"You're getting pretty good at that, boy." Malon heard Ingo say as she walked out of the barn, a metal bucket of milk in each of her hands. It sounded like the man had managed to trick someone else into coming in and taking up his free-riding service. One of what he called 'money-making' tactics was to bring in a few more rupees for the ranch. He would let people come and ride on one of the horses, give them a few compliments, and then trick them into racing against him, where the ranch owner would win and take some rupees from the unsuspecting racer. Which usually worked in Ingo's favor since Malon was never there to warn the people. She knew he put her in the barn during the day on purpose so she couldn't warn anyone about his quick and shady ways.
Not that she particularly cared about it at the moment, her sore throbbing muscles were currently taking all her attention. The early morning practices every day at dawn were definitely doing a number on her. As a farm girl, she figured her body was getting a good workout every day with dealing with animals, moving crates, and dealing with whatever else she needed to take care of. But wielding a weapon was a totally different kind of workout. Blisters stung her hands, making her wear a pair of gloves to handle the metal handle of the bucket she was dealing with. J
The stinging sensation blocked the sword her teacher threw at her, running and dodging the blade, and lunging herself forward trying to hit her teacher during their sparing match. It was working muscles she had no idea were even a part of her. But thankfully the training seemed to be going well as her teacher had deemed her ready to take on Ingo, even giving her a present to commemorate her 'graduation', though she had no idea what was in it. However, the Gerudo lady insisted that she learn how to use other weapons and even fight on horseback, which seemed like a bit too much. She hadn't even wanted to learn how to use a weapon in the first place, but her desire to finally win her home back and protect it over showered that. Now she just needed to get some rest and chase the tyrant of a ranch leader out of her home, figuring she wasn't going to be much of a threat if she went up to him looking like she needed a nap more than for him to leave the ranch. Or being the brave ranch girl who passed out on her way to kick out the evil man who ran things.
"You really think so?" A young man's voice said, making Malon pause and turn as she immediately recognized the voice. Though she silently prayed to Hylia that she was wrong about it. But her eyes shot open as she saw a teen her age in a grass green tunic, with white pants, and boots on top of a black horse. Dropping the buckets of milk the girl ran over to the horse pen, and immediately grabbed onto the black metal bars. "Link!" She called out, "What are you doing here?" She immediately asked him, and the boy immediately moved his horse over to the girl, his face beaming with a smile.
"Hiya, Malon," He greeted the ginger, "I'm riding a horse, what else does it look like? Now I can get on any of the horses not just a foal." He chirped happily.
"Is that all you're doing?" She pressed him, the mixture of not having enough sleep and annoyance with Ingo's cheap tricks, she did not look to please. Which must have been noticeable as he held his hands up in the air.
"Yep just riding around." He said, making Malon sigh in relief before Link continued to talk. "Though I'm going to race Ingo here in a bit."
"Link!" Malon groaned as she rubbed her eyes, this poor gullible sweet forest boy. "No wait!" She said out loud realizing that she had just called him sweet in her mind, blushing as she looked up at him in silence for a few seconds. "How much money did you want you to put up?" She asked.
"Nothing." He said, "I spent the last few rupees that I had to get here and ride the horse. So he said it was just for fun. He explained, making the girl take a step back. That did not sound like the Ingo she knew.
"Let me talk to Ingo real quick." She said before scrambling away and going to where the man was. "Ingo." She hissed.
"Ah yes, dear Malon, how can I help you?" The man asked, a pleased look on his face as he kept his arms clamped in front of him. Malon knew it was just a mask he was putting on since they had a 'customer' with them.
"What angle are you playing at here?" She asked him, "I don't agree with using these horses for gambling, but I know you would never participate in a race unless it benefited you!" She said.
"Malon please calm yourself or you'll scare the animals." The rancher said, his smile faltering for a second before he painted it back on. "I'm just gonna have some fun and if the boys are good enough to win a race against me then we might make a wager another way." He said.
"What other way?" The girl pressed him, "He doesn't have any more money. You gonna make him work here at the ranch for free?" She asked, and honestly, the extra set of hands would be nice. But she knew Mr. Knight had other important things.
"Well, I don't know. I was thinking of that fancy sword he has." The man said, settling on the sword a bit too quickly for the girl's liking. What reason would he have for wanting a sword anyway, he was a rancher and less of a warrior than Malon was. Was he gonna give his whip a break and threaten to stab the horses if they didn't listen "I think it would be a good gift to give Lord Ganon, don't you? If we stay on his good side he's sure to pay more for his shipment of milk and for the horses we offer."
There it was, something for Lord Ganon, which hearing made this Malon roll her eyes. OF course, it was something for that guy, Ganon had Ingo wrapped around his finger so tight she wondered if the man could even feel that finger anymore. But Malon did know that if Ganon wanted it then it wasn't anything he should have.
"I'll be right back." She said to the man before marching back over to Link. "Link don't do anything rash. Ingo's after your-!" She tried to warn her friend before hearing a deep voice clear their throat behind them.
"Dear Malon," Ingo said, his fake smile still painted on his face and poison hidden in his sickening sweet words. "Why don't you go and check on the other animals, I would hate for something bad to happen to any of the dear animals because you weren't where you should be." He warned her.
"Yeah, don't worry Malon, I got this." Link assured the girl with a smile as he patted the side of his black steads head.
"Ok." The girl sighed, "Please just don't do anything foolish." She said to her friend before turning and leaving the two as she headed back to her room. Quickly shutting the door behind her she went to her desk and shut the window so she couldn't hear anything that was happening out in the field. She immediately swiped her hand across her desk, immediately clearing it of the parchment, ink, and pens. No doubt she got the ink on her bed and wall immediately as the glass bottle banged against the wall. But she didn't care about that, the stains were the last thing on her mind. How could her friend fall for a trick even though she was warning him, he hadn't even bothered to ask for Epona to race on. Though that was probably more her fault than anything. Since the day Ingo had tried to whip the horse, Malon had done her best to make sure the horse was almost hidden from the man. The poor horse was probably going mad staying in her stable, but it was the only place where she would be safe. Maybe she could go out there and get Link to switch horses? No that wouldn't work, Ingo would know he would lose and wouldn't agree to let Link switch horses. Also, there was no guarantee that Epona still remembered Link as it had been seven years since she last saw Link. Was this all she could do, was sit in her room like a scared child, like when her father was driven out of the ranch? Almost every scratch of him was erased from the ranch past the ranch itself being there. It was still more than what she had to remind her of her mother. All she had of that was a song and the brooch that hung from around her neck.
"What am I to do?" She asked, her pale hand reaching up and holding onto the piece of jewelry and looking down at it, remembering what her teacher had told her.
The two stood in the light that dawn brought with it, facing each other huffing and puffing as they finished their sparing session. A golden lance with a dark grey point at the front of it was in both of Malon's hands. The normally cool metal was warm and smudged with her sweat that was practically pouring off of her. The two had figured out that a lance was more to the farm girls' speed when it came to fighting, since it was the most like a pitchfork, a farming tool that she had used hundreds of times before. And unlike with the swords when the two had spared with the swords, the blades feeling unnatural and almost awkward in her hands, she managed to pick up the lance and learn it just fine.
It had only been a month since the night the two first met but now she was making her teacher actually have to try. One of the Gerudo lady's swords was off in the distance, planted in the ground after Malon had managed to knock it out of her teacher's hands. Leaving Malon to think that she could take on anything.
"Don't get too eager, Young One." The lady said, giving a deep chuckle as she stuck her sword behind her and put it away, the sword seemingly disappearing into thin air as she let her hands drop. It was like she was able to read the ranch girl's thoughts and see her confidence. "I am glad that you have learned to handle yourself. But having too much confidence leads to foolish mistakes." She said, making Malon's cheeks tint red.
"Sorry." She muttered with a smirk as she tossed the lance back to the lady, who caught it, like with the sword, she stuck it behind her and the weapon magically vanished.
"It is quite alright," Her teacher assured her, "It's only proper that you would feel a bit of pride with the progress you made." She said, "And with great progress comes with a reward." She said, bringing her fingers up to her lips, blowing into them, and letting out a high pitch SHHHHHHHHH. Soon the sound of galloping filled the air and a brown horse with a white braided mane ran up beside her teacher.
"Oh, she's beautiful!" Malon immediately gasped as she slowly approached the horse, seeing the creature's clean shining brown coat and her straight strong legs. However, she didn't touch the horse as it huffed and moved its head away as if to say 'How dare you try to touch me, peasant'.
"Yes, Dustcloud isn't too fond of people from outside the desert." Her teacher said, making Malon smirk.
"Reminds me of someone else I know." The ranch girl shot out as she watched her teacher reach onto the horse saddle and pull off a package wrapped in a white cloth tied shut with a string.
"Very humorous." The Gerudo said as she held the package out for the girl to take. "Consider this a graduation present. Though you've yet to learn the art of horseback riding, I think you have proven yourself ready to take back what was stolen from you and that you are worthy of being called a sister." She said to the girl, making Malon's cheeks tint red as something swelled inside her. A warmth that immediately went from her chest to the rest of her body. Was it… pride?
"Thank you." Malon said, taking the package, "For this, but also for training me when you didn't have to."
"Oh, but I did." The lady said, as she gently reached out and tapped on the brooch around Malon's neck. "You say your mother gave this to you?"
"Yeah, when I was just a little baby she left it with me when she left my dad and me." She explained.
"I have no idea where your mother would have gotten such an artifact." The lady said, "But that creature is from Gerudo stories." She continued to explain, making Malon flinch. "The Large Lizard is a story we tell our young to inspire confidence and bravery. The Large Lizard is said to be a king of a distant land who steals whatever he wants whenever he wants and he falls in love with a princess of a neighboring country. But sadly she was the only thing he could not steal as the princess' chosen knight would always come and save her. But no matter how many times the Lizard lost the princess, even dying many times in his attempts, he would always return with a new plan to get the princess. He never gave up no matter how impossible things seemed to be, even the doors of death couldn't stop him." She said. "Those who wear this symbol show that they have more strength than outward appearances would suggest and that you are a sister to the Gerudos." She said as she jumped on her horse. "So I couldn't leave my sister to suffer at the hands of some man. And remember thins, Young Malon, if ever you need help your sisters in the desert are waiting." The Gerudo said before kicking the side of Dustcloud and starting to trot away. "But goodbye for now." She said, leaving Malon to just stare at the brooch she held.
Stronger than outward appearances would suggest. Malon thought in her mind as she looked over at her bed and saw her gift from her teacher still unopened. She had been in such a rush to get to work before Ingo woke up she hadn't bothered to open it up. But seeing nothing else the girl reached over and pulled the string of the present free of the knot and unfolded the cloth.
"Huh…" The girl said, looking down at her gift, honestly, it wasn't the worst thing she had ever received. And after getting herself prepped with it she stood tall and planted her fist against her hips. If Ingo thought he was going to be able to steal from her and her friend, then she was just going to have to take it all back. And with that, she left her room and went over to the barn, immediately a horse whining filled the air as Epona tried to escape her enclosure, wanting to run outside and be free. But when she saw Malon walk into the barn she stopped and just watched as her owner walked up and reached up and patted the top of her horse's nose. "Hey girl, let's take our home back." She said to Epona, the horse immediately neighing and nodding her head as if to say its about time, making Malon smirk as she opened the pen and jumped on her steed.
Kicking the horse on the side and letting out a 'Hiya' she rushed through the barn and out the side door for the animals to get in and out of the barn, heading to the horse pen. It looked like Ingo and Link had already finished a race, though since Link still had his sword they either hadn't wagered yet or Link managed to win the little bet.
"So let me get this straight." Ingo said as Malon got closer, "If I win I get your fancy sword but if you win then I-."
"Don't even bother with that," Malon said, Epona slowing down into a trot as she passed Ingo and Epona walked around Link and his horse, so she was facing Ingo.
"Malon!" They both said in shock, probably at her sudden appearance and her new appearance. Instead of her normal dress, she had put on her gift from her teacher, a traditional Gerudo outfit but with colors that matched what she would wear. A white top that wrapped around her chest, outlined with gold and a sapphire at the top of it, a pair of purple sirwal covering her legs freeing her legs to move freely, brown boots with gold plating them, and matching riding gloves. Her long carrot orange hair was tied back in a ponytail and her brooch hanging around her neck.
"Ingo I challenge you to a wager." She demanded, not faltering as she sat up straight and tried to not feel self-conscious about her new appearance and the two staring at her. "If you win I will do whatever you desire I do concerning the ranch. I'll stay here and work and you won't ever hear even so much as a negative comment about the weather from me." She said, holding onto the reins of her steed a bit tighter, "But if I win, I want you to leave this place and never come as close to being shaded by the sign of the ranch." She demanded, making the man's mouth suddenly start to work again.
"Are you daft girl?" Ingo asked, leaning back on his horse, his eyes wide, "What kind of wager is that? You would just give away your freedom like that? I have never forced you to stay here, you could have left your deadbeat father, but you wouldn't have that option anymore!"
"No, I'm not giving it away," Malon corrected him, "I'm fighting for what was stolen from me all those years ago. This ranch is my home and if the ranch is under bondage then so am I. So this way we will have it official that I won't be free. But that's assuming you can beat me."
"Of course, I can beat you in a silly race!" The man spat out, "The great Lord Ganon had put me in charge of here, don't you think he wouldn't have done that if I can't handle a bratty girl?" He huffed, though Malon smirked as she saw the man's fist shake showing he was worried about it. The girl was on Epona one of the fastest horses in the ranch and she and the horse could practically reach each other's minds. But Malon knew she had him in an awkward situation, she had called him out and offered him a great reward as a free hard-working ranch hand was practically priceless, and doing so in front of a witness.
"Good, then I won't have to tell your precious Lord Ganon how you chickened out of a simple race to the ranch girl." She said, gently going to the white strip in the sand that signified the starting line, Ingo followed her after a few seconds.
"Come one, Malon. Let's forget about this. I think we both would benefit from taking a step back and-." The man started to try and bargain with the girl, who simply glanced at him making him let out an undignified epp as he saw the fire in the teen's eyes. The same fire from the day he had tried to whip Epona and he ended up flat on his bottom.
"Three!" Malon started to count, turning back to the track in front of her, leaning forward as she held onto Epona's reigns tightly. "Two!" She said next and before she could say three suddenly she heard the man cheer as he kicked his horse and the two darted forward.
"That's cheating!" Link yelled out, now off to the side still sitting on his horse, his little fairy jiggling loudly as if to alert them to danger. But Malon didn't break her concentration as she stared forward.
"Three!" She yelled out, immediately kicking Epona's side, making the steed rush forward. Malon's hair immediately whipped back as the air caught in it, making it look like a dancing blaze as the sun hit it as they rushed forward, the wind roaring in her ear in surprise and she and Epona bolted round the track. Only need a couple of seconds to catch up to Ingo and his ride. Maybe the horse was already tired, maybe it just had no desire to listen to Ingo after all the whippings it had received from the man, or maybe there was some other reason that Malon and Epona were able to catch up to their opponents. Malon smirked as she tried to pass Ingo, but predictably the man wasn't going to let her win so easily.
"Not so fast girly!" Ingo spat, tugging the reins of his horse, pulling the creature to the side, and starting to swerve back and forth to block the girl's view and path to victory. She couldn't get past the man as they turned onto the last stretch of the race, the white line almost in sight. But with no way around the man, there wasn't a clear sign of victory. But that didn't stop Malon from smirking as she leaned forward.
"If there's no way around him or under him, then there's only one other option, girl." She said to her friend, lifting up the reins to slow her friend down a bit, glaring at Ingo as he looked back laughing. "You ready?" She asked, the horses snorting as she started to speed up. "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" Malon cried out as she snapped the reins down, making Epona go faster and faster. The wind stung her eyes and cheeks as they went fast, the finish line somewhere in the blur that was the world in front of her. But focusing on Ingo she could see the man raising his hands up thinking he had won, meaning his horse slowed down, though they still swerved around making it impossible to pass. "Yeah!" Malon called out once more as they reached their opponent's horse. But instead of crashing into them, Epona immediately jumped back on her rear hooves and soared in the air over Ingo and his horse, landing in front of the finish line and crossing it a second before Ingo did.
"We did it!" Malon cheered as Epona started to slow down, the horse panting for breath as Malon leaned forward and hugged her friend. "We won, Epona!" She said jumping off the horse, keeping her arms wrapped around Epona's head.
"You did it, Malon!" Link cheered, running over to his friend, "You got your home back!" He declared.
"Not so fast." Ingo said, still on top of his horse, "Good job, you won the race. But if you think you're going to get rid of me that easily you're mistaken. Now why don't you both leave my ranch and never return." He spat, reaching to his side and grabbing his whip as he pulled back on his horse reins, making the animal rear up and whiney as he cracked his whip before charging at them, ready to chase them out.
"Malon!" Link cried, reaching up for the hilt of his sword, but Malon hand a hand out to stop him. Her eyes locked onto Ingo as she glared at him, watching him get closer as the man lashed his whip the girl held up one hand, the whip immediately wrapping around her glove, as she yanked it away, making Ingo lean back as he lost his balance. But with her spar hand, she reached behind her gripped onto something cold and smooth, and spun in a circle as she pulled her hand out, suddenly a lance with a wooden shaft and golden handle appeared, the top of the lance gold with two dull points sticking out to the side and a long sharp silver piece of metal sticking out between them. As Malon spun, she pointed her arm up, one of the dull gold points catching onto the man's red shirt and knocking him off the horse and crashing to the ground.
"Er…" The man immediately groaned, his eyes sealed shut as a way of pain ran across his body, "Why you… wait until Lord Ganon hears about this!" He spat as he opened his eyes, just to see the silver point of Malon's lance pointed at him. The fire was still in her eyes as she pulled the lance back and then thrust it forward. "AH!" Ingo cried out, turning his head. But after a few seconds of not having a blade inserted into his body, he opened his eyes to see the girl still glaring down at him.
"Go, tell him." She said, holding her lance, the blade of the lance buried in the ground beside Ingo's head, "Let him see who you truly are and let him know that whoever dares come into my ranch and my home better be prepared to deal with me!" She hissed at him, pulling her lance up. "Now go!" She spat, making the man immediately scramble to his feet before running off. "Thank Hylia he's gone." She sighed, holding her spare hand up to her chest before flinging the whip off of it. But as Link approached her she immediately turned to him. "As for you!" She said pointing at him, the teen's smile disappearing as his eyes grew wide and his long and pointy ears dropped. "What did I tell you? Don't do anything foolish and I come out and you were going to wager your sword against him? I don't know what's so special about that sword that Ingo wanted it, but what kind of knight just bets his sword away? What were you going to win for it anyways?" She asked him, the fire in her eyes basically glowing.
"I um… er… the ranch." Link squeaked out, holding his hands up as if he were trying to show that he was defenseless. "I told him if I won you were to run the ranch!" He explained a bit more. Making Malon gasp as she held her hand up to her mouth, a knot twisting in her stomach as a wave of guilt flooded over her.
"Really?" She asked him, getting a head nod from Link. "I didn't know the guy was going to pull dirty tricks though. No wonder he was so quick to accept the offer." Link sighed as Navi appeared from his hat.
"I tried to warn him something was fishy, but he didn't listen." Navi informed the girl before looking at the blond boy, "Like usual."
"Hey come on you two are teaming up against me." Link whined, "I was trying to save the day!" He said, getting a giggle from Malon.
"I think you need to listen to your fairy friend more often," Malon said, reaching behind her back with her lance hand, the weapon vanishing. "But thank you for being willing to do that for me." She said before leaning forward and kissing him on the cheeks, making his face tint red, "How about you two stay for dinner and I'll see about letting you borrow a horse if you're still interested." She said before turning to head to her house, her face also red. She had no idea why she had just kissed him, but it just felt like the right thing to do. If it hadn't been for him she would have never trained with her teacher and would never have been able to get the confidence to stand up to Ingo or challenge him to the race, and it was really sweet of him to try and win her home back.
"Hey wait," Link said, "How did you do that thing with your weapon? It's just disappeared!" He pointed out.
"Sorry, that's a Gerudo Sister's secret!" She called back, a smile spread across her face as she held onto her brooch. A cool wind suddenly hit her and soared through her hair, leaving her to take in a deep breath of the fresh air. Finally, it seemed like things were starting to look up.