Hero of time #2: Why so long?
The days had become hard for Malon. Ever since her father, Talon, was kicked off the ranch and Ingo had taken over, she had been treated like a slave. She was forced to clean, cook, and care for Ingo's every need. She kept on going, though how, she did she did not know. It had been like this for almost seven years since she was about ten years old. Although she wanted to leave, she had nowhere else to go. Almost everyone had either died or moved away because of the terrible circumstances in Hyrule. An evil king had taken over the land, filling it with darkness and destruction. Malon had seen Ingo make an occasional deal with someone from outside of town, but one person became etched in her mind. He was tall with a mysterious green tint to his skin. His long dark red hair was pulled back into locks that stopped at his neck. He had a long flowing cape hanging from his back and underneath it hung a sword. Malon listened through the upstairs window, out of site so as not to be seen. She could hear Ingo and the man talking.
"She's a mighty fine horse, sir." She heard Ingo say, "For you, I will make a special offer, say...oh..." Malon couldn't make out what he said, but the man seemed pleased.
"Very well, I will return within the month to take her. Take care of her till then." She heard the man say.
"Yes sir, mister…mister…"
"Ganondorf," Malon's heart almost stopped. Ganondorf! It was him, the evil king. She covered her mouth to suppress a scream. Gaining some courage, she stole a quick peak to see what horse he was interested in. Epona! 'No' She thought, 'No, not Epona!' Malon threw herself on her bed and began to cry. Epona was Malon's only friend left in the world. If someone took her, it would be like the end of the world. Malon had almost no hope left to go on, when one day, he came.
She was out doing her usual chores when she saw him and Ingo talking in the pasture. He wore a green tunic and a green floppy hat that dangled down to his back. His back was to her, so she couldn't see his face. He seemed familiar to her, but she couldn't remember who he was. Ingo seemed upset about something. She crept up to the corner of the barn to listen.
"How could you beat me?" Ingo said, almost screaming. He quickly regained his composure and spoke again. "Well, I bet you couldn't beat me a second time. How about it kid? This time, if you win, I'll let you keep the horse. Is it a deal?" The boy nodded. "Splendid! Let the race begin!" Malon peeked out once again to see which horse, and again she almost screamed. It was Epona again! What would Ganondorf say if he found out? But inwardly she was hoping the other man would win so that the evil king would not get Epona. The race began and both men tore around the outside of the pasture fence. They were neck and neck for a while, but the man in green deftly pulled ahead and crossed the finish line.
Malon had never seen Ingo so mad before. He jumped up and down, fiercely pulling on his own hair until it bled. "HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!" Ingo screamed into the man's face.
"HOW COULD YOU BEAT ME?! The great Ganondorf is going to kill me when he finds out that his horse was lost because of some bet!" Ingo appeared pensive for a moment, and then chuckled. He actually chuckled! Not a friendly chuckle by far, but a sinister chuckle, gradually growing louder. "Ha ha ha, HA HA HA, WOOOOHAAA HAA HAA HAAAAAAA! Okay kid, I'll let you keep the horse, but you may never leave this ranch!" And with that, Ingo ran towards the barn and closed the gate in between it and the house, blocking the entrance. That was when she saw the man's face. 'It's..It's him!' She thought, 'It's…the fairy boy!' That was the only name she could think of, for it was the name she had given him almost seven years before. He had come and stayed at the ranch a few days, and eventually grew to be Malon's best friend. The main reason for his nickname was the fairy that followed him around he called Navi. She had forgotten his real name because she had become so accustomed to calling him fairy boy.
Malon quickly rushed back to the house, and hurried up to her room, where she could watch from the window. Fairy boy did not seem overly upset, he simply mounted Epona and began to run around the corral fence, going faster and faster, when suddenly he bolted for the rock wall surrounding the farm. Epona, using all her strength, launched herself over the wall, barely clearing her hind legs.
"WHAAAAAAT?!" Ingo threw down the pitchfork he was holding to keep the boy from jumping the gate and began to stamp on it. "Oh no!" He said, standing up straight. "What will Ganondorf do to me?! He will surely kill me…no…he'll torture me…then he'll kill me…no, he'll probably …" Ingo slumped against the barn and slid to a crouch, pondering his possible fates that would come to him.
A few days went by, and nothing happened. Ingo recovered a little, but was still nervous. "Any day now…" He would say as he would look at the entrance to Lon Lon Ranch, almost expecting Ganondorf to come walking in as he spoke, but he never came.
One night, Malon was standing out in the field, softly singing a lullaby that her mother had taught her before she died. Epona, which was just a foal at the time, grew to be very fond of the lullaby, and it soon it was named Epona's song. Her voice sounded sad and lonely, echoing across the field and out into the moonlit night. Suddenly, she felt a hand rest gently on her shoulder. She turned around and their eyes met.
"Hello Malon."
"Hello, Link." She was not sure where the name came from; it was as if someone had whispered it in her ear. She fell forward into his arms, sobbing gently.
"It's okay, Malon." Link said to her, gently stroking her beautiful, fiery-red hair. "I'm here. I've come back for you."
"But why, Link?" Link looked puzzled, but she continued. "Why so long?" Link wanted to explain everything. He wanted to tell her about the Temple of Time, and its ability to transport him through seven years of time in a flash, but he knew it would be better not to.
"I've been away," He began, "questing, searching, finding. I have been many places, places no Hylians should ever be. I have seen things, things only I could see, or ever will see. It has been long and tiresome, but at last I have returned to rid Hyrule of this dreaded curse of darkness. But that doesn't matter now. What matters is getting you to a safer place than this."
"No, Link. I must stay. This is my ranch. My father disappeared about 5 years ago, when Ingo took over and kicked him out. If you could find him, if he is still alive, please send him home. Ingo is not such a bad person, I'm sure of it. I think he was just consumed by the darkness. Would you do this for me, fairy boy?" She blushed slightly at calling him his old nickname. He smiled a warm, deep smile, and kissed her forehead, before hugging her again.
"I will." They hugged for a second more, and then he left.
The whole next day, Malon didn't see Ingo anywhere. He was not in the horse barn, nor with the cuccoos. He wasn't anywhere in the field, or in the house. 'Good.' She thought to herself. 'Maybe he went and got drunk at some bar last night and passed out. I had better get to work on my chores, soon enough he'll probably be back.' She went out and proceeded with her normal routine, glad to be rid of Ingo glaring at her and commanding her to do things at his won will. Her chores were about halfway done when she saw Ingo standing in the doorway. He was wearing an old, worn-out shirt and some working jeans, but he still had that mean look in his eyes. She gasped, dropping the half-full bucket of milk she had been carrying. She backed away as Ingo came closer, but to her surprise, he picked up the bucket and gave it back to her. She took it, very puzzled, but he explained.
"Malon, I would like to apologize. I am sure the last couple years have been trying for you, and for this I am deeply sorry. Is there anything I can do for you?" Malon could say nothing. She stood with her mouth hanging half-open, her eyes wide in shock. Never had he called her Malon, it was always girl, fetch this, or woman, fetch that. And on top of that, Ingo apologizing? Unheard of! She was dumbstruck. "Malon?" Ingo asked, looking worried, "Is everything alright?" Malon shook her head, bringing her back to normal.
"Uh…no…it's...fine, I guess…you could wait outside to see if my father will return." Malon blurted out.
"Thank you ma'am, right away." And with that, Ingo left. Malon leaned up against one of the roof support beams for balance. She was simply amazed. 'I knew he was a good man.' She thought to herself, smiling.
At almost noon, Malon heard someone running down the path toward the ranch. 'Oh no! It must be Ganondorf, he must have heard the news.' She stared towards the path, waiting to see who it was, but instead she saw Talon. "FATHER!" She yelled to him.
"MALON!" He responded. They ran to each other and met in a hug, tears of joy running down their faces. "Never again, Malon! I will never leave you again!" Talon promised.
"It's all right, father. How did you get here so quickly?" Malon wondered, since her father was not the thinnest of men.
"When a young man named Link came in and woke me up last night, he told me it was urgent, and that you needed me. When I heard you were still alive, I ran as fast as I could from Kakariko village to find you!" Talon stood and helped Malon up.
"Welcome back, master." Talon turned to see a humbled Ingo standing before him.
"Thank you, Ingo."
A few more days went by and things had begun to return to normal. Ingo was working hard to make up for all the years he had been mean and selfish towards Malon. It was his self-imposed punishment, and he helped everywhere he could. He even accepted Malon's chores, giving her the day off. For this she was thankful. She would often ride around the pasture on Thunder, her next favorite horse to Epona. He was a big strong horse that, when he galloped, it sounded like the roll of thunder, hence the name.
On this particular day, it had started out usual until after lunch. Malon was in the kitchen doing the dishes, when she noticed the water in the sink began to rattle around. Malon jumped back, startled.
"Malon, Ingo, I think you might want to see this." Talon's voice sounded nervous as he called them outside. Malon rushed to see him. She looked around and saw him standing at the entrance to the ranch.
"What is it?" She asked as she walked up to him. He could only point. She looked to where he was pointing and gasped. The huge castle that loomed over the castle town was crumbling to the ground! Could it be? She quickly ran to the barn and jumped on Thunder, not even bothering to get the saddle. She tore off across Hyrule Field towards the castle. She did not know why, but an inner force was calling her to investigate, to see this for herself. Thunder lunged across the broken bridge, landing gently on the other side. They then rushed through castle town, not even noticing the redeads that were scattered throughout the market. She tore up the trail to the Castle. It had all crumbled to the ground now and a ring of fire surrounded the platform where it once stood. She could see Link, shield at the ready, but the other thing she saw nearly made her fall of her horse. It was a huge, hideous shadow beast, with glowing eyes and two, ferocious, glowing swords. It was hacking wildly at Link, but he was dodging every move and fought back by shooting what looked like arrows that exploded into light and stunned the beast. He then whirled around behind it and fired arrow after arrow at the beast's tail. The beast screamed in agony and whirled on Link once more. Link repeated the procedure, striking another blow to the monster. The beast fell to its knees and the fire receded. Malon saw Zelda, princess of Hyrule, call out to Link from the edge of where the ring of fire had been.
"Quickly, Link! Come retrieve the Master Sword while the fire is out." Link ran over outside the barrier and grabbed the sword, lunging back into the ring not a second too late. The beast rose again, this time with even more ferocity. It knew it was fighting for its life. It was either its life, or Link's. Malon saw the weariness in Link's defensive maneuvers. He would flinch and yell out in pain when sword met sword. But he still pressed on. He finally had enough of a break to fire off another light arrow, and the creature fell flat on its belly. From out of nowhere, a beam of light shot out and grabbed the beast's head, holding it in its place.
"Now, Link! Finish him off! I won't be able to hold him for very long." Zelda screamed to him. Link quickly responded, leaping high into the air and bringing the sword down into the monsters skull. The light began to fade from the monsters eyes as Ganondorf was being forced back into his human state by the Master sword.
"Sages, hear my cry! Open the door to the light realm and seal Ganondorf there forever!" Zelda cried out.
Link slowly began to walk away from the beast, but took three steps before falling to the ground. The monster suddenly vanished in a massive explosion of light and was gone, along with the fire barrier.
"LINK!" Malon cried out, rushing past Zelda and onto the platform. Link lay there motionless. She threw herself to her knees next to him, staring into his aquamarine eyes. Link looked back into her blue ones.
"M…Malon…what…what are you…doing…here?" He said weakly, before passing out.
"Quickly, princess Zelda, we must get him back to the ranch where we can take care of him" Zelda quickly helped Malon carry Link to Thunder, where they laid him across the back of the horse. Malon hopped on behind him to keep him stead and offered Zelda her hand to help her on.
"No, it would be too much weight for the horse. I will walk, please, just hurry, there isn't much time!" And with that, Malon took off with Link lying across the horse.
Link slowly opened his eyes, the brightness of the room making him close his eyes again.
"Are you awake?" He heard a sweet voice next to him. He opened his eyes once more and saw Malon sitting in a chair next to the bed. Talon was there as well, with princess Zelda standing behind them both. He looked around. He was back in Lon Lon ranch in Malon's bed in the upstairs' room.
W…What happened?" Link asked quietly.
"After you plunged the sword into Ganon, you passed out from exhaustion and loss of blood. You had a nasty gash across your arm from one of his swords, but we were able to patch it up before you had lost too much blood. If Malon had not have been there, you probably would not have woke up…ever." Zelda explained. Link turned to Malon.
"How long have I been asleep?" He asked.
"Nearly two days." She replied. She began to cry and buried her head in his chest, draping her arms across the bed. Link began to stroke Malon's hair. "Please, never leave again, I don't want to risk losing you again!" She cried.
"It's ok" Link tried to calm her, "It's over, Ganondorf is gone. My quest is finished, I'm not going anywhere, don't worry." Talon signaled to Zelda to leave the two in peace. Zelda understood and began to walk out with Talon when she stopped.
"Link?" Zelda turned to him, "The last seven years have been very trying times for you, but you proved yourself strong, and courageous. You defeated the very root of this evil and I would like to thank you. You are a worthy hero." She bowed slightly and then left the room, closing the door behind her and Talon. Link brought his attention back to Malon. She was still crying, but slightly less than she was before.
"Malon?" He said. She brought her face up enough to look at him. "It's okay now. Everything is okay. I'm here with you."
"I know, Link." She calmed down enough and sat back in her chair. She wiped her face off to rid herself of the tears that lingered on her face. Link suddenly grinned.
"Do you remember the time we first met?" Link asked.
"As if it were yesterday." She replied. "You walked into Hyrule Castle Town in that funny little tunic with that fairy chasing you around." She giggled. "When you saw me, you just stood and stared, and when I talked to you, you never said a word, you just gave me your name." Link chuckled at the thought.
"Yes, I was so surprised that someone was actually being nice to me. I had asked around with so many people about getting into the castle that I almost thought all the people of Hyrule were so rude like that. But when I saw you, I was so surprised. I determined then that you would be my best friend. I grew up in the forest, so I was used to the people there, but when I saw you, you were the most beautiful thing I had ever seen."
"Oh, come on, Link." She said, looking down to hide her blushing.
"It's true! You just stared at me with your magnificent blue eyes. I could only stare back. I couldn't look away from you, you were so magnificent…and you're still as beautiful as I remember as a kid." By now, Malon was on her knees next to his bed. She was listening intently, when she heard his last remark, she blushed and turned away again. Link reached out and began to play with her hair. He ran his hand across her smooth cheek and then around the back of her neck. She looked back up at him. He felt like he was being drawn into her eyes. She could only stare back into his. Link then pulled her gently to him, their lips meeting in a kiss. Malon returned the kiss, bring her hands up to either side of his face, she changed positions from kneeling to laying on the bed next to him. Their kiss became stronger, and Link's other hand came to rest on her waist. They parted, looking once again into each other's eyes.
"You're still the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." He said, grinning. She smiled back. "Malon?"
"Yes?" She could almost die with the suspense. 'Why would he ask a question? Just say it!' She thought.
"I love you."
"I love you too, Link." They kissed again, neither of them wanting the moment to end. Talon sat outside the door, looking in through the keyhole. He giggled to himself and walked down the stairs. "She couldn't have picked a better man." He grinned.
~~~5 years later~~~
"Mommy!" A young girl ran around the house looking for her mother. "Mommy!" She went upstairs and then back downstairs and saw Talon cooking breakfast. A baby boy was sitting on the floor behind him playing with some wooden toys. "Grampa Talon, where's mommy?"
"I believe she went outside for a walk with Link, I think they're out in the pasture." Talon said, looking up briefly at his granddaughter. Her hair was red like her mothers, but her eyes were green, a brilliant forest green. That was the reason for her name, Saria. Link had wanted to name her that after one of his old friends. She thanked Talon and ran out the front door towards the pasture. Link and Malon were walking around the pasture fence slowly, his hand on her shoulder, and hers wrapped around his waist. They were both talking, enjoying the beautiful summer day. They both were happy to see their daughter come running up to them and they picked her up in a huge hug.
"Mommy, daddy!" She squealed with delight.
"What is it, dearest?" Malon asked
"Epona had her baby, come see, come see!"
"Okay, Saria. We'll be there in a minute, you go on ahead." Link said. They set her down and she tore off for the barn. Link and Malon smiled happily. "Oh, she is so beautiful. Link's nearly old enough to walk now. I reckon I'm going to have to teach him how to use a sword soon enough."
"Oh, Link! Stop it!" She gave him a playful swat.
"What? You know I was young when I had to start using a sword."
"I know, but not that young. Besides, you had a purpose for it. Since the evil is gone, we won't need to fight."
"Yes, but every man needs to learn how, you never know what they'll stumble across later in their lives, and they're unprepared…that's the end of that."
"But not yet, he only just recently started talking!"
"Bu…" Link simply shook his head at Malon. "Do we always have to do things your way?" Malon smiled back and then looked ahead of them as they walked. "I'm glad they'll grow up like this."
"What do you mean?" Malon asked
"I mean, what would have happened if I had failed five years ago? Things would have been a whole lot different."
"Oh Link, don't talk like that. I would have died if you had failed that day. I wouldn't have been able to live without you!"
"Well, one thing is for certain."
"What's that, Link?"
"Without you, I would not be here today. If you hadn't been there with Thunder that day. I wouldn't be enjoying this walk with you, Malon," With this, he turned to her and took both her hands in his. "I love you more than anything else in this world."
"I love you too, Link, and I always will." Link brought Malon to himself and kissed her, his whole heart pouring into it. His hands moved to around her waist, and hers came up to his shoulders. When they separated, Malon stared into his eyes. "Come on, let's go check on Thunder and Epona's new baby." And with that, they walked off across the pasture to the barn, hand in hand.