* * *
She'd told herself that this was a stupid idea from the beginning. But after another year of being practically alone in the other Kakariko, she was just about ready to die.
The problem that presented itself was her so-called guardians. She knew that they did not want to let her go again, because Vaiya had sensed something fishy from April when they had met up the last time. Sure, they might have trusted the Princess to an extent, but they were not ready to risk the only heir of Hyrule just because in her moody, teenage state she was getting bored with life in general.
April insisted that that was not the case, and that she was just worried about her kingdom. She still felt like she was doing nothing, just training for whenever the Hero of Time would arise again. But, from their current time, that wasn't going to be for another four years or so.
In that year since she had been to Hyrule, she had learned just how to control the spell that she and Malon had inadvertently used three years ago. The ancient seer had used her energy to get them to be able to use the spell, and when April tried it for the first time she discovered that it took much more energy than she thought it would to keep the thing from collapsing under any sort of weight. She had almost mastered it, though, and so was able to use it at her convenience.
Also, in the three years since she had been in the Shadow dimension, she had put two and two together and figured out that the Sheik in the game was probably Zelda, just disguised as her alter self for protection against Ganondorf. She was learning so many things that would be useful if that were the case, that she had almost taken for granted the fact that she was the one who was going to assist the Hero of Time in finally defeating the evil King of the Gerudo.
She thought that the changing of air spell would be useful when one of those smoke bombs were used, to let Sheik "disappear." This gave her the idea that it could be used to sneak around Hyrule without being seen. Of course, it would have to be used carefully if Ganondorf's minions was actually smart enough to look up. She knew using the spell during the day would be a bad idea, but during the night it could be very effective.
So, cue April running/crawling on a pathway above Hyrule field, half past midnight and heading towards Lon Lon Ranch. It had not been fun to go through the Shadow Temple by herself. Last time she had had Vaiya, but this time she'd had to dispose of a few of the demented bats and the random living skeletons herself, leaving her feeling that she would be mentally scared for life.
She wore a disguise similar to the one she'd worn the last time she was in Hyrule. This was not the same one, though, as she had finally started to grow and didn't fit into the other one. She was an inch or so shorter than Vaiya, now. She hoped soon she'd be taller than her, because then her "older sister" wouldn't be able to use her nickname for her anymore.
With these thoughts of her home, she also felt her heart race slightly. None of them (she hoped) knew she was here, and her plan was that she would be able to get back before any of them woke up. It was around midnight when she reached the ranch, and she gave herself about three hours to get back, which meant she could have two hours or so at the ranch.
While using this spell in the past, she had learned not to look down. But traveling for hours in scenery that look practically the same as everywhere else made April almost unaware of the fact that she was five hundred feet in the air.
After a few hours, though, she reached the end of the straight path and felt some invisible "stairs." She remembered putting these into the design of the platform of air when she was preparing the spell. But the problem was getting down them. She was not known for her ability to go for long distances down difficult terrain without tripping, and she did not want to plummet down these stairs and most likely crush every bone in her body.
So, feeling quite foolish, the princess carefully made her way down the stairs, occasionally having to sit after feeling like she was going to tumble down the stairs headfirst.
She finally reached the ground, and was incredibly happy to have something truly solid under her feet. The spell would stay while she was gone, until she called it off, but since there was nobody on it, she felt safe about leaving it.
Sneaking into the entrance of the ranch, at the same time praying that Malon was there still, she pulled the hood over her head and walked towards the corral.
As she approached it, she hear a very faint sound, almost like someone was singing...
She abruptly stopped walking halfway to the fence, staring at the figure at its center. It was a girl, about her age, dressed in white and with fiery red hair. And this girl had seen her.
But she didn't care in the slightest. 'Stupid girl,' she thought. 'What's she doing awake at this hour?' But beyond that she was just glad that Malon was, well... alive.
"Who's that?" the redhead called, her song finished. "The ranch is closed now, and Ingo will be mad if you wake him."
She decided not to answer, and instead walked towards the entrance of the gate and the girl there.
"And if you work for Ganondorf," Malon added hastily when she saw that the figure was not leaving. "I've told you before that Epona in not for sale!"
'Even if Ingo plans to give her to the monster when she's a bit more "trained up"....' the ranch girl thought with a note of hopelessness.
"What if I told you I'm not from around here, but I came to see an old friend... One who might not remember me?" April asked in a quieter tone when she was closer to Malon. At this point she let the hood fall back...
* * *
***Okay, I know that was a really sadistic, short little teaser of a chapter, but I wanted to update. So ha. ;P You can look for updates soon, they should be here by the time of around.... next week............... maybe....................... . . .. .