Chapter 4
Castle one Malon's playground
Zaldin: Chapter 4 is about to start.
Link: Holy cow man what took you so long? Feels like I've been waiting for months.
Zaldin: Sorry this isn't only story I work on you know.
Zelda: Enough boys lets get started.
Malon: My turn my turn! Jumping up and down.
Zaldin: Laughing Alright alright got get in your costume and we'll get started.
"Here's the first castle." Link said looking up from his map.
"It doesn't look to bad." Zaldin said adjusting his hood.
Zaldin knocked on the castles front door and Link slapped him on the back of his head.
"What are you doing?!" Link yelled.
"Knocking on the door?" Zaldin said rubbing his head.
"You don't just knock one the door of a castle your about to assault." Link said.
Link took his hammer out and kicked the door open and charged in and got caught in a pit trap.
"Oh yeah kicking the door open and charging in is much better." Tatl said and Link groaned.
Suddenly laughter was heard through out the castle and the empty enterance hall was then filled with toys and other child like delights.
"What's going on?" Link called to Zaldin and he screamed.
"Zaldin!" Link said and crouched down. His body flashed with power and he jumped 10 feet up to the ledge then drew his hammer and looked around for Zaldin.
Zaldin where are you?" Link called.
"I don't know I can see you but I have no idea where I am." Zaldin said his voice echoing around the room.
"I'll find you bro just tell me when I'm getting closer." Link said and ran around to the different objects in the room.
Link stopped in front of a giant teddy bear and heard Zaldin calling him.
He struck it with his hammer and the bear squeaked by didn't break.
"I'm going to need a sword or something to cut this thing open." Link thought and Tatl left his hood.
"I can go look for something you can use." Tatl offered.
"Great go to it then." Link said.
Tatl flew off and Link tried to find a weak spot on the teddy bear.
"Hurry up Link I'm starting to feel fluffy." Zaldin said.
Link looked around the back of the bear and saw a wind up key.
"I wonder what this does?" He thought and winded up the key.
The bear stood up and started to do a dance before Link.
"Link what did you do?!" Zaldin said as he was bounced around inside.
"Hey this thing is pretty cool." Link smiled then the bears eyes turned red and whacked Link with it's paw.
The blow sent Link into a candy cane cage.
"Link!" Zaldin said and the bear stomped off leaving Link in the cage.
"Zaldin!" Link called and watched as the bear dissappeared behind the bosses door.
"Dang it." Link sighed and sat down.
He sat there for a few minutes then he remembered his hammer. When he went to get it he noticed it wasn't on his back.
"Ah crap." Link said and saw that his hammer was where he left it after he had first struck the bear.
"Oh man." Link thought lightly banging his head on the candy cane bars.
Without thinking he licked it and found that it was a real candy cane.
"Hmm." Link thought and started to lick a spot on the candy cane.
Once he had wore it down he braced on the back of the cell and pushed as hard as he could. The candy cane gave way and he was free.
As Link got up and brushed himself off he heard the laughter again.
"Not bad human nobody has ever broken out of my candy cane cell." Said the voice.
"Who are you?" Link asked.
"My name is Malon the owner of this castle. I don't get vistors very often so I'll make you a deal. If you can find the key to my room I'll let you and your brother go home." She said.
"Fine where is the key?" Link asked walking over to his hammer and picked it up.
"It's in that room over there but be careful my pets are hungry." She said with a giggle and her voice stopped.
"Okay lets a go." Link said and ran to the door.
The room didn't have a ceiling and there was a play ground inside of it. Patrolling the grounds was some Chain Cuccos. Nasty little buggers if you don't take them out quickly they attack in mass. (However unlike normal Cuccos these ones are not invincible.)
"Hmm my hammer should be able to stop them." Link thought sneaking up behind one and smashed it.
The chain Cuccos crowed loudly and Link smashed it again breaking it.
"That was a little to close." He thought.
Link proceed to sneak up on and destroy each chain cucco in the playground and the last one dropped a key.
"Alright now to save Zaldin." He said then suddenly a crow snatched it from his hand and flew off.
"Oh come on!" Link yelled and gave chase.
The crow flew out of the room and Link slapped his forehead.
"Great now what?" He thought with a sigh.
When he went back to the door he came through he found that it was locked.
"There must be a switch somewhere around here." Link thought and walked up to the playground.
He saw a sign he had missed before and read it.
"The heart of a child is pure and blessed and there are some things only a child can best." Link read.
"A child?" Link thought scratching his head.
He was out of ideas so he sat down on a swing and when he did the swing buckled under his weight and a rock slide out of the way.
"Huh?" Link thought and went up to the whole.
Inside of the hole was shield and on the shield was a clock ticking away.
Link noticed that the clock was ahead by an hour and fixed it. When he did the clock on the shield started to spin backwards quickly the ticking getting really loud and echoing and Link shrank down to the size of a 10 year old boy.
"Wow everything got bigger." Link said in a higher voice then eeped and covered his mouth dropping the shield.
"I'm a child." Link said looking at his hands and then he looked around.
He saw flashing lights that he had not seen before because it was low to the ground and Link put the shield on his back went up to the lights. The lights were blocked by some bushes and he pushed them out of the way revealing a crawl space big enough for him to crawl through in his new form.
"So this is what it meant by the heart of a child. Only a child could get through here." Link thought and crawled inside the hole.
"Hey Tatl?" Zaldin said looking at her.
"What?" Tatl answered stuck in a glass ball that she couldn't phase through.
"Did we really get captured by a little pink dinosaur with a huge mouth, red hair and a white dress?" Zaldin answered clinking the shackles on his arm pointing at the dino girl.
"Yes." Tatl answered nodding her head.
"Just wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy." Zaldin said and the girl laughed.
"Your funny I like you." She said.
"What do you want with us?" Zaldin asked.
"I want a playmate." She said unlocking the cage and Zaldin fell to the ground.
"Why me?" Zaldin said.
"Because unlike that friend of yours you were nice enough to knock on my door. Nobody ever visits me ever since Ganondorf turned my playground into a castle. He gave me a lot of cool toys to play with but nobody wants to play with me." Malon said.
"If you promise not to hurt me or my brother I'll play with you." Zaldin said getting up the shackles still attached to his arms.
"Really?" The girl said.
"I promise. My name is Zaldin what's yours?" Zaldin asked.
"I'm Malon and I'm 9." Malon said.
So uh where are you parents?" Zaldin asked as Malon led him to over to the teddy bear he was trapped in before.
"Nope my parents disappeared the first time the kingdom was attacked. After that King Ganondorf gave me this castle and all these toys." Malon said giggling and told Zaldin to sit down.
10 minutes later the lock on the door opened and Link came in as an adult and Malon gasped and dropped the teddy bear she was holding.
"How did you get in here? Only those with the heart of a child can get in here." She said alarmed.
"I just rediscovered my childhood." Link smiled and showed her the time shield.
"Well done but you'll have to wait until me and Zaldin are done playing." She said.
"That's Zaldin and I." Zaldin corrected.
"Oh right anyway while we finish playing Son-jay will keep you company." She said whistling and a giant Chain Cucco came into the room.
"You promised you won't hurt my brother." Zaldin said.
"You promised Zaldin I never said that." Malon said smiling and ran to the teddy bear and pushed it's belly button. A child sized cockpit opened up and she climbed in.
"It's time to play boys." She said laughing and the bear raised it's arms.
"So did you have fun while I was exploring the castle?" Link asked Zaldin.
"Yep but not it's time to show her that the Link brothers don't play around." Zaldin said drawing his hammer and winked at Link.
The battle raged for a few minutes and the combined effort sent the chain cucco packing. The fight against Malon and the teddy bear was a losing one. It got so desperate that Link used the stop watch but no matter how many times he attacked the teddy bear or looked for a weak spot he could not harm it.
"It's no use I can't damage it." Link said coming back into the room.
"Hey Link what's that thing on your back?" Zaldin asked pointing to the shield.
"Its a shield that can make something older or younger by spinning the hands why?" Link asked and Zaldin took it from Link and held it before the robot.
"What are you doing?" Link asked.
"Is that for me?" Malon asked and Zaldin nodded his head.
The teddy bear picked it up in both of it's paws and Zaldin spun it clockwise.
"Hit the dirt!" He called running from it.
The air around the bear became distorted and it fell over.
"What did you do?" Link asked.
"The cockpit is designed for children right?" Zaldin said taking the shield and gave it to Link.
"Yeah?" Link said and banging came from the teddy bear's stomach.
"Let me out!" Malon called and Zaldin pushed the release button and Malon tumbled out as a 16 year old girl.
"If she grew to big she wouldn't be able to operate it." Zaldin said and Malon got up clearly ticked off.
"What did you do that for!" She yelled at him.
"Had to stop you somehow." Zaldin said patting her head and she blushed and turned away from him.
"I'm an adult." She said.
"Yes and now you can no longer operate the toys in here nor do they serve a purpose for you as well." Zaldin said.
"But what am I going to do now?" Malon asked.
"You can come with us the princess wasn't here anyway." Link said.
"Really?" Malon asked.
"Yep but you have to be good." Zaldin said putting the time shield on his back.
"Come on lets go." Link said picking up Tatl and left the room.
Malon looked behind her and then followed them out.
Zaldin: Well there's chapter 4 and the longest one yet.
Link: I never knew you had a soft spot for girls.
Zaldin: What can I say I'm a born lady killer.
Zaldin's ex girlfriend: Lady killer huh?
Zaldin: Would you look at the time I've got to go. Runs away
Ex girlfriend: Get back here! Gives chase wielding a hammer.
Zelda: What an odd couple.
Ruto: It's my turn next.
Anju: If you don't want to be scaled you will give me your turn.
Ruto: Fine take it I'm not ready anyway.
Zaldin: Running by Be sure to read the next chapter!
Ex girlfriend: You can't run forever!