Thanks to the few of you who waited patiently. (2=couple, 3=few, right?) Here's the next chapter!
~Enjoy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was nice to have rupees in my pocket again. The tomb wasn't bad—you didn't have to be a genius to get in. I mostly scrounged around for chump change and came up with 200 rupees or so. I didn't bother to go after the real treasure; spending a day facing down ghosts just didn't seem like the best start to a long journey. No, I was looking for a nice, paced travel, especially since we were going back to Hyrule. It'd been a long, long time since I had been "home." I'd need all the time I could to collect myself for my return there. Even more, since the Princess wanted to speak to me personally.
Epona did not feel the same way. She's a smart little one; she knew exactly where we were off to, and she couldn't wait to get there. She took the bit in her teeth and yanked hard at my grip.
"Steady, you old hen," I muttered, drawing a disagreeable snort from her. "I'd prefer not to be totally exhausted when we pull into town." She sidestepped, and when I didn't relent my grip on the reigns, she pulled a full circle. She wouldn't mind galloping day and night until we reached our destination, but I wasn't too keen on that. "Chill…" I hissed at her, only causing her to whinny and toss her head. Epona doesn't usually fight with me—I rarely even use the bridle I finally trained her to wear because I got sick of people questioning me about not having one—but when she does fight me, I never win. That's the way it is with girls, regardless of species, I suppose. "Fine," I sighed. "We'll run for the day, but we will stop for the night, understand?"
Of course she did. She flipped her mane once and quickened her pace with a satisfied nicker. I guess if she were happier galloping, I was happier with her galloping. It would make me actively ride her, and then I'd be tired when we reached the inn and I'd sleep without that obnoxious and unnecessary mind racing that keeps me up late. Either the mare knows what's best for me, or I'm just really good at making the most out of my situations.
I'd think the former, actually. Since I met Epona when we were both knee-high to a grasshopper, we'd grown increasingly fond of each other. Once I'd returned to my so-called "normal" life after my ordeal as the Hero of Time, I took every opportunity I had to visit her at LonLon Ranch. This was because I'd remembered my past—er future that never happened…uh, anyway, I remembered how much I enjoyed traveling with this horse. I mean how many horses out there are both incredibly fast, full of fight and stamina, and witty to boot? Every time I arrived, she would run to the fence and greet me. Later, when she grew old enough, since she was too spirited for Malon and her father Talon to handle, they let me try my hand at breaking her in, which I somehow managed. I suppose this explains why Epona is so poorly trained. In any event, I was very soon the only one who could ride her, so Malon decided to give her to me, despite Talon's and particularly Ingo's loud and impressive protesting about how Epona was a very valuable horse and had the best in breeding on their entire ranch and so on and so forth. I had offered to pay, but Malon would have none of it. So I took my horse and went far away on many great adventures and endeavors and never really came back to LonLon. This really pissed Malon off, since she had been assuming that when I was always coming to visit Epona, I was secretly using the horse as an excuse to see her.
Yes, this is what growing up is all about. Trying to understand the opposite sex. Personally, I don't see anything wrong with taking people at face value, but it would seem everyone has hidden motives. I guess I must too, although I'm not quite certain what they are.
Long story short, Epona and I traveled at our compromised ride hard for the day, sleep hard for the night pace, and reached the outskirts of the Gerudo's Desert—or Haunted Wasteland—in five days. This place slowed us down significantly, for first of all, I had to get off of Epona and lead her against the harsh, sand-laden winds, and second we had to wait a couple hours past nightfall for the Gerudo to let us through.
"Would you just let me speak to Nabooru?" I called as loud as I could over the wind.
"She's not here, young man, we've explained this!"
"Look, she let me out, so she'd let me in!" I called back. "I'm a Hylian, see? I need to get back to my homeland!"
"Maybe she'll let you in when she returns, then!" they replied.
"You can't leave me out here all night!"
"Watch us!" they laughed. Epona stamped her foot impatiently, giving me an idea.
"Hey! Put up a few targets! I'll ride by and shoot at them; if I make them will you let me pass?" They seemed to like that idea and called out their agreement and disappeared from sight for a moment. I mounted Epona and readied my bow, knowing that this would be difficult, what with the cross winds, but mounted archery was nothing new to the two of us. The moment I pulled out my bow, she steadied herself. For a moment, I wondered if I should use the special ability of the Gerudos—the Ice Arrow, which I would have learned couple of months before if the future had turned out differently—but then I decided that I didn't need more suspicion from them than I already had. Eventually, three targets appeared
"Alright, go!" they called. Archery is second nature to me, so it didn't surprise me as much as it did them that I got all three targets, despite the strong winds. I think I even bulls eyed the first one. And so they opened the gate, as promised, and escorted me to the bridge out of their territory. I thanked them, dryly perhaps, and rode out into the field of Hyrule with a dark feeling settling over me. You see, I had been planning to spend the night in the city of Hyrule before going to see the Princess in the morning, but now it was very late, and they were sure to have raised the drawbridge to the city gates by now. Which meant the only place left to stay was LonLon Ranch. Lovely.
Either Epona didn't sense my discomfort, or she was delightedly ignoring it, probably the latter, knowing her. She lifted her feet in a merry canter up the hill towards the ranch.
"You look silly," I told her, but that didn't seem to bother her much. She slowed only to make the turn into the outer gates of the ranch and then finally came to at the gates to the pasture, which were closed up. The horses were probably stabled already. "Enjoying the scenery, eh?" I asked as I hopped off, landing with an orchestral clank of the many metal materials I had strapped away on my back. "Feel free to let the nostalgia sink in." However, she tossed her head and followed me back to the farmhouse door. I knew that Ingo would have turned in by now, being the early riser that he was, and with any luck, Malon would have as well. Talon would be awake, as he stays up doing who knows what and sleeps a good portion of the day. I turned my hand over and wrapped the door with the back of it. I smiled to myself when I noticed that I did this. The Kokiri knock like this to show respect to the tree from whence the wood came. Making a fist at something is violent, you know?
I heard rustling from within and footsteps coming toward the door, light and brisk footsteps. Not the heavy ambling ones of Talon, if you catch my drift. So I wasn't at all surprised when the door opened to leave me face to face with the short redhead, giving me an advantage over her.
"Oh…the Fairy Boy," she blinked back her astonishment. I'm used to the nickname now, although I don't like it. But I kinda lead her on, I guess, so I should be happy she's not calling me worse.
"Sorry to show up with no notice," I scratched the back of my head. "I'm on my way to the castle town, but it got a little late…I was hoping I might stay here the night, if it's not a bother."
"Oh!" she snapped into an energetic smile. "It's no bother at all! You're always welcome here!" She bolted past me to start coddling my horse. Don't you love it when people lie through their teeth? "Hi, there, Epona! How're you? Eating well? Fairy Boy, I'm going to clean her up and put her in with the others. Go on ahead inside!" That's Malon, for you. I nodded to her as she led my very, very happy mare to the stables full of yummy munchies. Well, at least she isn't jealous of the horse. I knocked my boots against the doorstep to get the dust off of them and then let myself into the house, closing the door behind me. I made my way down the front hall to the main room. Pipe smoke greeted me as I went, and when I entered I saw Talon lounging in a chair with his feet propped up reading something. He glanced up at me and took the pipe out of his mouth.
"Staying the night?" he stuck the pipe back in his mouth before I even answered.
"Yeah."
"Malon saw to yer animal first, I see. Well, sit down, while yer waitin'." And that's Talon for you. I thankfully removed my shield, sheath, and quiver, as well as all the things attached and took a seat in an overstuffed chair across from him. My rear had been less than happy from the constant stress it had been subjected to over the last few days in that old saddle and welcomed the change readily. My back too, was happy for a little comfortable support. I guess my sigh of relief was a little over done.
"Now, don't look too happy," Talon chuckled, "or she'll be sure to move you once she gets back."
"Thanks for the warning," I smiled back.
"That's what I don't miss about my old missus," he nodded and turned the page. "Always after me to get up and do this, or that, or the other."
"You sure you don't need a new missus?" I asked, grinning.
"I've got Malon," he chuckled again and then looked meaningfully up at me. "Or are you planning on taking her away?"
"Not at all," I met his gaze. "I'm just on my way to Hyrule Castle and I missed the gate, that's all."
"I always figured as much," he looked back down at the papers in his lap. "Ingo an' me still wonder sometimes how we can our money's worth out of that mare." I could practically feel my hackles rise as I jolted straight out of the chair.
"Look, I offered to…" I bit myself back as I remembered the mere 40 rupees I had left for food and board in the castle town. Epona was easily worth 600, and probably closer to 1,000. I looked away and slumped into the chair. He didn't have the right to bring this up, but with that much money on the line, who could blame him?
"Calm down, son," he chuckled again. "I can see you're as poor as dirt. Taking a vagabond's horse is lower than taking a beggar's bowl."
"Is it, then?" I muttered and dropped my chin into my hand. He has a point. People are more likely to take pity on the town beggar than on some stranger.
"It was a fair trade," he continued but then puffed at his pipe a bit.
"Huh?"
"A horse for my daughter's heart," he explained. "She's gotten better since you've been gone." I stared at him awhile, feeling very misplaced. When I had felt reluctant to return to LonLon Ranch it was because I knew there'd be tension between Malon and myself. I had no idea that there'd be tension between Talon and myself. "'Sides," he continued, "you wanted the horse."
"Look," I began to stand up, readying myself for a night under the stars where I had little chance of sleeping undisturbed. "I didn't come here to cause trouble."
"You came here honestly enough," he waved at me to sit down. "I'm glad. You're not the settling type, and that's not good for my little girl, that's all. I just wanted to make sure. You're more than welcome to stay the night."
"Thank you," I relaxed again and breathed a sigh of relief. I looked back at Talon as he chuckled again.
"Bloody shame, though," he smirked as he stared into the distance, probably at a past memory.
"You're a good man," I smiled at him, drawing his attention back to the present, "and a better father. I hope Malon realizes."
"She doesn't," he laughed and then nervously went back to his pipe and reading. She doesn't, huh? Ruto is that way too, the Zora girl who tried to get herself engaged to me because she didn't like her father's choice in suitors. She hated the way he was always trying to do what he thought was best for her. I despise Ruto for that. Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, and it's true that there are bad parents, but I never had any parents, good or bad. I despise people who can't appreciate having parents that care about them.
"Fairy Boy, what is it you've done to Epona?" Malon asked as she came into the room. "She seems as if she's run for days, but isn't the least bit tired!"
"She's happy to be back in Hyrule," I replied. "The wide world gets lonely after a while." I realized how that sounded after I said it, but decided to stay calm and not act as if I'd said anything out of the ordinary. Luck was not with me, however, for you'd have to be blind not to notice how bright Malon's eyes got once the words left my mouth.
"Oh?" she started, but I turned to Talon.
"As nice as it was to talk to you Talon, I'd better turn in," I said, standing up and stretching. "Zelda sent me an urgent message, so I need to get to the castle as soon as possible."
"Won't you eat first?" Malon jumped in again. My stomach growled noisily at the mere mention of food before my mouth got the chance to protest.
"Maybe a little something…"
"Fried eggs and milk? And maybe some toast?" she grabbed my arm and dragged me to the kitchen. "I can see if we have some stew left over…"
"Just bread, thanks," I pulled my arm away and leaned against the doorway. "I'm really tired." She glanced at me, her expression falling. She then sighed and pulled a lunk of bread out of a bin and handed it to me.
"You know where the guest bedroom is?" she asked softly.
"Yeah," I nodded, pretending to ignore her dropping tone. "Maybe I'll try something better than just bread before I leave tomorrow." I smiled lightly at her as she looked up. "Good-night."
"What makes you think I'd waste the effort on you?" she whispered behind me as I left the kitchen for the upstairs. I pretended not to hear. I wolfed the bread down as I deposited my stuff on the chair in the guest room, my tongue completely bemoaning the fact that I had turned down fresh eggs. I did my best to let my mind go blank as I undressed. This free room and board definitely came with a price. Although it was stuffed with old hay, the most welcoming thing at LonLon Ranch was the bed. I hid myself in it, trying to focus on getting a good night's rest for tomorrow, but I felt rather…empty, I guess. A while past, I had outgrown the forest, and now I had just outgrown the ranch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It seems to be going nowhere fast, but don't worry! I've got plans for it.
tonikaku... minna, kore-o dou omoi ka?