The Crossover Saga
By Stoney (stoney107@yahoo.com)
Chapter Two
Lost and Found
Hyrule Field, 4:18 PM.
It was a beautiful day. 81 degrees, gorgeous, sunny weather. The sky was a clear forget-me-not blue, with a few small, wispy cirrus clouds for variety.
A light breeze swept over the sloping plains, rustling the short, thick grass and causing the occasional shrub to shiver. The sun shone down brightly, illuminating every nook and cranny of the plain, leaving the shadows nowhere to hide.
Yes, it was a good day. But there was something that it was lacking.
Music.
That's where he came in. His ocarina, as simple an instrument as it may have looked from the outside, was actually quite a beautiful musical device. He had been proficient at playing it even when he had first started learning, so by now he was way far above and beyond an expert at it. He had always enjoyed how the instrument's tones adapted to the mood of any situation; soft and soothing, fast and upbeat, sad and mournful, or bright and cheery, just to name a few. Right now he had chosen a more relaxing song to play, since weather like this was perfect for catching up on a little rest.
The echoing notes seemed to linger in the air a second or two after they stopped, their varied tones perfectly in tune with each other and as a whole. The melody flowed gracefully along, never once hitting a wrong note or missing a beat. Each sound just seemed to fit with all the others, like the tune had been predetermined before he even started playing that day. He sat on a rock in the middle of Hyrule Field, playing whatever happened to come to mind, not thinking about much in particular except how much he enjoyed this and how he should start doing concerts or something so more people could appreciate his music. His horse Epona grazed nearby, coming up to nuzzle him affectionately every now and then. He stroked her lovingly on the neck in reply. He really liked Epona; she was his #1 Best Animal Friend at times. Although there were those frogs on the Zora River, the ones who liked his music a lot. And that owl who talked to him. What was his name?-- oh yeah, Kaepora Gaebora. Yeah, they were nice, too. But Epona was different. She was special.
He had rescued her from captivity seven years in the future, then came back in time to find that she had grown to like him, but was still in captivity. For some reason, he wanted Epona to be free again, in the past. At first he thought of buying her off, but then realized he didn't have nearly enough money to do so. Her owner then suggested that he could have the horse in return for doing manual labor for a few months on his farm. He had agreed, and now Epona was free. Looking at the horse, he knew that all the hours of backbreaking work he endured as he strained to do jobs that normally he might have been unable to do, but did anyway, were all worth it. He had gained Epona's friendship, and that was far more priceless than any labor could ever amount to.
Epona brayed, wanting to run around a bit. He smiled and untied his horse from where he had anchored her next to him, knowing that she'd always be able to find him no matter where he was if he needed her help. Epona reared up on her hind legs, her way of saying thanks, and ran off as only a horse could. He grinned, then got up off his rock and lay face up on the grass. He gazed up at the clear blue sky, with his hands clasped behind his head and his mind wandering. A gentle gust of wind played with a lock of his hair and tickled his face. He sighed contentedly.
Yes, it was a good day. And now that he had his music, the day was truly perfect.
He began to doze for a bit, the rhythm of the wind rustling the grass and the faint wisps of cloud rolling by overhead making him sleepy. He woke up with a start, though, when he heard a humming sound nearby and felt a tiny tingling on the back of his neck, which indicated that he was in the presence of powerful magic. He cautiously opened one eye to look in the direction of the noise, just as it abruptly cut off. Then he heard sounds that were radically different from the previous noise. He strained his hearing, trying to make them out. It sounded more like people yelling than a magical spell taking effect.
"Ow! Hey, get your hand out of my eye!"
"Oof! Then stop squishing my face with your shoe!"
This bickering continued for a unknown amount of time, during which he closed his eye and just pretended he was still asleep. The voices did not sound native; they must have belonged to foreigners. Each voice had a strange accent faintly attached to it that he couldn't identify. Who were these people?
Then the argument abruptly cut off as one of the voices said, "Hey! There's someone over there!" He tensed. Did they know he was awake? Should he get up and greet them? Where they friendly?
A span of silence. Then-
"Gee, Mario, he looks just like you! Except with blond hair. And really long, pointy ears. And a weird green outfit." A pause. "Actually, I don't think he looks much like you after all."
He could practically see the other's annoyed expression. "Luigi, would you please just shut up? Where are we? Where's Kamek?"
Luigi, Mario, Kamek? These names were all unfamiliar to him. Definitely foreigners. But how had they gotten here?
"I dunno, but I'd bet he's around here somewhere......." The voices began to fade as their counterparts walked away. He decided that now would be a good time to try and see these strange newcomers.
Unconsciously he unsheathed his sword and unbuckled his shield. If these people presented a threat, he wanted to be ready for them. When he opened his eyes and rolled over to look at the strangers, he received quite a shock. They were unlike any creatures that he had ever seen. Which said a lot, considering how many kinds of creatures he had seen.
They were short, like Kokiri. But all the Kokiri were children......these beings looked like a bizarre version of the average Hyrulian shrunk down to around his size. And their ears, how weird could they get? They weren't pointy! And they were so short! How could these beings hear anything out of ears that small?
But that wasn't all. One of them turned around, showing him its face. Whoa! Talk about strange! Its nose was big and round, a little larger and redder than it was supposed to be probably because, he guessed, it was bruised or swollen or something. This person had a really bushy black moustache that curled up slightly on either side of its nose, and it was wearing some sort of strange hat that casted its eyes into deep shadow.
He inched closer to the duo on his stomach, trying to get a better view of these strange newcomers. As he did so, his foot caught on the roots of a bush that was growing nearby. He tugged at the obstacle, and accidentally uprooted the whole plant in a shower of rocks and soil.
The moustached man that was facing him looked in his direction. Uh-oh.
"Hey, Luigi. That kid's awake!"
The other being suddenly spun around at the call. "Huh? What?"
The shorter, plumper person's clothing consisted of a red shirt under what looked like blue farming overalls with suspenders. It (he?) had white gloves covering its hands and wore brown shoes with no laces that resembled work boots. The taller, thinner guy (what did the red one call him? Luigi?) had a green shirt on underneath similar overalls of the same color, and it also wore white gloves and work boots. As the green-clothed one named Luigi turned around, another black moustache and bulbous nose, this one not swollen, became visible.
No sense hiding now. He stood up, making sure that his sword was plainly visible to the strangers. Hopefully they'd have a shred of common sense and would not attack him while he was armed.
"Who are you?" The red-clothed one asked immediately, suspicion evident in its (or his) voice. He guessed that these strangers hadn't ever seen anyone like him either, considering the way they stared at him with great interest.
He looked at them curiously. Should he tell them his real name? They didn't seem like the hostile type. But you never can tell about people until you really get to know them, a lesson he knew all too well.
"My name's Link." He finally replied. "Who are you two, and how did you get here? You're definitely not from around here, I know that."
The red one pointed a thumb at his chest. "My name's Mario. This guy here is my brother, Luigi." He added, indicating the thin green-shirted man next to him. "As for how we got here, well, I don't really know. We were following someone who had kidnapped a couple friends of ours, and suddenly ZAP! We're here." He cocked his head at Link quizzically. "You look kinda strange for a human. Where is 'here', anyway?"
Link smiled and put his sword and shield away. These two, he realized, had arrived here accidentally and were probably harmless. He was not unfamiliar with people being transported vast distances by powerful wizards and the like, so he immediately believed their story.
"Actually, I'm not human." Link replied. "I'm Hylian. Humans don't live around these parts much anymore. The only differences between us Hylians and humans are that we have longer ears and are capable of using various magicks that humans can't. Everyone around here looks like me, although most of them are a lot taller 'cause I'm just a kid. I've seen what a human looks like. Really, compared to you, I don't seem that strange."
Mario and Luigi didn't know whether to take offense at this or not.
"As for where you are," Link continued with a mischievous glint in his eye, "this is the place that talking trees, giant spiders, and dancing scarecrows call 'home'. It is the kingdom of Hyrule, where deadly traps comprise dungeons, monsters run rampant, and sorcerers aspire to world domination. " He smiled casually at their unnerved expressions.
The one named Luigi gulped audibly. "Gee, sounds like fun."
Link grinned. "Yeah, well, it's really a pretty nice place, actually. Just as long as you don't wander out of the towns after dark. Nighttime is usually when the bulk of the monsters come out to pay hapless travelers a visit."
Link paused. "You're pretty lucky you found me, actually." he added after some thought. "I'm a pretty good fighter, and I know my way around this place like the back of my sword." He turned and pointed in a direction away from where the Mario Bros. had been walking. "Over there you'll find Kakariko Village. I suggest you stay there until you figure out a way back home, unless of course you wanna pick a fight with monsters." Link grinned sinisterly, and the Mario Bros. didn't doubt for a second that he had done just that several times before.
"Uh...I think we'd better be on the safe side and go to the town." Mario replied quickly.
Link shrugged. "Okay. It's about a day's walk from here, but since it's already past noon, I doubt we'll make it before sunset."
Mario hesitated. "Is there anyplace closer that we could stay at, just for tonight at least?"
Link thought for a moment. "Well, there's Lon Lon Ranch......it's a farm set up a couple miles from here, but I'll have to check with the owner to see if they might have room for you guys."
Luigi nodded. "We'll take our chances. Which way is this ranch?"
"I'll take you there. C'mon." Link turned and began walking, Mario and Luigi hurrying to catch up.
"So, you guys said that someone kidnapped a friend of yours?" Link asked conversationally once the Bros. were walking alongside him.
Mario grimaced. "A wizard named Kamek kidnapped both the princess of the kingdom we live in and another princess of a neighboring kingdom. Then he ran away when we began chasing him."
Luigi piped up. "He went through this weird blue portal that he had conjured up. We went in after him and found ourselves here."
Link was silent until the Bros. finished, staring at his shoes and thinking about what they were saying. "Gosh, that sounds familiar." He spoke at last. "We've got a really bad sorcerer here, too, except his name is Ganon, or Ganondorf. His pastimes include creating monsters to send after me and make my life difficult, and kidnapping Princess Zelda, the next in line to rule this kingdom." He looked up at the Bros. "What's this Kamek look like?"
Mario shook his head. "He's not even human. Or Hylian, for that matter."
"Neither's Ganon."
Mario shrugged. "Kamek is a Koopa, dressed in blue robes with a pointed blue hat, a broomstick, and a magic wand he uses to cast spells. You haven't seen him around here, have you?"
Link furrowed his brow in confusion. "......Koopa?......"
"Oh, you've never met a Koopa before?" Link shook his head. "Well, they're turtles, really. They're about our height, with shells on their backs, shoes on their feet, and sometimes wings attached to their shoulders."
Link smiled in amusement, trying to imagine a creature as ridiculous- looking as what Mario was describing. "Winged turtles?"
Luigi nodded. "Yeah, the winged ones are called Parakoopas, and they can fly, of course."
Link's smile grew wider. "Of course." He shook his head. "Unfortunately, I haven't seen anything like that around here, I'm afraid. This...Koopa, as you call him...he probably lured you into the portal to trap you over here."
Luigi nodded. The same thought had occurred to him, but he'd chosen not to voice it.
Link looked grim. "This is bad. If this sorcerer is as powerful as I think he is in order to get you guys all the way over here, he might try to do what Ganon could not and invade Hyrule to conquer it." He stopped walking and stood in front of the Bros., staring them directly in the eyes. "I give you my word that I will do everything possible to get you back home, help you rescue your friends and defeat this fiend. He is too dangerous for us to let him remain loose, and if he presents a possible threat to my Kingdom, I shall have to defend it by going with you."
Mario and Luigi sputtered in surprise at this sudden show of determination. Finally Luigi found his voice. "Look, we appreciate the offer and everything, but...um...I thought you said you were just a kid. Couldn't we use this kingdom's army or something?"
Link smiled knowingly. "I am the army."
The Mario Bros. looked at each other, then stared at Link uncomprehendingly.
Link sighed and continued. "I'm not just any kid." He explained. "I'm the legendary Hero of Time, the sworn protector of Hyrule and champion of the Triforce." He began to tick off his achievements on his fingers. "I've defended a band of forest-dwellers from extinction, prevented a race of rock-people from starvation, rescued Princess Zelda from Ganon's clutches twice, traversed an active volcano to defeat a fire dragon, refilled an entire lake overnight, traveled seven years into the future and back again, entered the digestive system of a giant fish to cure it of a disease, become a member of a group of highly skilled all-female warriors (I was the only male one), saved seven Sages of magical power from Ganon's best men, and broke the record for landing the largest fish twice." He glanced down at his feet and kicked the dirt a little. "I've gone on more adventures than you'd probably care to know about. Believe me, I've got a lot of experience."
The Mario Brothers were stunned to silence by this, Mario's ego beginning to lash out in its death throes as he tried to take in all that this little boy had done by himself. Not wanting to be put up by the Hylian, Mario finally regained his voice. "That's pretty good." He admitted. "But we've also got a lot of experience in adventuring ourselves. Me and my bro here," at this point Mario got Luigi into a playful headlock which Luigi quickly struggled to free himself from, "have saved two different kingdoms on separate occasions, prevented a race of cloud-people from being conquered by a power-hungry dictator, rescued Princess Peach from being held as a P.O.W. over six times, traversed several unfinished construction towers to capture a renegade gorilla, cleared an entire haunted mansion of ghosts overnight, thrown out a giant frog by throwing vegetables at him, rescued five kings from being permanently turned into animals by magic wands, miraculously cured mushroomkind from a fatal disease, been inducted into a group of high-appetite dinosaurs, saved one hundred-and-fifty stars of Power from the Koopa Army's best men, and broken every record in golf, tennis and kart racing."
Link was impressed. "Whoa! That's awesome! Between us, Kamek won't have a chance!" He exclaimed excitedly.
Mario nodded and sighed in relief, his ego now repaired as Link gained new respect for him. They began walking again. Luigi finally released himself from Mario's hold, giving his brother a mock-glare of anger and shoving him slightly in retaliation. Mario poked him in the back of the head in return, and Link managed to interrupt the exchange from breaking out into a full- fledged fistfight by speaking up. "Tell me....does this kingdom you guys live in have any inhabitants? Besides the Koopas, I mean."
Mario shook his head. "The Koopas aren't native to the kingdom. They're kinda like the monsters you have here. Our archenemy, a really big Koopa named Bowser, sends them after us for kicks."
Link nodded. "Ah, I see. You still haven't answered my question, though."
"Well," Luigi began, "the kingdom is called the Mushroom Kingdom for starters, and yes, it is inhabited. The creatures that live there are kinda like big mushrooms with arms and legs and faces. They're called Toads, short for Toadstools. They're generally a peaceful and friendly species, but they can hold their own in a fight if threatened. Otherwise, they're very nice, er, plants."
Link's smile had turned into a grin. Flying turtles and walking, talking mushrooms. Man, Malon was gonna get a kick out of this....
Link didn't even realize he'd spoken aloud until Mario asked, "Who's Malon?"
Link looked up from his thinking. "Huh? Oh, she's a friend of mine who works at the ranch. Nice girl. Her father, Talon, runs the place."
Mario chuckled. "Malon and Talon, huh? Is that why they call it Lon Lon Ranch?"
Link didn't answer.
"Link?"
"Ssh, listen!" Link ordered. He was standing stock-still while staring straight ahead, muscles tensed, a look of concentration on his face.
Mario blinked, and turned to Luigi, who shrugged.
"We don't hear anything."
Link slowly drew his sword and shield. "I do. I think we're about to be paid a visit by some Peahats."
Mario blinked again. "Peahats?" What was that? Some sort of garment you put on your head like a cap?
"Get down!" Link whispered fervently as he pulled Mario down to the grass. Luigi followed. "Peahats are monsters that roam Hyrule Field by daytime instead of night." Link explained quickly. "They're big, slightly reddish, with long, sharp blades on their bottoms that they spin around in order to fly." He looked up as, off in the distance, something detached from the ground and rose into the air. "If one of them detects you near it, it will start flying and try to slash at you with its blades." The object in the distance began to get closer. Three tiny dots detached from the main object. "Peahat spawn." Link recognized them. "They're used as scouts, mainly. Tells the adult what kind of fight to expect." As the dots got closer, Mario realized they were miniature versions of the larger object still heading toward them. Link growled slightly. "They're fast, too."
"Okay you two, listen up." Link turned back to the Bros. "This thing is basically just taking its time getting here. At full speed it's way too fast for all of us to outrun. So, we'll have to fight it off. You two stay here; I don't want you getting hurt."
Before Mario or Luigi could protest that they were pretty good fighters and could hold their own in battle, Link got back to his feet. Mario began to follow suit, but Link motioned for him to stay put. "This'll only take a minute." He assured them with a confident grin. Then he ran off, toward the approaching objects.
Mario gritted his teeth. "What does he think he's doing? He'll get killed!" He hissed at Luigi.
Luigi shrugged. "He looks like he's got a lot of experience with battle." He replied. "I think he has an idea."
Indeed, Link was formulating a plan as he ran. Let's see, he could try his boomerang on it. No, wait, the monster would simply reflect it off its blades. Hmm. Bombs? Nah, he couldn't throw them high enough to hit the thing. Uh, how about a magic spell? Din's Fire might work, but it was only useful at close range......
The spawn began to approach him, very close now. Link stopped running, crouched down, and began to charge up his sword with magical energy, holding it straight out behind himself as it accumulated bright blue light into its blade. The spawn got even closer, and suddenly the energy in the sword changed from blue to red. Link grinned. Just a little closer......
When the spawn were nearly upon him, he stood up and released the stored energy, spinning in a circle with his sword held outward and lashing out with the magic in a fiery red spin. The red-orange magic surrounded the sword and left a faint, reddish, glowing trail through the air in its wake. The spawn gave a sudden, anguished squeal as they were ripped apart by the attack, and then were silenced as they vaporized into smoke. They left no blood, no intestines or any other such gruesome reminders of their deaths on the ground afterwards. Just POOF!, and they were gone.
Luigi realized he'd been holding his breath the entire time this happened and let it out in a long whoosh of air.
"Wow." He breathed.
Link's momentum finally slowed to the point where he could stop spinning around in circles. He held an arm out for balance, slightly dizzy. Hate it when that happens. He stumbled around for a second or two before his vision corrected itself. He shook his head, clearing the last of the cobwebs away. Then he gave the Mario Bros. another confident grin.
The adult Peahat, meanwhile, had grown closer and closer. As it neared Link, Mario and Luigi got an idea of just how large it really was. It was huge, probably the size of a small house. Even Link was slightly surprised by its size, though he quickly got over it. The Peahat was colored a rusty red with yellow and orange splotches here and there on its surface. Six long, serrated blades of metal were attached to the bottom somehow by exposed muscle and sinew. They were rapidly spinning around to produce lift, similar to a helicopter. As it neared Link, it tilted so that the blades would slice into him. But Link wasn't finished with it yet.
As the Peahat approached, Link closed his eyes and began chanting something that the Mario Bros. couldn't hear. He crouched down, swinging his arms in a wide circle, chanting the whole time. He clasped his hands together and drew them toward his chest, and bright red energy began to collect around his right hand. He continued to chant, and the energy grew brighter, until it almost hurt your vision to look at it. Finally Link opened his eyes, swung both arms over his head, and slammed his glowing fist into the ground, yelling out as he did so.
"DIN'S FIRE!!"
What happened next was unlike anything Mario or Luigi had ever seen. A circle of red-orange flames erupted from the ground around Link and shot 30 to 40 feet into the air, where it formed the shape of a dome covering the area. It hung there, radiating heat and light, even though there was no wood or anything nearby for it to fuel upon. It began to expand outward rapidly in an ever-increasing area, maintaining its shape as a perfectly round dome of flame the entire time. The approaching Peahat sensed the spell and tried to back away, but by then it was too late. Fire engulfed the creature, causing it to emit a pitiful wail of agony before dissolving entirely into a faint cloud of purplish smoke.
Then the circle of fire faded and vanished as Link lifted his hand off the ground, panting slightly from the exertion of using the spell. Mario realized his mouth was open and quickly closed it.
"Whoa." he muttered in awe. "Remind me to never make him mad."
Luigi was too dumbfounded to reply.
A grin had made its way subconsciously onto Link's face as he had ended the spell, and now it was readily apparent as he jogged back over to where the Mario Bros. were still staring at him in amazement.
"What?" He asked, slightly out of breath. "It's not like......you've never seen......a magic spell......before, is it?"
"Yep."
"......oh."
Mario and Luigi got back to their feet, since the threat was obviously gone. They were both still staring at Link in a strange way, though, as they resumed walking toward Lon Lon Ranch. Eventually Link called it to attention. "What is it?" He asked, after finally having gotten his breath back.
"Where did you learn to do that?" Mario asked suddenly. Link looked at Luigi, who nodded. He had been wondering the same thing.
"Well," Link thought while slowly stretching his arms, "the Great Fairy of Power taught it to me. She lives at the peak of an inactive volcano called Death Mountain, and..."
"Wait a minute!" Luigi interrupted. "What's a fairy?"
Link's eyes went wide. "You don't even know?!" He asked incredulously.
Both brothers shook their heads. They had never heard the term used before in their lives.
"Wow. You guys really are foreigners, aren't you? I mean, I can understand how you look different, but to not even know about fairies...!"
"So what are they?" Mario asked impatiently.
"They're like......little people. They look like normal people, but they only grow to about six inches in height. They have wings attached to their backs, and can fly.......and most of them usually have some sort of special magical powers unique to that fairy."
"Such as?" Luigi prompted.
Link shrugged. "Depends on the fairy. Some can heal wounds, others can cast some useful spells, and a few have miscellaneous abilities such as shape- shifting or telepathy. Not too long ago I had a fairy named Navi. She could tell me enemy weaknesses during battle, along with other useful information." He paused for a second. "Man, I miss her." He sighed. He went quiet at this point and looked down at his shoes, absorbed in his thoughts. Mario traded a sideward glance with his brother. Both knew that a sensitive topic had been breached.
"I'm sorry, we didn't mean to..." Mario began, but Link waved the statement off.
"It's okay. I've just been kinda lonely since she went back to her home, is all."
The Bros. nodded understandably. They'd once had a dinosaur friend named Yoshi who had helped hem on a couple of their adventures. But the dino had since chosen to go back to his home on Yoshi's Island rather than stay in the Mushroom Kingdom. They had oftentimes found themselves missing the little green dinosaur and his ravenous appetite.
Link took a deep breath and returned his attention to their journey. He had noticed something growing larger on the horizon all this time as they approached it. Mario recognized it as a man-made stone wall, and was the first to point this out to the others.
Link nodded. "Yep, that's the wall encircling Lon Lon Ranch." He agreed, confirming Mario's suspicions.
The three lapsed into silence at that. The grass around them was slowly giving way to barren dirt and rock as they neared the wall. By now the perimeter of the wall appeared to be that of a couple large football stadiums put together, and it was too tall for them to see over. They approached it and stood at it's base, feeling slightly chilly inside the long shadow it cast over them.
Mario gave it a once-over. The wall had been built using an old-fashioned Hyrulian construction technique, but Mario didn't know this. However, he was rather startled to notice its similarity to the walls inside Bowser's Keep. The only difference was that Bowser used precut stone blocks to build his fortress, whereas this wall appeared to be made of natural rocks somehow stuck together. He checked along the wall for a distance, but couldn't find any noticeable opening or anything to enter the ranch through. Finally he turned to their Hylian escort.
"So, how do we get in?" He asked Link. Both Link and Luigi had been resting from their long walk, with Luigi studying the wall like Mario was and Link gazing at it reminiscently, recalling how he had - or would - free Epona by having her jump over it in seven years' time. Mario wasn't exactly thrilled to hear his answer.
"We can't. At least, not from this side. There's an entrance at the other end, so we'll have to circle around. C'mon."
Mario looked nervously at the sky. The sun was already close to setting. What if they didn't make it around the ranch in time? It seemed awfully big...
"What is it, Mario?" Link asked, noticing his hesitation.
"Isn't there a quicker route inside?" He blurted out at last, glancing back at the sun's position anxiously.
Link shook his head. "Nope. There's only one entrance and one exit to the ranch, and the wall blocks off everything else. If we hurry though, I think we can make it. So come on!" Link began to run around the perimeter of the stone wall, leaving the Mario Bros. to scramble after him to catch up.
Link looked up at the sky. They'd made worse time than he had realized...their little encounter with the Peahats must've taken longer than he'd thought. Crap.
His breath began coming in gasps. He had never noticed just how big the ranch was before, and now the entrance seemed miles away. They'd never make it in time. He looked up at the wall. If only there was some way over it....
Wait a minute! He could see the rooftops of the buildings inside the ranch over the top of the wall. That gave him an idea.
Link suddenly stopped running. The Bros. noticed and skidded to a halt next to him. "What is it?"
Link turned to face them, a smile slowly dawning on his face as he worked out his plan. It might work...
"Guys, I think I know a quicker route into the ranch." The Mario Bros. visually perked up at this. Link began digging around inside a pouch he carried strapped to his waist. Then Mario realized something.
He looked at the wall again. Wait a second....
"Hold it, Link." Mario interrupted him as he was pulling an odd-looking device out of his pocket. Link stopped, looking at Mario questionably. Mario turned to his brother. "Hey, Weege! How high do you think that wall is?"
Luigi began to catch on to Mario's plan, sizing up the stone structure. "I'd say around ten feet, Mario. D'you think we could make it?"
"It's worth a shot." He replied. Mario then turned to Link, who was looking at them both in confusion.
"It's okay, Link. I think we could jump this wall."
Link looked puzzled for a second, then his expression turned to one of understanding. "You mean with a horse, don't you? The only horse I've got is Epona, and she wouldn't be able to carry all three of us..."
"No, I mean on foot."
Link stared at Mario as if the plumber had just claimed to be a boiled egg. "What?"
"Just watch." Mario replied. He walked up to the very base of the wall with Luigi. They looked at each other. "Ready?"
"Yep."
"Okay, here-a we go!"
The next event stunned Link to the point of staring at them slack-jawed, much like Mario had been earlier when he had performed Din's Fire. As one, the Mario Bros. did a Super Jump clear over the wall with room to spare, landing neatly on the other side without a sound. The Bros. high-fived each other, then called back over the wall to see about their comrade. "Hey Link! You okay over there?"
The reply was slow in coming, and Mario almost began worrying that a monster had gotten the Hylian. But then Link's voice floated over to their ears, disbelief etched within it.
"How...did...you...DO THAT?!?" Link yelled, mostly in excitement, but also partially in amazement and shock. The Bros. heard the clink-clink of a chain extending, but failed to notice as a spear attached to the end of the noisy chain rammed into the roof of one of the houses and embedded itself in the wood. They also failed to notice when the chain retracted, pulling Link up to the roof. The Bros., thinking Link was still outside the wall, recieved quite a shock when he jumped down to the ground to greet them.
"What the -- ? Huh? How?" Mario sputtered, trying to calm down his racing heartbeat.
Link held up the instrument he had used to get to the roof. "This is my Hookshot. It has a spring-loaded chain with a spear on the end for latching onto stuff. When the chain is attached to something, I can make it retract, pulling me up to what ever it's latched to. It's also got a ruby laser light so I can aim it properly."
He held the device out to the brothers for them to examine, and Mario took it gently into his hands, afraid a rough movement would break it. It was cylindrical, with the spear nestled neatly inside a small cubbyhole at the top and the chain wrapped tightly around the cylinder's middle. At its bottom there was a handle for holding onto the device while being pulled to new heights by it. "Ingenious." Luigi, who loved machines, muttered while closely scrutinizing its design and marvelling at it. "Whoever invented and built this must have been years ahead of his time. Where did you get it?" This last was directed at Link.
Link shrugged, accepting the instrument back from the brothers and placing it back in his sack. "I found it. I don't know who made it, but I agree - he could've become rich selling these things." Link then turned to the two slightly cartoonish humans before him and narrowed his eyes slightly. "Now, how the heck could you jump that wall like that?!"
Mario grinned, and Luigi followed suit. "It's kind of a long story."
"I don't care, I want to hear it."
Mario shrugged. "Alright, but you asked for it." He turned to Luigi, who began explaining.
"I think it all started way back when we were kids. We used to live in a house that was next to a huge national forest, so we'd often go exploring in it and climb trees by jumping from branch to branch. We eventually found out that a small mountain was somewhere inside the forest and chose to start climbing it instead. We did this constantly, since we lived way out in the middle of nowhere and there really wasn't much else to do.
"After growing up doing nothing but jumping and climbing, we became pretty good at it and found ourselves easily able to exceed our own heights in a single jump. During high school, we were the superstars of the school basketball team, able to dunk the ball from practically anywhere on the court." It didn't ocurr to Luigi that Link might not know what Basketball was, and he didn't see the Hylian's confused expression, so he continued.
"Eventually, once we left school we decided to profit from our jumping abilities. We became construction workers, able to leap from beam to beam and speed supplies all over the place much faster than conventional methods." Luigi sneaked a grin at his brother. "Then one day an escaped gorilla decided to pay us a visit. Mario, being the sensible person he was, took the safe route and tried capturing it with his bare hands rather than going for help."
"Hey, at least I did something!" Mario replied angrily. "The big ape had kidnapped my girlfriend, dammit! Of course I wasn't going to stand there and wait for help while any number of things could've been happening to her!"
"Mario's old high school sweetheart, Pauline, had been kidnapped by the monkey before he arrived at the construction site. We later found out that his name was Donkey Kong, but we didn't know this at the time." Luigi explained to Link quietly. "DK climbed to the very top of the tower we had been building and when Mario went to stop him, tried throwing barrels of supplies at him." He snickered at the very prospect of it. It almost sounded like something taken out of a video game.
Link smiled nonchalantly. Funny, he'd been thinking the same thing himself.
"Mario almost rescued Pauline from DK, but then the ape escaped and went to another of our construction sites. Mario kept following him, and eventually captured the big monkey."
"I had to use my jumping abilities a lot for that encounter." Mario recalled. "A lot of the steel beams were placed really far apart, and it took all my strength to bridge them."
"Anyway, once we became plumbers afterward we noticed some odd stuff going on in the sewers. Namely, the appearance of giant turtles, some of them with wings."
Link ventured a guess. "Koopas?"
"Yup. We investigated the source and accidentally went through a portal into the Mushroom Kingdom. When we were there, we found out that the gravity in the area around Princess Peach's castle was higher than that in the kingdom's other areas. We continued honing our jumping abilities in the increased gravity, which caused us to be able to jump even higher when gravity was normal. Mario and I could easily surpass 15 feet in one of our jumps if we wanted to. My highest jump was about 55 feet straight up, and I think Mario's record is around 40 feet."
"Actually, 42 feet." Mario corrected. By now, Link was looking at them with arched eyebrows and new respect written all over his face. "That's incredible. You guys'd sure come in handy against Ganon, you know that?"
Mario shrugged. "We'd help if we could, but we have a Koopa to catch." He reminded the Hylian hero.
Any further conversation was interrupted by a sharp cry from behind them. "Hey! What're you three doing here.....oh, fairy boy! I didn't see you there."
The trio turned around to see a young Hylian girl with red hair approaching them from one of the houses. Mario looked from her to Link and back again. "'Fairy boy'? Is she talking to you??"
Link already felt his face growing hot. Luigi took this opportunity to burst out laughing.
Link squeezed his eyes shut in humiliation. "Hey, there, Malon." He greeted through clenched teeth.
Malon hadn't seemed to notice Link's adverse behavior, or if she had, she didn't show it. "Hey yourself. Where've you been all this time?" She asked with her hands on her hips and a cocky smile playing at her mouth.
"I had to go free Navi at the Kokiri Forest." Link replied while shooting a deadly glare at Luigi, which quickly silenced him.
"Oh, okay. How's Epona doing?" The girl asked while edging closer to them, eyeing the two Bros. with interest.
"She's fine. I let her go graze a little while ago. She'll be back before dark."
Malon nodded, still looking at Mario and Luigi. Link realized that introductions were in order.
"Oh yeah! Malon, this is Mario and this is Luigi. Guys, this is Malon, my friend I was telling you about." The Bros. waved cheerfully in turn. Malon performed a mock-curtsey and held out a hand for them to take, saying "Hello, how do you do?" in her snobbiest tone of voice.
Luigi's moustache shook with amusement and he grinned sinisterly. To Malon's surprise, he took her hand and got down on one knee to kiss it lightly. "At your service, my lady." He replied right back in a proper tone. Spending time with royalty had certainly improved his edicate, Mario reflected.
Malon quickly snatched her hand away and blushed fiercely, having not expected Luigi to do anything in return. Luigi got back to his feet at the receiving end of grins from the other two men. He grinned back.
"Well! I...I suppose you three will be wanting to spend the night?" Malon asked, changing the subject quickly while looking at the darkening sky.
Link nodded soberly, reminded of their buisiness here. "Yes. Three rooms for a night, if you don't mind."
Malon was still blushing as she nodded and led the three back to one of the houses. Mario asked Link along the way (quietly) how he expected the owners to have enough room for all of them. To this Link also quietly replied that Malon's family had set up an inn service inside the ranch to accommodate weary travelers going back and forth across Hyrule Field.
Mario looked distraught at this news. "But our money won't work here! How will we pay them?"
Link grinned sneakily and pulled out from beneath his belt an enormous leather sack with a hexagonal green stone set into it. "Don't worry." He whispered back. "Money isn't a problem."
Mario looked incredulously at the sheer size of the huge sack. "Just what kind of currency do you use here?"
In reply, Link pulled the bag open to show Mario its contents. Brilliant multicolored light flooded out onto the plumber's face, illuminating the way his eyes bugged out and his jaw dropped as he saw what was inside.
"Luigi! Get over here!"
"Huh? What is it Mari-aaaah...." Luigi trailed off and stopped short as he saw the same thing Mario had seen inside the bag.
Glittering, colored gems tumbled gently against one another inside the bag as Link walked. They were of all different sizes and each was perfectly cut into a hexagonal shape, tapering off at the ends. Blue sparkled, red shimmered, green glittered, and a single brilliant gold gem shone at him in the dimming sunlight.
"R-r-rubies!" He exclaimed. "Diamonds! Sapphires! Emeralds!" Every precious stone he could think of lay in open view before him. "W-w-where did you g- get these??"
Link shrugged. "They're called Rupees, and they're our currency."
The Bros. were still gazing in stunned amazement at Link's wallet when Malon said, "Okay! We're here!"
She had led them inside the building and upstairs into the second floor, where they currently stood in front of the doors to their rooms. "One room each. You'll find the bathrooms inside. Every morning we have a complimentary breakfast buffet downstairs from 6 to 11 am. If you need anything else, I'll be downstairs at the front desk until 11 'o clock." She handed each of them a plain yellow key to their respective rooms, and walked away with a smile. The trio was left facing three identical doorways.
Mario shrugged. "I guess we go in."
With goodbyes and statements of "See you tomorrow!", the hylian and plumbers retired to their rooms.
Link always had a schedule planned out for whenever he stayed at an inn. First, he'd take a shower and get the necessary hygenic tasks out of the way. Then, he'd get out his journal and write a new entry for that day in it. Next he'd fix himself some food from the supplies he carried with him, and eat dinner. Finally, he'd do some light reading before hitting the hay. He recalled this plan of events as he entered the modest room before him. Content that he now knew what to do next, he began taking off his boots to get in the bath.
"Hmmm." Mario thought while closely scrutinizing the bed in front of him. He had always been very choosy about the place he decided to sleep on. He tested it by leaning a hand on its surface. Not bad. Just the right amount of springiness, but not too much. His gaze swept over the pillows carefully, not missing a single detail. Huh, interesting needlework. He fluffed the pillow up between his hands. Excellent. It was cushy and comfortable to the touch. He next inspected the covers. Very interesting indeed. A beautiful spiral design was woven onto the top cover, with other small, colored spirals framing its surface. He tested the sheet's composition by rubbing a bit of it between his thumb and forefinger. Nice. The cover was fluffy and silky-smooth, thick enough to keep you warm during the night but not so much that you'll wake up sweating profusely. He cautiously got up and sat down on the bed itself, feeling himself sink into it as the mattress molded itself to his shape. He smiled slightly. These Hylians sure know how to make their beds right.
Satisfied that the bed would be suitable for his sleeping there tonight, Mario got up and walked over to the bathroom to take a shower before going to sleep.
Luigi didn't even bother to look at his bed; he took a bath first thing before he even noticed what his room looked like. He hated being dirty. All that dust and grit from Hyrule Field had gotten all over him today and he practically tore off his clothes in his race to get in the bathtub. Ah, glorious water! He sighed contentedly as the miraculous liquid cleansed his body of grime and other impurities. There we go......
He spent the next half-hour in the tub, washing himself over and over until it wasn't possible for him to not be clean. Finally he shut off the flow of water, knowing that he needed to save the heated liquid for the inn's other residents. He exited the bathroom in his pajamas and feeling warm as a steamed clam. Much better.
Unlike Mario, Luigi didn't use the same level of pickiness with his bed. He didn't even bother to notice the beautiful designs on its cover, in fact. He merely got underneath the covers and clicked the light off, ready to travel to the land of dreams.
Something was wrong, though. He couldn't sleep. He lay there for a long time with his eyes closed, waiting for the darkness to overtake him. It never came. However, he figured that he'd go to sleep eventually if he waited long enough, so he continued to lie in the same position without doing anything.
Malon sat down at the chair behind the front desk and idly played with a lock of her hair. She couldn't understand why she'd become so embarrassed when Luigi had kissed her hand. What was wrong with showing a little common courtesy every now and then? Nothing, that's what.
But she recalled all too clearly the intense feeling she gotten when his lips touched her skin. It almost felt like a minor electric shock, starting at the spot where she had been touched and spreading outward to encompass her entire body, leaving it tingling. She shivered as she remembered the sensation. She didn't know where it had come from, but it was one of the most pleasurable feelings she'd had in a long time. Folding her arms on the desk, she buried her face within the folds of her dress. She desperately needed some time alone to think, to sort through all the muddled thoughts and emotions running rampant through her mind.
Up above, Link had finished his schedule of events and was now on the last item, reading a delightful novel by a famous Hylian author. The book spoke of past events where Ganon had threatened Hyrule with his power, and an ancestor of Link's had risen up to defeat him. He continued to read late into the night, waiting for his eyes to become tired enough that he should put the book away and go to sleep. The tiredness never came like it usually did, but Link was so caught up in his reading that he didn't notice.
Next door, Mario had no such troubles. He'd finished his bath and walked back to his bed feeling sleepy and exhausted, but happy as he remembered the bed's wonderful properties. Slowly he got beneath the covers, savoring the warmth and feel of the quilt against his nightclothes. With a slowly widening smile, he turned off the light and was asleep almost instantly.
By Stoney (stoney107@yahoo.com)
Chapter Two
Lost and Found
Hyrule Field, 4:18 PM.
It was a beautiful day. 81 degrees, gorgeous, sunny weather. The sky was a clear forget-me-not blue, with a few small, wispy cirrus clouds for variety.
A light breeze swept over the sloping plains, rustling the short, thick grass and causing the occasional shrub to shiver. The sun shone down brightly, illuminating every nook and cranny of the plain, leaving the shadows nowhere to hide.
Yes, it was a good day. But there was something that it was lacking.
Music.
That's where he came in. His ocarina, as simple an instrument as it may have looked from the outside, was actually quite a beautiful musical device. He had been proficient at playing it even when he had first started learning, so by now he was way far above and beyond an expert at it. He had always enjoyed how the instrument's tones adapted to the mood of any situation; soft and soothing, fast and upbeat, sad and mournful, or bright and cheery, just to name a few. Right now he had chosen a more relaxing song to play, since weather like this was perfect for catching up on a little rest.
The echoing notes seemed to linger in the air a second or two after they stopped, their varied tones perfectly in tune with each other and as a whole. The melody flowed gracefully along, never once hitting a wrong note or missing a beat. Each sound just seemed to fit with all the others, like the tune had been predetermined before he even started playing that day. He sat on a rock in the middle of Hyrule Field, playing whatever happened to come to mind, not thinking about much in particular except how much he enjoyed this and how he should start doing concerts or something so more people could appreciate his music. His horse Epona grazed nearby, coming up to nuzzle him affectionately every now and then. He stroked her lovingly on the neck in reply. He really liked Epona; she was his #1 Best Animal Friend at times. Although there were those frogs on the Zora River, the ones who liked his music a lot. And that owl who talked to him. What was his name?-- oh yeah, Kaepora Gaebora. Yeah, they were nice, too. But Epona was different. She was special.
He had rescued her from captivity seven years in the future, then came back in time to find that she had grown to like him, but was still in captivity. For some reason, he wanted Epona to be free again, in the past. At first he thought of buying her off, but then realized he didn't have nearly enough money to do so. Her owner then suggested that he could have the horse in return for doing manual labor for a few months on his farm. He had agreed, and now Epona was free. Looking at the horse, he knew that all the hours of backbreaking work he endured as he strained to do jobs that normally he might have been unable to do, but did anyway, were all worth it. He had gained Epona's friendship, and that was far more priceless than any labor could ever amount to.
Epona brayed, wanting to run around a bit. He smiled and untied his horse from where he had anchored her next to him, knowing that she'd always be able to find him no matter where he was if he needed her help. Epona reared up on her hind legs, her way of saying thanks, and ran off as only a horse could. He grinned, then got up off his rock and lay face up on the grass. He gazed up at the clear blue sky, with his hands clasped behind his head and his mind wandering. A gentle gust of wind played with a lock of his hair and tickled his face. He sighed contentedly.
Yes, it was a good day. And now that he had his music, the day was truly perfect.
He began to doze for a bit, the rhythm of the wind rustling the grass and the faint wisps of cloud rolling by overhead making him sleepy. He woke up with a start, though, when he heard a humming sound nearby and felt a tiny tingling on the back of his neck, which indicated that he was in the presence of powerful magic. He cautiously opened one eye to look in the direction of the noise, just as it abruptly cut off. Then he heard sounds that were radically different from the previous noise. He strained his hearing, trying to make them out. It sounded more like people yelling than a magical spell taking effect.
"Ow! Hey, get your hand out of my eye!"
"Oof! Then stop squishing my face with your shoe!"
This bickering continued for a unknown amount of time, during which he closed his eye and just pretended he was still asleep. The voices did not sound native; they must have belonged to foreigners. Each voice had a strange accent faintly attached to it that he couldn't identify. Who were these people?
Then the argument abruptly cut off as one of the voices said, "Hey! There's someone over there!" He tensed. Did they know he was awake? Should he get up and greet them? Where they friendly?
A span of silence. Then-
"Gee, Mario, he looks just like you! Except with blond hair. And really long, pointy ears. And a weird green outfit." A pause. "Actually, I don't think he looks much like you after all."
He could practically see the other's annoyed expression. "Luigi, would you please just shut up? Where are we? Where's Kamek?"
Luigi, Mario, Kamek? These names were all unfamiliar to him. Definitely foreigners. But how had they gotten here?
"I dunno, but I'd bet he's around here somewhere......." The voices began to fade as their counterparts walked away. He decided that now would be a good time to try and see these strange newcomers.
Unconsciously he unsheathed his sword and unbuckled his shield. If these people presented a threat, he wanted to be ready for them. When he opened his eyes and rolled over to look at the strangers, he received quite a shock. They were unlike any creatures that he had ever seen. Which said a lot, considering how many kinds of creatures he had seen.
They were short, like Kokiri. But all the Kokiri were children......these beings looked like a bizarre version of the average Hyrulian shrunk down to around his size. And their ears, how weird could they get? They weren't pointy! And they were so short! How could these beings hear anything out of ears that small?
But that wasn't all. One of them turned around, showing him its face. Whoa! Talk about strange! Its nose was big and round, a little larger and redder than it was supposed to be probably because, he guessed, it was bruised or swollen or something. This person had a really bushy black moustache that curled up slightly on either side of its nose, and it was wearing some sort of strange hat that casted its eyes into deep shadow.
He inched closer to the duo on his stomach, trying to get a better view of these strange newcomers. As he did so, his foot caught on the roots of a bush that was growing nearby. He tugged at the obstacle, and accidentally uprooted the whole plant in a shower of rocks and soil.
The moustached man that was facing him looked in his direction. Uh-oh.
"Hey, Luigi. That kid's awake!"
The other being suddenly spun around at the call. "Huh? What?"
The shorter, plumper person's clothing consisted of a red shirt under what looked like blue farming overalls with suspenders. It (he?) had white gloves covering its hands and wore brown shoes with no laces that resembled work boots. The taller, thinner guy (what did the red one call him? Luigi?) had a green shirt on underneath similar overalls of the same color, and it also wore white gloves and work boots. As the green-clothed one named Luigi turned around, another black moustache and bulbous nose, this one not swollen, became visible.
No sense hiding now. He stood up, making sure that his sword was plainly visible to the strangers. Hopefully they'd have a shred of common sense and would not attack him while he was armed.
"Who are you?" The red-clothed one asked immediately, suspicion evident in its (or his) voice. He guessed that these strangers hadn't ever seen anyone like him either, considering the way they stared at him with great interest.
He looked at them curiously. Should he tell them his real name? They didn't seem like the hostile type. But you never can tell about people until you really get to know them, a lesson he knew all too well.
"My name's Link." He finally replied. "Who are you two, and how did you get here? You're definitely not from around here, I know that."
The red one pointed a thumb at his chest. "My name's Mario. This guy here is my brother, Luigi." He added, indicating the thin green-shirted man next to him. "As for how we got here, well, I don't really know. We were following someone who had kidnapped a couple friends of ours, and suddenly ZAP! We're here." He cocked his head at Link quizzically. "You look kinda strange for a human. Where is 'here', anyway?"
Link smiled and put his sword and shield away. These two, he realized, had arrived here accidentally and were probably harmless. He was not unfamiliar with people being transported vast distances by powerful wizards and the like, so he immediately believed their story.
"Actually, I'm not human." Link replied. "I'm Hylian. Humans don't live around these parts much anymore. The only differences between us Hylians and humans are that we have longer ears and are capable of using various magicks that humans can't. Everyone around here looks like me, although most of them are a lot taller 'cause I'm just a kid. I've seen what a human looks like. Really, compared to you, I don't seem that strange."
Mario and Luigi didn't know whether to take offense at this or not.
"As for where you are," Link continued with a mischievous glint in his eye, "this is the place that talking trees, giant spiders, and dancing scarecrows call 'home'. It is the kingdom of Hyrule, where deadly traps comprise dungeons, monsters run rampant, and sorcerers aspire to world domination. " He smiled casually at their unnerved expressions.
The one named Luigi gulped audibly. "Gee, sounds like fun."
Link grinned. "Yeah, well, it's really a pretty nice place, actually. Just as long as you don't wander out of the towns after dark. Nighttime is usually when the bulk of the monsters come out to pay hapless travelers a visit."
Link paused. "You're pretty lucky you found me, actually." he added after some thought. "I'm a pretty good fighter, and I know my way around this place like the back of my sword." He turned and pointed in a direction away from where the Mario Bros. had been walking. "Over there you'll find Kakariko Village. I suggest you stay there until you figure out a way back home, unless of course you wanna pick a fight with monsters." Link grinned sinisterly, and the Mario Bros. didn't doubt for a second that he had done just that several times before.
"Uh...I think we'd better be on the safe side and go to the town." Mario replied quickly.
Link shrugged. "Okay. It's about a day's walk from here, but since it's already past noon, I doubt we'll make it before sunset."
Mario hesitated. "Is there anyplace closer that we could stay at, just for tonight at least?"
Link thought for a moment. "Well, there's Lon Lon Ranch......it's a farm set up a couple miles from here, but I'll have to check with the owner to see if they might have room for you guys."
Luigi nodded. "We'll take our chances. Which way is this ranch?"
"I'll take you there. C'mon." Link turned and began walking, Mario and Luigi hurrying to catch up.
"So, you guys said that someone kidnapped a friend of yours?" Link asked conversationally once the Bros. were walking alongside him.
Mario grimaced. "A wizard named Kamek kidnapped both the princess of the kingdom we live in and another princess of a neighboring kingdom. Then he ran away when we began chasing him."
Luigi piped up. "He went through this weird blue portal that he had conjured up. We went in after him and found ourselves here."
Link was silent until the Bros. finished, staring at his shoes and thinking about what they were saying. "Gosh, that sounds familiar." He spoke at last. "We've got a really bad sorcerer here, too, except his name is Ganon, or Ganondorf. His pastimes include creating monsters to send after me and make my life difficult, and kidnapping Princess Zelda, the next in line to rule this kingdom." He looked up at the Bros. "What's this Kamek look like?"
Mario shook his head. "He's not even human. Or Hylian, for that matter."
"Neither's Ganon."
Mario shrugged. "Kamek is a Koopa, dressed in blue robes with a pointed blue hat, a broomstick, and a magic wand he uses to cast spells. You haven't seen him around here, have you?"
Link furrowed his brow in confusion. "......Koopa?......"
"Oh, you've never met a Koopa before?" Link shook his head. "Well, they're turtles, really. They're about our height, with shells on their backs, shoes on their feet, and sometimes wings attached to their shoulders."
Link smiled in amusement, trying to imagine a creature as ridiculous- looking as what Mario was describing. "Winged turtles?"
Luigi nodded. "Yeah, the winged ones are called Parakoopas, and they can fly, of course."
Link's smile grew wider. "Of course." He shook his head. "Unfortunately, I haven't seen anything like that around here, I'm afraid. This...Koopa, as you call him...he probably lured you into the portal to trap you over here."
Luigi nodded. The same thought had occurred to him, but he'd chosen not to voice it.
Link looked grim. "This is bad. If this sorcerer is as powerful as I think he is in order to get you guys all the way over here, he might try to do what Ganon could not and invade Hyrule to conquer it." He stopped walking and stood in front of the Bros., staring them directly in the eyes. "I give you my word that I will do everything possible to get you back home, help you rescue your friends and defeat this fiend. He is too dangerous for us to let him remain loose, and if he presents a possible threat to my Kingdom, I shall have to defend it by going with you."
Mario and Luigi sputtered in surprise at this sudden show of determination. Finally Luigi found his voice. "Look, we appreciate the offer and everything, but...um...I thought you said you were just a kid. Couldn't we use this kingdom's army or something?"
Link smiled knowingly. "I am the army."
The Mario Bros. looked at each other, then stared at Link uncomprehendingly.
Link sighed and continued. "I'm not just any kid." He explained. "I'm the legendary Hero of Time, the sworn protector of Hyrule and champion of the Triforce." He began to tick off his achievements on his fingers. "I've defended a band of forest-dwellers from extinction, prevented a race of rock-people from starvation, rescued Princess Zelda from Ganon's clutches twice, traversed an active volcano to defeat a fire dragon, refilled an entire lake overnight, traveled seven years into the future and back again, entered the digestive system of a giant fish to cure it of a disease, become a member of a group of highly skilled all-female warriors (I was the only male one), saved seven Sages of magical power from Ganon's best men, and broke the record for landing the largest fish twice." He glanced down at his feet and kicked the dirt a little. "I've gone on more adventures than you'd probably care to know about. Believe me, I've got a lot of experience."
The Mario Brothers were stunned to silence by this, Mario's ego beginning to lash out in its death throes as he tried to take in all that this little boy had done by himself. Not wanting to be put up by the Hylian, Mario finally regained his voice. "That's pretty good." He admitted. "But we've also got a lot of experience in adventuring ourselves. Me and my bro here," at this point Mario got Luigi into a playful headlock which Luigi quickly struggled to free himself from, "have saved two different kingdoms on separate occasions, prevented a race of cloud-people from being conquered by a power-hungry dictator, rescued Princess Peach from being held as a P.O.W. over six times, traversed several unfinished construction towers to capture a renegade gorilla, cleared an entire haunted mansion of ghosts overnight, thrown out a giant frog by throwing vegetables at him, rescued five kings from being permanently turned into animals by magic wands, miraculously cured mushroomkind from a fatal disease, been inducted into a group of high-appetite dinosaurs, saved one hundred-and-fifty stars of Power from the Koopa Army's best men, and broken every record in golf, tennis and kart racing."
Link was impressed. "Whoa! That's awesome! Between us, Kamek won't have a chance!" He exclaimed excitedly.
Mario nodded and sighed in relief, his ego now repaired as Link gained new respect for him. They began walking again. Luigi finally released himself from Mario's hold, giving his brother a mock-glare of anger and shoving him slightly in retaliation. Mario poked him in the back of the head in return, and Link managed to interrupt the exchange from breaking out into a full- fledged fistfight by speaking up. "Tell me....does this kingdom you guys live in have any inhabitants? Besides the Koopas, I mean."
Mario shook his head. "The Koopas aren't native to the kingdom. They're kinda like the monsters you have here. Our archenemy, a really big Koopa named Bowser, sends them after us for kicks."
Link nodded. "Ah, I see. You still haven't answered my question, though."
"Well," Luigi began, "the kingdom is called the Mushroom Kingdom for starters, and yes, it is inhabited. The creatures that live there are kinda like big mushrooms with arms and legs and faces. They're called Toads, short for Toadstools. They're generally a peaceful and friendly species, but they can hold their own in a fight if threatened. Otherwise, they're very nice, er, plants."
Link's smile had turned into a grin. Flying turtles and walking, talking mushrooms. Man, Malon was gonna get a kick out of this....
Link didn't even realize he'd spoken aloud until Mario asked, "Who's Malon?"
Link looked up from his thinking. "Huh? Oh, she's a friend of mine who works at the ranch. Nice girl. Her father, Talon, runs the place."
Mario chuckled. "Malon and Talon, huh? Is that why they call it Lon Lon Ranch?"
Link didn't answer.
"Link?"
"Ssh, listen!" Link ordered. He was standing stock-still while staring straight ahead, muscles tensed, a look of concentration on his face.
Mario blinked, and turned to Luigi, who shrugged.
"We don't hear anything."
Link slowly drew his sword and shield. "I do. I think we're about to be paid a visit by some Peahats."
Mario blinked again. "Peahats?" What was that? Some sort of garment you put on your head like a cap?
"Get down!" Link whispered fervently as he pulled Mario down to the grass. Luigi followed. "Peahats are monsters that roam Hyrule Field by daytime instead of night." Link explained quickly. "They're big, slightly reddish, with long, sharp blades on their bottoms that they spin around in order to fly." He looked up as, off in the distance, something detached from the ground and rose into the air. "If one of them detects you near it, it will start flying and try to slash at you with its blades." The object in the distance began to get closer. Three tiny dots detached from the main object. "Peahat spawn." Link recognized them. "They're used as scouts, mainly. Tells the adult what kind of fight to expect." As the dots got closer, Mario realized they were miniature versions of the larger object still heading toward them. Link growled slightly. "They're fast, too."
"Okay you two, listen up." Link turned back to the Bros. "This thing is basically just taking its time getting here. At full speed it's way too fast for all of us to outrun. So, we'll have to fight it off. You two stay here; I don't want you getting hurt."
Before Mario or Luigi could protest that they were pretty good fighters and could hold their own in battle, Link got back to his feet. Mario began to follow suit, but Link motioned for him to stay put. "This'll only take a minute." He assured them with a confident grin. Then he ran off, toward the approaching objects.
Mario gritted his teeth. "What does he think he's doing? He'll get killed!" He hissed at Luigi.
Luigi shrugged. "He looks like he's got a lot of experience with battle." He replied. "I think he has an idea."
Indeed, Link was formulating a plan as he ran. Let's see, he could try his boomerang on it. No, wait, the monster would simply reflect it off its blades. Hmm. Bombs? Nah, he couldn't throw them high enough to hit the thing. Uh, how about a magic spell? Din's Fire might work, but it was only useful at close range......
The spawn began to approach him, very close now. Link stopped running, crouched down, and began to charge up his sword with magical energy, holding it straight out behind himself as it accumulated bright blue light into its blade. The spawn got even closer, and suddenly the energy in the sword changed from blue to red. Link grinned. Just a little closer......
When the spawn were nearly upon him, he stood up and released the stored energy, spinning in a circle with his sword held outward and lashing out with the magic in a fiery red spin. The red-orange magic surrounded the sword and left a faint, reddish, glowing trail through the air in its wake. The spawn gave a sudden, anguished squeal as they were ripped apart by the attack, and then were silenced as they vaporized into smoke. They left no blood, no intestines or any other such gruesome reminders of their deaths on the ground afterwards. Just POOF!, and they were gone.
Luigi realized he'd been holding his breath the entire time this happened and let it out in a long whoosh of air.
"Wow." He breathed.
Link's momentum finally slowed to the point where he could stop spinning around in circles. He held an arm out for balance, slightly dizzy. Hate it when that happens. He stumbled around for a second or two before his vision corrected itself. He shook his head, clearing the last of the cobwebs away. Then he gave the Mario Bros. another confident grin.
The adult Peahat, meanwhile, had grown closer and closer. As it neared Link, Mario and Luigi got an idea of just how large it really was. It was huge, probably the size of a small house. Even Link was slightly surprised by its size, though he quickly got over it. The Peahat was colored a rusty red with yellow and orange splotches here and there on its surface. Six long, serrated blades of metal were attached to the bottom somehow by exposed muscle and sinew. They were rapidly spinning around to produce lift, similar to a helicopter. As it neared Link, it tilted so that the blades would slice into him. But Link wasn't finished with it yet.
As the Peahat approached, Link closed his eyes and began chanting something that the Mario Bros. couldn't hear. He crouched down, swinging his arms in a wide circle, chanting the whole time. He clasped his hands together and drew them toward his chest, and bright red energy began to collect around his right hand. He continued to chant, and the energy grew brighter, until it almost hurt your vision to look at it. Finally Link opened his eyes, swung both arms over his head, and slammed his glowing fist into the ground, yelling out as he did so.
"DIN'S FIRE!!"
What happened next was unlike anything Mario or Luigi had ever seen. A circle of red-orange flames erupted from the ground around Link and shot 30 to 40 feet into the air, where it formed the shape of a dome covering the area. It hung there, radiating heat and light, even though there was no wood or anything nearby for it to fuel upon. It began to expand outward rapidly in an ever-increasing area, maintaining its shape as a perfectly round dome of flame the entire time. The approaching Peahat sensed the spell and tried to back away, but by then it was too late. Fire engulfed the creature, causing it to emit a pitiful wail of agony before dissolving entirely into a faint cloud of purplish smoke.
Then the circle of fire faded and vanished as Link lifted his hand off the ground, panting slightly from the exertion of using the spell. Mario realized his mouth was open and quickly closed it.
"Whoa." he muttered in awe. "Remind me to never make him mad."
Luigi was too dumbfounded to reply.
A grin had made its way subconsciously onto Link's face as he had ended the spell, and now it was readily apparent as he jogged back over to where the Mario Bros. were still staring at him in amazement.
"What?" He asked, slightly out of breath. "It's not like......you've never seen......a magic spell......before, is it?"
"Yep."
"......oh."
Mario and Luigi got back to their feet, since the threat was obviously gone. They were both still staring at Link in a strange way, though, as they resumed walking toward Lon Lon Ranch. Eventually Link called it to attention. "What is it?" He asked, after finally having gotten his breath back.
"Where did you learn to do that?" Mario asked suddenly. Link looked at Luigi, who nodded. He had been wondering the same thing.
"Well," Link thought while slowly stretching his arms, "the Great Fairy of Power taught it to me. She lives at the peak of an inactive volcano called Death Mountain, and..."
"Wait a minute!" Luigi interrupted. "What's a fairy?"
Link's eyes went wide. "You don't even know?!" He asked incredulously.
Both brothers shook their heads. They had never heard the term used before in their lives.
"Wow. You guys really are foreigners, aren't you? I mean, I can understand how you look different, but to not even know about fairies...!"
"So what are they?" Mario asked impatiently.
"They're like......little people. They look like normal people, but they only grow to about six inches in height. They have wings attached to their backs, and can fly.......and most of them usually have some sort of special magical powers unique to that fairy."
"Such as?" Luigi prompted.
Link shrugged. "Depends on the fairy. Some can heal wounds, others can cast some useful spells, and a few have miscellaneous abilities such as shape- shifting or telepathy. Not too long ago I had a fairy named Navi. She could tell me enemy weaknesses during battle, along with other useful information." He paused for a second. "Man, I miss her." He sighed. He went quiet at this point and looked down at his shoes, absorbed in his thoughts. Mario traded a sideward glance with his brother. Both knew that a sensitive topic had been breached.
"I'm sorry, we didn't mean to..." Mario began, but Link waved the statement off.
"It's okay. I've just been kinda lonely since she went back to her home, is all."
The Bros. nodded understandably. They'd once had a dinosaur friend named Yoshi who had helped hem on a couple of their adventures. But the dino had since chosen to go back to his home on Yoshi's Island rather than stay in the Mushroom Kingdom. They had oftentimes found themselves missing the little green dinosaur and his ravenous appetite.
Link took a deep breath and returned his attention to their journey. He had noticed something growing larger on the horizon all this time as they approached it. Mario recognized it as a man-made stone wall, and was the first to point this out to the others.
Link nodded. "Yep, that's the wall encircling Lon Lon Ranch." He agreed, confirming Mario's suspicions.
The three lapsed into silence at that. The grass around them was slowly giving way to barren dirt and rock as they neared the wall. By now the perimeter of the wall appeared to be that of a couple large football stadiums put together, and it was too tall for them to see over. They approached it and stood at it's base, feeling slightly chilly inside the long shadow it cast over them.
Mario gave it a once-over. The wall had been built using an old-fashioned Hyrulian construction technique, but Mario didn't know this. However, he was rather startled to notice its similarity to the walls inside Bowser's Keep. The only difference was that Bowser used precut stone blocks to build his fortress, whereas this wall appeared to be made of natural rocks somehow stuck together. He checked along the wall for a distance, but couldn't find any noticeable opening or anything to enter the ranch through. Finally he turned to their Hylian escort.
"So, how do we get in?" He asked Link. Both Link and Luigi had been resting from their long walk, with Luigi studying the wall like Mario was and Link gazing at it reminiscently, recalling how he had - or would - free Epona by having her jump over it in seven years' time. Mario wasn't exactly thrilled to hear his answer.
"We can't. At least, not from this side. There's an entrance at the other end, so we'll have to circle around. C'mon."
Mario looked nervously at the sky. The sun was already close to setting. What if they didn't make it around the ranch in time? It seemed awfully big...
"What is it, Mario?" Link asked, noticing his hesitation.
"Isn't there a quicker route inside?" He blurted out at last, glancing back at the sun's position anxiously.
Link shook his head. "Nope. There's only one entrance and one exit to the ranch, and the wall blocks off everything else. If we hurry though, I think we can make it. So come on!" Link began to run around the perimeter of the stone wall, leaving the Mario Bros. to scramble after him to catch up.
Link looked up at the sky. They'd made worse time than he had realized...their little encounter with the Peahats must've taken longer than he'd thought. Crap.
His breath began coming in gasps. He had never noticed just how big the ranch was before, and now the entrance seemed miles away. They'd never make it in time. He looked up at the wall. If only there was some way over it....
Wait a minute! He could see the rooftops of the buildings inside the ranch over the top of the wall. That gave him an idea.
Link suddenly stopped running. The Bros. noticed and skidded to a halt next to him. "What is it?"
Link turned to face them, a smile slowly dawning on his face as he worked out his plan. It might work...
"Guys, I think I know a quicker route into the ranch." The Mario Bros. visually perked up at this. Link began digging around inside a pouch he carried strapped to his waist. Then Mario realized something.
He looked at the wall again. Wait a second....
"Hold it, Link." Mario interrupted him as he was pulling an odd-looking device out of his pocket. Link stopped, looking at Mario questionably. Mario turned to his brother. "Hey, Weege! How high do you think that wall is?"
Luigi began to catch on to Mario's plan, sizing up the stone structure. "I'd say around ten feet, Mario. D'you think we could make it?"
"It's worth a shot." He replied. Mario then turned to Link, who was looking at them both in confusion.
"It's okay, Link. I think we could jump this wall."
Link looked puzzled for a second, then his expression turned to one of understanding. "You mean with a horse, don't you? The only horse I've got is Epona, and she wouldn't be able to carry all three of us..."
"No, I mean on foot."
Link stared at Mario as if the plumber had just claimed to be a boiled egg. "What?"
"Just watch." Mario replied. He walked up to the very base of the wall with Luigi. They looked at each other. "Ready?"
"Yep."
"Okay, here-a we go!"
The next event stunned Link to the point of staring at them slack-jawed, much like Mario had been earlier when he had performed Din's Fire. As one, the Mario Bros. did a Super Jump clear over the wall with room to spare, landing neatly on the other side without a sound. The Bros. high-fived each other, then called back over the wall to see about their comrade. "Hey Link! You okay over there?"
The reply was slow in coming, and Mario almost began worrying that a monster had gotten the Hylian. But then Link's voice floated over to their ears, disbelief etched within it.
"How...did...you...DO THAT?!?" Link yelled, mostly in excitement, but also partially in amazement and shock. The Bros. heard the clink-clink of a chain extending, but failed to notice as a spear attached to the end of the noisy chain rammed into the roof of one of the houses and embedded itself in the wood. They also failed to notice when the chain retracted, pulling Link up to the roof. The Bros., thinking Link was still outside the wall, recieved quite a shock when he jumped down to the ground to greet them.
"What the -- ? Huh? How?" Mario sputtered, trying to calm down his racing heartbeat.
Link held up the instrument he had used to get to the roof. "This is my Hookshot. It has a spring-loaded chain with a spear on the end for latching onto stuff. When the chain is attached to something, I can make it retract, pulling me up to what ever it's latched to. It's also got a ruby laser light so I can aim it properly."
He held the device out to the brothers for them to examine, and Mario took it gently into his hands, afraid a rough movement would break it. It was cylindrical, with the spear nestled neatly inside a small cubbyhole at the top and the chain wrapped tightly around the cylinder's middle. At its bottom there was a handle for holding onto the device while being pulled to new heights by it. "Ingenious." Luigi, who loved machines, muttered while closely scrutinizing its design and marvelling at it. "Whoever invented and built this must have been years ahead of his time. Where did you get it?" This last was directed at Link.
Link shrugged, accepting the instrument back from the brothers and placing it back in his sack. "I found it. I don't know who made it, but I agree - he could've become rich selling these things." Link then turned to the two slightly cartoonish humans before him and narrowed his eyes slightly. "Now, how the heck could you jump that wall like that?!"
Mario grinned, and Luigi followed suit. "It's kind of a long story."
"I don't care, I want to hear it."
Mario shrugged. "Alright, but you asked for it." He turned to Luigi, who began explaining.
"I think it all started way back when we were kids. We used to live in a house that was next to a huge national forest, so we'd often go exploring in it and climb trees by jumping from branch to branch. We eventually found out that a small mountain was somewhere inside the forest and chose to start climbing it instead. We did this constantly, since we lived way out in the middle of nowhere and there really wasn't much else to do.
"After growing up doing nothing but jumping and climbing, we became pretty good at it and found ourselves easily able to exceed our own heights in a single jump. During high school, we were the superstars of the school basketball team, able to dunk the ball from practically anywhere on the court." It didn't ocurr to Luigi that Link might not know what Basketball was, and he didn't see the Hylian's confused expression, so he continued.
"Eventually, once we left school we decided to profit from our jumping abilities. We became construction workers, able to leap from beam to beam and speed supplies all over the place much faster than conventional methods." Luigi sneaked a grin at his brother. "Then one day an escaped gorilla decided to pay us a visit. Mario, being the sensible person he was, took the safe route and tried capturing it with his bare hands rather than going for help."
"Hey, at least I did something!" Mario replied angrily. "The big ape had kidnapped my girlfriend, dammit! Of course I wasn't going to stand there and wait for help while any number of things could've been happening to her!"
"Mario's old high school sweetheart, Pauline, had been kidnapped by the monkey before he arrived at the construction site. We later found out that his name was Donkey Kong, but we didn't know this at the time." Luigi explained to Link quietly. "DK climbed to the very top of the tower we had been building and when Mario went to stop him, tried throwing barrels of supplies at him." He snickered at the very prospect of it. It almost sounded like something taken out of a video game.
Link smiled nonchalantly. Funny, he'd been thinking the same thing himself.
"Mario almost rescued Pauline from DK, but then the ape escaped and went to another of our construction sites. Mario kept following him, and eventually captured the big monkey."
"I had to use my jumping abilities a lot for that encounter." Mario recalled. "A lot of the steel beams were placed really far apart, and it took all my strength to bridge them."
"Anyway, once we became plumbers afterward we noticed some odd stuff going on in the sewers. Namely, the appearance of giant turtles, some of them with wings."
Link ventured a guess. "Koopas?"
"Yup. We investigated the source and accidentally went through a portal into the Mushroom Kingdom. When we were there, we found out that the gravity in the area around Princess Peach's castle was higher than that in the kingdom's other areas. We continued honing our jumping abilities in the increased gravity, which caused us to be able to jump even higher when gravity was normal. Mario and I could easily surpass 15 feet in one of our jumps if we wanted to. My highest jump was about 55 feet straight up, and I think Mario's record is around 40 feet."
"Actually, 42 feet." Mario corrected. By now, Link was looking at them with arched eyebrows and new respect written all over his face. "That's incredible. You guys'd sure come in handy against Ganon, you know that?"
Mario shrugged. "We'd help if we could, but we have a Koopa to catch." He reminded the Hylian hero.
Any further conversation was interrupted by a sharp cry from behind them. "Hey! What're you three doing here.....oh, fairy boy! I didn't see you there."
The trio turned around to see a young Hylian girl with red hair approaching them from one of the houses. Mario looked from her to Link and back again. "'Fairy boy'? Is she talking to you??"
Link already felt his face growing hot. Luigi took this opportunity to burst out laughing.
Link squeezed his eyes shut in humiliation. "Hey, there, Malon." He greeted through clenched teeth.
Malon hadn't seemed to notice Link's adverse behavior, or if she had, she didn't show it. "Hey yourself. Where've you been all this time?" She asked with her hands on her hips and a cocky smile playing at her mouth.
"I had to go free Navi at the Kokiri Forest." Link replied while shooting a deadly glare at Luigi, which quickly silenced him.
"Oh, okay. How's Epona doing?" The girl asked while edging closer to them, eyeing the two Bros. with interest.
"She's fine. I let her go graze a little while ago. She'll be back before dark."
Malon nodded, still looking at Mario and Luigi. Link realized that introductions were in order.
"Oh yeah! Malon, this is Mario and this is Luigi. Guys, this is Malon, my friend I was telling you about." The Bros. waved cheerfully in turn. Malon performed a mock-curtsey and held out a hand for them to take, saying "Hello, how do you do?" in her snobbiest tone of voice.
Luigi's moustache shook with amusement and he grinned sinisterly. To Malon's surprise, he took her hand and got down on one knee to kiss it lightly. "At your service, my lady." He replied right back in a proper tone. Spending time with royalty had certainly improved his edicate, Mario reflected.
Malon quickly snatched her hand away and blushed fiercely, having not expected Luigi to do anything in return. Luigi got back to his feet at the receiving end of grins from the other two men. He grinned back.
"Well! I...I suppose you three will be wanting to spend the night?" Malon asked, changing the subject quickly while looking at the darkening sky.
Link nodded soberly, reminded of their buisiness here. "Yes. Three rooms for a night, if you don't mind."
Malon was still blushing as she nodded and led the three back to one of the houses. Mario asked Link along the way (quietly) how he expected the owners to have enough room for all of them. To this Link also quietly replied that Malon's family had set up an inn service inside the ranch to accommodate weary travelers going back and forth across Hyrule Field.
Mario looked distraught at this news. "But our money won't work here! How will we pay them?"
Link grinned sneakily and pulled out from beneath his belt an enormous leather sack with a hexagonal green stone set into it. "Don't worry." He whispered back. "Money isn't a problem."
Mario looked incredulously at the sheer size of the huge sack. "Just what kind of currency do you use here?"
In reply, Link pulled the bag open to show Mario its contents. Brilliant multicolored light flooded out onto the plumber's face, illuminating the way his eyes bugged out and his jaw dropped as he saw what was inside.
"Luigi! Get over here!"
"Huh? What is it Mari-aaaah...." Luigi trailed off and stopped short as he saw the same thing Mario had seen inside the bag.
Glittering, colored gems tumbled gently against one another inside the bag as Link walked. They were of all different sizes and each was perfectly cut into a hexagonal shape, tapering off at the ends. Blue sparkled, red shimmered, green glittered, and a single brilliant gold gem shone at him in the dimming sunlight.
"R-r-rubies!" He exclaimed. "Diamonds! Sapphires! Emeralds!" Every precious stone he could think of lay in open view before him. "W-w-where did you g- get these??"
Link shrugged. "They're called Rupees, and they're our currency."
The Bros. were still gazing in stunned amazement at Link's wallet when Malon said, "Okay! We're here!"
She had led them inside the building and upstairs into the second floor, where they currently stood in front of the doors to their rooms. "One room each. You'll find the bathrooms inside. Every morning we have a complimentary breakfast buffet downstairs from 6 to 11 am. If you need anything else, I'll be downstairs at the front desk until 11 'o clock." She handed each of them a plain yellow key to their respective rooms, and walked away with a smile. The trio was left facing three identical doorways.
Mario shrugged. "I guess we go in."
With goodbyes and statements of "See you tomorrow!", the hylian and plumbers retired to their rooms.
Link always had a schedule planned out for whenever he stayed at an inn. First, he'd take a shower and get the necessary hygenic tasks out of the way. Then, he'd get out his journal and write a new entry for that day in it. Next he'd fix himself some food from the supplies he carried with him, and eat dinner. Finally, he'd do some light reading before hitting the hay. He recalled this plan of events as he entered the modest room before him. Content that he now knew what to do next, he began taking off his boots to get in the bath.
"Hmmm." Mario thought while closely scrutinizing the bed in front of him. He had always been very choosy about the place he decided to sleep on. He tested it by leaning a hand on its surface. Not bad. Just the right amount of springiness, but not too much. His gaze swept over the pillows carefully, not missing a single detail. Huh, interesting needlework. He fluffed the pillow up between his hands. Excellent. It was cushy and comfortable to the touch. He next inspected the covers. Very interesting indeed. A beautiful spiral design was woven onto the top cover, with other small, colored spirals framing its surface. He tested the sheet's composition by rubbing a bit of it between his thumb and forefinger. Nice. The cover was fluffy and silky-smooth, thick enough to keep you warm during the night but not so much that you'll wake up sweating profusely. He cautiously got up and sat down on the bed itself, feeling himself sink into it as the mattress molded itself to his shape. He smiled slightly. These Hylians sure know how to make their beds right.
Satisfied that the bed would be suitable for his sleeping there tonight, Mario got up and walked over to the bathroom to take a shower before going to sleep.
Luigi didn't even bother to look at his bed; he took a bath first thing before he even noticed what his room looked like. He hated being dirty. All that dust and grit from Hyrule Field had gotten all over him today and he practically tore off his clothes in his race to get in the bathtub. Ah, glorious water! He sighed contentedly as the miraculous liquid cleansed his body of grime and other impurities. There we go......
He spent the next half-hour in the tub, washing himself over and over until it wasn't possible for him to not be clean. Finally he shut off the flow of water, knowing that he needed to save the heated liquid for the inn's other residents. He exited the bathroom in his pajamas and feeling warm as a steamed clam. Much better.
Unlike Mario, Luigi didn't use the same level of pickiness with his bed. He didn't even bother to notice the beautiful designs on its cover, in fact. He merely got underneath the covers and clicked the light off, ready to travel to the land of dreams.
Something was wrong, though. He couldn't sleep. He lay there for a long time with his eyes closed, waiting for the darkness to overtake him. It never came. However, he figured that he'd go to sleep eventually if he waited long enough, so he continued to lie in the same position without doing anything.
Malon sat down at the chair behind the front desk and idly played with a lock of her hair. She couldn't understand why she'd become so embarrassed when Luigi had kissed her hand. What was wrong with showing a little common courtesy every now and then? Nothing, that's what.
But she recalled all too clearly the intense feeling she gotten when his lips touched her skin. It almost felt like a minor electric shock, starting at the spot where she had been touched and spreading outward to encompass her entire body, leaving it tingling. She shivered as she remembered the sensation. She didn't know where it had come from, but it was one of the most pleasurable feelings she'd had in a long time. Folding her arms on the desk, she buried her face within the folds of her dress. She desperately needed some time alone to think, to sort through all the muddled thoughts and emotions running rampant through her mind.
Up above, Link had finished his schedule of events and was now on the last item, reading a delightful novel by a famous Hylian author. The book spoke of past events where Ganon had threatened Hyrule with his power, and an ancestor of Link's had risen up to defeat him. He continued to read late into the night, waiting for his eyes to become tired enough that he should put the book away and go to sleep. The tiredness never came like it usually did, but Link was so caught up in his reading that he didn't notice.
Next door, Mario had no such troubles. He'd finished his bath and walked back to his bed feeling sleepy and exhausted, but happy as he remembered the bed's wonderful properties. Slowly he got beneath the covers, savoring the warmth and feel of the quilt against his nightclothes. With a slowly widening smile, he turned off the light and was asleep almost instantly.