((I have come to a decision. Today will be a sort of 'break' from the heavy and deep. Especially since we've hit the double digit numbers. This chapter's a short of Malon and Link as kids (cuz who doesn't love two children in the big city eh?) It really doesn't have anything in particular to do with the storyline. But what's fun for me may be fun for you, enjoy ;)
by the way... I don't own Legend of Zelda. But I do own a plant.))
Adults.
Adults everywhere.
Link stood petrified as the buzz of Castle Town filled the air. Having heard countless tales from the Kokiri, the mythical looming death encircled around him like vultures. Occasionally shoving him as they bustled past.
Upon the despair of knowing he was fated to be one of the said monsters, Link had dutifully done what a good Hero would do and had gone straight to the Know-It-All Brothers to do some research on these creatures. Due to a week of nonstop studying, he could easily claim to be an expert of the mysterious beings.
Sadly, the beings commonly known as 'Adults', said otherwise. He didn't know why the beasts wouldn't keep their distance from him. He'd bathed in the river five times just as the Know-It-All Brothers had said to. Not only that, but he had collected ten deku nuts and he'd kept his eyes pointed away from their gazes. Or their tails.
Yet instead of hissing away at his purified state, the monsters continued to thrum nearby him as if completely unbothered by it all. Satanic beasts.
Maybe if he pulled his sword and began hacking away at a few they would fall away and start twitching like Gohma had in the Great Deku Tree's belly.
Just as he was about to start this experiment, someone tugged on his tunic, fully startling him from his objective. Whirling around, Link found himself face to face with the oddest Kokiri he'd ever seen. She had red hair like a Kokiri, but her clothes like a Hylians. Her skin was as pale as his, with the same blue eyes as the rest of the Kokiri. However, he'd never seen her in the Kokiri forest, and thus quickly deduced her to be a Hylain child.
The first of his kind.
"Hey! Your clothes!" She said curiously eyeing the green tunic. "They're... different..." Why was she looking so weirdly at his legs? He was half tempted to snap, 'what's the matter? Ever seen a Kokiri before?', however, as he'd never actually seen a Hylian child before, he really couldn't be one to talk. "You're not from around here, are you?"
The odd on her face didn't change as Link gave her a shrug. "I'm not." He admitted, unsure what else she could expect him to say.
Her eyes continued their scrutiny as though deaf to his words. Finally, the girl's eyes lit up. "Ohh... You're a fairy boy from the forest!" She grinned excitedly, "Mama told me all about you folk! My name is Malon! My dad owns Lon Lon Ranch!" Her chest puffed wide as pride as strong as Mido's filled her expression. "We sell the most bestest milk in the whole world!"
Link cringed at the reminder of Mido. 'I'm the most strongest Kokiri in the world!' bleh.
"Dad went to go deliver some milk!" She continued, oblivious to Link's lack of enthusiasm. Suddenly her face fell, "He hasn't come back yet..."
What a strange girl. "Well, I'm looking for a..." He racked his brain, trying to remember at least some of the gibberish the Great Deku Tree had said. If there was one thing his father hadn't been particularly good at, it was explaining. "a Zelda and a Princess and a Cattle." Link listed off the foreign words. For a tree who'd known he'd never stepped foot outside the forest, the wise Deku Tree hadn't been very thoughtful in explaining the meanings of it all.
It was luck that Navi had been around to explain it, sadly, Navi was currently hiding in his hat on the strange notion that maybe she ought to keep herself unknown to the Hylians.
"A cattle?!" Malon laughed shaking her head. Link felt himself tense.
"Yes. A cattle." Link replied with a haughty look.
"What a funny list of things you need." Malon giggled.
"Well at least I'm not the one who lost their dad." Link snapped back.
Her laughter faded, her eyes narrowing, "That's rude Fairy Boy."
At least she wasn't laughing at him anymore. "Do you know where I can find those things?"
"Well, Princess Zelda is straight down the road in the castle. But you can get some cattle back at my ranch." Malon suggested her eyes widened, "Are you going to kidnap the princess?" She asked with a look bordering on amused excitement.
Why was she laughing so much? He wasn't trying to be funny. "None of your business." He snapped, though the word castle did sound familiar. Whirling on his toes, he turned in the road Malon had pointed to. Glad to be rid of the nuisance.
"Wait!" He heard her call as more Adults began weaving their way into his path. Ignoring the strange girl, he valiantly pushed through the wall of terrifying monsters. Quickly slipping away from the mean Ranch girl (he hadn't a clue what a Ranch was), and making his way to the front gates.
A single Adult stood straight and unmoving in front of the biggest skyscraper that Link had ever seen. A large intimidating gate loomed across the road. Stopping any chance Link might have had to simply walk down. "Excuse me mister." He said tugging on the Adult's strange metal garb. Link shrunk slightly at the scary figure. He couldn't even see the person's eyes with that strange metal helmet over him. "Can you open the gates so I can pass through? I need to see the Princess."
The Adult smiled in amusement. Though what he had to be amused over was beyond Link's understanding. Hylians were a weird sort. "Sorry kid, the royal's aren't seeing anyone right now- hey wait! HALT!"
Link must've done something wrong by stepping towards the gate. Before he'd even touched the metal bars, the Adults pointy spear swung menacingly towards his throat.
"You aren't allowed in there kid! Don't make me use force!" The Adult's threats worked wonders on Link's imagination. The child flinched back a few steps, the Adults pointy staff still pointed at his chest. "Good, now scram kid. This place ain't no place for a child." The man lowered his voice to what Link assumed was meant for no one as he muttered, "kid's these days."
Confused and scared out of his wits, Link turned and left. What was he supposed to do now? Find a tree stump and cry? Maybe he could pawn off the strange green stone to that one begger. He seemed in need of a nice looking thing. Maybe he'd appreciate the shininess of the stone. It wasn't like the Great Deku Tree would know what Link had done right? Or maybe he would and he'd spend his days haunting Link. According to Fado, nothing was more scarier than a haunting plant. Link decided then and there that he wouldn't take his chances.
Just as he was going to choose the first option of sitting and having a good cry, Link spun around the corner and nearly ran smack dab into Malon.
"Fairy boy!" Did the girl only have one mood? Despite the fact that he was near tears, she looked ready to give a loud whoop of excitement. "You left before I could finish!" She chided.
"I'm not in the mood." Link muttered trying to push past the girl to find a good stump.
"But Fairy Boy! The castle's that way." Her brows knitted in confusion, and Link wondered if she meant for the nickname to be demeaning or not.
"They won't let me through." He huffed in frustration.
Malon rolled her eyes, "Of course they won't let you through silly, that's what I was trying to warn you about. The people haven't seen the royal family in a long time. They haven't been very social like to the people since... since like a bajillion years ago."
"So then how am I supposed to get in?" Had she simply meant to come tell him that his father's dying wish was impossible? If so he was going to give her a piece of his mind.
However instead of smug, she looked triumphant. "I know a way to sneak in."
"You do?" He perked up. Sneak in! Of course! He would have thought of that after his cry.
"Yup. But before I tell you, you have to promise me something." For the first time the girl actually looked serious. "My papa went to deliver milk to the royal family and hasn't come back. My guess is he's off sleeping somewhere inside the castle. Would it be alright if you wake him up for me? I promised Ingo I would deliver the last few jugs so he could get some rest."
Who the heck was Ingo? "Why would I do that? It sounds like a personal problem to me." Link folded his arms, tilting his head.
Malon's face pinched, "You're not like the fairy boy in the stories." She huffed, "I thought your kind was supposed to help good kids, not turn them down favors. Anyways, I'm giving you a way into the castle in exchange for finding my papa. If you don't want to see Princess Zelda, then I guess I could go by myself-"
"Okay, okay, I get it." He held up his hands before she could go, "Tell me the way and I'll look for your father."
She gave him another irritating look of triumph. "Deal! But since you've got a nasty habit of running off before I'm finished, I'll give you my instructions first. My dad sleeps really really deeply when he delivers milk." She began.
Link frowned, was sleeping on the job a normal occurrence for her father? The Great Deku Tree would never.
"So the easiest way to wake him is by having a Cucco crow in his face." Malon finished casually. "Luckily, I have the perfect thing."
Her fingers slid into her dress pocket, pulling out the weirdest egg he'd ever seen. "What is that?" He cringed, stepping back in disgust.
The girl actually looked offended by his reaction. "This is Mona, and she's going to hatch any moment now so shush! She could hear you and feel insecure."
"That thing ought to feel insecure... is that an eye?!" Bleh bleh bleh, he stared in putrid revolution.
"I said quiet you! You're going to hurt her feelings." Malon hissed, holding the egg to her chest. "I've been carefully incubating this egg for almost a week now. Ever since Ingo told papa that I was too young to look after the chickens." She shot him a withering look, "I bet you don't even know what incubating means."
"Of course I do." Link lied cringing at the sight of her holding the weird egg. "But what am I supposed to do with... that?" She wasn't going to make him touch it was she?
At least she was leaning away from the weird amounts of enthusiasm. Link watched in smug satisfaction as annoyance crossed her features. "That, has a name you know." She muttered, "and you're going to use her beautiful crowing to wake papa up after she hatches. Here, take her. But be careful, she's really sensitive to the cold."
Weird Egg lover. The girl's cupped hands pulled the egg from her embrace. Carefully balancing it on her palms as she held it to him.
Having no choice but to grab the weird looking egg, Link had to admit he was surprised at how warm it was to the touch. Spiderlike cracks poked at the top of it as if the bird inside had poked it's beak a little at the top a few times. "This is stupid." Link declared, stifling the urge to coo over this strangely likeable weird egg of hers.
"What's so stupid about it huh?" Malon replied with a warning growl, her hands reached out, pulling back in the air as if trying to grab something from it. "You need to hug her, or she'll get too cold and freeze up! C'mon! She needs loves!"
Needs what now? "I ain't hugging some stupid little egg!" Link protested.
"She'll die if you don't!" Malon shrieked, eyes glued to the egg in his hands. "Now hug her! Or else we'll have to go all the way back to the ranch and grab a cucco from there!"
Terrified at the urgency and terror she conveyed, Link threw his dignity to the wind and dutifully held the weird egg to his chest. If Mido ever found out about this...
Malon's worry eased as he pressed the weird egg to him. Link fought down the sappy feelings of slight bliss at hugging something so weird. Yet the girl wasn't completely satisfied. She held up a finger, her hand falling to her hip in a scolding manner, "Good, now give her kisses."
"Kisses?! Ew! I don't want to kiss some weird egg!" He cringed.
"Fine. If you don't want to give kisses to Mona, than I'll take her and get into the castle myself." Malon huffed, holding out her arms to take the egg.
Link turned from her stretched fingers, hugging the egg closer to his chest. "No! I'll give her kisses!"
The girl had the nerve to smile at his agreeance. Hands dropping back to her sides, she waited with watchful scrutiny as he summoned the courage to follow through with her demands.
Turning away from her gaze, Link took a few moments to rally his strength. Scratch the hug. If Mido ever found out he'd kissed a weird egg? He'd be laughed at for the rest of his days. Squeezing his eyes closed, he refused a moment to think before pressing his lips over the hard white shell.
Once he was done, he made a show of spitting into the grass before giving Malon a glare. "There, I kissed your weird egg. Can you tell me how to get in now?"
Delight was back on her face. He watched as she bounced a few times on her feet, excitement filling her features. He'd never admit it, but the bounce made him a bit excited as well. It was much better than sitting on a stump and crying at least.
"Alright see this vine here? If you climb up it, you can get passed the gate. The rest is just sneaking past the guards. But don't worry, they're normally so focused on looking focused that they don't see much passed what's right in front of them." She stepped to the side, revealing a long vine reaching over the cliffs. "I dunno how you plan to find the Princess in the big castle. But good luck Fairy Boy."
Link nodded, making a show of gently placing the egg into one of his pouches (she seemed very invested in the weird egg) before hoisting himself up on the vines. Halfway up, Malon called one last time, "After you find the Princess, you can come to my Ranch if you want! I can show you all our animals! I can try to talk Ingo into letting me give you some milk for free as well! Thanks for helping Fairy Boy!"
He turned to give a hissing 'you'll give me away', but the strange redhead had disappeared.
(( So howdya like it? More shorts? Less? Maybe I could switch it to every 20th chapter instead of every ten? Comment if ya want more or less, or send me a message, either way works.
10 chapters! Took a bit, but here we are... and I haven't even started the good stuff yet haha, they're off to Gerudo Valley next chapter and I am not going to lie, I'm excited. Hope you all are as well!
Stay safe and healthy! Wear masks when you're supposed to, and don't go spreading the Corona, Most importantly, Don't ever forget to smile! Bless the world with you're lovely shining faces because we all need that from you troopers!
- Fangirlinggrlz