Hello friends! This is my first attempt at writing a Zelda fanfiction, and it is looking like it will be pretty lengthy, so be prepared! Some chapters may stall because I may need to play that part of the game again to remember specifics.  I hope you all enjoy! Thanks for reading.

Warnings: Death, angst, hatin' on Ganondorf. 

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Innocence Lost

FlutterByAshes

Prelude

Malon sighed and dusted her hands off on her apron, knowing that the fabric would do little good at cleaning her filthy hands. Looking out across the corral, she watched the setting sun, and felt a familiarly disconcerting feeling bubbling in her chest and throat. The last time he had been here, the sun had been setting. He had teased her, she remembered, because he said the reddish light made her look like she was on fire. She had teased back, of course, but she couldn't remember with what. She just remembered the look of him as he walked away. They had both thought…well, maybe just she had thought, that he would be back near the end of the week, as usual. But that week turned into weeks, then months, and years. And now, seven years later her heart still ached every time she saw the sunset.

He had disappeared the very night that Ganondorf had come to power.

He never came back. She knew that he was on some sort of quest; he never told her the details, telling her that it would only hurt her in the end. Her mind told her that he must have been one of the Evil King's first victims, but her heart would not accept that idea. They were so close; surely she would feel something different if he was indeed dead. When her mother had passed, she had been too young to know what had happened, but when her father…

She angrily brushed an errant tear from her cheek. Ganondorf had ruined so many lives, most much more important than her own. He had come to the ranch not two days after that terrible night, the night when Death Mountain erupted into flames and the Market and Castle Town were burnt to the ground. That night, when the dark haze had settled over all of Hyrule, and he had disappeared out of her life...

The Evil King had demanded that the ranch provide him a horse. Her father had denied him the mare he sought, and thereby provoked his terrible wrath. Their farmhouse had been burned to the ground. Malon herself had barely gotten outside before it collapsed, and her father had been right behind her. The Evil King was still displeased, and Malon remembered screaming for her father as Ganondorf hauled him out of the ranch, and told Ingo that it was now his to manage.

Ingo had always seemed a bit odd and distant to her, and to him too, she remembered. But after that night, after Ganondorf left, Ingo's eyes had turned dark and he was not himself. He ruled the ranch as if he himself were a king, working Malon to the brink of exhaustion. He would occasionally burst into unprovoked fits of rage, during which he would often beat the horses, and rarely Malon herself. They never had any help stay for long, as any of the young and eager ranch hands that attempted to work for Ingo left as soon as they could. Worse than that, he forbade Malon to leave the ranch or find any information about her father's well being.

That would last for a few weeks, sometimes as long as a month. Then, without warning, Ingo's eyes would roll back as he lost consciousness and crumpled to the ground, no matter what task he was doing. She remembered one time when he had been a top a house and was nearly trampled to death. Every time, he would wake up, disoriented and confused, and with no knowledge of what had transpired since the last time he had lost consciousness. Malon never had the heart to explain what he had done in those lost weeks, because as time went on, she learned that he was quite kind, but had grown up with many hardships that had given him his gruff exterior.

When Ingo woke up, time at the ranch seemed to stand still. Not much work was done, as he was weak and full of questions. He wanted to know how she'd grown up so quickly, where Talon was, and why that little boy with the funny green cap never came to help anymore. Malon relished these days, as she let herself live in the fantasy world she would create for Ingo, where Link was at the market selling their milk for them and her father was off making deliveries to the farther reaches of Hyrule.

It never lasted for more than a few days. Ganondorf would realize that his power over the ranch was faltering, and it never failed that he would return to the ranch in a blaze of fury, demanding horses and cows and cuccos, taking what he wanted and paying for nothing. Always, when he left, he cast that evil spell on Ingo, and Malon would sink into misery once more.

The sun dipped behind the horizon and Malon sighed.

Ingo had gone to Kakariko to make the deliveries, which always made Malon slightly nervous. She was afraid that he would lose consciousness, and that Ganondorf would come to the ranch only to find him missing, and no one to take his anger out on but a little farm girl.

She didn't dare leave the ranch. Ganondorf had let her, once, nearly a year ago. He came to recast the spell on Ingo, but instead of demanding horses, he demanded she go to Kakariko to make the deliveries. Her young mind hadn't considered that the Evil King was setting her up for something sinister, and she immediately began packing the cart and preparing for her departure. He followed her the entire way, making sure she didn't stray off the path. As she reached the entrance to the village, he told her that he would wait at the ranch for her return, and if she was not back by noontime the next day that the horses would suffer. He handed her a paper, the delivery sheet, and retreated into the oncoming twilight for the ranch.

She unfolded the parchment and was surprised to see only one name - Talon Romani. A mixture of excitement and fear raced through her veins, and she couldn't think or speak due to the lump that had formed in her throat. She allowed herself to believe that Ganondorf had been merciful, that after six years she was going to get to see her father, if only for a short time. She raced toward the inn and found the door labeled 13. She knocked and waited; there was no reply. She pressed her ear to the door to see if she could hear anything, but couldn't. The covers were drawn over the windows and there was no sign of light inside. Night was falling around Kakariko, so she grabbed the lantern from the cart and lit it. She knocked again, and received no response. She tried the door handle, and to her surprise, it was unlocked.

Her heart leapt into her throat as she slowly pushed the door open. Anxiousness and fear caused her hands to shake. The room was dark, and she held up her lantern. 'Father?' she had called into the darkness, as the lantern cast menacing shadows on the walls. She took a step inside the door, and he eyes caught sight of a person lying on the floor. She rushed forward to see who it was and if they were alright. Her blood ran cold and he heart seemed to stop as she took in the form of her father, lying face down on the floor with a pool of blood dried around him.

Once again, she angrily brushed tears from her face. She was dwelling too much, and there was no sense in living in the past. She missed her father dearly, and constantly wished that he was still alive but there was no gain from it. She had learned to block out those thoughts as best as she could and spent many days going through the motions of her routine, focusing on her tasks and not letting her mind wander. But today, since she was nearly finished with her work and had no one to keep her in check, she was finding it difficult to keep the past at bay. A mare nuzzled her shoulder, whinnying softly and bringing her back to reality.

Epona was the last to be moved into the stables, as always. The mare followed her out of the corral, without the need for any lead or direction. Epona was her horse, through and through. She was thankful that Ganondorf had never tried to take her away. Fortunately he always seemed more interested in the larger stallions.

A sudden whinny from said mare startled Malon, and she feared that bandits or Poes had made it into the ranch. She knew that she could not fight them off alone. But a low rumbling alerted her that something bigger was happening. Quickly, she ran into the barn and climbed the narrow ladder to the loft, and then out on to the roof of the barn. What she saw took her breath away. Death Mountain was burning, that wasn't out of the ordinary, but the fire spewed forth into the sky.

"It's erupting!" she whispered, not believing it herself. The rumbling intensified, and she worried for all those who were much closer to the mountain than herself. The fire exploded then, painting the dark night sky a blood red. Then, nearly as suddenly as it had begun, the fires stopped altogether, and all of Hyrule was dark.

Malon didn't move from the roof for quite some time. Something important must have just happened. The volcano had only started burning like that on that night, so many years ago. She wouldn't let herself think that maybe it had just been a random occurrence; no. The fire from Death Mountain showed that Ganondorf was in control and that it was his domain. If the fire was gone, then Ganondorf must be gone from the mountain as well.

But how? The question wheeled itself around in her mind, spinning until it consumed all of her thoughts. Had the Goddesses finally come to Hyrule's aid? Maybe it was something less divine…perhaps the Gorons had finally managed to take back their homes from the Evil King. Or maybe Link…

The squeaking of wheels in the distance pulled her from her thoughts, and she vaguely made out the flickering of a lantern in the distance. Ingo was on his way back. She climbed back down to the ground and lead Epona into her stall. She put a forest green blanket over the mare's back and stroked her muzzle lovingly before heading back into the house to make supper.

As she prepared the meal of cucco stew and fresh vegetables, she allowed her thoughts to drift once again. There was an unfamiliar feeling bubbling in her chest, and the more she struggled to figure out what it was, the more positive she became that Link had to be involved The fires started burning the night that he left; maybe he had come back so now the fires were out? No, it all sounded so foolish in her head. She heard the creak of the main gate and the hoof beats of Ingo's mare, Carrillo, just as she was setting the table. Satisfied that there wouldn't be a single thing that could provoke Ingo, she served the food and poured two glasses of milk for them.

The farmhouse door opened as Malon was checking the spells in the icebox to make sure their food was kept frozen. "How was your trip?" she asked, as she stood and moved toward the table. Ingo shrugged and began eating. "It's a good thing that you got away from Kakariko before the volcano exploded," she said idly, trying to find out if he had seen anything while he was in town. Usually when he came back he loved to talk to her about everything he saw outside of the ranch. He did so to make her feel like she was missing something, but it always had the opposite effect. If she was going to be held prisoner in her own home then it made perfect sense to her to try and live through someone else's stories.

But tonight Ingo was being odd. Malon didn't fully understand the spell that he was under, and wondered how much of a connection he had to Ganondorf. Maybe Ingo was distracted because Ganondorf was distracted, and maybe Ganondorf was distracted because Link had come back and kicked his power out of the mountain. Ingo coughed, having swallowed a bit of broth the wrong way, and Malon came out of her thoughts again, realizing that he still had not answered her query.

"Are you feeling all right?" she asked. She was beginning to be concerned about his obvious silence. It wasn't like him at all. He looked up at her, and she caught a glimpse of his eyes and saw that they were still black. "It didn't look like the fire went anywhere except the sky," he said, with a tinge of disbelief in his voice. "It all went into the sky. Every drop of lava, every flame. Not one bit of it hit the town." With that, he went back to his meal, seemingly content with ignoring Malon entirely. She began to feel uneasy.

The rest of the meal was uneventful. Ingo did not talk again, and Malon did not prod him to. In a stiff silence, Malon took the dishes to the kitchen and washed and dried them before placing them back into the cupboards. She lifted the bucket of dirty water and carried it outside, where she emptied it and refilled it with fresh water from their rain barrel. Outside, there was another uncomfortable silence, as if all of Hyrule were holding its breath. Not even the farm animals were making a sound. Her anxiety increased, and she rushed back into the house.

Ingo was situated in the living room, and after starting a fire was sitting in the armchair and reading. She deposited the water bucket in the kitchen and put out the lanterns before returning to the living room to read as well. While she was looking at the large bookcase, trying to find something she hadn't read yet, she heard a soft thud, and turned to see Ingo slumped to the floor in front of the chair.

'Oh no,' she murmured, rushing to him to see if he was alright. It was too early for this to happen again. Ganondorf had just recast the spell not two weeks prior. Ingo was blinking bleary green eyes at her and looking horribly confused. She cursed under her breath, and helped him back into the chair.

"What happened?" he asked. "Why am I down here?"

She faked a smile. "You fell asleep while reading. You've been sick for a while though. Are you feeling any better?"

He groaned and shook his head. "I'll get you some tea. Just sit tight," she said, leaving the room.

Once in the relative safety of the kitchen, millions of thoughts started racing their way through her head as she set about preparing tea. If this had happened any other night, then she would be fine with vanishing into her fantasy land until Ganondorf showed up wanting more horses and casting spells. But for this to happen tonight, when the fires from the volcano had mysteriously gone out…Malon shuddered. As far as she was concerned, there was no denying it any longer. Ganondorf's influence had been removed from the volcano. His attention must have been directed elsewhere; that was why Ingo had been so distant and why the spell had been cut so short.

Fear leapt in her throat. If Ganondorf were to show up at the ranch within the next few days, he was sure to be furious. Ingo was how he kept control over the ranch, and she knew that he wouldn't let two areas of Hyrule slip out of his control as long as he could help it. The kettle whistled from on top of the kitchen fire, snapping her out of her thoughts. As she poured the hot water into the teacup, she realized that she was shaking and tried to calm herself. She couldn't keep this story up to Ingo if he saw how upset she was. She added a few cubes of sugar and a splash of milk into the cup, and, after taking several deep breaths, returned to the living room.

Ingo was still sitting in the chair, his eyes focused on the fire and seemingly lost in thought. She cleared her throat to get his attention and handed him the tea. For some time, they both just sat in a heavy silence, both too wrapped up in their own thoughts to attempt polite conversation. Finally, Ingo set the teacup down on a nearby table and settled his eyes on Malon.

"It seems like I've been sick for years. Never remembering more than a few days at a time. Don't you think that's odd? If I've been that sick for this long I should be dead," Ingo mused.

Malon looked up and forced another smile. "Well, it just looks like you're a lucky one. Must be all that milk you drink," she attempted to joke. Ingo shook his head.

"Why don't you tell me what's really been going on these past seven years."

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A/N: Well, that's it for chapter one! I hope you all enjoyed it. Please read and review! Constructive criticisms and typo corrections are always appreciated, but flamers are ignored, so please, don't feel the need to write a review along the lines of, "OMG I hate Malon! You should be talking about Zelda!!!1!!" Thanks!