Lon Lon Ranch is in the Ordona Province. It sits in the Hyrule Plains, some distance north of the provincial border of the same name. It's autumn, the flowers are gone and the trees are asleep. The sun burns tepid. The green fields have turned to amber, and the leaves have turned scarlet and gold. Crisp winds cut through the plains, and with it comes the promise of rain from the mountains.

"I hope it rains."

"You just wanna run through the puddles like a weirdo."

"Shut up!"

"Malon, don't you be mean to Link."

"Yes, Daddy."

The red sun rose late into the morning on the ranch. Clouds dotted the sky above, but a dark heap covered the northern mountains. Talon squatted over a sawhorse, pushing a block plane back and forth across a thick lumber board. Shavings peeled out of the lumber and drifted down to the dirt. A six-year old Malon, and a four-year old Link sat on the edge of the pasture, watching the cows graze.

"Well, I hope it doesn't rain," Malon continued.

"Why?" asked Link.

"I want it to stay nice and warm, just a little longer before it gets cold. It would be if there was one summer day left before winter started."

"I guess..."

Talon looked up from his sawhorse to the north range. The wind bit at his face.

"You may both get your wish. That storm'll probably reach us by this time tomorrow."

"That means we can play my games today, and your games tomorrow! How does that sound, Link?"

"Yeah!"

"Hold it, you two. Are you done with your lessons?"

"...Yes," Malon finally answered. Link gave no response.

"Don' lie to your old man, girl. You two go up an' finish yer lessons first."

"Aww, but they take forever and they're so boring!"

"Don't whine at me, or I'll give you even more! Just cause we live on a ranch, don't mean my kids won't get as good an education as I can give."

"Ugh, fine!"

Malon stomped into the house, banging the door behind her.

"Don't slam the door, will ya?! Good grief, girl."

Talon went back to his sawhorse, stopped, and looked back up. Link stared at the mountains.

"You okay, boy?"

"Do you…really think it will rain?"

"Sure as I've been running this ranch for ten years. I'll get you a horse of your own if it don't."

"Really?"

"You bet!"

Link smiled and turned back to the mountains.

"You'll have plenty of time to appreciate the scenery later, boy," Talon said gently. "Go up and get your lessons done with Malon. You'll finish 'em a lot faster if you two work together."

"Yes sir." Link walked toward the house and opened the door, but stopped halfway, staring inside.

"What's wrong, son?"

"I thought I heard― never mind." He shook his head and stepped inside, closing the door behind him gently.

"Weird kid. Good, but weird."

Talon returned again to his work on the sawhorse. Another biting wind cut into face.

"What the―" Talon looked up from his work. "East wind? Where'd that come from?"

He turned toward the direction of the wind, and found he was staring into the Ordona Woods.

"That's odd. The wind don't come from the forest this time a year."

He watched the trees for a moment, then shrugged and bent back over the sawhorse. He hovered over it with the plane, but didn't move.

"It's too quiet."

Talon dropped the plane, ran to the house, and ripped the door open.

"Kids!" He called up the stairs. "You okay up there?"

"Yeah dad! We're fine!"

"Ya sure?"

"Yes sir!"

"…Well, all right!"

He closed the door and walked back uneasily. The cows and horses stopped grazing, and one by one, laid comfortably in the cool grass. The cuccos stopped pecking and huddled together at the far end of the pasture.

"The boy wishes for rain," said a soft female voice. "Rain he will have."

"Who said that?!"

Talon turned to the sound of the voice, but saw no one.

"Whoever you are, you're trespassin'! Show yourself!"

"Please forgive me…"

Talon whirled around and froze. A golden creature was bent forward and sniffing the nose of one of the young mares. The horse sniffed back and nickered in consent. The two rubbed faces.

"Thank you…"

Talon adjusted his eyes and recognize the creature's silhouette. His breathing grew shallow when he realized a wolfos was on his property.

"GIT!" He roared, flailing his arms and running toward it. "GO ON, GIT!"

The wolfos looked at Talon with eyes slightly open, flicking its ears. It rose from its haunches and started a slow stride toward the far end of the ranch.

"That's right, git off of m―!"

Talon's mouth gaped when the wolfos' body began to fade. The light shining from its body grew dimmer and dimmer, until it disappeared and was gone as soon as it had arrived.

"What in the…"

"Daddy!"

Malon and Link came running toward Talon from the house.

"We finished our lessons! Daddy! Can you hear me?"

"Wha― Oh, yes darlin'. Dang, you two must be gettin' smarter to finish your lessons so fast."

"Daddy, don't―"

Malon stopped to look at one of her sheets of paper.

"Daddy, don't 'pay…trun…ize, us."

"Patronize? Now what in God's name do you mean by that?"

"It was one of our vocab words, sir."

"That's not what I meant. Why're you sayin' I'm patronizing you?"

"Because, Daddy. You sent us to do our lessons almost three hours ago."

"Three hours?!"

"They were difficult lessons, sir."

Talon looked away from the children and saw that the animals had returned to their grazing, and that the sun had risen into high noon.

"Darlin', what time is it?"

"It's 1:30, Daddy."

"1:30?! But how?!"

"That's what the clock in the house said before we came out here. Did you take a nap while we were doing our lessons, Daddy?"

"Maybe that's it," Link nodded.

"A… a nap?"

"Yeah, Daddy. Remember, there were times you forgot what time it was, cause you were taking a nap? Maybe this is one of those times."

"Yeah…that musta been it."

"Sir, since we finished our lessons, can we go see the animals?"

Talon nodded silenty, and took the papers from Malon and Link as they raced shrieking nto the fields. He ignored their happy screams instead of telling them 'ta keep it down.' He didn't feel his feet moving him back to the barn, where he opened the bay doors and sat on the first haystack he could find.

"It musta been a dream. It's the only way it coulda happened…That's gotta be it."

He sat on the stack with his face cupped in his hands. A spider scurried by, and he watched it run across the dirty floorboards. It stopped in front of his haystack, paused, and followed its walls around the corner until it was out of sight.

"But…I don't remember falling asleep. I was workin' on the sawhorse, then I'm chasin' a wolfos outta the field, and next thing I know, it's three hours later? That don't make sense at all, even if it was a dream. Ain't no dream like I ever had before, either.

"Maybe… maybe I just need more sleep or somethin'. I have been kind of tired lately. It's hard runnin' this ranch by myself, and it ain't gonna get easier till those kids are old enough to start helpin' out. But… I wasn't feeling tired this morning. Why would I go and nap in the middle of the day when I weren't even feeling tired?

"That dream couldn't have been a normal dream. There was more to it than that. God, look at me, I've started talking to myself! I'm goin' nuts! Gotta get my mind off of this. Gotta get back ta work."

Talon returned outside to the sawhorse, found where he'd dropped the sawhorse, and went back to work. Link and Malon chased cuccos across the pasture while he watched them from a distance.

A few hours went by before Talon finally stopped at the sawhorse and wiped the sweat from his brow. A fat water drop plopped on his bald head, so he glanced up and gave a surprised yelp.

"What in bloody hell?!"

The sky was slate grey. Not a spot of blue could be found.

"Where did that come from?!"

"Daddy," Malon stood beside him. "I think it's gonna rain. We better get the animals in."

"Ah, right! You and Link chase the cuccos into the house while I get the cows an' horses loaded up in the barn. Hurry, now."

The animals were pulled and chased into their homes with little time to spare. The rain was plummeting and soaking through Talon's clothes when he led the last cow into the barn and made a dash for the house. Link and Malon quickly closed the door behind him as he jumped inside.

"Whew!"

"Dad, we're hungry."

"You are? That's right, you didn't get any lunch, did ya?"

"No, sir."

"Alrighty then. Let's see if I can't whip somethin' up."

An early dinner was made and devoured. Afterward, Talon and his two kids were left to deal with rainy day boredom. Talon sat in a heavy recliner and started chipping at a woodblock. Malon found a box of paper dolls hiding under her bed. She brought the box into the living room, and spread the dolls out across the floor, putting outfits together and immediately taking them apart.

"Link," she said. "I'm bored. Come play dolls with me."

When Link gave no answer, she turned to look at him. He sat on the edge of a chair in front of the window, staring outside and refusing to look away.

"Link, you've been staring out that window since dinner. What's wrong with you?"

He still gave no answer, so Malon huffed and returned to her dolls. Talon's knife chipped, Malon's paper fluttered, the second hand of the clock ticked louder than normal, and the rain fell.

"Sir?"

Malon and Talon looked up at Link's first word in over an hour.

"Can I go outside? Please?"

The words from Talon's dream returned to him, and he trembled.

"'The boy wishes for rain. Rain he will have.'"

"You know what? Go ahead."

Before Malon could get a word in, Link leapt from the chair. He raced down the stairs, ripped the front door open, slammed it behind him, and was outside in seconds.

"Good grief, was it with y'all slammin' the doors?"

"Will he be okay, Daddy? He went out barefoot. What if he catches a bad cold, like Mommy did?"

"He's strong enough to fight off a cold if it comes to that. I wasn't gonna keep him locked up for much longer, anyway. He was gonna go outside, with or without my permission."

"Would he have gotten in trouble if he'd gone outside without asking?"

"Maybe, but it wouldn't have mattered."

"Why not?"

"That boy loves rain more than he's afraid of getting punished."

Link felt his heart fill to the brim as he jumped over and in puddles, spinning with arms wide open. He laughed, fell flat on his back, and grinned as the rain splashed onto his face. He tried to run between the drops, failed, and didn't care.

He stopped his playing at one point to gaze into the sky. He smiled, closed his eyes, stretched out his arms, and sunk his wet toes into the mud. He pretended to be a forest tree, rooted to the spot, and imagined having deep roots in the soil, thirstily drinking up the water. He pretended his fingers were leaves that caught the droplets on their surfaces, and dropped the water only when it got too heavy.

Malon peered out the window and watched him shyly as he played.

"Whatcha doin' over there, Malon?"

"Daddy?"

"Yes, Darlin'?"

"Do you think…Link loves us?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I know he isn't my blood brother, but he's still my brother. And your son. At least that's how I feel."

"That's how I feel, too."

"Do you think he thinks so, too?"

"Of course he does."

"Do you think he loves us as much as he loves rain?"

"You can't compare apples and oranges, darlin'."

"Apples and oranges?"

Malon's angry frown was so exaggerated Talon couldn't help laughing.

"You can't compare things that don't have nothing to do with the other. Link loves the rain, and Link loves us. He can't love one more than the other, cause it don't work like that. People love things, like rain, way different than they love people.

"Besides, even if he could love rain more than people, having all the rain in the world wouldn't make up for having nobody in the world to love you back."

Malon's frown dissipated, and she looked back out the window.

"Daddy?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

"i love you too, darlin'."

Sitting on the roof of the house, the invisible wolfos listened in on Talon and his daughter. At his words, it gave a mournful whine. It curled into a ball, and with tears falling from its eyes, watched Link as he played in the rain.

That night, when everyone had gone to bed, Talon tossed and turned in his sleep. The voice of the wolfos called to him in his dreams over and over.

Please…I beg of you…Meet me in the forest…You will find me there…