A/N: Okay, so! One thing a lot of people may or may not know about me is that I used to have a deviantART! *horrified gasps* Yeah, back when I was between the ages of 13 and 14, I used to frequent the site a lot. I mostly posted hORRIble fanart of various games, but sometimes I also wrote fanfiction! *more horrified gasps* One such fanfiction was this. Ocarina of Time was my second Zelda ever, and the first Zelda I ever actually finished. Being my young and youthful self, I found so many things about the game super super super cool, one such thing being Lon Lon Ranch. So my tiny little mind farted out this. For some reason. Rereading it, it's not actually as bad as I remember (except I do use the word 'facepalm' more than once. why). In fact, it's actually sort of better than the stuff I produce nowadays. But OH WELL! A/N over~!
Link slammed a flyer down on the counter.
Talon looked up from his accounts, broad face breaking into a smile when he saw who it was.
"Why, hello there, Link! Here to see Malon, are ya?"
Link's stony expression didn't change as he pointed to the flyer. Talon glanced at it absently.
"'HELP WANTED'. Why, that'd be the very flyer I posted in town a while back. I appreciate ya returnin' it, Link, but I kinda need people to see it and take the job." he said, smiling weakly.
"YAH! SEIYAH!" yelled Link angrily, waving his arms around.
"You?" asked a surprised Talon. "Well, I do appreciate ya gettin' the ranch back fer me, but are ya sure? I mean, swordplay and livestock are two real different things."
"YAH!"
"Out o' the job, huh? Well, heroing ain't much of a way o' gettin' food on the table."
"HAH!" yelled Link, pointing to the Cuccoos Talon always kept around.
"I offered you a job? When? Ya mean when you were a kid?" Talon asked, bewildered. "Well, Link, winnin' a game o' Super Cuccoos ain't really enough to let a young fella such as yerself around my Malon all the time. 'Sides," he said, scratching his beard, "I done thought you'd forget about it."
Link let out a series of grunts and yells.
"Alright, no need to use language like that, mister. You can have the job."
Link punched the air and yelled happily.
"You gave Fairy Boy the job?" asked Malon, smiling. "Well, I'll be. I reckon you don't know the first thing 'bout animals, Link."
"HEI!" Link told her.
"Fine, I'll stop callin' ya Fairy Boy, partner. But that don't change the fact that you probably can't tell the two ends of a cow apart."
Link looked thoughtfully at a cow for a second, then went over and pointed at the cow's head. "YAH?" he asked hopefully. Malon and Talon facepalmed.
"Look, why don't you two just brush n' feed the horses? I'll look after the cows." said Talon helpfully.
"I already let the horses out to pasture, so all we gotta do is give 'em a quick brush before feedin' 'em." Malon told Link as the two headed towards the corral. "You've seen me look after Epona before, right? So you oughta know what to do."
Malon headed over to the east side of the corral, leaving Link to deal with the west side. Link set his bucket and brush down and looked up at the first horse. It's eyes glinted and it's nose steamed as it viciously pawed at the ground. It seemed like it was challenging him. And he liked challenges. Just to be safe, though, he glanced over at Malon to see how she was getting on.
Her arms were around the horse's neck as she lovingly ran the brush through it's mane. She seemed to be speaking to it, although Link couldn't make out the words. Looking back at his own charge, he figured hugs and casual conversation wouldn't work on this horse. So he planted himself firmly on the ground and tackled the horse with the brush.
Malon heard frantic yelling and furious neighing from the other side of the paddock and quickly looked up. Link was clinging on for dear life to the horse's back and attempting to drag the brush through it's mane. The horse in question was bucking manically, trying to dislodge the irritating Hylian that was hurting it so much from it's back. Malon legged it over to the pair and grabbed the horse's reins. The horse snorted and gave one final almighty kick. This time, it succeeded in removing Link and he landed in the dust a small distance away. Malon tried to make the horse look into her eyes, all the time making soothing noises. The horse's frantic snorts slowed as it realised Malon was not going to hurt it, and looked back into her eyes. She smiled happily and gently stroked the horse's nose.
Meanwhile, Link picked himself up off the ground and wiped his mouth. He glared at the horse, which seemed to smile smugly at him as it nuzzled into Malon's neck. Said girl then turned around to face Link.
"Link, what were ya thinkin'? Messin' with Quinton." she scolded him. He winced. She turned back to the horse, Quinton, and stroked him again. "Quinton is the finest, strongest, sweetest stallion ya could ever see." Quinton whinnied happily and shot Link another smug look when Malon wasn't looking. Link scowled and started to protest.
"YAH! HAH! SEIY-"
"Yeah, yeah, Link. I hear ya. Maybe you can just feed the horses. I'll brush 'em." Malon told him, shaking her head and walking off. Link shot a filthy look at Quinton and headed towards the troughs.
So far, so good, Link thought to himself. Picking up a bucket of fodder, he slung it into the first trough and looked around. No sign of Quinton or any other psychopathic horses. That was good. Moving on, he steadily continued with his work until almost all the troughs were full. By that time, the sun had started to set, casting a golden hue around the ranch. Link stood up and stretched, and in doing so, he noticed the tip of a shadow close by his feet. Following the shadow, his eyes came to rest on the face of Quinton. The mad beast seemed to be smiling at him again. Link cautiously raised an eyebrow and attempted to stare the horse down. Quinton just seemed to smile wider as his eyes moved away from Link. Link followed the horse's gaze until he saw that he was looking at the first trough that had been filled. Link shrugged and started to turn away, assuming that Quinton just wanted a snack. But then he caught the devious glint in the beast's eyes, and noticed as he raised his front leg. Then he finally caught on.
"HEIYAH!" he yelled, diving towards the horse. But it was too late. Quinton landed a powerful kick on the trough, sending it crashing into the next trough, which in turn crashed into the next, creating a domino effect. Link attempted to stop it, but soon all his work was flung pathetically in the dirt.
Quinton was whinnying in obnoxious laughter, stomping and having to lean on a fence to support himself.
Link glared at him, trembling in rage.
Then, everything went red.
Link stood, shamefaced, in front of Talon. The usually amiable man's face was now flushed with anger.
"You upset our finest stallion. Wasted hundreds o' rupees worth o' fodder. Then, you wrestled that self-same stallion into the dirt." said Talon, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes. "All on the first day?!"
Link cringed. He hated to have Talon mad at him. Despite his irresponsibility, the middle-aged man had always been kind to him, and after the shock of losing the ranch, Talon had turned over a new leaf and had become a hard-working and disciplined man. He didn't deserve this.
"What do ya have to say for yerself, Link?" he asked angrily, looking Link in the eyes.
Link scratched his head and shrugged. "YAH?" he said half-heartedly.
Talon sighed sadly and sat down. "I'm sorry, Link. I'm gonna have to let ya go." he told him heavily.
Link bowed his head in submission, not putting up a fight. He headed out of the house, downcast. Talon felt bad for him. After all, Link had gotten his ranch back from Ingo for him. But the boy was just too excitable. His hero's instinct made him hyperactive, and it was just a problem. He had a professional business to take care of, after all. At least, that's what he told himself.
Quinton stuck out his tongue at Link as he saddled up Epona and headed out of the ranch.