It was a cold, rainy day. The clouds were as grey as they could be, and they threatened to unleash lightning. There were no trees in the Forgotten Plains; lightning could prove fatal. In fact, there was nothing in the Forgotten Plains, no life, no movement, nothing. The winds don't blow, rivers don't flow and nothing was left alive in the realm of the Dark King. And this was only the border of his territory.
A lone figure walked through this barren wasteland, the only living thing to come here in 24 years; when the Dark King invaded this land. This land used to be famous for its lush grass and fruit orchards, but the fire of the Dark King burned everything. This didn't deter the person to reaching his goal.
The person was dressed in a black robe, with a black hood to match. A sheath hung on his hip, but his dagger was in his right hand. This was the only way to tell that he was dark skinned. He wasn't of a skinny figure, he was quite bulky. You would need to be to live so close to the Dark King's castle.
The dark-skinned man took another step and stopped. He stooped down and picked up a decent-sized rock. Tossing it into alternate palms after sheathing his dagger, he poured his focus into it. Moments later he threw it with all his might at the ground in front of him.
The floor crumbled under the force of his throw, to reveal a deep pit. Looking into it, you could only see the tips of the spikes created to impale Hyrulean soldiers. The man stepped around the pit and walked further into the plains, the sound of his rock hitting the mud at the bottom of the pit with a loud 'SPLASH!' echoing up and out of the death trap.
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"Link! Hey, Link! Time to wake up!" A female's voice vibrated through the house. "You promised to help me with breakfast today, remember?"
"I remember..."
"Good! Get yourself down here, now!"
Link laid in his bed for a few minutes, before obliging to the female's request. He slowly picked himself out of his bed and changed out of his cuckoo patterned pyjamas. As nice as the ranch was, it was cold in the nights, which gave a good enough excuse for Link to wear his favourite night clothes. He pulled on his shirt, some trousers, and tied his boots to his feet. He put his sheath, with his sword inside, on his back, the hilt over his right shoulder. Every other swordsman that he met was surprised that he was left-handed which irritated him, time after time.
He never felt complete without the familiar weight of his beloved Mirror Shield on his back. The only reason he had for equipping his sword and shield was that he always felt more secure and ready for anything with them. They have saved him countless times before and he felt as if they were part of him. The mother-figure of the house didn't approve that much on the matter, and it was the only thing that she let slide.
When he was ready he drew his curtains to get an idea of the weather outside. It was autumn and you could tell just by looking at the beautiful leaves falling from the Maple trees. Link counted his blessings everyday because the ranch always had a fresh supply of Maple syrup. He really liked them on his pancakes.
I wonder what's for breakfast...
Link stiffened when he remembered Malon reminding him about his promise.
How long has she been waiting?
He didn't stop to look at the sun to find out. He was down the stairs in a flash, and smashed into the door to the kitchen. Every other morning, the door was open as he ran through the doorway. This time his nose really hurt.
Hate you GanonDORK! He cursed. He knew it wasn't his banished foe's fault, but he blamed him anyway.
He opened the door, after rubbing his nose for a moment. However, when he tried walking through the doorway this time, he smashed into an angry Malon.
"What took you so long?" The question was simple, but the venom in her voice made Link shiver.
"I was... just getting dressed... and looking out the window..."
"I'm not out the window, Link." Her voice was soft now.
He spoke with a little more confidence: "I'm sorry."
They briefly hugged each other, before Link was granted access to the kitchen. Malon followed close behind him.
"What are we making today?" Link asked, curiosity lacing his every word.
"Ah. Well, we have a choice today. Fresh eggs, fresh milk, fresh bread..."
"Fresh syrup?"
"Sorry, Link. Talon finished it up last night."
"Oh... It's fine." Malon was very aware of the hurt in his voice.
"Sorry."
"Really, its fine. So... eggs and bread, huh? I'm thinking French toast."
"Sure... but, we're out of syrup."
"I know..." Link mumbled almost inaudibly.
What Malon replied with was drowned out by the clutter of pans and the opening of cupboards.
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"Aaahh..." Zelda stretched as she woke up. She turned her head to look out of the window.
Another beautiful day she thought. It was. The cloudless sky was glowing orange in the sunrise, matching the leaves falling off the trees in the ranch. Birds were singing, if you could call the crow of a cuckoo singing. Other birds did flutter by though. She wished the whole day looked as beautiful as this.
She got up and strode over to her wardrobe. It wasn't as big as the one that she had at the castle, and she was gutted when she realised that she left her favourite dress at the castle. She was in a rush to pack, but surely her servant would've remembered her favourite dress.
I'll speak to her when I get back...
But when will she get back? Malon was very vague when telling her when she was welcome to leave. It was already a month after Bessie, the cliché name given to her favourite cow, gave birth to a calf that she appropriately called: Speckles. The calf was covered black with teeny-tiny white spots everywhere.
As nice as it was here, she couldn't help think that her and Link should leave for the castle soon. Thoughts of her beautiful castle enveloped her as she put on her dress.
The dress was purple, and pretty long. Not so long that you wouldn't notice the pair of boots Link lent her she was wearing. She gasped when she found she stepped in a cowpat and ruined her favourite pair of shoes the first day here.
She walked out of her separate hut that Talon made with her in mind and walked towards the main cabin. She had breakfast on her mind and as she walked closer to the kitchen, the smell of French toast cleansed her sense of smell; cowpats stunk. However, she wasn't completely satisfied because she thought she could smell burning. Malon never burned anything...
She opened the door to reveal a newly-flour-covered Link and a giggling Malon. Her nose didn't betray her, she found the delicious egg-soaked slices on a plate at the table, but half of them looked like they were dropped into a fire.
When Link recovered from the flour assault executed by Malon, he went and pulled a chair out of the table and inclined for Zelda to sit there. After a brief curtsy, Zelda made to sit down, but stopped, wiped of the flour dripping from Link's hat, then sat. You could see Link blushing a 'sorry' through the layer of flour over his cheeks, if only just barely. Malon and Link took a seat on either side of Zelda, Link on the left, and Malon on the right.
"Oh, no syrup left?" Zelda inquired.
Link hesitated for a brief moment but it was enough to let Malon and Zelda grab all the non-burnt pieces.
"Well, I am a fan of my cooking." Link said while bravely picking up his pile of soot and taking a bite. Both girls stifled a giggle at the look of Link's face. Link quickly ran to the trash can and spat the black powder into it. The girls couldn't control their laughter when seeing this.
"Uhm... those can be for Talon when he wakes up..." Link said with a black mouth. The laughter erupted all over the house at this point. Thank the gods that Talon slept in a different cabin.
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A few more weeks passed before Zelda insisted that she had over-stayed her welcome. Link agreed, though reluctance tinted his words; more syrup had just been harvested from the trees.
After packing bags and saying farewells to the ranch's owners, Zelda and Link climbed upon Epona and urged her to a slow trot till they left the ranch. Link had to watch where he led Epona; there were cuckoos everywhere. Link remembered the time he was little and tried slashing at them one too many times.
Link had to run for his life, angry cuckoos running and flying everywhere around him. They would peck, and peck, and peck, but Link kept on running. He was getting so tired, he couldn't hold on for much longer... but he made it to the potion shop in Kakariko village, and collapsed inside. The familiar taste of red potion touched his lips, energy flowing through him instantly, but he had to pay up big time for the last in stock bottle of it to fully recover. As he walked out, his wallet a little light, he vowed he wouldn't go anywhere near those crazy birds ever again.
When they left the ranch, Epona sped up despite the weight of Zelda's clothes-case on her back. Link could only just lift them without the aid of the golden gauntlets. The countryside whizzed by, hills rolling, trees fading into the distance...
It wouldn't take long to reach the castle, but Hyrule field was a big field. At the pace Epona was going at, it would only take an hour or so.
Neither of them spoke much, Zelda was too scared to let go of Links waist. She never was too confident at the speeds Epona could go.
It had been almost half an hour when Link decided to race Epona past the mountain roots. For five minutes both Link and Zelda appreciated the pretty mountain flowers and the butterflies fluttering around, but then, Link slowed Epona down to a stop. Zelda was just about to ask what Link was doing when she looked over his shoulder. On the path was an old man in a red robe and a walking stick, walking towards them.
Link dismounted and strolled up to the stranger. "Good morning, friend."
"Aye, a good morning indeed. Who is this with you?" The old man seemed to only have eyes for Zelda.
"Why, princess Zelda! Have you been asleep in a cave for 50 years?" Link chuckled.
"No, but I have been on the other side of these mountains for a while." He scoffed.
Link snorted. No-one has ever crossed the mountain range surrounding the east of Hyrule field. "I think you're lying. No-one has ever crossed the mountains, and what business could you have over there anyway?" He was becoming annoyed the old man seemed to only look at Zelda.
"You've never heard!?!" The man exclaimed with a gasp, finally turning his head towards Link.
"Of what?"
"The golden rupee!"
"Pffft. There is no such thing. There are many different kinds of rupees: green, blue, yellow, red, purple, orange and silver, but there are no golden rupees."
"Not golden rupees, golden rupee! There is only one and it lies in the most evil place in existence on the other side of this mountain range." Links eyes lit up. "Yeah, somewhere called the Dark tower... y'see that land over there was invaded by a cunning king of great evil. He took everywhere and..." Link stopped listening.
A golden rupee!?! Wow... I wonder if I could ever get it...
"I tried to find it around the west..."
Of course I could get it! I've been through hell and back to save my princess, so this should be a walk in the park.
"Well, here I am rambling on again. I'm sorry to bother you"-
"Not a problem!" Link interrupted with too much enthusiasm.
-", but I have to be on my way now. Safe travels!"
"You, too friend." Link walked back to his horse. Imagine how much Zelda would love me to bring back the golden rupee for her...
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Disclaimer note: I don't own these characters, but I own the old man, sorta, because I made him up. I also made up someone else.... See if you can guess;)
A/N: Well, I can see this working. Can you? Any suggestions to how this work out? Well, if you do, review!
Oh, I was told to write that I was awesome, too.
Don't comment on that in the review.