Who am I? I was given the name Maven at birth, but that's not important to me. I have walked these rocky lands for a little over 18 years. Kakariko Village is the only place I've ever known. The only place that I can call home. But still, these things are unimportant to me too.

What am I? That has always been a mystery to me and to everyone else too. You see, every single person has something special—something that is dear to them and sets them apart from all the others. Except one: me.

I've never had a gift like everyone else. Some of the women in the village are talented weavers or caretakers. Some of the men are strong warriors or cattle herders. Unlike them, I can't weave a basket or take care of a child if my life depended on it. I guess you could say that my extraordinary ability is being absolutely ordinary. And the sad part is that all the villagers pity me for it. I can see by the stares that they give me that they look down upon me like I'm a dying infant. I hate being looked at that way.

So, every morning, I run up to Death Mountain and visit the Gorons to escape from the villagers. They seem to be the only creatures to understand me. Since I have no specialty, I don't work. I just spend the majority of the day talking with them and watching them wrestle. Their people are quite the lively type. I really do enjoy their company. And although I'm constantly feeling useless, I wouldn't trade my life for anything. Where there's a lack of uniqueness in me, I have something even better.

Freedom.

I have freedom. Something like that is too valuable to give up. It's more valuable than any amount of rupees. Without freedom, my life would have no definition. I can do whatever I please whenever I want. I have no obligations or duties to worry about. Just days full of laughter and good times. So as I sit here, chatting with the Gorons, I remember how wonderful my life is, and how thankful I am to be me.

"Maven."

I shake my head, sending my thoughts drifting into the distant parts of my mind. "Yeah?"

"Did you see that?"

Tengoro was leaning back on his elbows and gave me a wide grin. I guess I wasn't paying attention. Passed him, in the middle of the room, were too Gorons going head-to-head in a wrestling match. Returning my gaze to him, I replied, "No."

He sighed. "Oh come on! That was a perfect hit!" His hearty laugh filled the room and he shook with mirth. But upon seeing my blank expression, he started to quiet down. "Now don't tell me you're starting to think about it again."

"What I'm thinking isn't your concern," I snapped. Realizing what I had said, I softened my gaze and retried my approach. "Sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I'm glad you care about me. It's just that…"

"Just what?" Tengoro sat up and examined me carefully.

I couldn't hold his gaze for long. Instead, I focused an uneven rupture in the dirt floor. "Nevermind. It wasn't important anyways."

"You're wrong. It is important." He tapped a thick, rocky finger to his temple. "I know these things."

"Fine, fine. I've been caught red-handed," I surrendered.

He just gave me a look of exasperation. I knew exactly what he was thinking. When he recited the same words he always told me, I could almost repeat them in my head perfectly.

"Out there, beyond this mountain and Kakariko village, you know what can happen. There are dark creatures lurking in every corner, just ready to obliterate anything in their way. I couldn't stand seeing you hurt, and I know that if you leave here, you won't have a very big chance of returning. There's no way that you can hold your own against one of them." He finished with a hard punch to the ground. There was no denying it: he was serious.

I balled up my fists and slammed them into the ground beside Tengoro, swallowing the pain as they hit the rocks. Dirt flew up in little clouds at the impact. "That doesn't matter! What if I want to see what's beyond the gates? To see Hyrule Castle up close rather than from the top of this mountain. To talk to people who might understand me!"

"We understand you," he said motioning to all the other Gorons, who were now looking in our direction.

"But I want more than this. I want to see Hyrule, every corner of it."

I stood up and started to leave, only to be stopped by a large hand. Trying to pry him off was useless. He was much too strong. Most Gorons often were. So I just ceased my struggling and returned to a sitting position.

"This won't turn out the way you think it will," he warned.

"But what if it does? What if I find my gift? My talent! Then I can finally realize why I was born!" I objected.

"You were born for a great reason. You're a wonderful person, no matter whether you have a specialty or not."

"Having a specialty is the sole purpose of our lives. I have nothing, and therefore, no purpose," I said, continuing to argue. I gathered the hem of my orange tunic in my fists like I always did when I was frustrated.

Tengoro rubbed my head. "Haven't you said that you value yourself?"

"I do! But I'm not enough!"

"Oh, don't be so hard on yourself, little one. You're just fine. Now come on, let's watch the fight. It's a good one, and I don't want to miss it!" he replied cheerfully.

"Not right now," I muttered.

"Listen, Maven." He gave me a sad smile. "I know that I can't stop you from leaving, but don't ignore my advice. Remember that what I say is true. There is evil out there that you can't even imagine. Evil that only few can defeat," he told me.

Evil that only few can defeat.

I knew, of course, who he was talking about. The chosen one, Link, had come here to rescue his fellow villagers from the Ordona Province. He had rid our village of the shadow beasts and defeated the infectious monster that had possessed the Goron's leader, Darbus. I had personally witnessed him save our village. In fact, one of the villagers and a close friend to my father, Renado, had even taken care of the Ordon children that our hero had so desperately sought. But it wasn't likely he would be coming back again.

"I know you mean well—believe me I do—, but I'm tired of being frowned upon for something that I can't control. The only way I can live on is if I grow and change. That isn't going to happen if I stay cooped up here," I finally said. Resting a comforting hand on his shoulder, I continued with a smile. "Don't worry, I'll come to visit you plenty of times. That's a promise. If there's anything I'm good at, it's keeping promises." Then without another word, I stood and headed for the door.

Proceeding out the door gave me a weird feeling. For the first time, I wasn't leaving with a plan to come back tomorrow. This was the last time I'd see my dear friends in quite a while. But I had been dreaming of this all my life, and I couldn't give it up for just a few people. I had to do this. So I stepped through the threshold and out into cool mountain air.

—

The faint sounds of laughing children emanated from outside. I tried to block them out and laid back in my rocking chair. I tried to fall asleep, but my body wouldn't let me. As hard as I fought for the constant desire to sleep, I just couldn't win. To pass the time, I sat up and watched the children play outside, while I fidgeted with my beaded necklace and bracelets. But I'm not the patient type. Soon, I got up and headed outside to walk around the village. Maybe I could stop by the general store.

The moment I stepped outside, the bright sun filled my vision, and I rubbed my eyes. As soon as they adjusted, I looked around to see the village I was so familiar with. The children ran down the street fighting with sticks and anything they could find. All the way down to the left was the sacred spring where the light spirit, Eldin, resided. In the other direction were the shops and the path to Death Mountain. As I stared off into the distance, I was knocked to the ground by a hard force.

"Hey, Maven! Watch it!" a tiny, high-pitched voice cried above me.

Rubbing my forehead, I looked up to see a cluster of kids surrounding me, the one who spoke before in the front. He stared me down angrily, and the others followed by giving me an annoyed glare as I pulled myself to my feet, brushing the dirt off my already brown pants.

"I could say the same for you. You kids shouldn't be running around in the street," I retorted.

"You—" the boy started.

"Quit it, Barris! She's the odd one, remember?" the girl beside him murmured.

"That doesn't make no difference!" he snapped.

"Sure it does. Give her a break, alright. After all she's a bit…" The girl pointed her finger to her head and swirled it around in a couple small circles. The other kids giggled and ran off, continuing their game as they went.

"I'm not crazy!" I shouted after them, shaking a fist in the air.

They just ignored me and laughed even harder. It was no use chasing after them. What could I possibly get from scolding a few children? It's not like they would listen to me anyways. I headed down to the street in the opposite direction, towards the general store. I hurried up the steps to the shop and entered. Inside, there was a nice fire lit in the corner and a woman sat behind the counter. Beyond her were shelves filled with all sorts of items. As I approached her, she looked up from whatever she was doing and smiled.

"Oh, Maven! How nice it is to see you! What do you need?"

I browsed the shelf behind her and noticed a bottle filled with a crimson liquid. I recognized them as potions. Those were always helpful to travelers who stopped by, but never me. But who knew? Maybe I would need it now. I am planning to leave the village today. Something like that might come in handy.

"What's that potion called?" I asked, pointing towards the bottle.

The woman raised her eyebrows. "That? That's a health potion. It's very useful when you're injured and quite far from a place to properly heal. But I must ask, why would you need something like that?"

"Oh, I just thought it might be useful," I told her, skipping the part about leaving. I didn't like to lie, but then again, it wasn't exactly a lie. I truly did believe I would need it, if Tengoro's stories were as true as he made them to be.

Her suspicious gaze didn't leave my face, but she reluctantly turned to take the potion off the shelf. Setting it down the counter, she said, "It costs 60 rupees." She raised her eyebrows even higher, to the point that I thought it was almost impossible. "Think a girl like you can afford that?"

I withdrew a small wallet from my pocket and reached inside. As I pulled my hand out with a purple rupee and a yellow one, her eyes widened in shock. Quickly, she snatched the money from my hand and examined them to see if they were authentic.

"Where did you get these rupees? I thought you didn't work?" she breathlessly asked me.

"I get my share." She didn't have to know all the details. It wasn't that complicated, actually. I just happen to be pretty lucky when it comes to betting which Goron would win a wrestling match.

No more words were exchanged between us, so I happily stashed the bottle and my wallet in my pockets and left. Down the road, I could see the gate that lead to the lands beyond. Surveying the area around me, it appeared that no one was watching, so I casually—but quickly—walked over to the gate. It was an intimidating mess of metal bars that loomed over me. Where the two sides of gate met hung a massive lock. There was no breaking through that thing. I would need a key if I ever wanted to leave this place.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing? Only soldiers are allowed to leave!"

I spun around and searched frantically for the place the voice was coming from.

"Up here, idiot!" the voice shouted.

Looking up, I could barely make out the shape of a man on top of the watchtower. That's right! I had completely forgotten the watchtower. It was impossible to escape with that cursed man watching everything from above!

"Yeah, that's right! Now I know you wanna go sightseeing or whatever, but I don't want you running home crying to your mama because you saw a scary monster. That ain't my problem. But guess who has to suffer for your mistake? Me! Yup, I have to beg forgiveness from your family for letting you through that gate. It ain't fun! So don't think you're gonna get passed there," he cried.

He clearly wasn't the friendly type. I had seen him a many times passing by—after all, our village isn't that big—, but he had always seemed like a nice person. So seeing him like this didn't seem right.

Knowing that his gift was incredible hearing and vision, I called up to him, "My apologies, I didn't realize what I was doing!" I tried to seem as nice as possible to avoid provoking him.

"Yeah, yeah..." The rest was inaudible. He just walked off, out of sight from anyone below.

As soon as he was gone, I cursed silently to myself. I was so close! The only thing stopping me was that man and these damned bars! But I wouldn't be able to get through without a key. What's worse, I had no idea where something like that could be. I tried to think of any possible candidates that could hold the key.

The kids? No. Who would trust a group of rowdy kids to keep a key? They would lose it too easily.

What about the general store? It wasn't completely impossible, but I doubted that she'd have it. Her store wasn't anywhere near either one of the gates.

The watchman? I pondered what he had said for a moment.

I have to beg forgiveness from your family for letting you through that gate.

He clearly said that he was able to let people though the gate! He probably has the key! But there was no way to get it at the moment. Not while he was awake. Nightfall would have to come first. That way, I could take the key and escape without him knowing. With a plan in my mind, all I had to do now was wait.