The music box man looked seven years older. His clothing was in worse repair, and he stank more from poor hygiene. He was also angry now, as well as insane.
But it was more surprising how he had not changed. The villagers were still feeding him. They were still tending his chamber pot. He was neither more nor less insane when last Link saw him, seven years ago. And his strange music box still played the strange music, which fascinated Link even more. The music seemed even more familiar to him now than it did then. But he still couldn't quite place where he had heard the music, nor pick up to tune so he could play it later on. He approached the man, who growled at him!
"Grrr! I'll never forget the mean ocarina kid who messed up my well!" the man exclaimed.
Link asked, "Who was this kid, and how did he mess up the well?"
"I don't know who the kid was. He had a fairy. But he was a Hylean child, not an elf-boy! No green, round ears. He played a song on his ocarina, which made the windmill spin wildly! The windmill ran so fast that it pumped the village well dry! The windmill hasn't run right since!"
Link asked, "Friend, what was the song the boy played? I study strange music, and have only heard legends of such a song." He took out the Ocarina of Time.
The man exclaimed, "You carry an ocarina? Only elf people and royalty carry those!"
Link answered, "It's portable, and has a good sound. It's just the thing for a musician who wants to travel light."
The music man thought this ironic, for Link's battle gear was hardly the 'light travelling' gear of a troubadour, even in these times! But he didn't ask more.
He continued, "Fair enough. I too used to study music, before the kid dried up the well! Since the well can't possibly get any drier, I guess it will do no harm to teach you the song." The mad music man taught Link the song by scat-singing it to him, in several pieces. Once he had learned each piece, it all came together. The song was almost identical to the one in the mechanical music box!
Link played the 'Song of Storms' through completely on the Ocarina of Time. It started to storm furiously inside the windmill! The windmill sped up dramatically. At this moment, Navi flew out of Link's thoughts, and into plain view! The music man, who had started to calm down, was now apoplectic!
"You! You're the mean Ocarina Kid! You made me teach you your cursed song you already knew! You played it again! The windmill is broken again! I ought to…"
But at that moment, his madness disappeared! He had gone mad because he had coveted the heart container atop the ledge. None of the villagers had seen the heart, much less known that it was the cause of his madness! He remembered everything that had happened to him, but now saw it through the eyes of a rational man, not a schizophrenic.
He said "Friend, tarry a moment and enjoy the cleansing rain with me! You have lifted my madness, which has afflicted me for almost thirteen years. The heart container you removed when you entered my home and asylum must have been the cause, but I don't know why. You seem to be familiar with the ways of magic. Why did that heart drive me mad? Why did you come here as a boy knowing the 'Song of Storms' to break my windmill, yet have me teach it to you now? By the way, I am Donald the mill tender. As a hobby, I've studied music, and made music boxes." Donald held out his hand.
Link grasped and shook Donald's hand. He then answered, "I am Link, son of Arliss. My father put a curse on the heart container, so that I alone might claim it. As for the playing of the 'Song of Storms,' and draining the well, I can only tell you that it was necessary to save Kakariko, and Hyrule from total destruction!"
Donald replied, "Then I deserved my madness after all! Dampé asked me to let him hide that heart container on that ledge here in the mill. He said the rightful owner would be along in a few years to pick it up. Dampé was an old friend of my family, so I let him do this. But, as the years passed by, I began to want that heart container for myself! I had finally resolved that Dampé's friend would never come. I had just returned from entertaining the children in the streets of the village, and was going to get a ladder to claim the heart container. I looked up at it, and have been imprisoned by madness from that moment to just now! I am now doubly in your debt! First, I wronged you by plotting to steal your legacy! Then, you save me from the punishment for my dishonesty!" Another wave of recognition hit Donald. He kneeled close to the ground and said "Your Majesty! Please accept my humble apology and thanks!"
Link answered, "Arise friend! I am not King! Princess Zelda lives as yet! At most, I would be Regent of the Hyleans, as well as the Duke of Hyrule. I would ask that you don't proclaim who I am to anyone yet! It is still too early to rally the people to my side! If they gather behind me, it will only make them more convenient targets for Ganondorf!
"The people of the village will also need to accept your no longer being mad! Most of them believe that I was murdered along with my mother. They would not be convinced of what is plain to you even if you had never been mad! I must travel from here. I wish you good fortune, Donald!"
Donald got up quickly, and shook Link's hand again. He answered, "Go with fortune, my lord! The realm is counting on you! By the way, you should see my old friend Dampé! He had a grappling…" Donald saw the hookshot hanging from Link's belt. He said, "You've seen Dampé! How is he? Would he survive the shock of 'Mad Man Don' visiting him sane?"
"I'm sorry to be the one to tell you, Donald. Dampé passed on a just over a month after last Samhain. His ghost gave me the hookshot as a prize for keeping up with him in a race through his tomb!"
"You are indeed a man of magic, my lord! I feel the truth of what you've just told me! Yet even I would have thought such things impossible before I was struck mad by the protective curse of your legacy! Again, go with fortune, my lord!"
Link answered "and again to you, Donald!" Link and Navi left the windmill. They looked up at the sky. It was almost noon! Navi said "Link, we will make it to Lon-Lon ranch easily enough, but we will never make it back before dark! We need to get the pocket cucco egg now!"
Link answered as they walked to the cucco lady "I agree, Navi. Hopefully, it travels more easily than the one Malon gave me years ago. I still don't know how I kept it alive to hatch!" They walked up to the cucco lady.
She had grown a little more mature since last they met, but being only sixteen then, was still a young woman. Strangely, she recognized Link right away. "Hello again, Link!" she said. "I haven't seen you around for a while."
Link answered "I've been busy elsewhere, ma'am. How's the cucco business been?"
She answered "Great! I've developed a new breed of cucco! I'm not allergic to these cuccos! They are smaller than normal cuccos, but are perfect for laying eggs and waking people! In fact, the harder to wake a person is, the happier these cuccos are when they wake them! I'd like you to borrow one if you would. My cuccos haven't been happy, because I can't find any heavy sleepers to wake with them. With the way you travel, you should find some heavy sleepers easily! Would you do this for me?"
Link answered, "I'd be happy to! In fact, I think I'll find a heavy sleeper tomorrow morning!"
"You do? If you're sure, I can give you an egg that's due to hatch just before dawn tomorrow! If the first sleeper they wake is a really heavy sleeper, they stay happy for all of their lives!"
"That would be perfect" Link replied. "I know just the sleeper. He's an old friend of mine, and will be just as happy as the cucco that I've awakened him with."
"Great!" the lady answered. She took an egg out of a nesting box, and wrapped it in deku leaves. "These deku leaves will keep the egg warm enough with just your body heat. They will also protect the egg. When you feel it rustle and hear it cluck, it has hatched."
Link accepted the egg, and put it in the inside pocket of his tunic. "Thank you, young maiden!" he said. "I will have you check the hatchling tomorrow morning!" He left the lady, and walked briskly to the Hyrule Field Stairway. He and Navi ran down the stairs. They ran to the Hylia River, swam it, and continued to run. It took them almost an hour to reach Lon-Lon ranch.