The following one-shot is based off a scene from my Ocarina of Time novelization and has been modified to avoid spoilers. This takes place during Chapter 7- A Thief in the Night.
Here's to nearly 20-years of Ocarina of Time.
If you're interested, the novel is currently being converted into audiobook form, featuring a cast of narrators from CastingCallClub. You can find it on YouTube by searching DragonRand100 audiobooks.
Songs and Memories
A full moon bathed Lon Lon ranch and the surrounding hills in its silver light, the countryside seemingly devoid of life, clasped in winter's chill embrace.
Link missed the familiar sounds of the wind whispering through the forest, an owl foraging in the canopy above, and foxes yipping as they inspected the still smoldering remnants of the Kokiri's cook fires. Winter didn't seem as lifeless in the forest as it did here in Hyrule's rugged heart.
As often happened on the nights since he'd left home, a familiar weight of gloom pressed in on him. He sat on the bed, his hands on his ocarina as he played a soft melody, a melody of place he'd called home, right up until the day the Great Deku Tree died.
It hadn't been that long since the Forest Guardian's demise, but to Link, it had seemed like a lifetime. Pursued by the Desert Man's minions and their hounds, he'd barely made it to Lon Lon alive. His playing faltered as he remembered the wolfos latching onto his arm, its companions darting in towards their quarry.
He hadn't been strong enough to stop them, and because of that the stone had nearly fallen in Ganondorf's hands. Only luck had saved him, that and a Sheikah's healing hands.
"You were playing so well," Navi told him, sitting on the bedside table.
"You're just saying that," Link told her flatly. "I sound like a herd of angry cats."
Navi made a noise like a choked laugh. "You're not that bad, Link. Give yourself some credit… just try again. Go on."
That was when Link heard the floorboards outside his room creak. The door opened, and Malon peered inside, looking far less tired than he'd expected considering they'd spent half the afternoon getting Epona to take to her halter. Link could still feel the bruise on his foot where the filly had stomped on him.
"Oh, hi Malon," Link greeted her. "Did I wake you?"
"No," Malon replied, opening the door wider and stepping inside. "May I come in?"
Link nodded. "Uhh… okay. I was just practicing."
"You needn't worry about waking me you know," Malon said, nodding towards the ocarina. "I'm used to a bit of noise. Dad's snoring is enough to annoy a dragon, and he's between our rooms."
Link chuckled.
"Can you play something for me?" Malon said, nodding at the ocarina. "You've been promising to play something for the last week… I showed you a song… the one from my mother's music box."
"I… uhh…" Link racked his brains for a way out of this situation, but the mention of Malon's song made him feel guilty for thinking of denying her request. "Isn't everyone asleep?"
"Nothing short of a rooster wakes dad up," Malon replied. "You know that. As for Ingo and the rest, they're hardly likely to hear us from the other side of the yard."
"Well…." Link could see no way of getting out of this one. Ingo was his least favorite of Talon's farm hands. He was probably in Lon Lon village at the moment. Link wasn't allowed there, in case the Desert Man's servants spotted him. Thinking they couldn't possibly be everywhere, Link had tried to sneak in, but before he could make it through the gates, Navi had found him and steered him back to the ranch, promising he'd get no supper for his disobedience.
"Do you know many song?" Malon asked.
"Well… only one or two," Link answered.
"Play one," Navi urged him. "I won't laugh if you play it badly, I promise.
Saria's Song.
It wasn't really called Saria's song. Link wasn't actually sure what she called it; it was a song she'd composed herself to play by the fireside on a Spring's night. The memory of those warm nights tugged at him, reminding him of some of the few times where'd he'd actually felt like he belonged amongst his folk. He could forget about the remarks some of the Kokiri made, the looks they gave him, the reminders that for a Kokiri, his appearance made him an outsider. It was a cruel injustice that to so many he was outcast simply because his appearance was not like the others.
Of course, Mido hadn't helped.
"Are you alright?" Malon asked, sounding concerned.
"Yeah… it's nothing," Link said, placing the ocarina to his lips.
He focused on memories of playing amidst the leafy bowers of his home. As he did, the song seemed to flow naturally from the ocarina, his fingers dancing methodically upon the instrument's surface. He remembered the last thing Saria had said to him before they parted ways all those weeks ago…
"You're a good person, Link. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise."
He let his feelings bleed into the notes he played, letting his memories feel him with a sense of peace he hadn't known since leaving the forest. Malon bobbed her head to the melody and soon hummed along. As Link finished, he realized the ocarina was glowing with a faint green aura that faded as he finished the song. It wasn't the first time he'd noticed this, and he wondered if it had something to do with the tiny emerald crafted into the mouthpiece.
He was contemplating this when he realized Malon was clapping. "That was really good," she said appraisingly. "See, you can play it."
"Told you," Navi said, smiling.
"What was that song called?" Malon asked.
"It doesn't really have a name," Link answered. "But I guess I can call it Saria's Song."
"Your friend from the forest?"
Link nodded, smiling weakly as he tried to dispel the terrible ache of homesickness. To his immense embarrassment, he could feel a prickling in his eyes.
"Can you tell me about it?" Malon asked enthusiastically, her eyes bright with excitement. "About the forest? I bet there are loads you haven't told me yet. Do the Kokiri really have more than one form?"
Link looked to Navi, unsure how to answer that. Saria had explained the concept to him, that once long ago, when the Kokiri reached a certain age, fairy and charge could merge, becoming one.
As much as Link was devoted to Navi, and she him, he wasn't sure he'd want her to be stuck in his head for eternity. He'd probably start saying, "Hey, listen," without meaning to.
"More than one form?" he asked blankly. "Well… I'm not really sure."
"They used to," Navi answered, her voice somber. "Long ago, when a Kokiri came of age, they'd feel a compulsion to undergo the change. The Kokiri would place their hand upon a Deku Tree, their fairy would become part of them then and they'd transform."
"Is that where Korok's come from?" Malon asked. "Not that I've ever seen one... but my da' told me stories about them. He said their mischievous creatures that love sending you on wild goose chases and playing pranks. Mum didn't believe him… she preferred studying Sheikan artefacts. That's how she came across the music box she gave me."
"Err… Koroks?" Link asked, not quite hearing the last of what Malon said.
Malon and link stared at each other with a look that said, I have no idea what she's talking about.
The only Korok Link had ever seen were those little Hylian toys… he thought they looked weirder than they did cute, which was how Malon described them.
"No… when a Kokiri changes form, they become more like spriggans, but it's been ages since anyone's seen one. They left Hyrule hundreds of years ago, leaving only a handful of their kind to tend to the woods."
"Oh," Malon sounded disappointed. "I really wanted to see a Korok."
"I could take you to see other things in the forest," Link told her. "I think you'd like it."
Malon laughed, "That's nice of you fairy boy but... I really don't think man-eating plants, wolves, and mad deku scrubs, are my thing."
"I'd protect you. Besides, they're nothing I can't handle." He almost grimaced, remembering what had happened last time when he'd been hunted by a pack of wolfos.
They weren't normal wolves, he told himself.
"Oh, I'm sure all those plants find you terrifying with your sword," Malon teased.
Her smile faltered as she thought of something, "Are you really leaving tomorrow for Castletown? I always wanted a little brother."
"I'm not little!"
"Sure you aren't, shorty." Malon teased, a mischievous grin tugging at the corners of her mouth.
Link shoved a pillow in her face, she burst out laughing, and the momentary air of melancholy evaporated as she smacked the pillow back at him.
"Hey!" Link grabbed the other pillow and aimed a blow at her head. She deflected it.
Link's indignant cry turned into a laugh of his own as Malon smacked him over the head with her pillow.
"Gotcha!" she shouted.
She went to smack him again, and Link dodged the fluffy missile. They started belting each other between fits of laughter. Link tore his pillow and sent a flurry of feathers bursting through the room. Navi, forever the cautious one, blew out the candle.
"Ok, knock it off it you two!" Navi shouted as Malon wrestled Link onto the floor in a tangle of limbs.
Navi rolled her eyes. "Come on, children. That's enough."
They kept giggling, Link trying to roll out from underneath Malon and failing miserably.
"Ha! Gotcha, now!" Malon shouted triumphantly.
"HEY! LISTEN!"
Abruptly they stopped and looked up. Navi had a finger to her lips in a shushing motion. "Someone's coming."
Link blinked once and started trying to stuff the feathers back into the pillowcase. It seemed an impossible task given that they were scattered throughout the room and plastered to both him and Malon.
Sure enough, he could soon hear a loud thump, thump of someone ascending the stairs.
Link heard an endless stream of mutterings coming from whoever was stomping down the corridor. It didn't take him long to recognize that voice.
"Ingo." Malon lost all trace of her gentle demeanor.
Link took one look at the scattered feathers on the floor, wondering if he could hide them in time.
That wasn't going to happen.
Before he could move, the door burst open, banging off the adjacent wall. Ingo regarded them suspiciously, beady eyes almost obscured beneath thick eyebrows. His eyes widened at the sight of the feathers scattered about the room, then narrowed again.
"Been wondering what all the noise was," he grumbled, rubbing a hand across his greasy mustache. His eyes narrowed as they fell on Malon. She folded her arms and stared at him with stubborn defiance. "You girl," Ingo barked. "Why aren't you in bed? I'm not your bloody babysitter, you know where you're supposed to be after dinner."
"I'm not tired, Ingo," Malon declared defiantly.
"We'll see if you're still saying that in the morning," Ingo rumbled. "I need your help with the horses first thing tomorrow. I ain't having you sleep in like your father… it's a wonder anything gets done around here."
"But…"
"Bed, girl!" Ingo growled, his voice rising dangerously. "Now! Or else I'll get a switch to your backside."
Link glared at him, and then made to step in between Ingo and Malon.
"Alright, I'm going," she said angrily. She glanced at Link, her tone softening as she added, "Good night, fairy boy."
She shot an angry glare at Ingo and left the room. A few heartbeats later, Link heard her shut.
"Night, Ingo," Link offered to the farmhand, trying to be polite despite not feeling very inclined to do so.
The farmhand barely spared him a glance before he swung the door shut, leaving without another word.