Chapter 7 time. I swear, these chapter get way longer then I plan.
"You want us to do what, Nabooru?" Link asked, looking up from his breakfast one morning. It had been a few weeks since he had been officially announced as the future king and the encounter with the assassin, and things had been pretty calm rafter that. Link himself was slowly starting to adjust to life in the palace, while Aviel and Nemisa were by his side almost wherever he went out now as his bodyguards.
"I want you to escort the head of our livestock ranch to meet with a caravan out by the border to Hyrule in the Gerudo Plains." Nabooru explained, "She's arranged to trade some of the animals she's raised for a load of supplies important to the town."
"I suppose I could do that." nodded Link, "But what about the banishment? Would we be breaking the law doing this?"
"Technically we're not crossing over onto Hyrule soil, it's the caravan themselves meeting with us, so we're in the clear." Nabooru clarified.
"Wait, why are you tasking our king with something like this?" asked Nemisa, "Why not send in some guards like usual?"
"We've tried that," sighed Nabooru, "But our last attempt to make the trade ended in failure, they were under attack by monsters and bandits, and... only a few of our sisters made it back alive..."
"...I-I see." Nemisa muttered, Link was a little saddened at this news himself, but continued to listen.
"I think someone with Link's field experience, as well as Gerudo warriors as strong as the two of you will be more of a match for whatever is out there." Nabooru said, "And of course we'll deploy some additional backup."
"I'm still concerned about this." Nemisa said, "I really don't think our king should be saddled with this kind of chore, especially with how dangerous it seems to be."
"Heh... are you really worried for Link that much?" Nabooru said with a small grin, "I didn't think you cared about him so much."
"W-What?!" exclaimed Nemisa, she folded her arms and huffed, "I... I'm just looking out for the king's safety, it's my job as his bodyguard after all!"
Nabooru just snickered at Nemisa's defense argument, while Link and Aviel cast knowing glances.
"I know you're worried Nemisa," Link said, "But I'm more then happy to help out with whatever I can do around here."
"...fine." sighed Nemisa, "Go ahead and do as you please, it's my duty to protect you either way."
"Thanks." Link nodded, "But don't worry, I can handle anything that comes our way!"
"Alright! I'm psyched to go!" Aviel said, "I've always wanted to go see the animals!"
"I really regret wanting to go see the animals." Aviel muttered, covering her nose with her bird wings as they walked a trail towards the livestock ranch "This place smells terrible!"
"Well what do you expect? This area is populated by cows, donkeys and pigs, you didn't think it was going to stink a little?" Nemisa pointed out.
"Still stinks." Aviel said in a nasally voice, trying to plug her nose.
"Oh grow up,, we have a duty to our-" Nemisa's words were cut off by her stepping on something that made a squishing sound. She paused for a moment, before her face turned green and recoiled from the place she was standing.
"YICK! You're got to be kidding me!" she shouted in disgust and anger, stomping her foot down.
Link and Aviel themselves couldn't help but burst out into laughter.
"Shut up before I shut you both up!" shouted Nemisa.
"Hey, sorry 'bout that!" said a new voice, "I must've overlooked that cowpie on the way home!"
A Gerudo girl walked up to the three of them, she was modest in height, probably about as tall as Link. She had a slim but slightly muscular frame. Her outfit was much different then most Gerudo, rather then the typical silk outfit she wore a small yellow vest that showed off her abs and brown shorts, along with boots, and she topped off her look with a straw hat. She also had a type of hand axe strapped to her belt, and had what appeared to be a stick of cinnamon sticking out of her mouth that she was chewing on. Walking along side her was a big pig about as high as the girl's waist with a saddlebag strapped around it, with a cucco wearing a neck bandanna riding on top of the pig.
"Howdy there, nice to meet yall, the name's Togau!" she introduced herself, she came right up to Link, spit on her own hand, and stuck it out to him, "Pleased ta meet ya, yer highness!"
"Oh, uh, likewise." Link said, taking her hand and shaking it, resulting in his hand being covered in saliva, he wiped it off on his side. "You can just call me Link, and these are my guards Aviel and Nemisa."
"Well I gotta say," Togau said, looking Link up and down with a grin, "Yer not what I would had expected from the new Gerudo king, but I ain't complainin', yer a cute one!"
Link couldn't help but blush a bit at her compliment, while he had slowly began to get used to the people of the town being flirty with him, it was still a little awkward around new people.
He then held an angry cliucking sound and looked down to see the cucco glaring up at him, making Link gulp a little nervously.
"Settle down there." said Togau, making the cucco turn it's head away "Sorry, she can be a little defensive of me. This is Imra, and the piggie is Oseg."
Oseg just grunted.
"Ah, it's no trouble." Link said, "I just have a bad history with cuccos..."
"Anyway," coughed Nemisa, desperate to change the subject, "We're here to escort you to the caravan."
"Sounds swell," nodded Togau, "The livestock are already gathered up, we just need to get them to the gate out of town."
The group followed Togau down the trail to the barn where the animals were kept. As soon as Link and the others went in, they felt a somewhat refreshingly cool breeze.
"Aaahhh..." said Aviel, "It's still smelly, but it feels kinda nice in here..."
"Like it?" grinned Togau, "We set up this barn recently to be weather controlled, it can be hard ta raise livestock in this harsh climate, so we had this place built to make it comfortable fer em."
"Comfortable before they're sent to slaughter?" Nemisa pointed out.
"Of course, happy and healthy animals means tasty ones!" said Togau with a laugh.
"Ugh, seeing them so happy almost makes me want to go vegan..." said Aviel looking around.
"This place is really well made." Link observed, "It almost makes me feel like I was back at Lon Lon Ranch."
"You been ta Lon Lon Ranch?" Togau asked suddenly, her eyes lit up.
"Yeah, I'm friends with the owner and his daughter." Link said.
"No freakin' way!" exclaimed Togau, "How are those two? Talon keepin' healthy? Is Malon married yet?!"
"Oh, so you know them too?" Link inquired.
"I more then know em," Togau grinned widely, "Talon's my big brother-in-law, and Malon's my niece!"
"Wait, seriously?!" exclaimed Link.
"Uh huh!" nodded Togau, "My older sister married that shaggy guy years ago and popped out Malon some time after that!"
"That's an odd way to phrase it..." Nemisa said.
She was then suddenly feeling a strange nudging motion, and turned to see a cow nuzzling her. "H-Hey, back off or I'll make you into a steak!" This earned a laugh from the group.
"Lady Togau, some of the cows out back are riled up!" exclaimed a ranch hand, running up to the four.
"Leave it to me!" said Togau, the four of them, along with Imra and Oseg ran in the direction of where the cow-related chaos was going on. The other ranch worker were trying their best to calm them, but to no avail.
"I got this, Imra, hand it over!" Togau said, as her cucco friend pulled out a fiddle off of the sack Oseg was wearing and gave it to Togau. The rancher took the fiddle and bow and placing the two together, started playing a slow and mellow tune from it. The music seemed to almost flow through the ranch all around them, a tune that struck Link to be very familiar...
Remarkably, the cows calmed down and mooed blissfully, giving the girls a chance to round them all up.
"W-Wow, she calmed them all down just like that!" Aviel said with her jaw dropped, even Nemisa was speechless.
"That music..." Link said in surprise, "That's the song Malon is always singing."
"You know about that too, huh?" grinned Togau, "Looks like we need to talk a lot more about my niece."
Soon the animals were gathered up, and Togau led Link, Aviel and Nemisa to the main gate, where they saw three more Gerudo warriors standing alongside a large wagon. The three warriors wore dark purple outfits, and each carried curved swords as their weapons.
"Hello King Link." said the middle guard, "I am the head of the three of us, Lady Nabooru has asked that we come to aide you and sister Togau in your travel to the border." She explained, while the two other girls bowed to show their loyalty to him.
"Thanks for that," Link said, "And you girls can just call me Link."
"...o-okay, Link as you command." nodded the head guard, glancing to the side with a hint of nervousness. The other two guards whispered to each other and giggled a bit.
Link just sighed, 'Considering it a command kind of defeats the point of being casual about it..,' he thought to himself.
"Hey Togau, this cow isn't being nice!" sounded a voice. Everyone looked to Aviel pulling on the rope of a particularly stubborn cow who refused to keep walking. Soon the cow angerly thrust it's head upwards, causing Aviel to let go of the rope and stumble back, only to fall backwards onto the supply bags.
"Careful!" shouted the head guard, "You could have damaged the goods!"
"Aheheh, sorry..." Aviel said, getting up.
"Honestly," sighed the left guard to the right, "What was Lady Nabooru thinking appointing her as one of the king's top bodyguards?"
"Yes, Aviel the Birdbrain is more likely to get him killed then anyone." nodded the right guard.
"Who you calling a birdbrain?!" exclaimed Aviel, her arms turned into wings and flapping them like crazy in anger, "You're just jealous that Link hugs me!"
"The king... hugs you?!" exclaimed the left guard, "How did you of all people win his favor?!"
"Cause I'm his friend!" said Aviel sticking her tongue out at them.
"Why would the king want to be friends with a birdbrain?!" shouted the right guard.
"Would you children settle down?!" shouted Nemisa in annoyance.
"ANYWAY,," said an annoyed head guard, "It will take about a full day's time for us to arrive at the meeting location at the border in Gerudo Plains, we'll be there by tomorrow at noon given we're not held up long by too many distractions."said the head guard.
"Okay," Link nodded, "Let's get going then."
Link, Togau, Aviel, Nemisa, the three guards, and the animals traveled through the deep canyon that surrounded the path to Gerudo Town, on their way to the meeting location. Link was in deep thought about the various circumstances surrounding this mission, namely the road they had to take, and decided to speak up.
"So I was just wondering," Link started to Togau, "We're meeting with the trading caravan out in Gerudo Plains, why don't we just meet them at the waterfall bridge? Seems a lot more convenient for both parties."
"Well, my team used to do that for the first few years." said Togau, "But that area is full of Hylian knight guards to keep the Gerudo from crossing onto Hyrule soil. At first they didn't mind us trading, but over time they started charging us a toll to meet with the caravan."
"A toll, seriously?!" Link exclaimed.
Togau nodded, "They claim it's a bartering tax, but it seems like a load of hogwash too me." She heard a pig grunt, and she added a "No offense, Oseg."
"How can they do something like that?" Link asked.
"Like I said, they're part of the Hylian knights, even if the kingdom bothered giving us a chance to hear us out, it's an 'us versus them' type of matter, not much we can do." Togau said sadly, "We paid up for a while,, but then they started jackin' up the rate over time, until it wasn't any worth what we'd get from the trade."
"That's absurd, it has to be an act of extortion." Nemisa said, narrowing her eyes, "Damned Hylian mongrels." She heard a male sigh, and added a "No offense, my king."
"Has things with Hyrule really gotten so bad?" Link asked, "I've been gone for a while, but I thought the kingdom was run pretty fairly while I was a kid."
"Things changed a lot after the war." Togau said, "The Hylian Parliament was formed to help the king come to just decisions to fix everything, but there's too many conflictin' views of what's best for the land."
"Sounds like the phrase 'Too many cooks spoil the broth' would come to mind." Link observed.
"That's a pretty good way of puttin' it," Togau nodded.
"Ugh, I don't understand all this politics and law stuff." Aviel said, rubbing her head, "The heat's already murder on my head as it is."
"Not to worry of your head, birdbrain" said the left guard, "We''ll be arriving at an oasis rest spot by the afternoon."
"Gooood..." sighed Aviel with a blissful smile, only for her to quickly snap back and shout "Hey wait a minute, don't call me a-!"
"Don't start that again!" shouted Nemisa.
"We made it!" shouted Aviel cheerfully, the transport group all standing out at a sizable lake in Gerudo Plains, an oasis with numerous plants and palm trees growing beside it.
"Alright, we'll take a rest here for a while and keep going." said Togau.
Aviel meanwhile ran ahead of the group and jumped right into the oasis. "Come in guys! The water's great!" she shouted.
Nemisa sighed, "That girl can be so childish."
"Yeah, but she wouldn't be Aviel if she wasn't." grinned Link.
"I suppose..." Nemisa said, glancing to Link with a hint of a smile.
The group couldn't help themselves and followed Aviel into the water, while the livestock took to using the oasis to hydrate themselves. It wasn't long before everyone felt truly refreshed. Oseg was busy napping at the edge of the oasis while Imra was surveying the area from atop the pig.
"Oh your highness!" called out one of the guards, "Can we wash your back for you?!" she asked with a flirtatious smile.
"Yes, allow us to take care of you, my king." the other said, putting her hands on his shoulders, before yanking off his vest. Link's face turned a bright red, and most of the girls girls laughed or giggled at it.
"Hey, what are you guys doing to our-" Nemisa was cut off as she saw Link was now bare-chested, in the water. Thoughts of that time she walked in on him changing suddenly flashed through her mind, and she quickly responded by dunking her head into the water.
While Aviel and the two younger guards were focused on playing with Link who was frantically trying to get back his vest, Togau just sat back in the water, watching them all. Togau then turned to Nemisa, who had just came back up from the water for breath.
"So is King Link always like this? I didn't get to see him at the announcement, so when I heard we were gettin' a new big cheese I was expecting a snooty stuff-shirt or a straight faced hard-ass." Togau asked.
"He's... certainly unique I suppose." Nemisa said, leaning back against the edge of the oasis, flicking the water a little with her hand, as she watched one of the guards dunk Link into the water, to which he retaliated by yanking her under. "Sometimes I wonder just what he's thinking getting into all this, he just seems to selflessly throw himself at problems without a second thought."
"You really worry bout him don't cha?." grinned Togau, "You seem pretty close."
"N-Not in the slightest." Nemisa had her eyes closed and her arms folded, "As his bodyguard now, I have to worry about his well-being, there's nothing beyond that..."
"Hey Nemisa," Link called out, moving through the water towards the two of them, "How much longer do you think before we need to continue on the trial?"
Nemisa opened her eyes to see Link shirtless again, and she turned her head, trying her hardest not to stare. "I-It shouldn't be too much longer... We need to make more progress before nightfall."
Togau took a look at Link, then to Nemisa and grinned a little. "Hey Link, why not sit a spell right here?" she asked, scooting over enough that there was a fair bit of room in-between her and Nemisa.
"Uh, um..." Link looked to the side himself, unsure of what to say.
"Oh come on!" said Togau, grabbing Link by his arm and pulling him down to sit between them.
Nemisa kept her head turned as steam was rising up from her in embarrassment. 'That damn rancher...' she thought to herself.
"So yer highness," grinned Togau, "Tell me more about you and my kin over at Lon Lon Ranch, you guys close?"
"In a way," Link said, "Malon let me borrow one of her horses while I was on my journey. I had just met her before I got to Gerudo Town to drop her off."
"Ah yeah, that was Epona, right? Malon mentioned where she had gone." Togau said, "She was such a cute little pony back when I was little. Glad to hear she's still kickin', and I'm glad to hear Malon's doing alright."
"Are you not able to keep in contact with her?" Link asked, "How long has it been since you've seen her?"
"About six years now." said Togau, she looked up into the sky with a slightly sad smile, "Just right after the war..."
"Did it have to do with the banishment?" Link asked.
Togau simply nodded.
"Wait a second..." Nemisa realized, "You stated that this Malon girl is your niece, as in your sister's daughter, so doesn't that make her half Gerudo? As far as I know of the law she would have been eligible for banishment as well. How did she get past that?"
Link's eyes widened, Nemisa was completely right about Malon. It came as a surprise to him that she was the daughter of a Gerudo, but the idea that she would had been forced to leave Hyrule didn't even occur to him until now.
"Well.." Tugau trailed off, "It's kind of a long story..."
"Can we hear it?" piped up a new voice. Everyone turned to see Aviel and the guards in front of the three now, looking intently and with curiosity.
"Yeah, Malon didn't say anything about this, I'd like to hear about it myself." Link nodded.
"Puttin' me on the spot, huh?" sighed Togau, "Alright, I'll tell y'all..."
Flashback to six years ago...
"Come on Malon, hurry up!" shouted a young 13 year old Togau.
"I...I'm coming!" exclaimed an almost 11 year old Malon, gasping for breath to keep up with her young aunt, "I'm not as fast as you!"
"Ha, don't worry bout it! You'll catch up to me soon enough!" she said with a wide grin. They soon eventually came to where Togau had been leading them to, the cucco coop.
"It's times like this I wish Epona was around." Malon sighed.
"She'll be fine right?" Togau asked, "That friend of yours is lookin' after her."
"Yeah." smiled Malon, "I've been praying to the goddesses for their safe trip home someday."
"I'll sure they'll come back soon enough." grinned Togau, "Now comeon, I wanna show you this!"
The two entered the cucco coop and Togau directed Malon over to one particular nest where a mother cucco was looking over it's baby chicks.
"Awww!" squealed Malon with bright eyes and an equally bright smile, "Her eggs hatched! They're so cute!"
Malon scooped up one of the peeping baby chicks and cuddled it softly.
"I know, right?" Togau said, picking up one herself and nuzzling it against her cheek, "They're little yellow balls of fuzz!"
"It's called 'down' Togau." Malon corrected.
'Issat what they call it?" Togau asked scratching her head, "Shouldn't adult cucco feathers be called 'up' then?"
Malon giggled, "It's just feathers."
"Jees," sighed Togau, "I got a lot to learn 'bout this animal raisin' thing."
"It's fine, you'll catch up soon enough!" smiled Malon.
"Heh, well played." Togau grinned, remembering what she had just told Malon a minute ago.
Malon set down her chick, and it hopped right over to it's mother. She paused for a second, before asking, "So, uh, how's grandma doing?"
"My Ma? She's been doin' alright I suppose." Togau said, "Though the whole thing about the Gerudo king bein' captured really riled her up."
"I don't really understand what happened, but I hope grandma gets better so she can come see us again." Malon said.
"Me too Mally." Togau agreed.
"Well hey kiddos, why the long faces in front of these lil' miracles?" piped up a voice. It was Malon's father Talon, walking in with a bag of cucco feed.
"Oh, hi papa!" said Malon, "We were just talking about grandma, I'm just kinda worried about her..."
"Ah yeah," Talon said starting to distribute the feed to the cuccos, who immediately went to town on it. "You know, the day you were born Malon, you shoulda seen your grandma's face. The way she smiled was like nothing I had seen before on her. You coming into her life made her so happy, so we really outta figure out a way to go see her ourselves."
"Really?" Malon asked.
"Yeah," nodded Togau, "I was only three back then, but I could never forget that smile myself... sometimes I wonder if I should-"
Their conversation was interrupted however by the sound of some horses neighed out loudly and some men calling out for them to halt.
"What was that?" Talon wondered, he peeked out the door of the coop, only for him to freeze up, seeing some royal Hyulian knights, who were accompanied by a tall eccentric looking man in a white and purple robe.
Talon backed up a bit and gulped loudly, he turned and looked down at Malon and Togau.
"L-Listen, you two kids stay here and don't make a peep." he said, "I gotta go meet with them."
"What is this about papa...?" Malon asked.
"Don't worry none Mally, just lay low. Togau, please watch out fer her." Talon said.
"O-Okay bro." nodded Togau.
Talon took a deep breath, then walked out of the cucco coop causally, coming straight up the man and the knights.
"Well howdy there folks!" Talon said, sporting his typical big smile. "Welcome to Lon Lon Ranch, what can I do ya for today?"
"Ah, there you are Mr. Talon Lon." said the robed man referring to Talon by his full name, "Allow me to bring an introduction of myself to you, I am Sir Haralden, head of Hyrulian Foreign Services.
"Er, nice ta meet ya." Talon said, he stuck his hand out to shake, but Sir Haralden instead gestured to one of his knights to shake hands on his behalf.
"I'll get right to the point Mr. Lon." he said, "According to our records, you married a Gerudo woman named Murin approximately fourteen years ago, correct?"
"Erm yeah." said Talon, rubbing the back of his head, "She uh, passed away nine years ago from an illness..."
"I'm very sorry for your loss." said Sir Haralden, "I've also been told that the two of you had a daughter almost eleven years ago named Malon Lon."
Talon's eyes widened.
"What are they talking about me for?" Malon asked from the coop.
"I... don't know..." Togau said, a sense of worry started to fill her.
"Being of direct blood to a Gerudo, I'm afraid she falls under the Gerudo Banishment Act that was instigated recently enacted by the Hylian Parliament." Sir Haralden stated, "We need to see her immediately."
"I... don't know what you're talkin' about." Talon said nervously, "Me and the wife, uh, never had a... kid..."
"Is that so?" asked Sir Haralden, "He clicked his fingers, prompting a knight to go into Talon's nearby home.
"Mr. Lon, I'm sure you're well aware of the punishment for harboring Gerudo on Hylian land, correct?" Sir Haralden said, glaring at him.
"I'm... not too caught up that sorta thing, busy on the job and all..." Talon said.
"According to the law, those who hold Gerudo without surrendering them to the Hyrulian Foreign Services can be subjected to a number of punishments, from fines, to imprisonment, to execution. We won't hold your child responsible for this, her being a minor, but you yourself will face trial if we deem fit. So, I'll ask again, where is she?"
"I..." Talon wasn't sure what to say.
"Sir Haralden!" shouted a knight, "We found children's clothes in the bedroom!"
"That... was... a gift... for..." Talon couldn't bring himself to complete his sentences anymore, in reality he knew full well of the law, but he couldn't allow Malon to be exiled and forced to live in a place like Gerudo Valley.
"I... I need to go see papa!" Malon said.
"No!" exclaimed Togau, "If they see you they'll take you away!"
"B-But what about papa?!" Malon asked.
Togau just paused, looking out the door. She saw the look in Talon's eyes, then looked down to Malon, who was biting her lower lip, looking like she was about to run out to protect Talon. Togau just let out a sigh, then leaned down and hugged Malon.
"Togau?" asked Malon.
"I-I know I'm just yer aunt, but... I just gotta say, you've always been like a sister ta me." she said trembling.
"W-What are you saying?" Malon asked. Togau simply broke the hug and looked at her, giving her the biggest smile she could muster.
"You be good okay?" Togau asked, "Get big and strong so ya can help yer Pa with the ranch, and maybe someday you'll find a nice guy ya can be with... G-Goodbye Mally."
With that, Togau turned and went out the door of the cucco coop, closing the door behind her so malon wouldn't follow her.
"Togau, wait!" shouted Malon, tears forming in her eyes. Her words going unacknowledged, she looked down at the baby chicks surrounding her, peeping loudly, almost as if they understood the situation. She knelt down to them and scooped them up, hugging them all together, as tears ran down her eyes.
"I'll ask once more." Sir Haralden asked Talon, "Where, is, the girl?"
"I... don't..."
"Papa! What's goin' on?!" shouted a voice.
"Wha-?" Talon muttered as he turned to see Togau running right up to the group.
"I was just feedin' the cuccos by my lonesome, I thought you were gonna help me!" she said with a stern look. She then looked up at Sir Haralden, "Oh hi there, welcome to Lon Lon Ranch, are you friends of papa?"
"So you're Mr. Lon's child?" asked Sir Haralden.
"Reckon course!" nodded Togau grinning, "The name's Malon!"
Talon's eyes widened, "Wait, what are you doing To-"
"Papa!" interrupted Togau quickly, "Don't tell me ya forgot yer own daughter? Yer getting' old again!"
"Very well," said Sir Haralden to Talon, "It seems you were lucky this time. Knights, please take Ms. Malon so that she may join her fellow Gerudo."
"But..." Talon said.
"It's okay papa, I'm sure I'll be fine!" Togau said, she reached up and hugged her brother-in-law, taking a moment to whisper in his ear, "Take care of her bro, she needs you right now, and I know you need her more then ever..."
Togau broke the hug and turned to Sir Haralden, "Okay, let's go then!"
"Well aren't you a cooperative young lady? Thank you." Sir Haralden nodded.
As Togau ran over to join the guards however, Haralden then walked up to Talon. "However, there is the matter of you attempting to hide her, even if just briefly. That can't go unpunished."
With that, Herald gestured to one of the knights, who walked up to Talon, and swung his leg up, kicking Talon in the shins, and knocking the farmer to his knees.
"Tal- Papa!" shouted Togau, quickly correcting herself.
The knight just continued to kick Talon, who was now in a fetal position, sharply in the side, Talon clenched his eyes and did what he could to hold back the pain.
"Y-You bastards!" shouted Togau, before anyone could stop her, she went running right up to the knight and grabbing his sleeve, "I turned myself in! You can't do that to papa!"
"Someone stop her!" shouted Sir Haralden, One of the knights responded by running up and grabbing Togau, who bit down onto the sleeve of the knight kicking Talon, causing it to rip off. In that very moment, Togau saw a strange mark on the knight's upper arm.
"Enough of this." scowled Sir Haralden, "Let's just go."
With that, he and the knights took Togau away. Togau herself, being carried under the arm of the knight, looked on to Talon, eyes running down her eyes, as she forced herself to smile her brightest, and she soon disappeared out of the ranch with the knights.
Talon, having recovered from his situation, sat up on his knees, watching helplessly as he realized Togau was gone.
"Togau..." said Talon, his whole body shaking.
"Papa!" shouted Malon, running up and hugging her father, "What's going on? Where's Togau going?"
"T-Togau's just going away fer a little while honeybunch..." he said, tears running down his eyes uncontrollably, "I'm... I'm sure she'll be back someday!"
The daughter and father just hugged each other tightly, Talon was relieved that Malon was safe, but...
"Togau..." he whispered, "Thank you..."
"That was the last time I saw her or Talon again..." Togau muttered to Link and the group, despite her smile, tears werre going down her cheeks, "The knights grouped me with some of the Gerudo they had captured and those girls helped me get back to the fortress where my Ma and Lady Nabooru were. Sometime after that we all built and settled into Gerudo Town, and I became a livestock rancher..."
"That's awful..." Aviel said sadly, tears forming at her own eyes. The guards all seemed quite saddened and sympathetic as well.
"I never knew Malon and her dad had it so rough..." Link sighed, "It was hard enough to lose her mother, but you too?"
"Who do those Hylian knights think they are to do something so despicable?" Nemisa asked, her blood boiling at the thought.
"It's fine..." said Togau, "Thanks to Lady Nabooru things turned out better then I could have hoped fer us."
"I still don't like it..." scowled Nemisa.
"Yeah, I have to agree with Nemisa," Link said, "They just went out of line, I'm surprised Malon didn't tell me anything like this when I saw her last."
"I'm guessin' she just didn't want to trouble you with it." said Togau, "She was like that even as a kid."
"I suppose," Link said, "I got along with her pretty quickly when we met, she even taught me the song that Epona likes so much."
"Wait a sec," Togau realized, "Yer the kid who Malon said took Epona... That's it, I know who you are now! You're "Fairy Boy", ain't ya?! She would talk about you all the time!"
"F-Fairy Boy?!" exclaimed Link, recalling Malon's nickname for him.
"Fairy Boy, that was your name?" exclaimed Aviel, her once saddened and frowning face soon turned upwards into a big grin.
At that point, Aviel and the guards all fell over into the water and burst out into uncontrollable laughter. Nemisa herself was holding her breath with sweat running down her head, trying her hardest not to laugh herself.
"Yeah, yeah..." Link said annoyed, realizing he could never escape that name.
Togau meanwhile just looked to Link grinning, "Well, I'm at least glad to hear from you that she's doing well... I hope someday she can make my Ma proud."
"You mother? Proud how?" Link asked.
"Well ya see, Pa died about three years after I was born, and even back when I was a runt I saw Ma just seemed sad.. I didn't really understand it too much at the time, but she worked hard to keep me and sis well taken care of. Time passed, and eventually Murin grew up big and strong, and she eventually came ta meet and fall in love with Talon."
She looked up into the sky and continued, "They got married, bonked like rabbits, and shortly after that Malon was born. When sis and Talon showed Malon off to Ma, you should have seen the look on her face, even as a four year old at the time I could never forget the face she made that day. I had never seen her so happy before, at least as far as I could remember. It was something I knew I wanted to see again."
Her smile went down, "Sis died shortly after that from an illness though, and Ma just about fell right back into that depression, she was enjoying her time with Malon that's fer sure, but she was still taking sis' death hard, and I was too... I was thinking for a while that maybe if Malon meets the right guy, then she could give Ma a great granddaughter that would make her happy again... but thanks to that dang law she wouldn't even be able to see them..."
She then continued, "So that's why I've also made a decision fer tomorrow. When we get to the caravan, I'm gonna meet a nice young man there... and I'm gonna have him put a baby in me!"
"B-Baby?!" exclaimed Aviel.
"A-Are you serious?! Just like that?!" exclaimed Link.
"It's not uncommon." stated Nemisa, "While we are technically exiled from Hyrule, and the banishment law prohibits Hylians from mating with Gerudo, our sisters have done whatever they can to reproduce with men to keep our population going, even sneaking out to have primate meetings. It's not an ideal situation, but it's our only option other then meeting with random bandits or travelers."
Togau nodded, "Sorry for not mentioning this earlier, but it's part of why I choose to come along with you guys to begin with."
"It's okay." Link nodded, "We understand your situation..." he paused, thinking about everything she had said just now.
"Thanks fer that.." Togau said, looking to Link smiling.
"Well I think it's time for us to get moving again." Nemisa said, "We have much terrain to cover before nightfall."
"Good idea." Aviel stuck a hand out of the water and wiggled it, "My fingers are getting all pruney."
"Alright, ;let's saddle up and head out!" said Togau, back to her bright spirits again.
Link just paused, looking at Togau as she climbed out of the water and starting rounding up the animals.
'Is that really what she'd want...?' Link thought to himself.
Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and the new character. I'm already a third of a way through chapter 8, so hopefully I'll have it out quickly. Leave a comment if you like!