I recently got a haircut and I don't like it at all. Thus, I can share little Talo's pain. No one wants a bad hair day, everyday.
Enjoy!
Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Zelda.
"Get away, get away!" Talo hurriedly backed into a corner of his home's hearth, his small hands covering his shaking head in desperation. "I won't let you!" Talo glared at his mother, who returned his gaze with wavering patience.
"Don't fuss now," she pleaded, wishing she could hide the blade in her hands. She and her only son have been having this argument since his birth. She lightly touched her swollen stomach and felt a tiny nudge from within her womb. Talo's mother prayed that her coming child would not be as stubborn as this. "You know your hair is far too long! Look at it, does it not wear you down some?" Talo looked behind him and felt his hair against the palms of his calloused hands. It fell a few inches below his shoulders. The last time he had his hair cut unwillingly, Talo could tuck the ends into his torso wrapping. Now she wanted to cut it, when it had honestly just been cut!
"It's not wearing me down. All's well the way it is," Talo insisted with a firm upper lip. His mother sighed and inched nearer.
"Why do we always have to do this, Mom? It's not fair!" He took another step back and tripped over a pumpkin. Talo tried to grab the side board of the large 4-person bunk bed, meanwhile imagining his father yelling "Don't waste food!" at the sight of the broken pumpkin. Distracted, his back collided with a pot and fell to the floor with the crashing of the clay pot and his mother's cry echoing in his ears.
"Talo! Are you alright? Let's get you up, now." She lifted him tenderly and sat him down by the table.
Their dog stood up and rested on Talo's knee and whimpered, sensing his young master's distress.
"It's not fair ..." Talo muttered dizzily to the dog. "It's just hair."
"That's right, son, it's just hair." Talo looked up quickly to briefly see his mother's worried face before a wet cloth covered his head and face. His mother began rubbing his hair with the towel to remove small flecks of dirt and grass, despite Talo's protesting.
"Now, I'm only going to trim it. I want you to adopt the idea of your hair being short from now on. Am I clear?" Her tone was stern and Talo was wise enough to nod halfheartedly.
The mother's now-cheerful tone indicated to Talo that he had made his mother smile. Not that he really cared what his mother thought.
"I don't want to hear another sound while I'm cutt––I mean trimming. Just relax, Talo."
Talo heard a blade being lifted off the house table and shut his eyes. There went his pride and honor. He was secretly very proud to have the nicest head of hair in the family, as well as the most charm. Dad's hair was slightly bushy, Mother's was always dry and held no shape, and he just assumed his coming sibling would have either parents' hair.
Talo was also glad he had the second-longest hair in the village. To him, the village perimeter meant the world. Apart from Ilia who, being the "princess" of the village (despite Beth's arguments), had cascading blonde hair. Hers was surely the longest in the world, reaching her mid-thigh the last time Talo had checked.
His face hardened and a bitter grin appeared on his young face as a thought crossed his mind. If I can't have long hair, why should anyone else?
-
An hour later ...
-
Talo heard a final snip before he opened his eyes. A tentative hand reached up to his head, but his mother held it down with a smile that showed she was proud of her work. "There, all done," she stated. "Come outside so you can have a look at your hair in the water's reflection."
Grudgingly, he followed his mother and tried to ignore the constant tail wagging and excited jitters of their mutt. The bright and brilliant sunshine of the summer warmed Talo's red-enough face. He listened to the water wheel turning slowly as it always did, and the cheery chirps of the swallows in the trees. Ordon village was always like this, it never changed. But the hair ... the hair was going to spoil everything! Talo spat on the ground as his mother led him over the curved bridge by their house and to the flat bridge leading to Ordon Ranch.
"Alright, look down, Talo," his mother instructed. Her son did as he was told, but his behavior afterwards was far from obedient. His fingernails gripped the wood of the bridge as he stared down at his reflection incredulously. The right side of his head was noticeably shorter than the left.
She chopped it all off!
"Wh-why ... why did it take so long for you to cut it?" He grabbed his head desperately, short eyebrows nearly hidden by his obscenely short hair. The hair over his forehead took the shape of an arrow pointing to his face, making his head larger than normal. "You could've just done the job in one slice!"
"Don't raise your voice, Talo," she said. "I worked very hard on that on that head of yours, and I think you look handsome."
"No, I look horrible!" The boy's heart shook as his eyes narrowed at his mother. "I look worse than Colin!"
"Don't be so foolish, Talo, and drag no one else into this! You looked like a girl with that long hair," his mother explained honestly. To that statement, Talo widened his eyes even more.
"I'M NOT A GIRL!" He abruptly stormed off towards the ranch, where Link would surely be, leaving his mother to simply shake her head. Uli walked by, her slim waist rotating towards her neighbour's direction.
"Oh, Uli, what have I gotten myself into?"
"Don't be ridiculous," Uli replied. She gave her friend a comforting hug. "Your son has a head as hot as the sun, but it will not affect you once night settles. He will return and sleep soundly from exhaustion."
XxXxXxXxX
Talo peered past the open gates of the ranch and spied Link lying under the sun near his best friend, Ilia. Talo's target.
He mumbled under his breath as he slowly approached the two young adolescents who lay rather close to each other. The goats were eyeing him suspiciously, but he waved them off and tiptoed onward. Both friends were in deep sleep under the caressing sun, and Talo came upon them with a devilish expression. He pulled a small blade from the back of his torso wrap, the same knife his mother used on his hair. He had snuck it out of the house and his charade had worked––although there was no need to act for it.
He picked a long blade of grass and stealthily stood next to Ilia's sleeping form. Face hard with focus, Talo carefully tickled the opposite side of Ilia's face with the grass. She rubbed her face but the tickling would not stop, so she rolled over onto her side so she was facing Link's back. Her hair was now vulnerable to Talo's anger.
Flicking the knife upward with a troubling grin, Talo accidentally nicked his finger. Holding back a gasp, he sucked on his finger before bending down. First, he tested the blade on her hair by taking one strand and cutting it sloppily. Satisfied with the ease of cutting, he lifted some of Ilia's long hair, which flowed freely among the blowing grass. Without a second thought, he sliced her hair. There was a quiet slash from the knife against hair, but Ilia did not wake.
Talo continued his work, and slowly his anger began to subside. The boy had finally lost the fire in his eyes and something was building up in his stomach. By then, he has cut Ilia's hair length just below her shoulders.
Maybe this was a bad idea ... Talo wondered. A moment passed and the guilt swept Talo up like a storm. Unable to continue, he dropped the blade carelessly and ran out of the ranch, across the bridge and into the pool of water. He swam relentlessly to the isolated end of the pond and raised himself out of the water, panting. Huddled against the rocky basin, Talo knew he would be done for once either woke. He stirred slightly when he realized he had left the knife at the ranch. Swallowing hard, Talo faced a harsh truth. He was going to get caught, and it might be sooner than he thought––
A sudden scream tore through the whole village. Ilia's frightened shriek must have roused the surrounding forest, as well and the fifteen year-old boy next to her. He shivered at the thought of how she must look now. He had never cut hair before, and he remember slicing far too much hair with that one particular stroke.
From where he stood, Talo heard nothing after the scream, but Link and Ilia were petrified amidst the dead hair around them. Ilia was breathing erratically, feeling her head, and Link shook himself alert after staring at his best friend for a good, long minute. He then immediately began looking for tracks. This was just like all the times a stray goat had escaped the ranch, and he had to find them by following their tracks.
There were no tracks, however. Only Ilia's departed hair and a kitchen knife resting on the grass. Link walked over to it and picked it up.
"I cannot believe this is happening," Ilia gasped. She felt the uneven ends of her chopped hair and her nostrils flared. "Who in the world did this?"
"I dunno," Link said honestly. "But whoever it was, left this behind." He showed Ilia the knife and grunted in astonishment (again) at the sight of her. No two strands were the same length, and her face was like broken glass amidst chipped wood.
Ilia noticed his disheveled expression and huffed. Her eyes began to water at the thought of one of her treasures. She hadn't cut her hair in years, and the young girl suddenly blazed at the thought. "I'm hideous, Link! We need to find whoever did this, right now!" The furious girl pulled her friend's arm, who quickly picked up stray clumps of hair on the field and held onto the knife. They (just Ilia, really) stormed through the village and went to Ilia's house to explain the situation to her father. Mayor Bo's horizontal slits for eyes opened slightly and the beady black pupils gave an expression of fear when they gazed silently at Link. The boy, understanding the possible torments the man would go through when home alone with his daughter, gave the large mayor a respectful pat on the back.
Link had to convince Ilia it was pointless to confront Colin about the crime, because Colin could never even think of doing such a thing. Ilia took some time to believe Link's words, but eventually she complied and walked despondently to Talo's home. His mother answered the door with puffy eyes.
"Why hello, you two. What brings you here––by the gods, Ilia, what happened to your beautiful hair?" The woman was polite and well-spoken, but her guards was built.
Ilia began to speak before Link. "Someone snuck up on me and cut my hair, doing a downright awful job in the process! The criminal left this behind." Ilia pulled the knife out of Link's hand and showed it to the mother.
"Well, I'll be damned ... That's my kitchen knife! Why would someone use my knife to––" Then it dawned on her, and she swallowed. "I am so sorry about this, but ... I have come to believe it was my son, Talo." Link bit his lip at the sight of Ilia's eyes burning brighter than fire. "I cut his hair this morning and he was very upset when he saw what I had done. Honestly, I did the best I could, but the boy is so stubborn about his hair! If he comes by, I'll let you know ..." but Ilia had already stormed off.
"TALO!" She called out as she scanned the remaining parts of the village. Link ran up to her and realized she was trying to remain calm, gritting her teeth. "Where ... are ... you?"
"C'mon Talo, we just want to talk to you," Link added. His eyes landed on long strands of hair that shone in the clear water. He gently squeezed Ilia's hand. "Look." Link pointed to the tracks, then to the secluded area ahead. "He must be hiding there." Ilia's eyes flashed and she swiftly dove into the pure water. Her friend followed her shortly, his wet hair clinging to his forehead and neck.
"Why do you swim like that?"––that's what Link was expecting Ilia to ask for the umpteenth time. Her eyes, however, were fixated on the curving cliff wall. "That Talo is dead," Ilia stated flatly.
"Don't be too hard on him, he doesn't know any better."
"And I suppose his mother never taught him that irrelevant revenge is wrong?" Link opened his mouth to respond but they spotted Talo sulking on an unusually flat piece of rock above the water level. The young boy raised his head and dismay showered his face.
"Ilia ... Link ..." He murmured without resistance.
"You had better explain yourself, Talo. Why," Ilia pulled at her hair with a bit too much force, "would you do this to me? What have I ever done to you? Certainly nothing I'm about to do now––" Link grabbed her firmly by her wrist before she could get too close to the boy. Her eyes met his and slowly her icy greens began to melt. He gazed at her calmly, silently communicating with her. The two friends have known each other all their lives and could often read the other's mind.
Confident she had relaxed slightly, Link stepped forward. "Do you have anything to say for yourself, Talo?" The boy's shivering faltered and he nodded guiltily. When Link allowed him to continue, Talo launched into a full-blown rant.
"I was just so mad that my mom cut my hair, it's just not fair because I liked my hair the way it was and I didn't want anything to change so I figured since things are already different, why not make things change more? But that doesn't make sense now, I was just ... I was jealous because you got to do whatever you wanted. I didn't have a sibling to let it out on yet so I just ... I'm sorry, Ilia. Could you ever forgive me?" Talo's eyes peered upward at Ilia, pleading for her to remove his regrets.
The two teenagers stared at Talo incredulously. "You thought," Link began slowly, "that the person to target ought to be Ilia? Of all people? You would have been better off cutting my hair." Ilia swatted his stomach at the comment, who took the blow valiantly.
The lonely child shook his head in melancholy and gazed at his models from the corners of his periphery. "Ilia had very beautiful hair, so ..." His voice dragged off but had done the deed. Ilia clasped her hands together while gleaming and shook her head to sway her uneven hair. Link narrowed his eyes at Ilia, who ignored him.
"You really think my hair was beautiful?" She asked. Talo nodded with a timid smile.
"THEN YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE CUT IT!" Ilia screamed abruptly. "NOW I HAVE TO FIX IT SOMEHOW!" She stalked off the rock, slipped into the water with an angered splash and swam away without looking back. Talo watched her leave in utter shock. Link sighed and sat down beside Talo.
"Link ... do you think Ilia will forgive me?"
"Of course, she always does. We just need to give her time alone. Although ... she won't be the only one from whom you must seek forgiveness." When Talo glanced over, puzzled, Link smiled bitterly. "Your mother."
The boy went slightly pale. "Oh ... I've done some bad things today, haven't I?"
"Yes," Link admitted, "but you can always redeem yourself by behaving. Alright?" When Talo nodded, they both stood up and swam back to the village. Talo went home to apologize to his mother and Link returned home, leaving Ilia to tend to her imperfect hair.
Neither Link nor Talo saw Ilia the following morning, but when the young villager was watching the goat herder at work, they both stopped in their tracks when Ilia stepped onto the ranch.
Ilia's hair was, to their disbelief, much shorter than the day before. Her disheveled bangs were proper and lightly swept to the left and framed her delicate face in a way her long train of hair never could. The back of her head was stiff but gentle, and a longer section was swept to the side dramatically like a horse's tail. Link imagined a mythical fairy said to be found in Hyrule proper would have hair the same as Ilia's.
"Ilia ... you look ..." Link stammered.
"Wow! It looks even better than your shapeless long hair!" Talo blurted. The bright red cloth he had wrapped around his head to cover the shorter section of hair had fallen off as he jumped and spun with energy.
"Watch it, Talo," Ilia warned. "I'm still mad at you." The intense burning in her eyes did not appear, however, so the boy remained unfazed by her. With nothing left to say, Talo ran off to chase a goat. The goat's navy hue seemed to redden as Talo incessantly chased him until the goat stopped in its tracks and began storming after his chaser. Talo ran in circles several times before he tripped over another goat's extended hooves. Link and Ilia laughed as they watched a bewildered Talo continue to run blindly now from two furious goats.
Link turned to his friend and smiled slightly. "I like your hair," he said with an odd sensation in his gut that twisted it in a half-painful, half-exciting fashion. "Still wish you had your length back?" His voice cracked but he sighed in relief when Ilia had not noticed.
Ilia grinned from ear to ear and her young face brightened optimistically. "I feel so light and free now ... I don't think I could ever go back to that mop of hair."
"It wasn't a mop of hair, Ilia. You look really ... nice, both ways." They both continued to smile at one another, and Talo watched from the corner of his eye in the sunshine. He supposed that despite the trouble it had all caused, there was some good to change. He was pleased with himself at the thought of strengthening the bond between two people everyone in the village was sure were meant for each other.
The boy rolled his eyes, however, at the thought of his upcoming sibling.