Chapter 3! Link and Malon are not my characters, blah blah, you know the drill. As usual, I'll see you at the end for a discussion along with crumpets and tea. Or something.
Link opened his eyes slowly and groaned as he felt the stiffness in his muscles and the crick in his neck. Groggily he realised that he must have fallen asleep sitting up and with his back against a wall. His whole body ached painfully, and his head throbbed dully.
He clutched at his head. What had made him go to sleep in such a painful position?
His head snapped up as the events of last night came back to him-he had been on watch duty, hadn't he?
Somewhat frantically now, he scanned around the cabin's single room in alarm, at the same time cursing himself for falling asleep. Anything could have happened while he had been dozing.
With a shock he noticed that the single bed in the corner was empty, the covers pulled back and crumpled.
"Malon?" He called, his voice raspy from sleep. Painfully, he struggled to his feet, his legs feeling rubbery beneath him. His sword still lay on the ground next to where he had been sitting; he plucked it up and held it at the ready, taking another look around the cabin.
It was deserted-Malon was definitely gone. He felt a sense of panic, but was also still feeling delirious from his sleep.
Glancing out the cabin's single window, he noted how the sunlight that was slanting through into the cabin was bright and strong-he figured it to be about mid-day.
He had slept for far too long! He could hear the loud chatter of birds and other animals outside, as they busied themselves with getting on with their business after the torrential downpour of last night.
Sheathing his sword, he furrowed his brow as he tried to think of where Malon could be. The window did not look like it had been forced open, and there was no other sign of a forced entry.
He glanced at the front door, and groaned.
The bar had been removed from in front of the door, so Malon must have left the house of her own accord.
He tried to think of reasons why she would leave the cabin. She could have gone to relieve herself, or to find food, or even just to take a walk. Still, he couldn't quell the discomforting feeling that something could have happened to her.
He was about to go outside to see if he could find out what was going on, and even had one hand on the doorknob, when he noticed something white out of the corner of his eye.
Turning his head, he saw that there was a sheet of paper lying on top of the small, round table, held down with a stone.
That certainly had not been there last night, he thought.
With a feeling of trepidation he walked over to the table and picked up the piece of paper. It was a note, written in ink:
Link,
I'm sorry I had to leave you like this. I just can't let you waste your time on me when Hyrule needs you more than I do. I had a long think when I woke up, and I've decided to go back to the farm. My dad's probably really worried, and honestly I didn't really have much of a plan when I set out.
I'm glad I ran into you, though. Besides from the fact you saved my life, I mean. It was good catching up, and I almost imagined that I could have a good adventure with you. But I can't be that selfish.
Take care of yourself, okay?
-Malon
Link stared unblinking at the note, and re-read it through three more times. So that was it, then; she was gone.
It probably was best for her to get back to the farm, he thought. The outside world was getting to be too dangerous for a young girl these days.
He sighed and carefully folded the note in half and put it in his pocket. All for the best, he told himself.
Only it wasn't. He suddenly felt nauseated, and it wasn't from his wounds or his exhaustion.
For a slight time there, he had had a reason to be a hero. Saving Hyrule was beyond him, he knew, but he had thought he would be able to protect one person from danger-that was something he believed he was capable of.
He had felt needed, appreciated. And what now? Was it back to being alone and traveling around Hyrule in search of dungeons and items he could use on his quest? Or should he just march up to Ganondorf's half-built castle and make his own death come quicker?
Malon, apart from anything else, had proven to be a distraction from his sickening mind. He had felt slightly intimidated by her, a girl around his own age, and found he had to hide the fact that he wasn't coping well from her.
And she had believed in him, he thought sadly. That helped a lot, too.
Feeling tears come to his eyes, he brushed them away angrily and told himself to cut it out. At least Malon was safe now; probably safer then she would be had she stayed with him.
Slowly, as if to delay his departure, he gathered his equipment. He would have to track down Epona too, he remembered.
He had tidied up the place and was preparing to leave, when the door swung open suddenly, creaking on its hinges.
Link spun around to the door, his sword already back in his hand.
There, framed in the door-way and blinking at Link, was Malon.
"Easy, it's just me," she said softly, indicating his sword which was still pointing at her.
Link blanched and quickly sheathed his sword. He could not believe his eyes, for he could think of no reason why Malon would suddenly be standing before him.
She entered the cabin and closed the door behind her, acting awkward. Link noticed she seemed to be searching for something in the cabin.
"Ah," she remarked suddenly, looking at Link sheepishly. "I see you've already found the note I left."
Link nodded. "I thought you would be almost back to your farm by now," he said.
Why had she come back? He asked himself once more.
Malon looked embarrassed. "I'm really sorry. I was hoping that I could get back here and tear up the note before you saw it."
Link said nothing, sensing that she would continue talking if he remained silent.
Malon walked up to him, and stared at the ground. "I wrote that letter this morning, and left. But then as I was making my way home I realised I really didn't want to go back to the farm, and that I'd rather stay with you, until I get myself set up somewhere. So I came back."
Link felt speechless. He had been readying himself for a lonely journey somewhere, but now that Malon had come back he realised he could put that awful part of his life on hold and maybe enjoy himself a bit.
He grinned at her. "I'm really glad you came back."
She looked up, her brown eyes startled. "Glad? I thought you would have been happy to be rid of me. And what I'm doing is really selfish."
He shook his head, smiling slightly. "I was actually looking forward to traveling with you. It makes a nice change to being alone."
She looked tearful. "Oh, Link..."
They were interrupted by an impatience neighing from outside. Link's head came up.
"What the? Is that Epona?" He asked.
Malon nodded, smiling. "I ran into her on my way back here. She was acting pretty flustered, so I could tell she hadn't found you yet."
That's one worry gone, Link thought, relieved.
"So, what, you want to go to Kakariko still?" Link asked her.
Malon nodded, still looking hesitant. "If it's not too much trouble..."
The sun shone down on blades of grass that were glistening with dew. A nice breeze rolled over the land, making the day a perfect one: not too hot or wet.
Link and Malon rode slowly over the fields on Epona, enjoying the weather.
Link had a smile on his face at the memory of how Epona had acted upon seeing him: the horse had nuzzled his hand strongly, almost knocking him over in the process of showing her relief at finding him safe.
"Apple?" Malon offered, snaking an arm around his waste to offer Link the fruit.
She was sitting behind him on Epona, and, being an expert rider, did not have to hang on to Link's waist for balance. Still, that would have been nice, Link reflected.
His eyes bulged at the sight of the food.
"Where did you get this from?" He asked her, taking the green apple from her hand and biting into it thankfully. He had not eaten for days.
"Oh, there are apple trees on the way to my farm. They're all over this area-you just gotta keep an eye out for them," she explained.
He could hear her chewing softly on her own apple.
"Got any more?" He asked.
"Sure. Here."
He took the second apple and leaned forward.
"Epona..." he said in a sing-song voice. "I've got something good for you..."
Epona must have been in a cranky mood, for she snorted and continued walking, ignoring him.
However, when Link reached out an arm and showed her the apple, she forgot about being grumpy and quickly snatched the apple from his hand with her mouth, and started chewing noisily.
Link laughed. "You were hungry too, huh?"
Malon giggled, and the two of them finished their apples lazily.
"This is nice," Malon said with a sigh. "A lot of people don't even get to travel around like this these days."
Link nodded, and half turned in his seat so he could look at her. "Can't really blame them. Especially with what happened last night...I'm not that used to being attacked and stormed on all at once like that."
Malon laughed, and then her face grew serious. "What do you think caused that storm?" She asked.
"I'm still kind of hoping it could have just been a freak storm," Link said.
Malon shook her head. "No; you saw the way it was following us. Ganondorf's got plenty of witches and warlocks working for him who could have arranged something like that."
Link frowned. He didn't much like the sound of witches or warlocks. He had enough trouble dealing with the Undead, wolves, giant spiders and other similar nasties.
Malon poked him in the side playfully.
"You could beat a warlock though, Link." She teased.
Link laughed, but inside he felt his spirits rise. Sure, she was probably just joking, but he wasn't used to hearing compliments much.
He remembered that he had seen Malon remove something from the cabin before they left that had looked like a weird kind of fabric in a bag.
"What did you take from the cabin?" He asked.
"A tent." Malon's voice sounded like she was pleased with herself.
Link winced. "I don't know if we were really allowed to take that," he said.
He felt her shrug. "What are they going to do, come after us? And I figured we really needed it-all you have on you is all your equipment-you don't even have a proper sleeping bag!"
Link felt sheepish. "Well, all my sleeping bags tend to get wrecked someway or another, and I haven't had much money lately."
"Well, people should set up some sort of fund for you or something," Malon said angrily. "It would probably help you a lot!"
Link shrugged. "Yes, but how will they get that done? Set up a store called "Link's War Funds", and expect Ganondorf's men to ignore it?"
Malon laughed. "Well, they'd be able to find some way to do it. You know what I mean..."
"Yeah. But life is pretty hard for everyone at the moment, and people have to think about themselves and their families first. So I don't blame them." He said, gazing off at the horizon.
Malon was silent. Suddenly, Link felt her slip her arms around him.
"Um, I don't want to fall off," she chuckled shyly in explanation.
They both knew it was a lie, but Link didn't care. He enjoyed the feel of her comforting body against his.
As dusk approached, they came to a small river in a slight dip in the land, and Link halted Epona.
"I guess this is as good a place to set up camp as any," Link said. "Especially if that's fresh water."
Malon agreed, and slid off the horse. "I'll set up the tent," she told him, and started busying herself with the task.
Link was too tired to argue, and instead led Epona over to the gurgling river. He scooped a handful of water into his mouth, and swallowed it down after discovering that it was fresh water. The river looked clean enough, so he would not worry about boiling the water in case of infection, and instead he drank his fill right there.
Epona dipped her head and drank noisily.
Link left Epona at the water-she would return when she felt like it-and walked back to Malon. To his surprise she had already got the tent up, and was standing proudly beside it.
"It's going to be a bit cramped with the two of us in there, but I think we'll manage," she grinned at him.
Link gulped. "You know, I'm fine with sleeping outside if you want the tent to yourself."
"You already gave up a bed for me last night Link, so we're both sleeping in the tent," she said pointedly.
Link shrugged, but inside his heart was thumping. He had never slept next to a girl before. Maybe a couple of times when he was little, but now that he was older it seemed like a much bigger deal. Well get over it, he told himself. I bet Malon doesn't think anything of it.
He made a fire, which took some time since he had to gather the firewood before-hand, and managed to take down a wild rabbit with an arrow for dinner. The fact that he only had three arrows left worried him, for he did not know when he would next get the chance to restock.
After skinning, cooking and eating the rabbit with Malon, which was lean and stringy, Link was exhausted.
This was what he hated about the wild: he did not particularly enjoy hunting and skinning animals, nor having to make fire every second night, but these were things that he didn't have a choice but to do.
He stood up finally.
"Need...sleep..." he mumbled to Malon, who laughed.
"Sure. I'll be in there in a second as well, after I put out the fire," Malon said.
Link nodded and practically collapsed onto the quilt that had been spread out in the tent. He looked up at the roof of the tent, thinking to himself what a change sleeping in a tent made.
His eyes flickered-he could feel sleep coming on, and the wound on his leg was hurting slightly, which made him want to drift off even more so that he would not feel the pain.
He heard someone entering the tent beyond his closed eyelids, and then felt Malon lie next to him; the tent was so small that their bodies touched.
"This is a bit smaller than I thought it would be, I suppose, but you're okay to sleep, right?" She asked, and he felt her hip press against his.
His eyes flew open. "Sure, this is fine," he managed to say.
He glanced sideways at her. She was lying on her back, staring up at the tent's ceiling with her brown eyes. The moonlight entering the tent illuminated her fiery red hair.
Link's throat was dry, and suddenly he felt wide-awake.
You're acting like a kid, he told himself, but found he couldn't ignore the fact that Malon was so close to him.
Malon's head turned, and she smiled questionably at him.
"What are you looking at?" She asked, a hint of humor in her voice.
He suddenly felt like a Peeping Tom.
"Sorry, I was just...thinking too hard, and I must have zoned out," he said lamely.
Malon shifted her body so that she was on her side facing him, one hand under her head.
"What were you thinking about?" She asked.
Drat, Link thought. Now he'd have to lie even more.
He grasped for something to say. "I was just thinking of how glad I am to have some company for a change, that was all."
Oh well, he thought. At least that was kind of truthful.
Malon reddened. "If you say so..." she said.
Link closed his eyes again, figuring that she would settle down to fall asleep too. After half a minute passed he opened his eyes and found Malon still staring at him.
"What is it?" He asked, feeling self-conscious.
The farm girl bit her lip. "I was just wondering if you've ever...ever had a girlfriend or anything?"
"Huh?" The question took him off-guard. "Um...no, I suppose I haven't," he admitted, feeling stupid.
Malon looked surprised. "Really?" She asked.
He frowned. "I just haven't had the time for a relationship, really. Something always comes up that I have to do."
"I suppose that's true," she said thoughtfully.
She then chucked him an impish grin. "Still, at the moment all you've got going is escorting me to Kakariko, and I'm with you right now, so a relationship would definitely be possible."
Link's eyes widened, and he stared at Malon in disbelief.
Did I catch that right? His mind asked.
Before he could say something he was spared by Malon laughing.
"That was a joke, Link." She said, sticking out her tongue. "I just wanted to see what your reaction would be, that's all."
Link laughed weakly, but his stomach was still doing flip-flops.
He actually felt a bit disappointed. It would have been nice if a girl were to confess her love for him-it hadn't really happened to him yet...and might never will, for that matter, if his life was to be as short as he sometimes thought it would be.
Malon lay back down on her back once more, her eyes still open. Link looked at her-at her shapely body, her large eyes, her pink lips...
He felt like he had to say something more.
"Malon," he said slowly, still thinking of what he was going to say. "When you joked that you wanted a relationship with me, I only stared at you because I was surprised at what you said, and not because I thought that it would be a...a bad idea, or anything," he finished lamely.
Way to go, he told himself sarcastically. What a poet with words you are.
Nervously he watched Malon's eyes for her reaction. She was just staring at him. She sat up suddenly, and leaned over his body.
"Thanks for saying that," she said with a smile, looking into his eyes. Her eyelids lowered, giving her a peaceful expression. "It would be nice to be with you, Link."
His heart thumped to a crescendo. He suddenly felt great-like her words had just taken away half of his troubles.
"You're wel-" he began, but stopped when Malon leaned down over him even more, her chest brushing against his. She halted with her lips just a hair's away from his.
"Link," she breathed, as he stared wide-eyed up at her. "Do you want to kiss me?"
Her sudden boldness startled him. He wouldn't have guessed that she would be this forth-coming about a relationship.
He had to answer her. He felt a bit awkward, as if things were happening far too quickly, but he couldn't tell her "no".
"Yes," he gulped, and with his words she lowered her lips gently onto his, kissing him deeply and passionately. He returned the kiss somewhat awkwardly.
She pulled away, smiling. "I always wondered how that would feel," she admitted. "Kissing you..."
"Yeah, me too," Link admitted in a daze, and then realised what he had just said.
He shook his head. "I mean, not kissing me, just kissing someone else," he said hurriedly, feeling like an idiot.
Malon giggled, and then suddenly crawled on top of him, straddling him.
"Do you want me?" She asked.
Link stared. "What, now?" He spluttered. Things were moving way too fast for him.
Malon nodded. "You must be so lonely, Link. I just want to...to fix that." She said, blushing, and leaned down to kiss him again.
Warning bells were going off in Link's head. This wasn't right, he knew. Something was wrong.
The knife flashed through the air, towards Link's chest, but he rolled to one side at the last minute and took it in his shoulder. He cried out in pain and pushed Malon away, scrambling to the other side of the tent and turning to face her.
The knife dripped blood onto the quilt from Malon's hand.
"What's the matter, Link?" She asked with mock innocence. "I thought you liked pain."
Link glared at her, his right hand holding his wounded left shoulder, which was burning under his touch.
"Who are you?" He demanded angrily.
"You know who I am! It's me, Malon..." Said the girl, and had she not been holding a blood-soaked knife the statement may have been true.
"You're not," Link hissed. "I don't know what has happened, but you're not Malon."
The girl glared at him, and suddenly rushed forward, plunging the knife towards Link. He dodged, and the knife sliced through a wall of the tent.
Malon prepared to turn and slice at Link again, and Link saw that in the close quarters they were in he would not be able to dodge her attacks.
Making up his mind quickly, he slammed an elbow into her head, making her body sag forward and knocking her out cold.
She fell to the quilt, the knife dropping from her hands.
Panting, Link stared down at Malon, feeling lost and confused. What was going on?
He winced as pain shot up from his left shoulder.
She might have wounded him really badly.
His mind jumped from thought to thought quickly. She had just tried to kill him. Yet, she was Malon, for who could disguise themselves that well? They had kissed. He had saved her from the wolves. Were any of those people really Malon?
He had to get out of the tent, he suddenly knew. He was feeling sick, and needed to feel the fresh air.
Lurching to his feet, he rushed out of the tent and fell to the grass, his shoulders heaving.
A high-pitched laugh filled the night, making him jump and search the area for its source. He pulled out his sword, and found that he wasn't scared, but angry.
The laugh continued, and then Link spotted an approaching figure in the darkness.
"I've finally got you, Link," a female voice said, and a woman stepped into focus.
He could see that she was slim, wore a cape around her shoulders, and a skimpy dress that displayed a lot of skin. Her hair was blonde and long, and her blue eyes sparkled with mischief. She looked to be in her twenties.
"Ganondorf will reward me well." She smirked, holding out a hand palm-forward, fingers splayed.
"A witch; a sorceress," Link snapped. "Someone who uses cheap tricks to win their battles."
With small dismay Link realised he had only his sword with him.
Rage filled him regardless.
"I don't know what you've done with Malon," he hissed, his eyes narrowing. "But I'm going to make you pay for it."
Some of you might be going "what the heck is going on?", but don't worry-all will be explained next chapter.
I am very pleased with how this chapter came out, and it is my favourite so far, I'd have to say.
I also want to say that, for this fic, I will probably not be naming chapters, because sometimes they can give too much away. Like "Link and Malon get physical", or some such thing.
Sorry, I have a lot to get through here-those of you who don't care can leave through that door over there. :p
First of all, thanks for all the reviews. If you've left a review and are still reading, just leave another one! If you haven't left a review, you know what to do. Hehe. I try to reply to all the reviews I get (at least I've been sending the replies, not sure if they've been reaching anyone!), so if you see that as another incentive to review that's good.
Desert Queen! You've left two reviews,and I gotta say that you should become a member! That way people can reply to your questions easily.
Oh, and I want to talk about PaperBear. This girl left a review, so I checked her profile and noticed that she's working on a Link/Malon story like me, and has two chapters up. Now, I haven't read the story yet, but just from the summary to it I can see that it's pretty similar to mine-Malon runs away from her farm, joins Link, and I'm assuming some romantic stuff happens. I just wanted to point out that I haven't read her story (looks good though), but I'm just addressing this issue in case someone says "Hey...your story's stealing from this other one!"
Maybe I should read it to make sure they're not too similar. I dunno.
And PaperBear? One of your stories has 702 reviews, I see. THAT IS INSANE! Good going!
Lastly, in "My Adventure With Mario", my other fan-fic I'm writing, chapter 3 deals specifically with my Link fan-fic, so I'd love anyone who reads Link's Trials to check it out, and tell me their thoughts.
I'll be updating fairly recently (for both my fics), so I recommend using the "author alert" or "story alert" options.
I am very pleased with how Link's Trials is going, and love getting reviews for it. So if you think I won't like you reviewing every single chapter, you are so wrong. :p