Disclaimer: Does anyone out there actually think that I DO own the rights to Zelda? If so,
please come forward so you can be shot.
Author's Notes: Nothing for today, except this: Remember boys and girls, in order for
this story to make sense, we have to pretend that Majora's Mask never happened. Easy
enough? Okay then, let's continue, shall we? When last we left our hero, he was just
leaving Lon Lon ranch in pursuit of Malon. When last we left our heroine, she was, well,
gone.
Malon's Quest-Chapter Four. . .by Illjwamh
Malon rode as fast as she could across Hyrule Field. The sun was coming up, and she
knew Link would be waking up around this time. She felt horrible about leaving him
behind, but this was something she had to do on her own. She just wished there had been
time for him to show her how to use the weapons he had brought her. She would just
have to learn on her own.
Just then, Malon heard a familiar tune. Apparently riding Epona allowed one to hear
the song played on Link's ocarina just as the horse could. Epona's ears perked up and she
started to raise her head for a reply, but Malon prevented it.
"Sorry, girl," she said to the horse. "You can't answer him. I promise I'll get you back
to him as soon as I can, but for now you have to forget about him, okay?"
Epona seemed to understand, because she lowered her head and continued galloping
through the field. It was going to be a long day.
It had been only a few minutes since Link had set out from the ranch, but it was
already long behind him. He was running so fast that he almost collapsed from
exhaustion. He took only a moment to catch his breath, and then started off again at a
more reasonable pace. The only trouble was, he had no idea where he was going. He
hadn't a clue which direction Malon headed off in, he could only assume she went in the
general direction they saw the thieves leaving in the previous day. Also, he would never
be able to catch up with Epona on foot.
After resting a second time, Link realized this and came up with a new plan. If he
wasn't fast enough as he was, then he would have to become faster. And there was only
one way he could think of to do that. So when he began running again, it was not in the
direction he believed Malon to be going in, but rather a bit to the south, toward Gerudo
Valley. Only there could he acquire what was needed to catch up with Malon.
"Let's take a break, okay Epona?" It was beyond midday now, and Malon still could
see nothing but open field in all directions. She never expected it to be this big. By the
way Link talked about journeying from one land to another, she'd figured she'd be able
to get to the edge of the field in one day.
"I guess it's gong to take a little longer," she thought out loud. "I hope I can find this
hideout. Link never told me about it, so does that mean even he doesn't know where it is?
Maybe I can find somebody and ask them, but where am I going to find anybody way out
here?" She continued to wonder as she ate her lunch, which was very meager indeed. She
wanted to conserve as much food as possible. When she was finished, she got back on
Epona and the two set off once again.
As the sun began to go down that evening, Malon began to get worried. She could see
the cliffs that were the western border of the field, but they were still a long way off.
There was no way she would make it there before dark. Deciding to rest for the night and
pick up her journey the next day, she found a tall tree and dismounted. After a short time
she had built a fire, and fed herself and Epona. The sun had gone down, but she still
couldn't sleep. Many things were weighing on her mind. First, of course, was Sinjo. She
was worried about what he might do to her father. Second, she was worried about what
might come out in the field after dark. She wasn't really afraid, more just nervous about
the unknown. Third, she was worried about Link. Now that she had stopped for the night,
he could catch up with her. He had gone many nights without sleeping before, and if he
traveled all night then he would surely catch up to her by morning.
If he did come, then all was lost. He would take her to the Gerudos, and her chance to
avenge her father on her own would be gone. Worse however, was that she would have to
face him after betraying his trust and leaving without telling him. She'd felt guilty about
it all day, and she didn't think she could deal with him just yet.
After what felt like an hour, she decided to get up and gather some more wood. The
whole field seemed eerily silent except for her soft footsteps. Then, all of a sudden, she
heard a loud, lurching noise. She turned around and to her horror, saw two undead
creatures walking toward her.
Link continued his run to the valley. His sword was drawn and he slew the stalchilds
as he ran. He didn't even need to think about it anymore. He had battled these ancient
warrior spirits so many times that it had almost become routine. Besides, they only ever
came out two at a time, so what was the worry? His only concern right now was getting
to the valley and then finding Malon.
Malon screamed. She saw the two skeleton-like things coming at her, and she couldn't
think what to do. Then, she remembered that she had a sword. She drew it out, and
dropped its front to the ground as soon as she held it out. It was insanely heavy! She
could barely lift it, even with two hands, and that meant that she could not use her shield.
"I don't understand," she groaned as she managed to lift up the sword and hold it in
front of her. "This isn't any bigger than Link's, so why can't I lift it? He makes it look so
easy!" Growing up on a farm, she had always been in good physical shape, but this
moment made her appreciate how strong Link really was.
As the creatures approached her, Malon began to sweat nervously. 'Now how do I use
this thing?' she thought. Making up her mind to just wing it, she lifted the sword high
with all her might, Closed her eyes, and brought it down on the first creature that came to
her. She felt the weapon make contact, and when she opened her eyes, the creature's head
was cut clean off! . . .But it was still attacking her. She managed to dodge a blind swipe
of its hand, and she swung the sword at it again. This time, it cut the creature through the
middle, and it fell apart and collapsed to the ground.
Malon would have been tremendously pleased with herself, and for a quick instant she
was, until she remembered that there was another of these things just a few steps away
from her. She turned to face it, all fear temporarily gone in a surge of adrenaline, and
brought her sword up again. This time, she made two quick swipes. The first cut off the
creature's head, and the second hit it in the middle and caused it to fall apart like the first
one.
Malon let out an exhausted sigh. She fell to the ground, still clutching the handle of
her sword, and tried to catch her breath. She soon decided she'd best return to her
campsite, in case more of these things showed up.
'Great,' she thought as she stood up. 'Now that's just one more thing to be afraid of.'
She started to walk off, and as she did, she heard the same sound as before. She turned
around and screamed again. There were three this time, and one was right behind her!
As yet another stalchild fell before him, Link heard a familiar rumbling sound behind
him. He turned around, and as he'd expected, came face to face with a big stalchild.
These required a bit more time and effort to kill. It figured, as time was something he
currently had very little of.
"Why now?" he asked aloud. "Why can't you just let me travel in peace?" he yelled at
the creature slowly walking toward him. He raised his sword and shield and prepared for
battle.
Malon was breathing heavily and her eyes were wide with fear. No matter how many
of these things she killed, more just kept popping up! Two more were coming at her at
this very moment, and she no longer had the strength to lift her sword.
"I don't believe it!" she whimpered. "This is it! This is the end of my journey! I
haven't even been gone one day!" She now was wishing that Link was here, that he had
followed her and just now caught up, and was going to slay these evil monsters and save
her.
"I should've listened to you, Link! I shouldn't have left without you!" She fell to her
knees, and just as a bony hand reached up to strike her, she heard the neighing of a horse,
and looked up to see Epona trample her assailant. The horse looked down at her, and
understanding immediately, she climbed on. They rode over the other monster, and
Epona took her back to the campsite.
Hopping down, she let out a sigh of relief. She looked around, and didn't see any more
monsters. She sighed again, and then took a few steps over to the tree to put down her
things. She jumped when Epona neighed a warning, but it was too late! Another skeleton
creature popped out of the ground in front of her! She shrieked, and pulled up her sword
out of reflex. It cut through the demon, slaying it. She looked down at its remains, and
she understood. Her footsteps summoned these creatures! That was why she had never
encountered them before, because whenever she had been in the field at night, she'd
stayed on the road where footsteps were nearly silent.
She grinned for the first time since sundown. "You won't be catching me off guard
anymore," she said. She then sat down right where she was and sprawled out on the
ground, intent on finally getting some sleep.
Link blocked another attack with his shield, and then lashed out with his sword,
lopping the stalchild's right arm off.
"HA!" he taunted. "Let's see if you can get me with one arm!" As if taking him up on
the challenge, the stalchild swung out his left arm, only to have it be sliced off as well.
"Now I've got you!" Link said. He took a mighty swing, and slashed the beast through
the midsection, causing it to fall apart.
'I'd better take a break for a minute,' Link thought. 'I don't want to tire myself out.'
So he waited for a short time, and then started off again. When he did, as expected, more
stalchilds rose from the ground. Unexpected however, was the great number of them.
There were at least fifteen of the things, and they al were coming at him.
"What's this!?" Link exclaimed. "You're only supposed to come out two at a time!"
He held up his sword and shield, and prepared to fend them off. They came at him, and
he slew them one after another. But to his great dismay, their numbers weren't
decreasing. Quite to the contrary, in fact. For every stalchild he defeated, two more rose
up to challenge him.
"This is crazy!" he shouted. For the first time in years, he was actually beginning to
experience fear. It was a strange emotion; he had almost forgotten what it was like. He
looked around him, and saw stalchilds in every direction. They were advancing on him,
and there was no way he could defeat them all. He was just about to give up hope, when
he spotted a tall tree off to his left. Quick as a flash, he put his sword and shield away,
whipped out his hookshot and pulled himself up onto the highest limb. As soon as his feet
were planted, he put his hookshot away, jumped backward out of the tree, flipped once,
and landed nimbly on his feet. He was quite a distance from the group of stalchilds, who
were already turning toward him.
Being extremely careful not to move his feet, he reached behind him and pulled out
his magic scroll that the Sheikah Impa had given to him all those years ago. On it was a
small picture of every item he'd ever carried in his journey, with the exceptions of the
ones he always held at hand. He moved his finger until it was over the picture of his
boomerang, something he had not used in a long time. He held his finger over the picture
and concentrated, and soon the boomerang appeared in his hand. He rolled up the scroll
and put it back under his belt underneath his shield, and held his boomerang high over his
head.
"They say throwing one of these things is just like riding a horse," he mumbled to
himself. "Once you learn how, you never forget. Let's just hope they're right."
He reached back, and then let fly with his trusty old weapon. Its trajectory was perfect,
and it went right into the group of stalchilds, cutting the heads off a good number of
them. It spun around, and he caught it neatly in his hand.
"That wasn't so hard," Link said. "Now I just have to do it a couple more times." So
he attacked three more times with his boomerang, until all the stalchilds were without
head. He'd even managed to destroy some of them. He put his boomerang back in its
place by touching it to its picture on the scroll, and then began to make his way toward
the clueless group of warrior spirits. He walked slowly and on tiptoe so as not to summon
more of them, and he took out his sword and began slashing them down. It took a while,
since there were a lot of them, and he pretty much had to wait for them to find their way
to him, but finally he had defeated them all. He dropped to the ground, exhausted.
"What happened, I wonder?" he asked himself after a minute or so of catching his
breath. "They've never come in such large numbers before. What were. . ." his eyes shot
open and he sat bolt upright when a realization hit him. "Malon!" She was in the field
too, and she wouldn't know how to fight these things! He stood, and after only a
moment's hesitation, he took off at a run once again. This time however, he didn't hear
anything.
'Are they all gone?' Link wondered, not really believing that such a thing was
possible. 'Maybe I scared them off.' He shook his head. That was even more unlikely
than his last idea. He finally decided not to question his good fortune, and keep going. It
was hard to run because he was so worn out, but he made himself do it. He had to help
Malon. Off in the distance, he could see the stone walls of the field that surrounded the
entrance to the valley. With luck, he could be there by late morning. He jumped over a
rock that was in his path, and when he landed he heard a very unpleasant noise. He turned
around and to his horror, looked up at his latest challenge, towering over him just a few
yards away.
*******************************************************************************************
Not much happened in this chapter, huh? Well, it gets better. Can you guess what Link
has to fight now? If you don't find it painfully obvious, then you weren't paying
attention. I've got chapter 5 half written already, and I promise it won't take as long as
this one did. Last but not least, I'd like to think that I've put to rest the debate over
where Link holds all of his stuff.
please come forward so you can be shot.
Author's Notes: Nothing for today, except this: Remember boys and girls, in order for
this story to make sense, we have to pretend that Majora's Mask never happened. Easy
enough? Okay then, let's continue, shall we? When last we left our hero, he was just
leaving Lon Lon ranch in pursuit of Malon. When last we left our heroine, she was, well,
gone.
Malon's Quest-Chapter Four. . .by Illjwamh
Malon rode as fast as she could across Hyrule Field. The sun was coming up, and she
knew Link would be waking up around this time. She felt horrible about leaving him
behind, but this was something she had to do on her own. She just wished there had been
time for him to show her how to use the weapons he had brought her. She would just
have to learn on her own.
Just then, Malon heard a familiar tune. Apparently riding Epona allowed one to hear
the song played on Link's ocarina just as the horse could. Epona's ears perked up and she
started to raise her head for a reply, but Malon prevented it.
"Sorry, girl," she said to the horse. "You can't answer him. I promise I'll get you back
to him as soon as I can, but for now you have to forget about him, okay?"
Epona seemed to understand, because she lowered her head and continued galloping
through the field. It was going to be a long day.
It had been only a few minutes since Link had set out from the ranch, but it was
already long behind him. He was running so fast that he almost collapsed from
exhaustion. He took only a moment to catch his breath, and then started off again at a
more reasonable pace. The only trouble was, he had no idea where he was going. He
hadn't a clue which direction Malon headed off in, he could only assume she went in the
general direction they saw the thieves leaving in the previous day. Also, he would never
be able to catch up with Epona on foot.
After resting a second time, Link realized this and came up with a new plan. If he
wasn't fast enough as he was, then he would have to become faster. And there was only
one way he could think of to do that. So when he began running again, it was not in the
direction he believed Malon to be going in, but rather a bit to the south, toward Gerudo
Valley. Only there could he acquire what was needed to catch up with Malon.
"Let's take a break, okay Epona?" It was beyond midday now, and Malon still could
see nothing but open field in all directions. She never expected it to be this big. By the
way Link talked about journeying from one land to another, she'd figured she'd be able
to get to the edge of the field in one day.
"I guess it's gong to take a little longer," she thought out loud. "I hope I can find this
hideout. Link never told me about it, so does that mean even he doesn't know where it is?
Maybe I can find somebody and ask them, but where am I going to find anybody way out
here?" She continued to wonder as she ate her lunch, which was very meager indeed. She
wanted to conserve as much food as possible. When she was finished, she got back on
Epona and the two set off once again.
As the sun began to go down that evening, Malon began to get worried. She could see
the cliffs that were the western border of the field, but they were still a long way off.
There was no way she would make it there before dark. Deciding to rest for the night and
pick up her journey the next day, she found a tall tree and dismounted. After a short time
she had built a fire, and fed herself and Epona. The sun had gone down, but she still
couldn't sleep. Many things were weighing on her mind. First, of course, was Sinjo. She
was worried about what he might do to her father. Second, she was worried about what
might come out in the field after dark. She wasn't really afraid, more just nervous about
the unknown. Third, she was worried about Link. Now that she had stopped for the night,
he could catch up with her. He had gone many nights without sleeping before, and if he
traveled all night then he would surely catch up to her by morning.
If he did come, then all was lost. He would take her to the Gerudos, and her chance to
avenge her father on her own would be gone. Worse however, was that she would have to
face him after betraying his trust and leaving without telling him. She'd felt guilty about
it all day, and she didn't think she could deal with him just yet.
After what felt like an hour, she decided to get up and gather some more wood. The
whole field seemed eerily silent except for her soft footsteps. Then, all of a sudden, she
heard a loud, lurching noise. She turned around and to her horror, saw two undead
creatures walking toward her.
Link continued his run to the valley. His sword was drawn and he slew the stalchilds
as he ran. He didn't even need to think about it anymore. He had battled these ancient
warrior spirits so many times that it had almost become routine. Besides, they only ever
came out two at a time, so what was the worry? His only concern right now was getting
to the valley and then finding Malon.
Malon screamed. She saw the two skeleton-like things coming at her, and she couldn't
think what to do. Then, she remembered that she had a sword. She drew it out, and
dropped its front to the ground as soon as she held it out. It was insanely heavy! She
could barely lift it, even with two hands, and that meant that she could not use her shield.
"I don't understand," she groaned as she managed to lift up the sword and hold it in
front of her. "This isn't any bigger than Link's, so why can't I lift it? He makes it look so
easy!" Growing up on a farm, she had always been in good physical shape, but this
moment made her appreciate how strong Link really was.
As the creatures approached her, Malon began to sweat nervously. 'Now how do I use
this thing?' she thought. Making up her mind to just wing it, she lifted the sword high
with all her might, Closed her eyes, and brought it down on the first creature that came to
her. She felt the weapon make contact, and when she opened her eyes, the creature's head
was cut clean off! . . .But it was still attacking her. She managed to dodge a blind swipe
of its hand, and she swung the sword at it again. This time, it cut the creature through the
middle, and it fell apart and collapsed to the ground.
Malon would have been tremendously pleased with herself, and for a quick instant she
was, until she remembered that there was another of these things just a few steps away
from her. She turned to face it, all fear temporarily gone in a surge of adrenaline, and
brought her sword up again. This time, she made two quick swipes. The first cut off the
creature's head, and the second hit it in the middle and caused it to fall apart like the first
one.
Malon let out an exhausted sigh. She fell to the ground, still clutching the handle of
her sword, and tried to catch her breath. She soon decided she'd best return to her
campsite, in case more of these things showed up.
'Great,' she thought as she stood up. 'Now that's just one more thing to be afraid of.'
She started to walk off, and as she did, she heard the same sound as before. She turned
around and screamed again. There were three this time, and one was right behind her!
As yet another stalchild fell before him, Link heard a familiar rumbling sound behind
him. He turned around, and as he'd expected, came face to face with a big stalchild.
These required a bit more time and effort to kill. It figured, as time was something he
currently had very little of.
"Why now?" he asked aloud. "Why can't you just let me travel in peace?" he yelled at
the creature slowly walking toward him. He raised his sword and shield and prepared for
battle.
Malon was breathing heavily and her eyes were wide with fear. No matter how many
of these things she killed, more just kept popping up! Two more were coming at her at
this very moment, and she no longer had the strength to lift her sword.
"I don't believe it!" she whimpered. "This is it! This is the end of my journey! I
haven't even been gone one day!" She now was wishing that Link was here, that he had
followed her and just now caught up, and was going to slay these evil monsters and save
her.
"I should've listened to you, Link! I shouldn't have left without you!" She fell to her
knees, and just as a bony hand reached up to strike her, she heard the neighing of a horse,
and looked up to see Epona trample her assailant. The horse looked down at her, and
understanding immediately, she climbed on. They rode over the other monster, and
Epona took her back to the campsite.
Hopping down, she let out a sigh of relief. She looked around, and didn't see any more
monsters. She sighed again, and then took a few steps over to the tree to put down her
things. She jumped when Epona neighed a warning, but it was too late! Another skeleton
creature popped out of the ground in front of her! She shrieked, and pulled up her sword
out of reflex. It cut through the demon, slaying it. She looked down at its remains, and
she understood. Her footsteps summoned these creatures! That was why she had never
encountered them before, because whenever she had been in the field at night, she'd
stayed on the road where footsteps were nearly silent.
She grinned for the first time since sundown. "You won't be catching me off guard
anymore," she said. She then sat down right where she was and sprawled out on the
ground, intent on finally getting some sleep.
Link blocked another attack with his shield, and then lashed out with his sword,
lopping the stalchild's right arm off.
"HA!" he taunted. "Let's see if you can get me with one arm!" As if taking him up on
the challenge, the stalchild swung out his left arm, only to have it be sliced off as well.
"Now I've got you!" Link said. He took a mighty swing, and slashed the beast through
the midsection, causing it to fall apart.
'I'd better take a break for a minute,' Link thought. 'I don't want to tire myself out.'
So he waited for a short time, and then started off again. When he did, as expected, more
stalchilds rose from the ground. Unexpected however, was the great number of them.
There were at least fifteen of the things, and they al were coming at him.
"What's this!?" Link exclaimed. "You're only supposed to come out two at a time!"
He held up his sword and shield, and prepared to fend them off. They came at him, and
he slew them one after another. But to his great dismay, their numbers weren't
decreasing. Quite to the contrary, in fact. For every stalchild he defeated, two more rose
up to challenge him.
"This is crazy!" he shouted. For the first time in years, he was actually beginning to
experience fear. It was a strange emotion; he had almost forgotten what it was like. He
looked around him, and saw stalchilds in every direction. They were advancing on him,
and there was no way he could defeat them all. He was just about to give up hope, when
he spotted a tall tree off to his left. Quick as a flash, he put his sword and shield away,
whipped out his hookshot and pulled himself up onto the highest limb. As soon as his feet
were planted, he put his hookshot away, jumped backward out of the tree, flipped once,
and landed nimbly on his feet. He was quite a distance from the group of stalchilds, who
were already turning toward him.
Being extremely careful not to move his feet, he reached behind him and pulled out
his magic scroll that the Sheikah Impa had given to him all those years ago. On it was a
small picture of every item he'd ever carried in his journey, with the exceptions of the
ones he always held at hand. He moved his finger until it was over the picture of his
boomerang, something he had not used in a long time. He held his finger over the picture
and concentrated, and soon the boomerang appeared in his hand. He rolled up the scroll
and put it back under his belt underneath his shield, and held his boomerang high over his
head.
"They say throwing one of these things is just like riding a horse," he mumbled to
himself. "Once you learn how, you never forget. Let's just hope they're right."
He reached back, and then let fly with his trusty old weapon. Its trajectory was perfect,
and it went right into the group of stalchilds, cutting the heads off a good number of
them. It spun around, and he caught it neatly in his hand.
"That wasn't so hard," Link said. "Now I just have to do it a couple more times." So
he attacked three more times with his boomerang, until all the stalchilds were without
head. He'd even managed to destroy some of them. He put his boomerang back in its
place by touching it to its picture on the scroll, and then began to make his way toward
the clueless group of warrior spirits. He walked slowly and on tiptoe so as not to summon
more of them, and he took out his sword and began slashing them down. It took a while,
since there were a lot of them, and he pretty much had to wait for them to find their way
to him, but finally he had defeated them all. He dropped to the ground, exhausted.
"What happened, I wonder?" he asked himself after a minute or so of catching his
breath. "They've never come in such large numbers before. What were. . ." his eyes shot
open and he sat bolt upright when a realization hit him. "Malon!" She was in the field
too, and she wouldn't know how to fight these things! He stood, and after only a
moment's hesitation, he took off at a run once again. This time however, he didn't hear
anything.
'Are they all gone?' Link wondered, not really believing that such a thing was
possible. 'Maybe I scared them off.' He shook his head. That was even more unlikely
than his last idea. He finally decided not to question his good fortune, and keep going. It
was hard to run because he was so worn out, but he made himself do it. He had to help
Malon. Off in the distance, he could see the stone walls of the field that surrounded the
entrance to the valley. With luck, he could be there by late morning. He jumped over a
rock that was in his path, and when he landed he heard a very unpleasant noise. He turned
around and to his horror, looked up at his latest challenge, towering over him just a few
yards away.
*******************************************************************************************
Not much happened in this chapter, huh? Well, it gets better. Can you guess what Link
has to fight now? If you don't find it painfully obvious, then you weren't paying
attention. I've got chapter 5 half written already, and I promise it won't take as long as
this one did. Last but not least, I'd like to think that I've put to rest the debate over
where Link holds all of his stuff.