"Hand me that dish with the red powder will you?"

Link turned to the large tipped-over log serving as a good side table. Several cooking items were placed on top of it; a wet plate emptied of chopped vegetables, a half-full bag of chickpeas and a few other bowls. He grabbed a smaller ceramic bowl with some red stuff in it and gave it to the young man seated next to him. The man took a whiff of the powder by moving the bowl in circles under his nose.

"Dried pepper," he said to Link, who watched him attentively. "You'd think it would have a harsher scent, or spicier taste, but it's quite subtle," the man shook some of the powder in the chugging stew, cooking in a pot over the open fire. "If you want spicy I suggest chili, but if you want a good taste you go with pepper," he said and then turned the wooden ladle a few rounds in the stew.

Link watched him stir while resting his elbows on his knees. The man observed him from the corner of his eye, Link's gaze was on the fire. It illuminated the blue in his eyes.

"You like it spicy?" the man asked him. Link raised his eyebrows and shrugged.

"Keeps you warm," he said indifferently. The man chuckled.

"Oh yeah the old grandma's trick." He leaned in closer to the pot, it smelled just like he wanted to which was a little relieving since he'd decided he wanted to impress the boy, that's why he'd brought out some special spices from the pantry he didn't use as often. "The thing about spicy though," he said and scooped up some stew on the ladle, making sure some good pieces of vegetables came with. While holding one hand cupped under the ladle with the hot stew he sat back on the log he shared with Link. "Is that it never quite makes up for good taste," he continued and brought the big spoon closer to Link. "Here."

Link looked at him and then at the spoon, wondering if he should take it or not. The man wondered to himself if he should have handed Link the spoon, but he was confident. Then Link leaned in just a little and parted his lips to show that he accepted the offer. The young man put the spoon in Link's mouth and his lips embraced it.

Link looked up and into the distance while tasting the food in his mouth.

"Well?" The man inquired. Link nodded.

"Yeah. It's good," he said and swallowed. It was in fact very good, he thought and licked his lips.

The man smiled to himself pleased and put the spoon in his own mouth to clean off the traces of stew that Link left. Link noticed him doing that and was amused. The man had seemed a little arrogant when they first met a few days ago. He lived in the forest Link was exploring so they had been crossing paths then and now, chitchatting while doing so and the man had been helpful by giving him directions and sometimes a snack. This afternoon Link had by chance winded upon his cabin, whereupon the man offered him food and shelter for the night. They had spent the evening preparing the meal they were going to have now and the man had given him some good cooking advice. He taught Link what food one could catch in the area and how to combine it for a good meal. He seemed all right, Link had grown fond of him.

The man looked young, probably in his early twenties. He was quite tall and looked even more so from being so slender. He carried his muscle mass where he needed it though and when he sat down he and Link were almost the same height.

The man filled two bowls with stew for them and they began digging in. The evening air was cool and some chilly winds swept by, gently tugging the loose tresses of Link's light blonde hair with it. Slightly annoyed he brought the tresses behind his long Hylian ears so he wouldn't get hair in his food. The man curiously observed those ears and then he reached out for one of them and playfully touched the point of it with his fingertip. Link stopped chewing and gave him a surprised look. The man smirked at him and went back to his bowl of stew.

"Funny ears," he mumbled and swallowed a mouth full. After noticing that Link kept giving him a look of wonder mixed with amusement, the man smirked again. "They're pointy," he paused, "in case you haven't noticed." Link was amused by the remark, but nonetheless puzzled. True the young man himself had the round ears of a human, Link had noticed that long ago, but Link's ears couldn't possibly be first ones he'd seen of its kind.

"Many people have ears like mine," he pointed out. The man raised his eyebrows and nodded, all the while he kept eating.

"Yeah I know. I still find them funny though," he said between bites. "You see we don't have many pointy-eared folks where I'm from."

Link was intrigued; the man had talked some about his business in the area, that he had a love for old ruins and historical places, but not where he was from.

"No?" Link inquired to show his interest. The man cocked his head to the side.

"Well, except my grandmother. She was from Gerudo Town. When I left home I was thinking of visiting the place she grew up in, but turns out they aren't very keen on letting hot male blood into their town," he said with half a smile and gazed off into the distance, as if reminiscing something.

"Really?" Link said with a mouth full of stew.

"Yeah I mean, she told me when I was little that only vai are allowed there but I didn't think they'd be that rigorous about it," the man paused. "Especially since I've heard they let you in under some circumstances," he said in a sly tone.

"Like what?" Link asked. The man suddenly got a short alarmed look, like realizing he said too much. But his expression softened when he said "I'll tell you another time."

Link snorted and lightly shook his head.

They were halfway through their meal when the man realized it made him thirsty. So he set down his bowl next to him and asked Link "you want some ale?"

"Sure," Link responded, whereupon the man disappeared for a while into his cabin. He reemerged with a mug in his left hand and a wineskin in his right.

"I have only one mug so you can have it," he said apologetically while retaking his seat next to Link and handing him the mug, filled with dark brown beverage.

"Thanks." Link took a gulp to wash the stew down, as the man did the same with the wineskin. "You have ale out here?" Link asked. Obviously the man did but he was not really a brewer, and there could hardly be one near.

"I had some stored. But it's a lot more fun to drink with company," the man stated and tapped the nozzle of the wineskin to the brim of Link's mug for a modest toast. Link responded by a nod and raising his mug a little. They then both sat their beverages on the ground by their boot-clad feet and returned to their food.

"When I was your age I wasn't allowed to drink ale however," the man said, then stopping his trail of thought when realizing he didn't even know Link's age, he had just assumed he was young. "But how old are you really anyway?" he asked, furrowing his thick eyebrows.

"Old enough," Link answered without stopping to eat, like it didn't matter the least to him. The man laughed.

"No really," he insisted. Link then sighed and let the spoon rest on the edge of his bowl.

"It's complicated," he muttered.

"How?"

Link pursed his lips before answering, as if figuring out what words to use. "Remember when we first met by that hill?" Link tossed a glance in the direction he thought the hill was located, it was in any case not visible from inside the forest, especially not since it was quite dark.

"Yeah?" the man said while eating. "You came out from that cave."

"I woke up in there." This was the first piece of information Link had disclosed to the man about that cave. He'd met the man shortly after emerging from the shrine inside, but he had been too bewildered to even say much, it had taken him about a day or two to really understand he was alive.

"Oh?" the man said. Link licked his lips and gazed with a scowl into the man's eyes.

"You said you have never seen that cave open."

"M-hm." The man nodded and stirred the little stew remaining in his bowl.

"But you've been here for some time," Link said.

"A little over a year," the man stated.

"Well, I don't know how long I've been in there." Link was now only stirring the remains of his food as well. "I can't even remember falling asleep." There was a short silence, the man didn't know what to say. To break the awkwardness he reached for Link's mug of ale on the ground.

"Maybe you had one too many of these," he said lifting the mug. Link burst out into a chuckle and slowly shook his head. The man thought Link looked cute showing his teeth when laughing, it revealed the sharp ones he had in his upper jaw.

"No," Link said slowly after composing himself. "But I have no memory from before I woke up. Not even the one in my head told me anything, more than that I had to wake up and," he paused, not sure he wanted to share the rest of what the voice had told him, he figured it would be too overwhelming for the man to hear. "But I think I know where to go from here on."

The man raised his hand a little to pause Link in his exposition. "Hold on, the one in your head?" he questioned with a cocked eyebrow.

"Yes, it's a voice that spoke to me when I woke up. I suppose the person it belongs to have something to do with why I was in there in the first place," Link went on. But the man silently kept staring him down with an unconvinced expression. Link began wondering and then asked him "you do know about Hylian telepathy... don't you?"

The man pursed his lips and rolled his eyes. "Yes, but it's just beyond me," he said and took a sip of ale from his wineskin. Link could not tell if the man thought it was stupid or if he was feeling self-conscious for not actually knowing about it. Either way, the man's response left him feeling stupid for rambling on so much, he didn't deserve this much confusion just for asking Link's age.

"I'm sixteen," Link finally said.

The man looked at him with surprise. "You sure?" He said with a hint of a smile.

"Yeah." Link was sure; no amount of amnesia could keep him from knowing his own body.

The man nodded and they both stared into the crackling fire. The man leaned over and poked around in it with a thick stick.

"Sixteen plus a who knows amount of years," he said and glanced back at Link with a smile. Link looked up at him from a bent down head.

"Can you really be a hundred years old if you haven't lived a day?" he asked rhetorically.

"Or if you haven't aged a day," the man added and tapped Link's boot with the fire stick. The corner of Link's mouth twitched into a half smile.

"Hylian magic," he said and raised his hands and made his fingers dance in the air, like casting a spell. The man chuckled and retook his seat on the log next to Link.

"Yeah. My grandmother warned me about your kind. She used to say you're all witches and sorcerers," he taunted and lightly bumped his elbow into Link's arm. Link jumped a little inside from the direct touch. It was a little more straight forward than when the man had touched his ear.

"Well, all Gerudos are thieves," he retorted and shyly imitated the move, bumping the man's arm with his own.

"Careful or I'll steal your boots while you sleep," the man countered and held up a warning finger to Link's face. They both snickered at each other and slowly returned to watching the fire.

The man gazed at Link from the corner of his eye. He had the urge to ask something he'd been wanting to ask for a while, and the fact that Link had just reciprocated his playful move just now gave him the courage he needed to jump the gun.

"You know, if your hair gets in your face a lot I can do it up if you'd like."

Link gave him a look of wonder. The man continued.

"My ex-girlfriend had pretty long hair and she taught me how to braid it. I'm quite the expert," he said and held his hands up as some sort of proof. Link nodded and shrugged, as he did when asked if he liked his food spicy. The truth was that his mind stopped on the word ex-girlfriend. So the man had one of those. Link wondered what she looked like. Then he wondered why he even wondered at all.

The man got up halfway from his seat and leaned behind Link to get a good view of the back of his head, but after adjusting his position a little he sat back down.

"I think it's better if you..." the man paused and motioned to the ground in front of him. Link understood and got up from his seat. He then sat down on the ground between the man's feet, with his back against him. The man felt a slight difficulty in breathing normally, suddenly having the boy this close to him. But he exhaled and leaned in a little closer. He grabbed the small leather band holding together Link's little pony tail at the neck and slid it off.

Link's blonde hair fell to the sides; the leather band had left a crease across it and parts were a little tangled so it fell pretty stiff. The man figured it needed a combing, but for the lack of a comb he used his fingers. He began at Link's temples, carefully pulling the hair back and sorting the tangles out the best he could without pulling too hard. Link's hair was thick, and soft in the places it wasn't tangled.

Link felt the man's fingers gently running through every tress on his head, working their way from his bangs to the sensitive hair of the neck, sending shivers of pleasure down his back.

He enjoyed the man touching his hair, and since the man couldn't see, Link closed his eyes and smiled.

After a while he felt the man working the leather band and then giving his head a pat.

"Finished," the man said. Link touched his hair from the crown of his head to the tail in his neck; it was a braid alright, an embedded one. All of Link's hair had been braided into it, including his bangs.

"Wow." Link was impressed, the braid was neither too tight or too loose, the man hadn't overestimated himself.

"Let me see from the front," the man said and Link spun around on the ground facing him. A wide smile took over the man's face.

"Neat," he said nodding. He appeared proud of himself, but the real rush came from seeing Link's whole face unveiled. He had such fine and intriguing features. The sharp jawline and the big, sky blue eyes added to his boyish masculinity. The man was especially drawn to Link's eyebrows, they always gave him a look of being a little bothered about something, and when he smiled they gave him a look of impeccable confidence. "You look really nice," the man told him.

Link smiled a little awkward and cocked an eyebrow. He touched his temples where long tresses usually hung.

"No hair in my face," he stated.

"Nope, I delivered," the man said, then he contemplated something by furrowing his eyebrows. He dropped his chin to his chest and reached for his neck, to the knot of the bandana he always wore on his head. He untied it and slid the fabric off his head. Immediately he ruffled his caramel colored hair that had gone a little flat from the bandana. The man looked even younger with his hair ruffled like that.

He flattened out the fabric over his knee; it was a dark red and purple in a fascinating geometrical pattern. It didn't look like your everyday woodsman head wrap. The man looked at Link.

"The final touch," he said and held up the bandana, bringing it to Link's head. Link closed his eyes when the fabric touched his forehead. He cast his head down a little so the man could tie it in his neck. When it was tied the man eyed him with a more serious look.

"Now you look like a warrior," he said.

The wind changed direction and blew a cloud of smoke from the fire at them. They coughed and covered their eyes, Link returned to his seat on the log. The man poked around a little more in the fire. Link felt the fabric of the bandana hugging his hair, he touched the knot with his fingertips. He liked the idea of looking like a warrior, but he relished even more wearing this particular bandana that had both been tied and worn by the man himself. It made Link feel honored.

"So you said you knew where to go from here on," the man said suddenly. He paused to gain Link's attention. "Where will you go?" he asked and drew a circle in the dirt with the fire stick.

"I need to get off this plateau," Link said. The man nodded.

"I... think I know someone who can help you," he said and drew a cross over the circle. "There is an old man living across the plateau," he pointed with the stick in the direction Link recognized the mountains being located. "He's been living here a lot longer than I've been. He'll be able to help you better than I can."

"Who is he?" Link asked. The man shrugged.

"Just some old geezer. But he has some... abilities to help you further. Hylian magic I suppose." The man leaned in closer to Link to say the last part slightly more lightheartedly and Link smiled a little. Then they went quiet again.

A strange mood had settled like a wet blanket between the two young men. After an evening of unconditionally enjoying each other's company without any deeper care of the outside world, Link realized he had another purpose laid out for him, and the man knew he had to send Link away on his more important journey. Whatever they had together right now, they were not likely to experience again.

The man decided then and there to make the most of it.

"I do have something that could help you though," he said and caught Link's curious eye. "Hang on." The man rose and headed inside his cabin. Barely a minute later had he returned with a small glass bottle, big enough to fit in his fist. He sat down next to Link and held the bottle up so the fire enlightened the purple liquid inside. Link could see it clearly but he scooted a little closer to the man just in case.

"It's an elixir made from sunset fireflies," the man explained. "They show up a lot around here near the pond, but they only come out at night."

"What's it good for?" Link asked curiously.

"Oh I was just getting to that," the man said turned to Link's ear, his breath tickled Link's skin. "It sets all your senses on peak, so you can move about soundlessly like an expert hunter," the man put two fingers to his temple and looked straight into Link's eyes. Link smiled cunningly and met the man's gaze. His eyes were a strange mix of color, like a moss green liquid had been dripped into brown water. The color of the forest.

"It's not that hard to make once you've caught the fireflies. The more of them you put in, the better the effect. Just one firefly can give an effect lasting for a couple of minutes," the man said and held the bottle flat up in his palm for Link to grab.

But as Link was about to take it from his hand the man jerked it back and hid it by crossing his arms.

"You can see such a fine trade is going to cost you," he said and smirked. Link looked boggled for a second but regained his poise by crossing his own arms and cocking an eyebrow.

"Like what?" he inquired. Then the man leaned in and whispered right into Link's long pointy ear. He hoped the Hylian goddesses would hear it loud and clear.

Link's eyes widened and he quickly leaned away from the man.

"What, are you serious?" he exclaimed. His astounded words didn't match his facial expression however; he smiled nervously.

The man shrugged nonchalantly. Link reconsidered.

"Wouldn't it be... rather odd?" he asked.

"Do you think it would be?" the man said with a shy look in his big forest-colored eyes. Link was quiet for a moment.

"I guess not," he finally responded.

Link slowly approached the man again. The man's heart skipped a beat as Link put his face close, slightly lowered his eyelids and parted his lips. The man put his hand on the side of Link's face and their mouths met. It was a light kiss lasting for a few seconds. The man finished it by giving Link's bottom lip a quick extra peck. They didn't move away from each other but rested their foreheads together, the tip of their noses touched lightly. The man kept his hand at the side of Link's face, tenderly stroking his temple with his fingertips.

They stayed like this longer than the kiss had lasted, warming each other's faces with their hot breaths.

"What's your first name?" Link whispered.

The day they first met the man had introduced himself by his last name, which Link had barely needed to use to address him since it had only been the two of them. The man smiled before answering.

"It's Serven."

Link's feet hit the grassy ground with a thud. He ran a few yards to decrease the speed he had coming down. When he reached a steady balance he quickly brought the paraglider to the side of his body, he then came to a halt.

He took a breather and defied the bright sunlight by glancing up at the Great Plateau Tower, whose peak he just came from. He had started out by throwing himself from the lower levels of the tower, then working his way up as he grew more confident about how to use the paraglider. It was only about an hour ago he had received it from the old man that Serven told him about. And it was almost a week ago Serven had told him that by the fire.

Link had not seen Serven since. He wasn't even there when Link woke up that morning when he had slept on the floor in Serven's cabin. He had given Link his own straw mattress whereas he slept on the hard bed. When Link woke up he had found a note, cluttered at the corner of a page in a book placed very visibly near him to discover. "Bokoblins stole some stuff so can't make breakfast, gone to find them. The old man lives south of the temple ruins, good luck" it said. Link had wanted to come help Serven but since he didn't know where he was Link had moved on with the help of Serven's directions.

I'm getting good at this Link thought to himself and stretched his arms. He thought the time had come to finally leave the plateau.

Link wandered to the edge closest to the tower. He crouched down and glanced at the land below the plateau. There was not much mist today so he could mentally plan out what landing spot to aim for.

"Leaving so soon?" a familiar voice said behind him. It took Link a millisecond to recognize it since it was a lot younger-sounding than the old man's voice, which was the only human voice he'd been hearing the last week.

He turned around and saw Serven smiling at him. He was armed with a quiver and bow and was dressed in light hunting clothes with a short hooded cape.

"And without saying good bye," Serven said still smiling and removed the hood from his head, ruffling his hair just like he did that time when removing his bandana. Link rose from his crouched position and tried his best to curb his astonished joy; he was glad to see the man. He'd had the awkward feeling that Serven considered the whole thing between them had gone too far that evening and wanted things to cool off. But here he was, making Link feel special again.

"How did you know I was here?" Link asked.

"The old man told me you'd be around here," Serven said, "plus I saw you fly from the tower. That was some nice work," he added and Link could not tell if there was a hint of playful sarcasm in his words. He wondered to himself if Serven had also seen his not so gracious landing earlier when he crashed into a big rock and landed in a pond.

"I'm still learning," Link said, rolling his eyes and fiddled with the handle of the paraglider he kept close to him. Serven eyed him with amusement, he rested his glove-clad hand on the bow he'd propped on the ground.

"So do you have a better clue now of where you'll be heading?" he asked.

"Kakariko village," Link said, "I'm meeting someone there."

"Well, aren't they lucky," Serven said. Link diverted his gaze and held back an involuntary grin. "I might leave this plateau as well soon, been here long enough," Serven continued and glanced at the landscape behind him.

"What's stopping you?" Link asked.

"Nothing really." Serven shrugged. "Habit I guess."

Link hummed in response.

Then he remembered Serven said he'd spoken to the old man and Link felt the sudden urge to tell him all about what the man had revealed to him earlier by the temple ruins. So he did. He told Serven about the shrines, about the old man's true identity, and finally about the memory gap the old man had filled, why Link had been put to sleep in the shrine of resurrection and why he had been called awake. Serven listened attentively to Link's whole explanation without making a face, and when Link was done Serven was quiet for a moment.

But then a smirk slowly took over the man's face for he could not keep up the charade anymore.

Link stared at him wide-eyed. "You knew?"

Serven nodded.

"But..." Link searched for words at the same time as he ransacked his memory of the conversations he'd been having with the man. Now Serven felt he was the one owing Link an explanation.

"King Rhoam told me about you when I'd lived here for a while. Who you were and what happened to you. He told me you would wake up and when you did, I was not allowed to tell you anything about your past. King Rhoam didn't think it would be wise. Instead I was to send you directly to him when you were ready for it," Serven explained. Link didn't know what to feel. Relieved? Betrayed? There were too many revelations embedded within this day.

"Are you cross with me?" Serven asked, tilting his head to the side. Link bit his lip before answering.

"I guess not, if it was the King's orders," he said and Serven made a troubled sigh.

"Sure, but I feel like I should have told you something. It was hard to watch you struggle with your memory loss," he said. Link shook his head.

"No you did the right thing," he said. Then Serven gave him a half smile and a look of sympathy.

"Soldiers got to follow their orders, right?" he said.

"I'm afraid so," Link responded, "I have to go now." He said the words but stood still on the ground, glancing back over his shoulder at the edge of the cliff. The sun had gone behind clouds and some cooler winds swept by. They both knew this was the time to say good bye.

Then Serven took a few steps toward Link, he reached for something in his pocket and when he stopped right in front of the boy he took it out. It was the bandana.

"You forgot this by the way," he said and wrapped it around Link's head. Link bent his head to let Serven tie it in his neck. Link let his forehead rest against the young man's chest and breathed in his warm scent while Serven tied the knot. Serven felt the contact and put his hands on Link's shoulders. Link looked up at him; the bandana looked even better on him when his blonde tresses framed his gorgeous face.

"I regretted to tell you it was a gift," Serven said and gave the top of Link's head a pat.

He then stepped back to let Link prepare for the glide. The gift had enlightened Link's spirit, he now felt slightly more positive about leaving since he took a part of Serven with him. So he turned to the cliff and grabbed the paraglider with both hands. But before he did anything else he glanced back at Serven.

"Hope we meet again," he said with a confident smile.

"Me too, Link," the man saluted him with two fingers.

Link took a few quick steps and then sprinted toward the edge. A long leap, and then he was in the air. His body jerked when the paraglider caught the air and soon he was far away.

Serven headed off without looking back.

A/N

I know OC characters are generally disliked on this site. But shit, it's a hot guy hanging out with Link, what more could one want. Plus there are so few male characters to work with when it comes to The Legend of Zelda yaoi, better just make them up.