Chapter 1: Celebration at the Lon Lon Ranch
Mido sat at the edge of the grassy field in the Lon Lon Ranch. He looked on as the multi-colored flames of the bonfire lit up his surroundings in flickers of red and blue, and green and gold, and shone upon the faces of the partygoers. There were songs, and laughter, and music, and dances, and talk of old times and of the future. Folks from every corner of Hyrule came to celebrate the Hero's victory over Ganondorf and the lifting of a great evil from the world. Hylians were met by Zora, Gorons from Death Mountain, Gerudo from the desert valley, and by the Kokiri – who for so long had not dared to leave their forest home. The Kokiri girls hopped and skipped and danced by the bonfire. The boys ran around the field, climbed on fences, and examined the ranch animals. All were having a good time. But Mido did not join in the fun – what did he have to celebrate?
Talon broke open a crate of the ranch's new signature brew, Chateau La'lon, to the welcome reception of the guests. He held a bottle of the vintage milk in the air. "To the Hero of Hyrule!" he declared to the crowd before chugging from the bottle, some of the milk running down his neck. Hero? Mido thought, then why didn't he come back? Why didn't she come back? It was probably his fault. Partygoers lined up for a bottle of the special drink, and Talon and his ranch-hand, Ingo, passed them out.
Having waited his turn, Remi stepped up to the crate. "I'd like a drink too, sir," the Kokiri boy said.
Talon looked down at the child, whose orange bushy bangs all but obscured his eyes. "This drink is only for adults. How old are you, boy?" Talon asked.
"I don't know," Remi replied in an upbeat manner.
"Oh, wise-guy, eh?" Talon said. Then after a pause, "Well, what the heck, it's a special occasion." And he handed the forest child a bottle. "Next!"
Mido was not next, but he got his soon enough. "I wouldn't drink that if I were you, sonny," an old woman said. She was leaning on a crate and petting what appeared to be a tiny tiger. "You can call me Granny. I own the potion shop in Kakariko Village east of here. I create the finest medicines and potions in Hyrule, and I know a strong brew when I smell one. And that there bottle will dull the mind and turn the stomach."
"Thanks for the warning," Mido said. Then he walked over to the entrance of the ranch, where things were a bit quieter, sat down on the ground, and began the task of consuming the entire contents of the bottle.
Fado, the blonde Kokiri girl, did not drink. Noticing how late it was getting, she decided to check on the other forest children and see when Mido wanted to lead them back to their village. She spotted one of her friends immediately – one of the Kokiri twins.
"Rela!" Fado shouted to the orange-haired Kokiri girl, "get off that man's lap!"
Rela looked up over the rim of the bottle of Chateau La'lon she was sipping from; the bottle was large, and she held it with both hands. "Thank you for the drink, sir!" Rela said to the carpenter, Shiro, who was gazing at her and petting her head. She handed him the bottle, hopped off his lap, and skipped back over to the bonfire.
"Rela…" Shiro said softly as he watched her go. His gaze was interrupted by Fado as she crossed in front of him, her head turning to the side as she walked to keep him in view, eyes narrowing.
Then Fado heard Lati's voice from the other side of the ranch – he was not Remi's twin, though he might as well have been, as most of the Kokiri boys bore a striking resemblance to one another. "Look, look," Lati called to anyone who would listen, "I'm gonna ride a horse!" He made an uncoordinated dash towards a tan stallion from behind.
"Wait, don't!" Malon cried from the crowd as she saw what was about to happen, but it was too late. The stallion bucked its hindlegs and kicked Lati, laying him out on the green grass.
"Oh!" gasped Fado. "Idiot." Malon, Fado and a few other Kokiri ran over. Bruised in body and pride, Lati decided that this patch of grass was as good a place as any to lay on for the next hour or so.
Back at the entrance, people began leaving. Some said "goodbye" to Mido as they passed, some did not. Eventually, Mido set down his now empty bottle and began to stumble out into the dark. He walked down the hill towards the western edge of the Castle Town wall, he had no particular destination in mind. "Hero of Hyrule," he muttered. "Bah, I bet you did it just to impress her. Saria…" He kept walking until he came to the lower part of Zora's River. There, he stopped and sat down by the water's edge. The sand was cool and damp, and there were many small rocks scattered about. There were little bits of debris from Castle Town in the water too, that had fallen into the moat and had been slowly shifted and moved down stream by the current over the years. Without much thought or deliberate action, Mido picked up a rock and tossed it into the water. It did not go very far, landing in the shallows and stirring up some mud. More than just mud. Something caught Mido's eye in the rippling water. The rock had loosened another object in the mud, moving it into view. Mido leaned forward and crawled a little closer to investigate, doing his best to focus his clouded vision. He reached into the water and picked it up. To his astonishment, he recognized the object; he knew exactly what it was. It was one of Saria's ocarinas, part of a twin set. "This… is the ocarina Saria gave to Link when he left," Mido said quietly to himself. "It was a symbol of their friendship. Heck, it might as well have been her wedding vow. And he threw it away!" Mido dipped the ocarina back in the water and shook it about to wash the mud out. He heard a voice and running footsteps coming from behind.
"Mido!" Fado called as she approached from the direction of the ranch, "are you alright?"
Mido tucked the ocarina into his shirt so that Fado would not see it.
"Mido!" Fado said again as she reached him, "what are you doing out here? You shouldn't be wandering. We don't know what's out here. Come on, we need to go back to the ranch." She took Mido's arm and pulled him up.
"Nah…no," Mido slurred, "I don't wanna go back. Not while they're celebrating him." He stumbled and rocked a little as he spoke.
"Come on, Mido. We need to get back to the others and see about going home. And you should not be drinking that Chateau stuff."
Fado led Mido back to the ranch with some difficulty. Mido would break away from her with a flail and a mumble that she could not decipher. And he would occasionally blurt out: "No…I hate him!" in a yell, or "Saria…" in a whimper. When they entered the ranch, Fado helped Mido take a seat against the barn wall facing the field. Then she set to rounding up the other Kokiri.
By this time most of the partygoers had left, and things were growing quiet. Fado found the Kokiri girls, Falati, Mifa, Mimi, and the twins, Rela and Mila, sitting and talking by the now much smaller fire. "Fado!" Mila said when she saw her approaching, "wasn't this fun? I've never seen so many people before!"
"Of course you haven't, silly," Falati said. "We've never left the forest before!" The girls giggled.
"This was pretty exciting," Fado said, "but we need to get back to the forest. Mido isn't feeling well."
"Is he sick?" Mifa asked.
"He just drank too much of that Chateau stuff," Fado replied.
"It was gooood…" Rela said playfully.
"Rela, stop it!" Mila said with a smile and a little push.
"No, you stop it!" Rela said jokingly and gave a little push back.
The girls went back to their giggling, and Fado walked over to where the boys were. They were gathered by the stone silo at the back corner of the ranch. Lati, still recovering from his bout with the horse, was seated upright with his back against the wall. Remi sat next to him. Lado, the Kokiri shopkeeper, lay passed out nearby with an empty Chateau La'lon bottle beside him. The Know-It-All brothers, Solati, Domi, and Timi, milled about, still searching the exciting new environment for discoveries.
"How are you doing, Lati? Got pretty banged up?" Fado asked.
"Ahh, why didn't anyone tell me horses were mean?" Lati said.
"Hey, Fado," Remi said getting her attention, "fun party, huh? Where's the boss?"
"Yes, it's been great, but it's time for us to go. Mido's over there," she said pointing to the slumped over, self-appointed, boss of the Kokiri. "Do you think you guys can make it back to the forest?"
"I could if I had to, but I don't know about Lati." Then looking over at Lado, "And I don't think he's moving until morning, ha, idiot."
Fado glanced at the motionless Lado, then over at the girls, who were now all lying on their backs with their heads together in a rough circle, then across the ranch at Mido, who was still slumped over and seemed to be mumbling. "Yeah, we're not going anywhere tonight," Fado said mainly to herself. Malon was walking over to them now. She had her typical cheery appearance, mixed with signs of fatigue from a long and eventful day.
"Hello Ms. Malon," Fado greeted her.
"Hello, um, Fala, is it?" said Malon.
"Pretty close, it's Fado. You hosted a wonderful festival. But my friends are really tired. Would it be okay if we slept here tonight? We can sleep right here outside, and we won't be a bother. We'll leave as soon as the sun comes up."
"Of course you can. It's a nice night, not too cold… I'll bring you kids out some blankets anyway."
The blankets came out. Mido slowly made his way over to the boys, his hand clutching the ocarina in his shirt.
"Hey, Boss," Remi said, "something wrong with your stomach, or your chest?"
"Nah, it's nothing," Mido replied. "Thanks," he said to Malon who handed him a blanket.
"If the Chateau La'lon is making your chest burn you should stay sitting up for a while. I hope you didn't drink too much. Talon should not have let you kids drink any. I'll have to have a talk with him!" Malon said.
"Come tuck in next to me, Fado," Rela said as she got under her blanket. Fado took off her belt and boots and slid in next to Rela.
"Time to get warm!" Mila said, jumping in on the other side of Fado and snuggling up. "This is so much fun, I hope we can do it again!"
