Usual disclaimer: I don't own anything, as if you thought I did…
Link awoke to a cold chilling wind blowing through his makeshift camp. Among shivering fits he spoke to his fairy companion, "Navi, I don't think I can take many more days of this. Remember, we Kokiri aren't made for this sort of thing."
"We'll maybe we could head back to Hyrule town market." She responded
"No, I don't want the princess thinking that I'm a coward."
"Kakariko then, we have to go there anyway."
"Sounds like a good idea. Wait," he searched his pockets only to find an empty wallet, "Uh oh, we don't have a single rupee."
"When did we spend any thing? I do not remember anything other than those deku seeds you bought."
"Heh heh… yes that was all," he trailed off so as not to describe why his pockets were empty. "So, that makes Kakariko out of the question."
"What is left then?"
He pondered this for a moment. Then he recalled someone he met just before had entered Hyrule Castle, "Malon," he said.
"What?" Navi inquired, rather confused.
"Malon, the ranch girl we met in the market. I think we might be able to stay at her ranch for a short time. Maybe a few nights until we can find some more money. Though it is a shame that you can't just cut down some grass and find some that someone dropped."
"Do you know where the ranch is though?"
"We might be able to se it from that hill over there," he said indicating a large hill not far from where they were.
"It is a better idea than most you come up with, I will wait for you at the summit."
"Hey, you may be a fairy but I can still hit you," Link said, somewhat annoyed.
Navi, however, had already left and had decided not to listen. Link proceeded to pack his few belongings and walked toward they hill where Navi was flitting about.
He reached the peak and looked over the plain that was Hyrule field. It went along for a great distance and sloped down toward the east, occasionally broken up by a rock shelf that sometimes provided a temporary hiding place from enemies. "Now then," he said looking around, "where's that ranch."
"I believe I can see it in the distance." Navi flew several feet in the direction of the small circle of buildings some distance away so as to draw attention to it.
"Well, it looks you're good for something after all."
"What!" she exclaimed, rather offended.
"Well, I had to get revenge somehow," he said before running off toward the ranch.
The journey was a short and uneventful one fortunately, with the exception of the mild beating Link received from Navi along the way, and they arrived readied to do some serious bargaining. They thought that it would be a little difficult to secure lodging in a place like this one; after all, it was a ranch not a hotel.
As the two walked further Link heard some vague singing coming from the nearby pasture difficult. As they approached it the one who was singing was made clear. Malon was tending to one of the horses and apparently was singing to calm it, as was evident after it noticed the two strangers looking on. It immediately reared up on its hind legs and ran to another part of the enclosed field. Link rushed in to help Malon who had fallen over as a result of the startled horse. She was on her knees as Link approached her. "Are you all right?" he asked kneeling next to her.
"Yes, I'm fine…Hey, Fairy-boy what are doing you doing here? And for your sake it had better not be to scare the wits out of me."
"No, of course not! Actually, I was hoping I could get somewhere to stay two or three nights while I find some way to get some money."
"You'll have to talk to my dad, and if you're nice you might be able to get a job here, now wouldn't that be nice," she said with a teasing edge to her voice.
"Um, right, of course," he said with a red tinge to his cheeks, "so, um, where is he?"
"In the house, and good luck."
"Thanks."
He walked back in the direction of the house where he would plead his case. Navi decided to question Link on Malon's apparent enjoyment at Link's embarrassment, "Link, is there any reason why she would enjoy teasing you?"
"How would I know, I'm still trying to sort out the girls at home."
The reached the house and knocked on the door, no answer. Link shrugged and reached for the doorknob. Navi stopped him by saying, "Wait, do you not know that it is very rude to barge in uninvited."
"I did this all the time back home and so did everyone else."
"Well, this is not the forest, here it is even considered a crime."
"This a ranch, I don't think anyone will mind. Besides I know them," and with that he opened the door.
It wasn't as Navi had expected as there was no one yelling at them as they crossed the threshold into the home. In fact the person they had been sent to meet was laying on the floor in a deep sleep. Strangely enough the other occupants of the room were cuccos. Link decided to stay as far away as he could from the congregation of birds as they gave him an unusual feeling of a desire to harm anyone who disturbed them. He slowly made his way toward he sleeping man. It was then he noticed that the three cuccos closest to the man were different from the others. They all had had a thin stripe of yellow feathers around each of their combs. He disregarded this and directed his attention back to Malon's father. He shook the man lightly in an attempt to wake him up. He stirred slightly but immediately returned to whatever dream was preoccupying him at the moment. He tried again to no avail. He tried a third time and still no response. Now, Link was usually one to stay calm in the face of puzzles, however, when it came to waking people up he became agitated very quickly. He proceed to less than lightly kick the easily considered to be narcoleptic man in his side. This was apparently was just enough to wake him, as he slowly yawned and regained consciousness. He was very startled at the fact that it wasn't his daughter that had woken him up, this being evident as he nearly jumped to his feet in surprise, though it seemed that nothing would be getting him off the ground short of Malon bursting through the door.
"Who… oh, it's Link. I didn't expect to see you here. So, how are you?"
"Just fine, aside from the fact that I have no money or a place to stay. You daughter said you could help me out."
"Well, I think I can do better then that. I've been looking for another set of hands to help with these little fellas," he thought for a second, "I've got an idea, if you can find my three super cuccos here among the rest of the normal ones you've got the job."
"Wait, what are 'super' cuccos."
"These three," he said gesturing toward the three nearby birds, " they eat less and produce more eggs than the normals."
"Oh, I understand. You can start whenever you're ready," he said confidently as he already had the upper hand, as he knew how to tell them part.
"Right then… Go!" he said as he caused the birds to fly straight at Link causing him to close his eyes for a short time. It was an obvious trick to get him to lose the three, though it would be to no avail.
Link quickly regained his sight and began his search for the three birds. It did not last long as he found all three in quick succession thanks to the telltale mark on their heads. "Wow," Talon said in amazement, " I never expected you to find them so quickly. How'd you do it?"
"On my way in I noticed that each of them had a small yellow stripe on their heads. So all I had to do was to look for that and I had my job secured."
"Well I guess you're right, as I promised, you've got the job."
"Where do I sleep then? After all, I did come here to get somewhere to stay inside."
"Let me think, I guess Malon wouldn't mind letting you stay with her, just as long as you promise me you wont try romancing her."
"I wouldn't even think about it."
"We'll just have to see about that. You should go tell her about your new job."
"Right, thank you for giving it to me," he said as he left the building.
He met Malon outside in the pasture he had left her in. She asked as he walked over, "So, how did it go?"
"I've got a job," he said with pride in his voice.
"So," she asked curiously, "where are you staying?"
"Your dad suggested your room," he said, his pride turning to nervousness at what she would reply.
"Well, it sounds like a good idea," she said, the teasing tone once again creeping into her voice, "Though I'm not sure I can trust some fairy-boy from the forest sleeping in my room."
"What! I told your dad I wouldn't think of doing anything!" he yelled frantically as Malon went into a fit of laughing.
"Don't worry fairy-boy I'm only joking. It would just be weird if you did do anything like that."
"Well I don't think it's funny," he sighed, "This is going to be harder than I thought," he said under his breath.
"What was that?"
"Nothing, just show me where our room is."
"No need to be rude. Fine, this way," she added sarcastically, "Master fairy-boy"
"I would like it if you used my name," he said as they walked off toward the house.
Eventually night came and after a short debate between Link and Talon over bed times the two were sent upstairs and to sleep. However, as would be expected of children their age, they didn't bother trying to get any rest. They had decided to have Link sleep on the floor. Considering his prior circumstances he didn't really mind all that much. His thoughts, instead, turned to the differences between Malon and her father. He soon found himself questioning her about it. He commented, "I've noticed how different you are to your dad."
She didn't reply.
"Did you hear me?" he asked.
"Yes, I heard. I just don't like talking about it."
"Why not?"
"Fine," she said, giving in, "its because I'm so much like my mom... I still can't bring myself to think about her."
"What happened to her?"
"Don't you understand? I don't want to talk." She turned away from him in an attempt to make him think she was sleeping.
"At least you knew your mother, and father."
She still held to her charade. Link couldn't take much more of it. "We Kokiri don't have parents. I don't even know how we're born. We had the great deku tree, but now he's dead," afterwards there was a dead silence.
"What happened to him?" she asked, breaking the silence.
"I couldn't save him. An evil man came and cursed him, and by the time I broke it, it was too late."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"Don't be. Just be enough of a friend to tell me what happened to your mom."
"She was killed four years ago. Mom and me were on our way back from Kakariko and we got attacked by wolfos. Only they weren't normal ones," she paused, "My mom was one of the best swordswomen of the time, I still don't know why she couldn't beat them."
"Its possible that they just surrounded her."
"What ever it was, it left me with only two of her things."
"What are they?"
She got up and walked over to a nearby chest and removed its contents. There in her hands laid a sheathed sword and a small scroll. The sheath was blue and decorated with a silver vine-like pattern. The hilt didn't seem to fit, as it was much simpler than the sheath that housed the blade. It sported only a single yellow jewel at the top, the hand guard was upturned, and all but the jewel had the same blue color as the sheath. "It's modeled after the legendary master sword," she said as she gripped the handle and began to draw the sword, "but with one little difference."
What should have been a piece of sharpened steel was instead an opaque blade of blue crystal. It shone in the moonlight as Malon managed to hold it in the beam of dim moonlight that came in through the window. However it wasn't long before she was forced to put it down. "Well, as you can see it's a little bit too heavy for me," she said as she returned it to its sheath.
Link was amazed at the sword, he asked, "How did she get that?"
"It was a gift from the King. I did say she was one of the best. During the last war my mom's team defended the queen when the enemy managed to storm the castle. She and the others were all promoted and she was given this sword. Its actually made of something similar to what they use to make blue rupees out of, only this is harder."
"I thought women couldn't be knights."
"Most of the time. She had to dress like a man until she had a chance to prove herself."
"Wait, if she was such a good swordswoman, how did she wind up out here."
"She left after things calmed down, she said if the kingdom was peaceful she would be peaceful, and if the kingdom went to war so would she. After that she met dad on one of his deliveries and eventually I came along. And the reason I don't sound like my dad is because she wanted me to be able to speak formally if I..." she cleared her throat and spoke in the most formal sounding voice she could muster, "were ever to meet someone of noble ancestry."
They both had a short laugh at this and Link continued their conversation, "And the scroll?"
"This," she said unrolling the paper, "is a map… that I can't read."
It came as no surprise to Link as he had only seen writing like what was on the map inside Hyrule Castle.
Though one could probably follow the well-drawn picture, it would also be probable that anyone who tried to would be killed in an extremely unpleasant manner. The was a message written in red ink, a color hard to find, that suggested that it would be foolish to even attempt such a thing. The map had been excellently kept, as only an important one was. Link asked, "What makes this so important, besides who it's from."
"Mom said what's inside the dungeon here," she said indicating a place on the map, "Something that might just help you out. She never told me what exactly it was, but I do know the King himself would pay allot of rupees for it. Hey, do you think your fairy could read it?"
"I don't know, let me check," he turned to where Navi was sleeping and stirred her, "Navi, wake up."
"What? Oh, Link. Is there something wrong."
"No, but we want you to see if you can read this." he said holding the map out so the limbless ball of light that was his fairy could read.
Navi looked at the map for a while, but concluded that she could not do as the two children had asked. She shook what would have been head and told them, "I am sorry, however I can not read it," she thought for a moment, "however, I may know some one who can."
The two smiled and almost simultaneously asked with great anticipation, "Who is it?"
"An old man that lives in Kakariko. However..." she trailed of, and with the emphasis on "however" it didn't take a psychic to realize that, if she could, she would've had a very mischievous smile on her face.
"I thought fairies weren't supposed to hold back information." Malon said to Link, looking somewhat annoyed.
"Mine is pushy," he said turning to his fairy, "Alright Navi, what do I have to do?"
"Go get the Spiritual Stone of Fire. Then I will tell you how to find him."
"The what?" Link said, not remembering the proper name of the stone.
"Sorry, the Goron's Ruby."'
"Oh, alright I'll do it. Now tell me."
"No, after you have retrieved it."
"Fine," Malon interrupted, sensing a fight was imminent. She thought for a moment, "Lets go right now. My dad is in his room now, so if we're quiet we can get out without him noticing."
Link thought for a second and started collecting his things. "If we don't stop to sleep for awhile we can get far enough away to not be found quickly by your dad when he wakes up. Pack weapons, you'll need them. One more thing, do you have a bow?"
"Why?"
"It'll make it easier to catch food."
"Don't worry, I have one."
She got up and walked quietly to a small cabinet in a corner. From inside she retrieved a bow, quiver, and a sword not much larger than Link's. She drew the sword and checked the blade. After running her finger over it she said, "Needs sharpening, but it'll do."
"Well, should we get going?"
"Not yet, wait outside. I have to change."
"What!" he sighed, "Alright, just do it fast." He left the room and waited out in the hall. He thought to himself, "I'm never going to understand that girl."
A few minutes later Malon emerged from her room apparently wearing the same dress she had on. Link, being rather confused, asked, "I thought you were changing in there."
Malon pulled one of the shoulders aside revealing a thin leather garment. She said, "You also need armor, right?"
Link shrugged, "Right, lets get going."
The two quietly snuck down the stairs and out the front door. The two remained silent even as they left. However no amount if stealth would have tricked the eyes of Ingo, who was watching the field waiting for an intruder to attempt to sneak in. As he heard the two approach he rose from where was sitting and spoke to them, "So where do you think you two are going."
They stopped as watched him walk closer, obviously intending to return them to the house. Malon was first, and last, to speak saying simply, "Sorry Ingo."
She rushed him, knocked him over, and incapacitated him with a blow from the hilt of the sword to a weak point near his temple. She got up and the two walked off toward Kakariko.
Shortly after recovering from seeing Malon's knowledge of Hylian weak points Link asked, "Who was that?"
"That was Ingo, one of our ranch hands. We don't have to worry about him."
"I wouldn't. We have other things to worry about, like stalchildren."
"What are those?"
It was Navi instead who answered, "They are young Stalfos, and Stalfos are large skeleton warriors."
"See, much worse than Ingo." Link commented.
The duo continued walking, cautiously listening for any sign of movement. They went on until they came to one of the few rock outcroppings that sparsely marred the otherwise flat plain. It was one of the smaller ones, though the two, also being small, had no problem slipping in under it. There they settled for the night. After they had both settled into the space Malon turned to Link and asked, "So why don't you have any money?"
Link replied, "Well, earlier is was tell Navi that Kokiris aren't made for camping out like this, well bombchu bowling is another of those things, and lets leave it at that."
Malon agreed and went to sleep thinking of the fact that she won most of the money she had from just that.