Disclaimer: I do not own The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess
Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed my first chapter! You made my day! Please feel free to review and tell me what you liked or hated about the chapter. ( I won't get offended, I promise)
In the morning I'm woken up to the sound of kids yelling at me. Three kids to be exact, Talo, Malo, and Beth.
"Hey! Wake up Link!" one of them calls, Talo, I think, "its morning already!"
I groan and roll out of bed, figuring it's no use to try to go back to sleep. I hastily get dressed and grab a hunk of bread for breakfast. Outside I can hear the kids yelling at me to hurry up.
Talo, Malo, and Beth are the most annoying kids I have ever met in my entire life. They are even more annoying than Ilia on her worst days. For some reason they insist on following me around and bothering me on my days off. It wouldn't be so bad if they could be quiet sometimes, but no, they are always talking and arguing with each other till I want to drown them in the creek. Which I'm pretty sure is something their parents have considered at some point.
As I climb down and walk over to them I can tell they are excited about something.
"Link! Did you hear?" Talo says, practically jumping up and down, "They're selling a slingshot at the store right now! A slingshot!"
Oh great, I think, a slingshot is the last thing that kid needs. Talo is the more adventurous one of the trio. He even made himself a sword out of a branch he found and finds every opportunity he can to beat the cuccos in the village with it.
"I wonder how powerful it is," I hear Malo mutter to himself, "I…I need…I must try it."
Malo scares me sometimes. If Talo is the muscle of the three then Malo is the brains. For a six year old he is really smart. He is always muttering to himself and when he does speak it is usually with a sarcastic and biting comment.
"Talo," Beth says, "If you and Malo want it so badly just buy it at my parent's shop."
Beth's parents own the only shop in Ordon, called Sera's Sundries. Talo and Malo are quite jealous of her because of it. Beth also thinks she is better than the two boys so she is the boss of the trio.
"Do you see in rupees in my hand?" Talo asks, sarcastically, "I can't afford that thing! C'mon Beth, can't you just loan it to us for a while?" he finishes pleadingly.
"You know I would get in trouble for that! If you two want it save up your allowances or something." She says, scathingly.
At this point I notice Colin is standing next to Epona, looking over at the now bickering kids. As I go over to him I hear Malo complaining about his puny allowance.
"Hi Link." Colin says, "You have the day off today, right?"
"Yep, that's right," I reply.
Colin is like a little brother to me. Since I lived with Rusl for so long I've watched Colin grow up and I have a soft spot for the kid. While he is a little shy he has a determination I admire.
"So, I finished the fishing rod I was making," Colin starts, "Link, I figured I'd give it to you first thing in the morning but my dad said I should wait till you ask for it." He looks up at me anxiously.
"That's no problem, Colin," I say, "I will get it later today okay, buddy?"
"Alright," he says, happily, "You're going to love it!"
"I'm sure I will. Well I'm going to go to the village. You'll be fine here?" I ask.
"Yep, see you later, Link."
And with that I head into Ordon leaving Colin petting Epona. As I enter Ordon I see Hanch, Beth's dad, standing in front of house looking up at something. When I walk over to him I see he is looking at a large bee hive.
"Well hey, 'morning Link. Got the day off from work today, m'boy?" he says glumly, "Not me. The wife been hassling me. Today is the day we restock our store."
"Oh," is all I can say.
"Look, see?" he says pointing at the hive. I nod.
"Yeah," he continues, "Some Ordon bees have made themselves a fine nest up there and I was thinking about knocking it down."
"Why…?" I ask, thinking it would be best if he stayed away from the bees.
"Our cat hasn't come back since yesterday, so the wife is in a bad mood," Hanch says, sighing, "At the very least I need to bring something back to her." He sighs again, staring at the bee hive gloomily.
"Well good luck, I hope you get it down," I say, turning to leave.
Over by the small pond the creek runs into I see someone waving at me from on top of the boulder that sits next to the pond. I quickly jog over there to see who it is.
"Hey Link! I'm up here!" I look up to see its Jaggle, signaling me to join him.
Jaggle is Talo and Malo's dad and is known throughout Ordon for his perpetual laziness. He is probably sitting on the boulders, out of sight, to avoid work.
When I climb up to the top of the boulder, Jaggle points behind the boulder, over to where a small dock sticks out into the pond.
"Check this out," Jaggle says, "You know Sera, at the general store? Well isn't that her cat over there?" he continues, not waiting for me to respond.
I look over at the dock again, this time seeing Sera's small tabby cat, the source of Hanch's problems, staring intently into the pond.
"He's just sitting over there by my house, having a staring contest with the creek," Jaggle says, "You don't suppose he is trying to catch a fish do you? A cat can't catch no fish!" At this Jaggle starts laughing like he just told a funny joke. I just roll my eyes, knowing that cats can actually catch fish if they want to.
"Anyway, that's not what I was going to tell you," Jaggle says, still chuckling, "I wanted you to take a look at something."
"Okay," I say, waiting for him to continue.
"See that grass growing there on the edge of that rock," he says, pointing over at a boulder that sits in the pond, "Haven't I seen you whistling with that stuff?" he asks.
I nod, not really listening anymore. Seeing that grass over there has given me an idea on how to knock down the bee hive. I look over where Hanch is still standing, staring at the bee hive. Jaggle says something else about hopping across the boulders, but I've already jumped over to it and walked over to the grass.
A few years ago Rusl found a baby hawk in a nest that, for whatever reason, had been abandoned by its mother. Rusl had brought it home and let me help raise and train it. One of the things we had taught it was to come whenever either of us whistled a tune with grass.
My idea is really simple. I'm pretty sure that if I direct the hawk over to the bee hive it will knock the hive down, thus solving Hanch's bee problem before he gets hurt.
As I'm about to pluck the grass I see a movement out of the corner of my eye. I look and see a monkey jumping up and down on a rock on the other side of the pond, holding something above its head.
The fact that there is a monkey in Ordon bothers me. Typically the monkeys stay in their home in the Faron woods, but lately they have been coming and causing trouble. Rusl has become concerned and has made several trips into the Faron woods to try and find out why the monkeys are being so troublesome. The monkeys are not the only animals that have been causing problems lately. Fado's goats have also been very anxious and incompliant.
Ignoring the monkey I pluck a piece of grass and begin to loudly whistle the tune that will call the hawk. Distantly I hear the hawk screech as it flies over to me. I quickly pull my shirt around my wrist so the hawk won't claw it when it lands. When the hawk lands on my wrist and gets settled I turn and face the bee hive. I point to the bee hive and, after making sure the hawk knows where I'm pointing, I release it. The hawk swiftly flies over to the hive and hits it at full speed, knocking it down. After it's done the hawk flies back to its nest above Rusl's house.
I jump over to where Jaggle is sitting and listen to him congratulate me. I just grin at him as I scramble off the boulder and run over to Hanch.
"Link!" Hanch says joyfully, "I saw that. Calling down a hawk was a great idea! Why didn't I think of it! I was thinking of trying to knock it down myself, but you beat me to the punch m'boy."
"It's no problem, Hanch," I say, rather proud of myself.
"Well thanks Link, I'm going to go tell Sera." And then he runs over to the store.
I decide to walk down to Fado's ranch. Even though it's my day off, Fado might find some work for me. As I'm walking down the road I pass Uli standing by the creek. I stop and say hi to her.
"Oh, good morning to you," Uli says, "If you want to find my husband today he took his sword and left early today."
Uli looks a lot like Colin. They both have the same blonde hair and soft blue eyes.
"Oh, okay," I say. Rusl probably went to Faron woods again.
"But I must ask, Link," Uli says, "You haven't seen a cradle come floating by here, have you?" she asks.
Uli is pregnant right now and is about to have her baby in a few months.
"No, I haven't," I answer.
"It's a baby cradle made of finely woven tree bark," she says.
I remember the cradle. Rusl bought it for Uli when she was pregnant with Colin years ago.
"Oh, such a misfortune," she sighs, "How far could it have drifted off I wonder."
"I can help you look for it," I offer.
"Thank you, Link." Uli smiles at me, "I'm sure it hasn't gone very far."
I start walking down the edge of the creek, making sure to check under the bridge that leads to Jaggle's home. When I walk around the boulder, where I was just a few minutes before, I remember the monkey that was holding something across the pond. I quickly scramble up the boulder and peer at the monkey. It's too far away for me to get a good look so I hop onto the rock where I called the hawk earlier but I still can't see it. I look to my right where the roof of a house on the pond is just a small hop away. Just beyond the roof are two more boulders sticking out of the pond. I climb over to the farthest one where I can see the monkey is, as I suspected, holding Uli's cradle.
While I'm thinking about how to rescue the cradle, I glance down and see grass growing on the rock I'm standing on. This gives me an idea…
I pluck a blade of grass and call the hawk again. When it comes I point at the cradle and say "retrieve". The hawk flies straight at the monkey and grabs the cradle in its claws. The hawk sinks a little from the weight of the cradle as it flies back to me. When the hawk flies close I grab the cradle and jump back across the rocks. I look back to see if the monkey was still there, but it has disappeared. I make a mental note to tell Rusl about it.
Uli smiles when she sees me with the cradle, relieved that it had been found.
"Link, you found it." She says, "Oh that reminds me. There's something I am supposed to give you. Do you think carry that cradle and come with me to my house?" she asks.
"Sure," I say, thinking that she is probably going to give me the fishing rod Colin told me about earlier.
"My thanks again, Link," Uli says when we get back to her house.
"You're welcome," I say setting the cradle on the front porch.
"Oh, Colin wanted me to give you this." Walking across the porch she bends down and picks up a fishing rod.
"Here you go," she says, handing it to me.
"Thanks," I reply, "It looks good."
She smiles, "I'll tell Colin you liked it. Well I guess I'd better get started on my house work." And with a goodbye she heads inside.
I examine the fishing rod. It looks nice, if a bit unpolished. I decide to go and try it out. Fish sounds good for lunch today. I head over to the dock behind Jaggle's house and start fishing. Sera's cat is still over here but he skittered away from me when I starting fishing.
The fishing rod is very well built and in no time I catch a fish. I decide to catch another fish so I might have fish for dinner as well.
When I pull my second fish out of the water Sera's cat runs over and steals it! While the cat gets a head start I'm still staring in shock. I recover quickly and begin to chase the little thief. Immediately it runs into Sera's store. I rush over and follow it into the shop.
When I get in there I see the cat sitting on the shop counter, contentedly drinking milk, while Sera smiles cheerfully.
"Oh my! Link!" she says, startled by my sudden entrance, "Oh you simply must hear this! My little kitty cat is amazing!"
Yes, your cat is an amazing thief, I think sarcastically. I'm pretty sure I am not getting that fish back.
"He just caught a fish all by his little old self!" Sera continues, cooing at the furry demon.
"Wow," I say, sarcastically, "That is quite a feat for a cat."
I don't really like Sera. She has a superior attitude towards everyone, sort of like her daughter, Beth.
She doesn't notice my sarcasm, "How do you think he caught it? Maybe he's a genius!"
"Maybe," I say, resisting the urge to roll my eyes.
"Ohhhh just look," she says, sighing over the cat, "Isn't he so cute, the way he laps up that milk. Say, why don't you have some too. I'm in a good mood so it's on the house."
She hands me the rest of the milk. There is about half a bottle left but that's fine with me. I don't get milk often and I figure its good pay back for the fish her evil cat stole. And besides I won't turn down free milk.
"Thanks," I say, turning to leave. I think I will try to catch another fish. As I turn something on the shelf behind Sera catches my eye. It's the slingshot the kids were talking about this morning. I turn back to the counter, studying the slingshot.
"How much does that slingshot cost?" I ask.
I think that buying the slingshot would be good for several reasons. One, the kids won't have it and therefore will not be able to pellet me with rocks at a distance, which is always a good thing. Secondly, even if I have it I can let the kids play with it and I won't have to listen to them fight over it. Thirdly, a person could always use slingshot.
"What are you doing buying a slingshot, you naughty thing!" Sera says, disapprovingly, "You're too old for toys."
"A slingshot isn't a toy," I argue, "It's a type of weapon."
Sera glares at me. "It's thirty rupees," she says stiffly, "Will you at least let the kids play with it?"
"Yes, I will," I assure her, as I hand over thirty rupees. She hands me the slingshot and I head to the door.
"Oh, I suppose I should tell you, if you happen to run out of pellets you can also use pumpkin seeds." She says
I nod at her and then walk out the door. I head back to my house where the kids will probably still be to show them the slingshot. They are going to be thrilled I got the slingshot. When I pass the gate that is at the entrance of Ordon I see Rusl walking my way.
"Ah, just in time, Link," he says when he sees me, "I just delivered something to your house."
"Oh what is it?" I ask.
"I finally fixed your sword," he replies.
"Thanks, that's great!" I tell him. A few days ago I damaged my wooden sword while Rusl was training me. Rusl has been training me in swordsmanship for a couple of years now.
"Oh I see you got the fishing rod," he says noticing it in my hand, "Colin will be pleased. And it works better than you would think, right?"
I nod. "It does work very well actually." I reply.
"Well, have a good one," Rusl continues walking into the village.
"You too, sir," I call back at him. He waves goodbye.
I walk over to my house to get my sword. I pass by the kids, who are still where I left them this morning. When I climb up into my house I see that Rusl left the sword on my table. I pick it up and give it a few experimental swings, happy to have it back. I guess I should go show the kids my new slingshot. They will want to see it in action as much as I do right now.
When I walk over to the kids and show them the slingshot, they freak out.
"Link has a slingshot! Whoa!" Talo shouts excitedly.
"Wow!" Beth says, staring at it, "You had enough rupees to buy it, Link!"
"Yep," I say, "Do you want to see me practice with it?" I grin, knowing what their answer will be.
"Yes!" Talo and Malo both shout. They begin running to set up targets we had painted on one of my days off a while ago.
"Preparations complete." Malo says when they are done.
"Ok wow! This is great!" Talo says enthusiastically, "Let's see how powerful the slingshot is!"
"I can't believe you two brats are so obsessed about this." Beth tells Talo and Malo, trying to appear cool and distant, "It just shows what little boys you still are."
I roll my eyes where Beth can't see me. I know she is just as excited as the boys are. Taking careful aim I raise the slingshot and begin to fire at targets that are spread out to the right of my house. I smile, having fun. Beth and Talo cheer as I hit every target. When I'm done I stick the slingshot into my belt.
"Gee, you really are amazing Link!" Talo says, grinning from ear to ear.
"Yeah, you are! You can use swords and slingshots and everything!" Beth praises.
"Hey, that reminds me, you've got to teach us how to use a sword, too!" Talo begs. Talo has wanted me to show him some sword moves for a while now, but I haven't had the time or the inclination to.
"Seriously!" Talo says, trying to convince me, "Lately these monkeys have been coming out of the woods and playing tricks on us! We want to get them good!"
I agree to teach them and I position myself in front of a scarecrow dummy I usually practice on.
Talo runs and gets his play sword and the kids stand back to watch.
"First off, we want to see that move," Talo thinks for a moment, "The slice!" he says when he thinks of it.
I show them the basic slice, making sure they can see me. As much as the kids annoy me I can't help but enjoying showing off my skill. Talo tries to copy my move with his sword.
"Wow! A horizontal slice!" he says, "Alright next…"
"Ooh, ooh!" Beth jumps up to get my attention, "I want to see that other move, Link! The one where you…" She falters, trying to pantomime the move.
"Oh please, the stab?" Malo says, quizzically.
"Yes, that one!" Beth says.
"Sure," I reply. I quickly stab the scarecrow.
"That was amazing!" Beth says, "While you're at it, how about you show us that other move…you know that little twirly thing you do. What do you call it? A spin attack?"
You can tell the kids like to watch me practice with my sword. In fact they get upset if I practice without them knowing. I do the spin attack for Beth. It's one of her favorites to watch and it's one of my favorites to do. After that I tell the kids I'm ready to leave and go fish again.
"Hey wait!" Talo says, "You've got to show us the jump attack before you go. You know, the one where you go "Hyaah" and leap through the air!" All three kids look up at me pleadingly, not wanting me to go.
"Fine," I say, "But after that I've got to go."
I face the scarecrow one last time and perform the jump attack.
"Thanks Link," Talo says, happily swinging his sword around. I'm guessing the cuccos are going to be chased around by Talo today.
"Not a problem," I tell him.
"So I think I get it…kind of." He says as he tries to do the stab, "So this means that anytime those naughty monkeys shows up…" He looks off to the left distracted by something.
I follow his gaze and see a monkey standing at the entrance of the path to Faron woods. I recognize it as the monkey that stole Uli's cradle this morning. Before I can do anything Talo yells and waves his sword and runs at the monkey. The monkey, startled, starts running back to the woods. The kids chase the monkey as I yell at them to stop. They disappear down the path.
I run over to where Epona is standing by my house and hop on her. I ride down the path to the Faron woods. Before I even reach the Ordon pool I see Beth standing and staring down the path. I stop Epona next to her and she looks up at me.
"Talo and Malo went chasing like crazy after that monkey," she says breathlessly, "I couldn't keep up with those two."
I continue riding fast. When I get to the entrance of the pool Malo is standing there.
"They went that way," Malo says, pointing to the bridge that leads to Faron woods.
I ride across the bridge and past the Faron pool, where just last night Rusl and I were talking. A little bit farther and I'm at a fork in the road. One goes on to the rest of Hyrule and the other is a cave that leads into the Faron woods proper. I jump off of Epona and tie her to the gate that sits at the entrance.
I look into the cave. Its dark and I can barely see five feet into it. I'm about to dash into the cave, dark or not, when I remember that there is a shop a few feet down the other way, which a man named Coro owns.
Though Coro owns a store, he also acts as the gate keeper for the Faron woods. He sells also lanterns. I run over to his store, where he is sitting on a rock in the front. When I approach him he jumps slightly, startled by my appearance.
"Hey! An Ordonian! Hey guy!" he says cheerfully.
"I need a lantern," I don't even bother to return his greeting, "I'm in a hurry."
"Oh here," he hands me a lantern, "Take this one."
"Thanks," I say, turning to run back to the cave.
"See, I sell lantern oil here," Coro say, seemingly oblivious to the fact I'm in a hurry. I groan as he continues. "I'm trying to drum up sales by giving away free lanterns. It's a business tactic, guy."
"Interesting," I say, trying to leave, "look I've got to go…"
"See," he continues, interrupting me, "As long as you've got oil to fuel your lantern you can light your way and set stuff on fire. They're the best!"
At this point I just run back to the cave and Epona, leaving Coro shouting something behind me. I light the lantern and head into the cave. I'm really anxious to find Talo though I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have gone very far into the cave. I'm not even allowed to go this far into Faron woods. Rusl says that a lot of dangerous creatures live in there, like Bokoblins, which are blue goblin-like creatures.
As I go farther into the cave I hear a screeching noise and look up just in time to see a bat flying at me. I pull out my sword and quickly kill it. I continue walking. A few feet ahead of me I see an object lying on the ground. When I get closer I see that it's Talo's wooden sword. Dread fills me. I pick it up and keep going occasionally calling Talo's name. While I'm walking I'm imagining a hundred different scenarios where the monkey attacks Talo and drags him away. Finally I can't stand my slow pace and break into a run, certain something is terribly wrong with Talo.
The lantern only lights a few feet in front of me, so as I'm running it's hard to see the giant spider web until I'm practically on top of it. I burn it down with my lantern and keep running. In no time I'm out of the cave and in an unfamiliar clearing. Giant boulders and trees dot the clearing blocking out the sunlight.
I look around and in front of me I notice a faint path. It looks like something was dragged across the clearing. Something like Talo maybe…
I start running again, my eyes on the path. To my left I hear a grunt. I look up to see a Bokoblin running at me with its club raised. I bring my sword up to block it and then I quickly finish it off. I look down at it, disturbed. This wasn't the first time I have killed one of them, but killing still bothers me.
I shake off my discomfort, knowing that there are more where that one came from. I find the path again and continue to follow it. By the time I reach the other side of the clearing I have killed three more Bokoblins. Luckily for me they aren't very bright and incredibly slow or I would be in a lot of trouble.
While I'm running I think about the all the things I'm going to say to Talo when I find him. He is going to be in so much trouble when we get to Ordon.
Finally I reach I come into another clearing that ends in a cliff. A few feet away from the edge is another cliff. The two cliffs are connected by a natural bridge. On the other cliff I can see Talo in a wooden cage with the monkey…? I stare, confused, because I definitely didn't imagine this scenario. I can see two bokoblins guarding them.
I run across the bridge, trying not to look down. I'm not afraid of heights but still I can't see the bottom of the cliff. When I get across the bridge Talo shouts joyfully and the two bokoblins run and attack me. I defend myself and after a minute both of them are dead. I walk over to the cage and bash the sides a few times with my sword. When the monkey is free it immediately runs out of site.
Talo opens his mouth to say something but is silenced by the look on my face. I am furious that he would run off like that. Not only was it stupid, he could've been killed by the bokoblins! We start walking back to the village in silence.
When we get out of the caves where I left Epona its dusk. Talo stops and looks like he wants to say something to me. I stop glaring at him so he can speak.
"If you hadn't come, Link," he says, "Gee, me and that monkey would've been eaten probably!"
"Yeah, remember that next time you're about to do something stupid, like chasing a monkey," I say severely. I'm not as mad as I was now that Talo is safe, but I'm not going to let him off the hook. He nods and looks down ashamed.
"She's actually a pretty nice girl, that monkey," he tells me, "She tried to protect me so we got captured together."
That's interesting. I was thinking that the bokoblins were trying to catch the monkey and Talo just got in the way. Why would they want Talo?
"Ummm, Link, you're not going to mention this to my dad are you?" He asks, "He is always telling to never, ever go into the forest 'cause he says it's dangerous." He looks up at me, silently begging me not to tell. I think about how terrified he looked before I rescued him, I doubt he will ever do anything like this.
"Fine," I reply, "I guess you've learned your lesson so I won't tell. But if someone asks me I will tell them the truth." I warn him.
"Okay," he says glumly, "I can find the way back myself, Link." And then he runs off back to the village.
I just shake my head. He is going get in a lot of trouble because I'm pretty sure his parents are going to find out.
As Talo disappears out of sight I hear someone call my name. I turn around and see Rusl walking from the direction of Coro's shop.
"My son told me Talo disappeared into the woods and had not returned," Rusl says, "I came as soon as I heard, but it looks like you have brought him home already."
"Yeah, he had been captured by some bokoblins." I quickly tell him the whole story.
"Hmmm, have you noticed how strange this wood has been lately? Today was just another example. I feel uneasy about what may lie in wait," he says musingly.
"Anyway, Link," he continues, "Tomorrow is the day you will be departing for Hyrule."
I had completely forgotten that I was leaving tomorrow. As I think about I get excited again. I can't wait to leave and see what the castle and the rest of Hyrule looks like.
"I think it is a good thing I have given this task to you," Rusl says, "If you are lucky he you may even get to meet Princess Zelda," he jokes.
I laugh at that. Like the princess will ever even notice me, a ranch hand.
Rusl and I walk back to the village together, me leading Epona as he gives me details of my trip.
The next day I'm sitting in the field at Fado's ranch daydreaming about my trip. It takes about a day and a half to get to the Hyrule castle so I'm going to leave in about two hours. I'm so excited to go I can barely sit still. I've been speeding through all my chores today since I'm so wound up.
"Hey Link!" I look up to see Fado coming out of the barn. I wave and he runs over to me.
"So it's almost time for you to get going, huh, Link?" Fado asks.
"Yep," I reply, standing up.
"So how about we finish up early today bud,' he says.
"Okay," I say. I whistle for Epona who is grazing across the field. She runs over to me a little awkwardly. She leg got a little hurt yesterday from my crazy ride after Talo, but I don't think it's too serious.
I climb on her back and we begin to herd the goats into the barn. There are about twenty goats out today but I quickly get them inside.
When I'm done Fado walks over and tells me that's all he needs me for today and to go to the mayor's house. I tell him good-bye since I won't see him again before I leave.
I hop Epona over the gate and ride down to the mayor's house which is the first house coming from Fado's ranch. When I get close to the house I see Ilia standing in front obviously waiting for me. She calls for her father and then runs over to meet me as I dismount from Epona. Ilia immediately starts petting Epona and whispering to her.
"Well, done herding for the day, Link?" Mayor Bo asks when he comes out of his house. I nod in reply.
"Well nice work," he says coming over next to me. He puts his arm around me as he tells me about the gift. The mayor is very nervous about the gift getting delivered on time, especially since the royal family requested it specifically. As we are talking I hear Ilia behind makes a noise of outrage.
"What? What's this?" she asks me. I turn around quickly to see Ilia examining Epona's leg.
"What's happened? She's injured isn't she?" she asks accusingly.
I try to explain what happened before Ilia got to mad but it's too late.
"Link, how could you!" she yells at me, "You were pushing Epona to hard again! I bet you hurt her leg jumping fences didn't you!"
"Now, now there Ilia," says Mayor Bo, trying to soothe his daughter, "I'm sure she is fine."
"How can you be so easy on him?" Ilia starts yelling at her dad, "You're the mayor! You should start acting like one!"
Ilia is quite furious and rightly so. I should have fixed Epona's leg last night when I saw it was injured. I feel bad about it. I suppose I should go apologize to Ilia who is now leading my horse out of Ordon, probably to the pool.
"Wait Ilia!" Mayor Bo calls uselessly. Ilia is already gone with Epona, "Without Epona the gift won't be delivered in time!" he tells me anxiously. He has a point. I start running, hoping to catch up with her before she gets to the Ordon pool. She will most likely lock me out once is there.
When I leave Ordon and get to my house I see the kids, as usual, are hanging out by my house. Colin is there waiting for me by the gate.
"Link are you going to see Ilia?" he asks
"Yes, I have to. She has stolen my horse," I joke.
"Maybe it's just me, but those guys don't normally let people through," Colin points over to Talo and Malo who are blocking the way to the pool. Ugh, this is just what I need right now. Those two are such a pain.
"Link, you think we can go to see Ilia together?" Colin asks.
"Sure," I reply. We walk over to them.
"Hey Link. We've been waiting for you," Talo says when we go to them. Ilia probably told them to stop me when she passed by here minutes ago.
"Yesterday was so much fun," Talo continues, obviously recovered from his capture yesterday, "Yeah chasing that monkey was great! I was just telling Malo about how we wanted to show it to him but we let it go instead."
"Oh, so you didn't get caught yesterday," Malo says under his breath. I guess Talo has changed his story a bit.
"Oh, Colin," Talo says, changing the subject, "Way to spoil everything by your dad! Nice job!" Talo glares at Colin.
"Yeah! Thanks a lot," Malo adds, "We got scolded by our dad something awful. I thought it was never going to end."
I guess Colin didn't make himself very popular yesterday. By this morning practically the whole village knew that Talo was caught by bokoblins yesterday. Poor guy, he is in so much trouble.
"I bet you're trying to go see Ilia, aren't you? Well there's no way I'm going to let you pass," Talo says trying to make himself look bigger.
Great, I think to myself, why me? I really need to get Epona back and get going to the castle.
"Oh hey, Link, let me borrow that sword," Talo begs, pointing to my wooden sword on my back. While he and Malo are pleading for my sword I nudge Colin and signal him to sneak around them. He does and with a wave begins running to the pool.
I give Talo and Malo my sword, figuring I will take it back when I come back with Epona to get my stuff and say good-bye. Once they have the sword they run over to the scarecrow and begin to hit it. I run down the path to the pool and when I get there I see the gate is closed and Colin is on the other side.
"Link!" Colin says when he sees me.
Ilia quickly turns around from brushing Epona. "If you've come to take Epona back you can forget it!"
"Ilia," I plead, "I really need to get going. I'm going to be late." I know begging won't work but it's worth a try.
"Why don't you think about what you've done for a change," Ilia yells at me, "I won't open the gate until you change your attitude." And with that she turns and continues brushing Epona. I groan in frustration. I really don't have time for this.
"Ilia, you don't know what happened yesterday," Colin tells her. He turns to me, "Listen I don't know if she will listen to me, but let me try to explain about Talo and the monkey, okay? You can crawl through the tunnel in the back while I do."
I agree to this and go to the entrance of the tunnel. I think the tunnel is actually an old abandoned animal den. While I'm crawling through I'm really hoping Ilia will calm down once she hears Colin's explanation. She should though, I mean Epona's injury isn't even that serious. When I get out of the tunnel I'm in the pool. I can see Colin and Ilia talking, but I can't hear them well.
I walk over to them. When Epona sees me she happily whinnies in my direction. Ilia also sees me and fortunately she doesn't look to mad anymore. I smile at her, hoping to get on her good side again. Trust me, her good side is way better than her bad side. She shyly smiles back at me.
"Fortunately," Ilia says, "It looks like the injury isn't too bad. You two can go on together."
"Okay," I say, walking over to her and Epona, "Thanks for looking at it I guess." I grab Epona preparing to leave.
"But Link, can you promise me something," Ilia says stopping me. I turn back around to face her. But when I turn she is closer to me than I expected and I find myself staring deeply into her eyes. She blinks and backs up, looking startled. I feel confused. Most of the time Ilia is a nuisance to me and I try to avoid her, but lately I have been noticing her more. And sometimes I will look up from doing something and see her watching me. I don't know what's up with either of us.
"Can you promise me this," Ilia starts again.
"Sure anything," I reply, staring at her. It wasn't until this moment I notice how pretty her eyes actually are. I shake my head. I need to focus. "What do you want?" I ask.
"No matter what happens on journey don't try anything out of your league. Please." She says something else but it is drowned out by the sound of pounding hooves. Ilia, Colin and I all look at each other, wondering what is causing the noise, when the answer breaks through the gate.
Its two bulbins riding a giant boar. I recognize them only from a picture Rusl showed me once because they never come this far into Hyrule. Before I can react to them, they ride by and club me in the head. Pain explodes through me as I fall into the water. I roll over and try to get up but blackness threatens to overtake me. I watch helpless as the bulbins grab Ilia and Colin. Then a huge monster rides in riding a boar bigger than the previous one. I hear Ilia scream and I try to get up again but I can't seem to move. My heart starts pounding wildly as the monster moves his boar closer to me. He gets out a horn and blows into it. At the sound of his horn the sky darkens as though the horn called the night. Above me a black whirlwind appears and the bulbins leave. I hear Ilia scream my name once then everything goes black.