บท 8: Chapter Seven
Early the next morning, all the villagers gathered at the house of the village chief. Impa sat on the red cushion facing the villagers.
"I am sure that by now everyone is at least cursorily aware that we have a visitor here in our village. Those of you who know his... Unique features, may have already started to form ideas and assumptions on his personality and intent. I have called you all here today to announce my verdict on him."
There was silence among the villagers as Impa spoke, many had questions to ask her given what they had heard of their visitor. Some were even elders of the village older than Impa herself. However Impa was the Village Chief, not only because she was the last Sheikah to serve the royal family, but because she had proven her competency in leadership and decision making time and time again after the fall of Hyrule. She had also proven herself to be a person to avoid crossing at all costs, lest you wish to suffer her wrath and have to clean up after the horses for a week.
She was a just and wise leader, and had gained everyone's respect, the least they could do was trust her and let her speak without interruption, especially when many of them owed their lives to her decisions.
"Yes, our visitor, no the newest member of our village, has round ears. However, he does not hold any ill intent towards us. I used the techniques passed down by our ancestors when questioning him, and while he did not always speak the truth, he did not do so with the intent to harm us. Rather it seemed to be a means to protect himself, given that he was alone for so long and we are the first people he had made contact with, this is understandable, we Sheikah are no stranger to the necessitu of secrets." Said Impa, pausing slightly to let her words skink in before continuing.
"You are free to feel suspicious of him, but do not let superstitions cloud your judgement. Let his actions speak for his character more than his features. After all, we Sheikah know quite well what it is like to be judged based on one's appearance, do we not?"
"Should any of you feel the need for further clarification on my decision, simply think on this point. If he really were a demon without any issue with us, why would we provide him by barring him shelter? Why risk giving him a grudge to act upon. Just as there are stories of demons being malicious and causing problems for people, there are a few of individuals that went against the grain and were good and helped those that helped them in their time of need. If you have any further questions, speak them now or hold your peace." Said Impa her words stern at the end.
The villagers took a moment to process what she had said. Some contemplated asking further questions to the village chief, but in the end they thought the point she had made about not preemptively causing bad blood between them and their visitor, no, new neighbor, would be productive, it would be better to keep an eye on him and if he were to cause trouble to kick him out then. As she had said, they knew the pain of being judged from one's appearance, why not extend a compassionate hand towards another who suffered the same discrimination?
If their kind gesture was met with vicious claws, well, that is what their katanas were for.
---
Terrance woke up and got dressed once again, the innkeeper had supplied a set of clothes for him. Not wanting to seem ungrateful, Terrance had put them on. He want sure he had gotten the cloth belt or the leg wrappings right, so he went down to the innkeeper and asked them for assistance.
"Hello Ms..." Terrance glanced down at the wooden placard on the table, having forgotten the lady's name. " Haru, apologies, someone dropped these clothes off in my room, but I don't think I put them on correctly and don't want to potentially come across as rude or anything. Could you assist me in fixing it?"
Looking up the lady behind the counter said. "Ah Mr. Grayson, no problem I had to do this all the time for visiting merchants back when we had more frequent visitors." She got up and circled around Terrance.
"You did a pretty decent job given it is your first time tweaking this kind of clothing. Let's see, ah, I see the problem. These belts require a different kind of knot than the one you used to tie them." She untied the belt and readjusted it to fit on Terrance before tying it properly. She then moved on to Terrence's arm and leg wrappings, unwrapping some of them and wrapping them in the opposite direction before showing him how to tie them off.
Thanking her, Terrance walked out of the inn and into the village, he needed to talk with Impa again, and tell her what he could do to help the village. He wasn't expected to live in the village for free, and he didn't expect to either. He could offer to be a farmhand, or help fix things around the village. His time on earth after the war had helped him learn a variety of useful maintenance skills. He could do basic carpentry, electrician work, and plumbing. Although the last two seemed useless in the current village.
Over 10 thousand years, and nobody thought of making a modern toilet. Or at least thought that of the thousands of things to pass down to the next generation, knowledge of general plumbing should be one of them. At least the Garudo have an aquaduct system so not all hope is lost. Thought Terrance as he looked at the public outhouses. He remembered that in Skyward Sword, the knight academy had functioning toilets and even baths. Why did technology progress for moving laser turrets at the expense of hygiene?
As Terrance moved on, walking towards's Impa's house, he noticed the villagers were watching him, some were better at hiding it than others, but with his magic sense he could feel their attention on him even when he wasn't looking at them.
Making his way to the large staircase guarded by the two warriors, they looked at him, still on guard towards him but nodded and let him pass.
Walking up the stairs, Terrance once again found himself facing the large double doors.
He stepped in front of them and knocked before stepping back and listening for a response. A faint "come in" could be heard.
Stepping forward and gently opening the door, Terrence walked into the room to find Impa walking around the room with a broom sweeping the floor clean of dirt and hay with her daughter.
"Mr. Grayson, you are early, I was hoping to have the audience room ready before your arrival. However it matters not. As a resident of the village it was inevitable that you would come across it at a less than optimal time." Said Impa.
Impa's daughter remained silent while continuing to clean, she looked up and nodded to acknowledge Terrance's arrival before looking back towards her work. Impa moved back towards her cushion and sat down facing Terrance.
Terrance took a respectful knee in recognition of Impa's status and their new dynamic as village chief and resident.
"Thank you Village Chief for accepting me into your village despite the superstitions reguarding my appearance. I am greatful to now have a place to call home, and am willing to do much to repay your kindness." Said Terrance.
"Much, not anything?" Asked Impa curious about his phrasing.
"Well I'm not sure I would want to stay in this village if you ordered me to kill a baby to show my devotion Lady Impa, I would do much, but not anything, I have morals to uphold." Replied Terrence.
A small coughing fit that Terrance suspected was covering a laugh, came from behind him where Impa's daughter was still sweeping, Impa laughed herself.
"I see, perfectly reasonable, well how about we start on what you can do for the village. Well all have roles here, be it caring for the horses and Cucoos, tending to the fields, or constructing buildings. Do you have any knowledge in these areas?" Asked Impa.
"Well I do have some knowledge of tending crops from back home, I also have some experience in constructing houses and other structures as well as maintaining them." Replied Terrance, "I also have some knowledge on how to repair tools and equipment."
"Ah, how wonderful, some of our builders are getting in years, I am sure they would be happy to have someone to pass their knowledge on to. As for the fields, we already have enough people caring for them. As for repairing equipment, how extensive is your knowledge in that field?" Replied Impa.
"Oh it's fairly basic, at least where experience is concerned, I know how to theoretically reforge broken things but unfortunately I didn't have the materials or forge to do so back home." Answered Terrance.
"Ah so you have knowledge on blacksmithing, excellent! Most of our stuff was forged with the help of the Gorons at the foot of Death Mountain where we previously lived. It is great to hear there is someone with such knowledge. I shall have a forge set up by your new house so you can practice. Do not worry about the materials, the mountains surrounding our village are rich in resources." Said Impa.
"I will do my best, thank you Lady Impa." Said Terrance.
"You are welcome, and let me be the first to welcome you to our community Mr. Greyson I hope you find a home in our community." Said Impa.
Terrance stood up after some further discussion, bowed to Impa and turned to leave the building. He nodded to Impa's daughter on his way out. Stepping out into the sunlight Terrance looked at the village nestled in the mountains. The sky was blue, contrasting with the grey stone cliffs around the village and the patches of green grass all around. To his left there was a small forest bustling with life. In the village there were people training, tending to small vegetable gardens, and children running around chasing each other, Cucoos, and other small animals.
Despite the great clamaty that had occured only 20 years ago, the village had a cheerful vibe, the people optimistic towards the future ahead of them.
-To be continued.
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Blasopher
Blasopher Almost 10k views on this story, it's grown rather quick, thanks everyone for the support so far, either in power stones or comments. Dopamine's been lighting up my brain brighter than a Midwestern American's front lawn on Christmas seeing the support my stories have been getting. Doing my best not to let my ego get too big so please feel free to point out mistakes or ways to improve the story. Love you all.
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