Hello readers! Chapter 132 is finally here! Sorry about the delay, I've been preoccupied with various things, and I'm almost fairly certain it didn't have anything to do with the release of Kirby and The Forgotten Land, as well as my recent addiction to Miitopia... perish the thought!
"Please Mama, tell me the story one more time!"
"Hahaha, okay, okay! Settle down! Now, there was once a magical kingdom where..."
A young Malon was on a bed in her pajamas as a lovely Gerudo woman was reading her a story from a book.
She was known as Murin; the co-owner of Lon Lon Ranch, Talon's beloved wife, and the mother of Malon. She was reading Malon her favorite bedtime story about a princess in a royal castle, forbidden to ever leave by her father's orders.
Murin licked her finger and flipped the page, "...then one day, a young handsome knight came to meet with the king, but his eyes were suddenly drawn to the beautiful princess..."
As Murin read the story, Malon was laying on her stomach, kicking her legs in the air behind her with a growing smile, as her mother went into detail of the two in the story. It turned out the young knight was a childhood friend of the princess, and he had never forgotten the joyful times they spent together as kids. He was willing to do anything to allow her the freedom and happiness she desired,
"...and so, the knight swept the princess of her feet, and rode off with her out of the castle. And they lived happily ever after. The end."
"I... love that story!" Malon squealed out, rolling onto her back and looking up at her mother, "You think I'll ever meet a knight like the princess Mom? Huh? Huh?"
"Maybe someday." chuckled Murin. She coughed a little, before putting Malon to bed and giving her a kiss, "But you have a lot of growing to do before then. Good night and sleep tight Malon..."
Murin started to hum a tune to Malon to help her sleep, one that the young girl could never forget...
"Hmhm-hmmm...hmhm-hmmm... hmhm-hm hmhm..."
A cucco was sitting on a fence in Lon Lon Ranch, ruffling it's feathers as it watched out at the night sky over the hills in the horizon carefully. Soon the sun began to peak up over the hills, starting to change the dark night to a bright day.
The cucco stood up and cleared it's throat, before letting out a loud sound,
"BRAW-BRAW-BRAAAAKKKAAAA! BRAW-BRAW-BRAAAAKKKAAAA!"
The loud noise of the cucco echoed all across the ranch, signaling to everyone there that it was the start of a new day. Some of the ranchers were already getting up and yawning out as they left their sleeping quarters.
In the living room of Talon and Malon's home though, most of the Gerudo were sleeping on the floor with blankets. The exceptions were Sarami and Saria who had taken a guest room, as well as Link and Togau who both opted to sleep in the horse stable with Epona.
In the middle of the living room was Reirousa, who was sprawled out and snoring loudly. Most of the Gerudo around her had cotton stuffed into their ears to drown out the noise she was making. That wasn't enough to block out the cucco's cry though, and the girls started to stir and slowly wake up.
"BRAW-BRAW-BRAAAAKKKAAAA!"
"Ugh... what is that...?" Korume groaned.
"Dunno... go kill it or something so it'll be quiet..." Kesuta muttered, curling up in her blanket.
"Mornin' folks! Rise and shine!" Talon spoke up, grabbing the sheet Kesuta was curled up in and flinging her out of it, sending her crashing to the ground.
"What the hell...?" Nemisa groaned, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, "What time is it...? The sun looks like it's barely coming up..."
"That's right, it's five o' clock! Time to get to work!" Talon said proudly.
"Work?!" Kesuta shouted, "At this hour?"
"It's what you do at a ranch, now everyone get a move on!" Talon stated, waking out of the house.
"You heard him girls, up and at them." Nemisa groaned, nudging Aviel who was still sleeping.
"Uuuurrrggghhh..." the others moaned, forcing themselves up and stretching out.
"Hey Reirousa, wake up already." Korume muttered, nudging the hulking woman, "If we have to get up, you do too."
"Ugh... stupid alarm clock." Reirousa groaned, reaching her arm around and slapping at the floor, until she grabbed a sleepy Aviel by the leg and flung her across the room.
"Kyaaaahhh!"
Sarami and Saria were both just walking down the stairs as Aviel went flying past them and crashing into a wooden wardrobe dresser. The dresser opened up to reveal a dizzy Aviel now wearing a dress before she fell face-first to the floor.
"G'morning everyone." Saria yawned loudly as her fairy companion Faete was still sleeping on her head, "Nice dress Aviel..."
"Ayeyeyeyeye..." Aviel laid on the ground with her eyes spiraling.
"Oh my, I'm not quite used to waking at this hour..." yawned Sarami, taking a moment to clean her glasses, "Did everyone here get a good night's rest?"
"Of course we didn't!" Kesuta said in a fit, "Who the hell goes to work at five in the morning?!"
"Oh boy, it's five!" Togau shouted out with excitement as she got up from the hay she was sleeping on in the horse stable and stood up straight, "Time ta start the day and get to work!"
Togau couldn't be any more excited; it had been years since she last stayed at Lon Lon Ranch, and she wanted to do everything she could for her brother-in-law Talon and her niece Malon for the three days they'd be staying there.
The ranch woman looked down at Link who was sleeping shirtless beside her. He had his aqua-colored cap on over his eyes to keep any possible sunlight. She grinned and shook him excitedly,
"Come on lazybones, hop to it!" Togau said.
"I'm not a rabbit... Lemme sleep a little more..." Link muttered, turning and burying his face in the hay.
"Hmm..." Togau stroked her chin, as she looked over at Epona who was just waking up herself. Togau thought to herself for a moment, then sported a mischievous grin,
"Hey Epona, couldya do me a little favor...?"
Nemisa came walking out of the Lon home with a half asleep Aviel on her back, along with Saria, Sarami, Kesuta, Korume, Reirousa, Halei, and the soldiers all following after her.
"I swear, I have newfound respect for the people who work here. I can't imagine getting up like this every day." Nemisa said.
"Wonder if Link is up already?" Reirousa asked looking around.
"Neeeeiiigh!"
Suddenly, they all heard a hard impact noise, as Link suddenly went flying out a window of the stable.
"aaaaaaAAAAHHHhhhhhh!"
Everyone watched as Link flew across the field and crashed right into a water trough some horses were drinking out of. The horses paused to look at Link, before going back to drinking. Link pulled himself out and spit water from his mouth.
"Guess he's up now." Saria said sweatdropping.
"Howdy! Good ta see y'all awake!" Togau called out as she left the stable. Epona walked out as well, wearing Link's royal cap and sporting a wide grin, "Epona had to give lover-boy a little push to get him up this mornin'!"
"Morning girls..." Link groaned, walking up to everyone with a horseshoe mark on his back and his shirtless body dripping wet. He noticed the gawking stare of the girls, "Uh, I should go get dressed."
"Oh, no need to do that Link! You look fine already!" Kesuta said gleefully, feeling much more perked up from the sight of her fiance half-dressed.
"I wouldn't mind seeing him working hard dressed like that myself..." Nemisa muttered with a bit of blood leaking form her nose.
"Howdy folks, I see yer finally up!" Talon said, walking up the group carrying multiple shovels, pitchforks and buckets, he threw them all into the arms of the Gerudo, "Here's the basic tools you'll be needin'. Just ask the other ranchers what work they need of ya!"
"I gotta say Talon-bro, I'm impressed you got yerself up this early!" Togau pointed out, "I remember me and Mally would take hours to try and get you up back when we were kids!"
"Malon helped with that, she came up with a trick a couple years back to force me awake... trust me when I say you don't want to be caught sleepin' in 'round here..." Talon said with a hint of terror in his eyes, "W-Well, g'luck to y'all!"
As Talon left, everyone looked down to the tools they were given.
"Ugh, this ranch work sucks already." Kesuta pouted, "I can't believe we're doing this when we're supposed be royalty! And where is Lady Nabooru? I thought she said she was going to sleep in the living room with us!"
"Yeeeeee-haaaaa!"
Everyone turned to see a lone figure riding on the back of a black-haired horse, they were shooting across the field at lightning speed, darting and dodging around the obstacles of the corral, while jumping over fences with incredible grace. Soon the horse ran right up to the group and skidded to a halt, making a large dust cloud, as the figure riding the horse jumped down before them.
"Morning everyone!" Nabooru said with a wave and a wide grin, "Nice to see you're finally up!"
"Lady Nabooru, where have you been?" Halei asked.
"Been up since three this morning, riding around on this fine steed!" Nabooru said patting the horse's side, "His name is Thunder!"
"I see you're still an ace horse rider." Link nodded, "He looks like a fitting steed for you too. Maybe when we get a break later we can have a race, right Epona?"
Epona snorted out with a determined look in her eyes, hopping up and down and clomping her hooves. Thunder glanced over at Epona and seemed to be dismissive of her, causing Epona to narrow her eyes at him.
"Lady Nabooru, do we really gotta do this farm work stuff?" Aviel asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, "It's waaay too early..."
"Sorry everyone, it was the only way I could get the Lons to let us stay here before we get to Hyrule Castle." Nabooru said, "Now chin up, you're all strong and hearty Gerudo! Get out there and show them your strength!"
Most of the Gerudo sighed deeply and went off to start their chores, leaving Link, Nabooru, Togau and Sarami alone.
"I feel like we're going to have to do a lot to make up for this when we get back to town." Link said sweatdropping.
"Don't worry, once we get to Hyrule Castle they're probably going to forget all about this." Nabooru said.
"You hope anyway Nabs." Sarami smirked as her glasses giving off an unreadable gleam, making Nabooru chuckle a bit nervously.
"Oh, there you all are! G'morning!" spoke a lively voice, as they turned to see Malon walking up with two empty milk jugs under her arms.
"Morning Mally!" Togau said excitedly, "You gonna start on the cow milkin' today?"
"You bet, it's pretty much the only thing I have time for right now." Malon nodded.
"What do you mean by that?" Sarami asked curiously.
"Um..." Malon looked surprised for a moment, before she glanced away, "I-I'll tell you all later..." leaving the others confused, she noticed Nabooru beside the black horse, "So how is Thunder working out for you Lady Nabooru?"
"He's magnificent!" Nabooru nodded, "I'd be willing to negotiate a small fortune to have this one for my own!"
"Oh of course! I'm honestly surprised you were able to get Thunder to listen to you, he normally doesn't get along with anyone else here!" Malon said astonished.
"Nabooru's got that kind of charisma." Link chuckled, "She's always been able to draw others to her side."
"I'm more surprised that Captain Andreas doesn't want to take Thunder here instead of Epona." Nabooru said, she turned to the horse and scratched behind his ear, "I bet that bronze-plated oaf is too much of a wuss for a fierce horse like you, isn't he? Isn't he?" she asked Thunder in a playful voice.
Thunder snorted out happily and nodded, while Epona seemed to roll her eyes.
Malon took a look over at Link and saw he was half-dressed, "Hey, would ya mind puttin' on a shirt already? You're gonna distract the women with that bod of yer's!" she said with a cheeky grin.
"Yeeaaah, maybe you got a point." Link chuckled sheepishly, grabbing his cap off of Epona and running back into the stable to get his shirt on.
Sarami meanwhile was staring at Malon, looking her body up and down in curiosity.
"I wonder, could she possibly be...?"
"BaaaAAAaaahh!"
"Baaaaah!"
Aviel and Nemisa had been led out to the sheep corral, where numerous woolly white creatures were walking around eating grass.
"Woooooow... check out all the sheep!" Aviel said with sparkly eyes, "They're so cuuuute!"
"They have even more than Togau's ranch." Nemisa nodded, "This must be the primary place where Hyrule gets it's wool from."
"Yeah, there's so many!" Aviel said, "One... two... three... four... five... …. ...six... s-seven..."
"Aviel?"
Nemisa looked over to see Aviel leaning against the fence, having fallen back asleep.
"Wake up already!"
"Good to see you folks are here!" said a rancher, coming up and handing the two girls some bladed tools, "We need some help sheering the sheep today!"
"We'll be happy to, right Aviel?" Nemisa said, emphasizing her name, to make her snap awake.
"Huh? Oh right! Let's get to sheering!" Aviel cheered out, running off towards the sheep, but tripped over and fell on her face. Nemisa simply rolled her eyes and grabbed Aviel by her shorts, lifting her up with one arm and walking off to the sheep flock.
'Should we be worried about this...?' the rancher thought to himself.
"Is this the kind of feed you need for these animals?" Link asked as he walked up to two of the female ranchers, carrying two heavy bags in his arms.
"Oh yes!" said one of the women in astonishment, "Just pour them out in the troughs over there!"
"Are you sure you can carry that much though?" asked the other.
"It's fine, I'm used to it." Link shrugged, waling over and starting to pour out the feed.
"Wow, the new Gerudo King's a real hard worker!" swooned one of the ranch girls.
"Yeah, and so handsome too! He almost reminds me of-" the girl however was silenced by the other.
"Shhh! We don't talk about you-know-who, remember?"
"O-Oh right, sorry!" gasped the other.
"Come on you stupid goat, eat it!" Kesuta said, waving an empty tin can in a goat's face.
"Beeeehaaa!" the goat said in an irritated tone.
"Hey, I was put in charge of feeding you! Now eat!" Kesuta shouted in annoyance. The goat simply turned away from her with it's nose in the air, and flipped up it's tail before walking off.
"Well screw you too, then!" Kesuta shouted tossing the can to the ground.
"You need to give them the animal feed, dear sister." Korume spoke dryly, holding up a handful of feed to a pig. The pig stared at the food for a brief second, before licking it completely off Korume's hand at once before walking off. The ice mystic stared down at her hand covered in pig saliva,
"Or perhaps they'd prefer to ingest an icy spear right down their throat..."
"Calm down Korume, it's just a pig!" Link said in panic.
"You're being too hard on them, you have to be gentle with these adorable things!" Saria said as she was feeding some rabbits. One baby rabbit ate right out of Saria's hand, before it suddenly jumped up Saria'into her lap, making her giggle and hug it gently.
"She's really got a way with little ones, as little as she is herself." Korume spoke to Link in amusement, "It's a pity she can't bare children as a Kokiri, she would have made a lovely mother."
"Saria already told me she's happy enough to help care for your and the other girl's children when we start having them," Link smiled warmly as he watched more rabbits crowd around Saria, "But I'm sure she would be even happier to have a kid of her own..."
"I was wondering, perhaps there's a way to give her an older body through magic... or even science, like when Sarami accidentally turned you into a cute little child?" Korume pondered.
"Don't think I'm going to let you experiment on her." Link said annoyed, recalling when she and Kesuta hypnotized Saria.
"Oh I'd never do something like that, kukuku..." giggled Korume as she leaned against Link.
"Yo Link? I think these things need something." spoke up Reirousa. Link turned to see what she meant and strained himself from almost breaking out into laughter.
The hulking woman was kneeling down still as a rock while about a dozen small baby cucco chicks were standing on her muscular arms, shoulders and even sticking out of her afro hairdo, and they were all peeping loudly. It was just too cute of a sight for words.
"Here Reirousa, let me help you with that." Link removed a cucco chick from the Gerudo woman's shoulder, only for it to suddenly jump out of his hands and peck him angerly on the forehead,
"Hey, quit that you little-!"
But as Link was scrambling around trying to get the baby chick under control, he felt an ominous presence behind him,
"Braaawkaaaaa..."
"Huh...?"
"Impressive, you even produce honey here at the ranch." Nabooru spoke to Talon as she stood beside Halei. They were a distance from rows of wooden bee hive crates, and there was naturally numerous bees flying around them. They were watching an unknown rancher dressed in a full beekeeper bodysuit checking the honeycomb boards before sliding them back in.
"Ugh... I've n-never been good with bees..." Halei whimpered, hiding behind Nabooru.
"We've been trying to step up things 'round here in any way we can." Talon nodded, "After everything Murin did to help me put this ranch together, I couldn't forgive mahself if I let it fall apart."
"She sounds like she was a fascinating woman. I wish I could have met her." Nabooru said.
"Now thatcha mention it, she kinda resembled you in some ways." Talon said looking up at Nabooru, "You ever have a sister?"
"No, I was an only child growing up." Nabooru said with a reminiscent look in her eyes, "At least, that's what my mother told me. I wonder if she possibly...?"
But she was jolted out of her thoughts when the man with the beekeeper suit walked up and pulled off his hood, showing it to be the surly mustached farm worker, Ingo.
"Well looks like the honeycombs are ready to be harvested soon." Ingo spoke, "Not that you'd know since you never check 'em fer yourself!" he scolded Talon.
"Haw haw, sorry again bout that Ingo," Talon said embarrassingly, "We could only get that one beekeeper suit, and yer the only one here who fits into it proper!"
"Hmph," Ingo muttered, he looked over at Halei, who was hiding behind Nabooru and saw the Bunny Hood she wore, "Say, I recognize that hat... ain't that the stupid hood the postman used to wear?"
"D-Don't call it stupid!" Halei shouted out from behind Nabooru, "It was a gift from my father!"
"The postman's yer pop, huh?" Ingo spoke, he turned to Talon "I swear, never understood why you and this girl's father would bother having family with these scummy Gerudo women."
"Hey, watch yer mouth Ingo!" Talon spoke in annoyance, "The Gerudo are a fine people! I wouldn't have married anyone other than Murin!"
"Yeah, and my dad loves my mom!" Halei said in a fit.
Ingo seemed to ignore their comments and turned to Nabooru, "Well maybe you folks wouldn't have had such a bad rep if not for havin' a bastard like that Ganondorf as yer king. You folks brought nothin' but trouble for all of us."
"...believe me when I say Ganondorf's horrible deeds will forever be a stain on our people's history." Nabooru said, holding back the urge to clobber the man, "But I assure you we're doing anything and everything we can to separate ourselves from that monster and make peace with Hyrule."
"Is that so?" Ingo spoke before walking off, "Hmph. That sounds like a lost cause. If what I've heard is true, all you did was get yerselves a new king that's just as bad."
"Hold on, what do you mean by that?" Nabooru asked.
But Ingo didn't say another word and kept walking, leaving Nabooru narrowing her eyes in deep thought...
"How's the milking going Togau?" Malon asked, looking up from a cow she was milking in the dairy stable.
"Done with this one, moo-vin' right along to the next one!" Togau said with a cheeky grin, sitting down to another cow with an empty milk jug before going to work on it.
"Did... you serious just say a pun that bad?" Malon asked, trying her hardest not to burst out laughing.
"Sorry, couldn't pasture up the opportunity!" Togau snickered.
The two girls sat there motionless for a moment, before they both burst out laughing in unison.
"Hee hee, I'm glad to see you're still the same after all these years." Malon giggled, "I had been worried for the longest time that a harsh life in the desert would have changed you."
"Nah, I never let it get me down." Togau grinned, "Knowing you and Talon-bro were safe 'n sound here at the ranch was all I needed to keep maself goin'!"
"Yeah." Malon smiled somewhat sadly, "I'm also glad to hear you say Grandma's doin' better these days as well."
"Reckon course, you shoulda seen the smile Ma gave me when I introduced her to Link and everyone!" Togau said.
"She's... okay with Link marrying you and other women?!" Malon asked, "She used to tell me all about how horrible a harem marriage could be back when she could visit us."
"Ma was just sayin' that cause she had her heart broken by that bastard king Ganondorf." Togau explained, "But she's seen what's between Link'n all of us is real love!"
"Real love, huh?" muttered Malon, "But wouldn't you prefer to have Link to yourself? He can't possibly have enough time to give you all the love that you want."
"He's got his hands full, I'll give you that." Togau nodded, "But I don't mind one bit. Each one of his fiances is just as important to him as the others, and he does everything he can to make time for us!"
"Exactly how many women is Link with anyway?" Malon asked curiously.
"Well; there's me, Aviel, Nemisa, Dr. Sarami, Saria, Kesuta 'n Korume, Reirousa... he's even gotten into a relationship with the desert wolf queen Sheeva!" Togau said, she made sure not to mention Queen Ruto or the lady knight Ashe. Not that she didn't trust Malon to keep quiet, but she didn't want to take the chance as far as outside royalty or knights were considered, "And of course he's got his eye on makin' Lady Nabooru his Grand Queen of the Gerudo too!"
"M-My goddesses, he's with that many women?" Malon exclaimed in shock.
"There's also his royal child-bearers," Togau nodded, "He's got about twelve of them at this point, and four of his kids have already been born good'n healthy!"
"He's already a father of four? Th-that's insane..." Malon whispered to herself, shaking her head, "And to think Link is actually going along with that, it's just so... so...!"
"Mooooooo!"
Malon was suddenly jerked out of her thoughts by the upset cow she was in the middle of milking, realizing in her fluster that she had mistakenly yanked on the cow's udder.
"Oh I'm sorry! There, there, Cremia. We're almost done!" Malon assured the cow, running her hand gently across it's body to soothe it.
"Cremia's a cute name, where'd you get it from?" Togau asked.
"It was Link's idea to name her. He told me about some farmers he met in a far off land while on his journey." Malon said, "In fact, it was cause of them he even gave us a great idea for a new product."
"Oooh, like what?" Togau asked.
"You'll have to try it for yourself tonight when we're done!" Malon said, her spirits lightened a little by the fond memories of the past.
As Malon continued the milking though, she took a moment to look out the window at her house...
"There we go." Nemisa said setting a crate down on a cart, then speaking out to the ranchers, She was somewhat uncertain about working with Hylian men besides Link, given her past with them, but she found the ranchers to be tolerable enough. She lifted up some more crates to bring to the cart and set them down on the cart, "Is that the last of them?"
"Yep, thanks a bunch for the hand Ms." said another rancher, handing her a bottle of water, "Here, make sure to keep yourself hydrated!"
"Oh, thank you." Nemisa said with a mild surprise, as she drank down the water.
"It's been a big help with you girls here." the rancher said securing the crates in place, "Especially on account of the disappearing cows dipping into our profits."
"Mr. Toto told us about that!" Aviel said referring to Talon, as she threw another sack into the cart, "Do you have any idea what's causing it?"
"We still have no idea sadly." sighed the rancher, "Ms. Malon's been worried sick about them all too."
"Didn't ya hear?" spoke up one crockery old voice. They turned to see a hunched over old man staring right at Aviel with one wide popped-out eye, "It's on account of them invaders is what it was!"
"Kyaaaaa!" Aviel screamed in shock, stepping backwards and quickly hiding behind Nemisa.
"Come on Old Man Jalolf, don't go scaring the newbies off!" said a rancher rolling his eyes, "You'll have to forgive him, he was one of the watchmen for the cows one night when they started disappearing, and since then he's been going around telling people these crazy stories of his."
As the rancher went off on their way 'Old Man' Jalolf snorted, "Hmph, ungrateful youngins. They won't heed my warnings!"
"So what are you talking about, 'invaders'?" Nemisa asked.
"Been happenin' for months now it has!" said Old Man Jalolf with a grin that was missing most of his teeth, "Every night if a stray cow goes wanderin' out of it's stable, a strange bright light shows up and whisks them away!"
"A-A strange light...?" Aviel whimpered, "D-Don't tell me they're ghosts?"
"Ghosts? Nah, that's a load of hooie!" said Jalolf.
"But what are they then?" Nemisa asked, trying to comfort a terrified Aviel.
"Why it's the moon men it is!" the old man said pointing up at the sky, "Come down from the sky to take our livestock, but no one believes me! No one other than that Ingo guy! He's always askin' me about em!"
''That Hylian mongrel who was giving us a hard time the other day?' Nemisa thought, before asking the old man, "What do these... invaders from the moon look like exactly?"
"They're creatures with glowing eyes, large fish gills, monkey arms and wearing frilly aprons!" the old man said, "I should know, I saws them! They tried to mind-wipe me and make me forget what I saw, but I was too clever for them I was!" the old man said with his eye twitching,
"How did you get out of being... mind-wiped?" Aviel asked.
"Simple, I thought quickly and plugged my ears with my own toe jam!" Old Man Jalolf grinned triumphantly as he lifted up his foot that had some smelly, moldy gunk between the toes.
"Gee, I can't possibly see why no one would believe you." Nemisa said with a disgusted stare, slowly keeping her and Aviel at a distance from the old man's foot.
"B-But what do they do with the poor cows?" Aviel asked shivering.
"Isn't it obvious? They use their milk to make fresh cookies for all their little fish monkey apron children!" Old Man Jalolf said, he leaned forward and whispered cautiously, "Planning to take over the world by driving all the bakeries outta business is what it is!"
"I... see." Nemisa sighed, "Thanks for the warning, we'll keep it in mind."
"Not a problem. You girls gotta protect yerselves!" Old Man Jalolf said, pulling out a banana from his vest and handing it to Aviel, "Here, have this little lady!"
"Uh, what do I use this for?" Aviel asked.
"When it happens, you'll know!" the old man said sneaking off on his way, "Remember, they got eyes everywhere!"
"...Nemisa, should we be worried?" Aviel asked looking down at the banana and pocketing it.
"Well yes, but probably not for the reasons he was talking about." Nemisa said sweatdropping, she took a look around, "By the way, have you seen Link?"
"Brawkaaaa..."
"Uh, good cuccos... nice cuccos!"
Link was slowly backing up nervously as a bunch of the farm's cuccos, led by Togau's pet Imra, were approaching him. They were all staring up at him menacingly with their feathers ruffled. They didn't seem to take too kindly to Link handling one of their chicks off of Reirousa, and Imra was encouraging the mob of cuccos to confront him.
"Brawkaaaa..."
"G-Good sweet little cuccos who wouldn't tear me to shreds...!" Link said with a pale face, "Just so you know, I like the taste of beef way better than poultry!"
"Bawkaaa!"
But Imra thrust out her wing, and the flock of cuccos took to the air and came down at Link, forcing him to run away.
"Aaaahh! Everyone get out of the way! Killer cuccos are attacking!" Link shouted, covering his head with his arms as the fowl dived at him.
"What the hell? What did you do to piss them off this time?" Nemisa exclaimed, running up to the area as she saw everyone else was trying to save Link from the flock.
"Back off my husband or you're fried poultry!" Kesuta shouted, flying at the flock on her broomstick, only seconds later to be flying away as one irate cucco pecked her on the head, "Ow! Owie! Owie!"
"I got em Link!" Reirousa shouted, bringing up her fists to fight them off, "Leave him alone ya damn-!" but as the cuccos flew past her, an egg smacked right into Reirousa's face, yolk oozing down her facial features, "-birds."
Thankfully, before Link could get attacked any more by the angry flock, the area started to be filled with slow fiddle music. Link recognized it as the song that Malon taught him to call Epona and soothe animals. Sure enough, all the animals around the area took to the melody and entered a state of bliss, even Imra and the cuccos started to calm and settle down. Link came to a halt and let out a sigh of relief as the cucco flock dispersed, and the fiddle music came to a stop soon after that.
"There, that outta take care of things!" Togau said, putting away her fiddle and scooping up Imra.
"Woah, she actually calmed down the cuccos?!" spoke a rancher in shock.
"That's the song Malon's mother used to sing..." observed another one.
"Thanks Togau, you're a lifesaver!" Link ran up to his fiance, giving her a grateful kiss.
"Aw gosh, thanks Link!" Togau blushed with a big smile.
"Braaaawka..." Imra scowled at Link, but had been pacified too much by the melody to do anything.
"Hey Imra, that's no way to treat family!" Togau scolded the fowl. She lifted up Imra and grinned at her husband-to-be, "Come on, why don't you two kiss'n make up?"
"Cluck-cluck." Imra muttered, glaring coldly up at the young king, then turning her head away.
"I think I'll pass." Link muttered.
"Well anyway, how's the farm life been goin' for y'all?" Togau asked everyone.
"Exhausting." Nemisa sighed wiping her brow.
"Painful." Kesuta groaned out with bumps all over her head.
"Dirty..." Korume said sweeping dust off her clothes.
"Gooey." Reirousa said wiping off the egg yolk from her face.
"And smelly." Aviel said, wearing a clothespin on her nose as she gestured to a nearby pile of cow dung that was to be processed into fertilizer.
"Na ha ha, sorry bout that. It's only gonna be for two more days!" Togau grinned, "It's not like it's just hard work the whole time, tonight we're gonna get to relax and have fun! They're workin' on a big feast, and Malon's even got a surprise fer all of us!"
"Where is Malon anyway?" Link said looking around, "I wanted a chance to catch up with her."
"She went off to the house after the cow milking." Togau said, "She wouldn't say why though."
"Hi everyone, sorry it took so long!" Malon spoke out, walking up to the group.
"Hey Mally, is everythin' alright?" Togau asked.
"Fine. Just had to check in on something important." Malon looked curiously over at Link covered in white feathers, "Let me guess, cuccos?"
"Cuccos." Link said grimly, spitting out a feather.
"Hee hee, you've always been like that with cuccos since you were a kid." Malon grinned, "Think the problem is you let yourself be too afraid of em! You gotta show some courage to take em on!"
"That's... kind of a tall order." Link muttered, looking away distantly.
"Hello Ms. Malon!" Saria said running up with Faete following after, "We didn't get to talk earlier, but it's great to finally meet you, I'm Saria! Link's told me a lot about you from when you two were kids!"
"Saria...? Oh, you're the girl who lived with Link back in the forest!" Malon gasped out, she knelt down and looked her over, "When I first saw you I thought you were his little sister or somethin'!"
"B-Believe me, I get that a lot." Saria laughed nervously, trying to avert her eyes from Malon's large chest being mere inches from her face.
"I noticed you got yourself a fairy like Link did back when he was a kid. I understand its something all the Kokiri folk have?" Malon asked.
"Yeah. We had all been assigned to a Kokiri by the Great Deku Tree." Faete said, "Link had only just gotten his own fairy named Navi before he left the forest."
"Oh right... Navi. I remember she was real defensive of you back when we were little, Fairy-Boy!" Malon turned to Link with a cheeky grin.
"Please don't call me that." Link muttered as the others snickered.
"But wait a sec... if you're Saria, then that means you're also one of Link's... erm... fiances?" Malon asked the Kokiri.
"That's right! We fell in love a while after I moved in with him at Gerudo Town!" Saria nodded.
"Really now...?" Malon spoke standing up, looking a little crossly at Link, "But ain't she a little too young for you?"
"She's older than she looks." Faete acknowledged, "I've been with her for over four hundred years, and she's known Link his whole life."
"Even so, you still got a body like a child." Malon bluntly said to Saria, "I don't know how they do things over at Gerudo Town, but Link having someone like you as a wife might give a lotta folks the wrong impression, especially over in Hyrule Town."
"..." Saria stood silently. She had spent some time learning about Hylian laws in preparation for the trip, so she was aware of the taboo of relationships between adults and children. Initially she was a little bothered by this in regards to her relationship with Link. While the Gerudo had assured her that she was an adult in their minds, she still had numerous times others outside the Gerudo tribe would give the two awkward looks about their relationship...
The Kokiri didn't say anything to Malon in reply, but fidgeted and stared down timidly at her small child-like body. Catching on to it, Malon felt a little awkward.
"O-Oh, wait..." Malon stammered, "I'm sorry if I offended you Ms. Saria, I was just-"
"Hey Mally, that's my family yer talkin' about!" Togau said in a fit, "Saria's like a sister ta me!"
"She is...?" Malon asked, recalling back when Togau used to say Malon like a little sister to her rather than just her niece.
"Well frankly, I don't care at all what anyone thinks of us." Link said, kneeling down and embracing Saria, "She's one of the most important people in my life, and if the Hylians can't understand how I feel for her, then I don't think they understand true love."
"Link..." whispered Saria with a deep blush at being in his strong arms.
"...true love, huh?" Malon muttered, recalling what Togau had told her before at the stable, "I don't know about that..."
"Malon?" Link asked as she watched her turn away.
"A-Anyway, supper starts at five. Make you're all washed up by then." Malon spoke as she walked back to the house. She stopped for a moment to look over her shoulder at Link, before she went inside.
"What's with her?" Reirousa asked with some cucco chicks in her hair again, "She got really bummed out all of a sudden."
"Oh dear..." sighed a rancher, walking up to Link and the others, "She still hasn't let go of it, has she?"
"What're ya talkin' about?" Togau asked.
"...um, n-nothing. Don't mind me." spoke the rancher walking off, leaving everyone confused except for Sarami and Nabooru, who both nodded to each other.
"Whoo! That felt good!"
Link was in the downstairs washroom of the Lon family home. He splashed a bucket of water down on his head, finishing up his bath in preparation for the supper they were to have that night. He climbed out of the washtub and grabbed the towel hanging within reach to dry his hair, before shaking his head to get off anymore water particles.
"Hey Fairy-Boy, you done yet? Food's on it's way!" spoke the voice of Malon.
"In a minute! I wouldn't miss it for the world!" Link said, putting on his pants and walking out of the washroom, "Do you have my shirt?"
"Yeah, got it dry and free of cucco feathe-." Malon said as Link walked out of the room. She stopped herself as she looked over Link's body, and how tanned and toned he had become over his time of being in Gerudo Desert. She also noticed a few scars he must have gotten from his battles out there, "Um..."
Link saw her vacant stare and quickly caught on to her gawking at him. He flashed a pearly white grin, and did some mock flexing,
"Hey, like what you see?" he teased.
The young king was expecting to see her get flustered with embarrassment, or to tease him right back like she did that morning, but instead she started to look more irritated at him than anything.
"...hmph!" Malon scowled with a pout, "Don't try to pull that 'ladies man' attitude with me!"
"Huh?" Link asked.
"I know their type." Malon spoke, "Usin' their charms to woo women just so they can have a quick one-nighter with em, and then go jump on some other girl when things get too boring... They're the absolute worst! And if you think you're gonna charm me into bed like that, ya got another thing coming!" she scolded.
"Hey wait Malon, I was just having some f-" Link spoke, but she cut him off.
"Course that's no water off yer back is it? You got plenty of fiances, girlfriends 'n child-bearers to sleep with when you get bored of one! I can't believe this is what you've become, and knowin' you roped Togau into this harem of yours makes me even more sick!"
Link was alarmed by this sudden burst of anger from Malon, he had never seen her act this way before. Of course, he figured she'd be surprised by him now having a harem of wives, especially knowing Togau's mother told her before about her bad experience with Ganondorf, but she seemed oddly aggressive about it for some reason...
"Now wait a minute Malon, there's no way I'd ever-!"
"I was real happy to see you again..." Malon shoved Link's shirt into his arms and turned her back to him. She spoke softly, "...but you've changed a lot... and not fer the better..."
"Malon..." Link spoke.
"Dinner's almost ready, so you better get yerself dressed up. Not gonna have you struttin' around half naked at the dinner table." Malon said waking off.
"..." Link wanted to say something, but realized it wasn't the right time, and started putting his shirt on.
And that ends this week's chapter. Next time, Malon has a certain surprise... or two, to show Link and his friends, with a strange new situation looming closer...
As a side note, I understand some people might find my depiction of Malon in this chapter to be a bit too mean-spirited, though there's a reason for it, which will be made more obvious as the Lon Lon Ranch arc continues.
Well that about does it. Please leave a like, follow, comment or just send a PM at your leisure. Your feedback is always encouraged!