It was a peaceful day in the village. Link smiled to himself as he relaxed on the small wooden bridge, enjoying the warm summer afternoon. Across the river, Rusl diligently practiced with his sword, and some way down the river his son Colin was testing a fishing rod of his own handiwork. He craned his head up to see the soft clouds lazily drifting their way across the skies against a clear blue sky. Link closed his eyes to enjoy the gentle breeze blowing through the village.
"Goat, coming through!" Link almost leapt into the river from the suddenness of the yell. In an instant he was on his feet, running towards the source of the panicked call. 'Fado must have lost a goat again. Let's hope I can catch it before it gets itself lost in the woods like last time,' he thought to himself. Standing in the central pathway of the village, he planted his feet into the earth and waited.
Then he could see it. The Ordon Goat, at a full sprint down the hill from the ranch. The soil kicked up from its frantic hooves flew in all directions, and the wild panic in its eyes sent a shiver down his spine before he could stop it. 'What do I do?' The goat barreled closer and closer. 'Think, think!' The soil debris began to land near Link's feet.
'The horns, dummy! Grab it by the horns!' Acting on sheer instinct, he threw out his arms in front of him and planted his feet deeper into the dirt. The goat's horns slid into his hands with great force, and without even thinking Link pushed back and began turning the horns to the side. The goat fought against him, but in the end Link pushed the goat down. Subdued, it lay on the dirt as the panic fell away.
Fado came running down the pathway, clearly out of breath. "You caught 'im! Thanks, Link! I knew I could count on you!" Link, somewhat out of breath himself, could only look up and nod.
'At least it didn't hurt anybody or destroy anything.'
"Hey, Link? The goats seem to have taken a shine to ya. Would you mind helpin' me get them into the barn? They, uh... they won't go in." Fado sheepishly rubbed at the back of his neck, embarrassed at his inability to control his own livestock.
Link raised an eyebrow. 'Me? Help herd the goats?' Fado seemed not to notice the change in Link's facial expression.
"Great! Go get Epona, and meet me at the ranch, okay?" Without another word, Fado turned to the goat and began leading it back up the path to the ranch. Link sighed, absentmindedly petting the goat as it walked.
'I guess I'll just have to figure it out as I go along.' He walked back to his house, where Epona was asleep in the grassy nook between the house and the entrance to the forest. He whistled to her, the same melody she knew as a sign to come to him. Epona slowly brought her head up, then yawned, and then rose to her hooves. Link smiled.
"Sleepy girl, having a nice nap while everyone's worried over a goat," he murmured. As she walked over to him, Epona snorted as if indignant at Link's words. He gently petted her neck and scratched behind her ears. Epona, satisfied that her owner was done making fun of her, snorted once more.
For a moment, Link debated grabbing the saddle and bridle. They were still in his house, safely stored away so that they wouldn't be damaged by the sun. Leather was rare in Ordon Village.
'I need the equipment to last, but on the other hand...' He winced as he remembered the last time he had ridden without a saddle. His options clear, he walked into his house and got the saddle and bridle.
He and Epona were at Fado's ranch a short time later. Fado, who was attempting to push one of the goats into the barn by hand, grinned and called out to him.
"Good to see ya, Link! Thanks for comin'!" Link again raised an eyebrow, and again it went unnoticed.
"Since you're a little new to this, I'll give ya some pointers." Link sighed. 'I would hope so, Fado.' Fado grinned at him.
"Just chase 'em with Epona, and holler at 'em if they start slowing down. Got it?" Link took a moment, then nodded. 'That seems easy enough, sure.' Link gently patted Epona's neck. 'Let's give it a shot, eh Epona?'
"I'll leave 'em to you, then!" Fado was already running to the side of the paddock, out of the way of the goats and of Epona and Link. 'Chase with Epona, yell if they're too slow. I can remember that.'
Link nudged Epona into a casual trot - enough to test the goats' willingness to move, without being too hasty. Despite never having herded them before, Link knew Fado's goats had a tendency to be lazy unless something spooked them, at least in part because of Fado himself (definitely not because of the carrots Link would sneak to the goats behind Fado's back, not at all). The goats ambled out of Epona's way, frequently stopping to absentmindedly chew on the grass. Link groaned internally. 'I knew these guys were lazy, but not this lazy.' He spurred Epona into a faster trot, hoping it would give the goats more sense of urgency. It did, but not by much. Link sighed. Following Fado's advice, he let out a yell.
To his relief, the goats began to run forward at a faster pace. He and Epona were able to guide some of the goats into the barn, but some wandered off to the sides to nibble on more grass. The two of them trotted around and circled back to herd the straggling goats. When they again were unwilling to move, Link yelled out at them. Once, twice, he yelled, and then he realized one of the goats had turned to face him. 'That's weird, why is this one turning- oh goddesses, it's charging at me!' Link, caught off-guard by the goat's sudden attitude shift, didn't have time to spur Epona away from the angered goat, and the two of them were directly hit. Link allowed himself to fall off of Epona - better to fall on the ground than to be stuck dangling by a stirrup if Epona reared up. Knowing this unfortunately did not make the landing any less painful. 'Ugh, my back..'
"Oops, sorry! Forgot to mention that they'll charge ya if you holler too much! My bad!" Link sighed. 'Now you tell me.' Grunting, he pushed himself back up from the dirt. He brushed himself off as he walked to soothe Epona. 'At least you're not hurt, poor girl. You're going to get some nice pets later, yes you are.' He couldn't help but fondly smile at the thought, despite the dull soreness in his lower back. He gently petted and scratched her neck, before climbing back into the saddle. Then he fixed his gaze on the goat that had charged him - or, rather, the goat he believed had charged him, they all looked about the same sometimes.
'Alright, goat. You're getting in that stable, whether you like it or not.' With that, he spurred Epona into a full gallop directly towards the suspected goat. As he neared the goat, he let out another yell - louder, with a hint of the grudge he now felt for the animal that had in all likelihood completely forgotten the past couple of minutes. To his satisfaction, the goat scampered away from him and Epona, and with some careful steering of Epona that scampering directed the goat exactly into the stable. 'Hah, take that!' Link proudly brought Epona around to herd the remaining goats, of which there were only five left. 'I think I'm starting to get the hang of this goatherding thing!' He glanced over at Fado, who grinned and gave him an eager thumbs-up.
The last five goats were predictably lazy, but with some careful maneuvering and yelling, Link finally got them into the stable. He grinned at Fado.
"Good job, Link! But don't forget about the last one, over there!" Link blinked in surprise, and followed the direction Fado was pointing in. Sure enough, one last goat relaxedly meandered while chewing on the grass. Link sighed. 'This goat had better be faster than the others are.' He spurred Epona into a fast yet controlled trot in an arc, so they would come around behind the goat. As they drew nearer, the goat slowly strolled away from them. 'Goddesses, this must be the oldest of the herd.' Twice, he had to yell, before the old goat could be convinced to move at anywhere near a reasonable pace. 'It's getting late, I'm tired, Epona's tired, Fado's probably tired, you're probably tired, please just go in the stable.' As if to spite him, the goat turned to the side just as it neared the stable, forcing Link and Epona to circle around once more. 'I wonder if anyone would know some good goat meat recipes,' Link mused to himself, startled by the sudden growling from his stomach.
Finally, the goat sauntered into the stable, and Link let out a loud, annoyed sigh. Fado walked over, grinning.
"Thanks, Link! It's nice to have someone help me out once in a while, you know?" Link absentmindedly nodded. 'Sure thing, Fado. Sure thing.' Then the rest of what Fado said dawned on him. 'Wait, once in a while?' Fado once again sheepishly rubbed at the back of his neck.
"If it's not too much, I'd like to ask you to become my permanent ranch hand. 'Fraid I can't pay ya that much, but I might be able to pay you five or six Rupees a day. How does that sound?" Setting aside his annoyance with the goats, Link pondered the proposition. 'Five or six Rupees a day.. It isn't much, but that's more than I have at the moment, and I do need a job..' Hesitantly, he nodded. Fado grinned.
"Great! I won't be asking you to herd them all the time, just when I can't seem to handle them, ya know?" Link nodded again, almost entirely distracted by the gnawing feeling in his stomach. Fado suddenly yawned.
"Well, see you tomorrow, Link. Think I'm gonna go hit the hay. Thanks again!" With that, he walked away to his house in the village below. Link nudged Epona into a casual walk, in the same direction Fado had left. Halfway down the path, he was struck by a realization. 'Fado said he'd only ask me to herd them when he can't seem to handle them.. That means every time he can't get them to move their lazy rears into the stable, doesn't it.' He sighed. 'At least I'll be getting paid for it, I guess.'
As he rode Epona through the village, he happened to see Rusl also walking back to his own house for the night. Rusl waved to Link, grinning.
"'Night, Link! Try not to get run over by the goats this time, eh?" Rusl continued walking, lightly chuckling to himself. Link sighed. 'Goodnight, Rusl. Yes, very funny.' Soon enough, he and Epona were back at his house. He jumped down from the saddle, then removed it and the bridle so that the leather would be kept in good condition. 'Shame Fado's probably going to be asking me to herd the goats every day from now on, I'll have to be really careful with these.'
Epona strolled over to her usual napping-place, a small grassy nook nearby the tree his house was built around. Contentedly, she began to nibble at the grass near her hooves. Link smiled as he climbed up the ladder, gently carrying the saddle and bridle so they wouldn't drag across the wood.
Inside his house, he carefully hung up the saddle and bridle, then made himself dinner and sat at the table. As he ate, he reflected on the day's events. 'All things considered, not too bad of a day. I still got to enjoy the nice weather we've been having, despite those goats. And I have a job now, so I'll finally have some Rupees to spend.'