AUTHOR'S NOTE: Look at this, two in a day! We have a Twilight Princess, Wind Waker, and… I'm not really sure how to categorize the last one. The last two are kinda sad. Hope you guys like them!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own LoZ. I do, however, own these ideas. And two cats.
"Link." His back foot twitched.
"Link, get up." He flicked his ear.
"Link, we need to get going." He nuzzled his soft, comfy tail.
"Well, you can't say I didn't try. LINK GET UP THIS INSTANT!" His eyes shot open, and he saw Midna floating next to him, looking rather annoyed.
"Come on, we need to find the 3rd mirror shard." Link whined sadly, not wanting to leave his warm spot in the cave they spent the night in.
"…I can teleport you to the upper part of the river if you need to wake up…" At this he leapt up, and ran out of the cave. He still didn't get why the portal in the Upper Zora River had to be right over a pool of water. Every time he wanted to go up there and stay dry, he had to go the long way around, through the northern part of the Lanayru Province. It took forever, because that route was infested with monsters, and they weren't exactly the easy-to-kill ones.
Well, he still hated that portal. Midna had used it a few times to get him up if he was too sleepy. She had also used it when he was being too irritating by trying to buck her off. And she thought he was rude.
The King of Red Lions, also known as Mr. I-should-probably-already-be-dead, was getting bored of just…well…sitting there. He had no clue what Link was doing, but hopefully it was something productive to their quest. Even if it wasn't, he was sure he'd hear about it eventually. After all, the boy was a bit of a chatterbox. He never seemed to know when the boat-man wanted him to stop talking.
And that was quite often.
So, when the young boy in green came skipping back to the boat, and decided that it was crucial to their quest that the boat-man knew everything that happened, King-boat wondered why the goddesses hated him so much. It wasn't like he did anything horrible…except force a poor child to go on a quest that was sure to end in his death if he wasn't the right person. Well, considering Link's luck, he would probably live with some minor injuries.
It's not like the King of Red Lions cared. No, he most certainly did not care about this obnoxious child that was telling him about his amazing mail-sorting abilities. Of course he didn't care.
Are you sure about that? It sure seems like you care. Leave me alone, he told his inner voice. I don't care one bit, he thought. It seems to me that you're trying to keep yourself distant so you aren't hurt when you leave. I don't believe it's working.
King-boat did his best to ignore the voice, despite knowing just how right it was. He didn't want any more pain. He'd already lost his kingdom; he didn't need to lose a child.
Just like that child didn't need to lose a parent. Or, he thought, another parent. It was clear that somehow, Link's parents had disappeared. Sure, the child still had his grandma, but a grandparent isn't the same as a parent. Just like how a great-grandparent isn't the same as a grandparent.
Yes, he would stay distant, just to protect them. It was the only way. No matter what, they would be separated, so he should do as much as possible to keep them from hurting.
He knew that it was already too late to prevent some pain.
It was late in the fall, when he found his sweet, loyal horse. She had been a young filly at the time, and he, just a child. She had a wounded leg, and was very hesitant about letting him get near. Eventually, the pain became too much, and she laid her head on the ground. He slowly crawled over to her, and set her big head on his little legs. Eventually, his parents came looking for him, and found him in the forest, leaning his back against a tree, with an injured animal next to him. He was gently stroking her mane, trying to keep her calm. Even when he was young, he'd had a way of understanding the animals.
His parents had, understandably, been cautious about taking in the young horse. "We don't have the time, nor do we have the space." He'd already decided that he would do anything for his new friend, and so told them, "I have the time, and I can make a space!" Eventually, he managed to convince his parents that it would be beneficial to keep the filly, and so it was decided. His father helped him build a place near the house to keep her. His mother asked him, "What are you going to name her?" This, he immediately had an answer to. "Epona!" His mother looked slightly surprised at her son coming up with a name so quickly, but then just looked amused. "Epona, huh? It's a good name, Link."
They now had a horse, and Link was glad he'd convinced his parents to keep her. She was incredibly helpful, for work, transportation, and other things. His family wouldn't have been able to buy a horse (they were very expensive, and his family wasn't exactly the richest), yet they had one. All the villagers were confused whenever they saw such a poor family with such a beautiful creature. Eventually, they got used to it, but many asked how they got her. Whenever questioned, Link just smiled, and kept walking. Epona was his horse, and his most loyal friend. Nothing else mattered.
OTHER AUTHOR'S NOTE: I can imagine Midna doing something like that, and Link just wanting to sleep. On the second, it made me think of how I never knew either of my grandma's. Well, I guess you can't really mourn what you never had… The third part is just me thinking about the ways Link and Epona could have met.
Pleeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaase review! Please, with ice cream and cookies? And maybe a cherry?
