Chapter 12

Dawn Of A New Life

Dawn had finally broken and the storm clouds were gone but it brought no comfort to the now orphan girl. Impa was dead, the only person she had left was gone. The one thing left to do was get help or she would die. How she had managed to make a bandage and drag herself to the gates of Lon Lon Ranch, she did not know. She prayed for someone to pass by and noticed her because she no longer could move. With all the blood she had lost, she was too tired and in pain to move. She knew if she fell asleep it would be over, just like Ganondorf wanted. He thought he had killed her and she didn't want him to have the satisfaction of having killed all the members of the royal family. She had been careful so far as not to leave a trail of blood that any of Ganondorf's minions could follow.

Once she had the help she needed and was strong enough she would go to the Kokiri Forest. Perhaps seeing that Impa or herself hadn't shown at Lon Lon only a simple wounded peasant he would return to his home. It pained her to have to deceive everyone from now on about her identity but it was now vital. If Ganondorf found out that he had failed in killing her, he would surely hunt her until his last breath for as long as she lived there would still be hope that he could be overthrown from the crown.

Zelda managed to drag herself to a visible spot nearby the farmhouse. Judging that she would be seen from there, she closed her eyes to rest.

Impa rubbed the tears out of her eyes. She couldn't believe how careless she had been. Because she had underestimated Ganondorf, the Gerudo had won and she had lost the daughter she had always dreamed of. The custom of the Sheikah would have called for her death for bringing the dishonour of failure to her kind. But that tradition is what had caused her failure in the first place. If there had been more Sheikahs watching over the royal family like the old times, this wouldn't have turned out like this. As she stood out and started to walk towards the rising sun, she hung her head lowly. The only thing to do now was pray that the Kokiri boy had managed to obtain the Triforce. In the meantime she would have to contact Nabouru.

Zelda could hear the sound of voices, the smell of freshly baked bread hung in the air. Disoriented and feeling very dizzy, she opened her eyes not recognizing where she was. She lay in a bed in what seemed to be a child's room. Two men and a young girl were talking about an attack on the castle and how she must have been a servant's child who managed to escape despite her wounds. Zelda suddenly remembered where she was and what had happened. Not wanting to draw unwanted attention to this family, she decided that she would stick to that story.

Footsteps drew near and the door opened slightly, the hinges creaking. A middle age man's face peered in and then disappeared for only an instance letting the others know she was awake. A red headed girl about her age suddenly came running in and stared at her from over the foot board.

''Hi I'm Malon! I'm glad you're okay now. I thought you would never wake up, you've been sleeping for 2 days now. What's your name? How did you get wounded like that? Where's your Mommy and Daddy?''

The man wearing blue overalls over a red shirt picked the girl up. ''Hey easy there. At least give her time to be fully awake before you start bombarding her with your questions,'' he said as he gave her an esquimo kiss.

The girl named Malon giggled, ''Daddy your whiskers are tickling me.''

The scene before her brought tears to Zelda's eyes. Why couldn't her father have been like that?

''Now look what you've done Miss Malon. You're making her cry!'' said the man wearing purple overalls over a green shirt.

How could she possibly explain to this girl how lucky she was to have a father like that. Instead she shook her head and tried to speak like a peasant child ''My Daddy was killed because he got in the way of Ganondorf's soldiers.''

''Oh…Sorry about that. Did your Mommy die too?'' asked Malon as her father set her down.

Zelda nodded. ''We had reached the castle's drawbridge to escape when they caught Mommy. She told me to run and not to look back.''

''I lost my Mommy too not long ago. She died of pneumonia though. Since we have that in common maybe we can be friends!''

''I would love too…'' Zelda answered almost saying she never had a friend before.

''Well I guess you would like to know who we are. I'm Talon the owner of Lon Lon Ranch and this is my daughter Malon. And this is Ingo our stable hand.''

''What happened while I was sleeping. Is everything okay in the Market? Was the Gerudo defeated?'' asked Zelda.

''I hate to break it to ya kiddo, but the hylian hierarchy has been overthrown. The Gerudo now has control over Hyrule. Ganondorf is now King, and he has the Triforce. Surprisingly he is letting people to their own lives as long as each village pays retribution and there is no resistance. Even Lon Lon has to pay retribution. Ganondorf himself came here yesterday and claimed one of our best foals,'' said Talon.

Malon nodded. ''That mean man is going to take my Epona away when she is older.''

Zelda closed her eyes. She couldn't even begin to imagine what Ganondorf would have done to this family if he had asked to look around and found her here. She opened her eyes again. ''What happened to the Royal Family?''

''Ganondorf killed them including their daughter, well that's what I heard in the market anyway,'' answered Ingo.

Zelda winced in pain as she tried sitting up only to fall back down. Tears ran down her cheeks but she refused to cry. She would endure the pain both physical and emotional.

''Hey take it easy kiddo. With the injuries you have you don't expect to get up right away do ya?'' said Talon. ''You're one brave kid. Malon bawls just with a scraped knee. Why can't you be more like her Malon?'' he playfully scolded. ''Hey do you have any relatives I can write to to inform that you're here?''

''No. All I had were Mommy and Daddy. I guess I'm an orphan now. I'm sorry to burden you but do you mind if I can stay here for a while until I get better. I can work later on to repay you,'' Zelda said.

Talon looked like he was thinking about it for an instant and then smiled. ''Of course kiddo. Ingo has been complaining that he needed help around here.''

''Well if you did your share of the work instead of always sleeping we'd have more business perhaps,'' Ingo said.

Malon rolled her eyes and gave Zelda a wink. ''Adults,'' she simply stated. ''By the way what's your name?''

The question took her by surprise, she hadn't thought of making up a new name for herself. ''Uhh…it's Mina.''

Malon turned to the adults ''Well I'm sure Mina doesn't like to hear you two arguing. That's the last thing someone who needs rest needs to hear.''

''Umm ya…Sorry 'bout that. I guess we'll let you rest now,'' said Talon. ''Good thing I have my little Malon to keep me in line. Anyway I'll make sure to have something to eat when you wake up.''

The two men and Malon left the room. Zelda sighed and closed her eyes. So this is what was to become of her, a stable hand. At least the people here were nice, she was actually looking forward to being friends with Malon. Perhaps this newfound friendship would help to drown the sorrows of having lost Impa.

She unconsciously scratched her right hand, which suddenly reminded her that ever since she regained consciousness, her hand had been itching. Thinking it to be a minor scratch healing, she took out her right hand from underneath the quilt to take a look. She gasped in surprise to see a faint scar in the shape of the Triforce emblem on the back of her hand. How was that possible? Talon had clearly said that Ganondorf had the Triforce so what was the meaning of this? Could she have a piece of the Triforce? Then that would mean Ganondorf was missing a piece! Zelda smiled inwardly. There was still hope, she just needed to heal and learn how to use her piece of the Triforce and she would be able to take back the throne. With this comforting thought she fell asleep.