Malon sighed as she sat in the wooden chair in her bedroom, a fluffy pink pad on the seat to make sitting a bit more comfortable, and looked out at the ranch. The full moon in the night sky lit up the sleeping field in front of her. Now that all the animals were in the barn for the night, resting for the next day of racing, milking, and whatever else they did the ranch seemed dead. Other than the sound of crickets chirping to one another there was no noise.
Ingo was off in his little hut fast asleep and probably wouldn't be up until noon the following day, like always. How anyone could have trusted the man with the ranch was lost on the redhead. Her father may not have been the hardest worker in all of Hyrule, but he was at least a kind and gentle man who loved the ranch and the animals in it. Ingo was a cruel tyrant who would try and hurt the animals if they didn't do what he wanted the exact moment he wanted them to do it. Malon had tended to more wounded animals in the years the man ran the ranch than she would have ever wanted.
A small voice in her told her that she should leave rather than torture herself with the hours of back-breaking labor, watching the animals being abused, and being abused by Ingo. But she couldn't bring herself to leave the ranch, it was her home, and it was where she belonged. Plus she would never be able to forgive herself for leaving, knowing that the animals would only suffer more if she wasn't there to try and calm Ingo down and tend to the injuries of the animals he hurt.
Maybe she would go to bed that night and the following day a knight in shining armor would come riding in on his white steed and save the ranch. A dream she often had as she slept, and filled most of her daydreams as she collected eggs and milked the cows. But she knew it was nothing more than just a dream. What knight would waste their time coming to a little ranch when the entire realm was being tortured by the evil Ganon?
"Come on Malon, you're too old for childish wishes like that." She scolded herself as she refocused herself on her current task. Her peach-colored arm lay on the wooden desk in front of her, a mix of red burn marks and black and purple bruises on it. She pulled out a bottle of alcohol and tensed up, clenching her fist, which made her epp in pain, before she quickly tilted the bottle over and felt the warm liquid hit her arm. At first, she didn't feel anything, and the warmth from the liquid, since it had been out for most of the day, but after a few seconds it felt as if thousands of needles were burying their way into her arm. "Ah, goddess!" She prayed out, grabbing her injured hand with her good hand, as tears stung in her eyes. From the pain in her arm and from the strong odor of the alcohol attacking her eyes. But getting this injury taken care of and dealing with a little pain now was better than having to lose the arm later down the line.
"This is what you get for trying to be a hero." She scolded herself after a minute and the pain subsided, and she grabbed a bandage and started to wrap her arm up. As she wrapped her arm tightly she closed her arms as she remembered the event that put her arm in that condition in the first place.
She had just finished milking the cows and was getting ready to get the cart of LonLon Ranch milk ready for delivery when she heard Ingo yelling. Which wasn't exactly anything new and she tried to ignore it, knowing it wouldn't do her any good. But when she heard the man let out a 'Blast you, I'm gonna break you even if its the death of one of us', she couldn't help but look up. And on her hind legs her best friend, Epona, was trying to knock the abusive man away with her front hooves. Her flank shone red like fire as the sun hit it, looking like an out-of-control fire beast more than anything. Which at first made the young rancher smile, she silently enjoyed any trouble that came the owner's way. But when Ingo pulled out a long tanned leather whip it made the girl's mouth drop and eyes fill with horror. The man knew how important that horse was to the girl and she knew he tiptoed around Epona when she was near. But it was clear he had no qualms about being much more forceful when she was out of his eyesight.
And before Malon knew what had happened she was suddenly in front of Epona, her arm up in the air as a high whissshch sound pierced through the air and suddenly the whip had snaked its way around her arm, the tip piercing into her skin, and crimson red blood trickled out. She yanked the whip out of the man's hand and shoved him to the ground. She remembered seeing the fire in her eyes burning with anger as she raised her hand, the whip leash unraveling from her other arm, and she held it up. But seeing the fear in the man's large brown eyes made the girl snap back to her senses. She tossed the whip to the man's side and told him to never threaten her horse again before rushing off.
Even now she had no idea where any of that came from. She wasn't a violent person, she could be stern with people and the animals, but never violent. But when she saw Epona about to get hurt her body just acted on its own, like a wolf attacking someone trying to harm the pack.
"Maybe I don't need a knight in shining armor to save me." She joked as she finished wrapping her hand up with the bandage held it up and twisted it around to make sure she had covered the entire area. "I'll save the farm myself and chase off Ingo myself. Then maybe I'll go to the tower and show Ganon who's boss." She mused with a childish chuckle. She had just scolded herself for having such childish wishes when thinking about her knight and now here she was with an even more childish dream. Who would she be able to save, she couldn't as much hold a sword the right way much less wield it properly.
But with her arm taken care of to the best of her ability, the girl stood up, groaning a bit as she moved her sensitive arm, and grabbed the lantern that let out a low dim light. She walked down the steps and headed outside, letting the warm Summer night air hit her in the face. It was a lot cooler than it had been during the day, as expected. But she could suffer through a little bit more warm weather if she could have a few moments to herself.
So walking to the horse pen she took a deep breath in, smelling all the scents of the barn. The hay, the smell of the animals, and even the unpleasant smell of animal droppings. You couldn't just have the pleasant smells while on a farm. But she didn't mind the bad smells, she had grown up around them so her nose was numb to it. It was all a part of her home and what made it special.
But now that she was along, Ingo was fast asleep and wouldn't be up for hours, she smiled as she stretched her arms out. The carrot top would have crashed onto the ground but since she was in the middle of a horse pen she decided not to. Dealing with the smell of the horse droppings was one thing, but getting covered in it was an actual issue. But she took a deep breath in as she held her hand in front of her chest and she let out a Oo-oo-ooooo oo-oo-oooo oo-oo-oo-oo-ooo. Singing the song that her mother had taught wrote, not that she remembered anything about her mom besides this son.
She never gave the lady much thought when she was growing up and her dad never really brought the subject up. Her excuse was she was always too busy to even worry about her mom, but she knew that wasn't true. She was scared to find out the truth about whatever happened to her. Malon was sure that the lady wasn't dead since she and her dad never went to visit a grave. But she didn't want to hear that her mother didn't want her, or that she had run away one night leaving them alone. But now she couldn't help but wonder if things would be different if her mom was here, someone to help Malon keep her father awake and in order. Maybe if her dad had been more alert then he would still be there. But there was no point in wondering about what could have happened. She could just hope for a brighter future to come one day, even if that seemed unlikely.
"Hey, listen!" Navi said, flying out of Links hat as soon was hit with the scent of hay, "Link we're supposed to be heading to Korkiri Forest!" She reminded the Hylian teen. She had hoped that now he was a few years old she wouldn't have to remind him of his mission, or at least his attention span would last a bit longer than when he was a kid, especially since the fate of the world was depending on him.
They had just left the temple of time after they had woken up after traveling seven years into the future and being tasked with finding the seven sages and saving them. Thankfully the Sage of Light was okay and was able to fill them in on what was going on in the seven years that Link and Navi were away, asleep in the Spirit Realm. But when they stepped out of the temple they were hit with what Ganon's destruction looked like. The town that was once filled with stores and people laughing had been abandoned. The buildings falling apart and monsters with screams that paralyzed someone when they heard it. A complete 180 from what the two had left when Link pulled the Master Sword.
"You ever get the feeling like something has happened before?" Link asked as he walked through the wooden gate, Lon Lon Ranch in fading white pain, his hands behind his head as he looked up at the white fairy hovering around his head. "Day show view, right?" He asked.
"No, Link." Navi sighed, immediately noticing the teen switching the conversation, "That's called Déjà vu. Why?"
"Just feels like we've been through this before." He said with an eye roll, "Anyways, we get a horse and the horse gets us the forest and everywhere else, a lot faster than us trying to hoof it on foot." He explained his plan to the fairy.
"Yeah, I get that… but the last time we were here we wasted an entire day." Navi reminded the boy, "And I don't think we can afford to waste any time."
"Well when we get the horse, we'll make up for any time we lost here and then some. We'll save Hyrule in no time!" He cheered as they got to the first building. "I wonder if Malons still awake?" He thought aloud, knowing that Talon would be fast asleep at this hour. But before he could knock on the door he heard a light Oo-oo-ooooo oo-oo-oooo making him smirk. He could never forget the sound of that sound and the person singing it. So he darted out to the horse pen like he had seven years ago. This time it was under a night sky so all the horses weren't trying to trample him and turn him into a pancake and the red flank of Epona was nowhere to be seen. Just Malon alone in the field singing the song that Epona liked to hear.
Link thought about just calling out to the girl as he ran up to her, but he smirked as he got an idea. Reaching into his bag he pulled out a dark blue ocarina that had a golden Triforce on the mouthpiece of the instrument. Unlike the ocarina, he had the last time that he visited the farm, which was made from clay, this one was made of smooth glass. Unlike the one he had gotten from her friends, which had been crudely made by a Kokeri child and didn't exactly hit the pitches of notes right, this one was crafted perfectly. The noise that came out was smooth as butter and it felt comfortable in his hands. So blowing into the instrument a light Doo-doo-dooo do-do-dooo came out of the piece of glass in his hands.
He started to walk toward the carrot top girl, his boots making the dry grass make a light sssh sound with every step that he took as he got closer. His lips curled up in a mischievous smile as the girl stopped singing her song, an instrument joining in her melody wasn't exactly something that she was expecting to happen. Instead, she just stared at the Hylain teen that approached her, wondering who he was.
"Excuse me, sir." The girl said, dropping her arms to her side as Link got closer and put his ocarina away, "I'm sorry but the ranch is closed at this hour if you wish to get some Lon Lon milk you'll have to come back in the morning." She sighed, making Link flinch. Did she not recognize him? Of course, to him, it had only felt like a couple days since he had last seen Malon but the the ranch girl it had been seven years, seven long hard years. "But I do have to know, where did you learn that song?" She asked him.
"You taught it to me," Link said to her, pausing for Malon to connect the dots, "Remember I chased Epona for like an entire day until you taught me the song." He recanted, trying to jog the girl's memory.
But as soon as Link mentioned chasing Epona the girl's eyes grew wide and she tackled him in a hug. Her arms squeezed him tight as she remembered the little Kokiri boy who woke her dad up and chased her best friend all around that one day. The little knight that had left to finish the task the princess assigned to him.
"Mr. Knight!" She cheered after a couple of seconds of hugging him, letting go and grabbing his hands as she leaned back. Link braced himself so he wouldn't fall over with her. "What are you doing here? Where have you been? Do you know where Princess Zelda is?" She immediately started to bombard him with questions, making Link smile. This was the Malon that he remembered, the energetic spazstic redhead, not the serious girl that he had met a few moments ago.
"Well um… I've been adventuring." He said, answering the questions out of order and opting out to just tell the girl that instead of 'Oh I've been asleep for the past seven years while Ganon was freely taking over everything'. It just sounded a bit better in his opinion.
"Adventuring?!" Malon asked, standing up straight and stepping away from the teen, her cheeks puffing out a bit, "What kind of knight leaves like that?! Have you seen how Hyrule looks? The castle is a wreck and Death Mountain looks like it's ready to blow up!" She declared, pointing at the large brown mountain that was perfectly visible from where they stood, an orange glowing ring circled the top of the volcano. Malon's face was almost glowing red as she looked at the teen, who looked like he was ready to just dig a hole and crawl into it. Though it wasn't like he was exactly given a choice in the matter, the Sage of Light didn't ask him if he was okay with being put in a magical sleep for seven years.
"I-I know, and I saw." He said, giving a firm head nod as he looked at her, "And that's why I'm here. I know what I need to do to save Hyrule and stop Ganon. But if I had a horse it would go a whole lot faster!" He said, grabbing the girl's hands.
The sudden move made Malon's cheeks feel warm as they tinted red, the teen was so close he was practically on her toes. But she was quick to regain herself as she shook her head a bit, smirking a bit. Hearing him speak the same way that he had all those years ago reminded her of that day when the little kid needed a horse to ride on.
"I believe you." She said to him, taking a step back as she reached up and absentmindedly tried to tuck away any stray hairs behind her ear, which were almost as red as her face and looked at the ground. "But I'm afraid there's nothing I can do to help you. Right now you can only get a horse with Ganondorf's permission. And you call me crazy, but I have a feeling that he's not going to give one to the knight who is trying to beat him." She said and she suddenly jumped as she heard a bunch of glass bottles fall and clank on the floor, goosebumps running up and down her body. She had already made Ingo mad enough for one day by saving Epona from his whip, she doubted that he would take too kindly to a visitor trying to get one of the horses. "Maybe we should talk about this somewhere else." She suggested as she grabbed his hand and immediately led him away from the horse pen and then past the house, no way that she was going to let a boy into her house when it was just her. Maybe if they were married she'd think about it, but not now.
So Malon led the boy out of the ranch and to Hyrule field, as soon as they passed the ranch sign the smell in the air immediately shifted. Instead of smelling like the ranch, her home, the dry dusty air carried a melancholy smell to it. A place that once was full of life, lush green grass and bright colorful flowers grew, animals gallivanting around freely, and the sound of bugs chirping and buzzing without anyone to silence them. But now the grass was turning brown and made a crisp sound as it was stepped on, dirt patches were visible all over the land, and with every breath, you would get a lungful of dust. The deafening silence that filled the scene only added to the sadness that was in the dry dusty air.
"Ok, Ingo won't hear us out here," Malon said, letting go of his arm and starting to walk beside the stone wall that surrounded the ranch, reaching out and feeling the stone wall, the gray stones warm to the touch from basking in the sun all day.
"Ingo, what say does he have?" Link asked the girl, following beside her, hands behind his head as he walked with the girl. He didn't know everything about the ranch and he had only met the skinny man once all those years ago when he befriended Epona. But he thought the man was just a farm hand, a worker who helped with the chores. The Hylian didn't know the man had any say in what happened at the farm. "I think your dad would be more concerned about me visiting you this late."
Hearing that made the girl stop as she looked down at the ground. It was hard to believe that the teen beside her had been gone for so long. The last time he was at the farm her dad was indeed the owner of the ranch. That seemed like it was a lifetime ago now, a much happier lifetime. A time of laughter and smiles, not like today where fear and anger filled her home. Thinking about that made her hold her arm up, revealing the bandages in the moonlight. Thankfully her bandage job was good enough to keep her arm wrapped.
But suddenly she saw Links's hand gently slip into hers, making her blush again as she met his eyes. The boy's eyes filled with worry as he looked down at her hand. His head gently shook his head as he realized that there was a lot more than Ganon taking over Hyrule that he missed.
"Malon," He said softly as he looked at her and squeezed the girl's hand, "What's happened since I've been gone." He told her, and he wasn't talking about what Ganon had done.