A/N: Second chapter! And only about a week after the first one. Not too bad considering how I was with the updates for my other stories. I'm glad people liked the first chapter, and I hope I can keep this pace up for the rest of the story. And also, thanks to my good friend, Blu, for telling me to do so, I'm having 'reviewer responses' at the end of each chapter, which can be good for answering reviewer's questions, comment on your feedback, or just for fun.
Chapter Two: THE RANCH
As Link, riding atop his chestnut-colored steed, quickly made his way across the grasses and hills of Hyrule Field. Having gone so far out of the way after his escape from the guards, and not wanting to make a straight line for Lon Lon Ranch, the boy was taking longer to get there than it would have under normal circumstances. Although, Navi well knew that leading the castle guards, or worse, some Hylian knights to their destination with an obvious trail was the least of the swordsman's worries.
"Link…" Navi said concernedly, "We should have been there by now." Link's only response was a short sigh. "I know what you are concerned about, Link—"
"I know where this is going, Navi," Link did not turn his gaze away from in front of himself, "But I'm still worried. It's been seven years—seven years—since I've been in Hyrule at all. Over this last day I've learned how distant I've grown from everything and everyone here."
The fairy flew in front of him and landed on Epona's head, staring Link in the eyes, and he could see, behind her light, a frown on her tiny face. "You know, there is a reason why you got the Triforce of Courage, not Wisdom; You're a real dummy, Link. This is Malon we're talking about. Remember how she reacted when you appeared suddenly after seven years during Ganondorf's reign?"
Link he remembered. How could he forget? When he first went to Lon Lon Ranch after leaving the ruined Castle Town, he had to pry Malon off once she realized who he was. "But then I wasn't a murderer or a kidnapper."
"An accused murderer and kidnapper."
"What's it matter?" Link sounded defeated, "Everyone thinks I am. I may as well be the one that did it."
The little woman flopped down onto her rear atop the horse's mane and let out a sigh, "You're hopeless. We're going to have to go there no matter what; We do have to return Epona, so you may as well get there as quickly as possible. Besides, she will believe you. If anyone in all of Hyrule, short of Zelda herself, believes you, it will be her."
Although his facial expression did not change, Navi noticed, with a smirk, that he made Epona move faster and that he seemed much less tense.
As the sun set, the once searing noonday heat was replaced by a cool dusk breeze. The animals that made their homes at Lon Lon Ranch, the only ranch in all of Hyrule, were making themselves comfortable. One particular horse was laying on the grass trying to sleep, much to the annoyance of a certain young redheaded ranch hand.
"Come on, it's time for you to go in the barn!" Malon yelled at the animal as she tugged on its reigns, putting all her weight—which was not much considering her light frame—into it, trying her best to make the comfortable horse get up. The young woman let out a grunt as her grip slipped and she fell onto the ground. She got up, rubbing the sore area and glared at the horse, "You're as stubborn as a…a mule!" she stuck her tongue out at it, and the animal let out a short neigh and laid its head back down.
Being the only ranch hand to do any real work on a ranch of so many horses, cows, and cuccos was tiresome, and Malon's father and Ingo were not much help. With Talon falling asleep left and right (she swore he had narcolepsy), and Ingo doing as little as possible to get by, and complaining the entire time, the girl was left to most of the work. Not that anyone would ever find her complaining, though, for she enjoyed every moment of it.
Leaving the mulish horse by himself as she left the ring, Malon went into the barn, the small building that contained most of the ranch's animals, to grab a rake. Eventually the horse would get up on its own, so she decided to do something else while she waited. When the woman left the barn, the sight before her made her gasp and drop the rake. One of her hands reached, out of reflex, to her mouth, but that was the only movement she could make; the rest of her body was stiff.
Across from her, near the entrance to the ranch, were Link and Epona, while a bright light that Malon guessed was a fairy, most likely Navi, floated near the two. Link stood next to the horse, holding the reigns in his left hand, with one side of his lips curled up in an unsure smile.
"Hello, Malon," the boy said in almost a whisper. The ranch girl could not make herself say anything. Half of her wanted to run and the other half wanted to embrace her old friend. She backed away until the small building behind her got in the way. The green-clad boy looked away.
Epona walked forward and managed to get her reigns out of Link's grasp. She trotted over to her former owner. The horse nudged Malon with her nose, but when she didn't budge, she bit onto the girl's sleeve and tugged on it lightly.
The redhead looked from the horse and to her visitor, then back to Epona, a big grin on her face. She nodded to her favorite horse, and rushed towards the boy, who almost tumbled over from the momentum of Malon's hug. With a huge grin on his face, Link returned the hug, and backed a step to look at his old friend, who happened to have a giant smile covering her face.
"I thought you were going to run off for a moment there."
"I'm sorry, Link," Malon said.
Confused, Link looked to Navi, who shrugged. "Sorry about what?"
"A part of me thought of running off and thought that you might actually have done all that stuff everyone is saying that you did." She frowned and looked away, "I should have known the entire time that you were innocent."
"What made you change your mind?"
Epona trotted over to them and stood there, and Malon petted the animal's white mane. "If Epona trusts you, then I trust you." The swordsman smirked at that and petted the large animal along with the ranch girl.
"Okay, Fairy Boy," Malon began. The 'fairy boy', who now wore blue overalls and a red shirt because his Kokiri tunic and cap were too easily recognizable, listened intently to the woman, "Daddy said that you can stay here for as long as you want to—"
"Yay!"
"—but, you'll have to stay out in the barn with the horses."
"Crap…" Link heard Navi snicker and the boy glared his tiny friend.
"Oh, and…Link?"
Link turned his gaze from the smaller of the two women to the larger, "Yes?"
"If it's not too much trouble, could you…help with a few things around here? You don't have to, it's just…that since Ingo left suddenly for Castle Town, I'm going to be the only one…"
A grin crossed Link's face and he nodded. "Of course; it's the least I could do. Besides, I would get bored just sitting around."
"That's surprising, considering how often you do it," Navi said, which earned her another glare.
After showing her new assistant a few of the simpler things there were to do around the ranch, Malon, along with Link, managed to get the last of the animals into the stalls inside the barn. Within the time span of only a few hours, the duo, along with as much help from Navi as the little fairy could give, had managed to do all of Malon's chores, as well as Ingo's and a few extra ones.
The redhead was on one side of the barn, sweeping the floor and trying to make a suitable bed for her visitor. All of Link's items and weapons, along with his tunic and other standard clothing, were piled in the corner near her. The boy, while Malon swept, was on the other side of the small building, sitting in a chair near a small table. His chin was set on his arms, which were folded atop the table, while his eyes, wide and unblinking, stared at the creature in front of him.
"Link, could you please stop messing around with the cuccos?" All the girl got for a response was a quiet 'shh' from the boy and a 'bock' from the cucco. Rolling her eyes, Malon warned, "If you make it angry, it is going to be all your fault and trust me, you'll regret it."
The tiny white bird hopped closer to Link, their eyes never leaving one another's. The contest of wills continued, right up until the moment that the cucco pecked the boy's nose, which made him yelp and jump out of his seat, rubbing the wound. He heard Navi squeal in laughter from somewhere near Malon, and the redhead herself let out a muffled "I told you so."
"Mean little bird," the defeated swordsman growled while kicking the table, and, although it was supposed to be a light playful kick, it was enough to knock the bird off, making it bump into the chair on its way to the ground. "Whoops."
The dazed bird regained its footing and glared at its attacker. Its feathers puffed up while it spread its wings out, and then it let out a loud "Bakaw!" His eyes growing wide, Link screamed and ran for the door, fully aware of what was coming.
In all of Hyrule, a land so filled with dangerous creatures and mighty warriors, there was but one group capable of reinforcing an equal sense of both fear and awe. Trained in a dozen forms of combat, capable of wielding any weapon know to Hylians, and encased in a light but yet sturdy armor, the Hylian Knights, protectors of the Royal Family, were to be reckoned with. It was said that even the Gerudos, some of the greatest warriors, had a certain respect for the Knights.
Few times have there been that the Knights needed to leave the Castle of Hyrule, but their duty to protect the Hylian Royal Family, specifically Princess Zelda, gave them the need and the reason to leave in search of the murderer, trespasser, and possible kidnapper, Link.
The large ironclad warriors, atop their steeds, made their way across the Hyrulian plains towards their first destination in search of the fugitive: Lon Lon Ranch. The five knights entered the ranch, and soon found Talon, who was raking the area in front of the barn and house.
Once the large man noticed his visitors, he dropped the rake, unsure of what to say or do. "He-hello! I wasn't expecting anyone today, especially no knights!"
The lead knight nodded to Talon, "We're looking for Link, the one that I am sure you have heard that entered the Castle and killed multiple guards and possibly kidnapped the princess. We are searching for him, and we came to see if you know anything of him."
"Oh…Link?" the ranch owner seemed to think deeply for a second, then smiled, "I'm sorry, but I can't recall anyone with a name like that." Even from behind the helmet that the knight wore, Talon could feel his eyes staring at him. He could tell the warrior was about to speak again, when a sudden scream from the inside of the barn distracted them.
"What in the name of Farore was that?" one of the other knights asked. To answer his question, a blonde boy wearing an outfit similar to Talon's ran out of the barn with a flock of angry cuccos at his heels. He ran, completely unaware of the presence of the knights, back behind the barn towards the horse track and grazing area, and out of the knight's view.
The leader looked back to a suddenly sweating Talon, "Who, may I ask, was that?!"
"Oh, him?" the large man said and thought a moment, "that…that was my…son! Yes, son."
The knights looked at each other in a questioning manner, but each shrugged. "…Your son? I am not aware of you having any son."
"Ah, yes well…Dalon—yes, Dalon!—he's not too bright. Kicked in the head by a horse when he was younger. Quite sad; we try to keep him from being too well known." The flow of sweat on the man's head seemed to increase.
"I see," the knight said as the blonde boy ran into back into view behind Talon's back, this time covered by the cuccos, little white feathers flying around as he yelled and tried to shake the enraged birds off of himself. "I'm sorry to have bothered you, Talon. We'll be going."
Relief, for some reason that the knight could not place, seemed to fall over the man. "That's perfectly alright," Talon smiled, "I hope you get that Bink—"
"Link."
"—Link. Someone like that shouldn't be running around. I hope Princess Zelda is found safe and sound."
"Thank you." The knight, thinking that Talon was not a very bright man, began to leave. The two last knights in the group mumbled to each other about what just happened.
"Wouldn't that mean this is Lon Lon Lon Ranch?"
"He said that he doesn't want people to know about his son, so of course not."
"That doesn't seem very nice."
Once the voices disappeared, Talon wiped his brow, glad that those knights were gullible enough to believe his quick lie. Picking up his dropped tool, the man went back to raking.
The knights, having found nothing at the ranch, decided to continue their search in Kakariko. When they made it to the bridge spanning the river they would have to cross to make it to the town, they saw the figure of Ingo, the old ranch hand, with a deep frown plastered on his face.
"So? Didn't you find what you were looking for at the ranch?" the constantly grumpy man asked.
The lead knight shook his head, "All we found was Talon and his son."
Ingo's brown furrowed, "Talon has a daughter, Malon, but no son."
"No," one of the other knights piped in, "The blonde boy being chased by cuccos. Dalon, I think his name was." Another knight nodded in agreement.
Smacking his forehead out of frustration, Ingo growled, "You buffoons! Talon has no son by the name of Dalon! That boy was Link, the fugitive you're all looking for!"
The man could feel the astonishment of the knights even though their expressions were hidden by their helmets. "Are you sure? He was not wearing the green tunic that we were told to look for."
"I've lived on that ranch most of my life! Of course I'm sure!" he kicked the side of the small stone bridge, "Link is an old friend of Malon's! That is why he's there and why Talon lied to you! They must have gave him some new clothes so that no one would notice that it was him, which obviously worked! I tried to be subtle with my little clue before, but now I have to be blunt about it."
"We need to go back, quickly!" the lead knight shouted, and the others turned to follow his command."
"Ahem!" Ingo grunted, making the knight look back to him. He held up one of the wanted posters, a grin plastered on his cruel face, and finger tapping the paper where it said 'reward'. The knight reached to the side of his horse and grabbed a pouch on the side of his horse, and, without giving Ingo a further glance, tossed it over his shoulder to the informant's feet.
As the knights rushed as quickly as they could to return to Lon Lon Ranch, Ingo opened the pouch to reveal his reward; a dozen purple rupees, worth six hundred in all. The man took his small, newly earned fortune into Kakariko, searching for a tavern or pub to squander it away.
Within a dark room within an unknown location in a deep recess of Hyrule, a shadowy figure stared into a large mirror-like object hanging against a wall. The room was ornate, with bas reliefs along the walls and large stone pillars rising from the wide, open floor to meet the ceiling.
The figure itself, more of a shadow than a living being, wore a garb concealing his body and a featureless mask covering his face, a face that he was ashamed and humiliated of. In one of his hands he held a tattered black book tightly; it seemed to be the only object he carried with him or had in the room, other than what he wore and the large mirror.
His gaze never left that mirror, which was more of a window to a place far from where he was. On it was the image of a teenage boy and a redheaded girl of about the same age. The boy he knew well, and he was aware of who the girl was.
The girl, Malon, helped care for the wounds the boy, Link, had earned from his encounter with the angry cuccos. He could see their lips move, but heard nothing they said. It was a silent watch he had on them, which was enough for his needs. His curiosity was piqued by what he saw.
The swordsman smiled and laughed as the ranch girl cleaned the bigger cuts and spoke in what appeared, from her expression, seemed to be a failing attempt to show Link that she was upset with him.
The being frowned behind his mask and stared closer at the two teens. "Is it possible…could it be, that I took the wrong one?" he looked over his shoulder in the direction where, in another room far off, his captive lay in slumber, "May I have taken the wrong woman?"
Looking back to the image in the mirror, he laughed. "No! Of course not. He and the ranch hand are close, but…he and…she" he emphasized that word, speaking of his prisoner, "Link and her, they are forever bound by destiny; their lives are connected to one another, and so to is their fate. A connection such as that is not easily broken.
"I took the right one. He will do all within his power to return her to her rightful place. But, this situation…I can use this Malon. I will do all I can to tear that life of his apart for what he has done to mine," the figure growled at the thought of the Hero of Time.
Behind the mask, a great evil grin crossed the face that the owner so loathed, "My minions!" he shouted, using his power to send the message across Hyrule to where his favorite creatures lay, "Go to where the Hero of Time rests! Do what you were summoned for, and while you do so, destroy all that live within Lon Lon Ranch!"
Even from the great distances, he could feel the delight his followers had in such an order. This is only the beginning, Hero, he thought, Oh, yes. Survive this and more surely will come, ones greater than even this.
Do not let me down.
A/N: Blah, this chapter was supposed to be longer, but the next thing I have for it would have made it another four pages longer, at least. So, that stuff will happen in the next chapter. I do feel kinda weird, since this is the shortest chapter of anything that I've written in a while. that last chapter was about 4500 words, but this one was only 3330. Oh, well. I'll probably make it up later.
And here are those reviewer response thingies I talked about:
Blu: First reviewer!! Hehe. Thanks, prostitute girl. I figure that since people seem to put so many disclaimers here when they obviously don't need one, I decide to always do something…interesting with them. Thanks again for the review and extra thanks for beta-reading that first chapter for me! I still appreciate it -hugs-
Atchika: Clichés are fun and Epona is the best. And wow, you sure are a fast reviewer…the only reason Blu beat you to reviewing was cuz she read it before it was posted. Otherwise, you would have been the first reviewer. Fast.
Magnet-Rose: -gasp- What are you doing here?! Heh, I'm kidding. I'm glad that some people from the Trigun section are reading this story! Thanks! I love your reviews.
Allhail'tallica13: Wow, another person that reviewed my Trigun fics is reading this. Thanks!
Bvv: Nope, the title for this story was kinda random. I guess it was just a coincidence.
Fpg: Wow, another person usually in the Trigun section. But…um…back story? The two other fairies were left in Termina seven years prior to this. There's the back story!
Merimas gamgee: Oh, I plan on continuing this. Certain people –cough-Blu-cough- would hurt me if I didn't.
Jade04: Thanks, I hope I can keep it up, otherwise…yeah, that wouldn't be good.
Mynxine: OO Um…wow, it's been a while since someone offered sacrifices to me. Wait…that didn't sound right. Well, thanks for the nice review, and thanks for pointing out that mistake in the first chapter! I'll get around to fixing that when I'm not all lazy and stuff.
Blowfish the Monkey Tamer: Wow, now that's name. Yeah, this is my first real Zelda fic, other than the poor horrible ones I wrote a long time ago –shivers-
Thanks for all the reviews! I wasn't expecting that many for the first chapter of my first fic in a the Zelda section, especially that section gets updates and posts so quickly. Well, you've probably read this all, so that means it's time to review!!