Hello Y'all! yes, I am aware that it's been ages since I've been on here but when your in my school you have allot to do. But I'm here now and I'm gonna try to get back on task...

bare with me if my writing got worse, I'll get back into the swing here soon.

To all my readers out there, I missed you all and I'm happy to be back and I hope you like what I post.

Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend Of Zelda: The Ocarina Of Time, Nintendo does.(Though I would have actually made a movie out of it.

Legacy of Time

Chp4: Another Trip To Town.

"kea-who?"

"Keaton!" Malon said for the tenth time," he's a story book character!"

"Never heard of him." Link said with a quick shrug," I don't think we know that story in the forest. So Kea...who?"

Her lips parted in an exasperated sigh. Ever since they had left the Kokeriko Village she had been repeating herself over and over to him. He had asked mountains of questions; Who's Keaton, How do you pronounce it, where's he from etc. In fact, their conversation drifted from child stories to life on the ranch to what her father was like. In fact it scattered over many subjects at a time. Link's detachment from the kingdom had left him with many questions about her everyday life. It almost made her laugh, to see him be amazed at what she never took seriously. His bright blue eyes seemed to constantly light up whenever she mentioned some mundane chore, like working with the horses.

" You get to ride those?" he asked astonished," but their huge! How do you even get on them?!"

"Practice." Malon answered with a chuckle," maybe I can teach you sometime.."

"Oh yeah!" Link said grinning broadly," You better, it's gotta be so hard..."

As the conversation drifted, Malon began to grow unusually at ease with her new traveling partner. In fact, it was relatively relaxing. She still was not extremely thrilled about how close she was to him, or of how she caught him looking at her sometimes. But it didn't feel awkward. It felt, for lack of a better word, perceptions were strangers to her normal set of emotions, as it often is for most children. They were too complex to be processed into logic and too grown to fit must have put a huge question mark on her face, since link gave her a concerned glance.

"Mal, you okay?"

Mal,she though smiling,he gave me a nickname...

"Mal? You've got a funny look on your face.."

And just like that it's gone.

"I'm fine." she said, sounding let down," why do you ask?"

"You had a real goofy look on your face." Link said, looking concerned and confused.

GOOFY?!

The blood rushed to her cheeks as she thought of how stupid she probably looked. Link was not only Innocent but also a major buzz-kill, because all romantic thoughts drooped from her head. Goofy went to mortified, as she spun away, showing her back to him as her face began to resemble a strawberry.

"Nothing.." she muttered quickly walking inside the castle walls, sulking.

Link blinked once in confusion then followed behind her. Malon was acting strangely, almost like she was hiding something. Her movements were sharp and her tone was either in a daze or depressed. Oddly enough as the continued in the direction of the market her eyes would sporadically dart over to him, then quickly to the opposing side when he made eye-contact. Even more conspicuous, every time his hand brushed hers she would quickly move it away and her face would turn red. He thought it might have been due to the chill in the air but it was too warm for anything to be even remotely cold. When their destintation was in sight, Malon seemed to relax a little bit. Moreover she was too excited to be nervous. Her father spoke of how useless this shop would be, considering it had been advertising itself for weeks, but she thought it would be a fun change of pace. This place needed something new anyway.

"So that's the shop?" link said, pointing to the purple building with a rather large happy clown face smack in the center.

"um, yeah I think so.." Malon said, starring at the face. Both of them couldn't help but stare stupidly at the strange ornament on the shop.

"Okay...that's a little creepy..." Malons mumbled, taking one step back," Maybe we should forget about this...."

"Why?" Link said, not taking his eyes off the looming artwork," it's just a mask, it's not gonna bite yeah...right?"

"It shouldn't."

Link gulped once. He was thinking that maybe she had the right idea. While the face may have been smiling, something sinister was riding behind it. Still, if he could face Gohma in the great Deku tree, then he could face a faux-clown head.

"Lets go." Link said, walking forward.

"what?!" Malon said, visibly shaking," are.....are you sure?"

" positive." he said, gingerly taking her hand," come on!"

As he tugged (dragged) her toward the shop, she could't help but blush once more. He didn't hesitate while touching her at all, and strangely it fit like a glove in her own palm.

"HIYEEEEEEE!!!" came a sickeningly sweet voice behind the counter," Welcome to the Happy Mask shop! We deal masks that bring happiness to everyone!!!!!"

"ouch..." link said, rubbing his ear from the after shock.

"ouch is right.." Malon said, taking a look at the decorations of the shop.

Red walls with purple streamers and purple and orange floor tiles. And the Coup de Gras? Another giant clown head with the counter of the shop centered right in the mouth. The layout may have been aiming for "Happy and wonderful!" but the layout shouted " gaudy and over done."Malon shielded her eyes from the color war between the floor and walls and took a good look at the shop-keeper. His red hair was gelled ridiculously flat and his outfit was so purple it mad his thin body look like an eggplant. He had a permanent cheshire grin on his face that never faltered to them, no matter how painful it looked.

"Er, hi.." link said coming up," we need a mask-"

" You came to the right place!!" he interrupted," we have limited masks at the moment but your welcome to pick!! Will you be paying for it or lending it?!?"

"Well-"

" How about I lend you the mask, you sell it, then pay me back?!?" he said, almost straining to be so honey-sweet.

The man was shaking like he had too much caffeine. Malon smirked with her head in her ,most of the caffeine went to his smiling muscles. But the shopkeeper had a tendency to shout. Weither his excitement was forced or genuine didn't make matters any better for her head...

"Just take the offer.." Malon said softly to link," this guy is giving me a headache.."

Link bit his lip, this guy was scarring him by all standards. But Malon was watching (why it mattered didn't occur to him), not to mention this guy was causeing him a headache too. So, deciding to be brave again he took a step forward,

" Actually, that would be helpful..."

later....

"This is Keaton?" Link said, looking the yellow mask over in his palms," looks like a yellow fox to me.."

"That's what he is.." Malon said, looking over the cartoon character herself," I think he's more popular with younger kids..."

"I can see why.."

She giggled and looked up at their next destination; The Bazaar.

It looked more like a small general, store to her. This shop had a face as well, but instead of a clown it had a large and burly man with a long beard and squinted eyes. It almost looked like he was glaring out at his possible customers. In large wooden letters "Bazaar" was tattooed all over the front. The looming artwork was, not evil looking, but intimidating, and once again Malon felt the urge to back away slowly. Link on the other hand looked intrigued.

"You think he owns it?" He asked, looking at her bemused.

"M-maybe..." Malon stuttered, trying to keep her nerves up," um, why don't you go in? I need to...to... to rest, yeah, rest."

Link raised in eyebrow in suspicion, then with a shrug handed her the mask.

"Wait here." He instructed chearfully and dashed inside.

Malon lent up against the wall, watching the town go about his daily business. The trader had another "irresistible product" available (judging by the large crown around it), The Bombachu boweling alley was setting up again, the shooting range was up in full motion with it's loud carnival music, and the beggar was once again pestering some defenceless money holder. She almost felt sorry for him when he was kicked away...but then she remembered how rude he was to her last week.

Feeling bored she started tossing some rocks into a nearby potted plant. But then one of the stones hit something metallic. She looked back up and saw a group of Hylian knights dragging a wounded solider back to the castle. A sudden rush of panic caused her to sprint up to the soliders. They noticed The samll girl darting up to them and the healthy one stopped, letting the others take the wounded away. He crossed his arms and bared a stern expression.

"Can I help you miss?" he asked, looking down his nose at her.

"Sir, What happened to him?" Malon asked, concern in her voice.

" Tried to climb Death Mountain." he said, shaking his head," Poor devil, nearly lost his head the first few minutes."

"The first few?" Malon said, fear almost cracking her voice.

"yep." he shook his head," I pity the fool that Tries to reach that summit."

The left corner of Malon's mouth twitched," er, yeah.....stupid.."

The man gave her a small bow and went to catch up with the others. Malon on the other hand ran back to the Bazaar, shouting for Link. The forest boy exited the shop, holding a Hylian shield in one hand...and some seeds in the other.

" What's the rush?" Link said when Malon skidded to a stop in front of him.

"Um, should we really be going up that mountain?" Malon said, panic pained across her face," I mean, I just heard how dangerous it is and-"

"Relax..." he interrupted, " we're gonna be fine. After all, what could possibly happen?"

Remembering the burn marks on the solider, Malon quickly took the shield and strapped it on. If she was going on a suicide mission she was going protected. Link shook his head and strapped on his own.

"Man this is heavy." he complained, adjusting the shoulder strap," come on, lets go.."

Much Much later....

"It's not gonna work." Malon sighed," he's gonna know it's you."

Link winked at her as he strapped on the Keaton mask," You'll see," came his muffled reply," Nothing wrong with a little prank.."

"It is when he's our ticket inside!!" Malon hissed.

But he ignored her warning and crept up the ramp. The guard was looking above most of the houses, obviously bored, and didn't see him coming at all. He hid a snicker as he slowly crept around the guard, making sure he was directly behind him. With a large pump of adrenaline he jumped up with all the agility he could muster.

"HIIIIIIYYYEEEEE!!!!"

The guard nearly jumped out of his armour. He spun around, spear point directly at Link. Link held up his hands defensively," I'm innocent!!!"

"What do you think your doing hero boy?!" the guard snapped, exasperated," that your in disguise?!"

"No." Link said, pushing the mask up and resting it on his head," I thought I would scare you, mission accomplished eh?"

The guard sighed annoyed and took up his post again. Then, something finally occurred to him. He turned back around and looked at Link excitedly,

" Hey, isn't that Ke-.....something?"

"KEATON!!" Malon said coming up behind them. Was she the only one that knew about a stinkin' yellow fox?!

"whatever." The guard said, much to her disdain," hey, how about selling me that mask for...15 rupies?"

Link frowned," but it's worth-oof!!"

"Deal." Malon quickly said, elbowing link in the stomach.

The guard smirked and handed them the rubies from a faded leather pouch. Link, glaring at Malon, handed the man the mask. And to Malon's surprise, and to Link's sheer delight, the man put the mask on grinning. Malon hit her forehead with a loud Smack! Link on the other hand grinned back, small snickers escaping the corners of his mouth as they man went back to his post, wearing the yellow plastic proudly like badge of honer.

"Thank you, my boy will be so happy!" The guard said," you really are a hero.."

''Uh, yeah..." Link said, his voice shaking, trying to hold in the laughter.

"er, we better get going!" Malon said, tugging Link's arm up the mountain path. As the soft grass turned to hard gravel under Link's boots, he had a sudden rush of adrenaline. This was the first time he'd ever seen anything taller then the wall in the forest. Soon Malon had no need to tug him forward, as Link ran out straight ahead, straight up the death mountain Trail.

No excuses this time guys, I am truly sorry for making you wait so long. That's the main reason I mad ethis chapter so long, to make up for my lack of attention to this site.

Also, as you may have seen, I've found the "Happy Mask Shop" to be cheesy and a little creepy. The "sinister" behind the mask came from when I once played the game and didn't have the money to pay , he suddenly turned evil and started making threats. So my assumption was that this man was forcing out...

Also, I am replay the game so most of this is going to be fresh on my mind. And for all those who read this post-story do-over I'm planing on keeping the "forest Temple chapter" the way I originally had it.

Can't wait to hear from all of you, and I hope you still read my stuff!

SS180.