A Time on Lon Lon
Malon was floating about Lon Lon Ranch early one summer morning. It was bright, cool, and refreshing; the type of morning she loved most. Among the many things Malon loved, she especially loved horses. She tended to the growing collection of horses on her and her father Talon's ranch. Since her father was incredibly lazy, she usually got stuck tending to the Ranch and its many animal inhabitants. She didn't really mind though, because after a long days work, she was free to sing to her beloved horses.
Of all the horses, Malon was especially attached to the one that she gave to her secret love, Link. The horse's name was Epona. Epona was a beautiful, orange-brown Clydesdale with white leggings and a white mane. (It seems Epona was also rather attached to Link!) Whenever Link played that familiar tune on his Ocarina, Epona was soon faithfully at his side.
Although Malon could never figure it out for sure, she thought, (hoped), Link had feelings for her. Why would he? she'd think. I am just a farm-girl, wearing the same white shirt, long, lavender skirt, brown apron, boots, and yellow sash I always wear. I'm nothing special... she'd think gloomily.
Malon always secretly compared herself to the beautiful and majestic Princess Zelda, for whom Link is currently struggling to save. Zelda always wears a lavish dress and has gorgeous blonde hair. Malon's hair was carrot, usually tussled, and reached mid-way down her back.
No! Stop these thoughts! I've got work to do! And that she did. Today she was going to try riding Fiero, the newest horse to the Lon Lon Ranch family. She coined the name for him from the fiery attitude he had when he arrived at the ranch. Link initially rescued the horse from a cruel man just outside of the Gerudo Fortress who wasn't taking proper care of Fiero. Link managed to wrangle Fiero all the way to Lon Lon Ranch, where Malon was instantly at Fiero's side.
Malon breezed through the daily chores, excited by the prospect of getting to know Fiero a little better. Finally, she made her way to the center of Lon Lon Ranch where all the horses stayed in the large, circular corral. With a saddle under one arm and a pail full of carrots and apples in the other, she made her way to each horse to give them their favorite treat.
She reached Fiero last, who was in the far, leftmost corner of the corral.
"Hello, Fiero," she said sweetly to the weary horse.
His black eyes searched her and his nose quickly picked up on the goodies that waited inside the pail. Cautiously, the sleek, all-black stallion approached her. Malon knew she had to let Fiero come to her.
She slowly, carefully, set down the saddle and pail. She took two carrots from the pail, knowing they were Fiero's treat of choice. Malon held out one carrot to Fiero. Timidly, he sniffed the carrot, looked up at Malon, then slowly moved forward enough to bite down on the carrot. Malon didn't budge. Fiero, feeling comforted by loving aura perpetually wafting off of Malon, continued to chew on the carrot. Soon, both carrots were eaten and Fiero looked at Malon expectantly. She giggled at this and gently stroked his long, narrow head, from a little above his nostrils all the way to between his ears. His eyes drifted shut for a moment. He'd never known love in his short life. Malon guessed that he wasn't more than two or three years old.
After continuing to pamper the horse, Malon slowly walked to his side and gently set the saddle on Fiero's back. He didn't seem bothered by the action. Great! Malon thought. She finished adjusting the saddle and securing it. Fiero remained calm the entire time, leading Malon to think that he had at least been ridden before.
This is it! Malon thought. She bunched up her long skirt and tied it to her side. She wore a set of riding pants under her skirt when she knew she was going riding. She grabbed another carrot from the pail. This sparked Fiero's attention, but he stayed exactly where he was. Then she gingerly mounted Fiero. He didn't budge.
"Great job, Fiero!" exclaimed Malon cheerfully. "Here you go, sweetie," she said, slowly moving the carrot to the side of his mouth.
He knew the carrot was coming, bit down on the morsel, and started chewing away.
"You're such a good boy," Malon cooed softly to Fiero as she stroked his dark mane.
He was too intent on savoring his carrot. Malon giggled to herself.
After he'd finished his carrot, Malon took a deep breath, then nudged Fiero's right side with her leg. He moved forward!
Yes! she thought. He's had some training!
He slowly trotted around the corral, going the directions Malon indicated with her gentle tug on the mane. She sped up the pace a tad so that they were moving at a good pace around the corral.
After a while, Malon wanted a little more speed, then a little more. Soon they were sprinting around the corral, the other horses, accustomed to this, stayed to the sides. (They knew more treats were in store, if they behaved.)
The wind whipped through Malon's already tangled hair. The sun beamed down from the top of the vast, brilliant blue sky. This is amazing! Malon thought as they continued briskly around the corral.
Suddenly, something shot across the sun! A huge owl? Fiero saw this and panicked. He halted almost instantly, cried out in a panic, and then bucked furiously in all directions. This all happed in a matter of seconds, leaving Malon no time to prepare or to calm Fiero. After a particularly fierce buck, she was launched sideways like a ragdoll. She hit the dirt with a loud thud!
Her world went black...
A fierce breeze whipped through the vast, green field of Hyrule. Link stood on the threshold between Hyrule Field and Kokiri Forest, having just exited the Kokiri Forest. His blonde locks and green tunic rustled with the passing breeze. A sense of dread blew through him in that moment. The lean, masculine Kokiri stood frozen to the spot. His faithful Fairy, Navi, noticing his look of unease, stayed silent.
Link's left hand traveled slowly backward to the hilt of his sword while his silent, blue eyes scanned the field for an answer to his unease. This kind of feeling usually never befell the usually courageous and indomitable Link. Only in those nightmares where Princess Zelda is being stolen away by a large, mysterious being on horseback does Link ever get such a horrible feeling of dread and unease.
Night was quickly setting in on Hyrule Field. Link knew he had to get somewhere, and fast. He quickly withdrew his Fairy Ocarina and played the notes for Epona's Song. This tune was taught to him by the young, bubbly Malon, to call on Epona whenever he needed her. Link stood patiently, awaiting the familiar sound of Epona's galloping and neighing in the distance. He heard nothing. Link tried replaying the same tune, and still, Epona couldn't be heard. This amplified Link's malaise. His gloved hands tightened into fists as the rest of his body stiffened and prepared for whatever was to come.
"Hey! Listen! Something must be wrong!" chimed Navi.
Navi's small, glowing body darted frantically around Link's head, wings flitting imperatively.
"It must be Lon Lon Ranch! Maybe Epona's hurt!" Navi cried frantically.
Oh no! Link thought. That clenched it. He broke into a run, trying his best to maintain a good grip on his sword in case it was needed in the near future. All too soon the sun started setting behind the giant mountains in the distance. Link stopped abruptly and withdrew his Ocarina again. As quickly as he could manage, he played the tune for the Sun's Song. He didn't have time to deal with the frightening, skeleton-based creatures of the night that plagued the field of Hyrule.
Like magic, the sun slowly crept back up into the sky. Light flooded Hyrule Field once more. A cucco could be heard, far in the distance, inviting the morning back to Hyrule.
Link breathed a small sigh of relief and started running north again, as fast as he could, in the direction of Lon Lon Ranch. Navi flapped frantically behind Link, trying to keep up with Link's frenetic pace.
After what felt like an eternity, the familiar gates of Lon Lon Ranch came into view. Link continued running until he was inside the gates of the ranch. Panting, he looked this way and that, trying to find Epona. She was near the door to the main house of the ranch. Epona just stayed there, not budging, even as Link's loud boots thundered up the incline to the ranch.
What? Link thought. Epona appeared perfectly healthy. Then why didn't she come when the Ocarina was played? Only a little relief accompanied the knowledge that Epona was unharmed. Something else was still amiss.
Link crossed the path to the main house to try to figure out Epona's fascination with the house. When he stood in front of Epona, she only briefly acknowledged his presence. Her head was soon facing the door again. Link opened the door and eased himself inside. He had to fight off Epona to keep her from barging into the house behind him. Something was clearly troubling her too.
What Link saw inside made him feel even more cold and helpless than when he saw Princess Zelda being kidnapped on that dark, stormy night, all those years ago…
Talon, Malon's lazy and rather plump father, was kneeling in front of the bed upon which Malon lay. He was crying quietly into the blankets that were tucked around Malon's shoulders. Never had Link seen Talon look like this. His jovial manner was no where to be seen.
As Link crossed swiftly and quietly from the door, his heart ached to see Talon miserable and Malon mangled. Navi, the usually talkative Fairy, remained silent. The somber atmosphere had gotten to Navi. No screaming ReDead, skulking Stalfos, or power-hungry Ganondorf could ever make Link's stomach turn like this.
Malon was just laying there, a false aura of serenity surrounding her unconscious figure. She had heavy bandaging around most of the right side of her face and head. Smudges of dark crimson were visible around her bandages and across her face. From the looks of it, she had most of her right arm wrapped and in a sling. Her breathing came in gentle waves. Her beautiful, carrot hair rested gently on her shoulders. That much was only a tiny ray of light on this dark scene.
Only when Link got close to the bed did Talon notice his presence. He looked up with the saddest pair of eyes Link had ever seen.
"Hey, Link…" his voice trailed off. His eyes soon returned to his daughter.
Link nodded solemnly, to show he'd heard Talon. When Link got to the head of the bed, he slowly started taking off his cumbersome arsenal of slingshots, swords, shields, and whatever else he could lift off of his heavy heart. He knelt and stared at Malon's silent body. Both he and Talon kept a watchful eye on Malon. Every time she moved slightly, or even twitched, they held their breath.
The hours ticked away slowly, draining like thick grains of sand through a thin hourglass. Sometimes Talon would nod-off for a moment, but Link was wide awake and attentive. His eyes never strayed far from Malon. After a while, Link found himself lightly stroking the left side of Malon's forehead or combing his fingers gingerly through her hair. At some point, Link's eyes became too heavy to hold up, and he drifted off into a quasi-sleep.
"Fi… Fier… o?" came a quiet and raspy voice.
Link was suddenly wide-eyed and awake. Talon was attempting to hug Malon, but her odd position made it an almost impossible task. Tears filled Talon's eyes as he attempted to hug her. Malon's eyes were soft as she stared up at her clearly haggard father.
"D… dad?" Malon wheezed weakly, "Is Fie… ro okay?"
That's just like her! Link thought to himself as he stared at Malon from the foot of the bed. Malon was the type who worried more about others than herself, even though she was clearly the one who was injured.
"Yes, Malon! Fiero's fine! Please stop stressing so much!" Talon stated with unusual parent-like authority.
Talon was worried about her and he wanted Malon to stop thinking of others long enough to get better herself. Malon smiled a meek smile at her father's concern. It was then that she noticed the slight movement of green just behind her feet.
"… Link?" Malon asked quietly.
Malon smiled that huge, breath-taking smile, and Link was overcome with emotion. He brushed past Talon smoothly and sat down beside her. His hand went to cup the left side of her face and Malon blushed furiously, looking a tad taken aback. Link smiled a shy smile. This made Malon's heart do summersaults in her chest. The Hero of Time is shy?
Talon witnessed all this and laughed a hardy, much-needed laugh.
"Ha! My Malon and the hero, Link! I'd have never guessed!"
Talon left the house to calm poor Epona. Link and Malon continued to stare at one another silently.
"Uh… Link, I… I-" Malon started. Link put a finger to her lips to stop her.
He smiled warmly, and Malon understood. Navi flew about confused, but not wanting to say anything to ruin the moment. She disappeared to leave the two alone.
Off in the distance the sun was rising over the mountains and casting its warm glow over the land of Hyrule once more.