Third Era of Hyrule 229

Friday

Dear Diary,

Yesterday was… not one of my best. Link came home at last. I'd spent the entire week terrified that he was off on some big adventure that was likely to get him killed only to find he had been making me a gift as a thank you. I was a little upset with myself for my overreaction, though he assured me that I was within my rights to act the way I did. Still though I can't help but feel a little ashamed.

Waking up this morning was… awkward to say the least. I don't remember last night too well… there were a lot of emotions running through me at the time and I was absolutely exhausted from all the stress I'd been under. Apparently at some point in the night I'd asked him to stay with me… and he did. Causing me to wake up… with his arms… wrapped tightly around my chest.

For once I was rather happy my father wasn't around. I know Links an amazing fighter, but I don't think he would have stood a chance against the wrath of an overprotective parent.

I patted Links shoulders several times to wake him up as quickly as I could, hiding my hair so he couldn't see my blushing face. He woke up with a bit of a snort coming out of his mouth as he looked down at me and smiled. I gave him a rushed smile back before getting up and heading for my room so I could get ready for today.

And that's when I noticed my appearance for the first time in a week.

My hair was matted, my hands and feet were covered in caked mud and other… residue, and my clothes… well I guess I should just be happy that I wasn't wearing anything too particularly nice the day he left because what I did have on was ruined beyond repair.

There was one redeemable trait though, and that was the tiara on my head. I ran my fingers through it, tracing them along the grooves as I marveled the workmanship. If I was honest, it wasn't the greatest piece ever made. In comparison to a master smith it was a little crude and fairly simple, but he went really far out of his way to make it for me and that's all that mattered in the end.

That and it's jewelry. I might be a country girl but jewelry is jewelry!

After I stopped looking at it though I noticed a crude smell. I tried sniffing around trying to find out what could have gone so rancid in my room over the week… only to realize it was me. All the embarrassing emotions I had felt earlier today came rushing back as I realized he had held me the whole night in my current state.

I remember looking up and sending a silent plea for the goddesses to strike me down with some horrible accident. Right then it felt like that would have been the best time. Unfortunately I didn't get what I wanted and instead just settled on bathing as quickly as possible.

I left the shower and threw my old clothes away. When I opened the door I was met with the pleasant smell of cooked food which was odd as I wasn't even aware that Link COULD cook. Don't get me wrong, it's just cooking tends to be a girl thing in Hyrule. It's not that men CAN'T cook, it's just… not normal for them to. Though Link isn't exactly a normal guy so I guess he doesn't really count!

When I walked into the kitchen my day went from embarrassing to embarrassingly awkward. There Link stood with no shirt and no shoes with his sword still strapped over his back, his thick, lean muscles and his scar ridden body clearly visible. He was fixing one of my favorite meals, banana pancakes with hot maple syrup and orange juice.

I guess he heard me come down because he looked at me. His face had just that little bit of extra stubble from where he hadn't shaved in over a week and he shot me one of his million dollar smiles that always make me get a little fuzzy inside. The whole scene reminded me of some rather mature romance novels I'd read in the past and I honestly started to wonder if I was dreaming. I mean come on, attractive men DO NOT take off their shirts and fix banana pancakes for a country rancher like me. That's the kind of thing that happened to noble women or princesses.

Ugh… the princess. Just thinking about her lately makes me… I don't know angry I guess. I'm not sure why, I mean her and her family are doing a great job, Hyrule's the best it's been in years right now. Yet I can't stop my mind from wondering if Link has also made her pancakes or something too. I know he's just my friend but… that just doesn't sit right with me for some reason.

ANYWAY, I'm getting off topic. The point is, very attractive man standing in my kitchen and making me food and what does good ol' genius Malon do?

She faints.

She faints from the sheer embarrassment of all the thoughts that just ran through her mind only to wake up a minute later with the arms of said very attractive man wrapped around her. And then because he was SO close to my face I could smell him too. There was of course the smell of food from where he had just been cooking, but there was the rest of him too. The smell of old leather and steel, like he was a living blade. And yet unlike a sword that knew only to kill, he could show such gentle kindness. Well… when he wasn't trying to do something really small or tedious. Ask him to chop up wood and he makes perfect cuts every time. Ask him to help you with the dishes and he accidentally breaks all the plates. Well it starts out as an accident, then he gets angry because he can't control his strength enough to stop breaking plates, and then he just slams one on the counter in frustration and stomps out like a five year old. Then after he's cooled down a little bit, he realizes how big of an idiot he's being and practically begs me to forgive him for breaking the plates and scaring me with his anger. Well, at least he seems to think he scares me, honestly I find it rather cute and funny. A grown man groveling to a farmers girl because he keeps breaking her plates. What's not funny about that? Besides, I'm a lot tougher than I look. That… and I can completely understand the satisfying sound plates make when you smash them in anger. I've done it a few times myself over the years…

Oh wow… look at me rambling about a boy. I need to remember the rest of the day and not just the morning.

Anyway, I got out of Links arms (rather sadly I might add), ate the breakfast he prepared and went out to start the chores. The horribly… horribly… backed up chores. All week I'd been doing nothing but the bare minimum before going back into the house. Meaning there was A LOT of work that needed to get done. Luckily though, I have Link and he tends to pick up any slack of his own accord.

Wow… now that I've written that out that actually sounds kind of mean. It's not like I PURPOSELY dodge work so that I can relax.

Most of the time…

Third Era of Hyrule 229

Monday

Dear Diary,

Hyrule Field is… a very special place. There are those who call it the "Immortal Playground". See, Hyrule field connects all of the races to one another. Hylians to the north. Kokiri and Gorons to the east, Zora to the south, and the Gerudo to the west with Lon Lon Ranch more or less in the exact center. Typically when there's a setup like that, there would be a huge bustling city where Lon Lon Ranch is. Since everyone has to pass through the field to reach the other nations, then you would think there would be a giant trading town where the goods from all the different peoples would be brought through and sent to somewhere else, if not purchased there. But that's not the case. Instead everyone aside from my family stays out of the field save for traveling. And for good reason.

Like I said, Hyrule field is called the immortal playground. Many have actually tried to settle and create such a trading town, with no success. Everytime it looked like things were really going to take off, calamity struck. Fires burned down homes. Monsters would raid the town in the middle of the night. Every time whatever settlement was begun would inevitably find itself as a pile of ruins at some point. In fact it was with all those ruins that my great great grandfather built the ranch. Which just so happens to be why Hyrule field earned that name.

After people realized that our ranch had been around for a few decades without anything bad happening (aside from normal ranch problems) people came to the conclusion that you just can't live in Hyrule field if your heart was pursuing personal gain. I mean sure, Lon Lon Ranch is a business and I am trying to make money. But I need the money to maintain my lifestyle. Ranch life is a life you choose to make a life out of, not a living. Ranch work you do because you enjoy a day of hard labor over an easy boring day of sitting behind the desk of an Inn taking the money of customers and passing out keys. The money is just a bonus, and not a very big one at that. I don't have any intention of becoming the leader of some big chain of Lon Lon Ranches all throughout Hyrule. No, there is ONE Lon Lon Ranch, and that's all there's ever going to be.

And so Hyrule field got it's new nickname. The only thing you can do in Hyrule field is either pass through or just stay there and enjoy your life, like a giant public park or a little kids playground. It's always been that way and it always will be, hence the name immortal playground.

Of course… people aren't the only ones who play in the park. The monsters love it here too.

Remember how I said I wondered what Link would be like in a fight? Well… I got my answer. And that answer is…

Absolutley. Positively. Terrifying.

I guess that shouldn't surprise me. He's a warrior. Warriors fight. Fighting is not a kind and gentle thing to do. It's not like wrestling with your friends (not that I'd know what that's like) or even calming a rampaging animal. A true fight, a battle, is when two opposite sides come at each other with everything they have with the single sole purpose of killing the other. Not exactly a fun way to spend the evening. Luckily I didn't have to actually see him fight another person. Let me explain.

It started out like any other day. This was my first delivery since Link had come to live with me. With him working alongside me, I had enough of the ranch done to go to more than just Kakariko and Castle Town. Normally I'd be forced to go back home, as I wouldn't be able to be gone for more than a day since I had to feed the animals, but Link had rigged a contraption up yesterday that fed the animals every few hours. I tried to understand it, but it all seemed so alien to me. I watched him from start to finish and couldn't even begin to figure out how it worked until he was practically done. Even now I'm confused. All I really know is that he used a lot of rope, some pulleys, a few buckets and a lot of running water to make things go in a kind of circle around the barn and pour water and food into the different animal troughs at different times. How he got it so exact that they fed them once every few hours is beyond me.

I can't complain though. With that working I can be away from the ranch for about two days without having to come back (he couldn't figure out how to make the food buckets scoop up more food without everything falling apart). More time away from the ranch also means more time for deliveries. Of course sometimes it also means staying out on Hyrule field… in the middle of the night. Normally that would have scared me at least a bit, but I was with Link. A hardened adventurer. I had a cart and bow to protect me whenever I was like this. He was used to sleeping in the fields with nothing but a blanket. I felt pretty safe.

Almost too safe.

It was late at night, nearly two in the morning, when I heard a high pitched clanging sound like metal hitting metal coming from outside of the carriage. Wrapping myself further in the blankets I was using I slid across the wagons floor like a lazy worm before sticking my head out to see what Link was up to. Needless to say I was shocked.

Stalfos. He was fighting not one, but THREE Stalfos. Single handedly. With no issues whatsoever. I didn't even know they APPEARED in Hyrule field. From what I'd heard those skeletal warriors only showed up in the deepest darkest places in Hyrule. Even if there are monsters in the field, there shouldn't have been any of THOSE appearing. They're legendary. Known for being the undead equals to Equestria's greatest knights. The greatest swordsmen in Hyrule barely take a single one.

And Link was dueling three like it was nothing.

The entire time he wore a blank expression. Carefully watching their every move before retaliating. They would swing and he would dodge. They would lash out with their shield and he would just parry. Whenever there was an opening Link took it without hesitation. He never flinched no matter how narrowly he avoided a move. He never seemed to worry or falter, even when their swords grazed him. His every move was perfectly calculated to get the result he wanted. I'd been to fairs in Castle Town and seen the sword fighting competitions. I know a professional when I see one, but these Stalfos were on a different level.

And Link was an even higher level than them.

I watched him intently. The fight just went on and on sparks lighting up the night as blade met shield and shield met blade. Link wove his way through his opponents, striking with precision and backing off when necessary. He even used some fancier maneuvers, twirling and spinning as he brandished his weapon time and again after every successful strike. If I hadn't known better I would have thought it was a well rehearsed dance rather than a life or death battle.

Still though, something about Link just felt… wrong. The look on his face was completely… blank. There was no emotion there. Sure he lacked any of the fear or apprehension that most would have, but he also lacked the things any others would have either. There was no joy, no anger, nothing. His eyes stared at his opponents without the slightest hint that there was anything inside. He looked dead, devoid of soul or spirit. His moves, though complicated, had no passion. Every stroke no matter how extravagant, was as dull and lifeless as the one before. He was like a lifeless puppet, moving only as his master pulled on his strings. Suddenly the fight seemed less like a dance and more like a bad puppets play made for children.

The fight finally came to a close. As Link gave a quick twirl, swiftly ducking under one of the skeletons strikes, stepping behind him and cutting him down on the way. With his back to the two remaining Stalfos he brandished his sword placing it behind him before spinning in a circle that cut clean through the others. I watched as black mist, the dark magic which had animated them, was released dissipating into the air.

Link just stood there for a long time, staring at the bones with disinterest. I tried to stay quiet, not wanting to disturb him.

So of course, as these things normally go in situations like these, I sneezed.

His head snapped up as he gripped his sword once more. The look in his eyes was… so cold and lifeless. And having it directed at me sent a chill down my spine that made me shiver. When he noticed me poking my head out of the back of the wagon. He closed his eyes letting out a sigh of relief. When he opened them again it was accompanied by the wide reassuring grin I'd come to know and love. I couldn't help but return it with one of my own before scooting back into the wagon.

And that brings us to now. We've returned from the trip, which was a huge success by the way, and now I'm sitting here on my bed in my room and I've done some thinking about the fight I saw. Sure it was scary, but I think what I learned from it is what's really terrifying.

The Link that battles… isn't the same Link who helps me on the ranch. He's cold, heartless, and calculating. He dives completely into the fight, sealing his heart away and thinking of nothing but the battle at hand and how to win it. I understand now that standing against Link is a dangerous thing to do, not because of his skills, but the cold efficiency in which he uses them. I understand now… that it doesn't matter who you are. Good or evil. Friend or foe.

If you fight Link you had best be ready to die.

Third Era of Hyrule 229

Tuesday

Dear Diary,

YOU AREN'T GOING TO BELIEVE THIS! LINK JUST GOT AN INVITE TO THE ROYAL WINTER BALL AND IT LETS HIM BRING A PLUS ONE!

AND GUESS WHO HE'S BRINGING AS HIS PLUS ONE?!

THAT'S RIGHT! THIS GIRL! MALON IS COMING TO THE PALACE! YOU CAN'T SLOW THIS COUNTRY GIRL DOWN! SHE'S GONNA WEAR A PRETTY DRESS! GET ALL SORTS OF GLOSSIED UP! AND MAKE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE STUPID ELITE NOBLES JEALOUS! ESPECIALLY THAT NO GOOD ROTTEN PRINCESS ZELDA!

Wow… did I really just write that?

Eh whatever. Confusing emotional baggage can wait for later. The balls this Thursday and I need to get ready!


A/N: Hello everyone! I'm back with more MaLinky goodness! Sorry I've been gone... let's just say life was... tricky for a while. Yeah tricky. That works. Anyways this chapter actually takes us back in time a bit so in this chapter the things that happened in the last couple have yet to take place. Don't worry, I'll continue that part of the story line soon. In the meantime the next chapter will be filled with Link having to deal with snobby nobles all while coping with his incredible social awkwardness, an excited, clingy, and jealous Malon who keeps giving Zelda death stares, and a plethora of high class Hylian women who all want a piece of Link, much to Zeldas and Malons dismay. May the catfights begin! :D Enjoy!