The overall message I got from my first few reviews (Thank you all for those, by the way) seemed to be, "Good, now don't stop there." I assure you all that I hope to update on a fairly decent schedule. I've got school and all that, but this is considerably more fun, so I hope to churn out something every 1-2 weeks. Hey, by that standard, I just updated way ahead of schedule! Boring logistics aside, let's continue.
Humming as she washed her hands, Malon eagerly awaited her new playmate. How long had it been since she had last had someone her age over to do stuff with? She thought back hard, but the only time she could remember clearly was when that one girl had come over with her dad to buy a cucco. She had been kinda fun, but it seemed all she ever wanted to do was run around in circles after her new pet. It had been a while since then in any case, and it was about time she had a kid over to play. It was great to have Epona back home, but even her favorite horse couldn't help her make lunch.
He was taking an awful long time with those flowers, though. She had already gated Epona back up and set out the ingredients for the sandwiches... he must have wandered into the barn and gotten in a conversation with Dad or something. Or maybe - wait, nope, there was the creak of the door. In popped Link's small head which was soon followed by the rest of his body when he spied Malon waving him in with sudsy hands. She decided to skip drying them, choosing instead to immediately approach Epona's mysterious rider.
"About time! You get what I asked for?" Frowning as a bit of soapy water splashed on the front of his shirt, the boy nodded and produced a bottle from behind his back. It was filled to the brim with all kinds of flowers: the small pink ones Malon had been picking, larger white ones he had found around the side of Lon Lon's fence; he had even gone so far as to gather some very sweet-smelling blue and purple ones he had spied near the tree he hit his head on. Delighted, Malon reached out for the bottle immediately but soon realized her hands were too slippery to get a good grip on the slick glass. Not one to let such a thing deter her, the she simply hugged it between her arms and carried it away to a nearby table.
The family dining table was obviously handmade, a little clunky, and the legs could dish out splinters if not treated with respect, but it was sturdy and had done its job with consistency for years. On top was a variety of vegetables, jars, dishes and other assorted things Malon had fished out of the cabinets. Adding the bottle of flowers to the display, she grinned and turned her attention once again to her little helper in green.
"Good," she said, finally wiping her hands dry on the front of her clothes, "Now we can get started. I'm going to need you to get me the stuff I need to make two chef's specials." Link paused upon hearing that. The allusion to food was enough to elicit a surprising rumble from his deprived stomach. Noticing this, Malon added, "Or maybe three chef's specials. I bet you're hungry too."
Actually, Link was ravenous. He hadn't eaten a thing since he left Termina, and it had been quite a long trip back. Trying not to look too eager, he assented.
"That sounds good."
"Y'know what? Let's make it four. Now I'm hungry!"
"Okay, sure." Link hurried, eager to get on with the process, "What do we need for a chef's special?"
"Let me see... well, we'll need bread."
"Bread, okay." Link's natural quick thinking began to kick in, a mental checklist began writing itself in his brain. He was acutely aware of his hunger now, so this was important.
"Hmm... Cheese."
"Cheese." He repeated, serious.
"Lettuce, Tomato... maybe some salt and pepper."
"Got it."
"And milk."
"Alright," he said, taking that for the end of it and turning around.
"And some kind of juice."
"Oh..." Link did a quick about-face, a politeness still in his voice, but the impatience obvious to even Malon. "Alright, juice. Anything else?"
"Carrots. And water, and corn, and eggs."
"Um, o-okay," Link stammered, trying to keep up in his head. Seeing him start to lose track, the red-headed chef in front of him couldn't help but push it a bit farther - her thoughts began to turn mischievous.
"Ooh! And I just got a great idea for another recipe! A chef's special number two! We'll definitely need a big hunk of chocolate!"
"Chocolate?"
"Yes!" Despite the fact that she was now just kidding around, Malon's knees went weak just thinking about the treat her dad had won for her at the fair last year – a thick, dark, rock-looking candy that had been wrapped up tight in frilly green paper. The smell... and the taste! "Yes. We'll need chocolate. And cotton candy."
"I don't even know what that is..." Link faltered, beginning to lose faith that he would eat anytime soon.
"And caramels!" Malon continued, lost in her own fantasy. "All the caramels we can get."
He was almost afraid to ask, but Link went ahead and ventured,"Is that it?"
For a few agonizing seconds it seemed like Malon was remembering something else, but she shook her head, finally ending the giant list. "That should do it."
With a sigh, Link turned around and headed for the door, making it half-way before being stopped. "Hey! Where are you going?"
"I'm going to get you what you need," Link stated, the sincerity of his oath giving the eleven-year-old's voice a strange quality. "I can probably find a lot of the stuff you need around your ranch, but I might have to go to to Castle Town for some of the weird things." Then, more to himself than to her, he continued,"I think I saw King Zora drinking what looked like some kind of juice..."
"Hey, wait!" Malon interjected, pulling Link's hat off his head after trying to stop him by grabbing it. "We don't need to worry about the second recipe right now, we can do that later. For now, let's just focus on the first chef's special." Confused, but relieved somewhat, Link agreed to this. Malon relinquished the hat once it was clear he was staying,"And I'm sure we have all the ingredients in the house. Here, come with me. Let's look for them together."
As Link went back to the table, searching through the things Malon had gathered, the girl tried to think of a reason for why he had taken her pretend demands so seriously. She had expected him to laugh, or maybe give her a pile of mud to serve as chocolate; not offer to take the long trip to actually try and get some. What kind of kid thought like that? Still, she had been told by her father that sometimes she took jokes a little too far. Maybe it had just been her being too silly.
"Ha! Here's some bread!"
Then again, perhaps this boy was just really strange. Malon laughed when she saw him. He was standing on a chair, holding the bread high above his head, looking at it and smiling so big one would think he held a shining trophy in his hands.
"W-Why are you doing t-that?" she managed in between giggles.
"Because I... because I found it." A slightly miffed Link clarified. Why was she laughing at him?
"That-" Oh, it was too much. This boy was just the funniest person she had ever met. "T-That's..." She was close to falling down on the floor. Why wouldn't he lower his arms? "That's funny. Y-you're really funny, Link," Malon managed with a complete lack of malice. "You might be the funniest boy I ever met." She actually meant it as a compliment, and in his innocence, that's what Link took it as. A slight blush began to color his embarrassed face and he finally lowered the loaf of bread back down onto the table.
"I don't think anybody has ever said I was funny before," he said thoughtfully before quickly taking it back. "Except for Saria, but I don't know why she told me that though. I don't really know any good jokes."
"Jokes are funny, but other stuff is funny too," Malon explained.
"But...this is funny?" Link asked, hefting the bread back above his head skeptically.
"Yes!" Another series of happy laughs was brought forward as evidence. "Yes, you're...you're really funny when you do that. D-Do it again with s-something else!"
Still not understanding, but pleased with himself, Link obliged by hopping down and sending the chair he was standing on a moment ago skyward. This was met with renewed cheers and roaring applause from his one person audience. Briefly, he wondered why nobody had ever told him this was funny before... although now that he thought about it, Navi had laughed at him the first couple of times she had seen him do it. He had thought she had just been happy about avoiding the giant rolling rocks and hungry plants. After all, he usually laughed after being scared, but it must have been the way he opened treasure chests that made his old friend begin having spasms in mid-air.
Navi. At the thought of her, and at the thought of her loss, Link's happy mood began to falter. As he set the chair back down on the floor, however, he comforted himself by once again going over what he had to do to get back on track. Want to find a fairy? Ask the Princess. Want to get to the Princess? Get to your horse. Want to get to your horse?
"Okay, c'mon. Let's make lunch already!" Malon said, mirroring Link's thoughts. "Can you slice eight big pieces of bread for me?"
"Oh. Okay." Finding the bread again, Link drew his sword and went to work.
This was just a short bit off conflict-free exposition, but I sure had fun writing it, and I hope you enjoyed reading it. Go ahead and re-read it if you want. I recommend that you listen to the Lon Lon Ranch theme while you do, so as to get the full effect. Try looking up the Hyrule Symphony Orchestra version on YouTube. Beautiful. When you're done, you could even tell me what you thought about the chapter! See you again in a week or so!
