said.

"Music is the remedy for every ail." Sora whispered.

  Sora stared ahead. Music was her whole life. The beauty of it, it was just so amazing. She loved to just play for hours on end if she could. Her eyes sparkled at the idea of playing for a very long time and maybe even having an audience.

"Come on you two. We need to get to Goron City." Link said.

"Goron City, ahoy!" Sora joked.

"We aren't on the ocean Sora. We are on a mountain." Faylore said. "If you think we are on the ocean, you must have been into those funny mushrooms in the Lost Woods."

  Sora turned to look at Faylore. Was the girl trying to be funny? If she was, she wasn't succeeding. Sora sighed and glanced down the rocky mountain ledge. The rocks were sharp&ldots;ever so sharp. Were they as sharp as the blades that had killed her parents? She wondered.

"Isn't that Goron City?" Link asked.

"Yeah." Sora replied. "What happened!?"

  They weren't inside the city, but they could see smoke flowing from the gate. Sora, Faylore and Link all ran over to the gate. Sora went in first, followed by Link protecting Faylore. Sora went slowly as possible, afraid of what might be wreaking havoc on the poor, relatively defenseless, Gorons. Sora stopped dead in her track and Link slammed into her. There, down in the middle of the city, the Gorons were crowded. They were kept there by a pack of Dodongos.

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