As promised, this will be the last chapter (for now) from Malon's point-of-view. Next chapter will be from Ingo's point-of-view!
Just kidding. I wouldn't do that to you.
I don't own these characters.
It was still dark when, some hours later, Malon and her father finally stopped running next to a small pond sheltered by trees, panting heavily.
Before she had left Ingo, Malon had arranged to meet up with him after they had escaped at the pond; a landmark that she, her father and Ingo all knew about.
Shaking with fatigue and adrenaline, Malon sat down on top of a smooth rock next to the pond, and brushed her hair away from her face. She was covered in sweat from all the running she had done, and felt like she needed a good wash.
"You think he'll come?" She spoke softly to Talon, who was leaning against a tree and panting like an asthmatic.
"Ingo? Yeah. He's like a cockroach, the slimy thing-somehow they always escape death," Talon chuckled between taking deep breaths.
She hoped her father was right, but did not have to wait long to find out- a few minutes later, the sound of horses approaching filled the air; either it was Ingo, or the soldiers had managed to track them down.
She lifted the crossbow she still carried and pointed it at a space between the trees- the only entrance into the sheltered area in front of the pond. Behind her, a tall cliff provided a wall of sorts that enclosed the small area.
Several horses trotted into her view, and Malon relaxed before she had even seen who was riding them, for she recognized her own animals.
Ingo, perched grim-faced on top of the mare Rally, still managed to chuckle when he saw Malon and her father.
"You going to shoot me, girl?" He mocked, sliding off of the horse and staggering to the ground with a curse. He slumped to the dirt, panting and wheezing, and Talon hurried over to help him up, concern showing in his face.
"Get off me, I'm not hurt," He complained, but still took Talon's offered hand and struggled to his feet. "Not much, anyway. I mean, the soldiers actually had a few horses of their own, so a few of them tried to chase me down. They weren't fast enough for this lot, of course, so I out-ran them easily. They couldn't even touch me, ha-ha," Ingo gloated, sitting down next to the pond gratefully.
Talon looked him over. "Um...not to dampen your heroic deed or anything, but...if they didn't catch you, why are you dirty, scratched and bleeding?"
Malon had been wondering the same thing herself.
Ingo's face went red. "I was riding really fast the whole time, and the horses were spooked, so I, er, fell off quite a bit."
Malon stifled a giggle, but Ingo caught the amused expression on her face regardless.
"Fat lot of thanks I get from you!" He roared, as Talon and his daughter howled with laughter. "I was risking my neck out there, my very life, when no-one else would! I deserve a medal-no- I deserve to be knighted!" He spluttered, a vein sticking out of his forehead.
Unfortunately his speech only sent Malon and Talon into even greater fits of laughter.
"You're all dead."
The cold voice broke through Malon's thoughts and actions, and, not stopping to think, she whirled around with the crossbow to face the entrance between the trees, her finger already squeezing down on the trigger.
She stopped herself from firing just in time, as soon as her eyes registered the shape of Sheik, standing panting in front of them.
"Sheik!" She cried, for clarity's sake: she knew her father had already met Sheik, but Ingo had not, and might do something crazy like try to bolt.
"If there had been any soldiers anywhere near here, you would all be captured or slain right now...laughing like that...what is wrong with you?" Sheik said dully, shaking his head.
Malon's face reddened slightly, but she couldn't have stopped herself from laughing. After everything that had happened, she had actually been surprised to find that she could still laugh.
"I'm sorry my boy, you're quite right," Talon said, and Malon noticed suddenly how tired and worn out he looked, with dark circles under his eyes and a pale complexion.
Sheik shrugged and moved forward into the clearing proper. He walked with a slight limp, and looked shaken.
"Did you...do it?" She asked him, quietly.
He looked at her with piercing red eyes, and muttered "It doesn't matter.", and Malon knew better then to press the subject.
"How did you find us anyway, boy?" Ingo asked, his eyes suspicious.
Sheik let out a hollow laugh in his strange, husky voice. "It's pretty easy to track a horse by its footprints. But it's even easier when you're following the footprints of several horses, all riding together."
Ingo grunted, grudgingly agreeing, but Malon felt worried by his words.
"So won't the soldiers be able to easily do the same?" She asked.
Sheik nodded. "Yes. That's why we need to leave here immediately. Your friend did a good job of circling the area a lot to confuse the soldiers, but that won't halt them for long."
"Okay, so we need a plan," Talon agreed, and then paused. "I don't think I thanked you properly for saving us, Sheik, you've been a great help-"
"Your gratitude is appreciated, but we need to start preparing to leave right away," Sheik cut in.
He turned to Malon. "One more question though. When I was in the farm I couldn't help but notice that the place started to...burn down. Were you behind that?"
Malon winced and nodded. "I'm sorry, I should have told you what I was going to do, but I only thought of it at the last minute, and only did it to give you more of a distraction."
"WHAAAT?" Ingo cried, forgetting his injuries and springing into the air. "You...you're saying that you burned down my farm? I saw the smoke and flames in the distance, of course, but I didn't think it was coming from my farm! Oh noooo...it was mine! It was finally mine! The soldiers took it, but even after that it looked like I could maybe get it back! But not now!" He raved madly, and fell to the ground, actually crying bitter tears of remorse and self-pity.
The three of them stared at the blathering figure, and then Sheik cleared his throat.
"It did prove to be a good distraction, and might help us get away yet. They will be out to get revenge now, but at least they will be disorganized." He said.
Malon nodded, and turned to her father sadly. "I had to, dad...I'm so sorry. I really didn't want to..."
"Don't worry about it. You're all that matters," Talon reassured her, ignoring Ingo's wails of "my foot she's all that matters!".
In the distance, a sudden shout erupted, and Malon stiffened with fear.
"The soldiers!" Sheik hissed. "You all have to go now!"
Ingo jumped up from the ground and practically flew up into the saddle of Rally, and Malon ran over to the other horses, preparing to do the same, but halted when she noticed that Sheik had pulled her father to one side and was whispering something to him.
"Malon, hold on, honey," Talon told her, still listening intently to Sheik.
What's going on? She thought. Why don't we just go?
"You're right." She heard her father say to Sheik, before walking over to her quickly.
"Mal, you can't come with us," he said to her, and she could only stare into his eyes, confused, convinced that she had mis-heard him.
"What are you saying?" She stuttered, all of a sudden feeling very unreal.
"We can't all ride out of here on the horses, it's too risky. They can track us and follow us easily, and I don't want you to be caught again." He said grimly.
"I'll take my chances! You can't just leave me here!" She protested, tears coming to her eyes.
"I'm not." Talon said, and to Malon's horror he suddenly mounted one of the horses, sitting up next to Ingo.
He looked down at her, and she could see in his eyes that what he was doing was hurting him greatly.
"Go with Sheik." He told her. "We need to split up. Ingo and I will try to lose the soldiers, and when we do, we'll meet up with you in Kakariko Village. Remember, whatever happens, I love you."
"No!" Malon cried, but her father and Ingo spurred the horses out from under the trees and were soon lost to her sight.
"Come on," Sheik warned, grabbing her elbow firmly. She thought about fighting him off, and running after her father, but knew that it would be pointless and suicidal.
Instead, she let Sheik pull her along behind him, and once again found herself running for her life.
After a while, and with dawn approaching, Malon and her rescuer fell to the leafy ground beside a huge, hollow tree which had fallen over, providing a good barrier.
Her breath coming out in hurried gasps, and feeling a stitch in her side, she felt like crying. Why couldn't her life just be normal? She thought bitterly.
She felt drained, and realized that she hadn't slept properly in ages. How nice it would feel to just close her eyes and nestle on top of the dry, dead leaves, falling asleep, she thought.
She kept her eyes open, however, and turned her head to look at Sheik, who was rubbing at his foot and wincing. Even with a hurt leg, he had still managed to keep the pace, and she had to admire him for that.
She blinked, remembering how he had pulled her father aside earlier to speak to him.
"Did you tell my father we need to split up, and that you would take me with you?" She asked, her voice more demanding then she meant it to be.
He looked up at her, his eyes reproachful. "Yes." He said simply.
"You had no right to do that!" She exploded at him. "If you hadn't have said something, I would be with my father now, and-"
"And what?" He demanded, his voice rising. "You would probably be back in the soldier's hands. Your father and his friend can take care of themselves, but if you were with them your father would have to constantly worry and look after you. It's better for everyone this way."
"Is it better for you? I don't even know you! But it's obvious to me that you just want to play the hero, isn't that right?" She snarled.
She knew she had gone too far, and even knew that she was just wasting her anger on him, when he hadn't done anything wrong, but she couldn't seem to stop herself.
After a heavy pause, Sheik spoke up once more. "You're right: you don't know me. I could have left you at your farm to die, but I didn't. I'm on your side. Stop treating me like the enemy." He didn't raise his voice, but kept it steady and low, and somehow that made it much worse for Malon to hear.
What am I doing? She thought, and held her head in her hands. This isn't like me. What am I becoming?
"D-don't listen to me, okay?" She said, her voice thick with emotion as she fought to keep back the tears. "You haven't done anything wrong, I don't even know what I'm saying. I can't handle this."
Somehow she kept herself from crying, her eyes staring down at the leaves on the ground from between her fingers.
She felt Sheik's hand on her shoulder, awkward but reassuring, and her mind went back to the night in the cabin with Link, and she remembered how he had held her so gently as she cried.
Link...she thought, almost longingly. Is he okay? Is he alive? I wish I could go to him.
As soon as the thought entered her head, she knew that it was possible for her to go to him.
Her father had said that they would meet in Kakariko Village, but before that she might be able to go to Hyrule Castle Town, find Link, and talk to him. She wanted to see if he was okay first and foremost, but she also needed someone she knew to tell her that everything could be okay again. She felt safer with him, and he might even be able to travel to Kakariko Village with her, to meet her father and Ingo.
But it wasn't safe there, she knew. And she couldn't risk traveling to Hyrule Castle Town alone.
Unless...she glanced at Sheik, the stranger with the startling red eyes, who was still looking at her sympathetically.
"Where are you planning to go after you drop me at Kakariko Village?" She asked him carefully.
He looked taken back at her sudden mood change. "Castle Town. Why?" He asked, suspicious.
"Take me to Castle Town instead of Kakariko Village." She said. She didn't mean it to sound like an order, but she also wanted to appear confident with her decision.
He gaped at her. "What? W-why would you...damn it. Stop doing that."
"Doing what?" She inquired.
"Saying things like that. It's very off-putting. Out of curiosity, why do you want to go there? It's no place for a farm girl."
"I need to meet someone, it's very important to me. But I can't go by myself, it's too dangerous. I need you." She said, not wanting to tell him the whole story.
He sighed, and glanced up at the sky with his single eye. "Your father would disapprove. I disapprove. Can you tell me that it's worth risking your life for?" He asked.
Was it? She thought, but already knew the answer. "Yes."
He clicked his tongue irritably. "Fine. Okay, I will do this one last thing. I don't want you whining at me for the whole journey anyway," he muttered grudgingly.
She let out a yelp, and threw her arms around him, thanking him excitedly.
Startled, he pushed her off him quickly, but she was too happy to feel any rejection.
Link...I'm coming.
After taking a brief nap, they continued onwards carefully, but it soon became apparent that they weren't being followed.
Malon felt her spirits rise slightly, but also felt guilty over not going straight to Kakariko Village. If she was late in getting there, her father would be worried, and of course she fretted that he might be caught and killed. She couldn't let herself dwell on thoughts like those however, and tried to talk to Sheik as much as she could to distract herself, even when it was clear to her that he would rather walk in silence.
She tried to make small-talk, but Sheik would always answer in one-word sentences, preventing any proper conversation.
"So...where are you from?"
"Nowhere."
"Right. You have any family?"
"No."
"Girlfriend?"
"No."
"Um...you fight and move well. Someone must have trained you, right?"
"Yes."
She was getting frustrated, so she decided to throw in something that might get a reaction.
"Did you kill Rid?"
He had been walking beside her at a brisk pace, but at her words he stumbled.
"Why do you want to know?" He asked, recovering.
"Because I want to know if your mission succeeded, and I want to know if Rid is still alive." She answered.
There was a long pause before he answered her. "No, I didn't kill him. I had a shot, but he was covered well by his men, and I saw that even if I did take him out, I would then be killed. I wasn't prepared to do that."
Malon nodded to herself, and after that she gave up trying to hold normal conversations with him. She liked him enough as a person, but he was always so uptight and hard to approach.
A day of walking passed without incident, until finally Sheik called a halt and suggested that they rest for a while, which Malon was all for. Her stomach hurt from not eating in such a long time, but they had no provisions with them, and no tools or cooking gear to even forage for food.
The area where they had stopped was grassy and pleasant, with enough large rocks and trees around to cover them adequately.
Malon leaned against a tree and shut her eyes, enjoying the sensation of just remaining still and doing nothing. The sun was setting, and Sheik got a small fire going for warmth, one which would not send out a lot of smoke.
She stretched out on the grass, preparing to fall asleep, when she heard Sheik speak up.
"You're a pretty strong person, to be able to go through all of this." He said softly.
She opened her blue eyes and looked up to where he was sitting, staring into the fire.
Oh great, now he wants to talk, she thought ironically.
She sat up, stretching. "I don't think I'm particularly strong," she admitted. "I've just had a lot of support, and I've been able to get by, somehow."
"I wouldn't have been able to go back into the farm after escaping like you did, though." He said, glancing up at her.
She laughed. "What? But you were there trying to kill someone, so of course you could."
He shook his head. "That's not what I mean. I've had training. You haven't. That took a lot of guts."
"I suppose it did," she conceded, feeling slightly proud about herself.
Sheik stood up and came over, sitting down right next to her.
She felt slightly surprised by this; Sheik always seemed to keep his distance from her, so now that he had voluntarily moved closer, she was looking for a reason why.
"Before...you asked me if I had killed Rid, and I told you that I didn't." He mumbled, not looking at her.
"Are you going to tell me that you did?" She asked.
He shook his head. "No, I didn't kill him. But I still lied. I said that I couldn't get a shot in, but the truth is he was right in the open, just in front of me, and I could have easily killed him and still would have been able to get away safely."
"So...why didn't you?" She asked softly, surprised by this revelation.
"I couldn't," he admitted, his eyes downcast. "Truth is, I've never actually killed anyone before. It was so deliberate, I felt. I was about to send some projectiles into the skull of a man, a human, and I would end his existence. And even while I knew that Rid deserved to die, that he was a horrible person, I still couldn't do it. All my training...it was all for nothing, if I can't kill someone. I feel that I've failed Hyrule."
Malon was silent for a while after he had finished talking; she was trying to think of what she could say to comfort him.
"First of all, I actually think more of you as a person, because you couldn't kill him," she said, finally. "It shows you're a truly good man, with good morals. And, while you couldn't kill Rid, you did manage to save three people tonight. Me, my father, and Ingo. That has to count for something, right? And, the farm isn't even standing anymore, which should delay any operations further."
Sheik nodded, but still looked tortured. "I still can't stop feeling guilty. I shouldn't have hesitated."
"Well, what if you had killed him, and then got on with your life, feeling nothing? What kind of person would you be then? You can't let Ganondorf and his men take your humanity away, Sheik." She said.
He looked at her, surprised, and then nodded slowly.
"You're right...thank you. I'm glad I talked to you about it." He said, and then, to her surprise, he pulled down the collar of bandages around his lower face, revealing his nose and mouth to her.
She studied him, smiling. He was really cute, she thought. Almost too cute, really, for his skin was perfect, and he had a slightly feminine look about his face.
"You look like an actual human now," she joked, and Sheik laughed.
"I need to feel the breeze on my face for a bit," he explained.
"Why do you have to always be hidden like that?" Malon asked.
"I just do. Part of my job, I guess."
"Mmm," she agreed. "That, and the fact you're from a wealthy, well-known family."
His eye widened at her words, and he frowned at her. "What makes you say that?" He asked carefully, trying to appear calm, even though Malon had already seen from his reaction that she was right.
"Everything about you, really. The way you speak. Even the way you walk and act. Plus, if you were a guy with a history of poverty and hardship, you would not hide yourself like you do. I think the reason you hide your face is because you are from a well-off family, and are well-known yourself, so you do not want to be recognized." She explained.
He looked frustrated for a second, and then smiled grudgingly. "You're right. Obviously, I have some work to do in altering the way I act."
Malon smiled. "I wouldn't bother to disguise yourself when you're around me-I'm just a farm girl, so whoever you are, I won't recognize you."
He grinned. "At least that's one good thing. So, any tips on how to act like a 'normal' person?" He joked.
"You could try not to act so uptight-you know, just act like you don't care. Throw some slang into your vocabulary. And you walk too perfectly." She said honestly.
He laughed, and she was glad to see that his defenses were coming down slowly. "Okay, I'll keep that in mind, Malon. But seeing as you can see through me so well, I should ask you something."
Her face fell, and she immediately expected to be questioned on a serious matter, like why she had felt the need to burn down her farm, or something.
"Is there anyone you like?" He asked, and she blinked at him.
Okay, I didn't see that coming, she thought. Sheik didn't seem to be the type of person who would be interested in romance or anything like that.
Her first reaction was to just deny that she liked anyone, for why would she want to talk about any stupid crushes with him? But then she felt a small thrill at the thought of talking to him about the topic; no boy had ever asked her a question like that, had ever even bothered to act interested.
"Well..." she said slowly. "There is someone I like, but nothing's going to happen."
"You don't know that for sure though," Sheik mused.
"Oh, trust me on this. He's so out of my league it's not funny." She said, smiling sadly. "And it's just a silly crush."
"Does this guy have a name?" He prodded.
She knew that there was no way she was telling him the name-it would sound ridiculous to him-and anyone else- for that matter.
"Secret." She said, grinning.
"Funny name."
"Ha-ha." She said dryly. "I mean, I'm not telling you the name."
"But you have to: you know my secret." He went on, grinning.
"I only know you're from a wealthy family."
He shrugged. "That's enough of a secret."
She sighed, and was tempted to just lie down, close her eyes, and ignore him until he gave up asking her. But it would be exciting, telling him the name, wouldn't it? She thought, biting her bottom lip.
"Okay, but you're not allowed to tease me about this. His name's Link." She admitted, feeling herself blush.
Sheik laughed. "That's pretty funny. It would be a bit hard going out with someone who has the same name as the Hero of Hyrule, I guess." He chuckled.
She knew she would have to embarrass herself even further now. "No, I mean...the Link I like is the Link." She muttered, and Sheik's laughter turned into a shocked coughing fit.
"What? You have a crush on the Link." He stated, when he could talk again. "But I suppose a lot of girls would feel grateful that he's trying to save the land, even though they haven't met him."
"Oh, I've met him." She said, feeling that she had to defend herself now. She didn't want to appear like some silly girl who had a crush on an idol whom she hadn't even met.
"I first met him three years ago, and just a few nights ago, when I was away from the farm, we met again, and he kind of saved my life. In fact, the reason I'm on my way to Hyrule Castle Town is to see if he's okay," she blurted out.
Sheik's jaw dropped. "You've got to be kidding me."
Her face was really burning now. She shook her head.
"Well...that's something." Sheik murmured, still shocked. "I don't suppose he knows you're coming to find him?"
Again, she shook her head.
Sheik chuckled. "Funny. I've met Link once or twice, you know. He's a pretty nice guy."
"I know," Malon sighed. "About him being a nice guy, I mean, not about you meeting him..."
"When you pick a crush you certainly go all-out, don't you?" Sheik grinned at her.
"You just asked if I liked anyone, and he's the only person I would want to...um, be with, or whatever. I don't honestly expect anything to happen, of course, and I'm not going to try anything to make it happen." She explained.
"That's a shame, because you probably should. I bet Link likes independent, headstrong gals like you," Sheik said seriously.
"Stop it," she chided. "There's no way he would ever be interested in me like that."
Sheik put his hands behind his head, leaning back on a tree and looking like he was enjoying himself. "I bet he is. Has anything happened between you two? Even something small?"
"Um...he held me once, but I was crying, so I don't suppose that counts. Oh. I...kind of...kissed him, as well." She admitted, knowing already that she would now have to explain herself even more.
Sheik looked like she had just told him that she could levitate.
"WHAT? You kissed him? But you just told me that you wouldn't try to make anything happen! Am I missing something?" He demanded, dumbfounded.
Malon frowned. She didn't mind talking to Sheik about this stuff-she had no-one else to talk to- but at the same time she didn't understand why, when she had first told him that she liked Link, he hadn't just said something like "Really? Haha, that's funny," and moved on to another topic like most guys would.
"I kissed him, but I wasn't under my control. I don't want to go into it, but a witch was controlling me. Ugh, that sounds crazy even to me. I'm sorry." She said. "Oh, I then stabbed him." She added. "Again, I couldn't do anything about it."
Sheik just stared at her. "Hold up. You can't just tell me that much and expect me to nod and not ask what the whole story is. Come on, tell me what happened. We've got nothing else to do but sleep, anyway."
Again Malon wondered why he was so interested, but she sighed and launched into telling Sheik the whole story, figuring that she might as well tell him the true version.
When she had finished, Sheik was silent for a moment, and then spoke up. "And then...you came back to your farm and got captured by the soldiers. No wonder you kept snapping at me, after all that!"
She nodded silently.
"But it still sounds to me like he cares for you a lot. You don't hold someone in your arms like he did if you don't have feelings for that person, in my opinion." Sheik pointed out.
Malon sighed. "Maybe...it was pretty nice," she admitted.
Sheik sighed as well. "Yes, it would have been." He then added quickly, "I mean, for anyone being held, I don't mean being held by Link," as if he didn't want her to get the wrong impression.
Malon nodded, distracted by her sudden strong feelings towards Link. She had known all along that she had liked him, but all of a sudden, speaking to Sheik about it, she felt like practically throwing herself at Link and kissing him, properly this time.
I wish he was here with me right now, she thought dreamily, and then reality seemed to hit her. Nothing was ever going to happen, no matter what Sheik thought, she knew. She suddenly felt depressed.
Sheik was smiling at her, she suddenly realised.
"You look like you're miles away," he commented.
She apologized, and smiled back at him. "Did I ever thank you properly for saving my life?" She asked.
"Anyone would have done the same in my situation."
"Not everyone."
"Yeah, well, it doesn't matter."
She was about to reply, when a sudden snap of a twig breaking sounded near-by. Sheik launched forward, pushing Malon flat to the ground on her back and shielding her with his body and looking around the area frantically.
Leaves rustled, and Malon and Sheik both looked to their right to see a rabbit hopping away quickly.
Sheik exhaled, looking down at Malon sheepishly. "Sorry about that. I thought we were about to be attacked."
Malon laughed. "Yeah, me too." His body is lying on top of mine. He's so close...
She looked up into his red eye, and suddenly his lips looked so desirable and inviting. She liked him too, she realized. Not in the way she liked Link, which was more of an all-consuming feeling, but she was still greatly attracted to Sheik.
Maybe it was because she had been talking about Link and fantasizing about kissing him, but all of a sudden she felt the need to kiss Sheik. Of course she couldn't, but she still desired to.
Sheik was still on top of her, and, maybe because he noticed the weird look in her eyes, he was remaining still, looking at her questionably.
She could feel the warmth of his body, pressing down on hers.
She liked Link, but she knew that he was unavailable to her. And Sheik was here, so close to her, so why shouldn't she just quickly kiss him? She would probably never see him again after he dropped her off at Castle Town, anyway.
His body tensed, and she realized he was preparing to get up. Quickly, so she couldn't talk herself out of it, she pulled his head down towards hers with her hands, sought his lips, and pressed her mouth against his.
She felt his body freeze, but knew that there was no going back now. His lips remained firmly closed and unmoving, however, and she felt a moment of panic.
Of course he won't want to kiss me.
Then she felt him react to her kiss, and his lips opened slightly. Feeling a thrill, she kissed him more deeply, and felt his tongue briefly envelop hers.
And then, it was over. Sheik pulled away, looking embarrassed, and smiled apologetically at her.
"Malon...I like you too, but we can't." He said.
She felt awkward, and stupid. "Of course. I...I can't blame you..."
"No, it has nothing to do with you. I just can't get involved with anyone right now, believe me. Because of my job, because you don't know who I really am. I'm sorry." He told her, and his eyes looked sincere.
She nodded, but still felt awkward. "Okay...um, I'm going to go to sleep now, okay? It's too awkward, otherwise."
"Yeah, I'll do the same. I hope this hasn't hurt you in any way." Sheik said, and those were the last words exchanged between the two that night.
Lying on her side facing away from Sheik, Malon cursed her stupidity. Why had she done that? She realized that she had been thinking of Link just before kissing Sheik-she had wanted to kiss Link. So she had kissed someone else instead. Someone she hardly knew. What was wrong with her?
Her mind was filled with everything that had happened to her, and suddenly she just wanted to crawl into some deep hole somewhere and hide herself from the world.
Another horrible thought hit her: what if Link was dead? What if her father was now dead? And she had only been thinking about herself and relationships...
She curled up her body, shaking.
I'm sorry, dad. Sorry, Link. I don't deserve wonderful people like you around me. Link...hang in there. I'm coming for you, and maybe we can both sort this whole mess out. I want to help you.
That's all I know.
Phew! This was actually the longest chapter so far. Which is strange, because not much happened in it! I apologize for the lack of action, but I wanted to focus more on the characters, specifically of Sheik and Malon, before I shifted the story back to Link.
I had to chuckle a bit, writing this chapter. Poor Ingo! He had his dream, and now it's literally gone up in flames! Haha.
I really liked how Sheik and Malon bonded in this chapter. Sheik is relatively new in disguising herself, remember, so I wanted to have Malon partly see through it. And why was Sheik so interested in talking to Malon about her love life (apart from the fact that it was Link, of course!)? Because she's female, and probably wanted to behave like a normal girl, fora change. Even though she's dressed up as a boy. Heh.
I really, really hope that Malon didn't come off as an unfaithful, two-timing person to you guys. Her kissing Sheik was an idea I had a while ago, because for one I didn't want this to just be a story about how Malon falls for Link, and I thought it might be interesting developing a love-triangle of sorts. Malon likes Link, and Sheik, even though she's not aware that he's a she, while Sheik, we have to assume, must have some feelings for Link as well.
So I tried to justify why Malon would kiss Sheik-mainly because she doesn't expect to be with Link. That, and she's confused, so I think her behaviour can be excused, right?
Also note how Sheik kisses Malon back. This isn't because Zelda suddenly has feelings for Malon, or because she's gay. She did it because she didn't want to make Malon feel horrible by rejecting her so strongly. All cleared up? Good. :p
I actually got 10 reviews for chapter 7! 10! That, to me, is just amazing. I couldn't reply in person to all of you, because I've been busy, so I would just like to say a huge thank-you to everyone who left a review! I am very lucky, I think, to have such great reviewers who ask questions and leave such wonderful comments. You'll have to bear with me while I answer a few questions here:
EndlessStrife: I'm kind of glad you were expecting Link to show up at any moment, because that's what you would think would happen, right? Link saves Malon again, Malon goes "I love you more, Link" or whatever. :p So I decided that it would be a good time for Sheik to come into the story, and am pleased with the results.
Lt. Doom: New reviewer! Action/adventure, some gore, and good old romance is what this story is about. Thanks for the review.
Syphora: I think it's safe to assume that Ganondorf began his evil plans in the castle, like in the game. Since the next chapters will be set in Castle Town, I will be able to reveal more details.
Robbo: I burned the farm down, and I can burn it down again! (Wait...that's not right...)
Halomasterchief: Yay. I'm glad you mentioned how it's fitting that Sheik would be slowly fighting Ganondorf's men, as I wanted a good reason for Sheik to show up at the farm. Yes, Sheik would have only been under Impa's training for maybe two years or something, so he/she's really only starting out, andis still developing.
DragonEyes: Nice name. Thanks for the review, I've been updating on a weekly basis so far.
Lao Who Mai: I quite like Ingo, as a character. You love to hate him. Thanks for commenting how it should be equal part Malon/Link. I agree. In fact, if I had not written these last four chapterson Malon, I wouldn't care for her as much as a character. Dark Link? Hmm. Seeing as he only popped up in the game as a boss, he isn't much of a character. Still, he would probably fit into the story nicely in some form, so we'll see.
Rynada and BabyGurl, I replied to your questions already, but I'd like to thank you both for all your reviews (Yes, I'm a suck-up :p).
Argh! Next time, I think I'll just reply to the reviews, because that took up so much space. So sorry.
I was thinking of creating an "interview" of sorts, with Malon. I was going to tell you guys to put down a question you would like to ask Malon, the character, in your review of this chapter, and then I would be able to make her answer, which I thought would be interesting to read. However, in the rules, I believe, you are not allowed to do this in your story (it's not a proper chapter, and all that). But then I thought I could still do it, but I would just put the interview up on my Profile, so you could all read it.
And then I thought "Wait...is putting it up on my Profile still against the rules?"And now I'm confused. :p If anyone can clear this matter up, by either messaging me or commenting in your review, I would be thankful. If you're sure that it's not against the rules, leave the question, and I'll do it. Becuase it would be interesting seeing what Malon thinks of Sheik, in her own words, what she wants to do next, blah blah...who's the better kisser, Sheik or Link?
Okay, that's it. Yeah, I know, I write too much. Next chapter, Link will be back. Looking forward to that...and I might take a longer break in putting up the next chapter, unless I get swamped with reviews begging me to update sooner. :p I normally update after a week, so I might wait two weeks this time. Got to make sure I know where the story will go.
Review! Thanks for reading!