Enter: Three Sisters
Malon sighed as she added the last of the vegetables into the pot.
It had been another average day at the Lon Lon Ranch, tending to the cows and Cuccos, delivering the famous Lon Lon milk supply to town. Her little sisters, Cremia and Romani, were busy helping whenever they could.
Cremia would always look after the Cuccos, breeding them with her special Bremen Mask (given to the family by a strange man with a creepy smile. Malon had almost whacked him over the head with a frying pan when he randomly appeared out of nowhere, but he disappeared a moment after he gave the mask to her little sister. Really?). The Cuccos always seemed to march after the mature brown-haired girl as she walked around the ranch, always sporting a line of feathered animals following closely behind her.
Romani was the upbeat and fun-loving girl, tending after the cows. The happy clone of Cremia would talk to the cows, standing on top of crates with a bow in hand, acting as if she was the ruler of the cows that would stare at her with empty gazes. Of course, at the end of the day, Romani would milk the cows with the song that had been handed from generation to generation in the family. It worked wonders, and afterwards, Romani would fall asleep with the cows while Cremia would be snoozing with Cuccos all over her.
Malon loved it.
The young woman wiped the sweat off of her forehead, watching as the steam boiled up from the pot. Malon was in charge of making dinner every night. The three sisters lived happily by themselves since their parents had died in a recent war. Romani and Cremia had been devastated, not to point out the obvious. Of course, Malon had cried herself to sleep every night a week after their deaths. However, business at the Lon Lon Ranch was tough with all the buyers because of the famous Chateau Romani and the newly discovered mix that could heal really well: the Miracle Milk.
The buyers had increased dramatically because of lack of food and water because of the increasing amount of injured soldiers returning from battle, meaning things had gotten busy really quickly. The family had made a hefty amount of money ever since the war and things were going well. Romani would wake up Cremia every day by jumping up and down on her bed. Malon would already be awake by the time the two girls got themselves ready and dressed. After breakfast, the day would go by with a pattern that went a bit like work, work, lunch, work, work, dinner, sleep, repeat. Malon sometimes wondered how her sisters got by such a boring life. Well, of course, Malon herself enjoyed life on Lon Lon Ranch a lot. But whenever she would make a delivery to town, she would see all the children playing with each other, running around with smiles on their faces. As happy as they were, Romani and Cremia never had the chance or the time to experience that.
"Hey," the shorter sister, Romani, whined as she pounded her palms on the wooden table from across the room. "When's dinner gonna be ready?" Giving an impatient sigh, the brown-haired girl face-planted into the table, the wooden spoon still clutched tightly in her hand. Romani had been a fun-loving and cheerful girl, but sometimes she just couldn't wait for things, like dinner (and everything else). Every day she would wear the same outfit: a simple white dress with blue patterns around the edges and a yellow-brown ribbon tied loosely around her neck (of course, every member had it. The forest was right next to the ranch, and if they ever got lost, the ribbon could help for patching wounds, making markings, etc.).
Cremia looked almost exactly like her sister, but a bit taller and her hair was flater. Also, her dress was light blue with black patterns so Malon could tell them apart. Malon herself dressed in a white blouse and a long pink skirt with purple square patterns near the edges. She would always wear high brown boots when she was working so her legs didn't get scratched, especially in the fields.
"Just be patient," Malon scolded gently, tapping Romani on the head with a large wooden spoon. "If you don't stop whining, you don't get dinner." The younger of the two sighed and raised her head, her blue eyes ignoring everything around her. "Fine," the grumpy sibling murmured, wrapping her arms over her head. Malon turned back to the pot, putting the lid on. Lon Lon Ranch had started selling vegetables and fruits recently because business was going well and people needed nourishment as such in their daily lives. The extra money was helpful, too.
The ranch was pretty successful in the town, selling loads to the people. Malon had been able to buy some arrows for Romani to practice archery with and books for Cremia to read. The two would often trade belongings out of curiosity, but they got bored fairly quickly and would immediately trade back. After all, a bookworm and an archery freak didn't mix too well.
Cremia walked in, book in hand. "Malon, when's dinner going to be ready?" Sitting down at the table beside her sister, the taller sibling pushed up her glasses. Cremia had just gotten glasses recently because of her bad habit of reading under covers. Her eyesight without glasses was like a blind cow that was high on Magic Beans (insane, to say the least. Cremia was even worse when she had too much sugar. "She'll be fine," said Malon. "She couldn't possibly envision pink Stalfos and rainbows dancing on the tables," said Malon).
"Don't you start," Malon warned. "Just wait patiently beside Romani. If you want, you can get some of the cookies you made this morning, but only one. One."
"Yes, mother," Cremia said, voice full of sarcasm. The brown-haired girl walked over to the glass jar and grabbed a cookie which she had made this morning. Cremia was surprisingly good at cooking. (but only sweets. Everything else she tried to make usually exploded in her face which caused Romani to double over laughing her ass off. The only other time she doubled over was when she accidentally tried out the horrid things that Cremia had invented which was followed up by moans of pain and misery.) Romani hated cooking but could handle really tough jobs, carrying impossible loads for a girl of thirteen. Cremia and Romani were polar opposites from each other.
"No fair," Romani complained, raising her head. "I want one, too!"
Cremia sighed, pushing her glasses up with her book open. She looked like a teacher that was impatient with a child (which she probably was trying to get across). "Get one yourself, then," the taller sibling said, voice plain and eyes still focused on the book.
Romani gave a huff, smiling cockily. "I'm too tired," she said in a plain voice, shrugging. "I was hauling giant stacks of hay around while you were cruising around with your line of Cuccos, so you should be thankful that you didn't have to do my job! Now, Cremia dear, get me a cookie."
"Don't want to. I made them, so you should be thankful I made them in the first place. And don't make me argue over an insignificant cookie. Why would you argue over this? It's obvious that you're trying to anger me."
"Cremia, darling, would you just please do me a favor? I've known you for so long, hm? Now, be a sweetheart and fetch me a goddess-damned cookie."
"Do it yourself. After all, it's just a goddess-damned cookie, yeah?"
Malon could only watch, eyebrow twitching.
"Shut up before I whack both of you over the head with a frying pan!"
Malon's loud voice echoed throughout the room. Romani and Cremia both turned to their older sister, eyes wide. Malon glared at both of them.
"Romani!" She yelled, causing the shorter girl to flinch and look up. "Get yourself a cookie. You're strong enough to survive eight hours of heavy lifting. You can pick up a pastry by yourself! Stop purposely trying to piss off Cremia!" Romani slumped and walked over to the jar, reaching in and snatching a sugar cookie, dulling chewing on the edges, letting the crumbs fall to the floor, earning her a killer glare from Malon.
"Cremia!" The taller girl straightened her back and twitched as Romani flicked a few crumbs down her dress, keeping an impressive poker face. "Next time, just get a cookie for her! Don't start a fight! You're smart enough to read magic books, so make a better decision next time!"
Malon sighed and let out a frustrated sigh, rubbing her temples. She didn't bother apologizing for her temper because she knew that the two girls were so used to her yelling that they knew they weren't getting any type of pity afterwards.
Of course, they started arguing a few moments later after Romani started a flick-the-crumbs-at-anybody-who-annoys-you war. Malon, of course, smacked them both over the head with the wooden ladle and proceeded to serve dinner.
Just another day at the Lon Lon Ranch.
"Romani! Is Epona ready to go?"
"Yeah! Everything's all good and ready!"
"Alright! Cremia, look after the place!"
"Yeah, yeah. Do me a favor and refrain from burning the town down, okay?"
Malon gave her younger sister a smile as she snapped the reins. The loyal horse that had been with the family ever since Malon was born, Epona, whinnied and walked off towards town. The jars of Chateau Romani clacked against each other gently as the Miracle Milk swirled gently. Romani sat at the back of the wagon, bow in hand and arrows ready to go. The path they usually took had been blocked off by a landslide, so they had to make do with the bumpier, harder-to-get-past path. Since there were bandits on the trail, Romani had her arrows at the ready.
The morning sun shone brightly as they passed by the mountainside. Epona trotted along the path and Romani narrowed her eyes against the sun. "See anything strange?" Malon asked, looking back a bit. Romani shook her head. "No. Just trees, rocks, and mud." She peeked her head out a bit through the cloth hanging over the metal frame. "Wait, no - I see horses. Is that normal?"
Malon rolled her eyes. "No. Bandits. Probably bought some really bad Stone Masks from town. They close?"
"Eh, quite. Can I shoot them?"
"Yeah. Only the ice arrows and light arrows, you hear me?"
"Yeah, I know."
"I have I feeling this is going to turn into homicide."
"Only if they freeze to death or somehow get blinded and smash into the cliffs."
"My point exactly."
Romani gave a happy yet sadistic smile as she notched an arrow with a frozen tip, the glowing blue aura emitting a cloud of coldness. Aiming at the feet of the horses, she let loose the arrows. The air turned cold all of a sudden, causing Malon to let out a chain of violent sneezes. The horses trailing behind the wagon whinnied and reared back, flipping their invisible riders off their backs. The cheaply bought Stone Masks flipped off their faces or broke, probably because of the horrible quality. The bandits were clearly dazed, but the majority of them got on their feet, unsheathed their weapons, and then started running after the wagon. They were actually quite fast with Epona being so old and all.
"Light arrows AWAY!" Romani cheered as she notched a light arrow and aimed at the ground again. A giant burst of stunning light filled the air and Malon squeezed her eyes shut to avoid being blinded. Romani had her hands over her eyes. It was quite amusing, watching the bandits trip over each other and slip on the ice. Malon gave Romani a high five as the sisters entered the golden center of Elurie: Paluto.
The guards at the gate didn't even bother to ask who they were or what they were doing like they would usually question everybody else. The Lon Lon Ranch wagon was so oftenly seen there was no point asking what they were doing and everybody knew the sisters that worked the ranch. Cremia, the Cucco breeder (who was also a little 'Cucco' up in the head), Romani, the cow leader (the one most likely to set Paluto aflame), and Malon, the one that took care of everything (the demon tamer. Or the demon herself).
The wagon first stopped at the Milk Bar, an adult-exclusive bar. The Milk Bar was a beautiful place, with a grey stone exterior and a large, colourful sign. The windows were either stained glass or tinted blue or green shades, and the well-woven curtains could be seen clearly through some windows. The Chateau Romani was expensive but extremely popular there which worked in the Malon's favour very well.
The second stop was the Medicine House, a small white hut that had a lot of business because of the recent war. The Miracle Milk would go by very quickly among the people and customer demand was always fairly high. Romani was the one that usually hauled the load in while Malon looked after the wagon, slapping random thieves that got too close. Romani didn't mind carrying the heavy jars - in fact, she liked it. She always loved going inside the Milk Bar and looking at the interior or helping arrange medicines and potions at the Medicine House. And if Romani did in fact look after the wagon, the thieves and bandits would probably have broken noses instead of bruises and slap marks which they usually received from Malon.
Malon watched as the happy brown-haired girl skipped back onto the wagon, her hands full of potions. Malon didn't even raise an eyebrow. It was normal, seeing Romani carrying either potions or cookies back. People would always love the fun-loving Romani and give her treats, which didn't bother Malon at all since the cookies the Milk Bar lady made were goddess-damned good and since getting cuts and wounds weren't a rare sighed while working on the ranch, so the potions did help a lot.
"Hey!" Romani complained as Malon snatched one of the cookies out of the jar that the sibling had in her hands. Malon simply licked the crumbs off her fingers, giving a small smile. "Yum," she said, watching as Romani attempted to eat all of the cookies before she could steal another. Giving a sigh, Malon looked at the sun. It was afternoon and they were in need for a proper lunch. Asking the Medicine House man to look after the wagon, Malon dragged Romani away from the remaining cookies as they searched a proper place to eat.
"Hey! Look! Maybe that place is good?" Romani would stop and point at all sorts of shops. Some of them weren't even actual places to eat, but since Romani hadn't actually walked around Paluto as much as Cremia had, she found everything amazing compared to the old and worn-down Lon Lon Ranch.
"For the last time, I said fifty rupees!"
Romani and Malon stopped at the stall they were passing when they saw two people arguing. One was obviously the owner of the stall, and looking at the items, it was probably a trading post. The man looked tricky and sly, like a fox that would trick the money out of your pockets.
Not an uncommon sight in Paluto.
The other was a young man, probably around seventeen. He was dressed in a green tunic and had the strangest hat on. A sword and shield were strapped on his back and his messy blond hair peeked out of the green fabric of his hat. Romani was just about to walk on when Malon grabbed her arm, wanting to listen in. She loved butting in on a good argument.
The stall owner had a smile on his face. "This mask is worth no more than twenty rupees," he said, folding his hands over each other. The blond-haired boy seemed quite angry as they continued to yell at each other. "Fifty," the boy would growl, only to be countered with a price quite lower than the one he would give.
Finally, Malon pushed her way into the conversation. The fox man was obviously lying. She was used to seeing people lie to notice when somebody was fibbing, and being a responsible woman, she really did hate liars.
"Oh, what a fine mask!" Malon said, snatching the mask from the boy's hands even though they were probably the same age and ignoring the fact that he had a sword. The mask did look quite interesting... until Malon took a closer look and her eyes widened, but she erased the look on her face and continued to smile. The mask... resembled the one... written in the family diary...
"My, how rare! This mask clearly has been expertly crafted and also is in very fine quality. It hasn't been painted cheaply or cracked in any places. Oh! Also, if you know anything about the history of this mask... well, let's say it is clearly worth much more than fifty rupees."
The blond boy looked surprised that someone was helping him.
"Also, do you see these spikes at the edges of the mask? As a mask expert, I know a lot about these types of masks, you know!" Waving her hand in the air, she continued.
"The colours from bottom up represent different regions: blue for Great Bay, green for Woodfall, red for Snowhead, and yellow for Ikana Canyon. And did you know? The creation of this mask is strange and unknown, but there has been proof that the mask may have been crafted by the Twili, an ancient race from the Twilight Realm, or maybe even those who lived in Ikana Canyon so long ago and dared to oppose the goddesses. Oh, and if you were to put on the mask before the evil was dispelled, well, you would most likely have died."
Malon gave a cheeky smile, showing all of her pearly white teeth. "But, sir, you wouldn't know all that, would you?"
The fox man seemed surprised and lost at the same time. The blond boy had the same facial expression. Romani stared at her older sister, mouth wide open. They obviously didn't understand the majority of her explanation, but being a know-it-all was fun. Malon simply smiled, a victorious grin on her lips.
"I - I..." The man stuttered, only to watch as Malon slapped her hand on the table fiercely. "Two hundred rupees is a discount," she said, using her 'Adult Mode' tone. "Pay up."
The fox man reluctantly handed over the rupees to Malon. She snatched the rupees out of the fox man's hand and placed them into the blond boy's palm.
"Be careful," she warned. "People in Paluto can be tricky. Keep that in mind, okay?" Malon then gave a look towards Romani. Anyone with her blood could tell what the sparkly-eyes-glimmering-evil-thought-smile meant. Romani's smile widened evilly as she then narrowed her eyes, staring at the mask that was now placed in a box behind the counter. A moment later, the small girl disappeared under the table without the man noticing. A second after that, she popped out, the bag hanging from her shoulder seeming a bit larger than before.
Malon smiled as she led the boy away. "My name's Malon. This is Romani, my little sister. We run the Lon Lon Ranch. You are?"
"Uh..." The boy said, looking at Romani, who gave him a thumbs up. "Did she just -"
"Totally not!" Malon laughed as Romani handed over the mask that the boy had just fought over. "I mean, who would do such a thing, right?" The boy raised an eyebrow, giving a smile and grabbing the mask, quickly putting it away. His smile was full of adventure, like a warrior of some sort. "Sneaky girls," he laughed, blue eyes shining with amusement. "I'm Link."
"Link, huh? Well, where are you from? You're not Palutian. You don't have the usual brown-red hair."
"Oh. Well, I'm from Animret."
"Animret? That small town outside of the forests surrounding Paluto?"
"Yeah."
"Why'd you come here? Animret's really far."
"I had some business to take care of."
"Huh. Well, good luck and be careful. Romani and I aren't always gonna be around for you! And if you need a place to stay, you can always come to our ranch. It's not far and we're always welcome to tourists."
The blond boy, Link, gave a smile. "Yeah," he said. "I'll try to visit while I'm here."
Romani stepped up and gave a large smile, reaching into the quiver strapped over her shoulder. "Link!" Romani thrust two crystals into the boy's hands. One radiated a cold winter aura while the other shone like a firefly. Romani, pointing at each of them, explained what they were and their effects.
"This blue one's a crystal that enchants arrows so they'll freeze whatever they hit by touch. Very useful when it comes to bandits or wild animals if you don't actually want to kill them. Well, if you wanna kill them, they work well too. The shiny one here will enchant your arrows so they'll let loose light while they hit. Good for stunning and blinding, and especially effective at night. But it's still an arrow. Now, say you wanna wake somebody up in the middle of the night in the most painful way possible..." Stepping back, Romani flicked her hair. "Those are for making my day that much better," she said happily yet evilly.
Malon smiled, ignoring the rather painful ideas. Romani was a carefree girl, always loving a good day or a funny joke. Usually she would never let anyone close to her crystals, but since she had spares at home (along with a fire crystal, but that one was locked away because, well, bad things were bound to happen), she gave the crystals away willingly. Malon reached into her bag and grabbed a bottle of the Chateau Romani. They had enough of that stuff to burn (although she prefered if it wasn't set aflame, thank you very much). "Take this too," she said, handing the bottle to Link.
Link smiled and accepted their gifts. "Thank you," he said, looking around afterwards. "I'm sorry, but I have to get going. See you girls later."
"Yeah! Bye, Link!" Romani yelled after the young man as he disappeared into the crowd. Waving her bow in the air until she couldn't see the boy anymore, Romani turned towards Malon. "Why'd you help that guy, anyway? I mean, he's cool and all, but why?"
Malon shrugged. "Dunno," was her simple answer. "He seemed like he was in a tight spot, so I just... well, helped him out a bit."
Turning and looking into the crowd, Malon gave one last look at the mass of people, then turned again and led her sister away.