Ch. 2- Mission: Catastrophic Success.
Just a friendly reminder not to flame me under any circumstances. Thank you. Also, thanks to everyone who wanted to flame me, but didn't. I love you.
Oh, and just to let you know, eventually there will be a few really corny jokes in here. Its not quite a serious, but not quite a funny fic. It's a little bit of both but not enough of either.
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It is one thing to come up with a plan of action for exploring unknown country while sitting safely inside a nice, cozy tree with all of your friends within earshot. Its another thing to find yourself someplace unlike any other enviroment you have ever been in, and stick to the plan. Especially if you're only ten.
Until I got to Hyrule Field, I failed to see some very serious flaws with the half-a-day-journey-to-point-B plan. Specifically, that the warp I had taken to get to the forest had magical properties, which meant I could be anywhere in relation to Death Mountain, and that what looked like a small field from a mountain is really big up close.
So I did what you would have done. I panicked, ran around screaming, ran straight into a peahat, got several nasty wounds, and lay on the ground crying until dark. When the Stalchildren attacked me. So I mustered up the last bit of strength I could find, and ran until they weren't chasing me. That's when I passed out.
When I woke up, I was in a room. A rather odd room, at least for someone who lived in trees and caves. It was rectangular, and its walls were white. And there was a big pair of eyes hovering over me. Hmm. Interesting. HELP! I'M BEING ATTACKED!
"Whoa, it's okay. Calm down. You're okay now. Ooo-oo-ooooooo-oo-oo-ooooo-oo-oo-ooooo-oooooo-oo" the eyes murmered. Ok, it wasn't just eyes, it was a red-haired girl, a little younger than me. I didn't know it then, but this was the person who had found me on her doorstep, and who was going to be a good friend of mine. But if you want a name, she's Malon, the sweetheart of LonLon ranch, and one of the kindest Hylians you could ever hope to meet. "Its okay, its okay. I'm Malon. Can you tell me your name?"
"I'm Aglaya." This was supposed to sound proud and confident and all, but it came out as more of a pathetic whisper.
"Okay, Algayo. We found you on our ranch this morning."
"Not Algayo, A-Glay-A" I corrected.
"Okay. Ah Glah A. You have a pretty nasty cut on your back. It looks like..."
"If you can't say my name, you can call me Aine." I had forgotten that Kokiri had trouble saying my name. And Malon had to be a Kokiri, right? She certaintly wasn't a Goron.
"Well, it looks like you had a scuffle with a peahat, Ann."
"No, not Ann, Aine, with an I. And what's a peahat?"
"The big blade-things in the field. Where were you going, An? You won't be able to move for a while, so we should send word back to your folks that you're here."
"I was going up Death Mountain. But nobody would be worried about me. I don't have family."
"You don't have anyone?" I shook my head. I was not welcome at the forest, and the Gorons were not expecting me. They might not even want me. "And don't you know that you can't go up Death Mountain? You need the king's permission." So much for that plan. "Where are you from, anyway?"
"I'm from the forest." She wouldn't believe that I was from an unaccessable mountain.
"No you're not! Forest children have wings and hair made of grass!"
"No they don't. They look just like you, only whispier" I stopped. This didn't make sense. "Aren't you a Kokiri, too?"
Malon giggled. "No. I'm a Hylian. Kokiri are forest children, right? And you're not one of them, because you said 'they look just like you', not 'we look just like you'. So tell me the truth. Who are you?"
Well, wasn't she clever. I couldn't think of any reason not to tell her, except that she wouldn't believe me. So I told her everything. I'm pretty sure she believed me. She must have. Right?
I ended up staying at the ranch as a hired hand. Apparently nobody worries too much about the child labor laws established during the rein of Nohasseen the VII, because I had never worked so hard before in my life. Which isn't that surprising, come to think of it. I had never worked a day in my life before. And now I was learning how to do all kinds of ranch-type things, like how to milk a cow, or ride a horse, or not be pecked to death by killer cucoos, plus all of the swear words I learned from Ingo, who kind of scared me. He's got this eye-brow thing going on, and he mumbled to himself a lot.
There were some plus sides to the whole job thing. Like money. I had never had more than five rupees at a time before. With a job, I felt fabuously wealthy.
Malon gave me a name she found in a book at the Skeikah library in Kakariko (Impa's House). Skakuntala. Everybody could pronounce Skakuntala, but they had trouble with Aglaya and Aine. I can't explain it. Maybe you can. We didn't know what it meant, but it sounded nice.
The Lonlons keep a room at the Castle Town because its a long ride from there to the ranch with three or four crates of milk in tow. They take milk, cows, and other sundry ranch things just about everywhere in the kingdom. Just to let you know.
When I turned 11 (by my best estimate) I got a few days off to go up Death Mountain. I missed my big, lovable Goron family. And if I missed them so much, they must have missed me as well. So I went to the castle to plead for permission to go up to Goron City. Malon went with me for moral support. I was still a very shy person, and kings and such scared me.
I, being the mountain-forest-country bumpkin that I was, got seperated from Malon and hopelessly lost almost as soon as I got inside the castle. It gets pretty crowded on audience days. Being shy, I snuck off to a quiet, deserted bedroom. Probably for guests, I thought, Maybe Malon would find me here. I was just thinking about going out to ask directions when the door opened.
"Hello...um...I'm sorry for..." I started, but the room's new occupant had seized me from behind and was shaking me. "Sweet Din! Get away from me!"
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!!! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU? AND WHAT ARE YOU WEARING? YOU STOLE THAT FROM ONE OF THE GUESTS!! EXPLAIN YOURSELF!" My assailant, a rather muscular woman(?), screeched.
"M'am," I said, as politely as possible under the circumstances, "I don't know who you have mistaken me for, but I am not her. I'm Aglaya from Lonlon Ranch, and I was in here because, ow. Hey, that hurt!" My attacker had one hand pulling out my naturally blond hair, and the other hand was pinching my ear. She was leading me away.
"Look, 'Agaia'... I don't..."
"Its Aglaya. But if you can't pronounce that, you can call me Aine. Or, Shak...&#! OUCH! LOOK, LADY, I DON'T KNOW WHO YOU #& THINK I AM, BUT I AM TELLING THE TRUTH. AND YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO...OWIE, OWIE, OWIE." Really. This was starting to hurt. A LOT. If only I hadn't given my knives to the guards on the way in. I was going to start kicking, when I spotted Malon, talking to a girl whose face I couldn't see.
"Malon! MALON! It's me! HELP!" I shouted. "Hey, lady, stop, here, this girl can back up my story."
Malon came racing over. "Shakuntala! What did you do? I was so worried about you when you got lost, I looked everywhere! But guess who I..."
My captor yanked my hair harder. "What have you been telling this poor girl? Dear, this isn't 'Shakuntala'. This is..."
"Wait! Release her! Godesses, can't you tell the difference between me and...OO"a/n: aren't faces fun? The speaker got a look at me the same time I saw her. My rescurer was the girl Malon had been talking to. She had bright blue eyes, really long ears, and a nose that seems a little too pointy, on a tear-shaped face. She was wearing a hair-scarf, but I could see some blond hair poking out from underneath. Her eyebrows seemed almost green against her skin. If I hadn't been slightly sunburned, she would have looked exactly like me. A.N. Oh, the suspense...