Disclaimer: If I owned Zelda, I'd die of happiness.  I'm obviously not dead (or am I? hehe), so put two and two together. Duh.

Hey guys, sorry for the lack of updates.  I'm not dead!   Mwa ha ha ha ha…sorry all you people who hoped I'd never come back, but being dead is no fun.  Oh well.  This chapter's gonna be pretty long, cuz I've been working on it for a while…SECURE YOUR SEATBELTS!

Link:  Seatbelts?

Aria: What are those?

Phantom: You're crazy…

Me: Moo…VOLDEMORT IS A KLEENEX!  MWA HA!  Don't ask…

Muses: We won't!

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We speed away from Gerudo Valley, and gallop full-speed towards Lon Lon Ranch.  I look behind, and see Gerudo Valley disappearing quickly.  Then Link stops Epona suddenly. 

"Link?"  Then I look ahead…and see a huge fire.  "The Ranch is burning!"  I scream, and jump off Epona.  I run towards the Ranch, and Link gets off Epona and follows me.

As I get closer to Lon Lon Ranch, the air gets more smoky, and soon I'm coughing and gasping for air. 

Then, as soon as I reach the Ranch, I'm greeted by a horrifying sight.  Ingo is standing in the middle of the corral with a burning torch, surrounded by fire, and laughing maniacally. 

"Ingo!  What are you doing?!"

"Well, well.  Hello again, Malon!  I was hoping you would come back…so I could give you this!"

With that he grabs a stick, lights it on fire with his torch, and throws it at me.  I dodge it, and Ingo grabs five random twigs and lights them, then throws them all at me as hard as he can.   I move to the side, and they land behind me.  Suddenly, with a yell, he throws the torch at me.

Once again I dodge and it misses me by an inch, but it sets all the grass around me on fire.  I look down to see I'm standing on a patch of dirt that can't be burned, so the fire circles me and Ingo, but does not close in.

Hey, wait!  Me and Ingo?  The grass he's standing on should be burning…correction, the dirt patch he's standing on…the dirt patch he's sharing with me.  Damn.

Ingo grins insanely and starts to advance on me, so I do something I've never done before.  I raise my hand, ball it into a fist, and punch that evil man in the face.

"That's for treating me like a slave!"

Then Ingo receives a slap.

"And that's for kicking Dad out of the Ranch!"

This time he staggers back as a kick hits his stomach.

"That one's for working for the most evil man alive…Ganondorf!"

Ingo looks up at me, clutching his stomach and wiping his bleeding nose.  Then a mad fire lights his eyes up.

He takes a small knife out of his pocket.  "Well, then, Malon…"

"That's for being impudent!"

He slashes my arm.

"That's for never helping me work while your lazy father was around!"

He makes another slash, but I dodge.

"And that's for insulting the great Ganondorf!"

Ingo stabs with the knife, and misses by an inch.  He stumbles, and I kick his legs.  He falls over, but makes a wide slice with his knife.  It cuts my leg, and I yell.  He uses this millisecond to get up, and lunges for me.  I jump out of the way, then kick his hand.  The knife flies out of the ring of fire.

Ingo grabs me around my neck, and starts to squeeze.  I punch him in the stomach, roll away from him, then trip him.  I quickly pin him down, but he uses both legs to push me off.  I land with a thud, and he runs towards me.  I roll between his legs, and he can't stop, so he charges headfirst into the fire.

Ingo dashes right through the ring of fire, and falls to his knees on the outside.  He gasps painfully, then grabs something from the ground…the knife.  In one final effort, he throws the knife and it hits me in the side.  I scream in pain as he collapses and doesn't move again.

As I start to weaken, I squint outside the fire.  Link is there, but he's turned away from me.  Then I see why.  He's fighting three huge men, and barely succeeding.  I try to listen to what they're saying.

"Give us the girl!" One man yells.

"What do you want with her?" Link asks, blocking a sweep from a huge broadsword.

"The Great Ganondorf wants her!"

"Never!"

As Link says this, one of the three men sneaks behind him.  He raises his sword, and without thinking, I wrench the dagger out of my side, and throw it as hard as possible.  My aim is true, and the man falls to the ground, dead.

The two others spare as glance at the dead man, and it proves fatal.  With a couple of quick thrusts from the Master Sword, they join their comrade in death.  Link wipes his forehead, then runs inside the house.  He comes out with a bucket of water, and quickly douses the flames around me.

"Link!  Who were they?"

"I don't know…Malon, you're hurt!"

I know Link will make a huge fuss about my injury, so I cover it.

"No, I'm fine."

"Liar."

He hands me a bottle of red potion.  For some odd reason, my glance strays towards Ingo…and I see his chest rise and falls slowly.  On the ground next to him is a tiny ruby, and I pick it up.

"Link, what's this?"

Link studies it for a second.

"It's…something that Ganondorf uses to control people…where did you find it?"

"Next to Ingo."

"Is he dead?"

"No."

And with that, I pour the red potion down Ingo's throat.  Link gives me an alarmed glance, and I grin at him.

Ingo sits up slowly.

"Ah, miss Malon.  Where is Mr. Talon? Oh dear…what happened to the Ranch?  I could clean it if you want…Oh my, is that young Link?  You've grown!  So glad to see you again."

My grin widens.  Link glares at me.

"I told you he wasn't bad."

"Me, bad, miss Malon?  What did I do?"

"Uh…Nothing…"

Link taps my shoulder.

"Malon."

"What?"

"Those three men, did you see them? Well, they said that Ganondorf wanted you for something."

"And?"

"Do you have any idea what that might be?"

"No."

Suddenly, Ingo's face gets thoughtful.

"Oh, you mean those dead men there?"

"Yes, Ingo."

"They've been coming around the Ranch for years, looking for miss Malon.  And they were always carrying swords…"

Link's face darkens.

"Malon, I'm afraid you may be in great danger."

I stare at Link for a minute. 

"So I can't stay at the Ranch?"

"I don't think so."

"So will I have to go stay in Kakariko Village?"

"It won't be safe enough."

"So where should I go?"

"Malon…I think you're going to have to come with me on my quest."

I'm silent for a minute, then I nod.  Suddenly Ingo pipes up.

"Miss Malon is in danger? Then I must protect her, it's my job.  I'm coming too!"

Link grins, and we all stand up.

"So where to?" I ask.

"Kokiri Forest and the Forest Temple!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Hehe.  Weird twist of plot…oh well.  I like the idea of Malon being an adventurer!

Coming soon:

Chapter 7: The Forest Temple

Happy birthday-er- reading!