Rain poured over the ruined landscape, the heavens crying out their misery upon the desolate wastes. Trees smoldered, craters littered the once-beautiful valley, and chunks of rubble lay within the sparse vegetation, intertwined by thorns and long grasses. Ghosts and undead creatures roamed, unchecked, making travel by ordinary citizens impossible. Is this the Hyrule I once knew? Seven years, trapped within the Temple of Light passed in an instant, to find the lush world gone, replaced by this nightmare. The ten-year old boy inside of me shivered. It had been hard enough to walk through the market square…I didn't dare lay a hand on a single re-dead. Who knows if those were once the townsfolk, transformed…or worse, killed, and revived by some dark magic. Sheik had informed me of the new quest I must face, but never did he warn me of the tragedies that had befallen his country.
Now, standing in front of the demolished gate of Hyrule Town, darkness clung to the skies. It was strange…I could clearly see the sun above the horizon, shining its light, yet that light never quite seemed to reach where I stood. The town had become so tainted with Ganondorf's evil that even light would not come to warm the stone architecture. Another tremor passed through my taller, adult form, shield and sword jingling in their respective places upon my back. Whatever I had to do would be put off until I could distance myself from the pure darkness lingering at my back. With that in mind, I quickly set off, just walking away. A destination was not my concern. It was what I was supposed to do, and how to do it. Defeating that Gerudo king, the King of Thieves.
When I had last seen him, he had made me tremble, though I brandished sword in shield in defiance. It was more of a reflex, after months of wandering Hyrule and collecting those stones that Zelda informed me of. My refusal to divulge Zelda's whereabouts sent him into a cool rage, and he pummeled my chest with some sort of magic. It felt more like a hammer blow, simply knocking me back and sucking the wind from my lungs. Once he had left, I rescued the Ocarina of Time from the Hyrule's moat, and set off to the Temple to complete my mission and save everyone. Or so I thought.
"Foolish boy! I figured that you were the key to this…now the Sacred Realm, and the Triforce, are mine to claim! I must congratulate you for your help…hahahaha!" Ganondorf's deep voice rang within my mind, making me grit my teeth and lunge with a punch directly ahead, only to come into contact with the iron of Lon Lon Ranch's gate. For a few moments, there was silence. I could feel my face slowly turned red as I stopped breathing, the urge to scream rising…dancing around and flailing about, I whipped my hands through the air, pain coursing through my throbbing knuckles. Thankfully, no one was around to see me in my moment of humiliating pain. Very un-hero like.
"That hurt…" I whimpered, rubbing my sore knuckles with my free, gloved hand. However, I noticed that the gate had swung open, enabling me passage inside. While I was here, I could check up on Malon... Surely since the ranch is standing, everything would be ok here, right? Cautiously, I walked into the ranch, gazing about, looking at the new signs of Ingo. Wait, Ingo? Since when did he own the ranch? Talon is lazy, sure, but not lazy enough to be booted off his own property, with a daughter to take care of…
Malon wasn't out in the pasture with the horses, singing, like usual. It was deathly quiet. Even the animals were hushed as I wandered about in search of my childhood redheaded friend. Well, she was also basically my only friend outside of the Kokiri forest. She wasn't in the mill in the back, either, though I did manage to coerce a cow into giving me some milk. That ocarina really comes in handy sometimes. Who knew cows liked music so much? I quickly chugged down the first bottle, and played the happy bovines another song for a refill. Seven years, locked away, makes a man thirsty! While sipping at the second bottle of creamy milk, I found myself walking into the stables. The door shut behind me, and a sigh escaped my lips. "Maybe she got kicked off the ranch, too…"
"Who got kicked off of where?" replied a quiet female voice. I shrugged, slowly raising my head upwards.
"Oh, my friend, M…M…" Words failed me. In the back of the stables stood the most gorgeous woman he had ever laid eyes on. Auburn curls flowing down her back, sapphire eyes looking downcast as they met my own azure irises. She had a cute little nose, slightly pointed, and a darling smile that lit up her face. She wore a cream white blouse with blue trim, a vaguely familiar garment. Malon had a long shirt that looked like that, but it covered her entire body.
The slender, lithe woman giggled just a little, watching me stutter like an idiot, as I looked her over, probably something she was used to. "Are you ok, sir? I didn't step in anything, did I?" She asked, raising one foot to check the soles of her boots, the long violet skirt she wore fluttered and exposed her pale, milky skinned calves and lowest portion of her toned thighs.
"I, uhm…hi there…" Yeah, I'm a great speaker. Take me to Hyrulian court.
She giggled again, looking me over. "Hello there, sugar," she said, in what could be best described as the accent of a southern belle. "You know, you're kinda cute…have we met?" I shook my head no rather quickly, unable to think properly, making my green cap bobble. My conscience was throwing a fit, telling my young brain to stop lying. But words and thoughts weren't working quite right as she stared at me, like she was sizing up a potential stallion. "That's too bad…I had a friend from long ago, and I miss my lil' Fairy Boy…" She sighed. "He never even visited me, or wrote me letters, or anything…he just vanished one day. Oh, but why am I pouring out to you, stranger? I'm sorry. My father's no longer here, now that Ganondorf gave the ranch to Ingo. And Ingo sells the horses now, so you'll have to ask him if you want to buy anything. I'm…I'm just a worker now…" Her head bowed, her voice had grown softer with each passing moment after her apology, until it was nearly choked with sobs. My resolve fortified. It looks like I had yet another job to do.
I practically knocked Ingo down when I stormed him, demanding to see the man in charge. Ingo scoffed, raising one of those immensely bushy eyebrows of his, and puffed out his chest. "I'm in charge, young man. What do you want? You don't look like the kind of person I sell horses to…maybe a common man like yourself has come to ride? That will be 10 rupees." I forked over the cash, biting back harsh words to retort. Well, they would be harsh to me. I don't think calling someone a doo-doo head is really that effective anymore.
"Choose a horse, and climb up into the saddle. If this is your first time, I shall give you instruction…for an additional 10 rupees," Ingo sneered. "You have one minute." I bit my tongue, lest I stick it out at him, and looked over the horses. A very familiar, fiery red mare stood in the corner…Epona sure had grown tall. I put my Ocarina to my lips, and played the tune that Malon had taught me, and she had learned from her mother. Epona's ears pricked up, and she dashed my way, nuzzling against my cheek. I laughed, patting her muzzle affectionately, and simply leapt up onto her. After a bit of skillful riding, leaping gates and trotting around the small fence, I went to talk to Ingo once more. I had no idea how much 'time' I had left. My horsemanship had impressed him, for being a first time rider, and he challenged me to a race, for the stakes of 50 rupees. I gladly accepted. Money is money, right?
I wasn't sure, but I think I saw Malon peeking around the corner of the stable, holding onto the iron-wrought gate as I raced the current owner of the ranch. And I'm pretty sure she was giddy when she saw how badly I trounced him. Ingo flew into a rage, demanding I race him again. This time, the prize was a free horse! And it would be the one I was riding. Sweet.
Again, we rode, though I had to work Epona a little harder this time to keep in the lead of Ingo. But after a lap around the track again, Ingo broke down.
"You…" He glared, and then began to tremble. "T-that's Epona, isn't it? How did you tame that horse under my nose! I promised her to the great Ganondorf…oh no, what am…" He broke off, and straightened himself up, composing his face. "Ahem. Congratulations. You have won the horse. However…you can never leave this ranch!"
From the looks of it, he was right. That iron gate was holding us in, the path to jump being far too narrow to be safe. So I gently patted Epona, and looked toward my peeking, redheaded friend, giving her a sly wink…and we took off in a fast gallop, straight for the outer walls. I can only imagine the way Ingo looked as Epona gracefully leapt over it with ease, landing safely in Hyrule field to escape her captor. I gave her a soft rub down in thanks for her artful escape. "Good girl…" I cooed, rubbing behind her ears. She whickered appreciatively, and I led her back to the ranch's front entrance.
It was there that I was greeted by a completely transformed Ingo. He looked jovial…almost drunk, but happy. He saw me riding Epona back into the ranch, and seemed not to recall the entire incident of the race, or any instance of owning the ranch. Ingo was very humble, just happy to be working for his buddy Talon. I stepped down from the saddle, leading my friend and steed by her reigns toward the corral, where a giddy Malon beamed her warmest smile toward me. And then, seeing me walking in with my Kokiri clothing and Epona by my side, it dawned upon her. "Fairy Boy? It is you! I knew it!"
Everything was a rush after that. Of course, being tackled by the delighted female was rather quick, and surprising, because it knocked the wind from my lungs as I slammed back onto the ground. I was trying to catch my breath as she hugged me so tightly…even breathless, that hug sent a tingle through my body, and I blushed furiously as these weird feelings coursed through my adult form. I quickly sat up and took my first breath for a while, nearly coughing and spluttering, but managing to intake a few more breaths.
"Fairy Boy, you did it! As soon as you took Epona away, it was like Ingo just went back to normal! And since that's back to normal, my dad's going to come back for sure!" She exclaimed, clutching my gloved hand in hers and giggling, as girls do. I made a silent promise to myself to make sure that my best friend's father would return, as she hoped. I nodded and smiled, ruffling her tousled red hair playfully, making her giggle further and bat at my arm. It was just like…well, in reality, it was yesterday for me. For her, it would be like old times.
But, all good things had to come to an end, and I decided to go to Kakariko to find a place to stay for the night. I didn't want to go back to Kokiri forest. My new body would be quite big for that little bed I had, and I wanted a good night's rest. I bid Malon a fond farewell, and a promise to visit a lot more often than my previous years. She stuck out her tongue, but grinned at me, holding me to my promise. I took Epona with me and rode out into the field as the sun was beginning to dip below the horizon. A small sigh escaped my lips. That sight brought back the memory of Hylian Lake when the sun was setting. It was just so pretty, making the water change to a fiery orange color. I was always so torn between watching the sunset, or swimming in that beautiful lake, and usually ended up having to resort to rock-paper-scissors with Navi, just to help me decide.
"…Navi?"
It just occurred to me that I was missing my fairy friend. I had been so busy with all the changes; I hadn't noticed that her familiar warmth wasn't under my hat, or fluttering nearby, pointing out things or reminding me what to do. Usually she manages to keep quiet for five minutes at a time, only after I plead for her to stop telling me to talk to Saria, or to watch out for this monster. Or, worse of all, the evil "HEY!" that sends me into a rage after the thousandth time. But she's completely vanished… Where in Hyrule could she be?
Author's notes: Well, it's been a while. A loooong while. However, I'm back, with a renewed interest in writing. I'll try to keep the updates flowing regularly and actually finish a story for once! Please bear with me, and reviews encourage me to keep working! And to any of you who might be fans of my Breath of Fire story, I am working on a new chapter as you read this! I promise to finish it, because of the reviews I have gotten demanding more. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read my story. -Ryu