I.

She walked quickly and quietly through the town, her delicate legs stepping carefully over pebbles in the road. She was trying desperately to be quiet.
Then the square was bathed in the pale yellow light of the moon, illuminating her fair face and blue eyes, with a few strands of red hair to be seen sticking out from beneath her hood.
She was Malon Lon, the daughter of Talon Lon, the owner of Lon Lon Ranch.
Malon darted from one deep shadow to the next, trying to stay hidden. Someone was following her in this town. That was why she had left the inn so suddenly; she had seen someone watching her through the shutter slats of her room. She had discreetly glanced over there and saw him disappear. She was sure that she was seeing things, a side effect of her time with Link, for he was always seeing danger at every turn, until she saw him again. This time she noticed he had very pretty hazel eyes.
She then immediately set down her newest novel, a romance, grabbed her navy hooded cloak, and threw it over her white blouse and long maroon skirt. She extinguished her low burning candle, and picking her dagger up, left.
Malon had hidden the small blade under her cloak, its hood up, and walked across the cobblestone square to a fountain in the center. She stood there for a few minutes, gazing at the beautifully carved mermaid spouting water from her lips, creating a gentle splashing sound in the pool below. She listened and looked out the sides of her eyes, searching for her stalker. After a few minutes she saw the first rays of moon light peek out from behind a dark cloud and Malon walked away from the fountain, not wanting to be caught in the light.
Here she was now. She huddled nervously by the brick and mortar wall of the blacksmith's shop, her chin pressed against her chest. Torgash, the town she was staying in, was not dangerous. Nothing like what was happening to her had ever happened before. Malon longed for her father and when they would take these sorts of trips together. She had always wanted to go off alone, but now that she was able to, she wanted her father here so he could tell her she was just dreaming.
Malon got to thinking. Maybe she was seeing things.
"Crunch,"
Malon's head snapped up and her hand went around the handle of her dagger. A man stood about ten feet away from her and wore a tan overcoat with a bluish tunic visible underneath it. He wore dark pants, "Maybe green," Malon thought, and leather boots. He was not especially tall, nor very short, he was right in between. The man was husky, and his long overcoat hung down to his knees. He was looking down to the edge of town, by the stables where Malon had left Epona. Then his head turned to near where she was hiding. "Please don't see me, please don't see me," she pleaded to herself.
A warm smile spread across the man's face as he called loudly to her. "Halloo lass, out for a bit o' air?" he asked.
Malon was silent. Maybe he was talking to someone else. Malon knew hat wasn't the case. She closed her eyes, and hoped that if she couldn't see him, he wouldn't see her. "Missy? Are you all right?" he asked, his face concerned as he began to walk near her. Malon looked into his eyes and saw that they were brown.
"I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else," Malon responded as she came out of the shadows to him.
"Happens," the man answered, pulling a hand rolled smoke from his jacket pocket and lighting up. He took a puff. "Who'd you think I was?" he asked her as a breeze came and carried the smoke away.
She hesitated. Maybe they were working together. "Someone's following me," Malon replied quickly as she looked around.
The man instinctively looked to his sides, and immediately felt foolish. "Are you yankin' my leg missy?" he asked her seriously.
"No, I wouldn't joke about something like that," Malon responded.
The moon was once again shrouded by the clouds and they stood in the dark. "The name's Myron," Myron said extending his hand reflexively, but he realized the awkwardness of that action in this sort of situation and quickly pulled his hand back. "I'm staying in a room above the tavern across town," he told her, pointing over his shoulder.
"Malon Lon," she answered.
"Would you perhaps like to come back to me room for the night? I'm sure they'll catch this guy by mornin', whoever he is," Myron offered, dropping the butt of his cigarette and stomping it out. "I have two beds if that's what you worried about," Myron continued, smiling.
"I don't know, something tells me that this guy is dangerous, and I don't want to see you get hurt," Malon warned.
"I'll be fine. You just come with me back to the tavern, and you'll be al...arrrgggghhhhh!" Myron screamed as he was staggered back, an arrow lodged in his chest, directly above his heart.
Malon screamed as he collapsed. There was someone there! Someone was trying to kill her! Malon could think of only one thing as she screamed and ran away from the scene. Epona. "Get on Epona and ride," she told herself.
Her screaming had woken the entire town, and people looked out of their doors and windows to see what had caused all of the commotion. A few had even found Myron and were shouting for help. Myron was dead though. Malon had seen Link shoot enough times, he had even started to teach her, to know a kill shot, and it was her fault that he was dead. He was only trying to help her, and her stalker, there was no doubt in her mind that they were the same person, had killed him.
She reached Epona, who was tied up outside the stable and was greatly disturbed by Malon's screaming. Malon quickly untied her, mounted and rode off. "Link, he'll protect me," Malon thought as she turned to the southeast, the direction that the Kokiri Forest lay in.

The man laughed. His orders had been rather strange considering his profession, and he would have thought them difficult, but Ardriss was enjoying himself immensely. She was just like all the other women he had been sent to kill, afraid of their own shadow. Ardriss chuckled as he remembered the look of pure, abject terror he had seen on her face after he had fired.
He had been surprised, she had been remarkably quiet, and it would have taken him a great deal of time to find her in the large town of Torgash, but that was where that bumbling idiot had been useful. "What was his name again?" Ardriss thought. It was not important. He was an idiot, and should have started walking the other way once the woman had mentioned him. He had been helpful though, drawing her out of hiding, and for that he had granted him a swift death.
Ardriss had seen her run to the stables, to that magnificent animal she owned. That was where Ardriss headed now. He wore a brown tunic and black cloak. He stepped inside, and sought the owner. Squinting in the daylight, he addressed her. "Excuse me Miss," he greeted her in his deep and rich voice.
"Yes?" she responded, turning from a stack of riding saddles. She looked at him hard, trying to see how much he was worth to her.
"That woman, the one from last night, the screamer, do you know her?" Ardriss asked, knowing the answer.
"Yes, I saw her leave on her horse,"
"Excellent," he replied. "Did you happen to see in which direction she went?" he asked, sliding a 100 rupee crystal into her hand.
"Yes," she said with a smile as she pocketed the crystal. "She was heading toward the forest to the southeast," she told him.
Ardriss grinned. He couldn't believe his luck. "So many fools so little time," he thought. "Thank you," Ardriss said as he turned, and straightened his tunic. "I wonder, would she have been so helpful if she knew she had just signed the young lady's death warrant?" Ardriss asked himself. Ardriss turned back to look at the stable manager. "Oh, and may I rent one of your horses?" Ardriss asked as he examined a fine black mare.
"Yes,"
"Is 200 enough?"
"Yes, which one would you like?" the stable owner asked, picking up a saddle from the pile.
"This one right here," he said as he patted the mare's flank.

Ardriss rode the mare towards the forest; following the tracks of what he believed was his quarry. The woman had run to Link, the Hero of Time as Ardriss's master had called him, just as Ardriss and his master had predicted. Ardriss had seen Link in action once before, and had no desire for a confrontation. Adriss would reach her and deal with her right under his nose.
If Link interfered though, and Ardriss was sure that he would find some way to do that, he would kill him; Ardriss was the best after all.