Link x Reader ~ Find You

Chapter 10

With the clothing secure, Dark now perused the endless stalls crowding the central marketplace of Lokume. The vendors stood at their overflowing wooden booths, crying out to passersby in hopes of securing their rupees, even the wretched Hylian's.

Behind one stall, an old Twili woman with long tendrils of grey hair muddy with grease hunched over a work table grinding handfuls of golden bugs into a shimmering powder as fine as sand.

She took a pinch of the grainy substance and rubbed it mindfully between her bony, wrinkled fingers. She brought it to her lips and sampled it, seemingly testing its quality. Apparently it was sufficient, as she dumped the mortar's contents into a sturdy onyx cauldron beside her.

A plume of thick golden vapor immediately burst up from the boiling mixture. Dark approached the potion maker's rickety stand, surveying the wide selection of brews bottled and displayed on the splintering wooden countertop.

Small yellowed cards sat in front of every potion, an almost illegible cursive script labeling each of them.

'Healing Brew'

'Potion of Magic and Health'

'Potion of Enduring Strength'

'Great Fairy's Tears'

'Elixir of Life'

'Draught of Death'

"These could come in handy... It would save me the hassle of making them myself, at least," Dark mumbled absent-mindedly under his breath.

"How much for one of each?" Dark inquired, his deep voice rumbling pleasantly.

The haggard potion maker's watery blue eyes sized up the heavy coin purses hanging from the devilishly handsome man's hip.

"1,000." She rasped flatly, her voice nearly as scraggy as her appearance.

He rolled his fiery ruby eyes. It was a bit of a rip-off, but he didn't have time to haggle today. He needed to get back to __f/n__. Every moment he spent away from her was slowly filling him with anxiety.

"Fine," he muttered, pouring out a full pouch onto her counter. She snatched up the glittering jewels before he could change his mind.

"Thank you for your business, sir," she grinned greedily as she pocketed the cash.

Dark simply nodded as he gathered up his potions, cramming them into his satchel with the clothing.

He made a few more stops at other stalls to stock up on other essentials he was running low on - scraps of leather, arrows, rope, flint - before he finally turned to head off for home.

"DARK!" A familiar voice boomed over the din of the village square.

"For Farore's sake, every single damn time," Link muttered to himself with a roll of his eyes as he turned to face Wylther.

"Good ta see ya again, boy," The leathery blacksmith greeted as he clapped a massive hand on the swordsman's back.

"Always a pleasure, Wylther." Dark replied less-than-enthusiastically. Wylther didn't seem to notice though as he jabbered on happily.

"Vara's been wanting you ta come over for supper, says it's been too long since she's hugged yer scruffy neck. Maybe you could come over tonight if yer not too busy, lad! She cooks a mean rabbit stew." Wylther beamed.

"Ya seem to be comin' ta town more often now than usual, Dark! Every other day now I swear I see yer pointy ears dartin' around town. Ya seem more... flustered now, too, aways in a hurry," Wylther noted as Dark shifted a bit nervously back and forth in his worn leather boots. Wylther's bleary lavender eyes flitted down as a glittering spark of crimson caught his attention.