Chapter 3
Talon walked out into the morning sun as it rose in the horizon and stretched happily. Today was going to be a fine day. Whistling, he walked to the large doors of the barn and prepared to open them. Ingo met him at there, fighting off the tendrils of sleep that still grabbed at his eyes. "Good morning Ingo!" Talon greeted happily. Ingo muttered a small hello and grabbed the left barn door. Grabbing the right, Talon heaved with his farmhand and pulled them open. Together, they led the horses into the corral.
Being a rancher his whole life, Talon loved the feeling of hard work. He knew Ingo felt the same way, but he wished that Ingo would think more about the feelings of people other than himself. Oh well, he thought, can't have everything in life. Talon leaned against the fence, his arms wrapped around the top, and enjoyed the cool morning. It would get very hot today. Hearing a small yawn behind him, he turned and saw Malon walking sleepily toward the corral. "Morning sleepy head!" he said cheerfully.
Malon gave him an award-winning smile and hugged him. "Good morning, Daddy," she greeted. "Daddy, can I play abit? Before I start on my chores?" She gave him another flashing smile and he laughed.
"Sure, go play. Is Link coming here today?" Malon nodded excitedly. "Then go ahead. When he gets here, I'll put you both to work on your chores. That way, they'll get done even faster!" Malon whooped happily and ran off to play. Ingo only shook his head in disgust. He hated children. Talon, however, loved kids and he loved Link, like a son. In fact, Link was getting old enough to live on a ranch and share in the work. He planned to talk with Link about that.
The day passed slowly, with both Talon and Ingo hard at work. Talon was busy making sure the cows were getting fed properly when Link ran up into the ranch. "Hey Ingo, Talon," the eleven year-old greeted. Ingo didn't acknowledge him.
"Hello, fairy boy!" Talon replied, laughing when Link shook his head in annoyance.
"You know I hate it when you and Malon call me that. Besides, I don't have Navi around that much anymore," he said.
Talon nodded, chuckling and said, "Malon is off playing. She want to do her chores with you."
Link nodded. "Sure."
"Look, Link, speaking of working and chores…" Talon began, but he was interrupted by a piercing scream across the ranch. Malon! "Malon!" he screamed. He, Ingo and Link flew around the enclose, racing toward the source of the sound. They found Malon on the far side, her pale face even whiter than usual. She was on the ground in a sitting position and pointing toward the fence. Talon ran up to her and looked to where she was pointing. There, on the ground, was a dead boy.
* * *
The dawning sun gave light and life to Hyrule Castle. As the first rays touched down, people slowly began to stir within its confines. Cooks left their beds, ready to feed the hungry castle community. Maids began their cleaning duties. Castle guards stretched tiredly, continuing their rounds and awaiting their relief.
The sun also shone in the highest tower, where princess Zelda made her home. Her eyes blinked as the sun shown in on her. Normally she could call in a servant to close the curtains. Even Impa would be more than happy to take care of it. She lived in the next room. But the nine year old was getting up anyways. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and hopped down. Upon reaching the offending window, Zelda opened it and looked down at her land. The beautiful sight would customarily bring a smile to her face.
Not today, however.
"Zelda?" Impa said, as she entered the room. Her silver hair was matted down from the long night. Walking through the extravagant room, Impa walked up next to Zelda and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Why don't you go back to bed? There's nothing today that requires you immediate attention."
"Yes, there is," was her frosty reply. Zelda looked up at Impa, her normally warm eyes gone cold. "He's back."
"Who?" Impa asked, almost not wanting to know.
"The dhampire." She said.
Impa stood there for a moment, still like a statue, and then turned and said with a breaking voice, "I'll gather the Sages."
* * *
It was Link that first approached the body. He walked forward slowly, as Talon held Malon and Ingo was losing his breakfast elseware. Leaning over the body, Link noted the platinum colored hair that fell down to his shoulders. And the rounded ears, which startled him. But not nearly as much as when the body moved. Malon screamed again and Link nearly fell over. He was so sure that the boy was dead. His skin looked pasty and pale. Link moved closer again and realized that the boy was breathing shallowly. He laid a hand on the boy's forehead. Not only was the boy alive, he was burning up with a fever!
"Talon, get over here! He's still alive!" Link exclaimed. Talon rushed over and picked up the boy. He nodded to Link and ran toward the house. Link walked over to Malon. "You okay?" he asked, concerned. She gulped but nodded. Link helped Malon up and the two walked toward the house.
"Ingo, come on," called Talon as he approached the front door. But Ingo only stood there shaking his head.
"No way, Talon. I'm not going near that thing." Talon gave him a venomous look.
"Then you can find another job!" Ingo stiffened at the rebuke, then sighed and opened the front door. He followed Talon up the stairs and down the hallway. They entered one of the spare bedrooms and Talon laid the boy down. Ingo brought in a bucket of cool water, which he used to soak a small cloth in and laid it over the head of the child.
Link and Malon entered the house just as the other two were descending the stairs.
"Ingo, go find a healer in Kakariko." Ingo simply shrugged and hurried out the door. He didn't like this at all. Some suspicious looking kid with round ears, appearing on the ranch and disrupting his work? Shaking his head again, Ingo mounted his horse and sped off for Kakariko.
Link sat down with Talon. "Is he going to be okay?"
"I'm pretty sure he'll be fine, Link," Talon said. "He had a pretty warm forehead, but I'm confident that a healer like Nyah or one of her apprentices wouldn't have any trouble."
Link nodded. "Did you see his ears?"
"Yeah."
Link looked at Talon, then at Malon. "This is going to be strange. You really should go talk to the king." Talon agreed.
"Malon, go watch over the boy. Link and I will finish up all the important work that has to be done. No sense putting it off any more then we have to," Talon said. Malon nodded and made her way up the stairs. Link and Talon went outside to work and wait for Ingo.
* * *
A small room just on the edge of Hyule town was filled with the oddest sorts of peoples. A Zora, a Goron, a Gerudo, a Kokiri, a Sheikah and two Hylians sat in seven chairs, forming a circle. Though an unusual bunch, they were in fact the most important people in the land. Not the war council, nor the High council, not even the King were as important to the future of Hyrule. The seven men and women met always in secrecy, never in the exact same place. When they met, it meant that a decision that could change the fate of Hyrule was being discussed. Today was no different.
"Are you absolutely sure he is back?" Nabooru asked her friend.
"Positive," Zelda answered. "Have my dreams ever been wrong?" The others shook their heads. No, whenever Zelda had a prophetic dream, it always came true. She wasn't called the Sage of Destiny for nothing. "I don't know where he is. But we must find him, and soon." The other sages nodded in agreement.
"Nothing unusual from the desert," Nabooru said, "but I'll tell the girls to keep their eyes open."
"The guys would have noticed him for sure," Darunia said. "I mean, we hardly get any visitors that high in the mountain. Except my bro, of course."
"What about you?" Zelda asked Ruto. She frowned. "Nothing. The Zoras have strict orders to report any trespassers in our domain. Only a member of the royal family, or Link, is permitted in there."
All eyes fell on Saria, who fidget nervously under their stare. Though technically older than most of the others in the room, Saria was still very much a child. She stood up from her chair and cleared her throat. "Well, he never set foot in the forest." The others nodded and turned to continue the conversation. "B-but…" she continued, drawing back their attention. "The Great Deku Tree did speak to me of him." Zelda leaned forward. "He said, 'take care and know who the real enemy is. The dhampire is not he.'" The other sages sat there in shock. The dhampire was not the real enemy?
"Are you sure that's what he said," Darunia replied. Saria nodded.
"That's a LIE!" Zelda hissed. Impa looked at her. She was shaking with rage. "That thing was a monster. What makes him any different now?"
Saria looked at Zelda and said, "Well, I was shown a vision of him from The Great Deku Tree. I saw a young boy." Zelda's face drained of color.
"A boy?" she said. Saria nodded again.
Sighing, Rauru, who remained quiet up till now, stood. "We don't know where he is, so until then, there is nothing for us to accomplish here." The sages murmured agreements. Zelda said nothing, her head lowered and her eyes fixed on her lap. She had not told them everything. She probably never would. What she also saw in that dream was too horrible to describe. "I believe we all should go home and wait for him to surface." Zelda's head shot up and she opened her mouth to speak, but Rauru beat her to it. "I know you would want us to scour the land and search everywhere." Zelda nodded, concurring with him. "With what the Deku tree said, maybe we should wait."
Her eyes hardened. "He could still be dangerous."
"He very well could be," Rauru agreed. "But don't know for sure. Did your dream foretell that?" Zelda hesitated, and then shook her head in defeat. "Well, then we will wait. Agreed?" The Sages, sans Zelda, nodded their heads and the meeting ended.
* * *
Nyah Kairo had been preparing medicine to sell when she was interrupted by Ingo, who pounded on her door and demanded to see her.
"What is it, Ingo? I'm busy," she had called out.
"Some sick kid appeared at the ranch. Could ya get over there so we can get back to work?" he said. It really annoyed her that someone could be so callous toward a sick child, but that was Ingo. Gathering her potions, she made mounted her horse and sped off for the ranch. Ingo was already gone, having done his job. Nyah had wonder about him. How could he ever hope to make real friends if he always acted so insensitive?
Nyah had treated many people in her life, but this one was by all means different. She had never seen a child so pale, or with round ears like that. Still, a child was a child, no matter what they looked like.
Pushing her long, blonde hair into a ponytail, she lifted the young lad into a sitting position, tipped up his head and poured the potion down his throat. Hopefully, the potion would work on him. His odd appearance made her wonder, however. The child thrashed for a moment, then settled down with a cough. Nyah sighed and laid him down on the bed. Turning around, she addressed Talon.
"He should be alright. I hope. Where did you say you found him?"
"On the far side of the corral," Talon answered, "right up against the fence."
"And you have no idea how he got there?" she asked. Talon shook his head. Nyah looked at the clothing that the child had worn, which was now lying on a nearby table. It was made of expensive material, that much she could see. And Nyah had never seen that style of clothing in her entire life. "Well, let's just wait. That's all we can really do." So the group headed downstairs, Talon talking on and on about a new colt that had been born recently. Nyah listened attentively, as did Link. Malon didn't seem interested, so she stayed in the room with the young man.
As the time passed, Malon studied the face of the child. He had a long nose and wide mouth that seemed unsightly. She wished he would wake up so she could see his eyes. Tired, Malon rested at the foot of the bed, sitting on the floor and resting her head on the bed. It didn't take her long to fall asleep.
It was in the middle of the night when the boy finally woke, his face gleaned with sweat and his startled eyes looking about. He immediately saw a girl, younger then he, asleep. How did I get here? he thought. Looking past the girl, he saw the closed door. Slowly the boy moved his feet over the bed and slid down. He misjudged his strength, however, and fell over with a thud. A murmur escaped the lips of the girl and she opened her eyes.
The bed was empty.
Immediately awake, Malon jumped up and looked around. There, in the corner, was the lad, curled up in a ball. A frightened look was on this face. Malon drew near him slowly, her face masked with concern. "Don't be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you." The young man started to shake less. "Good," Malon smiled, "my name is Malon. What is yours?"
The child hesitated, still shaking slightly, then said, "A-Adrian. Do you work under Shaft?"
Malon looked confused. "Who?"
Adrian gave out a cry of relief and threw his arms around Malon. She felt his tears wetting her blouse and hugged him back. She held him that way for the rest of the night as he sobbed into her.
* * *
The next day found the two of them in the living area of the house. Malon stood in front of her father, Nyah, Link and Ingo. Adrian stood behind her, still looking scared. "His name is Adrian. He says he's from a place called Walakiya." Adrian nodded in agreement. Malon continued, "He was brought here by a wizard named Shaft, who planned to use him to take over Hyrule."
Link blinked in surprise. "Never met a wizard named 'Shaft' before. And I met a bunch of weirdoes in my time." Malon shrugged at this and turned to explain to Adrian.
"That's Link. He's the Hero of Time. He saved everyone from a guy named Gannondorf. A real ugly guy that also tried to take over Hyrule."
Adrian looked skeptically at Link, who didn't look like a hero to him. "How old are you?" he asked.
Link laughed. "Actually, I'm only eleven, but I DID save Hyrule. It's a long story."
Adrian nodded, though he didn't understand. "I am 12," he said simply.
"So where IS Shaft, and how did he bring you here? And what's Walakiya like?" Link was firing off the questions one-by-one.
"Hey!" Malon cried. "Give him a chance to answer. He's going through a tough time right now!"
"It is alright, Malon," Adrian said. "I do not know where Shaft is, or how he brought me here. I do not even know where HERE is. Where exactly IS Hyrule?"
Link shrugged. "Well, we're just north of the Great Sea, east of Catalonia, and west of Medina. There's nothing but mountains and small villages to the north. To tell you the truth, that's all I really know. I never heard of Walakiya." Adrian nodded sadly.
"What about your parents? Where are they?" Nyah asked.
Adrian's eyes watered up and he muttered, "I do not want to talk about that." Nyah seemed to understand. She took Talons arm and walked to the corner.
While they were talking, Link walked over to Adrian. "I think I should take you to meet someone."
"Who?" Adrian asked.
"Her name is Saria. She is a good friend of mine, and she's a Sage to boot!"
"What is a Sage?"
Before Link could answer, Nyah took Adrian's arm. "Adrian, we want to take you to meet someone. He's the king of Hyrule."
Adrian hesitated, and then looked at Malon. Should I? his eyes asked her. Malon smiled and nodded. "Link will go with you. Won't you?"
Link smirked. "Sure, I'll go with you! You'll even get to meet princess Zelda! She's a babe." He chuckled as he dodged Malon's blow. Even Adrian smiled slightly.
Talon laughed. "Okay you clowns. We'll be leaving as soon as Adrian's feeling better."
"Oh, I am actually feeling very well, thank you," Adrian stated.
"Great!" Talon exclaimed, "Then we'll leave in the morning."
The group broke up then. Link left for the forest, saying he'd be back the next morning. Ingo and Talon left to start on the work that needed to be done around the ranch.
"Are you going to be okay, Adrian?" Nyah asked.
"I will be fine, thank you," he answered. Nyah bade them farewell then, promising to meet them at Hyrule market the next morning. After she left, Malon and Adrian were alone together. Adrian sat down on a bench. The sun filtered down from the window behind them, creating two small shadows across the floor shaped like children. He watched as he left shadow walked up to the right.
"Are you sure you're okay?" The left shadow reached out and stroked his hair. That caress felt so much like his mother's…
"I am frightened, Malon. I am so frightened," the right shadow confirmed. "You cannot imagine what I have been through."
"Tell me," replied the left shadow, "please, tell me."
Adrian stood up, blinking back his tears. "I cannot."
Malon smiled. She walked behind him and wrapped her arms around him. "It's okay. If you need someone to talk to, I'll be here for you. I promise."
He nodded with a smile. "Thank you."
"Go rest. You'll be going to the castle tomorrow. I'll be finishing up my chores, then I'll bring up some food, okay?" He nodded and walked up to his room. Closing the door behind him, Adrian walked up and sat on the bed. He brought his knees up to his chest, curling up into a fetal position.
"Mother," he cried. The tears started flowing.
* * *
Well, another chapter done. Sorry about the LONG wait. Fanfiction.net is experiencing problems… again. Sigh, I can't blame them though. I just didn't write for a while. I got my greedy claws on a new book and I just soak up new books. It was Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. Damn, once I get into a book, ALL productivity shuts down in my life, LOL. Anyway, let's review. I switched over to Hyrule and what's this? Adrian, a young lad who happens to be a dhampire appeared. What does this mean? Stay tuned and find out! Oh, and for you action fans, just wait until the next chapter. Mason is going to show off his MAD SKILLZ!
