I haven't updated this since August, oof. Sorry this chapter is short, I haven't had much motivation recently and just wanted to get this out as soon as possible. I'll explain a few things at the end of the chapter. Not proof read, once again just wanted to get it out, so please excuse mistakes.

Chapter 7

Link

The pair managed to arrive at Hateno Village fairly early the next morning. The fact that they had no proper shelter to sleep in that night made them uneasy thus not much sleep was achieved. When dawn broke the two, despite being extremely tired were more than eager to set off and arrive somewhere safer.

Gazing upon the village the word that you could describe it with was… neat. The houses were all neatly arranged, each having a consistent design to them as if they were made of cubes stacked on top of each other. The fact that the houses were so close and they all adorned the same red roof as each other made the village seem small once they entered it, however upon closer inspection, it seemed a lot larger, looking along the long path that winded up the hills further on with many windmills dotted along the way. When Link squinted, he could clearly see a lone building on top of the furthest hill which looked as though it was only just within range of the windmills, fields and other houses to be considered part of Hateno. Though it wasn't a huge village, Hateno was noticeably larger and more bustling then Kakariko. It was clear from the amount of houses that more people resided in this town, though it was also given away by quite a few people walking along the path, gossiping at the side or standing at the front of shops calling out for people to go inside and shop there. Link was also delighted to find that there was an inn here so after doing what they needed to do here they had the option to catch up on the lost sleep of the previous night.

With Dusk along his side, Link walked along the path all whilst gazing upon the variety of shops which had much more variety than Kakariko's. Entering a clothes shop, Link immediately noticed what seemed to be soldier's gear, and he immediately realised that it could be very useful, with the protective armour. Glancing around, he couldn't immediately notice a shopkeeper – the desk was empty. Perhaps the shop was closed? He was informed of the shopkeeper's location when he heard a whimper behind him. Turning around he saw a girl shaking with her head in her hands whilst pressed up againt the corner, Dusk standing curiously in front of her. Rushing over to the shaking girl he immediately reassured her.

"Ah! Sorry about him, he's my… pet. I mean, don't worry, he's, uh, tame!" Link quickly spurted out, losing any sense of his usual dignified and mannerly way of speaking he usually used when speaking with strangers.

Slowly, the girl lifted her head from her hands and breathed out a sigh.

"S-sorry, it's not you fault. I-I'm naturally quite a timid person so I was j-just standing in this corner when I saw him and got a bit s-scared." She stuttered out quietly though not meeting his eye. "W-welcome to my shop, i-is there anything you are interested in?" The girl bowed whilst welcoming Link.

"Actually, yes. I noticed that armour over there – how much is it?" Link asked, his usual politeness making its way back into his speech. When talking with people he knew and trusted, such as Dusk, he would be a lot more relaxed and less dignified in his speech. Not that there was anyone else he did know or trust. Was there? He couldn't remember. His mind flashed back to Zelda, but he quickly shook the memory out of his head recalling he was in the middle of a conversation. Just managing to catch a quiet

"O-of course, let me s-show it to y-you…", Link followed the shy girl over to the armour set on display. "T-the greaves are seven hundred rupees, the a-armour is one thousand t-two hundred rupees, and the helm is n-nine hundred rupees…" she quietly informed Link about the prices, then buried her head in her hands once again and muttered, "O-oh gosh, I hope I d-didn't drive him away with the p-prices."

Checking his bag that was attached to his belt he counted a total of 850 rupees. Deciding to just settle with the greaves, he bought them and exited the quiet shop to a farewell of "T-thank you!"

Now equipped with some armour, the Hylian felt a lot safer walking around which brought him comfort. He felt as though he'd be able to protect his head and torso from enemy attacks, but if a monster went for his legs, he wasn't so sure if he'd be able to defend it.

It would do for now, he decided.

Now outside once again, Link looked around, wondering where the Hateno Ancient Tech Lab was located. He felt a nudge on his leg and looking down saw it was Dusk. Watching him curiously, Dusk turned his head to point towards what seemed to be a house on top of a hill that was just passed Hateno. Link knew where he was heading next.

Wolf Link

By the time Dusk reached Kakariko village with Link closely behind, he was tired beyond belief. The day had been hectic and strange, to say the least. They'd only just made it back to Kakriko before dark. Utterly worn out and resting at the entrance to the village, the grey wolf recalled the events after they arrived at the tech lab.

First they walked into to see a very out of place child, soon who they discovered to be Purah, the person(?) in charge of the Tech Lab. Upon seeing the Sheikah Slate hung at Link's belt, she suddenly started rambling about how it was broken, thus starting their long quest to obtain some blue fire from the furnace. Unsurprisingly, the task didn't happen to be an easy one, the flame being extremely prone to extinguishing with just a tiny amount of wind. This resulted in the journey having to be done many times until the furnace was finally lit, upon the two erupted into joy and relief. Purah then installed a new camera rune onto the slate now that her power source was once again working. Dusk and Link had both sighed in relief, now planning to relax for the last few hours of daylight until Purah had ordered them to head back to Kakariko Village immediately. Upon their protests she had said some things along the lines of "Stop being so lazy, you've just slept for one hundred years!" and "Hyrule is in grave danger, there's no time for you to just stop and relax! You're the hero, for crying out loud."

And that's how they ended up travelling to Kakariko Village for the rest of the day, completely draining all their energy.

"You know what, let's visit Impa tomorrow…" Dusk heard Link mutter next to him. Looking over at the Hylian, he was leaning on the gateway of the village, eyes half closed in sheer exhaustion.

Agreed, Dusk thought and led the way to the inn. Checking in with the owner and Link not hesitating to hand over the required amount of rupees to the owner, Dusk lay down on a pillow and rested, the exhaustion from the day not failing to make him fall asleep quickly.

Daylight was not streaming through the window when Link awoke. He sat up groggily in the dark, looked over to Dusk and saw that he was still asleep. Getting out from the soft bedsheets, he walked over to the window and figured out there was still an hour or so until sunlight from the moon's position in the sky. Heading back to his bed, Link wondered what had awoken him so early and just put it down to nerves. When he once again closed his eyes for a good fifteen minutes, sleep didn't come. That was when he truly noticed the nervousness in his stomach. Sighing deeply, he opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. He was nervous for his meeting with Impa when the day arrived. The words she had said prior still rung in his ears. 'The Sheikah Slate is your guide, and also your memory.' Now that the Hylian had recovered the corrupted rune like he had been instructed to do by the elder, would he get his memories back?

He, of course, hated having none of his memories. There was an empty hole inside him which he could never forget about. People he knew, his true identity. None of that he knew about. And he really wondered about his identity. Who was he before the Slumber of Restoration, other than a hero? Was he anything else, or was that all he was, a hero who was only destined to spend his entire life fighting for the Goddesses and fail in his task.

The Goddesses were aware, weren't they? Aware that he would fail. Aware that even waking after the Slumber of Restoration he would be no stronger, no weaker, no different to before. That's why they sent Dusk along to help him. Because he was just a failure of a hero, with no memory and no idea of how to navigate through this huge land he'd awoken in.

Link exhaled deeply, defeated and no longer angry. He thought back to a question he had thought about previously. Who was he? Was he different to what he was like now, which would make sense considering he wasn't built of from past experiences. The truth was, he couldn't help worrying about what he had been like before the tragedy that occurred, the Calamity. He supposed if his memories returned, he would find out.

There was one other concern, too. His memories.

He was aware that he had already recalled one of his memories when Dusk howled Zelda's Lullaby a few days ago. Though he was sure that it was one of his lost memories, it didn't seem like he remembered it. More like… he was a spectator. Certain in his thinking, he believed that if someone had just informed him what had happened in that room it would be the same feeling. Like having knowledge of something that happened, but not ruly being there. That's what concerned him. Would all his other memories be like that? Would he be aware of them, but they would never fill that void inside him, that piece missing?

Link's surprisingly deep thoughts were interrupted by a yawn next to him. Sunlight now filtered into the room and Dusk was now up. Not realising he had spaced out for so long, the Hylian Champion shuffled to the edge of his bed and proceeded to put on his belt, boots and sword sheathe. Not forgetting to attach the Sheikah Slate to his belt, Link proceeded to get up and make sure the room was tidy before addressing Dusk and departing from the room.

Not long after, the pair arrived at Impa's house where the shy Paya was milling about near the entrance. Upon seeing them, she stuttered,

"Ah! G-good to se you two a-again! Please, c-come in…

She then proceeded to hold open the door for the two, which they both walked through swiftly. As expected, Impa was sitting in the same spot as before, directly in front of them when they walked in.

Again, I apologize for the long wait.

See, I haven't given up on this, but I am extremely good at procrastinating. Seriously.

Anyway recently I haven't had that much motivation to work on this, because the idea of it isn't all that interesting to me any more. I still plan to finish it at some point, all I'm saying is that to the people who've stuck around so far (thank you, by the way) don't expect an update in a while.

I'm thinking of writing a story for another fandom (possibly SSB or FF7, if you're interested in those keep an eye out) just so I can write something fresh and with an idea I like the sound of and hopefully get the motivation for TLoT back after that.

I'm not gonna call this a hiatus, I'm just not sure when I'll get round to posting another chapter again. Anyway, thank you.