Of Royal Blood - The Legend Of Zelda

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It was easy enough to find, as all the traffic in the city seemed to direct the two of you there. Uncomfortably, it also seemed to draw you closer to the castle, the great structure dominating the skyline. You almost felt a feeling of... apprehension as you drew nearer, the castle itself electing feelings of foreboding in you despite its benign exterior.

But whatever you were feeling was nothing compared to Zelda, who clung to your arm as you approached the market. While she might have said she was simply doing it to not get separated in the crowds if you asked neither of you drew attention to it, both your gazes always fixed on the castle, the buildings on each side of the street looming over you like the closing jaws of some great beast.

Eventually, however, the claustrophobic streets empties out into a massive square. It was positively filled with market stalls, with far more wealthy shops filling the buildings surrounding the square. Musicians could be heard faintly over the din as people talked and merchants hawked their wares. In the center of it all was the fountain, the most recognizable feature of Castle Town Market and what you will use to orient yourself. When the crowd eventually pushed you towards it however you had to do a double-take. Gone was the symbol of the royal family, replaced by a massive statue of a man in armor holding up a sword. An effigy to William the Just's vanity, you presume.

Your arm smarts a bit as Zelda tightens her grip, her eyes locked on the statue and the castle looming behind it with not anger, no defiance but just... the look of someone unable to grasp what she was seeing. Like a child trying to understand some horrible event taking place in front of them, beaten for a reason they don't understand.

It's one of the most painful things you've ever seen.

You pull Zelda away from it, toward the stall selling musical instruments. She seems to snap out of her fugue, loosening her grip on your arm. She even points out the Lyre she wanted, picking it up and plucking a few strings experimentally. She smiles faintly at the sound and plucks away at a few more strings as she closes her eyes, losing herself to a rhythm you don't know. Only the shopkeeper asking that she pay for it snaps her out of it. Luckily it and the pan flute together only cost 100 Rupees, and the two of you once more enter the sea of people surrounding you.

At that point, it becomes hard to even see where you need to go, and the two of you end up walking a complete circuit several times just to get an idea of where you were.

"Goddess," Zelda mutters behind you, "I saw this place all the time from my window but I never imagined it'd be like this. How does this not turn into a riot?"

Yeah, as someone who spent a good portion of your life alone in the woods you were starting to become really uncomfortable. It was honestly hard to breathe, and you felt like you could collapse any moment. You were almost leaning on Zelda now, though she seemed to think you were just being pushed by the crowd.

You needed to shop, now. No more lollygagging. Subtracting tonight's room cost you have 700 Rupees to spend. You notice a lot of two-handed weapons on sale. If you buy one you'll have to decide whether you'll pack away your bow to use it, as you can only carry 1 type of two handed weapon at a time. Do you switch your bow out for say a claymore or do you keep it? Polearms luckily could be kept on your horse and drawn in a moments notice while riding for mounted combat. As for armour, some of it could be worn over your clothes, though you could only choose to wear either a brigandine or a cuirass. You also didn't want to replace your cap with a helmet just yet.

Zelda if you buy armour for her obviously prefers light gear that won't make noise, which narrows out every armour that uses metal. On the bright side, for weapons, you can trade your rusty sword in for a new sword. It wasn't selling it, rather exchanging it for a discount since the metal was still good. You could probably get 50 Rupees off your next purchase at the weapon blacksmith, and 20 Rupees for exchanging your shield for another. Sadly your bows don't count for the same, you'll have to sell it and you aren't allowed to do that since you lack a merchant's license.

Elixirs don't come with a bottle if you buy any, so you'll only be able to afford as many as you have bottles. You also have to remember you have limited space to carry stuff. You might only be able to fit a couple bombs into your saddle bags if that since you have food, medicine and clothing concerns and you were already pretty well packed unless you hitched your horses to a wagon.

All in all, you were very limited on space and you'll need to choose carefully. You also already have 10 Chuchu Jelly, 10 restless crickets, a decent amount of Broadhead arrows, 1 Bokoblin gut, a handful of horns and teeth, 2 Traveler's bows, 1 Rusty Broadsword, 1 wooden shield and 7 bottles.
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