Here's the chapter in which they liberate the ranch. I own nothing!
Chapter 10: Trouble at the Ranch, Ingo's Greed, and Echoes from the Woods
"You know, Sheik, I can tell you're not a guy," Link commented as they descended the stairs to Hyrule Field. The Sheikah cast him a sharp look. He held up his hands defensively.
"What's your point, Link?" Lucius asked with a slightly cocked eyebrow.
"Well, most women have…I don't know…bigger chests. In my experience, anyway," the hero scratched the back of his head modestly, his cheeks a little pink. Sheik's little exposed skin turned a deep red and she made an annoyed sound, promptly punching Link across the face, before walking ahead in an agitated fashion that was most unlike her. He picked himself up, rubbing his cheek, where a bruise was starting to form, and looked after her with a puzzled look, his eyes watering slightly from pain. "Was it something I said?" he muttered.
"Link, most women think it rather brutish to talk about their chests like that," Lucius sighed. "I can see that your mental age being behind your physical age is going to be a bother,"
"But why would women be worried about their chests?" Navi inquired, confused. "Fairies only worry about being able to produce milk for their young, not the size of their-"
"Hylians are vain," the mage cut across her. "To put it bluntly. Not to mention that each one has different things that they are vain about. It's natural, but it causes quite the misunderstandings,"
"I hate to interrupt, but we have company," Sheik called back to them as a few Peahats came their way. Link pulled out his boomerang and threw it, to little effect, as it just bounced off of the spinning blades.
"I'll handle this," Lucius stepped forward. "Ruby flames of power, arise and incinerate mine enemies to ashes! Ruby Fire!" Crimson flames flew outward from his staff, forming a wave, and crashed into the oncoming Peahats, burning them to a crisp. Their corpses crashed, immobile, to the ground and in the river.
"Whoa!" Link and Navi exclaimed.
"You've been practicing," Link said, impressed.
"Come on, no time for patting ourselves on the back," Sheik reprimanded as more enemies could be seen coming. "Your little lightshow attracted some company," They jumped to the other side of the river and readied themselves to face the onslaught of Stalchildren and Guays. Link slashed through several of the skeletons as they came, jumping back to avoid the diving strikes of several Guays.
"Farore's Gale!" Lucius fired a mini-tornado from his staff, sucking up several of the birds and skeletons and shredding them to pieces. Sheik dodged gracefully around a slash from one of the bigger Stalchildren and wrapped her whip around its neck. Jumping off, she pulled the skeleton around her in an arc, clearing out two dozen Stalchildren, and almost her companions, before hurling it away by releasing the nimble chain and letting it fly into an oncoming Peahat. The Peahat was destabilized by the impact and Link followed it up by using his Hookshot to hook onto the head and drive the Master Sword into its tiny brain. The Peahat flew around madly and then finally crashed in a heap. Link jumped off of the twitching corpse and put twirled his blade before putting it away.
"Nothing to it!" he said cockily, rubbing a finger under his nose. Sheik rolled her eyes and just started making her way to Lon Lon Ranch.
"That was cool!" Navi praised him. "You actually thought up a clever way to use that Hookshot!"
"You sound surprised," Link replied with mock-hurt.
"Well, given your record…" Lucius noted slyly, passing by.
"Hey!" Link ran after him.
A few more large Stalchildren were pacing around the closed gates of the ranch and many Guays still wheeled overhead.
"Earthen Quake!" Lucius cried out, causing several Stalagmites to shoot up from the ground and strike through the skeletons, breaking them apart.
"Try these!" Link hurled several lit bombs into the fray, blowing asunder several more Stalchildren as they became aware of the threat and came running to attack. Sheik gave a humph as a few Guays decided to take place in the battle and came her way. She dodged them and punished their strikes with swipes of her chain whip. A smaller Stalchild came up behind her, but she easily backflipped over it, dodging its razor-sharp claws, wrapped her whip around its neck, landed, and smashed it into the wall of the ranch. It crumpled and she retracted the whip as a larger Stalchild came at her, only to die by one of Link's bombs.
"What's going on out there?" a woman's voice called from behind the gate.
"We're being attacked, here!" Link called back. "Could you let us in?"
"I'll have to ask Mr. Ingo!" the woman replied. "Try to hold on, please!"
"Easy for her to say…" Sheik grumbled as a few Peahats finished circling the ranch and spotted them.
"Wave Crest!" Lucius shouted, thrusting his staff at the oncoming Peahats to their right. A mighty wall of water rose from the ground and knocked the Peahats back, mildly irritating them as they shook the water off. Link Hookshotted himself onto one of the attackers on the left, much to its annoyance, and began to stab it in the head, causing it to fly around wildly, trying to shake him off. Sheik ran up the nearby wall, a little ways, and propelled herself through the air, landing neatly on another Peahat, and drove her Sheikah knife into it. "Farore's Gale!" Lucius fired a mini-tornado at the other group of Peahats as they drew closer. They fought the winds, but were damaged a little. "Ruby Fire!" A wave of flame caught them and burnt them to a crisp, allowing the mage to turn and see Link and Sheik jumping from their finally incapacitated foes to attack their mates. These creatures, obviously, weren't equipped to handle other, smaller opponents that could attack their heads. Quickly, enough, these two Peahats were dead too and Lucius torched the last one as it tried to avenge its comrades. Link was fortunate that he had hesitated to Hookshot onto it and Sheik, being quite the ninja, had seen the spell coming and stayed clear.
"What's going on, here?" the gate opened and Ingo came out, looking agitated, his mustache twitching. He now wore much better clothing, made of better cloth and with an elegant ruff on the collar. "Do you want something?"
"We'd like to enter to see your ranch and consider buying something from you," Lucius responded at once, cutting across Link's remark, which would have been, probably, much ruder.
"Fine, come on in…" the new ranch owner grumbled. He allowed them to pass through the gate, now reading Ingo's Ranch along the top, and then barred it again. "Can't be too careful…" He walked ahead of them and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Malon! Where are you? Come see to these idiots!" A red-haired woman in a purple dress and white blouse emerged from the stables.
"Yes, Mr. Ingo," she recited in a subdued tone.
"I'll be over at the corral," Ingo continued recklessly. "Come talk to me about a horse,"
"A horse could be useful for getting through the field quickly," Sheik noted quietly. "Although, we'll have to defend ourselves from horseback, and that may be difficult with our current weaponry,"
"Don't worry, my magic is easily usable anywhere," Lucius assured the Sheikah.
"It's been a long time since we've had a visitor here…" Malon stated in the same downcast tone. "Where did you come from?"
"Well, we just left Kakariko, because we heard that Ingo was in charge here," Link explained with a frown. Malon looked over her shoulder to make sure that Ingo wasn't listening.
"Mr. Ingo is just using the ranch to gain Ganondorf's favor…" she whispered, eyes a bit watery. "Everyone seems to be turning evil…But Dad…He was kicked out of the ranch by Mr. Ingo. If I disobey him, he will treat the horses so badly. So…there's nothing I can do,"
"I'll handle him," Link clenched his fist and started for the corral.
"Wait!" Malon grabbed his arm. "Mr. Ingo didn't used to be like this. He was mean, but he still wasn't this bad. Can't you find a way to get him back to normal?"
"This is very common, Link," Lucius came forward. "Ever since the evil energies began to radiate through the land, the power of evil is strong and many people have succumbed to it,"
"Their former selves can be awakened, but its not clear how, usually," Sheik added. "However, I believe that Ingo may be easier than most to turn back,"
"How do we do that, then?" Link crossed his arms and stared at the Sheikah.
"By getting a horse, of course," she replied, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Why would that work?" Navi asked, puzzled.
"Because Ingo prides himself at being better than Talon, or so he believes," Lucius explained.
"Oh, so if we break that illusion, he'll stop being a jerk!" Link exclaimed. Malon shushed him, glancing nervously towards the new gate that was attached to the barn and house, preventing passage to and from the corral if it were closed.
"And by restoring Talon to the ranch," Sheik nodded. "That is, if he even wants to come back,"
"Dad always wanted to run this place," Malon insisted emphatically. "He just got a little lazy after…Mom died…" She sniffled. "Excuse me…" she retreated to the stable.
"That's it," Link turned towards the corral. "Let's go prove to Ingo that he's just a jerk!"
"Just don't do anything rash," Lucius cautioned him. To all appearances, this was ignored. The mage sighed and he and Sheik hurried after the hero.
"We were in Kakariko and heard that Talon was staying there because he was evicted-" Lucius began, but Ingo interrupted.
"Yeah, there are people in Kakariko spreading rumors that I cheated Talon out of the ranch," he waved his hand dismissively and sneered at them. Link was about to speak when the mustached man continued. "But don't be ridiculous! That guy Talon was weak! I, the hard-working Ingo, poured so much energy into this place! I don't want any strangers like you saying anything bad about me!" Link threatened to do just that, but Ingo saw and cut him off again. "Listen. The great Ganondorf recognized my obvious talents and gave the ranch to me!"
Yeah, like boot-licking. Link thought. How he knew this term was a mystery, but it fit.
"I will raise a fine horse and win recognition from the great Ganondorf," Ingo continued smugly.
"Yes, as a feckless bootlicker that grovels at his feet," Sheik muttered harshly. She turned and walked off.
"How rude!" Ingo raged. "Get out!" Sheik had already done so, to all appearances. Ingo exhaled agitatedly and turned to address Lucius and Link.
"Say, young man, do you want to ride one of my fine horses?" he asked bluntly. "Ten rupees a ride," Lucius nudged Link.
"Sure, why not?" the hero grudgingly forked over a yellow rupee that Lucius passed him. "Okay, go on in and pick a horse," Ingo opened the gate and allowed Link in before shutting the gate. "I'll give you one minute before I kick you out,"
"Whoo-hoo," Link said unenthusiastically. He walked over to a red horse with a white mane, but she whinnied and galloped away. Ingo laughed derisively at him. Resisting the urge to throw his boomerang at the man, Link pondered why the red horse looked familiar. "Isn't that Epona?" He pulled out the Ocarina of Time and played the melody that he had learned from Malon, quite a while back. Surprisingly, he remembered it. The horse stopped, whinnied, and came over to him, nuzzling his face. "Hey, Epona," he whispered to her. He went to her side and climbed into the saddle that she was already wearing. Spurring her gently with his feet, he took off across the pen. A few fences were set up, but the horse jumped over them easily. Link laughed as his hair blew in the wind, wheeling Epona around and riding by Ingo.
"Hey, you're pretty good!" he admitted with a scowl. Link reigned Epona to a stop so that he could hear better. "How about a race? I'll let you have that horse, if you win, but you have to pay me fifty rupees if you lose,"
"Bring it on!" Link accepted. Ingo opened the gate and allowed Link out before going over to a black horse and mounting it. Lucius retreated as Link and Ingo lined their steeds up at a pre-drawn white line that was perpendicular to one of the gateposts.
"Okay, here we go," Ingo held up a hand with three fingers outstretched, clearly going to use them for the countdown. "3, 2, 1...go!" he gave a strange yell and spurred his horse hard in the ribs as Link gently spurred Epona into action. Their steeds took off, rounding the course. Ingo, clearly, had no respect for his horse, spurring it unnecessarily hard and shouting curses at it as Link managed to keep ahead by getting in his way and being calm. The end result was quite expected, but Ingo still didn't take it well. He jumped off of his horse and screamed at it.
"You blasted horse!" he shouted at the animal. "You're no good!" he opened the gate and kicked it in the hindquarters. The horse whinnied, tried to kick him, and then ran back in in a bad temper. Link dismounted Epona with a smug look on his face, and walked calmly over to the angry Ingo as he clutched his head and pulled his hair in agitation. "If the great Ganondorf found out about this humiliation…" he spotted Link and fixed his bloodshot eyes on him. "Hey, you! How about another race?" he spat.
"I already won the horse, what else would I need?" Link cocked his head in mock-confusion.
"If you win…I'll let your friends have horses, too!" Ingo seethed.
"That sounds like a sound proposition," Lucius called from his observation point by the stables. Sheik, leaning next to him, gave a hand signal.
"Alright, get a horse and I'll take you up on it," Link climbed back on Epona as Ingo picked another black horse and rode to the starting line.
"3, 2, 1...go!" they took off again, Ingo, once more, abusing his horse. This time, though, he had picked a faster ride, or was just pushing harder, and was managing to stay even with Epona.
"Hey, watch it!" Link objected as Ingo slammed into Link, causing him to have to hang onto Epona's neck.
"No holds barred, kid!" Ingo growled smugly, riding ahead.
"Come on, Epona!" Link whispered to his horse. "Let's beat that guy," Epona whinnied and put on an extra burst of speed. Ingo, though, kept in front of them and blocked their path. Swerving towards the inside of the track, Link finally managed to come up beside Ingo as they neared the final third of the track. The corrupt rancher snarled and tried to knock him off, but the hero managed to shoot forward and cross the finish line first.
"Shoooot!" Ingo roared, jumping off of his horse and forcing it into the corral. "What's up with that horse?" He looked closer and realization hit. His face contorted in rage. "Is that Epona? How did you tame that wild horse right under my nose?" He shrieked.
"Well, if you'd ever been nice to Malon, you'd know," Link rubbed a finger under his nose.
"I was going to present that horse to the great Ganondorf…" he muttered darkly. "But I bet it on the race and lost! Shooot!"
"And you owe me two other horses, too," Link reminded him. Ingo paused and looked up at him and, then, he started to laugh manically. He continued as he walked over to the new gate and closed it behind him.
"As I promised, I'll give you the horses. Take your pick!" he shouted eerily, his face twisting horribly. "However…I'll never let you leave this ranch!"
"What?" Link shouted. The rancher chained the fence shut with a large chain and padlocked it before passing out.
"This is not good…" Lucius observed.
"Now, what?" Navi asked. "That gate is the only way out!"
"The only normal way out," Sheik observed, pointing at the three tall, pointy gates that were in the ranch's outer wall.
"So you want us to try and jump horses over the gate?" Lucius concluded. He shrugged. "Well, I guess there's no better option,"
"Can't you just destroy the gate?" Navi looked at him.
"I could, but it would likely destroy the house and stable, not to mention potentially hurting or killing Malon or Ingo,"
"Guy deserves it…" Link rubbed the bruise on his leg from where Ingo had rammed him with a horse.
"Regardless, let's go pick some horses," Sheik said, already heading for the corral.
She and Lucius chose two brown horses, young, energetic, and not abused overtly. They then rode around the corral to pick up speed.
"Okay, here we go!" Link shouted as they came to the high fence. Epona jumped high and cleared it, followed by the other two horses, and the party arrived in the part of Hyrule Field near a v-shaped rock wall that looked manmade, though it was chipped and broken wherever the monsters had damaged it. Speaking of monsters, about eight Peahats, four dozen Stalchildren, large and small, and the usual Guays were in this area. Naturally, they all noticed that some prey had jumped into their midst and came at them with their usual vigor.
"We don't have time for this!" Sheik shouted, readying her whip. "Night already draws near!" The sky was already starting to change color, a sign that it was around 17:00.
"Break for Kakariko!" Lucius ordered. "I'll handle these!"
"Why Kakariko?" Link asked.
"Link, just go!" Navi reprimanded. Epona and Sheik's horse bore their riders quickly away as Lucius stood alone against the monster tide.
"Sacred light, emit from the heavens and wreak havoc!" he cried out.
A large explosion of light occurred behind them as they fled. Link glanced back and saw a silhouetted figure against the flare. He was about to check Epona but Sheik reprimanded him.
"There will be plenty of time in the village!" she shouted. Link had to agree.
Dusk was beginning to fall as they finally reached the gates of Kakariko.
"Oh, its you three," the ex-clock guard said meekly. "I take it that you've been to Ingo's Ranch, then?"
"Yes, and we need to enter and speak to Talon," Link called up. "He's been hiding out long enough,"
"Okay, but he's really hard to wake up," the ex-clock guard warned them, opening the gate wide enough to admit them. They rode through and passed by the few people that were heading for their homes at this time of day. Eventually, they came to the inn and tied their horses next to the trough that was out front, though it was disused. Luckily, rain water had kept it filled and Epona and her friends drank their fill of water.
"Fine horses you got there," an old man said, emerging from the inn. "I used to take care of people's steeds while they stayed here, but traffic kinda slowed down over the recent years so…" He looked over the party. "I'll take care of these guys and gals for ya,"
"Thank you," Lucius replied.
"No problem…" the guy began to walk off. "I'll just go fetch some food for them and we'll be set,"
The innkeeper was half-asleep at her post as the party entered.
"Excuse me…excuse me!" Link rapped on the desk, finally getting her to snap to with a start.
"Can I help you?" she asked, half-dazed-looking.
"We need a room for the night and could you tell us where Talon's room is?" Link responded.
"Oh, right…" she reached under the desk and pulled out a key with a 7 tag on it. "100 rupees,"
"That's really expensive," Navi commented as Lucius handed over a handful of colored rupees.
"Actually, it's cheap in this day and age," Sheik explained. "Supplies are short and inns are strapped for everything,"
"It's true," the innkeeper sighed and handed over the room key. "Upstairs, to the right, third door on the left. Talon is in room 6, right across from your room,"
"Thank you," Link said before heading up the stairs. They knocked on Talon's door and, hearing only his trademark loud snoring, let themselves in, as the door was unlocked. He had lost some weight and looked a little older, but he was definitely the portly owner of the ranch. Link pulled out the Master Sword with a mischievous smile.
"What are you doing?" Sheik asked, crossing her arms.
"Something I learned from Al," the hero prodded Talon in the back. Promptly, he sat up, rubbing his back, and looked blearily at the party as Link sheathed his weapon.
"What in tarnation?" he said loudly. "Can't a person get a little shut-eye around here?"
"Why do that when you have a ranch to run?" Link cocked his head and looked at the rancher seriously.
"Ingo took over Lon Lon Ranch and they call it Ingo Ranch nowadays…" Talon answered sadly, looking at his hairy knuckles as he clenched the bedspread. "I was kicked out of there, and look at me now! My girl, Malon, still works at the ranch, I'm worried about her…"
"We have broken the spell over Ingo," Lucius interjected. "He probably isn't very happy right now and wants you to come back,"
"Malon really misses you, too!" Navi added.
"You have to go back!" Link agreed. Talon seemed to mull this over and then he jumped up with a whoop.
"Yeehah!" he shook each of their hands in turn. "I owe you a lot for helpin' out Malon! Tomorrow mornin', I'm headin' back to the ranch!"
"We'll come with you," Link volunteered. "We're heading that way, anyway, and I won't be able to rest if I let you go out there alone,"
"Thanks a bundle," he clapped Link on the shoulder. "See ya in the morning!"
"It always pays off when you see their smiling faces…" Sheik mused as they entered their own room.
"I guess, but we also got Epona!" Link said optimistically, sitting at the small, cheap dining table that was in their room.
"Something is bothering me, though…" Navi said suddenly.
"What is it?" Lucius looked to her.
"I'm getting a bad feeling from the forest…" the fairy elucidated. "Link," she turned to the hero. "Call Saria,"
"Okay…I just hope she isn't mad that I haven't called in seven years…" he pulled out the Ocarina of Time and chimed off Saria's Song. The ocarina began to glow green and panting could be heard, as well as the roar of a monster.
"Link! You're safe!" Saria's sounded out of breath and was whispering like she was hiding from something. "I knew I would hear from you again!"
"Why are you panting so hard?" Link asked.
"I'm in the Forest Temple," she said. "The forest spirits were calling for help, so I went to check it out, but it's full of evil monsters!" A loud roar could be heard. "Help me, Link!" The ocarina suddenly stopped glowing.
"Saria!" he called, but there was no reply.
"It sounds like she needs help," Navi said worriedly.
"We'll have to hurry there, come tomorrow," Sheik commented. "Until then, we'll have to trust that she'll stay ahead of the monsters," Saria's Song came from the Ocarina of Time and it began to glow again.
"I'm fine…I ran out front and hid in a tree," Saria's exhausted voice said. Link and Navi breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm going to spend the night here, so please hurry and come here tomorrow,"
"I'll come, don't worry," Link promised.
"Good," she yawned. "Well, good-night," The glow faded again.
"We should go to sleep, as well," Lucius suggested. "After all the fighting, we need to recover our strength. The monsters out there tend to repopulate rather quickly," Sheik sat down by a wall.
"You don't have to sleep there," Link said. "You can have a bed,"
"Thanks but no thanks, hero," the Sheikah declined, staring at him with her eye that was un-obscured by her bangs. "Save your chivalry for Malon or some other damsel-in-distress,"
"You could've just said no…" Link muttered dejectedly, pulling off his armor, revealing his toned chest, and climbing into bed. Sheik averted her eyes, blushing slightly, and gave a grunt.
"Good night, everyone," Lucius declared, propping his staff by his own bed. They exchanged their own good nights, except for Sheik, and fell asleep quite promptly.
The rooster of dawn woke Link the next morning. Lucius and Sheik were already sitting at the dining table, discussing their plans for the day over the remnants of breakfast and guarding Link's plate. Yawning, the hero sat up and scratched his head before rising and putting his hat and armor back on.
"These beds are full of straw…" he grumbled, dragging himself over to the table and digging into the poor fare that the inn had provided.
"Well, if you're expecting Hyrule Castle of old, get your head out of the clouds," Sheik replied coolly. Navi came out from under his hat, yawned, and then swiped a piece of cheese from Link's plate. He was too tired to object and just let her have it.
Talon was practically bouncing up and down out front as they finally came out around 06:30.
"I see ya got Epona, Tanmane, and Cocoa from the ranch," he observed. "Fine horses, but Epona's in a different league altogether. Malon and me like to say that she's descended from legendary horses of old, but we can't prove it, so-"
"Can we get moving?" Sheik interrupted impatiently.
"Oh, sure, right. I get goin' on sometimes," Talon apologized.
"All right, Link, I'll ride with you," Lucius declared. "Talon can have Tanmane, and Sheik can have Cocoa,"
"Why do I have to carry you with me?" Link grumbled as they untied the horses.
"Would you rather have Talon?" the mage muttered.
"No,"
"Then stop complaining," They mounted the horses and started for the gate, passing by the old guy that worked at the inn.
"Those are some real fine horses. Take good care of 'em and come back soon!" he called.
"Yeah, thanks!" Link waved back. As they came to the gate, the ex-clock soldier came out and turned the winch.
"So you're going back, Talon?" he asked.
"Yup!" the portly rancher answered. "These three taught Ingo a lesson, so I'm gonna head back,"
"Well, be careful out there," the gate guard warned.
A few Peahats and Stalchildren had returned since the previous day, but the numbers were nowhere near what they had been. Lucius and Link easily disposed of them with bombs and spells.
"I'm going to run out, at this rate," the hero noted, looking at his nearly empty bomb bag.
"You guys are tough!" Talon commented, impressed. "Glad to see some men of valor around Hyrule nowadays!" Link scratched his head modestly, but Lucius nudged him to remind him that they needed to move on.
"Oh, yeah! On to the ranch!"
The sign that had read Ingo's Ranch the previous day now read Lon Lon Ranch again.
"The sign changed!" Navi exclaimed.
"Hey, I hear you out there!" the door opened to reveal a very cheerful Ingo. "Come on in!" They looked at each other and rode in. Ingo shut the gate behind them. "Can't be too careful!" he said genially, walking in front of them. "Welcome to Lon Lon Ranch! We sell milk and cheese and you can even ride horses for free as long as you're nice to them,"
"Tarnation, Ingo, you've plum changed," Talon dismounted rather clumsily and walked over to the lankier man.
"Talon!" the mustached man broke down. "I'm sorry! I just wanted to be recognized for all I do around here!" The bearded rancher looked a bit overwhelmed.
"Aw, shucks, Ingo," he scratched his head. "Dry up, you're embarrassing us in front of company," He looked away from his friend. "I guess I'm sorta to blame here, too. I just got lazy after the missus died. But that's done with! I'm gonna help out from now on!" He put an arm around Ingo and guided him towards the house. "Let's have a couple of mugs of Chateau and talk, like ol' times!"
"That was odd," Navi was the first to respond to what had just happened. "He was actually more normal than that when he was nuts,"
"Well, I'm just glad that this place is changing for the better," Lucius commented. Malon suddenly emerged from the barn, looking fairly more cheerful than before.
"Thank you very much for the other day," she smiled, making Link blush at how cute she still was. Granted, he'd already known that, but his body was older now, so it elicited a different reaction. "I haven't even asked your name yet, though…"
"Um…I'm Link," the hero said, shaking himself out of his embarrassment.
"Lucius," the mage nodded.
"I'm Navi!" the fairy added happily.
"Sheik," the Sheikah grunted.
"That's what I thought!" Malon giggled. "You're the fairy boy and his mage friend. That was years ago! Do you remember me?"
"Yeah, that's why I wanted to help so much," Link hit his chest with a fist.
"I had to pull his reins," Lucius added, earning a look from the hero. Navi sniggered at his expense.
"Shut it, Navi!" he grumbled. Malon giggled again.
"I was sure it was you because Epona remembered you!" she looked at the house for a few seconds. "Oh, I have to tell you about Mr. Ingo…"
"Yeah, what happened after he passed out?" Link cocked his head.
"He went raging around like a maniac, rambling about how the Evil King was going to find out about Epona being taken away. This morning, though, he got up and was back to normal! Actually, he's not even grumpy! And dad's come back, too," she sniffed. "I can't believe it, but peace is returning to this ranch! It's all because of you! I owe you so much. Thank you!" she pecked his cheek and ran off to the house in joyful tears. Link touched the spot on his cheek and turned red. Sheik rolled her eyes and leapt onto the stable, where she quickly disappeared.
"What's wrong, Link?" Navi asked worriedly. He shook his head.
"No, of course not," he said cheerfully. Lucius chuckled, and made his way past into the corral. "Hey! What are you laughing at?" He followed the mage.
"Just the cute little liking you seem to be getting for a certain young woman," he replied lightly. Link blushed again.
"Yeah, right, you're crazy. I'm going to go look for some food to take with us," the hero hurried away with Navi following him and teasing him. The mage sighed and walked over to the tall tree that grew near the house.
"Hmm…" he looked up at it and sniffed the air. "This tree gives off a pollen that irritates my nose a little. I wonder if this is why Guays don't fly over here?" Shrugging, he decided to go see to the supplies as well.
Next is the Forest Temple. Yay. R&R.