Chapter 1

On a Moonless Night

Time… is a cruel thing…

No matter how hard you wish for it to stop, it flows endlessly as everything withers and rises anew. Even if the heavens were to come crashing down and destroy every traces of our existence, it shall move on like nothing has ever happened. It is the only thing that will always remain certain, that which we must accept as an inevitability.

Time, is as the goddesses meant it to be… And in order to preserve its integrity, they gave to select individuals the power to alter its currents. But even they, were never able to harness its flow.

Long ago, there were those who tried to defy the will of the goddesses and bend the flow of time in order to suit their own selfish purpose. And this… is such a tale.

In the land of Hyrule, there echoes a legend. A legend held dearly by the Royal Family that tells of a boy. A boy who, after battling evil and saving Hyrule, crept away from the land that made him a legend. Done with the battles he once waged across time, he embarked on a journey. A secret and personal journey… A journey in search of a beloved and invaluable friend. A friend with whom he parted ways when he finally fulfilled his heroic destiny and took his place among legends.

For twelve years, he wandered… He saw wonders that no hylians had ever witnessed before and met friends that he had long since thought lost. Only to later discover that the name they bore and the mask they wore, were nothing but a pale shadow of their former selves…

Still searching, still hoping that his treasured friend might lie just beyond the next hill…

However, as the flow of time went on, so did he realize that his journey had lost meaning. After all this time, he could no longer tell where his next destination lied.

He… was lost.

But then, something both frightening and marvelous happened. This faint voice, hidden within the bowels of his heart, spoke to him once more. And for the first time, he listened...

It all began on this fateful day, when dark clouds suddenly engulfed the sky, causing a freezing rain to fall upon the unsuspecting realm of Hyrule.

Taken by surprise by this sudden change of weather, a lone girl and her loyal farm hand struggled to guide the denizens of Lon Lon Ranch back to their shelters before their home was completely swallowed by the storm.

By the time she was finished, the girl's clothes were completely soaked with water, prompting her to race back home before she froze to death.

When she reached the door, she heard the sounds of barking as the farm hand and his hounds rushed to meet her. "Are you done yet, Miss Malon?" He asked, feeling his old bones waver under the weight of exhaustion.

Indeed, the livestock had been especially stubborn lately and it was truly a miracle that they had managed to bring them in as quickly as they had. "Yes, are you alright, Ingo?" The ginger-haired woman replied, genuinely concerned about the old man's health.

But unfortunately, before Ingo could provide any sort of answer, they heard loud noises coming from the wooden gate not too far from them. Noises, which Malon immediately recognized as the distinct toll of her father's bell.

The roads weren't nearly as safe as they used to be since the Gerudoes had moved to the edge of Hyrule Fields, and if someone was desperate enough to be visiting them at this hour, this probably meant that they would be having guests. "Hmph… They never stop coming, do they?" The stuffy farm hand sighed, reaching his trusted pitchfork. "I'll handle this Miss Malon, I'll be back shortly."

Acknowledging his response, Malon allowed herself to watch the old man drag himself all the way to the gate, knowing fully well that this uproar would only intensify had they chosen to ignore it.

Once he arrived at the gate, the farm hand opened the slot that had been carved into one of the wooden doors and yelled. "Get lost! We don't accept any visitors past eight o'clock. Come back tomorrow!"

Then for a few seconds, everything went silent. Impassible, their visitor reached for something inside his purse, paying little heed to the old man's previous outburst.

Between the rain and the absence of light all around him, Ingo could barely decipher the stranger's appearance, though he had a pretty good idea of what he was dealing with. This hooded person was definitely a man, most likely in his early twenties and he could also make out the silhouette of a large horse somewhere close by.

Closing in toward the gate, the unexpected visitor extended his palm before Ingo's eyes, revealing the perfect and sensuous form of a purple rupee. "There are far more of those from where this came from." He began, with only a slight hint of contempt. "I don't suppose I could get you to... reconsider?"

Torn between his desire for more of those small rupees and his profound dislike for those squatting strangers that never failed to show up, the call of those shiny jewels was simply too much for him to ignore. And so, Ingo reluctantly replied. "Alright, you win! But this better not be a trick or you're gonna taste some of this pitchfork!"

Thus, the slim farm hand opened the gate, allowing their hooded visitor inside as he dragged his mare across the frozen lawn.

The stuffy old man couldn't quite say why, but he could have sworn that something was amiss about this stranger. It was almost as if those black clouds were following him on purpose, yet for some reason, he could find no other evidence to back up his claim.

Realizing that his own forehead was drenched in water, Ingo quickly followed in the stranger's footsteps, who was now heading toward Malon.

From afar, the young girl was watching their newly-arrived guest with great interest. Were it simply for his large bag, that was overflowing with many strange and foreign items, she could have easily mistaken him for some sort of peddler. But the ornate shield and sword that he was carrying had already given him away. "Some adventuring type, perhaps?" She had asked herself, as he approached some more.

He was kind of handsome in a rugged sort of way, though he wasn't quite close enough for her to properly distinguish his features. His green tunic had been seemingly torn apart repeatedly throughout his travel and from what she could tell, many patches of brown leather had since replaced the delicate fabric that had gone into his outfit. Truly mysterious, to say the least.

However, when the man finally reached her, the dogs starting barking angrily at him. Startling her, as he attempted to raise his voice above the ruckus. "I would like to rent one of your rooms for the night. The price doesn't matter."

Bowing slightly as Ingo sent a harsh glance to his hounds, she answered. "Of course, you're both welcome here." The ginger-haired woman began, visibly referring to her visitor's mount. "Would you like us to take her off your hands for the time being?"

Uncomfortable, the hooded stranger replied. "If it's not too much trouble…"

"Not at all." She answered, literally brimming with confidence. "Ingo, would you mind taking our guest's mount back to the stables?"

Whining silently, the old man grabbed the large horse's reins. But unfortunately, as he tried to get it to move, that stubborn animal simply refused to comply. In fact, she was getting angrier by the second and while their guest attempted to calm her, Ingo had seemingly lost his temper. "Damned beast, so that's how you want to play it, huh?"

Taking out his whip from his belt, the annoyed farm hand was immediately stopped by the young woman, if only so that he would not lash out at the poor thing. "Stop it Ingo! I'll take care of it myself, alright! Please guide our guest to his room while I'm gone."

Mr. Ingo grudgingly attached his cruel appendage back to his waist and allowed Malon to work her magic, soothing the troubled mare almost instantly as she grabbed its reins.

Unable to understand what had just occurred, the farm hand nodded and beckoned their visitor in so that they could get themselves cleaned up.

Once they were done wiping the water from their faces, they entered a room where a fat old man was snoring peacefully with his back sitting against a wooden crate. Upon hearing their footsteps, the gray-mustached farmer woke up prematurely and managed to draw their guest's attention."Hey, kid! Why don't you come and play with my super cuccos?" He had said, clearly not making any sense due to the absence of any actual cucco. "They haven't had any exercises in ages!"

"Oh shut up, old fool!" Ingo had replied angrily before he could even realize the hooded man's confusion. "Don't bother our guest with your incessant babbling."

The bald gentleman's features saddened suddenly and with his voice shaking, he replied. "Mean old man. Go away!"

Witnessing the grown man bursting in sobs, the farm hand harshly added. "Oh, stop it! Miss Malon is far too good with you. If I weren't so sure that you weren't faking, I'd kick your sorry self back to work." Then, without the slightest consideration for his longtime employer, he said. "Don't pay any attention to this old fool, he no longer have all his head. Follow me, I'll show you your room."

The mysterious visitor took a long glance back at that pathetic old man that had greeted him earlier and finally convinced himself to follow Ingo up the stairs.

Meanwhile, at the stables, Miss Malon had already managed to bring the stranger's horse in without a fuss and led her further away from the others so that she wouldn't be needlessly frightened.

This particular mare was truly a sight to behold, despite her rather advanced age. So far, she had seemed content to obey the young girl, which turned out to be quite a surprise given her previous encounter with Mr. Ingo.

Once they arrived to their destination, the affectionate animal rubbed her reddish-brown head upon the woman's shoulder, who in turn passed her hand inside her snowy-white mane. That is, until she felt something odd dripping from her fingers. No matter how she tried to look at it, this most certainly looked like blood mixed with the slightest bit of water. But the strangest thing was, that there were absolutely no injuries to be found on her crest... "Perhaps this belongs to our visitor?" She had wondered, apprehensive.

Whether she liked it or not, this person had successfully aroused her curiosity. And so, she finally decided to head back to the ranch.

Back there, she had found her father sitting against a wooden crate, his eyes slightly closed as sleep was slowly beginning to claim him. Malon approached the mustached man and with a calm voice she said. "Dad, you should really go to bed, this is no place for you to sleep."

Talon nodded silently, as the ginger-haired woman helped her father stand up and walked him back to his room. Then, once he was done changing, she entered his room only to find him already lying in bed.

However, as she prepared to leave, she was immediately stopped by a familiar voice calling her name. "Malon?"

Miss Malon froze in place, utterly unable to process the fact that the old man had suddenly remembered her name. "Yes, dad?" She replied softly.

"I'm sorry…" Talon began, clearly having trouble finding the words that he was trying to express.

Bending silently on her father's bedside, the girl timidly asked. "About what?"

If anything, Talon looked more lucid now than he had ever been in the past years. "I'm sorry for leaving you alone like this!" The old man replied, pulling his daughter as close to him as he could, while his expression degenerated into sobs.

Speechless, the young woman had simply no idea what she was supposed to do. On good days, Talon seemed to instinctively remember that she was someone important, but something of this magnitude was almost mystical in nature...

No hylian doctor could do anything for him and from what she had heard from Mr. Ingo, her father had apparently 'shut himself inside his damn head'. From this point on, the afflicted farmer could no longer manage the ranch and since she was still too young to handle the family business on her own, Ingo had stepped up to purchase it until she was old enough to repay him.

During the past years, there had been no improvements in Talon's condition; and from what they had said, he would probably never recover.

Yet from time to time, there was something that made his memory resurface and during those times, she could have sworn that what he said was actually making sense, but never as much as he did now. Crying, her father had went on. "I'm so sorry… I didn't want things to be this way!"

Gently patting him on the back, Malon answered. "It's not your fault dad… You… You've done nothing wrong."

"I'm so sorry…" The mustached man had tried to go on, but by the time his daughter felt his hands grow weaker, Talon had already fallen asleep...

These last few moments had been… frightening, to say the least. Yet, the ginger-haired woman finally resolved to sneak out quietly, if only not to inconvenience him any further.

From that point on, she knew that she couldn't sleep. And so, she took it upon herself to find out a little more about their guest.

Mr. Ingo was already asleep, but a dimly lit door across the hallway silently beckoned to her. Lightly pushing the doorknob, Malon looked through the opening and noticed that the bed hadn't been undone yet; the hooded man was probably still awake.

Though she struggled to convince herself that this was none of her business, she slowly opened the door and gazed across the room.

The mysterious stranger had fallen asleep on a chair close to the window and had finally decided to take his hood off. Much like she had already guessed, this man was most likely in his early twenties and his ears obviously suggested that he was of hylian lineage.

His face twisted into a permanent frown as his dark blond hair rested peacefully upon his neck, the young man seemed to be completely unaware of her presence. Yet the more she looked at him, the more she realized that it was impossible that the blood she had found truly belonged to him.

It was then, that she noticed his backpack resting upon the table. She tried to convince herself that she shouldn't be snooping at this hour of the night, but her curiosity got the better of her.

Watching her steps, Malon approached the unattended container in the hope of finding some clues as to their guest's identity. However, as she tried to open the bag, she was suddenly paralyzed when she realized that something was grabbing her arm. Terrified, the woman turned to see what was going on and witnessed a hand covered in blood-soaked bandages…

Author's Ramblings : Well, hello there everyone… I suppose that you've been wondering what the hell this story is all about and why is someone, who has only done Megaman stories so far, is now doing by trying to make a story based on the Legend of Zelda. Anyway, let's just say that at some point, I started playing some of my old games and eventually decided to begin a new game of Ocarina of Time. Then, as I was playing, I suddenly remembered the infamous cliffhanger left at the end of Ocarina of Time and the beginning/end of Majora Mask.

After a few researches, I found the answer to my question but wasn't exactly satisfied with my answer and how Majora Mask ended with the huge gap left between it and Wind Waker. Which is apparently some sort of alternate dimension or separate timeline, whatever...

So, I decided to make my own alternate sequel to satisfy my own twisted mind and experiment with some new writing techniques. However, you should be aware that I do not plan to take everything said within the manga (which I haven't read) and within the re-releases of Nintendo for granted. This story is all about my own assumptions of how a sequel to Majora Mask should have been like.

This chapter has undergone rewrites following the release of Chapter 5*

Preview: Realizing that she had been caught in the act, Malon tries to justify her presence at this hour of the night and eventually comes to the realization that she already knew this person. Feeling that something was amiss with this young man that she used to know, she invites him to stay at the ranch a few more days so that she may learn a little more about the motives of his return to Hyrule. Who is this mysterious stranger anyway? And what could possibly bring him back there after so many years?