Author's Note: I know I usually leave notes at the end, but this chapter involves some music. The lyrics are written by me and are based on the theme to Lon Lon Ranch.

I apologize for this chapter being so late! It took much longer than I anticipated to proofread this (months later), but I managed to get it done just a few hours ago. I hope this is to everyone's liking!


Sunlight fell on a golden field, their shine glowing with the summer breeze. Under the trees, laughter erupted as a small, blond-haired boy jumped onto a branch. A long-haired girl followed his lead.

"Zelda, don't!" The boy shouted. "The maids'll get mad if your dress gets torn again!"

"But I wanna climb, too," the girl answered. "Besides, I can turn my dress into pants!" She widened her stance, took the fabric in her hands, and tied it until the skirt clung to her waist and legs. "See?"

The boy's eyes widened. "Cool!" he exclaimed. "How'd you do that?!"

"If you let me climb up, I can teach you."

"Okay. Race you to the top!"

The two clambered through the branches, brushing away flowers that blocked their way. Nearing the top, the boy looked down: Zelda was just a few feet away. Light poured through the petals as he reached for the next bran—

Snap.

The branch at the boy's feet sank. Reaching for another, his fingers only slipped through twigs—and got closer to the ground.

"Link!"

The boy held his breath, bracing for impact.

Instead, the world bounced.

Opening his eyes, he saw his feet dangling above the ground, leaves and petals falling around him. A pair of small, pink shoes came into view and he saw Zelda, sweating and panting.

"Link," she gasped. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Link answered. "But…" He swung his hands over his head. "Something's…digging at my neck."

"Oh, hold on. I'll get it."

Link felt the branch holding him suddenly sink. Then, a pair of hands grabbed at his shirt collar.

"On three," Zelda said. "One-"

"WHOA!"

WHAP.

THUD.

Link's knees screamed. He inhaled sharply, massaging them as he stood up. "Ow…" he muttered. Remembering his friend, he turned around—and saw Zelda lying in the dirt.

"Zelda! Are you okay?!"

No response.

"Zelda?" Link knelt down and grabbed her shoulders. "Zelda, please! Answer me!"

The girl's eyes opened and her arms shot upward.

"Brains," she groaned.

"Oh, c'mon!" Link shoved one of Zelda's arms, falling on his side as she laughed. "I actually thought you were dead!"

"I'm sorry," Zelda chuckled, wiping her eyes as she sat up. "I just had to."

"Well, don't come running to me if we get attacked by zombies," Link sighed. His eyes fell on Zelda's pants-skirt. "Oh no, your dress!"

The girl looked down. The tightly-wound fabric had specks of dirt and mud smudged into the pink. "Oh dear…"

"Don't worry, I can explain what happened to the maids!"

"Well, it's just dirt. I can wash it off on my own."

"You can?"

Zelda smirked. "When the maids aren't looking."

Link sat up, snickering. "And they think I'm trouble."

"I hang out with you, so they may be right."

The two broke out into more banter, their laughs filling the air. A soft breeze shook the branches and pink petals rained down. Link caught a glimpse of a lone petal floating down before him, a soft pink hue that rivaled Zelda's dress.

The petal withered into dust.

Link froze. More petals shriveled into nothing around him. He saw the sky: dark, eerie, and foreboding. The leaves and flowers on the tree melted into ash, falling onto a gray, decaying earth. Before him lay a barren wasteland.

The clouds parted. In the sky, a large dark mass formed with a singular, horizontal slit. The two halves opened, revealing a red eye—with Zelda in its pupil.

"Zelda!" Link cried.

He gasped. As he reached out, a wooden branch with five, small twigs moved with his arm. He looked down: his other limbs were now wooden trunks.

The ground cracked. With a loud roar, the earth ripped itself apart. Link felt the darkness pull him down as he reached out to Zelda—

"Green!"

Green gasped. Zelda, the red eye, and the desolate lands were gone. Darkness surrounded him, but he made out figures in the shadows: two beds and three blankets on the floor (not including his own). A light flickered in the corner of his eye and he spun around. In front of him was a familiar woman with red hair and blue eyes.

"Are you okay?" Malon asked, holding a candle in her hand. "You were tossing and turning."

Green steadied his breath. He closed his eyes and looked back: this was the Lon Lon farm. Malon and Erune were here. He, Red, Blue, and Vio were staying the night.

"I-I'm okay," Green answered. "Bad dream."

"That's good," Malon replied. "Not that it was a bad dream, mind you. Just that it was a dream. Nothing harmful about that."

The earthquake loomed in Link's mind.

"Y-yeah," he said hesitantly. "N—nothing harmful about a dream."

"Do you want to go back to sleep?" Malon stood up and set the candle down. "We've still got some time before sunrise."

Green was about to say "sunrise?", but he held back. The skies were dark with hints of light blue creeping from the horizon, illuminated by the candle's faint light. From the glow, he saw the other boys: Vio slept directly across, Red diagonally to the left, and Blue was next to Green.

Finally, he shook his head. "I'm wide awake," Green said. "We should start heading out soon."


The young rays of dawn shone through, brightening the skies. Below, Malon strapped the reins of a wagon to a lone horse. The house' front door swung open and Vio stepped out, held up by Red and Erune. "You can let go," he said reassuringly. "I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Red asked. "Does it hurt?"

Vio shook his head. "That plant healed me much faster than I expected," he replied. He then turned to Malon and bowed his head. "Malon, Erune…thank you for your help."

"Aww, you're welcome," Malon said with a curtsy.

Erune and Red backed away and watched Vio steady his feet. Once he was ready, Erune spoke. "Before we leave, do you need anything? Food, rupees...?" Her eyes trailed downward. "Shoes?"

Green looked down. It never occurred to him that he and the others were barefoot—and without wallets.

"Erune, we don't have any shoes that would fit," Malon's voice called out.

The little girl turned and ran to the woman. "But what about Daddy's old boots?"

As the sisters conversed, Green silently called Red, Blue, and Vio to him. They huddled together in a circle. "This is gonna sound weird," Green muttered. "But do any of you guys have money?"

"…no," Red said. "Do you?"

Green's head dropped.

Blue groaned. "Great, we're broke."

The group stood silently for a few seconds.

Then, Vio whispered. "How much is Erune offering?"

"Vio!" Green hissed.

"We're poor and she wants to help," Vio said. "We'd only take enough to survive on our own."

"We are not taking their money!"

"Green, she asked if we needed anything," Blue said. "This counts."

"You, too, Blue?!" Green groaned. "Well, I say we're not taking it. Right, Red?"

Red held his breath and his gaze fell to the ground.

"Red?"

"Well," Red said, shuffling nervously. "We are out of money…"

"Red!" Green exclaimed.

"But what if we stayed? We could help out around the farm a-and they could pay us."

"We'd be stuck here for weeks," Blue snapped. "And Hyrule's being destroyed right now!"

"So it's settled," Green said.

Vio raised an eyebrow. "It is?"

"Yes. We're leaving and we'll figure out how to make money on our own. Agreed?"

Red looked away while Blue scratched the back of his head. Vio only glared.

"Vio, c'mon," Green pleaded. "We can think of something on the way to Koholint."

The purple boy averted his gaze.

"Vio—"

"You boys ready to go?" Malon's voice shouted.

No one moved.

Taking a deep breath, Green stood up and waved. "We're ready."


The wagon rolled along a dirt path, creaking under a mid-morning sun. Under a cloth cover, Green sat with Erune at his left and Red directly across, all three of them closest to the front. Vio was at Green's left with his arms crossed and his gaze at the floor while Blue lay on the other side, his arm over his eyes.

Green glanced among his other halves. The summer heat was unbearable, but this silence was even worse.

When you're sad
When you're down
When you've got a frown

He twiddled his fingers. From how their conversation at Lon Lon went, they were all willing to take money. From Malon and Erune, no less. He sighed: was he the only one who had morals?

There's no need to be mad
Look for us in town

Green blinked. Quietly, he leaned over to Erune and whispered, "Is that Malon singing?"

Erune nodded. "Yep," she said cheerfully. "We sing it whenever we sell milk to attract customers. I think she was singing it when you arrived, too."

We are sweet
We sing on
'Cause we're never gone

Green leaned back. He remembered Malon singing when he and the other boys arrived.

"It's also our horses' favorite song, especially Epona's," Erune continued. "Malon will sing it when the horses are out and they'll just come straight to her. She's not as good as my oldest sister, though."

We've got delicious treats
We're Lon Lon!

"Your oldest sister?"

"Yep! Malon is my second-oldest sister and her twin, Marin, is my first-oldest sister."

A flash of blond hair caught Green's eye. He looked down and saw Red, leaning toward him and Erune. "Malon's a twin?" Red asked. "That's so cool!"

"It's not that great."

The three children looked up. Quickly, Red sat back against the wagon supports. "I-I'm so sorry, Malon!" he squeaked. "I didn't mean to interrupt your song!"

"No worries," the woman chuckled. "I just heard y'all talking about my sister."

Erune shot up. "You could hear us?!"

"I'm your sister," Malon said. "I can hear everything."

"No, you can't."

Malon giggled. "Yep. Marin and I are twins, but she's got brown eyes. Daddy says she got it from Mama. She used to live with us back at the farm, but she moved to Koholint a few years back. Said 'my heart belongs to the sea' or something like that. I was gonna ask her to take you boys overseas, actually."

Green's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yep. Marin might not look it, but she's a sailor…well, not yet. She's even been working with fishermen for the past few years, but her dream is to travel the world in her own boat. And by the way..." She looked over at Erune. "I'm a much better singer."

Erune shot up. "Sis, stop!"

"Oh, Erie, I'm just teasing."

"No, up ahead!"

Malon looked forward—and sharply pulled the reins.

Red and Erune careened into Malon's shoulders.

Vio fell onto the seat.

Green and Blue flopped onto the wagon floor.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Red shouted, pulling back. "Are you okay, Malon?!"

Blue shot up and stomped forward. "What the heck just happened?!"

Green rushed to the front. In front of the wagon lay a crumbled road, leading to a steep cliff. A large mass of fallen rock stood between Lon Lon isle and the island up ahead, the waves slowly engulfing the boulders.

"This can't be," Malon gasped.

Vio peered out the front of the wagon. "That bridge of land connecting Lon Lon to Koholint…was it unstable?"

"No," Malon said, stunned. "It's been here for centuries, and it was made of solid ground."

"Maybe an earthquake knocked it down?" Blue asked.

Green froze. An earthquake?

"Th—that's impossible," Erune answered. "Daddy said we've never had earthquakes."

A finger tapped Green's shoulder and he turned around. Red pointed at Green's head, his eyes wide with panic. Green ran his hands through his hair, feeling nothing but strands of hair and a flower.

He stopped. The flower was stuck to his skull.

Loud footsteps banged the wagon floor. Spinning around, Green saw a purple blur jump out from the back. He barely made out a tail feather.

"Vio?" Erune asked. "Where'd he go?"

Green quickly covered the flower. "Bathroom?" he said nervously.

The little girl nodded, but then her eyes narrowed. She looked left and right, her nose sniffing the air. "Is something burning?"

Green looked at Red: his hair was smoking.

"I-I gotta go, too!" Red shouted, jumping off the wagon before Erune could see him.

Malon turned around. "Is everything okay back there?"

Green nodded with an uneasy grin.

The woman stared for a moment, but returned to her spot. Erune crawled over to the front and sat next to her sister. "Malon..." she asked. "How're we going to get them across? How're Marin and Daddy going to get here?"

As the sisters spoke, a hand suddenly grabbed Green and dragged him to the back of the wagon. He saw Blue stand in front of him. "We gotta get outta here," he whispered.

"I know, but what about—"

"If Birdbrain and Burn-brain are changin' back, we're gonna end up doin' the same, let's go!"

"But Koholint—!"

"Green? Blue?"

The boys stopped. At the front, Marin sat so she was facing them, a worried look on her face. "I've thought of something that might help, but it'll take a while," she said. "We've got a messenger bird back at Lon Lon."

Erune tugged at Malon's sleeve. "But Sis, Cojiro hasn't grown into his wings yet."

"He hasn't, but Ingo's grown into his years ago."

"Ingo's a jerk."

"Y-yes, but I've been training him not to be a jerk."

"Last week, he bit my fingers."

"Again?! And here I thought he stopped biting people…" Malon sighed. "I'm afraid he'll have to do, anyway." She turned to face Green and Blue. "I'll send him over to the Koholint mayor and let him know your situation. Is that all right?"

Green dropped his shoulders. "Well, if that's our only option…"

Malon nodded. "Okay. Erune, get back inside, I'm going to turn Beth around. And once Vio and Red get back—"

A pair of hands fell on Green's shoulders.

"SHIT!"

WHUMP.

Green winced, pain rippling in his nose. He brought a hand to his face when he felt something hard.

He opened his eyes: a branch with five, smaller, finger-like branches moved before him.

Quickly, he shot up from the floor and looked behind him. Blue lay stunned, his eyes staring aghast at the sapphire, fish tail that grew from his waist.

"What the…?"

Green spun around. Erune stood perfectly still inside the wagon, Malon staring wide-eyed behind her. The older sister wrapped her arms around the girl and pulled her outside.

Green stepped forward. "Malon…"

"Stay back," the woman hissed.

Green stopped, raising both his wooden hands. "Please," he whimpered. "I can explain."

Malon reached down with one hand. "I said, stay back—!"

A loud roar shook the ground. Malon thrust her arm around Erune again as the wagon wobbled, throwing Green off-balance.

Green gasped: that roar from his dream.

The earth crumbled and the wagon sank, plummeting to the ocean below.