Cyrus and Alcyone.

The area was loud, bustling with activity. The clouds moving slowly overhead blanketing a fraction of the bright sun, shining only some of its edges down on the land below, the sky was giving off a blue color with parts of it, of course, covered by the white formless appearances of many, uncountable clouds. Near the center of the large field of endless green were the ranch, belonging to a farming family which took care of animals of all kinds of species, including horses and cows. Leading around was a dust trail made by human hands, cleaving through the green in a strange manner but treated as the main road for carriages, traveling merchants, and the running mailman performing his daily tasks. A few trees were spread out nearest the places of the forest, containing a small village of youngsters with no sign of adults or elders. The village was protected by these trees from evil, or so they would consider themselves safe for a time. The death and rebirth of one significant tree symbolized the fall and rise of the forest, of course things were not the same. Yet, none argued with it, and would continue with their daily lives of survival. Any outsider would take pity on them, not understanding just how safe they really were in their forest. The point of interest of course was the castle town located somewhat near the edge of the plain. It was close to the desert, which hospitalized a group of pirates calling themselves the Gerudos, but the fortress walls of the castle town were nearly indestructible, and were heavily guarded. The Gerudos had no chance of invasion.

The castle town streets were bustling with the daily activities of people, with many tasks to perform, perhaps seeking entertainment or a job to perform. There was a slim brunette that walked into a shop meant for haircuts, the activity in there being busy with many long-haired people going inside, short-haired others walking out of the shop. At the expense of cash one would have their hair shortened, something which was rather common amongst the humans. Hylians were also visiting the town square, mostly youngsters small enough to be at the age of ten or possibly lower, walking around or possibly running, playing tag, hiding as a sort of game, or doing some other kind of sport. Some dogs followed them around, nipping at their heels and yelping along, trying to keep up with the children playing tag. It sure seemed like a fun sight to see.

But one such individual was only leaning against a wall, deciding not to partake in these activities and sticking to a book, which he held in both hands. Flipping those pages and focusing on the words written in tiny letters, driven by a desire to finish the book before the day's end as he witnessed the dramatic storyline of the book. Imagining the scenes of which he had been reading in his mind, drowning out all of his surroundings and delving him into that world which he would only experience through his pure imagination. He saw images of white fields of flowers growing from the green of the earth, a single tree located in the center of the large open field, the image of himself staring through an invisible form as he saw two individuals, those of which were from his story, one young male and female possibly about the age of their late teens. Giving each other a hug with blue eyes sparkling against the rays of sunshine beating down gently upon their small forms, assuming an image of a romantic plot. A cliche, he knew this, but it wasn't that bad of one either. He at least wished he had the same opportunity as these two fictitious characters, but he knew that would mean a miracle. Besides, he didn't know of any fields of white around where he lived, and he had been to a lot of places in his lifetime.

Closing his eyes, the sound of a clap enveloping his ears as his whole world collapsed back into reality, reopening his eyes to notice his book closed between his hands. He took a moment to look at what was reality for a moment before disembarking his post, tucking his novel into a large black pouch containing smaller novels one would fit just inside the palm of their hands. This book was rather large but was just able to make a perfect fit inside, to no surprise of his. This wasn't his whole book collection, he had much more back at his home. He actually had his own private library of endless novels, of all genres and sizes, some small books such as the ones he was carrying around, others being large enough to take up a relatively big portion of the bookcases in which he came to be so proud of.

A sling located at two opposite sides of the pouch gave it a horizontal appearance as he threw the sling around his shoulders after picking it up off of the cobblestone ground. Now as it was over his shoulder, the bag was located to his right hip with the digits of his right hand gripping under the bag for additional support. It was breakable, and the strap itself wasn't that strong, not to mention these books took up quite a lot of space and were not the lightest thing he had ever lifted.

Looking to his right through dark colored irises he witnessed the foundations of the castle, housing the Princess Zelda herself and all of her subordinates. Some secretive ones mentioned within his tales left him questioned on Zelda's motives, but not so in an evil way. It left him merely curious about why she would protect a land of people, some of which did nothing to acknowledge her in any way. Would she not desire some form of fame or repetition of praise because of her actions, or were she so empathetic that these trivial ideals meant little more than an unnecessary evil to her?

The hood of his clothing behind his shoulders revealed his bright colored hair, almost appearing white in an illusion of the sun. In the dark it was naturally blonde colored. The heels of his shoes clicked against the ground as he began walking towards the center of the town. Meant for a meeting between himself and a person he had met exactly eight years ago, now himself at the age of eighteen, he simply had to stand and wait for her. She did not live there, he was merely early because he himself lived in one of those nearby houses. Looking ahead he could see the dimmed lights of his home, yellow on the inside revealing its contents of furniture and marvelous decoration. Smiling, he sat down on the edge of a series of bricks bordering a small slightly above-ground flower garden. Putting his hands over the pouch to his right, he was meant to wait and have her receive his gift, her favorite novel which he knew she had never read herself.

After waiting for maybe a few minutes or so, it wasn't long before he heard footsteps coming from directly to his left. He looked up to see the person he was waiting for standing right in front of him, smiling down at him. He couldn't help but become flustered as to what he should say, of course he waited for her to speak first before he would decide to answer. She greeted him with that nickname again, the one he wasn't going to openly admit he was embarrassed about, not that he had to. His hand gripped the tip of his hood and pulled it down to hide his already flustered expression, now left at a complete loss for words more so than before. He scanned through his vocabulary looking for an appropriate answer, all the while feeling he was taking too much time in order to answer as quickly as possible. He didn't want her to feel ignored. Relaxing his posture and looking back up at her, his pale face still red and turning brighter, he spoke to her in a soft voice.

"Hello, Alcyone~"

Blinking for a moment he realized he couldn't see much past the shadow of his hood, yet felt the need to wear it nonetheless. Though he did want to see her face fully for himself, slowly his lowered hand made its way to the top of the hood and began to pull it back, revealing soft features of a pale face with unkempt blonde hair. It wasn't so much that he wanted to hide his pointed ears but rather his hair. He didn't quite like the way it was colored, despite it being common among other Hylians. It would be more odd if his hair was dark. He just didn't like it much, but probably wouldn't change it if he was given the chance. Finally, he slipped it back, his whole face showing but now too nervous to look up. He dropped his gaze to the ground when he suddenly remembered what he called her for. He jumped up and reached into his pouch after opening it, quickly pulling out a book. Looking at the cover and concluding this was the correct one, he held it out to the girl while looking forward this time, trying not to seem disrespectful all the while. It wasn't easy considering how nervous he was. He wasn't too sure what he was worried about. Maybe she wouldn't take it? Or maybe she wouldn't like it? Why didn't he think about this before? The book lowered slightly as he drifted off into thought, looking back down at the book he didn't think it was too interesting a read when by yourself. He spoke in a shaking voice filled with anxiety.


"I-I got this for you."

Suddenly he felt a soft tug at his pant leg. Looking down to his left he noticed a small Hylian wearing some damaged clothes, brown pants with patches about the knees and a dirty white shirt, with a dark jacket seeming too big for his small shoulders, as it came down past his knees. His hair was white, and his skin was yellow rather than pale. His expression was sad while he looked at Cyrus, his hands down to his side. Cyrus heard the little child's stomach growl, making him think that the kid wanted something to eat. Yet, the only problem was..... Cyrus was out of money, excluding barely enough rupees to play an archery game, an old hobby of his. He loved using the bow, and he was no push-over at it either.

Cyrus set the book down next to him in the original spot which he was sitting in and knelt down to be eye level with the child. Giving him a nod, he at least knew what he could do with what little rupees he had. Prize money was available if he were to win an archery target match. And even now, his win record towered over his loss record, he must have never lost at all without having been given another chance because of the rules. If you get the same amount of rupees as you put in, you get one more chance to hit the targets. But, he doesn't often miss, he usually hits his targets. And would walk out with a good fifty extra rupees which he chose to spend on books. At least this time he had a goal, a twinge of nervousness picked at him knowing what would happen if he lost. He stood up and looked at Alcyone one more time.

"I have an idea...."

Cyrus Winter had made up his mind as he was set on a bet. It was quite possibly the most ridiculous plan he had come up with, but he was at least willing to give it a shot. He certainly did not feel the need to ignore somebody that asked for his help, needless of the words he had not spoken. Cyrus gripped the small amount of rupees held in a bag tightly within his right hand after pulling it out of the larger bag of books to his right, digits fastening around it. He heard the small noise of the rupees moving against each other within his hand, looking at them and moving his fingers around causing them to make the noise further. He threw the small bag up and caught it in the same hand, slipping it back into the larger sack just a fraction of a moment later. Blue hues flickered over to the shop necessary to carry out his "plan" as he called it. He couldn't help but wonder if his companion Alcyone knew about this hobby of his. If she didn't, she would find out soon. After all, it was the lonesome combat capability he was able to perform, there was nothing else. And he had never shot at anything else other than targets at the shooting gallery.

Those dark blue optics flickered over to Alcyone and for once, he smiled. It was a kind smile as his eyes fell into horizontal slits of their former shapes. As if to communicate without words, so to speak. He wondered if she would understand, as he took his first step to the shooting gallery only a few movements ahead. His shoes clicked softly with a quiet echo against the cobblestone street, closely falling in behind was the small child, dogging his heels, all the while his smile never fading, kindness blanketing his expression of nervousness. Never once before in his life betting on the life of another, he could take even the slightest bit of relief that at least, he would be able to obtain a small amount of money from his brother. Adopted into a family of humans at the young age of two had some perks as their allowances were far beyond being rich, yet left him with little more than a scrap of those glimmering crystals used as currency within Hyrule and elsewhere. His brother obtaining most of the currency found it hard to believe his own parents would adopt a child only to not support him to their fullest extent.

Well, money was a cruel thing to Cyrus, but in the very least his brother was not. Kain was his brother's name, the one Human to treat Cyrus with respect to this day. Others ignored him, which wasn't so bad. It left Cyrus to his books at least, no disturbances around to bother him. He found it easy to thrive in a world of imagination, as it was a haven to him more than his home. It was not that these were his escape, he thoroughly enjoyed reading material he had never read before. Nevertheless, the book he had neglected himself from reading was given to Alcyone, in the hopes that he would read it with her and introduce her to his imaginary world.

But for now what lay ahead was the shooting gallery, the large building with welcoming doors and an open sign hinting at Cyrus' plan. He was afraid for a bit that Alcyone would disapprove, but that depended on if she knew about this skill of his or not. If she knew about it, well that would be nice. If she didn't, he would show her his skill, and maybe bring a smile onto her face as well. The possibilities of winning easily outweighed what would happen if he were to lose, relief crossing his thoughtful nature knowing well that at least if his brother Kain were here and about, he would tell Cyrus to go for it and maybe give him a pat on the back for good luck. Cheer him on, tell him good job when Cyrus did something good, that was the kind of brother Kain was. A storybook presentation of what a family member should be, not the example of what his parents were. What good were parents for if they were never around?

However it was not a part of Cyrus' nature to hate them, or hate anything at all. In fact, he never hated a single thing in his life. Looking back over his shoulder, finally speaking after a long absence of words he directed his voice to his companion Alcyone. He had now put his hand on the double-doors leading to the inside of the gallery, ready to head on inside as soon as Alcyone would give her opinion, the other child putting his hand on the other door in a mirror expression of Cyrus. It seemed Cyrus had acquired a new friend.

"Alcyone, please follow me. This is the idea.... I'm sorry if it's a little weird, but.... I don't know any other way...... Is this good?"

Hearing those encouraging words almost brought a smile to his face if it weren't for the fact that he was too occupied on thinking of his failure. If he did, he wouldn't just be letting himself down, it would be others. What if they hated him for it?.. No, that would be silly. He could, of course, just ask his brother Kain for money necessary to pay for some food, but to ask charity from one person only to give it away to somebody else seemed extremely rude to both him, and his brother. What he needed to do was earn it, and he was about to take the risk of putting it into a bet. Things would be so much simpler if he just had a job and could work for it. Maybe designing bows? Teaching others about how to use it?.. Then something crossed Cyrus' mind. He was confident about teaching people about how to use a bow since he didn't have any negative thoughts about it, well confident in terms of himself since he wasn't very well known for his self-esteem. Looking back at Alcyone only confirmed how much belief she had in him, which was a necessary drive to help him go along with his decision.

Without even having the bow in his hand, he heard the slow ticking of the countdown and felt an adrenaline rush course through his veins, something he hadn't felt in quite some time. Surely he realized real life felt more exciting than the best story, as he could write a book about how many things he could imagine but not a single page of what was held in his boring lifestyle? He knew it was always challenging to make a book based on actual facts, so he didn't think negatively about fabricated nonsense in any story. He simply regarded it as thinking creatively. Nevertheless, now the countdown reached its final count, and the sound of a whistle snapped him out of his trance. His eyes widened as he quickly turned around and reached out, picking up the large longbow with his right hand while reaching around to his left with his left hand, grabbing three arrow in between four fingers excluding the thumb.

It didn't take him very long to prepare the straight-forward stance of straightening his posture without bending back too far or bending forward too much, keeping his knees slightly bent and stopping his shoulder from tensing up to remove any chances of straying too far while firing, three rupees of different shades of blue shot up from three of the five holes in the center of the area of the shooting gallery where the games took place, of course gravity taking effect a moment later as they began to fall, threatening to slip back to the spot they had shot from. Knowing there were ten rupees in this round and Cyrus himself had twelve shots available, three shots would mean he would lose, and missing these three rupees would throw away his chance of ever having a second opportunity open up for him. He planted his right foot forward and tilted the bow in a horizontal fashion with the palm of his right hand facing towards the ground, gripping the three arrows in between the four fingers while placing them on the strings, the different colored tail of the three, being slightly different in length to help maintain their balance in flight, pointed towards the ground. Observing the distance between him and his three targets took less than half a second as he pulled back and let go almost instantly, quickly averting his eyes from the arrows as they flew from the bow while reaching forward to grab three more out of the sack to his left. Predictably, all three arrows managed to have the perfect aim for the center rupee, splitting it in half while using the momentum of the shot to propel it outward in opposite directions while the two outside arrows only skimmed slightly out of the center of the other two, pushing it towards the center, all becoming a chance reaction of events that ended with them shattering into countless pieces. By the time the shards hit the ground, Cyrus was already prepared with three more arrows ready to pull back but refraining from doing so until he saw what was coming.

Three more rupees, this time different shades of an emerald color, were sent scattering in random directions that all connected at the center, or were supposed to anyway. Cyrus dropped two of the arrows in his hand before pulling back the now only one he had while the other two hit the floor next to him. Shooting this one was much easier than the quick one he had almost missed the first time, letting go of the string after pulling it back some length the arrow met the center of the rupees, splitting them all in asymmetrical halves. In another moment, four rupees of purple, silver, gold, and red were sent across the stage due to the timer running short and for the sake of challenging somebody that was known to hit them if he were prepared. Cyrus dropped down to one knee to reduce time to pick up the two arrows he dropped without taking his eyes off of his targets and keeping his bow at the ready. One arrow held between the index and middle finger, the other one between the ring and middle finger. Finally he held his bow at a diagonal pose, unusual for something like him to do but necessary to hit the random targets. It took him a moment to prepare them into the string, pull it back and let go.

A moment later there came the crashing of four different colored targets all sending pieces scattering across the stage. Cyrus, not one to never know when a challenge is finished, put the bow back with a small smile on his face. He wasn't happy about his victory or about even completing a challenge meant to cause him to lose, but rather he was feeling happy about not letting anybody down. He slowly stood up and turned around, looking at Alcyone and the kid next to her with a small smile on his face. But then the adrenaline rush he had before wore off and he looked down with a nervous expression, walking over to Alcyone before speaking to her quietly once he reached her.

"So I was able to pull it off after all."

He didn't wait for an answer before turning to the door and walking towards it pushing them open as he completely forgot to claim his prize, the entire purpose of why he came here in the first place...