[AN: This is my first fanfic so I'm still in the process of developing everything, but I promise that it gets better as the story progresses. So please review, comment, or make any suggestions, I'd appreciate it! This chapter is the backstory to my OC, so Link wont be introduced until next time.]

I realized at a young age that my life was very different from the other kids. My mother and I had been abandoned by my father shortly after I was born. Thanks to the massive amount of gossip that takes place within the Market, I learned that my father had already been married and he had belonged to a very wealthy and powerful family. My mother was his mistress, and he would have been disowned by his family had they known he fathered an illegitimate child.

We lived in the slums of the castle market in a small shack with just two rooms. Mother's health began deteriorating when I was about 5. We were very poor and could barely afford to keep food on the table, let alone go to the doctor. But my mother had a strong spirit and was able to find little jobs here and there. Sometimes when we had gone days without food, I would resort to stealing from vendors in the Market. Mother was always furious whenever I stole food, but then she would later thank me with tears in her eyes.
"Kai, my little love," she would say "you are a true blessing."

The more her health declined, the more responsibility I felt towards her. I realized that she depended on me as much as I depended on her, so I at the age of 9 I had become an excellent thief. Baron was the owner of the Bazaar weapons shop in the main square. He was a large, frightening looking man but he had a kind heart. One day he had caught me trying to steal a sword from his shop, but knew of my situation and let me go. The following day my mother dragged me back to the shop by the ear, demanding that I apologize to him.
"No need for that madam" he said gruffly. "I'll tell you what, the kid can make it up to me by becoming my apprentice. I'll even pay her if she does a good job!"

When I thought he wasn't looking, I would often play with the sword that I had attempted to steal from Baron. It was a long, heavy blade that was much too big for me at the time, but I still admired it. It had a worn, black hilt encrusted with an emerald at the end. I would swing it around back behind the shop, using old broken barrels as targets. Turns out that Baron would watch me every time I snuck away, and so he suggested that he teach me how to properly wield the weapon.
"Not this one though. It is much too big for you. Try this one instead." He gingerly placed the sword back in its display and in exchange, gave me one that was more appropriately sized for my age. On slow days Baron would teach me how to spar. Every so often he took me with him to Kakariko village and Lon Lon Ranch to make special deliveries and to restock inventory. On the way he would tell me stories about his travels and encourage me to map out Hyrule Field to save for future adventures.
"You never know where life will take you," he advised "it's better you prepare yourself for whatever the fates throw at you." Baron was an excellent teacher, both in the ways of the sword and in the random adventuring techniques he would teach me during our travels. Overcome with curiosity, I asked him why he used to travel so much.
"Back in my youth, I was a well known adventurer." He admitted with a proud grin. "I sometimes took missions from the Knights of Hyrule Castle themselves! You have a lot of potential kid. I didn't take you in as my apprentice for nothing!"

When I wasn't working, I spent every minute with my mother. I could see her health growing worse every day and I often worried about her. But like I said, Mother was a strong spirit and did her best not to show any signs of weakness. She would try to divert my worries by telling me that I was lucky to have been blessed with my father's good health, deep blue eyes and long Hylian ears. She adored my dark, long locks and insisted on braiding my hair before work. But I knew that when she looked at me, she saw my father staring back at her and it broke her heart. So I grew to hate these things about myself. I wanted nothing to do with the bastard and wished that I looked nothing like him. I would never understand my mother's infatuation with my father. I could tell that she still loved him despite that fact that he had abandoned us. I, on the other hand, would never forgive him for breaking my mother's heart and throwing us into poverty.

One night after closing up shop, Baron told me to grab my sword and follow him, he had a special training session for me. We made our way to the front gate and after slipping the guard a few rupees, Baron led me through a side gate and into Hyrule Field. The field was illuminated in the pale moonlight shining above us as we made our way towards the right end of the moat. Just as I opened my mouth to ask Baron where we were going, a hand shot up from the ground, grabbing me by the ankle and pulling me down. Another hand shot up and slowly a skeleton started clawing its way out of the earth. Naturally, I started screaming and ran in the opposite direction, but Baron caught me by the wrist and spun me around.
"This is what we've come here for!" He shouted excitedly. "Draw your weapon! Use my lessons to show the beast the warrior you have become!" He shoved me towards the Stalchild, and as I took another step towards it, another began clawing it's way out of the soil. And then another, and then two more. Soon I was outnumbered 4 to 1, and fear began washing over me.
"There's too many!" I cried as I ran back to Baron's side. "They're going to kill me! Promise that you won't let them hurt me Baron!" He crouched down to my level.
"Kid, I can't promise you that. Not one person in this world can protect you from feeling pain, not even you're own mother. In order to succeed in battle you must have two things: wisdom, to exploit your enemy's weakness and courage, to take action. I can promise you this, you will live to see the morning sun. Just listen to my instructions and you will succeed." Baron kept his promise that night. He patiently instructed me in the art of battle, and man did I get screwed up.

Baron returned me home late that night, only walking me to my door, fearing my mother's wrath. I opened the door to see a man dressed in armor, sitting at the table with my mother. Horror immediately spread across her face when she saw the state I was in. Baron's words proved wise, I had taken many blows in my battle, but I was ecstatic about the outcome. As I told her about my victory, she cursed Baron while tending to my wounds. Then she focused her anger towards me and began scolding me because I returned so late. But her words fell silent as I realized who the mystery man was. At his waist was a long red sheath containing a sword whose hilt was encrusted with precious gems. His golden blond hair was brushed down neatly behind his long Hylian ears. When our eyes met, the realization suddenly washed over me; he was my father. It was undeniable, when I looked into his eyes I had seen my own eyes looking back at me. "This her, isn't it?" He asked, as if I couldn't hear him. His dialect made it obvious that he was from a family of the upper class. He cautiously walked over to me and knelt down, his piercing blue eyes staring into mine as he grabbed my hands.
"Kai," he said gently. "Its me, your father. I've come to bring you home with me. You'll have a much better life there, the life I should have given you a long time ago." I violently tore my hands out of his grasp and pushed him away.
"You are no father of mine." I said defiantly, my voice shaking with the anger I had been repressing towards him for all of these years. "My father abandoned me and my mom when I was just an infant. There's no way I'm going anywhere with you! I'll never acknowledge you as my father! I have no father! " Tears blurred my vision as I ran past him to my mother's side. Why did he all of the sudden care about my well being? Where was he when Mother was so sick and bed ridden that she and I had to go days without food? And how in Din's name could he think that I would abandon my own mother in the health that she was in?! Didn't he care about her well being at all?
"Get out." my mother snarled, anger rising in her throat. "I won't let you take her from me! She's MY daughter, understand? You gave up your rights as a father when you left us! Now get out of our life!"

By her reaction, it seemed that my father hadn't revealed his true intentions to her before he spoke to me. I watched as she shoved him towards the door, crying and cursing him for trying to take away her only meaning in life. A large, armor clad woman with short white hair entered the room, grabbing my father by the shoulder.

"Enough of this sir," she pleaded. "You have caused enough sorrow, please just leave them be." Her gaze lingered on me for a few seconds before leading my father out the door.