Chapter Nine
“A Chance Encounter”


The wind picked up again. It seemed unusually windy for the past few days. No one questioned it, though, since it was still fall, so seeing leaves blown around wasn’t anything strange.

The sounds of piano echoed throughout the house. It was late in the day; the sun was hovering inches above the horizon, throwing off a haze of orange and light yellow.

Sitting in front of the piano alone, Sakura played. She was a prodigy in music. Her most well known nickname was ‘Melody’. She had only played the piano for four weeks before she had mastered it. The piano, along with her other instruments, were scattered in her room. The room was also her brother’s, the house was small, and so they had to share the room.

Violin cases, music sheets, guitars and other instruments collected dust...all except for the piano. She fell in love with the piano, since it took her the longest to learn. A sad melody flowed from the piano as Sakura glanced out the window, still playing without having to think about it.

The other members of her family had left her alone in the house. It wasn’t because she wasn’t allowed to go; it was because she decided not to.

Around her left hand, a thin piece of cloth was wrapped around it. This was the reason she wanted to be alone. Something had appeared on her hand, and she dared not tell anyone.

Ken sat alone in the corner of the room. His family had gone to visit a friend’s house. There was no one else even close to his age. He was more worried than bored. His sister had refused to come along, he wondered why. He had noticed the cloth around her hand. Had she hurt herself?

He glanced back at the grown ups talking around the table. Trent was standing there with them with a drink in his hands, smiling, but from looking at his eyes, you could tell his mind was elsewhere.

Ken got tired of this and headed towards the table. He walked up to his mother, Karen, and said, “I’m gonna go outside, ok?”

Karen looked at him and asked, “Is something wrong?”

Ken shook his head, “No, I just want to go outside.”

Karen nods at her ten year old son, “Alright...but don’t stray too far.” Ken nods and heads out the door.

Trent glanced at Ken out of the corner of his eye; he whispered very quietly to himself. “...They’ve gotten so serious lately. What’s the matter with those two?”

Ken wandered around the streets with his head down and his hands in his pockets. He passed by a flower shop, it was very small and simple looking. It was just a wooden counter with the words ‘Farore’s Flowers’ painted on the front.

No one was at the counter. The owner must’ve gone out somewhere.

Ken didn’t notice this, however. He trudged onward, deep in thought, not knowing where he was going. He turned the corner and bumped into someone, knocking the both of them down.

Ken sat up as the person he bumped into pulled him up. The person was a girl, she had black hair and brown eyes. Around her neck was a blue stone with magical looking letters engraved into it.

She stood out with the way she dressed; she wore a black cloak with a strange insignia of a rising phoenix stitched into it. She wore a witch’s hat and had a staff strapped to her back. The staff had a moon icon on the top. She was fifteen years old.

She spoke, “Oh, uhm...I’m sorry! I didn’t see you there!” she brushed Ken off as best she could.

Ken looked confused and shook his head, “No, it was me...sorry.”

She looked at him and let out a sigh of relief, “Oh, ok. That was close; I thought it was MY fault.”

There was a small group of people headed towards them. They looked like bandits.

She quickly grabbed Ken’s hand and ran off with him, dragging him along.

Ken, confused, just ran and shouted, “What are you doing?!”

She gestures over her shoulder and the people behind them with a nod of her head “See those people? They’re bad.”

The group behind them ran. Ken, deciding the trust himself to the girl than to the big scary mob behind them, sped up.

They ran into an alley, Ken shouted, “We shouldn’t have gone through here!”

She blinked and looked at him as they ran, “Why?”

They ran into a dead end, “That’s why...” he said. The girl, out of breath, turns as the group enters the alley. She mutters, “Not good.”

Ken looks at the mob. The leader, a man with an eye patch over his left eye, spoke, “There’s nowhere for you to go, girl!” She sighed, “Oh, great, I’m trapped with the wannabe pirates.”

The leader blinked and shouted angrily, “Shut up!” he walked up to the both of them and grabbed Ken, yanking him away. He turns and shoves Ken into his followers. They grab Ken and one of them places a knife against his neck.

“You have a bad reputation of getting away,” the leader spoke, “but now we have a way to stop that. Come with us...” he gestures at Ken, “or the kid dies.”

The girl, seeing Ken’s scared face, sighs. She offers up her hands to be cuffed, she kept her head down.

The leader smiled. Brandishing his cuffs, he walked over to her. Before he managed to get the cuffs on, there was a sound behind them. The girl and the leader looked up towards the sound.

Ken side kicked a second man in the jaw, sending him sprawling. These guys were pushovers.

A third man grabbed for Ken’s sleeve. Ken turns and kicks him hard in the crotch. The man yelps and holds himself, falling to his knees, hunched over.

The leader was shocked; a ten year old was single handedly taking on his men...and winning!

He turned and saw nothing but staff as the girl whacked him over the head with her staff, knocking him off his feet and sending him sailing into his remaining groupies.

She grabs Ken’s hand and drags him back, away from the others. She spoke, “Good job, kid. You’re pretty courageous!” the leader sat up and pointed at them, “Dammit! No one makes fools of us! Kill them! Forget the bounty!”

They all drew their swords.

The girl spoke, “Time to get out of here!” she closed her eyes as the men charged both of them. There was a green flash as forest leaves blew in, knocking the men back. Ken and the girl disappeared without a trace. Leaves slowly fluttered down.

“You were pretty brave back there.” The girl was saying. They were sitting on the roof of a tavern. Ken smiles, “Thanks.”

The girl looks at him more carefully and says, “My names Vale.”

Ken nodded, “Ken.”

Vale nodded, “Yeah. You saved my butt back there, kid.”

Ken looked at her, “You’re the one who teleported us.” He thought for a moment, “Why didn’t you do that earlier?”

Vale looked at the kid in front of her and sighs, wearing an embarrassed expression, “Well...I haven’t gotten the hang of teleporting yet. That’s why we’re on the roof.”

Ken blinked, “Wait...you mean you didn’t take us to the roof because it was safe and out of the way?”

Vale smiled nervously, “Well, it beats being stranded on Death Mountain or something.”

He looked curious, “Death Mountain? Where’s that?”

Vale smiled, realizing that she was very far from Hyrule, “Oh, it’s a mountain near Hyrule. It’s really high and is also a volcano.”

Ken asked, interested in where she came from, “Hyrule? Where’s that?”

Vale smiled, looking off into the horizon, it was dark, “Well, its very far to the west of here. My mother grew up there. She was a really important person.”

Ken inquired, “What did she do?”

Vale smiled proudly, “She was the Sage of Forest.”

Ken had no idea what the sages were, but he looked interested, he asked, “What about your dad?”

Vale looked down for a moment, “My mother never really talks about him. I don’t know how he looks like, what he did or even if he’s still alive. All I know is that his name was Kerst. She doesn’t like talking about it, so no one asks anymore.”

She thought for a moment and looked at Ken, “You know, for a kid, you’re really good at conversations.”

Ken shrugged and smiled, “I guess.” He leans back, looking up at the sky, “What are you doing so far from Hyrule anyways?”

Vale leans back as well, looking up at the stars, “I’m just wandering around, letting my feelings guide me. I don’t really know, ya know?” she sighs, “Maybe I’m looking for something important, maybe I’m looking for nothing at all.”

She glances at Ken, “Its confusing isn’t it?”

Ken nods, “Yeah.”

She laughs quietly to herself, “That’s because I’m a confusing person. I even sometimes confuse myself.” She drifts deep into thoughts, “My mother...I wonder if she’s worried about me. I’ve been gone for so long.”

Ken’s eyes widened as he remembers something, “My mom! I’m late!”

Vale looked at him, “Oh, I’m so sorry! Don’t worry...I’ll just teleport us to your house!” Ken raised a brow, “You know where it is?”

Vale’s expression faded into embarrassment, “Uhm...no.”

Fifteen minutes later, they were in front of Ken’s house, there was a light on. They saw movement inside.

“Well,” Vale said, “I guess they’re home.”

Ken nodded slowly, “I’m going to be in so much trouble.”

Vale sighed sadly, “I’m sorry.”

Ken looked at her reassuringly, “It’s ok, don’t worry about it.” Vale smiled softly “Alright...”

They stood there in silence.

Ken spoke up, “I should get going...”

Vale nodded, “Alright. It was nice chatting with you. Hope I’ll see you around.”

Ken nodded as he headed to the house. They waved and parted, thinking they would never meet again.