The Legend of Zelda: Old Evil, New Hero

Chapter 4: Wildfire the Horse Strikes Back

Disclaimer: I told y'all before. I don't own Zelda, but Nara, Natl, and any other character that you
don't recognize are mine.


Heading for the stables, Nara seriously considered going on the quest to save Hyrule
without Wildfire. That horse drove her nuts al the time.

"I suppose I'd better go ahead and bring Wildfire along. As much as that horse hates me, a steed
would be helpful to get from one end of Hyrule to the other.", she muttered to herself as she
entered the stable and got Wildfire's bridle.

"Okay, you stupid horse(a/n: The horse is smarter than Nara is.), are you going to cooperate and,
at least, let me put this saddle and bridle on you or do I need to trade you in on a more
cooperative horse?", she said to the glaring horse, giving the mare an ultimatum.

Wildfire seemed to think it over, then lowered her head to let Nara put the bridle on. After all, her
favorite thing to do, besides munching on carrots, was to harass the Hylian.

Nara smirked in triumph and slipped the bridle on over the horse's ears and fastened the straps
that held it in place, then quickly saddled Wildfire before she changed her mind about being
cooperative. However, when Nara tried to get on Wildfire, the horse sidestepped, making Nara
lose her balance and fall flat on her face.

She calmly got up off the stable floor, brushed off her armor, and took the reins. She looked the
horse right in the eye and glared. Wildfire just whinnied and snatched a mouthful of hay and
munched on it defiantly. Nara pulled the hay from the horse's mouth, earning herself a bite on the
hand.

"You know you're not supposed to eat with the bridle on.", she said as she gently yanked on the
reins to emphasize her words. The horse snorted at her and started walking away.

"Oh, no you don't Wildfire. Not without me on you.", she said as she jogged to keep up with the
horse, then grabbed onto the saddle and pulled herself up, swinging a leg over the horse's back.

"Now, that's better. Where to first?", she muttered to herself, thinking aloud. "How about Lake
Hylia so I can do some thinking while fishing? I know that I'm supposed to be saving Hyrule, but
I haven't the foggiest idea of where to begin. Okay, Lake Hylia it is, then. Come, Wildfire."

To Nara and Natl's immense surprise, the horse actually cooperated. However, what they didn't
know was that Wildfire's plan involved the fences that they would have to go over to get to the
lake.

"You know, Nara, Wildfire's being unusually cooperative now.", Natl said, her soft red glow
dimming slightly in curiosity.

"I know, Natl. I wonder what she's planning."

After a couple hours of riding, they finally reached the fences that blocked the entrance to Lake
Hylia. Nara backed Wildfire up and gently nudged her with her feet.

"Okay, Wildfire, over the fences.", she said and the horse seemed to cooperate, heading for the
fences at a dead run, except that, when it came time to jump the first fence, the horse skidded to a
stop, sending her Hylian rider over her head and into the iron fence with a loud "clang!"

"Ow. Wildfire!", she shouted as she painfully stood and climbed back onto the horse.

"Now, over the fences with you!", she stated firmly. Wildfire decided to cooperate this time and
jumped over the fences, having had her revenge. Nara guided her over to the fishing pond past the
scarecrows and dismounted. She thought for a few seconds, then dragged the defiant horse
through the door with her and paid the man 20 rupees to fish. She unstrapped the Master Sword
and her shield from her back, then placed the shield against a large rock and sat down, leaning
back against it. Beginning to really relax for the first time since she could remember, she cast the
line and waited for a fish to bite.


To be continued...

A/N: The idea for this chapter came to me when I was playing through Ocarina of Time again and
was obsessively trying to catch a big enough "lunker" for the Golden Scale. While I was playing
through that part, the idea for Nara to stop and fish popped into my head. Please read, then
review. I can't improve this story without feedback from readers. Flames will be ignored
completely, so, it's not worth the effort to type out a flame.

Ja ne!