Ello everyone! Sorry for not updateing for so long, and then only updateing with a short chapter. But I think you'll like it. It was a spur of the moment thing and not in my original plan, but I like it. Mild swearing once here.

Disclaimer! I do not own Zelda, only my ideas.


Link thought there could not have been anything more lovely that moment than to have been able to close his eyes. As soon as he found a suitable spot in the hay to lie, he was out like a candle in a windstorm. He didn't know where Navi went, but nor did he have the energy anymore to really care. Surely she would find a good place to settle herself.

Dagger on the other hand, needed a few minutes to wind down. With practiced motions, she sharpened her Iron dagger- the Merlano dagger needed none. All the while however, she stole glances at the young boy's unguarded backside with a curious wiggling in her chest…

He awoke to the sound of a piercing scream.

Link sprung forward in the darkness, nearly tripping in the unfamiliar settings and he groped his back looking for his sword. Again came the scream, with more shouting outside of the barn. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he found his sword and shield where he had dropped them on the barn floor the day before. Hastily he jerked the sword from its scabbard without bothering to buckle it his belt. Navi winked into existence ahead of him, wordlessly illuminating the path to the door with the faint light from her body. His eye caught movement to his left and he twisted to put his shield up between him and the dark from- but then realized it was only Dagger. Together the both rushed to the bolted Ban door. Were Link not so focused on the sounds outside, he would have noticed that all the animals were in a frenzy. But he felt the same thing they did in the back of his mind, a tainted crackle in the air that raised the hairs on the back of his neck.

Without a thought, Link smashed the bolt with the pommel of the Kokiri sword. It crumpled out of the aged woodwork easily. He shoved the door open and raised his shield just in time to fend off a sword-strike, the rusted sword shattered against the wood, but it left a good gouge in it. The thinking part of him recognized the stench or rotting flesh as he looked over his shield- Stalchilds. The opposing skeleton raised its weaponless hand again to attack, Link swiped at its neck before it had a chance to strike again. The brittle bones cracked easily against the blade, felling the monster.

There was a good horde of them inside the ranch, perhaps twenty or so with more coming through the opened gate to the outside field. As another Stalchilds fell to his sword, Link caught a glance of Dagger's retreating backside as she ducked back into the Barn. Anger welled up in him- she was running away like a coward! He gritted his teeth and blocked an awkward blow with his shield. It seemed that few of the monsters had weapons like the first- but if they did, they were too rusted to be of any real threat to the Deku shield. However, he would only be able to last so long- and there was no running water to duck into. If more Stalchilds kept coming…

He then heard the shrieking sound of iron grating against iron. Out of the cornier of his eye he saw the Farm gate closing with a clang. The stream of Stalchilds stopped coming, now cut off. They were unable to force the gates open with their feeble muscle-less bodies.

At least now he didn't have to worry about having to fight until the sun rose, for however long away that might be.

Then the scream cut through the night again. Link's surprise skewed the thrust he had made, causing him to miss the spine of the targeted Stalchild. The still living undead monster clawed at his shoulder before he was able to recover to kill the thing, although he didn't feel the pain. To his right another Stalchild fell dead, on the rebound Dagger scored a mark on another. A long line of broken bones leading to the gate followed behind her. Afterwards, Link would have realized Dagger ducked back into the barn not to hide, but to get on the roof of the building and run along over the horde to get to the gate unhassled. Together, the two dispatched the front of the Ranch of the remaining skeletons.

"Are there ah any more?" Dagger asked, tensely watching their surroundings. Nothing stirred in the night. Link moved to sheath his sword, then remembered he had left the scabbard in the loft. He'd just have to hold it then. "No, but the scream- Where did that come from?"

She shrugged as her gaze moved to the house. There were no candle lights in the windows and the door was hanging ajar. From the looks of it, the entry way had been trampled. Gingerly pushing the door open wider, Dagger peered in and called out for the Ranch family. There was no reply. Without explaining she stared to jog over towards the corral.

Link followed, trusting she knew what she was doing. His body was starting to become aware of the pain in him now. The shoulder that was clawed at started to fester, infection from flesh rotting for who knows how long was very likely. He tasted metallic blood in his mouth, the wound from the inside of his cheek though. He must have bitten it on accident at some point. The Deku shield was worse for wear as well, the red spiral etched into it had lost some of its luster, and there were a few shallow gouges in it.

Dagger veered around the Corral rather than going into it. The iron gates were shut tight with a padlock. The horses left out to roam were huddled in the middle. Behind the Corral was a stone mill- and the sounds of a fight. The two broke into a sprint.

Talon was fending off about five Stalchilds using a pitchfork as a weapon. He swung it around awkwardly, obviously not used to fighting. Daggers slipped something from the sleeve of her tunic and threw it. A knife thudded into the skull of one monster, missing the spine. Link hacked at the closest Stalchild and rammed another with his shield. The wood gave an audible crack, but held. Talon smacked the last Stalchild to the ground and rammed the butt of the pitchfork into its neck. Dagger tried to pull the kife from the now felled Stalchild, but gave up and simply hammered the skull with the pommel of a dagger till it cracked. Link fumbled to find his scabbard, again forgetting it wasn't there. There didn't seem to be anymore danger, so he set the sword on the dewy grass and supported the fat rancher, who seemed to be on the verge of collapsing. He wheezed when he breathed and his eyes were bloodshot. Link took one side while Dagger took the other, together they eased him down.

"Wut' happened?"

"I heared a crashing at the ol' gate," Talon wheezed, "Figured it was jus some Stalchilds fussin' about. It happens. They never git past the gate. But I said to Malon to go to the ol' mill, jus in case." He wearily shook his head. "But the gate was left open. An it wasn't jus a few of em' either. I ran to the ol' mill to try an' wait till dawn, but they were following so fast…"

Considering how fat Talon was, it probably wasn't that the Stalchilds were fast, but he was just slow.

"I nabbed this ere' pitch fork to hold em' off." He raised the makeshift weapon. It had some scratches in the pole, and one of the prongs had broken off. That was likely due to Talon's wild swings hitting the stone more than anything a Stalchild could have done.

"Is Malon inside?" Link asked the older man, remembering the red head. He nodded an agreement, too exhausted to speak. Dagger motioned Link and they gently eased Talon's head to the ground. She brushed off her hands and snorted, "Bet that rat Ingo went a' scamperin' off to sum dark place. Damn bastard." There was a cut on her lip and a long gash in her pantleg, but the cut seemed to be shallow. As Link watched her move to the mill's door however, she limped a tiny bit. "Malon! You ere' kid?"

Slowly he saw the little red head poke her head out from the shadows, her eyes bright with tears. Dagger gruffly asked her if she was hurt at all, to which the young girl shook her head, still to terrified to speak. It shocked Link to realize that although Dagger and Malon were close in age, the rouge carried an air that made her seem much old, and the ranch girl younger. More defenseless too. Dagger nodded curtly and went back outside, muttering something about "Ingo" and "Skinning". Malon still seemed visibly shaken though. Link put his arm around her in pity and led her outside to her Dad. Underneath her breath she was singing something, his ears only just picked up on the tune though. It seemed very pretty, from what he could hear.

He let her down gently next to her father and picked his sword back up. You never knew what could happen, and it was still a long way off till Sunrise.

more on the way, yay for winter break! Now, don't you wanna tap that there handsome review button?

And as always, thanky you for reading.