Chapter Four… already… X_X

So… whoopdeeheediddle… hrm…

If there was anything that she could have, anything at all, thought Malon, then she would ask for a nice, beautiful, sunny day where she could sit in the shade of the apple tree and close her eyes, the sun setting a warm glow upon her face and a soft breeze rustling the leaves above her. Then she could hold the book passed down through her family and read the legends of the ancient heroes of old wars in peace, with nobody to stop her ongoing pleasure.

But instead, she was holding a bucket in either hand, her damp shawl wrapped around her shoulders as she crossed the muddy threshold to where the horses stood, milling about. It was cloudy, and fog settled here and there. The wind howled off somewhere in the distance, and every now and then the dark clouds above would rumble dully. It wasn't raining very hard yet, but there was just a slight sprinkle, almost as though Malon was walking through mist.

She sighed, and a cloud of hot air puffed in front of her face, a warm patch of air in the coldness that surrounded it. It evaporated quickly, of course. Overhead, a flock of geese flew by in a V formation, though one side of the V was shorter than the other.

When she reached the fence, she set the buckets down and exhaled deeply. Each bucket was filled with over a gallon of water for the horses- not that they needed it. It was about to rain, anyway, but Ingo was convinced that Malon should be working harder, and had set her to work immediately. It reminded her of something, once… she knew it had never happened, but perhaps her memories of being a slave to Ingo was nothing but a dream…. It was all very foggy, now, anyway. Better not to think about it.

She sat down on a wooden crate and pulled her shawl more tightly about her. Lo!, but it was cold! She drew her knees up to her chest, her damp boots leaving grassy marks on the crate. It was usually never like this- Hyrule Field had always been neutral to weather- it hardly ever rained, so why was there a storm on its way?

Once again, she had a vague memory of a horrible storm reaping Lon Lon Ranch, but it had never really happened. At least, she didn't remember it. Almost as if it had been another life….

Ingo appeared from the stables, a pitchfork in one hand and a sack of hay in the other.

"What are you sitting around for?!" he yelled, and spat at Malon. She winced and looked at him. She tried to put in as much hatred and annoyance as she could into that one look, and it must of worked, because he backed away a little.

"Sorry, Miss Malon. My apologies."

"You're not forgiven," Malon muttered under her breath.

"If you'll just help with the horses… they need food, you know."

"Yeah, sure… if you say so, Ingo." She pulled herself down from the crate and strained to pick the buckets back up. As soon as she had them, she began to walk towards the horses, but a sudden chill came over her, and she dropped the buckets, suddenly feeling numb and lightheaded.

She put her hand, chapped from the cold, to her face, and held it there until she could think straight again.

What was that?

She turned behind her, and saw Ingo, rigid with fear. He backed away a couple steps, dropped his tools, and sprinted into the farm house, his arms flailing.

Thunder, stronger this time, rumbled. There was a flash of lightning, and, almost as if on cue, there was Link, standing at the entrance to the ranch. But… how had he gotten here so fast? How had she not heard him coming?

Malon waved, but he paid no mind to her presence. She tried to walk over to him, but with immense speed, Link had already entered the farmhouse where Talon always stayed. What was he doing? Feeling hurt, Malon slipped over to the door and pressed her ear against it, listening. Ingo tried to follow, curious, but Malon shook her head and he walked away.

"…if that's really the case… Link, m'boy… Link.…"

Why did Talon sound so shaken?!

"Oh, it's the case. I don't know what to do now."

"Why don't you go to Princess Zelda?"

"I was going to, but they'd never even allow me into the marketplace! Look at me…."

"Go to Malon. She would accompany you."

"Malon…?"

"Yes… my daughter? Malon?"

Link was silent, Malon horrorstruck. Link had forgotten her?! Malon, his best friend?! Forgotten?! In tears, Malon fled from the ranch house and ran all of the way across the lawn. It had really started raining, now, but it didn't matter to her. The water in her hair was no different than the tears sliding down her face. Link! How could he?!

She ran all of the way to the back of the ranch, where a stone building that usually went unnoticed stood. It had been her hiding place as a small child when she'd felt upset. She was sixteen, now. Couldn't she handle herself? No. She ran inside to small stone room and slammed the door behind her. The pounding of the rain became dull and muffled against the stone roof. In here, it was almost silent. It was a sanctuary.

She ducked behind a stack of crates and hugged her knees, trying to shelter herself from the cold. Link had forgotten her. He was no good.

She sat there for about twenty minutes, hiding, until she heard the door open. She shut her eyes, tightly. It was Link- she knew the very way he walked, even though it seemed lighter this time. Still she did not open her eyes.

"Malon."

"Go away. You forgot me. I don't want to even look at you."

"No, you don't," he said. "You'd probably flee if you did."

Malon was silent. What? She opened her eyes and, very cautiously, glanced up. And she gasped.

Where Link should have been standing was his very opposite- it was him, all right, but he was dark. He was almost like a shadow.

He reached down his hand, and she found it in herself to take it and stand up.

"Why haven't you fled yet?" he asked.

"I… I don't know," whispered Malon. This was very wrong. This was her Link. Why was he so dark?!

"I didn't want to forget you," he said. "You're still my best friend. You know that."

Malon knew it, yes, but somehow, Link being a best friend wasn't enough for her. Link knew this, but said nothing. Of course he didn't feel the same. Still… didn't she need all of the friends she could get?

"Talon saw you running away," said Link, "and Ingo told us where you had went." He backed away and looked around.

"What happened?" Malon dared to ask, but Link didn't answer right away.

"I don't know any better than you do," he answered. "But I have to set it straight."

"I want to help," said Malon.

"No," said Link. "I'm not putting you or Talon into any more danger."

"But—yes, all right."

"Thank you, Malon," he said. "Some people we just cannot bear to lose." He backed out towards the door.

Just before he went out, Malon threw herself forward and kissed him full on the mouth, holding him so tightly that it took him several seconds to wrestle her off.

Once she had caught her breath, Malon smiled at the bewildered expression on Link's face.

"Sorry," she said. "I've been meaning to do that for a while."

"I know," he said, and left.

She leaned against the wall, bemused. "I'll see him again," she said to herself.

Suddenly, a thunderous noise sounded as the door caved in behind her. Her father ran in, yelling, and after him leapt another figure, who planted themselves upon Talon's shoulders, pulled back his hair, and aimed a dagger at his forehead. Malon pushed the attacker out of the way just in time to save her father, who fell to the ground, unconscious.

The assassin's knife fell to the ground and Malon seized it, aiming it at them, but stopped cold as they saw who it was- they vanished in a puff of smoke immediately after realizing the threat, but whether they were still there or not, Malon could not get their face out of her head-

She had been staring at an exact duplicate of herself.

Okay, I'll admit, I didn't like this chapter—I like Malon, but I hate writing about her—but the ending was important. So, this poses a new question… who was Malon's duplicate? Why were they trying to get at her father? And why, oh why, did Link somehow still mysteriously remember Talon back at the beginning of the story? Hm? :D "Snake? Get up, Snake!! SNAAAAAAAKE!!!!"