"Excuse me?" Malon asked the man behind the counter, who was replacing his wares on the depleted shelves.
"Yes? Is there something you need?" He said as he turned around, eyes sparkling as he recognized Malon's worried face under the muck she got from tripping on the riverside.
"Malon! My goodness, you are a mess! Where is your friend and the milk?" He asked, looking out the window for the cart. All he saw was a damp Epona, pawing irritated at the ground. She self-consciously rubbed at the mud. Her attempt to wipe it off merely made the brown splotch worse.
"There is a little problem. There was a sudden flood at the river and the milk was destroyed. Furthermore, Link is somehow in the Zora's realm and I can't get to him. Do you know how to get there?" She asked, watching as he grabbed a handkerchief from behind the shelves and hand it to her. She thanked him and gratefully wiped away the thick muck.
"The zoras don't like to trade with us, unfortunately. I have no idea how you could get into their realm. You could ask one of the soldiers, they might know." She nodded as she gave back the cloth.
He took back the handkerchief and stowed it beneath the counter.
"Thank you, and I am sorry about the milk." The man smiled soothingly at her.
"It's no problem, things like this happen. Go talk to the guards before the sun sets or all they will say is to go inside for the night." He said, waving as she hurried out the door. As she hurried to the village gates, she wondered if Link was okay.
Link's stomach growled angrily as he sat in the chamber. He ignored the wretched smell coming from the plate near the door as he tried to think of a way out of this new mess. The zora princess had arrived two hours earlier with two raw fresh and obviously dead fish on an old plate, declaring that she had caught them herself and leaving it for him to eat before departing. He had always assumed that the zoras ate the fish raw, but seeing the fish looking like they had just been pulled from the stream made his stomach twist. He had eaten fish raw before, but he had his knife to scale the fish and separate the meat from the bones then. The smell coming from it was also intolerable.
"Link? Are you awake?" Link glared as Ruto came back in. She saw the untouched plate and her smile fell.
"Aren't you hungry? It's been almost six hours since you arrived." She exclaimed, walking over to him. Link got up, fury beginning to build again.
"Maybe you caught cold when you fell in the river. Are you sick, my darling?" She asked, about to press her hand to his forehead. He caught her arm, pushing it away. She began to scowl, then her eyes lit up and she laughed.
"Oh, I get it. Silly me, I forgot that hylians like all of their food cooked!" She giggled, skipping over to the plate and picking up the plate holding the decomposing fish.
"I'll cook your fish until we are married, but you need to get used to eating fish raw!" She laughed then disappeared past the guards. He resisted the urge for murder and sat down, carefully planning escape in his head to avoid the guards' suspicion.
"Hey, Malon, are you sure Link is in the Zora's realm?" Anju said as she finished setting up a bed for Malon. It was two hours after sunset, nearly seven hours since link had been dragged upriver.
"Yes, and even the guards don't know how to get there," Malon sighed, sadly looking out the window at the desolate town. Epona was in Anju's stable with her cuccos, Malon made sure to brush the horse an hour before.
"You might want to ask the captain of the guard. A normal soldier will not know. Honestly, I doubt they know anything other then how to daydream at their posts!" Anju said, trying to bolster the girl's hopes. Malon looked at her and smiled.
"You are probably right, thanks," Malon replied. Anju smiled as Malon walked away from the window to the makeshift bed.
"Good night, and don't worry. Its not like Link is in any danger," Malon smiled and nodded before Anju walked away.
"Here you go, darling!' Ruto exclaimed as she came back, proudly holding a plate bearing several chunks of something smoky and black. It might have once been fish, but she had burned it so bad that it now resembled fish-shaped lumps of coal. She caught sight of him; her pleased smile waned slightly as she realized he was asleep. She put the plate down beside him and gave him a kiss on the top of his head.
"Sleep well, my prince." She whispered, and then walked out. Under the mop of gold hair, Link glared at the exit.
"I will die rather then marry you, fish-bitch." He furiously said, then pushed away the plate before he ended up eating it.