MaLink Number One, after my long hiatus. I once promised a MaLink to make up for me making Malon into an antagonist even though I love her, and here it is.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Legend of Zelda, and reserve no rights to it.
Random fact of the day: That 70's Show is hilarious.
"Hey, Malon! I heard in town that you dream of waiting for a knight to come and sweep you off away! You're kinda famous!"
The first time she heard that rumor, the nine-year-old redhead was so mad that she stormed into her room and didn't come out for two days. The animals were starving, of course; Talon and Ingo weren't motivated enough to get anything done on their own. When Malon did finally leave her room, the two men had collapsed from starvation.
Things had gotten better since then; Talon and Ingo were capable enough to make it through a meal, so long as it wasn't a harvesting day and the ranch was out of food. Of course, they were no longer so stupid as to bring up the girl's fantasies again. Things went smoothly, Malon made a friend who visited every so often, and Talon gradually grew to be less lazy.
Of course, that certainly did not mean that Malon left her dream behind, or changed it. But what good is a fantasy, she often reasoned with herself, when there is always very real work to be done? Every day, the child would wake up at sunrise, gather the eggs, and help prepare breakfast. Afterward, she would milk and feed the cows, lay new straw in the pens, and then do the same for the horses. She couldn't afford to spend all day dreaming.
Now, Malon certainly wasn't under the impression that fantasizing was wrong; that would be silly. It was no less proper than playing: perfectly acceptable once her obligations were completed. But Malon kept to herself and the animals, so her dreams of knights in shining armor were kept entirely to herself. She did not even mention them to her friend.
On one particular evening, as she was preparing to close up the horses for the night, she heard someone enter the paddock. She stopped singing her mother's song. Turning and seeing the green clothes and glowing blue fairy, her face lit up and she ran over to him.
Something was wrong. He wasn't walking correctly, his tunic was torn and… burned? Malon ran up to him, just as he collapsed on the ground. As she approached, the fairy hid underneath his hat.
Both being prepubescent children, Malon was just a mite taller than Link, and of equal strength. It took hardly any time at all for her to drag him closer to the house, crying and calling for help until Ingo took over for her. Talon looked the boy over in the house and concluded that, aside from some minor burns, he was just exhausted.
Malon breathed a sigh of relief, and offered her bed to him for the night. She picked up a saddle blanket and slept leaned up against her filly, Epona. Malon began wondering just how Link had managed to push his body so hard. He often said that the sword he carried around was real, but she often saw him lopping away at tall grass with it, so she figured it was just a toy. Drifting off to sleep, Malon's imagination began taking over, and images of knights in green fighting giant Dodongos filled her dreams.
"Hey, Malon?"
"Hm…?" she groggily opened her eyes. The window in the barn's loft above her told her it was still night. She was about to go shoo whoever was bugging her away when she recognized the voice and sat straight up, startling Epona. "Link! Why are you up? You're hurt!"
The fairy boy grinned. "How about a 'hello'? I was gone for two weeks."
Malon resisted the urge to slap him. "Yeah, and you said it would take two days! Keep your promises! Now go to bed so you don't feel tired tomorrow."
Link's expression confused her. He hated talking, so it was hard to understand him a lot of the time. However, seeing the confusion on Malon's face, he struggled to find the right words. "Well, uh… I saw I was in your bed," his face turned red. "I figured you had given it up for me, so… I'll sleep here."
"No. I'm already here. You need to have that bed so you can sleep good," the redhead replied. "So I'm not moving."
"Neither am I."
"Fine!" Malon scooted over to one side of her saddle blanket. "Come lie down here."
Link's face got even redder. "You mean… sleep next to you?"
"Come on!" she patted the ground next to her.
Sitting beside Malon as she pulled up the cover, Link crashed almost instantly.
"Ingo, ya see that Link boy take off?"
"What? Oh, naw."
"Shoot," Talon muttered. Malon's bed was empty before he woke up. The last time Malon's friend left without saying a word, Malon cried. And when Malon cries, dinner doesn't get made. "I'll go wake up Malon. Feed the cows, will ya?"
"Meh."
Making the short trek across the field to the barn, Talon opened the door. Inside the chestnut filly's pen sat Malon and the Link, sound asleep and leaning into each other. Smiling, Talon quietly shut the door.
"Hey, Ingo!" he called, seeing the ranch hand entering the barn. "Changed my mind. Take the rest of the day off."
"Liar!"
"Am not!"
"You did not get hurt falling into a campfire, Link!" Malon shouted. "Tell me the truth, I mean it!"
Link's eyes narrowed. He knew she wouldn't buy his story, but it was the best he could do to keep his one normal friend from worrying. "Malon, I didn't do anything bad!"
"I believe you."
"Huh?"
"Yeah," Malon continued, "I believe you. I believe you when you say that you weren't being bad. I think you tried helping people and got hurt doing too much!" she put her hands on her hips.
"Uh… heheh," Link chuckled. "Can't argue with that."
"So what were you doing? Using bomb flowers? Fighting fire keese and dodongoes? Looking for treasure?"
"Um… All of the above?" he winced, expecting to get hit.
"Oh, my…" Malon gasped.
"Look, Mal, I'm sorry but –"
Smack!
Yep, that was what Link had just stopped expecting. "Ow!"
"Why? Why would you do stuff like that? You're a kid! Like me! Why can't you just stay put and be good? You don't hafta be so dumb!"
"Malon, I gotta," Link replied cautiously. "I can't tell you why, but I promise I will someday. I gotta leave now. There are some people called Zoras I have to go help. Here, I'll give you this so you know I'll come back."
And with that, Link removed his windsock cap, startling the napping fairy within it. Handing it to her, he grinned. "When I'm done with this errand, I have to go see Zelda again. I'll visit you first so I can get my hat back," Link hugged her quickly, a bit embarrassed, and then started running toward Lonlon Gate. Holding his hat to her chest with both hands, Malon watched him go, certain that his face would be the one she saw in her nightly knightly fantasies.
A week had passed since Link left the ranch, and Malon was getting anxious. Was he all right? Were things going smoothly? Did he have to do more dangerous things for another stupid rock? Worried thoughts constantly assaulted her mind, and even distracting herself by singing had little effect. Instead, Malon took solace in Link's promise of a return by wearing his hat, raising her father's and Ingo's brows more than once.
Then came that fateful day. As a storm began brewing, the sounds of shouting and battle began resounding all throughout Hyrule Field. Malon ran into the house to tell the men, and surprisingly, Ingo was the one to take command. "Talon, let's go shut up the animals! Malon, duck into the cellar!"
Scared of how they reacted to her news, Malon did as she was told, lifting up the rug and opening the trapdoor. Scurrying down the stairs and letting the door fall closed on its own, she covered herself with a musty old blanket and stayed as still as she could. After what seemed like an eternity but was in reality only half an hour, she heard a pounding in the house above her.
"Ingo, hurry up!" Talon shouted over the wind. "The storm's gettin' bad, and I don't wanna lose anythin' 'cause of another stupid Hylian war!"
"Shut up, I'm working as fast as I can!" the farmhand replied. "This country has too many damned wars to begin with! I say we get a leader who can actually lead without another rebellion!"
"This ain't no rebellion, man! Look!" Talon handed him a leather telescope. "That's the Gerudo flag!"
Ingo stopped for a second as the last cuckoo entered the coop. He looked, and sure enough there was a flag unfamiliar to him. "How ya know that's Gerudo?" he shouted.
"Malon's mother was a Gerudo, you ninny! Now hurry! You don't wanna be outside when they raid this place!"
The two ranchers spent the next twenty minutes shoving the last of the beasts into their respective shelters, and made their way back to the house. As they were about to enter, a dazzling white horse jumped straight over the farm's gate, its two riders coming directly to Talon.
"Please, sir, let us stay here the night!" the adult woman said. She had a well-dressed girl with her, about Malon's age. 'We're being pursued!"
Talon looked at her, his face grim. "I'm sorry, miss, no can do. I got a family a' my own to keep safe, and I ain't bringing trouble to me. Wait just a sec, though," he ducked into the house, coming out with a basket of food. "This'll help."
"Thank you, sirs!" were the rider's last words to him and Ingo, before taking off, jumping straight off the steep end of Lonlon Mesa. After watching the uninvited guests leave, Talon and Ingo entered the farmhouse, bolting the door. Not five minutes later, as Talon was beginning to decide it was time to hide in the cellar, a pounding on the door startled them both.
"Git out!" Talon shouted. "We ain't getting involved in no war!"
Silence was the only reply. Then all of a sudden, the door flew inwards, knocking Talon off of his feet. Standing at the doorway was a grotesque, green-skinned man with the red hair that betrayed his Gerudo heritage.
"Ganondorf…" Talon gasped. Quickly composing himself, anger replaced surprise. "Demon Thief! Get off my land!"
The man only laughed in reply. "Worm, I shall leave when I'm good and ready. Now, I know that a rider carrying a little girl came through here. Tell me where they went and you'll be handsomely rewarded. Refusal is not an option."
"Wanna bet?" Talon growled, balling up his large fists. "I may be a simple farmer, but ya better take me seriously! I'll take you on myself!"
Instead of a reply, the Gerudo king held out his open palm, which consequently began filling with a bright yellow light. Bracing himself for the first magical blow, Talon took a step forward. Then this brawl, the worst possible situation that could ever occur in the older man's life, got a thousand times worse.
"Daddy, what's going on?" Malon asked. She had stepped out of the cellar when she heard shouting, and was concerned about Talon and Ingo. Seeing the man with an offensive spell ready to fire aimed directly at her father quickly stunned her into silence.
Ganondorf grinned at the new development. "Last chance, man. Tell me where the girl and her attendant went," he slowly moved his hand until his spell was directed at Malon, "Or I kill your precious daughter."
"No…" Talon's face paled. "No…"
"I'll tell ya," Ingo interrupted, shocking everyone. "But not for the girl. I want that reward you promised. If the deal's off, go ahead and kill us all. You won't get a thing if we're dead. I'm just sticking up for number one."
"Why, you two-faced little #!*% !" Talon shouted, lunging for him, only to suddenly fly back, feeling like a horse kicked him in the gut while being struck by lightning as his blood ran cold in his veins. Ganondorf's magical attack had struck him, sending him sprawling.
"This man, Ingo, was it? Well, Ingo, I like you. You know how to do a bit of honest dirty work. Just tell me where the horse went and I'll give you this ranch."
"You can't do that!" Talon groaned, still shaking off the effects of being hit so hard.
"Why not? Hyrule has already fallen. I'm the new king. If I say this ranch is Ingo's this ranch is Ingo's."
The sleazy old ranch hand grinned maliciously. "They took off toward Kokiri Forest. Not even a gallop. They think they lost you."
"Perfect," Ganondorf grinned. "It's all yours. Mr. Former Farmer," he started, addressing Talon, "Do whatever your new boss says. And if you don't I will know. I'll visit personally later."
As the usurper king exited the house, Talon was filled with rage. He didn't dare attack Ingo, for fear of Malon reaping the punishments, but he did manage to lean in close and say, "I'm not servin' you. Malon, pack your things; we're leaving at dawn."
Turning and grabbing his daughter's hand, he spat, "Let's see you run this farm without us."
"Aren't we gonna say goodbye, Daddy?" Malon asked. After having been woken up earlier than expected, she had not even had time to take care of the animals. "What about Epona? And Mabel? And Jack? Can we take them with us…?"
Talon sighed, his daughter's innocence depressing him even more. "Mal… we're not taking anything. Ingo's gonna run this place into the ground, and I can't fight him because that bad man from last night will come back and hurt you. So we're just gonna have to say goodbye to the animals and Ingo in our hearts."
"No."
"What?" Talon asked, eyebrows rising.
"I said no. Mr. Ingo's gonna hurt the horses if we leave. I'm gonna stay here and make sure that he doesn't do it. And you can't stop me!"
Shocked beyond belief that Malon would say something like this, her father caught himself before losing his temper. In that little blue-eyed face, in the fiery hair, the way her hand rested on her #!*% hip when she was determined to do something… He realized that she really was just like her mother. "Okay, Malon. You're old enough to make your own decisions now. You can stay and protect the horses. I promised I'll be back someday. I promise." Kissing her forehead and pulling her into a bear-hug, Talon wished his little girl farewell.
Things certainly didn't go smoothly for Malon at first, and even in the best of times she was always in danger of being physically abused by Ingo. But he never harmed a single hair on the horses. That was the deal: that the horses remain safe, and Malon stays as a ranch hand. Even Ingo knew he wasn't capable enough to handle everything on his own, and this agreement was a much better alternative to hiring help.
Some days, especially as the years began going by and Malon entered puberty, she would sit with a certain chestnut mare, stroking its head as she dreamed of knights in shining armor. Her fantasies never seemed farther away than those years without her father, without a friend, and constantly in fear, but at the same time, they gave her something to hold onto: the future, the hope that things would get better. It also never hurt that a little green windsock cap was hidden away in a false board in the barn, reminding her that real heroes wear green.
Whew…ie! This was really fun to write! I was gonna make it a one-shot, but then I got bored. So it's gonna be a three-shot! Expect updates slightly less-often than The Mind of a Goddess, which is still my number one priority, but I'm really enjoying this. It all just flew through my head, right onto the page.
Signing off,
~F4R