Worst Plan in the World

"—up you shithead! Wake up already!"

Arson gasped and sat up, looking around. Sitting at his left were Zelda and Odie, both of whom looked terribly worried. There was a strange man sitting to his right, looking extremely pissed off. And in his hand…

"The Forest Stone."

"About fucking time!"

"What?" Zelda asked, leaning closer. "Are you okay? That guy said you just…dropped."

"I'm fine," Arson said quietly, still looking at the stone. It was still, now, not shifting or glowing like it had before.

"Well, among bokoblins and keese, you also managed to kill a rock. Congratulations," the ghost said, also leaning closer.

Wait. He wasn't a ghost anymore. Arson blinked rapidly, taking in the light blonde hair and red eye, the bandages and tight-fitting clothing. Who was this? He was…kind of cute, honestly. Odie was right. Right up his alley.

"I don't think he killed it," Zelda said, reaching over to guide Arson's hand to her, essentially bringing the stone closer. He snapped out of his thoughts. "I can feel some sort of power off of this. It might… Hm…"

"I met Farore," Arson said quietly.

"Really?" Odie said, leaning closer as well.

"Really. She said there are two more of these, that there's some sort of Great Evil… I…"

"Are you sure it wasn't just a weird dream?" the Voice — well, he wasn't a voice at the moment — asked. It didn't even sound very snarky. He almost sounded worried.

"Dreams do have meaning, you know," Zelda said as she reached forward to close Arson's fingers around the stone.

"You're not telling me anything I don't know, princess," the man grumbled, rolling his eyes. "Sheikah often have the gift of foresight, you should know that."

Zelda visibly bristled at being called 'princess', and then some more at the man's dismissive words. Odie brought themself to their feet and clenched their fists. "You don't need to be so nasty to her," they said, voice low.

"Guys, please, let's not fight," Arson said, also rising to his feet. He tucked the stone into a pocket. "It's been a really long day."

The ghost rolled his eyes, shrugged, stood.

"Who even are you?" Arson asked, turning to the man. "I mean…we don't even know your name."

The ghost smiled and disappeared rather than answering the question, which would have annoyed Arson more if he hadn't been feeling absolutely drained.

"So…now what?" Odie asked. "You said there were more stones. Where?"

"Death Mountain and somewhere in Lanayru," Arson said.

"So if we go to get those, do you think you'll meet Din and Nayru?" Odie mused.

"I don't know. She also said something weird. She called me Hylia's Chosen."

"Chosen…" Zelda said quietly. "That ghost mentioned something about Chosen too."

"I wonder what that means…?" Arson said quietly, looking around.

Odie laughed. "Funny. Your parents don't even like Hylia."

"Right?" Arson confirmed. Wasn't that just ironic. His parents had done everything they could to keep Hylia out of his life, and yet, here he was, Chosen. It was like a bad comedy!

"How can your parents not like Hylia?" Zelda asked, sounding personally offended.

Arson shrugged.

Odie shrugged.

"Apparently she pissed them off when I was born," Arson offered. "I don't share the grudge, you know. She's been perfectly nice to us despite that."

Odie shrugged again.

Zelda sighed and tilted her head back, looking at the sky. "It's getting late. Do you think we should head back to town…?"

"We're going to need supplies," Odie said, turning to Arson. "Especially if we're going to Death Mountain." It didn't seem to occur to them that they could just…not go along. Wherever Arson went, Odie would too. "And we should at least get what our parents sent us for and take it back, that way they won't think we just got offed by some creatures or something."

"That's probably wise," Zelda agreed, looking down at her hands in concern. "And my mother will be wondering where I am. It would not do to have all of Hyrule in a panic." She frowned deeply, then looked at the other two. "Come with me to the city, and when you guys go back home, I'll tag along. I won't be able to sneak away unless my mother's asleep and the guards aren't paying attention." Which…wouldn't be hard. But it did require leaving in the middle of the night.

"That sounds like the worst idea ever," Odie said. "What happened to not having Hyrule in a panic?"

"I'll leave a note. Nothing too specific so she can't go after you guys, but just enough that she knows I'll be okay." She smiled. "After all, if this is the will of the Goddesses, I should be involved, right?"

Arson didn't know anything about that particular plan, but he could tell that his new friend was just as stubborn as he and Odie could be.

"If you want to come with us, then meet us in the fields near Alfa Alari — the East side — in two days." He rolled his shoulders and looked at both of his friends. "I know it's a bad idea, but… I think I agree. If you decide you don't want to come, or if you can't make it, that's okay."

"Two days? Got it," Zelda said, smiling.

Then a wolf huffed at their feet, sitting at attention as if he'd been there the whole time.

"What do you think of this plan?" Zelda asked the wolf, reaching over to give him ear scratches. The wolf nodded once in assent. It was a good plan.

"We should get back to Cafa Dorei, then," Arson said, also reaching over to pet the wolf.

Even Odie joined in with the petting. The wolf had protected them earlier. "Will you show us the way out?" they asked.

The wolf borfed and nodded again, standing to lead them out.