Hey, this is going pretty well. Already to chapter three and it doesn't suck! Now, I know that I didn't address some things about Tarin yet, and I shall. It has also come to my attention that blue rupees are worth 5 and not 10. Sorry.

DoomGirl: Yes, it is Zelda. gives a cookie As for your second question, Tarin has a tail for no particular reason. He was just created that way. I mean, it doesn't really serve any special purpose, and it doesn't grant him any powers or anything. It's just the way he is. Does that help?

Snowsilver: Tarin's 12.

Also, a bit of a physical description of Tarin. He's average height for his age, has messy black hair, fairly unremarkable skin tone, and dark brown tail. He has dark blue eyes, a small nose, and somewhat of a feminine face, except rounder. He's wearing a gold-colored tunic, light brown pants with a black belt, and dark brown boots. Hope that helps my readers.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Zelda series. It's owned by Miyamoto and Nintendo. Link is a cool guy and I wish Kaepora Gaebora were dead.

Tarin entered the outer courtyard and marveled again at the castle. He could see it better from where he was, but unfortunately he could also see that it was quite well guarded. He sighed and went over to a nearby tree to sit down, rest, and think of a plan to get past the guards.

"Hello Tarin," greeted a voice above his head

"Wah!" Tarin jumped and turned his head from side to side, looking for the source of the voice. "Huh? Who?"

"I'm up here."

Tarin craned his neck back to look up into the branches. "Uhm…hello." He was staring at an owl that was easily as big as he was, if not larger. His eyes got really wide and he scrambled out from underneath the tree.

"Hoo hoo," the owl laughed at Tarin, if one could call it a laugh, and ruffled its feathers. "No need to be frightened. My name is Kaepora Gaebora, and I'm here to help you."

"Just…don't scare me like that again, please." Tarin replied, still trying to calm down from the shock at meeting an overlarge owl. Then he frowned. "Help me with what?"

"Hoo Hooo. You seek an audience with the princess?"

Tarin nodded. Perhaps the owl was going to offer him a ride onto the roof, or maybe tell him a place where he could sneak in. To his disappointment, the owl began telling him the layout of the entire outer courtyard, where the guards were positioned, and what their movement patterns were. Tarin half-listened to the lecture.

"Did you get all that?" Kaepora Gaebora asked.

"Uh…yes, yes I did. Thank you." Tarin freaked out a bit when he realized that Kaepora Gaebora was looking at him upside down, as he had turned his head around. The owl turned his head right side up, spread his wings, and flew away. Tarin sighed.

"That didn't help me at all. Oh, hey, maybe I could climb this wall and get a better view." Tarin walked over to the rock wall a few meters away and tugged on the vines. They were sturdy, so he put a foot on the wall, grabbed a vine with both hands, and began climbing. A couple minutes (and two falls) later, he was on top of the wall, which was actually a long, wide ledge. To his surprise, there was someone else up there, a girl with long, red hair.

She was wearing a white dress with a blue pattern along the hem and sleeves, brown boots, and an orange scarf. She was sitting down, with her feet dangling over the edge of the wall and holding something in her lap. When Tarin came near, she turned towards him.

"Hi there. I've never seen you here before. Do you live in town?"

"No, I live in Kakariko Village. I'm just visiting…I wanted to see the castle closer up," Tarin replied.

"Oh. I don't live here either. I live on the farm just outside town. My name's Malon." She stood up, and Tarin could see that she held a cucco in her arms.

"I'm Tarin." He edged away from the cucco slightly.

Malon laughed. "Don't be afraid of him; he won't peck you. He's my favorite. Hey, could you do me a favor, Mr. Tarin?"

"Sure." Tarin shrugged.

"My father went to deliver some milk to the castle. He hasn't come back yet, and I think he fell asleep again. You're going to the castle, right? Take this cucco with you, and wake up my father. Please?" She held the chicken out to Tarin, who took it with slightly trembling arms.

"Good luck."

Tarin glared at the cucco before stuffing it into his tunic and tucking the cloth into his pants. The bird clucked in disapproval, but allowed his new temporary owner to carry him. Tarin reached the stone gate, which formed a bridge across to the other side. Unfortunately, a guard was standing at the other side, although his back was turned to Tarin. Great, now how am I going to get over there?

Then he happened to look down. Right in front of him, almost insultingly obvious, was a hole with a ladder leading down. Tarin crouched down as well as he could with the cucco in his shirt and started climbing down the ladder, none too soon, as the guard turned around a second later.

At the bottom of the ladder, there was a small room with a door. Tarin opened the door and peeked out to make sure there weren't any guards directly outside. There wasn't, so he quickly stepped out and dashed over to the base of the hill on the other side of the path. There were two guards patrolling the length of the path, one starting at one end and the other starting at the other so that they crossed in the middle. Tarin watched them; they were almost ready to pass one another, and when they did, he would

"Move!" he whispered an order to himself. He dashed up the slope and across the ground as fast as he possibly could, until he hit a rough wall. Not wanting to lose momentum, he scrambled up the wall.

"Haha…this isn't too hard. Be quiet, you!" He poked the lump in his tunic. "Now what do I do?" He looked around. He couldn't very well go back, but he could walk in the front door, either. The raised drawbridge and guards made sure of that. Then he noticed the moat. It looked pretty shallow, and he wasn't that tall, so he could probably walk behind the guards and around. Tarin backed up a few paces, began running, and jumped. He landed in the moat with a bigger splash than he had anticipated, and immediately froze, praying to the goddesses that the guards hadn't seen or heard him. The cucco chose that moment to start squawking.

"Did you hear that?"

"The cucco? I heard it. I'll bet one of the maids left a window open again. The same thing happened last week. Don't worry about it."

"You're serious?"

Tarin managed to quiet the chicken down and hold in a laugh at the same time. He was sure that the guards were stupid a few minutes earlier, and now he was even more sure. Slowly, he trudged through the waist high water of the moat to the corner, where he climbed out. To his surprise, there was a large man lying on the ground near some crates, snoring very loudly. Tarin approached him and prodded his stomach.

"Mister? Are you alright?" This must be Malon's dad.

The man rolled over, mumbling something about his name being Talon and "welcome to Lon Lon Ranch."

Tarin kicked him hard. "Hey, get up. Your daughter wants you." No response. Tarin set the chicken on Talon's stomach. The bird pecked at the man's overalls a few times before crowing loudly. Tarin freaked out and ducked behind a crate, but no guards came running. Talon, however, bolted awake.

"What? What? Izzit time to get up already?" He looked at the cucco, and then spotted Tarin. "Is this your cucco?" Tarin shook his head.

"Malon told me to wake you up. It's hers." He replied.

Talon suddenly looked panicked. "Oh no! Malon's gonna kill me! I gotta go!" He grabbed the chicken, stuck it under his arm and dashed off. Tarin didn't think men that large could run that fast.

Meanwhile, in the castle's inner courtyard…

"Impa, I believe I've seen that man somewhere before," Zelda said to her attendant. Zelda was sitting on the steps that led up to a large window, and Impa was standing a few feet to the right. "I haven't a clue where."

Inside the castle, the man dressed all in black paced his temporary bedroom. Soon, the entire castle was going to be his, and no one would be there to stop him. This time, he wasn't going to bother with talking; he was just going to eliminate the entire royal family before they could escape.

Ganondorf Dragmire would not go down again.

Wuahaha! This was the longest part yet. Now, review! I command you! Heck, Ganondorf commands you. I think... By the way, I don't think that's how Kaepora Gaebora talks, but I really don't like the owl all that much anyway and as a result, he's not going to be seen much in the story.