Chapter III

Stygan lay in the grotto sleeping, his dreams filled with memories of the past. He awoke, disoriented and sweating. He sat up and looked around, panicked. He saw the dirt walls, floor and ceiling of the grotto. The ray of light shining through the hole in the ceiling lit the grotto. Stygan looked up into the hole, squinting. He stood up and stretched.

I guess I should get back to the town, I'm kind of hungry. He thought, dusting himself off.

He walked under the hole, his skin bathed in the sunlight. He felt the warmth of the light on his pale skin. He took a deep breath and jumped, grabbing the edge of the hole and pulled himself up enough so he could look around. No Peahats, that was good. He hauled himself out of the hole and stood on the grassland that was Hyrule field. He looked around again. He looked up at the sky. The sun was far along its path of the day. Stygan started walking quickly. If he wanted to make it to the town gates before nightfall, he'd have to start now. He had a long walk ahead of him.

Stygan had been walking for a few hours when he looked up at the sky again. The sun was almost down. He looked ahead and saw the town gates were a few sprints away. He looked at the sky again. The sun was on the horizon now. If he didn't hurry he'd have to find another grotto for the night, something that would be difficult in his current position. Plus, he wasn't looking forward to the creatures working the nightshift. One run in with a Stalfos was enough; the same went for their canine companions. He looked towards the drawbridge and then at the sun. It was growing and deepening in shade. He looked towards the east and saw the edge of the full moon.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" he cursed as he started to sprint towards the bridge.

He saw the flames on the torches ignite. That meant only one thing. The drawbridge was about to rise.

"Mother f-"

The wolf howled, signaling it was night. Stygan pumped his legs harder, running for the drawbridge. It started to recede. It was a few feet off the ground when Stygan got to it. He jumped onto the end of the bridge and hauled himself onto the other end, sliding down the rough wood. He slid very fast, grunting as he hit the stone walkway of the inside of the town. Stygan lay there a minute, waiting for the pain to dim. A shadow loomed over him. He looked up and saw a guard standing over him.

"Hey" Stygan said in pain, trying to smile.

The guard just shook his head.

"Damn kids" he muttered as he walked away.

Stygan finally got up and headed towards Anju's house.

Stygan saw fairy boy's horse outside.

"Is he still here?" he said to himself. "When is he ever gonna leave?"

He walked in the door and was immediately knocked over.

"Stygan!" Malon cried. She threw herself at him, knocking him over with a giant hug.

"Where have you been? I was so worried!" She hugged him tighter.

"You seem better today" Stygan said as he lay on the ground, Malon still hugging him.

"You look like you've been through hell and back." said the little insect. "Did you spend the night in a grotto or something?"

"Yeah, something like that" he said.

---

Stygan removed his tunic, undershirt, pants and boots. He folded his pants and tunic neatly and put them on top of each other and placed his boots beside them. He walked into the pool of water that led into the Zora River to bathe. He dunked his head under the water, scrubbing his raven black hair. He resurfaced and started to clean his wounds. It had been a while since he had bathed. It felt good to be clean. After he was finished cleaning himself, he climbed out of the water and picked up his tunic. It was full of grass stains, patches of dirt and small rips. He walked over to the water and washed the dirty tunic. He took it out of the water and hung it in a tree to dry. He then took his pants and washed them. He hung them up in a tree to dry as well. When he was finished washing all his clothing and had hung them up to dry he lay under the tree and relaxed in the shade. It was a bright day out and the sun was warm, too warm for Stygan's taste. He lay in the shade, naked. He didn't care if anyone saw him, he wasn't the shy type. If someone were to see him naked, who cares? There are much worse things than being seen naked; Stygan had experienced some of these things, so embarrassment was low on his list. Just then Malon was walking through Hyrule field when she saw Stygan's clothing hanging from a tree. She walked over, curious. Why were Stygan's clothes hanging from a tree? When she walked over she saw Stygan lying there, naked. She turned around quickly, blushing. Stygan sat up.

"Oh, hi, Malon, what are you doing here?" Stygan asked.

"Um, I wanted to c-come and um, thank you" she stuttered, embarrassed.

"For what?" he asked. "And why are you facing the other way?"

"F-for saving be from the Stalwolf. And I'm facing the other way because you're n-naked."

"So?" he asked, confused "who cares if I'm naked?"

She didn't say anything.

"Fine" Stygan said. "I'll put on my pants" he pulled the now dry pants from the tree and slipped them on. "Better now?" he asked.

Malon turned around and saw Stygan with his just his pants on. She never noticed how muscular his chest was. She gazed at it, not knowing she was staring.

"Malon? What are you looking at?" asked Stygan, confused.

"Nothing!" she said, blushing.

"So, what did you want to thank me for?"

"For saving me from the Stalwolf. If you weren't there then, I wouldn't be here now."

"I couldn't have just left you there" he said.

"I know. But I just never got to thank you personally." She said, as she hugged him. Stygan felt her soft, fair skin on his chest.

"Oh, well, you're welcome. Are you feeling better?" Stygan said, never wanting the hug to end.

"Yeah, actually, I'm feeling a lot better." She said, breaking the hug. "Whatever they gave me worked. They must be medicine people" She now actually realized how fast she recovered from a maul wound to the neck from a deceased canine.

"So does that mean we can continue our trip to Termina?" Stygan asked, hoping the answer was yes. He had heard all about the bustling city of Clock Town from gossip he had heard from around Hyrule. Plus, he was tired of fairy boy and his annoying pet firefly.

"Sure. I'm tired of Hyrule; I'd like to go see something different." Malon said with a sigh. "I heard there's a festival every year held in Clock Town, it's called the Carnival of Time."

Stygan could see the excitement in her eyes as she was talking about it.

"Sounds interesting." Stygan said.

"You know, we should really be getting back to Anju's house, we don't want to make them worry." said Malon.

"I suppose you're right" Stygan said, hoping pony boy had packed up and left. "Let's get going." He picked up his tunic, boots, gloves, sheath and his shield and they started walking.

When they arrived back at the house fairy boy's horse was still there. Stygan sighed.

Doesn't he ever go home?

---

They began their journey towards the forest; witch was on the other side of Hyrule. As they walked, they could feel small droplets of rain. It began to lightly sprinkle water down from the heavens. There was a crack of thunder and it began to pour. Malon ran for a tree for shelter, but Stygan just stood there, enjoying the gloomy weather.

"What are you doing, Stygan? Come under the tree, you're going to get soaked!" she called.

"It's only water, Mal" said Stygan. He looked up to the sky, letting the cool rain hit his pale skin. "Come on, Mal, the water's fine!" Stygan teased.

Malon stood under the tree, watching Stygan as he stood there, face to the heavens, getting completely soaked. She hesitated at first, taking a few steps out from under the tree.

"Come on! It's great! It's not every day we get rain storms!" Stygan said.

"I would think that's a good thing, Stygan" she said.

Malon stepped out into the cold rain. It was now a downpour and she was drenched. She walked over to Stygan, hesitating a bit. Stygan opened his eyes and looked at Malon walking awkwardly towards him. When she reached him she was shivering. For a moment, the two Hylians looked at each other. Stygan was lost in Malon's blue eyes, full of adventure and youth. He loved Malon. He'd do anything for her. Malon stepped closer to Stygan. Their faces were now inches away from each other. Stygan leaned in to kiss her, but stopped half way, waiting for her to back away. She didn't. She leaned in and kissed him lightly. The kiss felt like it lasted for so long, and yet so short. Stygan kissed her again, this time a little more passion in it.

The two stood there in the rain, kissing for what felt like hours. Stygan embraced her and held her closer. Malon put her hands around his neck, still kissing him. The rain poured down, and the two kept kissing. Each minute passed and the kiss became more and more passionate. Malon put her hands under Stygan's tunic and started to rub his firm, muscular chest as she kissed him. They stopped for a moment to catch their breath, chests heaving. He looked at Malon, stroking her face with the sides of his fingers, pushing strands of wet hair out of the way. She took his hand and kissed his fingers. She was very much in love with Stygan as well.

Stygan held Malon in his arms as they watched the storm rage on from under the tree. They fell asleep, Stygan still holding Malon. She turned and snuggled into his chest, trying to get comfortable. She found a comfy position and soon drifted into sleep as well.

The two bandits watched as the happy couple fell asleep under the tree. They gave each other a nod and started their way back to their camp to inform the others. The couple never saw it coming.

End of Chapter III